A LITTLE ABT EVERYTHING

Every film needs drama at the interval... this is interval time for this blog.... a brief break..
Tomoro...is the audio release of the film...PLEASE DO GRAB THAT CD FROM THE DAY AFTER AND BE IN GROOVE!
Now..for some news...after the audio release ....m off to manipal for shooting maathukathe and some juggling around wid NAM'S final work...

So..in between there might not be time for me to blog . Nywyz..meet u guys soon wid newer stories..newer experiences and newer experiments.
CATCH U GUYS SOON..
LOVE
NAM AREALONDINA..
LOVE ME !HATE ME!CAN'T IGNORE ME

INVITE

an Open invitation to all my blog readers...

The audio of NAM AREALONDINA..is getting released on the 12th of NOVEMBER , evening 6 pm at green house, Gandhinagar...adjacent to Tribhuvan Theater..
Please be there for the music party !LETS ROCK ON
LOVE
ARAVIND & the NAM team

an untitled blog about film

Well... today...just wanted to let loose and chill so...caught up wid two movies ...
for starters i watched navagraha and then continued with slum bala...

Strange things went through my mind as i was watchin both the films...
For starters abt navagraha... 'heist' cinema is a whole genre of filmmaking in hollywood and they have mastered the art of writing screenplay for those kinda movies...
There is obviously the element of robbery and frustration of the low class robbers out there to treat money and luxury as that poison that is so addictive they wana drink it and die.
The point is ..the filmmakers play around with such wonderful characters who have a lot more to say about life than what they do for a living...
I remeber DAVID MAMET'S HEIST in which there is this question that the film starts wid..
One guy asks the other guy as to what makes the world go round? One guy says money..the other says love. The first guy says 'exactly...love for money' The pattern for the whole film was set there. TALK ABOUT PULP FICTION WHICH TOO HAD A SMALL HEIST ELEMENT IN IT. TALK ABOUT USUAL SUSPECTS... TALK ABOUT RESERVOIR DOGS...these are films about robbery or heist but ...they are films about a lot more. These are films that have given us great content and characters...the dialogue and screenplay..the editing ..the style everything was invented for a genre of exclusive filmmaking. SODERBERGH'S OCEAN'S ELEVEN too is to be remembered. The silence of the brooding planner..the execution and the logic of the robbery ...all worked out so neatly.
KAANTE in hindi though a ripoff of a couple films from the above list... was a great example for style and screenplay and some wonderful characterisation and dialogue...
Nothing more to write about NAVAGRAHA..! Waitng for a path breaking heist movie in Kannada ...the only one film about robbers and their life and such wonderful emotions was made a long coupla decades ago by a master craftsman called SHANKAR NAG. We miss him..

Now abt slum bala... well..... I dont have words to explain the happiness i experienced while watching the thoroughly professional ...thoroughly fantastic film. BRILLIANT! is what I felt.
I dunno if the masses will like it but VIJI has done a great job..not to forget achyuta...shashi kumar ..and my dear 'boss'...B.SURESHA.
Again...in the genre of SLUMBALA i think..there were so many..so many films that moved me.. from SCARFACE...to GOODFELLAS...to CITY OF GOD to.... our own SATYA...
BUT..at an international level...along wid these films..I think SLUMBALA can proudly stand up and say... 'HELLO LOOK AT ME'.
GREAT WORK AGNI SRIDHAR AND TEAM

swalpa maathu swalpa kathe

Hi all...
just hit bangalore..was out for a couple of days doing location hunting for my next film called 'maathukathe' which is going on floor from the 17th of November.
Shoot will happen in hiriyur... manipal.. and then GOA... Waiting for the picnic film.
The film has only two lead actors and a bike and lots of fun! Screenplay wise...

Now back to NAOD...
The songs have been playing on RADIOCITY... and thankfully have been received well..
Kanyaamani has been appreciated for its unique mixing and hiphop pattern ...
M happy that people try and receive new ideas and new content...

Thalenovvu was always bankable... and the melodious 'nenape' too i believe has been playing on radio for the last coupla days...so just watch out guys...
ROCK ON...
LOVE
ARAVIND KAUSHIK
NAMAREALONDINA

OFF TOPIC BUT IMPORTANT

This is an off topic blog but something that I need to definitely write about...

Today...a memorable day in the life of Aravind Kaushik and a lot of others I know.
Today...is the day when we stand up and salute a great man... a legend who has in his own helped in shaping up my attitude in his own silent way..
Ladies and gentlemen..give him a standing ovation... ANIL KUMBLE retires today...

You, me and all the others should very well understand what ANIL KUMBLE meant to us...across our professional spheres. He inspired us not by shouting at his opponents..but he inspired us with his silence. It is but natural that my eyes turn moist when I look back and remember the smiles that he brought on our faces with those innumberable faster ones...those non spinning balls that bowled batsmen world over and lead them to wonder if JUMBO was a spinner or a fast bowler who runs off a short run up .
I am not interested in statistics..I am interested in stature...
ANIL WAS NOT A MAN OF STATISTICS..HE WAS A MAN OF STATURE...
From an old granny across the road who danced in joy when he got those ten wickets in an innings....to ANIL's own mom who jumped in joy during the TITAN CUP when he and JAVAGAL SRINATH batted INDIA to victory...he has made us all proud of who we are..

I apply..or try to apply the ANIL KUMBLE LOGIC TO MY WORK TOO. HE LET THE BALL DO THE TALKING. LET ME MAKE FILMS THAT WILL TALK FOR THEMSELVES.
ANIL.... this song ..this song which we know is ur fav song...
chalte chalte...mere yeh geet yaad rakhna...kabhi alvida naa kehnaa... kabhi alvida naa kehnaa....

an audio summary!

Now dat the film's songs are slowly breaking thru ...
here is a summary of what one can expect from the audio of NAM AREA..
For starters..there is no SONU NIGAM in our album...
But we have good songs...a 'variety' as they say

The album kicks off on a slightly experimental note with the kanyamani song... a fusion of old style melody over a hip hop rythm... with a lot of innovative mixing ...watch out for the 'pan' in the song...between speakers there is some zip.... this was the last song composed for the film.
Lyric : Aravind Kaushik..
singers: mukesh, ramadevi, vijay, divya
Wrote it on a lazy sunday morning when I had nothing else to do.....

Moving on....
In terms of sound and 'work' on the song...to me the best output ...One of arjun's so many 'best's

Manmathana... here again..we tried to do something off beat...a little...
The song is a heroing pov song a melody ... but we spread that lyric on a techno dj beat... so that we could make the song faster and in style wid the film.. I cannot imagine my film carrying a slow heroine number....! The point is ...both Kanyamani and Manmathana were terribly dificult for me to visualise and shoot because there were so many elements to shoot... but that was the fun..and today when i watch the final output i'm like...'ok...neat job'..
lyric: yours truly..
singers: priya prakash
Meghana could not believe i wrote the lyric . ..primarily because I dont come across as a sensitive guy... but hey.., I am one.

Moving on.....
Nenape... one of the most soulful numbers i have heard from ARjun... one of the main reasons for me to make this film... this song is so haunting .....Karthick sings this like GOD!
Extraordinary lyric by K.KALYAN...
singer: Karthik
WATCH OUT FOR THE FLUTE IN THE SONG. ARJUN...HATS OFF!

Next comes...
our own overdrive rock song called jamaise...
great ...raw rock song..with lotsa attitude both in the arrangement and shoot style...
ranjit rocks with chytra in this song...
lyric: aravind , manju bagade
For rock' and pep lovers...

Next is...
kaapaadiko..
wont say much abt this song. A really special song.... symphony ..arjun style..
I can almost cry when I listen to it.. for pure music lovers ..a treat..!
Lyric: aravind kaushik, manjubagade

And then....
the tappang beauty to which anish dances like extra cool!
The rythm...hemant's voice.... anish's dance...ashok cashyap's cinematography
thanks guys

And then there are the two theme bits at start and end of the album...
rumda rumda and 'bekabitti jeevna'...

that's NAOD AUDIO for u.
ONLY FACTS...NO ADVERTISEMENT THIS..

as i type..

as i type m listening to thalenovvu on radio city...nice feeling to listen to the song u so long heard in the studio playing back on a normal tape recorder ....

m happy its sounding good

kanyaamani kicks it off!

