Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of Mani R. Kaul

Timestamp:

Jun 23, 2012, 2:07:22 PM (12 years ago)

Author:

Trupti

Comment:

--

Mani R. Kaul

@@ +1 @@
+'''Kaul, Mani R. (b. 1942)'''
+
+
+Director born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Graduate
+from University of Jaipur (1963) and from the
+FTII (1966) where he was taught by Ghatak.
+Nephew of Mahesh Kaul. Often acted in Film
+Institute student films in the mid-60s, and
+appeared as actor in Basu Chatterjee’s Sara
+Akash (1969). Received Jawaharlal Nehru
+Fellowship (1974-6). Part of the YUKT
+Collective that made Ghashiram Kotwal.
+Prominent cultural activist and organiser, often
+making common cause with Shahani in efforts
+to extend the range of Indian film cultures, and
+significant teacher of a new generation of FTII
+graduates, some of whom became key
+members of his film unit. First film, Uski Roti,
+is a cinematic exploration of narrative space
+and volume, defining much of New Indian
+Cinema’s formal vocabulary. Since Satah Se
+Uthata Admi, based on Hindi poet G.M.
+Muktibodh, made features on e.g. Dhrupad
+music and on terracotta artisans, emphasising
+improvised reconstruction of available material.
+Edits his colour films first in b&w, having
+printed every single take. Later work strongly
+influenced by his study of Dhrupad music with
+Ustad Zia Mohiyuddin Dagar and of
+Anandvardhan’s Dhwanyaloka, a 9th C.
+Sanskrit text on aesthetics exploring states of
+conscious perception while positing language
+as possessing a specific, suggestive dimension
+beyond its denotative or metaphoric faculties.
+Developing aspects of classical music theories,
+particularly the Sangeet Samay Saar (14th C.),
+Kaul emphasises the value of what is absent -
+the varjit, the forbidden - as perennially in
+‘argument’ (vivadi) with what is narratively
+present. The evanescent moment of creation is
+posed at the point where human action
+simultaneously registers what exists and in the
+process, produces something unprecedented.
+His elaborate theory of contemporary aesthetic
+practice, ‘Seen From Nowhere’, was presented
+in the cultural historian Kapila Vatsyayan’s
+seminar Inner Space, Outer Space (Indira
+Gandhi National Centre For Art) and published
+in the book Concepts of Space: Ancient and
+Modern. Among various non-Indian sources,
+has drawn from haiku poetry, the nouveau
+roman, mannerist painting, Bresson and Ozu.
+Recent return to fiction cinema draws mainly
+from Dostoevsky (Nazar, Idiot). Refused to
+sign the documentary Historical Sketch of
+Indian Women during the Emergency when its
+producers, Films Division, required him to
+change the last shot and the commentary.
+
+
+'''FILMOGRAPHY:''' 1967: Yatrik (Sh); 6.40 p.m.
+(Sh); Homage to the Teacher (Sh); 1968: Forms
+and Design (Doc); 1969: Uski Roti; 1970:
+During and after Air Raid (Doc); 1971: Ashad
+Ka Ek Din; 1973: Duvidha; 1974: The
+Nomad Puppeteers (Doc); 1975: Historical
+Sketch of Indian Women (Doc; uncredited);
+1976: Chitrakathi (Doc); Ghashiram
+Kotwal; 1979: Arrival (Doc); 1980: Satah Se
+Uthata Admi; 1981: Desert of a Thousand
+Lines (Sh); 1982: Dhrupad; 1984: Mati
+Manas; 1988: Before My Eyes (Doc); 1989:
+Siddheshwari; Nazar; 1991: Idiot;
+1994:The Cloud Door (Sh).
+
+[[Director]]