So when you hook up with friends/family for a weekend movie… do you choose the movie first or the theatre? I know folks who’ll watch the next movie at their fav theatre no matter what it is & I also know people who’ll even sit among rats to watch the movie they wanna see.

So what does the audience really expect from the movie theatres?

Wishing everyone a new year that twinkles with good cheer!

P.S.: If you have a favourite theatre in your area, I’d love to know its name!

A broken Nataraja standing knee deep in water… the surprise element was that this statue stood in a pond in Mauritius!

Recently published in Tom Mangatt’s Mazhakkalam.

Other bits I found at Ganga Talao

I have never been great around babies. They’re ultimately adorable but I have no clue what to do with them! So when the idea of having one myself came around, it was exciting and terrifying in equal proportions. I shan’t go into the nine months of prep that got us here but I cant help writing about what it feels like to have a baby – mainly because he has completely taken my life over.

I am in love, as they say, at a “cellular” level and like any new mom – cant stop gushing about his pink toes.  In less than a month he has taught me more than I have known all these years. And all those stories about bleary eyed days, sleepless nights and constant demands for attention are true … but then did you know that babies smell like they’re made in a bakery?

A friend asked me how this experience would influence my work… as I figure it- we write about what we know; and my new script for Anwar Rasheed begins with a scene featuring a pregnant woman!

Good day to everyone & good night to those with small babies… YaWN!

Someone please explain to me why people are so hooked on to such titanic proportions of tragedy, sorrow, torture, resentment and personal strife? What makes them return everyday at one time to get their dose of negativity? What is so magnetic about characters who unleash their anger, sadism and greed on those around them? What makes them powerful enough to attract viewers and advertisers alike? Why have myths been stripped to simplistic good-over-evil stories (where evil dominates 95% of the screentime!)? Where the ‘good’ is caked in so much bad makeup and bad acting that one forgets who to be scared of…

Surely, something you watch with daily dedication for an hour or two must have some impact on one’s psyche… that brings me to my most dreaded fear – what if we were to imagine that our media mirrors our society? Or the reverse theory that society will mirror our media?

Eeeks…. Someone HELP!

Food & film… those were 2 passions that I shared in common with three of my housemates while at London. We called ourselves the Chenies Mews girls!

A Greek Ph.D student at London School of Economics, a British (of Sri Lankan origin) law student, an American (of Chinese origin) student of Library Science and me, the Indian at Film School- yes, nothing much in common there but each of us loved to eat, cook and watch movies! Our house was often enriched by the smells of various cuisines as we took turns in the kitchen.

I remember stumbling in at some late night hour- starving and missing home. Just as I’d put the spices on the stove, my housemates would troop down one by one in their pyjamas and all of us would wait till the curry is cooked to wolf it down! I’ll never forget some of the delicious dishes all three of them treated me to.

Our special days were those with movies and restaurants sampling all kinds of exotic dishes… imagine my surprise when I’m grandly introduced to the delicacy of Congee at China Town only to recognise it to be our poor old kanji (rice gruel)!

The parties are our place were famous because we had a great mix of people, a garage transformed to a dance floor, and ofcourse there would be plenty to eat and drink! None of us were particularly into alcohol but we had to serve something special to our guests so we’d make SanGria – that lovely spanish concoction of wine and fruit… The first time we made it, we tried it so many times for taste that four of us were exquisitely happy (read tipsy) even before our guests arrived- ha!

All three of them were so patient with me as the house would fill up with film shooting bric-a-brac until there was no room to breathe! Trust me- it takes an amazing amount of tolerance to live with a film student. And these wonderful gals had it along with a generous dollop of good spirit! When I graduated they got me a film clapboard and am happy that I still use it for luck when we shoot.

One of the Chenies Mews girls is getting married at the end of the month and I was so looking forward a Chenies Mews reunion. But unfortunately it looks like that has to wait for a bit longer… I wish Ann & Mikael all the best for a fabulous life together and hope to meet them soon.

Until then as I am writing a film script where food plays a big role I am reminded of those lovely days & good friends. I am smiling because somewhere out there, there are three women who would be so chuffed to watch a film for foodies   This one’s for you!

How many people can actually tell a story well to another person?

Lets say my narrative skills are limited – I never quite manage to present fully the wonderful story in my head through narration – reading my script is ALWAYS better. But in this world of “one-lines” and people who refuse to read – “narration” is an inevitable task. One is expected to turn into a performer and conjure images and emotions before the listener/audience through simply telling a story. Some folks I know have raised this to the level of an art form and can leave the listener spellbound! What talent… but beware that their films may not always turn out to have a similar effect- oops!

I have a narration session tomorrow…  I have always dreaded narrations especially to people I dont know at all … one is left without a barometer to assess how well or worse its going.

I finally classified the listeners into 3 types -

1. the creatives – a producer/director/ actor /technician (the easiest to connect to!)

2. the financier (no need to connect here – their questions are much more about RoI – return on investment)

3. the financier who believes he is creative ( heaven help them – this category is an entirely distinct specimen. In his/her universe, the planets revolve around them.)

I will never forget one hateful narration experience when  a person (of the third category) wanted to listen to a scene by scene version of my script. I agreed and the narration begins in a coffee shop one morning and goes on for a few hours.

For a script that was being shot 12 days later, juvenile questions/suggestions are thrown at me. I hold onto grace as I point out to the answers in the bound script (which he of course hasn’t read).  Though I am the narrator, I listen patiently while this gentleman interrupts to order egg sandwiches with elaborate instructions (what kind of bread, brown or white, how hardboiled, how many eggs, toasted, buttered on one side only etc.), shares facts about his new-age diet, admires his own dandy black & white shoes to the point of distraction and of course answers the intermittent mobile phone calls from home and office. To further prove some sort of attention deficit disorder- after every few scenes, on his insistence, we would move seats from the coffee shop to the lounge… to the lobby (!) … to the outdoor seating (!!) and back to lobby (!!!) of the same hotel.

After the narration I went back to my room and threw up.

In retrospect, there is an important realisation there -

A Narration provides the listener with the opportunity to learn about the film and its maker, but it also provides us with an opportunity to learn about the listener. Anyone who can’t find the focus or the respect for a few hours of narration is never going to find the commitment or respect the hundreds of hours I will spend making this film. So its a clear look into the future of such a partnership. Now if it doesn’t feel right, I save myself the trouble and leave it right there. Thanks, but NO thanks.

So must remember that I too have something to learn from tomorrow’s narration… So maybe its not such a bad idea

And for everyone who is trying to describe their dream to someone – here’s a bit of luck from me!

But it was his next comment that stayed with me. “What does one do if one doesn’t have an Aamir Khan?”

Join the leagues of filmmakers who have given up on their film midway? or those who have finished it and sealed it in cans? or those who blunder through the chain of events that may break one? Or try and be your own Aamir Khan?

A friend of mine who’s first feature film became an unexpected super hit in Bollywood said that a producer|director relationship is like a marriage – you stick through it for the sake of the film. You cant run away from each other. In private if you ask him about his producers’ role in making the film – he’d tell you that he “made the film DESPITE them!”

At the other end of the spectrum, there is a producer like the legendary K.Ravindranathan Nair of General Pictures who is famous for never using a single penny from the earnings of his films. Instead he used the money to build facilities for the general public ! Filmmaking artists like G. Aravindan could create their art due to his support & patronage. But that is one rare example.

This Producer|Director love-hate relationship that is at the root of more films than we know about – be it David Lean or Akira Kurosawa! Perhaps it has to do with the commercial-creative nature of the medium. The  push & pull which leaves both parties hankering for more and getting less.

Many cases end up on the sour/bitter side with people revealing the worst in themselves! In my dictionary, the dream producer would really believe, fully back a project and do their job for the film’s best and deliver the film to its audience. Sounds fairly simple? But those are the truly rare ones.  Such people do exist and the world is a better place because of them.

