Thoughtsome

Aparajita Tumi---A Momentous Letdown!!!

2012-01-21T12:43:00.001-08:00

What makes a film watchable? Before we should talk about what makes a film successful we need to answer when a film becomes watchable. Imprisoned for two and a quarter hours at Nandan (there was no interval!!), hoping against hope that maybe the next few minutes would bring about something watchable—there was nothing left , when the closing credits rolled and the hall lights turned on—but to listen to a collective sigh of relief from the audience.

A film is watchable when there is something fresh and different in many of the different departments of the whole production. But the fundamental success depends on the Story, the script, the directorial concept and execution, the cinematography, the acting, the music, the editing and the production values. The only area of note in this film was in music.

The story idea is trite and banal and gives a horribly wrong idea about the Indian diaspora—that their women just mope and have affairs to counter their boredom and disenchantment—and that their men do not really have to work and yet mint pots and pots of money !!!! There is no trace of the uncertainty of their jobs and lives, their constant striving to assimilate themselves in an alien society, their concerns about the development of their children and their attitudes, and their connections or disconnections with Indian culture and the relations and family left back home.The death of Kajaldi and her teashop in Kolkata is more contrived than real—a predictable ploy to show the expatriates sentimentality rather than reality—an unrealistic throwback to the drama of the 60-s rather than this 21st century. Why was Pradip (Prasenjit) disillusioned with the marriage? No proper background was established or created. The faux-pas created by Kuhu (Padmapriya) were the only evidence. In a marriage with young children, does one really break up and seek other pastures because of this only? Ask the NRI who is really more “familified “ than their home-bred counterparts? The character of Rathin (Kalyan Roy) was so pasted on that he appeared as a relief persona rather than an important part of the film. Tanusreeshankar telling her daughter Kuhu that she is her best friend, her talk with an errant son-in-law Pradip, in which Prasenjit addresses her as Mashima(!!!!) and her references to cooking his favourite dish for him even while her daughter’s marriage is breaking up( No rancour, no recriminations but a passive acceptance)—again is unbelievable and jarring. There were quite a few sniggers going around in the hall!!! The whole dialogues and script (Shyamal Sengupta) were full of these disconnects and contributed principally to the downfall of this film. How much can actors rectify by their skills?

The acting was competent where Ronojoy (Chandan Roy Sanyal) walks off with all the honours. Tight, frank, and yet philosophical –Chandan was a saving grace in this film. Prasenjit has very little to do and gives up midway. Confined to a slow pace and long silences—he is never given the space and opportunity to display his skills. Again the script does not allow him to build up the relations with Ushashi (Komolini Mukherjee)—Ronojoy’s wife. Since they were friends for such a long time—what was the situation that they became lovers? Did Ushashi seduce him to pay back Kuhu? Is it a rebound phenomenon arising from the boredom of their marriages? Would not it been easier to find someone outside their immediate circle? Is Prasenjit a Dick only glancing sideways at girls everywhere? Is he so weak that he can be seduced by a couple of invitations? Is Ranojoy a part of it as he conveniently goes off to sleep?The predictable cliche of a convenient brain tumour(like a standard Bengali commercial venture) puts paid to any intelligent insight into the ultimate fate of this adulterous relationship. This is a film which Prasenjit would like to forget in a hurry.Perhaps in a “Rebound” phenomenon he quickly signed up for a Commercial venture!!!!

Komolini looked stunningly beautiful and conveyed the character of a woman with simple values who yearns to do justice to her artistic talents—but cannot due to the constraints of her marriage, Again the convenient childlessness in brought into play to add to her restlessness. Yousuf (Indraneil) is a short interesting character who could have been developed further. But Indraneil displays his abilities and makes it realistic in a short span. In fact the Indraneil—Komolini relationship and their one night stand was far more interesting than the rest of the film!!! Again sickeningly, it had to end with the boringly conventional (a La Sixties) gift of a Book of Bengali poems and a hand written note!!!!

The Cinematography by Ranjan Palit was pretentious. Soft focusses, colours restricted to yellow ,reds and browns dominate. Sometimes it becomes irritating as does the occasional skewed mid-shots. There are some stunningly beautiful frames—but somehow the impression created is not of a fluid cinema but a glorified PowerPoint presentation. Stringing together of some elegant shots is not enough. The camera has to depict the characters and the situation. There is too much stylisation making the cardinal mistake of relegating the STORY to the background,, The effects of the light play by the revolving light stands also seems too contrived. This bears no comparison to Avik Mukhopadyaya’s magnificent work in Antaheen.

Arghya Kamal Mitra as usual does a competent job. But one gets the impression that he very often threw up his hands at trying to make sense and pace out of the available shots. Again, this is a film which I am sure he will not place as his best work.There were a couple of uncharacteristic jarring cuts. Maybe they were due to the Nandan projection or simple unavailability of usable shots.

The music is outstanding, specially when heard in the audio mode only. Santanu Moitra easily blends melody with genre-mixing in his own inimitable way. Chandril-Anindya’s lyrics as usual is thought provoking, unusually stimulating and clever which adds to the music. However this duo should be careful about being predictable and stereotyped. Outstanding singer selection is also commendable. Shreya is wonderful as ever—but Rupankar is fascinating. This brilliantly romantic singer deserves much, much more. Bonny Chakravarty, Suraj Jagan and Monali all perform well and the songs should be heard again and again. However the placing of these songs and the picturisation is found wanting. Listen to the songs on the IPod with headphones---deliciously memorable!!!!

Finally the Direction. Tony Roychoudhury has a strong visual sense. But that is not enough to make watchable cinema.This is his worst film. The story simply refuses to move!!! Why did he accept these trite dialogues—or were these words written on his insistence? Shyamal Sengupta is an experienced film personality. One of them should have seen the cliches—and acted appropriately. Tony Roychoudhury has not made the film for his audience. He has made it for himself and probably operating on a tight budget did not have opportunities for a reshoot. When a director forgets his audience, condemns them to a continuous two and a quarter hour viewing , with an irritatingly slow pace and little action—he is facing disaster. No matter how many publicity shows are done, no matter how many billboards are put up. no matter how many inserts are used in newspapers—this film falls flat on it’s face—stale beer impossible to digest and consequently thrown away.

Thankfully, the highest Ticket prices at Nandan was Rs 70. In some moments even that seemed expensive.

Mission Impossible 4—The Ghost Protocol

2011-12-17T09:39:00.001-08:00

MI4 has been solely made for you to see it---and not think about it. You simply do not have time to think.Amazing action schedules, bomb blasts (even of the Kremlin!!), car chases, personal chases, computer wizardry, natural disasters--all have been blended into a thrill-a millisecond smorgasbord.The motto was clear—leave the audience stupefied. The result is a film which you HAVE to see, but which you will forget in a week.

The storyline is simple. A rogue scientist is aiming to lay his hands on a nuclear code which will control Russian nuclear missiles in secret undersea locations and direct it towards U.S. cities in retaliation for an explosion which blows up the Kremlin. The secret group, IMF led by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must stop them. Framed by the scientist, the IMG is held responsible for the Kremlin blast and subjected to the Ghost Protocol whereby the Government discards the IMG and will not offer it it’s facilities.

The scenario starts off with a prison outbreak, and moves on to Prague, Moscow, Dubai,and then to Mumbai!!! The landmarks are well established and the breathtaking Spidermanish clinging on to the glass panes of the highest building in the world and then rockfacing it in a memorable sequence leave you gasping.

Emotions have very little place in these sort of films—but the mere exchange of looks by Ethan and his wife Mary leaves a lasting poignancy to the last scene.

The wisecracking, guntoting members are in the same style as before—but some of the breathless suspense filled moments are absent. It is more action than ever.Tom Cruise retains his athleticism but his looks are being affected by age. He looks old in this film and his stint as Ethan Hunt is nearing it’s end.

One of the key features is the use of the IMAX cameras which actually shows the glass warping under the pressure of Tom Cruise’s hands. The credits come in on an amazing sequence of a lighted strung out fuse-wire.The other high point is Tom Cruise’s incredible antics suspended on the walls of the Burj Khalifa—the highest building in the world without using a stunt double.

IMAX CAMERA

Anil Kapoor had a brief role of little consequence but was surprisingly presented as a Romeo with little character—the typical Hollywood tragic view of Indian superstars….

The popcorn was finished in minutes, so were the momos and French Fries.My usual practice of taking a snooze had to be abandoned as closing of eyelids could mean a missing of the action!!!

A film to see—and marvel at from a distance. Not one for emotional bonding or nearness….

ROYAL MEJAJ

2011-09-25T05:59:00.001-07:00

So much has been written about the Nawab of Pataudi after his death that it seemed pointless to write more about him. Yet, the few memories I have of him, most of them in my impressionable teenage years , kept resurfacing .The memories of a lithe fair(with a reddish glow) personality gliding in (not walking) to the crease, cap rakishly angled to one side, bat held casually as if it was an instrument of grace rather than force, were too compelling to keep it bottled up.

I have seen all my cricket matches only at the Eden Gardens in erstwhile Calcutta. Those days it was an open stadium with shamianas and tarpaulin strung above certain stands. The matches were played from one year to the next, starting on the 29th December and ending after the New Year, with a now extinct Rest day thrown in..In the morning, it was invariably misty, with many cricketers in their pullovers. There would be a breeze flowing in, from the High Court end from the river Hooghly which was just a stone’s throw away. The wooden stands would be a little wet from the morning dew and would creak every time you changed positions. Water was available from taps and the bottled mineral water bottles had not even been thought off. Ladies would actually knit during the day and the comments were piercing and entertaining.There was a distinctive smell in the ground found nowhere else in the world, of cigarette smoke and chanachur and Jhal-Muri and anticipation and excitement. Like many things of childhood, that smell has also disappeared. The incisive comments have been replaced by mobile phone conversations.

It was in this situation that I saw him first in 1969 in the match against Bill Lawry’s Australian side. Graham Mckenzie destroyed the Indian top order on a typical Eden morning swinging the outswinger late enough to touch the outside edge of the bat of the opening batsman Ashok Mankad. One drop Ajit Wadekar also snicked one to the Australian slip cordon. Gundappa Vishwanath endeared himself to the Calcutta crowd forever with two classical fleetfooted cover drives off Mckenzie. Then Farook Engineer nicked Mckenzie to the slips to leave India 22 for 3.There was a sudden hush in the crowd . The Nawab is coming—the whispers became stronger and sure enough came Tiger Pataudi.

The word “Mejaj” in Bengali has no equivalent in any language.Call it charisma , stature , presence but you will never convey the appearance of an Indian batsman who looked more English than the Englishmen, only infinitely more handsome, by any other word than the Royal Mejaj. There was an impatient tug at the pads, and then a stylish flick for a couple. Vishwanath and Pataudi added 42 for the 4th wicket before the gangling Ashley Mallett induced Pataudi to play for a turn that was not there and Ian Chappell clutched on to the catch. The Nawab departed to a collective sigh from the disapponted crowd, walking well before the umpire’s decision.”Should have stayed a little longer”, muttered my grizzled face neighbour.”He has to make it up next innings”. The Nawab walked off, head a little bowed, perhaps a little shy that he had failed before his in-laws(He had of course married Calcutta girl Sharmila Tagore).

When Australia came into bat, all eyes were on him as he led the Indian team on to the ground. He walked a few paces ahead of his men, and his directions were simple and authentic. The Indian opening attack consisted of Subroto Guha ,the Bengal swing bowler playing probably his second or third test, and the athletic but strictly medium paced left handed Eknath Solkar. Bill Lawry and Keith Stackpole were a cut above them , but we could never forget the magical bowling of Bishen Bedi as he looped, spun, outthought and outfoxed batsman after batsman to finish with 7/98. Throughout it all, Pataudi maintained close catching fielders in Solkar and Wadekar, never discouraging his bowlers to flight. And in the covers he prowled like a Tiger, swooping down on his prey (the cricket ball) with precision and surety. His returns were hard and thumping well into Engineer’s gloves and when he chased, he did it with style and elan.

Australia garnered a lead of 120-odd runs. The Indian reply was a disaster. The hero of the first innings, Vishwanath departed for 5, and when Pataudi joined Wadekar,the score was 90 for 4. Connolly and Freeman were swinging and cutting the ball prodigiously, so we waited with bated breaths for a Royal innings. Lawry brought on Ashley Mallett and with a sense of relief, the Nawab tried to sweep him but missed. He surveyed the field once again. Mallett tossed it up again on middle-leg and the Nawab in a classical English response(he after all had played most of his cricket there) swept him high and handsome straight to Alan Connolly at deep mid wicket. He had made 1 and India were half the side down staring at an innings defeat. There was a collective growl from the crowd. Irresponsible, foolish, casual were some of the nicer epithets showered on him. My grizzled neighbour just scratched his head ad said, “He backed himself to clear the field.That’s the way he has played all along—his way, his mejaji way”.

Perhaps he lived his life that way too—on his own terms, on his own thinking.

The second time when I saw him was in his twilight years. In 1974, Clive Lloyd led the West Indians to huge wins in the first two Tests of the 5 Test series in India. When they came to Calcutta, we had braced ourselves to another loss. India batted first and again were in trouble as the first three batsmen—Naik,Engineer and Parthasarathy Sharma departed early. Pataudi joined Vishwanath and we could see from the beginning that the pace trio of Roberts, Julien and Vanburn Holder was too much for him. They were keeping the ball just short of a length and bouncing the ball straight at the midriff. Pataudi was jumping out of the way. Sometimes with tremendous courage he got in line and fended awkwardly. You could see the frustration in his immobile face. His royal demeanour was crumbling. He must have been muttering to himself—“These guys are dominating ME!!” he went off for a walk to square leg after a vicious bouncer steepled up to his face. He swayed away in desperation. In those days there were no chest protectors,no helmets, no real finger protector gloves. When he took guard again, the watery sun came out of the overhead clouds and cast long shadows of the players over the emerald green grass. Vanburn Holder came lumbering in, pitched on off and middle and the ball rose straight at the Royal chest. We saw a movement to the leg side, then a flash of a cream bat as it swung down in a screaming cover drive that had the ball rocketing to the boundary. We clapped in amazement. The next one from Holder was similar but faster. Again there was the Nawabi sway to the legside. This time the shot was squarer, but with more velocity. The West Indian fielders grinned ruefully. Holder glared at him and then strode back to the top of his run up. He came in with a glint in his eye. This time , the ball reared up faster. Holder seeing Pataudi’s movement directed this on leg stump. Pataudi had read it well, had moved inwards and stroked the ball off the back foot to the long on boundary.The most glorious and difficult shot—a back foot on drive of an express bowler had been executed.That shot lives in my memory still, and whenever I am in a tight spot, I recollect the shot and the scene—a triumphant champion batsman putting his doubts aside and showing who was king—looking on with pride and satisfaction at a red cricket ball destined for the boundary ropes. Holder’s shoulder drooped. The next ball was of a fuller length and Pataudi drove through the covers with a grace which only he possessed.

“This couldn’t last—it just could not”, I muttered to myself. It did not. Soon after, Pataudi fell to the wily Andy Roberts who shattered his stumps. The Nawab walked off, his shoulders a little hunched, his India cap still tilted sideways as the crowd almost rose to their feet and started clapping him back. He had played an innings of Royal Mejaj.

In the first innings, Kanhai made 90 with his famous falling over sweep shot.West Indies amassed 390. India in their second innings , thanks to one of the greatest innings seen at Eden Gardens—Vishwanath’s glorious 139 got a lead of 309. West indies raced to 146/3 at the end of the fourth day with Lloyd and Kalicharan unbeaten. Chandrasekhar the mystery legspinner whose stock ball was the one coming into the batsman had been hammered severely by the West Indian batsmen. When on the 5th morning, the Nawab kept him on, there were rumblings from the crowd. After a couple of boundaries , the comments started flowing. True to his character, the Nawab kept on with him. In the next few minutes, Chandra had clean bowled Lloyd, had Kalicharan caught at slip and Bernard Julien lbw. Bedi was brought back on and the tail cleaned up. India had won a memorable Test match, unexpectedly and from behind. The Nawab had a rare smile on his face. He had been vindicated in front of his in-laws !!! Did this really affect him?? I think not, for he never believed in all this business of proving himself to others.

I never saw him on a cricket field again as a player.In all his subsequent roles—he appeared as if those were mantles on him to be discarded after some time.His real self was known to him and his family. I like to think that as rabid cricket spectators we saw him in flashes—a trifle detached, but keenly observant,a batsman of rare talent and a Captain supremo, who played his cricket in the only way he wanted to—with Mejaj.

Even now, we will raise a silent toast whenever and wherever we meet for a cricket talk, to the Royal Mejaj of a departed Captain who gave us as so often cricket does, important messages on how to live our lives the way we want to.

The Story comes back…..

2011-08-15T15:07:00.001-07:00

It is always difficult to write a review of a film made by a known person and who is supported by common friends. The desire to be honest is affected by thinking about the effect of the written word on the associates.

Fortunately Kamaleshwar Mukherjee’s UDO CHITHI saved me from this dilemma for after a long ,long time I watched a movie with unflagging interest from beginning to end. Kamaleshwar walked away from medicine and after a hard struggle , he established himself first as a successful ad film maker and then as a scriptwriter and Director of Feature films.

Watch this video clip…

http://youtu.be/6Ic_XEllIVk

The success of Udo Chithi is because a story is told. That may sound simplistic , but that is the most important part. The story is supreme—like a jungle stream bending here and there, leaping suddenly over scattered stones, slowing down and then cascading as a powerful waterfall before meeting the mainstream. No where does the writer/director lose control. The pace is tight, the dialogues occasionally punchy, the editing magnificently controlled (probably ArghyaKamal’s finest work) ---but the story remained supreme.

http://youtu.be/VMdZHXCwx_Q http://youtu.be/VMdZHXCwx_Q

Aniket (Indraneil Sengupta) an IT professional is a bit of a weakling and a cad. He is guided and controlled by the people around him, indecisive and a victim of his own conscience and physical needs, seeking something he does not have and in the process losing all that he has.He invests in the Share Market heavily on the advice of his friend Rohit (Rajatava Dutta) and loses 42 lakhs!!! He is tempted to invest all of the money his father has willed him—but that will not be available till his father dies. He is comfortable in his family life with wife Raka(Sreelekha) but is averse to devoting time in solving mundane problems like repairing the Kitchen exhaust and teaching his daughter. Familiarity breeds contempt and Aniket seeks excitement in his old schoolmate Kevin (Rudranil) and Sonia’s (Sudipta) Rave Parties. There he meets air-hostess Lilette (Tanusree) and falls for her, developing a relationship and sleeping with her.

http://youtu.be/67XopKH-doA

Aniket’s father is Mohit (Biswajit Chakravarty) . He has travelled a lot often leaving his wife and child—often for long periods. He comes back to establish an old-age home surrounded by various plants and trees.During this time,when Ani-Lilette were together, Ani does not respond to phone calls.During this period Mohit had died—further aggravating Aniket’s guilt complex.

Pictures of the Party and Aniket and Lilette’s pictures are published on Facebook. Raka goes hysterical and tries to commit suicide. She leaves with her daughter to live a separate life and records her daughter’s title as her maiden title— trying to wipe out Aniket’s existence from their lives.

Sreya Ghoshal in this great version…

http://youtu.be/HEE8TgZW7g4

Aniket’s mentor is his previous Physics teacher Farhad (Anjan Dutta), who after losing his daughter to illness, is now bent on creating new engineering concepts and firms. Aniket’s friend is Subhash (Biswanath Bose) and his wife (Locket Chatterjee)—who have fallen on hard times as Subhas’s factory is on a lockout for the last 17 months.—and who are dependent on Aniket’s handouts. Information comes that the factory owners will lift the lockout but they do not. Subhash’s last hope is gone. His wife opens a beauty parlour which becomes a front for prostitution. Subhash falls back on a small scale adhesive business. His son develops an aggressive mentality and requires psychiatric treatment. One of the most poignant moments is of a 6 year old coming down the stairs with a bunch of pasted National flags for selling. Aniket takes the young boy away to Farhad where a natural empathy develops between them. Aniket is manipulated by his co workers at his office and his subsequent outburst forces the authorities to send him on a long leave.Meanwhile Lilette tests positive for AIDs and leaves the city. Aniket is at the proverbial crossroads.

