bom-blr-bom

i didn't go to bangalore for over 6years n now suddenly in the last four months, i find myself going there thrice!...tomorrow with sunil to shoot astad deboo's performance at rang shankara. see you soon!

mantle-piece!

"The name of the judge who sentences Björk to death in "Dancer in the Dark" is Anthony Dod Mantle. In "Breaking the Waves", a man of the same name is laid to rest with the words, "Anthony Dod Mantle you are a sinner. You deserve your place in hell," while the camera pans across his tombstone."

got called out to help light the kbc set for an international film production "slumdog millionaire"...cursorily asked who the dp n director were...o my god! anthony dod mantle and danny boyle...a completely different aesthetic n working style. wished i could've worked on this film. needles to say, i've asked anthony if i could work with him on laars von trier's next film this autumn. we'll be in touch, he said...while i learnt he has a team of 20!!

my first nomination!

...as the weather warms n the fog lifts...some forgotten fragments glint thru...like my first television awards nomination - best DoP for koffee with karan...not that i won it, just the excitement was fun but being on the other side of a tv production was the best part!!

the first indian television honours, originally conceived for dubai...felt kinda ott here at the andheri sports complex...

i me pic post

old wine older bottles

...every new year for the last 4, i resolve to finish my film on my dad...n every year somewhere along the way it gets derailed n i get increasingly lazy...no not lazy (yes! lazy) kinda struggling to find the motivation...last week, on an impulse, i decided to fly down to spend a couple of days with my uncle. my mum said she'd come along too...the night before the departure i had an idea! let's not shoot this time...enough of your boring camera-in-your-face shoots...i decided to do some audio recordings with my uncle n mum n her sister there...my usual last-minute scrambling around..my poor friends now inured to my ways chipped in - paro, suresh, mohandas, madhu, mahesh, sur, muks...so walkman dat in tow with two mics i went ...thought i'd take b/w digital stills in a desperate hope to get me thinking afresh anew...but na...i just wasn't thinking enough...of what i wanted n how. recorded random conversations with old family friends...n even took some pics...but haven't come back happy...the blessing of "the plot" never happened - mum forgot to carry her holy water n eddie didn't call to remind me of the good ol coconut n my uncle couldn't walk up so stayed back in the car...sighhhh! kya hoga mera??!! angry at myself n v disappointed i spent the next day alone on the beach...

the goa it is a-changin!

and fast n furiously!...altho i've been going there once in 2-3 months, the rate of change boggles me...largescale unplanned development...buildings, bungalows, industry...the global juggernaut is in spin here n how!...the same paranoia about the "outsider"...aggression n distrust rapidly replacing the sussegaad spirit...politically at an all-time naadir...while stashes of crores buy n sell the very soul of this state...

i scratch my head as i walk around "the plot" in verna, dreaming up my idyl...a place where kids of all ages, religion, caste n class can interact n share n play n learn...am still scratchin my head n chewing my nails...

BluD on the beach!

just back from goa...a quickie 'twas...to take my uncle (dad's brother) to verna to see "the plot". reverand father gregory noronha, is how he'd have answered the phone, but we kids always knew him as blue-dada...apparently after a blue bus he used to drive around in nagpore! like all good migratory nri's he comes in once a year around winter to remember "the good ol times"...besides work.

at 82, he's amazingly active...getting slower n lonelier...not much of his family left n whatever lil is left he don't seem to enjoy. so i'd walk with him down the crowded calangute beach as he let the once-golden sands massage his aching right foot...and we'd sit n watch the sun go down...right down today since there was no mist on the horizon...and he'd tell me things "just between you n me"...dreams, disappointments n hopes...

kept thinking of meeka n appa n my slow interrupted walks with them in the cold winter sun of delhi...much the same...they'd talk i'd listen...makes me think about how little they need now n yet how little we seem to be giving them...

picture-time!

trekked to town last week on one of those deliciously cold winter afternoons... was amazed to find bombay out in hordes consuming public art like i'd never seen before. so what if some of the works were bad...they made for unique backdrops ;)

the fog it is lifting...finally!

there are some things ian anderson (of jethro tull) just says so much better...

