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.