E-Catalouge of 6th AIFF

Good Luck Algeria World
Good Luck Sam | Director : Farid Bentoumi Cinema

France-Belgium

........................................................................................................................

French

........................................................................................................................

2017 | Colour | 90 min.

Producer : Frederic Jouve Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... After pursuing higher education for
several years, and a great many
Production Company : Les Films Velvet voyages, Farid Bentoumi decided to
call the theater his home. Trained in
....................................................................................................................................................................................... improvisation, he has played
Novarina, Beckett, Brecht and
Story / Scrip : Farid Bentoumi, Noé Debré, Gaëlle Macé Racine. He directed and co-wrote a
number of stage plays. A Talent
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Adami Cannes recipient in 2003, he
shot a number of short films and
Editor : Jean-Christophe Bouzy television series. In 2005 he received
the Grand Jury Prize from the
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Screenwriters’ Festival and started
writing screenplays. After El Migri, a
Director of Photography : Isabelle Dumas documentary on his Franco-Algerian
family, he directed Un Autre Jour Sur
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Terre [Another Day On Earth], a
dreamy, offbeat fiction. Burners was
Music : Robin Foster his third short film, followed by Un
Métier Bien [A good job]. In 2016,
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Farid Bentoumi released his first
feature film, Good Luck Sam, inspired
Sound : Ingrid Ralet (Sound editor), Luc Thomas by his brother’s own story.

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Cast : Sami Bouajila, Franck Gastambide, Chiara A Good Job (2015) | Good Luck Sam (2015) | Burners
Mastroianni, Helène Vincent, Bouchakor Chakor Djaltia,
Coralie Avril, Fadila Belkebla. (2011). El Migri (2009) | Another Night on Earth (2009)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : Sam and Stéphane, two childhood friends,
conceive, with a passion, top-of-the-range skis. Faced with
strong competition, their business is endangered. To save it,
they launch a crazy undertaking to qualify Sam for the Winter
Olympics, competing under the flag of his father`s home
country of Algeria. Apart from the sporting feats Sam has to
cope with, this improbable challenge will push him into
reconnecting with his roots.

Festivals / Awards : Released in France in MAR ‘16; screened
in CINEMANIA FF, Canada (‘16); Rendez-vous With New
French Cinema in Rome (‘16)

51

Tempete World
Land Legs | Director : Samuel Collardey Cinema

France

........................................................................................................................

French

........................................................................................................................

2015 | Colour | 89 min.

Producer : Grégoire Debailly Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Samuel Collardey: After training at
an audio-visual institute, Samuel
Script : Samuel Collardey, Catherine Paillé Collardey (born in 1975, France)
started working at a regional TV
....................................................................................................................................................................................... station. In 2001 he was accepted at
the film school La Fémis in Paris. His
Director of Photography : Samuel Collardey graduation film Du soleil en hiver
(2005) was awarded at several
....................................................................................................................................................................................... festivals. With his feature début The
Apprentice he was among the
Editor : Julien Lacheray winners in Venice in 2008.

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Sound : Julien Roig, Vincent Verdoux, Valérie Deloof A Polar Year (2017), Land Legs (2015), Little Lion (2012),
Apprenti (2008), Du soleil en hiver (2005)
.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Vincent Girault

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Dominique Leborne, Mailys Leborne, Matteo Leborne,
Vincent Bessonnet, Patrick Assumçao, Chantal Leborne,
Carole Perineau, Loulou Moriceau, Marc Brunet

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : Dom, 36 years old, is a sailor on board of the fishing
boat Petit Gael II from the port of Les Sables Olonne, a small
town in western France. He is used to leave for the open sea
for at least three weeks in a row. Despite his absence, his
teen-aged children decided to live with their father since the
divorce of the parents. But when his daughter Mailys gets
pregnant, Dom understands that he will have to choose…

Festival & Awards : Screened in Mostra - São Paulo IFF (‘16);
CoLCoA, USA (‘16); Rendez-vous with French Cinema in
Paris (‘16); Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris (‘16);
FIFF, Belgium (‘15); won Best Actor (Dominique Leborne)
award at Venice IFF (SEP ‘15); screened in Mill Valley FF (OCT
‘16)

52

Hva Vil Folk Si World
What will People Say | Director : Iram Haq Cinema

Norway

........................................................................................................................

Norwegian-Urdu

........................................................................................................................

2017 | Colour | 106 min.

Producer: Maria Ekerhovd Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Haq worked for many years as an
actress, appearing in theatre, film and
Production Company : Mer Film AS television, including Import-Export.
She also wrote and starred in the short
....................................................................................................................................................................................... film Old Faithfull which was selected
for the short film competition at the
Script: Iram Haq Venice Film Festival in 2004. She made
her directorial debut with the short
....................................................................................................................................................................................... film, Little Miss Eyeflap which
premiered at the Sundance Film
Director of Photography: Nadim Carlsen Festival in 2010.

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Haq's feature film debut, I Am Yours
premiered at the Toronto International
Editor : Janus Billeskov Jansen, Anne Østerud Film Festival in 2013. It was praised in
Variety as ‘an assured...debut’. The film
....................................................................................................................................................................................... tells the story of a young Pakistani
mother living in Norway and has been
Production Designer : Ann Kristin Talleraas, Vintee Bansal lauded for its exceptionally naturalistic
performances. The film was selected as
....................................................................................................................................................................................... the official Norwegian Oscar entry for
Best Foreign Language Film.
Sound engineer : Tormod Ringnes
Her next film What Will People Say is a
....................................................................................................................................................................................... "heartbreaking female personal drama
with culture clashes between two
Music : Martin Pedersen, Lorenz Dangel different worlds.

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Cast : Maria Mozhdah, Adil Hussain, Rohit Saraf, Ekavali I Am Yours - 2013
Khanna, Ali Arfan, Sheeba Chaddha, Lalit Parimoo, Jannat What Will People Say-2017
Zubair Rehmani, Nokokure Dahl, Trine Wiggen, Maria Bock

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : The film is a gripping drama about father-daughter
relationship. 16 year old Nisha lives a double life. At home
with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but
when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian
teenager. When her father catches her in bed with her
boyfriend, Nisha’s two worlds brutally collide. To set an
example, Nisha’s parents decide to kidnap her and place her
with relatives in Pakistan. Here, in a country she has never
been to before, Nisha is forced to adapt to her parents’
culture.

Festivals / Awards : Won Audience Award Nordic Film Days
Lübeck (‘17); won Audience Award at AFI Fest - (‘17); won
Audience Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film & Special
Mention at Göteborg IFF (‘18); won awards for Best Director,
Best Producer, Best Screenplay and Best Actor in a
Supporting Role (Adil Hussain) at Kanon Award (‘18); won
Audience Award at ArtFilmFest IFF (‘18); Won Amanda
award for Best Director, Best Actor (Adil Hussain), Best
Screenplay and Best Theatrical Film at National Film Award -
Norway (‘18)

53

Nelyubov World
Loveless | Director : Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev Cinema

Russia

........................................................................................................................

Russian

........................................................................................................................

2017 | Colour | 127 min.

Producer : Alexandre Rodnyansky, Serguey Melkumov Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Andrey Petrovich Zvyagintsev , a
Russian film director and
Production Company : Non-Stop Productions (Russia). Why screenwriter is best known for his
Not Productions (France). Arte France Cinéma (France). film The Return, which won him a
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (Germany). Les Films du Fleuve Golden Lion at the Venice Film
(Belgium) . Fetisoff Illusion (Russia) Festival. His film Leviathan  (2014)
was nominated for the Academy
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Award for Best Foreign Film in 2014
and won the Best Film award at
Screenplay : Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. 

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Editor : Anna Mass The Black Room (TV series, 2000), The Return (2003),
T h e B a n i s h m e n t  ( 2 0 0 7 ) , N e w Yo r k , I L o v e
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Yo u  ( "A p o c r y p h a" s e g m e n t , 2 0 0 9 ) , E x p e r i m e n t
5IVE ("Mystery" segment, 2011), Elena (2011),
Director of Photography : Mikhail Krichman Leviathan (2014), Loveless (2017).

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Evgeni Galperin

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Sound : Andrey Dergachev

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Maryana Spivak, Alexey Rozin, Matvey Novikov,
Marina Vasilyeva, Andris Keishs, Alexey Fateev

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : The story concerns two separated parents, played
by Maryana Spivak and Aleksey Rozin, whose loveless
relationship has decayed into a state of bitterness and
hostility. They are temporarily drawn back together after
their only child goes missing and they attempt to find him.
The story was inspired by the search-and-rescue group Liza
Alert and Zvyagintsev's desire to make a film about a family.
He was originally interested in making a Russian reworking of
the 1973 Swedish miniseries Scenes From A Marriage by
Ingmar Bergman, but could not obtain the rights. 

