It is nice to watch Gujarati cinema come out of the villages and raise concerns on multiple
issues. Forthcoming Jai Mata Ji: Let’s Rock is an unusual subject in the sense, it tells the
story of an 80-year-old grandmother, whose life is turned topsy turvy due to a government
scheme called Jai Mata Ji: Let’s Rock. It is a comedy but also a social satire shedding light on
family relationships, financial struggles, and the treatment of elders in society. What is
attractive about the release is the promotion campaign. The unit released the poster of the
film at Maniben Tribhuvan Matru Griha (Old Age Home) in Ahmedabad amidst all the
senior citizens. The grandmother character played by Vandana Pathak, is an inspiration to all
the elders to live life to the fullest and at your terms

Recently I came across a wonderful initiative and felt I had to mention it in this space.
Soul Connect ( love the title) is an initiative of social anthropologist Vinod Joshi and Mita Kapur, founder and CEO of Siyahi, India’s leading literary consultancy.

Joshi and Kapur decided to recreate an old tradition almost forgotten in modern India. The duo are reviving  our practice of listening to Morning Ragas collectively inside a temple. It is their dream to revive ancient,

authentic Indian performing art and artists.

In the month of April Soul Connect will be hosting several musical events including a Ram Navmi where Dr Jitendra Rana and group will perform at Shri Ram Chandraji Temple, Chandpole, Jaipur.

What made you initiate this dream project I asked Mita Kapur and  her a see was “Passion, both Joshiji and I looked at it as an opportunity to give back to the city, to encourage artists, to appreciate and honour heritage and to celebrate our rich culture and architecture. This way we are ensuring that the temples are well maintained and music lovers are  celebrating tradition”.

The film industry is facing one crisis after another. The theatres are empty despite film producers claiming a business of 100 plus crores. Every Friday the industry faces threats of piracy and despite utmost caution and stringent laws, the menace continues. This week Salman Khan’s much awaited action thriller Sikander was leaked on several infamous platforms and websites resulting in heavy losses to the film.

A few days ago, the Cinefil Producers association addressed another burning issue at their AGM meet. They unveiled Royalties Distribution Policy that will ensure fair revenue sharing for all filmmakers. Veteran filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani  described it as a landmark decision that was long overdue.

Sometimes a certain space defines your identity and you don’t know it until that space is
taken away from you. Indrani directed Bengali film Chhaad tells you about a school teacher,
a dormant artist Mitra/ Paoli Dam, who loves to spend her evenings on her building terrace. It
is here she befriends her niece and a few kids who come up to fly kites. She attends school in
the morning post her daily chores as a daughter-in-law of a joint family, Mitra looks forward
to watering the plants on the terrace of their dilapidated building.
It is a drab life divided between attending to her self-centred husband and an egoistic mother-
in-law. The only time she feels vibrant is when she is on the terrace, watching the changing
skyline. One day, she is asked to write a story for a festival issue but she is unable to focus on
her creative process trapped in her claustrophobic room. She yearns to visit her terrace but
cannot because that area and the ascending stairway is locked up because of family politics.
Then suddenly, the extended in-laws shifted to Asansolvisit Kolkata and Mitra without
consulting the family seeks permission to use the locked terrace and the family agrees.
Mitra’s husband is angry because she has overstepped and her and her mother-in-law
offended by her audacity but Mitra is uncaring. She has to follow her heart, find inner peace
and only the terrace can grant her that. Mitra is able to honour her deadline and is appreciated
for her writing.
Chhaad is a story of most women struggling to break free. Paoli Dam as Mitra is outstanding
and director Indrani sensitive to her surroundings to another level. Only a woman could have
made this film.

Today is Jahanvi’s birthday. My mind goes back to 1996 when Sridevi was shooting for the film  Army and rumours were rife that the actress was pregnant.

In 1997 March arrived at Jahnavi. I had visited Sridevi at the hospital and asked her what name she had chosen for the baby. ‘Not yet’, she responded ‘but  revealed that the  raashi given by the pundit was Ja n kha’‘ How about Jahnavi I suggested. Sridevi smiled.  ‘That is Urmila Matondkar’s character  in our  film Judai, let me ask Boneyji how he feels about it..

The baby was named Jahnavi and this was revealed on her debut birthday celebrated in their Green Acres building garden. Years  went by. I often bumped into Jahanvi with her mother at Anil Kapoor’s home , sometimes at events and sometimes at screenings but we never spoke to each other.

Then she  was launched as an actor and I met her cotar Ishaan Khattar for  an interview  during the promotion shooting of Dhadak.It was  a wonderful conversation  and Khattar and Kapoor were totally in sync with each other. I was certain that they would always remain friends. But life is cruel and takes people in diverse directions. In show business you can only remain friends if you work together and Jahnavi and Ishaan  never worked together again.

Monday was Writers Day. In the recently released Super Boys of Malegaon, there is a dialogue, ‘Writer is the boss’ but is the writer really the boss in our movies? Does he get paid equal to the director or are we still treating him as the Munshiji?

In my opinion the biggest problem plaguing the fraternity  is that all of them want to be all rounders. The producers want to  become directors. The directors want to become writers and the music directors want to become singers.

In the olden days three writers combined wrote a screenplay. One was credited for the story, the second for the screenplay and the third for the dialogues. In my opinion this was a perfect arrangement of accountability  and quality.