Amitav Ghosh: L'Isola dei fucili

L'Isola dei fucili è il nuovo romanzo di Amitav Ghosh, ambientato in parte a Venezia, pubblicato da Neri Pozza Editore. Lo scrittore in questi giorni è in Italia per la promozione del libro e per partecipare ad alcuni eventi dedicati al tema del cambiamento climatico. Stamattina Ghosh era a Lecce, domani sarà a Napoli, sabato a Verona e a Montecchio Maggiore (Vicenza), domenica a Milano ospite di BookCity 2019, lunedì a Torino. 

Vi segnalo l'intervista concessa dallo scrittore ad Alessia Rastelli, pubblicata ieri dal Corriere della Sera. Venezia, parla Amitav Ghosh: «Dal cuore dell’umanità un messaggio per tutti»:

'«Quello che sta accadendo a Venezia è un messaggio che arriva dal cuore del mondo. Venezia è stata centrale nella storia globale, la porta tra Oriente e Occidente, tra Nord e Sud. Da lì si leva oggi sul resto del pianeta un avvertimento per il futuro». (...)

Che effetto le fa vedere Venezia davvero sommersa?

«Sono sconvolto. Conosco la città da quarant’anni e la amo molto. Nel 2015 ci ho anche vissuto: ero stato invitato dall’Università Ca’ Foscari. Quanto è successo era del tutto prevedibile, ma è avvenuto in modo molto più veloce di quanto potessimo immaginare: pensavamo che il cambiamento climatico avrebbe avuto un impatto sul mondo fra 15-20 anni, invece incombe già su di noi. Quello che perciò mi sciocca della marea record a Venezia è che diventerà sempre più “normale” per la città. Ora l’Italia si sta davvero confrontando con l’emergenza climatica: è qui tra noi e bisogna farci i conti».

Che cosa bisogna fare?

«Nel breve termine è necessario creare protezioni per difendersi dall’acqua, oppure dal fuoco: anche gli incendi sono un’emergenza in alcuni luoghi del mondo. Ne L’isola dei fucili parlo pure di Los Angeles in fiamme, ma non perché io sia un profeta: lo ripeto, sono fenomeni prevedibili. Quanto alle misure immediate, nel caso di Venezia penso ad esempio a barriere intorno alla basilica di San Marco che impediscano all’acqua di entrare».

E sul lungo termine?

«L’azione più importante è ridurre le emissioni di anidride carbonica. Sulla lotta al cambiamento climatico serve una strategia: a questo punto la questione è già provare a ritardarlo o, almeno, a prevenirne gli effetti peggiori».

Le immagini di Venezia allagata che fanno il giro del mondo, dopo quelle dell’Amazzonia in fiamme, avranno l’effetto di una chiamata all’azione?

«Ovviamente lo spero. Ma per quanto riguarda l’Italia credo che la consapevolezza del problema ci sia da qualche tempo, basti pensare alle alluvioni di Genova. Questo Paese è già, in vari modi, in prima linea sul fronte della crisi ambientale, non fosse altro per i chilometri di costa che senza dubbio lo espongono. Qualche passo si sta già facendo: mi sembra una buona idea quella di inserire nei programmi scolastici l’emergenza climatica».

Serve un maggiore coinvolgimento dell’Europa?

«Sì, assolutamente. Ma l’Italia è sempre stata un laboratorio di cambiamento, a volte nel bene, a volte nel male. Il suo impatto nel mondo è maggiore di quanto ci si potrebbe aspettare in base al numero degli abitanti. Certo, al momento non c’è un partito verde che emerga con forza come in altri Paesi, ma non è detto che non possa accadere. E poi potete contare su una voce potente, che può fare la differenza: quella di Papa Francesco».'

Verona

Verona

Milano

Torino

Javed Akhtar: In altre parole, altri mondi

È in distribuzione nelle librerie italiane il volume di poesie In altre parole, altri mondi, di Javed Akhtar, pubblicato da Besa Editrice. Nel comunicato ufficiale si legge: 

'In altre parole, altri mondi è la prima opera di Javed Akhtar, autore di culto del subcontinente indiano, pubblicata in traduzione italiana. In queste poesie, partendo da interrogativi all’apparenza quotidiani, persino semplici, Akhtar accompagna il lettore sulla “scacchiera della vita”, dove siamo tutti vincitori e perdenti, divisi dal dilemma dell’appartenenza e della contestazione, che sia a una comunità, una religione, una città, un ideale o un sentimento. L’amore che inganna e confonde, consola e salva; le piaghe della nostra società, con la sua povertà non solo materiale; i conflitti su grande e piccola scala: sono queste le “caselle” che compongono la scacchiera poetica di Akhtar, dove si rincorrono memorie dell’infanzia e ci si ritrova a essere grandi e fuori posto, o viceversa giganti in un mondo troppo piccolo. La raccolta è composta da 45 poesie, tradotte dall’urdu e dall’inglese da Clara Nubile, che firma anche l’introduzione al volume'.

Akhtar era a Roma lo scorso 28 ottobre ospite dell'Ambasciata Indiana (vedi fotografie al termine del testo), e ieri all'Università di Bologna.

Aggiornamento del 20 dicembre 2019: vi segnalo l'intervista concessa da Javed Akhtar a Orlando Trinchi, pubblicata oggi da Il Dubbio. Javed Akhtar: «Nei miei versi un invito alla cultura del dubbio per ripensare la modernità»:

'«Penso che sia essenziale per la poesia porsi delle domande». Tale convincimento sostanzia in profondità e in maniera evidente le 45 liriche che compongono il primo libro di versi tradotto in Italia del noto sceneggiatore e paroliere indiano Javed Akhtar - figura di spicco nell'industria cinematografica di Bollywood e vincitore di prestigiosi riconoscimenti internazionali - intitolato In altre parole, altri mondi e pubblicato recentemente dai tipi di Besa Editrice.

Akhtar, ritiene che il dubbio possa costituire un valore aggiunto per la sua produzione poetica?

