Artist’s Date #2 : Projector Film Club, Thane

What do a 25 year old story teller with a passion for design, a 28 year old ex crime reporter , a 32 year old NID graduate and assistant director, and a 25 year old musician have in common? A dream!

A dream to start a Film Club in Thane so that Thaneites do not have to travel all the way to town to see a screening of a good film.

The four of them, Archana Chandrashekar, Harish Singh, Anthrix Jayakumar and Sanket Roy, came together with their ideas and thoughts and the Projector Film Club was born. While the initial idea was Archana’s and Harish’s, the support in the form of space came from Anthrix and Sanket and so thanks to them I was able to enjoy my second Artist’s date.

On the 9th of February, Projector Film Club screened Mirch Masala, the 1987 release starring Smita Patil, Deepti Naval, Ratna Pathak, Om Puri, Naseerudin Shah, Suresh Oberoi and other stalwarts of parallel cinema.

A friend had sent me the link to the screening and while, I had seen the film when it was released in 1987, the finale was still fresh in my mind and that pulled me to go in for the screening.

There were around 40 people at the screening, a mix of all ages (including some kids who had accompanied their parents). I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of college youth who occupied the mattresses on the floor as I was to see the number of people who were 50 and over. There was a comfortable buzz around the room that made me feel glad I had come.

The discussion after the movie was intense with people pointing out how nothing much had changed for women over the decades. Women were still at risk at the work place, even with laws in place . The laws were not followed up by action against the perpetrators of crimes against women and so were not really a deterrent.

One young man, also related the women in the chilli factory to the women in Shaheen Baug, where instead of the law and the government supporting them, they villified them instead, trying to brand them as traitors in much the same way Sonbai was accused of bringing ruin to the village.

It was an evening well spent and I applaud these youngsters for making their dream a reality.

The next screening is on the 23rd of February. The movie is a Korean film, “Mother” with English subtitiles. Do register and come for it. You won’t regret it.

ARCHANA CHANDRASHEKAR – is a Film Director & Editor currently based in Thane. After graduating from the National Institute of Design, in Visual Communication, she has worked in the rural grassroots of Madhya Pradesh for over 2 years engaging with the indigenous communities of the region. She is a story-teller with a passion for design and sustainability in every-day life. Much like the works of Abbas Kiarostami, poetry plays a pivotal role as the underlying thread in her narratives.
Her student documentary project, DIVE (2016) won the prestigious ‘TOTO Award’ in 2017. Her last film, JAADUI JUNGLE (Magical Forest – 2019), addresses the issue of rampant fires in forests of Central India. The film has been showcased at UNICEF Innocenti Film Festival (ITALY), along with screenings at many other inter-national and regional film festivals across the country.

K.HARISH SINGH did his Bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication in Delhi and post graduated in Film and Video Communication from NID (National Institute of Design). 
He was the AD (Assistant Director) in Haramkhor directed by Shlok Sharma and produced by Anurag Kashyap, an intern AD in ‘Ship of Theseus’, by Anand Gandhi and then, the AD in Dibakar Banerjee’s short film in ‘Bombay Talkies’. 
K. Harish Singh, has started a theatre society, KAMAAN, performing across India. He also teaches basics of film and theatre in NID (National Institute of Design), Pearl Academy of Fashion Design, MICA and Delhi School of Communication. 

He is the author of a thin English book, ‘Gokul’ and is presently working on Gokul-2. He loves traveling to new places and exploring them.

ANTHRIX JAYAKUMAR is a composer, performer, orchestrator and producer from Mumbai, Maharashtra. 
He completed “B.A.(HONS) in English Literature , from Ruia College, Matunga ” and “Diploma in Music from KM Music Conservatory (A.R.Rahman music college), Chennai (2018)”. Anthrix has majored in Classical Guitar under Mr. Matt Bacon and Composition under Dr.Jimmy Bunch. Also, Hindustani music under Mrs.Asawari Waikar, Mr.Rajesh Dhavale and Mr.Munna Shoukath Ali Ji. 
He is the founder of ‘Guru Anugrahaa’ , a music academy and multi-purpose art studio based in Thane (March, 2019).

SANKET RAY graduated in BMM – Journalism from Mumbai University in 2012. He interned with TOI as a crime reporter. Later, he joined Times Now and worked as a copy editor in their web team and an assistant Promo producer. He also worked with NewsX as assistant producer in feature shows. Later on he went to study at FTII, Pune studying electronic cinematography. He regularly conducts art classes along with his parents. He has also conducted various photography workshops across India.