Anand Patwardhan toils with 'War and Peace'

The second day of the DigitAll Movement (DAM) began with the screening of an edited version of reputed activist and filmmaker Anand Patwardhan’s award-winning documentary War and Peace. The film War and Peace unveils the reality behind the façade created by common concepts of democracy and nuclear nationalism. It goes on to delve deeper into the Arms’ race that has been steadily gaining pace since India and Pakistan conducted their first nuclear tests back-to-back in 1998. War and Peace considers how the pseudo arms race is a front for a strong military-industrial complex.

The movie containing exclusive footage from nuclear power States that include India, Pakistan, Japan and the United States of America is an impressive and successful attempt to showcase the aftermath and repercussions of war, proliferation of weaponry and the dangers involving abuse of nuclear energy. The controversy that arose from the blatant accusations leveled against the government, political parties and the people in power caused the film to go through tedious rounds of court appeals and cases so that it could receive permission to be broadcasted on Doordarshan.

Discussing the film in an interactive session after the screening of the film, Mr. Anand Patwardhan said, “The film is extremely complex; not by any conscious attempt, but because of the sheer nature of the subject. Covering reality requires the movie to be complex”. Mr. Patwardhan believes that the development paradigm among people in our coutry keeps shifting according to their ideologies. Some believe that science and technological development are the ultimate yardsticks of a country’s progress and its citizens’ standards of living. But it is alarming to note that the part of our populace that considers nuclear strength and armaments as the only note-worthy sign of a progressive and powerful country is slowly but steadily on the rise.

- Vinaya Gopaal

Day 1: Fun at DAM!

With the seminars having come to a highly successful end, the crowd spilled out from the auditorium onto our fair campus, most of them looking unsure about what to do next. But there was hope! An on-the-spot mobile movie making contest saw 9 teams fan out across the campus, shooting anybody and anything their imaginations took fancy to. In the meantime, a hapless aspirant or two ran around looking for the right clothes to wear. Mr. Narendra Modi’s visit found the auditorium inadequate to accommodate his fans and at another end of the campus, Claymation’s Mr. Vinayak of Frameboxx fame modeled characters from the ‘Mahabharata’, holding the undivided attention of the 50-odd DAM participants.
All this, while RIO and the Khatta Gola proved to be quite the hit on the 1st afternoon of DAM!

- Arindam Mohanty

SIMC honours Star Alumni at DAM ‘09

On the opening day of the DigitAll Movement (DAM) 2009, two alumni from the Batch of 1996, Monika Shergill – Creative Director & Supervisor of Star One and Yash Patnaik, CEO of production house Beyond Dreams Entertainment Ltd were honoured with the Star Alumni award for outstanding contribution to their respective fields and bringing laurels to their alma mater.

Ms. Shergill and Mr. Patnaik with their fascination for the audio-visual medium are able forerunners in today’s digital revolution. The-then Symbiosis Institute of Journalism and Communication campus in Senapati Bapat Road was the venue where they learnt with passion about an industry, considered an ‘odd’ choice at the time.

After her stint at Symbiosis, Monica Shergill had assisted in conducting research for a Penguin publication for two months. Following that, she moved to Miditech, Delhi as electronic correspondent which marked her shift to audio visual media. Now, as the Creative Director and Supervisor of Star One channel, she still considers herself to be learning the tricks of the trade.

Yash Patnaik' with his wife Mamta founded the production house Beyond Dreams Entertainment Ltd that produces The Monika Mogre case files currently being aired on Zee TV, a far cry from his first job in the Maharashtra Herald. His creature horror film ‘Kaalo’ is also being readied for release.

The two alumni, while awed with the knowledge and clear-mindedness of today’s students, feel that youngsters should explore new options without concentrating on achieving success. “Take the long road to success that allows one to make mistakes and learn from them”, is Monica Shergill’s message to aspiring media professionals with Yash Patnaik reiterating the need to strike the right balance between passion and marketing by not be bothered about job profiles and learning from every experience.

