गुरुदत्त और संजीव कुमार की याद...

- अमिताभ

गुरुदत्त का काम दो हिस्सों में बंटा हुआ है। एक तो वह दौर है जब गुरुदत्त कलकत्ता (अब कोलकाता ) में टेलीफोन ऑपरेटर से लेकर फिल्मों में कोरियोग्राफर का काम करने के बाद मुंबई में देव आनंद से टकराते हैं और दोनों युवा प्रतिभाओं की दोस्ती के साथ बाज़ी, जाल, बाज़,और सीआईडी जैसी हॉलीवुड स्टाइल की हलकी फुल्की शहरी थ्रिलर किस्म की मनोरंजक फिल्में पचास के दशक के हिंदी सिनेमा के इतिहास का उल्लेखनीय हिस्सा बनती हैं। इसमें आर-पार , मिस्टर एंड मिसेज़ 55 को भी जोड़ लें तो अभिनेता और निर्देशक के तौर पर उनके काम का पहला अध्याय तैयार हो जाता है। इन हल्की-फुल्की फिल्मों में गुरुदत्त की अभिनय और निर्देशकीय प्रतिभा का जो रंग मिलता है वह उनके बाद वाले बाकी काम से काफी अलग है जिसके लिए अब उनका नाम दुनिया भर के बेहतरीन फिल्मकारों में लिया जाता है।

यहाँ यह बताते चलें कि गुरुदत्त ने इसी दौर में वहीदा रहमान को दक्षिण भारत की एक तेलुगु फिल्म के ज़रिये खोजा और ‘सीआईडी’ से उनका हिंदी फिल्मों कि पारी शुरू हुई। आज यह जानकर अजीब लग सकता है हिंदी फिल्मों से पहले वहीदा रहमान ने तेलुगु फिल्मों में मुख्यतः आइटम नंबर किये थे। गुरुदत्त ऐसी ही एक फिल्म की कामयाबी की पार्टी में उनसे मिले थे। बाद में वहीदा रहमान गुरुदत्त की तीन सबसे मशहूर फिल्मों – प्यासा, काग़ज़ के फूल और साहब बीबी और ग़ुलाम का हिस्सा रहीं। वहीदा रहमान ने हमेशा गुरुदत्त को अपना मार्गदर्शक और उस्ताद माना। हालाँकि उनसे गुरुदत्त के लगाव की कहानी फ़िल्मी दुनिया की नाकाम मोहब्बतों की सबसे चर्चित दास्तानों में गिनी जाती हैं । गुरुदत्त के निजी जीवन के अवसाद को इस मोर्चे से भी जोड़ा जाता है।

 के़. आसिफ़ गुरुदत्त को लेकर एक फ़िल्म शुरू करनेवाले थे जिसका नाम था ‘लव एंड गॉड’। लेकिन लैला मजनूं की इस कहानी को गुरुदत्त की आत्महत्या के बाद संजीव कुमार के साथ बनाया गया। लेकिन बरसों तक लटकने के बाद जब ये फिल्म रिलीज़ हुई तो वो दिन देखने के लिए न के आसिफ थे और न संजीव कुमार।
यह भी एक इत्तिफ़ाक़ ही है कि गुरुदत्त और संजीव कुमार दोनों का जन्म एक ही तारीख़ को हुआ था-9 जुलाई।

read full article at https://ndff.in

Habitat international Film Festival 2018

http://habitatinternationalfilmfestival.com/schedule2018/

'After Dark Lineup' in MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival

- NDFS Desk

• Curated by Jongsuk Thomas Nam
• Twelve feature and short films being screened under the section
• Introducing the short films category for the first time

The Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival with Star announces the lineup for its popular After Dark section. 2017 marks the third edition of the section, which has fast become a magnet for fans of genre cinema.  

A still from Mon Mon Mon Monsters by Giddens Ko, Taiwan

This year’s selection features films from countries such as Uganda, Japan, Poland, Venezuela and Australia and represents the recent trends in fantastic genre like multi-layered thrill-seekers with the female characters as protagonists, monsters and action homages. 
The section also showcases the unlikely sources of such films, with one of this year’s selections, Bad Black coming from the B-movie industry in Uganda. In the past, the section has screened films such as Under The Shadow, Deathgasm and The Wailing. Geared to audiences who love a bit of a scare, this year After Dark  has expanded to also focus on films made outside the confines of the mainstream. 

