Short Films

    Films made with new technology, with minimum budget, with contemporary themes.......

                                                             

A few days back, I viewed a short film on face book uploaded by high school students, who are hardly in the 7th grade. This short film of three minutes duration is done with their mobile phones. Though the film is crude and abruptly finished, I appreciate their sincere efforts in finding the subject appropriate for their age, writing the script for it, selecting the locations- the whole approach seems innocent and funny but at the same time honest and beautiful. Due to television, computer and mobiles, today children have been gaining a lot of knowledge of various subjects. Internet has become a boon to everyone as it covers and enlightens on all subjects. Compared to the feature films, these short films are crisp, beautiful and budget saving. Short filmmaking helps one who is passionately interested and desires to make a career in feature filmmaking as these are less time consuming, budget saving and give firsthand experience to the film makers. With small budget or no budget, these short films provide lots of scope to youngsters especially, to experiment and prove their talent, and these short films making works as a stepping stone for the feature film making. The short film duration ranges from 5 to 20 minutes, in some cases up to 40 minutes maximum. Film making is a tedious collective work as it has various departments to handle and collaborate.

Laurel and hardy, Charlie Chaplin short films have stood the test of time and are popular till today, and whenever time permits I still enjoy these films with children. Some of the laurel and Hardy films are silent and some with sound. The silent movies are equally powerful as sound films one. The animated films like Tom and Jerry and Uncle Scrooge have been accepted and appreciated all over the world by one and all, irrespective of age. With newly introduced technology, film making has become a lot easier today. Now we are getting more and more animated films because of the easily available technology. The world famous Oscar Awards are also given to short films and animated films every year. The Oscar Award short films like The Crush,It is a wonderful life, The phone call, Wasp, are some of the beautiful movies to watch again and again. There are some interesting and novel Indian short films; one will enjoy these films because of the time and space that have been handled excellently. Ahalya, The bypass Road, The spoon, Kriti, Roadside Ambanis, Black mirror, Tubelight ke Chand – the list goes on.

I have been seeing the short films regularly on T.V since a long time. For this I have to appreciate film maker Nagesh Kuknoor, who has a made a name for himself with his unusual content and different way of treating in the films. A lot of short movies with outstanding content and novel treatment are selected by Nagesh Kuknoor and screened on T.V. consistently. Regular screening of these shorts on T.V. and You Tube has inspired youngsters to make short films with minimum budget.

I have viewed a number of short films these days and enjoyed them because there is novelty in the selection of the content, treatment and photography is excellent. Now in visual art, painting, sculpture, theatre, music, photography all has been combined. Now, short film makers are focusing on current issues like arranged Marriage, gay Marriage, dementia, old age and gender discrimination. The films based on these topics are really crisp and narrate the content with no nonsense frills, so these films are touching and convey the messages very directly making the audience to reflect on these topics. Within a short period, these films try to narrate the stories of the multifaceted society and lay them bare before the audience. These films are informative and educative. With the advancement of technology, there is lot of scope for short films making these days and You Tube provide a platform to screen.

Art Diary in Your Travel Bag : Badami Caves

Art Diary in Your Travel Bag

Now the travelling scenario has changed all around the world. People are very enthusiastic to travel, ready to spend, eager to see and explore the diverse cultures of distant lands. So, naturally, tourism has developed and offering attractive facilities like anything to tourists these days. Tourism industry all over the world has come out with various packages; these packages are quite affordable and enjoyable. As these packages are designed and planned to cater to all sorts of travelers taking into account of their age, gender, and food habits, these seem reasonable and very comfortable to travel with. The travel packages, to some extent, look a little bit restrictive due time and place restriction as these are planned by the travel agencies. Whether one likes it or not, one has to fit oneself in these slots if travel packages are preferred. But if one likes to travel on own, it becomes pretty difficult as one has to shoulder all the responsibilities. But in this self planned traveling, one can visit and explore the desired destinations and spend as much time as one wants at those places. One has to choose a traveling plan which suits to one's needs and enjoyment. The first leg of work done, the second leg of work begins. After deciding to travel to a destination, one is required to make some preparations for the tour before setting out. During these tours, people always visit the important historical places, monuments, museums, galleries, theaters - all important places to acquaint with the cultures of those places which are seen and visited on the maps. Here at this point, an art diary comes very handy and is of great help to those who love to travel and enjoy everything in detail. It is always ideal to keep an art diary in your travel bag while viewing the monuments, museums and galleries and so on, as this small pocket size art diary with details and insights about the places enlightens, and as a result, the whole process of journeying becomes enjoyable and memorable. This series of articles will cover famous Indian historical places, monuments, museums and galleries. Hope these articles will help those who want to visit India and explore its diverse culture.


