Scholar-Journalist of the Week: Deep Focus: Reflection on Cinema – A Book Review

For Jyoti Singh, who is currently Corporate Communication and Event Management at Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication (AIMC), cinema or films fascinates her a lot. “When I started studying about the processes of film-making like pre-production, production, post-production, I liked the idea of going deeper and knowing about the behind stories. Why is a particular actor or actress chosen for the film? How are the sets designed? What’s the idea of the director, producer, writer for the film, and so on,” she mentioned. Jyoti feels very connected with old films like those from retro to mid 2000s era. “When I look back to those days, I always wonder how much the whole world of cinema has transformed.All thanks to our ace directors. From Guru Dutt to Raj Kapoor, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Imtiaz Ali, Aditiya Chopra and the list will go on. The revolution in the stories, acting, actors from then to now, all these increased my interest in movies,” she expressed. 

In addition to writing a book review on Deep Focus: Reflection on Cinema, the film fanatic also wrote Freddy’s movie review. In a conversation with this Apeejay student, she shares her passion for films, the process of writing reviews and so on. Read excited excerpts:  

Why did you pick this book for review?

I picked this book ‘Deep Focus Reflection on Cinema’ for review because I have been reading films for many years. And when it comes to films, especially the Indian Cinema, How can we forget Satyajit Ray? Satyajit Ray is a great man who has given a new identity to our Hindi cinema – be it Panther Panchali or his other films. When I decided that I wanted to do a book review, the first thing that came to my mind was this book. Because I knew that if I want to spread my writing to more people, then there can be no better books than Satyajit Ray’s book to review. Whether you are a film lover or not, you cannot ignore Satyajit Ray at all. I’ll try to bring more book reviews like this, which people want to read and experience.

Which are your all-time favourite movies in Bollywood, Hollywood or Tollywood?

There are many films on my list. If I like watching family films, I also like watching romantic movies. Now if the talk of romantic films has arisen, how can I forget about Dilwaale Dulhania Le Jayenge? And this film will always be on top of my list. Other than this, my favorite films from Bollywood are Kaagaz Ke Phool, Kal Ho Na Ho, Tamasha, Highway, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Also, Sanjay Leela Bhansali films, Raj Kumar Hirani films and so on. From Tollywood, no doubt it’s KGF, Geetha Govinda, Allu Arjun Films, RRR, Vikram (recently obsessed), Fidaa and list will go on. Lastly, from Hollywood nothing can beat Marvel’s Avengers.

You have also written a review on the movie Freddy.  What interests you about writing review articles? Does reviewing involve a lot of research as well?

The most important thing which arouses my interest to write review articles is my interest and love towards cinema. If you have that enthusiasm and patience to review films or books, then you are good to go. 

I think reviewing involves research, but only to some extent. Because in the end, you will write by yourself, you will give your views. You have to do research only while you are watching films, or reading books. Like if you want to discover ‘what is the objective of using a particular colour palette, why only this angle of camera has been used, are there any replacement shots possible to film the movie’ then research plays a crucial role. 

Have you ever considered choosing a career as a film critic?

I’m not sure at this point of time, but if in the future I have an opportunity to be a film critic, I’ll definitely try luck and follow my passion or hobby, whatever you want to say.