There's a haze on the skyline, to wish me on my way.
And there's a note on the telephone some roses on a tray.
And the motorway's stretching right out to us all,
as I pull on my old wings one white duck on your wall.
Isn't it just too damn real? One white duck on your wall.

I'll catch a ride on your violin strung upon your bow.
And I'll float on your melody sing your chorus soft and low.
There's a picture-view postcard to say that I called.
You can see from the fireplace, one white duck on your wall.
Isn't it just too damn real? One white duck on your wall.

lighting@sristi3

some of their situations...william'sroanna's
philly's
sahil's
tariq's

PS: a bar of chocolate to anyone who figures out the dominant mood ;)

birthday in b'lore

my friend ranjan had me over for lunch on the 25th...complete with belge beer n exquisite strawberry cheesecake...what a start...then later that night...

... i made them lots of goa sausages n irish cream n they got me this yumm chocolate cake.and early my b'day morning, sur's friend sushma drove me to their beautiful farmhouse nearby for breakfast n some very good coffee...aahhh nice!...needles to say, we ended the long day with lots more beer n music...er ya n some food!!

lighting@sristi2

so we closely observed daylight, watched films - bits n whole, looked at paintings, read about how the great masters worked - from nykvist to murty saab and slowly started working on individual lighting situations which they realised over the last 3days...
quite intense, it ended up being...working about 12hrs everyday...sat sun republic day too!!

lighting@sristi

early this month, mike (aka michael joseph of johnny gadaar fame) called from bangalore asking me to do a 10day camera n lighting workshop for his film students at sristi. 10days!!! i gulped...we settled for 7...i'd never done a week long lighting workshop. was most kicked about the fact that i would be teaching my niece-pooja!
now, i had seen some early dip films from sristi n loved them n thought this mike guy's got a good thing going. on our last trip to b'lore, visited the school n liked the vibe n met up with mike n bonded almost immediately. i've often felt frustrated at sophia's where i've been teaching for about 13yeaars!...and now quite looked forward to interacting with just 10students. that too all day for however long we wanted...an all new experience!

...and a happy new year it has been!

discovered the hippest jazz night club in town - blue frog! good international acts in a well designed space all centred around the performance stage.
school boys reunion! kaali, mullah, tun, shorty, batli reminiscing...missing pakya, ghoda, padhya, porky, chic...was years since we used those names! such fun!
did a pottery workshop at the prince of wales museum! something i had always wanted to learn. sitting at the wheel shaping a mound of clay to life is the closest spiritual experience i've had recently!!
...and how's the new year treating you??

happy new year to you!

the fog came on lil cat feet...
the fog that seems to have taken the world away...
may the new year be clear n crisp, bright n happy!

dmc college goa workshop

finally getting down to write about my first workshop for undergrad college students...this friend of mine - anita, teaches economics at this college in assagaon, near mapusa. and we'd been talking of me doing a film workshop for some time now. three (or was it two) years ago, the inimitable shammi did one during iffi, which was a big hit with the students.

we decided to keep it small ...12-15 students over a week...introduce them to the basics of film-making. for a change i didn't carry my camera n laptop, just to see how i'd manage with what was available. carried many films, a couple of books n my digital still cam. oddly tho, i hardly took many pics this time...kinda bored of my mostly merely illustrative pictures. the hardest part was getting them to talk...they're so used to passively listening in a classroom, it took a long while for them to break free n enjoy an all new feeling of talking, sharing, exchanging...i thought it was the language at first n encouraged them to speak in konkani (hoping that way i'd learn some too ;)...

