Skip to main content

There are more films about underworld dons than about artists: Nandita Das




“We don’t celebrate our artists, our writers, our musicians. There are more films about underworld dons than there are about artists,” said acclaimed actor and director Nandita Das. She was taking part in the ‘In Conversation’ session at the 23rd IFFK.

Nandita, the first Indian to be inducted into the International Hall of Fame of the International Women’s Forum in Washington DC, opined that her film, ‘Manto’, which screened on December 8th and has further screenings in the fest under the Indian Cinema Now package, doesn’t fall into brackets. She discussed the challenges she faced while filming it, including how distributors and exhibitors decide what the masses want, whereas she feels that there is no need for the “classes-masses separation”.

Her film ‘Manto’ is the tale of the life of Indo-Pakistani Urdu writer and playwright Saadat Hasan Manto. She said that she feels a lot of “Manto-yath” or Manto-ness, as, like how the writer was asked why he wrote about sexual workers than about the freedom struggle that was going on, she also had to face challenges, as often her films were termed as tailor-made for festivals. She expressed her joy, as the film received appreciation from the common public, after it was viewed by them through various means.
On feminism, she opined that the fight should never be against men, but against patriarchy. She expressed her solidarity for all the strong pillars who have fought and continue to struggle against the misogyny and the prejudice.

Nandita Das’s debut directorial, ‘Firaaq’ had won awards at several international festivals including the IFFK. ‘Manto’ will have its further screenings on December 10 at 6:15 PM in Screen 3 of the New Theatre, and on December 12 at 8:30 PM in Sree Padmanabha.
Film academic and writer Meena T Pillai moderated the session.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IFFK Closing Ceremony Today (Dec 13)

The 23 rd edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala, after a week of film-viewing experience, will come to an end today (Dec 13) evening. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Closing Ceremony in Nishagandhi Auditorium at 6 PM. A K Balan, Minister for Welfare for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, Law, Culture and Parliamentary Affairs, will preside over the ceremony. V S Sunil Kumar, Minister for Agriculture will be the Chief Guest. A K Balan will distribute the Media Awards. V S Sivakumar MLA, Kamal, Chairman, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Bina Paul, Vice Chairperson, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, Mahesh Panju, Secretary, Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, will participate in the ceremony. Following the ceremony, the winner of the award for the best film in International Competition will be screened. The FFSI K R Mohanan Endowment for the Best Debut Director from India, has also been incepted this year. Indian films includin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ray and Bergman biggest inspirations: Bahman Farmanara

“Indian Cinema has witnessed the mastery of prominent filmmaker Satyajit Ray who has produced incredible films with minimum facilities. The enormous film scale of Ray’s films have always been an influential factor, with realistic themes portrayed in relevant contexts”, said Iranian film director Bahman Farmanara in the ‘Meet The Press’ session of the 23 rd IFFK. “Swedish filmmaker Ernst Ingmar Bergman and American filmmaker Oliver Stone have also been major guidance to me in narrating stories of people, their issues related to socio-economic and cultural aspects, in a far more exciting perspective”, told Farmanara, whose film, ‘Tale of the Sea’ is in the International Competition section of the fest. ‘Tale of the Sea’ is a byproduct of the renaissance of art and artists in the past 40 years of Iran. The director emphasized on the approach of filmmaking in the country. “In our films, we don’t tend to touch, kiss, or hold hands with women. It is not how it is in the country, no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Those Who Ban Films, Have Not Seen The Films: Majid Majidi EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW TO IFFK MEDIA CELL

“Those who ban films, have not seen the films. As for ‘Muhammad’ (Muhammad: The Messenger of God), I don’t even know what is wrong. There is always politics behind it, but you can never keep everything in cages. They will eventually fly past the restrictions. I am sure, the whole world will watch my film,” said renowned Iranian filmmaker, Majid Majidi to the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Media Cell of the IFFK. ‘Muhammad is not a religious or a political film. It is all about humanity. It is an attempt to portray the real face of Islam. I ask them why, because it is all so illogical,” he said. While discussing his thoughts on Indian Cinema, he called Satyajit Ray ‘The Soul of Indian Cinema’. “Indian Cinema takes a lot of money from the public and making the filmmakers rich. I don’t know how much they contribute back to the society. Cinema has immense capability,” opined Majidi. “Film festivals like the IFFK play a crucial role in designing the audience and the culture of the soc...
Post a Comment
Read more