A filmmaker looks back
Nihalani at Satyam Cinema
‘Lights On’ at Satyam Cinema has been an eagerly awaited event in the monthly calendar for the city’s film buffs. The last one was an interaction with the filmmaker Govind Nihalani, made doubly interesting by a live interview of him by Revathy, the well known actor-director, whose questions revealed both serious homework and keen awareness of the craft of cinema. An unabashed admirer of Nihalani’s work, she adopted a natural, unpretentious approach to the interview. It was also quite evident that she could have gone on engaging her willing subject in what was proving to be an absorbing conversation, when she said she would throw the floor open for questions from the audience, but could not resist the temptation to ask one final question herself. What followed was disastrous. One loquacious guest made a long, unintelligible statement that put everyone to sleep, and nearly brought the proceedings to an anticlimactic and premature end. Of course, Chennai cannot be Chennai without this kind of theatre of the absurd, which is enacted at every event of this type. Only this time, the longhaired gentleman who usually asks one profound question of distinctly Marxist slant at every Q& A session was conspicuous by his absence.
Revathy led Nihalani admirably towards sharing with us some of the pivotal moments of his career as cinematographer and film director. He was honest and self-effacing, lacing his observations with humour. He very nearly did not get to choose cinematography as a profession; only the fortuitous intervention of the family soothsayer nudged his father to endorse his desire to join a diploma course at a government institute in Bangalore. The guru said, “The lad will make a huge name for himself with the help of a machine,” which was thankfully interpreted as a career wielding a camera.
Nihalani spoke wistfully of his early struggles, which also brought him into contact with some of the best names in serious Indian cinema today, especially of the middle of the road variety. He recalled the continual differences of opinion and arguments on the sets with Satyadev Dubey who directed Nihalani’s first film, ‘Shantata Court Chalu Ahe’, which invariably ended with a drinking session, Nihalani being the abstemious partner. He acknowledged how much he gained from his association with Shyam Benegal who brought not only intense professionalism but also a balanced perspective rooted in his deep knowledge of history, sociology and our culture to his work. He explained his continuous engagement with the theme of violence, because it is there, it is so much a part of our existence, but stresses that he never exploited it for titillation. With Revathy jogging his memory, he revisited his childhood brush with violence during the partition riots.
He also spoke of the wonderful experience of making Tamas, which was made as a TV serial and whose backer Mr Bijlani of Blaze Advertising originally insisted on a two-hour version for release in theatres, but later dropped the idea as he did not want to chop the memorable film it became. Like some of the best things in life, the idea for Tamas was born accidentally, while Nihalani was browsing in a bookshop and chanced to pick up the book by Bhisham Sahni.
Making Gandhi was a memorable experience. Richard Attenborough was a complete professional who worked with storyboards and shot-by-shot sketches in hand but rarely changed any of Nihalani’s ideas once he listened him out. Nihalani let the audience into a couple of secrets like how the funeral scene involving huge crowds was shot.
‘Deham’ was a favourite of Nihalani, who gave the major credit for the excellence of the film to the author, Manjula Padmanabhan, and also revealed some of the tricks behind the special effects of the film.
The only time the filmmaker seemed to be on slightly unsure ground was when he defended his decision to cast Amitabh Bachhan in the lead role in his recent film Dev. For once, he was unconvincing, when he told his questioner: Tell me, who else could have done justice to the role?
At the end, the audience still wanted more, so lively and rewarding had been the experience of listening to Govind Nihalani, expertly prodded by the charming Revathy, who continues to look a smasher.
‘Lights On’ at Satyam Cinema has been an eagerly awaited event in the monthly calendar for the city’s film buffs. The last one was an interaction with the filmmaker Govind Nihalani, made doubly interesting by a live interview of him by Revathy, the well known actor-director, whose questions revealed both serious homework and keen awareness of the craft of cinema. An unabashed admirer of Nihalani’s work, she adopted a natural, unpretentious approach to the interview. It was also quite evident that she could have gone on engaging her willing subject in what was proving to be an absorbing conversation, when she said she would throw the floor open for questions from the audience, but could not resist the temptation to ask one final question herself. What followed was disastrous. One loquacious guest made a long, unintelligible statement that put everyone to sleep, and nearly brought the proceedings to an anticlimactic and premature end. Of course, Chennai cannot be Chennai without this kind of theatre of the absurd, which is enacted at every event of this type. Only this time, the longhaired gentleman who usually asks one profound question of distinctly Marxist slant at every Q& A session was conspicuous by his absence.
Revathy led Nihalani admirably towards sharing with us some of the pivotal moments of his career as cinematographer and film director. He was honest and self-effacing, lacing his observations with humour. He very nearly did not get to choose cinematography as a profession; only the fortuitous intervention of the family soothsayer nudged his father to endorse his desire to join a diploma course at a government institute in Bangalore. The guru said, “The lad will make a huge name for himself with the help of a machine,” which was thankfully interpreted as a career wielding a camera.
Nihalani spoke wistfully of his early struggles, which also brought him into contact with some of the best names in serious Indian cinema today, especially of the middle of the road variety. He recalled the continual differences of opinion and arguments on the sets with Satyadev Dubey who directed Nihalani’s first film, ‘Shantata Court Chalu Ahe’, which invariably ended with a drinking session, Nihalani being the abstemious partner. He acknowledged how much he gained from his association with Shyam Benegal who brought not only intense professionalism but also a balanced perspective rooted in his deep knowledge of history, sociology and our culture to his work. He explained his continuous engagement with the theme of violence, because it is there, it is so much a part of our existence, but stresses that he never exploited it for titillation. With Revathy jogging his memory, he revisited his childhood brush with violence during the partition riots.
He also spoke of the wonderful experience of making Tamas, which was made as a TV serial and whose backer Mr Bijlani of Blaze Advertising originally insisted on a two-hour version for release in theatres, but later dropped the idea as he did not want to chop the memorable film it became. Like some of the best things in life, the idea for Tamas was born accidentally, while Nihalani was browsing in a bookshop and chanced to pick up the book by Bhisham Sahni.
Making Gandhi was a memorable experience. Richard Attenborough was a complete professional who worked with storyboards and shot-by-shot sketches in hand but rarely changed any of Nihalani’s ideas once he listened him out. Nihalani let the audience into a couple of secrets like how the funeral scene involving huge crowds was shot.
‘Deham’ was a favourite of Nihalani, who gave the major credit for the excellence of the film to the author, Manjula Padmanabhan, and also revealed some of the tricks behind the special effects of the film.
The only time the filmmaker seemed to be on slightly unsure ground was when he defended his decision to cast Amitabh Bachhan in the lead role in his recent film Dev. For once, he was unconvincing, when he told his questioner: Tell me, who else could have done justice to the role?
At the end, the audience still wanted more, so lively and rewarding had been the experience of listening to Govind Nihalani, expertly prodded by the charming Revathy, who continues to look a smasher.
posted by Ramnarayan at 11:30 PM
1 Comments:
have you been to "lights on" screenings at satyam cinemas recently? i attended two of them at sree, and both times had a "rocking" experience, with the theatre vibrating throughout the show. (i wrote about it here). any guesses what could be the reason?
i missed today's shabana and nasser.
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