University of Mumbai: International Film Festival

As a part of its sesquicentennial celebrations, the University of Mumbai has organized the International Film Festival at Somaiya College, Vidyavihar. It's a festival organized in association with the Films Division (Information and Broadcast Ministry of India.)

Being a student of media, I seek it as an opportunity to study some of the finest documentaries and short films made by several notable directors and producers.

The festival began today in a traditional manner. After the festivities, the brief introduction and messages from Principal Dr. Venketramani Sir, Prof. Mrs. Parvati -who spoke as a representative of the University and Prof. Mrs. Sangita Kohli- the BMM Co-ordinator at Somaiya. The Chief Guests Mr. Kuldeep Sinha and Mr. V Packirisami shared their thoughts with the students.

What followed after was a Moviethon for around 6 hours... and it will follow for the next few days till Saturday.

The Review:

All the films to be screened the for the week are specifically chosen ones.

The Festival got a great start with the screening of a great film- perhaps the most anticipated one- ‘Little Terrorist’, a short film by Mr. Ashwini Kumar. The film lasts for not more than 17 min. and in such a short span tells a story of a little boy who by mistake crosses the international Border and enters India- a story on which a 3 hours long Bollywood melodrama was also possible. But needless to say, I am glad that the filmmakers stuck to simplicity and that’s what makes it a good short film. Certainly, it got a lot of appreciation from the crowd.

It was a bit same with 'A Moment of Accepting Life', a 7 min. film by Robert Mclean (UK) It's a story of three souls who reach the sky meet St. Peter. Rest.... You must watch it..

Small or big, Time doesn't matter for a film. That's what this short short film prooved. And so proved another film- "Riding Solo to the Top of The World". This one is a 84 min. travelogue bye A lonesome traveler, Gaurav Jani who travels all the way from Mumbai to one of the remotest areas- Changthang Plateau a place in Laddakh near Indo- Chinese Border. It's a film shot by a one man unit- Gaurav himself and he astonished everyone with all his manners. Don't miss it if you ever get a chance to see it.

There were several other documetntries produced by the Films Division:

Lost Child (27 min) by Mulk Raj Anand is a notable one. It uses no dialogue and still keeps the viewers bound to it. Khilonewala, a film by S Sokhdev, conveys a strong message and is relevant even today.

Through a Lens Starkly by Kuldeep Sinha presents the history of documentary film making in India. A FD news magazine on Bhiwandi Tragedy leaves an impact- a shocking reality in the city- on the minds of the audiences. Lamp in the Niche by Girish Karnad throws light on the Sufi tradition. Moving Perspectives by Mrinal Sen talks about the changing Indian Scenario in the 1960s while Himalayan Wilderness picturizes the prosperous wild-life in the Himalayas. Arrival, a film by Mani Kaul focuses on issues of Industrialization.

However, I'm not so happy as there was a loose management behind the festival. So I'm not happy. Anyways, I'm too tired today, So I'll go to bed rightaway, bye!

Remembering Kalpana...

She dreamt of living in the sky near the stars...
And She's there forever among the stars..

My deed condolenses to Kalpana...


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Mahatma Unplugged

A few days back when I was thinking of who can be the face of India, who is a representative of the Nation, only one name kept coming in my mind- Mahatma Gandhi. Today, it’s the death anniversary of the Great Leader so I decided to post about him.

To be frank, I’m not a Gandhian. I also don’t follow Gandhigiri. In fact, on many issues I have views contradicting to that of the Mahatma. Still I admire him. There is something about Mahatma that is fascinating- something that makes us all think.

Gandhi was a mass-leader of India. How could a person reach to the remotest part of the country in the times when TV was not there, Radio was nearly inexistent and people were not so literate to read the Newspapers? Reaching out to the commonest of the common, that’s where the secret of ‘Gandhism’ lies.

He supported industrialization, but also stressed on the need to look after villages- to make them self-sufficient. If at least 1/10th of the people had acted on it, there would have been no big problems due to urbanization and poverty.

Truly there’s so much to explore about his charismatic character and this exploration is a mesmerizing one.

Mahatma too made some mistakes. And biggest of them was when he indulged into politics. He was a great person and a great philosopher and thinker of the world, but was not as great a politician.

He was a “Mahatma” (Great Soul) yet he too was human.

Like every great thing of great people, their mistakes are great and so they face great punishment. But we have no right to blame them, because we are not great.

And in my honest of the opinion I believe that Gandhiji got the punishment for it.
And the punishment didn’t stop at the assassination.
He believed in non-violence, but his own followers became violent after his death.
He believed in forgiveness but his own killer was sentenced to death.
And it didn’t stop there either. Mahatma was assassinated and is being assassinated everyday. His photo-frames are hanged to the wall in several offices and through it he is forced to witness all the corruption. He is present on the currency and is forced to witness all the black-dealings.

Corus for TATA and Indian Industry Sings a song!

Finally, It has happened. It has happened once again and it’s made us all proud again…
Another Indian company has succeeded to takeover a European giant.
After Mittal Steel, it’s the turn of the TATA Group
After months-long rounds of bidding finally TATA Steel managed to beat Brazilian firm CSN in the race for Corus
This achievement is even more special as it coincides with centenary celebrations of Indian Steel Industry. Over the years, the group has earned credibility and the graceful leader of the Companies- Ratan Tata showed all patience in this deal that took the group and the industry and Economy of the country to a new height- Signs of India going Global in real sense…
Heartiest Congratulations..

