IFFI is unique in its own way - Shankar Mohan

PAGE 01_Layout 1 12/3/2011 12:35 AM Page 1
23rd Nov - 3rd Dec 2011
DAY 11 | 3rd Dec, 2011
IFFI is unique in its own way - Shankar Mohan
T
he Steering Committee met the
media for an interaction
almost towards the end of the
ongoing IFFI 2011. It was headed by
filmmaker Mike Pandey. Other members present besides the Festival Director Shankar Mohan were Vidhu Vinod
Chopra, A. K. Bir, Shaji Karun and
writer Kishwar Desai.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra shared his
thoughts, “People ask me why 6
months old feature films are included
in the Indian Panorama section. Indian
Panorama section is primarily meant
for the foreign delegates who want to
see these films and do not get a chance
to see them in their own country. I
would also like to emphasize that the
IFFI is gaining more prominence and
more recognition and is inching forward
to reach to the level of other prestigious
global film festivals”
Vinod continued. “Why are people, especially the media, always cribbing that the Bollywood is not
participating actively in IFFI? I am of
the opinion that first we must raise the
standard of IFFI to such a great level
that they will themselves come on
their own accord. Goa is a perfect
The SFC presents exciting fare
A
Shankar Mohan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Mike Pandey
venue then why do Bollywood guys
want it to be moved to Mumbai?
Once IFFI rises to the level of other
global festivals, everyone from Bollywood will come running to it.”
Shankar Mohan, the Festival Director shared his version of the festival, “ I think I have succeeded in
translating the vision of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. I will
try my best to increase the scale of the
festival in the coming years. This year
there has been a tremendous participation of the Indian and the foreign
filmmakers. Answering to a question,
Shankar Mohan said “We are already
taking Indian Panorama all over the
country. I have already had talks with
Doordarshan Director General Tripurari Sharan to showcase these films
on the national channel like they used
to earlier. An IFFI secretariat has
also been formed in Goa to regulate
the IFFI co-ordination work round the
clock. IFFI is unique in its own way
and the day we try to imitate the other
festivals, our objectives will be diluted. As soon as the festival concludes this year, we will go into
introspection and start planning the
festival for the next year.”
--Shaheen Raaj
MIFF may become Annual Festival from 2013, says Bankim
T
he Mumbai International Film
Festival for Documentary,
Short and Animation films
(MIFF) will see a return of the Indian
competition, apart from a major increase in the award money to Rs 6.85
million. The jury comprises filmmakers from four foreign countries apart
from India.
12 awards will be given in the international section with award money
of Rs 3.5 million, with ten awards in
the Indian section totaling a cash component of Rs 2.8 million, apart from
the V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement award which alone carries Rs
500,000 and a memento. The total
budget of the Festival being organized
by the Films Division is Rs 25 lakhs.
Bankim, Director General of the
Films Division and Director MIFF,
told a press meet here that a total of
137 hours of international programming had been received while Indians
sent a total of 328 hours of programming. Both these would ultimately be
I
The closing film
The Lady
To be screened today in Kala Academy at 6:50 p.m. for ticket
holders only. The repeat screening will be held at all the four
screens of Inox at 10:00 p.m.
cut down to thirty hours each by the
selection committee. The entries
amounted to a total of 791 entries
from 37 countries including India.
There will be retrospectives of Rabindranath Tagore whose 150th birth
anniversary is being marked this year,
and of Satyajit Ray to mark his birth
centenary. Homages will be paid to
Mani Kaul, M V Krishnaswamy, P B
Pendarkar, Zul Velani, Dilip Roy and
Pratap Sharma.
Bankim said the 12th MIFF to be
held from 3 to 9 February 2012 would
have sections like the Eye Candy Animation
Films,
films
from
Afghanistan and the Balkan, the best
of festivals, the finest from film
schools, world war specials, science
and technology- centric films, and the
North East package and restored
films package on India’s first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Bankim said there is no censorship
in the Festival for Indian or international films. Indian films can be entered in both the Indian and
international competitions. Bankim
added that Films Division was aiming
to making this annual festival, with
MIFF travelling to different destinations every alternate year. He also said
the Division was pursuing the government for a separate channel for documentaries and shorts, but the Division
would have to examine if it had the
programming for such a channel.
fter almost not happening, the SHORT Film Center
made a late start and despite the delay, as many as
218 films came in just 13 days. The fare was exciting, varied and filled with “take home value.”
