A Theory of Every Being

One Rupee Film Diaries #2

by Anamitra Roy

The 0ne Rupee Film Project is an independent and ultra-low-budget crowd-funded feature length docu-fiction out of India. The makers of the film had to go through a 474 day long fundraising campaign. They asked for a minimum contribution of one rupee from everyone they came across. Thus, 2,90,000 Indian rupees could be raised to complete the production and the initial stages of post-production. The film is titled Aashmani Jawaharat aka Diamonds in the Sky but the campaign had been so huge that it is still popularly recognized as the one rupee film. The books of this series contains stories, backgrounds and experiences the makers of the 0ne Rupee Film Project had during this extra-ordinary journey of theirs. If you are interested in what kind of reality the marginal independent filmmakers have to face or what unique face of reality they see everyday, this book will surely amuse you.

24 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2014

About the author

Open to the absurdities of universe and ready to accept the insignificance of existence. I do what I believe, but the thing is belief keeps on changing with experiences. Initially I was a poet-writer writing in alternative magazines in West Bengal, India. Then I turned into a filmmaker which became my initial identity for a lot of people. In between, I have been in a relationship that defined me. She is a painter and we started filmmaking together. After 7 years we got married, and yes, happy. Now, I'm writing and making films as well. Also doing a lot of other stuff, like playing guitar just for the sake of the joy I get from that activity. Sometimes I sing and compose too. Sometimes I feel like spending the day on the banks of a river or just keep on talking to my sweetheart forever.

Parallel to yours, it's a life altogether. What's in a biography anyway?

Reviews

[Jay Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts 1 and 2 are each so short I cannot see any good reason for publishing them separately. Publication should have been delayed until a conclusion had been added to draw the ideas into a coherent whole, and they had been properly edited and proofed. The author’s first language is Bengali and he can certainly write in English better than I can in Bengali but that is not the point; if he wishes readers to spend that most precious commodity – time – on reading his work it should be presented in good English.

Anamitra Roy presents some interesting ideas but the reader is left to do the work the author should have ie order those ideas into a logical sequence. Arguments for or against any standpoint lose their impact if not well presented. As it stands it lives up to the title in that these unedited ramblings belong in an unpublished private diary. If the author truly wants us to listen and take heed of his viewpoint then he should present those ideas in the manner that must have been expected of him when he studied for his MA.

In Part 1 I temporarily laid aside my severe reservations about the work as I was quite entertained by the glimpse into Indian life, especially the descriptions of the people he met and his conversations with them.

In Part 2 there was far too much emphasis on the author’s view that he is right and everyone else falls into either an elite group who agree with him, or everyone else, those who are too stupid to understand what he is doing. It would seem I fall into the latter group; I am one of the people with an ‘attitude’ who ‘eats up gossip’ and is prey to marketing techniques, totally incapable of thinking critically or objectively.

[Gloria Ng · Rating 2 out of 5]

To start off, I am not a film buff. So already that knocked me off as the ideal reviewer for this kind of book. Secondly, I read the description for this book and had no idea that this book was a nonfiction book because even fiction books sometimes have "diary" in the title. So hopefully, the author will further specify some details in the book description so that I don't think that this book is "docu-fiction." Lastly, I had to Google several things, including One Rupee Film Project, to understand some of the context put out in this book for the non-Indian film enthusiast. So for those who ask, yes, the One Rupee Film Project really does exist in the real world.

With that preamble, let me formally begin my review...

I really wish I could have given this book a higher rating, because I often honor the hard work and dedication that an author goes through to get their work done and put out there for others to enjoy. So I was very disappointed to have to give this book the lowest rating I have ever given a book.

First off, the title is misleading. Although "diaries" is in the title, the book is organized into chapters. The organization of these chapters do seem to go in various directions as you would find in a diary. So I almost wished that the book was written in a diary format.

Secondly, the description of the book states that I would hear "stories, backgrounds and experiences" of makers of the film. I didn't hear from both makers. I heard from one maker, who is a filmmaker academic. If the author's intention is to make this book more accessible to English readers, either footnotes/endnotes needed to be added or a glossary tacked to the end of the book.

Thirdly, the book needs a round of editing. Not only grammar corrections are needed, including those errors found in the author's bio, but also chunking down of the content. Too many blocks of content were in big chunks. While the author may be used to scholarly writing and assuming the reader knows or assumes his position/viewpoints, the leap to storytelling requires a different set of conventions that make it easier for the reader to sift through all the information.

This leads me to the next point. The author DOES have a lot of valuable information to share with other independent Indian filmmakers about crowd-funding for the one rupee film. This book could easily have been written over many more pages as the author shares about the different meetings he has with different people and how his campaign evolves.

Ultimately, I found this book too short. The "diaries" in the title led me to believe that I would be reading something much longer than a book comprised of three chapters over 24 pdf pages. So I was disappointed I couldn't read something longer, something that I expected to be more in the form of a travel diary. If the book was written in more of a storytelling format, then at least I would connect more with the character or persona and therefore care for the astute revelations shared by the author.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Alexes · Rating 2 out of 5]

One Rupee Film Diaries Part 2, A Theory of Every Being is not a book that you’d pick up and take to the beach for a light read. It’s very specific to the Indian no-budget film world, and if that’s not your interest, this book is probably not for you. If it IS your interest, then you may be carried along by the narrative and find the author’s thoughts and comments to be meaningful. As someone who knows nothing about film making in India, I was often lost at the mention of various Indian films and/or film makers, and wish the author had taken the time to explain why these people or films mattered. Instead the author seems to assume that we either agree with him or, more likely, should agree with him, even if we have no idea what he's talking about. The dairy has a manifesto feel about it that left this reader rolling her eyes. Since this book seems to be directed at an English speaking audience, it would have helped to have had a native speaker edit it before publication.

I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Anamitra Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you would like to review this book, let me know. I'll be more than happy to email you a free e-book version