The Bollywood story through film posters, lobby cards

January 2, 2014

BollywoodNew Delhi, Jan 2: Bollywood's unseen and lesser known stills capturing action, affection, portraiture and villainy through decades-old film memorabilia like cinema lobby and show cards is now put on show.

Curated by photographer Rahaab Allana as a tribute to 100 years of cinema, these curios are showing at an exhibition he has titled "Filmy Jagat: Shared Universe of Indian Cinema" at the Art Heritage Gallery here.

"The visual culture in India is vast. It was the end of the centenary and I felt in the end, we should talk about sub cultures rather than the mainstream activities going on all the time," Allana told PTI in an interview at the the opening of the exhibition.

The exhibition, says the photographer is an attempt by his team to bring to fore the sub culture of photography that existed in Hindi movies for four decades from 1940 to 1980s but still unknown to the masses.

"For instance, the lobby cards and show cards that would have originally been pinned up in cinema theatres, are some of the most acknowledged forms of photography. We have made them part of the exhibition," he says.

The focal point of the exhibition is a scrap book titled "Filmy Jagat" scribbled in hand on the cover.

Acquired by Allana a year ago, the pre-independence book paved the way for the exhibition. "Working around the streets of Mumbai and picking up material, I came upon this scrap book and I realize that a scrap book is an important sub-culture of photography. I realized that I would like to research it and found out that there was no publication or history around scrapbook so I thought to do one," he says.

Divided into different tropes and styles, the show highlights such film stills dating from a later period in Indian cinema, namely the 1960s-80s, an era that gave way to a global audience for Hindi films. Action, Affection, Portraiture and Villainy are therefore some of the recurring moments that were captured throughout film photography.

The curator of Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. Allana says he had no plans of putting up a show when he acquired the archives. "I had no thought while going for the archives. I acquired them I because liked them," he says.

Allana admits it was a challenging task to acquire all the archives. "It was challenging. Easy as everyone was dedicated to it but difficult for obvious reasons," the curator says.

He hopes that people visit the exhibition and they start "responding to it in their own capacity." Another reason which Allana had for putting up this exhibition was to show his support for offbeat cinema. "If we want to make that kind of cinema supporting this type of exhibition is good," he said.

The exhibition preempts a publication specific to the scrapbook, titled Filmi Jagat Scrapbook: Shared Universe of Indian Cinema, by Niyogi Books with a introduction by Shyam Benegal which will be released early next year. "Yes, we hope to release it in the first quarter of the year," says Allana.

Along with this a parallel exhibition titled Contemporary Artworks, where artists have responded to the "dynamic presence of Bollywood".

M F Husain's "Culture of the Streets", a portfolio of 20 signed photographs printed on Kodak C-Print with foil on photo paper shot in the 1980s, makes it clear that for Husain, the streets of Chennai with their enormous hoardings of South Indian movie stars were a part of the contemporary urban landscape and a part of the artist's visual vocabulary.

Younger artists like Bharti Verma's otherwise vacant streets and homes of New Delhi are dominated by a historic legacy of film posters that are suspended like a giant, silent backdrop in the distance. Sharmistha Dutta creates collages of 1970's film posters pasted on ruined, blood-splattered city walls, against which she arranges interesting and vivid portraits of the common man.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Washington, Jul 16: Actor Chris Evans, better known as 'Captain America', made a six-year-old boy's day by sending him a personalised video message lauding his heroic act of saving his younger sister from a dog attack.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the aunt of the young boy (Bridger Walker from Cheyenne) posted on Instagram the story of how the boy saved his sister on July 9 and was horribly injured in the process.

She shared the story on the photo-sharing platform on Sunday and also posted few photos featuring the brother-sister duo as well as pictures of the injuries on Walker's face.

"After receiving 90 stitches (give or take) from a skilled plastic surgeon, he's finally resting at home," wrote the aunt (Nikki Walker).
"We love our brave boy and want all the other superheroes to know about this latest hero who joined their ranks," she added.

Moved by the young boy's story, Evans made a direct video message appreciating the boy for what he did, and how he is no less than a superhero.

He also promised to send the young kid an authentic 'Captain America' shield as a reward for his selfless, heroic act.

Evans' video message to the young boy was shared by the aunt on her Instagram profile.
In the video, Evans is saying, "Pal, you're a hero, what you did was so brave, so selfless -- your sister is so lucky to have you as a big brother.

