STORIES WE TELL (2012)

“When you’re in the middle of a story, it isn’t a story at all, but only a confusion, a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood, like a house in a whirlwind or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept away by rapids, and all aboard are powerless to stop it. It’s only afterwards that it became anything like a story at all, when you’re telling it to yourself or to someone else.”      - Margaret Atwood

Produced by National Film Board of Canada and made by one of finest actress and wonderful director Sarah Polley, this personal documentary or what Polley called an interrogation process of her own life. Peeling off the myth and memory through reconstruction of past, it narrated the real and personal story of her life filming interviews of almost all of her family members, including her dad, siblings and number of other significant persons connected to her mom. Yes, she managed to maintain candid and honest confessions through interviewed figures revealing the most personal story of her life. Her mother who died too soon after her birth remained a centre of Polley’s existence in her absence. Her mom’s relationships with three different guys, she tries to explore the truth and ambiguity about her real biological father. While doing this, the film becomes quite repetitive, self indulgent one considering its length with running time of more than one and half hours. But at the same time it manages to bring all this personal self confessions in refined, genuine and interesting way to its audience. The film features an innovative sort of real find or recorded Super 8 like personal camera footage used as flashback, successfully captures the thoughtful and touching tale without much of emotional manipulation.  

What’s the most touching and genuine soul of the film is it features a beautiful relationship between daughter and the father, especially the one who’s not her biological father. Michael Polley’s confessional narration and expressions are something so pure reflection of soul to describe in words. This is enthralling, moving and genuinely layered experience and Sarah Polley is surely a Canadian filmmaker I’m looking forward too! Hope the audience don’t lose the wonderful actress behind the baggage of direction!

ALLEMAN (1964) (Dutch)

“ ‘Zoo’ was well accepted, I considered it to be a practice piece for a long film and that is ‘Alleman’ ( 'Everyman' or 'The Human Dutch'). It’s a film one and half hours long, made with a hidden camera. I was confident about it, there is nothing more fascinating than people watching, especially if they don’t know that they are being filmed. There were a lot of things I filmed but didn’t use: really lovely things. I think that if you don’t ask people when filming them then you’re obliged to make them look silly. I think than you should, I then had a system: Would I use it if it was my brother, sister, mother or father? I have had lot of letters, but not one from someone who says: You should have ask me if you could use that, old man.”

– Bert Haanstra

In more than hundred years from its existence the cinema has dealt mostly with one subject: man. Its images of man and machines, man and environment, man and society, man and circumstances. Perhaps, what better subject, cinema serves to humans than showing them the mirror of themselves! I ended up watching one of the most poetic, beautiful & humanitarian documentary about nothing but people and their everyday life in general; undoubtedly a finest gift served to humanity by Haanstra.  The film is learning lessons of editing, visually so rich & evocative & has wonderful use of  voice over narration and music. Though it’s a documentary, it’s a sumptuous food full of drama, action, thrill, humor and wonderful narrative that is as exciting as watching mainstream entertainer. The reaction of watching it emotive, thought provoking and satirical at times. Highly Recommended. And those who haven’t seen Haanstra’s brilliance of short films, missing something so aesthetic and poetic in their lives. Catch all his shorts available on youtube-  ‘Glas’, ‘Fanfare’, ‘Zoo’ & most poetic ‘Mirror of Holland’, to name a few.

CELLULOID MAN (Documentary (2013)

On the year and the day India celebrate century of its cinema, here is a film about an unspoken man of Trivendram who deserves standing ovation for his mission, for his spirit and for his commitment that makes him truly a guardian of Indian cinema. Those who haven’t studied at FTII, Pune or do not know much about National Film Archive of India, didn’t aware about a beloved and adorable figure who from early morning to late night kept himself busy and occupied with cans and cans of film reels. Watching them sitting alone in a hall, making meticulous notes on his notebook with pencil torch in one hand and pen in another, preserving and maintaining archive of whatever films came under his nootice and above all sharing & passing all his valuable knowledge and reflections to all fellow students of FTII who in a short run going to become some of the finest Indian actors and directors making their own indeliabl marks on indian cinema. Mr. P K Nair is not just pioneer of film archives, he is an institution to learn on various parameters and I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur for bringing such a refined work on this remarkable man of Indian Cinema. It is due to only his efforts today we have been able to preserve the archives of several landmark films by  Dadasaheb Phalke, Bombay Talkies and some of the rare classics like Sant Tukaram, Achut Kanya, Chandralekha, Kalpana.