“Another Planet” directed by Smita Bhide set the ball
rolling and went home with the top prize- The Golden Lamp
Tree Award. One good film followed another. “Crazy Beats
Strong Every Time” by Moon Molson, wove a web of intricate relationships and got itself the Silver Lamp Tree Award.
“Khule Darwaze” by Ashish Pandey became the doorway between the past and the
present for his protagonist; as it led him to the
Special Jury Award. “Anthony Gonsalves” directed by Ashok Rane
and produced by Mrinal
and Shrikant Joshi, received a special Jury
Award from Shankar
Mohan, IFFI Director,
for the best Goan Film.
Rampant spraying of
pesticides was the subject
of two films, Sajan
Sindhu’s animated short
“My Home is Green A still from Another Planet
(Pachilakkoodu)” by and
K. R. Manoj’s “The Pestering Journey”; the latter picking up
the Vasudha Award for Best Film on environment Issues.
Other films included “The Man of the Match” by Hitesh
Kewalya gave an insight on maturing, Dil ki Basti Main by
Anwar Jamal lived up to the tenets of good film making –
give something new or present a new take on something old.
Prakash Mishra’s “Save Earth” was a high impact animated
short on the environment and perils of pollution.
Adobe’s session on “One Stop Production” was followed
up by free trial software DVDs for 15 lucky delegates and
the full software for the SFC Award winners.
Gulshan Sachdev, Makarand Brahme, Anwar Jamal,
Supriyo Sen and Ashok Rane gave us their take on “Directing
Documentaries”.
Sameer Mody, U. Radhakrishnan, Yogesh Kavikurve,
Vikramjit Roy (NFDC), Manoj Srivastava, (CEO, ESG),
Bankim (Director General, Films Division) and Vincent
Corda (Producer, Distributor) gave three very purposeful
and enlightening sessions “Taking Docs to Audiences”
“Business of Shorts” “Short is Big”.
Omi Vaidya of (3 Idiots fame) and his film “Big in Bollywood” were received with great gusto. Reverential tribute
was reserved the order of the day for film maker Bapu from
Andhra Pradesh and his journey from Seetha Kalyanam to
Ram Rajyam via Hum Paanch, Woh Saat Din etc.
-- Ramesh Tekwani
-- B. B. Nagpal
42nd IFFI has many ‘firsts’
t is for the first time that a film
professional has been appointed
as the Festival Director of 42nd
IFFI, as per recommendations of
the expert committee. This has
made all the difference with the result that the 42nd IFFI has proved
to be the best of all the IFFIs held
in Goa since 2004.
Shankar
Mohan, the Festival Director is a
filmmaker, writer, administrator,
film academician and currently
holding charge of the Director of
Satyajit Ray Film and Television
Institute, Kolkata. There are many
things which took place for the first
time in 42nd IFFI.
It is for the first time that the inauguration of 42nd was held in
Ravindra Bhavan, Margao as against
in Kala Academy in the previous
years because of higher sitting capacity. It is for the first time that 42nd
IFFI has been organized by IFFI Secretariat under Ministry of I & B and
not by DFF, as per the recommendations of Expert Committee.
It is for the first time, the festival has been organized as people’s
friendly festival, keeping people of
Goa in mind. Free public screenings were organized in the open between 8-10 p.m. Special public
screenings of films under “Soccer
in Cinema” package at Campal
Football ground were organized between 8-10 p.m.
It is for the first time that the
Life Time Achievement Award has
been revived. The last LTA was
given to Liv Ullman, the world
renowned actress in 34th IFFI. This
year, the LTA award has been conferred upon world renowned
French film maker, screen writer,
and producer Bertrand Tavernier.
