e-drawings and photos

2008-04-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

2007-09-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

2007-08-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

2007-03-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

2007-03-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

2007-03-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

2007-03-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

2007-03-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

2007-03-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

2007-03-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

It is the Pinky

2007-02-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

2007-02-26T02:59:00.000-08:00

2007-02-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

world tour

2007-02-17T04:08:00.000-08:00

2007-02-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

Baby Bono - Village Kukria - Madhya Pradesh

2007-02-12T03:31:00.000-08:00

2007-02-10T03:16:00.000-08:00

chilly delhi bakre

2007-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

2007-02-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

2007-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

2007-02-05T07:12:00.000-08:00

2007-02-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

early morning fog

2007-02-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

2007-01-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

2007-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

matters of the heart

2006-12-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

from the Aradhana Project

2006-12-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

2006-11-27T05:05:00.000-08:00

Room 2

2006-11-19T13:33:00.000-08:00

and ROOM 1

Narmada Valley, October 2006

2006-11-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

kutro kukri?

2006-11-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

On TV

2006-10-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

view point

2006-09-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

2006-09-24T03:44:00.000-07:00

2006-09-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

students

2006-09-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

students, balwadi, nagar, rajasthan, 2005

Teacher

2006-09-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sir, Balwadi, Nagar, Rajasthan, 2005

2006-08-31T03:36:00.000-07:00

building society

2006-08-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

www.mybuildingsociety.net

bride

2006-08-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

sunder guddi

2006-08-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

new drawing 2: fancy sofa

2006-07-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

new drawing 1: good morning animal

2006-07-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

Alfred, Moti, New Roshan

2006-07-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Pathe Bapurao Street and its on going Films Festival

2006-07-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

Had planned to do this project as part of an MA online course from the CSCS Bangalore, last year. It didnt quite work out. Was introduced to this street and the cinemas when a friend was working on a project called TyPoCity. This essay is written with him.

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The crossroad at Pathe Bapurao Street is banked by ghetto townships of the Inner City. While the ghetto areas are segregated by ethnicity, this neighbourhood, with its rich mix of people from across class and community, is typically Bombay in character. The adjoining street – Falkland Road – is the busiest sex district of Bombay (along with Kamathipura). Workshops and small enterprises line the streets fringed by old opulent buildings in state of decay. The crossroad is flanked by 6 cinema halls.

The cinema halls in the neighbourhood are one of the few surviving single screen theatres in Bombay. While many cinema halls shut down from 1983 to 1995, these continue to survive by curating an eclectic mix of films from different periods and genres. The tickets are cheap and the patronage is mostly comprised of workers and labourers from the immediate vicinity. However there are fading signs of grandeur and opulence. The glorious Alfred Talkies and the infamous Delhi Darbar restaurant are landmarks of this glamour.

At a time where cinema culture is changing rapidly and drastically, the pressure for change is also creeping on the cinema halls in this neighbourhood. New land reforms are transforming the identity of old districts and Pathe Bapurao Street faces the pressure too. More old cinemas are giving way to multiplexes, old cafes are converting to coffee shops, tenements are transforming looming skyscrapers, workshop sheds are becoming showrooms, market stores are being replaced by shopping complexes and pavements are being sanitized. What are these forces and counter-forces acting upon this area and how these might affect the physical and cultural space of the neighbourhood are questions worth understanding. Some questions can perhaps be answered by studying this neighbourhood in the Inner City of Bombay – its social history and its cinema culture.

Cinema Halls here follow an exhibition pattern much like that of a film festival. They do not necessarily screen the same film for a week unlike the other single theatres or even multiplexes in the city. The films range from B-grade films such as those starring Mithun, 80s and 90s A-grades (like Maine Pyar Kiya, Ashiquie), Current B-grade flops (like Kis Kis ko, Kiss Kiss Ki Kismet, The Hero, Julie), C-Grade and Sex Films (like Har rat Naya Khiladi, Zulmi Saiyan, Ek aur Aurat), And re-runs of old hit films (mostly Amitabh hits from 70s like Don, Naseeb)
In addition to this, the weekly screenings of these different films follow peculiar patterns: for instance, at some theatres: early week: Re-runs starring Mithun or other B-grade thrillers from the 80s and 90s, Mid Week: c-grade and sex films and weekends: hit films from 70s and 80s (mostly starring Amitabh) or a new regional flick (usually Bhojpuri).