AFTER DARK Full Lineup:

Feature Films

1) 68 Kill by Trent Haaga, USA

2) Bad Black by Nabwana IGG, Uganda

3) It Comes At Night by Trey Edward Shults, USA

4) Killing Ground by Damien Power, Australia

5) Meatball Machine Kodoku by Nishimura Yoshihiro, Japan

6) Mon Mon Mon Monsters by Giddens Ko, Taiwan

Short Films

1) 16.03 by Natalia Siwicka, Poland

2) Commune by Thomass Perrett, UK

3) Death Metal by Chris McEnroy, USA

4) Keep Out Of Children's Reach by Gustavo Sanchez, Venezuela

5) Spoiler Alert by Kim Gyung-yoon, South Korea

6) Superpower Girl by Kim Soo-young, South Korea

About the curator - Jongsuk Thomas Nam

Born in Seoul, Korea in 1968, Nam immigrated to USA in 1980. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland at College Park, USA, in 1993 with a degree in Communication Arts/RTVF, Nam returned to Korea in 1995 and worked as an assistant director in Kim Hong-jun’s Jungle Story (1996) before joining Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, called as PIFF then) in 1997 as a curator for Kim Ki-young Retrospective. He subsequently served as the festival coordinator and the senior manager of Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) before becoming the General Secretariat at Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) from 2001 to 2004. Nam joined Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) in 2007 as the festival consultant and since 2009, has been the Managing Director of its film industry program, Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF). He has served as a Jury in numerous film festivals including Berlin, Warsaw, Hawaii and Vesoul. 

ओम पुरी: एक एक्टर की मौत

1950 - 2017

               ओम पुरी का न रहना उतना ही तकलीफदेह है, जितना उनके न रहने की वजह। सत्तर के दशक की कला फिल्मों के साथ उन्हे थोड़ा करीब से बनता-बढ़ता देखने वाले लोग जानते हैं कि बेमिसाल अदाकारी के साथ साथ शराफ़त और ईमानदारी उनकी शख्सियत का एक खास हिस्सा थी। 

उनके निधन के बाद उनके बचपन के बारे में, जवानी के बारे में, संघर्ष के बारे, रिश्तों के बारे में, तनाव के बारे में  लगातार लेख-संस्मरण आ रहे हैं। कहां से शुरु होकर कहां तक पहुंच गए- के लिहाज़ से देखें तो उनका जीवन एक फिल्मी नायक जैसा लगता है लेकिन निजी और भावनात्मक पक्ष पर गौर करें तो लगता है कि वो कला फिल्म के नायक जैसा संघर्षमय जीवन जीते रहे और एक कला फिल्म और उसके नायक की तरह ही अचानक सफ़र खत्म कर दिया।

नोट: ओमपुरी को याद करते हुए और तमाम लेख-संस्मरणों को पढ़ते हुए बीबीसी हिंदी पर राजेश जोशी का ये संस्मरणात्मक लेख ज़रुर पढ़ना चाहिए। 

http://www.bbc.com/hindi/india-38613146

Filmmaker Adoor seeks removal of National Film Awards jury chairperson

- Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

                 Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has in a searing criticism of the national film awards selection under the new dispensation called for a probe against the jury chairman (Rajendra Singh Babu), who presided over the selection of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2016. In a nine-point letter to Information and Broadcasting Secretary Ajay Mittal, Mr Gopalakrishnan lamented the plight of “the cinema movement of purpose and integrity”.

He was also vehemently critical of the Ramesh Sippy-led jury that selected the national awards for 2015, heavily biased in favour of commercial cinema. Mr Gopalakrishnan withheld names of the two chief jurors in the letter but did not conceal his outrage since “never before have such jokers been appointed as jury chairmen”.

Reflecting sentiments of the film fraternity pursuing “purposeful cinema”, Mr Gopalakrishnan said that soon there would be an occasion to choose members as well as a chairman to the National film awards jury. “We insist that the jury should be headed by a filmmaker of eminence, familiar with modern trends in cinema and enjoys a national stature and he and other members on the jury would instill a feeling of fairness in the minds of the professionals involved”, said Mr Gopalakrishnan.

Rahman in Oscar Race Again

- NDFS Desk

      Music maestro A R Rahman stands
a chance to win at the Oscars once again with his work on sports biopic "Pele: Birth of a Legend".
The Indian musician, who is already a double Oscar-winner for his work on "Slumdog Millionaire" in 2009, has found mention in both Best Original Score and Best Original Song long
list of 89th Academy Awards. 145 original scores are vying for the top award in February next year and Rahman is one of the names on the list as the composer for the Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist -directed drama on Brazilian football legend Pele. 

Similarly, "Ginga", which Rahman composed to celebrate Pele's soccer legacy, is part of the 91 songs competing for nominations in the Original Song category, according to the list released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Rahman, 49, will compete with titles like "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", "La La Land", "Moana" and "Florence Foster Jenkins".

Nominations for the Oscars will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 with the main ceremony scheduled for Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood.

Screening at Miranda House Film Club for students

*NDFS info

 Miranda House Film Society, Celluloid,  extends a warm invitation for their upcoming event , the screening of 'Jashn-E-Azadi' 
 a film by Sanjay Kak titled  on 15th September 2016. 
followed by 
an interactive session with the Director himself on 16th September 2016 .  
We request you all to bring your valid College Ids for entry . 
Hope to see you there .

 

Singapore Film Festival in Delhi

                    
Singapore High Commission is organizing the Singapore Film Festival at the India Habitat Centre from 5 to 7 August 2016. This event is aimed to promote arts exchanges between India and Singapore, The three day festival will feature three films which will be followed by post-screening dialogues with the film makers. The events are all free and open to public. It is good opportunity for the Indian art community to be introduced to Singapore art and films, and for interaction between Singapore and Indian artistes.

                                    

                         

- - NDFS Desk   

Retro Summer Japanese Film Festival

The Japan Foundation, New Delhi presents “Retro Summer Japanese Film Festival” from 18^th July (Monday) to 23^rd July, 2016 (Saturday) at 6.30 pm.

Enjoy the Japanese Film Festival with Six Japanese movies back-to-back.

DATE	DAY	TIME	NAME OF FILM	DIRECTOR	YEAR	Duration  (minute)
18-07-2016	Monday	18:30	The End of Summer 小早川家の秋	Yasujiro Ozu	1961	103
19-07-2016	Tuesday	18:30	Sword of Doom 大菩薩峠	Kihachi Okamoto	1966	119
20-07-2016	Wednesday	18:30	Red Beard                  赤ひげ	Akira Kurosawa	1965	185
21-07-2016	Thursday	18:30	Kill! 斬る	Kihachi Okamoto	1968	109
22-07-2016	Friday	18:30	Samurai 宮本武蔵	Hiroshi Inagaki	1954	93
23-07-2016	Saturday	18:30	Godzilla ゴジラ	Ishiro Honda	1954	98

Short Synopsis:

1. The End of Summer: The film carries forward the lives of the Kohayagawa family, where each wants to do the best that he can for the family. The widower father- Manbei- often visits an old flame in Kyoto, causing concern in the family that he is not paying attention to the sake making company that he is going through financial troubles. With a venerating tone, this film is a reflection on old age, traditional values verses modern influence and mortality.
2. Sword of Doom: Ryunosuke is a sociopathic samurai without compassion or scruples. When he is scheduled for an exhibition match at his fencing school, the wife of his opponent begs Ryunosuke to throw the match, offering her own virtue in trade.
3. Red Beard: The Original book “Akahige Shinryotan” (Tales of Doctor RED BEARD) is the work of Shugoro Yamamoto. The entire film flourishes with the spirit of humanism centred on the magnificent character of RED BEARD. In Japan, where it is common to be playing more than one part at a time especially when shooting of one film is to be conducted over an extended period of time, this was an rare exception.
4. Kill!: Genta is disillusioned with life as a samurai, while Hanjiro is a farmer fed up with his powerless existence, who dreams of a glory days as a samurai. Kill! Is a comical exploration of a samurai life.
5. Samurai:  With his closest friend, Matahachi, Takezo (the town’s wild orphan kid) leaves his village to join an army on its way to battle. Takezo returns to the village and Matahachi’s family rejects his report and has him arrested for treason.
6. Godzilla: This 1954 original pioneered special effects filmmaking and inspired many remakes. Re-live this epic classic that introduced the most fearful of all movie monsters- Godzilla.

NOTE:  No reservations or passes required for any of our event. Entry is free for all. However, seats will be given on first come first basis.