Winds From The East

Discussion on favorite cinematographers and their aesthetic and technique at Indian Auteur Forum . The discussion kicked off with the works of the legendary but largely forogtten cinematographer Subrata Mitra . Join in to discuss this and more at the forum: 'Subrata Mitra is perhaps the greatest ever Indian cinematographer who revolutionized prevailing aesthetics in Indian Cinema with innovations designed to make light more realistic and poetic. Mitra was born into a middle-class Bengali family in 1930. Even as a schoolchild he would cycle with classmates to the nearest cinema to watch British and Hollywood films. By the time he was in college, he had decided he would either become an architect or a cinematographer. Failing to find work as a camera assistant he reluctantly continued studying for his science degree. In 1950 the great Jean Renoir came to Calcutta to shoot 'The River'. Mitra tried to get a job on the film but was turned away. With the efforts of his father he ...

--------------------------------------------------- Born on 8'th August 1908, in Banaras, Siddheshwari Devi had her initial training in Indian Classical music from Pandit Siyaji Maharaj. Later, she also trained under Pandit Bade Ram Dasji of Banaras. Siddheshwari shifted from Banaras to Delhi in 1965 and taught music in Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra for more than a decade till she passed away in 1977. Siddheshwari Devi's music represented Banaras Gharana style, which lays more emphasis on the intensity of feelings and expression of emotions through musical notes and voice modulations. A stalwart of thumri, Siddheshwari's music also included khayals, dhrupads, dadras, tappas, kajris, chaitis, horis and bhajans. In thumris she specialized in "Poorabang" thumri, which is also known as the "Bol-Banav-ki thumri". Reliance on ragas was a distinctive feature of Siddheshwaris thumris. She helped in raising thumri to a classical form. She earned the title of ...

------------------------------------------------ Read More about the classics in our third issue of Indian Auteur . Issue No-3 Issue No-2 Issue No-1 Bollywood Strike

"We don’t want to make films because until we have watched the entire filmography of Rossellini, Godard, Ray, Mani Kaul, Guru Dutt, and read Bazin, Sarris, Daney, Perkins, Rosenbaum, Robin Wood, , Adrian Martin...Harrytuttle how can we? " Ever since we began our crusade there are few question(suggestion) that are asked/told to us every now and then. Like:- 1) Why don't we go and make movies? 2) Is writing on films really a job? 4) There are no audience for art-films? Because everyone's life is so fucked that no one is really interested in watching another fucked up life on screen?. While the evidence is out there in the open, for all of us to see, in the no of flops we have ever year in this country. Yet the studios would not like to take a risk. And the flops are simply ignored. No wonder Bollywood is on a strike , but no one is ready to work on the basic backbone of changing things. 5) People before you have tried doing the same thing and nothing really happened...

A massive presence among us – Anurag Kashyap , we let him another sip on his Margarita. For the most part, we were poking, biting, probing, and seeking; for the remaining, we wanted to let the interview become a discussion between our favorite type of people – people who love cinema. Indian Auteur talks to Mr. Anurag Kashyap. NOTE – A lot of discussion off-the-record remains unpublished, for the fear of inviting controversy, no more of which, Mr.Kashyap seems to be very welcoming towards now. I can only assure the gentle reader that he stands to miss a lot, but then, such is life. Plus - Those who have missed, do check out the legendary debate between Anurag Kashyap his band of followers and us. The Filmmaker, Fanboys&Cinephile Debate How did your vast reading of the Hindi pulp novels help in developing your screenwriting style? I would have to say that I am not consciously aware of any such influence. As an afterthought, however, I would have to say that they did help. I was a...

Indian Auteur - Issue 1 - Issue 2 Discussion- Bollywood Strike. It’s difficult to be Kumar Shahani. Not that there is a great public demand or media attention like our superstars. But its his path to continue pursuing the struggle to understand and evolve the form of cinema and its relationship with life and other art forms that has made things difficult. It's best put in his own words: "You know Subrato Mitra, whose camera work for early Satyajit Ray turned films into masterpieces. Subrato was also a film-maker in his own right. Can you imagine that all the films made by Subrato are reportedly reduced to ashes because of a fire in the studio which kept them in London?" asks Kumar. "Isn't it shameful that nobody seems concerned about such things?" Kumar should know. He is himself running from pillar to post to retrieve the negatives of one of his films. The lab, which is holding the negatives simply refuses to oblige because NFDC (the producer) has not paid ...