Dalla sua origine, vi sono due tipi di umanità: una che ha venerato l'ignoranza - ed è sempre vissuta nel suo alveo - e l'altra che ha posto interrogativi, manifestando un atteggiamento critico nei confronti del reale. In una mia poesia intitolata “Il dubbio”, trova rappresentazione questo duplice modo di porsi nei confronti delle cose e della società e viene esposto un fondamentale quesito: devo andare avanti schiacciando gli altri o devo farmi schiacciare da loro? Il componimento si conclude proprio con la domanda: «Coscienza mia! Tu che sei così fiera del tuo senso della giustizia dimmi a quale verdetto sei oggi giunta?». Il trovarsi scissi tra due tipi di atteggiamenti contrapposti costituisce proprio questo dubbio di fondo.

La poesia appartiene al suo DNA, lei proviene da una famiglia di poeti e letterati...

Non credo che il talento risieda nel DNA. Perché il DNA si modifichi o mostri la propria azione sono necessari molti anni, addirittura secoli. Penso che molto dipenda piuttosto dal contesto culturale in cui si vive, che può favorire certe predisposizioni creative.

Un'altra sua poesia, «Sulla scacchiera della vita», si conclude con i versi «In una mano stringe la vittoria nell'altra la solitudine». Le nostre società non offrono una terza via?

La vita è fatta così. Utilizzerei al riguardo la metafora della montagna: più si ascende più la strada si restringe e aumenta la propria solitudine. Se da una parte si acquisisce la capacità di vedere dall'alto, ottenendo un discernimento più ampio ed esaustivo della complessità dei problemi, dall'altra si diventa sempre più soli. Non si tratta di alternative, ma di due facce della stessa medaglia: la vittoria implica la solitudine.

In molte sue liriche ricorre il tema della città. Ritiene che le odierne città costituiscano veri spazi di socialità o rappresentino meri accumuli di persone?

Penso che costituiscano un caos molto organizzato. In esse la velocità con cui si vive inficia la profondità dello sguardo e dell'esperienza. Se ci si muove continuamente risulta impossibile mettere radici. Mentre nelle grandi città l'esistenza può risultare straniante e a tratti feroce, nei piccoli centri è ancora possibile curare i rapporti interpersonali, sviluppare ritmi più umani e ritagliarsi maggiori spiragli di riflessione su quanto accade. Le metropoli defraudano anche della possibilità di pensare a quello che vivi e, soprattutto, a come lo vivi.

Lei è un intellettuale molto critico e assume spesso posizioni molto personali. Cosa pensa di questo secondo mandato governativo del premier Narendra Modi?

Nelle moderne democrazie niente è permanente, tutto può mutare. Non vi sono governi che durino all'infinito, ma ciascuno di essi, se non ritenuto valido, può essere sostituito. Questo governo è spostato verso destra, mentre personalmente, pur non essendo comunista, sono sempre stato schierato a sinistra. Nella vita, tuttavia, capita di dover accettare dei pacchetti composti da bene e male in diversa misura. Da una parte, trovo talune consonanze con il presente governo - come, ad esempio, per quanto riguarda la mia personale battaglia per la difesa del diritto d'autore, cui nel 2012 è stata dedicata una legge importante - mentre, dall'altra, vi sono naturalmente punti di vista diversi.

In che modo la sua esperienza cinematografica ha influenzato la sua poesia e viceversa?

Fin da bambino ho sempre avuto una grande capacità di visualizzare storie, situazioni e personaggi. Lavorando successivamente come sceneggiatore, ho trasposto questo mio talento naturale in ambito cinematografico. Con grande naturalezza e senza una premeditazione razionale, questa mia capacità di visualizzazione ha influenzato anche la mia attività poetica, spingendomi a imprimere sulla pagina immagini e suggestioni.

Cosa ne pensa del cinema indiano attuale?

Trovo che il panorama del cinema indiano di oggi sia molto complesso e variegato. A pellicole commerciali e mediocri fanno da contraltare film particolarmente sottili e profondi.

Qualche anticipazione sui suoi prossimi progetti?

Ho scritto circa 1500 canzoni e per undici anni ho lavorato come sceneggiatore, prima di fermarmi per un po' di tempo. Ora, tuttavia, credo sia il momento giusto per scrivere un nuovo film e tornare a occuparmi di nuovo di cinema'.

My Next Guest with David Letterman and Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan ha partecipato al programma My next guest needs no introduction, condotto da David Letterman e trasmesso il 25 ottobre 2019. Ieri The Telegraph ha pubblicato Shah Rukh Khan - The Charmer, un resoconto della puntata, redatto da Priyanka Roy, nel quale si legge: 'He’s learning to cook Italian, and we catch a glimpse of the superstar slogging away in the kitchen for Letterman and his crew. He admits that since he’s just starting out, he can make only three things - aglio e olio, pepper chicken and risotto'.

Asiatica Film Festival 2019

La ventesima edizione di Asiatica Film Festival si è svolta a Roma dal primo al 10 ottobre 2019. Biriyaani, film in lingua malayalam diretto da Sajin Baabu, ha vinto il premio NETPAC con la seguente motivazione: 'Per l'ambiziosa rappresentazione delle problematiche sociali, religiose e politiche dell'India, narrate attraverso lo sguardo e il cuore di una donna che intraprende un viaggio dalla miseria ad un'intima illuminazione'.

Rishi Kapoor e Neetu Singh in Italia

Rishi Kapoor e Neetu Singh sono proprio innamorati del nostro Paese. La coppia è tornata in Italia, e in questi giorni è stata avvistata a Napoli, ad Amalfi e a Positano.

Mahesh Babu in Italia

Secondo l'articolo From Lake Como with fun! Mahesh Babu and his son turn into shenanigans in this adorable video, pubblicato oggi da The Times of India, Mahesh Babu nei giorni scorsi si è concesso con la famiglia una breve vacanza in Italia, a Milano e sul lago di Como.

Adil Hussain in Star Trek: Discovery - stagione 3

Adil Hussain è nel cast della terza stagione di Star Trek: Discovery e non potrei essere più felice. Trailer. 

