Israeli filmmaker Doron Eran on how Bollywood influenced himA good film can find you fans in unlikely places. Doron Eran, one of Israel’s most prominent filmmakers, can now add West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to his list of admirers that also includes a former comrade, Mikhail Gorbachev. Eran, 53, who stopped by in India after a retrospective of his films was screened at the Kolkata Film Festival, attributes his love for cinema to surprise, surprise, Bollywood. “The biggest hero of our growing-up years was Raj Kapoor. We watched every Hindi movie that was screened,” he says.The Bollywood fare “in which the poor guy got the girl and everything ended happily” defines his own cinematic vision. Eran focuses on the positive side even when he deals with social dilemmas. Stalin’s Disciple, a 1983 film that he screened this week, focuses on a kibbutz in which Stalin is considered the son of God. “Films can change the audience’s way of thinking, it can change the world,” he says. Stalin’s Disciple had raked in awards, with Gorbachev inviting Eran for a private screening at his palace. “I was a teacher before a friend asked me to help him produce a film,” Eran reminisces. That film, Fun Forever, was a runaway hit and he stayed on with cinema, turning his attention to Israel’s social problems. His Overdose was the first Israeli film dealing with drug abuse among its teenagers, Ingil talked about violence in schools while God’s Sandbox was the first film to address female castration. Eran continues social documentation in the films and documentaries of 2009 as well. We’re Still Alive turns the camera to bereaved parents who have donated their dead children’s organs to help other sick kids. Cold Feet is a romantic comedy about love, marriage and everything in between. Through a long night, a deserted groom and a deserting bride seek their happy ending. So Bollywood!
