Saturday, March 24, 2012

The 0ne Rupee Film - 3

We have started a project named The 0ne Rupee Film. The film does not look forward to traditional producers neither to traditional distributors but to your support and contribution. The film will be made by whatever you donate. These are some recent posts shared from the official blog.


If you are interested please follow the blog http://onerupeefilm.blogspot.in/
Or the official Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/onerupeefilm









Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Story Behind It

The truth is, I'm an idler. Although I was suffering from fever since we were back from Jadavpur and then something happened to my broadband connection (I was able to access internet using my dongle) they just don't stand up as good alibis for not posting on the blog since the 13th. It's been 9 days without writing. The feverish feel didn't even let me feel how fast time flies by when one is not working.

On the 19th evening (or may be night), in the month of February, at around 22:30 hrs. when I told Mr. Gurpal Singh "Gurpal ji, bahat ho gaya, abhi feature banani hai. Logon se ek ek rupiyaa leke suru karne ka socha hai [It has been enough, now I want to make a feature. I thought of starting it by putting a demand of one rupee to everyone]" Sriparna and Surya were there in front of Chakrateertha House, Puri, Orissa and I was quite astonished that I've actually said it. Before that, the idea was shared only once with Sriparna. Gurpal replied smilingly, like he does on every occasion, 'well, it's a great idea but is there anyone here who believes that you won't spend those one rupees on fags and boozes. See, there have been many people in the last years, coming up with ideas like these, collecting money for making film and afterwards none of them were traceable neither their films." --- This reply is what made me feel the necessity of starting this blog.

Four hours before that, I was sitting in a train, Howrah-Puri Duronto Express, at seat no.2. Beside me there was a guy on no.1, named Mr. Abhayanand Pathak. Sriparna, her mom and my mom were on Seat no. 3, 4 and 5. Between us there was the passage, so, I really had no option but to chat with this aged friend of mine when he started talking. Normally I don’t like explicitly religious people, but this time it was different. I felt a touch of wisdom in his words. He speaks a lot (I mean when he starts). Soon I discovered that he is one of the uncles of actor Vinay Pathak. So we talked a bit about Vinay’s performances in different films. Mr. Pathak said that he is a poet and he has two books to his creddit. So, we moved on to poetry and he said he is not a regular poet. He does not understand poetry; rather he tries to understand his religion and the world through his poems. I said, one doesn’t need to understand poetry really, that must be left to the academicians and critics. One must understand oneself to write or compose. Thus, philosophy and religion occupied the central thread of this conversation. Mr. A.N Pathak is one of those guys who say Hey Ram even while yawning. But I, somehow, did not really have any problem to carry on chatting with the Bihari Pandit Brahmin. I myself came to know that I ‘m a Kankubji Brahmin and not a Gaudiya one. Later on, he told me a story of a writer he met at Kurla station. He saw this guy in a bit untidy white shirt and black trousers, asking for one rupee from everyone on the platform. He came in to the waiting room, approached a man sitting next to Mr. Pathak. That man replied negative in a rudely manner and then turned to Mr. Pathak and said “Look at this poor guy. He has learnt this much English only to become an unconventional beggar. What’s becoming of this country”. Mr. Pathak did not reply. He silently started to follow this unconventional beggar and wanted to know the reason of his begging. The man told him that he is a writer. He has written a novel and now he is raising funds as he does not have enough money to publish it.





Yes, it’s an idea copied from somewhere else. I don’t know the name of this writer (I wish I had) but his way can prove to be fruitful for us. Till date, as a forum, LFEBF has produced 14 short films and two feature length films since 2008 out of which 12 shorts and two features were released in three compilations in three consecutive years. Do you know another forum in this country which has been this much consistent? Do you know a filmmaker in India who did take up no-budget as a serious method of film production before or by the year 2008? And when you visit the websites on so-called “Indian Independent Films and Filmmakers” how many times do you find mentions of these works there? Except producing a feature there’s another aim behind starting this fund-raising that is the process itself works as a campaign. This is a good form of no-budget promotion. But some of these so-called ‘devotees’ of “Indian Independent Film” are not even spending a single word on this project. Moreover, some of them are not even responding or replying while communicated with proper information. Where is the problem, can you tell me? Is it with Bengal? Is it with the forum? Or is it with the No-Budget method? I mean if everyone knows us or keeps on following us on facebook why do they become misers when it comes to sharing or writing something about some honest and off-the-track initiative?

Recently my latest film Memories… of a Dead Township (2012) was reviewed by Dr. Ian McCormick. Dr. McCormick also interviewed me via email and posted it to his blog. It’s something adequate to make us happy but we’d have been happier if the review was written or the interview was taken by some Bengali friend of ours, or at least by someone from India.



Thanks to Dr. Ian McCormick and everyone who’s reading, sharing, talking about this blog/project/initiative or the forum. Thanks to all the contributors who helped us reach the threshold of 19k within one month.



