Cinema in Transition: Marketing Myopia, Technology, and the Shifting Cultural Core

The term Marketing Myopia was coined by Theodore Levitt in his seminal 1960 Harvard Business Review article. It refers to the short-sightedness and inward-looking approach of companies focusing on their products rather than the needs and wants of their customers.

The case of American railroads is a classic example of marketing myopia, where companies focus narrowly on their products rather than the broader needs they serve. Railroads saw themselves in the railroad business instead of the transportation business, ignoring the rise of cars, trucks, and airplanes that better met customer needs for convenience and flexibility. As a result, they failed to adapt and lost market share. This same short-sightedness affected Kodak, which clung to film even as digital photography emerged, and Blockbuster, which stuck to physical rentals while streaming services like Netflix redefined home entertainment. These examples highlight how companies that define themselves by their product rather than the value they provide risk becoming irrelevant.

1^st wave of transformation

In 1990s India, single-screen theatres were still the primary venues for film viewing, but they stood at the crossroads of transition just as India was liberalizing and audience tastes were shifting. Post the 1991 liberalization, India saw a media boom, with cable television entering middle-class homes through networks like Star TV, Zee TV, Sony, and DD Metro. This gave rise to 24/7 entertainment—daily soaps, music videos, international movies, cricket, and later, Bollywood movie premieres—at home and at no additional cost beyond the monthly cable fee. Audiences flocked to colorful, dynamic private channels offering soaps, movies, and music, reducing DD viewership. This exposed Doordarshan’s inability to pivot quickly in a rapidly changing entertainment economy.

The 1990s piracy boom dealt a critical blow to single-screen theatres, disrupting their economic model.  With the spread of VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders) and video parlours, pirated VHS tapes of new films became widely available, often within days of theatrical release. By the mid-1990s, CDs and VCDs replaced VHS, further lowering cost and increasing piracy’s reach. Pirated content was cheap (₹10–₹30 per CD), easily accessible through street vendors, and didn’t require audiences to visit a theatre.

The late 1990s saw spiraling budgets and digital projection becoming essential. Multiplexes could recoup by charging premium ticket prices (₹500–700 versus ₹30–40 on single-screens). Rising costs meant fewer producers made films suited to single screens; distributors also avoided them due to poor economics and additional digital screening fees

2^nd wave of transformation

The recognition of film as an industry by the NDA government in 2001, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, marked a turning point in the Indian cinema landscape. This moves formalized Bollywood and regional cinema as a legitimate sector of the economy, opening the gates for corporate investment, institutional financing, and structured business practices.

Media and entertainment arms of companies like Reliance, UTV (later acquired by Disney), Viacom18, and Balaji Telefilms began producing and distributing films. Inspired by Hollywood, corporate culture was adapted in Bollywood. Corporatization encouraged an export-oriented approach, tapping into NRI and overseas markets with subtitled and dubbed versions.

There was rise of multiplex chains like PVR and INOX during early 2000s. Policy changes—such as tax incentives, 100% FDI in exhibition, and entertainment tax waivers—favoured multiplex investment and expansion due to economic liberalization policies of the government. There was emergence of urban, low- to mid-budget, niche films that catered to a young, English-speaking, multiplex-going audience. Films like Jhankaar Beats and Joggers’ Park were products of the multiplex revolution, which enabled a new kind of Indian cinema—urban, experimental, dialogue-heavy, and targeted.  

Traditionally, films were distributed using bulky physical reels, which were expensive to transport and delayed releases in smaller towns. With the advent of digital cinema technologies like UFO Moviez and Qube, films could now be delivered instantly via satellite or hard drives, enabling simultaneous pan-India releases and faster revenue recovery for producers. While multiplexes quickly adapted to this model with multiple screens and upgraded digital infrastructure, most single-screen theatres could not afford the necessary technological upgrades. This shift in audience taste hastened the decline of single-screen theaters, which could no longer compete on experience, cost, or content viability.

Yet, PVR and INOX found themselves squeezed between rising operational costs and shifting consumer attention, highlighting how entertainment consumption evolved faster than the cinema exhibition business could adapt.  Multiplexes promise to support smaller-budget content alongside mainstream blockbusters—but the reality diverged significantly.  Since multiplexes were investing heavily in premium infrastructure—multiple screens, luxury seating, parking, food courts, and digital projection—all of which required high ticket prices and limiting their focus among urban, middle-class viewers.

There was parallel exponential growth of television entertainment in the 2000s, driven by daily soaps, reality shows, and movie premieres on satellite channels, offered families a convenient and cost-free alternative to cinemas. The boom of D2H happened in the mid-2000s to early 2010s, as it transformed television access in both urban and rural India. This trend deepened with the advent of IPL in 2008, which combined cricket with celebrity culture and prime-time entertainment. IPL became a cultural phenomenon, drawing massive viewership away from theatres during its season—leading to a noticeable dip in footfalls at multiplexes.

Multiplexes did initially open space for art and parallel cinema, in line with their stated goals—but over time, urban market preferences, financial incentives, and rising production and exhibition costs shifted their focus toward mainstream, premium content.  PVR and INOX largely have defined themselves as cinema experience providers, focusing on the premium in-theatre model. Their initial premium model, once a strength, became a vulnerability in a fragmented media landscape. PVR now depends on big hit movies to earn good profits, as smaller films don’t bring in enough money. To reduce losses, PVR is selling off parts of the business that aren’t essential, closing theaters that aren’t doing well, and trying to lower rent costs. While PVR makes money from tickets, food, ads, and events, it only works if people actually come to the theaters — and that’s happening less and less.

3^rd wave of transformation

In the early 2000s, as internet speeds improved, audiences wanted instant, affordable access to music, movies, and TV shows. However, legal distribution channels were slow, expensive, or unavailable in many regions. This gave rise to peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing platforms like LimeWire, and BitTorrent, which enabled users to download and share media globally. Sites like Torrentz, KickassTorrents, and 1337x became gateways to Bollywood, Hollywood, and even TV shows not aired in India.  In engineering colleges and hostels, tools like DC++, LANShare, and Torrents over LAN enabled students to share movies, games, and TV shows without internet. As broadband spread post-2005 (thanks to BSNL, Airtel, etc.), Indians embraced BitTorrent clients like uTorrent and BitComet.

The 2010s saw a shift from downloading to streaming, with the emergence of platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and Hotstar. Legal streaming reduced piracy temporarily by offering affordable, on-demand access.  Jio launched its 5G services (Jio True 5G) in October 2022, followed by Airtel 5G Plus. The networks lead to buffer-free streaming of HD and 4K content on mobile devices.

Meanwhile, OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and JioCinema recognized the shift in consumer behavior—demand for on-demand, affordable, and home-based entertainment. OTT Platforms like Netflix and Prime Video have also highlighted films giving visibility to world cinema & TV series that traditional Bollywood ignored. For instance, a global push behind shows like Nanette turned them into cultural events through sheer network effect.  

Netflix’s success is a clear example of how technology can drive both customer acquisition and content delivery backed by a strong risk-taking culture. One of its first major innovations was the Cinematch algorithm, a collaborative filtering system designed to predict whether a customer would enjoy a particular movie based on past viewing habits. To refine recommendations further, Netflix introduced the Queue Add Confirmation Layer (QUACL), which suggested similar titles when a user added a movie to their watchlist. This system also served as a testing ground for Netflix's initial machine learning experiments.

Film production and consumption

In contrast to the early 1990s, the Indian film industry today sees fewer independent producers, largely due to the escalation in film production budgets. In the 1990s, films were often made on modest budgets with manageable risks, allowing a wide range of individual producers to participate, including regional backers and small-scale financiers. However, with the corporatization of Bollywood, rising star fees, expensive marketing campaigns, and reliance on high-end technology, the cost of making and marketing a mainstream film has skyrocketed.