However, the markets start changing. A SMS comes from Raka reminding him about the date of their 8th wedding anniversary. With Subhash’s son at his side Aniket faces the future with renewed hope.

All the flashback story is orchestrated by the SMS messages in Aniket’s mobile phone inbox which he starts to delete but finds that each of those messages tell the story of his life in that past year..

The opening graphics are outstanding and thoroughly in tune with Kamaleshwar’s ad background. The photography is adequate, though there is a jarring DI use in the evening scene at the riverside. The music is well orchestrated. A couple of songs are rememberable—Anindya’s Ek Din and Rupam Islam’s Shohor Ballad. Debojyoti Mishra’s background score is unobtrusive but mood-setting.But the Latino numbers are probably with a view to impressing Mumbai Directors and Producers.

Listen to Rupam’s lovely song….

http://youtu.be/fPcWVA-MYj4

As far as the acting goes—it is superlative. We are blessed to have so many talented actors all around. Indraneil brings out the negative shades of Aniket very well. Suave, charming, hesitant , and conscious stricken—this is a role Indraneil will treasures for a long time. Sreelekha is a perfect Raka—loving, caring, family lady, but increasingly disturbed by Indraneil’s lack of attention to her. Rajatava is brilliant. Basing himself on the old style Hollywood characters he gives a perfect lesson of timing and closeup expressions. Anjan Dutta and Biswajit Chakravarty are vastly experienced. Rudranil is splendid as usual but has to be careful in not allowing mannerisms to dominate his work. Saswata, Kaushik, Locket and Sudipta act with gusto.

The surprise packages are Biswanath and Tanusree. Biswanath in the role of the ineffective husband and a non-earner plays the role of his life. The nearest parallel is Uttamkumar’s Ghonada in Parthopratim’s film Jadubangsha—arguably HIS best role. Though Biswanath can never be anywhere near Uttamkumar in any aspect— but this depiction brings back the memories….

Tanusree is the BIGGEST thing to happen to Bengali films and their heroines. in the last 2 decades. Tall, stunningly beautiful, easy moving, glamorous and with a face in which emotions flow ever so naturally—she dominates this brilliant cast. The scene in which she repeatedly says that she wants to go back to her daddy because of her HIV status is poignant and memorable.Her career has to be watched with GREAT INTEREST.

However there are areas in the script which should have been bettered. For a person losing 42 lakhs—one would expect a much more volatile, fearful hero—not so cool and laid back. Indraneil has to be tested for HIV regardless whether he took protection or not. That portion is left hanging.Indraneil is never seen working!!!He is seen in the general pool workplace. Surely Assistant Managers get a cubicle of their own!!!!

Apart from these minor drawbacks, there is a certain feel of the movie which is very pleasing and reminds me about the film Chowringhee. Certainly a film to watch and discuss because of the issues it raises.Above all, it is a film which may bring more people to the cinema halls. Congratulations to Kamaleshwar—specially in bringing the Story back to where it belongs-- the Forefront!!!!!

Europe –an Anachronism!!!

2011-06-05T11:10:00.001-07:00

Europe is a place of amazing contrasts. While it’s history and Natural beauty is open to all and amazingly maintained—there are few persons on the road or countryside to get acquainted with or know as their lives are kept behind closed doors. In India everything is open!!! Even through a coach ride you can see almost everything you need to know about the Indian way of life!!!!! The pavements in Europe are deserted,roads are filled with cars and huge fields are devoid of workers. Only rarely will you see people except in a few places—like the roadside pavement eateries which are scattered round the cities like the wild dandelions and the bluebells adorning the country highway sides……

The Natural beauty is phenomenal. Rolling countryside's of France with scattered farm houses and villages, or the stupendous mountainsides and greenery of Switzerland where lakes and waterfalls appear casually like the roadside billboards or direction signage. Italy is flat and busy with heavy industrialization and some very ordinary Graffiti Art smearing inviting walls, whereas Austria is more natural than Switzerland with very warm people and unspoiled mountain sides and buildings making it more like a place to come back often and stay rather than a place to tour. The German Black Forest is dark, mysterious and incredibly beautiful whereas Belgium (mainly Brussels) is quaint and antique with shops selling embroidered works and different styles of chocolate on both sides of cobbled narrow roads. All of these villages have their churches as their highest structures and clock towers which have been in existence for centuries ringing in the hours and witnessing events which are only found in the history books. Amsterdam remains sleepy and under populated with spontaneity appearing only on the weekends in the local square and multicuisine restaurants and dance bars. We felt the burning sun in Italy, lattice moments of clarity and sights obscured partially by clouds and raindrops in Austria, blistering North Sea cold winds in the Netherlands and the free flowing snowflakes which rendered the green fields and dark rocks into white unending bedspreads in Mt.Jungfrau Bach in Switzerland.

The buildings are magnificently maintained as if they had been freshly painted yesterday though with steep admission charges and expensive eateries and memorabilia stores. History and events flash in front like the moving vibrant images through the plate glasses of the tourist buses. If Napoleon is buried in the Les Invalides then Pope John Paul the 6th is embalmed as St.Jerome in the Vatican. If Anne Frank hid in the lonely attics of an obscure Amsterdam Road, then Joan of Arc rode through the verdant fields of New Orleans.

There are many rivers—the Seine, The Rhine, the Tiber, the Amster, the Deka, the Engelberg,the Arno and many others and we saw three of the seven Wonders—Eiffel, Colloseum and Leaning Tower of Pisa.

But the cream of them all were the Art Museums. Obviously the Louvre where the best of creation by human beings are crammed in gallery after gallery—or the outstanding Rijkmuseum and Vincent van Gogh Museum where painters like Rembrandt, Renoir, Pissaro, Vermeer, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Toulose-Lautrec. Gaugain, Lister, and obviously Vincent Van Gogh share the walls like glittering crystals as in the Swarovski Museum in Wattens in Austria.

Our country is of course blessed with all this dating probably centuries earlier and is a place which has no equals in our heart.

But Europe is a place of pilgrimage where one MUST go in a lifetime and where one can selectively return. If you have not seen Europe ,you have missed humanity at it’s best, history at it’s most resplendent and Natural Beauty at it’s best preserved state.

The Great Anti-Corruption Show

2011-04-10T03:48:00.001-07:00

Democratic India has just chosen or has been made to choose by excited well dressed ,made-up, camera friendly anchors to subvert their democracy. The most powerful person in India, who will judge,and then employ the verdict will be an omnipotent Lokpal who in turn will be selected by a motley group of prominent persons—whose claim to prominence in most cases have been decided by the government. The President of USA, arguably the most powerful man in the world, is elected. The most powerful person in India will be selected. The selection committee is hand picked, not elected. In plain terms, the common law abiding, tax-paying, vote giving, conscientious ordinary person in India, will have no say in this process.

The privileged have quietly increased their privileges.

The talking point between cocktails and cashew will be the nonchalant—“Were you there??”!!!!! For absence” there “ of course will mean that you sadly are not qualified to smell the latest Chanel…….

However, this may be very unkind to a lot of persons who are genuinely disgusted with the current levels of corruption and find this the only avenue left to voice their protest.And there are a lot of people like that.

My serious concern is whether or not they are being taken for a ride or not? Look at the sequence of events. Anna Hazare starts his fast. Within a day the government starts talking with them.Within a couple of days ministers (not State but all powerful Central Ministers) come to him and starts talking. Anybody who has ever participated in protests like this know that to get ministerial level talks take between 7-10 days at least. Let’s grant that owing to the frailty of Anna Hazare, the government fast-tracked the process.

Sonia Gandhi issues a statement in 46 hours!!! Totally unbelievable. Sonia Gandhi rarely makes a statement in the Lok Sabha!!!! Manmohan Singh starts talking sympathetically. Usually the government starts talking tough right from the start to scare away the immediate associates. Here, there was a distinct attempt at cajoling, an overdose of sugar AND honey!!!.

Finally the strangest part of it all. Government gives in within 4 days!!!!! This is a miracle. Was the government afraid of the movement as the cheering Kejriwals will like us to believe? Did India win the day as some headlines will have us believe? A few thousand candle lit protestants, a couple of screeching TV channels, a few SMSes and Facebook twittering made the mighty Central government concede defeat?

This undue alacrity as a settlement—the astounding Governmental eagerness to concede demands---all indicate a foregone decision, a strong pointer to stage management.

So why will the Congress UPA Government do this? What could be the likely gameplan? Even the Opposition parties were overwhelmed by the speed of the flow of events—managing only a weak whimper from the Left and BJP.

I suspect that the likely target was Sharad Pawar. Now that investigations are revealing his connections to the 2G scam companies, the frequent Food Crises which resulted in a runaway food price elevation, the murky IPL financial imbroglio—all of which has resulted in body blows to the Government one after another. Pawar still retains his private ambition to be Prime Minister by becoming the balancing power in the UPA. Mamata Banerjee leaving a seat for the NCP in the State Elections is highly significant in this equation. The Government does not have the guts or gumption to drop Sharad Pawar. Therefore have a committee of NON-ELECTED body like the LokPal to do this. Everyone knows Anna Hazare’s dislike of Sharad Pawar. How much more stunning and Grand scale will it be if the LokPal in an opening salvo targeted Sharad Pawar, a member of the Ministerial Committee and sacked him!!!!! What great shame it would be for Pawar and the NCP??? AND what great enjoyment for the Congress party…. Surely Pawar considering his malignancy and his age will NEVER form a threat anymore to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress…….

However the wily old fox preempted them by resigning from the ministerial committee and is busy shoring up his defenses.

But this LokPal concept will be enough to hound Pawar and keep him in line for some time till the next round of elections. It is a win-win situation for the Central Government. They come out as a responsive, sensitive ruling group, and they can show that they are active against corruption.That is why I believe that all of the last 4 days of Jantar Mantar action was orchestrated.

We are all watching an enthralling political game. Unfortunately our moralistic beliefs, our dream of stamping out corruption, the idealism of our candle holding evening processionists are the packing box cover. The REAL GAME is inside!!!!!!

Eden Gardens loses India-England fixture

2011-01-27T18:35:00.001-08:00

"Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. "This was no easy decision to take and while it is most unfortunate, it is absolutely necessary."

So, one more way has been discovered to hammer at Jagmohan Dalmiya and the CAB.This will probably be his last stint as an administrator and his opponents will make sure that he goes down as ‘the man who allowed the premier game in the WC to be taken away’.Thus Dalmiya will go to his grave with this tag while the opponent who lost to him by the historic casting vote will chortle with glee by having the last laugh…It is a win-win situation for the onion-price-riser.If the maych is taken away, Dalmiya will get the flak. If it is not, he will be the great saviour who has immensely more power than Jaggu-dada!!!!

Why do I think this is discrimination? Four other stadia in this lot of inspection have been granted extensions—in spite of crossing three deadlines like Kolkata—in the ’hope’ that they will complete the work in 14 days. Remembering that Kolkata will have double the size of work(as it is double the capacity of the other venues)—an equivalent construction time was necessary.

(Wankhede Stadium January)

Dalmiya has asked for ten days—i.e. 20 days before the match is held.Is that too much for the ICC to grant? After all the negative publicity about the Commonwealth Games, they were held with style and on time.Given the chance, I have no doubt that they will pull out the stops and hold the match with aplomb.After all, the CAB has an impeccable track record regarding hosting premier matches.With the prestige of the whole State at stake, everybody will respond to the crisis .

Also cancelling the match at this state will result in huge losses to so many persons who have booked tickets, made elaborate flight plans, planned their leave and arranged elaborate tour packages and conferences linked to this event.

Was the CAB negligent? Probably to a certain extent.They did not realize that getting the stadium ready 20 days before was such a rigid point.They were confident of holding the match but did not think that this final ICC sanction was so mandatory. This was a grave mistake. They should have realized that Kolkata always needs to be two steps advanced, where other areas can get away with only one. Moreover,this construction is an engineering project. The builders are Shapoorji Pallonji &Co.—one of the most respected builders in India and VMS Engineering and Design (Ahmedabad)—who are confident of finishing the job within the 7th of February. What is the CAB to do in this regard? Does Dalmia have to learn Construction work at his age?

Moreover, the CAB refused to give the excessive number of Hospitality Boxes demanded by the ICC. Rightly so. While all other places bent low to accommodate the greedy ICC officials, Dalmiya demanded adequate share for the local organizing committee (who do all the hard work) specially as the number of seats have been reduced. Moreover the structure of the commentary box was approved long before. Why is the ICC raising a hue and cry now??

All of this when so many venues in UK and New Zealand and Australia are still uncovered and have facilities far less than that of the Eden Gardens.

Adelaide Oval. Australia Note the stands!!!

The writing is clear. The ICC chief and other interested parties have ganged up as they did in the IPL with Saurav Ganguly to deny Kolkata and it’s fanatic fantastic cricket followers the opportunity to visually see and cheer the Indian team on!!!! However there is still time to rectify their mistake….

Another tribute to Kiarostomi

2010-11-14T09:59:00.001-08:00

“Will someone come and shower earth

when i have done with living this life,

Tomorrow with the silver dawn?

No conditions, but advance payment,

No police, reporters or TV channels,

Around me, only swaying fields of corn..”

The lone man stands and asks again,

The passers-by turn down their heads

And move on.

One curious young man stops and stands,

Hears the question and the request,

And is gone.

The aged man,looks through muddy eyes,

at the incandescent questioner,

And scratches his heart.

The dusty wind stutters and circles,

From far away, many suns ago,

Lakes lie still and insects dart.

He looks at his infirm arms,

his wrinkled skin and the spade besides,

he shakes his head.

The lone man, puzzled,looks around,

the street hawkers cry, medley sounds,

“Funny, not allowed to be dead.”

NEXT DAY----

Deep down, where dirty nails scratch,

Fingers try to open a rickety latch,

The smell of lemon leaves come.

The earth falls in a stream,

I feel the ageless dreams,

the return evermore to warmth….

INDRAJIT

Inspired by Anupam’s Tribute Song

(Press on Play)

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Tara—some stars do not shine!!!

2010-11-05T11:15:00.001-07:00

It is often said that one should not change their areas of expertise—as skill in one cannot be transferred to another so easily. Bratya Basu is a brilliant theatre director. He is not that in his films.

He is the Director, Scriptwriter, Screenplay writer, and Lyricist in this film “TARA”. So when the film stutters and loses way, he has to take responsibility.This film has obvious political statements—a reflection of the director’s point of view.In a state where cultural matters were controlled with a rigid hand by the leftists, the release of such a film with the villains now as Leftist Party members (as contrasted with the Congress Gandhi caps of yesteryear) is a novelty. However the characters are larger than life, jatra-styled, and lifted straight from the theatre stage to the front of an unforgiving camera.There are traces of the masala Hindi film of the nineties.

The story is too idealistic and romanticised. Prosenjit(Indra Bosu) used to live next to Paoli ( Madhuja), and fell in love with her but could not convey the same to the girl!!!! Prosenjit becomes a murdering Maoist and continues to paint pictures of Paoli in his jungle hideout!!!!! This idealised view of the terrorist is quite unbelievable. Madhuja’s father is picked up as a suspected Maoist and tortured in jail. Madhuja’s friends, servant etc are scared away by the red goons, and she finds herself seeking the help of maverick police officer Tota Roychoudhury (Jahangir Khan), whose life story resembles that of Nazrul Islam , the blacklisted police officer of the Left Front Government. The Cops are as usual corrupt, in league with party leader Subir Sen and the Chief Cop is also seen to be in the same league.Prosenjit tries to issue a statement that Paoli’s father is not a Maoist. This is opposed by his leader Bratya Basu (Naidu) who wants to keep him in jail and garner further popular support.

Now there are two groups trying to capture Paoli—the State and Party machinery and the South Maoist machinery. Jahangir Khan and Prosenjit are trying to save her. Prosenjit wipes out the baddies, gifts Paoli a drawing of her and hands Paoli over to Jahangir.The corrupt police officers under threat of a change of government, confesses to their mistake and Paoli’s father is released by the Court. Bratya tells Jahangir that he behaves like them (the Maoists). Finally Prosenjit and Bratya make a temporary truce and go the jungle as Tota takes Paoli with him—with all and sundry giving us,(the poor audience) the V-sign!!!!!

The script is very empirical and seems to be driven by a purpose of showing the current government and its policemen to be the source of all evil. The dialogues are acceptable in theatre where some amount of hyperbole and stylisation is rampant to drive home some message. The acting has to be a bit unreal, specially in jatra. The gestures and movements have to be exaggerated. Situations have to be contrived to make them sentimental and emotional.The net result however has been to have a film which is recording theatre by a camera!!! In the process however, the common man who is exploited in the villages of the Jangalmahal have not been fleshed out properly.

Prosenjit again in consonance with his new found desire of being an Actor primarily has performed brilliantly in a badly contrived role. Paoli is too busy trying to look beautiful. Tota performs his he-man stuff convincingly but the cake is taken by the other side actors who performs to a T as to what the Director wants.

The editing is poor in parts with no attention being made to match colour and light. The Cinematography is patchy with camera shakes and very poor framing in parts.

The music (by Tapan Sinha) is interesting with the modified “We shall Overcome” (Rupankar) and intelligent use of a Rabindrasangeet (Srikanta Acharya and Lopamudra versions). Rashid Khan sang an impressive song (Megh Jome Aache) which is great for a rainy day.Click on the links below to hear the songs.

http://www.box.net/shared/5umz6zf433

http://www.box.net/shared/0ixt4ifqhv

http://www.box.net/shared/31v9z95pu9

Bratya however deserves kudos for his direct protest and message in a state where cultural dissent was pounced upon and wiped out quickly and mercilessly. He highlights the dichotomy of a Party who came to power on the promises of being a common man’s party, being transformed into an ordinary corrupt party like any other. He boldly brings out the prediction that this government will change and then the sycophants and vindictive policemen will get their due.

If this film is meant to romanticise the Maoists , then it succeeds. If it is meant as a Pre-Election method to swing voters around—then it succeeds.If it means to say that the Left parties and its Police department are totally corrupt and debauched, then also it succeeds partially. But if it is meant to be a film of significance—then it fails. Perhaps Bratya deliberately made it a propaganda film, sacrificing filmic sensibility and targeted the rural audience.This was never a film for the multiplexes. It was meant for a hall like Chabighar, where the ticket prices are Rs.30 and Rs. 40, where the seats are fixed, there is no airconditioning—only overhead slow-whirling fans, where projection and sound systems leave a lot to be desired, where a bell indicates that the show is beginning and where at the intervals ,vendors sell chips for Rs. 10 and Popcorn for Rs.5.

Are films now getting segmented and targetted? Are we going to get a new classification—good films , bad films and targetted films?

But the conclusion is inevitable. Bratya Basu is a far better director of theatre than that of a film.

Autograph—not a Signature Film

2010-10-14T11:05:00.001-07:00

Creative frustration is most irritating for a viewer.When all the ingredients are right and yet the final product falls a little short of the high expectations –the feeling of so near and yet so far is like a headache refusing to go away.

The Film Autograph is precisely that.

Srijit Mukherjee’s maiden directorial venture (he also wrote the screenplay, dialogues and a lyric) started off well, meandered later on and recovered somewhat in the second half.

The story is of an aspiring debutant director Shubho(Indraneil—that’s how he writes it !!!) whose script, based on Satyajit—Uttam Kumar’s NAYAK, and called AAJKER NAYAK is approved by the famous film star Arun Chatterjee(Prosenjit) for production for the wrong reasons. Prosenjit wants to prove that a star is the essential factor in a hit and NOT anything else.He therefore chooses the script of the rawest person available.He tests Indraneil by suggesting that conventional inclusions like songs, item numbers and a villain is necessary. Indraneil responds by saying that that is not possible. Prosenjit likes his attitude and approves the project.

