The 4As

Ahmedabad, a city that is just 400-odd kms from Mumbai. A city where you are welcomed by a hill made of landfill with scores of scavengers doing circumambulations over it. That scene, as I knocked on the city walls, kind of reminded me of Arunachala!

And I am in Ahmedabad only after 33 years of wandering and travelling. Finally when I made it to Ahmedabad after a grueling 31-hour bus journey from Bangalore, it really was worth it. 

Aghavizhi’s screening happened on Friday at the Alliance Francaise. We received good response and there was an engaging Q&A session after the film; here is what few members of the audience had to say:

Devam Shah, artist and student: “This was a unque film; I have never watched anything like this before in a short film! The film is written and conceived well. Really well.” 

Martin Phillipe, Director and French Language Teacher at Alliance Francaise: “It is a disturbing film; I need to watch it a second time.”

    

Maïté Courgeon, Senior French Language Teacher at Alliance Francaise: “I loved the film! Even, I feel that I should watch it again to interpret it better.”

On Saturday night, I was one among the many enthralled listeners to be privileged to listen to Tom Alter, one of our most respected actors. This man is a film institution by himself! He is an actor who is a big supporter of Indie and short films. And in supporting short films, he supports Shamiana in a big way. For more than an hour, Tom Alter enthralled all and sundry assembled for Shamiana’s screening of four shorts at Darpana Academy:

• The Echo

• The Tigers Are All Dead. Aren’t They?

• The Colors of Pride

• Bye Bye Bunny

Tom Alter had acted in the short titled The Colors of Pride. He talked at length about the film, film-making, passions, a major shortcoming of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and also demystified alcoholism, drugs, and six pack abs! He shared anecdotes about Sunil Dutt, Vyjayantimala, Amrapali, Dilip Kumar, Satyajit Ray, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Gandhi (the movie), Raj Kapoor et al. 

The one that gave me goose bumps was his take on Sunil Dutt’s march from Mumbai to Amritsar Golden Temple along with Priya Dutt during the Punjab riot days. 

The way he talked about how egos help you make films and how egos help you work together was enlightening.   

P.S.: The city is a great place for foodies: I munched on Jassuben’s Pizzas, sandwiches, Gujarati thalis, and kulfi! Yes, and it rained on Friday evening. It was the rainiest Friday in decades!