Logbook of a Screenwriter
Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.
That saying goes rather well with Art Director Sukant Panigrahy – one of the most quirky yet dependable professionals in contemporary Hindi film industry. He came. He countered. He conquered. But he also stayed true to himself, and that’s what makes him distinct.
Leave a CommentPersonally, I am more of a Robin person than a Batman fan. First of all, Robin is middle class. He has learnt his tricks by default, not because he wanted to. He is a sidekick whose sole purpose in life is to fulfill the agenda of others. That’s my type. Also, might be since I spent a substantial share of…
4 CommentsLast week was the birthday week for K Hari Kumar, and I did plan to do this post celebrating that occasion, but alas! Like much else that I have not been able to do on-time recently, this too stayed a pipe dream. Can’t blame anything or anyone else; it’s just too much on my platter and a severely lost appetite;…
2 CommentsTake a wild guess – what could be the silliest question that one can ask ace cinematographer / director Santosh Sivan. Especially when, being one among the busiest Industry professionals, whose comeback film in Malayalam Jack and Jill is ready for release – he is not likely to give you much time. Top of that, in all likelihood, staying at…
1 CommentIt does seem a bit odd to write a piece on a film that I consider to be a cult-classic even while the cinema halls are closed, and the nation is under a lockdown. While that’s true, certain things can’t wait, like anniversaries. Let’s revise a old snippet of wisdom a bit then. Instead of saying the show must go…
7 CommentsI usually read and research a bit before I write about anyone – mostly just to find out what others think about them. I did the same with Sarnath Bannerjee, a friend from my Business India TV days. Have to admit, I was a bit surprised. Most interviewers have described him as a difficult subject, respectfully musing about his lack…
4 CommentsCan the principles of ‘Poetics’ apply to Indian Cinema? More specifically, commercial Hindi cinema? Is it possible to deconstruct a blockbuster hit Hindi ‘tragedy’ on the basis of Aristotle’s rules and principles of storytelling? Ever since I spent time with NSD Professor Santanu Bose, discussing the essence of ‘Poetics’, I had been thinking. Am I stretching things a bit too…
2 CommentsI won’t start this the usual way I do, by flashbacks to my own past. In fact, on this day, since I am feeling a bit down and depressed, a state of mind I can’t explain to myself – I am in no mood to talk about my past connection with Santanu Mitra. Perhaps it should suffice to say that…
4 CommentsEditing is the process where the story takes it’s real shape – but that’s what we already know, don’t we? What we probably do not know is the role that the film-editor plays during the entire creative process of a film. Yes, he is there, all along, and not just as a spectator – as an active storyteller. That’s how…
2 CommentsWhen Sreekar Prasad, the ace film editor, agreed to talk to me for my blog, I was totally baffled. I have grown up drooling at his work, from the time I bunked school to watch ‘Raakh’ till I gaped in awe at the visual opulence of ‘Ashoka’, from the understated poignancy of ‘Vanaprastham’ to the coming of age with ‘Dil…
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