Film Discussion Report conducted by the Interim Committee of PSA in August 2020.

In August 2020, as a part of 'Independence Month Celebration', the Interim Committee had organized 4 film discussions.

Below are the reports of the same :-

1.) Movie - Vasudev Balwant Phadke ( 2007 )

Director - Gajendra Ahire

Date - 13 August 2020

Moderator - Aniruddha Phadke 

Report - 

The discussion ranged from the opening scene of the movie, religious & spiritual depiction of Phadke, his involvement with the tribals, the music of the film, to connecting Phadke and his revolutionary thoughts to the current times.

We also touched upon the topics of caste, agency of the women in the film, the attire of the character through the progress of the film, accent of the characters, scenes we liked/didn't like, interpretation of history & focusing only on a certain dimension of a historical figures life.

~•~•

2.) Movie - Pinjar ( 2003 )

Director - Chandraprakash Dwivedi

Date - 17 August 2020

Moderator - Rubaiya Karim

Report -

We discussed about adapting a book into a movie. The depiction of communities through conventional symbols. Violence as a medium to communicate, it needn't be graphical always.

The topics of Partition, religious hatred, violence on women & agency of women, women as a tool were touch upon.

Lyrics of the song, parallels to Ramayana & the development of characters was discussed. The typical patriarchal family structure, love for one's motherland were broadly talked about.

Participants shared their notion of 'Concept of Women', scenes they liked, idea of consent.

Opinions on tattoo, symbolism of the portraits, mother child relation, no obvious villain, multiple dimensions of a character & parallels between the life of the women characters were shared.

The discussion ended with a hypothetical question 'If you were the scriptwriter, how would you end the movie?'

~•~•

3.) Documentary - Stories my country told me ( 1996 )

By BBC

Date - 20 August 2020

Moderator - Hamza Sheikh

Report - 

The discussion began with the relation between politics and films, then it moved on to the significance of Grand Trunk Road in the documentary.

Participants shared their views on what they think what constitutes home, belongingness.

Issues of rise of nationalism across South Asia, life of Eqbal Ahmed were talked. The question 'What would history be if it was written by exiles?' was pondered upon.

The relation of nationalism and economic growth was discussed and debated.

How has India and Pakistan changed since 1947 was discussed keeping in mind the reference to the documentary.

The role of 'fascist groups' across South Asia was the talking point. Participants shared their views on extremist elements across religions.

The discussion ended with everyone voicing their opinion on the question 'What is missing from today's political spectrum?'

~•~•

4.) Court ( 2015 )

Director - Chaitanya Tamhane

Date - 24 August 2020

Moderator - Disha Waingankar 

Report - 

As the film was named Court and the storyline revolved around it, the discussion was started with discussing different court scenes from the film which the participants found to be impactful. During this round we discussed how sometimes the regressive mentality and hypocrisy of the people in higher positions ( here the judge and the two lawyers ) can affect a person's life, the archaic and complexities of the judiciary system.

We also discussed about few technicalities of the film as how each and every frame was shot with minimum movement of the camera, the realistic approach and the long pauses after scenes which is rarely witnessed in Indian cinema.

Various themes like casteism, regionalism, manual scavenging were also discussed with contemporary examples.

The discussion ended with an ode to the unending human spirit and the unbreakable belief in one's principles.

~•~•