Small piece of advice to Future Filmmakers!!!!
There is a difference in giving a viewpoint or advice after being successful,before success, after a failure !!!... i don't know in wat stage i am... definitely i am not successful rt now... but neither a failure... but whatever i feel now.. i think is irrespective of the status i hold.... let me tell u the stage i am... u decide wat it is ... two years after re-signing from satyam computers .. i have worked in one complete movie... which has not been released... but have been important roles in the making of a good movie... but not sure when it will release... as it has some problems... apart from that i have completed working on my own script which has been re-written 5 different times... and now i am trying for producers... i want to say this rt now because whatever happens in future to me i dont know!!! but some years later when someone read whatever i write will be felt rt...
Now when i go to find producers ppl say this "go and work in 5 more movies as an asst director... become an associate director and then comeback to me..." why would i ever come back to him who has such an attitude.... or should i tell him i have been an assicate director in my first movie itself... i sure did not tell him that.... but where does this attitude come from.. u have to work in these many movie for these many years before u make movie.... why do they don't even listen to the script.... i am not angry... i am jus tired of hearing this repeatedly... "cinema is not a joke...its tough..." ,"i have been the industry for long you cant make movies with one movie experience.." i can give a list of filmmakers who have not done well after working as an asst and associate as per his standards.... at the same i can give ppl who have been successful even without being an asst in one movie.... Maniratnam, Shekhar Kamula, Ramgopal varma,Gautham vasudev menon(only one movie as an asst)...
if they can do this two decades before... why not now with all the developments in technology and books u can to read and learn.... instead of working with them....
My mom wrote letters.. i write email... My dad took 3 hours to travel to college ... i learn through video conference... similarly if spielberg and jim took years to learn the art we should learn it in half the time .... or else there is a mistake in the way we learn...
To all the future filmmakers.. my advice is this... never ever think you will learn the entire film making by working in one movie... you never can... but it does teaches about the problem u could face on the set if you don't plan well in your pre-production.... shooting days teaches you both how to and how not to make a movie... its very important that you be aware of both of these... and more importantly u get to know the different departments involved in the shooting hierarchy of the system ... which job should be given to which person in preproduction and whom should u question if it doesn't happen on the set... that's it... rest all the things you have to learn about film-making are there in books and tutorials... make a list of the the books and tutorials that u have to complete before you finish ur first movie or learn abt them before you leave your day job and come to full time film making so that nobody can treat you like you don't know anything and you have to learn from me... this is an age of information... ur going on wrong path or mistaken if ur expecting some to come to you and teach you... it never will happen but off course there will be some ppl with good experience from whom you can learn... dont miss them.. but never rely on one source... make ur learning rapid ... this is important in this industry ... finish ur script by the time u complete ur first movie.... work as an asst director for ur own movie and complete the pre-production before u go to the producer... re-write re-writ re-write until its ready....
There is one more important attitude i want to tell all the filmmakers... ppl say its the best industry... we are creative ... no one can beat us.... its tough to shine here... ok its all fine... but don't get into the attitude that all other industries are worth for nothing... someone has created automobile for us to use.. someone works on creating software for us to use... someone keeps improving the digital technologies... never can we understand these technicalities and difficulties... but they understand our requirements... everybody who goes to work in train and bus.. and sweat their hard work are in one way or the other helping to create a movie... don't ever say that ur passionate... i hate this word... you could be ambitious but by saying passionate... don't ignore all ur other duties and commitments in life and miss everything else in ur life and think only abt movies.... there is no point in catching a bus where there is no one to enjoy the journey.... if you do so.. .. ur movie will be boring and monotonous and ur movie will be only for your own ego.... don't do that... look at the life around you there is so much to enjoy,experience and express it through your movies....
Jus because we create a movie doesn't make us god... we have jus been chosen to harbour a good project like any other industry.. Above all believe in god... "there are so many things which happens even without trying... How does it happen..?"
Still an "Aspiring Filmmaker"...
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Philosophy
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Learn the past,see the future...