As for Aamir Khan, I understand the producer in him is carving yet another new path – giving Kiran Rao’s serious arthouse film DHOBI GHAT , a full-on commercial release (domestic, international, dubbed – the works!).  A risk it is – one that needs guts to take.  Me like!

Abou Ben Adam, May his tribe INCREASE!

For details check  here.

BLOG REVIEW FROM WORDPRESS.

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 19,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 4 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 16 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 25 posts. There were 9 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 3mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was January 6th with 666 views. The most popular post that day was Kerala Cafe – the film.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, en.wikipedia.org, chitranireekshanam.blogspot.com, luckyredseeds.blogspot.com, and littlefilmsindia.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for anjali menon, anjali menon blog, anjali menon director, kerala cafe, and director anjali menon.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Kerala Cafe – the film September 2009
78 comments

Hello! September 2009
92 comments

My first release – Happy Journey in Kerala Cafe October 2009
62 comments

The dragonflies still flutter… October 2010
35 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

Good cinema? April 2010
62 comments

Science daily says that multi-tasking skills should be my forte… but here I am struggling with the thoughts crowding my head as I go to bed tonight… Am trying to wear caps of the writer, filmmaker, homemaker, host, partner & business partner all at once… each of them fits ok but there is just one head

Eventually it will all fall into place as it usually does, but at such moments – when all the balls are high up in the air – one stares up at the sky and hopes for some miraculous energy!! Hoping to reach the right answers to the questions:  ”Are two days enough to cut the film’s trailer? Where do I find Akashvani announcements from the 1970s to add to the sound mix? What should be breakfast for tomorrow? How should I shape the third character in the new draft of the script? Will the foreign DoP be able to give his interview as scheduled? When does the case get filed? Has the advance tax been sorted ?” etc etc etc

Am sure you know what I mean, after all, we have all been there at some point!

Like everyone else I was running on with all this unspooling through my head… When last week, an interviewer asked me with all seriousness “How do you cope with the stress of filmmaking… After all you’re a woman only?”

I sat there stunned – for a moment. Slowly realised that in this day and age, the dark ages do exist. Then asked him to turn off his recorder. What followed was an explanation of some facts of life. I dont know if it changed his perspective, but somewhere within I heard a soft voice – perhaps I am running on BECAUSE I am a woman!

Happy New Year everyone and happy juggling in 2011! A special thank you to all those who visited the blog this year.

Manish Acharya defined the Indie filmmaker spirit. He made a film, Loins of Punjab, that rocked and was proud of it.

In desperate times I was searching for inspiring precedents among indie Indian filmmakers, and quite literally I found Manish Acharya. Nope, I haven’t ever met him – but we have spoken often recently and I have been inspired by his zest for the process and unflinching drive. We shared stories of our experiences as newbie indies and laughed hard. Such an affable guy who laughed at all the hard work with a funny joke. In our last phone conversation, the topic came around to the fools who direct & produce their own first films and also want it to reach the moon (him and me being among them!). We promised to meet over coffee when we were both back in Mumbai.

Today he passed away – in a freak accident. I stand at the fringes of the many people who are grieving today for what he was and for what he would have become. The news articles say : “Young filmmaker Manish Acharya who directed LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS passed away a short while ago today. Reportedly, he met with a fatal road accident which caused his death. Manish had done his MFA in Film Directing from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He also acted in Zoya Akhtar’s LUCK BY CHANCE and was the narrator of SITA SINGS THE BLUES.”

Manish has been written about in the Wall Street Journal, Variety, The Telegraph Magazine, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Mid-Day, Mumbai Mirror, DNA, among others. But his own Linked in profile says “His goal is to be an astronaut, a disco dancer and a beach bum.”

But I prefer another quote for him ” The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw

I should be saying RIP Manish Acharya but all of me wants to say Long Live Manish Acharya! And he will, in all those minds he touched. God bless you Manish.