Indian Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali Headlines South Asian Literature and Arts Festival

“I watch a lot of movies and enjoy them, but I have not learnt anything from them. As a result, the resource that I have to draw out my movies from is life itself,” said Imtiaz Ali, an Indian filmmaker at the South Asian Literature and Art Festival (SALA) held at Stanford University on September 28 and 29. Ali has directed  movies such as “Jab We Met,” “Rockstar,” “Highway,” “Ahista Ahista,” “Laila Majnu,” “Jab Harry Met Sejal,”  “Love Aaj Kal,” and most recently, “Amar Singh Chamkila.”

Ali fondly recalled filming for “Love Aaj Kal” in the Bay Area and the scenic drive of Highway 1 that he took from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Ali also gave a shout out to Bay Area actor Rajiv Nema.

In an easy conversational style, Ali charmed the audience with his wit, matter of factness and friendly demeanor. He attributed a well rounded growing up to his small town-Jamshedpur. “The great thing about the place is its cosmopolitanism-gave me a desi Indian and internationally exposed upbringing. All communities and states of India were equally represented and the place was very safe.”  He cited moving through various cities in India before landing in Mumbai as a great learning experience. The moves contribute to his understanding about people and their motivations and realizing that people are the same everywhere. “You gain empathy and that is very useful to me as a filmmaker.”  

Speaking about his days in Delhi where he attended Delhi University’s Hindu College, Ali said, “I have very fond memories of doing street theater in Delhi University. I was also part of the Act 1 theater group.” 

To a query of certain choices that he makes in his movies, Ali humorously replied, “I wish I could say that everything I do in films has a reason. I have no idea why I do the things I do in my films.”

Acknowledging the changes that have happened in India in the last three decades, 53-year old director on his penchant for adding travel in his movies opined, “Travel was a very accessible form of entertainment while growing up. The moment you step out of your home and get onto a train, the scene outside changed-a novelty that was affordable to middle class families. I did not have to be myself on a journey. External journeys trigger some sort of an internal journey. I have been accused that I write travel in my movies so that I can travel, and that has become a sort of a virtuous cycle.”

Speaking about his movie collaborators and music in his movies, Ali shared his introduction to Irshad Kamil. He has worked in all of Ali’s movies.  “Songs are very important to Indian films and philosophy is very important to the Indian ecosystem. Not everything that is profound can be expressed in dialogues, but can be expressed via songs.” 

Ali praised ace music composers AR Rehman and Pritam. “They let me into their music rooms at all times and pardon my ignorance about music. I can’t sing to save my life-but they put me at ease.”

Ali also shared fond memories of shooting songs in locations in the cold climes of Rohtang Pass after the Himalayan pass had just opened to public and how the actress Kareena Kapoor filmed the famous Jab We Met song “Jeene ka Mazaa” in a thin kurti is the cold. “People don’t realize how hard these girls work.” 

South Asian Literature and Art Festival (SALA) themed “Plurality in Community,” co-presented by the Art Forum San Francisco and the Stanford Center for South Asia brought writers, artists, activists, visionaries and others from within the South Asian diaspora to participate in panel sessions on art, literature, cinema, food, journalism, poetry, and social Issues and mental health  to explore caste, class, gender, and borders. An interesting array of topics were presented in  panels ranging from South Asian voice in an American newsroom to mental health and from poetic influences to a tapestry of taste. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Shalini Kathuria Narang is a freelance journalist and a software professional. She is also a poet and her poems have been published in several anthologies including “Starry Nights: Poetry of Diaspora in Silicon Valley” and “Pixie Dust and All Things Magical.” She is a monthly contributor to Masticadores USA and has been published by Spillwords Press and San Antonio Press. She is originally from New Delhi and currently resides in the Bay Area with her husband and daughters.