Lit-O-fest, writing and me!!!

It all began with some out of the blue some random thoughts that began to flow in the middle of the night and from that day onwards a pen and pad always lay open on my bedside. The "filmy keeda" in me seemed to be wriggling its way onto paper and I began writing stories that had a touch of life and things that I had seen around me and on celluloid. I remember how it all started. I used to handle annual reports at the bank where I was working, collating data, coordinating shoots and actually proof reading the data for my colleagues something I did not need to but began to enjoy and love ensuring standardization in the data. This was probably the best time in my career. Those random thoughts seemed to be calling out to me and often during the lunch time I began to put down thoughts and mailed them off to myself and began fleshing them out at night...Writing has always been something I loved and even more surprising was the love for proof reading which somehow I became totally fascinated with ....  it was just something that I continue to do unconsciously for everything I read, sometimes to the dismay of my friends whose stuff I begin to correct.

Almost all my efforts  pointed me towards self publishing with exorbitant costs  to print, market and promote leaving me wondering what would I get out of the whole deal. Time flew as wrote and ran through a million options to get my stories out there.  No one seemed to want to publish short stories anymore and besides novels were being published dime a dozen.  I began to wonder how and what would make me so different from others.  Writing a novel was not for me definitely, as I cannot put it down until I know how it ends. It has to be short and sweet for me with a closure at the earliest. So that's why perhaps even a Saas-bahu serial on TV does not hold my attention sadly!  That did not stop me from writing as I shared my stories with friends, In fact to put it plainly forced them to read!!!...... and then Lit-O-Fest just happened to me like a rainbow on a rainy day.

My long journey of four years just melted into nothingness reading a mail acknowledging my manuscript submission to the festival that said " "Congratulations!  We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been finalized for the LIT-O-FEST 2016 Awards. Please do come on the 20th Feb to be a part of the LIT-O-FEST event and the award ceremony."   That was IT for me. Someone out there had thought my words were worthy to be read. That in itself was an achievement and to get to this day when I can a big thank you to Smita Parekh, Festival Director and her team at Lit-O-Fest for appreciating the writer in me. Yes, I won, I won in the "get published" section.  Whatever this holds for me in the future is just a big big dollop of icing and a culmination of a dream come true.

So let me share what Lit-O-Fest is.......Lit-O-Fest is a festival with a difference and a one of its kind initiative where publishing contracts are signed with deserving authors and what's more for free. It's a festival with a philanthropic perspective as this is an only platform where one-the-spot publishing contracts are signed with deserving authors. A friend Hariharan Iyer introduced me to this festival and  I submitted my manuscript in the short stories section a few months ago. 

The festival was held at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, on February 20- 21, 2016 and when I walked into the college premises on Day 1,  it was so heart-warming to be received by the students who escorted me to the multimedia room where an talk was already in session. As I sat there listening, I felt an immense sense of peace and happiness that comes with just being a part of something so laudable. Sailesh Lodha of Tarak Mehta fame brought a smile on our faces as he spoke on how we have lost our ability to laugh and finding laughter and humor in everything.  A session with Ram Jethmalaniji on money laundering in our country and its repercussions that followed was so eloquently put that I could not but marvel at this 93 year grand old gentleman. He actually refused to sit down but chose to stand and talk at the dais for over thirty minutes with such truth and passion. If this is not inspiring then for me nothing ever will.

The awards ceremony began with the Lit-O-Fest giving away the 'Living Legend’ award to legends Narendra Kohli, Kiran Nagarkar, Pankaj Dubey for Creative Leadership and Radhakrishnan Pillai in the education field. I had the privilege of being there to listen to them share their thoughts. Thereafter, I was called on stage to receive my award at the hands of Ram Jethmalani ji and what an euphoric feeling and honour indeed. Though knowing me, I did not let Shatrughan Sinha leave before expressing my disappointment to him. He was to give the awards away but was getting late and he very sweetly acknowledged me by saying he could not wait as he had another appointment. My bad luck.

I wish that I could have gone again on Day 2, but for another commitment.  It was not surprising to read that Day 2 saw sessions with Manoj Bajpayee and Shilpa Shukla, child abuse and  teenage tantrums with Kiran Manral, Harish Iyer and Sonali Shroff with the  event ith concluding with live band by Leslie Lewis.

We all live in a world of stress and competition and everyone is definitely impatient for sure and wanting things to happen overnight, including me,  but as the saying goes "there is a time and place for everything" .....and the time and place for me is definitely now....

...And that is a Bollywood grosser....

Often I wonder how a film should be judged as a success or not.  In my humble opinion today films whether they have content or not and run purely on personal likes for an actor/actress and the immense marketing strategies that make the viewer attracted towards it. Thereon making money is a done deal. That’s all that seems to matter in the long run for the makers.... and that is the definition of grosser today for me.