It is for the first time that the eminent art director Thotta Tharani has
designed the entire creatives of
IFFI. Under the supervision of filmmaker Shaji N Karun, a permanent
IFFI logo film has been made in 2D
as well as 3D.
Present at IFFI this year were
renowned celebrities like Michelle
Yeoh, Freida Pinto, Phillip Noyce,
Michael Winterbottom, sound designer Resool Pookkutty, Heather
Gram, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and
Luke Besson.
It is for the first time that many
new sections had been added in
42nd IFFI, like ‘3D’, Animation
(‘sketches on screen’), ‘Festival
Kaleidoscope’, ‘Spotlight on
Poland’, Documentaries (foreign
film), Retrospective of Luc Besson
and Phillip Noyce, Country Focus
on USA and ‘Russian Classic’. It
is for the first time that a two day
summit on 3D was also organized
at Kala Academy during IFFI.
It is for the first time that the
quality of ‘Official catalogues on
World cinema IFFI 2011’ and Indian Cinema IFFI-2011 is excellent
in terms of content, quality of
paper, printing and designing.
It is for the first time that the
Delegate Kit contains T-shirt, a
chocolate box and HandbookWorld Cinema IFFI-2011, in addition to official catalogues of World
Cinema and Indian Cinema. It is
for the first time that the catalogues
and the kit were distributed to the
delegates well in time unlike earlier.
It is for the first time that the
mid-night screening of a 3D film
was organized at Kala Bhavan on
1st /2nd Dec.11 mid-night 12.00.
Shankar Mohan, Festival Director, all officers and staff of Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting and
IFFI Secretariat deserve all the accolades for the grand success of
42nd IFFI and we hope that the
43rd IFFI will be even better.
- Satindar Mohan
PAGE 2_Layout 1 12/3/2011 12:49 AM Page 1
2
December 3, 2011
TODAY’S SCREENINg SChEDULE
INOX SCREEN I
INOX SCREEN II
INOX SCREEN III
INOX SCREEN IV
08.30 A.M.
10.00 AM
09.00 AM
09.15 AM
THE END OF SILENCE
(REPEAT SHOW)
Homage –Claude Chabrol
TRUCE
(PEREMIRIYE)
Dir. Roland Edzard
France/Austria/2011/
80 min./Col. (CW)
11.00 A.M.
HOUSE OF
TOLERANCE
(L’APOLLONIDE SOUVENIRS DE LA
MAISON CLOSE)
THE DREAM
FULFILLED
– MEMORIES OF THE
ENGINEERING
CHALLENGES (IP-NF)
Dir. Satish Pande
English/30 min./Col.
MEMORIES IN MARCH
(IP-F)
THE SWINDLE
(RIEN NE VA PLUS)
Dir. Claude Chabrol
France/Switzerland/1997/
105 min./Col.
11.30 AM
RESTLESS
Dir. Sanjoy Nag
English/104 min./Col.
Dir. Gus Van Sant
USA/2011/91 min./Col.
(FK))
02.00 P.M.
12.30 PM
2.30 PM
THE FIRST GRADER
(REPEAT SHOW)
CORMAN’S WORLD
Dir. Bertrand Bonello
France/2011/125 min./Col.
Dir. Justin Chadwick
UK/South Africa/Kenya/
2010/103 min./Col. (CW)
URUMI (IP-F)
Dir. Santosh Sivan
Malayalam/155 min./Col.
04.30 P.M.
05.00 PM
OF WOMEN AND
HORSES (SPORT DE
FILLES)
6.00 PM
TOKYO KOEN
NO SHOW
Dir. Shinji Aoyama
Japan/2011/119 min./Col.
(CW)
Dir. Luc Besson
UK/France/2011/
135min./Col.
Cinema of the World
Euro Discoveries
Festival Kaleidoscope
International Competition
Sketches on Screen
2.45 PM
HANEZU
(HANEZU NO TSUKI)
Dir. Naomi Kawase
Japan/2011/91 min./Col.
(IC)
Closing Film Repeat
THE LADY
Dir. Luc Besson
UK/France/2011/
135min./Col.
