makefilms

05/11/2025

There is something both urgent and comforting about film festivals—where the receding space for independent cinema is mourned and critiqued and the scope for its expansion is both plotted and imagined. It can feel like empty promises, but it can also feel like a roadmap to a new kind of future.

At the recently concluded 14th Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF)—which opened with Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound and closed with the India premiere of Anuparna Roy’s Venice winner Songs of Forgotten Trees —these questions were kept front and center as the programming, of around 80 feature and short films, rolled out. The films were being watched even as their destinies were being discussed.

At the ‘Vision and Voice’ masterclass, Kiran Rao (), the director of Laapataa Ladies, made the case for the filmmaker-entrepreneur, where a director must be “madly inventive in order to reach your audience… to think beyond the creative process and understand the business side of filmmaking”…

Rao is workshopping the idea of “Kindling Kino”, part of her production house Kindling Pictures, where independent filmmakers have a platform to showcase their film, own their IP, and get a share of the profit, if any is made.

Read the full feature by at the link in bio.

23/10/2025

This November, we return to the world of quiet romance, gentle humour, and the layered cityscape of Bombay as imagined by filmmaker Basu Chatterji. This edition of Basu Da’s Bombay is dedicated to the cherished memory of Govardhan Asrani, who passed away on 20th October 2025. Asrani was an essential part of Basu Chatterji’s cinematic universe. In films like Chhoti Si Baat and Baton Baton Mein, his presence brought warmth, wit, and an unmistakable authenticity to the Bombay of the 1970s. This walk is a tribute to his legacy and the enduring simplicity he lent to Hindi cinema.

We are honoured to present Basu Da’s Bombay, led by film scholar and filmmaker Eshan Sharma. This walk has been featured by MidDay, Air India, and Indiatimes as one of the “Absolute Best Heritage Walks in India Right Now.”

When: Sunday, 9th November 2025 at 8:00 AM IST
Where: Assembly point outside Pizza By the Bay, Marine Drive, Mumbai
To register, please check the link in our bio or email us at [email protected].

Michel Foucault once observed that a history of spaces is also a history of power. Cities are not merely physical structures; they are repositories of emotions, memories, and aspirations. Basu Chatterji understood this deeply. His Bombay was not the city of towering skylines and heroic battles; it was a city of shared bus rides, hesitant conversations, working-class homes, monsoon walks, and dreams shaped by middle-class realities.

At a time when the “angry young man” dominated Hindi cinema, Basu Da introduced a different kind of protagonist—anxious yet hopeful, ordinary yet compelling. Through films like Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat, and Baton Baton Mein, he portrayed Bombay as a living, breathing companion to human relationships. Asrani’s characters often stood at the heart of this world—light-hearted, observant, and deeply human. This walk is not only a homage to Basu Chatterji but also to Asrani, and to the Bombay they helped immortalise—unhurried, tender, and full of stories that live beyond the screen.

To register, please use the link in our bio or email us at [email protected].

20/10/2025