Bollywood has been influenced by various international film industries—whether it’s Hollywood, South Indian films or even Korean cinema in later stages. popular themes, storylines, or even entire films. Bollywood and other parts of the Indian film industry often adapt popular themes, music, songs, storylines, or even entire films that is termed as plagiarism. In an age where information is so easily accessible, there’s more scrutiny, and audiences are quick to notice when films or music bear striking similarities to others. Hence, there is rise of sequels and franchises in Bollywood where originality is always overshadowed by marketability, film studios are increasingly choosing the "safe" route with part 1, 2, 3, and so on. But this trend does make it harder to see fresh, bold ideas on the big screen.

Bollywood’s box office failures today are less about audience disinterest and more about the industry's inability to evolve with changing tastes, especially ignoring India’s linguistic, cultural, and literary diversity. As regional films (e.g., Kantara, KGF, RRR) thrive by staying rooted in local ethos with fresh narratives, Bollywood is being challenged to reinvent itself beyond the Mumbai-centric, star-driven template. Today’s mainstream Indian cinema, especially Bombay-centric filmmaking, is increasingly shaped by corporate interference. Films are often pre-sold based on star power, with legal and finance teams influencing scripts, leaving little room for creative risk or originality. End credits are crowded with corporate names unrelated to the storytelling.  

Historically, producers held the creative power in Indian cinema, but today, OTT platforms are increasingly dictating what kind of content gets made. Bollywood, after being stagnant for nearly a decade, has lost a large part of its audience—some have shifted to Hollywood and global content, while others now prefer masala-heavy South Indian films.

High ticket prices, inflated star fees, and weak storytelling have pushed viewers away from theatres. The rise of OTT coincided with a decline in the middle class’s disposable income, making on-demand, affordable streaming more appealing. Moreover, rising ticket prices, especially in multiplexes, have pushed audiences to wait for digital releases rather than spend ₹300–₹500 on an average theatrical experience

The high cost of tickets and food at multiplexes is not just about pricing—it reflects a deeper disconnect between theatre chains and film production houses and the changing entertainment habits of their audiences. By not making films for these smaller centres or not giving them films, film industry is driving audiences to OTT platforms. Corporates and studios prioritize profits and early returns, often by inflating ticket prices, even if it means losing the broader audience. The content audiences get at such high prices often doesn’t justify the cost, which further alienates viewers.

The statement “Films don’t fail, their budgets fail” underscores a crucial insight into the economics of modern filmmaking. There has been lot of commercial failure of films in Bollywood. This is often less about the quality of the content and more about misaligned expectations, overestimated revenues, or poor budgeting decisions. Meanwhile, rising ticket prices due to inflated film production and marketing budgets have created a growing disconnect with audiences—something clearly visible when theatres are packed on discount days like World Cinema Day. This proves that pricing, not just content, is a major barrier.

Conclusion

What started as an affordable and accessible alternative to cable TV and cinemas is now becoming expensive, with viewers often needing to subscribe to multiple platforms—such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Sony Live, and JioCinema Premium—to access diverse content.  As the subscription costs of OTT rose, content got fragmented, and paywalls increased, many users have reverted to pirated streaming sites and Telegram channels offering movies, series, and even live sports for free.  The OTT fragmentation not only raises overall entertainment costs but also leads to confusion and frustration as content is scattered across services. Free or ad-supported access is shrinking, making quality content less accessible to budget-conscious or rural users, thereby deepening digital inequality. Moreover, the overload of options behind paywalls is causing content fatigue, while poor content discovery algorithms often push mainstream titles over niche or regional ones.

However, there’s growing concern that OTTs—especially international ones—are dumbing down content to gain subscribers and avoiding culturally rooted risks due to limited understanding of Indian diversity. Cinema should challenge us and spark dialogue, but today’s ecosystem often prioritizes reach over depth. Instead of offering easier access to our cinematic heritage, streaming has made it tougher than ever to find and watch classic Indian films in their original form.

The future of OTT platforms is increasingly shifting toward paywalls across all content, moving away from the earlier "freemium" or ad-supported models. The battle continues, but until content becomes more inclusive and accessible, piracy will remain a parallel—and powerful—force in media consumption. The direction OTT takes will shape whether content remains a tool of democratization or becomes a commodity of privilege.

Marketing myopia teaches us that cinema stakeholders must see themselves not just as filmmakers, distributors, or exhibitors, but as part of the broader experience economy. Those who focus on customer preferences, accessibility, and evolving viewing behavior will survive this evolutionary tale. Those who cling to outdated models or prestige assumptions may become irrelevant—just like railways, Kodak, or Blockbuster in their industries.

A Cinephile

I love world cinema.

I have habit of checking IMDB votes of good films.

I am a person who love movies, conversations about films, and people who love films.

That's who I am,

A cinephile.

Part I

Cinema provides us a cosmetic version of nationhood. We, Indians can great affinity to our cinema. We pay homage to movies through the use of dialogues, style, body language and even songs in daily life. So much of their impact on us that we can either hate or love our films but definitely can't ignore them.

Ramadhir Singh is more subtle and strategic way in Gangs Of Wasseypur: "Every fucker's got his own movie playing inside his head. Every fucker is trying to become the hero of his imaginary film. As long as there are fucking movies in this country people will continue to be fooled."

There is always so many feel-good and masala potboiler films in our mainstream Hindi cinema. They serve a very important function of delivering entertainment in our society. But one feel-bad film every year can reminds us of the mistakes that we make and hushed up under covers. We need to diversify the portfolio of genre of the films.

The nudity and sexuality in a good film is context, not subject. But, we don't know how to handle even such sensitive topics with grace. We stick to the conservative and moralistic film avoiding burning topics like partition, riots and even naxalism in right light. We are so much adopted to the candyfloss reality that anything that is even a little real, seems dark and taboo. And Indian diaspora is more conservative in preservation of traditions.Hence, none can hope much ray of hope coming from overseas Indian community.

Indian mental liberation has occured through west. There is no denial of this. But we are still colonized in our sense of thinking and acting. If one Western magazine calls a movie "hidden gem" then all of India is calling it "hidden gem". This is current Indian colonialism. There is no inner calling among us to search and promote independent minds of tomorrow's cinema.

Part II

Movies made for "everybody" are actually targeted for nobody in particular. Movies about specific characters in a detailed world are spellbinding because they make no attempt to cater to us; no longer make movies based on personal analysis and outlook to life and to the world.

We seldom see director driven cinema. Its the insult of creativity and vision. A good director (story teller) is a person who represents the sentiments, the unexplored and the unexplained powers that have been handed down to the people through centuries. In India our so called 'meaningful' films often seem shallow because they are about borrowed pains. Seldom does something as deeply felt and skillfully made like Miss Lovely, Supermen of Malegaon, Frozen, Harud, Gandu, Hava Aney Dey etc come our way. We should be grateful for small mercies of such indie directors.

At this age when quick cuts, item numbers and shaky cameras are becoming trends, its a sense of aestheticity to watch a long shotand let us fully appreciate images and dialogues that are well worth watching. Sometimes the story stops in a frame and a spectacle takes place. Either wonder or heartbreaking tors of metaphysical wonders. The visions makes us lost in the grace and glitz of the cinema.

‎"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever does." ~ Margaret Mead

Part III

Witnessing a scene in an anonymous crowd in dark theater. Its the expression of our repressed and private emotions in the public throgh the character of another person.Cinema brings us the secret anguish of frustrations burning in heart with a silent sorrow of failed dreams that surrounds us in loneliness. The picture stands face to face in front of us. It transforms us into the territory where viewers don't know how to react. Humiliation and Compassion of protagonist become ours.

If you are alone, you are more receptive ad look more deeply into things and that is important. That is how cinema can go beyond entertainment and be work of art. You never forget a sad ending and feeling of broken promises. Heroes die and there is chance of heartbreak! You can't simply watch it, you have to absorb it. Great film and silence in the dark surroundings becomes complementary to each other.

There are odd cases that such a great looking film is not particularly re-watchable. Even the story line and script development are good but the whole film re- watching becomes dull experience overall. May be the characters and dialogues are not engaging enough to catch our attention again and again.