Indraneil is living in with an aspiring theatre actress Srinandita(Nandana). In a bold initiative,and in one of the high points in the film, the relationship between the two is shown fearlessly.The easy camarederie, the tuning and the sexual relationship is tastefully and boldly shown in a language which is realistic and modern. The viewer however is surprised how their lifestyle can be maintained without a visible source of income.

Indraneil however cannot find a heroine and finally latches on to his partner Nandana to essay the role.Nandana is terrified about acting with Prosenjit, her adolescent hero but finally consents. She acts as a spunky journalist who tries to delve deep into the persona behind the star.Even though she puts on large glasses, she is not a patch on the role performed by Sharmila in Nayak.

The relationship between the two develops through several dinner encounters.Prosenjit is haunted by his past where he has often used and thrown away his near ones.There is a forgettable and crude dream sequence which is a disastrous takeoff on Satyajit Ray’s classical depiction in Nayak, and represents the lowest point in the film.

There is now a mutual admiration and a developing understanding which leads to Prosenjit baring his private thoughts and revealing how he used and betrayed Rudraprasad (his acting guru) and an aspiring starlet.That episode is unwittingly recorded in a videocamera by Nandana. Indraneil meanwhile is completing his film and is obsessed about how to publicise this film. He is tensed, starts changing his nice-boy image and starts castigating the crew and Nandana publicly. Prosenjit displays maturity and guides the film through.

Indraneil meanwhile latches onto the video recording ,steals it from Nandana’s locker,and gives it to a TV Channel (Star Ananda). Nandana ,shocked at Indraneil’s betrayal, leaves him.She tries to explain to Prosenjit who cuts her off. Indraneil tries to reason with Prosenjit who as a Producer announces his scrapping off the film. Indraneil tries to rationalise saying that a star can brush off these minor hiccups. Prosenjit replies by saying that he can sell his smile, his face, or his characteristic postures—but he can never sell his soul. Indraneil however clarifies that Nandana was never a part of this and had already left.Indraneil walks out and contacts a parallel producer and Prosenjit’s critic and bitter rival, whom he had rejected in the past.

Prosenjit discovers that Nandana had returned his old ID card ( unrealistically left with a Dhaba boy!!!!!!) and had settled the unpaid bill.

Autograph is a different movie. It is an important movie. It is a movie which deserves a viewing. Yet at the same time, there are some extremely awkward, amateurish, cliched moments which are irritating and irrational.

First, the cinematography.Though reasonably competent with some outstanding moments, the shots are reminiscent of many previous films. Indraneil sitting in a dark studio with the light on him and the gradual entry of personnel has been used by Guru Dutt and a host of others.The hand held camera sequence in a scene with Nandana and Indraneil gives a severe eyeache and is a split second behind the actions. It is so jarring to the rest of the film, that it spoils the mood instantly. This required ruthless editing or reshooting. Some of the shots blurred occasionally (maybe it was the projection at Swabhumi INOX).

There is a fine credit introduction with a hilarious use of a sugar crane pressing machine with the appearance of the Line Producer’s name. The first half drags occasionally. The Editor Bodhaditya has done a good job. This film is an Editor’s dream and he maintains interest and precision. However fast cuts do not mean a fast pace. It is here the script fails.The reason Satyajit Ray used a moving train as a backdrop was to generate pace.

Here, there is a visible lack of actions or story progress as the interactions are mainly verbal and indoors. The film within a film concept needed more characters. We only saw an aging actor and a few hyper females.Retention of the subdued dialogue of the assistant to the Extra in the plane scene” Keep the suit well as we need it tomorrow” was one example of intelligent editing.

The high points of the film was the acting. Prosenjit surpassed himself. Probably this is his best to date. The expressions, the wonderful dialogue delivery, the timing was brilliant. Every line of his face and his expressive eyes, his muted gestures in the “confession” scene spoke and how. Kind yet ruthless, scheming and yet with inner spontaneity, his imitations and sudden questions were a treat to watch.The final confrontation with Indraneil was a revelation.With his glittering eyes, restrained violence and command, this scene makes the film complete. This is a classic performance. With the burden of comparison with Uttam Kumar, Prosenjit creates his own ,unique identity. However, it is clear that the Actor dominated the Director. In NAYAK, Satyajit controlled Uttam Kumar in the famous ego clash.

Indraneil is a brilliant counterfoil. Easy, modern, relaxed, he reveled in his role. Casual, and charming in the beginning and ruthless and cunning in the end, this is an actor with presence and intelligence.

Nandana was a bit off tune. She is not conventionally beautiful but she makes up with verve and originality.Her dialogue delivery is a bit awkward and stilted.But she has delivered the slightly wild unconventional character with sincerity. Rudraprasad, Piyush, Rathin, Biswajit, and others have done their job competently.This was veteran Dilip Roy’s last shots on film and therefore is poignant.

The music is outstanding. The lyrics penned by Srijato, Srijit and Anupam will be remembered fora long time. This is Debajyoti Misra’s best chance for a National award. The singers specially Sreya and Anupam fill the heart. Rupam is a revelation. He thinks that Beche thakar gaan is his best song to date. He is right!!! But strangely there is a mismatch in the Credits in the film and in the Website.

Overall, the film is there but not quite there. It is recommendable but not a classic. It creates moments of great beauty and involvement. It should have done more. Some of the dialogues are corny. “A man makes mistakes” !!!!! “You are my hero” !!!! Maybe there were too many advisors. Maybe it needed a more prominent Directorial stamp.

The film was watched by only 60 persons on Saptami in the 2PM show at Swabhumi Inox. But I am sure that the numbers will swell as the days progress. The film deserves it.

Of fixers and fixing…

2010-08-31T17:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/video/?vxSiteId=6d2e103b-e170-4f86-9c51-6eac37f8a93e&vxChannel=News&vxClipId=2160_925610&vxBitrate=300

Click on link above to see the original video…

The cricket fixing scandals have shaken the world of sport. Righteous faced journalists, hyperventilating thwarted girl friends, holier than thou ex-cricketers and glum faced officials have all been seen 24x7 on multiple channels. However the undeniable fact is that fixing whether it be spot ,line ,match or series -- existed, is existing, and will continue to exist—no matter what steps are taken by the authorities.

Suraj Randiv bowled a deliberate no ball to deny Sehwag a century, apparently under instruction from Dilshan and maybe Sangakara. Teenager Md. Amir bowled a no ball under instruction from his skipper and senior colleagues. Both the no balls had no effect on the outcome of the game. Both of them did it for gain—one for psychological vindictive pleasure, the other probably for money—though there is no evidence it reached him. Look at the different fall outs. One is banned for an inconsequential match—the other is facing a loud howl for a lifetime ban. Cricketers take money to play like any other worker anywhere. If they do a little bonus on the side which does not affect the overall game—then what is the harm?? After all, everybody likes to make money on the side—don’t they? So if you cannot fix the fixers—then accept them!!!

SURAJ RANDIV MOHAMMED AMIR

Translate this into the commercial world.Look at the ‘facilitators’ and the ‘Commission’ fees. See the hangers on near all political personalities and government offices. Look at the sweat equities of millions of dollars before you sweat. Simpering ,tainted ex-ministers marry the anti-perspirant stake holder for which he ‘merely' picked up the telephone and had a chat in the IPL !!! Backdoor manoevuring was going on to legitimise auction fixing—and the players were the very same officials who sit on disciplinary committees. The cricketer who allegedly made Rs. 220 crores is now a ruling party MP who speaks in rallies exhorting youths to sacrifice their all for the country!!!! The man banned for 5 years now is an expert commentator from the studios, commentating on this current scandal for a hefty fee…Confirmed cocaine users are regularly seen on TV giving their comments with gusto. Bowlers with a clear illegal action gets the laws of the game changed to suit them, and goes on to create world records..

VEENA MALIK MOHAMMAD ASIF

Which all goes to show that only the foolish get caught. The less powerful are paraded. The developed world cricketers say that it never happens in their country, though a couple were socked for giving information(sic), to bookies about weather conditions and quite a few were caught with their hands in the till!!! .These holier than thou countries used Vaseline, jelly beans etc with aplomb to swing the ball and were agitated when the Pakistanis did it better than them!!! This was however only ball fixing!!!

Cricket and all the other sports have become horribly tainted and we would forever be left contemplating that the great vagaries of cricket like a dropped catch or a No ball were fixed or not . Were the nail biting finishes contrived? Have all of us been taken for a ride again and again???

So how can we solve this? Simple, I would say. The cricketers are paid more than they are worth. Hitting a ball ensures jobs, fees, ads, film shoots,women, apart from match fees and contract fees-- in droves. Penalize them severely when they fail. Penalize them the amount that betting circles would give. That is all that is required. Too long have they taken advantage of the glorious uncertainties of the game. If Sachin scores a duck, he is penalized. If he scores a 50 or a hundred he gets more.If Yuvaraj drops a catch, penalize him. If Zaheer bowls a no ball, penalize him. You will then see the clear improvement in them. If they are getting paid handsomely for their achievements, then surely they should be penalized if they fail.That is what professionalism is all about.

If doctors, engineers, financial investors, etc can survive by these rules, so can cricketers.Sports Entertainment is not a an absolute necessity for living. These guys call themselves professional and calmly fail in game after game after game.There is no penalty except the prospect of getting dropped from the team.One good performance in 5—6 outings will ensure selection. Imagine if the surgeons had such a track record….One good operation in 3 cases??? If the anaesthetists failed in such a ratio?? If the bridges built by the engineers collapsed in such a ratio?? Disregard the fact that a majority of such professionals get a fraction of what the cricketers get. This type of performance would ensure that the surgeon will get no patients and will spend all his life in courts. Contrast this with how the Indian cricketers behave after a loss.

This is the only way of stopping whatever-fixing making a mockery of our time , intelligence and our money!!!

Friends ,what do you say??

Independence Day and the Common House Sparrow

2010-08-15T06:55:00.001-07:00

This Independence day, I suddenly recalled my childhood days.Waking up in the mornings to the chirping of the birds ,quickly getting ready, rushing to the rooftop to be one of the first to raise the National flag, and the singing of the National anthem, with parents. cousins, aunts, uncles and the servants watching us with beaming indulgence. Invariably, we would turn to feed the birds, the common house sparrows and the crows, before diving into hot singaras and jilipis.

A familiar sight in our childhood

Today, as we descended to the lawn in front of our multistoryed building, there were a lot of pigeons and crows, but the house sparrow seems to have disappeared.

There has been a systematic decimation of this once-so-familiar bird all over the world.Europe and specially England have seen a significant reduction and a lot of theories have evolved as to why this happened.In India, the cities in the South and North have been particularly affected.

A disappearing sight.

Why and how did this happen?

The first reason was the changing nature of the buildings. There is no tiled roof, no hay covered bungalows. In an effort to utilize every inch of the expensive land, covered crevices and corners have simply disappeared. Scattered grains from gunny bags are no longer available, as it is the age of sealed plastic bags. Old buildings with abundant gardens and bushes have disappeared.The sparrow simply does not have a place to breed.

Looking for a place to breed

Adding to this was the introduction of unleaded petrol. Methyl Nitrite was released all over, leading to the deaths of small insects which were the staple food of the sparrows.The increasing use of pesticides were another cause of the reduction in the number of small insects and worms.

Then came the mobile towers sprouting here and there. The introduction of 3G systems with higher radio frequency waves, played havoc with the sparrow’s breeding abilities and reduced their flying time. If the male bird sings less, mating cycles are grossly disturbed.Moreover eggs take more than a month to hatch (double the normal time) and some do not hatch at all.This has been scientifically proved by studies in Belgium.

Waking up to this problem, March 20 of each year has been named World Sparrow Day. The Postal department is bringing out a stamp on this disappearing chodai pakhi.

Meanwhile several pleas are being circulated that all ground and first floor residences lay out a shoe box filled with hay and a little water, so that this familiar remnant of our past can be resurrected.

One lady recalled that when she had a long illness and was confined to the house, her mother thoughtfully placed a wooden box on the window sill, and regularly sprinkled some grains there. It was the continuosly chirruping spunky sparrows which saw her through those difficult times.

Let us all come together in this difficult times for the Common House Sparrow.

Listen to this beautiful song by Simon and Garfunkel…..

Udaan—Flying Higher-some hiccups!!

2010-07-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

Let there be no doubt about this. Udaan is a magnificent film. In fact it is perhaps the most important direction—finder of Hindi films for a long long time. With a spate of crisp stoytelling like Aamir, A Wednesday, Mumbai Meri Jaan, in recent times, our appetites were being whetted. Udaan shows how Hindi films are maturing.Directors are now writing and filming their stories—and they are not being pressurised to take stars, include dances, stage violent ‘Ackshun!!’, and incorporate unnecessary songs and unrealistic costumes.

There is a story here of a teenager growing up with an autocratic and mentally depraved father. The father’s Hitlerian approach and his conception of a mard smacks of mental deficiencies, and in an effort to bolster up the story, Ronit Roy is made larger than life, though stopping short of a caricature. Jamshedpur men, as we would believe from this film assault their wives and children, drink, and do not care for the Arts, even if they study in the best schools of India. And the one man who betrays some humanity from the older generation is the one who is impotent.

This tinkering with the script would have us believe that the best way of having a good time, is to sneakily take the family car, steal money from your father’s wallet, go to a bar, drink, deliberately get into fights, stick out your body from a car, wave your arms and curse repeatedly at the top of your voice. And a father will consider his son as a Macho Mard only if they smoke, drink and have sex by the age of 17!!!!!!!

Is it mandatory for films (Three Idiots etc) to deliberately ignore the millions of hard working parents who sacrifice all their lives so that their children can have a better, financially assured life, and who do not curse, drink, smoke, marry repeatedly,and beat up their children. Flying (Udaan) requires training, knowledge and skill which a boy of 17 does not have.And persons who do badly at school. will NOT get into a decent college. Certainly not in premier Arts Courses of premier Colleges. So, there is a necessity for the children also to assume some responsibility and accountability to their parents.I cannot imagine a parent not visiting his son for e-i-g-h-t years!!!! Another cinematic licence to bolster up the need for Rohan(the protagonist) to break rules deliberately and get expelled.

However, these are aberrations in a film of sublime directorial touches—the recurring barbed wire in front of Ronit Roy’s(Rohan’s Father) house is a case in point. The daily ritualistic race to the house, and Rohan’s final winning run away from his father’s clutches.—is another. The failure of the car to start at one go is wisely used in the climax seen. Jamshedpur has never been portrayed so well.The mix of hard work, hard drinkers, hard disciplinarians, in a palpably small town setting is sometimes frighteningly accurate. The high point of the boy smashing his father’s old irritating car could have come better as an apex of a vertex of small frustrations piling up till something broke at the top. Again , one is left wondering, whether the director believes that smashing your father’s car is a valid option of protest—because there is a distinct possibility, after this film, of a number of teenagers subjecting their parent's vehicles to the scrapheap.

Vikramaditya Motwane, the director and class friend of Abhisekh Bacchan(really!!!!) scores full marks in the casting department. Rohan( Rajat Barmeccha) is disarmingly innocent faced who switches from his rebel behaviour to a talented wannabee writer with consummate ease. When he is on the receiving end of his father’s ire—his demeanour brings lumps to the throats of the middle aged Moms in the audience. The child actor ( Aayan Boradia) who plays Arjun , Rohan’s stepbrother is one of the finest selections in Indian films with touches of Shekhar Kapoor’s Masoom boy Jugal Hansraj. But the acting honours are taken away by Ronit Roy in a role of a lifetime. Undertoned voice, lurking danger in his eyes and demeanour, supremely fit at his age, restless, intense, one track mind, obsessed with male macho image, and yet in his own misguided way trying his best for his sons and yet feeling defeated by them in a competition to get attention from their mothers.Ronit treads the swaying wire between a caricature and a believable oversized ,larger than life character with aplomb. His brother’s role is enacted with great skill by Ram Kumar who shows remarkable sensitivity and underplays to form a perfect foil to the hyper reacting Ronit.What a wonderful talent pool of actors are being wasted by Bollywood and their masala films with their terrible masala recipe….

The greatest achievement of the Director was that never, even once did he let the film drift. That is why, there are no female actors except in absentia –no dances, no lipped songs, no distractions or deviations.

Music Director Amit Trivedi did not create any memorable songs. Cinematographer Mahendra Shetty was competent and did capture the essence of Jamshedpur. However shots sometimes were ill lit and very stock shottish.The print at INOX Swabhumi Kolkata had as much as 6 black screens!!! If this is also in the best prints, then the Editor, Dipika Kalra has done a bad job. These type of shoddy prints could have ruined this film. But it flies too high—albeit with a few hiccups—a magnificent lighthouse to millions of viewers and budding directors and scriptwriters.

Inscrutable smiles

2010-07-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

What is common to The Sphinx, Mona Lisa, Buddha, and Manmohan Singh? This quiz question could stump a few, but the answer of all things, is the title above.

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Most people smile most of the time , which is a tribute to their goodness. Some smile incessantly, which makes them look silly and recognised as a permanent asker-for-favours person.

Some never smile at all—because they considered smiling as a letting down of the guard. But EVERYBODY gives the inscrutable smile at some time or other—when they smile but that smile has nothing to do with their inner feelings.

When do we give the inscrutable smiles? Mostly when you are not listening to what the other person is saying. Yet you are too polite to turn your face away. So you smile (some may say that is a vacuous smile) and think about more important things.

(see the central lady in black)

The other time is when you are in a crowd and hardly know anyone. Your smile can change instantly when someone recognises you and become a welcoming grin—or if not recognised, quickly change into a neutral expression. Most people in a crowd are actually in this mode and it is quite revealing to see the variety of these inscrutable smiles in these gatherings.

(See the lady in red behind the man in the bandana)

The inscrutable smile is very much in display in group photos of famous personalities among the background persons. Knowing fully well that the focus is on the star , others smile without interest but smile they do, otherwise they may fall into the bad books of the star.

(Note the lady in blue at the back)

Obviously the most inscrutable smiles come from actors when they are confronted by photographers at a social gathering. In a photo shoot they do everything that the photographer requires, but in these “free-shoot” situations, they give these inscrutable smiles and nothing else (i.e. when they are not arguing with or hitting them).

The law enforcers like policemen smile like that when they cop you on a blank morning for something which you have not done. the bank official gives that smile when you start arguing with them over their faulty services, and the doctor has to do so for most of his clinical patients, because he is not sure what news the XRay or blood count may give.

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The animals of course are past masters at these. See the picture below.

In brief, do perfect the inscrutable smile. It will stand you in good stead!!!!!!

The Issue of Disresponsibility

2010-07-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

Many times we dither between taking responsibility for an action. If it is work that we have done directly and solely, then we have to take responsibility and face the consequences –beneficial or harmful. If we have not done the work properly, we are deemed to be irresponsible. We are not good enough to have taken up the job. We have failed to perform according to certain standards.

Being responsible is a terrific burden on a person. Superiors just love them. Many persons therefore try and avoid it by showing disinterest or nonavailability.

However there are certain areas in which we should have taken responsibility, but we did not—either due to passivity or laziness or because we did not feel like it. There are also certain areas, where we have no choice but to step in and take responsibility. For example, how can we avoid being a parent or a son or a daughter?? How can we stop being a doctor or an engineer or a Minister or an economist? Can we be a professional for 16 hours and unprofessional and nonprofessional (another debatable word) for 8 hours??

When we do not take responsibility and evade or avoid it, I propose the word “Disresponsible”. I also toyed with the word “Unresponsible”.

However, I immediately ran into a roadblock. Many dictionaries (Oxford and Cambridge et al) do not have these words. The Urban Dictionary however recognises one. Unresponsible is defined as :-

An entity which denies responsibility simply by the act of claiming they are not responsible, whereas from other logical reasonings they would take responsibility. Unresponsible is not responsible, but still should be.