The truth is not only that I’m an idler but I belong to a community full of slackers and idlers I believe.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

The 0ne Rupee Film - 2


We have started a project named The 0ne Rupee Film. The film does not look forward to traditional producers neither to traditional distributors but to your support and contribution. The film will be made by whatever you donate. These are some recent posts shared from the official blog

If you are interested please follow the blog http://onerupeefilm.blogspot.in/
Or the official Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/onerupeefilm


Friday, March 9, 2012
Promised Post: Explanation, Expectation, Resolution

I hope I don't need to explain the delay. If you are a reader of this blog you must have already guessed that I'm really not doing some office-work, neither do I have a secretary to do this job for me and just like you, I too have my own problems like depression etc. Today, I updated my old website today for the first time as well as an old blog after 2010. And now, I really don't have much time. I'll have to leave soon for the city, I must be there by night. Anyway, let's come to the point.

Why is the minimum amount of contribution still Re.1 while I'm clearly stating that even more than Rs. 25 k is welcome from a single person?

My answer is: See, Firstly, Little Fish Eat Big Fish was initiated and founded in 2008 by me, Sriparna and Arupa da (Arupratan Ghosh). It's been quite a long time since then. In this period we've learnt a lot of things about films and also about other things. We have released three DVDs on our own. For various reasons we were compelled to set the minimum participatory contribution at Rs.100 (150-200 for other states). In kolkata till date spending 100Rs. for 5 short films is not an easy thing for all the students. Yes, there are students who can spend Rs.1000 everyday just for anything but they were not our target audience. People who found interest in our works mostly belong to middle and lower-middle class. What we used to do is, we first focused on recovering the production cost and once it is recovered we used to distribute digital copies for free to the people who could not afford spending 100.

Secondly, till date common people in Kolkata are not really that much interested about the independent efforts in film-medium (Well, basic reason behind this is the trash produced by rich kids and the idiotic school-goers who god knows why ever tried to make a film). Even those who are interested are not habituated to contribute to Independent films or filmmakers. This project looks forward to raise this habit. One rupee is nothing, it doesn't hurt. Most of the people use this very amount only to satisfy pushy beggars. The basic difference between us and the beggar is that we are providing them with a little piece of paper containing information regarding this project so that they can check back and verify or contribute more if they feel like. With the exchanged value of one rupee, the unique approach will surely help them remember the fact, we feel. It's not building houses in the air in the name of Independent filmmaking. Our fathers are not our producers and we still believe in the from-the-mass-to-the-mass structure.

I hope that's enough to clarify why the minimum amount is one rupee only. Now, why am I asking for more?

See, just like the ovum needs sperm to produce a new life, a film needs money to come to life. We believe that there are some friends of ours who like the way we are continuing against all odds. Some of them do receive a handsome paycheck at the end of every month. Among these friends there are some we know personally. They are film enthusiasts, fan of good literature, loves music too. It's a clear call to them, "Dear, it's the time for you to act. Maybe once you dreamt of making 'That Film' but then this job and all, and then you had to get married and now you raise a family... alright! No one is calling you to get out of your closet, but we are on the streets. Can you lend us your umbrella? We'd love to smell it and believe that you are still here with us."

For the next two days, me and Sriparna, we'll be available at JU (Jadavpur University) campus. You can come, meet, discuss with us about the film, contribute. For any assistance call me on 919883103809. When I get back from the city I'll start uploading the storyline little by little in the form of a novella. Can I expect you to just copy and paste that on your blog / web with some basic information about this project. That'll be of much help. Let us know.
Thanks

Monday, March 12, 2012
Just Another Post

We were at Jadavpur University on the 10th and 11th at the stall of Guruchandali Magazine in the Sanskriti, 2012 (a festival organized by the students of engineering dept). The collection is now INR 7,807.15 /- But I'm not really feeling like writing anything else tonight. I'm tired. Moreover, I expected some comments or responses on the last post. OK, so it's clear now, no one is going to come forward and say, "here, I can help". It's more like, "you are fighting for your own cause. So, you shall face all that on your own". But what did I really ask? -- I just wanted some friends who can copy from this blog and paste on his own with some basic information on this initiative when I start posting the the story-line in the form of a novella.




Anyway, depression is natural, and it's only temporary. I believe I'll be able to keep on posting like before because I've gone through worse phases and those days have only encouraged me more.




Thanks



Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Trends

Depression is like cloud, you know what I mean if you are a sensitive man.
I came across another talented friend of mine today who seemed to be in a mood of a quarrel. These kinds of friends, see, I used to have a lot of them before. They will never do what they should have been doing. They would opt for a job at some office and curse the society for being so cruel. They'd curse their social and economic whereabouts for everything i.e the obstructions of becoming a popular artiste. But it's actually them who decided to sign the papers because they felt insecure at a point of time.
If you know what you are doing and who you are inside, is there a reason to get distracted like that, my friend? Lack of confidence and recognition can make feel a mediocre artiste that he is somebody like Rimbaud or Artaud, only if people could get it! Gosh!
What's there in recognition? If you are all for work why should you care at all? No matter what, just keep on working, use your brain and muscles and don't become jealous of anyone around.
Analyze, won't you?

