Open Forum @ #MIFF2022 deliberates on opportunities offered by OTT platforms to documentaries

MIFF Campus: Cinema is known as the face of society. But there's always a gap between what society wants and needs. How can OTT platforms fill this gap? Are OTT platforms becoming a real boon for documentaries? Open Forum held on the sidelines of 17th Mumbai International Film Festival discussed and deliberated on a number of such pressing questions today.

Swati Bhat

Filmmakers Piyush Pande, Bharat Shitole, Sushil Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group and Sameer Mody, Founder and Manager Director, Pocket Films participated in the session. Filmmaker and Technology Expert Swati Indulkar moderated the discussion.

Sushil Kumar Agarwal, CEO, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group opined that nowadays OTT platforms are bridging the gap between films and documentaries. “People are making documentaries in various formats like fiction, factual, short, or long. Documentaries have played a very big role in disseminating facts to society. A platform is required to promote these documentaries, keep them alive and to reach a larger audience. Doordarshan has played an important role in promoting them”, he added.

Filmmaker Piyush Pande pointed out that the OTT platforms have made things easily accessible for people and filmmakers; especially documentary filmmakers. “Many documentaries were out of the reach of the common people. But now with the help of various OTT platforms, such films can reach a larger audience. YouTube is the biggest OTT platform. We don’t have to worry about approvals and the platform can be monetized as well”, he elaborated.

Talking in tune with these discussions, Sameer Mody, Pocket Films Founder and Manager Director said that documentaries are becoming more mainstream because of the OTT platforms. “Unfortunately, the majority of audience still believes that cinema is entertainment. But the new generation seems to be interested in real stories and facts. A lot of films are already being made on real-life heroes”, he explained.

Film maker Bharat Shitole also agreed that the rise of OTT platforms have made things easy and less complicated. “Earlier it was only Doordarshan. Today the youngsters are having a lot of opportunities and it’s up to them how they would grab the opportunity. Thorough research about our target audience and the area that we are focusing on is a must. Indian platforms such as Ultra and Shemaroo are taking the initiative to uplift documentaries”, he concluded.

Mime is a powerful art form that touches the heart: Asok Kumar Chattopadhyay

MIFF Campus: Mime is a powerful art form that can touches your heart without using any words, said Asok Kumar Chattopadhyay, Director of the documentary film ‘An Ode to Quietude’. During French revolution, the revolutionaries used mime as a medium for their protest. It has still got so much of power to bring out social issues, he said. He was talking at the #MIFFDialogues held in connection with the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival.

Pritish Bagdi

Talking about his film, Asok Kumar Chattopadhyay said that ‘An Ode to Quietude’ is a biographical sketch of the mime maestro and exponent of Indian mime, Shree Jogesh Dutta and the kind of struggle he went through to become a world famous mime artist. “Jogesh da lost his parents around 13-14 years old. At the dawn of independence, he found himself at Sealdah station as a penniless refugee from erstwhile East Pakistan. He has done many odd jobs like hotel, tea stall worker and gathered lot of life experience. Through his keen observation, he developed the skill to copy and mimic others. His sense of humour was also great. He developed a lot of scripts by himself. Gradually he developed his mime art on his own. Hours and hours of practise made him a legend” he said.

Recalling his long association with the mime maestro, he pointed out that the kind of dedication Jogesh Dutta has for his art form is really amazing. “He considered his body like a temple and followed a strict diet and daily routine. Now a days, that kind of dedication is missing in most people”, he added.

Asok Kumar Chattopadhyay also opined that due to the craze for mobile and internet, people are forgetting about stage activity. “ Crowds are not coming to auditorium like before for watching stage arts. We are making art for the auditorium purpose. A two and a half inch mobile screen can’t do justice to the artwork. For me it is not the medium. If you want to see song, music or drama you have to go to the auditorium”, he elaborated.

A brief on ‘An Ode to Quietude’

The film traces Jogesh Dutta’s journey from being a standup comedian at local festivals to becoming a pioneer of Indian mime who established the first mime academy in India.

About the Director

Asok Kumar Chattopadhyay is a director of films and commercials. He has also directed films for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Aurora Film Corporation and the Sangeet Natak Academy, Hes filmography includes A Divine Percussion (2015), Gahana Bori (2016) and The Golden Glory (2017).

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‘Naadam’ presents a vibrant glimpse into the beauty and diversity of Indian music: Director Indrajit

MIFF Campus: Indian music is rich and diverse. Music is a way of our life. The film ‘Naadam’ presents a vibrant glimpse into the beauty and diversity of Indian music, said director Indrajit Nattoji at 17th Mumbai International Film Festival today.

Swati Bhat

Addressing the #MIFFDialogue, Indrajit said “Every sound we hear is a musical note. Music is nothing but a series of notes. My daughter was seven years of old and she used to wake up at night hearing some sound. I took this idea and created a story.”

He said, uniqueness of the film is its format. “Unlike TV and normal cinema, Naadam has been shot in 1:6 frame. You can’t cover the whole screen at one go. So therefore the film was shot in a way where the sound guides you where to look at. It was a tremendously challenging project”, he added.

About the film: Naadam

Director : Indrajit Nattoji

Producer : Indrajit Nattoji

Animator : Upasana Nattoji Roy

Sound Designer : Anish Gohil

Director's bio

Indrajit Nattoji is a graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, specialized in Film and Graphic Design. He is an award- winning director, writer and producer. He owns a production house named Blink Pictures since 22 years. He has conceptualised and created two large-scale film installations for the Indian Music Experience Museum in Bangalore. He is also a good painter and has exhibited his paintings in art galleries in Kolkata and Mumbai. Indrajit has also directed feature films like Aagey se Right and Aafat-e-ishq.

Synopsis

Shruti, a young girl, wakes up disturbed and scared by the sounds of the night. Her mother comforts her by showing that every sound is a musical note. Made for the Indian Music Experience, India's First permanent interactive museum of Indian Music, the film is designed to play in a 180 degree immersive circular projection, a vibrant glimpse into the beauty and diversity of the Indian music.

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