Festivals / Awards : Jury Prize in Cannes Film Festival 2017.
Nominated in Best Foreign Film category of Academy Award
2018. Best Film in London Film Festival. Best Film in Munich
IFF. Best Film in Zagreb IFF

54

Kyoyang Ngarmo World
The Sweet Requiem | Director : Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam Cinema

India-USA

........................................................................................................................

Tibetan

........................................................................................................................

2018 | Colour | 91 min.

Producers : Ritu Sarin, Shrihari Sathe Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Ritu Sarin and her husband, Tenzing
Sonam have been making films since
Script : Tenzing Sonam their student days in the San
Francisco Bay Area in the early 80s.
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Since then they have made several
documentaries, video installations
Director of Photography : David McFarland and one feature film.

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Editor : Jabeen Merchant The New Puritans: The Sikhs of Yuba City (1985), The
Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche (1991), Tibet (1992),
....................................................................................................................................................................................... The Trials of Telo Rinpoche (1993), The Shadow Circus:
The CIA in Tibet(1998), Dreaming Lhasa (2005), The
Music : Michael Montes Thread of Karma (2007), The Sun Behind the Clouds:
Tibet's Struggle For Freedom (2009), When Hari Got
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Married (2012)

Cast : Tenzin Dolker, Jampa Kalsang, Shavo Dorjee, Lhakpa
Tsering, Rabyoung Thonden Gyalkhang

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : Dolkar, a 26-year-old exile Tibetan, lives in Delhi.
18 years ago, she escaped from Tibet with her father, making
a perilous trek across the Himalayas that ended in tragedy.
Dolkar has suppressed all recollections of that traumatic
incident. But when she unexpectedly encounters Gompo, the
guide who abandoned them during their journey, memories
of her escape are reignited and she is propelled on an
obsessive search for retribution and closure. Flashbacks of
her desperate journey with a small group through a harsh and
desolate Himalayan terrain punctuate her growing
predicament in the present as she follows Gompo through
the claustrophobic alleys of the Tibetan refugee colony in
Delhi. The two stories moving in tandem, both determined by
a series of fateful choices, reach their conclusion as Dolkar
and Gompo finally confront each other.

55

Film Apprecia on Workshop in S.B. College
Film Apprecia on Workshop in BAMU

56

Asian
Best

Tōkyō Fuon Uta Asian
Bad Poetry Tokyo | Director : Anshul Chauhan Best

Japan

........................................................................................................................

Japanese

........................................................................................................................

2017 | Colour | 116 min.

Producers : Anshul Chauhan, Mina Moteki Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Anshul Chauhan - Born in north
India, trained in a military academy,
Production Company : Kowatanda Films started working as animator in 2006
with Technicolor India. Moved to
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Tokyo in 2011. Started working at
Polygon Pictures on Tron Uprising.
Story & Script : Anshul Chauhan Worked in Many big animation
studios like OLM Pictures, Square
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Enix and big projects like Final
Fantasy and Kings Glaive. Started
Director of Photography : Max Golomidov Kowatanda Films in 2016 to produce
small budget films. Successfully
....................................................................................................................................................................................... made 3 shorts and 1 feature film Bad
Poetry Tokyo while working as an
Editor : Anshul Chauhan Animator

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director’s Filmography

Sound : Rob Mayes Bad Poetry Tokyo (Feature / 2018), Kawaguchi 4256
(Short / 2017),Shamra (Dry State Diaries) (Documentary
....................................................................................................................................................................................... / 2016), What's Left of Us (Short / 2016), Soap
(Short / 2016) Tokyo Apple (Short / 2012)
Music : Lo-Shi

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Shuna Iijima (Juna), Orson Mochizuki (Taka), Takashi
Kawaguchi (Yuki)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : 30 Years old woman, a hostess past her time
working at a shady club and aspiring actress living in Tokyo.
Betrayed by her lover and her dreams crushed, broken
woman leaves Tokyo for her hometown in the countryside
after five years of no contact with her family. There she
reconnects with an old flame but is also forced to confront
some unpleasant truths about her past.

Festivals & Awards: Premiered & Won Grand Prix for Best
Film in Brussels Independent FF (FEB ‘18); Won Best Actress
award (Shuna Iijima) in Osaka Asian FF, Japan (MAR ‘18);
Won Best Narrative Feature Film award in Venice Film Week
(‘18); Screeened in Madrid IFF (‘18) & Stockholm
Independent FF

58

Iti, Tomari Dhaka Asian
Sincerely Yours Dhaka | By 11 Directors Best

Bangladesh

........................................................................................................................

Bengali

........................................................................................................................

2018 | Colour | 134 min.

Producers : Abu Shahed Emon, Ebne Hasan Khan, Faridur Directors
Reza Sagar Sagar
Nuhash Humayun, Syed Ahmed Shawki, Rahat Rahman,
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Md Robiul Alam, Golam Kibria Farooki, Mir Mukarram
Hossain, Tanvir Ahsan, Mahmudul Islam, Abdullah Al
Production Company : Impress Telefilm Limited Noor, Krishnendu Chattopadhyay, Syed Saleh Ahmed
Sobhan
.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Director of Photography : Barkat Hossain Polash, Murshed
Bipul, Tanveer Ahmed Shovon, Tuhin Tamijul, Farhad Hassan
Ziko, Khair Khandaker, Ishtiaque Hossain.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Editor : Shohel Rana, Syed Saleh Ahmed Sobhan, Tanvir
Ahsan, Robin Khan

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Sound : Ripon Nath, Rasheed Sharif Shoaib

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Attic, Dameer, The Farooque Bhai Project, Arafat
Mohsin Nidhi, Naved Parvez, Rasheed Sharif Shoaib

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Nuhash Humayun, Rafiqul Islam Poltu, MD Robiul
Alam, Thanvir Chowdhury, Tanvir Ahsan, Monirul Islam
Rubel, Abdullah Al Noor, Krishnendu Chattopadhyay, Nusrat
Imrose Tisha, Orchita Sporshia, Allen Shuvro, Shamol Mawla,
Shahtaj Monira Hashem, Manoj Kumar Pramanik, Tropa
Majumdar, Intekhab Dinar, Iresh Zaker, Mostafa Monwar

Synopsis : Sincerely Yours, Dhaka is a love letter to a city that
is often difficult to love. 11 vignettes by 11 Bangladeshi
filmmakers come together to tell fragmented stories about
one character - Dhaka City itself. The film is a wild ride
through the streets of Bangladesh’s capital. A background
actor who’ll do anything to be a star. Two young girls who are
dying for a drink in a city where alcohol is illegal. A bank scam
sparks an attempted murder and a plumber adds fuel to a
refugee crisis. Ranging from bizarre, heartwarming to
heartbreaking, the first ever anthology film made in
Bangladesh takes us on a bittersweet journey through Dhaka
City.

Festivals & Awards : Premiered in Busan IFF (‘18)

59

Asian
Best

Talan | Director : Bolat Kalymbetov

Kazakhstan

........................................................................................................................

Kazakh

........................................................................................................................

2018 | Colour | 104 min.

Producers : Akhat Ibrayev, Diana Ashimova Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Bolat Kalymbetov: Kazakh famous
actor, film director, scriptwriter.
Script : Gaziz Nassyrov, Bolat Kalymbetov, Zhussipbek Born in 1955 in Narynkol, Almaty
Korgasbek region. Graduated from Acting
Department of Kazakh State
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Conservatoire named after
Kurmangazy in 1977 and Directing
Director of Photography : Sapar Koichumanov Department of Almaty State Theatre
Institute in 1989. Member of the
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Filmmakers Union since 1984. Got
the award as an Honored Arts
Editor : Evgenyi Palamarchuk worker of Kazakhstan in 1998. His
filmography as an actor consists of
....................................................................................................................................................................................... more than 50 films. He is a professor
of Acting and Directing workshops at
Sound : Nikita Fomin Art Academy named after T.
Zhurgenov in Almaty.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Director’s Filmography
Music : Nikita Karev
Ainalayin -1990
....................................................................................................................................................................................... The last cold days -1993
Sardar-2003
Cast : Assan Kirkabakov, Zhassulan Aitenov, Yerzhan Talan -2017
Nurymbet, Shynar Zhanysbekova

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : A historical drama, based on true events which
took place in the twentieth century in Kazakhstan. The main
characters are faced with the necessity to live within the
conditions of a historic experiment, at a time when society in
general tried to erase its history to build a happy future. In
Central Asia, this experience brought with it its own dramatic
landscape. War and hunger changed people and it didn’t seem
possible to return to how things were before. Two boys are
surviving in different circumstances. Tagai lives in a
settlement within which the people are plagued by the new
power of a military dictatorship. Kerim lives amongst wolves
in the mountain forests. Someone is taking a path of revenge
whilst the other has chosen the path of love and forgiveness.

