dadasaheb phalke – The Metrognome

Rare Indian films will be screened in their original format at Films Division, Mumbai, starting today to Sunday, June 30. Be there if you love Indian cinema.

by Medha Kulkarni

Who doesn’t love our movies, right?

And some of our films have been the highest of successes riding on the fact that they were daring experiments. While some tanked, or were appreciated years later, most were recognised and hailed for their genius.

If you revel in experimentation and love the movies, you should head to Films Division today for a three-day retrospective of Indian Cinema. The event is titled ‘Hundred Years of Experimentation (1913-2013)’ and will be conducted by film scholar and anthropologist Ashish Avikunthak along with documentary film maker Pankaj Rishi. The duo will attempt to add a historical perspective to the contemporary debate to celebrate a 100 years of Indian cinema.

Works that are “not driven by the desire to just produce an aesthetic artifact but rather to create a discursive field,” have been specifically chosen by the two film experts. According to the press release for the event, “The films challenge modernity by opening up a conversation with Indian history, tradition, culture and religion.”

Several films categorised under various heads will be showcased. It starts with Dadasaheb Phalke’s 1913 silent mythological Raja Harishchandra under the heading ‘Experiments with Gods’ and was chosen since the film effectively catapulted “modernity and tradition into a cinema of religiosity – a dominant form of cinema of the silent era.”

The second category ‘Experiment in the state’ will showcase films produced by S Sukhdev and Tyeb Mehta. ‘Experiment in the school’ will showcase the works of Ritwik Ghatak and his students at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) which include diploma films by Kuntal Bhogilal, Rajan Khosa and Satyajit Ray.

Alongside these, documentary films by the likes of Pallavi Paul and SNS Sastry and short films by Ashim Ahluwalia, Natasha Mendonca and animation (co-curated by Nina Sabnani) will also be screened. Mortimer Chatterjee of Chatterjee and Lal will co-curate the section on video and installation featured in contemporary art galleries over the past 10 years and which includes works by artists Nikhil Chopra, Hetain Patel, Sahej Rahal, Nalini Malani, and Kiran Subbaiah.

The festival is on from today, June 28 to Sunday, June 30. It will close with a round table discussion between the curators and film makers.

Entry is free. Head to RR Theatre, Films Division, Peddar Road, Mumbai.

(Pictures courtesy dearcinema.com)

‘Tracing Phalke’ to celebrate 100 years of cinema

NFDC releases coffee table book on life of Dadasaheb Phalke; the book contains rare details of the cine genius’ life.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

What better way to celebrate 100 glorious years of Indian cinema than to celebrate the life of the father of Indian cinema? Carrying this idea forward is Tracing Phalke, a book that chronicles the life of Dadasaheb Phalke.

“Celebrating the completion of an action-packed cinematic century of Indian cinema and the genius of Dadasaheb, NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) is pleased to announce the release of the limited edition of Tracing Phalke – researched, written and compiled by Kamal Swaroop, a film, television and radio director and screenwriter, more popularly known for his masterwork Om-Dar-B-Dar (1988),” a release from NFDC said.

The book is a “text-based visual treat that lends a magnified view into Dadasaheb’s life, the iconic coffee table book is an eponymous compilation tracing the life span of the Father of Indian Cinema, with rare details right through his schooling, places he visited, people he met and experiences that lent value to his innate genius and imagination that eventually lead to the birth of Indian Cinema.”

Speaking on the occasion of the release of the book, Swaroop, said, “I am happy that Tracing Phalke will be re-released this year just around the date of Indian Cinema completing a glorious century. And considering that NFDC is a harbinger in fostering and promoting Indian Cinema, associating with them couldn’t have been more apt for this initiative.”

“Tracing Phalke is a very insightful compilation of Dadasaheb Phalke’s life by Kamal Swaroop and we are delighted to present this visual treat for film aficionados and the fraternity in this centenary year of Indian Cinema,” said Vikramjit Roy, General Manager- National Film Development Corporation.

(Pictures courtesy facebook.com, NFDC)