On the first festival of ideas, not just books, politics, and ideas were celebrated but there was a special place for cinema, OTT, and poetry in the film industry.
Where big film stars like Nawazuddin Siddiqui shared his experience with his role in Ganges of Wassepur, an actor has never shied away from experimenting with his roles in films, and he has been successful in bowling the audience over each time. On the other hand, Shweta Tripathi represents OTT. A versatile actor who is known for her challenging roles.
Bollywood poets Yatindra Mishra and Rahul Rawail remembered the old days of Bollywood when songs had their own meanings and added meaning to storylines.
Answering the question of which film established Nawaaz as an actor he said I feel all films change your life in some way. However, if I had to pick one, I would say ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ changed my career completely.
Talking about how Indian cinema is seen internationally, Mr. Siddiqui said there is a long way to go, and it’s not like we lack talent, but the thing is, those who have money don’t want to work on meaningful cinema and those who want to work on such cinema lack funding.
Talking about this debut on OTT he said he wasn’t aware of the term OTT and thought it was a TV serial then Anurag Kashyap happened to show him that these shows would make him visible to 190 countries.
Responding about his character of Faizal Khan (GOW), he said, He started acting like Al Pacino, then he was told to stay Nawaz, then he started looking for someone around from whom he could take inspiration, and then he finally found someone.
Answering the question of how he chooses the roles, he said, He wants his characters to be developed; there should be conflict; they should be quirky and more alive than heroic, where everything about them is not good.
He shared his experience of preparing for Thakre›s character, where he happened to keenly observe Thakre and practice his vocals. so that he could gain that pitch.
Moving on to the importance of OTT and how it has impacted today’s cinema, Sweta Tripathi said that everything has its own importance and it’s all about experience. For instance, we want to enjoy movies like Gadaar and Pathaan on the big screen. So the cinema is not going anywhere. But, thanks to OTT, as can be seen from Boston to Bihar, you get the buffet, so you can pick and choose, and it sparks a lot of conversation. It has made everything inclusive now.
Talking about the arc of a character in a film, she said that as actors, when we play different roles, we become part of that person, and we start understanding people and becoming less judgmental.
In today’s world, characters are not dry cleaned, and people are not black and white but spectrum. The arc of character is a give-and-take relationship; you always learn something from it, she added
Responding to the choice of movies she has made so far, she said she has made those subconsciously because of her upbringing as her parents provide her with such an environment at her home.
«We people live in our own bubble, so a good cinema represents something out of the box like Patal Lok and others, which gives us a chance to look beyond our bubble,» said the actress
Yatindra Mishra and Rahul Rawail recalled the golden days of Bollywood, where so much hard work was required just for a song, and singers and lyric writers used to sit for hours to bring something concrete to the table, and songs happened to add value to the song.
«If one just watches the songs of Mother India in a row, one can understand the entire story of the movie, but today, sadly, it has become a dying art,» said Yatindra Mishra.
They also shared the fact that today›s songs are only meant for ringtones and digital platforms and not for adding value to the storyline, but just for commercial purposes where it adds nothing to the storyline.