The doyen director

The film series has been an attempt by Gangar to showcase an era and idea of filmmaking that was sidelined once and is invisible now, except at international festivals or at small gatherings such as this one. Prayoga sessions over the last few months showcased such names from the Indian parallel cinema movement as Kumar Shahani, Shaina Anand, Ashok Sukumaran and Vipin Vijay. Their films came out of a rebellious, questioning phase in the Film and Television Institute of India. Shahani and Kaul learnt film making under the radical genius Ritwik Ghatak8212;then teaching at FTII. 8220;Our films hardly had any takers. In my time there would be hardly five or six people in the auditorium. And halfway through, they would be outraged and walk out,8221; Kaul reminisces with a relishing smile, obviously pleased at the response now.

Kaul made his first film Uski Roti in 1969 adapting a short story by Mohan Rakesh, followed by Ashad Ka Ek Din 1971 that was one of the first 8216;experimental8217; films of its time. His deep love for Indian classical music led him to make Siddheshwari on the great classical singer Siddheshwari Devi. He8217;s made 11 films, the last in 1999 called Naukar Ki Kameez. What is sad though is that prints of most of his films are not available any more and the only remaining print of Uski Roti is in a university archive in the US. 8220;There is no organised cinema circuit in India that can show my kind of films. There are many other filmmakers who haven8217;t been able to show their films. But a change is beginning to happen.8221;

Inspired by cinematic geniuses such as Robert Bresson, Carl Dreyer and Andrei Tarkovsky, Kaul8217;s films are visual marvels, while thematically attempting to resurrect studies of Indian cultures, musical and artistic traditions, folklore and mythology. But the cerebral quality of the work has deterred many and also caused some to raise questions about the very nature of experimental cinema. While Kaul and his friends are not very charitable to the socialist setups like the National Film Development Corporation that shakily patronised their films, he is quick to clarify: 8220;The present-day dismantling of institutions is horrible. It has left young creative minds unemployed and wasted.8221;

Having lived and taught Indian classical music in Mumbai for the last five years, Kaul is all set move to Delhi to take up the post of director of Osian8217;s Cinefan Festival of Asian 038; Arab Cinema. 8220;I see the work at the festival as an opportunity to bring wider contemporary cinematographic perspectives to light. It will also allow me to continue my personal work of making films,8221; he assures.