Where do u pick up a lost conversation ? Have not blogged for so long. So much to talk about. So much adventure. So much to share. Don’t know where to start. Maybe someone else should start ? Maybe it is time for me to listen. shekhar
Where do u pick up a lost conversation ? Have not blogged for so long. So much to talk about. So much adventure. So much to share. Don’t know where to start. Maybe someone else should start ? Maybe it is time for me to listen. shekhar
“The moment, only the moment”.
Is it possible when the past haunts and future is all foggy?
Welcome back…
amm…i am waiting for Friday… TGA release !
kedar
Hi Shekarji,
Was wondering..so many movies are made about the “other woman” and how she walks away into the horizon, never to be heard from again or conviniently dies and how the strong bond of marriage lives on etc (well most movies anyway). Has anyone ever wondered what happens to that “other woman”, perhaps she lives on, finds a life of her own and is able to forgive herself and others..?
Fact is stranger than fiction, they say, I know of a relationship betn a wife and mistress that has blossomed against all odds, the marriage has lived on, but no one dies or disapears..art shud imitate life…
Waiting for the adventure stories.
Oh ,Welcome back shekhar. Loved the TGA, congrates for making a movie which will stay in mind for a very long time.Very few of the films have any repeat value now days, I found that in TGA.”THINGS ALWAYS COULD BE BETTER” but they could be worst too.
PEOPLE WHO DINT WATCH IT. HERE IS THE LINK FOR SHEKHAR’S INTERVIEW ON NDTV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtwhP-ZjsI0
Regards!
sanjay
I read a short article today in The Times of India…. and felt your loneliness. I suppose when one gives too much of oneself to one’s work, family, duties, society… there’s not much left to say. Words do not necessarily emote as much as our fingers, our eyes, our heartbeats. The need to say something, I believe, is directly proportional to having someone to say it to, or listen in silence with.
And I can see the connection of this pain with your comments on love and being scared of love…
If what the article today said is true, women would be scared to approach you not because you intimidate them, but because they look at you as someone who knows how to fight pain… not someone who is in pain, and so vulnerable to love….
Lets hear the best critique TGA can get..
Are you planning any trips to Canada.
Hey Shekhar –
Welcome back and I am back to bug you. Like I wrote in my earlier message to you – saw Elizabeth-TGA and liked it.
Why dont you share some of your experiences post the release of your film? A question which I have been wanting to ask is: When a movie is made and while you(or any actor/director) sit and watch it during the premiere (when nothing in it can be changed any longer) – do you get thoughts on how you could have acted/directed the movie better? Do you see faults in the movie then, which could have been overlooked by you till that moment? Do you feel foolish in some scenes? As in, what thoughts about your work come in your mind, when you watch your film once it is released?
Too many questions..
Anyways, take care and bask in the glory of the success.
Hi Shekhar
Watched TGA yestersday. Amazing stuff. So many stories interwoven but still managed to keep divinity as the main theme. I think most of the critics simply lost the theme of the movie, instead criticising about history/costumes/score etc
BTW I liked the way you have potrayed DRAKE at the end.
Brijesh
here’s one….. since ur back in mumbai…
Is there ever a thing like going back home? A friend once said thats the one thing you can never do because you can never really stand in the same river again. It may look the same, sound the same, feel the same, but is it the same? Have you changed have they changed? then why bother?
Dear Shekhar
Welcome back, was thinking of you today, have missed your thoughts and spirit! Happy Thanksgiving, all blessings and health and happiness always!
Start anywhere, about anything…
love, Heath
dude,
you always talk about Indian films and world scenario, world market, billion dollar box office collection. all sounds VERY LOGICAL!
But why other respected film makers fail to understand this? why they keep fighting over OSCARS?