The film explores the octogenarian man slowly walking inside and outside the old Prabhat Studio; FTII and reminiscing about his years and work. The documentary maintains direct approach in his own voice over where he shares various anecdotes, pleasure of cinema and contemplates about the lost and lack of appreciation of archives.  We see the footage of some of those rare films including number of silents. And along with that film also shares perosnal and public anecdotes of various actors and directors of Indian Parelel cinema movement interviewed ranging from Naseer, Shabana, Jaya Bachchan, Benegal, Ketan Mehta, Mrinal Sen,  Adoor Gopalkrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Saeed Mirza, Kumar Shahni, Balu Mahendra, Jahnu Baruah, Vidhu Vinod Chopra & Rajkumar Hirani. And almost all of them are so interesting. It reflects their adoration for man and the significant role he played directly or indirectly in their learning.

In personal notes, it also reflects the void of the man at personal front. The family that keep awaiting  for the man at home and their sacrifice for the man who was perhaps born to follow his passion neglecting rest. Towards the end of the film and feeling frustrated after all his herculean effort to save and nutrute the pride archives, the man shares his melancholy about current state of Indian cinema where the art and effect of old B&W pure image lost in digital copy.  The film is more than two and half hours long and for documentary it seem too stretched effort but honestly I never felt that bore for a single moment. Credit must goes to editing too for which it won an award along with Best Biographical Film in last National Awards.

There are many intereesting trivia and anecdotes that film brought to my notice. It’s pulling exercise to put all those here, but I would like to share one about one of my favorite actor. Nair said that once Sanjeev Kumar called him at FTII and said that he wanted to see some of Satyajit Ray films, since he was casted in one of his film (Shatranj Ke Khiladi). He confessed that unfortunately he had not seen any of Ray films and he didn’t want to make wrong impression. When Nair told him that he has all the Ray films preserved, within a week Sanjeev landed up at FTII along with his mother, rented a flat in Pune and stayed there for a whole month leaving all his signed films to wait for his part to shoot. And he completed all of Ray films before he started shooting for the Master. “Such was commitment of an actor, where are actors like him now?,” said Nair.

This is truly a film about the man who is more than just Celluloid Man. Go watch this film at your nearest PVR cinema, if they’re running it in Director’s Rare series in your vicinity, a nice and truly appreciable initiative. Hope they continue this effort. Highly Recommended for any Indian cinephile. 

BOMBAY OUR CITY (Documentary) (1985)

‘The reality punch harder to conscience if you have closed your eyes and ears for long and suddenly you face it close to close as it is…uncovered in its striking and shocking side of life questioning itself.’

No, this is not some quote but exactly my state of mind after watching this documentary. The documentary hit me so hard that all those Italian Neorealist tearjerkers that I’ve watched till day seem too mild. The reason is quite genuine- it’s authentic, direct, striking and features the everyday survival reality of underprivileged citizens of enigma named India. The film was made on India’s business metro- Bombay, where behind all those rising modern skyline & archives of Victorian gothic buildings of the city, almost half of its population survives under striking reality and plight of being a slum dweller. It shows us the ratlike life pulping in ugliness of those large shanty slums full of squalor and sadness and a story to move your conscience. These are your everyday helpers in form of construction workers, roadside thelawala, domestic servants, industrial laborers and many things more devoid of all sorts of daily utilities from water, sanitation or electricity.   

The film portrays the demolition drive of slums backed by cops and municipal corporation based on SC’s order. The rehabilitation or legitimate shelter of the underprivileged remains an infinite illusion when nexus between politicians, municipal corporation & builder lobby concern only for one another’s interests. With forced eviction drive the dispossessed slum dwellers surviving on pavements and footpath. The footage of interviews with many of this slum dwellers made us realized their everyday horror and tragedy of life. Contrast to slum dwellers, the film also captures the high society’s views about the underprivileged. It also shows Government’s rigid and ridiculous census & population policy for the city that remained the hub of India’s urbanization. Patwardhan’s moving camera captures punching irony and hypocrisy through images juxtaposed with what those glorious officers stating as rule of law. In private air conditioned halls of business class of Indian Merchants Chamber, we witness the felicitation of the members who successfully manage to remove the encroachment of public places. As shanty squalor of slums which from long tarnishing the image of the city to the world, there were two men who became poster boys of media, business houses and progress. Then Police Comiisioner J F Ribeiro and Municipal Comissioner D M Sukthankar’s eviction drive mission that made multiple headlines in its time.

