[reader-list] first posting: sidharth srinivasan

[sidharth srinivasan]

Hi fellow fellows!
                       I am an independent filmmaker who shuttles
between Mumbai and Dilli, or between head and heart respectively! I
have been based in Mumbai on and off for the past 5 years but Delhi is
the city I belong to. I graduated from St. Stephen's College having
studied Economics and immediately jumped into a life of filmmaking and
glorious uncertainty! After 2 years assisting various people I went
independent and my initial foray into direction was a short film
titled THE TIGHTROPE WALKER (35mm, 15mins, Hindi) which made it in
competition to Venice in 2000. The film was an experimental short on
the anonymous life and (imagined?) love of a young woman who lives in
a suburban highrise in Bombay. I followed this up in 2001 with one of
the country's first digital feature films titled DIVYA DRISHTI (DVC,
95mins, Hindi) which was banned by the then censor board owing to
profanity/street lingo and the casual depiction of a gay love affair
between two married men (the cesnors said that homosexuality was
against Indian culture). However to my joy this small film has carved
a niche of its own being screened at various festivals (Singapore,
Commonwealth, Karachi etc) and museums (Walker Art Centre, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Nova Cinema etc). Currently I have finished my debut
"multiplex" film, if you will, a supernatural thriller titled AMAVAS
starring Konkona Sensharma, Victor Banerjee and others. The film
should be released by mid 2006. I also make documentaries and most
recently have shot a film on the endangered world heritage site of
Hampi for UNESCO.

Living away from Delhi and returning there from time to time made me
look at the city differently. Hanging out at Safdarjung, Aurobindo
Place and Green Park I was struck by the rambling and dilapidated
ruins of monuments lying amidst the urban space of markets and
colonies. I realized that I had taken them for granted to such an
extent that I didn't even know what these structures looked like from
within. A few trips made were enough to get my juices flowing and soon
the germ of an idea took place in my mind.

Delhi unlike Bombay was an urban city with space for clandestine love.
Mosques and mausoleums, tombs and temples dotted the city and in turn
were dotted by names of anonymous lovers etched forever on stone and
granite. Who were these secret lovers, what was there story, for
surely they had a story to tell, and by extension, there must be
countless such myths and folk tales surrounding these various heritage
sites...I decided to weave a contemporary clandestine love story among
the ruins of Delhi - a love story where the young man and girl in
question become influenced by the past to such an extent that it
starts overtaking their conscious waking life...

As a filmmaker I also took a conscious decision to treat the proposed
film differently. Some years ago I had the good fortune of seeing
Chris Marker's legendary film "La Jetee" a sci-fi film comprised
entirely of still images with voice-over narration and sound design -
Marker called the film a photoroman. The film was so influential that
not only did Hollywood make an ugly remake (12 monkeys) but a La Jetee
Bar also exists in Tokyo! I came up with the decision to make my film
in a similar fashion albeit do away with voice over narrative and in
its stead have many voices of both the present and the past imbue the
sound design.

And that is where SARAI/CSDS thankfully came in. My research is
ostensibly on "excavating" the various stories, myths, legends, folk
tales and "sthalapuranas" surrounding the heritage spots of Delhi City
which would find there way into the script for my proposed photoroman
- in short my research is on all the stuff that never finds its way
into the text books. So if any of you have any bizarre, grotesque,
cute, strange and downright fascinating stories to tell about nooks
and corners and gullies and gates in Delhi please inform me. Also, if
you know any wise old men and women who love hearing the sound/s of
their own voices and talk about Delhi as if it were a loved one please
put me on to them. I look forward to hearing from you and wish all of
you all the very best with ur proposed research...

Best,
SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN



--
MR. SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN
Reel Illusion Films
New Delhi/Mumbai
India

--
MR. SIDHARTH SRINIVASAN
Reel Illusion Films
New Delhi/Mumbai
India