[Reader-list] [reader list] second posting on photo roman

[sidharth srinivasan]

Dear fellows,
                  have only just managed to get into the flow of
things regarding the nuts and bolts of my project. In other words
after what seemed like eons I got my Nikon F3 serviced and took snaps
for some seriously needed "haath ki safai" (practise!)...

Currently I am in the process of buying obscure books and travelogues
on delhi city and meeting people for whom the city is a mistress or
lover, as the case may be. I go through these books more often than
not with a completely "voyeuristic eye" looking out only for heritage
spots or stories that may have serious cinematic (photographic) appeal
or legends of bizarre even macabre anecdotal value.

For example Majnu ka Tila - every self respecting north campus student
has had his fair share of momos nearby but how did the place get the
name? legend has it that a Muslim boatman plied people across the
Yamuna free of charge. he was a mystic at heart and yearned for a
glimpse of the sacred, so much so that he was called majnu by the
locals. One day Guru Nanak himself was ferried across the river by
majnu, and blessed him. majnu erected a gurdwara in praise of Nanak by
the banks of the Yamuna which is popularly known as Majnu ka Tila.

I'm sure many of you know of this story but to me, in the context of
my photo roman, it conveys images of a small boat traversing the river
yamuna in shimmering afterglow light. a man in stark blurred white
inside the boat. the boat itself is decrepit and small yet rocks
peacefully from side to side, the boatman has a look of intense peace
and bliss on his face, but we never see the white man's face clearly
despite his flowing beard. buffaloes laze about on the muddied banks
while dhobis wash sullied clothes and drape them to dry...

The clandestine lovers in my proposed photo roman script would go to
majnu ka tila, ostensibly to eat momos but then, on the off chance,
they would also stop off at the hermitage by the riverbank. images
mentioned above would confront them for it is the love of majnu for
laila and majnu (the boatman) for nanak that they want to achieve...a
sublime love beyond the here and now...

This is just a small example of how I am planning on going about my
project. Of course I am very much on the lookout for places outside
the radar of common knowledge, hidden away in gullies and lanes. The
places dont have to be acquainted with famous personalities. but there
has to be something eternal and mythical to what has supposedly
transpired there. who knows the location may really serve the script I
intend in more ways than one!

I also revisited chris markers legendary short film La Jetee, the only
photo roman I have ever seen and the inspiration, if you will, for
Terry Gilliam's insipid bruce willis starrer - 12 monkeys...do see it
if you ever get the chance (the original, that is), perhaps to get a
sense of what I am trying to grapple with! My proposed film has one
thing in common with La Jetee (asides from form) in that I want to
convey a sense of the past through the present. however, having said
that Marker's film does away with any pretense of being or belonging
to any place and time whereas my film will try and evoke a sense of
the historicity and secret history of a particular city...

Hopefully by the time of my next posting I will have many more stories
to narrate and, once again, if you know of any people or places do
tell me about them. I would be very grateful...

Best,
SIDHARTH

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