Kanyaamani kicks it off on Radiocity today. The song was played on Radiocity an hour ago..and people who listened to it gave me some gud news..they loved it!
WATCH THE SPACE FOR MORE

songs kelbekaa?

songs kelbekka..radio city keltaa iri...naaleyinda habba..
love
namarealondina

a blog post abt nothing!!

Festival time..so a little blog post abt nothing...I thought. Just a little flashback about the movie NAM AREALONDINA...
Some five years ago ..when I was busy making my short films and sending them to festivals and the likes....when I was busy editing a short film of mine...suddenly the 'idea' of doing a film like NAM AREALONDINA came to my mind....
The film ofcourse had no name yet..and so I had called it a 'short film about love'...!!
I grabbed the nearest piece of paper lying in my dirty studio and scribbled the oneliner of the film ... The idea haunted me and so I thought I will write down the opening scene of the film.
I did it. That's it..! I was sure I was to make a film of it one day. Time passed by...as in.. a couple of years passed by before ...
I was standing outside the set of a tv serial I was acting in..and suddenly this thought came back to me... I was like....'shit..! What happened to that idea?' I started building up a story line to the whole thing but nothing was working out. That night... when at home..as a result of the innumerable conversations about love that were happening at the set... I actually thought of ...'why do people fall in love?" Various people for various reasons' I told myself...
I started writing down incidents about this guy and this girl who fall in love and all hell breaks loose...! So...slowly...the script was taking shape...finally one day...
I actually closed the 'book' I was scribbling in saying' ready to shoot'!!
That was it!. I woke up the next day and decided to make a short film about the same which later i planned to make a movie of... I wanted to get people interested in the project. I asked a couple of friends of mine... who were actors too to act in my film for free and they kindly obliged. I made it very clear to them that if I would make a film of the same..they might even not be in it. They smiled and agreed... they probably thought this guy would never make one!!
Nyways..soon we started shooting for the short film and twas great fun.
Then I hired ( for free) a good friend's very well equipped editing studio and sat down to edit that film... believe me .. I had ended up making a one and half an hour long film.
One of those days I called ARJUN home and we sat down to see the film together. He liked it..so much that he said I will do the rr etc for it. There goes.. me and him at my place...for a week and a half...we did the rr for that movie and that was the time he actually composed a couple of songs for the movie to be done too. SO NICE OF HIM..
After the movie was ready I showed it to my dear friend Nagendra Jois and he loved it. He agreed to produce it ........
And the ride began....! I mean the roller coaster began....!
More about the roller coaster in the next post...

about the ad..and lot more

Thanks Ranga...for the feedback..
actually... you are right... the colour was a lot more faded in print than we thought it wud be...
The print of newspaper caters to different colour schemes and not to what we do ..
we tried to bring about NAOD's textures in that ad... and experimented with the ad design..
after all I do have an 'advertising' background that makes my ads look very 'product' based..
NOW ITS TIME FOR CINEMA ADS...
M too fussy about the design and texture and all that...now its time to relax and make it more grand... step by step...colour too will increase....
ha ha...u must think u r speaking to a maverick..!!

Actually we were supposed to put something else there...but this ad was a last minute thingy...but i liked the spunk...we are trying to portray the various shades of the movie through it all...
And hey..today....I had the first audience to my movie...in the studio... my friend who is a journo...thankfully... I passed...
Just sharing the excitement..
love
aravind

a small something I remembered!

Twas raining like hell in chennai where we were doing the final mastering of naod's audio some time back... I just wanted to get done with it and take back the audio outta there as soon as possible and move on!!Twas kinda deadline for me too.... and amidst all this chennai confusion...one happy memory for me was meeting this guy SATYA --who mixed the audio...

There was a particular style for every song that we had planned out...in the way it should sound..and while we were thinking abt what should be heard how...this guy asked me...
'What is the colour template in which u are shooting or have shot the song?" Why ? I asked.
He so clearly explained to me that based on the colour of my songs..he would mix and add filters...to the audio... the sound has to go with the colour of the visual ' he said.SO TRUE...

REBELLION!

In the process of making the film....you meet a lot of people who offer to work with you...in whatever departments... Here ...i find two categories...the selfless lot and the selfish lot.
The selfless lot is that lot that really does not boast about its capabalities....about what it knows..what is understands... The selfless lot just mingles with the crowd and does its job.
It is wonderful to work with the selfless lot..
Sometimes...in a team you end up meeting people who really are there to only be seen in photographs...and try and take credit for things they have not done and can never do.
It is very frustrating when u come across such people. It is horrible how they know when the still photographer is clicking away so that they can be there and be seen...
....Now back to the topic....
EGO ...PRIDE ART AND COMMERCE.... and abt all this...
The point I was trying to make in the previous post was.... when a painter or a singer paints and sings for money..for his daily bread...its fine... the work he does still pure!
The problem is...some guys think that their art and capabilities are so great that they spend most of their lives undermining the quality of other art... !This is pride in art..this can be identified very easily....you can spot the farce they try and show! Like... for example... a Karan johar's film or a Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film would always try and 'behave' in a certain farcical manner...like that stupid film BLACK or KUCH KUCH HOTA HAIN!!
There is pride in their work.. ! And that pride I detest. ATTITUDE is born more out of rebellion..
NAOD 's attitude too perhaps in a way was born out of rebellion!

ha ha ha...!

OMG!! CANNOT STOP LAUGHING .... thanks Shyam for sendin me dat super cool dance video...
Hey all...please do check out this link and m sure u will all have a great life ahead...because...life long naguvantha acting maadidaane ee paapi..!
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=LYUBL4cWSO8

That's art! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!.... IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES... Sometimes interesting..sometimes inspiring..sometimes frightening...!
Well What is art ? I wonder. What is commercialisation of art? Why is that what we create becomes so important that we forget basic human qualities of humility and acceptance?

ART is an artiste's identity...I understand...but still...I think an artiste is a human being first with faculties of logic...reasoning and point of view... His logic...his dream...his point of view only gets converted into something later....
WE ARE PROUD OF THE FACT THAT WE CAN PAINT BETTER..OR WRITE BETTER OR SING BETTER OR DANCE BETTER than someone else and we are happy about it! We price ourselves so high then that the very art that made us kills us!! That is commercialisation of art.

A not so well painted calendar figure of LORD SRI RAMA is painted for a purpose. For a calendar or for a photo frame. That is not commercialisation of art. Art for the sake of money is fine..but art that has ego and pride embedded either in paint or in text or in notes of a song...is true commercialisation of art and that is what we must protest!!

ON THE WAY BACK...

Sterdy as i travelled the way back from chennai...there was a strange feeling that took over me.
It was as if...I had lost something. Some kind of a guilt .Of having given up something I loved for long. There was vacuum..... Reason... the songs are all done with and I was listening to the final version at an audience level. After having gone through the multi hued processes of visualising ...dreaming.... some more dreaming and some more planning .... finally the music of NAOD was at an ear's distance. ...... But the process was sadly over.
It had been an exciting ride thinking about that lyric and this phrase and that pitch and this voice....running around like mad to choose voices that were tailor made for the songs.... twas fun.
And every time there was a new feel and touch added to the songs..there was happiness. In all of us. The cast and the crew of NAOD. Now..we will all be listeners ..! Its tough to sit back n chil but anyways that is the fun of art...its not so much how we did it...it more abt what we did!
So..we are all now ON THE WAY BACK TO BECOME AUDIENCES.
JOINING U GUYS
ARAVIND KAUSHIK

new sound new content

hosa soundu...hosa contentu eradannu itkondu audio ready maadi just landed at bangalore . Tom...off to akshaya audio to dcide the audio release date and all other publicity plans...
GUYS...(idu hotte ursakkalla saar...kutoohala keralisakke ) I m saying... the album must become a must buy !
Rerecording has also kicked off full speed.....HAPPY AS CAN BE!
Now..I gotta catch up on sleep ...see u guys on the other side of the morning.
Meanwhile...m glad abt the concern showed by the blog readers abt the audio...tis after all your film guys!SO B WITH US AND EXPECT US TO BE QUALITATIVE ALL THE WHILE
LOVE
ARAVIND

jamaaise ...jummenno speedalli...

jamaaise ..jummenno speedali...
zindagi....joragi joshalli...
sadagara...seri swara swara...
kaleyuvaaa.. dinavellaa ide taraaa....

jamaaise.......!
The bike song of NAM!...