Belonging to an era where films were judged by the number of weeks they ran, and Silver Jubilee or Golden Jubilee were the words that announced the success of a film, compared to today where it is “x crores”. It is all about the top box office earners and it really does not matter whether the film is appreciated by the public or not. So who are the best judge on whether the film really is a hit or not. I suggest the makers who claim the crores should actually get into a local train and listen to the discussion the people have on the film trashing it from end to end if they have not been entertained enough. That’s where the truth of success lies, but that is not how it works, does it?  Once revenue from theatres is factored in it is immediately clear which film is the most successful notwithstanding the fact that the monies sometimes made are in just a week bringing in the crores by charging the public an exorbitant ticket price. Prices as high as Rs. 600 - Rs.1200 per ticket and well the public pours into the theatre even at that price because they want to see their favourite actor who can do no wrong. Some of them come out happy, some grumble searching for the lost amount under their seats. By then the film has done its deed, and the monies are made not forgetting huge amounts as satellite rights.

Just think of those stars in the 60s and 70s. Take the example of Rajendra Kumar who was considered as one of the most successful Indian Bollywood actors in the 1960s and had to struggle through 25 weeks of his film running to be declared Jubilee King. An interesting fact I read somewhere was that for the premier of one of his films, he was asked if he wanted any seats for his relatives or friends. Thinking that it would be complimentary, he asked for ten and believe it or not the money was deducted for the tickets he took for his relatives and friends from his cheque. Today which actor would allow this I wonder? Agreed times were different, but today is there any actor who can claim the title of “jubilee king” and besides 'blockbuster' or “silver jubilee” is a title not every successful film can enjoy and hence they remain just “box office grossers”.

Then there are those films that you can’t ignore. At a time when film budgets would never hit the grosser mark, Mughal-E-Azam was made at an unbelievable budget of Rs 1.5 crores and went on to gross much more. Then there is Sholay that ran for six years to a packed audience and then there was a Lagan that too ran to packed houses to a silver jubilee, which was a rarity in times when films did not run till the second week even. The key words here being ‘packed audiences’ Then here we have a Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge boasting of 20 years running in one theatre in the corner of Mumbai in a morning show making me wonder whether it is just there to make a milestone history or genuinely running to packed houses. Much as I loved the film, I am totally doubtful that it is making any money. I am guessing that the theatre owner is definitely personally in love with the movie or being paid to run it. Why otherwise? If someone explains to me, then I will fall in love with Raj and Simraan all over again. Till then I remain yours sceptical!!

Films actually are the most vibrant medium for telling stories and that’s what seems to have been a little lost today. There is a story line in the films but the masala and the heroism overpowers the story to such an extent that all you come out remembering is the violence, the chases, car blowing up and a song that might touch your heart.  The glamour and grandeur from Mughal-e-Azam to Jodha Akbar and Bajirao Mastani, however, has not changed much if you look closely and cannot be ignored too. We also have the women centric epics ranging from Mother India, Aandhi, Arth to a No one Killed Jessica, Mardani, Dirty Picture and a Mary Kom making their mark as do hero centric films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bahubali, 3 Idiots, etc.

Not to forget the immense influence songs have on the audience in sometimes deciding the films they want to watch. Songs and dance are what sometimes also make and break the film almost determining the success. Few films without any songs and dances succeed but for the exceptional ones like Itefaq, Kanoon in the past to Bhoot and A Wednesday a few years did manage to stand ground. Even then today the audience seems to have lost its patience with songs and at the end of the movie a song that the makers probably spent large monies on screens to the audience leaving the theatre before it even ends. Then there are some unfortunate films with a promise ending up putting the viewers to sleep. Films like Jai Ho, Action Jackson, Bang Bang, Happy New Year turn out to be massive let downs, leaving you with moments that defy logic and sensibility but yet surprisingly have made the bucks just on star power like most films do today.  The confusion of “so is this also a grosser” just does not go away. It rings in your head because you just can’t understand or accept it because you just don’t get the point.

Setting the bar at 100 crores wasn't just enough before a new release crossed the mark to raise the bar to Rs. 200 crores and thereon to Rs. 300 crores. Gone are the days when films make way into the audience’s heart for its meaningful content and story line. Gone are the days when a film ran for more than two weeks in a theatre. Either you saw it or just had to wait for it to make its way on television once the film is sold to the TV channels for huge amounts as satellite right. It is all about the stars and the opulence that attracts the audience to the theatre and rest is a history of clambering for that “Bollywood grosser club” by the makers, as for the audience it is just one big mystery.