You have been to many places in your life. And met many people. When you look back to the memories you have created over the years, some place and people takes precedent over others. One can’t pin point the reason behind it…it is generally not the most famous of places or the most prominent of people who stays with us – but they have something beyond these obvious things… certain something’s which can not exactly be described in words.... 

I had made a mistake… or rather, I was ill informed… In the introduction post of  ‘as the River flows’, I had  mentioned that in the India’s eastern state of Assam, during the last two decades more than 15,000 lives are lost to insurgencies and an unknown numbers are reported missing. Recently I came to know that I was not properly informed – the figures stand at more than 30,000 lives, at the last three decades! I still... 

When I first got the opportunity to get my film’s script evaluated by the Netherland’s famous Binger filmlab on November 2008 as a part of the Goa film festival’s screen lab organized by NFDC, I was not very sure… No, I was not unsure because I didn’t want my script to be evaluated – far from it! I, in fact, strongly belief in getting as many diverse opinions …  Read More →

The spot boys. They are the one to reach the set first and leave it last. And also to get the wrong end of the stick, time and again… after all, they are possibly the softest target in a film set… They are the one who is on a film set purely for monetary reasons – after all, it is not practical to expect emotional attachments for a project from people who are working for daily wages… Still, there are few exceptions – those who go a... 

The assistant directors. They are the first line of attack and last line of defence for the director of any film. And they are also the one doing some of the most thankless jobs in a film unit. Their faults often get highlighted and their contribution mostly goes unrecognised. We had five of them looking after different departments in the film. Md. Johaed was the youngest amongst them. With a good hand in sketching, he also worked as the storyboard... 

Zubeen won the national award for best music director on the non-feature film category in this year’s national award. But when I just gave him a call to congratulate him, he was trying to remember when he had given music to that film!’ – journalist Utpal Borpujari was telling me the other day when he called up to give me the good news… But…  Read More →

Dr Bhupen Hazarika. The rest of the world knows him mostly for his songs like ‘Ganga behti ho kyon’ and of course, ‘Dil hum hum kare’. But for us who grew up in Assam or Bengal – especially those who were born in 1990 and for some sixty years before it – he is much, much more. For us he is not just a poet, filmmaker, composer or a singer… He is a symbol of our collective reminiscence… Ask us to describe a beautiful spring... 

I had started my professional career as a journalist. I was freelancing with couple of newspaper in Pune. I still remember the day I decided to give up journalism. I was covering a seminar on some developmental issues. At the middle of the seminar I started getting restless. Everything was moving so very smoothly! What am I going to report that will make it interesting?? I was hoping against hope that something will go wrong so that I get a... 

Mr. Rajesh Parmar. Two time national award winning editor. The guy who refused to touch feature film after having an unpleasant experience as an assistant editor right in the beginning of his career and is happy doing documentary & ad film for the last 25 odd years. Many big time directors & production houses have tried to talk him out of his decisions  unsuccessfully. Hence many people were surprised – to say the least – when…  Read More →

(…continued) Mr. Nakul Kamte. The sound designer of films like Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya and many more. I met him for the first time on September 2007, during the 53rd Indian National Film Award. I was there for getting a special mention for my documentary, “Bhraimoman Theatre – where Othello sails with Titanic” whereas he was there to collect the best sound designer award for the film “Rang de basanti”. He walked up to... 

(…continued) “Have you heard of born again Catholic? You must be aware that they are more conservatives than many Catholics. In the same way, I’m a converted Assamese. I have spent more time in Assam than you two put together. And yes, I won’t say a single word against my people in any film” – that was the first reaction we got when I me and my wife Pallavi met legendary actor Victor Banerjee for my film in Goa even before he read... 

‘Today as u kindle sparklers when u light up lamps, while u eat sweets, take a second to remember unfortunate who made them & dedicate this day to them. Happy Diwali.’…On the Diwali morning, amongst many sms’s this particular message caught my attention. One look at sender’s name reconfirms my suspicions. Yes, the message was send by non other than my cinematographer Mr Madhu Ambat. It was quite an interesting first encounter... 

I know long ago   the river used to speak. But when he realised every drop of pain flows above horizon of words he surrendered to silence. People came to his bosom creating to destroy and named it civilization. People came to his bosom looking for the meaning in destruction and called it history. More the time flows more the time remains still. More the things change more the things remain the same. The drops of pain mounting on the bank –...