Aggiornamento dell'11 novembre 2019 - How Adil Hussain became a part of Star Trek: Discovery, The Times of India:

'Adil said the first day of the shoot was the most memorable. "On the day of the shoot, everyone, including the actors, gathered around and made a circle. They formally introduced me, 'Adil Hussain from India. We welcome you to the family of Star Trek.' They all clapped and then looked at me. I said, 'Do I have to speak?' They said yes. I didn't know what to say because I didn't prepare. But I said, 'The only thing coming to my mind right now is that I was born in a small town in Assam where newspapers used to come three days late. And now I'm here today, crossing the galaxies. So thank you for letting me into your family'", the actor reminisced'.

Vincenzo Bocciarelli nel cast del film Professor Dinkan

Vi segnalo l'intervista concessa dall'attore Vincenzo Bocciarelli a Mariagloria Fontana, pubblicata oggi da Affari Italiani. Bocciarelli dichiara di essere stato scritturato per il film in lingua malayalam Professor Dinkan, diretto da Ramachandra Babu: 'Sono stato scelto fra migliaia di attori in tutto il mondo per girare una saga, Professor Dinkan 3D, prima abbiamo girato a Bangkok, qualche settimana fa, poi andremo in India, è una produzione indiana, Dileep è il protagonista, il più grande attore indiano. È un’esperienza straordinaria per me'.

Aggiornamento del 7 novembre 2023: la realizzazione di PD era stata in precedenza funestata dai noti guai giudiziari di Dileep. La pellicola non è stata ultimata a causa del decesso del regista avvenuto nel dicembre 2019. Sembra che la produzione stia provvedendo al completamento del progetto al fine di una possibile distribuzione nel 2024.

War: le riprese in Italia

[Archivio] Yash Raj Films e il regista Siddharth Anand sono tornati a girare in Italia. Questa volta si tratta di War, adrenalinica pellicola d'azione interpretata da Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff e Vaani Kapoor. I blindatissimi set sono stati allestiti nella prima quindicina di ottobre 2018 tra Minori, Amalfi, Capri e Positano (Spiaggia Grande), Matera e lago di Como (Bellagio, Mandarin Oriental di Blevio, centro di Moltrasio). Video del brano Ghungroo.

Da Minori ad Amalfi e Positano bello Bollywood ma Hrithik Roshan irriconoscente coi propri fans, Positano News, 9 ottobre 2018. 

Di seguito alcune fotografie dei set allestiti a Positano.

Costiera Amalfitana

Birsa Dasgupta in Italia

Il regista bengali Birsa Dasgupta è in questi giorni in Italia. Nella fotografia a sinistra, Birsa è a Roma in compagnia del regista Tommaso Rossellini. La madre di Tommaso è Isotta Rossellini, figlia di Ingmar Bergman e di Roberto Rossellini, e sorella gemella di Isabella. La nonna di Birsa è la sceneggiatrice Sonali Senroy Dasgupta, compagna di Roberto Rossellini. Sonali lasciò il marito, il documentarista Harisadhan Dasgupta, e il figlio Raja (padre di Birsa), per seguire Rossellini.
Aggiornamento del 2 ottobre 2019: nelle fotografie seguenti, Birsa è in compagnia di Isabella Rossellini e del regista Alessandro Rossellini, figlio del produttore Renzo Rossellini, secondogenito di Roberto e della prima moglie, la sceneggiatrice e costumista Marcella De Marchis.

Dev revisits old haunts in city with Rukmini in tow

The Times of India pubblica oggi nel supplemento Calcutta Times un articolo molto originale nel quale Dev, accompagnato da Rukmini Maitra, ripercorre i luoghi di Kolkata che hanno segnato i suoi primi anni difficili nella metropoli, quando, rientrato da Mumbai nel 2006, il giovane aspirante attore tentava di conquistarsi un posto al sole nell'industria cinematografica bengali. Dev revisits old haunts in city with Rukmini in tow.

Malayalam Cinema: Frames of Small Things

Vi segnalo l'articolo Malayalam Cinema: Frames of Small Things, di Divya Unny, dedicato alla recente evoluzione del cinema in lingua malayalam e pubblicato ieri da Open:

'Syam Pushkaran, the writer of Kumbalangi Nights says, “There has been a very conscious attempt to look at the kind of stories we need as a society, and the lives of real people around us. A film like Kumbalangi Nights that speaks of insecurities within a family, selflessness among strangers, a kind of fearlessness in new love, brings to the fore those stories. When we show a man’s vulnerabilities or strip his ego down on screen, we are not trying to defame a gender or a person, but asking if we need to take a hard look at ourselves and our conditioning.” (...)

With homegrown stories told in the most visually intriguing fashion, these films are so local that they are global. You can see, smell and taste Kerala in them. Coconuts being scraped, banana leaves being chopped, fresh tapioca getting fried, pork being sold, fishnets being laid out, paddy being farmed - from foods to festivities, nuns and nurses, from toddy and tea shops, to buses and motor boats, from pointless strikes to churches and mikes, the filmmakers proudly evoke their state’s culture as a backdrop for their stories. (...)

You begin to empathise, answer questions, and marvel at the irony of life thanks to everyday characters within these films who are neither black nor white, but just human. (...)

With OTT platforms these films can now reach a far wider audience thanks to the subtitles. (...)

For many, the evolution of Malayalam cinema is categorised broadly as the pre and post Chemmeen (1965) era. The film on the lives of rural fisher folk in Kerala and social prejudices against them was an adaptation of the award-winning novel by the legendary author Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, and became a cinematic benchmark. (...)

For those who have grown up on Malayalam cinema, there’s never been a lack of realism and stark humour. Priyadarshan’s films especially of the 80s and 90s painted the common man in unusual ways. Actors like Mohanlal became the face of that common man. However, it can’t be denied that much of commercial Malayalam cinema till recently was driven by the male protagonist, and his transformational powers. Both Mohanlal and Mammootty were flagbearers of this power for over four decades, and that’s now changing. The ‘Lalettan’ and ‘Mamokka’ (how the actors are lovingly referred) monopoly is slowly fading, spelling the end of an era in Malayalam films. (...)

