what we are reading – EightandHalf
Bad news first – Large Short Films continues to be moronic and is still peddling Chaitanya Tamhane’s name in all their communication, even in their medianet promotions.
And the good news – Somnath Pal’s gorgeous looking animated short is out. It’s beautifully evocative. Do watch it. Also, the posters are so striking, we are sharing all of them here.
And here’s the short
Remember the saying, you never get a second chance to make the first impression. Well, that’s true for films too. If you can score well in your first film, that’s like a dream run. Also, because the journey to the first film is always the most difficult.
One of our favourite books on cinema is My First Movie. Do read it if you haven’t. There is a desi version too – Directors’ Diaries: The Road to Their First Film. We haven’t read it though. If anyone has, do let us know.
Film critic Anupama Chopra has started a new segment on similar lines – My First Film, for her web show, Film Companion. And the first guest is RajKumar Hirani who talks about the making of Munnabhai MBBS. The film was both critically and commercially blockbuster.
Do watch.
Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab has been topic of much discussion, both pre and post-release. Navjot Gulati and Mihir Desai got the director-writer duo to talk about the film in a post-screening session.
Do watch.
Bikas Mishra’s debut feature Chauranga is all set to release this friday. The film bagged the top award in the section of Indian films at last year’s Mumbai Film Festival. And it seemed like a good time to look back at his earlier film – short titled Naach Ganesh (Dance Of Ganesha).
The film was screened at Busan, Rotterdam, Clermont-Ferrand and few other international film festival.
About the film
An Indian folk dancer is caught in his daily struggle of survival in an automobile factory. The burden to earn a living for his family and preserve his family tradition of ritual Ganesha dancing is humongous. His two roles – the sole bread winner of the family and the magnificent elephant god Ganesha, are so diverse that his journey from factory to village looks like time travel and his existence schizophrenic! Ganesha, the dancer lives in the fear of the day when he will have to choose between livelihood and art/tradition
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.
After having its screening at New York Indian Film Festival and International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala, Prosit Roy’s short film Bloody Moustache is online now. Do check it out.
The film stars Jameel Khan, Priyanka Setia and Nisshan KP Nanaiah.
It’s written and directed by Prosit Roy.
Click here to read more about the film.
All of you who have asking us about the videos of Q and A with Dibakar Banerjee, here it is. And apologies for the delay. The first two parts were already out, the third part is out now. We are putting all the three parts here. Click on “PLAYLIST” tab on the top left corner of the video and select the part you want to see.
If you have seen Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, and liked/didn’t like it, the videos are a must watch. Because a good filmmaker always has a lot to deliver than just his film. Especially if it’s someone like Dibakar Banerjee. Also, it’s always nice to see a filmmaker who can see the problems in his films, accepts them, and doesn’t try to defend it always as its-my-baby-from-my-sperm-so-beautiful-how-can-it-have-problems.
Like in the last few years, Rajeev Masand has done a series of roundtable discussions this year too. And the one which has the best panel and which interests us the most is the directors roundtable. This one had Vishal Bhardwaj (Haider), Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi), Vikas Bahl (Queen), Imtiaz Ali (Highway), RajKumar Hirani (PK) and Abhishek Varman (2 States).
Those who watched Xavier Dolan’s Mommy at the recent concluded Mumbai Film Festival, most of them agree that one scene in the film is easily the show stealer – when the character opens his arms and stretches the 1:1 aspect ratio to wide screen.
Strangely, many don’t know that our Dharam Paaji did it ages ago, in a film called Sitamgar. Click the play button and enjoy (at 3.30).
Tip – @SachinChatte
Megha Ramaswamy’s documentary Newborns premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. And now it’s online for a limited time as part of Vimeo’s presentation of TIFF Short Cuts.
Watch it.
From fest site – A hauntingly beautiful documentary that follows female survivors of acid attacks, who bravely defy the trauma and fear that will always accompany them.
Cast, Crew and Other Details
Country: India
Year: 2014
Language: Hindi
Premiere Status: World Premiere
Runtime: 8 minutes
Rating: STC
Producer: Anand Gandhi, Sohum Shah, Ruchi Bhimani
Production Company: Recyclewala Labs
Principal Cast: Laxmi, Nasreen, Sapna, Daya Kishan, Usha, Rupesh Tillu, Heena Agrawal
Screenplay: Megha Ramaswamy
Cinematographer: Satya Rai Nagpaul
Editor: Anand Gandhi, Rohit Pandey
Sound: Ajit Rathore, Aditya Jadav
Production Designer: Megha Ramaswamy
Watch the entire Short Cuts Online Program at: vimeo.com/channels/tiffshortcuts
Tip – ShortFilmWindow
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 