What is censorship in the context of films? Why do establishments feel the need of banning or censorship? When and why did it start? What’s Hays Code and what were the few important milestones in the evolution of censorship? May be just in the Indian context? Can you tell us if there is any official […]
Films
“The Promise” documentary making (Part 2)
You have made 2 documentaries in the East. What fascinates you about the East, about India? What makes you make films of Design, art, dance and such creative expressions. Why did you consider architecture to be part of art as a film maker? What is “The Promise – Architect BV Doshi”? How did the idea […]
Production design
What does a film mean to you? What are the other 2 things that matter the most to you in a film apart from the story? I guess, in the early days of cinema, there was not really an explicit role of a production designer (at least in India). Most of the stuff was done […]
rk/rkay & film making
What inspired you to make you rk/rkay? As Saint Ashtavakra said, “Na ye sach na woh sach. Sirf tum hi sach”. At what level did this confront you while writing the story or making the film? You said ideas don’t make films, stories do. How did you arrive at the final story? Back from “what […]
Crafting moving visuals
Let’s start with a layman’s definition of VFX and Special effects. What are they? Are they categorically different or used interchangeably and loosely? What does motion mean to you? What according to you is a definition of “good” storytelling? Can you briefly paint a picture of the evolution of animation, VFX, and motion design in […]
Power of editing
What is your definition of editing? How intuitive or how planned is it? Directors like Hitchcock, Ray, and many other filmmakers edited their films. Any thoughts on “why”? (apart from expensive celluloid). Almost every shot was planned and storyboarded. Then, where according to you the boundary between the filmmaker and editor lie? What do you […]
A film artist
Who is a film artist? What is the difference between a film maker and a film artist? Do you ever need to explain your films? What is your definition of abstract? How abstract is abstract for you? Any movement can be a scene. For eg: in “Performing Death”, there are 2 shots. How do you […]
What is Cognitive Gym? (4 Anniversary episode)
What is a cognitive gym that you talk about? How essential is it in today’s times? What are instincts or genetic patterns if we may call them? What is the game that you are designing and why?
MUBI – Hand-picked cinema
I will start with the most meta-question – What is curation according to you in the cinema context? Who are these people, who watch the cinema showcased on MUBI? Can you share any personas/demographics of this audience? How do you map films for them? At MUBI, how does curation work? If it has to […]
Animation and thought behind
What is your definition of storytelling? How has to change over time? From still images to moving images? Can you share your learnings, pros, and cons with both these ways of expression? Your work seems to be quite diverse in terms of styling. Is it a conscious choice/effort or you are still exploring? Do you […]