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| This photo is here to make this post look good but it is actually about the director, that guy Sudhish R Kamath. |
The madness and methods of Sudhish Kamath, a friend?
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This is not a review of Good Night|Good Morning, the second feature film of Sudhish R Kamath, The Hindu's film critic and old ummm friend ... well, sort of, read on to find out.
This is more about the madness and methods of a guy whom I have known for quite some time. And it is personal, and an attempt to offend the guy who has offended thousands if not millions, yet.
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Sudhish, wtf is Sudhish?
The first time I heard about Sudhish was when he wrote for a neighbourhood newspaper called ‘Metro Ads,’ a weekly free neighbourhood newspapre that in circulated in Anna Nagar quite a few years back. *Coughs.
I must have been in class XI then (please dont ask the exact year because I would feel even older than I am feeling now), and there was this gossip column that appeared in the paper. It was quite the rage because of the candid disclosures it made.
Sudhish always loved to be cheeky and thrives in shocking his audience.
The column was a weekly appraisal on which school guy was hitting it off romantically with the school girls in the locality. One particular all-girl’s school figured prominently and whatever he wrote was grist to the rumour mill that churned for the rest of the week.
I remember this distinctly because one of my friends, a classmate and neighbour who later became good friends with Sudhish in college, figured a lot in those columns.
Sudhish was smart and never named anyone. So he came up with ways, basically hacked his way around the system, so that every one knew but none could complain. If I remember right he sometimes put the real names, and added a tag 'names changed'.
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You hacker, you
There was even more drama when I came to face to face with Sudhish for the first time.
Sudhish was smart and never named anyone. So he came up with ways, basically hacked his way around the system, so that every one knew but none could complain. If I remember right he sometimes put the real names, and added a tag 'names changed'.
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You hacker, you
There was even more drama when I came to face to face with Sudhish for the first time.
The setting was Le Park inter-school cultural competitions, and both our schools were competing. Le Park, organised then by the Lions Club, was one of the most happening competitions in the city. Every student worth his salt wanted to take the stage one way or the other. I was there with my gang, and had a third prize to show in the elocution contest.
But what good is a third prize when there were tons of girls to impress?
Our big chance was the Dumb Charades contest. Three of us in a team. I was the movie buff and knew the names of literally every movie possible. The two others were good prompters. (One of the two, rather shockingly, is today a genetic scientist in the US; The other, thankfully, is a lot closer home, a software engineer who organises theatre workshops in Hyderabad.)
We were within striking distance of winning the first prize, having qualified in the preliminaries that featured 150 teams. So there were 10 teams in the finals, so it was only logical to think that there was a one in a ten chance.
Our big chance was the Dumb Charades contest. Three of us in a team. I was the movie buff and knew the names of literally every movie possible. The two others were good prompters. (One of the two, rather shockingly, is today a genetic scientist in the US; The other, thankfully, is a lot closer home, a software engineer who organises theatre workshops in Hyderabad.)
We were within striking distance of winning the first prize, having qualified in the preliminaries that featured 150 teams. So there were 10 teams in the finals, so it was only logical to think that there was a one in a ten chance.
Only this team of three, featuring a lanky “pencil fellow”, made it a contest for just the second and the third place.
I clearly remember the tie-breaker question. It was ‘Terminator’ and Sudhish’s team got it in less than one second. Every one else was flabbergasted. One of his team-mates, the prompters, just pointed to his nose, and Sudhish and his team-mate yelled out ‘Terminator’. It was not like Arnold had the best nose in showbiz. Really.
The bastards had hacked the contest. They had prepared a list of ready clues to give away the most popular movies, while the rest of us were working on it the conventional way.
We walked away eventually with the third prize, but I never quite forgot or forgave Sudhish for a very long time.
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Who needs twitter to socialise, not Sudhish
My team never quite gave up. We wanted to win dumb charades, and that too on Sudhish's turf.
The bastards had hacked the contest. They had prepared a list of ready clues to give away the most popular movies, while the rest of us were working on it the conventional way.
We walked away eventually with the third prize, but I never quite forgot or forgave Sudhish for a very long time.
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Who needs twitter to socialise, not Sudhish
My team never quite gave up. We wanted to win dumb charades, and that too on Sudhish's turf.
Sudhish had somehow managed to put together his school culturals in such a way that it would rival Le Park. There was just a bit more pixie dust than what other schools would do. And it was my no.1 wish to win the Dumb Charades competition at his school. So much so that at one stage, me and my team developed an entire language to work to our advantage.
But my school principal, concerned about my failing grades, prevented me from participating in the event. This was my single biggest regret about my school life, even bigger than the regret about my grades in class XII. But then that becomes my story, and this post is about Sudhish.
He always had this marketing blitz about him. Networking with people, forever finding ways around challenges. I am sure his school buddies will still recall the sort of grandeur that his school put out for the culturals. And I am sure he had a major role to play even back then. I am talking pre-Twitter, pre-Facebook days.
Circumstances took me away to a village in Kanchipuram for my college years, and I would not meet Sudhish for some years. But every weekend that I came back to city to catch up with what was happening with my friends, there was always the odd mention of this Sudhish Kamath going on and doing some small wonders in the college culturals’ scene. He managed to do things that got him noticed, sometimes I suspect even got him into trouble.
