The Federation of Film Societies of India completes 50 years. How far have its objectives reached?
The objective of film society movement from the very beginning was to help and encourage appreciation of cinema as a medium not just of entertainment but also as a medium of self-expression with its own aesthetics and vocabulary and as a medium of artistic expression. Films have much more to them than just entertainment. They offer an aesthetic experience of a high order. You have to pay attention to it. You need to learn the changing vocabulary of cinema and understand the style of filmmaking all over the world. And not just think Mumbai films or Hollywood films as the only entertainment across the globe.
How would you see the transition from the ’70s to now? If the multiplexes would re-release the old classics, would that help?
The changes have been dramatic. It’s incredible. Those born in the ’90s have no idea about what India was in the ’70s and ’80s. The changes have been quite extraordinary. Globalisation, the proliferation of mass media, the coming of Internet, cell-phones — all these have changed the nature of life so dramatically, not just in urban India but even for rural folk. You don’t feel as remote and isolated as you did in the past. Automatically your imagined world changes. We all have an imagined world. That imagined world would emerge on the basis of our everyday experiences. If you are not literate, what would be your imagined world like? Mass media creates a different imagined world. Your world view changes quite dramatically on the account of all this. Films are notoriously short-lived. More short-lived is the television show, which is similar to a daily newspaper. No one reads yesterday’s newspaper as it’s no longer interesting or relevant. Cinema tends to be more likely a book.
What can be the various ways to promote independent cinema?
Multiplexes have many screens and a lot of screen time. They need products all the time. This is where independent cinema can come in. If multiplexes will balance their ticket prices with DVDs, then the future of independent cinema will be much better.
As Indian cinema branches out in new directions, what are your thoughts?
Cinema is technology driven. Every new technology replaces some of the older vocabulary of cinema. Cinema is a child of technology. It’s the extension of your creative ability. You have to be careful not to be totally swamped by new developments in technology so that you forget what your content and narrative is. Sci-fi films, a lot of the action films use a lot of technological innovations and forget what they want to say. They need to strike a balance between the technology and the narrative.
Which filmmakers have inspired you?
The list starts with Satyajit Ray. But I’ve also taken inspiration from many new filmmakers recently. Filmmakers such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Neeraj Pandey, Anurag Basu and Nishikant Kamat come to mind.
What is your next film, Well Done Abba, about?
Well Done Abba is a comedy and a political satire. It has Boman Irani in the lead with Minissha Lamba, Sameer Dattani, Ravi Kissen, Ila Arun and Sonali Kulkarni among others. A Big Pictures production, the film has music by Shantanu Moitra. It is slated for release by August or September.
Interestingly, the title has changed from Abba Ka Kuan to Well Done, Abba. Welcome To Sajjanpur was also changed from Mahadev Ka Sajjanpur. Any reasons for the changes?
The titles are so much catchier. Welcome To Sajjanpur, for example, is much more youthful and contemporary sounding, or so I was told.
What are you working on next?
There are couple of projects, but they are yet to reach some concrete form. For me, it doesn’t matter whether the subjects are rural or urban. All of them are part of the Indian experience. You have to look at it in totality. It depends on where your subject takes you.