This is my pep up song for now!... Soon..It wil be the pep up song for hoardes of music lovers.....waiting!

ahaa enthaa breaku!!

abba...! finally...i have a relatively easier morning. So..took some time off to make ma presence felt here...

Its been hectic with the dubbing rounding off ...from tomoro re recording begins at chennai...

today being a sunday...everyone deserved a mini break. SO.....its coffee time now

another super comment abt the trailer

Another low grade director who thinks showing blood is coolyavaga buddhi kalitaro namma jana(directors)

HATS OFF TO THIS GUY TOO!
GOD BLESS HIS NON VIOLENT SOUL!

trailer 2 and what fun!!

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=dAq-PXKTXeY

this is the link to the second trailer of naod on youtube. Please do check the same guys!

''
wtf ?? these fellas cant even show violence properly, tom and jerry is only much better in this regard, this guy punched him ante, the blood spreads on the ceiling in a pancake...''

Til now the best comment i got for the trailer. HATS OFF TO THE DISASTER WHO WROTE THIS SANTHOSH!!

Hi all...

Not gettin enuf time for bloggin because of the late nights... nywayz....watch out for the trailer today ...on the net today for sure...
enjoy
love
aravind kaushik

TRAILER BARTHIDE MAGAA!

I wil ...I might b uploading a trailer of the film today....watchout all!!

more on audio

premji amaran in nannusire.... 'sanje beachinalli' awesome track!!

devishri prasad in 'sangama'.... super title track ... nice sound on 'hey mr.balu'

good ol arjun is rocking with slum bala ...heard one track from birugaali.. its awesome too...!

harikrishna is a lil on the whackier side with navagraha though not really great!!

nice development on the audio front .

Though the trend i feel started with nenapirali ...followed by mungaaru male and then gaalipaata... there was not too much of experimenting there. It was plain and simple singing and lyric and nice tune that mattered then.
Now ...it is multilayered. MUSIC is three dimensional said my friend. SO TRUE.

FILM Music is not just about thananaana and rururu... and a tune. Its more about creating an environment that gives u the feed of the feel intended...right arrangement ...right tone for the right song.... all this is happening now with these guys..and no wonder people are receiving it.

Great example for this is AR saab. The ever fresh AR saab. Heard the song 'taxi taxi' from a film called 'sakkara..somethin'. GREAT TRACK...
Right now...back to sanje beachinalli...
ROCK ON. KANNADA AUDIO

festival holiday!

Hmm....nice break today... widout much work to do..! Sterdy was at Santhosh's place doing the audio cd design...and the stills inside ......! Shaping up cool..

I still remember those audio casette covers of films like BOMBAY, ROJA, SHIVA...GEETAJNALI... so beautifully designed to carry the feel of the film.

I think NAM AREA's audio cd design too speaks volumes abt the attitude of the film. ...Sure people will like it. ART LOVERS ..at least!!

slum bala...alias arjun

hi...once again..please listen to the audio of slum bala...rocking songs!!

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII......... ! SORRY GUYS.....WAS OUT OF TOWN FINALISING AUDIO...
24TH OF THIS MONTH IS THE AUDIO RELEASE..SO DOING LOTS OF PUBLIICITY MATERIAL...!

AND ....YA... CHEK OUT TODAY'S UDAYAVANI...

teppa saagali..munde hogali..

DIRECTOR IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP' said my film's hero once. I convinced him dat
I was not the captain of the ship..... 'I am the captain of the theppa u r in'... I told him.
NAOD nalli ship kuda teppa thara kaansutte... !

ಪ್ರೇಮ ಕಥೆಗಳ ಏರಿಯಾ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ದಿನ..

ಪ್ರೇಮ ಕಥೆಗಳ ಏರಿಯಾ ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ದಿನ..
ಭಾರತೀಯ ಚಿತ್ರರಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಲ್ಪಡುವ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಶೇಖಡಾ ತೊಂಭತ್ತೈದರಷ್ಟು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳು ಪ್ರೇಮ ಕಥೆಗಳೇ ಆಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ.
ಹೀಗೇಕೆ? ನಮ್ಮ ಚಂದಮಾಮ ಕಥೆಗಳನ್ನ ಓದಿದಾಗ ಅಥವಾ ಅಥವಾ ಮುಂದೆ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಮಾಡ ಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಆಸೆಯಿರೋ ಹೊಸಬರು ಮಾಡುವ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಶಾರ್ಟ್ ಫಿಲ್ಮ್ ಅಥವಾ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ...ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲು ಆಗೋ ನಾಟಕಗಳನ್ನ ನೋಡಿದಾಗ... ನನಗೆ ಕಾಡುವುದು ಇದೇ ಯೋಚನೆ......

ಏಕೆ ಚಿತ್ರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರು ಅಥವಾ ನಿರ್ಮಾಪಕರು ಪ್ರೇಮಕಥೆಗಳ ದಾರಿ ಹಿಡಿತಾರೆ? ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಖ ಇದೆ
ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಥೆ ಇದೆ.... ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋವಿದೆ.... ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂಗೀತವಿದೆ... ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲರ್ ಇದೆ.... ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಣವಿದೆ.... !!
ಪ್ರೀತಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಪಟ್ಟಂತೆ ಹೊಸ ಹೊಸ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತಗಳನ್ನು ಸಹ ನಮ್ಮ ಚಿತ್ರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರು ಹುಟ್ಟುಹಾಕಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಿ.ಎಹ್.ಡಿ
ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ ...ಮಾಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ....

ಪ್ರೆಮಕಥೆಗಳ ಸಿನೆಮ ಮಾಡುವುದು ತಪ್ಪಲ್ಲ.... ನಮ್ಏರಿಯಾ ಕೂಡ ಪ್ರೇಮಕಥೆಯೇ ...aadhare .... ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ಯಾಕೆಜಿಂಗ್ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದಿಲ್ಲ... ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಪ್ರೇಮಕಥೆಯನ್ನ ಹೇಳಲು ಛಾಯಾಗ್ರಹಣದ.. ಅಥವಾ ರಮ್ಯವಾದ ತಾಣಗಳ ಕೊಲಾಜ್ ಮಾಡಿಲ್ಲ...
ನಾವು ಮೊದಲೇ ಹೇಳಿದ ಹಾಗೆ ಇದೊಂದು ಕಿತ್ತೋಗಿರೋ ಲವ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ ಅಷ್ಟೆ...
ಎನಿವೇಸ್... ಕಮಿಂಗ್ ಟು ದಿ ಪಾಯಿಂಟ್.. ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳು ಸಿನಿಮೀಯ ಆಗೋ ಮುಂಚೆಯೇ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರು ನಿರ್ಮಾಪಕರು ಎಚ್ಚೆತ್ತು ಕೊಂಡು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಜೀವನಕ್ಕೆ ಹತ್ತಿರವಿರುವಂಥ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನ ಪರದೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ತೋರಿಸಿ...
ಜಿವನಕ್ಕಿರೋ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳುವ ತಾಕತ್ತನ್ನ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿದರೆ ..... ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರುತ್ತೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತೆ...
ಕಂ fall ಇನ್ love!
preeti ಅಂದರೆ ಮಳೆ ಹಾಡಲ್ಲ ..ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಅಂದ್ರೆ teertahalliya bettagaLalla... !

ಮೇಘನಾ ಎಂಬ ಕಂಠ ದಾನ ಕಲಾವಿದೆ

ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಅನುಭವವಿರುವ ಕಂಠದಾನ ಕಲಾವಿದೆಯರಂತೆ ಮೇಘನಾರವರು ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಪಾತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ತಾವೇ ಡಬ್ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಬಹಳ ಖುಷಿಯ ವಿಷಯ.

ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಬಲ್ಲ , ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ನಟಿಸ ಬಲ್ಲ ಇಂತಹ ನಾಯಕಿಯರು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವುದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ ....

tappang....!

why do filmmakers have tappang songs in movies? Because the rhythm makes the audience stand up and dance...? Because the audience wanna see their hero groove like mad ? If that is the case...then our thalenovvu song is the king of tappang. Anish has danced superbly in the song!
Just watch out for those moves guys. M sure u he will have you dancing along with him

forgot to add

forgot to add..
I gotta super cool coffee mug....as a gift...
nw i drink ma coffee in that mug...

live fun!

had gone on air..live on C BANGALORE...twas nice fun..
The host jijoy...asked me some cool questions...abt the film ...abt me....
nice to understand that the promo is being appreciated all over

A SMALL PUZZLE

lovvu thalenovvu...
eee deshdalliro---liro----neliro---galli----galliliro----gella naanu----lodu-----vvu----.
hudguru maado rowdysmginta hudgiru maado---- ne dangerru--- udguru laangu macchu-----udgeeru---- preeti------thaare--- neevu neevaagiri---- anta----nimmanna neevu---- kodangi---- kannadili mukha nodko-----sentimentu---- kurpu--- kettidtaare----

FILL UP THE BLANKS
LOVE
NAM AREALONDINA

song editing and attitude!

I think Indian filmmakers are very lucky... they have the option of shooting songs for their movies! Songs and the way they are shot, I feel should reflect the attitude of the filmmaker apart carrying the feel and so on of the movie. Great example in this case was Mungaru male ....its songs were a neat mixture of the emotional quotient of the movie as well as reflected the attitude of the person making the film.... there was emphasis on attitude in that movie.
Another song i loved was from the film 'GELEYA' ..ee sanjeyaakaagide...!That song too reflected the attitude of the filmmaker and his technical skills.

My all time fav filmmaker with respect to songs would be telugu filmmaker krishnavamsi...
whatever song it might be... the peculiar way he cuts the song...leaves me amazed. I am like...wow! what arrogance...what fun!!
Now...with NAM , I have the golden opportunity to edit my songs in my style...apart from scenic beauty and dance and everything...I have played around creating a style around all the songs of the film.... cutting it in a style that might not be liked by conventional filmmakers. I also dont believe in the word 'MTV editing' as some people call it...!
Concept editing in songs is a new style that I have worked on. CONCEPT EDITING is something I have coined for my advantage though. Concept editing according to me is not editing the song according to a traditional pattern but to edit it to reflect the song emotion along with creating a style around the film...
WATCH OUT FOR THE PECULIARLY EDITED NAOD SONGS....M SURE PEOPLE WILL LIKE THEM...ATLEAS HOPING PEOPLE WILL LIKE THEM.
Back to editing now!!

chennai chamatkaara!

.....................................................SPEECH SCENE FROM NAM AREALONDINA...............................

...had been to chennai to record ranjit's voice for jamaise. Unfortunately...ranjit did not turn up...he had his own reasons...

Was looking for a peculiar voice for another song 'Kanyaamani' .. and we found one super cool voice from there called Mukesh. So... we recorded Mukesh's voice for Kanyaamani and m thrilled with his singing. Super work.. Man!! Twas terribly hot in chennai...!! But the ride back from chennai was fun... coz me and arjun were discussing the re recording of the film and how different we could make it... 'BREAK THE RULES' is the mantra for the re recording of NAM AREA..

chennai morro

gotta leave early in the morning ..m off to chennai to record ranjit's voice for jamaise..wil be back by evening...and will do a blog update...just some waiting...!

pyaar hua..ikraar hua hain!

Pyaar hua ...ikraar huaa... hain... kittogiro lovestory ya kittogiro maleyalli kittogiro chatri hidkondiro hudugiya jothe kittogiro hudugana kittogiro stillu..! COOL.... THE LOVESTORY ROCKS!!
Nywz... not many posts for the last couple of days and dat was coz was busy at studio with the editing etc ... Meanwhile Chaitra sang the female parts of the jamaise song and she rocked LITERALLY.
I DONT MEAN LIKE 'ROCK ON'.. THE fake rock music film in bollywood ishtyle.
Nyways again..
kuch paane ke liye kuch khona bhi padta hain.. i guess and m losing out on valuable blogging time in between all the work frenzy...
Today's blog is a little more diff than te usual ones...arjun made me listen to his'madhura pisumaatu' song from birugaali and it was suckh a soulful one i fell in love with it. We went on to discuss abt AR REHMAN SAAB and what a genius he is. That was when we were singing 'jaage hain der tak hume...kuch der sone do.... thodi si raat aur hain..subah ko hone do..aadhe adhure khwaab jo pure na hosake...ek baar phir se neend me woh khwaab bone do'.. from GURU.
This song is so inspirational that I listen to it every night before I dose off. It reminds me abt how valuable time is and dreams are and how valuable it is to live a life where you do what you want to do.
Probably man is the only animal which thinks ten thousand times before doing what he or she wants to do. ... We think abt ..whether it ir right for us to do what we want to do... we think about the success and failure of what we want to do... we think about whether we know how to do what we want to do.. we think abt so many things bfore doing what we want to do and in the process... sometimes we dont do what we want to do.
I think man takes life too seriously to not do what he wants to do.
Life , I think is very simple. YOU LIVE... YOU LIVE SOME MORE... YOU LIVE SOME MORE TILL YOU ARE TIRED OF LIVING AND THEN YOU DIE. NOW... DEATH HAPPENS EVEN IF YOU DONT DO WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF DOING. DEATH WILL HAPPEN EVEN IF YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO... BUT DO YOU WANA DIE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING OR NOT IS A PERSONAL CHOICE...
Personally , I am some one who never takes life seriously because I very clearly know that I am not here for eternity. Today... mayb tomorro...may b one year later... may b fifty years later... never know when... the bell will ring for me. I am very sure it will ring though and I dont want to waste time. I want to do all those things I can... ( positive things)... I want to try and touch as many skies as I want... because one fine day... it will b the 'END' of everything for me.

This is my inspiration...this is my personal legend...this is my philosophy to live... and I hope all creative individuals have something like this in order to try and achieve what they want to do.
WARRIOR OF LIGHT... !
I leave this blog now with these lines from BLOW...
Life passes most people by with them making grand plans for it...

I DONT WANT TO MAKE PLANS ... I WANT TO LIVE LIFE ARAVIND STYLE...

sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hain.. dekhna hain zor kitna baazu e khaatil main hain.

media noir!! WHAT IF MA BLOG HAD A CEO?

Note: The below written piece of writing was born as a result of the after effects of the dreaded disease called 'the media disease'.
Also, this piece of fiction can be a very good screenplay idea for a film belonging to a whole new genre of film noir called 'media noir'. MEDIA NOIR cinema would be that cinema whose main plot would always be 'victimisation of the soul'. Another off shoot plot would be 'entertainment terrrorism'. And the story begins....

Gosh! Wat a nightmare! I was happy twas only a nightmare but what if it really happened? What if ma blog had a CEO? CORPORATE SWEAT RUNS DOWN MY FOREHEAD AS I THINK OF WHAT I JUST SAID... What if my blog had a CEO? In fear, I turn on my computer to find that my blog is peacefully asleep mindless of the trauma I am suffering in trying to ward off evil designs.. But for how long? Till what time will I be able to protect my blog from the clutches of the MEDIA DISEASE. I pray to GOD to give ma blog .. a longer life. ...!......

Haa haa haa! Media noir is born! ET then was a film abt something else.. today ET to me means
ENTERTAINMENT TERRORISM. Here, we all are victims and we all are terrorirsts.

Everything in entertainment today is poll based. Everything. Everything has to be voted for and against and people clap in their minds at the results and move on.
TRP MANIA. Even a smile that passes you by on second look will make you realise was an ad for a toothpaste commercial. People wear labels...they eat labels...they drink labels and live labels. LABELS STUCK TO SOUL!
...NOW I PUT BACK MA BLOG TO SLEEP AS I TRY AND SING FOR IT A LULLABY OF INNOCENCE...
.............keliddu sullaagabahudu..nodiddu sullaagabahudu...

ಹಾಗೆ summane

ಏನೋ ಇದೇ ..ಏನೋ ಇದೇ ...ಇ ಪ್ರೀತಿಲಿ ಏನೋ ಇದೇ... ಅಧ್ಬುತ ಹಾಡು ....
ಅಂತೆಯೇ...
ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ನಾಲಕ್ಕು ಸಾಲುಗಳು ..namma ಚಿತ್ರದ ಒಂದು ಹಾಡಿನಿಂದ..

