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Talking Cinema
A take on the reel lives of actors and directors
What do stars make of a certain role? How do they prepare? What do they think and feel?
Beyond the greasepaint and glycerine and into the heart of what gives the audience its goosebumps Talking Cinema goes behind the scenes with several of the film fraternitys best-known stars.
The first section, An Actor Prepares, examines what goes into getting ready for a role, while the second, Character Speak, deals with the research, rehearsals and responses behind some of the most critically acclaimed roles in Indian cinema. Directors Cut, the third section, journeys into the mind of the film-maker. The last section, The Specialists, is an analysis of the association of an actor or a film-maker with a specific type of role or theme. What is this identification based on and are these roles or films as similar as they appear to be?
The book acknowledges the skill, effort and resources that go into the making of a film. It will call out to the movie buff in you.
About the Author
Bhawana Somaaya has been a film critic for thirty years and has contributed columns to publications like the Hindu, Hindustan Times, Pioneer and Sunday Observer. She is the former editor of Screen and has authored nine books including a biography of Hema Malini and a translation of Krishna The God Who Lived as Man. Amitabh Lexicon completes her trilogy on mega-star Amitabh Bachchan after The Legend in 1999 and Bachchanalia in 2009. She is on the advisory panel of the Censor Board of Film Certificate and is the film expert with 92.7 Big FM. Somaaya is currently doing film reviews for BBC Online and working on three more books on cinema.
What do stars make of a certain role? How do they prepare? What do they think and feel?
Beyond the greasepaint and glycerine and into the heart of what gives the audience its goosebumps Talking Cinema goes behind the scenes with several of the film fraternitys best-known stars.
The first section, An Actor Prepares, examines what goes into getting ready for a role, while the second, Character Speak, deals with the research, rehearsals and responses behind some of the most critically acclaimed roles in Indian cinema. Directors Cut, the third section, journeys into the mind of the film-maker. The last section, The Specialists, is an analysis of the association of an actor or a film-maker with a specific type of role or theme. What is this identification based on and are these roles or films as similar as they appear to be?
The book acknowledges the skill, effort and resources that go into the making of a film. It will call out to the movie buff in you.
About the Author
Bhawana Somaaya has been a film critic for thirty years and has contributed columns to publications like the Hindu, Hindustan Times, Pioneer and Sunday Observer. She is the former editor of Screen and has authored nine books including a biography of Hema Malini and a translation of Krishna The God Who Lived as Man. Amitabh Lexicon completes her trilogy on mega-star Amitabh Bachchan after The Legend in 1999 and Bachchanalia in 2009. She is on the advisory panel of the Censor Board of Film Certificate and is the film expert with 92.7 Big FM. Somaaya is currently doing film reviews for BBC Online and working on three more books on cinema.
- GenresNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2013
About the author
Bhawana Somaaya
26 books18 followersBhawana Somaaya is a film critic, columnist and author. She is the former editor of Screen and written biographies of superstars like Hema Malini and Amitabh Bachchan. Her books are a point of reference for students studying cinema at Whistling Woods, Mumbai, Manipal University, Mangalore and JNU, Delhi
She is a classical dancer, a podcaster and author of 19 books. She has translated our honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s Gujarati books Saakshi Bhaav and Aankh Aa Dhanya Chhe into English as Letters to Mother and Letters to Self in 2020 and 2022 respectively. She is the Entertainment Editor at 92.7 Big FM Radio Channel.
Somaaya was conferred with Padma Shri in 2017, an honorary Doctorate by Jagran Lake city University in 2021 and Kanak Nartan Puraskaar from Nalanda Nrityakala Mahavidyalay in 2022. Her new book is due for release end of the year.
She is a classical dancer, a podcaster and author of 19 books. She has translated our honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s Gujarati books Saakshi Bhaav and Aankh Aa Dhanya Chhe into English as Letters to Mother and Letters to Self in 2020 and 2022 respectively. She is the Entertainment Editor at 92.7 Big FM Radio Channel.
Somaaya was conferred with Padma Shri in 2017, an honorary Doctorate by Jagran Lake city University in 2021 and Kanak Nartan Puraskaar from Nalanda Nrityakala Mahavidyalay in 2022. Her new book is due for release end of the year.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 23, 2014
Outside the Indian subcontinent, there is knoweldge that the nation is a kind of movie factory churning out films by the boatload. But how much does the World know Indian cinema ? Barring Satyajit Ray and his Apu trilogy, it is safe to assume that only Hindi cinema is known to the world in its glitzy name : Bollywood. There will be a faint flicker of recognition if you do drop names like :Sholay, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Lagaan among some folks in Europe and the US. I remember something that the Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan once remarked while on tour in Egypt : Every Indian is Amitabh Bachchan in Egypt ! Here, Amitabh Bachchan is yet another doyen among the actors of the Hindi film industry. This is a standing testimony of the lack of penetration other Indian language movies into the world outside. This book also suffers a similar treatment. It's title should have been Talking Bollywood.
