Monday, August 10, 2015
Friday, August 7, 2015
Farah Khan on her father
Soon the car was sold, and the gramophone next. We could no longer pay for my school bus, so I would travel by the BEST public transport. When we had to sell our car, he refused to wait at bus stops for transport, and soon he stopped stepping out of the house.
In retrospect, I realize how difficult it must have been for Papa, why he was too proud to ask anyone for help, even from those he had favoured.
- Farah Khan. Directors' Diaries - The Road to Their First Film.
#DirectorsDiaries #AnuragBasu #AshutoshGowariker #FarahKhan #GovindNihalani #ImtiazAli #MaheshBhatt #PrakashJha #SantoshSivan #SubhashGhai #TigmanshuDhulia #VishalBhardwaj #ZoyaAkhtar #RakeshBakshi #RakeshAnandBakshi #HarperCollins #Filmmaking #Director #Cinematographer #Cinematography #FirstFilm #Biography #Editing #Casting #Acting #Cinema #Movies #Films #Inspiration
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The book gives a chance to live many lifetimes.
The
Tribune (Chandigarh) Sunday, Aug 2 2015
ACTION! From a director's chair. - "The book gives
a chance to live many lifetimes."
(Review in The Tribune, Chandigarh; by Seema Sachdeva)
Sunday Aug 2 2015.
Rakesh Anand Bakshi 's book, Directors’ Diaries is an
account of how 12 iconic Indian filmmakers of our time overcame their fears and
struggles to reach the heights of success. From the first day of the shoot to
the challenges these ace directors faced and the mistakes they made, the book
tries to capture it all.
At one level, the conversations between the author and
the filmmakers raise questions about the technical aspects of direction, such
as whether they shoot from near the camera or use a video-assist monitor,
besides the skills required as a first-time director or what goes in a
director’s mind while auditioning their actors. However, at another level, it
looks at the influences and experiences that changed their lives.
In a way, it is an account of their courage and the
ability to survive adversities and the lessons they learnt from their failures.
As the author says, the idea is to reveal that they are as human and vulnerable
as any of us.
While the set of questions remain more or less the
same, each interview brings forth a whole new experience. Every interview is
followed by a cinematographer’s take on the director. This is important because
only a cinematographer brings alive the picture conceived in the mind of the
director.
Conversations in the book bring to fore the personality
of the director, who usually remains behind the camera. From the experiences of
these 12 directors — Anurag Basu, Ashutosh Gowariker, Farah Khan, Govind
Nihalani, Imtiaz Ali, Mahesh Bhatt, Prakash Jha, Santosh Sivan (ASC), Subhash
Ghai, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vishal Bhardwaj and Zoya Akhtar — the book studies the
changing face of cinema.
What comes across quite distinctly through the
conversations is that it hasn’t been an easy ride for any of them. They all
struggled. Be it Vishal Bhardwaj, who had to play harmonium at food festivals
or Anurag Basu, who became a background dancer to earn money, or Imtiaz Ali and
Tigmanshu Dhulia, who had to face innumerable rejections before they were able
to crack the code and make it big.
Various influences and experiences helped them as well.
For instance, Santosh Sivan shares how a childhood game of looking at the sky
for rain while playing hockey with friends in his village helped him later with
his cinematography skills, while Govind Nihalani tells how the wounds of
Partition remain etched in his memory and later influenced his Tamas.
Similarly, it reveals how cinema became a medium for Subhash Ghai to escape the
sad reality he was living.
For Vishal Bhardwaj, music came to his rescue when he
learnt his history lessons by composing these into songs. Tigmanshu Dhulia
reveals that he was so frustrated at not being able to make his own film that
he kept a dog whom he named ‘Action’. So he could say ‘Action at least a
hundred times a day.’
Through these interviews, son of legendary lyricist
Anand Bakshi also attempts to understand his personal failure as a filmmaker.
Each of them has an interesting story. And they tell it
well. The message that these directors give to aspiring filmmakers is as Imtiaz
Ali says, ‘Please go out into the world and make your own mistakes.’
The book gives a chance to live many lifetimes.
Monday, August 3, 2015
Cinematographer Kiran Deohans
Kiran Sir runs an Ad-production house with wife-author-director Aban. He believes filmmaking and ad film making are challenges, as both need to communicate and require as much dedication.
Filmmography of Kiran Deohans as cinematographer:
2013 Ramaiya Vastavaiya
2012 Agneepath
2010 Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (director of photography)
2009 Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish
2008 Jodhaa Akbar (director of photography)
2006 Quarter Life Crisis (director of photography)
2004 Hanan
2001 Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham...
2001 Aks
1988 Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak
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https://www.facebook.com/DirectorsDiaries
Anupam Kher ji
If you not distracted by our glowing minds, ;) look at our precious book, in his precious hands we shared.
Thank you Sailesh Kottary.
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