OSCAR is hollywood’s filmfare…
they are so BIG that they started respecting foreign films too long time back.
but if one keenly sees those foreign films which make it to OSCARS are all ‘WORLD CINEMA’ category films…most of those films are NON COMMERCIAL.
and our films are essentially COMMERCIAL films(good or bad).
so we can not compete in foreign language film category and we will never get entry in main stream OSCARS unless it is an american film.
so what ever you have been shouting stands tall…
CONCENTRATE on THE MARKET!
and while doing so if some one makes a film like ‘LIFE is Beautiful’ then there is chance at Oscars as well as world box office collections same time!
kedar
i have also observed that our films essentially LACK ‘detailing’! what do i mean by this?
if a story is of a DOCTOR then there wont be any detailing about his clinic or operation theaters or patient’s problems, medicines, syringes, drugs, bandages, medical equipments etc.(in the flow of the story)
e.g. CITY OF ANGLES- MEG RYAN is a surgeon. how beautifully the whole hospital atmosphere has been created!
or ALL THE PRESIDENT’s MEN- how beautifully the office set up of news paper has been established.
SET UP or Surrounding IS PART of the Story!
the SET UP or SURROUNDING should have a CHARACTER of its own!
we fail to generate this and hence our films appear FOOLISH!- Commercial or art house cinema- we fail to create THE WORLD around characters!
and this happens because we fail to TELL DIFFERENT stories!
AND THE REASON i feel is that- We have not built our nation with our OWN HANDS! our community is not a WORKING COMMUNITY! we are lazy! we rely on god and religion too much and find easy way out of every problem by saying ‘ Destiny’.
we have not INVENTED any thing…we only adapt!
there is no harm in adapting…Japanese did it long time back..but while doing so they didnt lose on to their own identity! look at Kurusawa’s films…!
(Ray’s films had this kind of detailing but they were art house films. we MUST have same kind of detailing in Commercial films too)
we never see Doctor’s story or lawyer’s story or CA’s story or Engineer’s story on Indian screen!
Dude, you were CA… imagine those days when you were liking your job as a CA. recall those heated discussion you must have had with your colleagues about Price hike or Tax issues, budget and all the economic issues…now lay man wont understand your language…but if there is a SIMPLE STORY of some FRAUD in BANKING and the protagonist is fighting then people would understand it. but we never see such detailed work on Indian Screen…
we fail to tell STORIES!
kedar
PS: Indian literature is rich!…there are stories told and there is amazing detailing too…! but FILMS? NO…!
Hi Shekhar acha laga aap lautke ayeh….Your movies on the run…Wish you all the best, Im sorry if i seem ignorant somewhere, par kya karu kuch aisi hi hu!!
You want to hear more than say!! Tired huh, I know…Allow me…This will seem weird…but i want to answer few things on your behalf lol, somebody should speak up for you…LOL!! Dekhiye huzoor I can see a smile and worry on your face>>>tho ye lejiye…
Hi>>>Padmini Boruah !!
If what the article today said is true, women would be scared to approach you not because you intimidate them, but because they look at you as someone who knows how to fight pain… not someone who is in pain, and so vulnerable to love….
The truth is, its not because woman fear to approach for reasons mentioned, because they are afraid to see themsleves in that depth, and fear of getting absorbed in it and “Pain” is pain, and this pain is pleasure with the one you love!! Its not daring to walk into that depth, You cant make it happen, it happens…and wonder if it will ever happen…because one can understand the depth of pain and not choke anyone and gracefully walk away does not mean he knows how to fight it…tht pain that makes him understand that please understand thyself then the other….and he lets them free…and that pleasure of freedom is a pain beyond….engulfs!!
Hi>>>Rashmi !!
True rashmi, it blossoms, but perhaps you have not realised the pain of the one who understands!! Have you ever been able to go deeper than what people see or what they show? Ask the mistress!!! because she is the one who is the one who is making it work….more than anyone else…thats love of a different order…We have made these social rules…people do breath beyond too, but going beyond many a times leaves you numb!! And you wonder now what next!!
Your comments were>>>Fact is stranger than fiction, they say, I know of a relationship betn a wife and mistress that has blossomed against all odds, the marriage has lived on, but no one dies or disapears..art shud imitate life…
Mazak nahi kar rahi shekhar, maana mazak karti hu, but mazak karna has nothing to do with the seriousness of a character either!!
pasand na aye pls delete? or mention>>>DQ Leave!!
