Mumbai: This Versova-based initiative is Indie cinema's happy home

When Killa 2014 director Avinash Arun watched his debut feature film at the first screening of Versova Homage Screenings VHS a decade after the release of the film he was met with a roaring applause and left the hall tearyeyed He had just experienced something deeply emotional that comes with returning to the first project and reliving everything that went into making it As the audience snaked out he took a few minutes before following them for an interactive oneonone session about the making of his film ldquoThis intimacy is what VHS is aboutrdquo says Rohan K Mehta founder of the initiative that recently completed a year of screening indie productions and cine classicsAn artist presents Payal Kapadia and her team with a reimagined poster of A Night of Knowing Nothing 2021 PICS COURTESYMohit ManwaniA VHS event is built on the idea of developing a community around filmmaking that learns from each other Mehta believes that the city despite being so central a location for filmmakers and creative artists contributing to cinema lacks a space where emerging artistes can freely approach professionals He recalls working as an assistant director and production designer ldquoWhen you work on sets for others you donrsquot always understand how to get finances get the crew on board and get the cast alignedrdquo he tells us ldquoWhen yoursquore assisting others they are the ones who are arranging for these things and you arenrsquot privy to such aspects So when I had a script ready I didnrsquot know how to make my film I didnrsquot have a community to learn fromrdquoHansal Mehta at a film screening organised by the clubMehta went in search of this community in 2023 to the Goabased Screenwritersrsquo Lab an annual project under NFDCrsquos Film Bazaar which offers young screenwriters mentorship ldquoAt the lab I found mentors who honed my script and taught me about these aspects Everybody was a film professional there and one could talk to anyonerdquo What he couldnrsquot learn over the years Mehta reveals he learnt in a matter of a few days The impact of the mentorship programme nudged Mehta to bring something similar to the city which would encourage freeflowing conversations and connections between professionals and emerging artistes in the field all year round ldquoSince the industry is so unorganised some kind of organisation makes a differencerdquoMehta and his brother Prayrak Mehta with their team have screened 20 different films over the last year including cult classics like Satya 1998 Udaan 2010 Ship of Theseus 2012 and independent films and debuts of wellknown filmmakers like Payal Kapadia and Hansal Mehta The QampA section is the most exciting aspect because an established filmmaker moderates the session with the filmmaker in focus In this scenario emerging artistes get to actually understand what went into the making of the film from the masters and the snags to avoidRohan MehtaThe team doesnrsquot compromise on the quality This is why they prefer screening in cinema halls Mehta explains ldquoSince we talk about the technicalities of the film we should get to observe them and watch how the film is intended We started with a preview theatre a 50seater hall We called everyone we knew for the first screeningrdquo By the fourth screening the numbers spiked to thousands that were registering for the screenings to watch the magic of these films come alive on the big screen again The team had to begin a curation process since the seating for such screenings is limited They now screen all the registrations and the IMDb profiles help them gauge the work of those registering Though tedious the process has helped them ensure that those who are genuinely interested in educating themselves about the medium and will contribute to the community are not left out ldquoYou have to maintain the sanctity of the place yoursquore screening at so we canrsquot exceed the capacity of the place But each time we try to curate new people so we can get as many creatives to benefit from this as possiblerdquo The project is currently running on the teamrsquos personal financial sources they hope to keep it sustainable by reaching out to more people ldquoItrsquos a high technology initiative Itrsquos expensive to screen in say a PVR because there are a ton of processes like government regulations to start withrdquo In addition to this there are internal costs and costs of booking theatres What theyrsquove been most fortunate with and grateful for is the response from the filmmakers who have been warm and welcoming of having their films screened Every artist looks for an opportunity such as this to get a space where they can display their work Mehta concludes ldquoAs a filmmaker I want to show my film to people who really want to watch it Art is nothing if it doesnrsquot have its patronsrdquoUpcoming screeningOn April 22 530 pm onwardsFilm Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro 1989 dir Saeed Akhtar MirzaEmail contactversovahomagecom for registration and venue detailsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params