Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Oscar nomination, and Pixar facts | #91
Also, a tribute to Lata ji ➡️
Hello
This week we saw the video of Rintu Thomas, exploding in joy at the nomination of her film ‘Writing with Fire’ for the best documentary feature at the Oscars. It is a documentary about the Dalit women who lead the newspaper Khabar Lahariya. The women, with smartphones in their hands, report from remote parts of the country to speak truth to power.
Though India makes the most number of films in a year, it does produce some excellent documentaries that have won acclaim all over the world. This week’s newsletter (more of a recommender) is about documentaries from India
Things we learnt this week 🤓
Chale Chalo: The lunacy of film making - A film about a ramshackle group of men trying to overcome adversity in the desert and it is about the making of Lagaan. Lagaan was a path-breaking film that defied everything that was considered sacred in the film business. To make it unique, a behind the scenes documentary was made by Aamir Khan’s friend Satyajit Bhatkal. Immense efforts went into the making of Lagaan - Ashutosh Gowariker had to direct scenes sleeping, because of debilitating back ache. AK Hangal, nearly died of pain but continued to shoot for the show to go on. Watch the doc for a behind the scenes peek into one of India’s finest films.
Wild Karnataka - Not many realize, but Karnataka is home to a rich and biodiverse ecosystem. This documentary was shot over 4 years in various parts of Karnataka and is narrated by Sir David Attenborough. With wonderful background music, ultra-HD visuals of the best of flora and fauna, Karnataka can offer, this documentary will make you want to visit the state.
I am 20: A unique premise - people born on August 15, 1947 were selected from all over India and interviewed in 1967. They are as old as the country and the interviewer tries to understand India’s goals and ambitions through the words of these 20 year olds. The young 20-year olds express dissatisfaction with the government, pride in their country's independence, hope and cynicism for the country's future. Nearly 60 years later though ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’.
Okay we are cheating a bit with this one but its too good not to share: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, maker of films like Parinda and 1942 Love Story, was nominated for an Oscar award in 1978 in ‘Best Documentary Short Subject’ for his movie ‘An Encounter with Faces’. There is an interesting back story - Vidhu Vinod Chopra got to know that he was nominated for the Oscars, but had no money. He contacted LK Advani, who was the I&B minister then for funds. LK Advani, sent Chopra on an Air India ticket and gave him $20 a day per diem for his trip to the US. A fine onsite affair
From IWTK, with love 💌
This week saw the death of Lata Mangeshkar, someone who brought India together with her voice. We pay tribute to her legacy.
Pixar turned 36. An ode to the factory that produces one iconic film after another.
That’s it from us this week. See you next week as we start the countdown to our 100th issue!
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❤️ IWTK
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