https://sputniknews.in/20260422/looking-for-djinns-famous-russian-producer-goes-back-to-india-10790351.html
Looking For Djinns: Famous Russian Producer Goes Back To India
Looking For Djinns: Famous Russian Producer Goes Back To India
Sputnik India
That Russo-Indian movie seems to be the star of the ongoing 48th Moscow International Film festival. 22.04.2026, Sputnik India
2026-04-22T14:30+0530
2026-04-22T14:30+0530
2026-04-22T14:30+0530
sputnik opinion
thomas bach
india
moscow
russia
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Festivals are not exactly about revenues, they are about art of the highest degree. You should not expect any commercial impact from that movie Songs Of Djinns, by Roman Mikhailov, here we rather have a challenge to the whole film industry, a matter of envy and delight for professionals rather than for the wider public.That phenomenon is well known in all kind of arts. There was a man in imperial Austria at the end of the 18th century who was called a composer’s composer, definitely not a darling of the masses. His name was Antonio Salieri, and each time his works were been played for a narrow circle of music professionals, they got envious while saying something like “what he does is impossible”. Salieri’s contemporary, Mozart, was getting applause and money from the widest possible public, but it was Salieri who laid the path to the music of the 19th century, since he was tutoring (often for free) most of the stars of that century, namely Shubert, Beethoven and others.Roman Mikhailov is always getting audiences packed by movie professionals, as well as by the most sophisticated public in the capitol, and that’s exactly what happened this time in Moscow with his yet another Indian movie, shot mostly in Goa and Varanasi. Simply speaking, it’s about Russians lost in their search for the meaning of life and finding some of that meaning in India, where else.The djinns, that’s a complicated subject. Not exactly Indian creatures, these, they are rather the product of the Arabian deserts with its dancing sand devils. But still, here is one of my favorite books on the shelf, City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple.Looks like a good book is able to transfer magical creatures to places they did not belong, originally. While the djinns in the movie are, simply speaking, making music. Mr. Mikhailov says that the music in his new work took a whole year to compose. It’s a mix of everything, including Bach’s instrumental pieces. You may even say, the actors on the screen are simply illustrating the music, or maybe even acting the music, if you know what I mean. You may also say that the whole movie is a dialogue of actors with the djinns, the latter speaking in melodies and strange sounds.It’s not only the Russian movie-making professionals who avidly follow Roman Mikhailov’s career. In fact, his career has seriously shifted to India. And so, there is Manasvi Mamgai, the beauty queen, playing in the Songs Of Djinns. And Vyom Yadav, and Disha Thakur, and Rajat Sukhija.What we have here is quite a phenomenon, but not exactly a unique one. There have always been that thing called the arthouse movies, meant for the selected few but powerfully driving the art of cinema to the new heights. The most famous case is probably Federico Fellini in Italy of the 1950-s – 1970-s, being probably the most influential filmmakers of all times.But there also was Andrey Tarkovsky of Russia, making his Fellini-style masterpieces slightly later. And it’s small wonder that Roman Mikhailov was showing Tarkovsky’s movies to his Indian team, simply to show the end product being envisaged.Hard to explain what kind of movie is that, I mean Mikhailov’s, not Tarkovsky’s. The action is slow if not outright absent. It’s a bit like a good raga, which first immerses you in a world of its own, and then tells you something important that you could not comprehend in haste. What I like best in Mikhailov’s work, is the light. The maestro has been explaining often enough that seeing things in a special light makes you understand them. So, it’s always a shock to watch his golden or aggressively red light breaking through dust or mist, from where a djinn may emerge any moment.Here we are talking about a rare case of an absolute genius. A genius is, simply speaking, a lavish excess of nature, a person with amazing gifts of the Divine. Roman Mikhailov got himself internationally famous as a mathematician. I’m not even trying to explain what mathematicians are doing these days and why their work is raising humanity to the new heights. I’m only stating the fact that Mr. Mikhailov got the titles of doctor of mathematics, a Russian Academy professor, plus a laureate or a member of the team of several world-famous universities, Princeton included. And then, in 2022, at the age of 44, that world-famous guru of mathematics suddenly announces that he is over with science.The reason was, he began to like his writing rather than figures. A list of his published novels and collections of short stories numbers 9 items. Again, none of these is a case of easy reading. And that’s not exactly something that you would call a novel, as in some imaginary people’s life stories clashing with each other. Here we have something else, an author’s monologue, with sudden lurches into anything thinkable.Mikhailiov’s prose have been noticed and admired by some literature professionals, the man collected several literary prizes. Then theater directors took interest, and some of Mikhailov’s books became plays. 29 is the number of these staged in Moscow and other places, so far. At first the directors made these plays themselves, then the author began to take interest in the process. He started writing scripts himself, then he had to explain things to actors, and, hence, only a tiny step remained to movie producing. By the way, the list of his movies comprises 9 works, with the tenth in the pipeline, since the man went back to India almost immediately after his djinns hit the screen in Moscow. A new movie is in the making there, its name being, probably, While Heaven Watches.Film industry is a thing as strange as any other art. It needs money, it loves money, and, so, is making simple and dumb films to touch the least sophisticated audiences. Then generations change, and the next one want something else, totally new and unexpected. Hence come the times for mavericks with audiences that only number thousands, not millions. Looks like such change is coming now.What nations can produce a global change in the world of movies? Here you have to look at who came to the Moscow festival. Plenty of Koreans and Chinese, some Central Asians and Americans (yes, there are good movies in the US, too). But, in general, it is a non-Western movie world getting together and making miracles, maybe with the help of the djinns hovering in Mikhailov’s golden light.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
india
moscow
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Sputnik India
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Sputnik India
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thomas bach, india, moscow, russia
thomas bach, india, moscow, russia
Looking For Djinns: Famous Russian Producer Goes Back To India
That Russo-Indian movie seems to be the star of the ongoing 48th Moscow International Film festival.