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The world is always a battle ground between romantics and realist. And we want a healthy balance between them in our cinematic arena. We all know that life time vale of cinematic product like documentaries, short films, movies are enormous and passed through generation like a cultural heritage. Roosevelt insisted that photographers and writers document the Great Depression, they produced iconic work that allowed America to doubt its myths but also to get back on track. Can't we do same with our cinema ? I have faith in future of good cinema. Do you have ?

"Film as dream, film as music. No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul."- Jean Luc Godard

Ten Issues - 23

1- Retuning Alha Udal : The lustrous versatility of film music, and change wrought by time. Gulzar knows our culture more than anybody in music industry.

2- Evaluating responses to India's macroeconomic crisis by Shubho Roy and Ajay Shah.

3- Not an April Fool: We are encouraged to over-share, for commercial reasons (just as we are encouraged to over-consume, but that's an issue for another time).

4- वक्‍त की छलनी में चेहरे गुम हो जाते हैं, गीत अमर रहता है ♦ जावेद अख्‍तर - पिछले दिनों जावेद अख्‍तर को राष्‍ट्रपति ने राज्‍यसभा की सदस्‍यता दी। 17 मई 2012 को जावेद साहब ने संसद में अपना पहला भाषण दिया।

5- Sheryl Sandberg’s Inspiring Speech At Harvard Business School. Sandberg urged the new graduates to think of their careers as a “jungle gym,” jumping around instead of following a preordained progression. She urged her listeners to take similar leaps, perhaps accepting a job that’s a step down from what one is currently doing if it offers the chance to learn something new. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship,” she said, “don’t ask what seat—just get on.”

6- Graduate Student: To Be or Not To Be by Karthik Shekhar who is a graduate student at MIT. He earned a Dual Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2008 from IITB.

7- An Open Letter to India’s Graduating Classes - The author is a partner with KPMG.

8- We are now going to uncloak the anonymous man and tell the story of Stephen Ridley. Life is short - you're young, you're old, you're dead. React to that knowledge. You have nothing to lose.

9- Why People Should Not Be Poor by Neera Chandhoke - Can we reflect on the right not to be poor without taking on these background inequalities? Arguably, the right not to be poor is best articulated as a subset of the generic right to equality. The concept of equality is, however, not self-explanatory. In many circles, redistributive justice has replaced equality. It is therefore time to ask the question – equality for what? Unless we are careful about the way we approach the poverty debate, we will land up not with equality, but with “sufficientarianism”.

10- ARTICLE 17 is a campaign launched by Video Volunteers on April 14th, 2012, to urge the National Commission for Schedule Castes, (the government body that is constitutionally appointed to direct and implement the safeguards against untouchability), to prosecute cases of untouchability.

Thought of the Day : - “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.” ― Bertolt Brecht

Ten Issues - 16

1- Great compilation of cultural article at BBC Hindi : Enjoy Reading about Hindustani Tahzeeb

2- ऑन स्‍क्रीन ऑफ स्‍क्रीन : बहुरुपिया का माडर्न अवतार आमिर खान

3-Death by Dialogue By Trisha Gupta : What does it mean for the future of Hindi cinema if most films are now in fact conceived, thrashed out and largely executed not in Hindi but in English? Will filmmakers only tell the stories of a minuscule section of the population?

4-National Film Awards : The absurdity of censorship - An open letter to Hon’ble Minister for Information & Broadcasting on July 14, 2005 by Rakesh Sharma, a prominent Indian documentary film-maker.

5- Paradoxes of memory by Helmut König: Lasting peace agreements after wars and civil wars were for a long time considered to be conditional upon damnatio memoriae – the deliberate and reciprocal forgetting of violence and injustice. However, the established amnesty clause is only realistic where certain rules were not broken during war. The First World War is beyond its scope of applicability, the extermination war of the National Socialists even more so. Where forgetting is impossible, remembering is all that remains. Such remembrance is inextricably and paradoxically linked to forgetting: only what has been remembered can actively be forgotten.

6- Fighting Mr Smith : The Indian Murdochs will not apologise. Nor will the Indian Rebekah Brooks resign. Mr Smith has spread rapidly in Indian media. There are no Neos here to challenge him. PADMAJA SHAW says the Indian ecosystem of news has imbibed some of the negatives of Murdoch’s news empire but is not about to admit culpability.

7- Philadelphia University Commencement Speech – May 15th 2011 : Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur, founding and/or part of 8 startup companies in California’s Silicon Valley.

8- Am I A Product Of The Institutions I Attended? Unstructured learning in structured learning environments: A personal view of Amitabha Bagchi

9- From Technologist to Philosopher : Why you should quit your technology job and get a Ph.D. in the humanities By Damon Horowitz. Thank You Namit Sir.

10- The Brain on Trial by David Eagleman : Today, neuroimaging is a crude technology, unable to explain the details of individual behavior. We can detect only large-scale problems, but within the coming decades, we will be able to detect patterns at unimaginably small levels of the microcircuitry that correlate with behavioral problems.

Arbit Collection

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education



Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. [TED Talk Link Here]

So, we can see here the advantage of the online availability of learning material. That will clearly break the monopoly of the universities as a center of  knowledge.

2- A paragraph in the Review of The Namesake by Roger Ebert attracted me lot : “The Namesake” tells a story that is the story of all immigrant groups in America: Parents of great daring arriving with dreams, children growing up in a way that makes them almost strangers, the old culture merging with the new. It has been said that all modern Russian literature came out of Gogol’s “Overcoat.” In the same way, all of us came out of the overcoat of this same immigrant experience.

3-  I liked the praise of Uttar Pradesh in the words of Nida Fazli  : भारत में उत्तर प्रदेश हिंदी-उर्दू साहित्य की दृष्टि से बड़ा अमीर प्रांत है.  इसके हर नगर की मिट्टी में वह इतिहास सोया हुआ है, जिसको जाने बग़ैर न देश की सियासत को समझा जा सकता है और न इसकी संस्कृति विरासत को समझा जा सकता है.

Ten Issues - 12

1- Why We Have More Sympathy for Baby Jessica Than for Darfur by Dan Ariely. VIDEO
Focusing on the struggles of an individual appeals to our emotions and makes us care. As the numbers of people suffering get bigger, our cognition, calculation, and thoughtfulness are activated—and we care less ; A NGO on this concept is Rangde;

2- The danger of Being good : - The miracle of individual choice may be what is keeping us safe as a society. Some people just choose to be good, no matter what. This is the story of what happens to them

3- Freedom of speech and expression and the law of sedition in India: Text of keynote address delivered by Colin Gonsalves at the inauguration of Persistence Resistance 2011, New Delhi

4- Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright talks bluntly about politics and diplomacy, making the case that women's issues deserve a place at the center of foreign policy. Far from being a "soft" issue, she says, women's issues are often the very hardest ones, dealing directly with life and death. A frank and funny Q & A with Pat Mitchell from the Paley Center.

5- Jugalbandi: Hindustani music is our music By Namita Devidayal : Despite the modern claims to lineage, little is known of the Subcontinent’s classical music forms – beyond the centuries of cross-community collaboration that were required.

6-Jugalbandi: Divided scores By Yousuf Saeed : Though there was a general decline in classical music in Pakistan after Partition, there are many uplifting stories of how musical traditions have been kept alive and even enriched.

7- Poetry of Resistance, recited by Sudhanva Deshpande :



8- Indie and the Indian Middle Class by Arjun on PFC.

9- The Opening : If I was ever asked to host a Bollywood Awards night, here is how I would open it - BY Great Bong.

"Some people call this the “Oscar night for India”. I disagree. To quote a great man, we here dare to go beyond the Oscars. Tell me sir, would the Oscars have the Best Actress dancing an item number—-can you imagine Helen Mirren being made to dance if she wants an Oscar? Can you think of Robert De Niro fighting backstage and calling an angry press-conference because Al Pacino won an award? Can you imagine the award being taken away from Hillary Swank and given to Meryl Streep, just because maybe she is the brand ambassador of the event’s sponsors or because Hillary Swank came late to the show?Can you imagine Keanu Reeves winning The Best Actor Award every year? Can you imagine a movie like “Expendables” getting twelve nominations? No."

