Muhurat shot

In the Indian film industry, the muhurat shot or muhurtam shot is the first shot (or take) of a film marking the commencement of the principal photography. It is preceded by a pooja (religious rites).^[1]^[2] Muhurtam is a word from the Rig Veda and means moment. Contemporarily it means "auspicious moment"^[3]

Description in literature

A character in Shashi Tharoor's Show Business: A Novel muses, "The muhurat of any film, the auspicious moment when the opening shot is canned, is not an event its star is supposed to miss... Muhurats are packed with oversize individuals in undersize clothes, their eyes and thighs gleaming with synthetic sheen... their tendency is to drape refulgent garlands on every available tripod, clapper, or neck. I'm happy to avoid them. In any case, marigolds make me sneeze."^[4]

A Rediff.com news story covering the release of Bob Christo autobiography Flashback: My Life and Times in Bollywood and Beyond, carries an excerpt in which Christo asks "What is a mahurat [sic]", "That's an inauguration" he is told.^[5] According to director Suresh Krissna, "In an industry steeped in superstition, it is blasphemy to even think of not using the muhurat shot – the first shot has to be inserted at some point".^[6]

References

^ Bhatkal, Satyajit (1 March 2002). The Spirit Of Lagaan. Popular Prakashan. p. 107. ISBN 978-81-7991-003-0. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ Srinivas, Lakshmi (31 August 2016). House Full: Indian Cinema and the Active Audience. University of Chicago Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-226-36156-7. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
^ Agrawal, Dr. Vijay (1 April 2006). Your Time Starts Now. Indra Publishing house. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-81-89107-01-7. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ Tharoor, Shashi (1 September 1992). Show Business: A Novel. Arcade Publishing. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-1-55970-181-5. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ "The other side of Bob Christo". Rediff.com. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ Krissna, Suresh; Rangarajan, Malathi (2012). My Days with Baasha. Westland Ltd. p. 15. ISBN 978-93-8162-629-0.

[Bhatkal2002-1] Bhatkal, Satyajit (1 March 2002). The Spirit Of Lagaan. Popular Prakashan. p. 107. ISBN 978-81-7991-003-0. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

[2] Srinivas, Lakshmi (31 August 2016). House Full: Indian Cinema and the Active Audience. University of Chicago Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-226-36156-7. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.

[Agrawal2006-3] Agrawal, Dr. Vijay (1 April 2006). Your Time Starts Now. Indra Publishing house. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-81-89107-01-7. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

[Tharoor1992-4] Tharoor, Shashi (1 September 1992). Show Business: A Novel. Arcade Publishing. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-1-55970-181-5. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

[Rediff-20110602-5] "The other side of Bob Christo". Rediff.com. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2012.

[6] Krissna, Suresh; Rangarajan, Malathi (2012). My Days with Baasha. Westland Ltd. p. 15. ISBN 978-93-8162-629-0.

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