Mangalore: Plagiarism is Creative Poverty; K M Chaitanya

By Jaya Alva
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 2 Mar 2014: Budding filmmakers had a chance to demonstrate their creativity and trade ideas at ‘Shooting Stars,’ a national-level short film and documentary competition cum workshop, organized by The department of journalism, St Aloysius College (Autonomous), here on Saturday March 1. The surge in short films was evident with 32 short films and documentaries being submitted from all over the nation.

The program was inaugurated by K M Chaitanya, award winning filmmaker and BBC documentary maker. He expressed his joy at being in Mangalore, as it held a special place in his heart.

 
‘The importance of a filmmaker is to be innovative,’ said Fr Swebert D’Silva, principal of St Aloysius College.

 
The vice principal Dr Veronica Judith Carlo, Registrar Dr A M Narahari, Dean of arts Dr Alwyn D’Sa and student convener Pushyarag Shetty were also present.

 
The workshop conducted by Chaitanya titled, ‘Fiction and Non-Fiction: Limitations and Possibilities,’ saw an innovative approach to lecturing with the screening of a documentary, ‘Breakin’ Bombay’ on the lives of b-boy artistes in Mumbai made by the students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Chaitanya explained it would open to avenues of interest to the student audience and invited a discussion post the documentary where different documentary making factors were dealt upon. It was followed by a screening of stills of an eclectic mix of movies ranging from ‘Charulatha,’ ‘Dil Se’ to ‘A Few Good Men’ and ‘The Silence of the Lambs.’  The use of light to portray the subtleties of character in the movie ‘Dil Se’ was heavily discussed upon. The use of sub-text in dialogues (Philadelphia) and symbolism (Inglourious Basterd) were talked about in detail with the students posing many questions to the filmmaker who answered in detail, peppered with movie references with his trademark ease and humility.

 

When asked about the legitimacy of Indian movies that were ripping-off plots from Hollywood movies, Chaitanya lamented, ‘Plagiarism is creative poverty.’ While he admitted that it was rampant in Bollywood, he was quick to point out that action would be taken as India was one of the signatories of the International Copyright Act.

Following the workshop, the shortlisted movies and documentaries were screened, followed by the valedictory function. The chief guest, Shrikanth Rai, actor and former RJ advised students who planned to enter the film industry to be completely passionate about it. ‘If you want success in the film industry, you need to prove yourself with a lot of hard work and dedication,’ said Rai.
 
The awards were given away with ‘Thiruth,’ by Lijo Abraham, Chethana Media Institute, Thrissur bagging the Best short film award and second best short film award was bagged ‘Alone’ by Sonia K John, Chethana Media Institute.  Best documentary award was won by ‘Hamara Atmavishwas’ by Yashodhara Roy, St Xavier’s College, Goa and with second best documentary being bagged by ‘Land Beyond the Bridge’ by Vardhan Dhainodhar, St Xavier’s college, Goa. Best theme was won by ‘Molded into Art’ by Alisha Nazareth, St Xavier’s College, Goa and the best cinematography was won by “33 Hours” by Sajid Nazar, Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam.