On the season 2 finale of Anything but Bollywood Neha is in the studio with filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter Pushpendra Singh whose films have traveled to the Venice and Berlin international film festivals, and whose directorial venture 'Ashwathama' was screened at the19th Mumbai International film festival. Listen in as he talks about breaking the traditional 3 act structure of a story, how his acting process influenced his filmmaking, adapting folk tales for screen and much more.

00:34 Pushpendra intro 01:04 Starting in Filmmaking/Film screenings at hostel/Barry John & FTII 03:22 Dealing with parents 07:05 Working & assisting Amit Datta 09:33 Assisting Anup Singh 11:23 How acting experiences shape filmmaking 14:07 Lajwanti 17:22 Screenwriting 21:49 Ashwathama/ choosing the protagonist/growing up in a religious atmosphere/ 25:21 Chambal 28:54 Portraying with authenticity 31:45 Adapting folk tales, equating art with classical music 34:34 Translating from page to screen 37:41 Working with non-actors 39:21 Creating the look of the film with the DOP 41:15 Approach to sound 42:25 Barometer for success 46:23 Life and filmmaking co-existing 47:22 Distribution/Crowdfunding 50:08 Shift to documentary 52:19 Learning from teaching acting 54:24 Acting exercises 56:04 Advice for actors and directors 57:03 Upcoming projects 59:15 Recommendation

Watch the trailer for Lajwanti here: https://youtu.be/k0BDGVF1874

Watch the trailer for Ashwathama here: https://youtu.be/dvsiLhpaXcw

Recommendations:

Neha - Zama (2017, Dir. Lucrecia Martel): https://youtu.be/K8dW6YHINAA

Pushpendra - Nainsukh (2010, Dir. Amit Dutta): https://youtu.be/HueU_YnFwfg

Listen to the Anup Singh episode here: https://bit.ly/2I7iAB7

For any questions or comments find Neha on twitter @neharthak

You can listen to this show and other amazing shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5

You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Anything But Bollywood Neha is in the studio with actor Shahnawaz Bhat who starred in the film 'Half Widow' which was screened at the 19th Mumbai International Film Festival. Listen in as Shahnawaz talks about growing up in Kashmir, the lack of opportunities for artists there, and range of experiences working on indies like 'Harud' to a mainstream Bollywood film like 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'.

00:48 Shanawaaz Intro 01:24 How did acting happen? 02:43 Preparation for 'Harud' 05:10 Growing up in Kashmir 08:18 Learning from Aamir Bashir 09:49 Festival experience 11:39 Kashmiri language/audience 16:02 Experience on 'Half-widow' 18:32 Acting & relatability 19:50 Experience on 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' 22:20 Biding time between roles 24:26 State of filmmaking in Kashmir 26:14 The story of 'disappeared men' 30:01 Has perspective changed? 34:32 Role of art & creativity in Kashmir 35:40 Dealing with fear in a conflict zone 38:40 Ideal roles 40:00 Pointers for directors & actors 42:46 Recommendation

Check out Shahnawaz's body of work here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3919952/

Here's the trailer for 'Half Widow' : https://youtu.be/k_ITMZMsdwU

You can watch 'Harud' on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70153553

Shahnawaz's film recommedation: Underground (1995, Dir: Emir Kusturica) https://youtu.be/iKdl5r7_ZPc

(Note: This episode was recorded before the horrific incidents that took place in Kathua in J & K)

For any questions or comments find Neha on twitter @neharthak

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5

You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Neha is in the studio with documentary film maker Surabhi Sharma whose film 'Phir Se Samm Pe Aana (Returning to the First Beat)' was screened at the 19th Mumbai film festival. Listen in as Surabhi breaks down how to pursue subjects and premises for a documentary, what are the pros and cons of documentary film vs a fictional film and how her last film 'Bidesiya in Bambai' about bhojpuri music and 'Phir se...' about classical musicians took shape.

00:44 Intro/ accolades for Surabhi's films 01:39 Parentage/pursuing cinema 03:34 Transition to documentary/Jari mari 06:41 Making the 1st film and learning 11:25 Development of "Phir Se Samm Pa Aana" 17:10 Film time vs Real time 21:14 Time to film & edit 22:29 Video art 25:39 How shoots are structured? 29:31 'Bideshiya in Bambai'/Bhojpuri music/finding musicians 38:45 Funding 42:26 Who is the audience? 45:57 Spaces and platforms for documentaries 50:47 Learning about audiences 53:16 Identity as a feminist flmmaker 55:40 Negotiating with a privileged background 56:47 Deciding on an idea 57:49 Looking back at earlier work 59:24 Frustrations as a documentary filmmaker 1:01:25 Learning from students 1:02:22 Advice for filmmmakers 1:03:47 Next film 1:05:07 Relationship with collaborators 1:06:51 Recommendations

Read more about 'Phir Se Samm Pe Aana' here:https://www.mumbaifilmfestival.com/programmeDetail/248

Surabhi's film recommendations:

• A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings (2017, Dir: Prateek Vats)https://vimeo.com/208656271

• Kho ki pa lü / Up Down and Sideways (2017): https://youtu.be/zJsCbJfICoY

Also listen to the episode with the filmmakers of this film Anushka Meenakshi and Ashwin Srikumar here: https://bit.ly/2Hx7Ewm

For any questions or comments find Neha on twitter @neharthak

You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5

You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.