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Mumbai International Film Festival is a good platform to showcase the skills of a budding director: Shibani Sharma

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Shibani Sharma

Shibani Sharma, the content development head of the Ryan International School, was a special delegate in the currently ongoing 14th Mumbai International Film Festival. On the very 1st day of the 14th Miff, Shibani Sharma had a TV workshop in the Films Division complex. In this session she first had a brief session, as a media initiative, on the importance of the taglines, highlighting the fact as to why they are essential even for the Public service Announcements (PSA).

What are your feelings as a special delegate of the 14th Miff?

I feel good nay I feel great on being a part of the ongoing 14th Miff and moreover I feel proud and humbly honored on being given the opportunity to hold a workshop on behalf of the Ryan International School. I also feel that the Mumbai International Film Festival offers a good platform to budding directors in the arena of documentary and short filmmaking, in this case our own school students too, to showcase their latent directional skills. It offers a perfect opportunity for them but I just came to know before the session that Miff is held only once in two years. I think it should be made an annual event any this is just my suggestion and since I have come to Miff for the 1st time ever I can’t comment anything more about it.

Could you enlighten us about today’s Ryan TV workshop session?

Regarding this session I would like to inform that as a content development head of Ryan International School I help the students to realize their latent talent of their directional skills in the arena of film making like short films catering to Public Service Announcements. This time they have been given the concepts of making short films on “No Smoking” of one minute duration. And in this session I also explained to them and the entire gathering that giving a tagline to such short film of public interest is especially relevant when backed by statistics. Besides I also held a sample tagline creation contest for the audio – visual medium of the Public Service Announcement especially for the benefit of the attending students from Ryan International School including the media and the delegates of the 14th Miff.

And what was the response of this workshop-oriented session?

I would say that in general the response was good enough but it could have been even much better if the media and the delegates were properly informed about this session and about its proper venue in the films division complex.

And what were the highlights of this particular workshop oriented session?

As the topic of this particular workshop oriented session was “NO SMOKING”. The statistics given to them were that research shows that children are now trying their 1st ever smoke at a much younger age than ever before. So no doubt that the students present in this workshop oriented session came up with varied taglines like “Don’t smoke – it’s not a joke”, “Don’t Smoke – Lung Stroke” and so on and so forth.

So who and which tagline was declared a winner?

The winner was of course, one of our own student and the winning tagline was selected by one of the most honored and respected delegate of the 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (Miff) namely Ms. Parvati Menon who is in fact the 1st ever woman to graduate from the Film & TV Institute of India (FTII – Pune) in the Advanced Direction Course. And the winning tagline was “Be smart – don’t start”. Besides the session had ended with a short audio – visual presentation on varied topics created and designed by the students of the Ryan International School.

Ramesh Tekwani’s master class “on creation, distribution and monetization”

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Ramesh Tekwani

Ramesh Tekwani, who needs no special introduction, held a Master Class on the first day of the ongoing 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF 2016) for Documentary, Shorts and Animation. The Master Class lasted for a good two hours with the collective discussion on the most significant topic of “Creation, Distribution and Monetization”. And Tekwani’s eminent panelists were celebrities in their own rights like Ashish S. Kulkarni, Nandan Saxsena, Kavita Bahl, Sanjay Reddy, Suri Gopalan, Karanjeet Singh, Vanita and Soumya Iyer.

Ramesh Tekwani opened the floor by giving a brief introduction of his panelists and then continued by saying, “Today we are going to discuss on the topic of creation, distribution and monetization along with the other aspects of a new concept known as the New Age Media.”

The first person to address the gathering was Ashish S. Kulkarni who specializes in pitching documentaries. He stated that along with documentaries even the short films and most of the animation films have their own importance and there are some animators whose work leaves you speechless. In fact a lot of storytelling effort is required in an animated film. The story has to be narrated in the sequential form of animatedly moving images. He further added that he takes pride in creating animated films of popular series of Mukesh Khanna’s small screen serial Shaktiman and a big screen film like Little Krishna. But of course it required several layers of animated work.

The next speaker Karanjit Singh explained how you can preserve your filmed work in a digitalised format of varied files like the jpeg, the mpeg files and so on and so forth. While Sanjay Reddy of Silly Monk Pvt Ltd elaborated on the current scenario of how to feed your content on the varied social networking outlets like YouTube, to name just one, and Channels and thereby earn your own profitable revenue without much hassles and efforts. On the other hand Soumya Iyer gave her opinionated version of how to adjust your storytelling in a digital environment keeping in mind the 3 “C”s namely the Content, the Culture and the Commerce. A point to be noted here is that if your content is the king then its properly channelized distribution is the kingmaker and that in turn takes care of its commerce aspect too.

Suri Gopalan from amongst the next set of speakers looks after the varied things like Netflix platforms, the Iphones and above all the distribution network of full length feature films including the documentary films. He observed that a lot of revolutionized things are happening in the above mentioned arenas. We need to build up a peaceful culture to accept these revolutionary changes.

Amongst the renowned panelists there was also a legal adviser named Vanita who informed the gathering to take precautionary measures to safeguard their interest. This was mainly referring to the tribe of the writers. She strongly advised them to take care of their legal rights as far as the copyright issue of their written work was concerned. She further added that all the writers must first mail their written work to themselves as a protection, as an evidence of their work and since they have to pitch their work to many concerned persons they face the danger of their work being pilfered by one or the other source.

And last but not the least was the celebrated duo of journalist turned documentary filmmakers like Nandan Saxsena and Kavita Behl. Nandan Saxsena stressed on the fact that every documentary filmmaker’s voice should be heard even if they cater to the documentary filmmaking of the “old wine in a new bottle” kind. But provided these documentary filmmakers should know that absolute transparency is needed especially when they are pitching or showcasing their works. That apart Nandan feels that a lot of representation and preparation has to be done as far as making an apt documentary on the people of Mizoram and Manipur and their varied issues are concerned. Besides he also stated as a matter of fact that the documentary films are also larger than life just like the feature films of the big screen so they must also be watched on the big screen and not on cell phones. If you do that the whole impact of a documentary film will be lost, besides while filming a documentary one should also understand the proper use of light and camera. And above all a documentary should also have a story which touches your heart, even if it depicts Violence in visuals. And last but not the least Kavita Bahl feels that an apt documentary film opens a lot of avenues.

Mumbai International Film Festival helps you to get prospective clients: G L Bhardwaj

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G L Bhardwaj

A stalwart filmmaker like G. L. Bhardwaj has come to showcase his 10 min documentary film titled Educating Tribal Girls in the special screening category, in the ongoing 14th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for documentary, shorts and animation. G. L. Bhardwaj, having crossed the 88 summers of his life is still going strong.

Can you give us a brief insight of your illustrious work as a documentary and short filmmaker?

Even at this ripe young age of 88 years I consider myself a self taught and a self made man. In the beginning of my career I had the privilege of working with the Late Raj Kapoor in R. K. Studios as a Stills Cameraman from the year 1951 to the year 1955. But now I am like a one man army solely donning the hat of a producer, director, cinematographer, writer and editor. And I sometimes handle all this designations rolled into one under my own production banner namely Bhardwaj Films. I am a full-fledged documentary and short filmmaker having made scores of films for India’s largest documentary organization namely Films Division, Government of India and even for the small screen arena. Besides I have also made documentary and short films for American Broadcasting Company based in New York, Worldwide Television London and several foreign film productions. I have been invited to many foreign film festivals and I have also served as a Jury Members of many National and International film festivals both in India and across the seven seas.

Can you enlist some of the remarkable documentary and short films that you have made till this date?

Some of my remarkable documentary and short films are Festival Time, Land Of Krishna, Fibre – The Fabric Of Life, Mata Ganga, Yamuna, Destination Bombay, Welcome To India, This Is Not My Story, There Are Others, Drought, Woman Cart Pullers, Woman Labourers, Melody Of Monsoon, Kanak Rele, 50 Years Of Hindi, India Love And Devotion, Udham Singh – Freedom Fighter, Savita Rathi – Sarpanch and many, many more and all of them have bagged awards galore both on the National and International front. And now I have come to MIFF with my latest film Educating Tribal Girls which was screened yesterday in a special screening category.

Tell us something more about Educating Tribal Girls.

