Middle Path Films At Festival In India

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Mixed Bag

From jaded themes like couple-swapping to films on spiritual awakening— the Osian film festival has something for everybody

by Sumati Mehrishi Sharma

When NT promises something, he delivers. This might sound filmy, but there’s a lot to suggest that Neville Tuli, popularly called NT, has kept his word of making the eighth Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival better. Prompt volunteers at the ticket counters, a booth to deposit your cell phones, stringent rules and well-behaved cops to help you along— Osian 2006 has been as hassle-free as possible. That’s the good part of the deal, so far. But the festival has its share of glitches, including some jaded themes that have been doing the rounds. Here’s a look at what’s keeping the audience in groove, and what’s leaving them in the loop:

Couple-swapping...give us a break!

Rajat Kapoor’s Mixed Doubles had already done the rounds at commercial theatres before coming to Osian’s. And tickets for the film, which would be shown in the festival’s ‘Indian Osian’ section, are already sold out. Yes, infidelity is a popular theme. That’s probably why Aruna Vasudev thought of placing it amongst the far better entries in this section. But then, it’s also a theme that is beginning to wear the audience out. Last year, it was Ek Muttho Chhobi, where Rupa Ganguly plays the plastered estranged wife, in 2006 — it’s Rituparno Ghosh’s Dosar and Korean film April Snow. Two films on the same theme from different parts of Asia. That’s the homogenity of values (or lack of them).

Crossed with cross-overs

Audience at Osian’s is fed up with films based on the ‘struggling’ NRI and their Notoriously-Resilient-Indian kids. It’s an endless war of words between the older generation and their we-can’t-go-your-way teenagers. Taranjeet Singh’s It Could Be You, for instance. Interestingly, college students on Sunday preferred other Asian films to cross-overs. Vanashree, a third year Gargi college student exchanged two tickets of Varun Khanna’s American Blend for The Last Monk, a film on Buddhism. ‘‘I haven’t come here to watch silly cross-overs about ABCDs (America Born Confused Desi). You can catch up with such films anytime later at commercial halls,’’ she reasoned. We agree.

Brand Buddhism

Osian’s has a new bunch of guests this time. Monks waiting to get the tickets for the The Middle Path, the section of films on Buddhism. Conrad Rooks’, Siddhartha and Neten Chokling’s Milarepa were the well attended films.Filmmakers Tensing Sonam and Ritu Sarin, whose Dreaming Lhasa was shown this year at a commercial theatre (and is not a part of Osian’s) plan to catch up with all films on Buddhism. Sonam said, ‘‘It’s a mixed bag. There are a few films that offer some very interesting perspectives. I have noticed that monks are really careful while selecting the right film to watch. That’s because they care a lot about cultural sentiment.’’ Which is also why there’s an equally big queue for films by directors like Stanley Kwan. After all, stories of playboys and Miss Shanghais are equally enthralling.

Source: Delhi Newsline

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Osian Film Fest pays tribute to Buddhism

19th July 2006 17.15 IST

By N. K. Deoshi

To mark the 2550th anniversary of the birth of Lord Buddha, the ongoing Osian Festival of Asian Cinema showcases a selection of films on Buddhism in the ‘The Middle Path’ section.

A collection of films from Korea, Japan, Bhutan, India, USA, Vietnam and Europe are being screened in the section at the film festival in New Delhi. The films do not necessarily depict the life of Buddha or recreate his life story, but they do hold out his message through stories set in contemporary times and in the past.

The most talked about movie in this section so far has been Why Did Bodhi Dharma Leave For The East by Korean director Bae Yong-kyun. Written, shot and screenplayed by Yong-kyun himself, the film is visually striking and meditative. It tells the tale of a Zen master and his young disciple who left the life of disillusionment in the city to seek enlightenment under the guidance of the master in remote mountains. The film talks about the way to self-realization through the Zen koans (riddles) that need years of deep introspection to understand. This film was awarded the coveted Golden Leopard and Ecumenical Jury Award in Locarno in1989.

Another film that has drawn many people to the screening auditoriums is Conrad Rook’s Siddhartha. The film, based on Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse’s exceptional book by the same title, tells the story of a young Brahmin, Siddhartha, who leaves his family to live as a hermit in the forest. Siddhartha later comes across lord Buddha, but he does not accept Buddha’s teachings because of the loss of his faith in any doctrine. Siddhartha returns to the world to live a life of sin and indulgence. He then renounces the world and finds enlightenment by a riverside. The film, a USA production made in 1972, stars Shashi Kapoor , Simi Garewal , Romesh Sharma and Pinchoo Kapoor.

