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“Itni Shiddat se maine tujhe paane ki koshish ki hai; ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saajish ki hain”.

(re-posted with permission from Vipin Kandwal)
It was drizzling Sunday evening of July 2008 with a short film maker who recently owing to his diligence proved that he stands tallest amongst all around him. Last April, he marvelously brought to life his long cherished dream of organizing largest international short film festival of India. With infusion of life into his dream, the walled city of Ahmedabad witnessed the rising of a new name “Shiladitya Bora”. I was with him to chit chat with him on what next?

He was real warm in greeting and with all formal hospitality stuff settled on sofa across the table standing between him and me. Aviator fame ‘Howard Hughes’ peeping from a poster behind him, his room was fragrant with his passion for celluloid and every element inside testified his zeal of making a mark in film industry. With half finished cigarette butt held delicately dangling between his fingers, Shiladitya, told about what plan he has for future. He was still modest and had no sign of air of achievement. It was now he talked about ‘Zindagi 24 frames per second (Z24FPS)’, his maiden full length feature film. Believe it or not, as the conversation progressed, quite casually and friendly, I breathed, ate snacks, drank beverage, heard him and saw around but what Shiladitya did, I observed was, sipped, breathed, drank, saw, felt, ate and heard only and only his plan on how he will bring to life ‘Z24FPS’ exactly replicating his imagery of the story and creative aspirations. 

I was increasingly curious to understand why he is so passionate about just another project. Is it because Z24FPS is the first project, which can make or break his fortune in Bollywood? May be it because failure of the project financially will drag him several years behind and discourage him to take another leap? Or is it because he has dropped out of college placements which necessitates requirement of backup support? Can it be due to just another step to look like a passionate producer? I was really struggling to construe what Z24FPS really means.

My struggle was brought to halt soon when I realized that irrespective what Z24FPS finally comes out to look like, but Shiladitya wishes to create a masterpiece of art which shall frame by frame be enjoyed by audience irrespective of geographies, histories and language they come from. Z24FPS, Bollywood or Hollywood are not tantalizing terms for him. Due respect to all existent and non existent masters of film industry, he has a desire of being like nobody but himself. His style and persona like any individual is unique and if reflected in his movie shall essentially make Z24FPS more than a film. Keeping cost, revenue, star cast etc aside Z24FPS anything less than a grandeur is not acceptable to him. I was eager to meet the man after I recently joined the Z24FPS community on two of the social networking websites and read about him. About Z24FPS, if I divulge details it would be like stealing from audience a fun of enjoying a real treat, hence, I shall restraint myself from doing it, however, the audience agape I believe, will appreciate international treatment of the film, rich in content and full of finesse. Right from the first public imagery available on Orkut/Facebook, Shiladitya was personally involved in every small aspect of creative process and looks continuously doing so until Mr. perfectionist finds absolute alignment of his visualization and the engineered end product. When asked how he has managed to achieve all that he has, he shyly and modestly quoted “Itni shiddat se maine tujhe pane ki koshish ki hai, ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai”

(re-posted with permission from Vipin Kandwal )

You owe it 2 your dreams.

Dreaming is a dangerous thing…more so when done with your eyeballs showing. It alters the norms, makes you think beyond logic (often uses a different kind of logic), overlook the sane voices and sides with the one that tugs at your heartstrings.  Ours isn’t a very different story.

Born out of a 4pm class banter, FulMarxx journey wasn’t all hunky dory. Shiladitya knew it wont be easy…the very concept of short films seemed unfeasible to many ..”too futuristic, not suitable  for Indian viewing sensibilities”… Some said.

The world is often unkind to new talents, new creations…the fear is not of the dark, but of the unseen. But dreams are crazy things; they cling onto you as if they are the only way forward; the only right path… and FulMarxx was never born to conform anyway…was it? 
7 months of toiling day-n-night, running from a sponsor to the other and putting all the acts together… on 26^th of April 2008 FulMarxx was a reality… bigger and grander than what the founders had ever imagined. Over two days, 43 entries out of a total submission of 189 shorts were screened and the quality of the films screened spoke volumes of the fest’s success. FulMarxx Shorts Fest is now India’s biggest short film festival, with a resounding international participation… and that, in the very first year of its inception…with renowned Bollywood personalities like Tanuja Chandra, Onir and Makrand Deshpande on the jury…media splashed the papers with FulMarxx bytes. When pan India visibility was unthinkable, participation from 18 countries is what it ended with!!

It was a bold start (at least we thought it was!) and a brilliant one too. India is a country in transition…for every handful of masala flicks we had a ” Iqbal”, a “Bhejafry”,” Aamir” and a “Tare zameen par”… all path breaking films in their own right. Even though the Bollywood potboilers continue to rule the roost the kafka-esque thriller NO SMOKING became hot topic for coffee time conversations.

FulMaxx is an offshoot of such changing trends. It realizes that a story doesn’t have to dwell on its audience for a whole 180 minutes to be told.  In times when more and more people desist from taking out 3 and a half hours for a flick, FulMarxx comes as a breath of fresh air. In its quest to encourage shorter formats of story telling, FulMarxx also raised a few pertinent questions…what makes a story worth telling, are there any standards? What makes it good or bad? And who decides?

As we move into the second edition of FulMarxx, here is hope that the insanity continues and a few more walls be shattered, in the discovery and promotion of the New. India will see the world with new eyes, eyes we never knew we had…and a dream lives on

See ya at the movies

FulMarxx Shorts Fest VER 2.0: 25th, 26th & 27th APRIL 2009


Submission starts 1st OCTOBER 2008

Cheers
Sherwan Ahsan


FulMarxx Shorts Fest : India’s Largest Short Film Festival

An Outsider’s Perspective.

Buddy I want to make a movie but there are so many stumbling blocks. Where do I get a good script from? What about the crew, equipments, the financial expenses and most of all, being a full time student means NO TIME!! Anyways, does it cost me anything to drop a mail to FulMarxx Help desk, explaining my situation? So, I write a short note to them, explaining my doubts and inhibitions, and I very well forget about it.

Next day, I open my mailbox and I find a well structured clarification for all my queries. So here I am, with my version of what they communicated to me.

Script?? A good story definitely forms the skeleton of a landmark film, but that’s only one aspect. A simple narrative, a small day to day affair can as well make the base for a major achievement. So what can I pick up?? Probably, something from my own life, something which is a part of my dull routine or anything that I relate to. Definitely, there are a lot of stories in my life that can be presented.

What about the crew and the gadgets……

Well, I am competing with the professionals, but does that mean I need to be equipped professionally?? What if I use a handy cam? To this, FulMarxx says “You are more than welcome to do that”. Wow, that’s good news!! If Mira Nair can do it with Monsoon wedding, why cant me?? Who knows, I might be the next big kid on the block. So now, the crew hurdle reduces to finding the actors. Hey, I got so many friends who are pretty good real life actors. I can surely pick them up.

Now, the major constraint “TIME”. But guys, it’s a short movie. Add to that, I have the option of choosing the time duration of 10, 20 or 30 min. Even with the location hunting, script writing (Mind you!! I already have a story to tell), several retakes and editing, it would be all done in at the max 4, or maybe 5 days.

To recapitulate, I got a mental plan. I got the right people, a simple but convincing storyline, I know how and when I am going to execute it and wait a minute, I figure out it wont cost me that much.

It appears that the obstruction was only in my mind.

So friends, I am all set to be a part of this Short Film Fest.

Will you compete with me???

Amit Singh, Prospective Filmmaker and a full time student.

Just a small correction..:
Monsoon wedding was NOT shot on HANDY CAM. But the camera was Hand held to give the direct perspective view in first person.
Many people have this confusion.. so just felt like dropping in this note !
Peace n joy

Gaurav Chhabra
Founder Director, Humlog
Chandigarh