I do not suffer pretentious cinema: Nila Madhab Panda

Nila Madhab Panda, whose Green Screen Lab will mentor 18 script writers, says he wants to create a cinema hub in Odisha
Since you have directed two films with children, was that the reason for you to embark on this Green Lab concept?
India has the largest population of children and youth and yet, when it comes to parenting, we are the most selfish generation. We are doing all that it takes to make our new generation weak.There is a scarcity of cinema for children and as parents, we are ensuring that our kids have no connect with India’s culture and value system. Most importantly, we have become lazy parents.
But it’s not that children don’t watch movies in India…
Yes, they do. We import shows and movies from all over the world and show it to our children. So, there’s a Spiderman and a Harry Potter. And if it has to be Indian, we settle for an animated Hanuman. While all this might make great business sense because finally people are raking in the moolah, we are not giving back to our kids the childhood we used to have.
Are you saying that parents and movie makers are equally to be blamed for this?
Absolutely. We grew up hearing stories. But today, “Rowdy Rathore” and “Singham” have become children’s films! Cinema has got a new concept. Parents are now allowing children to get addicted to adult content. Even movies with extreme violence that only adults can digest are now been shown to children. They were once called rickshawpuller films and they entertained the frontbenchers! But today, those are movies that kids are allowed to watch. A song like “DK Bose” has become an anthem for children.
So what do you do?
I feel a dire need to do something for children. That’s why I have set up this Green Screen Lab that will serve as a movement for children’s films. We want to produce children’s movies that only rely on good story telling.
How are you going green?
The idea behind Green Screen Lab is to cut down cost and come up with 18 scripts. We received entries from across the country. Most of them are young writers under 30. Eighteen candidates were short-listed to participate in this residential lab in Bhubaneswar. Five actors (Anubha Sourya, Tirrtha Murbaadkar, Varun Verma, Sunny Hinduja and Shree Upadhyay), three writing mentors and one acting mentor will be staying in Bhubaneswar for 10 days to conduct this lab from today at KIIT. Director Mark Aitken is conducting workshops for tribal children too. The mentors include German director Arend Agthe, Indian director Onir and screenwriter Sanjay Chauhan of “I Am Kalam” and “Paan Singh Tomar” fame will serve as mentors. Besides, Kamlesh Pandey, Sanette Naeyi and John Newbigin will also be present as guest mentors. Tannishtha Chatterjee will attend the programme as an acting mentor. Noted author Ruskin Bond, many of whose works have been adapted on screen, will be a special guest. The screenplays will be developed for movies that can be made using the minimum amount of energy. The idea is to come up with scripts that will appeal to the international market. At least five of these movies are likely to go on the floors this year.
While you live in Delhi and constantly travel to Mumbai, why did you choose to set this residential lab in Bhubaneswar?
I am partial towards my state. Today, I have quite a few projects in hand and I could have used this time to start other movies. But I decided to take time out for this. I want to turn Odisha into a movie hub. I am trying to pull in as much resources as is possible to make people look at this part of the world. Odisha needs multiplexes and I’m glad that some entrepreneurs have shown interest. Last time when I was there, I went to a single screen theatre to watch a movie. Sadly speaking, the conditions are deplorable. Many like me will never feel like going to the theatres. That’s perhaps why the movies that are now being made in Ollywood target only those who will have the desire to go to such theatres. If Ollywood has to improve, we need to get the audience return to the theatres.
This was exactly the problem faced in Bengal a couple of years ago…
Yes, I know that. And then, some good movies started being made there and people, I hear, are returning to the theatres. But the problem now is that once you get the crowd to the theatres, you can’t afford to produce pretentious stuff. That, unfortunately, is becoming a problem in contemporary Bengali cinema. In fact, why just contemporary Bengali cinema? I’d say that’s a problem with many new Hindi film-makers. They claim to be original. They claim to be artistes. But when you watch their movies, you will know that all they are doing is copying the ideas from obscure European films. They confuse the audience by flaunting the avant-garde tag. Recently at a festival in Delhi, I attended the screening of a movie. I can’t even define it properly. I can’t suffer pretentious cinema. I would rather watch a paisa wasool Hindi remake of a Tamil or a Telugu movie than go for such pretentious fare. My only fear is that the resurgence of Ollywood shouldn’t take this path of making such movies in the name of good cinema. That will do more harm than good to the industry.
When is your film releasing?
“Jalpari” is releasing on August 31. I will start shooting my next from November.