‘Film researchers must go to primary sources’

BHUBANESWAR: In an age of social media where facts can at times be misleading, authors Anant Vijay and Yatindra Mishra advised the film researchers and writers to collect data from primary source instead of relying on second-hand information. 

Speaking at a session ‘Writing Cinema: Fact, Fiction, Fun’ at Odisha Literary Festival, author of ‘Bollywood Selfie’ Anant Vijay said penning about actors requires a thorough research and the information must be collected from the primary source. He pointed out that there are various versions of where founder of Bombay Talkies Devika Rani and Yusuf Khan (Dilip Kumar) met for the first time. There are even contradicting versions in popular magazines about Devika Rani and Dilip Kumar’s first meeting, said Vijay.

He urged the film researchers not to completely rely on the information available on the internet, to check the facts thoroughly and try to reach out to the people who can provide them first-hand details.Vijay, a recipient of the National Award for best writing on cinema, also said he is currently working on ‘Superstar Selfie’, a book on the legends of Hindi movies.

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Yatindra Mishra, author of ‘Lata Mangeshkar: A Life in Music’, said cinema researchers and writers should have a sense of ethos and advised them not to carry forward the random facts found on internet. Mishra recalled his experience of writing the biography of legendary singer and advised the authors not to focus entirely on the controversies surrounding the superstars. 

He advised the authors to highlight the success stories of film stars instead of focusing only on the controversies.The two authors signed off by appreciating the efforts of TNIE for organising the event, which they said is a medium for the new generation to share knowledge about cinema and literature.