Biting more than I can chew

I’ve been taking delight in my first monsoon in Goa. Rains are unpredictable here. They’re heavy and arrive at any point in the day without notice… like rains usually do, I guess. It's lovely to see people go about their lives regardless of the rains here—no offence to Mumbaikars. I’m afraid it isn’t only Mumbaikars, but all of India that goes-about-their-lives-regardless-of-rains. Somehow only Mumbaikars seem to be singing paeans to themselves about ‘the spirit of Mumbai’. If we were to romanticise hustle, let's start with rural India.

End of rant.

I’m considering starting a film review blog. Maybe I will start it as a podcast. I feel conflicted about doing it. On the one hand it seems fun, but on the other hand it feels like 'Why add more to my plate?'. I wonder if I could be 'adding to the discussion' (that is scores of youtube channels and podcasts on films/cinema) in any meaningful way and so I hesitate doing it. But I also feel like I would learn a lot about the cinema I like by doing it. And also, who cares if no one listens to it (... I kinda do).

I’m deciding if I should discuss classics or new releases. Or if I should review, say, short films. Or if I should ‘review’ at all. There are one too many review shows. I should probably discuss indie films—Indian indie films. Or may be it should be a podcast about screenwriting; I'm yet to find one about screenwriting in India. I wonder if I should do it alone or if I should have guests... every week (which sounds like a loooot of work!). Or maybe I should pick a filmmaker and discuss their oeuvre—one film per episode. I just want to start a new side project (doesn't sound like 'side' at all).

I’ve always loved Vinit Masram’s Cinema Beyond Entertainment, which was (he has stopped uploading videos now) itself inspired from Every Frame A Painting (they too stopped because it was too much work... I should take a hint, you'd think). I am uncertain if I can make something of that quality. I'm afraid I'm not as knowledgeble or even passionate about cinema. And I’m certain I won’t be able to maintain high quality on a weekly basis. Why do something mediocre? Besides, this will eat into the time which could be spent working on my screenplay.

So there is an itch to start a podcast, because everybody and their mom is doing a podcast. It doesn't mean I need to do one too. Kinda does.

Maybe I’ll do it, maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll do some other podcast altogether. If I do, you heard it here first.

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• This fantastic profile of the fact checking portal Alt News and its founders, Pratik Sinha and Mohammad Zubair (who at the moment is in police custody). I've had the honour of meeting Pratik Sinha's father—the late Mukul Sinha, the most honourable of men—and visiting their home in Ahmedabad for a student film I was making a decade ago: Fact checking Modi's India.
• Goya's newsletter is one of the best newsletters I’ve read on a topic I’m very passionate about—Indian food. Don’t miss this article: Reclaiming space and identity with Chaha-Chapati. (Sidenote: my dad loves his chai and chapati in the mornings, and often has a ‘pre-breakfast’ of sorts, where he wakes up before everyone and enjoys himself a cup of hot chai with the previous night’s chapati. This article really sums things up well.)