Festival & Awards : The last cold days Torino IFF of Young
Cinema Special Jury prize and FIPRESCI Prize-Special
Mention Talan Fajr IFF (‘18)

60

Jangi Hora Asian
Underpants Thief | Director : Somaratne Dissanayake Best

Sri Lanka

........................................................................................................................

Sinhalese

........................................................................................................................

2017 | Colour | 96 min.

Producer : Renuka Balasooriya Director’s Biography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Somaratne Dissanayake graduated
from London University and worked
Production Company : Cinefilms Lanka in medicine until studying film at
Sydney University and earning a
....................................................................................................................................................................................... doctorate from the University of
Arts in Colombo. A critical and
Script : Somaratne Dissanayake popular success, Dissanayake is
president of Sri Lanka’s Film Makers
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Guild.

Director of Photography : Vishwa Balasooriya Director’s Filmography

....................................................................................................................................................................................... Siri Raja Siri -2008
Bindu -2009
Editor : Ajith Ramanayake Sarigama -2016
Underpants Thief -2017
.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Sound : Aruna Priyantha Kaluarachchi

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Rohana Weerasinghe

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Pubudu Chathuranga, Dilhani Ekanayake, Chinthaka
Kulathunga, Buddhi Randeniya

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : Mentally disturbed Sam is in a habit of stealing
ladies underpants, and often falls into troubles. Despite the
doctor’s advice his elder brother Mahesh is reluctant to cure
him, as he is interested in acquiring the properties. Nayani,
the wife of Mahesh has a sympathetic approach, and offers
herself to Sam with humane intention of rescuing him from
troubles. At the end, not only Sam, she managed to change
her selfish husband too.

Festival & Awards : Screened in Busan IFF (OCT ‘17); won
Best. Feature Film at Delhi IFF (2017)

61

Seminar

‘Tools don’t make With Mobile Phone
movie. You make Everyone Is A Filmmaker
movie! ’
on Saturday,
This was the most important rather poignant line in the 12th January, 2019
letter written by world famous Hollywood filmmaker At INOX Screen 3
Martine Scorsese to his daughter who was about to begin
her career in filmmaking. This can be taken as a profound But can they be made to realize that, ‘Tools don’t make
sermon for aspiring and established filmmakers, as well, movie. You make movie!’
when technology has almost dominated cinema.

The present day generation of filmmakers, technicians not What is movie making? What is ‘Cinema’? When the world
only use ultra –modern equipments and state of art is flooded with the best cameras, the best technologies and
facilities available to them, they are quite obsessed with it. state of art equipment that gives you a polished work what
In the process, most of the time the content takes a back is it really that gives it ‘life’?
seat. There are exceptions to rule but one cannot overlook
the reality in question. It won’t be outrageous to say that to AIFF wish to discuss every aspect of the issue through an
an extent creativity is threatened by the dominance of insightful interaction among the panelists to understand
technology. Since good cameras are available on the the balance between content and technology. Between
mobile phone the community of filmmakers is on the rise. ‘science’ and ‘Art’!
No one can stop them!

Sandip Kulkarni Panelists Tejas Deoskar

Actor / Producer Amarjeet Aamle Writer / Director

Founder Director,
Spandan Cinema Movement

Amol Udgirkar Shiv Kadam

Actor / Producer Director / HOD,
MGM Film Art

Moderator

Ashok Rane

Film Scholar /
Festival Director AIFF

62

National
Award Winner

Bhuvan Shome | Director : Mrinal Sen

India

........................................................................................................................

Hindi

........................................................................................................................

1969 | B& W | 96 min.

Producers : Mrinal Sen Productions

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Story :  Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Script : Mrinal Sen

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Director of Photography : K.K.Mahajan

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Narrator : Amitabh Bachchan 

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Vijay Raghav Rao

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Utpal Dutt, Suhasini Muley, Sadhu Meher

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : A lonely bureaucrat goes on holiday to a Gujarat
village where a young peasant woman helps him see beyond
his job and develop a newfound empathy for people. His
encounter with the young Gouri is fortuitous because it is she
who takes care of him and helps "hunt" birds. She helps him
through a barren wilderness, takes him home and takes care
of him. When he is made to change his clothes because
otherwise the "birds will know" and fly away is probably an
important part of his transformation from a strict conformist
and aging man to one of a person more open to the stimuli of
his environment. Bhuvan Shome is deeply affected by Gouri
and now when he returns to his office he is a completely
changed person…

The film is based on a Bengali story by Balai Chand
Mukhopadhyay. The film is considered a landmark in
modern Indian cinema.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Awards : Best Film – Golden Lotus
Best Director – Mrinal Sen
Best Actor – Utpal Dutt

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

64

150th Birth Anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi, Gandhiness
and Cinema Vimarsha

A special program curated and
presented by Amrit Gangar

Curatorial Note

The year 2019 combines two 150th birth anniversaries – of Bāpu Amrit Gangar has authored and edited several books on cinema
and Bā! It is Mohan-Kastur (MK) 150! Mohan never liked movies in English and Gujarati, two of which have been awarded by the
but yet he remained one of the most filmed persons in the world, Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. He was artistic consultant along with
wherever he went camera followed him. Narrative films continue Marina Abramovic on Total Masala Slammer, a dance-theatre
being made around his persona in India and abroad. He remains a production directed by Michael Laub, produced by Hebbel
phenomenon. Theatre, Berlin. He was also a production executive on the Lars
von Trier-Jorgen Leth collaboration, The Five Obstructions
What is, however, relevant is Gandhiness; being close to besides being part of Classic Incantations: The German Film
Gandhian ethos and praxis. What are the factors that could Orchestra Babelsberg Performs A.R Rahman during the
essentially constitute Gandhiness? How could they be applied to Germany Year in India, 2011-2012.
making life and films in the changing environments of
overwhelming consumerist forces and globalization in the Age of Over the years, he has been conducting many interactive film
Technology? How could the omniscient and omnipresent moving workshops all over Gujarat. Gangar was Indian correspondent
image be a negotiating agent? Could the ancient Indian wisdom for ARTiT, a Tokyo-based bilingual art journal and the Film
perceive the all-pervading embrace of the Trinity of Jnāna International published from Tehran. At present he is on the
(Knowledge), Abhyāsa (Practice) and Vairāgya (Detachment)? Editorial Board of the bilingual monthly Chalachitra Sameeksha
published by the Chalachitra Academy of Kerala
Are there films and filmmakers and artists who believe in the
rigor of austerity and yet produce profound thoughts through
cinematographic minimalism? The holistic Gandhiness becomes
more enduring and illuminating than the so-called Bollywoodian
Gandhigiri.

In his 150th birth anniversary year, how could Bāpu be evoked
and invoked in a more interactive way through cinema?

Vimarsha = Deliberation

Amrit Gangar is a Mumbai-based author, curator, film
theoretician and historian, working in the field of cinema for over
three decades. He has worked both on production and creative
sides of a number of film and video installation projects from
numerous European and Scandinavian countries. Besides his
curatorial engagements, for the past decade he is engaged with
his theoretical concept of Cinema of Prayoga and has presented
it at various venues including the Tate Modern, London;
Pompidou Centre, Paris, etc. He had conducted a master class on
Cinema of Prayoga for Ph.D. students at the Sorbonne
University, Paris.

66

100 th Birth Ingmar Bergman
Anniversary Tribute (1918-2007) :
- Ingmar Bergman A master’s vision

-Saibal Chatterjee

Ingmar Bergman stands in solitary splendour on a pedestal He was an ultra-sensitive, angst-ridden artist endowed with
surrounded by a high, forbidding wall. It has been erected by the deep empathy for humanity’s multiple struggles in a world bereft
sheer intrinsic quality and worldwide cultural impact of his of genuine emotional connections.
cinematic output. He is a towering figure in the history of cinema,
a master craftsman and storyteller who, over a period of six He expressed his concerns through stylistic means that drew
decades, made 60 films for the big screen and television, building heavily from theatre – Bergman was far more active on the stage
in the process a peerless reputation as an explorer of the than he was in cinema, directing more than 170 plays in Sweden,
gloomier, more complex aspects of human life and behaviour. where most of the productions were staged – but also from his