- Devika Gupta & Keerat Kaur

Gaurav Jani is ‘Riding Solo to the Top of the World’

As part of the events on Day 1 of the DigitAll Movement 2009, the journey of Gaurav Jani and his one-man film unit chronicled in the documentary film Riding Solo to the Top of the World was screened for the public at 6.30 pm. The movie produced by DirtTrack Productions is an over view of Gaurav Jani’s bike trip from Delhi to the Changthang Plateau in the Karakoram Range, from where he takes off on a ride of spiritual revelation to Chemur. This solo adventure of Gaurav Jani that becomes a universal experience of celebration and self-recognition was captured by himself in his Panasonic DVX 100.
As the entire movie was directed and shot by Mr. Gaurav Jani himself, which in itself is one of the prime highlights of the film, camera-handling and diverse technical settings were restricted. Most of the shots used to show the bike ride were still camera images and long shots. Mr. Jani’s interaction with the Changpas of the Changthan area, which he described as the “Cathedral of Silence” in his film, and his rather special interaction with the Changpa Sehwang has also been discretely portrayed. “An experience recommended to all”, said Gaurav Jani during the interactive session that took place after the screening.
“A good while after working as the Assistant Director for Ram Gopal Varma in the movie Jungle, I started considering co-joining two of my fondest passions of biking and filmmaking to create a video that was one of a kind”, remarked Gaurav Jani.
Mr. Jani’s next film “One Crazy Ride” is also a bike adventure of a group of five, travelling through the most rugged and difficult roads to the hidden, unknown parts of India.

- Vinaya Gopaal

Luke Kenny at DAM with its directorial debut The 13th Floor

Probably the most awaited session of the day, the workshop with Luke Kenny did not disappoint the crowd. Interactive from the moment he walked into the screening hall, Luke, as he asked us to call him, was visibly delighted to be at SIMC.

The session began with the screening of his debut and only movie ‘The 13th Floor’. Set in modern Mumbai, the movie dwells on the co-incidences and improbable meetings in elevators amidst a power cut across the state of Maharashtra. A tad on the longer side, this 80 minute ‘feature film’ is probably not one of the technically strongest movies and could have been edited in a better manner. Even so, it is good one-time watch with an intriguing storyline.

The interactive session, however, moved beyond the movie and Luke answered questions about his personal and professional life. He spoke about how he decided to turn to direction and DJ-ing because it allowed him to be in ‘creative control’. He also emphasized the need for every student of cinema to make a movie that they could show to the producer so that they would know what to expect on hiring them. While speaking about digital movies, he explained how it would be the Next Big Thing for Indian filmmakers willing to experiment with different stories and themes as it was cheaper and more convenient to use.

Perhaps the entire crux of the session was summed up when Luke quoted Quentin Tarantino, “If you have the money to go to a good movie school, then make a movie instead”.

- Akashi Kaul

DAM Fest Open: 2nd International DigitAll Movement begins at SIMC

The lush 300-acre campus at Symbiosis Knowledge Village in Lavale witnessed the inaugural ceremony of the 2nd international digital entertainment festival. Organized by the students of Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, DigitAll Movement (DAM 09) which began today will culminate with a red carpet ceremony three days hence.

Filmmaker Kunaal Roy Kapur (The President is Coming) declared the 3-day fest open with the clapperboard. Talking about the nascent stage of digital filmmaking in India, Kapur said that going digital is the way ahead for future generations. He highlighted the strengths offered by the digital medium in terms of creative liberty, usability and economic viability.

Advocating the use of new media for film promotion and distribution was Rajjat Barjatya, the young enterprising scion of Rajshri Media. “The online revolution has benefited content providers, producers, exhibitors and consumers in a huge way,” he said. Barjatya is credited with the release of Vivaah, both online and in cinemas, simultaneously.

Dibaker Banerjee – who was an obvious hit with the crowd with popular favourites like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye in his kitty – spoke passionately about the potential of the digital medium. He however insisted that that the cost effectiveness of the medium should not result in trivial content production. “Use digital technology to make a unique production,” he said.

The occasion lent itself to elicit some nostalgic moments when Monika Shergill, creative director of Star One and Yash Patnaik, CEO of Beyond Dreams Entertainment Ltd. – SIMC alumnus from the 1996 batch – were awarded with the Star Alumni Award.