Movie Murmur

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

The Bankrupts (Haal-e-Kangaal) V N Lakshminarayana, Critic, Mysore It was a fruitful experience to watch 'The Bankrupts' at Mysuru and again In Bengaluru. 'The Bankrupts' is a high profile movie packed with the dialectics of form and content, image and sound, verbal and the nonverbal expression, truth and falsehood, bluff and imagination, gender and human relationships, capital and cinematic art- and finally the ideology in the era of postmodernism that is embedded in the very fabric of social life of the people at large. An undercurrent of sadness born out of systemic deprivation of existential opportunities to realize one's talents adds to the absurdity of the entangled life situation the two artiste friends are placed in, gives the movie a tint of comedy too. The minimalistic approach adopted in creating the entire movie is not only novel but also path breaking in the production of Indian films. Rajiv Kumar, Film maker, Delhi 'Th...

A few days back, late at about ten in the night, I receive a missed call from a valued colleague. I call back after a while. Me: "You had called...?"  Colleague: "Yes.. this is not relating to work, but something else... Can we talk now?" Me: "Sure..." Colleague: "Ram, would you be interested in being a part of the Jury to the Panorama...?" Me: (Not sure) "Meaning...?" Colleague: "You know, there is a Jury that decides the films that are shown in the Panorama section... in the film festival in Goa..." Me: "Oh, the pre-selection of the films for the Panorama Section...?" Colleague: "Yes, the pre-selection committee... would you be interested?" I am not sure on what capacity he is offering me this post. I assume that the powers that be might have asked him to make his own pre-selection. Me: "Hmmm... well... when does this happen...?" Colleague: "It happens in Nov...

On the 14th of July, 2015, the first thing in the morning, I found myself staring at a Times of India report that stated that The Government of India spends Rs. 12,00,000 per student per year at the Film and TV Institute of India or The FTII. I assume that the figure relates to the year 2011, as the report also mentions that the recovery from the students, as academic fees, is about 11% for the year 2011. There were 350 students... so 350 into 12,00,000 is equal to... wait let me check with the calculator.. is equal to.. 42 and seven zeros... is it eight... no, seven...   42 and seven zeros which is Rs 42,00,00,000. In words, forty two crores for the Film Institute, I presume, for the year 2011. It is more than what the Government spends on students of Engineering, Management and Medicine, screamed the news item. Is it? One part of me felt elated as it boosts ones ego to know that at some point of time in your life, your worth was more than that of other wannabe pr...