10- A Big Think Interview With the British author and activist Raj Patel.
Quote of the Day : Any concession to majoritarianism corrodes a democratic order. It creates two classes of citizens: those who belong to the definitive majority become ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ citizens, while those who fall outside this category have to be ‘naturalized’ through tolerance. Not only does constitutional majoritarianism create discontent and disaffection amongst minorities (reduced as they are to second-class citizenship), it allows religious extremists to set the political agenda because they can use the constitution as warrant for their never-ending quest to realize the perfect Buddhist or Islamic or Hindu state. --- Mukul Kesavan

Cinema and Me

I become movie lover in my college days. Pulp Fiction, Saving Private Ryan, Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Escape from Alcatraz and Shawshank Redemption introduced me into the world of quality cinema. I remembered DVD of Al Pacino movies brought on rent while bounded by the charm of The Godfather.

I became aware and thunderstruck of the power of ideas with the movie V For Vendetta. Recently, Inception gives me huge back up in my plan. As it reaffirms my faith that blog can be a mass awareness tool based on the power of Ideas. I am still not sure of seeing this blog as an open source of Idea. Originality is covered up with the plagiarism just to bring require impact in the reading.

Initial articles were written with the deep passion that anyone will be inspired to bring change someday through the help of it. It was more hope in power of literature than an idea. Mole placed into an estranged society and turning against his employer was my secret plan to destroy authoritarian society. Slowly, I saw foolishness of my dreams. I realized that if you work hard in this country and believe in yourself, you'll die alone and under appreciated. Genius never gained any recognition and died almost unknown as they had shown in the movie 'Pyasaa'.

When I announced my likings of an offbeat films, I was labeled as creative by my friends. They didn't even look at my incapability of being artist. World cinema expanded my knowledge exponentially. As translation is a more intimate reading in isolation and so subtitles is little less rewarding experience but watching movie for a different cultural flavour is intimately joyous.

I have a strong urge to dissect and get to the bottom of issues, not willing to be led by popular sentiment. We shouldn't decide everything by polling the masses. Just because most people believe something doesn't make it true. This is the fallacy called argumentum ad numeram: the idea that something is true because great numbers believe it. If this is the case then 20 trillion flies eating shit can't be wrong.

I am still a open-minded movie-lover whose first (and often only) instinct is to see something good or useful in a film. I am a aware audience of passing decade that has shown rise of Aamir Khan attributed to his willingness to work by taking risk and team spirit. SRK lost his touch with coon young man as theirs own by coming into larger than life character. Looking at Indian Cinema in all these years, I wish India to have produced some directors who could have captured our imagination and brought crowds to watch cinema of world standards. I don't see too much movies any more but the taste of good cinema still ponders over in my heart. Here are three important web link on cinema.

The Original Wasn’t Better by Prof Amardeep Singh.

Best Feature Films With Country of Origin India and At Least 100 Votes on IMDB with including all Indian languages.

Best Hindi-Language Feature Films With At Least 100 Votes on IMDB.

On Entertainment addiction of Indians:

Shatranj ke khiladi ("The Chess Players") is a Hindi short-story written by Munshi Premchand. The story depicts decadent royalty of Central North India. It is set around the life of the last independently ruling Nawab ruler Wajid Ali Shah and concludes with the British annexation of the Nawab's kingdom of Awadh in 1856. The two main characters are the aristocrats Mirza Sajjad Ali and Mir Raushan Ali who are deeply immersed into playing chess. Their desire for the game destroys the competency of the characters, and makes them irresponsible in their duties towards their families and society. They derive immense pleasure in developing chess strategies and ignore the real life invasion by the British. Their city Lucknow falls to British attackers as they are busy playing a game of chess.

Ten Issues - 6

1- Transparency and Poverty in India:  It is interview of Aruna Roy a prominent leader of the Right to Information movement and and Nikhil Dey.

2- Indian Culture: How does one define “Indian Culture”? And more importantly, why is “Indian Culture” always defined in terms of what women should and should not do?

3-A World Split Apart by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Commencement Address Delivered At Harvard University published June 1978. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a writer and Through his writings he helped to make the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, two of his best-known works.

4- Food security - of APL, BPL and IPL : The official line is simple. Since we cannot afford to feed all the hungry, there must only be as many hungry as we can afford to feed. The truth is the government seeks ways to spend less and less on the very food security it talks about, writes P Sainath.

5- The Longest Take of Their Lives: This is related to much talked movie Peepli Live making news due to Amir Khan marketing skill. This article is about director Anusha Rizvi and her casting and co-director husband Mahmood Farooqui. Their families wounded each other from opposite sides of the literary wars. Now with their debut film Peepli Live, Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui are ready to take the fight to low culture.

6- Central Bureau of Investigation : It is Central Bureau of Investigation in JK, Elsewhere, Congress Bureau of Investigation. Hard question asked by Reporter on the credibility of CBI.

7-For the Children : For a parent, there is a lot to learn too – understanding the underpinnings of Hindu mythology and more importantly how to introduce children to it. Dr. Pattanaik gives a elegant answers to all.

8- India Today: Cultural Intolerance among Fundamentalist Hindus.

9- Why Adding Followers Alone Won’t Build Your Community : Understanding about social media following where the evidence is clear: the quality of the communities you build is much more important than the size of your following.

10- Knowledge is not a shovel: The primary aim of education, however one understands it, must be to nurture the ability to reflect, to develop new ideas, and to implement these collectively, writes Gesine Schwan. Cognitive multilingualism is the only way to prevent the specialization of knowledge narrowing our horizons to an extent that results in structural irresponsibility.

Quote of the Day: Bush's foreign policy was very simple: fuck the world. Obama's is very simple, too: talk pretty and do nothing. -by Evert Cilliers (aka Adam Ash)

Udaan to Infinity and Beyond

Udaan is touching chords of nostalgia of growing up amongst adults and charming the young with hope in the eyes. The undecisive youth wants time and emotional support to pursue his/her dream career. Udaan is going to be more than teenage success in coming years, a benchmark for coming of the age film. Udaan is going to be our own The Catcher in the Rye, an expression for the teen angst.

Udaan was selected in the competitive section in the prestigious Cannes film festival. And the mainstream media and Bollywood reaction: silence. Unforgivable! Such efforts need encouragement in an early stage so that Udaan could have good outreach to global audience. Mainstream media and Bollywood fail us in great way. Now, when Amitabh Bachan likes the movie, everybody is hailing it as masterpiece. Udaan is a cinema based on real life and that has touched us in our lives. And people must watch it as its the voice and angst of mature teenager. I find ~uh~™ 's review enchanting and rational to support my view:

At 17, most people don’t know what they want to do with their lives. At 35, most people realize that they should have done something which they loved to do at 17. The rest, just a handful, takes a path of their choice. Udaan is about realizing that choice in life. Though, Udaan is definitely not one of those ‘protagonist is a winner’ tales, but just a hint of the force to win. As they say, an end is always the beginning of something.

Many people raise this question, ‘why should we watch a movie like Udaan and waste our quota for weekend entertainment, which doesn’t solve any problem, but just shows what we already know?’ or ‘The story did not end properly’. Well, Cinema is a medium of expression by which a writer/ director expresses his feeling, makes a statement and leaves it to the interpretation, acceptance or rejection to the audience. The more real the story is, the difficult is to end it. Is there any ‘ending’ to real life stories? As Satyajit Ray said – Cinemas of the world were not meant to change a society. The audience is. But Cinema has created sensible audience. What a cinema like Udaan probably does, it uses the language of cinema to educate and inspire many young Rohan’s to take off on the right direction, at the right time.

