Documenting Renaissance

“A documentary is the audio-visual documentation of any subject. And with varied subjects like history,art and legends,both makers and audience are spoilt for choice,provided they want to enjoy them. After theatres stopped screening documentaries in the early 80’s,they lost a common platform and were merely reduced to a subject in film institutes,” says Vijay Jadhav,director,National Film Archive of India (NFAI).

While film festivals did their bit in keeping up the importance of documentaries,a common platform is still missing for documentaries. However,recent trends in the city suggest that documentaries are again being accepted as an important part of meaningful filmmaking it could be a renaissance of sorts for them. “We started the documentary fest on August 8 last year. Under that we screen documentaries on every second Saturday on the month. The subject varies from art to cinemas and personalities to history. The response was so good that we had to order DVDs and VCDs of popular documentaries,which sold like hot cakes. Since Pune is home to artistes,students,and film-lovers,we had people from all walks of life coming to buy the VCDs of documentaries that interested them. I would love to increase the frequency of screening documentaries,however,it will require an effort far greater from all over the nation to revive the lost art,” he adds.

Among the various categories of documentaries – Indian art,(personalities and performances) Indian freedom struggle (history),Indian film industry – are the most popular ones. Giving out figures,Urmila Joshi,librarian at NFAI,says,“We sold VCDs and DVDs worth Rs one lakh,44 thousand in first three months after we started sale of documentaries DVDs and VCDs. We had to order fresh lot from the Films Division. Mostly the documentaries shown here were from the Films Division,however,there is no limitations and we also screen documentaries made by renowned or new film-makers.”

She also adds that one of the objectives of making documentaries was to keep people informed about the development done by government and the tool can be used again,as effectively as it was used three decades ago. Shirish Karve,a regular at the NFAI documentary fest,says that he never knew documentaries could be as interesting and gripping as a film. “When you get to see what you always read in the history books,or you are introduced to a different aspect of your favorite artiste’s life it’s a different experience altogether. Documentaries can be used as audio-visual mode of teaching as well.”

Many documentary filmmakers too,feel that the reverse trend is gradually catching up,thanks to film festivals like Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF),which compulsorily screens documentaries. Documentary filmmaker,Usha Deshpande,whose documentary film Khayal was screened during the fest at NFAI and was highly popular,says,“Creativity is always appreciated. Apart from film festivals,TV channels like Discovery and National Geographic have contributed a lot towards reviving documentaries. Moreover,people look at short films with a new perspective now. Liberal government guidelines and the boom in technology have made it possible for people to make documentaries at lesser costs and in less time,which is very encouraging. My documentary Khayal,is based on classical music and I have seen youngsters coming to see and learn more about it.”

Seconding that thought is Milind Damle,another documentary filmmaker,who says,“With increasing awareness,documentary films are certainly getting popular,however,I think only limited genres sell well. I think,news channels too have contributed to growing popularity of documentary,as many of them follow documentary style of story telling for reports,which not only makes the story interesting,but also tells people about this genre,which is again getting popular. We recently had a documentary film fest at FTII and it ran houseful,which suggests that documentary could be as captivating as feature films.”