But that isn’t the only reason why Bergman exists in a rarefied own life, especially from the bitter memories of a childhood
zone that only true cineastes, a rare breed of film watchers alive undermined by an overbearing, authoritarian Lutheran
to every signal, every nuance, and every suggestion contained in clergyman-father who imposed extreme restrictions upon the
a cinematic moment, can access and savour. Times have changed sickly, high-strung boy. The orthodox upbringing and the streak
since Bergman’s heydays. Platforms of delivery have increased of subdued rebellion engendered in Bergman spilled over into his
and expanded and audiences – and some scholars too – have ability to take risks and pursue uncharted ideas as a filmmaker.
veered towards an anti-intellectual stance. So, the earnestness Many of the characters in his films sprang from his experiences in
and purity of Bergman’s cinematic voice and the heavy demands childhood and youth as well as his tumultuous later relationships
that most of his films make the audience have probably with women to such an extent that it was often difficult to
discouraged any attempt to let him and his output wander freely separate the personal from the imaginary in his films. For
in the popular space. But those who seek to discover the joys of example, when the protagonist of Wild Strawberries (1957)
entering his fascinating universe never come away disappointed admits, “I was an unwanted child in a hellish marriage”, he echoes
– their patience is always generously rewarded. the director’s own feelings.
Bergman’s first film as director, Crisis (1946), a melodrama
Few filmmakers in the annals of cinema have done as much for adapted from a play, was a disaster, but it contained many of the
the medium as the Swedish great did in a career dotted with elements that were to define his cinema. Over the next decade,
masterpieces and artistic milestones. The achievements of his until 1955, he directed 16 films, in most cases writing the
films earned him a committed band of admirers during his screenplays
lifetime, as much among audiences as among filmmakers who
came after him, but the daunting gravitas associated with
Bergman’s lauded films has kept his formidable legacy from
attracting new, younger fans.

Nothing could be more unfortunate because it is a huge loss for a
world that is still grappling with the spiritual, cultural and
personal challenges that his cinema addressed. Bergman, born
on July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, passed away in 2007. Over a decade
on, his cinema still speaks to us as eloquently, and sometimes as
provocatively and subversively, as it did when he was in the thick
of the action between the late 1940s till the end of his life, from
Torment (1944), an anti-Nazi parable that he scripted for
director Alf Sjoberg, to his last film, Saraband (2003).

Ingmar Bergman
(1918-2007) :
A master’s vision

-Saibal Chatterjee

Ingmar Bergman stands in solitary splendour on a pedestal He was an ultra-sensitive, angst-ridden artist endowed with deep
surrounded by a high, forbidding wall. It has been erected by the empathy for humanity’s multiple struggles in a world bereft of
sheer intrinsic quality and worldwide cultural impact of his genuine emotional connections.
cinematic output. He is a towering figure in the history of cinema,
a master craftsman and storyteller who, over a period of six He expressed his concerns through stylistic means that drew
decades, made 60 films for the big screen and television, building heavily from theatre – Bergman was far more active on the stage
in the process a peerless reputation as an explorer of the than he was in cinema, directing more than 170 plays in Sweden,
gloomier, more complex aspects of human life and behaviour. where most of the productions were staged – but also from his

But that isn’t the only reason why Bergman exists in a rarefied own life, especially from the bitter memories of a childhood
zone that only true cineastes, a rare breed of film watchers alive undermined by an overbearing, authoritarian Lutheran
to every signal, every nuance, and every suggestion contained in clergyman-father who imposed extreme restrictions upon the
a cinematic moment, can access and savour. Times have changed sickly, high-strung boy. The orthodox upbringing and the streak of
since Bergman’s heydays. Platforms of delivery have increased subdued rebellion engendered in Bergman spilled over into his
and expanded and audiences – and some scholars too – have ability to take risks and pursue uncharted ideas as a filmmaker.
veered towards an anti-intellectual stance. So, the earnestness Many of the characters in his films sprang from his experiences in
and purity of Bergman’s cinematic voice and the heavy demands childhood and youth as well as his tumultuous later relationships
that most of his films make the audience have probably with women to such an extent that it was often difficult to separate
discouraged any attempt to let him and his output wander freely the personal from the imaginary in his films. For example, when the
in the popular space. But those who seek to discover the joys of protagonist of Wild Strawberries (1957) admits, “I was an
entering his fascinating universe never come away disappointed unwanted child in a hellish marriage”, he echoes the director’s own
– their patience is always generously rewarded. feelings.

Few filmmakers in the annals of cinema have done as much for Bergman’s first film as director, Crisis (1946), a melodrama
the medium as the Swedish great did in a career dotted with adapted from a play, was a disaster, but it contained many of the
masterpieces and artistic milestones. The achievements of his elements that were to define his cinema. Over the next decade,
films earned him a committed band of admirers during his until 1955, he directed 16 films, in most cases writing the
lifetime, as much among audiences as among filmmakers who screenplays as well.
came after him, but the daunting gravitas associated with
Bergman’s lauded films has kept his formidable legacy from
attracting new, younger fans.

Nothing could be more unfortunate because it is a huge loss for a
world that is still grappling with the spiritual, cultural and
personal challenges that his cinema addressed. Bergman, born
on July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, passed away in 2007. Over a decade
on, his cinema still speaks to us as eloquently, and sometimes as
provocatively and subversively, as it did when he was in the thick
of the action between the late 1940s till the end of his life, from
Torment (1944), an anti-Nazi parable that he scripted for
director Alf Sjoberg, to his last film, Saraband (2003).

68

During this period, he honed his craft, developed a unique style who sets out on a journey to receive an honorary degree, the film
and introduced several of the themes and techniques he used merges, in startling ways, past and present, dream and reality, the
with greater acuity in the future. The films made in the first phase conscious and the subconscious, memories and actual
of his career varied in quality – some were conventional happenings. Alongside Fanny and Alexander, a wonderfully
melodramas but a couple (The Naked Night, which probed the crafted, moving family chronicle that Bergman made in 1982
ramifications of humiliation and self-loathing, and Smiles of a supposedly as his cinematic swan-song, Wild Strawberries is his
Summer Night, a sophisticated and delightful comedy that most accomplished film.
brought this early, formative part of his directorial career to an
end) were outstanding. They contained the creative impulses Dreams as a device to understand the inner workings of a
that would drive his films over the next few decades. Films like character’s mind was used to perfection in Wild Strawberries.
Prison (1949), Summer Interlude (1951), Sawdust and Tinsel and This laid the groundwork for constant employment of the
Summer with Monika (1953) established him as a leading
innovator in Swedish cinema, which had seen a dip in fortunes in fantastical in the everyday world in a series of subsequent
the late 1920 and early 1930s despite the heritage built by the Bergman films – Persona, Hour of the Wolf, Cries and Whispers,
likes of Mauritz Stiller and Sjoberg. Face to Face and From the Life of the Marionettes.

Prison, in which an old math professor released from a mental While the religious underpinning in The Seventh Seal
asylum shares a germ of a film idea with a former student who is waspronounced, it wasn’t so overt in The Wild Strawberries.
now a director, brings to the fore the themes that Bergman would Therefore, the latter was closer in spirit to his own conflicted
sharpen in subsequent films – insanity, the crisis of art, loss of views on religion – Bergman wasn’t a non-believer but he never
faith, unhappy families, and the grip of the devil on mankind. The ceased questioning God and his ‘wanton’, unpredictable ways.
film-within-a-film proposed by the academic is about the devil
taking over the world, but it never gets made. But the life of the In the late 1950s and the early 1960s, he produced one
young people portrayed in Prison, among them an alcoholic masterwork after another as the world marvelled at his dazzling
writer who has abandoned his wife and moved in with a consistency. Among other films, he followed The Seventh Seal
prostitute, provides a glimpse of what hell on earth could be. and Wild Strawberries up with the ‘metaphysical trilogy’ –
Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1962) and The
The second, phenomenally fecund phase of Bergman’s career, Silence (1963), far and away his most confrontational, unbridled
inaugurated by 1957’s The Seventh Seal, a masterpiece by all film with its themes of lesbianism, autoeroticism and voyeurism.
accounts, catapulted the filmmaker into the global
consciousness. Not since Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) But before Bergman began filming his trilogy of faith, he had
had a film garnered such unstinted international acclaim. The delivered two of his finest films – The Magician (1958), which
Seventh Seal, in which a knight (Max von Sydow) probed the role of art and rationality, and The Virgin Spring
(1960), an austere vengeance drama replete with Biblical
returning after a decade of fighting in the Crusades, challenges allusions. Philosophical and spiritual contrasts resting on
Death to a game of chess in order to buy time, won a Special Jury complex constructs were an integral part of Bergman’s cinema.
Prize in Cannes. They lent his films multiple layers and timeless resonance.

The same year, Bergman delivered Wild Strawberries, widely
regarded as his definitive masterpiece. In telling the story of a
dour professor (played by actor and director Viktor Sjostrom)

69

Smultronstället
Wild Strawberries | Director : Ingmar Bergman

Sweden

...........................................................................................

Swedish-Latin

..........................................................................................

1957 | B&W | 91 min.

