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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.
