Ain't that just dandy?
So, finally, we have a reason to celebrate. And it comes in the form of a movie called Ship Of Theseus, directed by debutant Anand Gandhi. The proud edict of the week is that we also have a reason to go, "Hey! Cinema in this country is not spiraling downwards! Look! Look at Ship Of Theseus! We can make that kind of cinema, too!" Yes, we can make that kind of cinema, as Gandhi has so clearly showed us. I haven't seen the film but the reaction got me snickering. The trade says that this film is a masterpiece. It gets you thinking about the philosophical questions that life throws at us. And when a film gets you thinking, you know that the experience is worth it.
Now, Ship Of Theseus is undeniably a landmark when we look at the bigger picture. And by that I mean the seemingly non-existent independent cinema of India. A film like that raises all kinds of questions, you know. How would he have ever thought it would work here? Who had the grit to invest in a movie that's far from commercial? But I'll point my finger at the most important question because it'll amuse me : why, when an independent film is released here, should it be declared so widely, so openly as an independent film? I mean, why can't the people just go and have a meaningful cinematic experience for a change? There's no vindication that independent cinema is shivved here.
I can't recall when was the last time an independent film got a release here. If my memory serves, there was one called Delhi In A Day, which went as quietly as it came. And when you think of it, you know that Gandhi's Ship Of Theseus didn't get an easy release here. I first heard of it when it was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival last year, where it won some award. And it took a whole year and a lot of frowns to see it play in a theater. In Mumbai. It made a statement, yes, but it wasn't commercially feasible, the complaints poured in.
Now, here's something that I find truly cackling. When asked why does a film like Ship Of Theseus goes without being noticed, some producers retorted, "The audiences don't need education, they need entertainment." Golden words to abide by! And may I take the considerable pleasure to remind these supposed philosophers that the audience can discriminate between what's good and what's drivel. Really, our minds are not made of fluff, you know.
When I hear the phrase 'independent cinema', my thoughts dawdle back to the glorious '80s, when independent cinema was all the industry had. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, the most significant Indian independent filmmaker at the time, illustrated just how good the experience of watching a movie can be when the pomace of the plot spoke for itself. And who can forget the rebellious Smita Patil in Ketan Mehta's terrific Mirch Masala? It would take a miracle to see those types of films being made now. But, sadly, it already looks like a distant dream.
But it's not as bad as I make it sound. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was at one point of time the face of the growing independent cinema movement across the country, but the movement has already lost momentum. We have invested far too much and far too long into the cinematic equivalent of junk, and that junk now represents the face of the industry. There is a dire need for art films to show up soon or what was art in the '80s will soon turn into a flourishing business in a span of a decade or so.
Ship Of Theseus is a mere object of the reincarnated soul of the long-lost Indian independent cinema. It's significant, not only as a film but also as a reminder that there is still hope. And while that flicker of hope burns, we'll have something to look forward to.
So, finally, we have a reason to celebrate. And it comes in the form of a movie called Ship Of Theseus, directed by debutant Anand Gandhi. The proud edict of the week is that we also have a reason to go, "Hey! Cinema in this country is not spiraling downwards! Look! Look at Ship Of Theseus! We can make that kind of cinema, too!" Yes, we can make that kind of cinema, as Gandhi has so clearly showed us. I haven't seen the film but the reaction got me snickering. The trade says that this film is a masterpiece. It gets you thinking about the philosophical questions that life throws at us. And when a film gets you thinking, you know that the experience is worth it.
Now, Ship Of Theseus is undeniably a landmark when we look at the bigger picture. And by that I mean the seemingly non-existent independent cinema of India. A film like that raises all kinds of questions, you know. How would he have ever thought it would work here? Who had the grit to invest in a movie that's far from commercial? But I'll point my finger at the most important question because it'll amuse me : why, when an independent film is released here, should it be declared so widely, so openly as an independent film? I mean, why can't the people just go and have a meaningful cinematic experience for a change? There's no vindication that independent cinema is shivved here.
I can't recall when was the last time an independent film got a release here. If my memory serves, there was one called Delhi In A Day, which went as quietly as it came. And when you think of it, you know that Gandhi's Ship Of Theseus didn't get an easy release here. I first heard of it when it was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival last year, where it won some award. And it took a whole year and a lot of frowns to see it play in a theater. In Mumbai. It made a statement, yes, but it wasn't commercially feasible, the complaints poured in.
Now, here's something that I find truly cackling. When asked why does a film like Ship Of Theseus goes without being noticed, some producers retorted, "The audiences don't need education, they need entertainment." Golden words to abide by! And may I take the considerable pleasure to remind these supposed philosophers that the audience can discriminate between what's good and what's drivel. Really, our minds are not made of fluff, you know.
But it's not as bad as I make it sound. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was at one point of time the face of the growing independent cinema movement across the country, but the movement has already lost momentum. We have invested far too much and far too long into the cinematic equivalent of junk, and that junk now represents the face of the industry. There is a dire need for art films to show up soon or what was art in the '80s will soon turn into a flourishing business in a span of a decade or so.
Ship Of Theseus is a mere object of the reincarnated soul of the long-lost Indian independent cinema. It's significant, not only as a film but also as a reminder that there is still hope. And while that flicker of hope burns, we'll have something to look forward to.
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