Production Company : Svensk Filmindustri Festival & Awards : Nominated for Oscar awards for Best
Writing, Best Story and Best Screenplay (Written Directly
....................................................................................................................................................................................... for the Screen) at Academy Awards, USA (‘60). Won Golden
Globe award for Best Foreign Film at Golden Globes, USA
Producer : Allan Ekelund (‘60). Nominated for BAFTA Film Award for Best Film from
any Source and Best Foreign Actor (Victor Sjöström) at
....................................................................................................................................................................................... BAFTA Awards (‘59). Won Golden Bear & FIPRESCI Prize for
acting (Victor Sjöström) at Berlin IFF (‘58). Won Bodil award
Screenplay : Ingmar Bergman for Best European Film (Bedste europæiske film) at Bodil
Awards (‘59). Won Silver Ribbon for Best Foreign Director
....................................................................................................................................................................................... (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) at Italian National
Syndicate of Film Journalists (‘60). Won Kinema Junpo
Music : Erik Nordgren Award for Best Foreign Language Film at Kinema Junpo
Awards (‘63). Won Best Film, Best Actor (Victor Sjöström)
....................................................................................................................................................................................... and Critics Grand Prize for Best Actor Victor Sjöström), Best
Actress (Ingrid Thulin) and Best Cinematography in Intl.
Cinematographer : Gunnar Fischer Competn. at Mar del Plata FF (‘59). Won Pasinetti Award in
Parallel Sections at Venice FF (‘58)
.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Editor : Oscar Rosander

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production Design : Gittan Gustafsson

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume : Millie Ström

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Victor Sjöström (Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg); Bibi
Andersson (Sara); Ingrid Thulin (Marianne Borg); Gunnar
Björnstrand (Dr. Evald Borg); Jullan Kindahl (Agda); Folke
Sundquist (Anders); Björn Bjelfvenstam (Viktor); Naima
Wifstrand (Mrs. Borg - Isak's Mother); Gunnel Broström
(Berit Alman)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : Honoring his debt to the early Swedish cinema and
the oneiric quality of its nature cinematography, Bergman
cast the great silent film director and actor Victor Sjöström as
the aging pedant, Isak Borg, who dreams his own death,
revisits his youth as a spectator, and learns amid the forgiving
wild strawberries (symbolic in Sweden of a favorite spot or
sanctuary) that he had always denied desire.

70

Det Sjunde Inseglet
The Seventh Seal | Director : Ingmar Bergman

Sweden

...........................................................................................

Swedish-Latin

..........................................................................................

1957 | B&W | 96 min.

Story : Based on a play Wood Painting by Ingmar Bergman Festival & Awards : Won Jury Special Prize (Ingmar
Bergman) in Cannes FF in Competn. (‘57) Won CEC Award
....................................................................................................................................................................................... for Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) and Best
Foreign Director (Mejor Director Extranjero) at Cinema
Screenplay : Ingmar Bergman Writers Circle Awards, Spain (‘62) Won Silver Ribbon for
Best Foreign Director (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) at
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (61)

Producer : Allan Ekelund

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production company : Svensk Filmindustri

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music: Erik Nordgren

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cinematographer : Gunnar Fischer

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Editor : Lennart Wallén

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production Design : P. A. Lundgren

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume: Manne Lindholm

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Gunnar Björnstrand (Jöns, squire), Bengt Ekerot
(Death), Nils Poppe (Jof / Joseph), Max von Sydow (Antonius
Block)

Synopsis : A knight, Antonius Block, and his squire Jöns
return disillusioned from the Crusades to the hysteria of
plague-infested fourteenth-century Sweden. On the shore
Block encounters Death and, in one of the most effective
reverse-angle exchanges ever filmed, challenges him to a
game of chess, playing for time to perform one significant act
in life.

71

Persona | Director : Ingmar Bergman

Sweden

...........................................................................................

Swedish-English

..........................................................................................

1966 | B&W | 85 min.

Production Company : Svensk Filmindustri Festival & Awards : Nominated for BAFTA Film Award for
Best Foreign Actress (Bibi Andersson) at BAFTA Awards ('68)
.......................................................................................................................................................................................
Won Guldbagge for Best Film (Bästa film) and Best Actress
Story & Screenplay: Ingmar Bergman (Bästa kvinnliga huvudroll) (Bibi Andersson) at Guldbagge
Awards ('67). Nominated for Silver Ribbon for Best Foreign
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Director (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) at Italian
National Syndicate of Film Journalists ('68). Won NBR Award
Producer : Ingmar Bergman for Foreign Film at National Board of Review, USA ('67). Won
NSFC Award for Best Film, Best Actress (Bibi Andersson) and
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Best Director awards at National Society of Film Critics
Awards, USA ('68).
Music : Lars Johan Werle

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cinematographer : Sven Nykvist

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Editor : Ulla Ryghe

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production Design : Bibi Lindström

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume Design : Mago

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Bibi Andersson (Alma), Liv Ullmann (Elisabet Vogler),
Margaretha Krook (The Doctor), Gunnar Björnstrand (Mr.
Vogler)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : After Elizabeth, a famed actress, lapses into
silence from what appears to be a breakdown, she goes to a
beach house with only Anna, a nurse, as company. Over the
next weeks, as Anna struggles to reach her mute patient, they
both find themselves experiencing a strange emotional
convergence.

72

Autumn Sonata | Director : Ingmar Bergman

West Germany

...........................................................................................

Swedish-English

..........................................................................................

1978 | Colour | 93 min.

Production Company: Personafilm GmbH, ITC Film Festival & Awards : Nominated for Oscars for Best Actress in
Distributors, Ltd. a Leading Role (Ingrid Bergman) and Best Writing,
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen at Academy
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Awards, USA ('79). Won Golden Globe awards for Best
Foreign Film and nominated for Best Actress in a Motion
Screenplay : Ingmar Bergman Picture - Drama (Ingrid Bergman) at Golden Globes, USA
('79). Won Bodil for Best European Film (Bedste europæiske
....................................................................................................................................................................................... film) at Bodil Awards ('79). Won David awards for Best
Foreign Actress (Migliore Attrice Straniera) (Ingrid Bergman
Cinematographer : Sven Nykvist & Liv Ullmann) at David di Donatello Awards ('79). Won Silver
Ribbon for Best Foreign Director (Regista del Miglior Film
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Straniero) at Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists
('79). Won NBR Award for Best Director, Best Actress (Ingrid
Editor : Sylvia Ingemarsson Bergman) and Best Foreign Language Film at National Board
of Review, USA ('78). Won NSFC Award for Best Actress
....................................................................................................................................................................................... (Ingrid Bergman) National Society of Film Critics Awards,
USA ('79)
Production Design : Anna Asp

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume Design : Inger Pehrsson

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Ingrid Bergman (Charlotte Andergast), Liv Ullmann
(Eva), Lena Nyman (Helena), Halvar Björk (Viktor), Marianne
Aminoff (Charlotte's private secretary), Arne Bang-Hansen
(Uncle Otto), Gunnar Björnstrand (Paul), Erland Josephson
(Josef), Georg Løkkeberg (Leonardo), Mimi Pollak (Piano
instructor), Linn Ullmann (Eva as a child)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : The warm autumnal hues of a house on a lake give
a false, perhaps wished-for sense of security to the setting,
the home of a pastor and his wife, Eva (Liv Ullmann). Very
soon the steely tone of love avoided, attempted, and denied
overrides all hope. The arrival of Eva's mother (Ingrid
Bergman) a world-traveling concert pianist, for their first
meeting in seven years occasions a near-complete opening
out of feelings by daughter and mother.

73

Saraband | Director : Ingmar Bergman

Sweden-Denmark -
Norway-Italy-
Finland-Germany

..................................................................................................

Swedish - English

.................................................................................................

2003 | Colour | 110 min.

Screenplay : Ingmar Bergman Festival & Awards : Won Special Condor at Argentinean Film
Critics Association Awards ('05). Nominated for César
....................................................................................................................................................................................... award for Best European Union Film (Meilleur film de l'Union
Européenne) at César Awards, France ('05). Won Special
Cinematographers : Stefan Eriksson, Jesper Holmström, Award at Sant Jordi Awards ('06)
Per-Olof Lantto, Sofi Stridh, Raymond Wemmenlöv

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Editor : Sylvia Ingemarsson

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production Design : Göran Wassberg

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume Design : Inger Pehrsson

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : Liv Ullmann (Marianne), Erland Josephson (Johan),
Börje Ahlstedt (Henrik), Julia Dufvenius (Karin), Gunnel Fred
(Martha)

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : The aging Marianne visits her ex-husband and
ends up in the middle of a gut-wrenching family feud.
Dropping in on Johan’s secluded country house after decades
of separation, Marianne reconnects with the man she once
loved. Nearby, the widowed musician Henrik (Börje
Ahlstedt), Johan’s son from an earlier marriage, clutches
desperately to his only child, the teenage Karin (Julia
Dufvenius). A chamber piece performed by four wounded
characters and suffused with disappointment and
forgiveness, Saraband is a generous farewell to cinema from
one of its greatest artists.

