Film maker Pankaj Parasher has always been obsessed by the use of new technology in the medium of cinema. He was scoring his films himself through pro-tools and his computers before we even knew they existed, and now intends to make movies and tell stories through Digital Art. Here is one of his digital paintings that I particularly like. I can imagine a whole film in this style. It’s a whole new horizon of story telling through the visual arts. Pankaj is willing to speak to anyone that wants to discuss digital art with him on our blog. Just send a comment.
Gulal by Anurag Kashyap
Whether you agree with him or not, Anurag kashyap is one of the most compelling Directors in India. His innate rebellious natures transforms itself onto the screen so effectively that he is constantly challenging any preconceptions that you may have. Don’t expect easy plots or ‘armchair’ cinema from him. His characters and nature of his scenes are so compelling that you cannot help but accept his argument for the moment, only to think long and hard about it when you get home. Gulal is such a film and coming so soon after his path breaking Dev D, presents a completely different side of Anurag, a political one, not seen since his terrific ‘Black Friday’, Argue amongst yourselves later, but on screen his scenes and characters are explosive.
Hungry Hearts by Sohaila Charnalia
It all began the day the four of us sat down to complain. Two of us had lives beating us down….anti-stress pills, rebellious kids, struggles to put in place careers that would have been easier to handle had we been men, or simply, if we had decided to compromise ourselves. The third grumbled about the tight family bonds that were strangulating her. While the fourth was fighting to keep her partner from straying. All of us badly needed a break from the whirlpool of inane activity that we called life.
`Let’s do a play’, one of us shouted…..
true grit
I am in Udaipur filming here, and surrounded by great stories of the Rana’s and the courageous warriors of Mewar. Fascinating stories that make me wonder what true courage really is ? Does true courage need an enemy to provoke it ? Does honor need something dishonorable to fight against to bring it the fore ?
We often do courageous things driven by passion, by desire for change, or in the service of others. Gandhi ji had the courage to lay his life down for freedom. People make courageous films. But in each case there is an assumption of an opposing force. Is that something that is inherent in establishing courage ?
To me courage is the ability to live. Courage is the ability to be quite ordinary and yet be content, and not see life as a huge burden. Ambition or what we call drive is often driven by innate anger, which can turn completely negative.
But beyond all that true courage is the ability to be comfortable with the unknown and welcome it as the natural order of the universe. It is not just the acceptance of death, but also the acceptance of control as the great illusion. True courage is the ability live in the moment fearlessly and with immense love with no opposing force.
The Hungry Hearts Festival
Ok, so we tend to get a little patronizing about our own family members, especially when that person happens to be your younger sister. You kind of tend to pat them on their back and treat them like a child and then look back at your life and realize how utterly stupid that attitude was. It was a typical attitude of a Punjabi elder brother completely confused about his responsibilities towards her.
So now my younger sister Sohaila is doing things that make me sit up and take notice. Things in my own field. Things that are quite awesome. She has started the Hungry Hearts Festival in Delhi. They need support and I will let Sohaila’s own words take over. I am supporting them and if there is anyone else out there that would like to do so in any way , please write to Sohaila who has sent the following message :
Greetings.
I write on behalf of Hungry Heart Festival which is a society dedicated to bringing sensitive issues touching our lives, in the form of theatre and other performing arts in its various forms, to the Delhi audience.
Slum Dog kids to campaign for Congress, Jai Ho !!
Azhar and Rubina, both about 10 years old apparently have been asked to campaign for the congress party in the forthcoming elections. Plans are being worked out now. From everyone complaining about Slumdog Millionaire because it show cases poverty in slums, to our Parliament congratulating the film makers and the Media circus taking off on the new found celebrities, our attitude to the film has been entirely schizophrenic.
Of course the kid’s lives can never be the same, and provided their eduction does not suffer, why not ? Why should anyone’s life not be bettered if it can.
But to use them at this age for electioneering ?? Congress has bought the rights to the song Jai Ho for the current elections too. So watch for Azhar and Rubina on trucks with loudspeakers blaring Jai Ho !!
The inner voice
As I sit here
as I often do
waitng for the first blush of blue
to lighten the dark of the sky
a moment so traqnquill
that God insists on teasing us with it
snatching it away
to remind us of the day ahead
I wonder
where is my inner voice
does it lie in the sounds of the birds twittering ?
does it lie in the gradual changing of the shades of blue
does it lie in the gentle breeze that lifts to rejoice the new day ?
how can it lie merely within me ?
and as I watch the first shade of pink emerge
in a cloud so soft
like a new born baby
how arrogant of me to try and listen for a voice
coming from inside my head
of even my soul, if there ever be one
for if there be such a thing
as an inner voice
than surely it must be shared
by the first blue of the sky
by the first pink of the clouds
by the first singing of the birds
Happy Holi :”Once they had water to throw at each other”
Those are the first words in the Script for Paani.
The film tells the story of a city divided into two. Those few that can afford water, and those that cannot and have to fight for it. And those that can afford it protect it with armed might.
It tells the story of one year in the life of this city. From one Harvest festival of Holi to the next.
Wherever I go in the world it is the same story. Just been around Rajasthan and that’s what is on everyone’s mind. We are running out of Water. In Africa it is the same. In China it is the same. In Australia it is the same. In California it is the same. And when a city runs out of Water, pipelines are created to bring the water from agricultural areas. Creating huge social unrest because the farmers in that area start running out of water.
So this time as we play Holi, and everyone squirts water at each other, remember we may be the last generation that has the luxury to do that. Unless of course you are rich and selfish enough to use bottled water to do so.
Happy Holi, everyone.
Who do Blogs really belong to ?
When I first started to blog, I saw it as a way to express myself. I enjoyed putting thoughts down first thing in the morning. And then as the blog caught on, it was like relating to a whole universe of people with diverse thoughts. I then discovered that people like to express themselves back through this medium, not only to themselves, but also with each other. And then as our community got larger, I was approached by many people to sponsor the blog with advertising. I resisted that, and continue to resist it. After all their is a difference between a Newspaper and a Blog. One is a forum of discussion of diverse points of view of which I am merely the convener. The other a commercial enterprise for the benefit of the owners.
Anyway, for the moment no advertising. I will consider it if I need to spend money on the blog eg if and when we need a search engine, or I need to begin to pay people to manage it. In the meantime I wanted to tell you all that Himanshu is now back in India and working with me. He has left his beloved city of NY and decided to plunge into the world of film making. I wish him luck and all of those of you that are looking to do the same. Including Kedar and Sanjay and other that have actually completed their films within the years that they have been members of our community.
Good luck to you all and the only advice I have is : It’s not a career, it a passion. and ‘kal kisne dekha ?”
like the drop
like the drop
lost in the ocean
searching for the Ocean
like the wave
imagining itself separate
from it’s own immensity
before collapsing back into it
we are divine beings
existing in divinity
and yet searching of it
we are the created
and the creator both,
existing in the vast play
of creativity