Khamoshi for me neither means yes nor no>>>khamoshi se bahut der thuk lar chuki hu>>>I am numb!! Awaaz samaj ati hai!!!
Smile and Hugss
Hi Shekhar,
I am posting something for the first time. Have been frequent reader of your blog.
I just wanted to ask something. What failure means to you? Is it justifited being 24 and not knowing what u want or what the purpose of your life is?… in a world where there is cut throat competition.
If someone whom you love a lot leaves you because he discovers that you have been a failure in the past that too twice and lables you as a looser. What you are supposed to do?
I might be sounding really depressed… may be I am a little but I am not in a hopeless situation. I am a qualified computer engineer I mean I hold the degree :)…But i have never been so confused in my life…I have a very strong creative inclination but dont know where to start from…dont have enough confidence because of my past failures…Keep writing stuff regularly…some are imaginative some are mere facts…I dont know what they are worth?
I dont know I just need some space to breathe and your site allows me to do that and thats why after much resistance I am opening my heart out a little bit.
Hope to hear from you soon…
And looking forward to your movie Paani..it really sounds interesting and yes one more thing I loved your comment in ur interview to NDTV that you wish some directors from bollywood envied you and so they could make a movie for world audience which could make millions of dollors worldwide and not remain content with what they have. But you know something I do envy you, I wish I could tell stories to the world on such a huge canvas, telling different facets of life or creating a world of my own..May be some day I will who knows :)…
Didn’t watch TGA, but will watch it sometime.
Have been reading some critiques of it, but what is unpalatable to some is treasurable for others. I’m sure I would like it.
I watched The Four Feathers though, and the story on the desert was amazing. I didn’t expect an epic kind of movie and all of the characters and their portrayal had me totally involved in their story. The only part which I cannot connect with is a half-dead good-guy finding a sudden surge of energy to vanquish a very alive opponent…sorry, kinda bollywoody:)
And a good ending, couldn’t think of it any other way. It’s a beautiful movie.
Any thoughts on your next project?
Best wishes.
Dear Shekhar
Welcome back, was watching your interview on CNN IBN and NDTV and now waiting to watch TGA…may be then we can start this lost conversation in a better way!
Keep rocking…
Cheers !!!
Nimit
Hi Shekhar,
Stumbled upon you blog today…its been 3 hours and still don’t feel like doing anything else.I won’t lie and would frankly admit that I have not seen much of your work..infact Masoon is the only movie that I have seen..hv ordered couple of them today and will take it from there..your blog entries somehow remind me of the great italian movie “Cinema Paradiso” ..there is a smell of Sartre/Nietzsche somewhere in you..
would also take this oppurtunity to ask you one question..infact 2 :-
a) The directors who had an influence on your work
b) Your fav movies and why
Shekhar , what was the budget of TGA?
Was there lotz of visual animated eefects were used in the climax!?
Regards
Hi, saw ur latest this afternoon (1st show) and deeply appreciated the story-line, the cinematography, the crevases/edifices from where you angled ur shot – very artistic. You are obviously a very confident man with tremendous self-love. Pretty connected to your Self huh 🙂 Nice. We have seen each other several times at the Marriot. http://www.sangeetahanda.com Even gave you a script – “The Fifth Dimension” long back, whcih u left in the UK 🙂 You cld inquire abt me from Deepak C. We communicate 🙂 Pls dont tell him I said this…inappropriate 🙂 Congratutes and well done! Superbly powerful film. Loved the signature line…am using it on my Facebook profile. Ciao Ciao. Sangeeta Handa
Welcome back…
I just saw “Ratatouille” with my son – talk about “DETAIL” – it’s simply awesome – aside from the story and idea behind it (which are brilliant & original), take away the characters, and the sets and environments could pass for real or hyper-real or stylised hyper-real – is it necessary to have so much detail – when compared to what else is on offer ?, perhaps, yes – this is what makes a Pixar film a Pixar film.
