Movie Murmur

To MK Raghavendra Greetings. I have today sent you a dvd copy of my new feature film called 'Haal-e-Kangaal (The Bankrupts)'. I was wondering if you could see the film at your convenience and give an opinion on it. ******* Dear Mr Ramachandra,  A still from Haal-e-Kangaal (The Bankrupts) I watched your film and found it very interesting conceptually. But here are some critical comments: a) It is a very personal film, I think, about the dreams film students have, the compromises they make and where they finally go. I would say that it is very, very pessimistic. It shows how most lives are actually wasted. 20 years after graduating people are forced to tell lies to those who were once closest to them – to look better than they are. It is also about the end of friendships . b) Its difficulty is that it is too personal. It is like making a film only for those who have gone through the same experiences. There will be very few who will feel what you feel by watchi...

Naveen Sunag is an independent film maker based out of UK. He is a graduate from the VGIK film school in Russia. His views after watching the film The Bankrupts (Haal-e-Kangaal):- Hemant Mahaur "The Bankruts ( Haal - e – Kangal), a film made by dear friend, film maker P.N. Ramchandra effectively narrates the intellectual, emotional , ethical, cultural, professional so on and so forth, bankruptcy of the society.  It is a productive piece that shows the decadence of the present world around us. A world of adjustments, easily jumping to conclusion and passing on judgements on one another. The jump cuts and the characters of the film going inside their characters, coming out of them at times to narrate the script as another character (This also reminds me of one my own scripts), a technique used in the film goes well with the narration .  Needless to say both actors have done good justice to the characters they have played. In all the film engages the audienc...

Recently, Chaitra Acharya, asked me a few questions regarding Tulu Cinema, on which she is doing research. Here is the response. Poster of the Tulu film Suddha (The Cleansing Rites)  'I do not hold a brief for Tulu movies, except the fact that I originally hail from a Tulu speaking area of Karnataka, I am sympathetic to the cause of Tulu films and my first feature film is in this language. I do believe that more and more films should be supported, made and exhibited in regional languages like Bhojpuri, Awadi, Konkani, Tulu etc.. - films that reflect the unique multiple cultures that these languages represents.   It is often said that language is inseparable from culture. Destroy a language and you have destroyed its culture. The Tulu people, though living in only two districts of the state of Karnataka in India take pride in their language. Among other things, it is a home to a matrilineal system of family, it is rich in its oral traditions especially the epics...

Niraj Sah in GOTALA Nostalgia sucks, but for some strange reason, I have cut one frame of the negative film of an unused take of my diploma film that I had done at the Film and TV Institute of India (FTII) in 1990 and I have preserved it over the years. A diploma film is the final exercise that any student does at FTII.    My film's name was GOTALA (The Mess) and since it was in black and white, it was 30 minutes in length. The ones who choose color then, had to go only up to 20 minutes. Again for some strange reason, Mathi Azhagan the cameraman who shot my diploma film had preserved a copy of the script of GOTALA for all these years. Mathi was a faculty in the Cinematography Department at FTII when I was studying. He had just graduated from the State film school in Chennai and he had already shot my song exercise. In 2009, I had been to the LV Prasad Film Institute to conduct a documentary film workshop. Mathi was a faculty here. I had lunch at his house, after...

Click here for 'Indian Cinema - Form and Content' 'Indian Cinema - Form and Content' is an essay I had written twenty six years back, while I was studying at the Film and TV Institute of India. This exercise was a part of our course, where we had to write something about Sociology of Indian Cinema.  Anil Zankar was my supervisor on this one. I remember while in my third year he asked me if he could publish parts of this in a Marathi language book that he was editing on Indian Cinema.   I found this in the attic of our house in Udupi, my home town. The version uploaded in the one that has been typed, if I remember well, by the tutorial section at the FTII. I have scanned it as I have found it - so it has some typo errors, some spelling errors and the likes. I am now amused by certain assumptions that I have made, but the essay makes a broad point that Indian films over the years have not come out of the mythological framework  that has been thrust...

Cameraman Narayanan Venkataraman watching a projection in Mumbai It was clear during the very conception of the film 'Haal-e-Kangaal' (The Bankrupts) that it would be difficult to find a conventional release for it. Despite this, the small crew that the film had, did get enrolled into the making of this film. They found it worth giving their time and effort for the film and I am thankful for them.  We shot the film in 2013, had a rough cut in 2013 itself. I then met a producer who had once asked me to come to him, if I had an edit in hand. It would be easier to for him to 'pick' the film because half the work was already done. He met me, heard me patiently and told me that he would be needing a minimum of 25 lakhs of rupees to be put into publicity and marketing for any film to have a conventional release, however limited it maybe. 'If I had that kind of money, I would put it into real estate', he added. Very logical. He already had two such ...

  Poster for LOHIT DIARY Duration: 76 Minutes Year: 2015 Camera: Narayanan Venkataraman Sound: Sanotsh Kumar Producers: Films Division, India Editing, Direction & Executive Producer: Ramchandra PN   Synopsis: Amidst wide spread opium cultivation in the Lohit River valley in Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, North-East India, Basamlu Kisikro engages opium growers into shifting to green tea, Tewa Manpoong supports fellow addicts into rehabilitation and Uncle Moosa spreads the j oy of reading amongst children. Uncle Moosa (right) Tewa Manpoong (Right) Basamlu Kisikro Trailer The posters of the film and the stills can be reproduced as it is elsewhere.   If you are looking to arrange a screening for your club / college / house / office please click HERE