what we are reading – EightandHalf
It’s always a great pleasure to hear the great directors. But it’s a pity that in our country we don’t have too many such events where one gets to hear the directors. And even if it happens, one hardly records the conversation.
At this year’s London Indian Film Festival, filmmaker Mani Ratnam was in conversation with director Peter Webber. And thankfully, they have recorded it too. So here’s the VOTD.
We are back to our ‘Sunday Shorts’ feature after a long time. Hopefully we will be able to do it more regularly. This sunday, we are featuring a new short titled Nayanatara’s Necklace, directed by Jaydeep Sarkar. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma and Tilottama Shome, two of the finest actors we have. And it’s great fun to see how the two of them together can add magic to even mundane conversation.
The is produced by Royal Stag, as part of their ‘Large Short Films’ initiative, which earlier produced Sujoy Ghosh’s short Ahalya. One suggestion – why no subtitles? That is so strange, especially in an era of internet and when that’s your platform.
Since his commercial and critical hit Kahaani in 2012, Sujoy Ghosh has been missing in action. But here’s a pleasant surprise – he has directed a 14-minute short as part of Large Short Films.
Starring Soumitra Chatterjee, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Radhika Apte, this one is a smart spin on the story of Ahalya. Do watch.
If you didn’t notice, the names of the characters also gives you ample hit. And if you are still confused about the spin, click here to read the Ahalya’s story.
Acclaimed production designer Samir Chanda made his directorial debut with a Bengali film titled Ek Nadir Golpo (Tale Of A River). The film stars Mithun Chakrabaorty, Shweta Prasad and Jisshu Sengupta. It’s an adaptation of a short story by well known Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhay.
Unfortunately, because of his untimely death in 2011, he could not see the release of the film.
Now, his son Sandeepan Chanda shared the good news about its release on a FB post.
So here is a little story for those who might not know about it.
Back in 2006, my father decided to take a break from being a production designer and make his directorial debut. He chose to adapt a small Bengali story he had read and was deeply moved by when he was in his college days. After borrowing money from his friends and also putting in all his savings, he jumped head first into the project. We all became involved in it, all his family members, most of his friends and then by his sheer enthusiasm and passion, we finished the film a year later. It went on to be screened at various prestigious film festivals and was critically lauded by all. He now only needed to share his labor of love with the audience.
But unfortunately he struggled to find a distributor/exhibitor who would buy the film and release it in theaters. A struggle that went on for the next four years before his untimely death in 2011. His wish remained unfulfilled.
My mother then took on the responsibility to shop the film to various production companies and distributors. And now because of her persistence and having the patience to endure smaller setbacks, the film, 8 years after being filmed, is all set to release in theaters on 14th of August, this year. A dream which started with my father, soon became ours and is now on its way to become a reality.
‘Ek Nadir Galpo – Tale of a River’
A film by – Samir Chanda
Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XV5JpMwhSE
Crew
Produced by Leela Chanda & Kaustuv Ray
Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction : Samir Chanda
Executive Producer : Chintu Mohapatra & Sanjay Pathak
Lyrics & Music : Nachiketa
DOP : Rajen Kothari
Editor : Sanjib Dutta
Trailer/Making : Subrata Dey, Debashis Mondal
Film Writers Association (FWA) recently did a workshop on “pitching your story”. Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, screenwriter Shridhar Raghavan & Kamlesh Pandey, and producer Ram Mirchandani shared their ideas and experience about the process.
It’s great that FWA is finally taking some initiatives that will help the new writers. Just wish the video/audio was done professionally. And big thanks to the person who transcribed the entire video.
Watch the video or click here to read the transcript.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9LMw0moabQ
Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s debut feature “Labour Of Love” (Asha Jaoar Majhe) has been doing the fest rounds for quite some time. It premiered at Venice Days, an independent section at the Venice Film Festival which is promoted by the Italian Association of Filmmakers and authors. And recently, it picked up 2 National Awards too – Indira Gandhi Award for Best Film by a Debut Director and for Best Sound Designer.