Upholding the message of Buddha is the Bhutanese film titled Milarepa, the life story of the famous poet, sorcerer, monk and mystic who lived in Tibet between 1051 to 1135 AD. Milarepa, who was known as Thopaga in his youth, is asked by his mother to learn sorcery to avenge his evil uncle who took away all their wealth. Thopaga learns the art of sorcery and unleashes terror upon his village. But after seeing the death and destruction of many, he realizes that revenge does not pacify the heart. So he abandons his practice of sorcery to follow the Buddha’s path.

Another film that drew a huge applause at the festival was ‘Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring’ from Korean director Kim Ki-duk. This beautifully shot movie is the story of a monk and a child living in the remote mountains. Through practical examples the monk teaches the child many essential lessons of life. Later, when the child grows into a young boy, he runs away to the city after being possessed by his passion for a girl. He comes back a frustrated, angry man who has committed a crime. The film has minimal possible dialogues and yet there is not a frame in it that does not speak. An exceptional movie.

The festival also showcases in this section Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘Little Buddha’, Korean film ‘Come, Come, Come Upward’, Swiss movie ‘Angry Monk – Reflections on Tibet’, Vietnamese film ‘Gone Gone Forever Gone’, Japanese film ‘The Burmese Harp’ and three films from India – ‘The Last Monk’, ‘The Sandstorm’ and ‘The Light of Asia’.

The festival’s last day, July 23, would have the screening of ‘Siddhartha’ and ‘Come, Come, Come Upward’.

Source: ApunKaChoice.Com

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Reel Buddhism

A special section in the 8th Osian’s Cinefan brings together some of the oldest films on the ‘Middle Path’

SUMAN TARAFDAR

Even as most religions across the globe lose their sheen, getting embroiled and linked with definitely non-religious ideas and activities, Buddhism manages to maintain a certain charm, a mystique that continues to attract people. While the West has been enamoured of various forms of Buddhism for a while now, the 8th Osian’s Cinefan festival in Delhi primarily showcased a dozen odd-films, largely from Asia in a section called ‘The Middle Path’.

Of these, two were made in the past year — Sudipto Sen’s The Last Monk and the joint Bhutan-US production, Milarepa by Neten Chokling. “It feels great to be part of a section that has names like Bernardo Bertolucci and Conrad Rooks,” gushes Sen. Both Bertolucci and Rooks’ films, Little Buddha (1993) and the Shashi Kapoor-Simi Garewal-starrer Siddhartha (1972) were included in the package, giving fans a rare opportunity to see these cult films on big screen.

“This is the 2,550th birth anniversary of the Buddha, which makes it very relevant,” says Latika Padgaonkar, in charge of programming at the festival. “Even as the government plans a number of activities around the theme, this was also an opportunity for us to get these films together,” she adds.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan, on the jury of the Asian Competition section, agreed that having a special section on Buddhist film made a lot of sense. “Besides the anniversary, the films are also about the interpretations of the ways of living,” he says.

But what is it that makes Buddhism so acceptable to be included as a separate section for a film festival, whereas any such attempt for other contemporary religions would have raised many eyebrows in different quarters.

Aditya Bhattacharya, whose film Dubai Returned was screened at the festival, feels this is because Buddhism is perceived as a rather “fringe’ non-threatening religion”. Says he: “One of the toughest tasks before festival organisers today is to create relevant sections, and Buddhism fits the bill wonderfully.”

Mita Vashisht, a member of the jury in 2005 and attending Cinefan as audience this year, too is ecstatic about the overall package of films in this edition, especially the section on Buddhism. “There is something fundamental about Buddhism, and Asia is the right place to be showing these films,” she says.

Mysticism is another element that attracted a filmmaker like Sen. “Sexuality beyond physicality is what we show in our film,” he says. Sen shot on location in Ladakh.

The films in the festival include various other classics as well, including the vintage 1925 Franz Osten film, The Light of Asia. “It was a fascinating experience to see one of oldest surviving Indian films,” Mukta Sharma, a film student, said after the screening. Agrees Sunil Kwatra, a film editor, who is looking forward to rounding-off his treat with Siddhartha’s screening today. This is one section the audience are sure to miss in future editions of the festival.

Source: Financial Express