Vibgyor- 7-Day Short and Documentary Film Workshop

7-Day Short and Documentary Film Workshop for Young people

at the ViBGYOR International Film Festival, January 10 -16, 2011

Venue: Kerala Sangeeth Nataka Akademy Campus, Thrissur, Kerala

Focusing mainly on beginners to short/documentary films and social/political activism, ViBGYOR International Film Festival is offering a Festival-cum-Workshop to college students, aspiring young filmmakers, film critics, young film lovers, media activists and the members of social movements for the second time. First of its kind in India, started last year, this will be based more on content and interaction and not on technical hands-on input in filmmaking. The workshop will sensitize the participants to the power of media and to the socio-political concerns expressed through films. This will be a very good opportunity to meet experienced filmmakers, technicians and social/political activists and interact with them.  The Workshop begins on January 10^th noon and ends on January 16^th noon.

Last year, 38 young people from all over the country participated in the six days workshop, in which filmmakers Ruhi Hamid (UK), Andre Luis Olivera (Brazil), K P Sasi, Late C Saratchandran, P Baburaj and Amudhan R P met the participants and engaged them in dialogue on various aspects of filmmaking, marketing and funding. Media activists and academicians Sujata Babar, Dr. T Muralidharan and K C Santhosh Kumar were full time with the participants to animate and coordinate the workshop.

ViBGYOR International Film Festival for Short and Documentary films at its 6th edition from January 12 -16, 2011 in Thrissur, Kerala, will screen around 100 films from across the globe. The Festival will start on January 12^th, with an International Conference/Panel Discussion on the Focus theme of the year, ‘Political Film making and Media Activism in South Asia’.  There will be a number of mini conferences, workshops, activist meetings etc. as part of the festival, and many informal gatherings too, discussing social issues and filmmaking. Every day there will be Open Forum with the filmmakers whose films are screened. (Ref. www.vibgyorfilm.org for details on Film Package)

We are inviting young people from all over India, in the 18-30 age groups to participate in this unique workshop.

Programme:

·  The workshop will start on January10 (Two days before the Festival), by 2pm and will continue till 16^th.

·  There will be Introductory session, screenings and discussion, sessions on various areas of filmmaking on 10^th and 11^th of January.

·   From 12-16th, the participants will  attend a) the South Asian Conference/Panel Discussion on Political Filmmaking and Media Activism b) Film Screenings and the Open Forum/Face-to-Face with Filmmakers c) Models of Media Activism workshop and d) Mini Conferences/Campaigns and e) `Resistance Music’ recitals.

·  Every day evening from 4.00-6.00 there will be a session exclusively for the workshop participants, where a panel of filmmakers and technicians will be available for interaction. 

Other details:

a) Every participant will receive a `Certificate of Participation’.

b) Rs. 1,000/- will be charged from all participants towards Workshop fee (including boarding and lodging for 7 days and 7 nights).

c) We propose to offer `Fellowships for half the Workshop fee’ to a limited number of participants, who can’t afford to pay the full Workshop fee. The recipients will be selected on the basis of their previous involvement with filmmaking and/or in social issues/movements.

Workshop Application form can be down loaded from www.vibgyorfilm.org. Please down load, fill it up and send it along with Rs.100/- registration fee to `ViBGYOR Film Festival Office, Kalliath Square, Palace Road, Thrissur, Kerala 680 020, Tel: 9447000830’ ASAP. (Photocopy Registration form, if need be).

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Golmaal 3 - A comedy show on big screen

The other day i enjoyed  a special concert by vachana band, an experiment by S R Ramakrishna and friends. One of the vachana by Allamma prabhu played by the band was very interesting for its philosophical meaning.
which read in following lines.

 a plant grew up without root or watering, 

which was eaten by an headless animal

a blind person saw this animal and 

a hunter with out hands caught and killed it.

 It was cooked  in a place  where there is no fire

and was offered to you my lord.

Keeping apart high philosophical value of this vachana if you apply the literal meaning of these verses to golmaal 3  i think that is the best way to analyse Rohit shetty's -golmaal phenomina
.

