I have always had a burning fascination for well made indian cinema , but then 'well made indian cinema' is in itself an oxymoron(borrowed usage). However in my quest to unearth the neglected gems though rare as they may come,I chanced upon Benegal's Nishant('Night's end') , Ghattashradda (kannada: 'Funeral rites when alive') and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's 'Videyan'(Malayalam:Servile)all in Youtube(yes u can actually watch something other than soaps, sports, semi porno stuffs here!)the latter i had to sadly abandon due to lack of subtitles in youtube.
It is such meaningful cinema that shall last the test of times. For instance not many are aware that Kasaravalli's first and ground breaking movie besides winning the prestigious
Swarna kamal(Alas it remains a doubt if anyone besides the National award panel, or the film crew ever got to watch this ) is archived in Paris national films archives(Thats right not
Kannada archives mind you!) . Well as a Kannadiga colleague of mine puts it
99 per cent people watch kannada movies , and the rest watch kasaravallino wonder the kannada film industry
is in dire straits. There is just no point in making movies like them time and again for festivals and panels if the bulk of the population are not even aware let alone watch it!Just
dont understand how these supposedly art film makers can sustain the motivation levels(Another Friend of mine swears Kasaravalli s simply "unwatchable") Yes as "Ghattashradda" unfurled and flourished
in its innate simplicity , realism and revelled in the powerful performances it became increasingly clear ... (What?!! No item numbers, action stunts,punchlines!!! surely "Unwatchable" indeed!).
Ghattashradda
Nishant is driven by some glittering performances from brilliant artists in Nasserudin shah, Azmi, karnad, amrish puri aptly honed to perfection by the creative genius in Benegal,
Nihalani and Vijay Tendulkar. Movie leaves a lasting impression.
Nishant
It is alas a pity that i never got to watch many of Ray's classics apart from his "Apu trilogy " as also the timeless masterpieces of Bimal roy, Adoor, GV Iyer
impeded by the lack of subtitles. However sooner will work a way around it
Back home down south I finally watched Balachander's "Aval oru thodarkathai" timed it with Kamal celebrating his 50 yrs in tinseldom.
Tamil films in 70's from the house of Balachander,
Mahendran though one cannot exactly categorise them into the 'parallel cinema' mould are certainly not short of the 'soul' what with excellent scripts backed up by powerful acting, sharp dialogues and
good music.
The journey has only begun.
2 comments:
Very Interesting piece of info abt the movie being archived in Paris film insti. The French often recognize Indian movies more than native Indians ourselves do.
Also as always am fascinated by ur pull towards Indian Cinema. way to go dude.
As now I live outside India, I find lot of good Indian movies alone being screened. I recently watched a marathi film : ' Me Shivaji Raja Bhonsle Bolthoi' It is worth the watch.
Just try
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