The film company of Calculus Dogbertus and A.K. Thavaraj
The film company of Calculus Dogbertus and A.K. Thavaraj
I began my film-making career in 1999 as an editor at Tellywallah, a film company in Calcutta, where I lived and worked for a decade. I edited around 20 films and wrote two books during this period.
Calculus Dogbertus — a Labrador retriever — adopted me in 2003. A few years later we decided to conquer new territories, and moved to Poona.
Outsider Films is our film studio: Calculus runs the company and charms labrador mulgis while I make films on subjects that he and I find interesting. We make documentary films; we gig our skills in editing and location-sound for Indian and foreign producers; we make industrial and corporate films; we write scripts; we help young film-makers with their projects in our spare time.
Calculus left me in 2019, and Outsider Films ceased to be... I miss him; I miss his feedback from under the editing desk. He kept me honest: he would not allow dodgy jump-cuts, arty-farty montage, or any flavour of pretentiousness while he was in charge.
I now work as a writer-for-hire.
| Book | Details |
|---|---|
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From a Person to a Professional. Occupational Health and Safety in Solid Waste Management.A comprehensive textbook on OHS designed for use by solid waste management workers. Written for Hasiru Dala for use in its workshops. A PDF version is available for free under the CC-BY-SA licence. Download here.2019-2021, 592 pages. |
|
Horticultural BiotechnologyA manual for horticulturists and nursery-owners on the various techniques of plant propagation. It is used as course material for students taking a Certificate Course in Agricultural Biotechnology at the Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology.2007, 186pages. |
|
Biofertilizer Technology.A manual on biofertilizer production for small farmers. Content includes: how to grow and use azotobacter, blue-green algae, azolla, vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza, and vermicompost; soil-testing, and the use of basic laboratory equipment. It is used as course material at the Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology.2004, 208 pages. |
| Year | Film | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-2020 |
Laxmi's World. 7 films and a handbook on Health and Safety. |
40 minutes. Direction, editing and script. |
| 2017 |
Krishna's Waiting Room. On the widows of Vrindavan. |
90 minutes (director's cut), 54 minutes (broadcast).Editing and sound. |
| 2013 | Between the land and the sea. The web of life and tides in the Sunderbans. |
90 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2012 | Mary Jane’s Fan Club. The use and abuse of marijuana as a recreational drug. |
54 minutes. Script. |
| 2012 | The next big thing from Bhusaval. Small town life and aspirations. |
90 minutes. Script. |
| 2011 |
We, SWaCH. Three women and a tipper-truck — solid waste management in Pimpri Chinchwad, India. |
14 minutes. Direction, cinematography, editing, sound, and script. |
| 2010 | Purna Chakra. The life and times of Pune's waste-pickers and their trade union. |
24 minutes. Direction, cinematography, editing, sound, and script. |
| 2009 | Ticket to Learn. On an NGO-run,coupon-based primary education programme. |
38 minutes. Editing and Sound. |
| 2008 | Ek Din. A report on the National Literacy Mission's programmes in West Bengal. |
45 minutes. Direction, editing, sound, and script. |
| 2008 | The price of prawn. A report on the farmed shrimp industry in Bangladesh. |
27 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2007 |
Vendor of Dreams. The life of Mrinmoy Pramanik, a'farm-doctor' in West Bengal. |
45 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2007 | Nijeke Khonja. On the Pratichi Trust's report on primary education. |
45 minutes. Editing, sound, and script. |
| 2006 | Born to run. How a tyre is made--a journey from a rubber plantation to a road. |
30 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2006 | Chasing the sun. Solar-electrification projects in Calcutta slums. |
14 minutes. Editing. |
| 2005 | I am. A report on primary schools run by an Janasanskriti in West Bengal |
14 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2005 |
Taking Charge. On the women who run the horticulture laboratory at the Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology in West Bengal. |
14 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2005 |
A passage to India. A group of Dutch executives visit Pradan's field offices in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. |
24 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2004 | Playing for Change. Janasanskriti and the Theatre of the Oppressed. |
28 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2004 |
Platform. A report on the children who live beside the railway tracks in Ghutiari Sharif, West Bengal. |
10 minutes. Editing. |
| 2004 | Seeds of Change. On the work of the Vivekananda Institute of Biotechnology in West Bengal. |
30 minutes. Direction, editing, and sound. |
| 2004 |
Turning the tide. On how Self-Help Groups have empowered women in the Sunderbans in West Bengal. |
14 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2002-2003 |
Along the Mekong. An exposé on the impact of globalisation on farmers and fisher-folk in Cambodia presented as a report to the Gender and Trade Workshop, Cambodia |
28 minutes. Editing and sound. |
| 2001 | When we walk the Streets. A 'participatory video' collaboration with sex-workers in Bangladesh. |
24 minutes. Editing. |