I don't know about other times. The motivation, self-realisation for energies happens more in company of friends than family these days. Thanks to the Indian family environment that averts risk tendency for more stable and well-traveled path. Generally, we often seek jobs for position and prestige, not passion or drive. Our aversion for patronizing good cinema can be well understand by analogy forwarded by Bq on ours attitude towards study of liberal arts : [Source]

"Regarding education in the liberal arts, you have to admit there is a certain class element to those who chose to/are able to pursue serious study in its various fields. For example, someone who is a first generation college student, i.e. first in his/her family to pursue education beyond high school, would much rather choose a ‘safe’ field such as engineering or medicine or aim at clearing the IAS exam, simply because it makes the most economic sense to do so. I would even go so far as to argue that for a country to have a vibrant intellectual environment in the liberal arts, a substantial middle class is pre-requisite; the liberal arts being a more likely choice of perhaps the 2nd or the 3rd generation college student.

I’d imagine something of the sort applies to the US as well if you look at period such as the 60′s, when a new generation not only revolutionized the the popular discourse but also the intellectual one in various disciplines and departments across liberal arts colleges in the US. A generation, I would add, that was considerably better off than the previous one, considering most of them were born in the booming post WWII era. Now whether the second or the third generation born in India post the 1991 reforms demands better avenues for education in the liberal arts remains to be seen."

This movie reaffirms my belief that content is the king. Movies like Udaan are flying high and are capable of taking Indian cinema to infinity and beyond. The perspective of the dreamers are raising and there will always be several flights of 'Hope' in the sky!

We Live Cinema!

I have quite "diverse" movie-watching and reading habits. As someone who feels equally comfortable watching Kurosowa and cheaply-made B-grade movies, the principle of diversity holds good. The fundamental principle of aesthetics is to acquire excellent taste one has to be able to recognize both ugliness and beauty, which is applicable to the whole range of human experience. It is important to understand what should be accepted and what must be rejected.

Cinema is there to reflect our lives, dreams, ambitions, and hidden desires on the celluloid. Reality and Myths can't be separated but diversion towards one will lead to an uneven balance of the world view. We don't watch cinema for consumption only but to refresh ourselves with entertainment or reflect on our lives.

It took great effort to create the art by an artist. It is so much greater than what it costs us to consume only. The experience may be greater than consumption but the filmmaker is giving us gifts without a doubt. A filmmaker is an artist who creates an uneven exchange, brings himself closer to the recipient, creates change, and does it all with the right spirit.

One of the great joys of cinema is the ability to be transported into another time and place with the theme of universal appeal. Looking at Indian Cinema all these years, we ought to have produced some directors who could have captured our imagination and brought crowds to watch cinema of world standards.

Cinema is deeply personal like any other form of art. The Western expectation of Indian cinema continues to be exotic (read "poverty porn") and according to defenders of Bollywood fare, it should be infused with song and dance aka Broadway style. Such an expectation of the West from every bit of non-Hollywood cinema will tend to distort our cinematic vision. The originality will disappear when we always want to prove our quality without rooting our films in our own culture.

Originality and dareness to speak truth is the prime responsibility of any artist. Even a Kafkaesque cat-and-mouse game of promotion and censorship holds on the content of the art. No cinema-loving filmmaker will finish his piece of art as a propaganda film. And even in the threats of hooligan groups, it's the responsibility of each artist to take a stand. We need to be inspired by the stand taken against institutionalized oppression of government by Chinese, Iranian, or Russian filmmakers.

A new generation of filmmakers in India is now engaging with the most varied facets of a society that is oddly locked in the tension between optimism and stagnation, between attraction towards the past and fascination with the computer age. And the high point is that this new generation of filmmakers is embedded with a socio-economic confidence lacking in the previous generation. We are living in cinema with these filmmakers. By questioning the conformist norms of society through the medium of cinema, I will live the life of a cinephile. I am here due to a pure love for cinema, a middle ground between the ignorance of the mobs and the pseudo intellects with an attempt to drive their film love to this new horizon.

Ten Issues - 2

I am not interested in sensationalism in these sensitive times. I talk about phenomenon in the state of cultural stagnation and political apathy. Reading and education is do ours bit to build democracy as effectiveness of democracy depends on the awareness of its citizens.

1- Indianhomemaker tells us: What do men need liberation from ?

2- Half of India doesn’t even have access to the judiciary. what do courts mean to them? Lawyer Prashant Bhushan speaks to Amit Sengupta of Tehleka on Who is a public intellectual, who can pass for one in India?

3- Amrita Preetam Imroz : A love Story of a Poet and a Painter. Just read to understand the intimacy of the love and poetry.

4- Dubai for a common purpose: to make money as smoothly and painlessly as possible, even if that means turning a blind eye.

5- Greg Satell explains: The Difference between Social Media and Social Networks.

6- From fields to a BPO in 6 months : A first-of-its-kind women-only BPO started by 'Harva' in a Haryana village is all set to harness the rural talent while changing the rigid mindset of the people, transforming rural economy, writes Hemlata Aithani.

7- Author of this post said - If truly good cinema is what survives the test of time, then these three were my first encounter with good world cinema that subsequently attracted me into the good world of cinema! Go on and read - World Cinema : Dark is Mine.

8- By mollycoddling their charges and telling them how to fix each problem, coaches end up creating players who can't think or act for themselves. Is that what has happened to RP Singh and Ishant Sharma? Go figure it out yourself by Harsha Bhogle

9- The Envelope, Please: From Eight Great Innovative Tools, Which Ones Are the Winners? published by April 22, 2010 in India Knowledge@Wharton

10- Who is easily manipulated? A valid question asked by Seth Godin on advertisements.

Jihad against Caste Discrimination

I am always in the favor of inclusive development of backward caste and tribe with general caste. Equality, dignity and merit to GE, OBC & SC, ST irrespective of their caste backgrounds. I always think that government gives equal ground through regulations and reservation in theory only. I don't know that our higher caste Hindu is now accepting lower caste as their equals or not. I always ask elders that has society became more feudal, caste oriented and communal than 60 years ago ? No clear cut answers. People still ask surname with smile to map out the caste and ancestry in their minds. I hope one day caste discrimination will fade away and it will remind us of our ethnicity only.

1- An interview of Shahid Siddiqui, Editor of Urdu daily Nai Duniya about caste politics.

2- Call for first caste census in India.

Officials said the ministry had asked for caste to be included as one of the criteria in the 2011 census, and recommended a differential headcount of the Other Backward Classes and reassessment of their conditions that could lead to changes in the OBC list.

3-Untouchables in Indian polity, 1956-2000: A review from a mainstream political angle. This review is from the book The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty And The State In Modern India by Oliver Mendelsohn & Marika Vicziany

4- MacArthur Foundation "genius" Esther Duflo, PhD '99, field-tests aid programs to find out which ones work-and why.

5- Indian cinema and caste. A well balanced look.

"If you ask a Bollywood filmmaker whether this is actually what he is defending, he will be surprised. He believes that the values he is defending in his film are universal — love, family, country, religion... The word ‘caste’ would never cross his mind. Then how do we say that Bollywood films defend caste society?

The arranged marriage or marriage with parental sanction is an institution that supports, that takes the load of caste society through absolute parental authority when it comes to marriage or any other kind of relationship with the opposite sex. This parental authority is taken for granted in Bollywood films. There is no need to even explain it. The world of Bollywood cinema is so cleansed of caste and religion that one is almost tempted to believe that one is dealing with a bunch of ultra-liberals for whom caste and religion do not define the human personality. But the real reason for this absence is that women must not make the wrong sexual choice that could lead to the collapse of society as we know it. So, the world of Bollywood cinema is shown to be a ‘natural’ world, where upper caste Punjabi men are linked up with upper caste Punjabi women without the problematic obstacle of caste ever coming in the way of their union. Whereas, in reality, especially for the middle-class, caste is an overriding factor in marriage in particular and sexual relations in general."

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I remembered a good quote against racism to finish this article. That would be of a 19-year old single mother from McKeesport, quoted by the Democratic Party chairman for Pittsburgh's 22nd Ward, Khari Mosley, in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, on November 2nd.

Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Barack could run, Barack ran so we all can fly.