But my school principal, concerned about my failing grades, prevented me from participating in the event. This was my single biggest regret about my school life, even bigger than the regret about my grades in class XII. But then that becomes my story, and this post is about Sudhish.
He always had this marketing blitz about him. Networking with people, forever finding ways around challenges. I am sure his school buddies will still recall the sort of grandeur that his school put out for the culturals. And I am sure he had a major role to play even back then. I am talking pre-Twitter, pre-Facebook days.
Circumstances took me away to a village in Kanchipuram for my college years, and I would not meet Sudhish for some years. But every weekend that I came back to city to catch up with what was happening with my friends, there was always the odd mention of this Sudhish Kamath going on and doing some small wonders in the college culturals’ scene. He managed to do things that got him noticed, sometimes I suspect even got him into trouble.
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My role as an extra in TFLW
When we eventually did become colleagues in The Hindu a few years later, we had very different approaches to journalism and writing. I was a bit idealistic in the topics I took up, Sudhish was a bit of the cheeky entertainer he always was. There have been number of occasions he would urge me to loosen up, have some fun.
And then there was this burning desire of his to make a movie. All of us have had one of two dreams: to play cricket or to make a movie. Sudhish just held on to his dream a lot harder.
I remember the madness that I was a part of, when he made the climax for his first feature film “TFLW” (That Four-Letter Word). I was an extra in the scene because I had a car. It was way past midnight, and we were to shoot a car chase near Anna Nagar roundtana.
We were supposed to have gotten a police permission for this, but that late in the night, the fear was if some resident would report us in for unlawful assembly. Once again, Sudhish was hacking his way around, trying to make his movie no matter what. Here is his ranty take on giving it all for the sake of movie-making.
Which is precisely what I told him, after the premier of ‘TFLW’ at the Film Chamber Theatre near Gemini flyover in Chennai. I think I was the first to tell him: “Machan, You did it.” I think he was a bundle of nerves. “Did what,” he asked jocularly.
When we eventually did become colleagues in The Hindu a few years later, we had very different approaches to journalism and writing. I was a bit idealistic in the topics I took up, Sudhish was a bit of the cheeky entertainer he always was. There have been number of occasions he would urge me to loosen up, have some fun.
And then there was this burning desire of his to make a movie. All of us have had one of two dreams: to play cricket or to make a movie. Sudhish just held on to his dream a lot harder.
I remember the madness that I was a part of, when he made the climax for his first feature film “TFLW” (That Four-Letter Word). I was an extra in the scene because I had a car. It was way past midnight, and we were to shoot a car chase near Anna Nagar roundtana.
We were supposed to have gotten a police permission for this, but that late in the night, the fear was if some resident would report us in for unlawful assembly. Once again, Sudhish was hacking his way around, trying to make his movie no matter what. Here is his ranty take on giving it all for the sake of movie-making.
Which is precisely what I told him, after the premier of ‘TFLW’ at the Film Chamber Theatre near Gemini flyover in Chennai. I think I was the first to tell him: “Machan, You did it.” I think he was a bundle of nerves. “Did what,” he asked jocularly.
I honestly did not pay much attention to the movie as the show rolled on. I dont even know if it was because I found the movie boring. All I could think of was “he has done it … he has actually made a movie and made people watch it.”
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What about GN|GM?
I have already watched it a few months back, and have told him that he has come to grips with the medium and made a movie that is engaging. I did not contribute in any meaningful way to the movie. Although I do think maybe I would have helped a little bit with The Matrix quote. We did talk heck of a lot about that movie. I never know where he gets his inspirations from.
If you want to know more about what the critics are saying: sample this from Indian Express, Outlook, The Hindu, Times of India and TwitchFilm.
This post is just a sample of the madness and the methods of a friend. Not my best friend, mind you, but a good friend nevertheless. There have been times when I have disagreed with him.
But there is one thing I can tell about him: He has been always full of his movies and his ideas, and seldom spoke about anything else over the years. Well, almost ...
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And, lest I forget, did Sudhish remember me from Le Park?
---------------------
What about GN|GM?
I have already watched it a few months back, and have told him that he has come to grips with the medium and made a movie that is engaging. I did not contribute in any meaningful way to the movie. Although I do think maybe I would have helped a little bit with The Matrix quote. We did talk heck of a lot about that movie. I never know where he gets his inspirations from.
If you want to know more about what the critics are saying: sample this from Indian Express, Outlook, The Hindu, Times of India and TwitchFilm.
This post is just a sample of the madness and the methods of a friend. Not my best friend, mind you, but a good friend nevertheless. There have been times when I have disagreed with him.
But there is one thing I can tell about him: He has been always full of his movies and his ideas, and seldom spoke about anything else over the years. Well, almost ...
-------------------------
And, lest I forget, did Sudhish remember me from Le Park?
Actually he did.
A good few years after we became colleagues, out of the blue one day, he asked me: “Machan, you do know that it was me at Le Park”.
A good few years after we became colleagues, out of the blue one day, he asked me: “Machan, you do know that it was me at Le Park”.
I smiled and cliched his hand. “Of course da, who can forget, those were the good times.”
I was thinking: “You bastard, I will never forgive you.”
