Pramod Pati
Directing
Biography
Pramod Pati was born in Odisha in 1932 and studied there and Bangalore and worked for a few years in the Odisha state government. He was awarded a scholarship to study in Czechoslovakia under the legendary puppet-maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director Jiri Trinka.Emboldened by this experience and a growing artist-driven milieu at the Film Division, he joined the Films Division and put his ideas into practice. While previous Films Division documentaries were narrative-driven and didactic, Pati infused his films with non-narratives storytelling techniques and a broad range of influences from both India and the West.The Films Division of India was started by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the late 1940s. Nehru’s guiding vision in launching it was for it to document the new socialist and scientific India that his government was building. The style of these initial films was of the straight documentary with an obvious message. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Films Divisions’s output moved in a more experimental, artistic direction. At the forefront of this shift was Pramod Pati.
Known For
An abridged version of the film “Ravi Shankar”, a film portrait of the Sitar Maestro, depicting through a series of interviews and recitals his versatile personality as a well-known classical performer and a creative composer of Indian Music.
Moments with the Maestro
An experimental film by Pramod Pati that presents to us a sensory collage of icons, symbols and the every-day. Exploring the mood and ambitions of youth at the time, the film eschews narrative and commentary to present the excitement and expectations of its participants.
Explorer
This cartoon film presents in a nutshell, with the help of animated maps and diagrams, some geographical and economic facts about India. It shows how the people of India under the Five Year Plan Projects are striving to achieve a fuller and better life for all.
This Our India
The film aims to help Indian children to learn the correct way to sing India's National Anthem.
Our National Anthem
“Unlike a cartoon film, which is a rapidly moving series of photographed drawings, in pixilation, a moving object is shot frame by frame, and then through clever editing made to appear in motion. By its nature, this movement is agile, energetic and unpredictable just like the pop art movement.” [Pramod Pati]
Abid
It is an experimental quickie on family planning. Using pixelation and electronic music, the film depicts the idea that two children are enough for a family.
Claxplosion
A timelapse short film that chronicles Bombay of the 1970s. Used as educational tool to understand time-lapse, sound sync and lighting apart from historical chronicle of a city.
Trip
This cartoon film explains how the Cumulative Time Deposit Scheme could be beneficial to the people and shows how they could invest in it by starting payroll savings.
A Fable Retold
In the mighty task of building a new India every body in the countryhas his or her effective role to play. So has the housewife. This iswhat the cartoon depicts with a humorous little story written arounda modern bachelor who visits a marriage bureau to select a bride - tobe precise a good housewife.
Wives and Wives
Evolved around a humorous story, the cartoon illustrates how development of fisheries in village ponds can become a good source of revenue for Panchayats in India, enabling them to undertake development activities.