All the characters are so well fleshed out, one can never predict where the story will lead. (...) Almost dissolving the very idea of a ‘protagonist’ in a film, and thereby setting a new foundation for cinema. No character is on a moral high-ground and you almost feel like you know them'.

#MumbaiMirrored: All that jazz

Oggi Mumbai Mirror pubblica uno stupendo articolo di Sidharth Bhatia dedicato alla scena jazz mumbaita degli anni cinquanta e sessanta del secolo scorso. Una vera chicca. #MumbaiMirrored: All that jazz.

Vedi anche Naresh Fernandes: Taj Mahal Foxtrot.

È morto Shyam Ramsay

È morto questa mattina a 67 anni il regista Shyam Ramsay, appartenente al clan il cui nome è indissolubilmente legato alla tradizione horror indiana. E a proposito della sua originale famiglia, vi propongo l'articolo Indian Horror Returns: Beware the Ramsays, di Lhendup G. Bhutia, pubblicato da Open il 12 aprile 2017:

'His father Fatehchand Ramsingh owned a large electronics store in Karachi with “14 windows”, Ramsingh Radio and Electric Company, where he sold the latest radio transistors. But his clients, most of them British officers and their families, struggled with the name of the shop, at best managing to pronounce ‘Ramsingh’ as ‘Ramsay’. When the family moved to Bombay during Partition and set up a radio transistor shop in Lamington Road, and later entered film production, this new name ‘Ramsay’ travelled with them too. And the seven sons - Kumar, Keshu, Tulsi, Kiran, Shyam, Gangu and Arjun - came to be known as the Ramsay brothers.

Fatehchand Ramsingh produced several films. (...) All his films did moderate business. But the last of them, Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi, was such a spectacular failure that Fatehchand not only lost a lot of money, he also lost the heart to make another film. “He was heartbroken and he didn’t want to do another film,” Tulsi remembers.

By then Tulsi had dropped out of St Xavier’s College in Mumbai to run a textile shop. Bollywood films in those times, as Tulsi remembers, used to take several years to complete. Shooting happened in bits and pieces only for a few weeks and would halt for several months until the producers raised funds for the next leg of production. The brothers would take leave from their jobs and studies to assist their father.

As the father locked himself up in his house convalescing from a broken heart, the brothers, unable to take the stifling environment of failure, would walk to the neighbouring theatre, Minerva Cinema, every evening to catch the failure unfold for free. (...) The theatre would be filled every night with just 10 or 20 viewers who would be half-asleep. But every night, the brothers noticed, Tulsi says, that at one point in the film, the bodies of the sleepy and sluggish audience members, would suddenly stir. The scene involved a heist sequence, where the statuesque Prithviraj Kapoor, disguised in a dark costume with a cape, enters a museum to steal from it. When the police would shoot at him, the bullets would bounce off his body. “He was so hideous and scary-looking in that part. The public would scream and jump,” Tulsi says. By then, Tulsi was already a big fan of American and European horror films. “We brothers began to think, ‘Why don’t we expand the elements of that short sequence? Why don’t we make an entire horror film instead?’”

The seven brothers managed to convince their father to fund their venture. But this time, they agreed, they were going to do things differently. They were going to keep costs low. They were not going to hire stars and they were not going to recruit outsiders to make and direct the film. The brothers were going to do everything. Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay would direct, Gangu, who was interested in photography, would handle the camera, Kiran, who was interested in music, would handle the sound department, Arjun would edit, and Kiran, the most educated of them, would write the script. The brothers read a book on film production, they made a small film as trial, and put together a cast of unknown characters. The family and cast got into a bus to head to the neighbouring town of Mahabaleshwar, where the wintry nights and deep woods would provide an ideal location for a horror film. The brothers would shoot during the day and night, while their mother cooked for them and the crew in the guesthouse. “It was really like a picnic for all of us,” Shyam remembers.

The film, Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche (1972), which cost a pittance and was completed before schedule, made the family a lot of money. “There had been Bollywood films with a horror sequence here and there in the past. But this was India’s first legitimate all-out horror film,” Shyam says.

In the next few decades, the Ramsay brothers averaged at least one horror film every year, sometimes as many as two or three in a single year. Bollywood was changing drastically by then. Films were becoming more expensive to make. (...) The Ramsay brothers lay at the other end of the spectrum, perhaps outside it completely, making films with unknown faces and tacky visuals, creating their own formula of sex and horror. According to Tulsi, during this period, the more well-known families and stars in the film industry would often laugh about their films, but because of their success, often kept an eye on their projects.

The seven brothers, as Shyam remembers it, shared two rooms in an apartment. They would challenge each other to tell new horror stories all night long, and include their discussions into a film script by the day. A bevy of actors, respectable and semi-respectable, depending on the moment in their career, made their way in and out of a Ramsay film. Many of the regular 1980s and 90s actors - Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Satish Shah, Mohnish Bahl, even Irrfan Khan - often featured in a Ramsay Brothers’ production. In one of their biggest hits, Purana Mandir (1984), their star turned out to be a seven-foot monster, an actor named Ajay, who later played the monster in several of Ramsay Brothers’ films. “He came to me wanting to be a hero,” Shyam says. “I had to convince him to become the monster. I told him in our films, the ghost gets more screen time than the hero.”

The brothers would market their films on the radio, offering money to people brave enough to watch their film alone. Shyam recalls, “We would say, ‘Shut your doors, close your window...’ And then we would cue in the sound of a heroine screaming. And say, ‘A Ramsay Brothers’ picture is coming out tonight’.” One of their films caused a man to die of a cardiac arrest, Shyam claims. And while filming a scene one night in a jungle, they say they once accidently dug up a body. (“We just said a few prayers and dug the body back in,” Shyam says.) Saasha, who as a child would often travel with her father on shoots and later assisted him on The Zee Horror Show and some films, recalls growing up in a house filled with scary masks and prosthetics. “Most of my friends’ fathers did a nine-to-five job. I would tell everyone my dad does a six-to-six (am) job.”

