Day 5 at at the 6th Jagran Film Festival

'Fortune favours the brave'

Zeishan Quadri

Writer-filmmaker Zeishan Quadri was part of a special interactive session at the 6th Jagran Film Festival on Friday after his recently released film, Meeruthiya Gangsters was screened. Zeishan, who played the role of Definite in Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012), said: "I am not afraid of failure and that's the reason I could take an important step (making a film) at such early a phase in my career. And since I am not thinking about the end result, I can afford to be at my creative best." He added, "All the new and aspiring actors, writers and film directors should also be fearless. That's the only way to make a mark in this industry. After all, fortune favours the brave."

Tribute to Mahatma

Shama Zaidi (left) and Ketan Mehata

Renowned director Ketan Mehta revealed plans to make a film based on Mahatma Gandhi's assassination at the
Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti) in New Delhi on January 30, 1948. He was attending a panel discussion on the freedom struggler's ideologies on Day four of the festival. Atul Tiwari moderated the session which also had screenplay writer Shama Zaidi as participant. Zaidi was part of the feature film, Making of The Mahatma while Mehta directed Sardar Vallabhai Patel. They also shared a few interesting anecdotes about the making of these films while paying respect to the national leader. "Actually, Nelson Mandela wanted to make a film on Gandhi by collaborating with an Indian filmmaker. He also wanted an all-Indian film team to collaborate with South Africans. So, when we went there, we got Indians in that country to shoot the film. Many don't know this fact," said Zaidi.

Their first time

(Left to right) Sanjay Puransingh Chauhan, Rajiv Bhatia and Shiladitya Moulik. Pics/Sameer Markande

Debutant directors Rajiv Bhatia (Pagdi), Sanjay Puransingh Chauhan (Lahore) and Shiladitya Moulik (Mrs Scooter) discussed the challenges they faced while making their first film. Interacting with the audience at the festival, Sanjay said, "I started making the film in 1996. It took a lot of time, but I was clear about my vision and did not work with people who did not endorse my ideas. As a director, it is important to stick to your idea and not worry about people who do not like or understand your vision."

Web boom

Naveen Kasturia

Naveen Kasturia, who featured in last year's indie film Sulemani Keeda, was spotted at JFF. As someone who rose to fame with the online show, TVF Pitchers, he considers digital platforms important for budding artistes to find recognition. "Now that a host of web series are launching in various formats, filmmakers don't have to approach and
convince 200 people to release their films. The benefit of digital platform is also that you don't have to censor content or convince distributors who don't have much idea what the content is really about; they are concerned more with star presence. I don't expect people, who produce online content, to pay me well. Personally, I earn my money from ads," he said.