Cinema cannot come out from a position of fear: Imtiaz Ali

Cinema cannot come out from a position of fear: Imtiaz Ali

MUMBAI: Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali feels it is important for young directors to make the kind of movies they believe in, which affects the audience in a positive way.

Ali says “all kinds of forces” in the world may come and go, but a filmmaker should stick to his or her conviction of making a film the way he wants to.

“I do feel that cinema cannot be coming out from a position of fear. It cannot be. There are all kinds of forces in the world that come and go. But it is important for filmmakers, especially young filmmakers, to be clear of what they want to say,” Imtiaz said.

“And say it in the way they can, in a way that affects people in a positive way,” he added.

The “Tamasha” director was speaking at a special screening of “Shor Se Shuruaat”, an anthology of mentored short films, around the central theme of noise.

Imtiaz has mentored the short of film of Satish Raj Kasireddi titled “Mia I’m”, which is one among the seven short movies in the feature backed by Humara Movies.

“Shor Se Shuruaat” touches upon several topics like freedom of speech getting stifled; someone experiencing noise for the first time; to the destructive noise of social media and the redemption it provides.

Imtiaz said the movie doesn’t carry “any message which is either subservient or anti anything” and is simply a film which budding directors wanted to make.

Sriram Raghavan, who mentored Annie Zaidi for her short “Decibel”, said the filmmakers were free to chose the subjects they wanted to portray and there was no interference.

“The only thing which was common was the theme. They all chose their own stories. Nobody gave them anything. They have tried to express in their own way what they feel about things,” Raghavan said.

Apart from Imtiaz and Raghavan, “Shor Se Shuruaat” includes short films mentored by stalwarts like Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Zoya Akhtar, Nagesh Kukunoor, and Homi Adajania. The film will have a theatrical release tomorrow. (AGENCIES)