DWD
: Documentaries with a Difference
TD
: Third Dimension
RC
: Russian Classics
LB Retro : Luc Besson Retrospective
PN Retro: Philip Noyce Retrospective
KALA ACADEMY
09.30 AM
06.50 PM
(REPEAT SHOW)
SONGS OF
MASHANGVA
(IP-NF)
Closing Film
Dir. Oinam Doren
English/Manipuri/Tangkhul/
62 min./Col.
THE LADY
Dir. Luc Besson
UK/France/2011/
135min./Col.
(fOr TICKET
hOLDErs ONLY.)
SENGADAL (IP-F)
Dir. Leena Mammekalai
Tamil/102 min./Col.
12.00 AM
NO SHOW
03.00 PM
NO SHOW
05.15 PM
PORFIRIO
STARBUCK
10.00 P.M.
Dir. Luc Besson
UK/France/2011/
135min./Col.
Dir. Salim Ahamed
India (Malayalam)/2011/
113 min./Col.
(IC)
THE YEAR OF THE
TIGER
(EL ANO DEL TIGRE)
Closing Film Repeat
THE LADY
ADAMINTE MAKAN
ABU
07.30 PM
Dir. Sebastian Lelio
Chile/2011/82 min./Col. (CW)
THE LADY
11.45 AM
Dir.Alejandro Landes
Colombia/2011/
106 min./Col.
(IC)
10.00 PM
Closing Film Repeat
:
:
:
:
:
Dir. Peter Chan
China/Hong Kong/2011/
114 min./Col.
(CW)
NO SHOW
07.00 P.M
CW
ED
FK
IC
SOS
WU XIA
3.30 PM
Dir. Patricia Mazuy
France/2011/151 min./Col.
(CW)
10.00 P.M.
Dir. Alex Stapleton
USA/2011/93 min./Col.
(MA&F-AW)
Dir. Svetlana Proskurina
Russia/2010/95 min./Col.
(RC
MAQUINEZ PALACE I
05.30 P.M.
NO SHOW
07.45 PM
Dir. Ken Scott
Canada/2011/
108 min./Col. (IC)
THE LADY
10.00 P.M.
AT
INOX I, II, III & IV
6.50 PM AT
KALA ACADEMY
(fOr TICKET
hOLDErs ONLY.)
08.00 PM
10.00 P.M.
Closing Film Repeat
THE LADY
NO SHOW
Dir. Luc Besson
UK/France/2011/
135min./Col.
SOP : Spotlight on Poland
ACA : A Cut Above
MA &F-AW: Music Arts and Films - The American Way
IPR
: Indian Premier
IP F : Indian Panorama (Feature)
IP-NF : Indian Panorama (Non Feature)
*: without English subtitles
F E E D B A C K
Hugh Welchman :
The Oscar award
winner, for his film
Flying Machine is
also a short film
and documentary
producer who has
won many academy awards, says “I have
been attending IFFI for 3 years and can
feel that there is good infrastructure. I
have been attending master classes and
events and they are impressive. I feel that
selection of worldwide cinema is good.
I have seen Polish films, the best of the
retrospectives and like Mill and the
Cross from Poland.
Mithun Chandra Chaudhari, the documentary film maker who has won many
awards for his film Compulsory Hell
Mate says. “I liked the French film
“Crack In Shell" from cinema of the
world section”.
Bankim -Director
General Films Division says, “ IFFI is
an experience and
also subjective perception. There are
many organisations
working shoulder to
shoulder with IFFI in harmony”.
Joseph Baier, a documentary and mainstream cinema maker ( of The End is My
Beginning fame) says ,"IFFI has been
wonderfully organized. It is one of the
largest. I have watched Green Wave, Mill
and The Cross and intend watching films
from Indian Panorama also”.
Mike Pandey, film maker and
Chairman of the steering committee says, “IFFI this year is
different in its vibrancy, and has
a new avatar. Lots of young
people are seen and there are
more foreign delegates.This
year Indian Panorama section
has very good films like Trishna, Adwait Sangeet on
Pandit Rajan and Pandit Sajan Mishra. They are the
value based archival films, good for younger generation
and compelling and engaging. The government of India
is promoting such films. But we should have bigger
venue and bigger place for IFFI”.
