[Reader-list] Pankaj's response

Wed Oct 18 16:09:18 IST 2006

For some reason, the attachment i sent containing Pankaj's response didnt reach all yahoo groups except docuwallahs..
  i am resending it. 
  Following is Pankaj's response. 

  Rrivu,
  Here is my response to your mail:

  The fifth film mentioned in the series, 
  Vasudev/ Documentary/ Hindi is a film without the filmmaker's name. ---- yes, I completely agree. It was a hard decision but I had to make. I will explain. Right from the word go when we started the program in end February your attitude has been very callous and lackadaisical. I had pointed this to you after you had finished your shoot in end march / early April
 (See letter dated 20th April)

  You did get back to me after that mail
and a rough cut was achieved around 20th may. At that point you yourself were not too happy with the cut. I had communicated the same to you that the film needed more work. I had promised that I will send you a VCD within 2/3 days so that you can work on the film further. I did. Unfortunately it never reached you. You on your part didnt bother to get back to me to check what had happened with the VCD. It was only when I met you in mid June at FTII Pune I was informed about this. I wonder why you sat quiet about a Cut which you had done. Furthermore, I was told that you had not worked any further on the film. Subsequently I sent you the RC once I reached Mumbai and you received it.. 

  Next, I called you on 4th July and read out the feedback to your film from PSBT. You agreed to the feedback and the fact that more work was needed on the film. In this interim period of 15 days, no effort was made by you towards your project. I was informed over the phone that you would think about it at length and get back to me within 4 days. I had agreed to that. After that there was a very long unexplained silence form you
75 days to be precise. The next mail came from you on 18th sept. In this interim period there was no communication from you through phone or E mail or even a note through friends. You just sat happily!

  A person who is passionate about the subject and wants to make a film on it
.this kind of attitude is completely uncalled for. For me it smells of being irresponsible and unprofessional. Its your film, something which you claim to be concerned about, then what stops you from putting in the effort
.

  Just to remind you once again -- in my mail dated 20th April I had clearly mentioned that since I am coordinating five filmmakers its not possible and its not my job to chase people. After 4th July, I waited and waited
no news from you. I hope you realize that I am accountable to PSBT. I have deadlines to meet and the other 4 filmmakers cannot wait for you to be through with your siesta. Meanwhile, PSBT was planning their annual festival and they wanted to showcase these films. I had no choice but to step in
finish the film and make the Masters. I had to take a final call. I took the decision. It is final and irrevocable.

              Your mail after a break of 75 days speaks volumes. To quote it verbatim:
  Mon, 18 Sep
  Hi Pankaj,
  Will get over with the dialogue exercises by Thursday or so... Planning to come to mumbai on friday. Would like to do the credit scroll and complete the vasudev film. 
  When would it be possible for us to meet? 
  waiting
  Rrivu
  I dont know your noble intentions behind writing this mail but for me it was outright irresponsible and to repeat again CALLOUS and LACKADAISICAL. There was not a word from you explaining your absence for 75 days. What you had thought about the project
Nothing. In fact it sounded like as if the cut done by you in May was the Master Cut (Would like to do the credit scroll and complete the vasudev film). Sorry I disagree with this and it is completely unacceptable to me. I do not approve of this attitude of taking things for granted 
 you think you can just write a mail 3-4 days in advance and you expect me to be there at your disposal 
. You didnt have the courtesy to explain your absence
 my house is not a public space open to people 24/7. 

              I was in Delhi on 18th Sept and my response to your mail was: To quote it verbatim:
  sorry its too late
we talked on 4th July
u said u will get back to me....
  sorry i cannot chase people

  i finished the film...
  the broadcast master was done too..
  and we screened 4 films ...excfept yours at PSBT fest in delhi...3 days ago...

  Had you been concerned and sensitive the mail should have shaken you up
 cos its very clear that the film has been finalized and finished. There was no reaction from you. It didnt bother you what was the shape of the final film, who did it 
 NOTHING
 As a DIRECTOR you are supposed to see through the project and not walk away
this is  a simple rule which you ought to know. More so if you are undergoing training at FTII
It didnt bother you why VASUDEV was singled out and not screened at the PSBT festival
it just didnt matter to you
This attitude of yours is very clear from the mail you wrote on 19th Sept: To quote it verbatim:
  its ok,
  i was occupied with other things,
  sorry.
  would like to have the copy of the film and the rushes.
  c u soon
  Rrivu.

