5-23 October 2020, FTIIONLINE, Film and Television Institute of India, KARAN BALI
The most popular course by the stalwart coordinator on FTII platform turned out to be the a tribute to ‘The Indian Cinema Phenomena’.
The OTTs had been surging as an alternate movie watching experience, albeit never a substitute for the theater going experience. The pandemic made the OTTs the only source to celebrate films. Amidst this new-wave in the film enthusiast routine, emanated the FTIIONLINE platform to learn from the master craftsmen.
We may engage ourselves in innumerable avenues of storytelling, but ‘listening’ to stories of our roots will remain dear to us. This course precisely did that to me.
The course plummeted straight away in to the archives of the pioneering institution. The uninterrupted flow of lectures by the sagacious Karan sir, established him as the Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, in accordance to the inauguration speech by the FTII Director.
The course started off with introduction to all the firsts of the industry- First screening of Lumiere Bros at Bombay’s Watson Hotel in 1896, first Documentary, first Newsreel, first Advertisement, first Political Documentary, first Song, first Playback, Bioscope tents and the enumeration scrolled at length.
All-inclusive compartmentalization of the lecture, was the strength of the course- ‘The Silent Era, Pre-Golden Era of the talkies and studios, Freelancing Era, Golden Age, Pillars of the Golden Age, The end of Golden Age, Decline of films, Parallel Cinema and Advent of Video Cassettes.
The exhaustive coverage of the Indian New wave, Fresh new wave movement, Parallel cinema movement, the Off beat cinema, Documentary, Indian news review, Indie Cinema movement- were rewarding. The parallel state-wise chronological documentation of films from all parts of the country- Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada, evoked the larger picture of the Indian Film Industry.
The detailed analysis of doyens of Indian cinema with clips to demonstrate their signature northern styles and made me take pride in the Industry. Karan Bali sir’s rhetoric narration rocketed the course. His passion and enthusiasm were super addictive. It was an exhilarating memorable experience.
The Q&A session everyday was a privilege to interact with Karan Sir. The book recommendations along with the introduction of Upperstall.com , opened new windows of learning.
A sincere gratitude to people like you Karan Sir, who transfer the baton to the next generation to keep the legacy longstanding. May your clan increase.