Controversy over 3 idiots

There was controversy over 3 idiots over credit with Chetan Bhagat and producers of this film. There is no mention of opening credit in the contract. Only the mention of rolling credits. The whole contract can be seen here. But chetan is miffed that his name appears quite late.

I am producing here stand of my friend who want to remain anonymous. I am in still dilemma that what is right or wrong in this case. One clue about him, he is an IITian. Take a look on his views and spare few thoughts :

The Problem: See this is not about a respectable person or reputable person as such. As an IITIAN, he should maintain the standards, 'arey yaar credit gaya toh gaya', I don't understand why he is making so many media appearances for this, film people like to come in front of the cameras, that is their job anyways, let them do that.

A suggestion: Next time, sell your stories to people, who'll respect your inspirations.

A short comment: Well at this moment, I would also like to comment that if we see the movie Sarkar, the credit has been given properly to 'THE GODFATHER', well theur are some instances which were made different to indianize the story but well still it shows a great respect for Mario Puzo and the filmamkers of THE GODFATHER. Hence proved, two things

1) We as Indians, dont give respect to Indian ppl for their work or we just like so called 'foreign' things to be awarded, remember this is not a question of merit. 5 point someone and THE GODFATHER are masterpieces and liked by mass. So is true for their movie adaptations.

2) Inspirations should come even before the starcast, I believe, whatever you did, you tweaked, did it 99.9% different but still somewhere at the grassroot level you gained something from the base story.

Independent Conclusion
3) I know Chetan Bhagat has gone to IIT (which is actually great and the country still holds its debts for many technological revolutions at IIT, many of them remain hidden or you see some ISRO director speaking about them, never mentioning the institutes, a plight) but IIM (seriously I tell you, most of the management institutions in India, dont provide with a) Mathematical Ability b) Use your engg. skills to tackle any financial problem at hand. They just go for publicity. So, This is a clear indication which shows what IIM education has done to a prominent writer and a technologist, a give-me-publicity personna.

One funny video on youtube about Chetan Bhagat controversy. People who can't see subtitles: Turn on the captions.At the bottom right of the player is the button with a upward pointing triangle on it. Click on it, and then click on CC button to turn on the captions. Those unable to see subtitles, watch it on youtube.

Movies on big Screen

As RGV jas said - " People often confuse ostentatiousness and excessive materialism as Luxury .Two are different things . Real joy of luxury is self sufficient and very personal. As Howard Roark said in The Fountainhead " Luxury is a limited endeavor. What they want is ostentation. to show , to stun, to impress. They are second handers". Cinema has become more than luxury or ostentatiousness for me. "

I am documenting my life here at my blog. The list presented here is of movies experienced by me on big screen with year of watching and place. It is in the chronological way so that I can study my cinematic development (you don't bother to study). This list is correct and lot of effort has been given in recalling memories. My date of birth is 21st August 1985. Hence, I am unable to recall the movies seen by me on big screen of first 4 years. This post is all for those who enjoy and all those who didn't ~~~

Maine Pyar Kiya -Salempur-1989
Haathi Mere Saathi -Salempur-1989

Kishen Kanhaiya -Salempur-1990
Swarg -Salempur-1990
Dil -Salempur-1990
Baaghi -Salempur-1990
Thanedaar -Salempur-1990

Sanam Bewafa -Salempur-1991
Hum -Mirzapur-1991
Henna -Salempur-1991
Bhabhi -Salempur-1991
Saajan -Salempur-1991
Phool Aur Kaante -Salempur-1991
Do Raaste -Salempur-1991

Vishwatma -Salempur-1992
Zindagi Ek Juaa -Salempur-1992
Beta -Salempur-1992
Deewana -Salempur-1992
Bol Radha Bol -Salempur-1992
Khuda Gawah -Salempur-1992
Bewaffa Se Waffa -Salempur-1992

Naukar Biwi Ka -Mirzapur-1993

Jurassic Park -Kanpur-1994
Hum Aapke Hain Koun...! -Kanpur-1994

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge -Kanpur-1995

Jumanji -Kanpur-1996

Mrityudaata -Kanpur-1997
The Lost World -Kanpur-1997
Border -Kanpur-1997

Titanic -Kanpur-1998
Godzilla -Kanpur-1998
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai -Kanpur-1998

Sarfarosh -Kanpur-1999

Dr. Dolittle 2 -Kanpur-2001
Lagaan -Kanpur-2001
Jurassic Park III -Kanpur-2001

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -Kanpur-2002
16 December -Kanpur-2002

Terminator 3 -Kanpur-2003

Van Helsing -Kanpur-2004
Dhoom -Varanasi-2004
Anacondas II-Varanasi-2004
Aitraaz-Varanasi-2004

Page 3 -Varanasi-2005
Black -Varanasi-2005
Waqt -Varanasi-2005
Bunty Aur Babli -Kanpur-2005
Star Wars III -Kanpur-2005
Sarkar -Kanpur-2005
Salaam Namaste -Varanasi-2005
Garam Masala -Varanasi-2005

Æon Flux -Mumbai-2006
Rang De Basanti -Varanasi-2006
Anniyan -Ghaziabad-2006
The Da Vinci Code -Ghaziabad-2006
Omkara -Varanasi-2006
Kabul Express -Bangalore-2006
Dhoom:2 -Mumbai-2006
Night at the Museum -Varanasi-2006

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -Varanasi-2007
Bhool Bhulaiyaa -Varanasi-2007
Taare Zameen Par -Varanasi-2007

Indiana Jones IV -Kanpur-2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -Kanpur-2008
The Dark Knight -Lucknow-2008
The Dark Knight -Lucknow-2008
Quantum of Solace -Gurgaon-2008

Dev.D -Hyderabad-2009
Gulaal -Bangalore-2009
Aloo Chaat -Hyderabad-2009
Billu -Hyderabad-2009
New York -Hyderabad-2009
99 -Hyderabad-2009
Night at the Museum II -Hyderabad-2009
Transformers II -Hyderabad-2009
Life Partner -Hyderabad-2009
Kaminey -Hyderabad-2009
Wanted -Hyderabad-2009
Wake Up Sid -Hyderabad-2009
All the Best -Hyderabad-2009
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani -Hyderabad-2009
Avatar -Noida-2009
3 Idiots -Hyderabad-2009

Indian Directors- A Report Card

It is very challenging working under constraint, duality of aspiration and reality of cost. The most important thing is finding your own voice, own independent thinking and creative passion like any other field. The work of auteurs can be identified by distinguish content, an organic quality, capturing the natural light and shade of the city, its raw colours and infinite textures. But, no-one knows the rules of commercial films. Gene Siskel agrees with me: “If admission is being charged, the readers deserve a review.” Hence, I am also producing a list. And still knowing that it is easy to criticize and difficult to produce.

Original inspiration for preparation of this report card was hidden in an article read long back ago. That was a sort of incomplete, hence refining work was done by me. Edited version is much different than original work.

Auteur
Directors- Films

John Abrahm- Agraharathil Kazhuthai, Cheriachante Krurakrithyangal.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan- Anatharam, Swaryamvaram.

Govindan Aravindan- Chidambaram, Kanchana Seetha, Pokkuveyil

Satyajit Ray- The Apu Triology, Satranj ke Khiladi

Girish Kasaravalli- Ghatashraddha, Thaayi Saheba, Dweepa

Ritwik Ghatak- Megha Daka Tara, Ajantrik, Subarnarekha

Buddadeb Dasgupta- Uttara, Kaalpurrsh

Mirnal Sen- Khandhar, Bhuvan Shome, Ek Din Achanak

Guru Dutt- Pyaasa, Kagez Ke Phool.

Jahnu Barua- Xagoroloi Bohu Door, Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai

Kumar Shahani- Kasbha, Maya Darpan, Char Adhyay

Bimal Roy- Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumita, Bandini, Devdas

Mani Kaul- Uski Roti, Drupad, Idiot.

