Description
When Jagat Murari, a young film student in post-war America, finds himself at the feet of one of cinema’s true giants – Orson Welles – during the making of Macbeth in 1947, the lessons he absorbs on that set will shape not only his future, but also the future of Indian cinema. Returning to a newly independent India, Jagat goes on to build the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the ground up.
In The Maker of Filmmakers, Radha Chadha offers an intimate and meticulously researched portrait of her father – a celebrated documentary filmmaker – and the iconic film school he built. With uncanny consistency, FTII turned out top talent – the likes of Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Subhash Ghai, and other cinema legends. His alumni became the leading actors, directors, cinematographers, sound designers and editors of Bollywood and beyond. They spearheaded the Indian New Wave, kickstarted regional language cinema, and helped usher television into the country.
How did Jagat go about ‘making’ such extraordinary filmmakers? What was his secret formula? With unprecedented access to Jagat’s diaries, letters, personal papers and over 100 interviews with alumni and colleagues, Radha Chadha leads us behind the scenes, and into the mind of a visionary who reshaped Indian cinema, even as he grappled with its many challenges.
About the Author
Radha Chadha is an author, columnist, speaker and one of Asia’s foremost experts on marketing and consumer insights. Her book The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia’s Love Affair with Luxury became a bestseller and the go-to book for understanding luxury in Asia. With two decades of experience at top advertising agencies, including JWT, Ogilvy, Grey and Bates Asia, she has helped shape the strategies of major global brands. In 2000, she founded her own brand consultancy based in Hong Kong, focusing on Asia’s evolving consumer landscape. For over a decade, Radha also wrote a widely-read column for Mint, one of India’s leading business newspapers. She holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a BA from St Stephen’s College, Delhi.
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