avijitmahi

[avijitmahi]

My Share of the Rant

I read this somewhere– we’re watching new movies at home and old movies at the cinema. At first I was like ‘what a thought!’ And I later realised that that’s the truth. 

I enjoyed watching MATRIX at cinemas on one of the best screens in my city. It was my first re-released movie in cinemas I guess? I don’t remember but what I do remember… Was me internally appreciating the work that went behind reviving an old piece of art. Like everyone, I have a list of what I think are masterpieces when it comes to art. 

It’s like I cannot truly appreciate a digital copy of a painting unless I have one commissioned. 

Today a re-release is nostalgia but, back then it was ‘Hey, this new action sci-fi movie released… Wanna see it this Saturday?�� 

Classics mean something. No I won’t use ‘meant.’ My grandpa still listens to those classical Hindi hits and I still watch Wilder’s films on repeat. 

Today what made me write this piece is not the reminiscence. It’s a news about a major motion picture studio re releasing their 2013 Bollywood blockbuster movie. Wait for it… They’re marketing it with ‘A New AI powered ending!’ 

Is that movie a fucking smartphone? What’s ‘powered?’ You definitely don’t empower your director who directed the movie that’s for sure. 

On the other hand… A news that felt like a (sorta… kinda…) relief was that an animated movie called THE BAD GUYS 2 has credits include a legal refusal for the film to be used to train AI programs. 

Apple TV’s show, THE STUDIO has a gag about AI in one of it’s episodes. 

Adapt to AI or do we completely forget who we are as humans? 

This feels like a biggest speed breaker ever. 

I know what I should do… 

I’ll unplug the fucking internet and go back to writing. 

[avijitmahi]

On random days, whenever I meet a stranger.

"So, what do you do?"

"I'm a screenwriter-filmmaker. I write movies."

"Oh wow! Even I think a lot about stories but I don't know where to start... Do you follow a framework?"

The word echoes in my head.

FRAMEWORK.

FRAMEWORK.

FRAMEWORK.

I come back to present.

"No. I don't. It's always is and has been about the voice. First journal everything. It's easy, right? Then later when you read those pages, you'll find a story. Work around it. Resources are all over the net."

Historically all the successful writers and filmmakers were poor.

They made it big through their voice.

There's a seperate industry that capitalises on filmmaking. Hell, one of my favourite filmmaking books cost a whopping 10k INR.

Vomit on pages. Later clean it with a good rewrite. You'll get there.

[avijitmahi]

The Morjim Macabre

Morjim wasn’t just a destination; it was an uncharted territory within me, waiting to be discovered. The air smelled of salt, smoke, and unfiltered ambition—a heady cocktail that hit harder than any drink.

The sands of Morjim were littered with stories, some whispered by the waves, others scrawled in cigarette butts and half-finished sketches. I walked into the hostels—half ruin, half shrine—where artists gathered like moths to a flame too beautiful to resist and too dangerous to survive.

We weren’t strangers for long; names dissolved into the ether as ideas ignited over cheap beers and heady debates.

I bled my ideas on the paper like a man attempting to outrun his own shadow while listening to music that sounded like raw confessions. It wasn't always a pleasure. Truth rarely is.

However, in the middle of the chaos, I realised that creation and destruction are identical twins caught in a never-ending rhythm.

A filmmaker with a thousand doubts, I left Goa with fewer answers and more questions—the kind that keep you alive.

Spiritually, I learned detachment.

Artistically, I learned surrender.

Pernem district of North Goa didn’t give me clarity, but it gave me courage. Sometimes, that’s more than enough.

[avijitmahi]

Been 𝙱̶𝚞̶𝚜̶𝚢̶ Behind the Sets

'Isn't shooting boring?' Gramp asked me this morning.

Well it is to the ones who're only there to see.

When did I ever wake at 4AM for work? Never.

I chose this.

Perform or go home.

[avijitmahi]

Rickshaw

When you're starting out in Bombay *coughs* Mumbai, your only sahara is a rickshaw.

11AM interview? Rickshaw.

2AM post pub? Rickshaw.

1KM walk? Rickshaw.

You can find one anywhere. But...

If you don't carry cash, you'll have to ask him to drop you at the nearest ATM to draw cash and then go back home and pay him more.

So you better carry cash. Remember cash?

[avijitmahi]

May Day '22

A year ago, I was in a hut under the scorching sun drinking toddy.

[avijitmahi]

Another shot...

at resuming the blog.