Shyam Benegal- Nishant, Manthan, Bhumika, Ankur

M.S. Sathyu- Garm Hava , Sookha

The Representatives of Quality
Directors- Films

K. Vishwanath- Swayam Krushi , Sagara Sangamam , Swarnakamalam

Rituporno Ghosh- Unishe April, Rain Coat, Choker Bali

Ajoy Kar- Parineeta, Saptapadi

Mira Nair- Salaam Bombay!, Monsoon Wedding

Deepa Mehta- Water, Earth, Fire

Shekhar Kapur Bandit Queen, Masoom

Aparna Sen- 36 Chowringee Lane, Mr& Mrs Iyer, 15 Park Avenue

Sai Paranjape- Sparsh, Katha

Mani Ratnam- Nayakan, Bombay, Dil Se

Prakash Jha- Gangajal, Damul

Vishal Bhardwaj- Omkara, Maqbool

Anurag Kashyp- Black Friday, Paanch

Kamalakara Kameshwara Rao- Gundamma Katha, Panduranga Mahatyam

Sudhir Mishra- Hazaaron Khwaishein Aise, Yeh Woh manzil to nahin

Raj Kapoor- Awaara, Mis 420, Mera Naam Joker, Aag

Hrisikeh Mukherjee- Golmaal, Chhoti Si Baat and Naram Garam

Bharathi Rajaa- Pathinaru Vayathinile, Nizhalgal

Girish Karnad- VamshaVruksha, Tabbaliyu neenade magane

Ram Gopal Verma- Satya, Company, Sarkar, Bhoot

Chetan Anand- Neccha Nagar, Haqeeqat

Basu Chaterjee- Dillagi, Chitchor, Choti Si Baat, Khatta Meetha

Gulzar- Koshish, Mausam, Aandhi, Angoor

Jabbar Patel Simhasan, Samna

V Shantaram- Do Aankhein Barah Haath, Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani

Ketan Mehta- Mirch Masala, Bhavni Bhavai, Maya Memsaab

Mehbooh Khan- Aan, Mother India, Andaz

Raj Khosla- CID, Who Kyun Thi?

M. T. Vasudevan Nair- Nirmalayam, Kadavu, Bandhanam

Singeetham Srinivasa Rao- Pushpak, Apoorva Sahodarargal

Balu Mahendra- Moondram Pirai, Veedu, Sadma

Govind Nihalani- Droh Kaal, Ardh Satya, Aakrosh

T. Hariharan- Pazhassi Raja, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha

K. Balachander- Rudra Veena, Unnal Mudiyum Thambi

Tapan Sinha- Kabuliwala, Ek Doctor Ki Maut

Kamal Hassan- Virumandi, Hey Ram

Gautom Ghosh- Paar, Dakhal,Yatra

Bharathan- Thevar Magan, Thazhvaram

Jandhyala- Aha Naa Pellanta, Jayammu Nischayammu Raa!

Sathyan Anthikad- Nadodikkattu, Pattana Pravesham

Saeed Akhtar Mirza- Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro,Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!

Shankar Nag- Nodi Swamy Navirodu Hige, Accident

Shaji N. Karun- Vaanaprastham, Piravi

G.V. Iyer- Bhagwat Geeta, Adi Shankaracharya

Utpalendu Chakrabarty- Chokh

B.V. Karanth- Godhuli, Chomana Dudi

Kalpana Lazmi- Rudaali, Daman

Mainstream Filmmskers
Director- Films

B.R. Chopra- Naya Daur, Kanoon, Nikaah

Satyen Bose- Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Dosti

Gautham Menon- Kaakha..Kaakha: The Police, Minnale

Dibakar Banerjee- Khosla Ka Ghosla! , Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

K.S. Ravikumar- Panchatanthiram, Thenali

Kundan Shah- Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

Bala (I-) Naan Kadavul, Pithamagan

Rajkumar- Hirani Munnabhai series

Rakeysh Om Mehra- Rang De Basanti, Delhi 6

Madur Bandarkar- Traffic Signal, Chandini Bar, Page 3

Mahesh Bhatt- Arth, Janam, Naam

Ramesh Sippy- Sholay, Shakit, Buniyaad

Prakash Mehra- Zanjeer, Lawarris

Yash Chopra- Waqt, Lamhe, Deewar

Priyadarshan- Kilukkam, Kaalapaani, Kanchivaram

Farhan Akhtar- Dil Chaatha Hai, Don, Lakshya

S.P. Muthuraman- Enakkul Oruvan, Aarilirindhu Aruvathu Varai

Kodanda Rami Reddy A.- Abhilasha , Khaidi

Vijay Anand- Gudie, Jhonny Mera Naam, Teesri Manzil

Siddique Lal- In Harihar Nagar, Ramji Rao Speaking

Fazil- Manichithrathazhu, Poovizhi Vasalile

Rajkumar Santoshi- Andaz Apna Apna, Ghayal

Manoj Kumar- Shor, Roti Kapda Aur Makan, Upkaar

Sibi Malayil- Bharatham, Kireedam

Ashoutoush Gowarikar- Laagan, Swades, Jodha Akbar

Sanjay Leela Bhansali- Devdas, Black, Khamoshi: The musical

Sriram Raghavan- Johnny Gaddaar, Ek Hasina Thi

Shimit Amin- Ab tak Chappan, Chak De India

Sandip Ray- Goopy Bagha Phire Elo , Bombaiyer Bombete

Santhana Bharathi- Mahanadi, Guna

Santosh Sivan- Theeviravaathi: The Terrorist, Halo

I.V. Sasi- Devasuram, Kanamarayathu

Pan Nalin- Samsara, Kaal

A. Bhimsingh- Pasamalar, Naya Din Nai Raat

Kamal Amrohi- Pakeezah, Razia Sultan

Nitin Bose- Gunga Jumna

Anant Mane- Pori Jara Japun

Jayaraaj- Kaliyattam, Shantam

Sreenivasan- Vadakkunokkiyantram, Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala

Rajat Kapoor- Mithya, Raghu Romeo

Vidhu Vinod Chopra- Khamosh, Parinda

Ramu Kariat- Chemmeen, Neelakkuyil

J P Dutta- Border, Ghulami

N. Chandra- Ankush, Pratighaat

Shakti Samanta- Aradhana, Kati Patang

K. Asif- Mughale Azaam

Emerging Names
Directors- Films

Vasanth- Aasai

Nagesh Kukunoor- Dor, Iqbal

Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni- Valu

Sandeep Sawant- Shwaas

Chandra Prakash Dwivedi- Pinjar

Farah Khan- Main Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om

Blessy- Kaazhcha, Thanmathra

Anubhav Sinha- Tum Bin, Dus

Pradep Sarkar- Parineeta

Navdeep Singh- Manorma Six feet under

K. Selvaraghavan- Kadhal Konden

Nishikant Kamat- Mumabi Meri Jaan, Evano Oruvan

Ameer Sultan- Raam, Paruthi Veeran

Radha Mohan- Mozhi

Onir- My Brother... Nikhil, Sorry Bhai!

Rajnesh Domalpalli- Vanaja

Anurag Basu- Life in Metro, Murder

Sekhar Kammula- Godavari, Happy Days

Kabir Khan- Kabul Express

Chandrasekhar Yeleti- Aithe, Anukokunda Oka Roju

Nikhil Advani- Kal Ho na ho

Tom George- Lessons

Vishnuvardhan- Pattiyal, Arindhum Ariyamalum

Shyamaprasad- Akale, Ore Kadal

Cheran- Thavamai Thavamiruntu, Autograph

Rajiv Anchal- Guru

Shoojit Sircar- Yaahan

Roshan Andrews- Udayananu Tharam, Notebook

Tanuja Chandra- Sur: The Melody of Life

Renjith- Nandanam, Kayyoppu

Aditya Chopra- DDLJ

Manish Jha- Matrabhhomi

Bhaskar- Bommarillu,Parugu

Priyanandanan- Pulijanmam

Omitted Names: Subhash Ghai, S. Shankar, Rakesh Roshan, Sanjay Gupta, Manmohan Desai, Kunal Kholi, Karan Johar, Anil Sharma, Sooraj Barjatiya etc are not there in this list. Opinions are completely mine and I suggest to all people who read the blog or post to send a feedback and suggestion so that we can really improve and create a certain discourse over the works and standing of “Directors” in Indian Cinema.

