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Reel attitude

HER CINEMA Shalini Usha Nair is in the process of filming a series of documentaries exploring the Malayali psyche as portrayed in the works of New Wave directors ( S. GOPAKUMAR)

Her bespectacled eyes twinkle, her face lights up and her hands become animated as she starts talking about cinema. For city-based independent filmmaker Shalini Usha Nair, cinema is not a way to while away time, but a way of life. “It is the right time for female filmmakers to go all out,” says Shalini, an alumna of the renowned PCFE Film School, Prague, Czech Republic. “There are opportunities galore for them to and audiences are becoming more receptive of experimental cinema, not to mention more media savvy with regards to advertisements and publicity.”

Setting up a production house ‘Hyperbole Films,’ was a smart move on her part to capitalise on this expanding market. Inspired by the “superior cinema” of the 1980’s and 1990’s, the New Wave of Malayalam Cinema, she has plans to make films that have a wealth of meaning in addition to commercial value. “Those cinemas are a craft unto themselves. They toe the line between fiction and reality, where one ends and the other begins is difficult to discern. The fluidity of the scripts, their characterisation and direction are priceless,” explains the 27-year old, who is in the process of filming a series of documentaries exploring the Malayali psyche as portrayed in the works of iconic new wave directors. It was the love for this kind of cinema that turned this journalist into a filmmaker.

Her first exposure to filmmaking was while attending a workshop ‘Film and Female,’ on making documentaries, held at the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy. “It was a captivating induction into the nuances of cinema. There were lectures and demonstrations by independent female filmmakers such as Madhusree Datta of Majlis Initiative and Deepa Dhanraj.” As part of the workshop Shalini made her first documentary, ‘Hidden Castles,’ about the social stigma attached to children of prostitutes – a tale told through their own words.

Not one to let an opportunity go by, she jumped at the chance to assist T.K. Rajeev Kumar on ‘Shesham’ and went on to cultivate her interest by serving as the jury secretary for IIFK 2004. “I got to personally interact and pick the brains of filmmaker Paul LeDuc (of ‘Frida’ fame), and film journalists like Joan Dupont and Madhu Jain, and learned to evaluate cinema,” reminisces Shalini.

To learn the intricacies of the profession she started working in a well-known advertising agency in Mumbai. There she assisted 27 Indian and international directors, in over 50 advertisements. “International directors stick to the storyboard and the majority of the work is done in the pre-shoot stages. Their Indian counterparts like to work impromptu and find it easier to adapt to changes.”

So what did she learn from them? “From Priyadarshan, whom I assisted on the Nokia and Samsung ads, I got to learn time management and damage control. Time equals money. He knows how to balance the two and diplomatically soothe ruffled feathers. Rajkumar Hirani appears blasé but he has his finger on the pulse.

He really understands the demographics. Francois Merlet on the Saint Gobain ad, which went to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, taught me the value of exacting standards,” opines Shalini, who has already helmed a number of ads for city-based organisations.

It was all these experiences that won her the job of an assistant director with “genius” Ketan Mehta for the Bollywood movie ‘Rang rasiya,’ on 19th century painter Raja Ravi Varma. Being a female filmmaker, though, in a thoroughly male dominated profession is not without its hurdles.

“At times it’s difficult for females in the profession to be taken seriously. Producers tend to be wary of us and some people behave in a condescending manner, despite the fact that you may be more skilled than them,” rues Shalini.

“That is why a lot of females in the profession choose to work independently. It all depends on your work. If it is good then gender is not even an issue. Flounder and you’re labelled as incompetent. Unfortunately, that’s the universal truth,” she adds.

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