Gujarati Gazal

અશ્રુ લખેલ નામ વંચાવ માં,

વાવેતર સપનાં ના વાવ માં,

 

વાતો ના મહલે રાતો ભરી'તી,

"કાશ" વળે ઍ વાતો પતાવ માં,

 

અનુભવ બની ભલે સાથે રહેતી,

યાદ બની પણ પાસે આવ માં,

 

વર્ષો તરસતી ધરતી ને આભે,

છૂટું વાદળ ઍક બતાવ માં,

 

ચાલશે શ્વાસો મારા વગર પણ,

વાતો આ ખોટી મને ભણાવ માં,

 

મૌત લગી મેં રાહ જોઈ' તી,

હવે તૂ જુઠ્ઠો પ્રેમ જતાવ માં,

 

ઈશ્વર ભજું તો મળશે સફળતા,

નવી નિસરણી મને વાતાવ માં,

 

ડૂબીને ઉપર, હું આવ્યો છૂં,

ડૂબતો સમજી હવે બચાવ માં,

 

નિર્ધન નિખાલસ જનમ માંગ્યો'તો,

"શાહ" ઘડીને ફરી સતાવ માં.

Cannes : My Experience - Concluding Part 5/5

Watching Films – The Climax

 

 

At Cannes the organizers care a lot about the quality of film screening and showing respect for the filmmakers. And this is evident in every little thing. From the computer systems to watch films at short film library or the little screening rooms to arguably the world’s best theatre – Grand Theatre Lumiere, everything is top notch.

I watched about 80 odd short films at the short film library.

 

 

Ofcourse our very own Prateek , Sopaan and Rishi had their Muktibodh and Ghazal being played there. Also we had the Srilankan Film by Bimal and Umesh which was one of the best I had seen. There was a short film by Deepak Sharma called Wapasi, which had a very good feel to it as well, though tad long. I loved a film called “The Train” by a Chinese director “Joy” – we liked each other’s names for its similarity. There were films from all over the world, from a good documentary by a guy called Gavin on Esports to a Mexican animation film; from an adaptation of Henri Ibsen Play to a Swiss Comedy. It is just not possible to even list the films that I loved.Big cheers for all these filmmakers who are making short films, as there is no support infrastructure in place for short films across the world – both funding and selling it is almost impossible.

 

The only downside in the festival for me was that I started feeling homesick after first 10 days. It was these screenings of films that gave me the best company in the later days.

 

Everything about screening the feature films at Cannes is designed to make you feel special.

 

You walk on the famous red carpet wearing your best tuxedo and a bow tie (a red or a golden one if you are a little more experimenting types), the invitation collector in his best tuxedo scans your card and the invitation and you walk slowly towards the Orchestra / Balcony seat that you have the invitation for.

 

Two beautiful girls after asking whether you like to talk in English or French , will direct you to your seats. People will all rise up when the cast and crew arrives. After a small introduction of the cast and crew in French and a little director’s statement, the movie screening begins with you visually climbing the stairs that lead up to the famous leaf of Cannes Film Festival. It is all too ‘Surreal’ (a word that Prateek prefers using).

 

We attended the premiere for – Timbuktu, Mr.Turner, Incompresa, Titli and How to train your dragon along with the Cast and Crew. The sheer feeling of how the crowd cheers the filmmakers and how they give a real standing ovation at the end of the film for 10-20 minutes brings Goosebumps. At the end of the show you want to be the man/ woman they are cheering.

Though, the best movie watching experience undoubtedly was the celebration screening for Pulp Fiction on the beach.

 

 

People waited in queue for 3 hours to get a seat. And then just before it played itself on the huge screen, the star cast and director entered. Quentin Tarantino introduced Uma Thurman and John Travolta as if they were some wrestling stars. And just like the language of his films he called the people who did not watch pulp fiction in last 20 years “Mother F.ing losers”.

 

 

 

Next of course was Titli – the only Indian selection in the un certain regard section. It is a gritty well-paced film with solid performance. Strong footed in the environment that its characters represented, it tells an unflinching tale of a man “Titli” who feels trapped within his life and family.

 

 

Incompresa by Asia Argento – an Italian film telling the story from a little girl’s perspective also suited our film watching sensibilities in a great manner. It was both funny and twisted. Little girl, who was the protagonist, was present at the screening and looked very confident.

