CHENNAI: Post the screening of his new documentary, film maker, RV Ramani along with Somanth Sen, moderator and Baradwaj Rangan, National Award winning film critic, took on the question — “Why are documentaries considered to be a poor cousin of fiction films?” The event was a panel discussion on the topic, Dispelling the myth: there is no scope for documentaries, organised by Whistling Woods International held at Stella Maris College auditorium. The conversation flowed as Ramani quickly said, “For me, my films are fiction, but the elements chosen were documentary-ish. The experience was fiction for me and those who will connect with it are sure to experience fiction.” Such discussions often go a bit haywire and off track, but the panelists kept it well under control. To take the discussion further, Somnath asked Baradwaj if changing the nomenclature would help documentaries a little? Baradwaj explained that “everything is the same”, and it is the context that helps change the perceptions of people.He enlightened the audience by using examples of similar scenes, one from a documentary called Children of the pyre and another from Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. He mentioned the melting of the faces as the bodies were being consumed by the fire in both the movies, but the difference was that in Spielberg’s movie the scene was entertaining, while in the documentary it was hard to watch the children who stood by the fire and watched as the bodies melted.Towards the end of the discussion, Ramani confessed that he preferred a small audience as compared to a large one, and that he is not very ambitious when it comes to viewership. And as Baradwaj discussed the renumerative aspects of the profession, Somnath was excited to share the fact that he came across a bookstore where five Indian documentaries were being sold. Ramani piped in, “Money is weird, it can never be enough or it can always be enough. So this shouldn’t be a constraint, if one has to begin film making – one must do it now,” he said.
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