Your parents must be so proud of you," Evans said in a video message that the family shared Wednesday. "Keep being the man you are, we need people like you. Hang in there, I know recovery might be tough, but based on what I've seen, I don't think there's much that can slow you down."

Towards the end, the 39-year-old actor told the boy he was sending the 'Captain America' shield to him, as the world needs more bravehearts like the little boy.

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News Network
January 19,2020

Mumbai, Jan 19: An FIR has been registered against actor Shabana Azmi's driver after the car they were travelling in met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Saturday afternoon, police said.

Ms Azmi's driver has been identified as Amlesh Yogendra Kamat.

According to the police, a complaint has been registered by Rajesh Pandurang Shinde, the truck driver whose vehicle was hit from behind by Ms Azmi's car.

"Due to rash driving by the driver, the car hit the moving truck on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway which resulted in the accident," the FIR copy read.

Soon after the accident, Shabana Azmi was immediately rushed to MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai and was later shifted to the multi-specialty Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai's Andheri.

According to doctors, she has suffered a head injury and slight damage to the backbone. Her condition is said to be stable, although, she remains under medical observation.

Her husband lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was travelling with her, escaped with a minor injury.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Feb 10: Bong Joon-ho’s film “Parasite” starts in a dingy, half-basement apartment with a family of four barely able to scratch out a life. There must be no place to go but up, right? Yes and no. There’s nothing predictable when the South Korean director is on his game.

This dark, socially conscious film about the intertwining of two families is an intricately plotted, adult thriller. We can go up, for sure, but Bong can also take us deeper down. There’s always an extra floor somewhere in this masterpiece.

It tells the story of the impoverished four-person Kim family who, one by one, and with careful and devious planning, all get employed by the four-person affluent Park family — as a tutor, an art teacher, a driver and a housekeeper. They are imposters stunned by the way wealth can make things easier: “Money is an iron. It smooths out all the creases,” says the Park patriarch with wonder.

Bong, who directed and wrote the story for “Parasite,” has picked his title carefully, of course. Naturally, he’s alluding to the sycophantic relationship by a clan of scammers to the clueless rich who have unwittingly opened the doors of their home on a hill. But it’s not that simple. The rich family seem incapable of doing anything — from dishes to sex — without help. Who’s scamming who?

Bong’s previous films play with film genres and never hide their social commentary — think of the environmentalist pig-caper “Okja” and the dystopian sci-fi global warming scream “Snowpiercer.” But this time, Bong’s canvas is a thousand times smaller and his focus light-years more intense. There are no CGI train chases on mountains or car chases through cities. (There is also, thankfully, 100% less Tilda Swinton, a frequent, over-the-top Bong collaborator.

The two Korean families first make contact when a friend of the Kim’s son asks him to take over English lessons for the Park daughter. Soon the son (a dreamy Choi Woo-sik) convinces them to hire his sister (the excellent Park So-dam) as an art teacher, but doesn’t reveal it’s his sis. She forges her diploma and spews arty nonsense she learned on the internet, impressing the polite but firm Park matriarch (a superb Jo Yeo-jeong.)

The Park’s regular chauffer is soon let go and replaced by the Kim patriarch (a steely Lee Sun-kyun). Ditto the housemaid, who is dumped in favor of the Kims’ mother (a feisty Jang Hye-jin.) All eight people seem happy with the new arrangement until Bong reveals a twist: There are more parasites than you imagined. The clean, impeccably furnished Park home will have some blood splashing about.

Bong’s trademark slapstick is still here but the rough edges of his often too-loud lessons are shaved down nicely and his actors step forward. “Keep it focused,” the Kim’s son counsels his father at one point. Bong has followed that advice.

There are typically dazzling Bong touches throughout. Just look for all the insect references — stink bugs at the beginning to flies at the end, and a preoccupation with odor across the frames. And there’s a scene in which the rich matriarch skillfully winds noodles in a bowl while, in another room, duct tape is being wrapped around a victim and classical music plays.

Bong could have been more strident in his social critique but hasn’t. There are no villains in “Parasite” — and also no heroes. Both families are forever broken after chafing against each other, a bleak message about the classes ever really co-existing (Take that, “Downton Abbey”).

“Parasite” is a worthy winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the first South Korean movie to win the prestigious top prize. The director has called it an “unstoppably fierce tragicomedy.” We just call it brilliant.

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