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New Delhi, July 30 — She loves Ram Gopal Varma’s film “Rangeela” and her favourite place on earth is definitely Mumbai. And now German filmmaker Merle Kroeger plans to make her next movie in that city with an Indian director and an Indian cast. For 40-year-old Kroeger, India means much more than colourful forts, palaces and rich culture. It means the warmth and joy exuded by a close-knit group of friends who visit one another every year. “I really don’t ...

Filmmaker Onir is best known for My brother…Nikhil. He spoke about making groundbreaking movies and controversial subjects with Subhash K Jha: Is it difficult being a gay filmmaker in Bollywood? I’d like to be considered an indie filmmaker, who eschews formulaic Bollywood storytelling. My sexual orientation doesn’t determine my films, though it does make me more sensitive to issues concerning the community. My film, I Am, talks about various people in search of their space and identity, and it’s not ...

It is interesting to meet the ‘Megha’ of Onir’s ‘I Am’. Clad in jeans and tee, her mischievous expression as she sees a reporter approaching her, is something one cannot miss. But for any true blue Kannadiga, Juhi Chawla will always be the bubbly ‘Shashikala’ of Premaloka, a movie that not only took the Kannada film industry by storm but also introduced Juhi to the world of cinema. It has been 25 years since she made her debut in Premaloka ...

I AM puts the spotlight on four characters who live very different lives but are unified in one crucial way, the only one that matters: they are all intent on finding themselves, walking past murky. fractured relationships, battling pain and displacement. View PDF

Filmmaker Onir has just tasted success with his last film, I Am that opened to critical acclaim and great reviews. Though his faith in cinema has remained intact, it is the business structure that bothers him. Onir, who has always maintained that he would make entertaining issue-based films, is of the opinion that though the audience is changing and improving, exhibitors are not helping impact this change. “Very often I see people eager to watch new and different films but ...

Though the director wanted to make his next film in Delhi, he is now considering the option of making a Bengali film in Kolkata Post the reactions to “I Am” in Kolkata, Onir has decided to shift base from Mumbai and return to his hometown. Says the director, “I am shifting to Kolkata in June. My parents are growing old and increasingly wanting me to spend more time at home. They would often come down to Mumbai to stay with ...

Thanks to media exposure, people are now comfortable discussing sex in public and the very scenario is being mirrored by the film directors. Team Viva explores why movies like Ragini MMS and Haunted are thriving on sexplicit content What was earlier done under the sheets and shown through two swinging flowers is now done in Bollywood films out in the open. The camera techniques have gone several leaps further and the scenes are much more explicit, lewd and needless to ...

When Sridhar Rangayan began making films on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues eight years ago, it was a rough ride from start to end. Producers were a rare find, good actors would shy away, the LGBT community was largely hesitant to talk before the camera, and audiences existed only at film festivals. But in 2009, things began to change. “The openness towards these films has come after the reading down of section 377 (of the Indian Penal Code),” ...

QYou have often worked with Nandita Das. What is your relationship with her like? I had worked with Nandita thrice, but I hadn’t met her for seven years until I Am. It was interesting because we got along great during our previous films but never kept in touch after that. And then suddenly, we were back together in I Am. I play a medical student in the film who makes an extra buck as a sperm-donor, while she plays Afia, ...

When director Onir decided to make his I Am story into a film, the first person that came to his mind to play the role of a child abuse victim was Karisma Kapoor. The filmmaker in one of his interviews had revealed that he was in talks with Karisma for the role for a film titled You And I, with which also supposed to mark Karisma’s Bollywood comeback. Onir said that after the Kapoor beauty changed her mind about doing ...

Onir gets his ‘I Am’ cast (and good friends) Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri on board to start an NGO to fight child sexual abuse Onir along with friends and his I Am actors Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Suri, is planning on starting an NGO that will work towards creating awareness about child sexual abuse. What inspired him to start this institute? A chapter in the film, called I Am Abhimanyu was based on the real life stories of two ...

Though I Am incorporates four stories, all directed by Onir, the filmmaker has one story that’s extremely special for him. Onir says, “For me, the story of Megha is precious because it talks about displacement.” Starring Juhi Chawla and Manisha Koirala, I Am Megha talks about the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits. Finding similarities, Onir says, “I was born and brought up in Bhutan. I left the place because of political reasons. For me, home means Bhutan and I haven’t been ...