Disresponsible isn't defined yet.

So what is disresponsible?

It is basically being disinterested in taking responsibility or in some cases disowning responsibility. It is a slinking away. Unresponsible is a positive action of walking away from taking responsibility and not merely avoiding it.

You are walking down the road and see two people being killed by a group of murderers. You know that taking responsibility for intervention will be dangerous, time consuming and counterproductive. Besides it is the job of the authorities to enforce law and order. So you become disresponsible and walk away.

You see the neighbour’s teenaged son taking drugs, and do not tell his parents. You avoid responsibility for being a good social person because you are not sure what the reaction would be.

You see your best friend being corrupt and avoid informing any one. Your friend gives enough indication of his irritation as you indirectly broach the topic. You do not want to break a friendship and yet you act disresponsibly as a friend.

You see your associate cheating his family by carrying out an illicit relationship. Do you inform his wife? You do not reason with him for he will simply deny it and accuse you of being nosy. You let things drift. You are acting disresponsibly.

If you look at the big scenario, then you are acting disresponsibly for a significant part of your life. Yet this disresponsible part is an integral part of your life.

How can you ignore it in real life, and not put it in the language that we use?

On Rental

2010-06-19T15:42:00.001-07:00

Have you ever got a feeling, specially as you age that you are on rental?

Your life is of limited tenure, your professional skills may change gradually, your relationships grow beyond and away from you, your thinking capabilities show diminished multitasking abilities, and you look at your journey having slipped over the midway line.

It makes sense that we are on rental. We cannot buy life forever, simply because there is no offer from the landlord. As we grow older, the value of life depreciates. Insurance premiums are raised, and many schemes are denied. All employers seek those who are below 40. Air hostesses instinctively keep a hand outstretched to prevent a fall. Even on the roads, Kaku changes to Jethu and then onto Dadu. And the media reports with a horrendous glee of so many mishaps during the day. Life is getting cheaper. Economists feel that rental is the way to go in the future. There is a wide variety of choices.

Your professional status is bought by the client. He determines your value and so your rent. This is true in the Private Sector. Government employees get fixed salaries. They are incapable of getting higher rent. Their value is fixed by someone who does not know them and in accordance with some archaic directive.

See how cameras are being rented.Photographers need avenues of publication. So the freelancer tries to sell in the market and in a sense , the market or buyers rent him for a while.The professional sportsmen are also rented , even guys like Sachin Tendulkar. All the products he associates with, have in a way rented him and all the logos he exhibits are using him by paying a fee. The amateur exhibits wherever he can. He is trying to be rented for peer appreciation.

Apart from houses, cars, computers, furniture, DVDs and anything you can think of, even uteruses, human blood or parts of human bodies are available for rent. is there any relationship rental?

Do we rent our parents, at least on a timeshare basis? Or are we in a way, renting our children? Though there is a strong emotional level, is there a economic rental also? Or is this only timeshare rental?

Rental has its advantages. No one owns anyone. After a certain time when it suits one partner, they can walk out, leaving a window through which they may or may not come back. Rental rates are lower than outright purchases. It is better to think of relationships on rental basis. Then there will be less of heartaches and emotional baggage. There will be infinitely less recrimination and anger.

Life will be of small segments of rentals—for better or for worse!!!!!

Listen to this saucy, irreverent song from the film RENT!!!!

Take me for for what I am !!!!!!

ENNUI

2010-05-23T13:31:00.001-07:00

This has been a bad week. One patient in which we had done a pleasing hip replacement, died suddenly of a massive myocardial infarction, a month after his discharge from hospital, and when he had started walking with vigour. Another patient who had Renal failure after surgery elsewhere,, and who had been successfully reoperated by us 2 years ago, and who was working at his profession, died after a fatal attack of pneumonia. Another patient developed a sudden complication which fortunately we rectified with difficulty.

The rains did come but ever so briefly. The weather remained sultry and humid. I missed important meetings. But above all was this terrible tiredness, which was like a winter smog, encompassing, surrounding me throughout day and night making my movements sluggish and fatigued.

Sylvia Plath –the magnificent Talent

Facetiously, people blamed the weather. But this was deeper, affecting my desire to work and my enthusiasm was forced and artificial. I knew this was ennui.

Wikipedia had this to say.

The original French word Ennui, means general lack of interest, boredom or depression. It may also refer to oppressive boredom. It refers to a state of being rather than a passing mood as is generally the case with "boredom."

The solution was Home made Ilish Maacher Biryani!!!! washed down with gallons of cold water, lime and mango juice……Pluto made a beeline for the door and walking with him was cathartic, because he never lost his enthusiasm for strange new smells!!!

During this time, I ventured into poetry, the natural refuge for a Bengali—but I penned this one in English!!!!Again this ten minute sojourn was invigorating… though I would agree that the morbidity factor was overplayed…

ENNUI

We live our lives in drips and drabs,

Coffee cups and restless nights,

Doing what we did last year,

Facing the same old sights.

We wait for storms to rage and change,

Flower shells should bloom.

No lifting of our smallest finger,

No effort to shatter gloom.

Till one day we look and find,

Cobwebs in finger spaces,

The walk has changed to a crawl,

Dust lies in face crevices.

What stops us, I wonder still,

From shedding our outer skin,

And cleave the blue waters

Like a brazen shark fin.

Must we wait for the birds to come,

And the wind and mountain stream,

Summer skies to enroof us,

As we look at dreams.

Or should we change,and clang the Bell,

With vigour new and found,

Eyes bright and sparkling still,

Feet savouring the grassy ground.

Maybe still a galloping steed,

Will stomp upon the fields,

Warriors in shining glory shall,

Defy and will not yield.

Or will ennui win the day,

Arms lie static on the bed,

Air conditioned deaths for all,

Pictures waiting to fade.

Some day then you may find me,

A stretched out silent form,

Arms raised in rigor mortis,

Still welcoming violent storms.

Don’t waste time in grief or tears,

Write this epitaph somewhere friends,

He woke up late, but did his best,

He tried to change the trends.

It did not feel this long while writing it—but there it is—what ennui can do to you, if you let it get on top. It is always good to know the opposite of happiness…

Mocambo lunch

2010-05-16T08:14:00.001-07:00

We suddenly decided this morning to go for continental food for lunch. Having burnt our fingers at the new joints, we decided to play it safe and go to Park Street. Mocambo was our chosen destination—for no particular reason. Peter Cat is still closed after the Stephen Court Tragedy. Oasis is a little cramped. Trinca seems to have a changed flavour. So Mocambo ,it was.

Just a minute away from the Park Street—Free School Street crossing, we entered without having to wait, which is a common occurrence in the evening. The place is old world, with a colonial hangover struggling to keep pace with the brash new generation. Red leathered sofas, hanging red lampshades, long white coated waiters and stewards with black suits—all contributed to this mixed ambience.

There were no cocktails. The drink list is just about adequate, and we settled down to a small Smirnoff with ice and Limca (not very sophisticated!!!). The snacks were a crisp namkeen which went well with the drink. We asked for Surf and Turf, well done with mushroom sauce. Do not go for the pepper sauce as they will simply pour it out of a bottle. The preparation had a generous mixture of Prawns with Bacon and tasted out of this world. There was a groovy smoothness with the mushroom sauce giving the right tang. The prawns had a slight oriental touch which went well with the firmness of the bacon.

The next dish was Ham Steak sizzler with mushrooms. The meat was a generous chunk, with the usual vegetable accompaniments. Again, the feel of the meat was right and with the accompanying sizzle, enlivened the palate. The vodka was tightening the tongue nicely.

Emboldened we ordered their famous Angels on Horseback. Bacon strips filled with chicken set in a rice setting with a slight gravy. This IS a speciality. The correct blend of the slightly crisp bacon strip with the soft chicken fillers was amazing. Again a MUST taste.

We then settled for a Fish a la Diana—gravy rich Bhetki Fish Chunks with a Prawn stuffing. Gloriously recommendable. The combination enhanced the taste of each. This was a Bengali dish with Continental overlay and one could almost visualise the sahibs(white or brown) delving into it and smiling.

Dessert was even more enticing. I settled for a Mango Souffle with little soft mango pieces contrasting well with the the smoothness of the dish. Vicky took a Meringue topped with Vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce and was ecstatic. As we shared the dishes, we were satiated but did not at all feel greasy and dyspeptic.

The service was quietly efficient and instantly available. the bill came to Rs 1600.

The next time we plan to try the Devilled Crabs and the Chicken Tetrazinni or Chicken Sicilian with Fish Muniere!!!!!!

The truth is that Old is Gold and we should really delve into them and find out the reasons why instead of following blindly the new innovations.

“Everything New is not an improvement!!!”

MOCAMBO

25B Park Street, Park Street, Kolkata

Phone: 22290095, 22464300, 22291696

WALK OUT

2010-05-09T11:32:00.001-07:00

“Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar and an adjournment after members of AIADMK raised the issue of 2G spectrum allocation.”

“The controversial bill that provides for payment of compensation in the event of a nuclear accident was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday amid protests and walkout by opposition NDA and Left parties which termed it as “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.

“The opposition members had forced adjournment of the house earlier after Chidambaram virtually ruled out inclusion of caste in the population count exercise. “

The above are extracts from News Reports in the newspaper for 2 days only.

When the Lok Sabha was discussing the Prevention of Torture Bill on Thursday (May 6) evening, the penultimate day of the budget session, not more than 25 members were present in a house of 543 - a telling testimony of how productive the 2010 budget session was.

More than 117 hours or over 30 percent of the total scheduled 385 hours were lost during the 2010 budget session of parliament due to frequent disruptions and protests.

Each of the two houses lost 52 percent of crucial question hour time, according to an analysis of the just-concluded session done by PRS Legislative Research, an independent think tank that tracks the functioning of parliament.

There were 620 starred questions listed in the budget session, of which 76 could be answered. Thus, on an average, only about 2.37 questions could be answered per day.

Briefing reporters about the budget session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here that the two houses had 32 sittings. While 70 hours were lost due to adjournments in the Lok Sabha, 45 hours were lost in the Rajya Sabha, he said.

Asked about some bills having been passed without discussion, Bansal said the situation had been created due to proceedings of the houses being disrupted.

He said there was demand for hike in salaries of MPs as salaries of government employees had risen substantially due to recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Amazing, isn’t it? If this performance was translated to the daily wage earners ,or any average Private sector company, what would be the reaction of the Employers?

In a way, we ,the people of India are the owners of the Parliament. What are we doing about it?

So why are walkouts and adjournments legal? Should not the presence of the MPs in the house be made mandatory except for health reasons? Though there are statements of concern, no action has yet been mooted or taken, and in all probability, nothing will be.

Also the conduct of the Members are deplorable. No one is allowed to speak properly. There are interruptions and shouting. The din is worse than the naughtiest classrooms or the fish market. The ones who shout and interrupt are the ones in demand. Every party have their “squads”. No party disciplines it’s MPs. They encourage interruptions, shouting, table thumping and adjournments and walk outs. Can we not think about a way of protest without disruptions, because this has bred a dangerous repercussion in that there will be no action taken unless there are disruptions!!! This has percolated to all levels of management and workers, teachers and students, service providers and consumers.

When are we going to wake up and change the way our Parliament Members behave ????

Pluto and IPL

2010-04-27T05:02:00.001-07:00

I had just got home and settled down to watch an IPL match, when Pluto quietly snuggled under my leg and started to lick my feet. I gave a loud sigh for I knew what was coming. Sure enough a minute later, he got up, plonked his paws on my knees, and said ‘ What about teaching me IPL Cricket?’.

I was relieved. This was easy. ‘It’s called 20—20 cricket. Each team has 20 overs….’.

Pluto barked, irritated.’I know that. I watch more of IPL cricket than you do’ ‘I meant the practice and training.’ ‘Well you have to forget classical cricket. The main shot is the swipe. Anything and everything, you swipe. Just for variety you hit straight and occasionally loft with all you have.’ Pluto barked again.’’You are missing the real thing. Teach me how to edge and mishit. After all , most runs are scored of those shots’.

‘Pluto, you can’t be taught those shots. They just happen!!!’, I screamed.

‘It just happens?’. Pluto looked at me incredulously.’Then why do the batsmen brandish their bats, knock gloves with their partners and smile at the TV camera as if they’ve played a great shot ?’. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘ That’s just to rub salt in the bowler’s wounds.’

Pluto digested that after a lot of chewing on a chicken stick.’ Why are the bowlers all crap—being hit for 4s and 6s?’, he asked. ‘The batsmen just sees the ball and swings the bat.That is why bowlers rely on variations of pace so much. Some of the batsmen are exceptional sighters of the ball and are strong and time the ball.’

Pluto was persistent.’Why do they miss so many catches?’ .I sighed. Most of the catches missed are high ones. The ball swerves in the air and is lost in the background’. ‘I would have caught them,’ Pluto boasted,’ Would they have given Rs 25000 to The Pug Welfare Fund?’. ‘Probably,’ I said, ‘But you needed to talk to Lalit Modi first.’

Pluto’s eyes gleamed. I was now getting the direction of his thinking and was getting apprehensive. Explaining cricket to a pug was okay. But explaining Lalit Modi?? Sure enough, Pluto started firing.

‘Why does Modi speak so fast?’, he queried.

‘Well, he has a lot to say,’I said weakly. Pluto gave me a knowing smile and said,’ He has to finish speaking between his tweets!!!’. I conceded that with a silence, hoping he would shut up now.Pluto wandered away, but sure enough, he wandered back, his puggy brain working furiously. I braced myself.

‘Why does Lalit Modi love spas?’, he asked, shaking himself. ‘He has a high tension job. He has to relax, you know’, I said. Pluto grinned. ‘Keep his eyes focussed, you mean,’ and he dragged out the following photograph!!!

‘What is sweat equity?’, he asked,twitching his puggy nose. I knew that I was done for.’Well, actually, that is when persons employ someone whom they cannot pay now. That person works, and gets a share of the profit later.’ Pluto was ecstatic.’That’s exactly the way I work’, he said.’You know Jacqueline of the next house. She is my girl friend. I give her the choicest tit bits, and she reciprocates. It’s actually –HIS sweat—Her equity !!!’

Having explained everything puglogically, Pluto dozed off. Before sleeping, he kept on muttering, ‘Lalit Modi—I want to know about the haveli and the spa….’.

Lalit Modi—beware!!!!

The Japanese Wife

2010-04-17T23:06:00.001-07:00

Based on an improbable story by Kunal Basu, Aparna Sen directs a landmark film “The Japanese Wife”, produced by SaReGaMa Films of which she is the Chief Creative Director.

The film from the beginning is different and lyrical. The curiosity created by the big box arriving from Japan and the acceptability of such happenings in a small traditional Bengali village leads us on to a love story based on letters which has developed between Snehomoy (Rahul Bose) a school teacher in a remote village of the Sunderbans and a Japanese girl Miyagi(Chigusa) running a grocery shop near Yokohama in Japan.This sequence is tightly and brilliantly edited.Many letters later, they decide to marry with an exchange of a wedding ring and a pair of bangles by post. They behave like a devoted married couple without meeting each other for seventeen years!!!Their reality is based on photographs, gifts (like kites and champak flowers),rare phone calls and of course the letters!!!! Communicating in English which is a foreign language to both and therefore full of hesitation and mistakes—they still build a world like a devoted couple without being in physical proximity.

According to the writer Kunal Basu, who also plays a cameo in the film after his decades-ago debut as a child actor---“It is a relationship of great intimacy but no domesticity.”

Snehomoy’s guardian is his Mashi SoiMa (Moushumi Chatterjee)who has brought him up and who after an initial fretting accepts the situation, though she complains that her dream of grandchildren can never come through via letters!!!!

Enter a widow Sandhya(Raima Sen) and her son Paltu who come to live with them. Sandhya was once shown to Snehomoy for marriage, but he had shown no interest. Sandhya’s presence is disturbing for Snehomoy as she raises desires in him. Moreover, she cleans up his cluttered room and brings the peace of domesticity into his vision. They suddenly caress each other in an emotionally upsetting situation. Snehomoy immediately wants to write to Miyagi, his confidant and wife, but cannot.

Meanwhile Miyagi falls ill and Snehomoy takes leave without pay to get assistance from local Ayurvedic and Unani and Homeopathic physicians, before he knows that she has cancer. A local doctor guides him to an oncologist who thinks that her lifespan is limited. Coming back, he gets caught in inclement weather, develops pneumonia, and cannot get the requisite medicines as the area is flooded. He dies, Getting the news, Miyagi shaves off the hair on her head(?Due to chemotherapy), adorns the white sari of a widow, and comes back to Snehomoy’s village. A monochrome last scene shows the dead Snehomoy floating in a boat onto an eternal destination. This scene is reminiscent of many Japanese and Korean films.

The direction is sensible and sensitive.The scenes have been crafted with great care and precision.The camera movements are beautifully controlled and expressive and seems so rightly balanced, Emotional highs are counterpointed with the mundane and the humourous. Yet the thread of tragedy is omnipresent. There is not an iota of crudity. even the scenes of masturbation integrate thoroughly.It is like a slap in the face for films like 3 Idiots which made up for a dearth of creativity by their vulgar manoevures. Truly creative people do not need such brittle props.

Anoy Goswami’s camera captures the Matla river in all its moods. The river dominates as a medium of communication and beauty and tragedy.The cinematograpghy is outstanding and will surely win awards for the magnificent frames, movements and colour balance. The mood of the film is greatly enhanced by Goutam Basu’s Art direction.

Sagar Desai’s use of Japanese music is superb. There is no song as such nor is one required. Clever mixes of local and effects sounds enhance the viewing pleasure.

The acting is controlled and mostly apt. Rahul Bose impresses with his hesitation and intensity, his care for others and his devotion to his wife. He is obsessed by the relationship yet hesitant and unable to call the shots. He can handle a polaroid, but cannot make a STD call.Though one wonders whether that led to the character being one dimensional. Even in the lively kite flying scenes, his energy level was a bit low. Moushumi Chatterjee acted with restraint but somehow was a misfit into the role. Having seen Chaya Debi or Molina Debi or even Shobha Sen or Sabitri Chatterjee in such roles, it is difficult to accept plucked eyebrows, her nose twitching, and her essential glamour in this role. Being a character actor is to sacrifice your self and Moushumi just could not do it.

Raima Sen acted expressively, but again was too glamorous for her role. The contrast with the other village women in the boat and mela was too much. A girl brought up in the village would unhesitatingly pull up her sari to avoid the mud and would not walk so gingerly on the stone steps at the river bank.

Chigusa was outstanding in the last scenes. Her vulnerability and her strength brought great moments to the film.

The high point of this film was the kite competition. Superbly compiled and scripted , the transformation of a kite contest into a jingoistic issue was amusing. A kite with a broken thread suddenly became a symbol of loss and sorrow. The kites in the sky returned in the closing credit scenes to round off the film.

However there were some weak areas.

Assuming the story is of modern Bengal, considering the mobile phone, fax, STD booths, specialised Oncologists, Beedi jalai by Bips on a TV screen, and shots of Kolkata, it is somewhat difficult to believe the simplicity and naivety of the main protagonist Snehomoy and the village inhabitants. How can a modern schoolteacher be unaware of emails and fax? How can the villagers accept Snehomoy’s postal wedding? Everything here seemed a trifle too sweet. The massive storm sequence should have affected all the village people but that is not shown. Probably Aparna discarded that thought as she was painting on a smaller canvas.

The dresses were too new and modern. Poor schoolteachers and their families do not wear sparkling whites, nor do they wear such sophisticated shoes. The contrast with the other characters was an eyesore.

The makeup of Moushumi was in certain scenes , too obvious. Do these villagers, specially widows, smear so much of cream and powder on their faces?

Sparkling whites and cream and powder and plucked eyebrows!!!!

One reaction was pithy.”This is a great film if it had been made by a debutant. For an experienced and established filmmaker like Aparna , this was a bit of a fairy story”.

Overall this film is an exceptional one, of great human moments and emotions which leave you affected at the end. It is a film of taste and fine beauty, of grace and wonder, of seriousness and great imagery. It is in many ways like a glorious Haiku.

It emphasizes the great differences between the good Bengali and the good Hindi film.

In my book highly recommendable and a Must—see.

Subho Nababarsha

2010-04-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

In spite of the growing years and the paunch and the increasing cynicism, Poila Baisakh has a cathartic effect. Inexplicable, but the world looks a little rosier, indiscipline and uncleanliness looks a little out of focus, and the cold wind which flows in from the Hooghly river and flutters my hair seems that little bit more tangy. Memories stream in and go like flitting traces of sunshine. Childhood seems palpable still. Father’s call from the room below, mother’s blowing of the conch shell, my sister’s secret call to share some hidden goodies—and books and the favourite stair landing spot besides a window---was only yesterday.

I spent the evening listening to Byatikromi singing songs of Salil Choudhury. Byatikromi is a group of doctors—all leaders in their specialised fields, who sing because they like to, and who sing well enough to perform shows and record CDs with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa---all for charity .

Listen to the three songs below, which transported me to a different land, and era, where there was no TV or Internet, only these songs percolating from the radio or disc record players, transcending the grime and the smoke and streetsounds, making the world just that extra colourful, just like Nababarsha now and today!!!!

Click on the links below….

http://www.box.net/shared/m7v0ug3b33

http://www.box.net/shared/7h2tpdb7mn

http://www.box.net/shared/o8x1vcf65a

Chains

2010-04-04T02:29:00.001-07:00

Friends are everywhere—childhood, school, college, workplace, colleagues, relatives….

Sometimes they are nowhere—specially in the depths of night, when the dark , menacing clouds close in on you, and only lone stars flicker and are immediately covered by clouds driven by an impatient wind.

And they are also in chains—bound by their own lives and responsibilities, sometimes willing but unable to come in your hour of need, or talk to you when you need it most.

And yet you need your friends because they and only they can give a dispassionate opinion or tell you that you are not positioning yourself correctly.

And of course, we are all in chains, visible and invisible, commitments and responsibilities, external and internal, prisoner of our own fears and ambitions.

So the key word is positioning. Where do you think you should be? And where you are….Here is the ultimate call—brutally honest and factual. After all, why do we lie to ourselves ? And why do we live in dichotomy—one face to the world and one in the inner mirror—because salvation if there is anything like it , means the ultimate coming together of those two faces blending into one.

It means breaking the chains—and it can be done sometimes slowly, sometimes with a dramatic heave…

And then you can fly and fly…..

Where is the change?

2010-03-28T02:05:00.001-07:00

Recently a young patient of mine requested me to have a look at his film. He is a first year student of Mass Communication and Videography and his first semester film was called “Voice”. The film had to be shot in a photo montage style. The website is of the Xavier Film Academy—www.sxcfilmstudies.com. This is a remarkable site not only because of its clean, no frill,functional design, but because it truly showcases what young people in the 18—22 year category are really thinking about. Through the site , one can access their activity and skill level, and their take on contemporary society.

Voice is a sincere film. Tightly edited, telling imagery, use of song, and dialogue—all contributing in getting the director’s message across. For a first semester project, it is remarkable and emphasizes the skill level that youngsters are achieving. I do not mean “youngsters” as a condescending description, but as a positive statement –that if they can achieve this much at this level, then their peak production with age and experience should be something to look forward to.

However there are many grey areas—not only in conception but in execution. The executions are correctable as they are technicalities, but proper attention need to be paid to it.

The narration is very amateurish and heavily accented. The play shots are mostly from one angle. The lighting should have been better and highlighting the correct areas and the sound recording was uneven in parts. This might be due to equipments that were used, but should be looked into. As they develop more, all these problems will disappear.

But my main grouse is the content. Though film makers need to be committed, they must not sacrifice their credibility. They should not be committed to any political line , even if they sympathetic to one. Their role should be of the observer, if they want to retain their neutral image. They should be able to comment dispassionately on any shortcomings in society, and of any religion. Overtly committed filmmakers are taken with a pinch of salt, because they cannot be taken at face value of giving the audience a truthful picture. The incidents depicted are undoubtedly, true, despicable and ghastly. But this truth is full of omissions—as in this film.

Why was there no comment on Marichjhapi massacre where the armed state calculatingly killed refugees eking out a pitiable existence in the uninhabited Sunderban Islands?

Massacre at Wandhama

Why was there not a mention of the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, driven and banished from their homes in Jammu and Kashmir?

Why is there no mention of Taslima Nusreen and her travails of writing her version of the truth?

Why is there no mention of the siege at Esplanade for four days in front of Statesman House for reprinting an article? This was blacked out of almost all Newspapers and TV channels.

Why is there no mention of the beheading of police officers and killing of ordinary people by Maoist terrorists?

Why is there no mention of the killing of innocent people by the Muslim terrorist organisations or the militants like ULFA and the Mizo terrorists? While Army atrocities are hyped about by intent-faced hyperventilating activists, there is a strange and curious lack of intensity in condemning the separationists violence.

Why is there no mention of the Kar Sevaks being burnt alive, purportedly due to an accidental fire or deliberate sabotage? Two commissions (Nanavati and Banerjee) have given conflicting reports because commissions and many film makers are actually biased while professing to be neutral and a part of “liberal society”.

Even the bold, uncompromising, fearless film makers are actually lambs inside, unwilling and unable to focus on the TRUE picture.

Nothing has changed. The same slogans , the same dialogues, the same Naked Raja that we saw and heard in our childhood and student days . The establishment may change colours and yet will remain the same exploitative power. The ideals, the commitment to ideals have become a commitment to hold on to power even with slipping fingertips. A change of government means more and more clashes and unnecessary ,useless deaths. No one will take voluntary responsibility and go gracefully. They will go kicking and screaming like an unruly child and will be replaced by people who will probably be the same.

And film after film, play after play will be made in the same format, same mime and songs and dance, with the same committed viewpoint, as they were decades back.

When will this incredibly talented young generation chart out their own independent pathways lined by the flaming torches of information and reality?

When will they tell the whole truth, the uncompromising truth, and all the truth?

If there is any song playing already, go down to the previous post and pause the music player. Then listen to this song by Helen Soo. Click on the play button below.

changes.mp3

Love, Sex and Dhoka—the Dhoka is final

2010-03-22T17:32:00.001-07:00

To all those celebrating LSD as the cult film of the decade, as the great pathbreaker in Indian Cinema, as a member of the Least Common Denominator—the paying public, I differ and differ vehemently. Duped by a National award winning label on Dibakar Banerjee’s Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, and the hullabaloo made by National TV Channels and the big shot newspapers who were falling over themselves to eulogise the movie and more ,its director---I went to see the movie at a noonshow in a well known Central Kolkata Hall.

I was dampened by the sight of only 4 occupants in the Dress circle at Rs.80/ticket and hardly a hundred people in the hall.The hall was something like the above. From the beginning I was informed that we are all basically in front of various types of cameras and a participant in a reality show by Dee Bee enterprises. After a few minutes ,I was rubbing my eyes ,not in disbelief but in real pain as the story( more evident in its absence) evolved with jerkiness, deliberate hand held shakes and unfocussed. That , I was assured, was the New Age filmmaking—more real than skilled. Cinema , or the Cult Film Zamana is a director’s viewpoint and only that—the poor audience could always have a splitting headache—but that does not matter at all. Ekta Kapoor, the producer, screamed when she saw the preview. For once, I agreed with her. However she settled down as she realised that the 3 crores had already been spent. She refused however to show it to her parents.

The film evolved in three parts—Love—Sex and Dhoka. The Love part was a traditional spoof on a rich girl-poor boy love story, with an eager father getting a role in the film by a budding director making his diploma film. The poor director falls in love with the rich heroine and finally brother with his goons kill and bury them . An ad nauseum plot, made cleverly by juxtaposing film with reality, and moving front and back in style. However, the old DDLJ prevails(Simran and all that) and there is the tragic end of this part.

Sex then takes over and a manager of the firm is bent on taking a store attendant to bed as a challenge and then selling the clip for Rupees seventy thousand to a reality TV show!!!!

The great pataoing goes on and finally the girl agrees to a rendezvous in the store room!!!!The camera is framed to catch the VITAL moment. It turns out that the previous section “Love” protagonists are this girl’s friend. On learning of their death, the girl in a moment of emotional turmoil, clutches onto the male.The Moment arrives and the male protagonist is allowed to do his act which he does staring at the camera. Thank God, the censors pixellated the scene as this alone might just have made this film popular (that of course was the director’s intent…)The clip is sold, rages as a superhit, and invades the mobile denizens. The girl wants to commit suicide. The thread continues in the third part as a girl attempting suicide is saved by a person who has already failed in an attempt to do the same.

The third part is called DHOKA. Here the rescued girl and this cameraman run a sting operation for the Reality TV company. They trap the victim, an aging pop star, on camera talking about sex for work. They are finally re instructed to film the victim giving them money. After a confused rigmarole, all the three couples are seen in a stylised finale of being Reality TV participants.

Unfortunately, we felt that the Dhoka is all that we were left with as we lurched out of the hall.

The film goes forward and back and laterally as the main characters twine and intertwine between the three sections. “Inspired” by the real life incidences like the Delhi MMS scandal, the intercaste/inter status marriages and their violent sequelae to retain honour and the sting operation phenomenon that sweeps the country now and then—the film is cleverly constructed. DB cocks a snook at the establishment and with racy editing, pushes the film to an ending.

However as a member of the paying public, there were too many inconsistencies which could not be glazed over by the glossiness and pace.

Was there a story of any merit anywhere? No, not at all. The plot is hackneyed and predictable and seen before in Dev D and the bad “Reconstructions” in TV channels. Was the concept of the camera playing all the time, unique ? No, it was irritating, never allowed the viewer to watch the film with any degree of ease and seen before in Paranormal. Maybe DB wanted the film to make his audience feel disturbed? This disturbance is not of any social value. We have felt disturbed by Pather Panchali on one side or Satya or Rang De Basanti or Paa or My Name is Khan on the other. But those were positive disturbances which made us think and react. Here the effect is trying to forget it as fast as possible!!! Here the film is irritating and obnoxious, the feeling of being taken for a ride and duped of our hard earned money by a director who wants to snigger at the Industry and the traditional methods of films. It is really unfair that we have to finance DB’s personal quirks and also have a splitting headache and eyeache in the bargain.

The critics will love the movie as it provides a break from tradition. Unfortunately, the ordinary viewer goes to see a film with certain expectations. Not all the time do we go for Time Pass entertainment. We go to be stirred, emotionally and creatively, willing and wanting to appreciate art and creativity, not only for gloss and glamour. We do unfortunately have our own views derived from our own intelligence (surprise for our all knowing directors—we can actually think!!!). So when a director thinks that we can be walked over by oversmartness and mis experimentation—he is in for a surprise. If he disregards our sentiments, he will find acclaim from select interested groups, but not at the box office and hopefully not from any producer who values his money.

Wikipedia informs us thus. The film has been critically acclaimed by the movie reviewers for its unique filming style, acting, realistic story and superb editing.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama reviewed positively saying, "On the whole, Love Sex aur Dhokha is original, innovative and ground-breaking cinema, which will shock and provoke you. The film is definitely not for the faint-hearted or those who swear by stereotypical fares, but for those who yearn for a change." and rated it 4 out of 5 stars..

Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN rated it 4 out of 5, stating "Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex aur Dhoka is the most riveting Hindi film in recent memory. [...] You will be shocked, you will be startled, but walking out of the theatre, you know you have just seen what is possibly the most important Hindi film since Satya and Dil Chahta Hai. Not only does it redefine the concept of "realistic cinema", it opens a world of possibilities in terms of how you can shoot films now."

Subhash Jha of Bollywood Hungama critically criticised the film stating, "The film never belittles or sentimentalizes the characters' lack of choices. While inventing a unique format of cinematic expression Dibakar Banerjee has not emotionally emasculated the characters. [...] In terms of technique this film gets as rough and jolting as any film can. The actors look like reality-show rejects making a last-bid attempt to prove their worth." .

Martin D'Souza of film portal glamsham.com rated it 4 out of 5 and verdict, "What is very smart is the way Banerjee weaves the lives of all three couples to make it one smart movie. At first, it appears as three separate issues but the end surprises. Intelligent cinema. It real and it's scary."

Sarita Tanwar of Mid Day, gives it a 4 and a half out of 5 and stated, " LSD has all the makings of a contemporary cult classic this season's best film. It's a must-watch.

Gaurav Malani of India Times gives it a four out of five, and stated, "At several levels, Love Sex aur Dhokha is at par with some of the best titles in world cinema in terms of its treatment."

Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave a three and a half to the film, and stated, "Don't expect time-pass entertainment. Think beyond run-of-the-mill and see how Ekta Kapoor re-invents herself as the producer of contemporary Indian cinema's first full-blown experimental film.

Raja Sen, of web portal Rediff.com, gives it a perfect five, and stated "It's bleak, bittersweet, funny and markedly unglamorous, and yet you come out humming the theme tune, your head blown clear off your shoulders.

Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gives it a three and half, and stated, it as " truly an experiment" in Bollywood.

^{The final comment however is reserved for us –the audience.}

“The film has done below average performance at the box office, with it's targeted multiplex audience not reaching to the expectation.” ( www.boxofficeindia.com).

And rightly so. Forgettable music, oft repeated theme, reality show acting as bad as it can get, boring, gimmicky, tiring and repeatedly irritating, portraying a small aberrant portion of society with a prominence it did not deserve, descending to cheap titillation from the title, dialogue and lyrics in an attempt to cover up for creative deficiencies, promoting voyeurism as a way of life, and disregarding audience likings for a critics review bonanza—this film will of course crash resoundingly at the Box Office.

But does DB care? Watch this movie only if you feel like sponsoring this tiresome DB snigger at Bollywood!!!

Fireflies

2010-03-13T21:42:00.001-08:00

Celebrating a birthday at this age seems like a desperate ploy to look lively and happening. After all what is a birthday but a celebration of your continuing presence in this world.

Thanks to the web, there was a plethora of messages from social sites, shopping malls, music stores etc. The ones from the social sites were warm and personal and genuine while the others had a commercial twinge in them. The “live” ones came from family ,friends and colleagues and were more intense. Cakes and flowers and sweets kept on coming and in a peculiar way made me feel “wanted”. I suppose that is in a nutshell what a birthday celebration means—that you feel that you can still contribute meaningfully to others.

Later on, in a rare moment of soliloquy, I started reflecting on whether such a day is a good time to reiterate my own philosophy in life. Quagmired in routine, one can fall into the dangerous trap of comfortable existence in familiar circumstances. The challenges are all external—i.e. what other people throw at you. How much better it would be if you can challenge yourself intellectually and performance wise. But can you do that? All the time? Every day?

So, it boils down to a philosophy, a statement of intent, a methodology.

We are all like fireflies. Flickering, floating, here and there…With one surety. That one day, we will cease lighting up our surroundings—and subside to the ground. But see the way, the boundless enthusiasm with which the way the firefly moves , committed to brightening the world when it in darkness---because it must.

There is a beautiful line from the Chandrabindu song “Adarer Nouko”

Clutch the beauty of the firefly to

your heart …and run…and run.

How about that for a way to live??

Maqbool Fida Hussain and artistic freedom

2010-02-28T01:37:00.001-08:00

The iconic artist M.F.Hussain has been offered Qatari citizenship and according to his son ,is likely to take it up. The reason why, even after being born and bred in India, and a bonafide Indian citizen, he cannot come back to India is because of the number of cases filed against him in courts, and the demonstrations by Hindu organisations which “could” hamper his safety. The apparent cause of all this is his portrayal of Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Durga in the nude.

However ,that is not all.There are other portrayals of Hindu icons like Sita (Hindu symbol of chastity) sitting naked on Ravana’s lap as Hanuman comes to resue her.

Next a naked Sita is portrayed sitting on Hanuman’s tail. Was this the way Hanuman rescued Sita?

A bull with Parvati as Lord Shiva looks on.

Goddess Durga with a tiger.

There are many liberals like N.Ram of the HINDU who are devastated by Hussain’s decision. He writes:-“I know no one more genuinely and deeply committed to the composite, multi-religious, and secular values of Indian civilisation than M. F. Husain. He breathes the spirit of modernity, progress, and tolerance. The whole narrative of what forced him into exile, including the shameful failure of the executive and the legal system to enable his safe return, revolves round the issues of freedom of expression and creativity and what secular nationhood is all about.”

And yet when Hussain paints The Prophet’s daughter and his mother and daughter, he is more circumspect.

So who is the real Hussain?

A painter with biased artistic freedom—who can strip religious icons of their clothes and at the same time is unwilling to do so for another religion. Is he really and freely exercising his artistic choice? Or is this a publicity gimmick gone horribly undone? Why are artists and sculptors allowed to overcome borders which all other professions are forced to maintain. We can appreciate the beauty of the human form as well as anybody else.Is this sense enhanced by unclothing our religious images?

Are not our intelligentsia falling over themselves to display their so called secularism? Or is it that we are not moving with the times and clinging on to prudery when we have a tradition like Khajuraho and Konarak?

Again, these paintings were done 25 years back. It was only when they were reproduced in an art book that all hell broke loose. So was the latter publicity the reason for this outburst. If the paintings had stayed in an obscure gallery, Hussain might have been in Mumbai long ago!!!!!

Finally, the moot question is this…..

Do we regret Hussain’s departure or do we say “Good Riddance?”

It is a mixed feeling, somewhat akin to the feelings when Salman Rushdie or Taslima Nasreen were prevented from free movement---only that the intelligentsia on the latter occasion kept their mouths and pens well covered and spouted their opinions on the same artistic freedom with reluctance and stutters. After all, unfortunately and commonly, being progressive and liberal is almost synonymous with being biased!!!!

Anandi, Ankik, Shilpa, Rajiv and others

2010-02-21T02:53:00.001-08:00

I did not know you. But now I do. I know how you felt when you went to school for the first time.And when exams came. And when you went to see a film. Or when you curled up to read a book.When you laughed at a PJ, or when you had an Ice Cream. When you appeared on a stage for the first time. When the wind blew in from the Ganges and the black clouds came down and the first rains fell from the skies on your upturned faces.When you held your own camera in your hand and lovingly brushed your fingers over it. When you took your first real photograph.When you studied for your Board Exams and the apprehensions before it. When your results were declared. when you joined IIT or BIT Mesra. The discussions before joining Fergusson in Pune in English. And the film shoot. And the impromptu singing. And the holiday travels. And the discussions…And the laughter..And Life itself.

For I have a daughter and a son who went through this. Up to this I know you, as every parent will, wherever they may be. But after that I do not know you or ever will. As neither will I ever comprehend the machinations in the mind of those who did what they did. For they are incomprehensible. I only know that if a collective will of the human race is a force, then they will be squashed underneath it.

I did not know you. I now do. I know your families and their pain and the tears. The passage of time is inevitable.Your potential will never be realised. But you will be there in us, in our actions as we strive to correct a terrible wrong.

Yes, I know you.

We will always know you.

Lost –without a mobile.

2010-02-19T13:15:00.001-08:00

I have been using a mobile phone for the last 10 years. Having graduated from the pagers( I still have it in the bottom of a drawer), a mobile communication system was a boon for doctors like us. As mobiles started to penetrate every household, our calls increased. Instead of an emergency contact facility, it became a chat tool, music player, video player, camera and entertainment system. So when I left it behind in the car while rushing to the airport for a 2 day conference trip to Delhi, my world literally collapsed.

