Food and cinema are two of my best friends and put in a mix of innocent looking beautiful people and excuse to spend time with friends and it promised to be a week of fun. The Jharkhand film festival was on for the 4th Year.
All excited about the 4th film festival in Jamshedpur, I contacted my friend who is a film lover, but was treated with a strange reply “ Sorry my friend I cant go to the Jharkhand film festival in Jamshedpur, I have judged the festival in the past and they are really bad films, there is no way I can suffer another of those films “
Well I was not put off; after all how bad can the movies be, and was not lack of infrastructure the reason better films got made? so I charged on to the festival.
The festival started an hour late, it was an packed house, and I was excited to get my exposure to Jharkhand films. The fist hour and a little more was spend listening to the chief guests and other guests on stage talking about films. Listening to them talk, I was sure my friend was wrong, after all how could people from a state where people spoke so well and be so witty not be able to produce lovely cinema?
Finally the 1st movie of the festival screened. “Mahua”
Recently I had discovered the Mahua tree and found out all about the drink from Mahua, thus I prepared myself for a documentary BUT it was a short film with a message. It was an interesting film, 30 seconds into the film the 1st shot was still on, I was engaged, a minute and 30 seconds later we were still watching the 1st shot, and some repeats of the same footage, Either the director forgot to cut the shot, or the editor forgot he did not have to use all the footage that was shot. ( I was wondering if it is a 1 shot film ) The shot went on for so long that one stopped feeling for the girl being chased, and was waiting for the shot to end. It was a well cast film, but extremely predictable and one lost interest in the film a few minutes into the film knowing how the story would unfold. At least the film was technically well made, and I resolved to come back to the festival the next day.
2nd day of the the festival, I was there 550 in the evening there was no film on till 615, seemed like they were waiting for a crowed to gather before they started, not one to be to patient and not finding any organizer, I took to asking the operator of the projection system when he would play the movie? The operator claimed he was waiting for order to start the film, he was busy trying to avoid answering any more question and so I slunk out of the hall.
I went to check out the stalls outside, bought myself a soothing HO music CD, and got myself some food.
Jharkhand fare was available
1. Rice with meat cooked over slow fire
2. Rice and meat baked over a slow fire in shaal leaf was the other dish ( tasted like pitha )
a few days later, I myself had just finished a workshop on filmmaking in Jamshedpur and before I recommended the workshop participants to visit the film festival I wanted to see the festival another day.
Thankfully the movie did start by 630, but then I saw what my friend had warned me about.
The lighting was terrible
The acting was non-existent
The story was as boring and predictable as can be.
The production value was missing,
The list could go on, Lack of equipment gives rise to interesting way of doing shots, production methods are discovered, innovation is indulged in, amazing results are created because one is forced to think out of the box.
Even a newbee in filmmaking knows there are always a few hours in the morning and evening when exterior shots are best done and then use of mid day for interior shots. A few lights and use of reflectors can do a great job in most scenarios. The film crew did not seem to know this
Am sorry for the festival organizer, if this is the quality of entry, its better to have a 2 day festival then 6 days of bad movies being screened, quality over quantity.
Jharkhand films makers have a lot of reading and thinking to do, and walk many a mile to reach out to audience’s.
It is not easy to make a movie, there needs to be an effort to tell a story that will gain from being a cinema, there needs to be a basic understanding of the medium, it is not about grabbing a camera and pretending to be a director and make a film it is a mix of art and craft ( and most difficult )
Once again I exited the hall 5 minutes into the movie so bad was it ,( My 1 day workshop students had produced a better movie)
and I went to the food court once again, along with food, I found a sculpture artist working on his art, making his pieces at the venue to keep audiences entertained, (the films were not) so might as well watch some art being created. I left the venue disappointed. Next year will I come for the festival? No ! but then maybe there will be wonderfull work being produced in Jharkhand and I might think otherwise.
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