ITV

Tag: Monsoon Wedding

  • India ready for more cross over films

    India ready for more cross over films

    MUMBAI: With Lagaan getting nominated for last year’s Oscar, and Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding winning the Golden Lion, the question has arisen: are we ready to invade the international market? Are we finally making films that have ‘crossed over’ or can ‘cross over’ to the West or the international market?

    Filmmaker Govind Nihalani let the field open with Dev Benegal whose two films English August and Split Wide Open had succeeded in making the international market sit up and take notice. Benegal spoke about how important it was to keep the three key ingredients in making a crossover film in mind – story, location and context.

    He felt that there was no point in being different just for the sake of being different and some differences should be left at just that – differences. He was of the opinion that the greatest exports of India have neither been IT experts nor any other software technology but our stories and story-telling abilities. He quoted Farrokh Dhondy who feels that “stories are us”. He said that our stories have it in them to travel across borders and frontiers.

    He also echoed Shekhar Kapur in that the film market is soon going to emerge as the strongest one with the maximum revenue generating capacity. So the next time a Spiderman takes off his mask, he could be an Asian actor! Last but not the least, he said that our stories are the true frontiers and they also are sans frontiers.

    Next in line was Ram Madhvani whose debut film Let’s Talk created quite a stir recently in the film market with is unique approach. He cited examples of how our cuisine has traversed the globe with great success and that it could be replicated with our films too. He raised a few questions like if our food has traveled from ethnic cheap to designer chic then why can’t our cinema tread the same path? Can we ever be mainstream or just remain art-house cinema?

    Rahul Bose made a passionate speech keeping certain ground realities in mind. He for one described a truly crossover film as one which crosses over into the major markets of the world and by that he meant when a film gets distribution in the US, Canada and UK, would then be it described as ‘truly crossover’. He also said that showing at international film festivals and coming back with a clutch of awards is not crossover. He strongly stated that language is no longer a barrier for a film to be accepted. You no longer need to make your film in English to appeal to an international audience.

    For the future, he said that today it’s early days and we as a film market have some way to go for one Lagaan doesn’t make a summer. He said that just because Lagaan was taken into its fold, the western audience won’t just accept any and every film, especially our by-now-famous song-and-dance routines.

    Lastly, for a film to really cross over, a filmmaker needs a good international sales agent who can pitch your film at the right places at the right time and that’s something every Indian filmmaker who wishes to have a greater reach should take note of. And most importantly, at the end of the day, he urged all those who aspired to make films to make it just the way you want.

    Ashutosh Gowariker who Nihalani described in one word as Lagaan felt that Madonna sporting bindis and henna tattoos, Nicole Kidman gyrating to a ‘Chamma chamma’ and films like Lagaan and Monsoon Wedding making the international market to sit up and take notice definitely indicate that India is poised for bigger things as far as cinema goes. He also though expressed a doubt if our cinema has actually, completely achieved its true potential. He believed that any maker cannot plan a crossover film just like that just like one can’t plan a hit film. He said that with the future looking brighter with video on demand, the paper-view mode of exhibition and convergence, Indian cinema would only get better. All said and done, he felt that we have to make films that have a strong cultural identity and only then will they appeal to the rest of the world.

    As a distributor and dealer in Indian films, Robert Jones also expressed a need for filmmakers to keep their home address in mind before they ventured out to make crossover films. The success of which will be known only after finding out whether Indian cinema can actually sustain a minimum level of business. Among other things he mentioned that audiences in the west look at other countries for a different experience in narrative style, culture and so on and therefore it was extremely important for filmmakers here to make films with a strong, national flavour. The key lies in not imitating but innovating.
     

    The session: Panel discussion on Films sans frontiers

    Moderator: Govind Nihalani
    The speakers: Filmmakers Ashutosh Gowariker, Dev Benegal, Ram Madhvani, actor-director Rahul Bose and Robert Jones.
  • Participation in international film festivals stressed

    Participation in international film festivals stressed

    MUMBAI: The session “Festivals – Broadcasting Horizons” held in the latter half of the first day of Ficci FRAMES 2003 saw a very objective analysis of the various film festivals held around the globe.

    Uma daCunha served as the moderator, while the panel comprised Michael Fox (Common Wealth Films Festival), Steve Gravestock (Toronto Film Festival), Luca Marziali (conducting Florence Indian Films Festival since the last three years – the only festival in Italy dedicated totally to popularise Indian cinema), Theresa Hayes (Palms Springs Festival) and Sarah Mckenzie (involved in the marketing aspect of film festivals).
     