Having discovered its absence during the security check, I rushed to make a phone call. At 8.45 AM, all the landline phones inside the post-security waiting room at Kolkata were non functional. A fellow traveller, looked sympathetically at me and offered his phone. He must have been in my predicament at some time!!! My driver confirmed that I had dropped the phone in my car and it was impossible for him to return it in time. I resigned myself to my fate of spending two WHOLE DAYS without a phone……

I gazed enviously at the passengers on the aircraft before take off, as they chatted away grinning and laughing or shouting over the damned device. The announcement for switching off the phone was not for me. Some persons took out a earplug and started listening to the music. I remembered all the songs on my Nokia as never before. Some actually started playing games on it!!!

As the plane landed, all the switched on phones started oscillating , vibrating, spouting all types of ring tones and songs. Some confirmed their arrivals. Others were busy calling up cars. I sat stony faced, with a peculiar emptiness in my pocket.

I managed to locate the car. The first thing that the driver said was not funny… “Saab, kitne baar aapko phone lagane ka koshish kiya—lekin connection nahi mila…”. I mumbled something like a “Phone car mein chod diya…”. He regarded me very sympathetically. “Tab to Badi mushkil ho gya”, he reflected. I grumpily looked out of the car at a fog laden Delhi.

Throughout that day, I had to control my automatic movement to pull out a mobile phone… I started grabbing my colleagues’ phone. I managed a couple of “safe arrival” calls. I missed knowing about my children, family,patients , colleagues etcetera. I missed the SMSes, the camera, the music… I could not call a car. The charges for a local call from the hotel room was Rs.53.

However after 6—8 hours, I had adjusted to the tranquillity. Suddenly, I could listen to lectures peacefully, talk to my colleagues without interruption, watch a television programme without interference, and even read a whole—yes, a WHOLE BOOK—a feat left unaccomplished for quite some years…. There were ,of course, minor hiccups along the way. I could not call and tell a colleague that I was standing with the luggage just a few metres away!!! I almost missed the bus to the airport.

Finally, I arrived home. Ranjana handed over the phone with an accusing look. Pluto barked away at my forgetfulness. I switched it on and immediately it started ringing. “I am a patient of yours and I could not contact you. My backpain has recurred and you were unavailable!!!” “This medicine is unavailable and I could not talk to you about a substitute…”. Finally I got away after a mobile phone dinner. I settled down for some wonderful sweets made by Ranjana. As I sunk into the sofa, plate balanced in my hand, the phone sung once again. I leapt up, dropped a sweet, grabbed the phone and panted “Hello”.

Life was normal again.

But I wish I could do it again. Or would I really take that risk???

Maybe we all should try it out once in a while….

THREE IDIOTS

2010-01-02T05:46:00.001-08:00

Rajkumar Hirani has reportedly stated that after Thee Idiots, he should be thinking about Three Stupids. He could be right, as charges of plagiarism has been brought about by Chetan Bhagat, the author of Five Point Someone, the best selling book which created a record in English publications in India. Stupid, because all he had to do was to put a line—“Based on a book by Chetan Bhagat” well before the accountants and Junior staff. Now , this omission and then trying to call Chetan a Publicity Hunter, roping in Amir who without knowing(or maybe knowingly) tries to portray Abhijat Joshi as the real writer of an original story, the Press Conference where Vidhu Vinod Chopra tells the Press to shut up, and sadly enough Rajkumar Hirani trying to prove that 28 scenes were “different”, ignoring the fact that Bhagat’s original story had more than 75 scenes which were the same as in the film, threatening to sue Chetan—all this betrayed the stupidity of the trio of Vidhu Vinod Chopra,Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi.

Noida: Bollywood producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra lost his cool at a press conference here Friday and asked a reporter to shut up after being questioned whether his hit "3 Idiots" was lifted from author Chetan Bhagat's book "Five Point Someone". He also alleged that the whole row over the film credits was a publicity stunt.

Even galling is the official Film Credits on Bollywood Hungama. The story/writer is written as Hirani/Joshi!!!!??? There is NO mention of Chetan Bhagat!!!!

Abhijat--Hirani

Scriptwriters are a confused lot. They are often given a brief of “Read this book and write a script”. In this transformation of the printed word into a cinematic language and progression—the first casualty is originality. The scenes have to be written and rewritten, sequences disturbed and changed, actual dialogues modified and framed, —all have to be identified. This leads to a mistaken opinion that what has been scripted is original—more original than the fountainhead of the printed book.In this case, Abhijat and Hirani took more than three years to write this. That by itself is phenomenal considering the output of sick, often repeated jokes, melodramatic dialogue, the blurring of the lines between crudity and humour, the nauseating sermonising interspersed with one liners and the repeated emphasis on urinating here and there (Hirani’s engineering students are more adept than full blown diabetics!!). Creating all this did not require much originality—it required compilation. The Hirani style is to create a phrase or catchword and then script around it. This time , it is AALL IS WELL!! Unfortunately, this catchline has turned into newspaper headlines of AALL IS NOT WELL!!!!!!!

Chetan Bhagat’s irritation and agony can well be understood. This film is quite likely to garner awards for Best Story considering the clout of Amir –Vidhu Vinod and Hirani taken together. The award would actually have been gained by the “Balatkar” (A word of immense importance to Abhijat—Hirani writer duo) of Chetan Bhagat’s book. As Shakespeare wrote—“ Beware of this man—he protesteth too much”, The Bard could have kept Vidhu Vinod—Abhijat—Amir—Hirani quadro in mind. This conglomerate then wave the written contract and announce that since they have brought the rights of the book, they can do anything with it in the audiovisual field. Maybe they can or cannot. But they cannot say that the story of 3 Idiots is theirs alone, because by their own contract they are saying that it is based on Chetan Bhagat’s book!!!

There is a huge input from the book in the film and situations, protagonists,the questions and answers in class, the incidents and some one liners, show that convincingly. No contract and this specifically is not mentioned in the contract,( Unlike Amir, I have read it) can say that the story writer credits will exclude the original writer just because the rights of the book have been bought by someone.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra Chetan Bhagat

It is something like buying audiovisual rights to a Tagore dance drama, altering the steps and rhythm and claiming then that the dance drama was written by the buyer!!!! And no name of Rabindranath Tagore in the credits… This is the great Hirani—Amir—Chopra--Abhijat logic, devoid of ethics, and full of accusations against the writer who wants nothing more than his name to be certified even as the 3rd story writer.

The film by itself is a just about watchable—in the sense that it has an interesting bodily function based scene every minute. Either the protagonists are on the toilet seat, or they are urinating ( the most I have seen in any Indian film), or they are prancing around in the ludicrous bathroom dance, or they are pulling their pants down to display underwear advertisement, or busy zipping their flies up and down. Poor Akshay Kumar. One unzip in a fashion show and the moral brigade is on him like a ton of bricks. Here Amir and his teacher zip and unzip in the classroom without a murmur of protest!!! People who depend on these activities to sell a film betray a lack of originality and are down to the depths of their creative box to pull out some muck.

When they are not doing that—they are sermonizing. The Education System is stifling. Do what you want to do. Parents—please don’t force your children into doing what you want. Teachers—teach originality and not the definitions. Do not put pressure on your children. Etc. etc. etc…All of them hackneyed, much debated and discussed. The poor parents have to be superhumans. Not only have they to bring up their children healthily, they have to educate them, and then allow them to throw it all away in being a wildlife photographer on a stipend with uncertain career prospects.Why do parents want their wards in a profession? So that they can get a job, settle down and NOT REMAIN A SOURCE OF WORRY for long. A child well settled means that the parents have done their job well.

To allow a child to go into an unpredictable field where earnings are less and uncertain is a luxury of the financially stable. The lower middle class cannot really afford it. Even in this imperfect system, the creative arts flourish as do the engineers and doctors and MBAs. To condemn a system totally is dangerous, because any changed version can be more ineffective. This sermonizing in a popular film is also dangerous because it generates an aversion to genuine classroom studies and examinations amongst a group of impressionable minds. Experts in Education are framing and modifying the system. Hirani and Amir are NOT qualified for the job.

Another sore point was the treatment of the handicapped father of Raju (Sharman).His utilisation as a comic role was to say the least, disgusting. Are handicapped persons treated in this way? Without commiseration, without sympathy and tact? Hirani reminds us of the bully who would gladly steal away a crutch from an amputee so that he can raise a laugh when the person falls…..

Though the film should not be taken realistically, one wonders how a person living in a one room bustee and unconscious can be taken for 22 minutes in an upright position to Fortis Hospital? Moreover, who foots the medical bills??? Was there no government hospitals nearby? Contrary to Hirani’s perception, many persons are well treated and do get well in charitable and government hospitals.

The USP of the film lies in it’s technical qualities. Great cinematography by C.K.Murlidharan, wonderful sound designing by Bishwadeep, and superb editing by Ranjeet Bahadur and Hirani (his original area of expertise). The pace is well maintained at first, slackens occasionally but never falls below base level.

The actors have been thoroughly competent. Amir excels. His acting is exemplary in its continuity in transforming himsalf into a 20—22 year old even on close ups(his makeup man deserves credit for that).Madhavan underplays beautifully—giving space to Amir, and yet excels in certain scenes, specially the one with his father Parikshit. Sharman Joshi’s facial structure is comic and he seizes his opportunities with gusto. Kareena is lively, but still looks older than a third year medical student, specially in the scene where she liplocks Amir . Boman Irani is outstanding. The lisp, the posture and the lurking danger in his eyes counterpoints the protagonists brilliantly. Did he overact? In a Hirani film which is serio-comic and unreal in its treatment—Boman displayed the correct balance. But for me the real kudos should go to Ohm Vaidya, the little known actor from New York, who acted the part of Chatur. Magnificent comic timing,the irritating nasal tone and pace of dialogue delivery, the walk, the resentments and the smile was pluperperfect.

Santanu Maitra’s music was good. Unfortunately, they must be seen with the pictures to get its full impact. Standing alone in an audio disc, it is hummable but not outstanding like Parineeta or Antaheen. Click on the link below to hear what I mean….

http://www.box.net/shared/5i28t6qk98

Three Idiots is a film which relies on the wrong factors for its success. A film raking in crores every week is great for the film industry. The controversy on Plagiarism will bring in more people to the cinemas. But having spent 35 crores, will it do anything for the stature of Indian cinema? And finally when youngsters start pulling down their trousers and lift their backsides in myriads of educational institutions, and drink and urinate all over the place—will Amir Khan pat himself on the back as a trendsetter???

Cha-e Chuti

2009-12-27T11:32:00.001-08:00

There is a whiff of a breeze in Bengali Cinema. Apart from the aping of Masala Bollywood Films, occasionally a bubble floats up which is obviously commercial but different. The reason is because of a debutant director Aniket who has made Cha-E Chuti based on a true story…

A serial making unit gets a forced break when a technician accidentally dies on their sets. Silajit-Sonali-Kunal-Anjana-Dona-Rudranil-Locket-Kharaj-Rajesh and director Milan (all playing under their real names!!), forget the tragedy and under guidance of Sabyasachi(Benuda) make their way to Mehulpur –on-Sea in Orissa. Making the trip with them is Debshankar. Relationships are on the air and actors must obviously indulge in alcohol as that is their projected customary obsession.

Locket and Silajit are divorced from each other because Locket is a lesbian. Silajit is developing a relationship with Sonali and is on the verge of marrying her. Locket eyes new actress Dona who is sleeping with Rudranil in the hope of getting a film role. Anjana is disgusted with her drunken artist husband Debshankar and is on the verge of leaving him and moving in with Kunal. Kharaj is bent on enjoying his freedom from his domineering wife while Rajesh has come to gamble and drink.

As these relationships are developing, Kunal slaps the hotel caretaker and he falls down and dies. The actors decide to wipe out all evidence and dump the body onto the beach. The Police then step in and Silajit’s mobile is found near the body. The relationships crack under the tension. Dona turns away from Rudranil and into Locket’s arms. The famous and much publicised Locket-Dona liplock takes place.

(Advertisement value only)

Anjana decides to avoid Kunal who could possibly land in jail as it was he who had delivered the blow. She turns to her husband, specially on hearing that he is going to Germany on a scholarship. She says that she had disliked coming here with these actors, and that she would give up films. Kunal feels he has lost Anjana. Silajit wants to tell the truth to the police but is stopped by the rest. Sonali thinks that such an act would land her in jail because she was the one who had wiped the floor clean of blood. Silajit finds that Sonali wants to avoid him. Kharaj and Rudranil are depressed at the prospect of the police and legal hassles. The Police O.C. interrogates them mercilessly.

They call Benuda desperately. Debshankar learns that it was Anjana’s idea to come on the trip. Sabyasachi comes in and finally reveals all. The caretaker, Police O.C., Rajesh are all in the plot to play a joke on them. There has actually been no murder. The caretaker is alive. Relationships reverse once again. They depart as they had come—singing merrily. Sabyasachi proclaims that he has driven 29 years without an accident. Suddenly a body drops on them shattering the windscreen of their car. Is this now real or a joke???

The film suffered hugely when Kunal Mitra unfortunately died midway. However he had kept all his clothes used in the shooting, in a separate suitcase. Aniket managed to get a non film guy to fill in as a double. He had to resort to computer graphics to put the finishing touches. Srikanta Acharya was roped in to do the voice over. The compromises made to finish the film in Kunal’s absence are obvious.

Leaving this aside—the film’s main strength were its actors who performed well. Kharaj was outstanding and was ably accompanied by Rudranil. Aniket showed glimpses of his potential by using varied angles, specially the crane shots. His direction was crisp and focussed. The film showed signs of drifting occasionally—specially the Rabindrasangeet sequences. When will Bengali films do away with irrelevant songs which mar the pace of the film? The shots of the sea were very artificial, and there were too many dining hall sequences to show Kharaj’s gluttony. The film was almost two and a half hour long and could easily have been trimmed down by a good half hour.

The songs were in tune with the current practices of modifying old Bengali film hits. None of them were impressive. What was noticeable was some very competent editing. Badal Sirkar’s work as DOP was commendable as he got some good frames and angles. The colours were well blended. Aniket also realised that some sequences were tedious and out of tune with the pace of the film. He intelligently , with his DOP used innovative angles and crane speed to overcome that.

Watching it at Nandan was right, with the ticket prices at Rs.70.

Still at the very best , the film is a well made soft drink, which after the initial fizz, leaves little behind. It is difficult to recommend it wholeheartedly, but probably it is worth the effort to support these new directors who are trying to rejuvenate content based Bengali films.

Dreaming

2009-12-17T12:06:00.001-08:00

It is difficult to dream nowadays. Either you are tired—so it is easy to sleep or you are too busy with no time for yourself—specially if your professional practice is linked to your mobile. Dreaming requires time and space and it is difficult to get that specially if you are a husband, father, uncle, brother,honorary president or vice president etc. Dreaming requires a mood, and an ambience(how hackneyed has this word become!!). More important, it requires a blend, a cocktail of sudden silences and a wandering mind.

That suddenly happened this evening. Ranjana. and I had suddenly decided to go for a walk downstairs. Pluto cavorted in circles. The lawn was curiously empty. The traffic sounds wafted in from afar. A distance away, sounds of an exciting badminton game could just be heard. A lonely jet blinked its way across the dark Kolkata sky. Pluto had become strangely reticent and sat quietly on a chair. The green grass of the lawn was split by swathes of light from the street lamps. My mind began to wander in jagged lines across the day’s events.

I was the 8 year old boy walking along Puri beach. The warm moist sand was clinging to my toes. The foam of a receding wave percolated through my toe clefts. The evening sea breeze ruffled through my hair.My cousin stood looking at the restless sea surface. My sedate sister looked up at the sky catching the last rays of a sinking sun. My Father and Mother had paused for a moment to look back at us. My Mashi and Meshomasai stood silhouetted with a returning fisherman. Here in the heart of Kolkata , this scene from four decades back, etched in a strange receptacle of my memory box suddenly floated up.

Both my parents have passed on as have Mashi and Meshomoshai. My cousin has changed irrevocably and my sister is here but not here. But the salt spray tasted the same now as ever before.

The mobile phone rang. Pluto barked. A particularly loud horn blast from an irate lorry driver shattered the silence. NOW had returned with a vengeance. But at least, even if for a short while , I felt the power of a returning memory caught irrevocably in the cobwebs of time.

This link below will give the appropriate song by Kumar Shanu for the occasion.

http://www.box.net/shared/odoj1b6qdx

DEATH—How Easy To Forget…..

2009-12-12T11:02:00.001-08:00

Today, I attended a Sradh ceremony of a person who lived down the road. I had known him for years as a person who ran a business. We had nodded at each other, talked of nothing in particular on the few social gatherings we had attended together, and had invited each other on the ceremonies at our respective houses. I had seen him grow up, marry, have children ,reach middle age and then grow old.

When I reached, the ceremonies were over and a few family members were finishing lunch. His photo was displayed with lots of flower garlands all around. The incense sticks had died out. The photograph was of his younger days where he looked much younger than what I remembered. His son, head shaven, energetically tried to drag me for lunch.

I place the white rajanigandhas on the platform and fold my hands before his picture—an action that I had not done at any time when he was alive. A few feet away, groups of people talked about the latest news—Telengana, Gorkhaland, cricket and the deceased in that order.

His wife , wiped a tear away, but was soon chatting away about his last moments. I mouthed a few responses. She then called upon her acquaintances to talk about their back pain. She was proud of her son and his achievements, displaying a memento given by an association for a work well done. She then brought out an XRay to take an opinion on. She wanted to fix an appointment.

Inside ,children ran here and there. A DVD of a Hindi film played on. The ladies of the house were sipping tea and chatting away. The incense sticks burned on.

Suddenly, I felt claustrophobic. The narrow corridor started closing in on me. The windows started constricting and I suddenly could only see people talking, though I could not hear them. The sky had disappeared. Only a cold wind blew in through the open doors.

The chair in which the deceased had sat on a couple of weeks ago, the dining table which he had selected and had bought lovingly himself years ago, the stairs which he had gone up and down a countless times---all stared back at me. The deceased had gone--remembered now in snippets of conversation, photographs and his old clothes, watch and rings.

This fate awaits all of us—maybe tomorrow. I walk towards my car. The driver opens the door. I sink into the seat, and look at the roads teeming with the evening crowd. As I sit here penning these lines, I try very hard to remember the deceased’s face. But all I can bring back is a faded outline, blurred and washed out. The process of forgetting has started.

The Will To Death....

On my computer, I clicked on the play button above. This haunting song played on and on……

Paa—the movie review

2009-12-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you can feel a defining moment in film history. Probably, Satyajit Ray’s initial audience did. It is far more difficult to identify such a moment in commercial films. Probably Paa is.

With a standard story line, clever scripting techniques, the progeria struck protagonist Auro (Amitabh Bacchan)with very little time to live, the uniqueness of a son in real life (Abhisekh Bacchan), playing the father’s role while the real life father playing the son, and a pathbreaking make up by by Christien Tinsley (The Passion of The Christ) and Dominie Till (King Kong) , this film captivates the audience.

The director, adman R.Balakrishnan (Balki to everybody), is the National Creative Director at Lowe, who had the guts to fight for more payment to 80 deprived colleagues when IMG took over. When he was asked in an interview in 2004 as to how he preferred being known as, he replied “Simple”. That is the greatest quality of the film. Apart from a forgettable media bashing(literally) section, he keeps to telling a story of a father-son relationship, a man and woman story, a child and his family of Mum and Bum(grandmother—so called because she has a big one!!!), and a child and his school friends’ story.

Amol(Abhisekh) and Vidya(Vidya Balan) romance in Cambridge amongst the Cloisters and green fields and the library.

Amol does not wear a condom, a fact which he acknowledges to the world over a televised press conference later. The result is a pregnancy which Amol wants terminated. Amol wants to pursue his political ambitions under his rich father Mr.Atre’s(Paresh Rawal) guidance. Vidya in an overdrawn scene, is asked repeatedly by her mother Bum(Arundhuti Nag)—“Baccha chaahoge yah nahi?” She says yes and the result is Auro (NOT Aurobindo but Auro). She discovers Auro has progeria, a rare genetic disorder, in which the body ages quickly so much so that a 12 year old child may have a constitution of a 70 year old person. Naturally such patients die between the ages of 12—14. Auro is 12 and is on medicines and any abnormal stress may result in a catastrophe. But he remains like a normal schoolboy, requesting his mom not to drop him to school, refusing to eat Khichdi, and talking to the air sometimes.