Every word i speak is an experience from my past ..but,i think or speak about the future.i cannot speak anything about the future without the knowledge of my past So the more we dig/learn/understand/about our experiences or this country's History or the documented thoughts of our ancestors there is a better understanding about the future.So,if we can learn from the past and apply ourselves to the future then does that mean nothing is changing or is it the same as always... yes,i guess nothing is changing,change or evolution happens in the minds... then wat abt all the inventions,developments in science and technology that has happened in last few centuries.. ? are they not evolution...? are they not changes...? yes it is... but somewhere all these concepts were there and used in some centuries which now exist as story and fantasy.. they are not stories... they are not fantasies... they are the truth... like say how did Valmiki Bhagawan or vysar rishi wrote Ramayana & Mahabaratha... ? the incidents were taking place in different parts of Bharatha desam... but through their Metaphysical powers and through the grace of almighty... they were to able see the incidents in their place and write it.... with so many sub-plots and more than 500 characters..... with all technologies and evolution we cannot re-create the same story or write it even now... the concept we hear in ramayan or mahabaratha... has not been developed as a technology till now.( i mean those visuals of ramayana and mahabaratha which they were able to see form their place) may be it might take thousand more years... for a technology like that that to develop... even when we see that technology in front of our eyes... we might not believe wat happened in mahabaratha or ramayana was a similar concept.... because we need proofs,reasons,validity... there is more harm being done to the creative process by not believeing... any technology we invent can be associated with a similar concept in the our epics.... but its upto us to believe...
i hope most of us would not have missed this movie "AVATAR" wat those High Fi Techie guys named it in terms of technology.. the Navis had it as a part of themselves.. Actually they were much more advanced by even communicating with the animals they were driving and make the animals part of themselves.... May be u say its a story.. "agreed" but still the concepts looks the same... they think they are progressing but actually its the mind that is able to understand better and believe the concepts could be true when it happens in front of their eyes....
jim had even taken same reference from the epic Ramayana for his story... of tall the technology he can create for the future... why is he going back 10000000 of years to find references for his characters NAVI. millions of years of history before us... gives us an insight into the future of few years ahead of us.... when we go back in years... we are free of all that we know in the present and think in a new platform... as to how did they live this same life with same emotions so many years back...? if u find some answer/believe in wat they saw.. in that world... you have something to share,rt now to all of us!!!
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i hope most of us would not have missed this movie "AVATAR" wat those High Fi Techie guys named it in terms of technology.. the Navis had it as a part of themselves.. Actually they were much more advanced by even communicating with the animals they were driving and make the animals part of themselves.... May be u say its a story.. "agreed" but still the concepts looks the same... they think they are progressing but actually its the mind that is able to understand better and believe the concepts could be true when it happens in front of their eyes....
jim had even taken same reference from the epic Ramayana for his story... of tall the technology he can create for the future... why is he going back 10000000 of years to find references for his characters NAVI. millions of years of history before us... gives us an insight into the future of few years ahead of us.... when we go back in years... we are free of all that we know in the present and think in a new platform... as to how did they live this same life with same emotions so many years back...? if u find some answer/believe in wat they saw.. in that world... you have something to share,rt now to all of us!!!
My favourites
Every morning!! When i open my cupboard to pick a t-shirt(i don't pick jeans,as it is the same daily :-) ) there is one t-shirt which whispers to me "pleaseee wear me.." and it smiles..:-) most of the time i pick it.. sometimes i reject it and look for something else... but eventually i come back to the same t-shirt which grabbed my attention initially... if i don't somewhere i feel i am hurting the t-shirt similar to the "pain of rejection." ,i know all this could be sentimental.. but that is how i develop my intuition... Sticking to something which gets ur attention in no time!!!
Similar to the t-shirt picking event, i face another awkward situation!!! selecting songs to hear on my ipod ... be it t-shirt or a song.. finally, realized this after one month of data.. "i wear and listen to some songs & t-shirt very often these are the ones i call my favorites" and then there are some other t-shirt and songs,which i don't wear nor listen,but they are jus there with me... they are the things which were there with me from long time but did not pass the test of time... so the point i am trying to make is certain things are standing the test of time ... displaying great characters within themselves... and i want to select those special songs and see its similarity!!!
