Film Impressions

INTERVIEW: Bejoy Nambiar

MAN OF THE MOMENT

You liken Bejoy Nambiar’s debut film Shaitan to Amores Perros in terms of its existential sweep and he smiles self-consciously, “I’m humbled by the comparison.” It’s not the first time Bejoy has found himself in august company. As an absolute novice, he convinced Mohanlal to come to Mumbai to act in his first short film Reflections (2005). Just eight minutes long, it’s a compelling narrative with enough drama and visual finesses to have persuaded Mani Ratnam to hire him as an assistant on Guru and later get him to line produce his flawed epic, Raavan. Clichéd as it sounds Bejoy describes his stint with Ratnam as “being at university. The sheer scale and intricacies of his vision are astounding.” From there to getting Anurag Kashyap to produce Shaitan, was an arduous, but rewarding journey. The debutant fondly recalls all the heartache and meticulous planning that went into Shaitan, arguably 2011’s best film so far.

Nambiar: This year's breakout director

ESSAY: Mid Year Best of 2011

THE INDIE SOUL OF BOLLYWOOD

Before the onslaught of out-sized holiday blockbusters, it's always quieter in the first half of the year. The first six months of 2011 has been privy to films that aren't usually the kind of fare that our cinema is associated with (and we’ll be back to overblown gaudiness soon enough). After last year's middling mid-year harvest, this year has been a revelation, with some truly worthy efforts, very often by first-time film-makers, who represent a new brat pack of upstarts and rule-changers. Here's a look at the very best of the lot.

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REVIEW: Shaitan (2)

URBAN DEMONS

In recent times, crime pages of newspapers are full of graphic reports of the kind of delinquency that would have been unimaginable some year ago. A lot of these crimes are committed by well off youngsters looking for a thrill, with the arrogance of family money and clout coming to their rescue. There is also a growing number of young people with no direction, but excess energy to expend. Shaitan is a kind of updated version of producer Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch, but the violence and moral decay seems somehow easier to take now, when fact is much more gruesome than fiction. (It would, for instance, have taken a demented mind to have come up with the Nithari killings or the Neeraj Grover murder in a work of fiction).

REVIEW: Shaitan

THE DEVIL WITHIN

Nearly a decade ago, Anurag Kashyap's debut film Paanch was denied a censor certificate (twice) for glorifying violence, excessive drug usage and lack of any positive characters or social message. While one hasn't watched Paanch and hence cannot make a comparison, Bejoy Nambiar's Shaitan, reportedly an updated version of Kashyap's film, has not just made it to the screens, it has been allowed to depict a disturbing picture of contemporary urban society, complete with lack of a moral core, senseless and graphic violence and an atmosphere of wretchedness and decay. Have our censors grown up, or have they finally accepted that what Kashyap was showing in Paanch a decade ago, is now that much closer to reality?