Auro is told by his mother that he does not have a father, because his father did not want him. Auro’s work of a white globe is picked up by MP Amol, as a work denoting vision of a one world with no boundaries and the prize giving ceremony is transmitted on television , giving Vidya an opportunity to know about Amol’s current status.

The hounding media scare Auro, and he fires an email to Amol saying that he hates him for the media attention. Amol corrects that by an injunction from the High Court.The two chat on the Net and Amol offers to take Auro to see Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. However he forgets the date in the midst of a political battle. Auro, having told everyone , that he is going finds himself devastated when no one comes to pick him up. Amol however apologises and makes a fresh date. Meanwhile Vidya tells Auro that Amol is his father. Auro learns about the word “Bastard” at school and realises that he is one because his parents did not go “Round and Round”. He is warned by Vidya that he is not to be a “Hichki” to Amol.

Amol and Auro go to Delhi and build up a relationship, where Auro teaches Amol his famous dance involving fingering of the bum in a curiously empty Delhi Metro compartment. Auro displays his simple theory about bodyguards saying that a Potty Bomb can kill Amol because his bodyguards cannot prevent that.

On the flight back, he says that Amol has made a mistake.His last mistake was forgetting his promise to Auro. His pichli ka pichli mistake was letting the media scare Auro, and as he was trying to say “Pichli ka Pichli ka Pichli” mistake, he remembers that he should not be a Hichki.

They return home where Auro suffers a stroke after inadvertently entering the cricket field. His days are numbered. Amol learns from Bum that Auro is in hospital. He rushes to the hospital and in a memorable silent scene learns that Vidya is Auro’s mother and he is the father. Amol wants Vidya to forgive him, but he refuses. Auro tries to bring them together, but Vidya is adamant. Auro then shouts himself to another stroke. Practically on his deathbed, he receives the apology from a girl who had run away scared from him and to whom he never gave the opportunity to patch up. The girl says”Galti karnewalo ki to mauka chahiye…”. Auro forces his parents to hold hands and do the “Round and round”. He tells Amol that his “Pichli ka pichli ka pichli mistake was Auro”.

With his dying breath, he calls Vidya as Ma and Amol as Paa.

The highlight is of course the fact that Auro beat Amitabh Bacchan. In a role which will sweep every Award ceremony, Amitabh replaces his rich baritone for a nasal squiggly voice which is still very ,very audible.. His posture ,walking, movements, smiles, pouts,eye movement, are all anti- Amitabh and an unique achievement.

Amitabh modestly says that the makeup did it all. Christien and Dominie took a latex mould and fitted it over the face(Beard and all!!). they took 4-5 hours each day to paint the veins and lines on the actor’s face.The result was that even on a full screen facial shot, one could not spot any flaw. No wonder they took 6 crores of the 14.75 crore total budget. They provided a platform—Amitabh the actor then took over, to create this magnificent, unforgettable role. The Tarzan like chest thumps, the sudden sniggers, the deadpan delivery and the millisecond advancement of dialogue timing was brilliant.

Abhisekh was cool and suave, perhaps overdoing in certain areas. But he was photographed well and remained vibrant throughout. In the latter half, he showed his prowess with expressive eyes and movements. He remained a solid foil to a strong, determined Vidya Balan, who conveyed the nuances of a powerful, but caring and sentimental mother. Her role is in tune with her saris(Designed by Sabyasachi), sombre and striking. effortlessly straddling the back and foreground whenever needed.

Arundhuti Nag demonstrated her theatre training of 25 years, in little touches, her demeanour and the essential love for her family percolating through every facial expression.

For her, the role was perhaps routine, but the determination with which she built the 3 storied Ranga Mancha in Bangalore as a counterfoil to Prithvi Theatres from scratch, was very much evident as a strong woman who is unfazed by her daughter’s single mother status. Paresh Rawal was adequate, and handled the faux pas in the “Visiting Hours are over” sequence. The child actors were well handled by Balki, with Vishnu (Pratik Katare) outstanding in a sequence where he compares himself with his father-“Woh humko murder karne chahte hain aur main suicide karna chahta hoon."

Balki considers Ilyaraja as the God of music.”Even if we all live for another 5000 years to compose music, we won't get as melodious as him," he said. Unfortunately ,though the background score was good, the songs left a lot to be desired.None of the songs are outstanding, and are unlikely to be popular as Taare Zameen Par.

The cinematographer, P.C.Srinivas did a good job in capturing the Cambridge greenery, but had a tough time in the indoor sequences at Auro’s home. He used innovative camera angles to reduce Amitabh’s height and the discrepancies with his co-actors. But this necessity forced him to compromise in indoor shots in Auro’s home.

Editor Anil Naidu was competent but several of his cuttings in the initial song sequence was irritating to the eye.

Francis Ford Coppolas “Jack” had a similar theme played by Robin Williams. But it was perhaps Coppola”s most forgettable film.

Director and screen writer Balki surpassed himself.He had the advantage of a physically handicapped child as an excuse for using words potty, shit etc, and jokes related to it. Mercifully, he did not degenerate into too many PJs.His handling of the modern schoolboy mentality, frustrations, humour and friendly dialogues was spot on. His greatest success was never to let the whole story lapse into melodrama.

His mistakes included the attack on the media personalities, which was perhaps the Bacchan’s reply to nosy media speculations and unethics!!!

Another area was when Auro was going to Delhi with Amol. Can a mother of a dying boy allow her son to go unaccompanied by a member of the family and without meeting the person who was taking him and without explaining about all the tablets the son was taking? How could she allow him to get into a strange car to take him to the airport? How can Amol with all his father’s clout be unable to find Vidya who is a practising Gynaecologist, if he was so much in love with her? How can Amol send off such a boy from the airport to his home without coming to his house to at least talk with an adult of that family? All of these could have been crucial in another film, but the sheer weight of Amitabh’s role relegates everything to the back ground.

'Paa', is an AB Corp Ltd presentation in association with Reliance BIG Pictures, and is being released in 700 screens worldwide, including print and digital formats. The countries include UK, US, Canada, UAE, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

So just sit back and enjoy the movie without nitpicking.You are seeing a landmark in Indian Cinema. If a Slumdog could win at the Oscars,then Paa is in the hunt for the Best Actor.

AB Corp, you have to hype it well. You have made the right start in inviting Amir and even waiting for him to start the premiere show. You need all of his inputs for the Oscar lobbying….

HitList—the Movie

2009-11-21T20:52:00.001-08:00

Sandip Ray’s position is unenviable. Every day and in every film he makes, there is the invisible shadow of his father’s name hanging over his head. He cannot deviate from his father’s style and taste, nor does he have the quality of thought, actors, music directors or cinematographers that his father had. His script is devoid of all the nuances and subtleties of his father and his story telling abilities are just about average. Nowhere has this been more obvious than his current release—HitList.

(Tota ,Sudipta, Koel )

The story is simplistically simple. Inspired by what he had read years earlier, Sandip Ray’s script is loosely based on Dark Days of the American Dream , Sin City or Black Dahlia and features the avenging widow who systematically kills off her husband’s killers. Tota Roychoudhury, Sudipta(his screen wife), Saheb and Babul Supriyo of MIdLife Advertising agency sell off their concept to a rival firm. Subhranil Dutta (Rono) is the honest Creative Director who is killed in a frenzy of rage at Tota’s house. Koel(Anindita Chatterjee) is Rono’s wife, who gets employment at the same firm and then starts her revenge spree.

(Saheb, Babul, Sandip Roy)

Saswata is the police officer in a forgettable role, who brings in his guru Dhritiman Chatterjee(Prabhat) to solve the case. Dhritiman hounds the suspects, till Tota and his wife drive off the road at KualaLumpur( don’t know why they had to go there). Dhritiman knows Koel’s killing off the other two but releases her as he feels that he would have done the same thing.

(Koel)

The film is horribly out of tune with modern films. Apart from the Feluda like opening style of Babul Supriyo’s murder, and the taut progress of the first fifteen minutes, the film meanders along without any serious attempt at character delineation or psychological delvings into what causes normal people to behave abnormally and talk about killing people as casually as swatting a fly. The opportunities were there. The reactions of the four killers, and how they changed after the murder was one area. Koel’s reactions after her husband’s death and her transformation into a cold blooded killer was never explained. These are the areas where there is real directorial or script work. Unfortunately there was none. Why were Dipankar Dey(Koel’s screen father) and his wife brought in? There was no real interaction between them. Tinnu Anand got a paid Kuala Lumpur trip for a side role of no substance or worth. He was sent once to Satyajit Ray by his father Inder Raj Anand to see film making. I am sure he can see the contrast.

(Sandip and Tinu)

Dhritiman Chatterjee wearing a jacket and scarf and dark glasses , stands out like a snow mountain in the desert and certainly NOT like an undercover detective. Did Sandip Ray think of the Kiriti Roy/ Swapankumar stories of a bygone era?

(Dhritiman)

If so, he is hopelessly out of sync with the 21st century. What was the purpose in showing the Malaysian dance performance? Payback time to Malaysia tourism?? What use was the ad film shots of the Malaysian model? Some ogling interest?

(Kim)

Prasenjit turned down the role played by Tota. It speaks volumes of his intelligence. The role is not fleshed out, nor does it have any acting peaks. Tota does his best, consummate actor that he is. But even he will be dissatisfied by the final effect—the instant erasure when the film ends from the memory of the viewer. Sudipta is now looking her age and is overacting in parts.

(Tota and Sudipta)

Babul Supriyo ‘s role is inconsequential. Subhranil looked dignified and serious. The real surprise was Saheb. Energetic, restless, flirtatious, exuberant—he conveyed his character brilliantly. His death midway in the film resulted in the loss of whatever energy the film had.

(Saheb and Koel)

(Saheb and Babul)

There were two previous Topshe’s in the film—Siddhartha and Saswata. But again they must have been also confused as to what they were doing there.

Koel deviates from her song and dance heroine roles and shows that she has the potential for good acting. However ,there were areas in which she is very ordinary. Her reaction on seeing her husband’s dead body is typically Hindi film of the 70s copy. One can literally see her winding up for the wail. Again , if the director had so wanted, there was enough scope for her to emote with force and character. She could never convey the changes which transforms her from an ordinary house wife to a cold blooded scheming killer.

(Koel and Tinu)

And how can anyone be so foolish as to keep her Hit List on her mobile!!!! Dhritiman Chatterjee is lost in this role of the retired police officer who relies on his hunches. Any decent forensic expert or Police Officer could tell that the injury on Rono’s head was made antemortem and by a sharp heavy object.

The cinematography(Sasanka) was competent with a few great shots like Koel standing against the Kuala Lumpur skyline and the Koel-Dhritiman conversation on the office balcony.

(Koel)

The Editor Subroto Roy did his best. Though there were a couple of false cuts, whatever pace the film had was due to him. The music is eminently forgettable and so unfortunately is the film. Thank God, I saw it at Nandan (half empty on the first Saturday evening show) for Rs. 70. The INOX crowd must be regretting their expense.

(Shooting Scene)

Sandip Ray could very well benefit from watching the classic of them all with the same theme—The Bride Wore Black by Francois Truffaut.

(Original Poster Of Bride Wore Black)

Is it too much to expect a film a little like that from a man who has the genes of one of the best film directors of all times and who had the unique opportunity to work with him in his formative years?

Sandip Ray

Africa unmissable 2

2009-11-16T12:43:00.001-08:00

After leaving Ambroseli, we had a long drive to Nairobi, interspersed with a toilet cum shopping halt. Prices in Kenya for curios are amenable to bargaining. You must start bargaining from one third the price. Try and buy multiple items so that you can give a composite offer. Often, you can get similar items in Kolkata at lesser price. The best buys are the intricately carved wooden items, specially the ones done in ebony.

We approached Nairobi in about 5 hours. Most of the road is pebbled or on a dirt track.The experience is not very smooth. On the road, there are small townships. One of the features is of roadside stalls selling onions tied in plastic packets. The price is about 5 times that in Kolkata. However, these stalls make a colourful sight.

In Nairobi, we got stuck in a traffic jam. Apparently, getting stuck for a couple of hours is not unusual. Dennis decided to take a Mombasa Bypass road. To call this a road is a sacrilege. A dust spaceway is far more accurate. For 20 kms we bucked around like an unruly wild horse, inhaling dust like an uncertified fertiliser factory. Finally, we reached our hotel.

Several of us decided to visit the world famous Carnivore restaurant where they could serve 28 varieties of meat. At a fixed price, you could go on eating till you were super full. Waiters would come with meat selections, from which they would cut slices, or drop kababs on to your plate. When satiated, you have to drop the flag on your table, after which they would serve desserts. Birthday parties galore invited a special song and dance from the waiters with sparklers and music. Having ostrich meat balls with vodka was a fascinating experience.

Next day, after an early breakfast, we moved on to Masai Mara National Park, which was about 4 hours away along better roads for most of the time.We stopped at a view point of the Great Rift Valley.

At a shop there, thin bamboo figures attached to a stick danced in the breeze. There were animal skins for sale also.

The final stretch of an hour was once again rough. Dennis told us that the roads were kept that way , so that everybody had to depend on these vans and drivers to get there. Also, he claimed, this enhanced the Safari experience. We did not agree with that. After lunch, we started on an evening Game drive.

Masai Mara is fascinating. Much more verdant than Ambroseli, the animals looked well fed and happier. Giraffes strolled about, munching leaves. Zebras, antelopes and wildebeest grazed peacefully.

Surprisingly we saw lots of cows grazing around, guarded by one or two brightly clad Masai men.These cows and goats have bells which warns wild animals not to touch them or else the Masai men would come after them.

But the most fascinating sights were the Lions. We saw the mating between a handsome couple. Apparently the Male does not eat food for a week during this period, copulates for 15 seconds and can repeat the procedure 72 times a day, a fact which was amazing and hard to believe.

We saw a lioness gnawing away at a Zebra which had been freshly killed, a nd a family which lay in a thicket and refused to come out. Elephant herds tore off leaves and moved about with their cubs. The sunset in Masai Mara is unforgettable.

Gradually twilight set in, the shadows got longer, the animals retreated to their shelters, and we rushed back, leaving dust trails across the vast landscape. We stayed at the Sopa Lodge, which had all modern amenities, with a well stocked bar and swimming pool. Only, the provision of a fan in the rooms would have been helpful.

The cottages are set among thick trees and a Jacaranda tree lent a subtle blue contrast to the greenery and the multicoloured Bougenvilleas. Helpful guards greeted us with “Jambo” which means “Welcome” in Swahili.

A good dinner followed. The only problem was that you had to buy mineral water at about Rs.250/ per bottle. In India it is Rs 10/- !!!!!

In the next post, I will describe our visit to a Masai Village and more safari drives.

Click on the link below for some more pics….

http://picasaweb.google.com/indrajitsardar/Special?feat=directlink

Kenya Unmissable

2009-10-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

Whenever you go on a trip to Africa, there are varying comments . Some say it is wildly exciting, some say it is strenuous, some say the weather is unpredictable, others say the game drives can be disappointing, some say the roads are too atrocious and the law-and-order situation is not that good. All are perhaps true. But in our view, a Kenyan Safari tour is unmissable, something which you must do in a lifetime.

We landed in Nairobi, 6 hours behind schedule, spending most of the waiting time at Mumbai airport.

On arrival we were presented Safari hats and were whisked off to a small countryside resort where a welcome iced drink greeted us.

A lunch spread was laid out, and consisted amongst other things, of fresh cut and whole fruit, which is an unique feature of all our meals in Kenya. Our meal was under massive trees filled with the nests of the weaver birds. Bougenvillas were everywhere.

Then we started off for Ambroseli National Park, about another 5 hours away. The Nissan Urvan car or a close prototype (our car was labelled CHUI, Swahili for Cheetah) was driven with frenetic speed by Dennis. We were made aware of all the 8 axes of movements for about 21/2 hours in pitch darkness. We bumped, twisted, jumped, angled and spun our way upto the game resort, getting a mouth and lungful of dust everytime we slid the glass window panel back, in a journey which we were cheerfully told was an African Massage!!!!

We stayed at the tourist Resort there where there was good food and comfortable accommodation, before going on a morning Game drive.

Our morning was highlighted by the sight of the majestic Kilimanjaro mountain rising massively in front of us.

Ambroseli was an arid area with frequent dust storms, but all that was forgotten as we started viewing the animals on both side of us. The Zebra packs and the gazelles loped around , ferreting out grass shoots. A group of ostriches walked away with their noses in the air.A wart hog careered off and then suddenly we spotted three cheetahs resting under a massive tree. As if on cue, one and then two climbed up a tree trunk and were marvellously etched against the sky.

All around we saw the dead lying around. There was no burials or cremation—only desecration by vultures, maribous, or other scavengers.Skeletons lay strewn around—a grim reminder that time or tide waits for no one. Beside them, life flourished. Green grass abounded, as did trees. Birds flitted around, the zebras and the gazelles grazed, lions and cheetahs were on the prowl, and we watched with awe and astonishment that maybe this is what crude life is worth, and that we only build sandcastles of culture and beauty over it.

The lions then were sighted, as they walked towards us, disdainful of the puny humans cowering inside a car.

In the swamp lands further on, adult elephants capered in the mud.

Wildebeests and Zebras found the terrain to their liking.

Water buffaloes wallowed to their hearts content with their Egret friends.

On this happy note, we made our way back from Ambroseli and set out for Nairobi.

Descriptions of the rest of the safari will follow. So do come back again. Meanwhile click on these links below for more pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/indrajitsardar/Compressed2?authkey=Gv1sRgCNfpobbF6KDsQA&feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/indrajitsardar/AfricanSafariCompressed?authkey=Gv1sRgCKS46aHvpsuLqQE&feat=directlink

PLUTO

2009-09-13T12:47:00.001-07:00

“How come ”, Pluto queried, “You have never really taken good close-up photos of me, and posted it on the net?” “But I did,Pluto,” I said. “I wrote a whole post about you”. Pluto looked at me suspiciously. Then he gave his cunning smile and sniggered. “You know, my photos would attract all my followers to your blog. Your traffic will increase”.

I was irritated.”Pluto, let’s get it clear. Your photos or no photos, my blog friends would still log in”.

Pluto this time chortled. “Put my full size photographs and see the effect. After all, I am THE pug who talks. And more ladies cuddle me than you ever could imagine!!!!!”

With this true and piercing barb, he walked away. As if on cue, the doorbell rang and several young girls waltzed in.”Hi uncle,” they said.”Can we play with Pluto?” Pluto had already started licking them. I sort of sensed his triumphant look. I slunk away and started posting these photos.

Do click on this link. I have promised Pluto I will upload further pics. As for now, let me quickly hurry away….

http://picasaweb.google.com/indrajitsardar/Pluto?authkey=Gv1sRgCMKa5-6k7OrsGw&feat=directlink

Swiss Journey 2

2009-09-06T12:09:00.001-07:00

Swiss.mp3

(Click on the play button to hear this Swiss song)

There is something called a Swiss atmosphere. Freshly baked bread and pastries, delightful window displays, free newspapers at railway stations, cooked meat displays, sitting on tables on the footpath with steaks and vodka and beer, looking at the marvellously crafted cuckoo clocks and watches and Swiss Army Knives, and the warm taste of chocolates all the time. Lots of people cycle to work, cities start to work from 5 AM, cleanliness is a way of life, and people have leisure to backpack, travel or drive to attractive destinations.