The Ramsay Brothers’ films had everything. There were exophthalmic witches, monsters with scrofulous cheeks and scarred foreheads, and human heads that would either explode or appear disembodied in refrigerators. And like good horror filmmakers, they didn’t just rely on gore. Women with milky white skin would often find themselves in a shower, bosoms would perennially emerge from swimming pools, and village belles would roll about on haystacks for no particular reason. “People complain about the censor board now. I faced much more back then,” Tulsi says. For their first film, Tulsi recounts, with unusual relish for a 70-year-old, how he spent almost an entire night filming a sequence where an actor just kisses the actress. “I would find my father watching that scene again and again at home,” he says. Several minutes of that scene were edited out, but what was released always elicited hoots from the crowd.

Of the seven brothers, two have already died. Kiran passed away more than a year ago from a liver-related ailment. Tulsi recounts with some bitterness how the other brothers weren’t informed of his poor health. Professionally, the brothers had already split long before. Two amongst them had moved out of horror films in the 1990s to find some success producing action films with Akshay Kumar. After the remaining brothers finished up with their TV series and could not find the same success with their later films, most of them quit. Only Shyam continues to work, now with his daughter. While Tulsi, like always, hopes to return to making horror films.

“Do you think ghosts exist?” Tulsi asks, without displaying much interest in my opinion. “I think they do. If there is light, there is also darkness,” he says. Tulsi has a limp and a lopsided stance, somewhat like a jammed accordion. Beside him is an old fashioned briefcase that contains articles about the brothers from magazines and newspapers, many of them which have long since been discontinued. He spends his day in the house or watching films alone in a nearby theatre. He has stopped entertaining old acquaintances. Occasionally, a fan will seek him out. He tells me of a horror he has finished shooting, about his plan to start new projects, and of doing a horror Marathi film'.

Bombay Rose a Roma

Bombay Rose verrà proiettato a Roma, al cinema Nuovo Olimpia, il 18 settembre 2019 alle ore 18.30.

Chola a Milano

Chola verrà proiettato a Milano, all'Eliseo Multisala, il 25 settembre 2019 alle ore 18.30, nell'ambito della manifestazione Le Vie del Cinema.

Woh

Vi segnalo l'articolo How two men pulled off a 52-episode Indian adaptation of Stephen King's It... without reading a single page, di Gayle Sequeira, pubblicato oggi da Film Companion. Il pezzo racconta l'incredibile realizzazione di Woh, una serie televisiva indiana horror diretta da Glen Barretto e Ankush Mohla, trasmessa nel 1998 dal canale Zee TV, ispirata dalla seconda parte del celebre romanzo It - o meglio, dalla sinossi di dieci righe - e dalle due puntate della miniserie americana omonima. Né i registi né gli sceneggiatori hanno mai letto il libro. Nel cast Ashutosh Gowariker, Shreyas Talpade e Liliput Faruqui (nel ruolo del clown). L'articolo include il link ad un paio di episodi.

'Fresh off the shoot of Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995), on which he [Mohla] was an assistant director, he wanted to bring that "small-town, college campus" wibe to Woh. He asked Barretto, a chief assistant director he'd met as an apprentice on Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), to help him adapt the book into a series. (...)

His [di Barretto] next task was 'Indianizing' the show. He moved the setting from Derry, Maine, to the hill station of Panchgani, linked the resurgence of the clown to a solar eclipse (considered inauspicious in Hindu mythology) and wrote it such that the evil could only be defeated by a crystal found inside the well of a local temple.

In 1996, the two shot a 40-minute pilot at Madh Island "just for fun". They were in their 20s. (...) As he [Barretto] had assisted Gowariker on Pehla Nasha (1993) and Baazi (1995), convincing the director to play the part of Ashutosh, whose son is kidnapped (and later possessed) by the clown, was easy.

What's harder was finding takers for the show. (...) Sony passed on the pilot. Doordarshan picked it up but gave the show the 6.30 PM 'child programming' slot on seeing the clown. Baffled, Mohla and Barretto decided to turn down the offer. (...) Zee TV was interested in the show. " We got to know this in November 1997. Janyuary 1998 was supposed to be the telecast date. Everything moved quickly after that," says Mohla.

The title track happened overnight. Mohla and composer Raju Singh holed themselves up inside a room and listened to English electronic band Prodigy from 11 PM to 5 AM. They emerged with an eerie, childlike 'na na na na' tune. The voices chanting 'woh woh woh woh' over what sounds like a sick turntable beat are theirs. The resulting opening credits were a spooky, seemingly Se7en-inspired montage, featuring shots of a bloodied knife, scorpions, barbed wire, tribal masks and a mud crab (to represent Madh Island, where parts of the show were shot). (...)

As neither writer had read the book, they borrowed much of their characters' personalities from the actors playing them. (...) Mohla himself, who had what Barretto calls a "James Dean vibe" played Shiva, a local don. (...) As most of the cast were friends, dialogues were born out of their banter. Scenes and subplots were written, rewritten, added or subtracted to accomodate actors who had become more popular over the course of the show and were now busy with other projects. (...)

Liliput's own life experiences heavily influenced the ending. He told Mohla and Barretto anecdotes of being publicly laughed at and discriminated against because of his stature. His move to Mumbai and success as an actor despite these obstacles made them determined to give the character a great sendoff in the finale. The actor would later say this show was one of the few times he wasn't relegated to just the comic relief'.

Vicky Kaushal: 'When KJo's video was shared, I had no clue that I became the charsi'

Vi segnalo questa magnifica intervista (non integrale) concessa da Vicky Kaushal a Mayank Shekhar e pubblicata oggi da Mid-Day. Il pezzo include il link al video dell'intervista completa.  When KJo's video was shared, I had no clue that I became the charsi':

'How did you land Uri [given the unlikely CV]? (...)

I got a call from Ronnie Screwvala's office that they had dropped off an action script [to be directed by Aditya, who I already knew]. I saw the title, Uri: The Surgical Strike. And now I wasn't the actor. I was actually curious to know what happened [in Uri]. It took me four-and-a-half hours to read the script, in one go, which is what I prefer - as if I'm watching a film. That's when I get a true sense of what I feel.

As an audience?

