Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 4:50
Indian Cinema: a simple introduction for global audiences
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There is this diversity of cinema, not just over the top running around trees and slow motion action sequences, but very realistic, down to earth realism cinema that is a realistic cinema that is being made, which does not always surface to mainstream consciousness, if you will. So look at this podcast as your gentle insight into Indian cinema. To do that, I have hand picked a few movies to ease you into this journey gently. Why?
Tim Ereneta
@Tim · 1:10
It was nice to see film musicals being created anywhere, because they were not being created in Western at the time. And I've seen one Tumult language film as well, and I've never seen any of the films of Sakyajit Ray, although my knowledge of cinema history is that he is one of the most esteemed directors worldwide. So looking forward to your episode
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 2:36
And suggest three names to give you an insight on, just to get warmed up, if you will. One is juice. As in juice. J-U-I-C-E. It's a 20 minutes short. It's a small family drama, no spoilers. Watch it for its subtlety, nuances, unbelievable, Oscar worthy performances. I would have nominated it for Best Short for Oscars and happy to stand corrected. Once you watch it, then you might want to see something called Ahalia, which is A-H-A-L-Y aalia
Georgie Dee
@GeorgieDee · 1:55
Ain't, man. Thank you for inviting us to this. I've just listened to Tim's reply. He obviously knows more about Indian cinema than I do. I haven't actually made a foray into it yet, but I like what you're doing here because understand different cultures, right? Because I've grown up in different countries. I've grow up in Asia and England and Australia. So I'm enculturated in three different systems cultures
Georgie Dee
@GeorgieDee · 0:10
Oh by the way, you didn't invite me, sridja did so. Thanks sweetja for alerting me to this. How did you know I would like this? Srida, you know me too well
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 4:16
Well, hello, Anne, thank you for dropping in the swell. And that's exactly the idea that the word of mouth spreads. You know, the whole intent, intent mentioned behind that particular episode is that we all love movies, right? So it's the magic of the movies. And I often find that there is a particular notion, perception, myth about Indian movies and that is always akin to what we see in Bollywood
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 1:18
And I think that listening to him on his podcast will also give me some refreshing insights and also plenty to learn I think. Which is why I am also following Aayan and also Aayan. I'd like to request you to share the link to the podcast here. If you could add it in the description, it will be easier for us to just click on and listen to the podcast as well. Looking forward to an in depth standing of Indian cinema through your lens
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 2:27
Thank you so much. Wordspense. I'm sorry I do not know your real name, but please accept my gratitude for taking the time to listen to the Swell and appreciating the content. And I am a regular movie buff, so the disclaimer is that I'm not a movie expert, I'm not a movie critic, I'm certainly not the foremost person to speak about Indian cinema. There are far more competent and far more informed people than I am
Tim Ereneta
@Tim · 1:18
So I watched the three shorts you recommended, Aayanman and they were fantastic. I loved Juice, Jalya is fun and I also really enjoyed Jetney. Those were fantastic. And yes, very different feel from the late 90s, early 2000s. Cherkin musicals. I'm used to. But yes, fantastic performances. I would agree with acting in Juice wonderful and really intrigued by Chutney as well
Sudha Varadarajan
@sudha · 0:18
I am. Thank you very much for this interesting conversation. I ended up watching Ahalya and Chucky based on your recommendations, and they were very interesting. I do look forward to the rest of, you know, your series. And please keep this going. It's quite enjoyable. Thank you. Bye
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 0:51
If there is more, ask for similar stories, and there are tons of them. Guess you can spend a lifetime, but really appreciate you taking the time to drop in a note. Thank you. Bye
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 1:32
Hey, Tim, I'm so glad you found the time to go through the short stories. Yes, Japanese is worth a revisit because it is arguably multi layered and has there's a lot of metaphorical representations over and above what you see on screen. Right. What is evident in the foreground. There is a lot of subtext in the background and yes, you may want to pause and read the subtitle and then watch the scene, as it were
Aayan Banerjee
@BasTalk · 1:34
It should be easily available and there's a lot of buzz around that movie, so I'm sure you must have already seen it if not to give it a watch. And number four, slightly more difficult to find, but it's on a platform called Sony Live or Life. S-O-N-Y-L-I-V search for gargi G-A-R-G-I It's an excellent movie if you can find it. If you can watch it, that'd be a good experience
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