My favs(Many other songs which i am not able to list rt now.. i will add it soon)
1.) Teri Ore(Singh is King),Tere Naina(Chandini Chowk to china),Iktara(Wake Up sid),Aaao Na (Kyun Ho gaya Na)
2.) Mukundha Mukundha(Dhasavatharam)
3.) Dooriyaan(love aaj Kal)
4.) Khudha Khaiyar(Billu Barber)
5.) Maula Mere(Anwar)
6.) Tuju mein rab diktha hai(Rab ne bana di Jodi),Aye Honsla(Dor)
7.) Rama Chaka (Godavari),Nu veana(Anand),Arey re(Happy days)
8.) Anbe Sugama(Parthalae Paravasam),Munbe Va(SOK),Katrae en vasal(Rhythm),Aye Haira Tera(Guru),Yeh jo des(Sawdes),Nila Kaigirathu(Indra),vellai Pookal(kanathil Muthamital)
It might look i am talking something contradicting to the article i wrote about rahman.. but i am jus trying to be more true to my taste ... the songs listed above are my favorites and the ones i listen very often.... they are not in the order of my liking or rated.. thats why both of my favorite music directors are on both ends so that we don't judge based on its order.....
Wat do they have in common!! one thing for sure no technology,voice modifications,fast paced numbers stay for long, they motivate us initially... when they fade away we dont even return to them!!! its all melody!!! all of them has great tunes and voice... with very less amount of instruments or orchestra... jus a tabala in maula mere is soothing and inspiring in the long run!!!... i definitely did not like "thuj mein rab diktha hai" intially... i thot there is nothing new... but when i watched rab ne bana di jodi it made such an impact which i have not lost till now... every time i listen to it i feel the the innocent true love he has for her!!! so songs which are so close to the emotion of the movie and which represents the feel of the movie in one song will definitely be in our minds forever... those songs takes us into the characters of the movie and make us ache every time u listen!!
all these have great lyrics,they are very simple and depicts the situation in the best possible way,the tunes have base of carnatic or Hindustani... they are not jus some tune which cannot be associated with Indian music or raagas... this might make us feel we have already listened to it some 100 times and its like bhajan... but believe me those are the songs we hear repeatedly!!! if not check ur recently listened or most heard playlist on your ipod!!
does that mean we should not innovate new things or try something different yes off course we should... but we cannot decide immd, as its the best.. it has to pass the test of time.. rahman is my favourite, but when it comes to repeated hearing for years... there are everyone in it... yes rahman is comparatively more... No doubt.. but still those songs which sticks to basics are the ones that lasts forever....
after speaking about all these basics,from wat little i know about music, every time when a new album of rahman releases i ignore all these and go back to his songs where he breaks all the basics and creates new rules and i listen only to it!!! then after some time i come back to these same playlist.. may be sometimes some of the track gets added to this list!!
All though there are so many music directors in the list i would rate two of these very high
Shankar - Ehassan - loy... appart form the songs and tunes i like(that anyways is a obvious reason)... they maintain the same chemistry,Friendship and are together for almost 10 years.. in times where people fight for smallest of the small things being in a creative and evolving process the way they are together by resolving all their creative differences is truly amazing!!!
A.R.Rahman - i know everyone will laugh if i appreciate his music... i don't qualify ... but why he tops everyone else is his modesty - 2008 FIlmfare... A.R.Rahman nominated for janae tu ya jannae na,Jodha akbar,Ghajini...(3 out 6 nominations was his) was judged the best music director and best Background composition... whole bollywood rose to standing ovation.... ranbir kappor and imran khan fell flat on stage...rahman was not noticing wat ranbir and imran were doing on stage.. Aishwaraya rai and amitabh were forcing him to see that act of falling on floor by ranbir and imran... whole bollywood rose to standing ovation.. everybody in bollywood accepted he is the greatest composer of our times... and u know wat he said..."i feel very awkward to hold this award,it should have gone to salim-sulaiman for Rab ne bana di jodi"