This is a collection of a series of interviews that film critic Bhawana Somaaya did with various eminent personalities in the field of cinema. The collection is a mixed bag that ranges from the mere superficial to the thought provoking. There is one section each for actors, characters, directors and specialists on their field of work.
The part on actors is perhaps the most shallow part in the entire book. Most questions are rather juvenile and fails to impart anything more than what we know about the actor. The only difference to this is the interview with actress Shabana Azmi who is equal parts actor and social activist. There is a little bit of exploration into the psyche of this actor and how she stepped into the role of a social activist with the stimulus attained from her on screen persona.I was looking forward to such detailed discussion on what happens in the minds of these individuals when the arc lights switch off and back on again when they are enact characters but failed to find it in any of the interviews.
The second part talks about characters and is again another bland piece as a whole. I could only find a glimmer of difference in the interviews with Kirron Kher on her character of a Pakistani refugee in Khamosh Paani and with Amitabh Bachchan on his characters in Dev and Black.
The interviews with the directors makes up the third part which perhaps is the most solid part of the book. It is only here that I could find references to what happens behind the screen. Of specific mention are interviews with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Mani Ratnam and Govind Nihalani.
The last part is on specialists in various fields. The best are the interviews with Amitabh Bachchan on being an on screen cop. Bachchan has enacted a multitude of police men on screen with a wide variety of difference in the shades of their character and speaks with a forthrightness and transparency that is a delight to read about. The other interview that held my interest was the conversation with A.R.Rahman on his compositions. While not exactly a revelatory discussion, it does offer a glimpse into the mind of this famously elusive composer.
A very average collection. I could not call this anything but that.
This is a collection of a series of interviews that film critic Bhawana Somaaya did with various eminent personalities in the field of cinema. The collection is a mixed bag that ranges from the mere superficial to the thought provoking. There is one section each for actors, characters, directors and specialists on their field of work.
The part on actors is perhaps the most shallow part in the entire book. Most questions are rather juvenile and fails to impart anything more than what we know about the actor. The only difference to this is the interview with actress Shabana Azmi who is equal parts actor and social activist. There is a little bit of exploration into the psyche of this actor and how she stepped into the role of a social activist with the stimulus attained from her on screen persona.I was looking forward to such detailed discussion on what happens in the minds of these individuals when the arc lights switch off and back on again when they are enact characters but failed to find it in any of the interviews.
The second part talks about characters and is again another bland piece as a whole. I could only find a glimmer of difference in the interviews with Kirron Kher on her character of a Pakistani refugee in Khamosh Paani and with Amitabh Bachchan on his characters in Dev and Black.
The interviews with the directors makes up the third part which perhaps is the most solid part of the book. It is only here that I could find references to what happens behind the screen. Of specific mention are interviews with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Mani Ratnam and Govind Nihalani.
The last part is on specialists in various fields. The best are the interviews with Amitabh Bachchan on being an on screen cop. Bachchan has enacted a multitude of police men on screen with a wide variety of difference in the shades of their character and speaks with a forthrightness and transparency that is a delight to read about. The other interview that held my interest was the conversation with A.R.Rahman on his compositions. While not exactly a revelatory discussion, it does offer a glimpse into the mind of this famously elusive composer.
A very average collection. I could not call this anything but that.
October 6, 2024
Aboard it is a common practice for leading writers, directors, technicians to interview their colleagues on the process of their craft. In India, this is not so common.
The book is divided into four sections: An Actor Prepares: where lead stars talk about their preparation for a role. Character Speak: features superstars elaborating on their favorite roles. Then there is Director’s Cut where masters talk about their treatments to films and finally the Specialists where actors talk about playing specific characters again and again.
When we watch a film, we seldom think about what goes into making it so deep. Talking Cinema sensitizes us to their labor of love.
The book is divided into four sections: An Actor Prepares: where lead stars talk about their preparation for a role. Character Speak: features superstars elaborating on their favorite roles. Then there is Director’s Cut where masters talk about their treatments to films and finally the Specialists where actors talk about playing specific characters again and again.
When we watch a film, we seldom think about what goes into making it so deep. Talking Cinema sensitizes us to their labor of love.
February 4, 2014
Talking Cinema is a great insight into the rise and fall of actors and film-makers from one Friday to the next. The book is divided into four segments taking to Actors, Characters, Directors, and the Specialists from the world of film making. The conversations comprising of the character studies (Rekha on Lajja or Tabu on The Namesake) and those on film specialists (Amitabh Bachchan on Cops and Yash Chopra on Love) give the reader a chance to see how cinema perceives its audience and as a result altercates its appearance to satisfy the need of society.
Detailed review - http://tickertalksfilm.blogspot.in/20...
Detailed review - http://tickertalksfilm.blogspot.in/20...
March 13, 2017
some of the interviews are average, but then there are some from people who are not interviewed too often and those are the more interesting ones. liked it more for the directors and a few actors like Shabana Azmi.
August 15, 2015
Theek hain Matlab...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews