Trivandrum | Film/TV/Media News | Developments

[ajithv]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Desi filmmakers who cook up teary tales in the name of ‘children’s films’ could have learned a thing or two at the two-day filmmaking workshop organised by the Goethe Zentrum, the German Cultural Centre, in Thiruvananthapuram.

The squeals of laughter could be heard from afar and inside, a bunch of delighted actors-cum-directors were rounding off the act by playing editors, chopping and yoking what they had shot over the two days.

Anja Schuetze, the visiting documentary filmmaker, seemed to be enjoying every bit of working over the din, and welcomed all the opinions shouted to her by the debutante auteurs.

The filmmaking workshop, conducted over the weekend, was part of an educational programme organised in connection with the German Year in India. Anja, who fell in love with India while on a short stay for the shoot of a documentary in 2000, was glad to be part of the programme.

The theme of the project was ‘City Dreams-Dream Cities’ and Anja chose to give it a visual interpretation through the point of view of children.

Said Anja, “We shot on the premises of the Zentrum on the first day and spent the whole of this morning on the Kovalam beach. We spoke anything we like at the shoot because we are not using the original sound track, so it was all the more fun. Now, we will use a song and turn it into a music video. I was looking for a song which will not involve copyright issues and came across a Bangalore band that let me use their song ‘Slow Down Cloud’.”

A one-to-one dialogue with any of the little filmmakers was an impossible proposition. Maria and Monica tried to give us a more or less clear picture of how they had formed two groups on the first day and did interviews with each other about their ‘Dream City’.

And soon, Bharath, Karan, Santra and others were chipping in with bits about the how they made short films in just ten takes and based on a 30-second music track and the whale of a time they had on the beach.

One could deduce that the shooting schedule was fun. Scenes at the beach involved praying with folded hands and being rewarded with a shower of chocolates, a mock fishing in the shallow waters with the actors pretending that chocolates tied to strings were fish. Concepts about the ‘Dream City’ were almost invariably ‘fun-filled, peaceful, and green’. It was inspiring to find that children also thought of ‘plastic-free’ and ‘eco-friendly’ cities, said Anja.

The participants were students of German language at the Zentrum and incorporated Deutsch dialogues in the interviews. The edited film was screened at the amphitheatre in the Zentrum on Sunday evening to an audience of family and friends.

Source

[ajithv]

[abhilashtvpm]

An article about the making of movie Salt N' Pepper

City Kaumudi

[Tri Man]

Once again nice to see that movies which is shot in Trivandrum becoming a big Boxoffice Hit.
....as did Robot.

Potholes,slabless gutter ,...etc are common to all cities.Trivandrum is not an exception.The article reports as though only Trivandrum has potholes in the roads.

[ajithv]

No.Read carefully the second last paragraph.During the start of the shooting of the film there were potholes.The stretch mentioned here is Thampanoor-Palayam Underpass-Kowdiar & end at Museum.Except the Thampanoor-Panavila stretch,you cannot find any potholes as these are recently developed under TCRIP.The Thampanoor-Panavila stretch is also under TCRIP and works are under progress and is delayed due to "JAPAN";So obviously have potholes.

But later they couldn't find the potholes in that route and they searched and found a suitable place where the "real" potholes exist.

[ajithv]

Source : Metro Vaartha

[ajithv]

Documentary filmmaker and actor Suhasini Mulay

Suhasini Mulay, chief guest of the IDSFFK, talks about her award-winning documentaries and her work as an actor.

Many a cinegoer carries the image of the effervescent young Gauri in Mrinal Sen's pathbreaking masterpiece ‘Bhuvan Shome,' portrayed by a 17-year-old Suhasini Mulay. She has had an eventful and satisfying career as a documentary filmmaker, and an actor on both the big and the small screen. Suhasini is as full of life as was the little Gauri on screen, 43 years ago. She attributes her success in ‘Bhuvan Shome' not to her acting, “because I was just being myself. All credit goes to Mrinal-da and the actors who made it happen.” Four of her documentaries won national awards (‘An Indian Story'– on Bhagalpur blindings, ‘Bhopal - Beyond Genocide' – on Bhopal gas tragedy; ‘Chithi'– on education; ‘Official Art Form' – on paintings). In a telephonic interview the documentary filmmaker-actor, who will be the chief guest at the inaugural of the Fourth International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) that begins on July 31 in Thiruvananthapuram, spoke about her career, on screen and behind the camera.

From the heroine of ‘Bhuvan Shome' (1968) to a documentary filmmaker, how did the transition come about?

‘Bhuvan Shome' happened when I was 16. At that point in time only Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, and Tapan Sinha were making a different kind of cinema. The ‘new' Indian film had not made its appearance, nor had Shyam Benegal, Basu Bhattacharya, Basu Chatterjee come into the field. Therefore when I had to make a career option, there was no clear choice.