It has no story to root in , still for two hours  you can   sit and watch it,

It has no screenplay literally  except a string of  gags on bollywood,  1970s retro moments , 

You cannot enjoy goal mal if you have head ,
you have to swollow it without questions

but you cannot belittle the hearty laugh it offers 

there is no climax or any serious scene at all in golmaal 3,

 the plot which existed in Golmaal 1 and was still there in Golmaal returns has totally disappeared from Golmaal 3.  still you dont feel u have wasted ur money or time on it. 

The Link: It is about two gangs feuding each other.  Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapur and Shreyas Talapade in one side Arshad Warsi, Tushar Kapur and Kunal Khemu, on the other side. They keep destroying each others business in most silly way. both gangs have back up of  comic ruffian financiers. But destiny brings them under one roof when their single parents Mithun chakravarthi and Ratna Pathak shah get married .

Both Mithun chakravarthi and Ratna Pathak shah ,  were lovers in their youth, had got separated from each other, because the girl's rich father wouldn't allow the penniless boy to marry her. Both remained unmarried and later adopted the boys .  

The Thumps downs: The 70 s flash back love story of Mithun and ratna looks too artificial  even for a smile. The song sequences, acting and direction does not give any thing new from golmaal 3. 

Comedy at some points is too blunt, dry and immature. 

Acing front Mithun is best, while Ratna Pathak Shah Kareena,  Arshad warsi and Ajay is good. Tushaar Kapur when compared his role in  the first two editions , havint got much impact. Comedian johny liver is wasted.
Entire story comprises of the song sequences , the feud between these two gangs presented in a silly and most childish way.

I am yet undecided whether to call this piece as a film review, because  i feel Golmaal 3 doesnot qualify to be a feature film . It is rather a pot pourie of gags and two liner comedy skits and songs woven in a loose plot.

Still dont miss it
If all you need is a heads off laughing watching headless comedy then Golmaal 3 is for you.

 To be precise it rather looks like a good comedy show in big screen. 

It is not the story as whole which makes us to watch the movie but the dialogs  that tickles the funny bone now and then. 

Aakrosh-why this movie is a must watch

 

Why you should watch the movie Aakrosh
-not because Priyadarshan has comeback to directing  the serious film genre, not  for the power packed performances of Ajay devgan, Akshay Khanna and Paresh Rawal nor for the reason it is handling a serious subject like honour killing.
Ofcourse all above are the major strengths of the film Aakrosh and definitely add to its watch-ability.

But I recommend AAkrosh because-
This is a film that has combined a dark and current theme like honour killings with a narration style that is more of a commercial entertainer.  Still retained a comparatively realistic approach. It some where bridges the gap between art film and mass films thus is successful in reaching both the audience.

Not that we did not have films on serious themes like terrorism, honour killing, caste-communal conflicts that were commercially success earlier. This movie  stands apart for the reason it has portrayed the social evil -honour killings using the regular bollywood formula. It has the elements of a socialistic art movie, but told as thriller - entertainer that makes it a movie of the masses. No where you get a feeling that you are compelled to watch this movie for its message, nor you go out of the theatre feeling miserable or shaken. But at the same time it do stirrr the viewers conscience against the social malaise of honour killings .

The plot: Three students studying in  Delhi go missing in a small village - Jhanjar in Bihar. The  students protests and media  coverage  , force central government to investigate their missing. So there comes two police officers from CBI  Ajay Devgan(Pratap Kumar)  and (Akshay Khanna)Sidhant chaturvedi  to Jhanjar to investigate. .  Both have different attitudes one disciplined, calm, persuasive and systematic and thinks before he acts while other is aggressive ,  believes in action first and fist first. It is their chemistry that powers the first half of the film along with  good cinematography  by Thiru.

All is not well for the investigators here in this small town which is ruled by caste power with all its dark shades. The village is in the clutches of Shool sena run by upper caste goons who are hand in glove with the  police, politicians and administration. Paresh Rawal(SP Ajata shatru) plays the corrupted and ruthless police officer while Bipasha basu (Geetha) is his wife. She is also the love interest of Ajay.

One of the three  missing boys Deenu belong to a lower caste poor family  and was in love with a upper caste girl Roshni  from the same village. The boys get killed when they attempt to elope with Roshni from the village.
Fearing the shool sena nobody in the village is ready to cooperate with the investigators, including the missing boy Deenu's kin in the village.
Both Ajay and Akshay using their own ways makes inroads in to solving the mystery behind the boys disappearance.The narrative which is slow in the first half gets it required turns and twists in second half.

