Big Bad Idea’s Outsiders Film Festival gets big, good audience

Big Bad Idea’s Outsiders Film Festival gets big, good audience

Had it been a regular theatre, they would have put up a sign saying House Full. But Veda Black Box in Aram Nagar II, Versova, is not a cinema, and is designed for more intimate gatherings, like plays and workshops, so no such sign greeted me when I arrived at the venue of the Outsiders’ one-day film festival, some 2 hours after it had started. That happened because I had another appointment in the morning/forenoon, and Aram Nagar is about 90 minutes away from my house, by public transport. There was a sizeable crowd sitting outside and enjoying beverages and snacks. I presumed that event had got delayed, as such events often are. Just then I met someone who told me that screening was on inside. So, why was there such a big crowd sitting in the canteen? I would soon find out.

Inside, they were showing a film made by a Tamil origin woman, Marie Sushila, and starring distinctly dark-skinned Tamilians. It was all about how modern dance helped the women on screen unwind and discover themselves. I was lucky enough to find a seat in the first row, because, hear, hear…the small auditorium was House Full. The film was in French, which I understand, though also had English sub-titles. After the screening, Marie interacted with the audience in French and I put her a question in mon Francais. She revealed that she and the other Tamil girls on screen had never visited India, where their parents came from, and all spoke fluent French, besides some English. The director spoke good English.

A break followed, during which I discovered that crowd outside was there because either they were hungry and thirsty, or because there was no room inside (a few viewers found standing room only) or because the air-conditioning was playing truant, on one of the hottest days this year. The open-air sitting area was equally hot, but under the fans, one could find some respite. I met Tarun Agarwal, the Director of the festival, who welcomed me, and the ZIP Code 47 duo, Param Kalra and Chandni Somaya, whose film was to be screened later. A skeletal staff manned the canteen and took ages to make tea and coffee, or to serve you what you wanted. There was not much to choose from: sandwiches and Maggi noodles were the mainstay. Free electrolyte drinks were on offer, which was just what the doctor ordered, to combat the loss of body fluids. But the much-needed cup of tea was still brewing, when we went in to watch the next film.

This one was about history and put forth the view that a big, bad Arya, of yore, had created a divisive society and high income disparity in India. Overtly political, it was made using a lot of Artificial Intelligence. After the film, one member of the audience expressed his anger at the choice of the film, showing clearly where his sympathies lay. He demanded to know the names of the makers, since they were not credited on screen, and was furious at the selection of such a ‘propaganda’ film. Since most attendees believed in the freedom of expression, the irate man had to calm down and let the proceedings continue. There was a break again, and this time around, I fought tooth and nail to buy myself a snack and tea, only to discover later, when Tarun told me, that it was on the house. In this period, I made the acquaintance of Dr. Manjula Jagatramka, a Ph. D. in clothing and textiles, and her paying guest, Homeopathic doctor Megha Kamala Joshi, both extremely friendly and cordial persons. Voice artiste, actor and conductor of workshops, Vishnu Sharma, who had lent his voice to many a programme produced by my Guru and mentor, Ameen Sayani, joined us, and we shared anecdotes about AmeenSaahab.

Outsiders Film Festival, organised by Big Bad Idea, a two-year-old entertainment start-up. Though I have known Tarun for much longer, I was not invited to the first edition. This was the second outing. One of the first events in Aram Nagar, where many of Mumbai film industry’s casting directors operate from and a lot of theatre is held, attracted corporate sponsors, a first of sorts. They even managed to put up a hoarding at Bandra, announcing the event. Films of a length varying from 30 seconds to 100 minutes were shown. They included national award-winning director O.P. Srivastava’s long documentary, The Dirty Sky, about satellites and space debris.

Tarun Agarwal, Aseem Bajaj, Tracy D'Sousa and Nandita Puri

Nandita Puri, the journalist, author and wife of master actor late Om Puri, was present as Impact Partner, along with her son, Ishaan. She was one of the speakers at the discussion in between screenings, which also had Tarun, ace cinematographer Aseem Bajaj and Tracy D’Sousa, founder of Girliyapa, on the panel. Nandita also conferred an award from the Om Puri Foundation on Aseem, whose film Becoming, directed by Leena Yadav, was a highlight of the festival, and a master class in cinematography. Aseem Bajaj was modesty personified, and stated frankly that the heart of a film lies in its story and actors. Although he stressed on the story being the key, he also shared with the audience that Rohit Shetty gave him the script of Golmaal on the last day of shooting! Cinematography, he averred, is but one of the tools that a director uses to tell his tale. A lot of time was spent on debating who is an outsider and who is an insider in the film industry, which seemed overdone.

An unusual murder mystery, Forbidden Wings, directed by Parth Gagan, came from Assam. Among its actors was Syed Hafiz Ali, an Assamese who used to work for Ajmal perfumes, which is located on the ground floor of the building which houses the office and studio of Mr. Ameen Sayani. But we never met there. After all these years, we had to meet at the Outsiders’ Film Festival. Retired several years ago, he now lives in Panvel, and has a farm-house in Karjat. Hafiz had to go to native Assam to shoot for this film, which has a couple of interesting twists, but still leaves some question unanswered.

Tarun Agarwal on extreme left, this writer second from right, Vishnu Sharma on my right

Festival Director Tarun Agarwal said, "I am no more an outsider. I have acquired access to, and hang out with, stars. But for this festival, I did not wait for them to give me a date or a commitment to come. We just launched the festival believing that the films will speak for themselves, and content is king. We also got ourselves a fresh crop of jury, without the familiar industry veterans whom we see on several panels. Our jury consisted of Ramira Taneja, Rahul Kapoor, Karina Pandya, Akshay Sonthalia, Sudhish Sinha and Chandrachud Das. I feel that festivals like MAMI have become jaded, and are no more discovering stalwarts in the way they did 20 years ago, when they discovered Nagesh Kukunoor and his film, Hyderabad Blues. Our first edition ran into a full house, using purely word-of-mouth publicity, without even announcing names of star attendees.”

Sanjay Khanduri, director of films such as Ek Chaalis ki Last Local, who gave away the mementoes to all those whose films had been screened and to special invitees, at the end of the day, said, "I am happy to support the upcoming film-makers present in the festival. Being an independent film-maker, I have risen from their level. We were also outsiders once."               

Sudhish Sinha, Tarun Agarwal, Jasmine Babbar, Nandita Puri, Brahmanand Singh and Iqbal Niyazi

Though the festival was held on a small level, it attracted some mainstream players, including Trial by Fire producer Sidharth Jain, and special invitees including Inaam-ul-haq, Brahmanand Singh, Jasmine Babbar, Ramira Taneja, Nasser Abdulla, Diiva Dhanoya, Nikita Bisht, Vijay Vijawat, Saumitra Singh, Karina Pandya, Sangeeta Babani, Bobby Vats, Ashok Patel, Ganpat Kothari, Rahul Kapoor and Iqbal Niyazi. Some of the film-makers whose films were shown included Rohan Gadi, Varuna Nigam, Saurabh Arora, Parth Gagan, Marie Sushila, Julian Sidana, Sangeeta Babani, Ashok Patel (National Awardee) and Kalyani Khona. Innumerable social media posts show that the audience, both outside and inside, loved it, and made the festival a rare occasion for the celebration of independent films.                                      From here, the Outsiders can move only in one direction: upwards.