    Underlining the importance of the films festivals, Uma daCunha said, “There is much more to it than what meets the eye – how you launch a film festival; why you launch one; where do the finances come from; what is the motive behind these festivals; and lots more. “

    The brief panel speeches followed by a few questions from the audience drew up the following conclusions:

    * Film festivals bring nations closer; cinema knows no caste and creed. When one appreciates a particular nation’s cinema, one develops a bond with that nation.

    * Moreover, these help the filmmakers to get good buyers for their products. For example, a film called Tale of a Naughty Girl had three buyers vying with each other, the moment its screening got over at a film festival!

    * The criteria of selection of a film to be screened cannot be outlined. Though a tight script is certainly a must, the film need not be essentially brilliant technically. What counts is how skillfully the filmmaker has made use of his/her available resources. And of course, the film must hold the jury’s interest throughout its run. The less predictable it is, the better.

    * If a filmmaker desires to send his film to a film-festival, he/she need not go through government agencies. He can directly approach the film-festival he wants his film to be screened at. There are websites for all the film-festivals today. The entry forms are available on these sites.

    * There is a need for the film-festivals to encourage participation of students. Most of these festivals do not have a provision of permitting a student to enter his/her film if he/she has made one.

    * Certain film-festivals like Toronto Film Festival for one, have started accepting even animations and documentaries. Others must follow suit.

    * Screening the films at these festivals does create the hype required to win an Oscar. Theresa Hayes was quite vocal about this when she said, “Most of the films which have won an Oscar have been screened at Palms Springs Festival which is held just a little before Oscar.”

    * The governments must take up a larger part of sponsorship than what they’re doing presently. It is very dicey to rely on private sponsorships.

    * Film festivals are a boon to the filmmakers. These makers get to view the creamy stuff, and thereby, learn a lot of tricks and trade on how to make their next product superior.

    * Six Indian films Bandit Queen, Lagaan, Devdas, Monsoon Wedding, Everybody says I am fine and Mr & Mrs Iyer have impressed the international audience greatly, in the recent past.

    One would have loved to know from the panel’s opinion on why Lagaan could not win the Oscar?’, or say, why No Man’s Land scored over Lagaan?, but somehow the topic did not come under discussion.

    Uma daCunha winded up the pleasing and informative session by saying, “I badly need a cup of tea. How about you?”, but not before, offering a vote of thanks.

  • DD looking for distributors abroad

    NEW DELHI: Ethnic media is an important and credible medium for communication between India and its diaspora on one hand, and the Indian public and foreign communities on the other.
    Delivering the keynote address yesterday at a symposium on “Entertainment, Ethnic Media and Diasporic Identity” held as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj suggested an interaction and exchange of ideas between the leaders of the Indian Ethnic Media, both print and electronic, and their counterparts and opinion makers in India.
    Stating that each entertainment and media icon of the Indian diaspora remains ‘our unofficial ambassador abroad’, she called upon the ethnic media to convey the correct and true image of the developments taking place in India to reflect the diversity in religion, language and opinions.
    Inviting the NRIs (non- resident Indians) to invest in joint ventures in India, Swaraj related some very important policy initiatives taken by the Government, including the granting of industry status to the entertainment sector, opening the print media for the FDI, privatization of FM Radio, community radio, opening of KU Band, DTH and the liberalized Uplinking policy. She said that Prasar Bharati is further strengthening the DD India Channel so that the best of Doordarshan can be shown to the Indian diaspora. DD is looking for distributors abroad.
    “A very important role is played by Indian diaspora in nurturing the Indian entertainment and media globally and in growth and value creation process. We must join hands and bring out more interesting and better products, which not only find markets among the 20 million strong NRIs but are also designed to capture the imagination of other communities,” she said.
    She asserted that apart from reminding the NRIs (non-resident Indians), especially the younger generations, about the strong and vibrant Indian cultural identity, this media articulates a viewpoint without a foreign bias of the foreign mainstream media.
    She saluted these leaders and assured them of conducive policies to facilitate their endeavours. She recounted the recent waves created by films like Devdas, Lagaan, Jamila, Amaar Bhuwan, A Dog’s Day, Monsoon Wedding, Warriors, Bend It Like Beckham and Hollywood Bollywood and said that the entire spectrum of the entertainment sector has created an awareness as never before, about India all over the world.
    The exports of the entertainment industry from India, which in 1998 was $ 40 million, have crossed $ 180 million in 2001. This entertainment and media explosion has brought India closer to our diaspora and the geographical division between Indians in India and abroad is blurring if not disappearing altogether, the minister said.