My mother also insisted that this is the time to study and reap the benefit of education. So, I went to McGill University in Montreal to study soil chemistry and microbiology, which I did complete, but realised early that little of this could be applied in our country, because we were learning of a Green Revolution that would suit a farmer who had 3,500 acres and not our poor farmer. While there I completed a degree in English (Honours), which was more of radio, television and print journalism. Once that was done I found documentaries a more interesting area to work in.

Probing documentary makers have a tough task coping. Considering that you have 60 of them to your credit how did you manage?

I did not want to prance around trees singing and dancing. I had to make a living and for that I started with documentaries for government agencies on subjects such as adult education, child welfare, and so on. I do not mind the research for such ventures, it is the bureaucratic process that is tiresome. I continued because the only other option was to make industrial documentaries or ad films. I decided that I was not going to put all my talent into making films that would help sell soaps.

A brief account of ‘Bhopal, Beyond Genocide' and ‘Talking Peace,' the two documentaries that will be screened at the fourth IDSFFK.

It so happened that I was shooting around the Union Carbide factory on a documentary for the Madhya Pradesh government, when disaster struck. As usual, the government went into denial mode, playing down the number of people affected, whereas the people on the spot rose to the occasion with relief work. What started as support through a non-governmental organisation to provide relief to the slums helped me see what was happening. Soon enough all energy was redirected to make the documentary, which really is an inside view of developments. The first version of the documentary, which came 100 days after the tragedy, gave an overall picture. It was screened in the New York District Court to convey the intensity of tragedy. The second version is what will be screened here. In fact the most distressing feature is that after all these years our legal system does not provide for a case where large numbers can go to court for a single cause. It still is a single person's battle for justice.

‘Talking Peace' was made in 1998 immediately after Pokhran II. The film looks at the politics of the history of Partition of India, and takes time looking at our educational texts where the curricula content reach children with no filter. The major question is that we are being made to perceive the ‘Other' as the evil. That dialogue can break the impasse is a case being made by Pak-India Forum for Democracy of which I am a part of.

You are a presence in commercial films, television, and documentary filmmaking. How does one prioritise?

A comeback with Gulzar's ‘Hu Tu Tu' (1999) made the difference. Ashutosh Gowarikar who saw me in the film then offered me the role in ‘Lagaan' which led to the next in Farhan Akhtar's ‘Dil Chahta Hai' and then it has continued. At 40 years of age, when you realise your bank balance will not see you through the years ahead, then my acting talent comes handy. Television serials also came along.

After an association of four decades with films, any plans to direct a film?

Yes, I'm working on a script. If you have a good script and you are willing to work within a particular budget, there are audiences for such films and multiplex theatres where it can be screened. This is the time to make a film.

You have had the opportunity to work with both Satyajit Ray (‘Jana Aranya') and Mrinal Sen (‘Mrigaya'). What were these experiences like?

On returning to India I took up a short assignment as assistant to the secretary of jury at the International Film Festival, and Satyajit Ray was the chairman. He was on the lookout for an assistant, and that's how I went to Kolkata. I learnt a lot – the discipline, conceptualisation, planning your shots. Often, when he had finalised a shot he'd ask me to look through the camera too, and Ray being an illustrator had a perfection at every stage. At the end of the day, I'd seek clarifications on various things I had noted down during the shooting and he would most generously explain it. Even before I reached the city he had sent me a 30-page detailed synopsis of the film, which made all the difference to a person who did not know Bengali.

As far as Mrinalda was concerned I had known him since ‘Bhuvan Shome.' ‘Mrigaya' not a planned career move. I was stepping in to fill the space of an assistant who had taken ill. Here, it was the editing stage of the film. He too was organised but there was lot of warmth and affection that came along with it. With Manikda (Ray) there was that awe and respect. In fact, even on the sets people would rarely ask questions of Ray because of this. I knew I had gone to learn and ask him questions I did.

Source

[vinodtnt]

very nice movie, indeed one of the best in recent time. We need such movies rather than some dishum, dishum with dark background and location. Trivandrum has always been a wonderful location for good movies. We can see the difference in recent movies and 80-90's as most of the movies those days being filmed in Trivandrum.

[krishnachand]

Tamil cinema's most lauded and creative director, Mani Ratnam is getting ready to start his new film.

The buzz is that Mani Ratnam is going back to his roots and making a film that will have a Tamil milieu and flavour with new stars and technicians on a big budget.

Mani Ratnam, the marketing wizard, is looking at his first straight Tamil film in nearly a decade. Rumours are there that yesteryear romantic hero Karthik's son will debut as hero with the film.

Mani sir's last straight Tamil film was Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), which had a local flavour and nativity about it. Since then he has been only making bi-lingual in Hindi and Tamil – Yuva (Aayutha Ezhuthu), Guru (Guru), and Raavan (Raavanan).