The story of Educating Tribal Girls takes place in the year 1974. Purnima Pakvasa started a school under a tree with just 15 tribal girls in the tribal district of Saputara on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The school was called the Vishwa Vidyapeeth Girls High School and it was meant for the Dangi tribal girls. Purnima Pakvasa is now 103 years old and is still active. She also happens to be the mother of the great classical dancer named Sonal Mansingh.

Do you have any regrets whatsoever in your career?

My only regret is that even a stalwart documentary and short filmmaker like me does not get an assigned job from the concerned persons and authorities. I had to wait for at least six years before coming up with my latest film Educating Tribal Girls. My last films were Udham Singh – Freedom Fighter and Savitha Rathi – Sarpanch in the year 2008 and 2010 respectively.

What do you think could be the real reason behind this non – assigning of jobs even for a stalwart filmmaker like you?

Earlier Ii used to get a job, just a phone call away but now I have to pitch my work in front of a lot of concerned people.

What do you think of the currently ongoing MIFF?

I think that the Mumbai International Film Festival held every two years is a great opportunity for documentary and short filmmakers to interact with each other. It also helps in networking with the concerned people in your same work arena. It also helps you to get prospective buyers and clients. But I only lament the fact that it only takes place once in two years. It’s like serving all tasty food all at once. After all how much can you partake at one time so I think MIFF should certainly take place every year.

Karnataka eyes over Rs 2.5 lakh cr from global investors meet

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vidhana soudha

Bengaluru: Betting big on the upcoming global investors meet, the Karnataka government is looking to attract twice the Rs 1.30 lakh crore investment it has wooed in the last two years.

Ahead of the three-day mega event, Invest Karnataka 2016, beginning here on February 3, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters that with a thriving eco-system for investment the state’s expectations were “realistic”.

Several mega investment projects would be announced at the meet. Besides, the government hopes to mobilise investments in 116 investible projects identified already, he said.

He added that the state government has cleared proposals worth Rs 1.30 lakh crore in the last two years after he took over as the Chief Minister and they were in different stages of implementation.

The government is expecting to attract double the investment received so far, he said.

The CM further said that the state would reach the targets set in the new 2014-19 industrial policy, one year ahead of the timeframe.

The new policy envisages 12 per cent industrial growth, Rs 5 lakh crore investment and generation of 15 lakh jobs.

On the common refrain by the corporate sector regarding non-availability of land, he said the state cabinet had recently decided to hand over 13,000 acres to Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board.

“Land is not a problem. Karnataka has already created a land bank of 26,268 acres,” noted Rathna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce).

Over 100 top global and Indian leaders, including marquee investors, would take part in the meet, besides CEOs of domestic and global corporations, he pointed out.

Among the attendees would be Ratan Tata, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Anil D Ambani, Gautam Adani, Uday Kotak, N R Narayana Murthy, Sajjan Jindal and Baba Kalyani, officials said.

Fourteen sectors, including defence and textiles, have been identified for the meet, for which seven partner nations – France, Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden, Japan and South Korea – are arriving with huge delegations, Minister for Large and Medium Industries R V Deshpande said.
(Reopen MDS 3)

Both Siddaramaiah and Deshpande described as “tremendous” the response to the event, preceded by roadshows held within the country as well as overseas.

“We are confident that it will be hugely successful,” Siddaramaiah said.

On infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly in Bengaluru, a main source of concern for the investors, he said the government was trying to overcome them.

He said at a meeting recently, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari had responded “positively” to a state proposal regarding funding the 70-km long peripheral road project for Bengaluru.

The project, which envisaged upgrading the roads into national highways and elevated corridors to connect them, required Rs 8,000 crore for land acquisition and Rs 3,000 crore for laying roads, he observed.

To a query on frequent complaints by the state government about lack of cooperation from the Centre, Siddaramaiah said, “We expect cooperation from the Centre. They will have to cooperate. Ours is a federal structure.”

Meanwhile, responding to a question on stiff competition from other states, Deshpande said that Karnataka with its inherent strengths and advantages continued to draw investment despite states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana vying with it.

“Incentives and concessions are not the only answers for investment,” he said, emphasising that Karnataka has historically been a progressive state with a vibrant and productive industrial ecosystem.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley would inaugurate the event, which will also see the presence of several union ministers including Nirmala Sitharaman, Suresh Prabhu and Nitin Gadkari.