Cinema - To each his own view

Reading Material on Cinema:
Cinephila 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 critics & film teachers ;

Legend of Gurudutt : The most complete and original stalwart of 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 past and never attempt 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 ad explore. It is the way bollywood handles this that makes it a dream debut for him/her. But over the 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 film making. But now young directors don't go to waste their time pursuing people to watch maestro like John Abhraham, Kumar Sahini, M. S. Sathyu or Mani Kaul. FTII emerged as major talent supplier in the actors but failed to make its presence noticed in mainstream. All current generation of film makers have grown up watching more world cinema than regional cinema (Indian). But on their side, films are powerful medium expression, so it is very easy to loose your own identity and uniqueness. Kurosawa's, Godard's, Majidi's, Hitchock’s and Kubrick’s of this world can easily overshadow their own voice. Hence, the originality should not be suppressed in making films for growth of Indianness in our films. We need to feel films and at the same time not to loose our style of storytelling.

There are mainly two type of film viewers in India. One who wants entertainment and another who demands for reality. Until, People reject B grade commercial movies in favor of cinema with sensibilities, nothing is going to be 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 connects and engage to the audience with 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 idiots or jittery nerds! 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 film making. 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 periphery or pushed towards parallel cinema. People love good cinema as per given the diverse choice. Previously, producers jumped into film making due to love of quick money, not cinema. Today independent cinema is supported by cinephile who are watching and becoming part of change with 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 the single one but many' movie changed my life and turned into passion. Thanks to the pre Cable TV days, I was able to access the regional cinema in childhood on DD. Then, engineering college days opened doors of the heaven. I met with the guys who were equally proactive about good cinema irrespective of language barrier. I stumbled across lots of unknown films from world over and I was awestruck by the stories and characters. I never imagined films to be so meaningful medium of expressions, expressions of thoughts and emotions. Thank you LAN sharing, DC++ and torrents. American, Iranian, Italian, French, Japanese and each tiny nation was giving its own share 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 hero, evil villain, plastic emotions and artificial adayen only. That was unexplainable to me. I was ashamed that why film industry making 800 movies can't produce or even encourage genuine film makers.

Then, I read history of our cinema. A subject so critical yet missing in our academic syllabus. 'Winds from the east' was major revelation to understand cinema. And, my big brother helped me 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 which moved me and provided deep insight. During a short span of time, they made me feel, overwhelm, think, travel in time, amaze and wonder. Cinema is thought as ugly thing to work but good thing to watch for entertainment in Indian society. This hypocrisy was understood by me and all mental blockages were opened. Actually watching films is opens your mind. It is just not the time pass but learning for lifetime. We see how filmmakers have expressed their emotions through visual medium and it is not important to watch films, but feel it. It is difficult to feel things because you need to surrender to feel and fall in love with it. I watch characters growing and becoming part of me with each sharing of cinematic moment with film. Long back ago, I’m all of them and they are all me set against that picturesque landscape of fleeting transcendence. Good Cinema is not which gives you what you desire, It tells you how to desire.

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

Final Solution: Documentary on Gujarat Riot

Final Solution :-



Final Solution is a study of the politics of hate. Set in Gujarat, India, the film graphically documents the changing face of right-wing politics in India through a study of the 2002 genocide of Muslims in Gujarat. The film examines the aftermath of the deadly violence that followed the burning of 58 Hindus on the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra on February 27 2002. In “reaction” to that incident, some 2,500 Muslims were brutally murdered, hundreds of women raped, and more than 200,000 families driven from their homes. Borrowing its reference from the history of Nazism, the title of the film exposes what the film director calls 'Indian Fascism' and seeks to remind that “those who forget history are condemned to relive it." [Source]

Torrent Download Link
To know more about the film, please check this website.

Looking deep into Indian Cinema - 2

Articles:
1- Films? Change the world? by Sudhir Mishra. Political cinema stems from the world around it. It is not afraid to be disturbing. It can laugh at and with the world. It escapes definitions;

2- When was the last time any of our filmmakers became an adjective? Where is the passion? The next great idea? Have things really changed in Bollywood, or are we believing our own hype and hoodwinking ourselves? by Anurag Kashyap .

3- The Bollywood New Wave by Anubhav Pal. Screenwriter Anuvab Pal rides the tide of a new kind of Indian film making that’s bringing bold new visions to global shores…and leaving the old guard lost at sea.

4- What is wrong with Indian script writing? By Gaurav Malani. The script is the USP of my film. But how much truth do these statements hold in the world of Hindi cinema. Almost nil! This unarguable fact came out as a conclusion to the �All Indian Screenwriters Conference� that was held at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.

Video:
1- Naseer sir Interview about movies, theater and social issues in detail : 1stand 2nd .

2- Anurag Kashyap Interview to MTV Iggy.

3- Zoya Akhtar Interview to MTV Iggy.

4- Naseeruddin shah and ratna pathak shah in conversation about Parallel cinema and their career. Interview Part 1 , 2 and 3.

Looking deep into Indian Cinema - 1

Cinema is like an art that inspires you to look at the deeper aspects of life and the world around you. Bollywood Films are merely treated as entertainment dose, served to people on Fridays. People enjoy the fast food and then forgot about it completely. And Response to an accusation of unoriginality or escapism and false depiction of society is a ridiculous justification by our leading filmmakers. They are making films for the enetertainment of masses irrespective of any responsibility towards anything. Anuj Malhotra answers our basic question about bollywood: Who are we making films for then? Aren’t these films hits? If they are not made for anyone, how are they so successful?

He narrates a story - In a city by the river, there was a factory – run entirely by people who were handicapped. They run machines incessantly throughout the day – never pausing for a break until the close of day, which was when they lined the gate of the factory – tired, exhausted to the extent that they could not see – and waiting for someone to lead them to their homes. At the precise moment, the owner of a liquor shop by the roadside would arrive at the scene, and with the false promising of helping them reach their homes, lead them to his liquor shop. Tired, they would fall prey to the temptations of the beverage, and having spent their entire daily earning on the liquor, would tumble outside the bar on the road, or be pushed outside by the owner; never making it till their homes. Ofcourse, some one could have led the tired, blind men to their homes as well.

One may ask here- The liquor joint was successful- A major hit. But didn’t it involve immoral exploitation of a group of people who did not have the luxury of the possession of better judgement?

When a person’s blind, and open to such exploitation, do you exploit them, or do you take them home? The Bollywood chooses the former. The commercial success of a few films should not mask the reality of the situation – 9 out of the 120 or so films released last year were hits. Bollywood’s ignorance of the world we live in, or its discussion, is not something beyond notice for the audience. [Source]

Truly, the average person doesn't care about editing or cinematography. They want only entertainment as kid, uncritical or thoughtlessly accepting. In sports, people are proud of their technical knowledge of game and respect commentators who are aware of each aspect of game. Then why not in movies. In cinema, intelligence is vilified and film education so undervalued that those who teach about it considered arrogant. We should respect differing opinions up to certain point, and then it's time for the wise to blow the whistle.

Cinema and popularity
Roger Ebert put in effective way: [Source]

"What I believe is that all clear-minded people should remain two things throughout their lifetimes: Curious and teachable. If someone I respect tells me I must take a closer look at the films of Abbas Kiarostami, I will take that seriously. If someone says the kung-fu movies of the 1970s, which I used for our old Dog of the Week segments, deserve serious consideration, I will listen. I will try to do what Pauline Kael said she did: Take everything you are, and all the films you've seen, into the theater. See the film, and decide if anything has changed. The older you are and the more films you've seen, the more you take into the theater. When I had been a film critic for ten minutes, I treated Doris Day as a target for cheap shots. I have learned enough to say today that the woman was remarkably gifted."

He further quotes Yeats that the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. No wonder, It pays better.