The much anticipated ‘Life of Pi’ was premiered to the Indian audience, three days prior to the actual release (scheduled on November 23) at the 43rd edition of International Film Festival of India in Goa on Tuesday.
It released in the United States of America on Wednesday.
The magnanimity of this 3D film was realised by the 900-odd people who witnessed the premiere.
It captures the energy, intensity and the thrill that forms a National Geographic documentary.
The film, which is 90 per cent animated, left the audience awestruck.
As Irrfan Khan put it, “Life of Pi can be a story of a tiger.
It can be a story of a boat which goes through a storm, a story of a boy, an individual soul or a God.
It is the greatness of the story- teller that has made Pi’s journey a personal journey to find the meaning of God and spirituality.
It is one’s own discovery.
” Tabu added, “The story is bigger than the characters or the roles we played.
As the older Pi says in the movie, ‘the story is now yours’.
” Tabu essays the role of Pi’s mother and says she took up the role since the character defines the course of Pi’s life and beliefs.
Although Tabu and Irrfan Khan do not share screen space in the film, the two have become the face of the movie, along with the inquisitive Suraj Sharma who plays shipwrecked Pi and of course, director Ang Lee.
Speaking to the media, producer David Womack said, “Ang Lee restored faith in the art of story-telling.
When Ang Lee handed over the script, along with a copy of the book, I was astonished to see that the script restored and reaffirmed faith in the art of story-telling, just as the book talks about the power of faith.
” Life of Pi is a visual treat and can be termed the next big 3D film after James Cameron’s Avatar.
The film and is a must watch for all Indians, since the scenic locales of India are a delight.
The small character of Pi’s girlfriend could have been done away with, since it feels like the film only gives sentimental value to the character.
The book too, does not give much weight to this character.
The cast and crew of the film were felicitated on the occasion
PLAN TO ENCOURAGE FILMMAKERS
At the inaugural function of the Indian Panorama section at IFFI-2012, the secretary of Information and Broadcast of the Government of India Uday Kumar Varma urged the people of the fi lm industry to suggest a mechanism to support and encourage independent fi lmmakers as the GoI thinks in binaries.
“The government will equip itself and provide infrastructure of indie fi lmmakers by setting up a Film Promotion Board in every state to facilitate both the Indian and foreign producers.
About `400 crore will be set aside during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) to preserve the Indian fi lm heritage, for the posterity of the country,” he said.
‘Nair Smelt Films’
What a tribute to the 100th year of Indian Cinema! In the ‘Celluloid Man’, Shivendra Singh Durgarpur (director) successfully encapsulated the impending issue of archiving films in this 162-minute long documentary- feature, which paid tribute not only to the legendary archivist P K Nair, but also recognised the art of archiving cellulose films, to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and projectionists of the humble times.
Films, which at first was an attraction for Nair, later turned into an obsession and then a passion.
As Krystof Zanussi- the Polish filmmaker claimed in the film, “Nair preserved films like butterflies and passed it on to the next generation.
” T e r m e d next to the infamous French archivist Henri Langlois, Nair’s life has been preserved just as he preserved the Indian Film heritage.
This very frank film talks of how there is no culture of archiving films, in spite of over a 1,000 films being produced in most Indian languages, every year.
As Gulzar, a dear friend of Nair put it, “He smelt films.
He ate, drank and ng lived films.
”