Karnataka is one of the states in the south India, which is known for world famous historical places. The people of Karnataka mainly speak Kannada language but they are also comfortably conversant in English and Hindi languages. There are many beautiful worth seeing places in Karnataka and to see all these places leisurely one requires at least one month or more. To start with, the caves of Badami are very famous and attractive.These are rock cut caves belonging to Chalukya period, that was from 6th to 8th century, have been attracting tourists from all over the world. These are sand stone cave temples, five cave temples in total, and each one of these cave temple is dedicated to Hinduism, Buddism and Jainism respectively. The first cave is dedicated to Hinduism, particularly to Shaivism, the second and third ones to Hinduism, and that too particularly to vaishnavism , the fourth one to Jainism , the last one to Buddism. These caves show that the ruler of that period loved all religions equally and was very tolerant. There are magnificent sculptures and mural paintings on the walls of these caves.


First Cave: The first cave belongs to Hinduism , so naturally the main god is Shiva. God Shiva is the creator, preserver, and destructor of the universe. He is also called as Bhairava. At the entrance, on the wall, there is relief sculpture of dancing Shiva with eighteen hands. On the opposite wall there is the relief sculpture of Ardhnarishwara - it means half man and half woman, the blending of Lord shiva and his consort Parvati . On one side of the body - there are bangles in the hands and the folds of the sari representing Parvati . On another side, there are the features of male representing Lord Shiva. The dancing Ganapati and goddess Durga's relief works are also in the line. Goddess Durga is the destroyer of all evils and God Ganapati is revered before every start of the event and relieves one from every obstacle. Below these sculptures, there are friezes filled with dwarfish figures, which are beautiful to look at.


Second Cave : This cave belongs to Hinduism and particularly to Vaishnavism. There is beautiful statue of God Vishnu sitting on the coiled and hooded serpent. This is the only sitting relief sculpture of lord Vishnu. As this cave temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu there are beautiful sculptures of Vishnu as Trivikrama, varaha and Vishnu sleeping on the serpent, Vishnu on Garuda and so on. Trivikrama: a relief sculpture of Trivikrama , a huge gigantic figure, one foot on the earth and another one stretched towards the north. This relief sculpture relates the story of the king Bali and vamana, the Vishnu himself. Varaha: this is another representation of Vishnu, the relief sculpture is a blend of human and boar. Lord Vishnu comes in this form to rescue the goddess of Earth, Bhoomi.


Third Cave: This cave, one of the larges, is also dedicated vaishnavism. Here in this cave, one can see the beautiful relief sculptures of Trivikrama, Anantsayana, paravasudeva, Bhuvaraha, Harihara and Narsimha, all the forms of God Vishnu. One can see the trails of faded fresco paintings on the walls. Many other interesting relief sculptures adorn the walls of the cave.


Fourth Cave : It is situated at the top. One has to climb many steps to reach this cave. This cave represents Jainism. In the sanctum, Mahavira is represented sitting on a lion throne. This main figure is surrounded with the attendants with fans in their hands, which are shown in bas relief. Along with this, the Relief works of Parshvanath, Goutama, and Bahubali are also seen. The Thirthankaras', the spiritual teachers, relief sculptures adorn the walls.


Fifth Cave: This is a natural cave dedicated to Buddism. Regarding the sculpture of Buddha there are controversies as to whether that image belongs to Buddhism or Jainism. Along with this image tree, elephant and lion images are also seen here.

This is a brief introduction to Badami Rock cut cave temples. If one wants to more information about these caves and relief sculptures one has to go through the Hindu Mythology, which will help to have insights about these beautiful caves. Near to this site, there are two more interesting historical places to visit- they are Aihole and Pattadkallu, which also belong to Chalukya period. This is a very brief introduction to Badami Caves

Contemporary Movies With A Difference : Pink, Chalk n' Duster,  Agasi Parlour and Angry Indian Goddesses

                                                                     I have been seeing movies continuously for the last two to three months. This includes Hindi, English and regional movies as well.  Certainly, there is a remarkable change in movie making, and certainly it has  changed for the better over the years. Socio-political themes interest the producers and directors a lot nowadays. Lot of new ideologies and concepts have crept into new movies. The present day movie directors are contemporary issue conscious, language and scripts conscious and know how to blend technology with that. Especially new directors and script writers are trying to approach small unnoticed but very important issues of our daily life with a touch of research and present them to the public consciousness. These small issues hitherto ignored and marginalized have taken the center stage these days. Lot of experimentation is taking place in the content handling in innovative ways. The recent movies based globalization, urbanization, and post modern philosophy celebrates hybridization of elements. In this context, many films have collaged animated fragments into it or to touch upon nostalgia, some films have incorporated some historical scenes and songs from the old classical movies. Advanced technology has not only improved the quality but also has made it easier to make films with special effects. Today, even school students are doing short films with their mobiles and screening them on social net works.               

