Enter the Censors - 500 & 5 scores a clean 'A'

Bells, Whistles and Applause!!!!! Folks...we got some 'A'mazing news...or should we say 'A'wesome news, or should it be 'A'stounding news. Alright, alright, alright too much drum-roll not needed for this...since we've never gotten 'A' grades in high school or college or where-ever...we figured we'd score an 'A' at least in...well...our film. Yes, my sweet, dear, lovely people...'500 & 5' just returned from the Censor Board for Film Certification this week and we've been awarded an 'A' certificate. Yes, not U/A, but a loud, unadulterated, clean 'A' without any cuts.

Our dear examining committee members from the CBFC were too nice a people. We had a nice long chat for almost an hour as to the justifications of what Indian society deems censorable or uncensorable. Obviously, we expounded on the necessity of certain scenes(like smoking, drinking, drug abuse, kissing etc - really basic stuff, hellloooo) and the significance of an open-thought-based society. The board members agreed to everything we said but eventually (and apparently) according to them, in Indian society, we can DO certain things but NOT talk(or make movies) about it openly on grounds of the usage of our most flaunted(but under-utilized) constitutional right - freedom of speech and expression - without the content being labeled 'Adult'. Seriously, who really isn't an Adult these days. I can probably write volumes on this but...please remind us later as to what the topic of our discussion/justification was, after you see the movie.

The board members said some surprisingly flattering things about '500 & 5' and that though our style of expression deserved a creative merit, it would not be understood the way it is supposed to be, by the society at large, and that was why it had to be for a restricted audience. Don't know if I concur on that, but in my opinion, in our current zeitgeist, our prevailing collective consciousness is by far the most intelligent it's ever been. So without any pretense of knowing what the audience or people in our society want, we want to just create and let it out in whatever way it can be possible. A mere 'label' or 'certificate' is not gonna change anything. So...anyways, since we don't really care about what certificate we get(it never really was an issue other than the fact that we are NOT tax-exempt), at no point do we(as creators) want to hold back because filmmaking, according to us, is first a purgatory and deeply personal Art form and then...everything else. The board actually did not want us to cut because they felt it would dilute the intensity of the expression.

Anywho peeps, here we are...crossing the next milestone of a 'seemingly' long journey. But wait, we have a moment for...Wooo-hooo! Can we hear you say it?....Thank you. And Actors and contributors and friends of '500 & 5'! You can now proudly and emphatically say that you are part of a larger grown-up, Adult movement that's happening in society and blah, blah...ok ok, again too much build-up not required. Sooo...Howzatttttt???!!!

(For all things '500 & 5' in our blog so far, please go to the '500 & 5' tag on your right, or click HERE)

A little tribute to the Cast of 500 & 5

Yeeeooowwww...here's our little tribute to 'almost ALL' the 'Actors'(Cast) who played a 'Role' in 500 & 5. See, the thing is, each of those words are loaded, that's why they're in quotes.
1. Because the people that are in this poster don't constitute ALL(coz we haven't included a bunch of 'hand' actors, who've showed only their hands in the film),
2. Because most 'Actors' here are not really actors, except those in our key/primary roles. They're friends, friends of friends ...and people...'real' people who just happened to be on the production set who just did it for the fun of it,
3. And 'Role' here means, even if an actor happened to show their face or body for a second, they are considered to have played a 'Role'.
So....a SPECIAL & BIG THANKS to all of you in our Cast because without you, 500 & 5 wouldn't have been possible!!!
(See if you can spot your friends :))

5 Updates on '500 & 5'

Yo Peeps, time for a little low-down on 500 & 5’s status quo. Things are sort of heating up again as we scuttle towards the finish line. If you’re wondering why the hell it’s taking so long to finish, we can only tell you one thing right now – that this is an Independent film project(which translates ‘You’ll have to do everything yourself’). Trust me, when I mean ‘everything’ and ‘yourself’ – I really mean it, in the dang-est sense of the words.  

1. Like already mentioned, there are 2 songs(1 of which has 3 parts) and 1 poem-track which can be considered a quasi-song if you want. We are working on the fillers (and final touches) for the 2 songs. Panam(Money) and Ganamanatho Mounam(Isn’t this silence heavy?). The poem-song is Nee Sethuki Sethuki(You sculpt...). Once those are done, the next step would be to integrate it into the final film – with the visual lockdown.
2. Getting things ready for the Censor Board Certificate application. A bunch of stuff like the Lab letter, Title certificate, NOC, completed film in the form of a DCP(Digital Cinema Package), Publicity poster clearance, etc have to be readied and submitted during application. Will detail them later.
3. Getting ready for marketing...and preparing publicity materials like Newspaper Ad, Street/City posters, Radio Ad, TV trailer and other miscellaneous online reach. We don’t know how much of it we’re gonna follow through but. Most of the posters are ready, just minor tweaks.  
4. We are thinking of some unconventional ways to reach out – going for something a little crazy and over the top. Basically, planning on the promotional campaign of 500 & 5. If you got any ideas, do give us a holler. More on this later.  
5. Currently in discussion about where and how we are going to get the film out there. As of now, we have something a little staggered in mind. I doubt if it’s gonna be a traditional release.  But until we complete the 1^st 3 steps, I don’t think we’ll get a consensus on that.