Yes. So I started watching the film, and I just couldn't get it. There was just too much information, military-technical-logistical language. Also, I didn't feel anything. Because I hadn't taken four-and-a-half hours to read a script before. (...) My dad, who was equally curious about the Uri incident, and had read the script lying around, asked me what I thought of it. I said I'm not sure. He told me that if I miss this film, it'll be the biggest mistake of my life! He said that maybe I'm in a different space right now, in another kind of military film, and that's why unable to connect.

You were playing a Pak military officer, shooting for Raazi. Of course you're not going to like Uri!

[Laughs] And then I don't know what happened. I got back to the script four days later, finished it in an hour-and-a-half, as if I was reading it for the first time. I called up Sonia [Screwvala's associate] at 3 am, and said, I will do the film.

You essentially have your dad to thank for Uri. What I find most fascinating is actually your dad [Sham Kaushal]! Tell us his [lesser known] story.

My dad and mom are from a small village in Punjab. He was good in studies, and started learning English in sixth grade. He went on to top BA, in English Literature; did his MA. And wanted to be an English professor in Punjab. But the family's financial situation was such that he could not pursue an M.Phil from Chandigarh. At 23, he was frustrated, with no job, even after an MA degree. My dadaji [grandfather] had a very small kiraane ki dukaan [convenience store] in the village. My dad's friend Satpal was going to Bombay to become an actor. Since my dad was doing nothing at home, and frustrated, my grandfather asked him to tag along with the friend, for a few days, feel better, and come back. In Bombay, my dad wanted to start a new life. He had a distant uncle in New Bombay, who got him a salesman's job in a plumbing-wall shop, behind RK Studios, in Chembur. He did that for Rs 350 a month, and really struggled. He's been on streets. Without letting anybody know, he used to live in the office, having done a 'setting' with the peon. He would sleep, leave early; and come back, when work started.

He would take a shower in office?

Yeah, everything. After a year, he knew he couldn't start a family with R350 a month, even if he did the same thing for 15 to 30 years. So, without Plan B, he quits his job, and comes to a PG [paying-guest accommodation] in Santacruz. Here, he stays with 10 Punjabi guys, who're stuntmen. They leave for work in the morning, and come back with a tidy sum in the evening. That's when he discovers this [profession]. Purely for survival, he decides to become a stuntman, at 25. People start training at 13-15, when their body is flexible. He had never done any physical activity before. He used to sit in his father's shop, and do accounts. So he is a stuntman for 10 years. He lands up his first film as action director with Mohanlal, because the Malayalam filmmakers were shooting in Bombay. They needed someone to handle the stunt sequences. They would've been okay with an experienced stuntman as well. So long as the person understood English, so they could communicate with him. My father was the only guy around who knew English. He got that job because of his degree in English Literature! (...)

Did you get to observe showbiz closely as a result?

No. Well, my brother Sunny and I knew that the good things we were getting in life was because of a lot of dad's hardships, and my mom's support to him. But it was never a house, where we wanted to meet our favourite stars, go on sets, parties, etc. We had friends line up outside our house, for an autograph of an actor who was visiting. For us, that actor was my dad's friend. For example, Anurag [Kashyap] sir and I always have a laugh about this. He knows me since Black Friday [in which my dad was action director]. I was probably in my eighth grade. So when he used to come over for meetings, I used to call him uncle, serve him parathas, and go out to play cricket. So it was that. (...)

Did it bother you, as in a system where a star takes all, or that you would have to become one [in order to succeed]?

Not at all. To be honest, I don't know why, but I never had a sense [of entitlement] that I should be launched as a star. I knew I could make a mark by knowing my job - just going through the drill, and getting opportunities on the basis of what I know. Also, my father had made it clear that he would back my decision to be an actor, as a father alone. And not as an action director. So I had that reality-check - that nobody is going to spend crores, because I'm Sham Kaushal's son. And he's not going to do it either. Besides, for whatever reasons, whether some sort of complex, or plain under-confidence, my dream wasn't so big - that I want to be a hero. I was just on auto-pilot - that I'll give auditions, learn the craft through theatre, be an AD [assistant director]...

You did a lot of theatre?

I did. But I started off as an intern to Anurag Kashyap on Gangs Of Wasseypur. I also started reading scripts that my dad would get, to match with the final film, and see changes that an actor brought in. I could visit sets with him. But realised I'd then just be a visitor. My knowledge of engineering is so bookish that I can't even repair a TV. I wanted to be an engineer, who has been at the garage for four years. So I decided to dive into acting, with on-field learning. (...) Through actors on set, I got to know the importance of theatre. I'd been active on stage since school, but feared it professionally. I started doing theatre with Manav Kaul, Kumud Mishra, Naseer saab [Naseeruddin Shah], Thespo Festival, and Rage Productions - my first pay-cheque. I joined Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting academy. I also had to clean my slate, after being an assistant-director, because I wasn't looking at that profession. I completely cut off from Anurag sir.

But he made you act in Gangs, though!

It's the scene where Nagma Khatoon [Richa Chadha] goes to a brothel. Last minute, everyone [junior artistes] that we'd rounded up in Benares refused to participate in that scene, once they realised it's a brothel. The entire direction team stood-in for them. I'm that silhouette you see behind the window-grille, (...) when Nagma Khatoon is cursing Sardar Khan [Manoj Bajpayee]! That was the first time I faced a camera.

Oh, I'm told your first time before camera was for [director] Michael Winterbottom?

Yes, that was the first time I faced the camera, and you could see my face! Michael Winterbottom was making a film called Trishna, with Freida Pinto. We'd just finished shooting Gangs in March, 2011, and I had these braces, and was an AD. I had gone to my native place in Punjab with family, when I got a call from Anurag Kashyap, and he said, "Item number karega (Will you do an item number)?" I was like, what? He said, it's a Michael Winterbottom film, and Huma [Qureshi] and I will dance, and that he's acting in it as well, it'll be fun. So, Trishna, that's Freida's character in the film, comes to Bombay from Rajasthan, and a friend of hers takes her to a film-set. There's a song being shot with choreographer Ganesh Acharya, which is being picturised between and Huma and I [in the film, within the film]. (...) I was wearing this shimmery black, typically item-number costume, which I was very conscious of. I had no idea how it feels to be before a camera, with 50 back-up dancers, and 200 people around. So, my body is dancing, but my face is like this [frozen]. Ganesh Acharya sir, who was very sweet, came up to me and said, "You're dancing well. Now just dance from your face!" Of course, with several retakes, we got it right. (...)

Masaan was your first release. But Zubaan, which picked up top festival awards, was actually your first film. Honestly, couldn't understand that movie. Should one go back and watch it again?

I don't feel an audience should change the way they should watch a film. If you can't connect, you can't. It really resonated with me - a Punjabi from Gurdaspur, going to a big city, living that life, eventually realising it's not him; and now he has to connect back to his roots, and music becomes his medium. There was a lot for me to do as an actor - the journey, plus that stammering, plus music... If I feel connected to a material, for any reason, I just plunge into it. I don't think if it's going to do any good. I went through several rounds of auditions, from a short-list of around 200-300 actors, for that role.

Even Masaan, for that matter, I'm told, you'd seen the pilot promo of that film with other actors already. Who were the other people doing that film then?

I remember [director] Neeraj [Ghaywan] and I, with the entire AD team of Gangs of Wasseypur, were going to Pune. Because a friend had lost someone in her family. We were in the same car, catching up after long. He was telling me about a film he was trying to make. (...) He showed me the pilot-promo. It looked very interesting, and he gave me the gist. The cast was Rajkummar Rao for the part I [eventually] played. (...) There was Manoj Bajpayee for the part played by Sanjay Mishraji, and Richa [Chadha], and Shweta [Tripathi]. That was the promo. The film had to be shot in October during Durga Puja. (...) If they missed the deadline, they'd have to shoot the following year, which they couldn't afford. Raj couldn't make it during the time, so that slot became open. They were looking for new actors. So they auditioned me, and I passed!

That was a breakout role. You owe your career to Rajkummar Rao!

[Laughs] Yes. In fact, my first few films, even Zubaan or Raman Raghav [2015], had gone to somebody else, and then they started auditioning again. (...)

Speaking of directors, you've worked with Anurag Kashyap as an intern [Gangs], then actor [Raman Raghav, Manmarziyaan], he also produced Masaan. He's notorious for throwing actors into the deep-end, no script, etc. How did that work for you, starting off?

He's a very impromptu kind of a creative force, relying on impulse. If you give him everything ready on paper, then he might not know what to do on a set. He does give you the lines. He just doesn't want actors to be rigid, when it comes to them. So he wants you to enter knowing what your character is. And then allow him, the geography, and the costumes to mould you.

Give an example?

Sometimes, we may not have the lines beforehand. For example, my last scene in Manmarziyaan. It's the separation scene between Taapsee and I, in her room. We were ready in costume. He had told the DOP [cinematographer] to keep the tracking-shot ready. And he is with his pen and paper, writing the scene, while we're in costume. He gives us the lines, and we have five to ten minutes to prepare. I had to hug Taapsee. It is an emotional moment. My character has accepted the fact that he's not the guy in her life. He hugs her. And once a scene is over, as per the script, for the next ten to fifteen seconds, Anurag sir has a tendency to not say cut.

He will just keep the camera rolling?

Yeah, while the actors are thinking, what do I do next? I still remember, it was my OS [over-the-shoulder] shot. I have hugged Taapsee. The moment is done. And done. And done... But I still can't hear, cut! Then I see Anurag Kashyap sitting right next to that camera, looking at me, going, "Alag ho jaa, alag ho jaa [separate]." So in that emotional, teared-up state, I don't know what to do. She [Taapsee] doesn't know what to do either. And then, I just start beat boxing. That makes Taapsee smile. And that makes me smile. And then, he says cut. That is the moment, and the scene in the film. Not the one he had written.

Is Rajkumar Hirani the methodically prepared, polar-opposite?

He is as organic. The difference between them lies in the writing, and structuring of the film. And their ways of presenting a story. As directors, they are both fine editors. They can see the film while shooting it, and so they are super-fast - no safety-shots, no safety-cuts. I've seen on Sanju, Raju sir has called for a steady-cam operator on set for a specific shot and moment. It's a full night's shoot anyway. While shooting the scene, he captured that moment on a static camera. He was so sure that he had got the shot, that he just told the steady-cam operator to pack-up'.

Maria Rosaria Borrelli: Raccontare la notte dell'anima. Il cinema di M. Night Shyamalan

È in distribuzione nelle librerie italiane il saggio Raccontare la notte dell'anima, dedicato al noto regista M. Night Shyamalan. L'autrice è Maria Rosaria Borrelli. Pubblica Shatter Edizioni.

Chanakya: le riprese in Italia

Nella giornata di ieri a Como sono state effettuate alcune riprese di Chanakya, film in lingua telugu diretto da Thiru e interpretato da Gopichand e da Mehreen Pirzada. Le location selezionate: lungolago, piazza Duomo, Teatro Sociale, Tempio Voltiano, piazza Giuseppe Verdi, via Francesco Ballarini. Oggi e domani i set vengono allestiti a Milano. 

Video Troupe indiana a Como per le riprese di un film, Espansione Tv, 28 agosto 2019.

Video Riprese di un film indiano in centro Como, CiaoComo Radio, 28 agosto 2019.

Aggiornamento del 3 novembre 2023: video del brano Gulabhi.

Sex, drugs, politics: how the streaming giants are blowing up Bollywood

Vi segnalo l'articolo Sex, drugs, politics: how the streaming giants are blowing up Bollywood, di Steve Rose, pubblicato ieri da The Guardian:

'“The three big ‘no’s in Indian cinema are sexuality, religion and politics,” says Anurag Kashyap. “And in Sacred Games we address all three.” The Netflix series, which Kashyap co-directed, takes viewers to places Bollywood rarely does. (...) A dense, tense crime saga that closely tracks real-world history: political and police corruption, organised crime, religious tension, nuclear terrorism. (...) There is blood, sex, and violence, not to mention a trailblazing transgender character. “You cannot do that in mainstream cinema and have an audience,” Kashyap says. “It’s a given that movie-watching in India is a family experience, a community experience. Families didn’t sit together to see Sacred Games.” (...)

