|
Magazine
IN PASSING
Connecting two worlds
SUCHITRA BEHAL
Danny Boyle has become a household name in India. And with the release of his super-duper hit film, “Slumdog Millionaire”, he is poised to enter into the hallowed portals of Bollywood/Hollywood greats. Even as audiences are lapping up his
film, and juries bestowing honours on it, Boyle has moved on. Back in Mumbai , Boyle said that the city could well inspire him to make a thriller. “I would love to do one in Mumbai. While filming ‘Slumdog’ I was looking closely and saw the potential for a thriller here. Unlike New York, which is a 24x7 city, Mumbai is not. So at 3.00 a.m. you can see the dogs wandering and a sense of quietness suddenly envelops the city.” He admits that earlier , he had serious misconceptions about the country and its people. “In that sense I have been a colonial person but now that I have seen and witnessed things differently my viewpoint has changed,” said he. He is equally convinced that Hollywood is no longer closed to other filmmakers and feels that soon it will be time for actors from Bollywood and Hollywood to connect. Meanwhile Boyle acknowledges that he may just have taken that first step towards such a trend.
* * *
Serious censor
Here is one lady who takes her job seriously. Actor Sharmila Tagore, in her capacity as chairperson of the Censor Board, has taken her officials to task for awarding a UA certificate to “Ghajini”. “What does this tag mean? It means
that the film can be seen by children under parental guidance, but I feel such a violent and gory film should have been released for adults only.” Tagore said she had not yet seen the film but, “I have received a lot of complaints about it and to date I have not come across a single person who feels it is a film that children can see.” Tagore also added that the trend of doling out film posters, even before the film has been cleared by the censors, was not right. In order to bring some semblance of order to the work of the Censor Board, Tagore said she was working on a uniform rating and certification system for films.
* * *
It just ’happened’
The recent launch of Nandan Nilekani’s book, as expected, drew huge crowds from not only the world of academia but also the corporate sector. Nilekani confessed that, much like his joining Infosys, the book just “happened” to him. S
aid he, “The book, its idea, really began one wintry evening in Coonoor. One thing led to another and soon I sat down to work on it.” Nilekani said that he wrote the structure that his book would take, at one go, but started work on actual writing two months later. “In 18 months I completed it,” said Nilekani. When asked the inevitable: “Are you planning another book?”, he looked incredulous. “What after this? But… maybe.” Having studied in Mumbai IIT, Nilekani also talked about his days on the campus and his short stint working in the city. “I used to take a train to work,” he told the somewhat surprised audience.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
|
