Veterans of art movies want offbeat cinema to change
Don’t shy away from including song and dance, says Om Puri
It was a cinematic extravaganza as the curtains went up for the 4th edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival, BIFFES 2011, on Thursday.
The high point of the event was the presence of two stalwarts - Anant Nag and Om Puri. For the latter it was time for nostalgia as he was given his first break by the doyen of Kannada theatre and cinema B V Karanth before making his mark in path-breaking Hindi films.
Om Puri reminisced his break in Kannada film ‘Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane’ directed by Girish Karnad and B V Karanth, while Anant Nag recalled how Shyam Benegal cast him in several of his parallel or offbeat films.
“I am honoured to be here. For those who do not know, my first ever shot for any movie was at Mysore’s Chamundi Hills. It was a one-hour children’s movie directed by B V Karanth,” said Puri.
Puri said that when he was still a film student (1975), Girish Karnad was the director of the institute. “News had spread that I was broke. And Karnad, without embarrassing me called me to his office and asked what my plans for the summer vacations were. I said I’d go to Delhi and try some theatre and he offered me the children’s film.”
Puri called upon art film makers in the country not to shy away from including song and dance in their movies. “It is part of our culture and one of the elements that has helped our cinema survive the attack of American cinema,” he said, adding that Indian cinema’s golden era––1950s and 60s had a balance between entertainment and social values and urged film makers to re-visit that trend for the sustenance of the industry.
Puri added that while the technical aspects of Indian cinema had grown manifold and is probably in line with the world, we need to work on our subject matter.
Anant Nag said that “Cinema has a great role to play in enlightening people. And we should see to it that the balance is kept intact.”
“I believe that there is no single formula for the success of any movie, so let our movies, like in the olden days, enlighten us along with entertaining,” he said, hoping that people will learn different techniques of depicting various environments in cinema through this festival. Speaking on the occasion, T S Nagabharna, Chairman, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy said: “Our motto is education in cinema and cinema in education. And Karnataka has had a history of education in cinema.”
Nagabharana said that institutions like Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic produced great cinematographers like V K Murthy and Govind Nihalani, who was an assistant cinematographer to the former.
H N Narahari Rao, Artistic Director of the festival said that the festival is not just an assembly of films, it is aimed at attracting people from all walks of life and hoped that aficionados will pour into the venues and make the festival a success.
Competition in 4 categories
The fourth edition of the Bangalore International Film Festival––BIFFES 2011, which began here on Thursday will also see a total of 45 films compete in four different categories.
There will be 11 films each under the Asian and Indian categories and nine in Kannada cinema category and 14 in the international category. The winning movie will receive a cash award of Rs 10 lakh.