Omi Vaidya (of
the film) 3 Idiots
fame says, “'I am
originally
from
Goa. IFFI is great,
its participants are
increasing every
year, which is
amazing. I am sure that it will bring fame
to India and Goa. Though earlier Goa
was famous for parties , now it is famous
for films. I do intend to see films. I have
just arrived .This festival will be one of
the 10 best film festivals of the world” .
P. Sheshadri, filmmaker
(Betada
Jeeva), who is six
times
national
award
winner
says,'The atmosphere is beautiful
and IFFI showcases
good cinema. My suggestion to IFFI is
that they should start giving one award
for regional films. I liked the English
film The First Grader.
Sano Shinju, the filmmaker from Japan
says, “After attending IFFI I feel I
should co produce a film with India. I
saw some good short films because I
believe in independent film making”.
Vikram Gokhle, Senior actor, said,' IFFI is a
good platform for film
industry. I could not see
the films due to shortage of time. I find some
people here clicking
pictures while we are
talking. I feel that this
should not happen”.
Sachin Khedekar,
actor says, “In IFFI,
the audience is increasing day by day
and though the invitees are many,
movie lovers also
are many. I liked
the French film
Leon, with Natali Portman in the cast”.
Professor Pioter klodkowski,
the Polish Ambassador, who
speaks Hindi well and is a great
fan of Hindi films, says “IFFI is
and serves as representative of
culture. It is platform where
friendship grows thicker. Mumbai and Delhi also can be good
venues for IFFI. I liked Bangla film Ghare Bahire
very much”.
Shekhar Kapoor:
There is a fantastic
change in this IFFI.
This year, I have
come accross those
filmmakers whom I
had never thought
that they would
come to IFFI. The
standard of IFFI is
getting higher and
higher in the world.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director
and producer, says :” IFFI is better than before and is inching
ahead. What I like about IFFI is
that the right people are appointed
and they are trying to make it successful. Hopefully, in a few years
to come, IFFI will be the best in
the world. I liked the film Artist.
It was absolutely fabulous.”
Sonal Makhijani Azad
PAGE 3_Layout 1 12/3/2011 12:35 AM Page 1
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December 3, 2011
My film Bhageerathi is based on a folk
ballet -- Baraguru Ramachandrappa
What is Bhageerathi all about?
My film is based on a folk
ballet called Kerege Haara on
how the superstitious villagers
want a lady to die in the tank to
enable the entire village to get
water.
Does it mean that you are glorifying this inhuman act of the
villagers?
No. On the contrary, I have
set out to depict the internal turmoil of the girl Bhageerathi, who
is forced to die in the tank. Instead of setting to glorify the
practice, I have set out to show
that the blind belief of the villagers is actually the villain.
What is your background?
I am a student of culture and
have always been interested in
cultural analysis and getting involved in various social activities since I have always believed
in having social responsibility.
Basically I am a writer who has
written more than twelve novels.
In have written critical analysis
of literature and society and have
been the Chairman of Karnataka
Sahitya Akademy
What was the total cost of making a film like Bhageerathi?
My producer B.K. Srinivas
has made the film on a budget of
A still from Bhageerathi
around 70 lakhs. We shot for 35
days at a place called Virupakshipura near Melkote as well as
Chennapattinam, where we created an ambience of an ancestral
house, after renting an old house
in a village.
Your film figured in IFFI this
year in the Indian Premiere section along with Ha Bharat
Maajha?
It has been my proud privilege to have had an Indian premiere for my Kannada film at
IFFI this year. It has boosted our
confidence though we will not
be benefitted financially since
Kannada films do not get a release in Goa
How confident are you that
your film will get a release in
Karnataka?
My producer is also a well
known distributor, who had released Sivarajkumar’s blockbuster film Jogaiyya, which also
happened to be his 100th film.
Since he has the required network, we would be definitely
able to release my film. I had
planned the budget in such a way
that my producer will not lose
his money. Bhageerathi is a different film. I’d say that it is neither an art film nor a commercial
film but a good film. We will be
able to reach the masses because
the story is popular all over Karnataka and my film has rich folk
songs.
