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REBLOGGED – Q & A with Imtiaz Ali on ‘Highway’ (via MoiFightClub)

Big shout out to the movie lovers at MoiFightClub. They do immeasurable service to the community by highlighting all things related to good cinema. Another such effort is to use their contacts to generate dialogue between filmmakers & their audiences. Here is a 90 minute session with director Imtiaz Ali talking to viewers after the screening of his movie “Highway”.

It takes a lot for a filmmaker to put himself out there and take direct questions about his story. Imtiaz Ali is humble, honest and bold all at the same time while discussing his film. Without undermining the intelligence of any question asked, he acknowledged his shortcomings and also provided his understanding the situations that led him to it. Few points for the lazy:

  • That sincerity with which he discusses his characters. He keeps telling us he was not sure of many things about where the lead characters would end up. It was visible in these conversations that he invested in the characters and was willing to change their behaviour based on actors feedback – “Because they were living in that story… Alia was living as Veera as we went shooting across the mountains”. Another memorable moment — he was asked why the characters never ended up sex. Why did the relation between Mahabir & Veera not consummate physically? The response – “It never went in that direction. Probably they would have if they stayed there for a few more days.”
  • An audience member observed that as the protags hid in the mountains, it seemed that the movie itself was trying to get rid of the shackles of a plot. Imtiaz smiled and concurred with that observation. He confessed that he doesn’t like movies that carry the weight of the plot on them. Unfortunately, for a larger audience this translated into a negative feedback.
  • In the first 10 minutes of the 3rd video, he discusses songs, singers & A.R.Rehman. How I wished someone asked him about the working process with Rehman at this forum!
  • In his defense, Imtiaz Ali spoke candidly about the process of movie making and the challenges posted by budget & time. With due credit to his razor sharp memory, a lot many stories tumbled out about the locations & the people that worked with him on this project.

This interaction was a trove of information and provided a peek of the brilliant mind of Imtiaz Ali and big thanks to the awesome folks of MoiFightClub for this. Keep up the good work, guys!

moifightclub's avatarF.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b

As far as the reactions go, Imtiaz Ali’s new film ‘Highway’ is more or less on the same track like his last film Rockstar – completely divided between lovers and haters. And like last time, Ali was quite open and candid to discuss the strength and every weakness of the film, and took it all head on. We love and respect those filmmakers who are open to such dialogues. So thanks a lot, Imtiaz Ali. Whatever film you make, hope you remain like this.

We also hope more bollywood filmmakers will be open to such Q and As. Who really wants to read about the film pre-release, which is still quite the norm in the country. And post-release, they just vanish.

Also, it all happened because Navjot Gulati took the initiative, contacted Ali, sorted the logistics and made it possible. And thanks to Mihir Desai,Aniruddh Patankar and Sumit…

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THR’s Roundtable series – Television Executives

Without having read a page of their magazine, I’m a huge fan of The Hollywood Reporter. Solely due to their Roundtable discussions which they have so graciously shared it with the rest of the world on their webpage.

(Note: The Roundtable series involves some of the most talented & creative brains of our times having lengthy conversations about their works. Its a complete time-suck. Consider yourself warned!)

An important round-table discussion worth sharing is the one with Television Executives. Four senior executives from different broadcasters – each holding a unique space within the American TV industry – sat around a table (d’oh!) to discuss the changing nature of television. Here’s the entire one hour video:

For me, this discussion was such a revelation that I’ve watched it multiple times over the last few months. Today I revisited it again and spent the entire Sunday afternoon taking down 3 pages of notes. Starting with their names :

  1. John Landgraf – President, FX Networks (from the corner painted “Basic cable”)
  2. Ted Sarandos – Chief Content Officer, Netflix (representing the “Digital domain”)
  3. David Nevis – President, Showtime Networks (coming in from “Premium Cable”)
  4. Kevin Reilly – Chairman, Fox Broadcasting Company (from the “Network channels”)

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