Sharmila Tagore, who was on the distinguished jury of the Cannes Film Festival in May, feels our cinema needs to grow up. By Subhash K Jha
You were a member of the jury at Cannes; what do you think of the way Indian films are represented abroad?
You know our cinema has a captive Indian audience.
But I don’t think we’re pushing the envelope to compete with the best of global cinema. Where are the really brilliant world-class filmmakers after Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan competing at Cannes or Toronto Film Festival? I know Bollywood producers make a noise about going to Cannes and other international forums… The films I saw at Cannes were bloody realistic. Here in India we make films which convey a softer realism. I think Nandita Das’s film “Firaaq” could’ve gone to Cannes, or earlier, even Sheetal Talwar’s “Dharm”. Manikada (Ray) always used to ask, "What is the West’s compulsion to understand us?" They don’t have any compulsion. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Devdas” was shown at the opening night of Cannes. That was a huge honour for us. But if we want to compete with the West at Cannes and other international platforms, we need to become a global player and make the kind of films the world is resonating to.
You feel that the Bollywood formula is no good abroad?
The Indian formula works fine for the Indian audience. As an Indian actor for fifty years I’ve got it pat. I know exactly what would attract and repel the audience. But in the global cinematic context, I don’t have to look so pretty. Look at the ads in England. They aren’t celebrity-based and the models are often ordinary people. But here, look at how over-dressed the characters are even on television soaps. Glamourisation on screen is passé now. Everyone was talking about Anurag Kashyap’s “Dev D” in England.
How was the experience at Cannes?
We, the jury members, interacted on three levels… the man-woman, director-actor and East-West levels. The films this time had a lot of violence and sex, and a lot of homosexuality as well. It’s interesting to see cinema from different countries and cultures resonating with similar themes, emotions and even technique. There were some really out-of-the-world films… some wonderful, some weird, but all very interesting. There was a kind of divide among the men and women in the jury over certain movies. There was consensus only over the Palm D’Or. Otherwise we were sharply divided. We all brought our different sensibilities and culture to the table.
But it must have been tiring?
If you are a member of the jury at Cannes, you are royalty. From the time I disembarked I was looked after completely. All you’ve to do is surrender to their hospitality. There were two films to be seen every day. The average length of films this time was relatively long, most of them beyond two hours. There was a difference of opinion over the films. Also we found the performances ofor the female actors to be better than the male actors. We found the actor Tahar Rahim in “A Prophet” to be outstanding, but the film got the Grand Jury award and so we couldn’t give the boy the Best Actor award. On the other hand, the actor Christoph Waltz, who got the Best Actor award, was stunning in a terrible film, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”. Some jury members felt Tarantino’s film had a lot of gratuitous violence, and no award should go to it because an icon like Brad Pitt was propagating so much violence.
We recently saw you playing a cameo in the Bengali film “Antaheen”.
At my age it’s good to be part of a good script. I’d like to work with young directors who know their work. I like being part of a realistic film. We’ve been an insulated cinema for too long. We don’t view any world cinema in this country. Where are the Rays and Kurosawas today? Everything is so in-your-face in today’s cinema. I came back from Cannes with renewed respect for Ray and Adoor. I am really sorry to say there’s no one like Ray. He made films that will live on forever.
Your tenure as a chairperson of the Censor Board ends soon. Would you consider another tenure?
I think they should look for someone else. Change is always welcome. The new government has now settled down. I’m sure they’ll take the right decision.
You were a member of the jury at Cannes; what do you think of the way Indian films are represented abroad?
You know our cinema has a captive Indian audience.
But I don’t think we’re pushing the envelope to compete with the best of global cinema. Where are the really brilliant world-class filmmakers after Satyajit Ray and Adoor Gopalakrishnan competing at Cannes or Toronto Film Festival? I know Bollywood producers make a noise about going to Cannes and other international forums… The films I saw at Cannes were bloody realistic. Here in India we make films which convey a softer realism. I think Nandita Das’s film “Firaaq” could’ve gone to Cannes, or earlier, even Sheetal Talwar’s “Dharm”. Manikada (Ray) always used to ask, "What is the West’s compulsion to understand us?" They don’t have any compulsion. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Devdas” was shown at the opening night of Cannes. That was a huge honour for us. But if we want to compete with the West at Cannes and other international platforms, we need to become a global player and make the kind of films the world is resonating to.You feel that the Bollywood formula is no good abroad?
The Indian formula works fine for the Indian audience. As an Indian actor for fifty years I’ve got it pat. I know exactly what would attract and repel the audience. But in the global cinematic context, I don’t have to look so pretty. Look at the ads in England. They aren’t celebrity-based and the models are often ordinary people. But here, look at how over-dressed the characters are even on television soaps. Glamourisation on screen is passé now. Everyone was talking about Anurag Kashyap’s “Dev D” in England.
How was the experience at Cannes?
We, the jury members, interacted on three levels… the man-woman, director-actor and East-West levels. The films this time had a lot of violence and sex, and a lot of homosexuality as well. It’s interesting to see cinema from different countries and cultures resonating with similar themes, emotions and even technique. There were some really out-of-the-world films… some wonderful, some weird, but all very interesting. There was a kind of divide among the men and women in the jury over certain movies. There was consensus only over the Palm D’Or. Otherwise we were sharply divided. We all brought our different sensibilities and culture to the table.
But it must have been tiring?
If you are a member of the jury at Cannes, you are royalty. From the time I disembarked I was looked after completely. All you’ve to do is surrender to their hospitality. There were two films to be seen every day. The average length of films this time was relatively long, most of them beyond two hours. There was a difference of opinion over the films. Also we found the performances ofor the female actors to be better than the male actors. We found the actor Tahar Rahim in “A Prophet” to be outstanding, but the film got the Grand Jury award and so we couldn’t give the boy the Best Actor award. On the other hand, the actor Christoph Waltz, who got the Best Actor award, was stunning in a terrible film, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”. Some jury members felt Tarantino’s film had a lot of gratuitous violence, and no award should go to it because an icon like Brad Pitt was propagating so much violence.
We recently saw you playing a cameo in the Bengali film “Antaheen”.
At my age it’s good to be part of a good script. I’d like to work with young directors who know their work. I like being part of a realistic film. We’ve been an insulated cinema for too long. We don’t view any world cinema in this country. Where are the Rays and Kurosawas today? Everything is so in-your-face in today’s cinema. I came back from Cannes with renewed respect for Ray and Adoor. I am really sorry to say there’s no one like Ray. He made films that will live on forever.
Your tenure as a chairperson of the Censor Board ends soon. Would you consider another tenure?
I think they should look for someone else. Change is always welcome. The new government has now settled down. I’m sure they’ll take the right decision.
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thirdly, to fast during Ramzan (if health permits); fourthly, to give Zakaat (donating five per cent of one’s savings) and lastly, to carry out a compulsory pilgrimage to Mecca called Hajj. While Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis believe in going for Hajj only when one has fulfilled all his responsibilities in life, the fact is that if one’s health permits and one has sufficient money, one can undertake the journey as many times. It is a personal wish.