Cinema - To each his own view

Reading Material on Cinema:

Cinephilia in India: A search for love and identity: Explore the identity and divisions among Cinema lovers in India. To make India a better place for cinema, there is now a need for professional cinephiles performing responsibilities like film programmer, film critic & film teacher.

Legend of Gurudutt: The most complete and original stalwart of the black and white era.

Sudhir Mishra Interview: Let us know about a director of quality cinema.

Farcical script by M S Sathyu: Unwilling to evolve out of its crude, star-dominated phase, the Kannada film industry is resorting to the language of chauvinism, comments M S Sathyu

This is a blog post for those who "see Films", not "watch movies".

The Cinema:

People are not valued in this Bollywood industry. Ritwik Ghatak made 7 films that nobody saw. When he died, people started calling him a great filmmaker. Here in India, they wait for a person to die, and helm him in the label of great. This country lives in the shadows of the past and attempts to break the shackles of orthodox tradition. Gurudutt's epic 'Pyaasa' is the true depiction of this cynicism.

Good cinema comes from creating magic moments. The ability to create magic on screen is what separates the great directors from the hacks and DVD xerox machines. A movie maker, on his/her first film, comes with a lot of excitement, openness, and willingness to learn and explore. It is the Bollywoodwood handling this that makes it a dream debut for him/her. But over time, all the enthusiasm is wasted in fighting a system without any praise or awards.

The only thing maestros have pursued in their lives is filmmaking. But now young directors don't waste their time pursuing people to watch movies like John Abhraham, Kumar Sahini, M. S. Sathyu, or Mani Kaul. FTII emerged as a major talent supplier for actors but failed to make its presence noticed in the mainstream. All current generations of filmmakers have grown up watching more world cinema than regional cinema (Indian). But on their side, films are a powerful medium of expression, so it is very easy to lose your own identity and uniqueness. Kurosawa's, Godard's, Majidi's, Hitchcock’s, and Kubrick’s of this world can easily overshadow their own voice. Hence, the originality should not be suppressed in making films for the growth of Indianness in our films. We need to feel films and at the same time not to lose our style of storytelling.

There are mainly two types of film viewers in India. One who wants entertainment and another who demands reality. Until People reject B-grade commercial movies in favor of cinema with sensibilities, nothing is going to change. Commercial Hindi cinema still remains the opium for the masses. We don't take our cinema seriously. Ultimately, what's great about any film is that it should connect and engage the audience by keeping focus on original content. Easy said than done !!!

There was a wayward fashion in which youth were treated in Bollywood films, where every college student, aside from the hero/heroine are party-going idiot or jittery nerd! The trend of depiction of youth or realism is so dead-on and realistic in films like DCH, Wake Up Sid, or Mumbai Mere Jaan. There is a change, and the characters talk like how they're supposed to talk, and nothing seems unrealistic about their personality.

The audience wanted something else than typo, but they had no option previously. Today, fresh blood is coming into filmmaking. For 40 years, all these stupid filmmakers were saying that we should give the audience what they want, which is a lie. Either Sensible filmmakers were kept at the periphery or pushed towards parallel cinema. People love good cinema, given the diverse choice. Previously, producers jumped into filmmaking due to the love of quick money, not cinema. Today, independent cinema is supported by cinephiles who are watching and becoming part of the change in world cinema. Anurag Kashyap put it eloquently, "There is cinematic progress as well. One has to be clear that it is relative. In a country like India, a 4 or a 5 is a development, since our cinema is a 3. We cannot think of being at 7 or 8 straightaway. The process of change would be gradual." [Cited]

Upton Sinclair said a great line, truly held on producers of mindless Bollywood films: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"

My Cinema:

There is not a single one, but many movies changed my life and turned into a passion. Thanks to the pre-Cable TV days, I was able to access the regional cinema in my childhood on DD. Then, engineering college days opened the doors of heaven. I met with the guys who were equally proactive about good cinema, irrespective of the language barrier. I stumbled across lots of unknown films from all over, and I was awestruck by the stories and characters. I never imagined films to be such a meaningful medium of expression, expressions of thoughts and emotions. Thank you, LAN sharing, LDC++, DC++, and torrents. Americans, Iranians, Italians, French, Japanese, and each tiny nation was giving its own share of a unique cinematic experience to the world audience. Entertainment is as necessary as anything else, but a whole nation is dying to see cute dimples, macho heroes, evil villains, plastic emotions, and artificial happiness only. That was unexplainable to me. I was ashamed that the film industry, which makes 800 movies, can't produce or even encourage genuine filmmakers.

Then, I read the history of our cinema. A subject so critical yet missing in our academic syllabus. 'Winds from the East' was a major revelation in understanding cinema. And my big brother helped me a lot in understanding this medium. It’s just so refreshing when famous people turn out to be intelligent and really engage in a conversation. And Nitesh was one of them; otherwise, too often it’s just rote PR fluff. Passion for cinema & Indian Auteur are full of people who are passionate and know about cinema.

I came across the films that moved me and provided deep insight. During a short span of time, they made me feel overwhelmed, think, travel in time, amaze, and wonder. Cinema is thought of as an ugly thing to work in, but a good thing to watch for entertainment in Indian society. This hypocrisy was understood by me, and all mental blockages were opened. Actually, watching films opens your mind. It is not just about the time passing, but learning for a lifetime. We see how filmmakers have expressed their emotions through the visual medium, and it is not important to watch films, but to feel them. It is difficult to feel things because you need to surrender to feel and fall in love with them. I watch characters growing and becoming part of me with each cinematic moment, shine with the film. Long ago, I’m all of them, and they are all me set against that picturesque landscape of fleeting transcendence. Good Cinema is not what gives you what you desire; it tells you how to desire.

To date, I am known as yayaver to people in the cyberworld. My passion for cinema inspires me to the next level: create it. Even if I could not create it, I will promote it.