74

100th Birth Anniversary Ingmar Bergman
(1918-2007) :
Tribute To Legends in A master’s vision

Marathi Cinema -Saibal Chatterjee

- P. L. Deshpande : Writer / Director / Actor
- G.D. Madgulkar : Lyricist / Writer
- Sudhir Phadke : Music Director

Ingmar Bergman stands in solitary splendour on a pedestal He was an ultra-sensitive, angst-ridden artist endowed with
surrounded by a high, forbidding wall. It has been erected by the deep empathy for humanity’s multiple struggles in a world bereft
sheer intrinsic quality and worldwide cultural impact of his of genuine emotional connections.
cinematic output. He is a towering figure in the history of cinema,
a master craftsman and storyteller who, over a period of six He expressed his concerns through stylistic means that drew
decades, made 60 films for the big screen and television, building heavily from theatre – Bergman was far more active on the stage
in the process a peerless reputation as an explorer of the than he was in cinema, directing more than 170 plays in Sweden,
gloomier, more complex aspects of human life and behaviour. where most of the productions were staged – but also from his

But that isn’t the only reason why Bergman exists in a rarefied own life, especially from the bitter memories of a childhood
zone that only true cineastes, a rare breed of film watchers alive undermined by an overbearing, authoritarian Lutheran
to every signal, every nuance, and every suggestion contained in clergyman-father who imposed extreme restrictions upon the
a cinematic moment, can access and savour. Times have changed sickly, high-strung boy. The orthodox upbringing and the streak
since Bergman’s heydays. Platforms of delivery have increased of subdued rebellion engendered in Bergman spilled over into his
and expanded and audiences – and some scholars too – have ability to take risks and pursue uncharted ideas as a filmmaker.
veered towards an anti-intellectual stance. So, the earnestness Many of the characters in his films sprang from his experiences in
and purity of Bergman’s cinematic voice and the heavy demands childhood and youth as well as his tumultuous later relationships
that most of his films make the audience have probably with women to such an extent that it was often difficult to
discouraged any attempt to let him and his output wander freely separate the personal from the imaginary in his films. For
in the popular space. But those who seek to discover the joys of example, when the protagonist of Wild Strawberries (1957)
entering his fascinating universe never come away disappointed admits, “I was an unwanted child in a hellish marriage”, he echoes
– their patience is always generously rewarded. the director’s own feelings.
Bergman’s first film as director, Crisis (1946), a melodrama
Few filmmakers in the annals of cinema have done as much for adapted from a play, was a disaster, but it contained many of the
the medium as the Swedish great did in a career dotted with elements that were to define his cinema. Over the next decade,
masterpieces and artistic milestones. The achievements of his until 1955, he directed 16 films, in most cases writing the
films earned him a committed band of admirers during his screenplays
lifetime, as much among audiences as among filmmakers who
came after him, but the daunting gravitas associated with
Bergman’s lauded films has kept his formidable legacy from
attracting new, younger fans.

Nothing could be more unfortunate because it is a huge loss for a
world that is still grappling with the spiritual, cultural and
personal challenges that his cinema addressed. Bergman, born
on July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, passed away in 2007. Over a decade
on, his cinema still speaks to us as eloquently, and sometimes as
provocatively and subversively, as it did when he was in the thick
of the action between the late 1940s till the end of his life, from
Torment (1944), an anti-Nazi parable that he scripted for
director Alf Sjoberg, to his last film, Saraband (2003).

Johar Maaybaap | Director : Ram Gabale

India

...........................................................................................

Marathi

..........................................................................................

1950 | B&W | 140 min.

Production Company: Mangal Chitra

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Screenplay : G. D. Madgulkar

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Music : Sudhir Phadke

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Lyrics : G. D. Madgulkar

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Production Design : Anna Asp

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Costume Design : Inger Pehrsson

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Cast : P. L. Deshpande, Sulochana, Vivek

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

Synopsis : The trio of P. L. Deshpande, G. D. Madgulkar, and
Sudhir Phadke are together once again after Pudhach Paul’
about Saint Chokhamela, based on story written by
Vyankatesh Madgulkar. P. L. Deshpande essayed the role of
Saint Chokhamela with ease. Interestingly, this film was
released in 1971 under the title of Hi Vaat Pandharichi.

76

100th Birth Anniversary

Tribute To Hindi Film Music

- Naushad : Music Director Ingmar Bergman
- Snehal Bhatkar : Music Director (1918-2007) :
- Kaifi Azami : Lyricist A master’s vision
- Majrooh Sultanpuri : Lyricist
- Shamshad Begum : Playback Singer -Saibal Chatterjee

Ingmar Bergman stands in solitary splendour on a pedestal He was an ultra-sensitive, angst-ridden artist endowed with
surrounded by a high, forbidding wall. It has been erected by the deep empathy for humanity’s multiple struggles in a world bereft
sheer intrinsic quality and worldwide cultural impact of his of genuine emotional connections.
cinematic output. He is a towering figure in the history of cinema,
a master craftsman and storyteller who, over a period of six He expressed his concerns through stylistic means that drew
decades, made 60 films for the big screen and television, building heavily from theatre – Bergman was far more active on the stage
in the process a peerless reputation as an explorer of the than he was in cinema, directing more than 170 plays in Sweden,
gloomier, more complex aspects of human life and behaviour. where most of the productions were staged – but also from his

But that isn’t the only reason why Bergman exists in a rarefied own life, especially from the bitter memories of a childhood
zone that only true cineastes, a rare breed of film watchers alive undermined by an overbearing, authoritarian Lutheran
to every signal, every nuance, and every suggestion contained in clergyman-father who imposed extreme restrictions upon the
a cinematic moment, can access and savour. Times have changed sickly, high-strung boy. The orthodox upbringing and the streak
since Bergman’s heydays. Platforms of delivery have increased of subdued rebellion engendered in Bergman spilled over into his
and expanded and audiences – and some scholars too – have ability to take risks and pursue uncharted ideas as a filmmaker.
veered towards an anti-intellectual stance. So, the earnestness Many of the characters in his films sprang from his experiences in
and purity of Bergman’s cinematic voice and the heavy demands childhood and youth as well as his tumultuous later relationships
that most of his films make the audience have probably with women to such an extent that it was often difficult to
discouraged any attempt to let him and his output wander freely separate the personal from the imaginary in his films. For
in the popular space. But those who seek to discover the joys of example, when the protagonist of Wild Strawberries (1957)
entering his fascinating universe never come away disappointed admits, “I was an unwanted child in a hellish marriage”, he echoes
– their patience is always generously rewarded. the director’s own feelings.
Bergman’s first film as director, Crisis (1946), a melodrama
Few filmmakers in the annals of cinema have done as much for adapted from a play, was a disaster, but it contained many of the
the medium as the Swedish great did in a career dotted with elements that were to define his cinema. Over the next decade,
masterpieces and artistic milestones. The achievements of his until 1955, he directed 16 films, in most cases writing the
films earned him a committed band of admirers during his screenplays
lifetime, as much among audiences as among filmmakers who
came after him, but the daunting gravitas associated with
Bergman’s lauded films has kept his formidable legacy from
attracting new, younger fans.

Nothing could be more unfortunate because it is a huge loss for a
world that is still grappling with the spiritual, cultural and
personal challenges that his cinema addressed. Bergman, born
on July 14, 1918 in Uppsala, passed away in 2007. Over a decade
on, his cinema still speaks to us as eloquently, and sometimes as
provocatively and subversively, as it did when he was in the thick
of the action between the late 1940s till the end of his life, from
Torment (1944), an anti-Nazi parable that he scripted for
director Alf Sjoberg, to his last film, Saraband (2003).

100 th Birth Anniversary Tribute -Hindi Music Legends

Naushad

Born - 25 December 1919

Widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry.
Also known for his deft adaptation of the classical musical tradition as well as the folk
musictradition for movies. He was one of the first to introduce sound mixing and the separate
recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing, to combine the flute and the clarinet, the
sitar and mandolin. Introduced the accordion to Hindi film music, and was among the first to
concentrate on background music to extend characters' moods and dialogue through music. But
perhaps his greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium.