(Agencies)

Carl Sagan’s wife mourns Rohit Vemula’s death

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Ann Druyan. (Credit: Reuters/Kevork Djansezian)

Ann Druyan. (Credit: Reuters/Kevork Djansezian)

Hyderabad: “I always wanted to be a writer. A writer of science, like Carl Sagan. At last, this is the only letter I am getting to write. I loved Science, Stars, Nature, but then I loved people without knowing that people have long since divorced from nature.”

This is precisely what Hyderabad Central University Dalit Research student Rohit Vemula wrote in his suicide note, speaking about his love for science.

The suicide triggered wide spread protests across the country and after few weeks of Rohit’s death, Ann Druyan, none other than Astronomer Carl Sagan’s wife has written a letter to Rohit Vemula and responding to his unfulfilled desire Druyan said: “To read his suicide note and to learn the details of his predicament is to get a vivid inkling of the actual cost of bias to our civilization. If we could somehow quantify the totality of lost contributions and innovations as a result of prejudice, I believe we would find it staggering.”

Druyan was told about Rohit Vemula’s death by activist Rajeev Ramachandran –  in a short but reflective letter.

“You tell me, Rajeev: Is it possible that the attention paid to Rohit’s story will lessen its chronic repetition? I am trying to find something hopeful in an otherwise heartbreaking example of needless suffering and squandered potential,” she said adding that she mourned Rohith’s death and lost promise.

Rohith hung himself in the hostel of Hyderabad Central University on January 7, days after he and four other students were banned from the hostel, cafeteria and other common areas on campus for allegedly beating a rival student activist.

(Agencies)

Raped minor sexually assaulted again in Jharkhand hospital

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rape

Ranchi: A 15-year-old rape victim, undergoing treatment at a Jamshedpur hospital, was raped for a second time by a security guard of the hospital, police said on Monday.

The minor girl, admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, was allegedly raped by Shambhu Mahto, a security guard of the hospital, on Sunday night.

The security guard managed to flee the place after allegedly raping the girl. A woman staffer is also accused of helping the security guard to escape from the spot.

Police have launched a hunt for the accused. The security guards posted in the hospital have been interrogated.

The minor girl was earlier raped on January 26 by a 14-year-old boy. He was nabbed and sent to a remand home. The girl was hospitalised.

But she was again assaulted in the hospital when the security guard took the girl to the bathroom and allegedly raped her.

When the girl was raped her mother had gone to bring medicine.

Crimes against women, particularly rape, are rising in Jharkhand. Till November 2015, the total number of rape cases lodged in Jharkhand were 1,124 which was 967 during the same period in 2014.

(Agencies)

Delhi Police, RSS workers unleash brutality on protesters

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delhi-police

New Delhi: Delhi Police today drew flak as a video emerged in which male police constables can be seen purportedly assaulting protesters, including women, demonstrating over the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula near the RSS head office here.

The video went viral on social media, triggering sharp reactions. Two journalists, who have alleged that they were beaten up while covering the protest on January 30, claimed that the police action was “unprovoked”.

Asked about the matter, a senior police official said that the video was being “examined”. “Top-level officers are checking that video as well as the one shot by police officers present there,” he said.

In the 30-second clip, apart from police, some men who are not in uniform can also be seen beating up a youth. A constable is seen dragging a female protester by her hair and pushing her down.

Lashing out over the video, AAP Delhi convener Dilip Pandey tweeted, “What a new low in Indian politics. Male cops beaten up female protesters, RSS workers too joined DP in this brutality (sic).”

Delhi Commission for Women Chief Swati Maliwal said the incident was “unacceptable” and questioned the absence of women constables to control the demonstration that was organised by the Joint Action Committee For Social Justice.

Meanwhile, one of the journalists who was allegedly beaten up, said, “I had gone to cover the protest and found myself being assaulted by members of Delhi Police who also shattered my camera. These policemen were aggressive, possibly because I was shooting pictures at the back of the rally.”

“Male personnel manhandled the female students, dragging and pushing them, scenes that I was about to capture with my camera. This was when the police attacked me,” he claimed on a news portal.

He and a photojournalist, who was also covering the protest, claimed that their cameras were snatched away and later smashed by police.