Whatever, let's come to the point, if you are subscribed to the Facebook page you must have already come to know that the figure now stands at INR 12,908.15 /- but what you don't know yet is that the highest individual contribution is Rs. 2500. Let's see who's going to break it and donate 5k for the first time.

Our first identified donor from another country is Ginnetta Correlli, a filmmaker friend. Her generosity was soon found in another filmmaker friend named Jason Marsh. We are thankful to them, we think their contributions would motivate others in other parts of the world too.

Be it Re.1 or Rs.1006 people are contributing for real. It's not one month yet since we started at BYOFF on the 25th of February and we're almost at 13k already. May we call it overwhelming, the response? Now we have a reason to be confident and announce, Yes, We'll Start Shooting this April. Now, whichever comes first, 20k or the first shoot, We'll start posting the story-line in the form of a novella, post by post, serially. Friends, asking again, do you have a blog where you can share the novella with some basic information on this project to help raise funds more effectively? --- We think we'll have MAM (Mad About Moviez) beside us. Are you too MAD, about MOVIEZ? Join hands, let's make it happen for the sake of the pure madness

Friday, March 9, 2012

A post from the One Rupee Film Project


We have decided to share the posts from the 'One Rupee Film' blog from now on. It's a project that looks forward to your support and contribution in order to materialize. These posts are made by Anamitra Roy.
For previous posts check out the blog or to get updates regularly check out the FB Page




Promised Post: Explanation, Expectation, Resolution



I hope I don't need to explain the delay. If you are a reader of this blog you must have already guessed that I'm really not doing some office-work, neither do I have a secretary to do this job for me and just like you, I too have my own problems like depression etc. Today, I updated my old websitetoday for the first time as well as an old blog after 2010. And now, I really don't have much time. I'll have to leave soon for the city, I must be there by night. Anyway, let's come to the point.




Why is the minimum amount of contribution still Re.1 while I'm clearly stating that even more than Rs. 25 k is welcome from a single person?




My answer is: See, Firstly, Little Fish Eat Big Fish was initiated and founded in 2008 by me, Sriparna and Arupa da (Arupratan Ghosh). It's been quite a long time since then. In this period we've learnt a lot of things about films and also about other things. We have released three DVDs on our own. For various reasons we were compelled to set the minimum participatory contribution at Rs.100 (150-200 for other states). In kolkata till date spending 100Rs. for 5 short films is not an easy thing for all the students. Yes, there are students who can spend Rs.1000 everyday just for anything but they were not our target audience. People who found interest in our works mostly belong to middle and lower-middle class. What we used to do is, we first focused on recovering the production cost and once it is recovered we used to distribute digital copies for free to the people who could not afford spending 100.




Secondly, till date common people in Kolkata are not really that much interested about the independent efforts in film-medium (Well, basic reason behind this is the trash produced by rich kids and the idiotic school-goers who god knows why ever tried to make a film). Even those who are interested are not habituated to contribute to Independent films or filmmakers. This project looks forward to raise this habit. One rupee is nothing, it doesn't hurt. Most of the people use this very amount only to satisfy pushy beggars. The basic difference between us and the beggar is that we are providing them with a little piece of paper containing information regarding this project so that they can check back and verify or contribute more if they feel like. With the exchanged value of one rupee, the unique approach will surely help them remember the fact, we feel. It's not building houses in the air in the name of Independent filmmaking. Our fathers are not our producers and we still believe in the from-the-mass-to-the-mass structure.




I hope that's enough to clarify why the minimum amount is one rupee only. Now, why am I asking for more?




See, just like the ovum needs sperm to produce a new life, a film needs money to come to life. We believe that there are some friends of ours who like the way we are continuing against all odds. Some of them do receive a handsome paycheck at the end of every month. Among these friends there are some we know personally. They are film enthusiasts, fan of good literature, loves music too. It's a clear call to them, "Dear, it's the time for you to act. Maybe once you dreamt of making 'That Film' but then this job and all, and then you had to get married and now you raise a family... alright! No one is calling you to get out of your closet, but we are on the streets. Can you lend us your umbrella? We'd love to smell it and believe that you are still here with us."




For the next two days, me and Sriparna, we'll be available at JU (Jadavpur University) campus. You can come, meet, discuss with us about the film, contribute. For any assistance call me on 919883103809. When I get back from the city I'll start uploading the storyline little by little in the form of a novella. Can I expect you to just copy and paste that on your blog / web with some basic information about this project. That'll be of much help. Let us know.

Thanks