Part II-- Osian's Film Festival at MUMBAI

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Osian’s Cinefan Festival at Mumbai - Part II

14th June – UNFORGETTABLE FINALE FUNCTION

We have seen many finale / closing functions of the festivals. But it has been our experience that either such functions are mismanaged, improperly organized, often leads to a mini chaos and media/press is always relegated to a miniscule corner. Osian’s finale function at the Jamshed Bhabha auditorium was extremely well managed and there was no missive of any sort, except perhaps a slip of tongue from the host Neville Tuli while inviting one of the poineers of “parallel cinema” when he pronounced the name of Basu Chatterji as Basu Bhattacharya.

At 6.45 p.m. Cineist invitees and press started trickling in an orderly manner passing thru’ a formal verification at entry point. The Press was alloted the front row section and VIPs were just behind, and the GUESTS / main organizers in the middle. Yours truly indeed felt highly honoured when we (alongwith my colleague Jyothi Venkatesh) got ensconced in between the stalwart parallel film makers, Basu Chatterji and Sayeed Mirza, courtesy Mani Kaul- the veteran pioneer of New Wave Films, who offered his place as he got busy in escorting the guests.

The kick off could have been possible on the dot 7 p.m as the star of “Grand felicitation" Shanni Kapoor had already arrived on his wheel chair; but for the presence of the Chief Guest of the evening, star actor-film maker Aamir Khan, because of a slight flight delay as he was dashing from Cheenai right from the sets of his under production film “Ghajini”.

Memorable medlay of song scenes, culled out from the gems of almost vintage Shammi Kapoor films after a great hunt and acquiring cost, were presented as a nostalgic tribute to his career who used to be popularly dubbed by media as the “Rebel Star” since he changed the conventional stereotype “still posture” image of a hero to a dancing / rollicking star. And as the festival publicity described him as the “original Yahoo” his trademark yahoo song frames from “Junglee” were shown at the climax of audio –visual show.

Aamir Khan and Shammi Kapoor

Subtle and pointed

Aamir Khan in all humility called himself too small to be the chief guest to felicitate Shammi Kapoor as the ex-star had been his idol and he was brought up on the staple diet provided by his films. Media had said he is an India’s answer to Elvis Presley. But he felt Elvis was an answer for Shammi saab.He has always been “Hatke” from the traditional aashique and mashooque type of actors. He always believed living in the moment.

And before the celebrity was felicitated, Shammi’s living contemporary film makers who contributed in making him STAR viz: Shakti Samanta and Lekh Tandon, were called on the stage to be the leaders in felicitating him. In emotionally choked voice, Shammi Kapoor profusely thanked his seniors and mentors besides Shakti Da, the late Shashadhar Mukhejee, Nasir Hussain, Manmohan Desai, Rahul Dev Burman and Mohammad Rafi, without whom he could not have achieved the aura which he had created. Of course, he did not forget to add the support and encouragement of his family, including wife Neela Devi and children Aaditya and Kanchan. The felicitation ended with tumultuous standing ovation and applause from the packed audience.

Celebrity attendance included, other than those already mentioned, Shyam Benegal, Sidharth Kak, Kiran Shantaram, Mani Shankar etc.Actors who were spotted were Satish Shah, Sameer datttani (Closing film “Mukhbir” hero) while Rajit Kapur was the compere.

A few words about the memorable Films Screened During two day affair

Short films made by promising film makers left a lasting impact.

Three very good films are:

MIDNIGHT LOST AND FOUND

This 19 minutes film made in Hindi by Atul Sasbharwal was focussed and outstanding in content. It tells the story of two characters in Mumbai. Arvind Spends his lonely nights taking care of a chemist shop and his only respite was the reading Batman comics. A call girl visits his shop every night to purchase a condom pack for her shy customers. Their repeated encounters help them both in understanding each other and slowly a subtle love bond stats between them. When girl asks why an young man like him finds a respite in reading “Batman”, Arvind says, he is the hero for him as the batman always saves the people in distress. And one day, Arvind decides on his life and finds the super hero in him –a la batman.

The film is very well directed and pointedly frank in expressions. Actor who portrayed the call girl was superb without feeling inhibited. A must watch film.

PRIVATE LIFE OF ALBERT PINTO

This 9 minutes short film by Sidharth Singh was the story of another struggling actor in eh burgeoning film industry in Mumbai named Albert Pinto. He goes about a typical day in his life from one audition to another. Things start taking a dark turn in his life after a series of phone calls. This leads the audience to discover the private realm of this deeply complex individual. That perhaps may be the grim reality behind the strugglers of this tinsel world. Actor doing the character of Albert Pinto did justice to the complex role.

SUKRIT’S SUNDAYS

This was perhaps the most touching film of the lot. In bare eight minutes, director Vasant Nath effectively conveyed the loneliness and void created in the life a six year old grandson, who on Sundays (off from school) used to enjoy and also observe and sometimes help his grandpa in carrying out his daily chores. Since his parents used to remain more busy on Sundays, to enjoy and the company of his retired grandpa. After his sudden demise, he was experiencing an emotional and psychological void on his holiday. That state of mind of the child has been effectively depicted which touches our hearts. The child actor was natural and spontaneous.

THE FICTION

This 42 minutes long fiction film interestingly unspoiled the fictions of friendship and intimacy that the characters in this film spin amongst themselves in the big bad city of Delhi. In the daily grind of extremely excruciating rigmarole each one comfortably succumb to the fictional developments. Both the lead characters acted well while the cinematography was brilliant in catching some intricate shots. Director Spandan Banerji’s treatment was also good.

Besides these from the feature films I watched, mention can be made of a Chinese film “BAMBOO SHOOOTS” and a Malaysian film “Breathing in Mud” The first one was an essay on the strong moral fabric of villagers for save their fair name by going up to any length. Writer-Director Jian Yi weaved a fairy tale with fast paced editing.

The Malaysian film was a psychological love filled drama of men women relationships of past and present and how they fear about breaking of bonds. Deftly directed by James Lee, the lead roles of Azan, the photographer and Lina as wife are played with sincerity.

Written by: 

Mohan Siroya

Category: 

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