A Shining Success which remained unseen

Munich International Air gun Competition:
A good performance by Indian shooters again…

On the first day of the International Air Gun Competition (Munich, Germany) Zakhir Khan has won a gold in the Jr. men's 10m air pistol event. Amanpreet Singh won the bronze in the same event. While Amit Kumar Pilaniya stood sixth.

On day two, Amit Kumar Pilaniya has won silver in Jr. men's 10m air pistol 2nd match. Amanpreet Singh won a Bronze in this event and Zakhir Khan stood fourth.
On Day three, Gagan Narang won silver in men's 10m air rifle event- 2nd Match. He has beaten Matthew Emmons of USA in the shoot off for the silver medal.

Suma Shirur, who finished fifth in the firs match, came to win a Bronze in second match of the women's 10m air rifle event.
Anjali Bhagwat finished 19th, Tejaswani Sawant 30th while Avneet Kaur Sidhu finished 58th.

It’s a moment of glory for India and sadly, it’s not been noticed well by the media. We have performed remarkably well in Munich and these are just snapshots of that success. While there are a lots and lots of hours being spent on so called “News” about Ash-Abhishek, and things like that. Why there is no News about it? I guess it’s because there is no “footage” of it. I just have to imagine what might have happened there… Congrats to the Team.

The King Rules

Roger Won!!!!!!!!

It’s not a surprise that Roger Federer won. Now it’s become a routine. But still every match of him is different. And today, it was slightly difficult, much convincing and really really very special one…

The Match was really A Match and I’m so happy that I could manage to see the telecast live, I’m so so happy that it produced a fight and I’m so so so Happy that Roger Won. Fenna gave a very tough time for Roger in the first set before goind down 6-4, 6-1, 6-4

Roger sacked 10th Grand Slam Title of his career with an Australian Open victory over Fernando Gonzalez, The Hot Chilean- My another favourite. I’m sure when he returns home, he’ll have huge crowds waiting to welcome him, he’s a star over there- winner of the only Gold Olympic Gold Medal for his country. Gonzo along with his partner… won Doubles Gold in Tennis at Athens.

With this win, the same old question will be raised again- Is Roger’s dominance killing the spirit of the game?

NO. It’s Not, certainly. In fact I feel myself to be fortunate enough to live in an era when he’s doing so well. He’s doing so well and it’s not because he has no opponents. Of course, he has very strong opponents. And they do make him struggle to win- like Fenna did it today. It’s sheer greatness of Roger that he has reached to a level so far away from the reach of even Rafeal Nadal- the World No. 2 That’s because of nothing but the fact that all the others are not as consistent as Roger and as fit as Roger. The reason why fenna lost today was also because of his low level of fitness- low as compared to Roger. And also all the others cannot have all the weapons in their armour. Rger has them all and he has shown it from time to time.

And I don’t think Tennis will ever be boring, not till Roger is their in full form and not till records are their and not till he breaks them all.
And this will be more interesting hereafter as I feel his real best is still to come. He’s just in the middle of his career and so we have a feast of Tennis left… So Enjoy!!!

India Poised

I have joined the “India Poised” campaign. I logged on and got printout of my badge.
The campaign now has an Anthem of its own.
The Anthem- “Phalak Pakad Ke Utho” is prepared by my favourite Music Trio, Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy. It’s written by …. And Shankar Mahadevan is the Singer. It’s truly an inspiring one. You must listen it at least once.

By the Way, CNN-IBN has also launched a similar campaign and I’ll soon participate in it. (The site is taking too much time to open now...)

Serena Won:

Wow! What a match it was! Just great! Serena Williams has beaten Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win the Aussie Open!!!

I just watched the match and I’m glad that Serena won. And she won it fabulously. As Vijay Amritraj said, she played it like Federer and Gonzalez combined…
When she won the last point, the usual ‘Celebrations Williams-Style’ started. She has dedicated her victory to her deceased sister who was killed I think two years ago.
Serena really deserved the win. Unfortunately, Maria who’ll be the New World No. 1 coming Monday, couldn’t produce a fight and although she tried her best, the final scores were a disappointing result for her. Serena just crushed her.

With this win, Serena took a giant leap to the top 20 group from World no. 81. She is now World No. 14.

Serena will be visiting India soon to participate in a WTA Event in Bangalooru. And I can’t wait for the tournament to start… I’m becoming a fan of Serena.

In Search of A Republic...

57 Years ago, India became a Republic. A Democracy named India finally came into existance...

57 Years after, we are still in search of the True Republic. And are still searching the Democracy...

There are children who are dying out of hunger in the poverty strucked areas...

There are students without proper knowledge of anything...

There are problems in every area. But there are solutions everywhere. We just need to find them out. This is a journey and not an achievement..

GO GONZO!!!

Ferando Gonzalez, the Hot Chillien, has reached the Final of the Aussie Open. And while doing so, he produced only 3 unforced errors. Fenna, who killed the hopes of giants like Hewit and Nadal to reach the semis, has beaten Germany’s Tommy Hass and will take on Top Seed and World Number on Roger Federer on Sunday’s Mega Final.
OH! It’s going to be a tough one. For Fenna and For Roger as well and it’s going to be toughest for me- I like BOTH of them.

Republican Day!

In about a few minuits time, the Clock on my PC will say, "It's January 26th, 2007"

And I'll cheer as loudly as I can at this hour-(well that'll be in a low voice-)-

"Happy Republic Day!"