Awards : Recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1981
The Padma Bhushan in 1992

Famous films : Nai Duniya (1942), Rattan (1944), Sanjog (1943), Pehle Aap (1944), Anmol Ghadi
(1946), Andaz (1949), Dastan (1950), Deedar (1951), Baiju Bawra (1952), Udan Khatola (1955),
Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Gunga Jumna (1961), Leader (1964), Ram Aur Shyam (1967), Pakeezah
(1971), Paan Khaae Sainyyan Humaar (1985), Love and God (1986) And Of course Mother India
(1957), the first Indian film nominated for Oscar Award.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Snehal Bhatkar

Born - 17 July 1919

A well known Hindi and Marathi film music composer from Mumbai. Recipient of Lata Mangeshkar
Award by Government of Maharashtra in 2004. To avoid any breach in contract while officially
working for HMV, he adopted various pseudonyms as a composer. Started movie career with the
movie Neel Kamal (1947). Bhatkar and lyricist Kidar Sharma had shared a special bond, teaming up
for hit songs like `Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein` (Hamari Yaad Aayegi) regarded as the zenith of Bhatkar's
career.

Films : Neel Kamal (1947), Sohag Raat (1948), Thes (1949), Hamari Beti (1950), Bhola Shankar
(1951), Nand Kishore (1951), Gunah (1953), Aaj Ki Baat (1955), Bindiyan (1955), Daku (1955),
Diwali Ki Raat (1956), Jaldeep (1956), Haria (1958), Scout Camp (1959), Chhabili (1960), Hamari
Yaad Aayegi (1961), Deepak (1963), Fariyad (1964), Pehla Kadam (1981).

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Shamshad Begum

Born - 14 April 1919

One of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry, singing over 6,000 songs in Hindi as well as
Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Punjabi languages. Worked with maestros including Naushad
Ali, S. D. Burman, C. Ramchandra and O. P. Nayyar. Her peak period in the Hindi film industry was from
1940 to 1955 and again from 1957 to 1968. But her songs from the 1940s to the early 1970s remain
popular and continue to be remixed.

Films : Shikari (1946), Bazar (1950), Mashaal (1950), Bahar (1951), Shahenshah (1953), Miss India
(1957), Mangu (1954), 12' O Clock (1957), Musafirkhana, Mother India (1957), Patanga (1949),
Babul (1950), Angarey (1954), Naya Andaz. Aan (1952), Upkar, Kismat (1969), Heer Raanjha (1970),
Hong Kong (1971), Teri Meri Ik Jindri (1975) and many more.

Famous Songs : Kajra Mohabbat Wala, Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar, Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana,
Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar Laga Teer-e-nazar, Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, Teri Mehfil men Qismat Azama
kar.

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100 th Birth Anniversary Tribute -Hindi Music Legends

Kaifi Azmi

Born - 14 January 1919

One of the leading Progressive Urdu poets, Kaifi Azmi is remembered for his literary flavour to
Indian film songs. Full-time Marxist, Member of the Communist Party of India and Progressive
Writers' Movement, he is best known for his songs such as `Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam` ( Kagaz
Ke Phool), `Kar Chale Hum Fida Jan-o-tan Sathion` (Haqeeqat) and of course the poetic dialogues for
Heer Raanjha, a unique experiment in dialogue-writing that beautifully brought out the very soul of
the famous folk lore.

Famous Films : Buzdil (1951), Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) Id Ka
Chand (1958), Heer Raanjha (1970), Garam Hawa (1973), Manthan (1976), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959),
Haqeeqat (1964), Kohra (1964), Anupama (1966), Uski Kahani (1966), Naunihal (1967,) Saat
Hindustani (1969), Shola Aur Shabnam, Parwana (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Pakeezah (1972), Hanste
Zakhm (1973), Arth (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983).

Awards : Padma Shri, Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award, Special
Award of Maharashtra Urdu Academy, Soviet Land Nehru Award, Lotus Award from the Afro-Asian
Writers' Association, and President's Award for national integration. In 1998, Government of
Maharashtra conferred the Jyaneshwara Award on him.

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Majrooh Sultanpuri

Born - 1 October 1919

Considered one of the finest avant-garde Urdu poets of 20th century. An important figure in the
Progressive Writers' Movement in the 1950s and early 1960s. Worked with music directors, from
Naushad, Madan Mohan, S.D.Burman, Roshan, Ravi, N. Datta, Shankar-Jaikishan, O.P.Nayyar, Usha
Khanna, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Anu Malik, R.D.Burman, Rajesh Roshan, Bappi Lahiri, Kalyanji-Anandji,
Anand-Milind and Jatin-Lalit to Leslie Lezz Lewis and A.R.Rahman. Won the Filmfare Best Lyricist
Award in 1965 for "Chahunga Main Tujhe" in the film Dosti, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in
1993. He wrote more than 4000 songs for films which include classic songs like Jab Dil Hii Toot Gaya,
Yeh Raten Yeh Mausam, Sham-e-gam Ki Qasam, Sun Mere Bandhu Re, Inhi Logon Ne, Chahunga Main
Tujhe to Pahla Nasha and so on...

The government wasn't amused by his anti-establishment poems and he was jailed in 1949 along with
other leftists like Balraj Sahni. Majrooh was asked to apologise, but he refused and was sentenced to
two years in prison.

Films : Shah Jehan (1946), Andaaz (1949), Aarzoo, Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), Dil Deke Dekho, Phir
Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne, Pyar Ka Mausam, Caravan (includes
the song Piya Tu Ab To Aaja), Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973), Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977), Zamane Ko
Dikhana Hai, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), Akele Hum Akele
Tum, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Teesri Manzil.

His one of the best-known verses of Urdu poetry is, "Main akela hee chala tha janib-e-manzil magar,
log saath aate gaye aur carvan banta gaya!"

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Aurangabad : Cultural
Memoir through
Memories Ignored

-Dr. Bina Sengar

कोई यादोंसे जोड़ ले हम को In the world of movies, the sepia mode, baritone of the cultural voices of
Marathwada and Aurangabad silently claim their voices through movies
हम भी इक टूटता सा र ा ह like ‘Fandry’ and ‘Dashkriya’. Although attempts of showcasing rich
cultural heritage failed miserably through Chandrakant Desai’s ‘Ajintha’.
‘Lest, someone connects us to their memories… For our memoirs we have movies of immense popularity like Pakeezah,
As we too a link in kin… getting disconnected’

When renowned Shahir (poet) Bashar Nawaz of Aurangabad wrote these Love and God, Razia Sultan and recently the M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story
lines for his sher, perhaps then he lamented on growing disconnect among and a few more. The limit to these cinematic ventures is they had in them
people about heritage and culture. landscape and artistic monumental splendor of Aurangabad which
adorned the cinematic world. Yet many folk, fiction and historic tales of

Culture is thoroughly space and time bound. If we ignore its space-place Aurangabad and its region remain without spectator and celluloid frames.
rootedness, then we take away a lot from its essential elements and In the contemporary times what remains oblivious is lack of good movies
viability as a truth. What remains in absence of time and space is a fable of which could highlight the regional cultural value of Aurangabad itself.
falsehood and misinterpretation which distorts the actual weave of In a recent buzz Hollywood is planning for a script on ‘Malik Ambar’, the
people and their place. Certain memories from human past and Ethopian slave turned ‘De facto’ ruler of Nizamshahi dynasty and founder
community make us what we are today. of the city of ‘Khadki’ he is our the very own hero of Aurangabad. Yet, in our
Indian and Marathi cinema we don’t have any movie on him. There are

History of India or rather world with its regions of Deccan, Maharashtra, many subjects and themes in the narrative which are begging recognition
Marathwada which predominantly evolve around Aurangabad are also and space in the aesthetic virtual and popular culture. The new genre of
not devoid of these elements of truth. Moreover, the essential paradigms artists, imaginative thinkers and cinema lovers have lot to learn, depicts
of history and culture which happen from so called ancient to modern and portray through these themes.

history in the western and southern part of India evolve around and The silent monuments of Aurangabad, Daulatabad, Khuldabad, Ajanta,
through Aurangabad. Present Aurangabad also known in past as Paithan have repositories of stories to be shared with the world. The
Fatehnagar, Khadki and Pratishthan as its extended region contributed medium of cinema could speak loudly for these living cultural spaces
enormously in formation of cultural trends of Maharashtra, the way we which are narrating their stories through their well-crafted buildings,
know them today. breathtaking landscapes and buzzing humans living through diverse and

