Here I am. In the midst of the big picture. ‘Get the bigger picture’, they all used to say. This exactly is the big picture. CELLULOID. A dream few see and which I am seeing. Right when I am awake. A dream within a dream. A motion picture within a motion picture. An illusion within an illusion. A make-believe world! Isn’t that true with life too?! ‘Maya’ – an illusion! We lead the life without knowing where we’ve come from! We go on leading it without knowing where we’re being led! A tightrope walk without the knowledge of both the ends!
So many similarities between life and cinema. A desire – one of many – to relate cinematic terms, the language, with the actual life. Everything is logical…. Everything first finds an existence in life.
Actor Balraj Sahni has inspired me in building the bridge between cinema and life. The man who said, ‘Be a good human being first to be a good artist. Because whatever you are, reflects on the screen.’
The word ‘screen’ is also amazing. It is the ultimate canvas. The curtain on which dreams are projected. But it’s eventually a screen. A screen to hide reality. Rather, a demarcation between reality and dreams. ‘Come to the World of Dreams!’ Here, the reality ends.
Shhh… don’t lose focus. The thoughts distract… the frames slip… and the picture loses sync.
But am I not losing the picture? Am I not seeing the shots, rather, frames – and missing the movie? Please widen my perspective. Change the lens. Put 28. The widest.
