How film communities preserve cinematic traditions

Participants at an Off The Books film screening in Khar

Not far away from the blinding world of star-studded blockbusters and record-breaking box-office collections, exist smaller film communities nestled in nooks of the city and its suburbs that look at neither when they judge a film. Two such city-based film enthusiasts, Pravin Subramanian and Vedant Naik open doors to their newly rebranded Patchwork Film Collective (PFC) tomorrow with the goal to promote independent film and start conversations about lesser-known titles emerging in the scene.

Naik reminisces how the duo's journey followed the typical book-to-movie arch. "I discovered Swap Book, a community for readers started by Subramanian in 2011 through an article in mid-day in 2021. I reached out with the idea to do something similar for films," he shares. For Naik, the idea gained impetus following a filmy heartbreak. "Before the lockdown was imposed, a weekly visit to Deepak Talkies in Lower Parel was my routine. They would screen everything from Swedish indie films to Hitchcock's classics every Monday. Unfortunately, they couldn't make a post-lockdown return and it left a hole in my heart."

Pravin Subramanian and Vedant Naik. Pic/Anurag Ahire

The duo went on to found Off The Books, a film club, last year, regularly screening lesser-known movies and hosting discussions at a Khar venue. Subramanian tells us that while the screenings were well received by audiences, they found it hard to expand operations owing to permission and licensing barriers. "Acquiring rights is a time-consuming process and can sometimes cost one a fortune. That's when we turned to independent Indian films and rebranded to PFC. We noticed that local filmmakers wanted their movies to be screened and discuss them with the audience. The focus is not on the money, but the experience of discussing what you love," Subramanian shares. Naik echoes the sentiment, "The decision opened our eyes to the world of regional cinema. Mumbai, for instance, has a thriving Marathi parallel cinema community beyond what most of us consider indie," he shares.

The Bombay Movie Club, formed in 2019, regularly organises community events to discuss foreign language films

The duo assures us that you don't have to be a film expert to head down to one of their events. "We don't want people to do their homework on film history before they visit us," Subramanian chuckles, reminding us that the central thought is to promote open and candid discussions between independent filmmakers and their audiences. Karan Suri Talwar, founder of Harkat, an art studio that hosts monthly screenings, agrees. "While the core audience for our monthly screenings remain cinephiles and people who work in film, we are making consistent efforts to bring the everyday audience in. Such cinema can only be sustainable if more people are exposed to it," he remarks, adding that Mumbai has a larger audience interested in independent films than the handful of film clubs today can accommodate.

Karan Suri Talwar cinephiles attend a screening at Harkat Studios in Versova that has been screening undiscovered movies such as Faraz Ali's Shoebox and Gurvinder Singh's Adh Chanani Raat since 2017

Echoing Suri's call for more spaces dedicated to film enthusiasts, Adishree Mahapatra, in-charge of collaborations at The Bombay Movie Club, adds that the city lacks spaces where participants can dissect and study the films following a screening. "Our vision is not only limited to screenings but on experiences that introduce the audience to different film movements, techniques and cultural touchstones. Social meet-ups to promote community building must remain our main focus," she notes.

Following the screening of Batul Mukhtiar's critically acclaimed Mumu Shelley, Naik shares that efforts to rope in Siddharth Chauhan's Amar Colony and Anamika Haksar's Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hoon are underway. "Convincing filmmakers to head down to our venue can be challenging sometimes because we aren't a traditional film club with access to theaters. But the onus is on us and we are doing our best to show them the value that these intimate events can add," he concludes.

ON Tomorrow, 5pm
AT KMC, Kitab Mahal, off DN Road, Fort.
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ENTRY Rs 350 onwards

Harkat Studios
AT Bungalow No. 17, JP Road, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova.
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The Bombay Movie Club
AT Multiple locations
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