the other striking thing that happened was that they kept thinking only for themselves dismissing totally all i said about the collaborative-ness of the filmmaking process. it was only late on day 6 when they begun editing the film that they had shot did they realise...and that was such a wonderful moment! how much i laughed when they cribbed about the other...save one guy, no one else had used a video camera...i hadn't anticipated how much of a big deal it was to them...so impatient they were to just go shoot...without listening or following my instructions...without thinking even about what or how they wanted to shoot...of course they got a earful from me!
once they got over that, we really started enjoying ourselves...they came up with 47 ideas!!! to make a film on...n narrowed it down to three - one about love on campus, which they dramatised n shot. then, one on how to copy at exams n not get caught, which was a lot of fun. and third, about the guy who runs their canteen - an elusive but much loved character. he refused to be interviewed which made it all the more challenging!

remembering what bodhibaba used to say about involving locals in my workshops, i invited a young filmmaker - laxmikant who had made a 45min film "a seaside story" to "interact" with this bunch of students...needles to say, they sat poker-faced after the screening n the over enthu laxmikant went on overdrive promptly talking about his film...i stayed quiet for a while...but soon interrupted it, saying he was making it way too easy for them n that he should talk only if they had questions! a wicked smile left my face...n soon the questions poured in :)

now tech! that remains such a pain...for three days we didn't get a comp with the right config to run premier pro. when we got one, it didn't recognise the playback devise...grrrr i tore my hair cursing my decision not to get my laptop with fcp. sos some tech savvy friends...one fails, the other after some tinkering gets it working...phew!...we can edit!! just seeing their footage projected made them gasp n giggle...by the time they begun editing they realised this thing called filmmaking...

unfortunately tho, we didn't finish the edit...the one thing i had completely not factored was "the last bus home"!! this is goa n the last bus back home was at 7.30pm...so we had to stop work at 6.45 every evening...n still they'd get shouted at for coming home late n then leave home at 7am to be in time for the 9am start! the end came suddenly n reluctantly...contento contento contento!

merry christmas!

wishes from the ark this christmas...may you have a very merry fun-filled christmas...there's yumm sweets n good food to be had! so come!

begum

so the new chat show i worked on - "begum" airs on 15th dec at 10pm on this new channel 9x. pls to catch it n tell me what you think.

goaaahhh!

...off to goa (yet again!)..this time for a week long intro to film-making workshop for a bunch of undergrad students in mapusa. assagaon, really - very close to my mum's family village. i'm excited n nervous...never done a week long 9am to 9pm kinda workshop. the college is celebrating its centenary n we're going to be looking at making 4 films...4 groups of 4 students each. one camcorder one edit machine...so let's see how it goes! i hope to rope in some locals in taking the workshop, so that they build a pool among themselves to take this further without me...

haven't prepared much...not too happy about that...will keep you posted.

DO NOT FLY GO AIR

...just back from delhi after a harrowing flight on go air. you call before you leave home, "it's on time sir"...you check in, "it's on time sir". you're waiting in the the departure lounge that resembles a railway stn, no announcement. 15mins after the flight was supposed to take off, there's an announcement that the flight is going to be 30min late. 1hr later the crowd's getting restive...still no announcement. 30mins later we gherao 2 young walkie-talkie totting go-air ground staff. they plead ignorance innocence whatever...we're getting angrier...

turns out that the flight has come in from bombay n that a connecting flight to jammu has been cancelled, so the passengers on board are refusing to deplane!! duty manager is on board trying to coax the passengers to get off. meanwhile, no announcements, no senior "responsible" staff. we start go-air hai hai! the cisf comes by, the airport manager comes by...protests get more vociferous. go-air are sorry! but no offer for refreshments, still no announcement, no offer to put us on other available flights, no refund..but they are sorry!

the commandos are called in n the passengers de-plane n we board the aircraft 2 hours after the scheduled time of departure. on board too they are sorry. but they won't provide us with a complimentary snack or drink. they won't even provide you with a complaint form or passenger feedback form! utterly disdainful disrespectful dispicable behaviour!!

so, the long n short of it - pay that 2/300 extra fly indigo, spice, jetlite, deccan, etc BUT DO NOT FLY GO AIR!