ಕಣ್ಣು ಕಂಡ ಕನಸು ನನಸಾಗೋ ಕನಸ kandenaa... ಕಂಡಿತಾಗ ಕಣ್ಣು.. ಈ ಕನಸುಗಾರನ...
ಕವಿ ಇವನ kavite ಇವನಾ... ಕಣ್ಣೀರು ಒರೆಸೋ ಕರುಣೆ ಇವನಾ...
ಮನ್ಮಥನಾ ಇವ ಮನ್ಮಥನಾ.. ಮನದಾ ಮನೆಗೆ iva ಮಾಲಿಕನಾ...

SUNDAY BLOG!

This is a precious SUNDAY blog.. Where am relaxed...sipping coffee and not worrying so much about work. I even played with blog colours and changed ma profile fotograf.. m happy with this one. I LOOK LIKE A FILMMAKER here...ha ha ha! And...it is wonderful to read so many comments abt the film 's opening scene. A couple of ideas, I thought were so good that I could actually have made that the opening of the film instead of what I have now..! Nywyz...sterday ..was editing the opening scene and well... actually..it is a very normal opening scene..no big buzz abt it. A little abt Maathukathe here....

Come..NOVEMBER 3rd... we start shooting for maathukathe in manipal and that sounds like quite a holiday to me. Satya Hegde wil be there wit me and we wil definitely make a freak out film .. the casting is yet to be completely finalised and i think I will think abt it today. Again... abt Maathukathe.. ARJUN is doing some nice melodies this time... (only four songs in that film)..

Now back to AREA...

this time we are gonna put a very diff corporate looking paper ad for NAM ...with one of ma fav lines from the film... 'kan hodiyo hudugi sikkre...hoge haakskolakku ready!!'..

As i write this... I am listening to yeno ide from Psycho... brilliant song... ! ...

story innu idhe magaaa...

Today was busy with the final voice mix of 'kaapaadiko' with shamita malnad. She did a good job of the second charana of the song... Now... lemme just make this a little more informative...

NAM is through wid shooting... we might shoot (only if) for one more day.. (we need some styling shots dat's all)... and we have successfully wrapped up shooting of the film. Now... editing of almost half the film is done with and simultaneously the dubbing has also begun. The music work is also in its final stages with some fifteen days job pending. AKSHAYA AUDIO is releasing the audio next month. And from the date of audio release..our publicity will be dhamaal and another month or so for the film release from audio release. Ottnalli...

NAM is all getting geared up for the public. Simultaneously, our DI and special effects groundwork is happening ..and soon SANTHOSH will have to do his needful with the special effects work.

WE ARE COMING SOON !!

Hey... my dear friend Magesh's dhimaaku is out and playing in the theaters...please go and watch the film and encourage him...

And now... story innu idhe magaa...!

Every time I see a new film 's poster or wait for a new film as it unfolds at the theater.... I am obsessed with what the first scene of the film would be like. HOW THE FILM OPENS ' matters a lot to me. The attitude , the style... the titling... the speed ...the punch..the sound... whatever... but....to me ... I love openings that make me go wow! I loved the openings of both Mungaru and Duniya. While Mungaru was very laid back ...in tune with that film... DUNIYA was power packed ..in tune with that film.

That's why i started a game... to see what people might expect from NAM 's opening.

NAM's opening is something that made me make the film... that is for sure. The images I had seen... 'ee sinmaa hingee open aagbeku' antha'...that is how we have opened the film....

STORY INNU IDHE MAGAA..... !!

playin a game..

hey... all... just playing a game... i want max comments on this one...
This game is not for the guys who know my film....
Lets play a game , a crazy guessing game...
WHAT COULD THE OPENING SCENE OF NAM BE LIKE?
LETS C......

OF SATYA and RAMUJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

One of those visits to my mom's cousins' place as a kid probably triggered off a filmmaking instinct in me. Those were the days of VHS casettes and ma mom's cousins had brought home a film called 'SHIVA' and were watching it with seriousness not typical of a telugu masala film audience. I didnt realise that day that the maker of this film would go on to me cinematic moments that would inspire me to become a filmmaker like him. 'Shivaa...shivaa shivaa....vaademi devudaa?" some cricket playing seniors of mine used to say all the time. I knew it was a line from that film ...a line spoken by the dreaded 'bhavani' ( late RAGHUVARAN) . I was fascinated by that line. RAMGOPALVERMA was unknown to me then.

Time passed by and then there was this another film which some uncle suggested was a must watch and so , me , my sister and cousins..all of us ran to the nearby theater to watch that film ..'KSHANA KSHANAM'... This time, I was so ...so...so blown by the movie ..its tough to describe it. To me it was what cinema was supposed to be. I knew this was just another film and and just another story...but the way the story was being brought to life was awesome... and that is when I realised that there was this guy called RAMGOPALVERMA..the director who made it possible. Soon, I realised that this was the same guy who had made SHIVA..

I saw SHIVA again. RAMGOPAL VERMA WAS MA FILMMAKING GOD. I used to eagerly watch out for his films... films like gulabi( dir: krishnavamsi) , rangeela, anaganaga oka roju, deyyam, started rolling in... and this guy could never go wrong!! I chiselled ma film making technique and screen writing style by watching his films...

And then came..the masterpiece... SATYA... I watched that film 57 times on last count. To me, probably, SATYA was the best that I could expect from the filmmaker who never tried to be 'holier than thou' in his storytelling. SATYA was real, honest and so simplistically made . Some say COMPANY was technically more advanced than SATYA but for me the opposite is true. COMPANY was intentionally stylised and the jump cut pattern and the soundtrack was very pop. But, SATYA had to be told in raw and real circumstances and the use of craft in that film was the stroke of a genius. The pull back shot to introduce the hero waking alone in a crowd in mumbai, the blast sound juxtaposed with the candid footage of the collapsed buildings...wow! The shot near the shore where both chakri and manoj stand back to camera and discuss their siuation... the scene on the terrace where chakri says 'happy birthday vidya'.. or the simple and haunting montage of 'baadalon se kaat kaatke'.... the scene where bhiku and gang are trying to get truth out of one guy and satya talks to vidya outside ...(check out SANDEEP CHOWTA's rr in dat scene)... the grand finale ..( the ganapati bappa frenzy..) and after all that a simple and true ending to a film story. Through out the film... not in a single frame do we see an insincere film maker .He just told us a story looking at us eye to eye and got up and left...!

That was RGV then.. and now he is RAMUJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! RAMUJI and his brand of cinema now is definitely far superior than those bollywood kid films, but the point is ...technique is not everything. CONTNE AND TECHNIQUE must merge somewhere to make a great film. RAMUJI cinema either reeks of strong and unwanted technical skills or reeks of flimsy ideas that often dont get developed into strong scripts. Mayb, he is not able to see the whole film as one nowadays. Nyways, with SARKAR RAJ he showed me he stil has the same story telling capactiy that i saw of him in kshanakshanam or satya... and that is why i loved that film inspite of the bachchans who are generally very boring as a gang!

MY LIST OF RGVfilms( not RAMUJI films)in order of liking them

1)SATYA

2)SARKAR RAJ

3)KSHANA KSHANAM and DEYYAM

4)ANTHAM

5)RANGEELA

6)Anaganaga oka roju

7) Raatri

8) JUNGLE and so on....

RAMUJIIIIIII RAMUJII GO AWAY... COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY...

Elavo arjunaa!

Had been to the preview of the film Dheemaku. Arjun's Dheemaku. I think two songs , the 'kannagudde' sng and the adnan sami song are nice. Abt the rerecording, not convinced at all.

Same happened with yuga. He scored a super song with 'hrudaya hrudaya'.. but the rr was messed up. NAM AREA , I am sure will be a break in the right direction for ARJUN.

I have known him as a friend for the past seven years or so and have seen him evolve as a music director. There were times when as soon as he used to compose something new , he used to make me listen to it.Almost every time, I used to say' let this be in ma film'. He used to smile in his own humble way.

He is genuinely talented not just as a music director should be, bt also cares a lot for good scripts and good cinema. The way he listens to a story, the way he reacts to it is all very spontaneous .

The 'bala krishna..balamurali krishna' rr part was the only interesting part of Dhimaku's rr though. And I would not blame ARJUN for the same.

Nowadays, he is all over the place like a rash. 'PATRE LOVES PADMA', 'BIRUGAALI', SLUMBAALA, NAM AREA, OMG!! I wonder how he works round the clock...non stop.

