Sunday, February 19, 2017

Episode #89 - Laya Maheshwari (Sholay)



"There's a lot of contextual information at film festivals that's really interesting...festivals are so often a tool for someone in power."

What does cinephilia look like when your local theaters are not filled with Hollywood's spectacle driven blockbusters, but films that feature action, romance, and musical numbers all at the same time? And how does that change the way you look at art cinema or festivals in general? Mumbai film critic Laya Maheshwari has thought about his own views for much of his career, and now shares those experiences with Peter. From the international travel to festivals both in Europe and elsewhere (including North Korea), to the continually evolving industry of Bollywood, Laya provides insights that are often missed from the perspective of the West, and grapples with what it means to be both a cinephile and yet often turn to only writing about what occurs locally. The two top it off with a look at one of the all time (no country specification needed) great films: Sholay. How did this masala film become the defining phenomenon as it has? 

0:00-2:36 Opening 
3:46-9:36 Establishing Shots — At Long Last Love
10:22-1:14:40 Deep Focus — Laya Maheshwari
1:15:29-1:17:28 Sponsorship Section
1:18:30-1:42:20 Double Exposure — Sholay (Ramesh Sippy)
1:42:29-1:44:05 Close 

Notes and Links from the Conversation
—Visit Laya's website and check him out on Twitter
—Interview with Peter Bogdanovich
—Peter Bogdanovich's letter to his critics for At Long Last Love
—More on Judwaa ("Twin")
—Laya mentions that multiplexes are where you could see American and art house releases. This is different from our usual conception of multiplexes; in India, most of the major films play in big one-house theaters, while smaller films are relegated to more upscale multiplexes that appeal to a higher class audience.
—Laya's posts from the Locarno Film Festival: A dialogue with Kiyoshi Kurosawa, on The Amazing Catfish and Gloria, a master class with Douglas Trumbull, and the festival's best films.
—Other festival coverage: Rotterdam, Moscow, Istanbul, and Jerusalem (and an interview with Jerusalem's head)
—On censorship issues in India: on the documentary India's Daughter, on the newspaper controversy, on James Bond and 12 Years A Slave.
On Bollywood's growth and its blockbuster syndrome
—On blockbuster fatigue
—Reporting from North Korea: Reporting from the festival, walking around Pyongyang, on State of Mind.
—Daniel Gordon's Hillsborough
The Next Big Thing Is A Series Of Small Things
The Humanology Project
On the power of lowblow rhetoric in politics
—Read a history of the making of Sholay


1 comment:

  1. Hi Peter, the right-click download link is the one from the year-end review part 2 podcast, not the new one.

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