So there you go. We’ll post up more updates after the next phase is done with. Till then, do spread the word if you want to support Independent art and film. Lots to be done. Have fun. (Pic: Our Acoustic engineer Rahmath at AH studios mixing the poem-track. Way back in the booth is our man Dass)

Independent film in India - Status quo?

Yawn, we don’t need another filmmaker to rant and rave about the struggles of Independent filmmaking and how he/she braved the storm or carried the torch to create yet another ‘masterful, unique’ Indie film that not many people(except of course his/her close circle of friends) would pay to watch or even watch, do we? In other words, do Indie films in India even matter, in the larger sense of the society? We are the insanely loudest democracy in the world so much so that even the big, typically commercial studio ventures get silenced pretty soon if not for the star-frenzy or the weekend hype they manufacture. And multiply that with the differences in regional languages. I can’t help but make the comparison with the Indie film scene in the US. Of course in the US, there is quite a sense of that camaraderie through Indie magazines like Moviemaker, Filmmaker, Film comment or even DIY film sites like Indy Mogul, Video Co-pilot and programs like IFP and Tribeca AA. These agents help and guide the larger Indie community or at least seem to have a space for the outcasts. And sometimes, they lead to successful creative partnerships that could lead to getting their voices heard.

This is part of the reason why many Indian Indie filmmakers keep referring to the American independent film scene or deviants of the Hollywood system for some kind of insight. Is there a sense of an Indie community other than a few blogs that seemingly fight the good fight? Considering the already outcast status of Indie films, don’t these filmmakers need to stick together, in the sense of creating a din so loud with their films that they DEMAND to be heard and seen? Of course, even a couple of  reasonably informative web-zines(dearcinema) have only a minimal amount of posts by filmmakers that are creating something new or are off the beaten track. So to even say that we have an independent film scene would be an exaggeration, but we can think whatever we want to keep our restless souls assuaged. In that same vein when the filmmakers blame audiences for not coming out to support them, it seems like a bit overreached.

Pessimistic as it may sound but to romanticize the notion of Indie filmmaking as a way of being different for different’s sake without understanding the birth pangs would be tantamount to shooting oneself in the foot. The Indie community has almost every odd against them. So if they want to keep creating the work that they want, one has to have an unromanticized passion(if you can still call it that) towards their work or getting themselves to a place where they can at least not worry about satisfying the system or at least accept the fact that unless their work demands to be seen, they have to learn to accept the rejection. There’s this article about being a ‘nobody filmmaker’ which many filmmakers go through in their journey towards creating something meaningful. I think it’s part of the rite of passage or building character, the rejection and non-acceptance(in conventional terms) of work that you have passionately been churning, until you get that elusive ‘break’. Though I don’t completely agree that one has to bide their time to even think or aspire big.

So what do, ‘the insignificants’, ‘the nobodys’, ‘the outcasts’ category of filmmakers do in order to stay afloat, at least keep their head above water? The prime thing could be to keep churning out work that they truly believe in, at the same time and maybe(if it’s not much to ask) share a little bit of what they learnt during the process which kind of fosters a sense of support around each other. Having had a few encounters with ‘professional crew’ here, I sense a strong defensiveness about sharing what they have learnt over the years. As if teaching that to others would deprive them of their superior knowledge status and their careers. So in a way, that makes it even more compelling to do things unconventionally and hopefully result in an outcome that’s outside the box. And if there developed a forum where all things unconventional came together then that would gradually become the convention, where the Indies find the space they can work in and express the unexpressed. But as many have said before, truly ground-breaking work comes from limitations and deviations from the norm and so it is here that we learn more, from the trenches, the gutters, the filth and the stench of reality.

The above is a production still from 'Adiyaaluku Podiyal' (The Goon's stooge) where you can see our man 'Dass' wielding the Canon 7D. The rig that the 7D is mounted on, is our own, DIY, self-designed table top dolly with the stylish colors and the tripod head. Proof that the Indie spirit is alive and kicking.