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... 

The Times of  India edition dated November 19th 2009 carried an article about film maker Shyam rajankar who got an award for his film 17 years after he was declared the winner. Who is Shyam rajankar one might be tempted to ask ?? Well Shyam rajankar had made a film titled ‘Ashwa’ (Horse) and had submitted the film for the NFDC (National Film Development Corporation Of India) script competition. He won the second prize and was promised... 

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 –... 

Centuries ago in India, sages, who acted as social leaders also, had divided the life of a person into four equal parts, each part consisted of 25 years. A person was supposed to follow the education till he turned 25 and next 25 years were devoted to the family life where he would follow the occupation, would marry and raise his children and once his son is…  Read More →