Nyways, the concern is ..I dont wanna c a burnout!

VIRAL BOSS!

was not keepin well all the time...the doc says do not go out for three or four more days...its the viral... so no blogs...

I make SOAP!

That is me with ma ace cinematographer Ashok Cashyap and my Choreographer Anand....
what A fun!!!!

If someone asks me what I do for a living.. next time, I will say 'I make soap'.

Some filmmakers have a problem with their film being called a 'product' as opposed to something more artistic or technical.

FILM MAKING IS LIKE SELLING SOAP. You make a film and you sell it. You make a soap cake and you sell it. The point here is... you cannot sell the idea of making a brand of soap to a customer just as you cannot sell the idea of making a film to the audience. If I say 'I will make that film...I will make this film...etc etc'... there is no point in it. YOU only have to make the film and then see if it works or not with the audience.

Many a time in the past, I have come across producers who have asked me for a narration of a film story . After a narration they would say 'its nice but will it be saleable?" My answer or at least ma thought then would be 'BOSS...how will u know if it is saleable or not unless you make the film?". So, I think the best producer is that guy who is willing to allow you to make the soap instead of asking how its fragrance would be or how long lasting it would be.

Today, as a result of some positive interest about the film... or the idea that the film has shaped up good , I meet a lot of people who are willing or showing interest in allowing me to make ma soap. So , now I have started making soap...! HOPE MA BRAND OF SOAP WORKS..

Is it real? Is it not?

This time when I was in Mysore shooting for NAOD , there was this particular scene that I was shooting with Pratap , Mandya Ramesh and Anish .

When the actors came on to the set ,to the same place where we had started off shooting their scenes it was not as if they had come there to act. Looking at them , to me it was almost as if these guys lived there and I came in to just check as to what these guys are doing.

The characters of Mandya Ramesh,Pratap and Anish are so etched in ma mind, i think twil take me a lifetime to get out of their lives. The feel of the area, the ease with which these guys acted out that scene ... all this gave me a feeling of IS IT REAL ? IS IT NOT?

Nyways, now to some freaky news...

this time while i was shooting , i was so disappointed that the scenes were all over and done with but there still was so much to say through these characters of NAM AREALONDINA. So, quickly I decided and came to the conclusion that we have to do a part 2 of the same film.

Soon, we should be announcing the PART 2 plan of the film. LET THESE CHARACTERS LIVE ON FOR EVER... WATCH OUT FOR NAOD PART 2

I am back!

Hi there ,
after one terrific and exciting schedule at mysore am done with the film shoot and back in bangi. This is a tired me posting a hi...

MYSORE AGAIN!!!

Hmmm... I think for the next five days or so...I might not get time to post a blog.

Reason... its Mysore time again!! Back @ shoot...the 'kumbalakayi' episode kicks off.

Tom, wil be heading for Mysore and in the days to follow, wil be through wid the shoot of NAM... the last five days ...where I will lay ma hands on the thalenovvu song and some patchwork. Its nice that m endin the film @ the same place where the shoot began...!

So, best of luck to me as the ship gets sailing. Back @ editing on 1st of sept...and the audio release too is to happen soon. Lots of plans for sept.. with the audio release and further promotions of the film. New trailers wil have to wait til Sept 4 or 5.

Btw.. finished writing the last scene of MATHUKATHE... the film 2 follow after NAOD...

'naa nin jothe...nee nan jothe ..swalpa maathu...swalpa kathe'... More on Maathukathe only after NAOD releases...

Wil try and make time to blog... but nt sure...

Wil b back soon...

NAM CINEMAgalalli ond dina...

'Tyaagada swaarthi naaniga' ! WOW! One of Hamsalekha's most interesting lines..call it poetry or chitra saahitya or whatever, these lines from a song in the film NENAPIRALI
Hey Beladingale...himbaalisadiru... preetiya payanake ottaayisadiru...
the song goes on and there is a line in English which goes 'hey hey hey....you fraud!'. To some , it might sound strange that amidst such interesting and meaningful Kannada lines in the song, suddenly this ENGLISH STATEMENT pops up. But to me that wasn't English. It was Kannada.
The ease with which we have made English and ever other language our own and have conveyed strong emotions through the use of the language is very evident here... Another fine example of this form is another Hamsalekha song '123 ..123..' from Shanti Kranthi...
Nenapirali, its music and its writing was in many ways signalling the arrival of a new breed of Kannada cinema to follow. Then came Mungaaru Male and then Duniya and nowadays in almost every other Kannada film you find wonderful music and wonderful lyric. Its wonderful that writers of the calibre of Jayanth Kaikani have begun contributing immensely to the 'writing' scenario. What happens is.. when writing comes along with strong 'concept', the way the songs are shot changes too and that is probably why see some pleasant cinematography in recent times. A fine example of this would be the 'ee sanje yaakaagide'song from GELEYA. Beautifully conceptualised and beautifully shot!
Here is a list of ma fav cinema , directors... .
As films, in Kannada , I loved would be ...( in order) OM, DUNIYA, Accident( the old one) , Ondanondu kaaladalli, Gowri Ganesha , A, UPENDRA, Sshh, Ganeshana Maduve, Minchina Ota( again the old one), Nenapirali (also because I dubbed for PREM) , Tabarana kathe, Shaapa

As filmmakers I think it would be... ( in order) Upendra, Shankar Nag, Yogaraj Bhat, Phani Ramachandra, Suri and to an extent Girish Kasaravalli.....

naod audio feeler

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc_ya-8CESU
link to an instrumental bit of the melody 'nenape from the film. CLOSE YOUR EYES AND LISTEN...

LIFE , FOOTBALL AND ANY GIVEN SUNDAY!

A football is so self sacrificing...! Gets kicked around and wins you glory. Its funny how a lot of sports films end up being so philosophical and motivational at the same time. One film that did not motivate me though was LAGAAN. Apart from the 'chale chalo' song... LAGAAN had nothing to give you goosebumps. Ofcourse, through the film there was an amazing background score by A.R . Its olympic time and right now its nice to know that INDIA has done a lot better this time round than before ... But still... come to think of it... in INDIA we love sport and we love playing sport but why is it that we kinda take a backseat when it comes to competing professionally? I wonder.
Same applies to making sport films in INDIA. There are hardly any sports films in INDIA though we love the sport. I can think of a couple of cricket movies like LAGAAN, AWWAL NUMBER and IQBAL. OVER AND OUT. CHAK DE was the most recent of the lot ...
This is a genre of movie making ,I think where Indian filmmakers can score...
SPEAKING OF MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES...THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE. A MUST WATCH FOR ALL ASPIRING ACTORS... AL PACINO IN OLIVER STONE'S ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. REMARKABLE FILM MADE EVEN MORE REMARKABLE BECAUSE OF THIS SPEECH .. READ THIS... ACTUALLY THERE IS A YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE SAME ... just search for ANY GIVEN SUNDAY ALPACINO SPEECH ...
On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is - can you win or lose like a man? I don’t know what to say, really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today, and either, we heal as a team, or we're gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play. Until we're finished. We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And, we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell... one inch at a time. Now I can't do it for ya, I'm too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I've made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I've pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old, in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that's... that's... that's a part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losin' stuff. You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying! I'll tell you this, in any fight it's the guy whose willing to die whose gonna win that inch. And I know, if I'm gonna have any life anymore it's because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch, because that's what living is, the six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You've got to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think ya going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. Your gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it your gonna do the same for him. That's a team, gentlemen, and either, we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys, that's all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?

GOOSEBUMPS ANYONE??