What is your view on IFFI?
Goa is the perfect venue form
IFFI. My Kannada film Shabari
was screened in the Indian
Panorama last year in IFFI. What
I like about IFFI is that it is a
permanent venue where films in
different languages all over India
are showcased
-- Jyothi Venkatesh
Books on history of Indian and World
Cinema showcased at IffI
T
he International Film Festival
of India gives an opportunity
not only to filmmakers, but
even to authors to showcase their
works. And as in previous festivals,
books on cinema have been released
this time as well. People in his
country had keen interest in the history of Indian cinema, His Excellency the Ambassador of Poland, Dr
Piotr Klodkowski said while receiving a copy of the book ‘Pioneers of
Indian Cinema’ by N Gopalakrishna.
Releasing the book, eminent film
analyst B B Nagpal said there was
great need for research into various
facets of Indian cinema as there were
very few books which had comprehensively studied the history of cinema in the country.
The book also goes on to analyze
the works of some of the pioneers in
Indian cinema in different languages. He also refers to the advent
of new technologies, and has a brief
history of the International Film Festivals of India. The book is authored
by him, but he has borrowed from
some renowned authors as well. Interestingly, he has chapters on what
India can give and has given to
world cinema.
A filmmaker himself, Gopalakrishna produced and directed several
films since he entered the film indus-
B B Nagpal, N Gopalakrishna, U Radhakrishna and Dr Piotr Klodkowski
try in 1961. His most prominent
films included ‘Lakshmanarekha’
and ‘Swarganiki Nichhnalu’.
Senior film analyst and critic
Pradip Biswas of Kolkata had a new
book this year as well – on ‘Three
Women Directors’ profiling filmmakers Claire Denis from France,
Claudia Llosa from Peru, and Susanne Bier from Denmark.
Releasing the book at the venue
of the Open Forum, Festival Director Shankar Mohan said Susanne
had in fact won an award at IFFI last
year (“In A Better World”) before
going on to win an Oscar. He appreciated that Pradip preferred to write
easy-to-read handbooks instead of
voluminous works.
Mike Pandey, Chairman of the
Steering Committee of the Festival,
said the Festival not only encourages
new filmmakers, but also authors.
Pradip said he had met or learnt
about the filmmakers while attending IFFI in different years. He described the three women as
‘vigilante auteurs who had attempted
to find an inner garden’.
Releasing the book ‘Cinema ka
Jadui Safar’ in Hindi by film critic
Pratap Singh, Shankar Mohan said
‘Film criticism is as important to cinema as filmmaking, and also helps
the filmmakers to do better work’.
While a sizeable part of the book
is devoted to some of the best and
most memorable films of Indian cinema which marked new milestones,
Pratap has also gone on to write
about Hindi cinema and literature
and it’s effect on culture of cinema.
“I cast actors according to the requirement of the script”
BAPU, whose latest Telugu film Sriramarajyam was screened in IFFI this year tells Jyothi Venkatesh
Tell us about your latest film Sriramarajyam!
Sriramarajyam is a mythological
film starring the late N.T. Rama
Rao’s son Balakrishna, who is a
mega star down South in Telugu
films and Nayantara. I chose to cast
Balakrishna because he has taken
after his father as far as his dialogue
delivery and mannerisms are concerned. It is the remake of Luv
Kusha made way back fifty years
ago with N.T. Rama Rao.
Why did you choose to make a
mythological at a time when sci fi
films and 3D films are in vogue?
You just cannot write off mythological films which have been liked
from times immemorial by the audiences in India. If you make a good
mythological film, the youth today
would like to see it, though they
want sex, entertainment and violence
in films. I have also made social
films other than mythological but
have always incorporated sex and violence in good taste
What do you think about films
being made today?
The saddest part is that though
technically we have made rapid
strides, content has taken a big beating, because films have become big
business today and to recover the cost,
producers ask their directors to play
safe by incorporating every element
which they feel is required to make the
film a big hit at the box office.
Why have you stopped making
Hindi films?
