Ian Jack

In India, films about poverty used to cause great offence. But not Slumdog Millionire.

A foreign director comes to India and shoots a film that in part depicts considerable cruelty, poverty and squalor. The Indian government is outraged when the BBC broadcasts the film. There are official protests; severe restrictions are imposed on the […]

New Delhi  (IANS):  He is full of admiration for Shah Rukh Khan and his on-screen charisma, but veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal rues that he doesn’t have a subject to cast the superstar.
“Shah Rukh is a truly brilliant actor. When he comes on the screen, you hardly look anywhere else but at him - he is […]

MALATHI RANGARAJAN
Two shorts, aptly titled ‘Future’ and ‘Minutes,’ and each running to about 20 minutes, were screened at the AVM Studio complex recently. The enthusiasm of the crew was palpable. Bustling about the premises they were intently observing the reactions of the audience.
“We are glad that we’ve been able to get a packed house here. […]

NITA SATHYENDRAN

A group of techies try their hand at filmmaking.

All of us were novices, but we learnt on the job
 

Murder mystery: A scene from ‘The Myth.’ There is a popular myth that the main deity in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple floats on the sea, just like Lord Vishnu floats on the mythical Palazhi. Eight […]

New Delhi (PTI) Come December and India will host for the first time a retrospective of films by a Bangladeshi director who will also be the first cinema personality from the eastern neighbour to be given the honour of inaugurating a film festival in this country.
Tanvir Mokammel, the director and a leading figure of the […]

Kausallya Santhanam
 “O servant , where dost thou seek Me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque…”
Kabir, the mystic poet and singer-saint of the 15th century, is regarded by many as the best icon for our troubled times. Brought up in the home of Muslim weavers in the holy city of Benaras, […]

Ajit Duara 
By plumbing the mind’s complexity and depth, Ingmar Bergman’s films gave us profound psychological insights into ourselves. 
A blank page is where you begin. And probably where you end. The 1950s, the greatest decade for cinema anywhere in the world, ended nearly 50 years ago and human longevity is such that all its makers, with […]

 
Geetika Chandrahasan
At 30, he watched his first film in a theatre. Six years later came Kim ki-Duk’s first brush with filmmaking, resulting in his debut feature `Crocodile’ (1996). In the short span thereafter, this South Korean director has established himself as one of the most compelling filmmakers of our times.
The 10th International Film Festival of […]