Is budget a major constraint in the filmmaking process? Independent filmmakers, over 15 in number, who participated in an interactive session at the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) don’t think so. Going by their experience, any enthusiastic cine buff can make a film if he or she really has the passion for it.
Take the example of Manikandan, director of Endless , an 83-minute Tamil movie. He invested Rs. 3.2 lakh into his film and got a man of Delhi Ganesh’s calibre to be part of it. Satarupa Sanyal said she made Opalaa on a modest budget of Rs. 6 lakh. Amartya Bhattacharyya made Capital I with a budget of Rs. 5 lakh, used a DSLR camera and had a five-member crew for support. Prosenjit Choudhury made Dakbaksho on a shoestring budget of Rs. 5 lakh.
These are filmmakers who have got national and international recognition, besides getting to screen their films at various international festivals.
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However, Dayal Padmanabhan, whose two Kannada films
Amartya Bhattacharyya said making films driven by passion has become important as craft has become more important than art these days. “Filmmakers have a responsibility to create and cultivate audience for films where art gets priority over the craft,” he said.
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Makarand Brahma, whose documentary Adwait Sangeet on musicians Rajan Mishra and Sajan Mishra was screened at BIFFes, says he was fascinated by the thought and philosophy of legendary artistes.
“I will continue to do films of this genre and am now planning to do a biopic on Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the thumri form. I have been working on it for the past four years,” he says.
Describing filmmaking as an extension of his writing, Ashok Rane, who made a film on legendary film composers Datta Ram and Anthony Gonsalves, says, “I will continue to do films on giants of Hindi film music.”
He also feels it is unfortunate that there is a lack of proper documentation on those who have contributed to Hindi film music over the years.