How can somebody watch 135 films in 10 days? Seasoned filmmaker and critic Ashok Rane has just done it as head of the jury for non-feature films for the upcoming International Film Festival of India. “I not only watch them but each of them is etched in my mind,” says Rane, who also teaches film appreciation. Rane's fascination for cinema was always different from the normal crowd. “In school when I used to narrate the story after watching a film, I would start like Gopal meets Seema…. My friends would interrupt, ‘but the film has Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.' I would laugh under my breath that these people don't understand the difference between character and actor.” Many still don't. Similarly, he says he used to watch all the plays on the Marathi theatre circuit. “My friends would ask: Are all the plays good? I would say no, but the bad ones make me realise the importance and technique of good.”
After days of screenings, now he can have a relaxed evening. And Zaffarani Zaika, a premium Mughlai restaurant in Chanakyapuri, is a soothing option. A peg of whiskey and malleable kababs are all he needs to rewind and share anecdotes from a life spent at film festivals around the world. “I am not finicky about food. I could eat anything except beef and pork but once I even tried beef for Sophia Loren. I had read about her favourite dish polenta in her autobiography. When I was in Locarno, I told the guide about polenta. She said but Mr. Rane it is made out of beef. I didn't know but I said for Sophia I can make a one-time exception.” Rane's flexibility towards food is heartening.
When he was young he used to fast every Saturday, which meant no non-vegetarian food. Once his friend coaxed him to visit his in-laws to be in Pune. “We reached at around eight, a time by when people generally go to bed in Pune. We felt bad that we disturbed their routine but his to-be mother-in-law was kind enough to offer us food. After a taxing day I felt relieved, but the first bite made me realise it was non-vegetarian. My friend gave me a shocked look but I calmed him down because the lady of the house would have felt bad. I didn't tell her I was fasting and finished the food as if nothing had happened.”
Cooking without oil
Rane doesn't find himself out of place in the kitchen and his favourite preparation is a prawn dish he prepares without a drop of oil. “I use coconut milk instead.”
Talking about his experience as the head of the jury, Rane, says with the accessibility of technology the number of films made has increased. “Youngsters are making films on unconventional subjects and I won't say the maturity is not there but the insight of the medium is missing. After watching many films you could say the person has not imbibed the intricacies of the medium. Many young directors are using short films as a stepping stone to feature films without realising that the grammar of the two genres is different. You cannot employ the tools of writing a novel while penning a short story. The problem is they want things to happen overnight.”
Rane has just completed a documentary on Anthony Gonsalves, the master violinist and arguably the first arranger in Hindi film music. “Having grown up in Goa, a Portuguese colony, he was aware of the nuances of orchestra and arrangement. He introduced it in Hindi film songs, which till then was oblivious to this western concept, and worked with some of the biggest names of his times, like Anil Biswas, Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan and Madan Mohan, in shaping Hindi film music in the 1950s and early '60s. However, he didn't get his due in India as in those days people didn't care to look beyond stars and playback singers. He went to the U.S. on a university assignment and taught music. He did return to India and settled in Goa but didn't return to film music.”
Rane says Pyarelal of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame learnt the violin from Gonsalves. “When Manmohan Desai was making Amar Akbar Anthony , he had named Anthony as Anthony D'Costa. After the songs and major portion of the film were shot he felt the need for a song on Anthony highlighting his name. Pyarelalji saw an opportunity in it. He said D'Costa did not rhyme well and that he should be allowed to change it to Gonsalves. Desai realised that he wanted to pay tribute to his master and readily agreed. However, Pyarelalji told me that till date he has not been able to muster up courage to ask his guru how he felt about it. It is this respect that we are missing today. These days, students ask how much they will be paid after a couple of days of shooting.” With the steady supply of succulent kababs, there is no shortage of tales from the raconteur but we part ways with his next stop: a documentary on the Marathi folk theatre form: naman khele.”
Another story begins….
