Indian films buzz

The Indian film industry is recognised globally as the largest in the world. Despite this the industry has thus far failed to make a major dent in the western award industry. The industry has taken all the major social issues albeit from an Indian context, yet it continues to be ignored by major segments of the industry. In the height of the Academy Awards season it is perhaps worthwhile to reproduce some interesting informatiom on the Indian film industry. Within India the industry has also generated considerable controversy. Often the Hindu is the brunt of negative imaging in these controversies. This year however there has been some debate on an Indian film where the Catholic Church of India has taken umbrage. The Bombay High Court on Thursday  February 24 2005 however dismissed a petition filed by Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) seeking a ban on the release of the film Sins depicting sexual escapades of a priest.

The movie was slated for release on Friday February 25 2005. Justice HL Gokhale and Justice SC Dharmadhikari rejected the petition on the ground that the Censors Board and appellate tribunal in Delhi had already cleared the film. The judges opined that the court would not like to interfere with the decision of the Censors Board and the appellate authority. Writer-director-producer Vinod Pande and distributor Yashraj Films opposed the petition saying they did not want to belittle any religion and the film was based on fiction. Their counsel Satish Maneshinde and Janak Dwarkadas said the Censors Board had suggested four cuts in the film and so they had moved the appellate tribunal in Delhi, which in turn directed deletion of three scenes and medication of yet another. This had been complied with, they argued. The petition said the movie depicted the illicit sexual relations of a Keralite Catholic priest with a woman, portraying both the clergy and Church in bad light.

Kumar Gaurav started his career as an assistant director. He assisted showman Raj Kapoor on the sets of Satyam Shivam Sundaram. But he was more interested in acting hence after the completion of the film he enrolled himself at Roshan Taneja’s acting school. After six months training, his father, Rajinder Kumar launched him with Love Story. The film witnessed the phenomenal success at the box office and Kumar Gaurav became a heartthrob overnight. Unfortunately, the actor failed to sustain success. He delivered several flops and as a result, his career spiralled down and he took an early retirement from Bollywood. ( “Kumar Gaurav gets his due in Hollywood, Mumbai, February 26, 2005) After a long hiatus he appeared in Mazhar Khan’s “Gang” but the film misfired at the box office. He also tried his luck in a few telefilms like Sikander and Chocolate. But he couldn’t continue with it because of his father Rajendra Kumar’s illness and spent nearly three years in the hospital nursing his father. But, Gaurav now has something to cheer about.

His Hollywood starrer Guiana 1838, directed by debutant Rohit Jagessar, is based on Indian labourers who were made to slog on sugarcane transplantations in British colonies in the 19th century. The film grossed   70,540 (US$) — the highest screen average in North America in its opening week. Prior to this, Gaurav tried making a come back to the big screen with the Sanjay Dutt starrer Kaante;  it didn’t work out.  Decades ago both of them appeared in Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam. The film was one of the big hits of the era. But it was Sanjay Dutt who hugely benefited by the film’s success where as Kumar once again failed to meet the expectations of the audiences. Right now the actor is busy with his non-filmi  projects like Island Holidays — a travel company and a general sales agency for a Maldives resort. Besides that he has also started two other ventures — Aryan Info Media, and Saberpoint India.

Across the ocean the Indian film the Little Terrorist has gotten rave reviews. Little Terrorist, from director Ashvin Kumar, is the second Indian film to be nominated for an Oscar in the live action short film category. Shot in the deserts of Rajasthan, Little Terrorist tells the story of a 10-year-old Pakistani boy, Jamal. The cricket-mad youngster accidentally crosses the border with India, chasing a ball that strayed into Indian territory. When border guards chase this “terrorist,” Jamal finds an unlikely ally in a local Hindu teacher, Bhola. (“Indian hope for short film Oscar,” Suniti Singh, BBC News) Director Kumar believes he was one of many directors reacting to concerns stirred up by the terror attacks of  September 11 2001. “Post 9/11, film-makers around the world have been trying to explore the word terrorist in their own socio-cultural context,” he explains.

“I wanted to reflect this reality as I understand it, and through the experience of India and Pakistan. “The film shows how, despite artificial boundaries and barbed wire, the basic human instinct to give shelter to an innocent remains — no matter how many lines are drawn between people.” It has been a while since India’s last Oscar nomination in the short film category. An Encounter With Faces, by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, was India’s first nomination in 1979. Chopra did not win the award, but he went on to establish a successful career in Bollywood with blockbusters like Parinda and Munnabhai MBBS. Kumar’s film Oscar nomination has already attracted attention at home, and it has become the first short film to get a commercial release in India. “Film-makers around the world do short films to make larger ones,” says Kumar. “I hope my film starts a trend encouraging alternate and experimental film-making. That way people can discover that there is more to Indian cinema than Bollywood.”