We also enjoyed “How to train your dragon 2” in 3D. The best part of this film was that kids were allowed to watch the screening. And there were tens of those little ones, in their small tuxedos and flowing gowns. I hope to bring my son to one such screening.

Watching a classic like Roberto Rosselini’s Fear (1954, starring Ingrid Bergman, was also a special experience). Many scenes literally felt too long a cut.

 

The French film 2 days and One Night, starring Marilon Cotillard was another power packed performance based film. The film is shot like a docudrama and rests heavily on subtleties of acting. Jimmy’s Hall was also an interesting Biopic, about an Irish man who opens up a hall for dancing, where young people met. And he was considered anti-Christian unbeliever for his act. The cinematography and feel of the film was special.

 

 

Talking about cinematography one of the best shot films was the one that won Palme D’or – Winter Sleep by Nuri Bilge Ceylan - A 3hours 16 minute drama which was wonderfully intricate and painfully slow for Indian or Hollywood standard. Our lives are slow, boring and repetitive and movies work as our escape route, so our movies are anything but that. These films feel slightly like a slice of life film for their characters and that makes it slow. The dialogues and conversation in Wintersleep, cinematography and acting were all the best one could wish for.

 

The same was true for Mr. Turner and the Chinese film Fantasia. While Mr.Turner was beautifully shot (probably the most beautifully shot) film, I could hardly make it to the finish line for Fantasia. Sample this, there are 2-3 scenes in this film where you see a landscape of rising and falling hill tops by the river side. A little kid walks from the other side of the hill, goes down on the trough and then climbs up on the hill nearer to the camera and then he stops and looks at the horizon – all in a single cut.

 

 

 

The Salvation was a western which played absolutely like an Indian film. Too Predictable and over processed. Coming Home, another Chinese film was quite better with a beautifully shot love story of a man who returns after 20 years of imprisonment to his lover, who couldn’t recognize him.

 

The lineup also had some twisted stories like Maps to the stars (which many did not like for its theme based on incest) and Lost river (Ryan Gosling’s first directorial Venture which uses colors and Cinematography to depict a dystopian city in bleak times).

Post all this we were tired, and we wanted to skip the last film of the festival – Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas. We decided to go attend the screening and walk out in 10 minutes if we don’t like it. It was a very good decision. I think this was THE best written film of the festival. I was glued to the story and its metaphors completely from start to finish. Juliette Binoche and Kirsten Stewart have acted beautifully in the film. A must watch.

 

 

It was a life, we never dreamt of ; An experience to keep for years to come. I know I will make more films and I hope I will attend more festivals in future but it will never be the.

A special thanks to Infosys for encouraging people following their hobbies in their free time. And a special thanks to you for reading, if you have made it this far J. Hope you enjoyed reading what I wrote to summarize my experience.

 

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 4/5

Networking – The Twists and Turns In The Story

How do you network at Cannes? Well you just go with the flow and keep the deck of your business cards ready. That is about it. People are there to network and you might find an important contact anywhere while peeing in a crowded toilet or queuing up for watching a film.

We made a good little group of Indians, Srilankans, Mexicans, Italians and Spanish guys at the short film corner. Like most of the groups, our group also went hopping pavilion parties and drank well. For 2-3 consecutive evenings by the time we reached Turkish Pavilion, after Short Film Corner, Indian pavilion and European Pavilion, most of the group was high and they bonded well. Learned that unlike French who seem to be kissing the air, Mexican literally kiss your cheeks to greet you. And being the only non-alcoholic married middle aged Indian guy in the group, I wasn’t comfortable with that. I did tell them how Indians greet, either a Namaste or a good handshake. The Mexican girl was slightly confused as to why no one else seemed so bothered. I gave up, trying to explain her. But yes I think this is the group that I will be in contact with for the longest time in future. And yes you need to try Turkish Coffee whenever you get your hands on it!

 

A glass of Strong Turkish Coffee

 

Our day in Cannes used to start at around 8-8:30 and we used to come back home by midnight. For the entire day, all we used to do was, watch movies with filmmakers and meet people. Imagine doing nothing else. The sheer number of people you meet is overwhelming.

 

And the day starts. No we did not spend our time and money in that Casino!