The film managed to capture the humane side of the whole unlikely reality of Bombay’s poverty and slum  dwelling. The images speak volume of irony here on the face of world’s largest democracy where the engraved equality of constitution rocks are just another filthy joke played on injustice and misery of the children of lesser Gods.

FATHER, SON AND HOLY WAR (Documentary) (1994)

As a follow up to his earlier brilliant documentary ‘In the Name of God’,  perhaps the initial aim of Anand Patwardhan behind making this film was to make its audience aware and think about the ugly, thoughtless face of mass hysteria that spread violence in the name of religion and followed the blind bandwagon of rampage and riots soon after demolition of Babri Masjid. But as they interviewed the mass, checking and counter checking opinions of mass and started gathering the material it also becomes a significant & thought provoking document of prevalent mythical Indian masculine concept (read ‘Mardangi’) ingrained in collective psyche and consciousness of long patriarchal society. It begins with documenting the Mumbai riots as aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition.  Shops were burnt & looted, a shocking captured reality of a burnt dead body lying in the middle of the road where people are commuting while having an indifferent glance at hard reality. But what’s more horrifying is the recorded voices of mass proclaimed that they really enjoyed doing this mad violence. The recorded reaction of one of youth is - “Achcha laga, majaa aa raha hai. Enjoy kiya bas. Wo Karenge to hum bhi karenge naa! Sab ko chance mangta hai iss duniya mein…humne chudiyan nahin pahen rakhkhi hai.”

The film is divided in two parts. The first part titled as ‘Trial by Fire’ is direct reference to Sita’s Agnee Pariksha; a questionable dogma seeded in Hindu epic. This part raised many pertinent questions & key points about how this concept of violent and virile man took the shape of dominance and made the opposite gender servile under their power and dominance. It scratched the history & showed us how the earlier society that worships the feminine gender as divine mother feeling the threat in later years and established patriarch society replaced with various religious symbols and types all over the world including India. In a follow up, it focuses on incident of Roopkunwarji’s Sati case that shook the nation. The camera captures the helpless brother who remained unaware about her sacrifice till it happened but ultimately surrendered to his fellow community members while forcefully joining the bandwagon to call that being Sati her sister transformed as universal mother.The divine Hindu intervention empowered and dominated by patriarch society felt sudden insecure fear that made the stronghold of caste system and gender inequality programmed in the mindsets of people stamped with religious dogma and cultural purity. Behind those dogmas of child marriage, sati sacrifice or veiled woman and many other atrocities against women for long. It also documented another controversial case of Shahnaz bano and portrayed the questionable Muslim law of divorce juxtaposed against constitutional rights of Muslim wife.

The second part satirically titled as ‘Hero Pharmacy’, pointed out how religious warfare driven by Hindu fundamentalist syndicate Shiv Sena and fascist provocateur Bal Thackeray idolized Shivaji to encash vote banks and gain unchallenged power in 90s post Babri demolition. It not only gave Shiv Sena an unchallenged ugly alternate power establishing but also ignite the flame of enmity between two communities. It is quite ridiculous to watch the man who became a known face while playing Duryodhana in India’s hugely admired popular serial ‘Mahabharata’ addressing the crowd with Shiv Sena sloganeering- “Garv se kaho ham hindu hai” and then he added for what he’s called- “if you are Hindu and if you want to live fearlessly, your vote must belong to Shiv Sena.” Similarly we see the voices of Sikhs demanding ‘Khalistan’ and Muslim Imam demanding freedom and sacrifice. This celebrity and stars unawared about their social responsibility poisoning the mindsets that gave rise to an immediate riots. I can’t resist tears watching that shocking and insulting tragedy of a Muslim lady who confessed the horror happened to her facing recording camera or that mill worker old man whose young and bright medical studying daughter was killed by bomb explosion; a successive reply to country’s majority community. The only ray of hope lies in various NGOs working as Ekta Committees to re-establish the faith & humanity between two communities appealing ‘Prem se kaho hum insaan hai’ instead of provocating ‘Garv se kaho ham hindu hai.’

The film also focuses deep rooted psyche and myths of Indian masculine and virile macho man. The film showed us 80’s violent and mindless revenge film posters and its all powerful bollywood heroes, the fascination of WWF wrestling and body building exhibition shows. It is stimulating to catch the intentions of these macho production factories that instigated religious myths and ill doctrinated a generation suffered under insecurity and fake identity crisis.