The film is getting a limited release via PVR Directors Rare. It will release in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore on 26th June, 2015. The film is without any dialogues. Aditya Vikram not only directed the film but he also wrote, shot and edited it. Woah!
It features Ritwick Chakraborty and Basabdutta Chatterjee in lead roles.
Watch its trailer.
And here is the official synopsis :
Set in the crumbling environs of Calcutta, Labour Of Love is a lyrical unfolding of two ordinary lives suspended in the duress of a spiraling recession. They are married to a cycle of work and domestic routine, and long stretches of waiting in the silence of an empty house. They share each others solitude in pursuit of a distant dream that visits them briefly every morning.
Click here to read an interview of the director on the film’s making.
If you follow this blog regularly, you know how much we love Avinash Arun’s Killa. And the good news is the film is finally ready for theatrical release. A new trailer of the film has just hit the internet. Have a look. And thanks to the smart producers of the film, it has English subtitles too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ORlbsJLJuQ&feature=youtu.be
Beautiful. And so lush, feast for eyes. This is almost a short in itself.
The film releases on 26th June. It’s easily one of the best films of the year.
Don’t miss it.
To know more about the film and its director, click here.
Film’s FB page is here.
Whenever there has been a film worth having a conversation, we have always tried to get the creative heads involved, and get them talking. We have been waiting for a long time to get Sriram Raghavan do the same. Finally, we got him for post-screening Q & A of Badlapur. Much thanks to Sriram, who not only obliged for it at a short notice, but he also got his co-writers Arijit Biswas and Pooja Ladha Surti for the discussion, whom we rarely get to hear.
Thanks to PVR Cinemas and Shiladitya Bora for the venue.
And a big thanks to Mihir Desai, Aniruddha Patankar & Anusha Singhania who recorded the entire event in poor light, edited it all, managed all the sound fuckups, and uploaded the videos for you all to see.
(PS – If you like our blog and are film fanatics like us, do like our FB page for all the cool cinema related stuff and discussions)
Terribly Tiny Talkies by Chintan Ruparel and Anuj Gosalia is a creative initiative which brings together a diverse pool of writers to create one tweet-sized story, everyday. This time, they have gone ahead and produced 5 shorts. The theme is “love”.
5 shorts, under 5 minutes, by 5 filmmakers. El’ayichi by Devashish Makhija, R.I.P (Romance In Peace) by Shlok Sharma, The Last Day by Adhiraj Bose, Bunny by Vasan Bala, and Deuce by Chitan Ruparel. Do watch them and VOTE for your favourite one.
EL’AYICHI by Devashish Makhija, stars Nimrat Kaur, Divyendu Sharma, Vibha Chibber and Dodo! A dead but clingy husband and grieving but annoyed wife lock horns over what chai should be made today – adrak or ilayichi.
Shlok Sharma’s R.I.P (ROMANCE IN PEACE) features veterans Tom Alter and Shiv Subramaniam It’s never too late to find love!
Adhiraj Bose’s film THE LAST DAY stars Namit Das and Tahir Raj Bhasin. It’s a story of 2 roommates, on the night one of them is moving out after 8 years. What do they want to say to each other? Can they say it all?
Vasan Bala’s BUNNY has Sayani Gupta and Sunny Kaushal. A boy and a girl pop sleeping pills around a fireplace in a forest. You won’t believe what happened next!
Chintan Ruparel’s film DEUCE features Mandira Bedi and Rohan Shah. A never ending game about love, insecurities, and acceptance; told around an intense match of table tennis between a mother and a son. VOTE for your favourite short!
It was an open bet. If Navjot Gulati‘s world-famous-in-vacuous-versova short film gets a million hit, we will feature it in our world-famous-in-vacous-versova blog. Fuck knows what we were drinking that day!
And thanks to his relentless social media marketing skills, the film really managed to cross the mark. And so, here is the film. Enjoy!
ps – Never take a bet with Navjot if it involves any promotional skills 😛
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 