CUP OF TEA and POV

Today, i met this guy who had come home and wanted to be a film maker . He said he wanted to work with me (he said UNDER ME!!) and then become a film maker himself. This post is not about whether he should or not work as an assistant and then in the future become a film maker...! This post is all about the question... 'whose cup of tea' is it anyway ?
My friend Santhosh Radhakrishnan made a very interesting short film a couple of years ago and I think that film he has uploaded on the youtube ( Santh...if u haven't ...u please do!). This film is a very dear film of mine... . The film was called 'cup of tea'. I thought it was a very intelligent( pardon me for using the word 'cunning') film which talked about a couple of guys who have just returned home after watching a film that they hated and thought shouldn't have been made in the first place. As audience they demand to see something that respects their level of understanding and intelligence. I think (correct me if I am wrong Santhosh).. Santhosh was trying to make a point saying films should be qualitative..( in terms of ...story...humour... packaging... music... cinematography... )
The film ends on a very intelligent and witty note when the two film 'critics' are asked a question.. 'CHECK IF IT IS YOUR CUP OF TEA?' the narrator asks and the two guys 'escape' the burden of making a good film . 'BIO TECH' one guy says.. the other says somethin else...but they end up 'not becoming filmmakers'. THAT TO ME was the dearest part of the film. I had ma differences though in opinion about the meaning of the word 'quality' cinema. Personally , I dont think films are instruments of checking the audience's intelligence level. Personally, I don't believe in the concepts of 'what makes a good film! It is the POV of a director that brings quality to a film ...not story...not cinematography or humour !Nywz,
FILM MAKERS CANNOT BE MADE. THEY HAPPEN.
That's why in ma blog I say I am a filmmaker not by profession but by character. WOODY ALLEN has made some very good ( to me)films but then some equally horrendous films( to me) ! SAME WITH MY DEAR OL FRIEND RGV! He was someone whose cinema I grew up watching... be it good , bad or ugly. Will watch his films not because they are good or bad but because they reflect his attitude towards filmmaking. He is a filmmaker bcause his dying words would probably be 'ACTION'.. That's it .PERIOD. I am not saying 'everyone cannot make films... doctors..engineers...even 'biotech guys can make films ... good films (good is very subjective here)...but the point is.... WHY? DO WE NEED SO MANY FILMS AND FILMMAKERS?
The guy who came home today saying he would work 'under me' and that he wanted to be a film maker could have been a very good banker or a lawyer or a teacher too perhaps! WHY? WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A FILMMAKER ? I asked him. He had no answer. I would have taken him in as an A.D if he had said 'its none of ur business' but the expression on his face was like 'SORRY SIR..I DON'T KNOW' The answer is 'It wasn't his cup of tea'.
Next time you see a wannabe film maker just ask him if loves drinking tea!

THE BLOG HAS ARRIVED!

Dear friends ,
Today's edition (Aug 22nd) of the Udayavani newspaper carries a very informative article about our own dear blog. Please check it out . Its heartening news that the blog has been accepted as something important and essential for a filmmaker.
It is wonderful that the press is supporting us in this...

kittogiro philosophy

....AREA....jagattalli saavraar areagalive...kashmeeradinda kanyaakumaari varegu , bhaarata deshada adiyinda mudi varegu design design hesariro design design areagalive...ee ella areagalallu baduktaa irodu nimma nammanta design desgin manushyare...!
This is how one of the most important 'speech' goes in the film..
Usually after having done a screenplay version of script, a dialogue version of the script is separately evolved....but for NAM this could never happen. The screenplay, shot division, dialogue and everything else was scribbled down on reams and reams of paper which my assistant director Manjunath used to very promptly file up!
To me, poetry is not about using words that are pleasant. Its strange how so many 'local' words manage to convey powerful emotions. Like the thalenovvu song...in which we say 'fixu kano magane ninge sadu songu'... It gives a clear picture of a guy who has lost in love and for the rest of the life has to make do with listening to sad songs..
The power of the word 'kittogiro' was constantly haunting me.To me in this film the word 'kittogiro' is the essence of the film story.
Its a statement. The reason i say 'kittogiro lovestory' is not just to say that this film also has one of those innumerable love stories we often see on screen. The idea behind using the word kittogiro is to describe the 'feel' of the lovestory. Because, here in this lovestory things are not perfect...love is not a bed of roses in the film.... the film has a lovestory that more or less talks characters who end up acting like 'kittogiro' characters...
Their lives could have been lovely too ...only if they weren't 'kittogiro' characters . That is the tragedy of the characters in the film.
Everything in our film , right from the hero's slippers to his personality is 'kittogiro'.
That's why...its a 'kittogiro lovestory'..

TECHNIQUE VERSUS CONTENT

Ha! One of those discussions abt content and technique. The most famous word in today's times when it comes to filmmaking would be 'presentation'. WHAT THE HELL! The film was presented well..they say! What is then, the meaning of presentation! I think they mean cinematography (angles...lighting.... colour), re recording (effects and background score)and so on. Style a.ka MTV STYLE means good presentation? I disagree.
Someone was talking about presentation...that some filmmakers have good content but they dont present their film well...that some filmmakers have strong technical skills but don't concentrate on the content... ! And there are eternal arguments about content and technique..
'That film was technically good ' they say but 'they story was bad' they also add.
I personally think the word content and the word technique are one and the same. If you feel the content of a film is very strong , that means the technique through which the content was conveyed was good and viceversa. Filmmaking is an art...filmmaking is also a technical art. Its like tabla versus electronic tabla..for example. Some people play the regular tabla and make music. Some play with the tabla....as in...change the way the tabla is played (electronic) and also make music.. Some make films to explore the medium...some make films to tell stories...
I hope very soon people stop attaching words like 'presentation' to cinema. SOUNDS SILLY.
Its not done to present a perfumed gift wrapped box of ....you know what. We all have seen what happens in the film PUSHPAK ...haven't we?

PULPY CLIMAX

pulp fiction !

A friend of mine was saying she read somewhere that PULP FICTION's climax was rated among the best ever film endings in a movie...! I was wondering how someone can just pick up a great film and arrive at the conclusion that its ending was great etc etc... A film is a film and every film has it own climax...Couple of days ago, another friend of mine was saying our very own Mungaru male was a film without a climax...! But, actually i thought that was quite a powerful way to end a movie... in terms of.... that last shot where Ganesh is standing back to the camera... out of focus and there is the 'grave' of the irritating devdas.. (if i am not wrong) in the foreground... I call that shot a 'collective shot'. Twas a 'collective shot' because it kind of brought together all the elements that made that film under one roof... ! Sandy boy.... try n think about it..!

Now, back to PULP FICTION and endings.... a films ends when there is a titlecard that says 'THE END'. All said and done.... in every story telling exercise ... no matter how interesting the story telling is...people are always waiting for that 'climax..'.. CLIMAX yenu? CLIMAX yenu?....

PULP FICTION probably was one of the greatest films of the 90s...with a climax befitting that film... that's all.

NAM's climax was what came in for a lot of discussion during the scripting stage... Most people wanted me to change it ..or were unsure of the climax of the film. Till date, I maintain...the very reason for me doing NAM ...the core reason for me doing the film is its last shot....

M watching PULP FICTION again today!

PULP FICTION

M WATCHING PULP FICTION AGAIN TODAY!!

my very own noir

my very own film noir! That's what NAM AREALONDINA is...

Followers of the noir genre might laugh at me when i say nam arealondina is a noir film.. but actually it is. There is a femme fatale...there is deception ...there is crime and the film is DARK!

If one could classify it further as a sub genre in noir... nam arealondina would be reality noir!

Whatever that is! Deception, crime and darkness are an eternal part of reality. Aren't they?

And nam's content was born when i was thinking about the darker side of a love story where eveything is not good and glorious. Man falls in love not when he is in the reality sphere...he falls in love when he is dreaming... And when the dream turns into reality....its fine and then reality turns into a nightmare..! GOT IT? That's why NAOD becomes a noir film....

kanyamani o' kanyaamani

A SCREEN SHOT OF THE MOVIE...

FILM MAKING IS NOT SOCIAL SERVICE!

Some make films because they love to tell stories.Some make films because they want to make money and some make films because they love the medium and want to explore its immense possibilities. We made NAOD for all the three above reasons , particularly in that order. But one thing is for sure.... FILM MAKING IS NOT SOCIAL SERVICE! I cannot understand why some film makers act like they are doing a great favour to the audience by making a film for them. ...We at NAOD were very clear about the fact that the world would still be the same if NAM wasnt made. And maybe that was why on sets we never worked as if the world and its existence depended upon us making this film. Its not like ARMSTRONG or RAKESH SHARMA going to the moon. Thousands of films have been made before and thousands will be made after ours. Its just that... we hope to be remembered as that film that was made with sincerity and straightforwardness... A major part of ma crew were friends of mine even before the film project took off...and so on the sets it was like hanging around with ol friends...! But ,two people who became dear to me on the sets of NAM were Pratap and Mandya Ramesh. Coincidence has it that the first scene I shot during the shoot was their scene. Twas an emotional scene between the two of them and they pulled it of very well... Actually , the characters the portray are cornerstones of the film..... Mandya Ramesh as an artiste has been a great inspiration for me all the time and Pratap is a joy to work with on the sets coz he is always cracking those wisecracks....

