Seven chapters, one city

hey guys! how r u all doing?

Seven chapters, one city

Madhushree Dutta explores Mumbai's multiple stories through varied filmic styles

Migration, identity, cast, community, the mills, reclaimed land, high-rise buildings, dance-bar girls, midnight chaiwalas, earth-movers, a stunt-woman who did Basanti's stunts in Sholay… Madhushree Dutta's two-hour-long, non-fiction feature: Seven Islands and a Metro encompasses all of this and more.

The film is a complex tapestry of many stories within the larger narrative of seven chapters that tell the city's tale. The diverse strands of the tale are tied together by the characters of Sadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chugtai The film also uses installation art and dramatic re-creations spliced between the narratives.


Why does your film slip between a documentary style of narrative and a fictional style of story-telling?

It is essentially because of its plurality. You see, a subject like Mumbai demands a different way of narrating its tale. That is primarily why the film shuttles between various styles of story-telling.


Why did you choose the characters of Ismat Chugtai and Sadat Hasan Manto as the sutradhars?

Both of them lived in the city and even though Manto left in 1950 for Pakistan he continued to write about Bombay (Mumbai) and its immediate impact on him. Chugtai on the other hand lived on till 1992 but she continued to base her stories in Lucknow and Kanpur. It's ironic and brings up a debate about displacement and what yearning for a city means to these two writers.


What led you to interview Reshma the stunt woman from Sholay?

In the film I have made an effort to look for people whose contribution in the city has been made invisible. Reshma's most telling line is: 'We get paid Rs. 1000 for showing our face but for the faceless stunts where we act as body-doubles for the stars we get Rs. 2000,' That for me sums up that segment. I have also interviewed a man who drives an earthmover-he had to demolish his own house that was part of the slum demolition drive. He is so blaze when he says, 'I had to do it because it was my job.'


Are you hoping to release your film in theatres?

That is something I am negotiating. One hopes for a release at multiplexes and with the current push from alternative cinema it may be a possibility.

Seven Islands and a Metro Premiers on June 2 at 7 pm Y B Chavan auditorium

the link:

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?sectid=10&am p;articleid=53120060329406531200603151343

take care,

Dharti!

Thanks for the article and i didn't know about this director madhushree 😊

By the way, the people who have posted before me there is a new rule that u can't just say thanks, u have to write ur opinon about the topic and such. Just thought of reminding all of u. It is a sticky topic, so u can read it properly if u want 😊

^ Thanks for telling them that 😊 , but their posts have been taken care of.