The + N -
Of course Aakrosh has its share of flaws, like slow paced first half, loose screenplay, the confusing portrayal of Paresh rawal in his office, he hardly get portrayed like a Police SP and many more.
 (let us comfortably  forget the hollywood  root -'Missisippi burnings' for the moment because Priyadarshan has totally indianised the concept and no where it looks like a hollywood movie).

The Cast: Hats off to the performance of Ajay Devgan and Akshay both have given excellent performance and their characters are also well crafted, Paresh Rawal is also at his best as the wicked police officer but   his character has its own flaws .

Bipasha is unconvincing for her role as a victim of domestic violence, she is totally a miscast in all respects. Reema sen though in a smaller role has given better performance.  Music is mediocre, i hardly remember any of the songs from the film when i write this, of course there is Sameera reddy in some number but i remember more of the dance scenes than the music of the song.  

  Aakrosh cannot be judged as the best film in every respect, but it is  a film that is worth watching.

The Enthiran- a must watch

Enthiran- Rajnikanth- Ishwarya Rai in Robo dance

I went to watch the new Rajanikanth- Aishwarya rai starrer "Enthiran" with  half mind. The movie had garnered plus four star reviews in all the media, but with the experience of "Kites and Ravan" I was not expecting any thing extra ordinary.

But wow!!!!  this movie  has left me spell bound.

Chitti(Rajnikanth)-Sana(Ishwarya rai)

The Rajani - Shanker magic was beyond all my imaginations, a complete 4-d experience, with  energy and delight oozing out from all directions. Off recent this is the only movie which has really met the expectations and hype created around it, justified its production cost and will remain as a land mark in Indian cinema.

Enthiran is a science fiction movie directed by S Shanker, dubbed in to hindi as 'Robot' and in to telugu as  'Robo'. Music by A R Rahman and cinematography by R  Ratnavelu

Rajnikanth (Dr Vaseegaran)

The plot: Enthiran literally means machine man and hence robot. Vaseegaran (Rajnikanth  ) an intelligent scientist creates an android robot which resembles him. The robo named Chitti (rajni again)which has the powers of 100 men and is super intelligent can do any task instructed to him like a super man. But at heart he remains a machine and hence does not have the feelings and sensitivities of the human beings. Dr vaseegaran tries to get approval for the robo to be used for public and military purpose. but his guide Dr Bora who himself was on a similar mission to create and sell robots to terrorist out fits out of jealousy disappove the move. He proves that with out feelings and sensibilities the robo can cause more damage. So Dr vasee taking up the challenge upgrades Robo to have feelings and sensibilities after which dr Bora approves the robo for public use.

From here starts the trouble for Dr vasee. The new robo with human like feelings and sensibilities falls for Dr Vaseegarans love interest Sana(Ishwarya rai) with whom he was closely interacting. this causes trouble between the scientist and robo which results in robo reaching the wrong hands and creating mayhem of destruction in the city.

 

The thumbs ups: enthiran is visual treat not just for rajni fans but for all the  movie buffs this is a must watch. 

A movie in Science fiction genre is always gaged on the technical perfection, special effects and graphics besides its story. Enthiran wins in all these fronts . It has a thrilling story line that also gives a moral message. A box office winning mixture of comedy, action, drama and romance whipped to the taste of not just kollywood but to national and international audience.

 The cast and acting excellent. Rajni's both the roles are extremely well crafted and executed . The mannerisms of chitti in both its avatars as positive minded and as destructive minded are awesome. Aishwarya Rai  looks marvelous.  Makeups an costumes needs a special mention .The cinematography especially in the song sequences and the climax stands out .

  It is the technical front which places Enthiran above any other Indian movie produced so far in this genre. The special effects are the"never seen before kind" . The creation of robots to the final climax where hundreds of chitti look a like robots assemble in various patterns to cause destruction is the best part of the movie. The special effects -graphics are amazing and meets or is better than the holly wood standards.

Without doubt this high budget movie is trend setter and depicts the coming of new Indian cinema which can give competition to any of the best hollwood movies this genre.