Though I have directed as many
as 38 films in all these years, I had
also directed nine films in Hindi between 1980 and 1990, including
films like Hum Paanch, Pyari Behna,
Woh Saat Din, Prem Pratiggya,
Bezubaan, Mera Dharam, Parmatma
etc, besides a film in Tamil.
Do you like working with stars?
I have always depended on the
story when I set out to make a film
and concentrated on making small
budget films with the exception of
stars like Nageshwara Rao and N.T.
Rama Rao. It is not that I am averse
to making films with stars. I have
made my latest with Balakrishna
The stars with whom I have worked
have always accorded me the due respect and I have no complaints
against any star but I cast actors according to the requirement of the
script and do not like to play safe.
The closing film The Lady is a moving love story
“THE LADY” is a riveting, mustsee drama, because first and foremost, it’s the first feature film that
gives insights into the personal life
of Burma’s greatest living freedom
fighter, Aung Aang Suu Kyi. In fact,
the film portrays the moving and
monumental love-story, between
‘Sue’ and Mikey’, the British academician-husband who stood by his
wife through all her travails, withstanding immense personal and political pressures, from being single
parent to both their sons, to espousing her cause to the whole world.
This is a global film in every
sense of the word—a world-famous
French director casting a top
Malaysian actress, to portray a
Burmese character, and shooting
the whole film (in utter secrecy) at
Thailand! The film created huge
waves when it was premiered at the
Toronto festival, followed by the
Busan festival, where this writer
saw it.
Director Luc Besson and actress
Michelle Yeoh both confessed that
an extensive amount of research
had gone into the making of a film
that they described as one of the
most challenging and important in
their career. They had both met the
Burmese leader, and been hugely
impressed by her. She reminded
Besson of ‘Gandhi’. She spurred
Michelle to lose nearly 10 kg, and
learn the Burmese language. The
result is a film that astonishes, because it is all based on a real-life,
living leader.
The director of action-packed
films like ‘Leon’, and the actress of
stunt-studded films like ‘Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, do an
about-turn in this film, allowing
feelings and emotions to take centre-stage, resulting in a movie that
converts a controversial, political
drama to a stark and succinct love
tale. Aung Sang Suu Kyi is more a
‘lady’ than’ leader’ in this film,
torn between her love for her hus-
band and family, who need her as
much as her country, who need her
to support them in their fight
against the military dictatorship.
The film traces the whole lifestory of the Burmese leader, from
when she was a student in love at
Oxford, to a doting mother for
many years at England, until a
phone call from her ailing mother
in Burma, changed her whole life,
and that of her family.
Apart from Michelle Yeoh, who
gives an amazing performance as
Burma’s most famous political
icon, the casting coup of the film is
that of David Thewlis, as Michael
Aris ,her British husband, Thewlis
not only looks uncannily like Aris
(one must check a new documentary on Aung Sang Suu Kyi called
‘Lady of No Fear’ to see this uncanny resemblance) , but essays his
role with such depth and integrity,
that one suddenly wonders if ‘Sue’
would ever have been able to withstand her two decades of house-arrest, without the phenomenal
support and understanding of this
amazing man. And when he’s suddenly stricken by cancer, his pain
and suffering, as also hers, becomes
as moving and monumental, as a
Shakespearean tragedy.
The last shot of an agonized
Suu, bent and huddled in tears, is a
far cry from the phenomenally
strong leader that we’ve seen and
read so much about. There are very
few people who will come out of
this film, dry-eyed.
‘The Lady’ is indeed, a great
film, to close a festival that, this
year, had an amazing range of quality-films to choose from.
-- Lekha J Shankar
PAGE 4_Layout 1 12/3/2011 12:13 AM Page 1
4
December 3, 2011
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Edited by: Jyothi Venkatesh on behalf of IFFI Secretariat, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi
Hindi Editor: Suresh Sharma, Co-ordinators: Tanu Rai, Deputy Director, Dr. Neethu Sona and Jagjit Singh Bindra
Asst. Editor: Satinder Mohan, Photograps : PIB and S Kumar, Printed at: Herald Publication Pvt. Ltd. Verna, Goa
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