What is the logic of this selection? What is the stake of the exhibitor/distributor/market in designing this exhibition programme viz a viz that of the cinemagoers, mostly regulars in this context. According to the distributors and cinema owners a number of factors influence the choice of film to be screened. Avalibilty of cheap print is one crucial aspect, according to a source at Naaz Film House in Grant Road. Of course it is the cinemagoers that make the film hit and at times demand re runs. There are also other factors that contribute to this logic, for instance during the holy month of Ramzaan, people like to watch old films and also films that are less violent. Whereas at other times they usally love 80s and 90s violent flicks.

The publicity and promotion campaigns, tailor-made to target audience in this particular context and has changed over the years with hand painted posters giving way to standardized printouts, for instance. According to Suresh Bhai, an old-timer film poster painter: " the posters for this area were always different from those put in other parts of the city, for instance, a fight sequence would always feature on the posters and main hoardings, projecting it as the main attraction of the film, even if there was merely a slap in the film. Once I had to paint a the hero fighting the villain on top a train, even though the sequence in the film was not shot on top of a train but a train merely passes by in the background". The reasons for these "special effects" on the publicity material used in this area, according to Suresh Bhai is "this what they like and come for, whether this is misleading or cheating is another issue".

So Who constitutes the patrons? The audience mostly if not strictly constitutes of men! Migrant daily wage workers who come to Bombay to make a living and live in the surrounding areas are regulars at the theaters. One can rarely spot a women in these theaters. Perhaps the fact that this street is bounded by the two most prominent red-light districts of Bombay (Kamathipura and Falkland Road), affects the 'gentry' to these cinemas.

What makes this space super interesting is the multiplicity unlike that of a multiplex. What is the experience of the spectator in this exhibition? This on going films festival is an assemblage of varied genres, histories, narratives, memory, economics and politics of cinema, received by more or less the same audience in the present moment. What then is there relationship of the viewer to all these films watched here? What are their favorites? What films they like and don't like? Is there an established relationship with a specific form that drives them to the theatres each day, week?
And what is the relationship with the different avatars of the same actors? Amitabh of another socio-political era as the angry young man meeting that of lets say Baghban) all in the same week in the same space. Wow!

Taken Over: Minvera Talkies

2006-07-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

After years of family dispute over the property, Minerva’s fate has been decided. Even though it has escaped a multiplex make-over, the MIGHTY Art Auction House and Archive, Osians, have bought it for 30 crores! The new owners are as ambitious and powerful as the PVRs. In a years time Minerva will be a plush space for grand auctions, film festivals, workshops and a lot more. Its new name is Osianama.

dilli wla ladega toh bandh kaise banega

2006-04-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Narmada ki ghati mein, ab ladai jari hai

chalo uto! chalo uto! rokna vinas hai
vikas ke hi nam par, bandh ka ye khel hai

soch lo, jan lo, labh hani kitni hai
sinchai ki bhi bhul hai, dal dal to honi hai

ganne ke khet mein, mazdoor pisaya hai
bijli ka jaal hai, sheheron ki chal hai

tapi mein na ban saki, vahi hal hona hai
na janch hai, na farak hai, jute hisab hai

krodon ki lagat, gujarat ki bhi lut hai
rajniti saf hai, kursi panch sal hai

bandh fir ho na ho, apna apna rona hai
mazdur ka ghar todkar, kisan ka hal chin kar

dekho ye to chodenge, lakhon ko ujadkar
na jamin hai, na dam hai, punarvas ka nam hai

bulakar bhagane ka sara intezam hai
mantri ka elan hai, party ka ahvan hai

bhai apna soch lo, tekedar ka rajya hai
labhon ka vada hai, manav ka soda hai

pachas sal ke liye, pidiyon ka rona hai
narmada ki ghati mein, ab ladai jari hai chalo uto, chalo uto! rokna vinas hai.