And yet, during the recession, it was Indian tourists which kept them going. They came in droves, and the tour guides and the bus drivers and the restaurants could survive. This was a statement made by the concerned people. Swiss ticket collectors said “Namaskar” and “Dhanyabad”. There are flourishing Indian Restaurants. And 50% of their fruits are brought in from India. Switzerland lacks sea beaches and that’s why they travel to South East Asia and India so much.

And so I wondered. Indians are invading the world. They are now everywhere. But, in the process are we neglecting our own culture and our traditions and our own country??

http://picasaweb.google.com/indrajitsardar/SelectedSwissPics2?authkey=Gv1sRgCNeFgLio_ruYLA&feat=directlink

Rediscovered poem

2009-09-05T17:07:00.001-07:00

Monday, May 31, 2004

When was the last time we watched daybreak together?
as the first rays hit the sunflower and you,
clouds moved away from between,
as i watched your pupils constrict with the orange sky.
The swirling breeze carried away your words
Away from me to the deepest gorge,
only the eagle far above paused in silent query,
i asked you again and again,
but you had gone, and the sun was high,
the dewdrops had left the upturned leaves,
the moist ground bore your sweat---
and your fragrance....
What did you say, that day, that daybreak??

Guitar Ballad.mp3

Switzerland

2009-08-31T09:08:00.001-07:00

It seems so silly to write about a Switzerland trip, as countless tourists from innumerable countries have travelled there. Millions of articles and photographs have been published. And yet when we reached there and started absorbing the visual delights , we were left not only thrilled but also annoyed. The reason for the annoyance started when we started comparing with the great natural beauty of our own country, and the difference in “display”. Switzerland was so clean, so underpopulated, so regulated, so orderly. We are dirtying our treasures, the mad and constant crowd rush is overpowering, the systems are so disorganised that many times it borders on the mad and chaotic. Switzerland surrounds you with its beauty, India overwhelms like a ballooning canvas hitting your face.

Lucerne, Mt.Titlis, Jangfrauschol, Zurich, Rhine Falls were stunning, but after a few days one yearned for the comfortable.mad rush of Kolkata. Call it inertia of the stationary, or the fear of adjustments in the elderly age, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief as we scurried home to our homes and families.

I looked at it like a photo trip, my mind and spirit assuaged by the plethora of pictures framed by the bus window or a camera viewfinder. Rolling verdant greens on one side with the traditional chalets on a niche beside the tall pine trees, lonely inviting paths winding past gurgling brooks, the tinkling of the cowbells reverberating off the omnipresent craggy mountains and gorges, the clear blue sky with an incessant passage of fluffy white clouds(we were blessed with good weather), and the snow and the glaciers shooting little arrows of reflected sunlight which blinded us, the lazy yachts with ballooning sails framed on the distant peaks, the crystal clear waters of the lakes, the wonderfully maintained tourist attractions like the Ice Palace and the maddeningly clean trains and buses and roads---all were drunk in by our parched eyes.

Everyone one of us must visit this heaven at least once in a lifetime.

Switzerland selected album

Look up the photos on this link.

Antaheen--the Endless

2009-08-15T12:47:00.001-07:00

I did not get to see the film Antaheen earlier. Maybe I skipped seeing it deliberately , to watch it without the hype and the hoopla of being a golden harbinger of the "New" Bengali films. So. this evening , I settled down to it, with time on my hands, mobile phone switched off, and after an extremely rare great afternoon nap.

The storyline is difficult to narrate, as I sometimes wondered whether there was one. Abhik Choudhury (Rahul Bose) , a Police Officer and Brinda Menon (Radhika Apte), a Star Ananda reporter are chat mates and do not know their identities. They meet in common circles which includes Abhik's brother Ronno(Kalyan Roy) and his separated- but -still -friend-wife Paromita (Aparna Sen), who also happens to be the marketing manager of Star Ananda. Abhik's aunt is Sharmila Tagore who looks after him and thinks Jasmine Tea(!!!!) is a solution to many problems.

V.K.Mehra (Shauvik Kundragani) is developing a property which has some irregularities (which are never quite revealed) and he had a stepdaughter who died in an accident for which he was blamed by his wife(Mita Vashisth). These characters are connected together by a few wonderful scenes of Kolkata, brilliantly penned songs by Chandril and Anindya, a magnificent musical score by Shantanu Moitra, and competent performances by skilled actors. Mention must be made of Radhika Apte who brings an innocence, intelligence and freshness into her role which for long periods command our attention.

However, the real stars are Avik Mukhopadhyaya , the Cinematographer and Arghya Kamal Mitra and Rabi Ranjan Moitra , the Editors. Abhik creates some wonderful frames, gloss, watershots of incredible relevance and beauty, and his lighting is mostly spectacular and accurate. Arghya Kamal's work is fascinating and instructional. He sets up scenes with a minimum of cuts and he holds the mood of the film throughout with elan. This is a "Mood" film and any deficiencies would have ruined it irrecoverably. Special mention must be made of Biswadip Chatterjee's sound designing, where even the twirling of a metal coin on the ground adds to the superior technical quality of the film.

These were the achievements of the film. The look of the film was international--but not its contents. The style was commendable but not its impression.

The greatest failure was probably caused by the creators who happened to come from the Ad world. The film does not deliver as it should have. It deals with a microscopic portion of Bengali Society. It is a walk through a world dominated by whisky, English poetry, photography, cell phones, parties and potted plants and fancy lampshades.

There is no conflict, no great intellectual relationships, no telling moments of personal relationships. The plot and the script are weak and contrived. Can an adult mature couple separate because one blames the other for going off on a photography tour during which the father in law dies ? Can a mother actually keep on blaming her husband for years for sending a driver to fetch her daughter from school and thereby getting involved in a fatal accident? Do police officers and journalists get such easy ,relaxed lifestyles in such comfortable surroundings?

The interplay of words in the script is contrived, artificial, familiar and oft-repeated. How I raised my hands in frustration when I heard ad nauseum, the word "adjustment" as the key words in marriage, in the best style of marriage manual books. The episodes of the unknown afternoon male telephone caller and the response from the elderly Sharmila smacks of the Bengali short story style of the seventies and eighties. The scene of the confident adult, self sufficient female reporter crying (yes, crying) on hearing that her friendly superior was leaving, bordered on the ridiculous. The famous Bengali sentimentality had to come out in this unbecoming and obviously forced way!!!

Finally tragedy strikes and the heroine dies in an accident . Or was it a murder? The Director deliberately leaves it unclear. As a fall out Ronno and Paromita start their journey back to reconciliation. Again, the meandering plot was going nowhere, and it was half expected that the Climax would be like this. The Death thus appeared inevitable and bland. In a film with almost nil high voltage value, perhaps this situation could have been exploited better.

I could go on and on, but there seems to be an obvious discrepancy in the script, as if two persons had written it. Was Shyamal Sengupta the only script writer, or were there inputs from the director?

Overall, the film is eminently watchable, specially in the DVD version at home.That should satisfy the Director Aniruddha Roychoudhury. But for the discerning viewer, it leaves behind an endless(Antaheen} disappointment of an opportunity missed , and our hopes dashed of seeing a significant, rememberable Bengali film.

Sreya Ghoshal in a song for all times...

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Pluto and I

2009-08-07T14:03:00.001-07:00

Indian cricket players

refuse to sign WADA

drug testing papers!!!!

Pluto is our pug. Blessed with a sniffy pug nose, upturned tail and frequent shaking of his fawn body, he surprised us one day by his understanding of English and ability to speak in that language. Having got his audience (i.e.me ), he forced me to listen to him by his persistent barking.Having watched him lap up the Breaking News on TV, I was apprehensive that he would start a conversation with me about the future of Indian Cricket. Sure enough on the evening before, he suddenly snuggled up at my feet (a sure sign he wants to talk).

His question was breathtaking. "How, "he asked, "Is it possible for me to get a drug test now?". I was aghast. "Drug test? But you don't take any drugs. Except for the ones I give you when you are sick." Pluto got up on his feet and looked disdainfully at me. "I know that," he said."But I want to get tested by WADA".

"Look, Pluto, that is only meant for sportspersons. That is, non-Indian cricketers and other lowly sportspersons," I said. Pluto's eyes glinted."That is exactly why," he chortled. " I appear in dog shows. I stand for hours on the field, and in the pavilion. International judges come and poke me at odd places. But they don't test me for drugs. You know ,I could possibly win somewhere, if you drugged me and enhanced my performance."

"But, Pluto," I explained," There is no credit in winning with drugs. It is unethical and you are taking unfair advantage. Pluto looked astonished."I can understand with my little doggy brain, that the key issue here is not taking drugs, but being careful that you are not caught."

I was now getting hot under my collar." Pluto!!" I thundered."If you take a performance enhancing drug, and you hit a century, or score 3 goals, or win a dog show for that matter, you will be the first person to be called upon to take a drug test--and you will be CAUGHT...". Pluto can be most irritating when he shakes himself and gives you a victorious look. He did that, and stated triumphantly, " That is why you should take the drug months before, so that you get your improved physical attributes well before the matches---and when they test you they find no trace of the drug!!!".

I was tired. "Look Pluto, WADA persons are not fools. They examine you in off season as well. They can make surprise checks. They will catch you," I stated. Pluto smiled. "That is why I will oppose checks in the off season. I will delete that cause. I will get my Doggy Association to refuse to go under the bushes and to do it on the doorsteps. I am sure, then they will listen..."

"But Pluto, "I said," You surely can't imagine cricketers like Dhoni, Yuvraaj, Harbhajan taking drugs???".

Pluto this time walked towards me shaking his puggy head in amazement at my ignorance. " Of course not. But who has opposed this Wada tests? Only the bachelors!!! Has Sehwag, Sachin, Dravid said anything? Look at me. I spend quality time with Coco in the next building and Reshmi in the flat below and others, and I would be annoyed if I had to go the bathroom to give a urine test. So that is why I want a drug test when I want to and where I want to. So, I want to test now, when I am free and not in the middle of......."

I conceded defeat and sat down on the easy chair and looked at the setting sun.

Pluto then consoled me as he licked my hands. "Don't worry, someday you may just get to be as intelligent as me!!!!!!," he murmured, before curling down for his siesta.

Kishore--the GREATEST!!!!

2009-08-02T02:53:00.001-07:00

There has been many singers of popular songs in India. Many great singers who have delighted us throughout the years. Many have been superbly trained. Many were at home with Classical music as well as modern music. Many were specially brilliant in romantic songs and many sang duets with great felicity. But there was none who could match the way Kishore Kumar made his way into the heart of the everyday Indian. The raw student, the middle class hardworking clerk, the housewife in the middle of her humdrum daily routine, the retired civil servant sitting on his easychair---all were enamoured by him.

There was something in his tonal quality, something in the notes he hit,that no one could really reproduce but wanted to desperately, thinking it was achievable.He coud take a simple song and transform it into a major hit. Perhaps because he was not classically trained as other singers, his voice had a few rough edges which brought him closer to his listeners like no one else. So 22 years after his death, he is still revered and respected and followed than ever before.

ChalKe_Tujhe Kisho...

Kishore lived in a world of his own. He talked to his trees, locked himself up for a couple of days, erected a notice stating Pagalkhana outside his house in Mumbai. He used to come to the studio with an imaginary boy and engage in a conversation with him. "A bakwas song", the boy would say(actually Kishore Kumar's voice) and Kishore would reply that these comments had better be made at home!!!!

Kishore was driving a car in a film shoot when the director missed saying "CUT". Kishore just went off driving right up to Khandala!!!!

Once when a producer failed to pay him his dues in time for a film in which Kishore was a hero. Kishore reported the next day with his hair shaved off the right side of his scalp, as well as his moustache shaved on the right side only. He further stated that he would shoot like that. Needless to say he got paid promptly!!!! A master at yodelling, comic songs, a wonderful dancer in his own style, and a comedian with impeccable timing, film maker and director, he inevitably was copied by many. Kumar Shanu, Abhijit, Gautam Ghosh, etc. to name a few. But no one could match his versatility. I do not think ANYONE still would dare to sing the following song!!!!

Ki kore bojhai - K...

Kishore was a restless personality who could not stand still. he fell in love and married the sweet Bengali singer Ruma Ghosh in 1951. Amit Kumar was their son. Amit did sing some great songs but did not have the special talent to overcome his technical deficiencies. Kishore divorced Ruma in 1958 and subsequently married the beautiful Madhubala in 1960. This marriage was opposed by both sides, as Madhubala was a Muslim and was suffering from a hole in the heart which the doctors in London had predicted would kill her in a year. Kishore insisted on the marriage. Madhubala died nine years later and it was rumoured that Kishore had married her to give her emotional support . Both married on the rebound. Kishore, after his divorce from Ruma and Madhubala after the ending of an affair with Dilip Kumar. Madhubala died in 1969.

He surprised everyone by marrying Yogita Bali in 1976 but divorced her after 2 years. No one really found out the reason for this strange liason. In 1980 he finally married Leena Chandravarkar, who lost her previous husband Siddharth Bandodkar on her wedding night. Again it seemed that Kishore married her to give her solace and support. Their son Sumeet is a promising musician but yet to do something world shaking.

Ruma Guhathakurta Madhubala

Yogita Bali Leena Chandravarkar

Sumeet Kumar Amit Kumar

In the mid Seventies, he refused to support the Emergency imposed on the country and rejected Sanjay Gandhi's request to sing at a Congress rally. He was then subjected to numerous Income Tax raids and was blacklisted for a couple of years. He was refused contracts, his voice nor his songs could not be aired over AIR or Doordarshan, and he was not even allowed to sing duets. He flourished after Indira Gandhi lost the elections and produced some of his greatest hits after that.

In the mid Eighties, Amitabh Bachchan refused to do a guest role in one of his films. Peeved and irritated, Kishore hit back by refusing to sing for him. Amitabh ,then in great financial difficulties, was forced to take up Kaun Banega Crorepati and the rest is history.

After Yogita Bali left Kishore and married Mithun, Kishore refused to sing for him. But he relented later and sang for him in Disco Dacer, Muddat etc.

Kishore died on October 13, 1987.

But he left us with the vision of a world of his own. And even now when I see teenagers listening to his songs and humming them, that I realise that his vision was universal. for all generations, for all times....

Neel e Neele Ambar...

Ihe Indo -Pak Joint Declaration---outfoxed, outplayed and thrashed !!!!

2009-07-31T12:02:00.001-07:00

Reading the Indo-Pak Joint Declaration was a revelation. Do we really have a Foreign Department? Were they mass drugged , stuporous, befuddled when they allowed the Prime Minister to sign this document? Was Manmohan Singh suffering from a bout of Hypoxia when he approved of this? Was he suffering from Anoxia when he consciously tried to defend this document in Parliament?

Read the full text first.

Text of Joint Statement between India and Pakistan.

The two prime ministers had a cordial and constructive meeting. They considered the entire gamut of bilateral relations with a view to charting the way forward in India-Pakistan relations.

Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries. Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and to cooperate with each other to this end.

Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard. He said that Pakistan has provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks and had sought additional information/evidence. Prime Minister Singh said that the dossier is being reviewed.

Both leaders agreed that the two countries will share real time credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats.

Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas.

Both prime ministers recognised that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed.

Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues.

Prime Minister Singh reiterated India’s interest in a stable, democratic Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Both leaders agreed that the real challenge is development and the elimination of poverty. Both leaders are resolved to eliminate those factors which prevent our countries from realising their full potential. Both agreed to work to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.

Both leaders reaffirmed their intention to promote regional cooperation.

Both foreign secretaries should meet as often as necessary and report to the two foreign ministers, who will be meeting on the sidelines of the forthcoming U.N. General Assembly.

Now analysing :-

1) "Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries".

So one country initiates terrorism, allows and actively supports groups like Lashkar -e- Toiba to garner memberships approaching one and a half lakhs, supports Taliban and allows it to occupy Pakistani Territory, gives safe haven for persons like Osama Bin Laden and Dawood Ibrahim and yet has the qualification to assume same status as one in which bomb blasts have taken thousands of innocent lives, temples, trains and even its Parliament has been attacked, where a systematic false currency racket has been funded, propagated and made to flourish. What an upliftment for a criminal state to be equated with one which is said to be in the right.... Charles Sobhraj being equated with Jawaharlal Nehru!!!!!

2) "Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas."

Why mention this in a Joint Declaration? India allows it to be mentioned. The obvious conclusion is that India is involved, or otherwise why mention it at all?? So on every public forum from now on, India will have to defend herself and assume a protective attitude. A glib talking, smug faced, smirking Shashi Tharoor explains that they(Pakistanis) wanted to put it in, and we have nothing to hide, and this is not a legal document only a diplomatic one, so we allowed it.

So you can issue an official joint statement and it is not binding on any one. So why have this exercise in nothingness? So why then try and justify it in Parliament? And then a spluttering Pranab Mukherjee says that it is written that Prime Minister Gilani put in the reference about Pakistan. Therefore it is an unilateral statement and it is not of any value. So why does an unilateral statement appear in a Joint Statement duly ratified by BOTH Prime Ministers? It is so much easier to be aggressive and righteous in your own house rather than on the battlefields of the negotiation table. How much can a government really wriggle? This government is setting the standards!!!!

3)"Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these should not be bracketed."

So Pakistan can unleash terrorist strikes and ask India for talks, all in the same breath. So our PM says Trust and then verify. So a girl can go on a blind date , on trust, and then when she tries to verify, she has been compromised. Is not it far better to verify first and then to trust? Would Shri Manmohan Singh allow his daughters to trust first and then to verify? It seems he has forgotten parenting in A Big Way....

By bracketing, we will have very good dialogue, lots of statements and no action.. So even if Victoria Memorial is blasted we will still follow the dialogue trail......

4) Pakistan's ambassador to the UN can now comfortably say that there is no evidence linking Saeed to 26/11 while our Home Minister can cry from the rooftops that there is sufficient evidence to convict him. The worst aspect of this deal is that it is not time bound. So there will be terrorist attacks on Indian soil by Pakistani based agents, and then we can wait for a lifetime before Pakistan can complete a case against them, leaving the families of the innocent victims of these cowardly attacks, bereft of any hope of seeing the killers of their loved ones ever brought to justice.

5) The Prime Minister is still in Election mode. The Congress Party has diluted his undoubted intellect. He is actually, actually proud that Pakistan has admitted that Kasab is their national and that feat has never been achieved by any other government. In fact, Pakistan, by admitting to this (they had no other choice considering Kasab's confession), was merely counterbalancing with Baluchistan and the delinking of Terror dismantling and Engagement in Dialogue. The Indian team in their euphoria, overwhelmed by Pakistan's admission , signed everything that Pakistan sidled in.

6) "Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues." The Indian team were patting themselves on their back having thought that they had prevented a mention of Kashmir. Then the penny dropped!!! All outstanding issues would obviously contain Kashmir.... So Pakistan really executed a brilliant deal. They have nothing to lose.

This Indo-Pak joint statement reiterates the fact that India lacks teeth in foreign policy negotiations, is easily cowed down, and generally subservient to even minnows like Pakistan.

Those of you who were unable to get a look at the videos in my last post, please note that they have been surreptitiously taken off by unknown people. These videos were a factual record of 26/11 by Channel Four. A thought provoking story of what really happened..... And yet it was censored....

The truth can really hurt some people!!!!!.

Mumbai 26/11

2009-07-29T12:20:00.001-07:00

In view of the Joint Declaration by our Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh and the Pakistani Prime Minister Mr Gilani, it is necessary to see this chilling video made by Channel 4. I make no accusations, no finger pointing, no recriminations. Let you, dear viewer look at these and then read the Indo-Pak joint declaration, which is on my next post, and make up your mind as to what our government did when they were put to the first test in upholding India's prestige......

The third part of this video has been taken out of circulation. God knows why....

This will not be seen in any of our hot shot TV channels, nor in any cinema hall, nor in any video parlour. It will not be reviewed in any newspaper, no full page advertisements will be taken out in glossy magazine and journals. Yet it will remain imprinted in our minds and souls forever. It will be the greatest crime ever committed by us if we forget it....