Changing Grammar of Filmmaking

Nowadays the filmmaking have been exposed to a large extent which bought a drastic change in the film industry. The story telling of films are no more surrounded near some few subjects. Many renowned filmmakers have been experimental with films changing the scenario of the film industry. 

In this blog, I will be discussing about such amazing filmmakers and their films.

One of the renowned filmmaker of Assamese film industry, Reema Das has a remarkable  way of filmmaking. She has directed Bulbul Can Sing and Village Rockstars. She is an independent filmmaker and has not attended any of the prestigious film schools nor being trained  and is a self taught filmmaker who have learnt watching the videos of YouTube, attending the film festivals and watching the International films. All these films are written,directed,produced,edited and cinematographed by her besides handling art direction and costume designing. 

In one of her esteemed film which changed the conventional way of filmmaking , Bulbul Can Sing, portrays the story of the three teenager friends set up in a small village of Assam, Kalaradiya near the Chaygaon. Bulbul loves to sing but is scared of singing in public. Suman, the male friend of Bulbul is being mocked by the other people as he behaves in a feminine way. Bonnie and Bulbul gets into affair and finds themselves as experiencing the first glimmers of physical attraction for a a guy. Clashes emerges when goons of the village attacks them and were beaten for not obeying the ethics, social and moral codes of the society and were suspended from their schools. Bonnie couldn't take the disgrace of the society and ends up commiting suicide. This bought a turning point in the film which leaves Bulbul and Suman in sorrow and unbearable pain. As fear and doubt assail the three friends Bulbul should find her voice to sing her song.

In Bulbul Can Sing, most of the actors in the film were untrained non actors residing in the village which made the film realistic as for them it was their way of living their life. Though the story was quite simple not critical one nor a big budget blockbuster but it has an in depth, seeing life through the binocular of Reema Das. There were less dialogues in the film and silence played a important role in conveying the emotions of the character which is done phenomenally. Though some of the shots in the film were out-of-focus but still the intensity of the scene has left a great impact on the viewers which is spectacular. The film was a combination of different layers of life and friendship which the director had experienced in her life. She depicts the dark side of her subject from different perspectives. 

She has been awarded with many national and international awards for her films. She won the 66th National Film Award for Best Feature Film in assamese in 2019, Special Mention of the Generation 14plus International Jury Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2018, IFF Award at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2019 and Golden Gateway of India Award at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2018 for the film Bulbul Can Sing.In 2018,GQ India referred Reema Das as one of the 50 most Influential Young Indians.

Another such eminent filmmaker, Bhaskar Hazarika known for his popular assamese films like Aamis and Kothanodi has got a lot acclamation for his films. He owes much of his experimentation to authors like Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe. He used to work as a writer-filmmaker in Mumbai and was one of co-writer of the film Players in 2012 directed by Abbas Mustan. He is inspired by the morbid whether it is in his art or sense of humor. For him darkness is a kind of career option in which he can work on, rather than a personality trait.

Another prominent film which have blown the mind of the audience worldwide is Aamis. Aamis is a film portraying Sumon, a young anthropology student pursuing a doctorate on meat eating in the North Eastern region and a married paediatrician, Nirmali. The film begins with a friend of Sumon falls sick and he rings Nirmali for curing him and later Sumon invites Nirmali for eating meat. Sumon. Sumon then starts taking Nirmali to various places of North East for consuming different types of meat and exploring it's taste. Their mutual love for meat eating creates a bond between them. This bizarre relationship leads to a platonic connection between the two. Then one day Sumon fed his own flesh and to Nirmali's shock she liked the taste. She started developing a strong craving for human flesh which made her drive crazy and insane. When she realises her addiction she wanted to end it by consuming a big chunk of meat that would fill her hunger and her craving would stop. Both of them then starts searching for someone and then kills a rickshaw driver but gets caught while cutting the limbs of the dead body and ends with both standing at the police station holding each other's hand while the faces are coverered.

The storyline of Aamis is unusual and totally different, not creepy something like this has not been made in India. At one side the idea of various kind of flesh makes it a food movie while on the other side the mutual desire of consuming flesh makes it a romantic drama.The film tried to legitimate the wildest extremities by breaking every norm in love. The meat wasn't the problem the gluttony was. The commonsensical observation takes on dark notes as the bond grows deeper between the unusual pair, separated by age and morality but united by their love for the forbidden. Bhaskar Hazarika has always made out of the box content and the weird subject making it an original one. He wanted to portray the vulnerability and ego of human being and the extent they can cross for its fulfillment.

The film has got a lot of acclaimation around the globe and has been awarded in the Singapore South Asian International Film Festival for best actor to Lima Das and Best Director to Bhaskar Hazarika in 2019.

These films have left a mark in the film industry changing the grammar of filmmaking leaving the audience astonished and making them think deeply into the philosophy of life. 

If you all have also seen such films which is unconventional then write it down in your comments