Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 103

The sun, the moon and the Oscar
9.5.2013, Mumbai

Japanese director Akira Kursawa said about our most revered filmmaker Satyajit Ray that if you have not watched Satyajit Ray films it is like breathing in this world and not having seen the sun and the moon.

A few days ago Delhi celebrated Ray’s films via a retrospective which was a part of centenary celebration of cinema. To recap his magnificent journey briefly Ray released his debut feature Pather Panchali shot with amateur actors and inexperienced technical crew in 1955. It told the story of a little boy Apu growing up in a village in Bengal.

Aparajito and Apur Sansar completed Apu Trilogy followed by Charulata about a lonely housewife and a musical fantasy Gopy Gyane Bagha Byne.

In a four decade long career Ray shot documentaries, short and feature films. He is the only Indian filmmaker to be awarded Oscar for Lifetime Achievement and the academy came home to do the honors because Ray could not travel for the ceremony.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 102

The Last Harvest

8.5.2013, Mumbai

An exhibition of rare paintings by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore curated by Prof Siva Kumar was inaugurated at the National Gallery of Modern Arts, Fort a few weeks ago.

Walking down the passage admiring his paintings it is difficult to make up one’s mind what to admire Tagore most for? He is the country’s grand old man of letters; we have grown up on his poetry and songs and now his unforgettable imageries.

It is said that Tagore took to painting at a very late age and continued till he died and because he was not a trained artiste, he simply followed his heart. It is said that he loved painting more than writing and that is also because he did not take himself seriously as a painter and the exercise was more therapeutic for Tagore.

Tagore taught us that it is never too late to pursue art as long as there is passion.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 101

Tracking Phalke

7.5.2013, Mumbai

On 3 May 1913 exactly 100 years ago Dadasaheb Phalke released India’s first feature film Raja Harishchandra.

A co-incidence that I started writing Think Tank 100 days ago and today write a blog about a book on the life and times of Dadasaheb Phalke called Tracking Phalke. Authored by film director Kamal Swaroop the book is published by NFDC. It is a proud moment for the board. Formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of developing Indian film industry, NFDC has to its credit more than 300 films in 18 regional languages that have won national and international awards.

The goal is to create domestic and global appreciation for the Cinemas of India. Not difficult considering its unique positioning and the fact that NFDC functions as a business unit, produces advertisement campaigns supplemented with 360 degrees support to government clients. It organizes South Asia's Global Film Market in Goa and Film Bazaar is its biggest co-production and distribution market for South Asian and is held every year in November, alongside IFFI.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 100

Move over Newspaper. Viewspaper is here.

6.5.2013, Mumbai

I have been exposed to the Web Chat by CNNIBN and now I’m getting introduced to Twitter Chat being hosted by The Viewspaper (@TheViewspaper). Today, between 7-8pm I will participate in their chat focusing on Women Security. Discussing subjects like crime against women, measures that we need to take in order to ensure women security, an analysis of the anti-rape bill and the stand that the government is taking towards making our country a safer place for women.

Aishwarya Dravid, editor of Viewspaper revealed that such interactions can lead to unexpected and ratifying revelation. All it expects from us is a precious hour of our time to join in the conversation, express opinion and tweet with #tvpchat.

Viewspaper http://theviewspaper.net/ was launched in 2007 and is India's largest youth paper comprising over 10,000 young citizen journalists. It is the seventh largest media company on FaceBook in India with more than 2,63,000 hits and recognized as one of the top eight socially focused businesses in the world in 2010 by the Ashoka Foundation, Staples Inc and Ted.com. Viewspaper represents the Indian youth perspective at the IMF, World Bank and G20Y. Recently awarded with the United Nations World Youth Summit Award for the best e-content on the web, Viewspaper has been unanimously credited for creating a platform for the youth and a new niche in media.

Catch me on the chat today between 7-8pm @TheViewspaper www.theviewspaper.net

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 99

Talkies impress...Shootout shames!
03.05.2013, Mumbai

Shootout at Lokhandwala ke baad – Shootout at Wadala - director Sanjay Gupta ki doosri crime peshgi hai- jo author Hussain Zaidi ki kitab -Dongri to Dubai par adharit hain.

Ye kahani hai underworld mafias Dawood Ibrahim aur Manya Surve ki dushmani ki.

Jaise ki crime filmon mein hota hain – ismein bhi –gaali-galoch/ maar-peet/ dhamki-hafta/ extortion blackmail/ firing-encounter bharpur hain.

