Christopher Nolan, the father of every good and mind blowing movie like the Batman trilogy and the movie that actually broke our brains Inception, is in India these days.
But apart from tasting various Indian dishes and meeting the whos who of Bollywood like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan and more, there is actually a more important reason why Nolan is in the country.
And no, it is not for any collaboration or scouting for a shooting location, as much as we want it to be true.
Instead, Christopher Nolan was here to attend the 3-day event called ‘Reframing the Future of Film’ held by the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) in Mumbai from March 30th to April 1st.
He was invited by the founder of FHF, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, an Indian filmmaker and archivist to talk about the change of filmmaking’s medium from the traditional film or physical celluloid to digital filmmaking.
What Did Nolan Talk About?
It has never been a secret that Nolan likes the traditional way of filmmaking, that is using 35mm and 70mm format of pixels over the now popular digital. His much-acclaimed movie Dunkirk was also released in projected celluloid.
At the event, he urged young filmmakers to not bow down to the current demands and stand for what medium they want to shoot their film in. Nolan was quoted as saying that, “This discussion has risen in the past that why somebody chose to shoot a film in something which is difficult and not digital. They (critics) speak as if filmmaking were a illogical and pragmatic thing to do. But it’s not. No film is illogical or pragmatic. Films are about dreams, magic, escapism and experience.”
On his reason for visiting India, Nolan said, “In fact that is one of the reasons why I am here in India, other than I believe in the cause (of saving celluloid film), is to meet more people from the Indian film industry and engage with the people from one of the greatest film cultures of the world… to learn more about it.”
Read More: This Genius Indian Filmmaker Is Making Better Films Than Even Batman & Inception
IANS quoted Christopher Nolan speaking on the matter of him not being on social media, “Well, I really don’t have to think about Facebook… I am not really interested in social media. We may live in a digital age but we are also living in an analogue world. One of the interesting things about celluloid film is also; it really has a very good relationship with the real life; that for me at least, digital doesn’t. It is about powerful storytelling too.”
Apart from the subject of celluloid over digital, Nolan in the few days of his visit to India even travelled to Delhi for 3-4 days staying in the Taj Mahal Hotel. Apart from customised amenities displaying the flavours of India, Nolan also posed with the staff and chef of the Wasabi by Morimoto restaurant at the hotel.
After he arrived in Mumbai, he met up with some of our desi talents including Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan, and Shah Rukh Khan.
On March 31st, Christopher Nolan also attended a special screening of two of his most famous movies Dunkirk and Interstellar.
It is safe to say, that in the week or so that Nolan was here, he definitely had a good mix of intellectual discussions and savouring the taste of India.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Hindustan Times, NDTV, The Hindu
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