 

Met an Indian actor working in Hollywood, who was nice enough to guide us. He introduced us to Sudhir Mishra, A director from Qatar (who talked about Santosh Sivan like a very close friend), a British Indian Filmmaker and a Hollywood producer, though we had no idea what to talk to them. I liked this camaraderie thing, where people want other people to meet as well. I went to a Yashraj film party as well along with him and it really was full of people I would have liked to be – Kanu Behl, Gitanjali Rao, Avatar Panesar and many more. We saw Kamal Sadanah as well, and the children who grew up in 90s that we are, I and Sopaan (a cinematographer friend and an ex-infoscion) we almost were about to sing “Dil cheer ke dekh tera hi naam hoga” to give him an identity.

 

On a quick lunch break gobbling some fruits, I met an interesting writer-director from U.S. who was there with a comedy film and who had many Indian friends including Siddhartha Mukherjee (writer of Emperor of Maladies).

 

Premieres of films were also good places to connect to people.

 

 

In one of the premieres (screening of Timbuktu), a lady sitting next to me asked me to click her photo, so that she can send it to her daughter. Later while talking to her I realized she is CEO of a firm of 200 people and manages to make films as hobbies. She has been visiting all big festivals and markets for last 5 years - Quite a personality. She left 10 mins after the film started. She guided me in those 10 -15 min on how to tackle legal matters for films and gave me contact of legal firms dealing in films. Found a programmer for Abu Dhabi film festival, a French writer, a UPENN student, who was sitting next to me in one or the other screening.

 

After an absolutely unassuming break after a tiring day we met Ricardo, a film festival programmer for Indian Film Festival of The Hague. What a personality! He spent almost an hour with us, chatting on how we can make our trip to Cannes more fruitful and interesting.

 

 

And of course there were planned networking sessions by India Pavilion where we met range of folks ; Producers to whom we pitched our films, filmmakers, a French winemaker looking for sponsorship opportunities (who was surprised to know that he can’t sell wine in Indian movie halls) and his Japanese wife who was a photographer, Indian Animation producers and so on. An interesting person I met there was an Italian actor, a nice girl who wanted to work in Bollywood. I remember the 3 lines she mentioned “I loved Mother India. I want to work in Bollywood. I can dance.” Made me think how the world perceives our Cinema.

 

Then there were freelance artists from Paris – a fashion designer who worked on themes of Hindu mythology, an Indian classical dancer, a freelance diplomacy document writer and so on who were visiting Cannes.

 

Walking the lanes of Marche du films, we came across many people from Indian press. Some of them were really intrigued to know that I am an Infoscion and I am a filmmaker and I don’t see why it should be different J. One of them, a nice gentleman who was interested in talking about NRN with me, had actually recommended my name for adding it to the delegates from India list (he chose me randomly out of all the short filmmakers, it seems).

 

 

 

There were other Bengali filmmakers from TCS and PWC as well, which was very reassuring.

 

The sessions with filmmakers on various topics, arranged by India also worked as a networking opportunity in many ways. There were sessions with Titli cast and crew, Kamal Hassan, Ramesh Sippy, Guneet Monga and many others.

So at the end of the festival, you are left with hundreds of cards, email Ids and phone numbers. Now it is up to you how you want to take it forward. It has been a week I am back. I have not been able to attend even half of the cards, and I really want to be in touch with all of them. There already are a few interesting email exchanges that are happening with a few. A British filmmaker shared a list of his favorite British movies that I might want to catch up; a German producer has shown some interest in my stories (it is very reassuring to see professionals telling you that this is ‘interesting’. I don’t know may be I was looking for that kind of assurance to build confidence.)

 

Most of these people, who are there for business, left by 21^st / 22^nd of May and the festival was supposed to be till 25^thMay. This left us with 3-4 non-networking days. And we did what one should do at a film festival in those 3-4 days – watched films.

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 3/5

Short Film Corner - My Subplot

Most of these sweet little nothings like us, who call themselves independent filmmakers (though without a strong track record) are found at the Short Film Corner - A place bubbling with energy and a place full of talented people who have just started. People who have made a few short films and want to make feature length stuff in future. Most of these people are open for collaboration, and because they are not yet maligned by the big bad world, they care for the art. It is here that we draw our personal subplots.

 

After collecting our badges and bags (good thing to showoff), first place we visit the next day is the Short Film Corner.

 

(A picture taken by Sopan at the apartment)

 

We see there is a space to meet buyers. There are a few stalls of companies like Adami, Mubi, Creative Mind etc. who survive through talent search. There is a digital film library , which hosts about 40 odd computer station, equipped with all the films that have entered the short film corner as well as the ones in competition and critics week. Over next few days, you might end up spending many hours watching these films made by your newly made friends. Then there is a small workshop room and a counter for free coffee which serves free wine and beer during the densely crowded happy hour (evening 5-6). There were 3 mini theatres with seating capacity of average 10 people. Here you can book screening of your film once. I booked it for 5:40 on the first Monday, expecting a lot of people to be around for the free booze and I wasn’t disappointed. The place was the most happening place for us, I felt that we belong here.

 

There was a great workshop on Pitching that I attended on the third day at Cannes. There were 20 different people from 20 different nationalities and we opened up to each other in the pitching exercise. Everyone was asked to pitch a full length feature script. I pitched my film “Nomen” for the film. The trainer gave us feedback on our body language, structure of pitching, and minor details. Funny thing was in a strong contrast to how women are being suppressed in many parts of the world like India, the story that I narrated in my pitching, the next story was from Iceland and it was based on a Rainbow Party. What the hell is a rainbow party? The girl from Iceland explained it in quite a graphic detail to us. There wasn’t anyone else from the subcontinent to feel the jolts of cultural tectonic shifts though. I met some very good filmmakers in that workshop whom I would like to be in touch with. A senior Norwegian theatre actress and a Cuban Filmmaker were especially interested in my film. There was a guy from Chile, who talked about his industry and a girl from Turkey who discussed her film. It was all good fun. After the workshop, I met a few interesting Pakistani filmmakers as well.

There were interactions with festival directors, VP of Vimeo on digital distribution, Abbas Kiarostami etc. planned by the short film corner. There was one more workshop on Short Film Sales and a breakfast arranged with Festivals, buyers and distributors which weren’t so fruitful for me. Though I learned a lot from it and met many new people. There were about 30 films from India, and about 20 filmmakers were present to attend the festival. Met some of the most talented and interesting folks.

 

(A small gathering after one of the short films screening)

 

I watched many film screenings here as well. The length and breadth of the subjects and genres were truly awesome. Stories were interesting. Sample a few: a middle east based filmmaker’s story of a man kept in solitary confinement starts talking to an Ant ; A Bengali film about a young man’s fascination and coming of age with a backdrop of nude photography; A Mexican animated film about a hare; a Srilankan film about gem-mining; a Canadian documentary on esports; A Norwegian adaptation of Henri Ibsen’s play; a Turkish drama on holidays; a Pakistani documentary on kabootar fights; A Czech -Indian film based on a concept that dreams are written and worked on by a person, while we are asleep; An American comedy based in Switzerland, about failed personalities …. It was a wonderful world.

 

 

Screening of my film was the most exciting moment for me though. The response I got from the audience was exactly of the type I would have wished for. None of the 12-15 folks sitting there were Indians or knew Hindi. The Norwegian and Cuban Filmmaker I talked about made it to the screening along with one of her friends from US who has been teaching art for about 20 years. There were a few Mexican filmmakers and a couple of Srilankan Filmmakers. Post the end credits, when I turned on the lights there was a moment of silence, no one being able to articulate what they were feeling. I loved that moment. The Norwegian actress was the first one to speak, and I loved her comment, “For the first time, I was suffering known emotions along with a character and that character wasn’t a female.” The lady from US was equally vocal about how she liked the film. The Cuban guy was interested about the reference to mythology in my film. The Sri Lankans were a little slow to respond, which I later learned was because English was not the best language for them to articulate their thoughts. The Srilankan editor came to me and said that he would like to work with me if I plan to make a feature out of it. I cannot say how thankful and glad I am to him for saying that. It gave me a confidence that I hardly had. The Norwegian actress later made me meet one of her dancer friends from India, who also happened to be my school senior (small world it seems). Networking at Cannes work that ways, I learned. For people like us, Cannes it seems is all about creating a network

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 2/5

Business Of Films – Plotline

Once you scratch the star studded surface of Cannes Film Festival, you realize the layer below is all about business of films. For the first week, while the novice like us are settling, the stars are striking deals for their next films, producers are signing contracts for global distribution and sales of their films and the circus, fuelled by insane money runs in all might and vigor, through out day and night, on inaccessible yachts and celebrity hotels. You see celebrities vying for the who’s who parties to attend. Everyone seems to be competing to get the passes for a party. We managed one, but were too tired to attend by the time it started. Everything about this business side of films is intimidating.