 Pink - A few days back I saw the thought provoking movie Pink in the television.  Very sensitively and intelligently made this film focuses on gender issue and presents how a patriarchal society perceives an independent and liberated woman, and takes advantage of the situation. The dressing codes and behavioral codes of liberated women as signs are here decoded according to the wisdom and taste of the patriarchal society. Hence, meanings are attributed arbitrarily and dependant on contexts, every sign can generate multiple meanings. Cultural contexts are very important for the hermeneutics. The court scenes in the film are very convincingly etched out with straight and powerful dialogues. As a lawyer in the film, Amitab Bachchan's acting is superb, spotless and humanistic. The perception of Woman as an object of pleasure has not changed since decades even though feminist movements have been making efforts to erase the gender discriminations. This film is directed by Aniruddha Roy Chodhary, and produced by Rashmi Sharma and Shoojit Sircar. Tapasee Pannu as the lead role has graciously contributed to film as a forceful modern independent woman.

 Chalk n Duster- Recently, one particular movie interested me very much that is Chalk and Duster.  Veteran  actors like Shabhna Azmi, Juhi Chawla and Girish karnad have enacted in this film. The film revolves around the present education pattern in the nation and how some people try to make business out of education pattern. It reflects the present education scenario of our country. The real meaning of education seems to have lost its significance - dedication, hard work, sincerity, simplicity, empathy - all ethos seem to have lost place in the corrupt education pattern. The film has a very contemporary and realistic approach and shows the significance of talented and intelligent teachers who are the true pillars of education where even attractive infrastructures fail to contribute. Teachers who build the character of the children are very much looked down upon and poorly paid. By seeing this kind of movies, the educational institutions should correct the education pattern which is being corrupted by the capitalists.  The film is short and neat. This film is directed by Jayant Gilatar and produced by Amin Surani.

Agasi parlour -  Last week, a regional film named Agasi parlour was screened  and  a large gathering was there to view the film as the film could not get the mainstream release.  The film is about urbanization- the move from old patterned hair cutting saloon to hi-tech parlor.The name of the film itself shows the hybridization. Agasi is a Kannada Language word which means the main portal of the village. Parlour is an English word. Agasi Parlour as a metaphor stands for globalization and urbanization. The film tries to portray the changes that are socially taking place in the rural areas and how it affects the people connected within that set up. The main barber character, a dejected and pessimistic role, is played by Prakash Belavawadi, a film maker, where as his wife's role is very optimistic and energetic throughout the film. The script writing is very good and tight. The director has really made sincere efforts to capture the beauty of north karnataka kannada language through his brilliant script writing. The pronunciation, the slang have come out brilliantly through the matured acting of the artists. Mahantesh Ramdurg is basically a theatre artist and his passions for films compelled him to script and direct this movie himself along with one theatre artist. Though this is a debut venture, he has done sensitively.

Angry Indian Goddesses:  This is a feminist theme oriented film, where only female characters dominate the film space. Each girl is interested in making a career for herself and wants to lead an independent life. A bunch of young girls from different fields with future dreams in their eyes meet for one of the friend's marriage at a house in Goa. The dress and the behavior of the girls suggest how the society is changing. Smoking and drinking, until now restricted to male, have taken a way in to the everyday life of women. The film deals with the issues like identity crisis, lesbian, rape, and finally   it totals up to existentialism. The comparison between the Indian goddesses and these independent open minded girls opens out on new line. Indian Goddesses, most of them, are angry goddesses are prayed and revered, whereas these girls named after these goddesses are tortured and harassed.      

 Latest movies dare to showcase the present realities vividly in simple and direct way. Highly forbidden topics are decoded and bared before the audience, so that the very thin line of demarcation between personal and public has been erased. New identity issues like gay and lesbian have been explored openly in literature, theatre, movies and art. So in this way, life is being covered holistically and showcased.      

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