2006-04-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

sunset @ landour

2006-04-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

rochan-raghav-rishwa

2006-04-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

2006-04-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

Seen in the pics are Rochan and Rishwa and Rishwa during their old Delhi visit.

our project blog is fully set. www.mathurbuilding.blogspot.com

and here is a link to Rishwa's blog. www.rishwa.blogspot.com
Rishwa is ten years old and so cool.

New Jain Guest House, Dudu

2006-03-23T16:28:00.000-08:00

room # 23

Meethe Kharboojo ka Chaman

2006-03-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

In December 2005, i went to Rajasthan for an "Impact Assessment" study for an NGO. In our three week stay we travelled through, lived in and visited nearly 20 villages in Tonk District. We worked hard and over ate. And fell in love with the place and the friends we made there.
Also, shot 7 rolls! and spoilt the self timer lever of V's FM10.

Not sure what Tonk means...but it was given this name by Bhola Brahmin in mid 17th century.

Tonk ke dusre naam: Rajasthan ka Lucknow, Adab ka Gulshan, Romantic poet Akhtar Shreerani ki Nagri, Meethe Kharboojo ka Chaman, Hindu Muslim Ekta ka Maskan

OK, Here is my favorite picture!

fairies

2006-03-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

George Bush Hai Hai

2006-03-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

Saffron ki Taqat

2006-03-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

March March

2006-03-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Early this month I photographed 3 Protest Marches/Rallies.

1. March 2, 2006 -- the Big Anti Bush Rally
2. March 8, 2006 -- National Network of Sex worker's Protest Rally demanding decriminalization and expressing their reservations about the proposed amendments to the ITPA. (Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act).
3. March 8, 2006 -- Bajrang Dal, RSS protest day after the Benaras Bomb blasts.

Pasting pictures in the next post.

so techincally the only march missed out was Justice for Jessica. I did watch RDB though!

Shaam Dhale...

2006-03-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

Ye dhoop kinara, ye dhoop kinara...Shaam dhale...Milte hain dono waqt jahan...Jo raat na din, jo aaj na kal..Jo raat na din, jo aaj na kal..Jo aaj na kal...Pal bhar ko amar, pal bhar mein dhuan.. Ye dhoop kinara, ye dhoop kinara...Shaam dhale..Is dhoop kinare, pal do pal...Honthon ki lapak, baahon ki khanak..Honthon ki lapak...Ye mail humara, ye mail humara..Pal bhar ko amar, pal bhar mein dhuan.. Ye mail humara, ye mail humara...Jhoot na sach...Jab teri samandar aankhon mein...Is shaam ka suraj dhoobega...Sukh sooeinge ghar-dar waale...Aur raahi apni raah lega...Aur raahi apni raah lega... Pal bhar ko amar, pal bhar mein dhuan..Ye dhoop kinara, ye dhoop kinara..Shaam dhale...

xmas 2005

2006-03-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

an evening in Bandra

2006-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

yellow man

2005-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

automatic

2005-12-06T00:48:00.000-08:00

room

2005-11-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

man 2

2005-10-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

house

2005-10-24T05:35:00.000-07:00

drawn at work today

love

2005-10-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

new

Ulta Pulta

2005-10-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

Man Drawing - 1

2005-10-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

drawn at work that day

brand new e-drawing

2005-10-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

"

"mummy and i" . made this at work yesterday.

First

2005-10-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

Daddy Tau, Omi Tauji, Manoj and Prabhat in Bagichi, our Shahar ka Ghar. Shillo Jiji's pic on the wall.
Shot this some sundays back in Delhi.