 

 

Below the level of yachts and private parties is a huge market called ‘Marche Du Films’. It is set up on 2 floors of the Palais de Festival. It is filled with names known and unknown, companies that make films put a booth to sell their films. Familiar booths from India were, NFDC, Eros, Ultra and CII. People range from suave to desperate. A filmmaker from Brunei thought I was a film buyer from India, and pitched his film. I felt too bad to tell him the truth. Think of it, you spend fifty thousand dollars to set up a stall there, and are desperate to find buyers for your film, would you not be hopeful when you pitch your film. It might have taken years to be made. I also met people who produce Doraemon J. My producers Look! :)

 

Every country had bought space and created their pavilion to accommodate and promote cinema from their area. And hence, India Pavilion was the hang out place for all Indians to make connections and talk about their future projects. You see powerful people like Ramesh Sippy, Avatar Panesar (from Yash Raj Films),Guneet Monga and likes talking about mainstream as well as independent films production.

 

At the parties, which is basically a time to get free liquor, you see the chic Indians kissing cheeks in air, the way French people do. A story about that later. In the coproduction parties organized every evening with countries like New Zealand, Australia, Germany and France, people like us, with their new ideas ready in their bags, try to pitch ‘possible films’ to these ‘foreign’ producers. It always seems that they are interested, and they would love it. But neither happens. They tell you, “Sounds like a good idea, contact me when you have the script”. You humbly exchange cards. You put it in your upper pocket where you keep all the most important cards you would like to come back to and he keeps it in the lower pocket of his coat, which you assume is the dumping ground for strugglers.

Finally I walked up to a few producers and directors and I told them, “I am a writer from Pune and I don’t think anyone cares for writing here.” That kind of touched the right chord ; whomsoever I have said that smiled and gave me their card and told me, “Mumbai mein milna”. J

 

I clearly saw the creative artists finding themselves lost in this hullabaloo. In the massive cloud of stars, producers and filmmakers, we floated like sweet nothings, trying to weave our own little sub plot in the story.

 

Cannes - My Experience Part 1/5

The Glitz and Glamor of Cannes – The Protagonist

After the results for Cannes Film Competition were announced, we were walking past the “Artists’ Entrance” on the back side of the Palais de Festival. We saw the press reporters standing there, waiting for stars. Before we realized how and why of it, we saw, Sophia Loren, Uma Thurman, Sofia Coppola, Gael Garcia Bernal, Asia Argento and likes coming out of that door, just a few feet away.

I did not feel star struck, I generally don’t.

 

And then SHE walked out of the entrance, in her shining blouse and a black skirt - Monica Bellucci.

A moment when mind goes blank and you realize the power of celebrities. She has grown old and her face has withered but still it made me remember everything from Malena to Matrix. Damn! I felt like Renato waiting for Malena with his little new cycle on his side, wanting to act like a grown up : A moment when you discover something unknown in yourself. It wasn’t for the first time that I was seeing a celebrity but it was differentJ. And Cannes Film Festival has this ability to surprise you with such moments every now and then. This was just one of the many moments that brought surprises.

A similar moment was when someone asked me to make some way to go through a crowded room. It was only when he was a feet away right in front of me, that I realized the little man was Kamal Hassan. You just feel short of words for moments like those.

 

When you first meet the festival de Cannes, it hits you with all its glitz and glamor. We met a humble good listener, Resul Pookutty right at the registration desk on our very first day and he chatted with us for quite some time. Evening at the premiere of Grace De Monaco, stars glittered all around – Alfonso Curon, Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Mallika Sherawat and Uday Chopra (Hell Yeah!).

 

As we basked in the glory of the place, walking in our black tuxedos and bow tie, in those 3-4 premieres we attended, we saw likes of Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts walking the same red carpet.

(In this post this is the only photo clicked by me. I have personally avoided taking clicks with celebrities. I am just too shy for that kind of stuff :))

 

And of course there were films that we watched along with the filmmakers. The best moment of the trip was watching Pulp-fiction on a huge screen at the beach along with Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman and John Travolta. And we watched the only Indian film there “Titli” along with the filmmakers. We were sitting next to Milind Soman, who was a part of the audience like us.

The standing ovations, the respect for filmmakers, the men in tuxedos and women in gowns are memories to keep. You will not remember how many times you have kissed in life, but you will always remember your first kiss. We kissed Cannes.