Fight master Tinnu Verma aapko - pathar/ kaanch/ loha/ lathi/ belt/ truck se behaal karte hai- aur kuch saansein bach gayi- toh villan ko golle ki machine mein pees dete hain.

Action mein agar kuch kasar reh gayi - toh dialogue writer Milap Zaveri- burri se burri zaban aur gaaliyon ka sehra pehnate hain.

Aur in dono se kuch zulm chuth jaye - iska khayal rakhte hain do extremely offensive aur vulgar item numbers jo besharmi ki saari hadhe paar kar dete hain.

Shootout - Wadala mein nahi - Theatre mein hota hain! Firing Actors par nahi -Audience par hoti hai!! Kapde Sophi aur Sunny Leone ke nahi - dekhne walon ke utarte hain!!!

Khoon se lathpath Shootout at Wadala ko Big Entertainment Ratings milta hai 1 star.

**

Viacom 18 produced Bombay Talkies cinema ke 100 saal ka celebration hain.

Aisa pehli baar hua hain - ki chaar directors ne milkar ek saath film banayi hain.

Chaar khayalat – chaar drishtikon – aur ek jasbaad!

Film ka message aur film ki intention har kahani /kirdaar / performance/ writer/ director aur vivaad se upar hai

Balke main kahungi ki hum khush naseeb hain - ki hum iss daur mein zinda hain - jahan cinema 100 saal ka utsav mana raha hain.

Directors Karan Johar/ Zoya Akhtar/ Dibakar Bannerjee/ Anurag Kashyap ki Bombay Talkies cinema ke sau saal ka tohfa hain - jisse hume – audience ko- sunehri yaad banakar rakhna hai…!

Bombay Talkies ko ye bohat hi special gesture ke liye – charon director mein baantkar - Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 4 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 98

Secret of Awareness
2.5.2013, Mumbai

Every time somebody comes to me for advice I find myself borrowing from the law of attraction – The Secret. My favorite line is seizing an image of talking to an old friend that you haven’t seen for a long time. Somehow somebody is going to start talking to you about that person or the friend is going to phone you or you’ll get a letter from her/him. Visualization is important because the pictures are you create pictures in your mind about what you want are the thoughts you generate followed by feeling of possessing them. It’s the feelings that create alteration and if you stay with the feeling it will always exits in future.



The book says it’s important to think your day in advance and to turn waiting into a time to create your future life. So next time you are waiting, utilize this time to imagine all things you want. Law of attraction grants you energy, so command it, believe it and receive it. Gratitude is an important part of life and we don’t show as much gratitude to people who have changed our lives as much as we should. The book asks you to make a list of things in your life that you need to feel grateful about. It tells you about the magic of the universe.

The universe knows of the shortest, fastest and most harmonious way between you and your dreams. Your job is to declare what you would like to have from the catalogue of the universe. If you want abundance all you have to do is to summon it. Think and then act on it for actions are couriers of thoughts. The book asks you to reduce all negative thoughts to the size of a pimple. It emphasizes on the importance of remaining still. All of us are aware that nothing comes into existence from the outside but the book underlines the theory of creating your future with your thoughts. It underlines that all of us are connected even if we feel can’t see it simply because everything in the universe is connected.

Affirmation brings harmony and Secret aids you in finding harmony, finding alignment. It aids you in becoming aware of everything around you – because that is where you find all your answers. To attract what/ whom we love we must transmit love – so awareness is all!

Bhawana Somaaya / www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day: 97

Will the real Godfather please stand up?
1. 5.2013, Mumbai

Dadasaheb Torne

As we come to the tail end of the centenary year celebrations writer Shashikant Kinikar of Deep Focus Cinema asks if it is Dadasaheb Torney and not Dadasaheb Phalke who is the godfather of Indian cinema.Pundalik 1912 came one year before Dundhiraj Govind Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra 1913. He writes that Torney and his fellow mates were so happy to receive the release print of Pundalik which could fetch successful results in India that none of them remembered to collect the negative of the film was retained by the laboratory in London.

According to Kinikar Ramachandra Gopal Torney alias Dadasaheb Torney’s pioneering
In 1931, Torney stated his own company Saraswati Cinetone in Pune and produced more noteworthy films but in 1942 was forced to shut the company due to financial constraints and bid farewell to filmmaking and some say India.

To read the full article, go to www.deepfocuscinema.com

Bhawana Somaaya / www.bhawanasomaaya.com