And/Or

And/Or

In Focus: GraFTII

Chandita Mukherjee, Direction 1975

After coming away from FTII, we ex-students remain eternally homesick for that small patch of green in the heart of Erandavana where the cinema madness first got into our systems. Away from the Wisdom Tree, we constantly seek exposure to path-breaking films and classics, knowledge on new developments in technology and the company of people with similar preoccupations and that’s how GraFTII got started.

Among our projects and as part of our efforts to promote quality cinema, GraFTII has teamed up with Fun Republic and the National Film Archive of India to do a series of film festivals entitled In Focus: The Films of... Each of these events highlights the work of one of our graduates and introduces the film-going public to quality films that are not accessible otherwise. Such festivals give us a chance to renew our ties and rediscover contemporary film classics in which more than just one of our friends has taken part.

The In Focus series was an idea of Jaya Bachchan, who took this proposal to Fun Republic. We appreciate the efforts of Atul Goel and his colleagues at Fun Republic for responding to the idea and sustaining it for the second year in a row. After the success of last year’s programme centred on the work of KK Mahajan (Motion Picture Photography, 1966), this year, GraFTII recently had a three-day film festival called In Focus: The Films of Renu Saluja.

This festival brought together a selection of films that people may have seen before, but not in the context that they were being presented this time around. Here, the focus was on the indispensable contribution of Renu’s editing towards the success of these films. The films selected were:

Remembering Renu (2005) 30 min, a documentary by Anil Mehta and Sanjiv Shah
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983) 143 min, Director: Kundan Shah
Split Wide Open (1999) 100 min, Director: Dev Benegal
Maya Memsaab (1992) 127 min, Director: Ketan Mehta
Godmother (1999) 120 min, Director: Vinay Shukla
Parinda (1989) 154 min, Director: Vinod Chopra
Dharavi (1991) 116 min. Director: Sudhir Mishra
Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984) 123 min, Director: Saeed Mirza
Bandit Queen (1994) 119 min, Director: Shekhar Kapur
Ardh Satya (1983) 130 min, Director: Govind Nihalani

GraFTII also brought out a book called Invisible: The Art of Renu Saluja at the festival. This was initiated by Praba Mahajan, visualised by KK Mahajan, edited and published by Chandita Mukherjee and Jethu Mundul (Editing, 1975). Writing in this wonderful collector’s item were most of the directors of the films shown, and a range of people associated with Renu, sharing their insights and memories.

This festival would not have been possible had an institution like the National Film Archive of India not been there. We need to keep reminding ourselves of the service it renders to filmmakers and to building a record of contemporary culture in India. The quality of the prints and projection were outstanding and provided a rich experience. Each show was introduced and wherever possible, the directors, cast and crew came and interacted with the audience. Tom Alter (Acting, 1974) was a wonderful compere; as usual he was the bridge between the public and films, playing a major part in making the screenings memorable. We also thank the filmmakers, actors and technicians of these films, the admirers of Renu Saluja, her mother and other enthusiasts who have together contributed to this festival.

GraFTII’s activities are conducted by a core group of people from the various disciplines of filmmaking, who meet once a month in Mumbai to work on various ongoing projects. GraFTII also maintains links with the FTII. Many of its members go back regularly to the Institute to conduct workshops and hold lectures for the current students, just as they also would have learned from former students in their time. Several GraFTII members also serve on the Academic and General Councils of the Institute.

Manmohan Singh (Motion Picture Photography, 1975) is the President of the association. Also on the core group are myself, Chandita Mukherjee, Vice President, Virendra Saini (Motion Picture Photography, 1976) - Secretary, Dharam Gulati (Motion Picture Photography, 1984) - Joint Secretary, Rakesh Ranjan (SRSE, 1976) - Treasurer, Suresh Naik (Motion Picture Photography, 1965), Vinay Shukla (Direction 1971), Pradeep Suri (SRSE 1974), G S Bhatia (SRSE, 1965), Uday Shankar Pani (Direction, 1974), Daman Sood (SRSE, 1969), Jagmohan Anand (SRSE, 1977), Anil Dhawan (Acting, 1970) and Balu Mahendra (Motion Picture Photography, 1969). Apart from the elected members, the team has co-opted a bunch of committed volunteers — Jaya Bachchan (Acting, 1970), Vishnu Mathur (Direction, 1970), KK and Praba Mahajan, Pramod Mittal (Motion Picture Photography, 1968), Arunoday Sharma (SRSE, 1972), Jabeen Merchant (Editing, 1995), Karan Bali (Direction, 1993) and Jethu Mundul have been at the forefront of recent activities.

We now hope that our future endeavours only get bigger and better!