Four lines from a song to watch out for...

Kanyamani o..kanyamani..preetsona baare ramani..

kanyaakumaara o' kanyaakumaara...nan myaage ninge affair'a?

Night' ella ninde dream aagaite, sleepu baradaagaite..mindu mankaagaite..

rushtaagaithe...foodu washtaagaite...life' e ooshtaagaithe...heartu blaashtaagaite...!

NEWCOMERSAAAAAA?

A STILL FROM THE MANMATHANA SONG...
HERO? they ask me. I say 'ANISH'.
HEROINE? they ask me. I say 'MEGHANA GAONKAR'.
Oh! newcomersaaaaa! They exclaim.
NEWCOMERS MAY COME AND NEWCOMERS MAY GO ...BUT NEWCOMERS STAY ON FOREVER..! When I watched Dr. Rajkumar on the big screen as a kid..he was the hero . PERIOD. I didnt know or care if he was a newcomer or an actor with xyz years of experience! Its simple . Once you are up there on the big screen ...its for the audience to decide if they look at you as the HERO or not! This was the logic ..simple but effective ... that worked for me when i was casting for nam arealondina. Both Anish and Meghana are spontaneous and there is the 'ease' factor to their work. It is important for an actor to realise the boundaries of the character's behaviour etc and arrogantly stride along the boundaries through out playing their parts.
I was actually amazed by the fact that both Meghana and Anish , so clearly understood what i told them in mumbles and mutters and did exactly what i thought they should do. DUDE ITS SIMPLE ...was their idea of acting...
NEWCOMERSAAAAAAAAAAAA? ANYTIME!

gandhadagudi wood..

thats the VIPER camera we shot on..






ENGLWOOD AND SANDALWOOD…

Was shooting in mysore for NAM when I met these brit tourists who asked me the name of ma film… I told them and then they asked me about the language of the film .
How I wish I had said …CINEMA HAS NO LANGUAGE.. But… ‘KANNADA’ I shouted. They understood. Only, my friend next to me assumed they had’nt.
He went on to explain that the kannada film industry is called SANDALWOOD and that we make films for SANDALWOOD. The tourists must have felt like they had just bit into a hot masala dose with alugadde palya and kempu chutney.. (assuming they love the taste) for they had a smile on their face . ‘Where are you guys from? Ma friend asked . ENGLWOOD ‘ pat came the reply. The glint was there and that sarcastic smile .
For once, some one please explain why film industries in INDIA have to be this wood or that wood.. !
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE LAND OF KANNADA CINEMA ….
My problem with the wood’ word is it sounds too plastic for an art as serious as cinema…! Nyways..that way…the kannada film industry is better than its other counter ‘wood’ parts because SANDALWOOD atleast represents something… a cultural symbol… that’s ok!
BUT…BOLLYWOOD…KOLLYWOOD…. TOLLYWOOD….. Aaarrrgggghhhhh!
I read this website called Gandhada gudi .com and loved the name. Its about Kannada cinema and it is not called ‘SANDALWOOD.com.
Gandhada gudi …. One of ma fav films too… We have very few films in that genre nowadays…
Naaa haaduva nudiye kannada nudi…
Naaviruva thaanave gandhada gudi…shree gandhada gudi… ahaaa ahaa…
I hope we stop calling the film industry SANDALWOOD and atleast call it Gandhada gudi for change… better still call it the KANNADA FILM INDUSTRY.. KFI … sounds technical!

SIX PACK AND STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS

TIME TO TELL A STORY….OR TIME TO SELL A STORY?

There were times when stories were told and they got sold because they were good . Now…. These are the times where people sell stories directly.
STORYTELLING WAS ART…IN RECENT TIMES…IT IS COMMERCE…
ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY, HONEY! But, in the process of raking in the multi millions….the simple pleasures of telling a story are getting lost…

NAM AREA’s storytelling pattern evolved out of this idea to be simple and candid.. We are what we are. SIMPLE.
Recently, heard RGV on a channel saying he loved OM SHANTI OM because he got what the movie promised to. SRK with six pack… beautiful heroine in Deepika Padukone and so on.
More or less… NAM is exactly what it claims to be. SIX SONGS….ONE SIMPLE LOVE STORY …AND mikkiddella fightinge!!

It’s a fine line between pretension and presentation. In trying to present a film differently…the cliché lives on…. People often pretend to be different! Here, we are not pretending to be different. If we are by chance , different…it is because we are different …THAT’S ALL..

IN THE FACE….STRAIGHT FORWARD CINEMA..! THAT’S NAOD.

HOW IT ALL HAPPENED

Its real fun to remember how it all happened. Sometimes, the process is more enjoybale than the result... the result is two dimensional.... but the process isnt...

Let me start with my cinematographer... the LEGEND ...ASHOK CASHYAP... I remember , a good ten years ago me watching a film in the theatre... the film was called SHAAPA and MR. ASHOK CASHYAP was its cinematographer. That was the time I told ma sister ...'ONE DAY I WILL WORK WITH HIM'.. Came True and how..!

We, the Kannada industry are priveleged to have among us a cinemtographer who flirts so beautifuly with the camera... and working with him was like Mannah from Heaven.

The team of NAM AREA, right from the producers Nagendra Jois and gang ... and the creative team of yours truly, manju and ajay etc , day in and day out dreamt of only one thing.....

to make that film that we all think should be made. ..And .....I think we have done a decent job of it!!

Right from scripting to branding to execution, it was like writing an exam every three hours !

More dope on the film ...... will follow...right now will leave with these lines from ma film...

bariyaa maathu aado manasannu mecchisade ...preeti kaayo edeyali mucchi idu...

soluvudhe sundara illi....sothomme nodiko....sariyalla ee paripaata..saakendu heliko...

kaleyo samayada haage kadeyaagi hogali.....olavidu kaibidadante maadiko nee jopaaana....

NAM AREALONDINA

a little rice...a little sambar.. !

a little rice...a little sambar.. !

'cinemaa maadodhu andre pulav maadida haagalla....'' I remember a famous film personality telling me once upon a time... FILM MAKING ISNT LIKE COOOKING UP A SPICY PULAV OR BIRYANI... ! What he meant was... the industry thinks that ten creative people can sit together and make a film.... so... one guy does the music...the other does the choreography... the other writes screenplay... and one more guy writes dialogue.... TOGETHER , they add up all spices and conjure up a tasty pulav...!

But, alas...film making is all about that single idea.. Every film has to have that single idea...the premise and that should determine the style and the format of the film. THATS WHAT I BELIEVE IN...

NAM AREA is about one such single idea...the premise of the film is simple.... the framework is simple.... NAM AREA LONDINA ( a day in our locality) is literally the premise of the film..The film's style is determined by the ambience of an 'area'... SO, this time we dont get a pulav... this time...its a LITTLE RICE AND A LITTLE SAMBAR!!

NO ROWDYSM...PURE CINEMA

a still from the film... had great fun shooting the scene... WATCH OUT FOR THESE GUYS...

COMING AT YOU SOON!!

EVIL DOESNT NEED MOTIVATION!!

nagendra- red hair do... THIKLA in the film

Raviteja- green hair do... PUKLA in the film

Munna, Sagar and others...

as SILENCER SEENA, LIGHT KAMBA , KARADI KUMAARAA....and so on!

AND NO....the film isnt a 'rowdysm' film

NAM AREA -AN INTRO

Bekaa bitti jeevna...badku chindi chitraanna....nakhra hodedre gunnaa... otnalli vichitravaagirtaare jana... NAM AREALONDINA..
Isnt it true about life too?
In a philosophical sense...nam area the film actually talks of our lives...well almost all of ours..We live in a world where we take everything for granted. NAM tries to shatter that sense of security for all of you. Its a view on life...on people...and their behaviour...
NAM is a simple film that will make you guys think twice about movie making. All we are trying to do through this kind of story telling is make people see a new shade to cinema..so as to life...
HA ...HA...HA....
ACTUALLY... lemme stop all this bull... and get u involved with what NAM is all about..
NAM is a very simple film. THATS ALL.