With 1.3 billion people and more than 500 million internet subscribers, not to mention flatlining growth in other territories, the streaming giants have been moving into India big time. Both Netflix and Amazon launched their services there in 2016, taking on larger local rivals such as the Disney-owned Hotstar. (...) Not only are these companies telling stories Bollywood can’t, they are bringing them to audiences Bollywood can’t reach. Sacred Games was a phenomenon in India, but the show was watched by twice as many people outside the country, according to Netflix. (...)

Sacred Games is not the only boundary-pushing Indian show Netflix has released. There is supernatural horror Ghoul, set in a detention facility in a near-future India under martial law due to sectarian violence. There is cricketing drama Selection Day, based on the book by Booker prize-winner Aravind Adiga, and directed by British-Indian Udayan Prasad. On a very different tack was Lust Stories, an anthology of short films by four directors (including Kashyap), all focusing on female sexuality. (...) Amazon has also put out provocative content, such as Mirzapur, a crime saga infused with sex and violence, that would not get past the cinema censors.

At the other end of the spectrum was this year’s Delhi Crime, based on the horrific gang rape, torture and murder of Jyoti Singh on a Delhi bus in 2012. (...) Delhi Crime focuses on the manhunt for the six perpetrators, based on the real-life case files. The investigation is spearheaded by a female deputy police commissioner. (...) Powerfully portrayed by Shefali Shah, she is a different kind of heroine to the Bollywood norm: fortysomething, a sympathetic mother but also a formidable leader, who insists everything is done by the book. (...) A pacy police procedural that doubles as a wide-ranging societal survey. Although it is sympathetic towards the police, the series hardly casts India in a flattering light. This is a landscape of institutional sexism, societal indifference, self-serving politicians, endemic corruption, press leaks, power cuts, pollution and badly funded public services. Even to get a forensic team to a crime scene requires twisting arms and calling in favours. (...)

Even in cinemas, streaming giants are exerting an influence on Indian cinema, it seems. (...) Could this be the beginning of a brain-drain in Indian cinema? Could the streaming services start to erode Bollywood? (...) There is something to lose here. For all its inaccessibility, Bollywood is really the only substantial national cinema that has not been co-opted by the US and other foreign players. As Kashyap puts it: “Our biggest strength is our biggest weakness: that we do not need to sell a single ticket to a non-Indian to sustain ourselves.” It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, but the streaming companies have created an extra platform for more outward-facing Indian film-makers such as Kashyap. (...) Having been outsiders, they now find themselves in a position of unprecedented power and influence. The game has changed'.

Priyanka Chopra e Nick Jonas a Selinunte: Google Camp 2019

Priyanka Chopra e Nick Jonas sono nuovamente in Italia, questa volta a Selinunte (Sicilia), per partecipare al blindatissimo Google Camp 2019.

Dimple Kapadia e Christopher Nolan: set di Tenet in Estonia

Dimple Kapadia è stata scritturata per Tenet, il nuovo film di Christopher Nolan. La pellicola verrà girata in diversi Paesi, fra cui l'Italia. La troupe è attualmente in Estonia. Nelle due fotografie diffuse in rete, l'attrice e il regista sono immortalati sul set allestito in questi giorni per l'appunto in Estonia.

Aggiornamento del 26 agosto 2020: a partire da oggi Tenet è in distribuzione nelle sale italiane.

Dimple Kapadia e John David Washington, set a Mumbai, settembre 2019

Kabir Bedi cittadino onorario di Caggiano

Il 27 luglio 2019 Kabir Bedi ha ricevuto la cittadinanza onoraria di Caggiano (Salerno) con la seguente motivazione: 'Interpretando i sentimenti della Comunità di Caggiano nel riconoscere degnamente, quale pubblica attestazione di stima e gratitudine, i grandi meriti artistici universalmente riconosciuti dell’attore Kabir Bedi per aver magistralmente interpretato il leggendario e carismatico eroe salgariano di ‘Sandokan’ nella storica serie televisiva RAI, nonché, per le sue benemerite attività che lo vedono attualmente impegnato nel sociale in favore dei bambini poveri dell’India'. Kabir ha replicato: 'Essere cittadino di Caggiano è una cosa molto speciale per me. Da sempre ho provato a migliorare i rapporti tra Italia e India perché pur avendo cultura e religione differenti, abbiamo tante cose in comune, a partire dalla storia e dai valori per la comunità e la famiglia che uniscono tutti i popoli. Ho girato tanti posti in Italia, tra cui Caggiano e quando rientro in India porterò tanti ricordi ma soprattutto la testimonianza del vostro calore che ho ricevuto già durante la mia visita di ottobre scorso [clicca qui]'. Fonte Ondanews. Video Italia2Tv.

Giffoni Film Festival 2019

La 49esima edizione del Giffoni Film Festival si è svolta dal 19 al 27 luglio 2019. Hichki, diretto da Siddharth Malhotra e interpretato da Rani Mukherjee, si è aggiudicato il premio per il miglior film della sezione Elements +10. Condividendo il mio messaggio relativo alla vittoria, Malhotra ha commentato nel suo profilo Twitter: 'Super super excited to share that our labour of love @hichkithefilm wins the Elements +10 best film award at the @giffonifilmfest' (clicca qui). Blinded By The Light, di Gurinder Chadha, ha vinto il premio per il miglior film della sezione Generator +13, e verrà distribuito nella sale del nostro Paese a partire dal prossimo 29 agosto (trailer).

Le Giornate del Cinema Lucano 2019

L'undicesima edizione de Le Giornate del Cinema Lucano si svolge a Maratea dal 21 al 26 luglio 2019. Kabir Bedi, ospite della manifestazione, terrà domani un seminario. All'attore verrà conferito il Premio Internazionale Basilicata 2019.

Aggiornamento del 26 luglio 2019: intervista video concessa da Kabir a Eva Elisabetta Zuccari per Today.

Shilpa Shetty in Italia

Shilpa Shetty è in questi giorni in vacanza in Italia con la famiglia. Video.