  I need not jump to what this mail implies. Its self explanatory. 
  My next mail was regarding money:

  pls send me an Email...
stating that u had received Rs 4,250 as expenses
reimbursement for research on the project "VASUDEV"
best
pankaj

  and on 21st sept I received this mail:
  hereby acknowledge thst I recieved Rs 4,250 as expense reimbursement for research on the project "Vasudev"
  Thanking you
  Rrivu Laha

keeping the above exchange of our correspondence its quiet clear that for reasons best known to you, you had washed your hands off the project. You disappeared without informing me. This had put me in an extremely awkward situation cos I am legally responsible for delivering the five films to PSBT. ..I had no choice but to intervene and complete the project
.    

  I will now answer the other points raised in your mail: 

  The commissioning editor, Pankaj Rishi Kumar, has sent the film for a national telecast, on Doordarshan, 
I am not the commissioning editor, I was a Mentor, Series Director  and line producer on the overall project. I also got credit for any specialized job I did on any of the films.  The commissioning editor is Mr. Rajiv Mehrotra at PSBT. Yes, as a Mentor on the project and somebody who is legally answerable I had agreed to the telecast. I hope you realize the role and responsibilities of the Mentor
.I do not want to spell it out. That was the basic mistake you had committed from the word go
You thought that you were commissioned to make the film
Sorry you have misread. 

  The Advt. put by me clearly said that it was a Mentoring process where you will get to make your first film
  Had I been the commissioning editor, honestly, I would have gone further and not let the film be in the final package for telecast. 
  Throughout the program I helped filmmakers achieve what they wanted to. I did not practice hierarchy
 you may agree or disagree to this
but it might help you to talk to other 4 filmmakers on this project as to what exactly my role and involvement was on the overall project.

  has sent the film for a national telecast, on Doordarshan without notifying the filmmaker, -------- I am not clear what you mean here.
  Do you mean That I did not tell you that the film has been finalized :  this is untrue. Please look at mails dated 18th and 19th Sept. I had written  I finished the film
  Regarding the telecast, I was informed by PSBT on 10th Oct during the day that the telecast MIGHT be on 14th OCT. They said they would confirm by evening
I checked my mail around 7pm..DD had indeed finalized the date 
I immediately forwarded the mail and SMS to all 5 filmmakers and others involved with the project 
 hence your above statement is completely malicious

  without putting the filmmaker's name or biography along with the film. ---Yes, you have been given credit for the work done by you
It was a hard decision for me to take but after your unreasonable, unprofessional attitude I as a Mentor came to a conclusion that you could not be credited as DIRECTOR on the project. Hence that was not mentioned.  Mr. Rrivu, You shall reap only what you sow 

  Whose film is it? filmmaker's film or the commissioning editor's? --------------
  I want to ask you this question myself? Please let me know. With the effort put by you on the project do you really think you are the DIRECTOR. Isnt that being too pompous. Have a conscience!, reflect on your actions and ask yourself a pertinent question IS THIS MY WORK ... if you truly believe, that it is your film
then I suggest you take it around, screen it and tell this to people
you will be surprised,  people will believe you (I am not being sarcastic
) people will get to see your faith and conviction. 
.I have written above and will repeat again you do not deserve to be given the credit what you are looking for. 

   The film is again scheduled  for telecast tonight (14th october) on DD NEWS at 10:30 pm . I am Rrivu Laha, a second year cinematography student from film & television Institute of India, Pune. I responded to the advertisements posted by Pankaj Rishi Kumar, KUMAR TALKIES inviting proposals from young/debut filmmakers for a series of 5 short films on the theme of 'CONFLICT'  (around 5 1/2 min each; fiction, documentary or animation) for the Public Service Broadcasting Trust ( www.psbt.org) My proposal was selected ----ya this is true.

 and I was given to make a film with a Handycamera, not much other equipment. ------that is an outright lie. Its odd you have fallen so low. But I am not surprised. Not once before, during or after the shoot did you complain about the equipment ..neither did it malfunction...so what are we talking about
.I challenge you to oragnise a screening of your rushes (at your cost) and let people decide if technology became an impediment on the shoot 

Since I was keen, I went ahead with my making and submitted a rough cut. ----------
  Yes, that is true and then disappeared in thin air without informing anyone

Although I heard that PSBT and kumar talkies approved my rough cut, no formal letter of communication has been made to me yet. ---------- another lie, please refer to our conversation on 4th July...when I read out the evaluators report from PSBT. You yourself agreed that work was needed on the project. Hence the cut was not final and you were expected to work on it further. ..Rest is history. 

