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!
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Link to NAOD article in thatskannada.com
http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/movies/studio/2008/08/22-kannada-movie-nam-arealondina-aravind-kaushik.html
Saw the promo... really rocking... I donno wot to expect but I am sure if nothing else at lest it wud sure be different than other craps (to me) being churned out :) All the very best with it dude. Eagerly looking forward for it.
hey kaushi!!....surely i will upload the shortfilm shortly...thanks for reminding me....with respect to the idea of the film i still reserve my opnions and actually it was not basically abt the quality i was trying to convey, it was more on the duty of the filmmaker to give his best to the audience....the basic reponsibility he owes towards the audience...as films today are strong brainwashers that can affect a weak mind very easily....ofcourse people who use their intellects will surely take any film as POV of a director...but the mass in general r so ignorant abt the fact that films are just a medium to showcase an individual's personal art. they easily get affected by the glorifications shown in the films.....just as a concern...i ventured into doing it...ofcourse with ur ever encouraging presence while doing it....once again thanks for supporting for successfully completing it....i am really proud today that Aravind Kaushik the ace filmmaker has acted in my very first short film and also gave his Panasonic Hi-8 camera to shoot the film... :)
I agree with u on the 'responsibility of a filmmaker' angle. Only thing is...
our cinema has not tried too hard to break ground on too many genres...a film like 'texas chainsaw massare' was celebrating violence till the end... and twas a horrifying end to the film where nothing good happens. POINT IS... as long as there are films for various kinds of audience we get to pick and choose our film. Here, we r forced to see the same film ten times (only the actors change) That is why... a motivating film like 'FORREST GUMP' and a T.C Massacre film can co exist in HOLLYWOOD!
M eagerly looking forward for the 'CUP OF TEA' film on youtube.
Shyam..
thanks for that comment...we sure do promise to give a film that we can be proud of.
NAOD TEAM
The most interesting post i would say,it made me think is film making my cup of tea..the answer i got was yes..
Four years ago i was eager to see how songs and fight sequences were shot in non Kannada films,un fortunately Mr.G.S.bhaskar with whom i was working as an assistant didn't have any such projects,which had songs and fight sequences, so i lacked the experience.I approached Mr.P.C.Sreeram in chennai,to work as his assistant, he asked me "Why do you want to work with me" i replied I wanted to gain exposure to songs and fight sequences,which he regularly did in his movies..he then asked me "what would you do after learning to shoot songs and fight sequences.."i said i would go back and make good Kannada films...
i was on the job two days later..
when i read about the boy who wanted to be an AD,i went back to a scene in my own life which was similar....I thought 'If it's my cup of tea" i thought yes- not because i worked with a celebrated film maker but because i got to analyze about what i have learnt in the past few years..the cinematography,script writing,etc...i think could be learnt in a few months,but the attitude and character we develop with it takes years..So am proud to say FILM MAKING IS MY WAY OF LIFE..if some one asks me are u a Hindu/Muslim/Kannadiga etc..i always tell i am a Film maker...
the point is in tuning the individual mind into the profession,that's when one's profession becomes his/her character!!
I wish the boy who wants to be an AD "a clear mind"
Koushik thanks a ton for the post..and Santhosh eager to have a cup of tea with you!!!
hey kaushi... finally uploaded the flick 'cup of tea'...the link is pasted below
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=YiYCj-1tr3M
did become nostalgic of those days where we spent days together figuring out ways to get into the filmy medium with a bang....and now yes its time for that......remember we had a little fun showing this to two so called 'filmmakers' (not mentioning their names....avaru bengalurinalli world famous aagiro shikaamaNigaLu) whom we thought the message in this flick was apt :D
sure sandy....why not.. lets meet at our adda near ma studio for a refreshing cup of tea...n kaushi u too keep frequenting ma studio for more cupofteas :)....i think its time for that...once the hi-res footages of the film comes handy for the visual effects part.
WAY TO GO... !
Santhosh, infact i thought of reminding yu abt the film makers, the 'shikamanigalu'.. I still laugh my heart out when I am reminded of that expression on the idiot's face when he saw the film.
...Sandy... that was a good one..
I think it was VINOD CHOPRA WHO SAID .... THE ONLY TWO THNGS I KNOW IN LIFE IS TO MAKE TEA AND FILMS!
Hey Santosh, watched the youtube clip. Nice one.
Do you know of this contest called PFCOne(Festival of 1 min movies)being organised from Passion For Cinema (http://passionforcinema.com/). If you can edit/re-shoot to fit it to a minute, I think you should submit it to the contest. Check this link for more information and entry criteria - http://passionforcinema.com/pfcone2008/
thank you shyam for the link and the info abt PFC....by the way this film was made almost 4to5yrs ago and i hav lost the edit timeline and the files....will try to search my comps in ma studio if there are any raw vids of that...but encapsulating the idea in one min. is a bit problematic.....will see if i churn out a new one with the same gist and for a min's duration. may be playing with only photo graphs , visual effects composites and animation.
'Cup of tea' when I watched this short film few weeks back, I thought to myself that i should have watched this before i joined BE........ I am sure i wouldn't understand anything then, nor would I change my decision (Or should I say my parents decision?) would have changed then. It is just the right thing at right time makes u change anything and which happened after 2 years since i finished my BE. I always wanted to be in films or should i say i wanted to be a STAR :) Sounds funny but that's the truth and my reason for coming to Bangalore though i had a Software job in Bombay after my BE. I joined theaters and did some plays. I realized how bad actor i was and that's the first time i thought of being an Actor first. I started dreaming films day and night. I read about film making, direction and many more books and these things could only give more theoretical knowledge so i did short films and this is when i got the kick of it. 'Kick of film making' is the true kick which made me fly high since then..... There isn't a single day when i dint think bout film making or just films........... My friends ask me 'how is work?' and i say 'Work? I don't work' :) How can u consider it a work when u love doing it....... Can a lover say i am working when he makes love? Definitely not. Film making is like making love, if u r passionate about what u r doing then u send the message across to the soul, if u aren't then some day you will end up realizing that u were only playing with mass of skin and fat
well said Raks....especialy the lovers thing...haha so true....many a times i have wondered the difference between duty and love.....then i came across a phrase told by Sri Sathya Sai Baba which said 'love beyond duty is divine'....coming to this context...yes, when u start liking ur job, it becomes less a duty more a pleasure...here u dont feel restricted unlike duty which speaks of rules....its like rules doesnt retain its meaning when u r ready whole heartedly to obey it....believe me even now if someone asks me to execute an excellent visual idea and if it satisfies or convinces my inner fire then i am ready to go any extent to accomplish it without thinking much about business and economics......and yes all these things will happen only when u know its ur cup of tea.
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