FilmIndia (1948)

U/oe5 & Sick OQ5 ( This is the reader's forum — as and when space permits, hrom the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. SiLetters should be signed and marked " Woes And Echoes"> Photographs of the readers will be published along with their letters, if convenient. — The Editor, i av REPARATION In your editorial comment apearing in the current (August '48,1 .sue of "filmindia" under the capon '"From Macaulay To Marion pix", you have referred to me as One Mr. Narsu, about whom we ow nothing except that he is a ealer in photographic goods in Banlore. "Please permit me to point out lat this statement about me is vvholr incorrect, and I am not a photojods dealer nor connected with the ade in any manner. Perhaps you ive mistaken me for some businesslan of these parts bearing the name Narsu". My own name is Lakshmiarasu, and is never abbreviated to Narsu which you have used in the ditorial under reference. "If you kindly refer to the official st of members of the Visual Educaon Committee issued by the Ministry Education, Govt, of India, you will nd my full and correct name and Iso my designation as the "Head of le Cinematography Department, S. Occupational Institute, (Govt, of ysorej, Bangalore." This is a Polyclinic Institute started six years ago y the Government of Mysore, where ere are courses of instruction in irious branches of Motion Picture echnique, and where actual filmroduction work is also being done >r Government and public needs. I lall gladly arrange to send you full terature and details about the InstiIte's activities if you are interested. "Further, I am sending you under ;parate registered cover, a number f issues of ''Indian Photography & iinematography of which I am the Under and editor. This journal as devoted itself to the advancelent of the technique and art of nematography and photography in lidia, and to visual education, ever mce its inception in 1938, and what umble serv ices I have rendered to ie nation through the pages of my iurnal in the past ten years are ell-recognised by technical and lucational circles. The mission I ive tried to carry out, and my ews in general would be clear to )U if you kindly peruse some of the editorials of mine which I have marked for your special attention. "I do not feel it necessary or appropriate to give you a more detailed record of my work and serv ices to the country's interests. I may assure you that in being nominated to the \ isual Education Committee I am not figuring for the first time in a public committee dealing with subjects of national importance, and especially with films and mass-education. "You have been fair enough to admit in your editorial that you do not know anything about me, and have ended your note by saying that you are "making further enquiries." It is unfortunate that an absolute mis-description about my vocation should have been published in a hurry, which has every likelihood of prejudicing the minds of your readers. "May I request you. as a fairminded editor, to correct the statement concerning me, published in your August editorial?" S. Lukshminarasu. BANGALORE U H . AGREED "With the achievement of freedom many changes have taken place in the Indian I nion. One of them is the sweeping change Hindustani, the lingua franca of India has undergone. Before August 15, 1947. Hindustani meant a combination of simple words from Hindi and I rdu and how sweet the language sounded. But today Hindustani seems to be just another name for Hindi, thanks to our diehard pandits who seem to predominate our broadcasting stations. "Our Government is shouting hoarse that Hindustani is our national language and that every Indian should possess a working knowledge of it. But may I ask which Hindustani does the Government mean? Is it the Hindustani which Pandit Nehru speaks, or the Hindustani which Sardar Patel speaks or the Hindustani which Pandit Pant speaks? It was strange to hear these three leaders paying homage to the Father of the Nation in three different languages. Pandit xNehru spoke in Persianized Hindustani, Sardar Patel in Sanskritized Hindustani and Govind Vallabh Pant in pure Hindi: and yet the announcer from the Delhi station told us all A tvpical kitchen situation from Indian life is seen in "Gajre", a social picture of Allied Art Productions. 71