Globally when film and cultural festivals are organized the purpose for prodigious traditions. Why there are no movies on Amir Khusrau’s poetics
them is to promote a specific objective. For example, MAMI film festival on Daulatabad? Or why we failed to re-create esoteric magic of Bhakti and
promotes film all over the world and it also specifically highlights movies Sufi movement through cinema which prevailed in entire Marathwada
and documentaries showcasing art and cinematic vision about city of with its main seats in Pratishthan, Daulatabad and Aurangabad? While
Mumbai. Same goes with renowned film festivals of Cannes, Berlin, writing this narrative I tried to search and know about good movies on
Toronto and so on. Prime objectives of film festivals promoted through a Sant Dyaneshwar, Sant Eknath, Sufi Saints of Khuldabad and strangely I
city identity are to let the world know the localized potential. Or as we say could hardly find any! The best documented movie on Sant Eknath on
in the new vocabulary of connected world of today ‘Glocal’. ‘Glocal’ which IMDb dates to 1926. This brings to question our own flairs and priorities,
could be understood as globally recognized and accepted local identity. when we patronize world of cinema through our own identities in them.
Hope the #6thAIFF will bring together artists and patrons and many new

The new age of cinematic art and aesthetics is thriving on the regional or subjects to explore, which consequently will enrich purpose of
local genres of history, culture and traditions. In these contexts, Aurangabad and films…

Aurangabad has lot to offer. In past, if we could not capitalize on our assets Hence, lastly in words of Bashar Nawaz again…
then perhaps, time has come to showcase rich history, heritage, culture

and folk memories of Aurangabad and its regional galore. As now we जाने िकन र ोंने मझु को बाधँ र ा है िक म
celebrate 6th Aurangabad International Film Festival, we are fondly मु तोंसे आँ धयोंक ज़द म ँ बखरा नहीं
recalled about the retro memories of Aurangabad itself. A city which gave

some of the best backstage artists to India’s film industry and Don’t know what all relations have tied me so long…

mesmerizedthe filmdom with many of its backdrop images. Bashar Nawaz For long I survived thunders and not splintered…

our own city-based poet wrote screenplay and dialogues of Amir Khusrau

a series telecasted in 90’s Doordarshan.

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Aurangabad Gets
Rolling on the
Film Scene...

-Manoj Tulpule

In an age where internet almost has taken over job of information newspapers and outdoor publicity. People would know about a
and entertaining masses, films hold key to diverse perspectives new movie by hand pulled carts and, later, rickshaws with
on matters and can help deepen our understanding. Independent decorated film posters along with announcements on loud
films are more capable to do that by their stories and narration. speakers. Things started changing in 1980s when few new
directors and actors started coming to the city and the region to
Where are films in a city like Aurangabad or region like promote their films, observes Ujalambkar. All that has changed
Marathwada? Or how much Marathwada is there in our films? now. Technology has changed the ways films are distributed and
Well, there is not much. Yet, just by taking a ringside view, one can marketed.
safely assume things would no longer be same as Aurangabad
gets rolling on the film scene. Aurangabad international film Trove of stories : Marathwada has a rich culture. Yet, one hardly
festival is in its sixth year and many such events and activities sees many movies draw inspiration from it. The region has rivers,
related to films are happening already. hills, forests, historical places, spiritual traditions but we don’t
see them much on the screen. Lives of people of the land haven’t
Until recently, Aurangabad was nowhere on the film scene of been represented adequately in movies, not even in Marathi
India. A few important factors can help change that. We are movies. Some Marathi movies tell stories with Marathwada in
seeing four of them here. background but they are so less in number that they can be
exceptions to the trend.
Ease of making films : Digital technology comes handy in film At a time when directors are busy telling stories from India’s
making. Production equipment are more reasonably priced, far diverse rural and semi-urban background, bringing out the rich
less bulky than they used to be and are feature- rich. For a young trove Marathwada holds would be a challenge and an
storyteller shooting on camera has become less cumbersome. opportunity.
This helps decentralization of film making and filmmakers from
regions like Marathwada will be benefited. New generation film makers : One estimate tells us
Aurangabad is surrounded by many historical monuments and Marathwada has about over a hundred short film makers. It is
some exotic locations. These can attract more film makers in near possible most of them would be amateurs and may not go much
future. While there have been many shooting sessions in and beyond their first film. Yet, the number raises optimism. Many
around Aurangabad, the region still holds much that is from Marathwada are already working in Mumbai’s film industry
uncaptured. and doing media related activities there. If Aurangabad could
develop a film culture, it can be safely assumed they would be
Ease of marketing films : Aurangabad is at about an hour’s flight more than willing to contribute.
from Mumbai - Film capital of India. Yet we haven’t seen
Aurangabad or Marathwada in film making barring a few Though there are many ifs and buts in these ideas, they do not
exceptions. look impossible for Aurangabad. International film festival is one
big step towards it.
Marathwada region has not been a part of Mumbai’s film
distribution territory. This fact had its impact. Senior film
journalist Ashok Ujalambkar remembers a how it took weeks and
months sometime to arrange first show of a new Marathi movie
in Aurangabad. Distributors and exhibitors had to rely on

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Aurangabad : An

Ideal Destination

For shooting

– Kishor Nikam,

(Photographer – Location designer)
Translated by – Parikshit Suryavanshi

Aurangabad is the cultural, educational, industrial and literary animal species, it is also an ideal location for shooting of different
centre of Marathwada region of the state of Maharashtra, India. occasions in films. With high elevation, Chalisgaon Ghat is a good
From the incredible Ellora and Ajanta caves to the beautiful Bibi Ka place to shoot so is one of the oldest caves named Pitalkhora nearby.
Makbara, it is the confluence of all religions. It not only retained its There is also a fort near Kannad town.
social harmony in the face of repeated attacks by invaders, but also Aurangabad is very well connected to a
continued with its contribution in the fields of art and culture. The ll major cities of the country like Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Hyderabad
same contributions have placed it among the top historical and etc. by air, rail and road. Several movies, serials and ads have been
artistic places in the country and made it the ‘Tourism Capital’ of shot at the newly built Chikalthana airport of the city. Unlike the
Maharashtra. crowded Mumbai airport, one can shoot here peacefully without any
disturbance.
Thanks to the rise of industries in the region, this historical city is
shining with a new glow. With hundreds of locations in and around There are number of ideal spots for shooting in the city itself like Biki
the city for shooting of movies, serials, ads and shorts, you will find an Ka Makbara, Panchakki, University area, Aurangabad caves etc. One
ideal destination in Aurangabad. of the town’s unique identities is also because of the sheer number
gates it had. So much so that Aurangabad is also known as ‘The City of
Roll...Camera.... Action!!! The words are no longer new the people Gates’. At one point of time in history there were 54 gates, out of
here. With a slew of movies, industrial films and ads taking place which 20 are existing today. Some of them are still in very good
around the town, Aurangabad is now the favourite location of condition.
several actors, directors and producers. The arrival of film industry
has given a new identity to the city and jobs to its youth. The artists Around fifty kilometres from Aurangabad is Jayakwadi dam and
and technicians of the region have been benefitted by the positive Paithan town, earlier known as Pratishthan Nagari. Old Wadas
change. They are showing their mark in the fields of direction, acting, (centuries-old, vast Indian houses with huge walls and doors) are still
singing, dance, camera and backstage activities. in good condition here. There are several villages around
Aurangabad which have preserved their cultural and historical
The unique architecture of the region first featured in Pakeezah of heritage, capable of pouring life into stories.
Meena Kumari has continued to entice many till today. The world
famous Ajanta caves, at a distance of a mere hundred kilometres, Movies in Marathi, Hindi and other Indian languages, including one
need no description. An epic could be written in its glory and it could ‘Veeram’ in Malayalam have been shot here before, so are in English
hardly capture the tiniest part of its beauty. Several scholars have and Chinese. The Chinese movie, Xuan Zang which was nominated
spent their entire lives studying the paintings in these caves. There for Oscar was also shot here. The movie was collaboration of India
are so many places around Ajanta caves where shooting could be and China. It was shot for 10 days in Aurangabad. Besides, so many
done. ads like those of Pepsi, Miranda, VIP bags, Mahindra Truck etc. have
been shot in the city. There are several excellent locations for
At a tenth of this distance stands the invincible Daulatabad fort! shooting in the industrial area of Waluj, Chikalthana, Shendra and
Shooting has been done here at several occasions. The historical Oric city too.
ambience, classic construction, impenetrable edges, massive
canons, the top mansion all testify for its glorious past. Just a twenty With a strong background of drama and movies, Aurangabad has a
kilometres from the city lies another great creation in human history, long lineage of great artists. Looking at the available facilities, a film
the Ellora caves. People from all over the world throng to be city can easily be developed here. If the great destinations in the area
mesmerised by the centuries-old sculptures of Ellora. Like Ajanta no are featured in movies more often, the entire region will develop.
words can describe the beauty and grandeur of this monument too. Let’s hope that the tourism capital of the state with great heritage of
The twelfth Jyotirlinga, Ghrishneshwar temple is just a kilometre art and culture also succeeds to capture the attention of film
away from there. A few kilometres ahead on the same road is industry.
Gautala Wildlife Sanctuary. A safe abode to number of plant, bird and

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