Festivals are not exactly about revenues, they are about art of the highest degree. You should not expect any commercial impact from that movie
Songs Of Djinns, by Roman Mikhailov, here we rather have a challenge to the whole film industry, a matter of envy and delight for professionals rather than for the wider public.
That phenomenon is well known in all kind of arts. There was a man in imperial Austria at the end of the 18th century who was called a composer’s composer, definitely not a darling of the masses. His name was Antonio Salieri, and each time his works were been played for a narrow circle of music professionals, they got envious while saying something like “what he does is impossible”. Salieri’s contemporary, Mozart, was getting applause and money from the widest possible public, but it was Salieri who laid the path to the music of the 19th century, since he was tutoring (often for free) most of the stars of that century, namely Shubert, Beethoven and others.
Roman Mikhailov is always getting audiences packed by movie professionals, as well as by the most sophisticated public in the capitol, and that’s exactly what happened this time in Moscow with his yet another Indian movie, shot mostly in Goa and Varanasi. Simply speaking, it’s about Russians lost in their search for the meaning of life and finding some of that meaning in India, where else.
The djinns, that’s a complicated subject. Not exactly Indian creatures, these, they are rather the product of the Arabian deserts with its dancing sand devils. But still, here is one of my favorite books on the shelf,
City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple.Looks like a good book is able to transfer magical creatures to places they did not belong, originally.
While the djinns in the movie are, simply speaking, making music. Mr. Mikhailov says that the music in his new work took a whole year to compose. It’s a mix of everything, including Bach’s instrumental pieces. You may even say, the actors on the screen are simply illustrating the music, or maybe even acting the music, if you know what I mean. You may also say that the whole movie is a dialogue of actors with the djinns, the latter speaking in melodies and strange sounds.
It’s not only the Russian movie-making professionals who avidly follow Roman Mikhailov’s career. In fact, his career has seriously shifted to India. And so, there is Manasvi Mamgai, the beauty queen, playing in the Songs Of Djinns. And Vyom Yadav, and Disha Thakur, and Rajat Sukhija.
What we have here is quite a phenomenon, but not exactly a unique one. There have always been that thing called the arthouse movies, meant for the selected few but powerfully driving the art of cinema to the new heights. The most famous case is probably Federico Fellini in Italy of the 1950-s – 1970-s, being probably the most influential filmmakers of all times.
But there also was Andrey Tarkovsky of Russia, making his Fellini-style masterpieces slightly later. And it’s small wonder that Roman Mikhailov was showing Tarkovsky’s movies to his Indian team, simply to show the end product being envisaged.
Hard to explain what kind of movie is that, I mean Mikhailov’s, not Tarkovsky’s. The action is slow if not outright absent. It’s a bit like a good raga, which first immerses you in a world of its own, and then tells you something important that you could not comprehend in haste. What I like best in Mikhailov’s work, is the light. The maestro has been explaining often enough that seeing things in a special light makes you understand them. So, it’s always a shock to watch his golden or aggressively red light breaking through dust or mist, from where a djinn may emerge any moment.
Here we are talking about a rare case of an absolute genius. A genius is, simply speaking, a lavish excess of nature, a person with amazing gifts of the Divine. Roman Mikhailov got himself internationally famous as a mathematician. I’m not even trying to explain what mathematicians are doing these days and why their work is raising humanity to the new heights. I’m only stating the fact that Mr. Mikhailov got the titles of doctor of mathematics, a Russian Academy professor, plus a laureate or a member of the team of several world-famous universities, Princeton included. And then, in 2022, at the age of 44, that world-famous guru of mathematics suddenly announces that he is over with science.
The reason was, he began to like his writing rather than figures. A list of his published novels and collections of short stories numbers 9 items. Again, none of these is a case of easy reading. And that’s not exactly something that you would call a novel, as in some imaginary people’s life stories clashing with each other. Here we have something else, an author’s monologue, with sudden lurches into anything thinkable.
Mikhailiov’s prose have been noticed and admired by some literature professionals, the man collected several literary prizes. Then theater directors took interest, and some of Mikhailov’s books became plays. 29 is the number of these staged in Moscow and other places, so far. At first the directors made these plays themselves, then the author began to take interest in the process. He started writing scripts himself, then he had to explain things to actors, and, hence, only a tiny step remained to movie producing. By the way, the list of his movies comprises 9 works, with the tenth in the pipeline, since the man went back to India almost immediately after his djinns hit the screen in Moscow. A new movie is in the making there, its name being, probably, While Heaven Watches.
Film industry is a thing as strange as any other art. It needs money, it loves money, and, so, is making simple and dumb films to touch the least sophisticated audiences. Then generations change, and the next one want something else, totally new and unexpected. Hence come the times for mavericks with audiences that only number thousands, not millions. Looks like such change is coming now.
What nations can produce a global change in the world of movies? Here you have to
look at who came to the Moscow festival. Plenty of Koreans and Chinese, some Central Asians and Americans (yes, there are good movies in the US, too). But, in general, it is a non-Western movie world getting together and making miracles, maybe with the help of the djinns hovering in Mikhailov’s golden light.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