Hats off to Mr Patwardhan for gifting another though provoking and well balanced document without being preachy or didactic anywhere. Instead of those earlier Government funded boring informative junk documentary cinema which pampered and played ruling government’s tune, this independent and laudable effort is interesting, bold and so direct that shows us the mirror of directionless society shuffling between misleading double face of politics and religion under hoax of cultural crisis.  

IN THE NAME OF GOD (Documentary) (1991)

“One problem with our democracy is that a rigid class and caste hierarchy coupled with gross gender inequality has kept large sections of our population without a voice. But having no voice doesn’t mean having no brain! On the contrary the voiceless have much to say and we can learn so much from their ways of seeing and thinking. Feelings of humanity seem to survive much better amongst the powerless than among the affluent and powerful.”

Kudos to Anand Patwardhan who made this brilliant, insightful & politically charged hard hitting documentary I’ve ever seen. The documentary is one tight slap on the religious fundamentalist face that gained its momentum in of a joint family of VHP, BJP & Bajrang Dal (‘The Monkey Army’ formed by Ram to cross waters of Lanka in Hindu epic and formed by VHP-BJP in 90’s India especially to grab youth activists wing for Ram Janmabhoomi conflict). This un-holy trinity used controversial religious conflict of Babri Mosque-Ram temple issue to cement their political gain and encash financial gain came in form of huge donation amount. It not only gave rise to genocide as its aftermath of mosque’s destruction in December 1992 but also made an unprecedented rise of enmity between two community otherwise living peacefully in the region and country. The film unashamedly records the chronicle of history of the conflict, its manipulation,its campaign and ruling government’s stand, mad hysteria of mass & also registered the opinions & voices of ordinary Indians, both Hindu & Muslims, who kept their sanity and humanity in the midst of communal frenzy. As part of its horror aftermath, the country witnessed communal violence that spread in most of the states and killed thousands of innocent people.

Somehow I feel that religious fundamentalism is more horrific than the terrorism that keep striking our nation time to time. Charging and brainwashing the uneducated mass with religious fanatic poison and then gaining their support to solidify political interest of majority Hindus brought so many ugly repercussions that not only shattered the nation but misled the directionless youth.  These are inside termites of society cheating the mass who surrenders their ideology to them. It’s so ironically sad to see the opinions of that generation of youth who without knowing any history, facts of the conflict or their Hindu scriptures joined the bandwagon of Bajrang Dal activistism clad in saffron cloth and a naked sword in hand. Then ruling V P Singh government’s stand on Mandal commission brought lot of anger of upper class majority. And it was aptly encashed by these so called Hindu torchbearers who wanted to redefine India as ‘Hindu nation’. ‘Hindu’ is the term that touches to all majority mass irrespective of multitudes of castes and community and hence it set up a flame that burned the whole nation. The only grace and hope of the whole issue lied in what the priest of Ram temple of Ayodhya, Pujari Laldas expressed in his noble views in entire documentary but its so sad to know that a year later he was too murdered by some fanatic faggot.

Anand Patwardhan is surely leading filmmaker who’s been making investigative documentaries for thinking men for over three decades. Most of his documentaries won number of prestigious National & International awards in documentary section and covered multiple points touching socio-political-cultural undercurrents about the enigma called India. But what is so sad and ironical is that over the years, most of his films and his reluctant stand either faced censorship and wrath of the ruling elite due to his stand to reflect unabashedly the hard fact hidden inside the veil of soft lies. His many films led him to court action and released much after years when the issue he addressed erased from the mass memory and took turn into another one. Perhaps Kabir’s golden words encapsulated the point that runs in the ending titles of the film; can’t resist quoting them:

Saints, I see

The world is mad

If I tell the truth

They rush to beat me

If I lie they trust me

Hindus claim Ram as the one

Muslims claim Rahim

Then they kill each other

Knowing not

The essence

With prayer beads and caps

And brows of holy paint

They lose themselves

In sacred hymns but

Know not their own souls

Many holy men I’ve seen

Teachers of holy books

Who acquire disciples

Venerate graves

But know not God

The world goes on

Like this and yet

They call me mad

But Kabir says, listen

Who’s the one insane?

Need I have to say the film is an essential watch for all thinking Indians.