As more and more
short and documentary films are creating a buzz and finding an
enthusiastic response, India seems poised and ready to accept
non-feature films as an alternative means of entertainment
Nonika Singh
Nonika Singh
 From left: Stills from Miriam Chandy’s Rat Race, Shubhashish Bhutiani’s Kush, GS Chani’s Yakshagana and Daljit Ami’s Not Every Time |
* Miriam Chandy’s Rat Race and Anand Patvardhan’s War and Peace found a theatrical release something quite unheard of in India.
* Pan Nalin’s Samsara rocked the international circuit and his latest Faith Connections on the Kumbh Mela moved audiences across the board.* Indian director Shubhashish Bhutiani’s short film Kush was selected in the shortlist of 10 live-action shorts in the Oscar race.* Mumbai International Film festival, all set to unveil in the first week of February, which received 600 entries in short film, documentary and animation categories has shown a slow but steady increase in participants.* Fire in the Blood set a record for the longest theatrical run by any non-fiction feature film in Indian history as it ran for five weeks in Mumbai.
On
the face of it, the scenario of short and documentary films couldn’t
be rosier. Non-feature films perhaps never had it so good. Be it
social networking sites or film festivals, it’s these films that are
creating as much if not more buzz than the feature films.
 Gurcharan Singh Chani |
 Daljit Ami |
 Miriam Chandy Menacherry |
 Pan Nalin |
Prior to moving up in
the Oscar race, Shubhashish’s Kush had already won the
Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film at the 70th Venice International
Film Festival 2013 and jury prize at Hamptons International Film
Festival.
It doesn’t take an
Anurag Kashyap to tell us the future belongs to short films, many like
Pan Nalin feel that the future is already here. With technology
facilitating makers and YouTube proving to be the new Mecca for
aspiring filmmakers, the tidings are bright. Miriam Chandy Menacherry,
a journalist-turned-filmmaker, whose film The Rat Race was one
of the first few films to be released in theatres nods. She believes
documentary films have come of age in India.
GS Chani, who has made
many documentaries on Indian arts and heritage, agrees that we have
come a long way since the times when the only exposure to documentary
films would be by way of newsreels shown before the screening of
films. Today, the avenues have grown and the number of channels
multiplied. In a country where entertainment meant only cinema,
suddenly people are interested in history, culture, environment and a
whole range of subjects social as well as political. In short, people
want content not just fluff and catering to this need there is a fresh
wave of talent many of whom are young and gifted. However, Chani is
not sure whether all films that are making a noise are actually
offering anything of higher value. Renowned documentary maker Sanjay
Kak asserts that the biggest challenge is to keep the audiences
engaged with our ideas and our craft, not by seducing them with some
lowest-common-denominator trash. All agree that there is an increasing
hunger for films outside Bollywood and Hollywood. Makers caution that
increased viewership, the staggering number of hits on the Internet
could well just be much ado about nothing. Says Daljit Ami, "As
with mainstream films, these too could well fall prey to
populism." Besides, many feel that this hunger need not translate
into anything substantial at least monetarily. For instance, each time
Ami’s film Not Every Time, on gender violence, is screened,
it triggers a heated debate and a thoughtful discourse. But rarely
ever does it motivate people to shell out money to buy a CD. Kak,
however, differs and can sense an encouraging trend wherein people do
choose to buy cds of films they like and are even disturbed by. Nalin’s
last film Samsara did a brisk business of Rs 120 core at
international circuits. The international funding which no doubt has
grown over the years, argue the sceptics, is open to the select few.
According to some, even worse is that there are not very many
luminaries in the realm of this genre. Even acclaimed directors are
not known outside a limited circle. But what of the fact that now
celebrities from mainstream cinema are being roped in to act in such
films. Certainly it would not hurt the cause of filmmakers or films
when well-known filmmakers like say a Karan Johar or Anurag Kashyap
decide to step into short-film making. Last year, Bombay Talkies, a
compilation of four short films, was made to mark the 100 years of
Indian cinema. This experiment bodes well. Veteran filmmaker Buddhadeb
Dasgupta, however, warns, "Let’s not delude ourselves. It will
take a long time before a documentary culture can be fostered
here." Unlike the West, where a steady audience for such films
exists, he feels it’s near-impossible here to make a political film.
Not that it stops committed men and women from taking the road less
travelled. Directors like Sanjay Kak have not only made films on
ticklish subjects such as Maoism and Kashmir but even dared to take a
stand and thus turned the idea of objectivity on its head. Indeed,
today’s filmmakers are challenging the conventional definition and
grammar of such films. They are making films in exciting,
story-telling formats, often fusing fact with fiction. Questions
Miriam,"If to engage with more audiences, makers are using
elements like humour or new techniques, I see no harm." Nalin
feels that in an information age, where facts are anyway just a click
away, the emotional connect is what matters most. Buoyed by the
response to Faith Connections, he is upbeat about the release
of the film for which viewers are paying on the Net.
However, Ami reminds us
how Patvardhan’s much-acclaimed film flopped at theatres. Menacherry’s
The Rat Race may not have set the cash registers ringing but
the fact that it got the space along with Bollywood releases, is an
achievement by itself. She refuses to endorse the viewpoint that using
the yardsticks of bazaar is antithetical to the nature of
documentaries and the success of an odd film will have no impact on
the box office. She argues if a film like Fire in the Blood, a
very political film can run successfully at PVR for five weeks why
should makers be satisfied with remaining on the fringes and niche
viewings? She dwells on the need for promotional budgets, following
the model of the West, where educational rights grant filmmakers
license fees to screening films at institutions. Fortunately, many
institutions are more than willing to pay a screening fee, howsoever
nominal. Of course, making documentaries and short films will remain
an uphill task. A country that loves fiction the going for short films
isn’t easy either. For the greater challenge here is screening as
well as monetisation. With the tribe of thinking curious minds wanting
a counter point and debate, with funding becoming more accessible,
with greater coordination between funding agencies and makers, VS
Kundu, Director MIFF is certain a new beginning has been made. Whether
it will lead to documentaries and short films emerging as an
alternative means of entertainment, whether people will be receptive
to the idea of buying a ticket or not.... there is no denying the
paradigm shift in both perception and reception to non-feature films.
Winds of change
Well-known actor and
comedian Jaaved Jaaferi launched the Indian Documentary Foundation (IDF)
an organisation that aims to take the documentary genre to mainstream
audiences in collaboration with the International Film Festival of
Kerala. It funded The Rat Race. A new initiative called Trigger Pitch was launched by the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy and the Indian Documentary Foundation, to bridge the gap between creative and marketing sections of filmmaking. The idea is to create a wider audience and awareness. The 2014 edition of MIFF will bring internationally acclaimed pitching forum Good Pitch Squared' partnered by BRITDOCS and the Sundance Institute Documentary Program to facilitate funding. MIFF will confer technical awards, thus playing an important role in enhancing creative satisfaction levels of those involved in the onerous task |
With Thanks from The Tribune, Sunday, January 19, 2014, Spectrum
|