Says a former assistant of Mani Ratnam: "The idea of making bi lingual’s worked commercially for Mani sir and his Madras Talkies. But these fusion movies were neither sincere to north or his core south Indian audiences. As a filmmaker he fell between two stools".

As a Mumbai based trade analyst said: “Early Mani Ratnam movies like Roja and Bombay were dubbed into Hindi, which worked at the box-office. Then he started making bi-lingual`s with certain actors in crucial roles being changed in both versions, which did not work to his advantage.He needs to continue doing good films in Tamil. But his urge to reach out to National audiences has been his waterloo. Yuva and Guru were redeeming in many levels, but the death knell was sounded by Raavan".

The grapevine has it that AR Rahman , Mani Ratnam's regular music director will be part of the project which many say will be a love story. However, he will be having a new cameraman and art director. Mani is moving away from his regulars like Samir Chanda and Sabu Cyril to Telugu set designer Ravinder who was responsible for the art work of Maghadheera and Mariyadai Raman.

A little bird has informed sify.com that recently Mani sir was location hunting in Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala still remains the director's favourite location. Mani sir and his trusted assistants spent a week shuttling between Thiruvananthapuram and Nagercovil in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu in an old Ambassador Tourist taxi.

They have identified quite a few beautiful coastal virgin locations between Pozhikara, a fishing village in Kanyakumari and Vizhinjam near Kovalam in Kerala. In all probability, Mani Ratnam's first Tamil film in a decade will start rolling by September, when the rain subsides in coastal areas.

[abhilashtvpm]

53 films to be screened at Trivandrum International Film Festival

The 16th Trivandrum International Film Festival (TIFF) organised by the Chalachitra Film Society will begin here on August 6. As many as 53 films from 24 countries will be screened at the week-long festival, Chalachitra president G. Rajmohan said at a press meet here on Tuesday.

The festival will have eight screenings a day at three venues — Kalabhavan, Kesari Memorial Auditorium, and Goethe Zentrum. As many as 21 feature films representing 14 countries will be screened in the World Cinema section of the festival. Seven films from five countries will be featured in the Asian Cinema section.

The Focus section will include six acclaimed films from France. Almost all top winners of the 2011 Golden Globe Awards and Oscar will be featured in the Oscar/Golden Globe section. ‘Social Network,' ‘The King's Speech,' and ‘127 Hours' are some of the films to be screened in this category. Works of Marta Meszaros, Martin Scorses, Alexandro Inarittu, Clint Eastwood, Florian Henckel, and Richard J. Lewis will be featured in the World Masters' section.

A special package of films based on the works of Rabindranath Tagore has also been included in the festival to mark the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the poet. “Out of the 53 films, 40 films are produced between 2009 and 2011 and are winners of various international awards. Israeli film-maker Dani Menkin will present his debut feature film ‘I love you terminal' ,'' said festival director George Mathew.

The delegate passes for the festival can be collected from Kalabhavan from August 4.

[abhilashtvpm]

Url

[Xeno Axe]

Originally Posted by abhilashtvpm

City Kaumudi

Seen the film in Sreevishakh yesterday. Very nice movie. Didn't got tickets in balcony. The theater was houseful.

It's a good film and it's very nice to see the capital back on Big screen.

Malayalam films are coming back to Trivandrum. Super hit Jayaram's film Makeup man was shot in Trivandrum. But the film itself doesn't say so.

[Godsowncapital]

seriously felt really good seeing the movie...
each of the familiar places gave a sense of malayalam movie coming back to its capital, chucking its 'wanna be' capital

[abhilashtvpm]

TIFF begins on Saturday



Mathrubhumi

[Jomy]

AsiaNet will soon open its new Head Office and other related facilities including its transmission center in a new facility in Trivandrum. Location is Housing board Jn, next to KEYS Hotel (Old ICFAI building). Renovation work of the building is almost complete.
Already AsiaNet's software division is working inside Technopark(Leela Infopark building)

[RajeshVR]

Is the HO not in Trivandrum now?
Have they moved to somewhere ?

[Xeno Axe]

yes. I have the same doubt. I think the HO is now at the Asianet studio complex in Puliyarakonam.

[iamanishs]

Originally Posted by Jomy

AsiaNet will soon open its new Head Office and other related facilities including its transmission center in a new facility in Trivandrum. Location is Housing board Jn, next to KEYS Hotel (Old ICFAI building). Renovation work of the building is almost complete.
Already AsiaNet's software division is working inside Technopark(Leela Infopark building)

Why they are opening office in Trivandrum, which they dont even consider as a city? (if u have watched City Time program in Asianet)

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by iamanishs

Why they are opening office in Trivandrum, which they dont even consider as a city? (if u have watched City Time program in Asianet)

I believe this is the Asianet cable network, NOT the channel. Both are under different ownerships now although they share the same name.

[psanthosh]

But Asianets Reg office is in Chennai, right?