You can scan the film from edge of frame to edge of frame and see detail, reflections, glints, scratches, grit, dust…everything – the film makers are constantly asking the question – “do you, the viewer REALLY know YOUR world?” – and not just the animated world which, it seems, we are thoroughly acquainted with, perhaps too intimately…
Brilliant…
R
Shekhar,
I remember when I was in college and studying the hermetic/alchemical influences on the Medieval Quest-Romances–from Wolfram von Eschenbach to the lais of Marie de France. This weekend, I took my nephew to see Beowulf–not the saga in Old English as I had remembered, but still, it was nuanced enough to do what those other quest-romances had done–to delve into human psychology via mythological symbolism (and here I’m more thankful to Jung than Freud), showing, too, the demarcation between lands once ruled by magic and multiple gods/spirits of wood and stream, driven out by the one God of Christianity. It reminded me of the line from Merlin in John Boorman’s Excalibur: “The one god comes to drive out the many gods. This is the time for men and their ways. This world is done with me.”
I almost wonder-and in thinking about Elizabeth, both the first and TGA–if it truly took believing in sovereign as the representation of God on earth–and the mythological aspects of that, to retain the magic of a larger, more meaning-filled life. We no longer look for the Lady of the Lake in a secluded pool of calm water in the midst of some ancient forest, but we still do look for that hero with what A.E. Waite once called “that faraway look in his eternal eyes” who can be some kind of inspiration, as though to know one exists would spark that same light in others of us, until some kind of restirring of ancient illumination is indeed possible, and can transcend whatever cynicism indeed now exists.
How many of us feel that almost ancient stirring, in which some part of us yearns to believe in something greater–some divine being here on earth. We yearn to believe in someone–like Elizabeth, who was real–and that someone might inspire us enough to feel that divinity, and through someone else–know such things exist. Something which will encourage those moments in us as individual men and women, and how we are as individuals meant to continue that divine spark in our own destinies.
Some random thoughts–indeed, as I have to ask these same questions in the process of the packaging of a film now of which I was the author of the original book. Film is the one place, as I warmly believe you have proven, where those almost visceral emotions and stirrings can find life. I am now hoping that this film, too, will have those same qualities.
Please know, Shekhar, your work is truly an inspiration. And more than that, the nuances have not gone unnoticed.
Warmest regards,
RdS
Yes RAVI SWAMI…i loved it too… amazing film!
A comment for Ellen, who was kind enough to make a comment on the HMF/RdS blog after reading my posting here–and in case she doesn’t read it there…
Ellen,
Thank you for your comment–and having been in the film industry for a long time before hanging it up (with the exception of the film project mentioned in the above posting) recently to work on the humanitarian end of the industry spectrum, I’m always damned well hoping that the industry will quit pandering to what they believe is the lowest common denominator among audiences…[smile]. Those universal psychological/mythological themes and nuances warmly hit at the subconscious of an audience for a reason. Perhaps the reason Queen Margot, for instance, could only have been made in France and not the United States. (That was another of my favorites!) I wish there were more of us to take the American industry by the scruff of the neck and give them a good shake–if lower box office numbers won’t do it for us!!!
Warmest regards, RdS
Dear Shekhar,
Part of you has always been here, even in your worded absence…you were felt!
It was a joy being able to meet you for that one fleeting moment, here in Toronto.
Thank you for turning around and coming back to the crowd where I was poking my head through.
Missed your poems.
Welcome back!
Cinda
Are you in Mumbai?
Saw so many comments, you did not reply to even one? why so?
Are you in Mumbai?
Saw so many comments, you did not reply to even one? why so?
Elizabeth- The golden age –
Thoroughgoing and fantastic; and it would teach bollywood a thing about drama and romance!-) Superlative.-)
Kudos ,
Madhu
Shekhar Bhaiyya,
What is it that you want to give to people?
Who is the one who will carry your work culture?
How would you want to be remembered after 50 years?
When will I see a comedy film of yours?
Why people question you for so a few films?
Love Deepak