  I as a Mentor never practiced the hierarchy of approving or disapproving cuts
what mattered was your effort and how close you could come to what you had planned in your mind
.I wanted that from all 5 of you
and I think it worked beautifully, except in your case
 During the entire program we were not looking for approvals from PSBT
PSBT has always stood by filmmakers
it has given the complete freedom and Independence to filmmakers what they want to make
The reports by their evaluators are only suggestions and are not  binding on the filmmaker
you will be surprised to know Rrivu that 3 other filmmakers on the project continued to work on their project irrespective of PSBT evaluation report. They were driven by the dream of making their film better and better
 I wish you had followed their example

I had several student exercises and a shoot to attend, returning from my shoot yesterday I am finding the news of telecast of my short film on Doordarshan without my name or biography with it. ---its sad but the inevitable truth

if it is my proposal and my rough cut that has been approved by the PSBT and KUMAR TALKIES, how come my name is not there against my film? How come I am not informed of its telecast? I maybe a young and debutant filmmaker, but can my commissioning editor decide to telecast or publicize my film without my name or my knowledge? ---------I think I have clarified this above. I hope you realize that this project was an experiment undertaken by PSBt and me. It provided an opportunity to people to make their first film
you clearly misconstrued this. You on the contrary
wasted an opportunity
 I hope you realize that you denied somebody else to make their first film
You are currently a student at FTII, even if you did not get to make this film
you had ample opportunities ahead of you
on top of that when you are given an additional opportunity, what did you do with it? 
isnt that a colossal waste
 Instead of making the best use of an opportunity you instead took me and PSBT for a
 ride
.I mean how low can you fall
.

What are my rights? Where do I stand in this whole gamut of commissioning? 
Who is the commissioner? What are my rights against his?
Who is the funder? Who has approved the telecast?  Where do I stand? ----
  I think I have clarified all of this above
.I disapprove of young bleeding artists who protest in name of artistic/individual work
where was this bleeding artist for those 75 days? Its odd somebody who took 75 days to respond to his own film,  now takes 48 hours to respond ...cos he thinks he is being violated
 sorry, I do not agree to these aspirations of yours. 

No payments have been made to me yet, my expenses haven't been covered except a sum of Rs. 4500/- against research for the film, --- check your statement on 21st sept. Further when you finished your rough cut in May. I had reimbursed you for all expenses till that date. In June when I met you at FTII,  I gave you some more money as you needed some
this was above the expenses incurred by you
.so what are you talking about
.another lie! Nothing else
I do not owe you anything
but would appreciate if you could submit detailed accounts with bills and vouchers for the money given to you
.the same should have been done months ago
you chose to set your own rules

  and no notification of telecast has been given to me. I wish clarification before any further publicity or telecast is made of my film. ---- I have clarified this above.

  I hope I have answered your queries. I do not wish to wash my dirty linen in public. You have every democratic right to do so
 kindly circulate this to whosoever you want to
using mail, print, internet 
or broadcast as a medium 
I have no problem

  A word of advice
you may disagree with me. Please take time out and see the other 4 films. Try and share your experience with the other 4 filmmakers. 
judge for yourself
did you put in enough effort? More pertinent then that, ask yourself 
  Am I being honest in what I am demanding 
I will leave the answers to your conscience

  I will send you a DVD of the 5 films
I will have to seek PSBT approval if the rushes could be handed over to you. Yes, I had promised them to you at the beginning of the project
but in this current scenario I just cant trust you anymore.  

  pankaj

  ----------------------------
  Thu, 20 Apr
  Dear Rrivu,
  I should not be writing this letter...that is the last thing I would like to do...but circumstances are such.....

  Its been quiet sometime since I heard from you regarding your project....after the shoot in end march...early April...I was given to understand that you will log the material and come up with a structure or the lack of it so that we could work on it further...not only you dont keep in touch but I found it hard to believe that you could not find time to meet and clarify while I was at Ftii...u said u would turn up once the shoot gets over...but there was no sight of you...on 13th too I had asked the same question....What is the structure and your work plan?

  Your exams got over on 18th and once again I had to chase you to find answers to my queries...I hope you understand that I am answerable to PSBt...The fact that I have trusted filmmakers to do what they believe in and at their own pace should be taken as trust building exercise...you cannot go over the top.....

  I wonder if you have even logged your footage...cos u sounded as vague when I met you at FTii...I find this very disconcerting....I did send you SMS messages in the last 2 days...there has been no response....yes, quiet possible u never got them!...but I expect you to keep in touch and keep me informed, rather than me chasing you.....

  I was waiting for the camera...and got your message that i will have to wait for another 2 days....I hope u do not expect me to go and pick it up....the resources need to be shared...u cant sit on them.....I had lined up a shoot for 21st but had to cancel it....You had promised that you will come to Mumbai and discuss things but you cancelled it on your own free will..... 

  once gain ...a humble request...what is the edit structure and the edit plan...
hope u realise that I have to coordinate with 5 people...and you just cannot do things on timelines which are to your convenience.... 

  a prompt response would be appreciated....

  hope you have a good time in Dubai....

  best
pankaj
  ==============================================

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