(Agencies)

Case filed against Rama for ‘cruelty’ towards his wife Sita

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rama-sita

Patna: A practising Indian lawyer has filed a complaint case against Rama, who is worshiped by millions of Hindus, in a court in Sitamarhi, north Bihar.

The ‘case’, filed in the court of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), sought to be made out against Ram is that his conduct showed him wanting in the treatment of women.

Complainant Thakur Chandan Kumar Singh alleged that Rama had banished Devi (goddess) Sita to a life in exile in a forest without any suitable justification for doing so.

“The Devi was exiled (given ‘vanvasa’) for no fault of hers. It was a hypocritical order from king Ram. How can a man become so cruel to his wife that he sends her off to live in a forest?” Singh says in the complaint.

Singh cited this as an instance of a non-cognisable offence committed by Ram towards his wife, who was later found innocent of charges for which she was sought to be punished.

Singh said that Rama did this even after Sita had sworn an oath in front of the sacred fire to live with her husband till death.

“Ram did not think for a single moment how a woman could live alone amid wild animals, including reptiles and mammals, in the forest,” said Singh.

The CJM agreed to take up the matter for hearing on the point on February 1. The complainant claimed his intention was not to hurt anybody’s religious sentiment.

(Agencies)

 

Mob turns violent after foreign student’s car kills woman in Bengaluru

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Image for representation.

Image for representation.

Bengaluru: Tension gripped Ganapathipura at Soladevanahalli in the city on Sunday evening after residents set fire to the car of a Sudanese student after he allegedly knocked down a woman, killing her on the spot, and injuring her husband, on Hesaraghatta main road.

The accused has been identified as Mohammed Ahad (20), a B.Pharma student in Mallige College and a resident of Tarabanahalli. He was returning home after visiting his friends, the police said.

On reaching Ganapathipura, Ahad allegedly knocked down Shabana Taj (35), a local resident, who was returning from a walk with her husband.

While Shabana was crushed under the wheels, Sanaullah, her husband, sustained multiple fractures.

Residents thrashed Ahad. Some residents overturned the car and set it on fire.

The police rushed to the spot and took Ahad into custody. The police have also arrested a few residents who allegedly assaulted Ahad and set fire to his car.

The police subjected Ahad to a medical examination to ascertain whether he was drunk while driving and booked him under death due to negligence charge.

Meanwhile, the residents protested alleging high-handed behaviour of foreign students. The residents plan to visit colleges in and around Hesaraghatta and hold talks with the management in this regard. Senior police officers rushed to the spot and deployed additional forces to ensure order.

(Agencies)

Movie Review: ‘Saala Khadoos’ is a power packed sports movie

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saala-khadoos

Producer: R. Madhavan and Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Star Cast: R. Madhavan, Ritika Singh, Mumtaz Sorcar, Nasser, Radha Ravi, Zakir Hussein, Kaali Venkat, Baljinder Kaur and Sanjana Mohan

Debutante director Sudha Kongara Prasad makes a very impact debut in Bollywood with Saala Khadoos. The movie also has its Tamil version known as Irudu Suttu.

The plotted scenario of the movie starts off with the introduction of Adi Tomar aka Adi (R. Madhavan), who, by profession, happens to be a coach of the girls’ boxing team. Courtesy the dirty politics (wherein he is falsely accused of sexual harassment), he gets transferred to Chennai. Adi is now on a lookout for a girl who has the much required passion for the sport and fire in her belly. And his search ends in the most unlikely person for the job Madhi (Ritika Singh), who, despite being a fisherwoman by profession, is a born talent in boxing and she idolises Mohammad Ali.

Aces: The rock solid par excellence performance of R. Madhan as a boxing coach and of course the gutsy performance of debutante Ritika Singh as an aspiring boxer and finally emerging as a winner – a world champion in the boxing arena. The chemistry between R. Madhavan and Ritika Singh deserves a noteworthy mention. The other actors too lend them an adequate support. And last but not the least debutante director (in Bollywood) Sudha Kongara Prasad is just excellent and too good to be true.

Minuses: Some of the predictable stock characters and situations arising out of dirty politics being played out, time and again, in the sports arena.

Last Word: Saala Khadoos is by far the best sports film so far since Chak De! India, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Com, Brothers et al. A certainly not to be missed fare.

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