Guzaarish and me....

Mr.Bansali's "Guzaarish" happened about a month ago.The quality of the movie is not of any importance here because what purturbed my mind is whether there should be a certain border line between theatre and cinema.
It was after this that I happened to watch Mr.Shaji.N.Karun's much talked about "Kutty Srank" and here again what i witnessed was a world of non-personal story telling with too much of symbolic representations. The cinema lover in me is confused. I do agree with the contention that such kind of story telling creates a certain depth and graduates from a mediocre film to a film of class.But how does one devise the grammar of such a film in a manner that will get audience to the theatres?

At the end of it all,the question is,what does a good cinema mean-that it should get the bumps on the seats or that it should create a world of depth and create the effect of reading a Gabriel Marquez book?
I am still looking for the answer.

Raavan

This year's much awaited Mani Ratnam magnum opus Raavan has finally hit the theatres.The movie has been receiving mixed reviews all over the world.
I feel that the movie is devoid of soul.It tries to reinterpret Raamayana and turn it into Ravanayana.The movie attempts to reveal the true side of Raavana and state that the eliete class is not always on the side of righteousness.
Agreed that the idea is brilliant and that the making of the film reflects the intellect that Mani Ratnam is,but the script simply lacks connection and the movie becomes an ongoing repetition of itself for a very long duration.With very vague parallels to the current maoist mess and the corrupted beaurocracy in India,the movie definetly created a spark of thoughts in the mind of the viewer but it does not contain the completeness of Ratnam's other gems like Yuva,Guru,Roja and Bombay.
Abhishek Bachan gives a dissapointing performance as Beera,Vikram is comparatively better as Dev and Aishwarya as Ragini is charming but lacks genuinty.Govinda as Sanjeevni(aka hanuman) acts almost like a baffoon while Priya Mani as Jamuniya has done justice to her part.
The photography is brilliant but the problem is that very often the viewer feels that he is witnessing the "Fear Factor" show on AXN.The jumps and other stunts performed by the characters looked forced and unnecessary sometimes.
A.R.Rehman has come up with enchanting and distinct music but none of the songs have been picturised that well.The songs also seem forced into the visuals.The best number "beera beera" has also ben underutilised and has ben made the title song.
Inspite of having flaws,I do not feel that Raavan is a horrible film or that Mani Ratnam is a mediocre director.It is just that this time,Ratnam seems to have got a little lost with the script.The film definetly does raise relevant questions related to morality,class conflicts and the pseudo displays of affection between people.Even though Raavan is not this year's best movie,it definetly is better than the usual bollywood masala flicks,Karan Johar's family dramas and Ram Gopal Verma ki Aag!!

The Outsider!

I was of the impression that the youth today do not read serious literature.But from my recent experience,I feel that I was partially wrong.Today's youth does read Marquez, Kafka ans Camus.But the irony is that despite having read such literature,why is it that they give blank expressions when you talk to them about existentialism or nihilism? After much pondering,I reched an answer-the youth today read things but fail to understand and analyse the undercurrents of the text.They do not penetrate themselves into the politics and layers of the story itself and the characters in it.Thats where the problem lies.
While reading a recent article on Albert Camus,I realised that I too am an outsider!May be thats why I find it difficult to understand the practicalities of relationships and the ways of my contemporaries.I dont know if I am right of its they who are right.All I know is that I am an outsider!

Kancheevaram

"I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle-class morality"-
George Bernard Shaw


"kancheevaram",Priyadarshan's movie,discusses about the struggles of a weaver in the city of silk.While watching the movie I felt that the life of a middle-class man is the same everywhere.The prototype is the same in all instances,the only differences are in the manifestations.Life for every middle class man is a never ending struggle.He struggles for a foothold in the world,despite being educated he keeps running around to find a suitable job,he constantly keeps thinking whether he should give importance to creative satisfaction or survival.For him,survival is itself the greatest test,life itself is the worst warfield.
Slowly, with privatisation and liberalisation in the scene,education and art have become the monopoly of those born with silver spoons in their mouths.Private educational institutes demand huge fees and when government institutes fail to offer quality education,the middle-class man has no choice but to join the private institutes.Even if he wants to pursue art,he is compelled to opt for prospective courses of study so that he can get employed as soon as possible.The net result is that,gradually,the middle-class man ,entangled in the chains of financial insecurities is not able to pursue his dreams or passions.He is restricted to such an extent that he even has to control the number of children he wishes to have due to financial handicaps.
But whatever be the obstacles, it is always the middle-class that comes up with pathbreaking ideas.The middle-class is still the source of revolutionary thoughts and social changes in a society.
Being one among them,I salute the indomitable spirit of the common man!

Is this love?

Student days are full of ambitions,systematic study,exams,projects,internls....blah blah.It took me so long to realise that amidst all these activities,I often forget to sit down and feel the emotions of the teenager within me.
As always,this post may leave you perplexd or even lead you to believe that I am out of my mind but whatever the world thinks about me,I have realised that neglecting human emotions wont work at all.I have just come back after watching Gautam Menon's "Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya" and I have realised that all these years,I have been ovrlooking the feeling of love.Of course I do love my parents,but when my friends used to talk to me about how they find charm and beauty in every single thing when they are in a relation with a guy,I used to never understand that.In fact,not just me,but quite a few of my friends never understood what that meant.Today,after the movie,all of us talked our minds out over a cup of coffee.
Most of us fear falling in love.My friends told me that they negate and neglect such emotions because they feel that studies will get affected.More importantly,they simply overlook such things because their parents may not like it,their parents may get hurt.Thats where I was really touched-"parents may get hurt".
We sacrifice one kind of love for another kind of love.What a wierd life we live!I am not trying to say that on finding someone good,everyone should elope.Its just that our mindsets havent grown enough to accommodate the fluctuations and uncertainities of life.Thinking deep,all of us are living our lives for someone else's happiness-wifes do not go for a divorce despite havig got fed up with their husbands only because they want their children to be happy,teenagers sacrifice their career interests to satisfy their parents,men do not quit their uninspiring jobs just to feed their kids and keep their families happy........the saga goes on.
The one thing I have realised is that whatever we do,we must do it with full interest-be it love ,job,family or whatever.Whatever it takes,never negate your emotions.At the end of it all,whats life if you do not find charm in it?
Hoping for a day when our society will be ready to dissolve its pseudo moral codes and accept human emotions as they are so that we can at least find happiness in this momentary thing called life!

International Women's Day!

"The Stigma Of Womanhood" is a book which impressed me right from the moment I started reading it.Written by an Assamese writer Mansi Sinha,the book looks into the problem of existence that a woman faces if she does not get married at a reasonable phase of her life.
It is a fact that women who are not married at least by their late 20s are viewed with suspicion by the Indian society or in fact,the Oriental society for that matter.Marriage is the destiny traditionally offered to women by the society.Most women are married,or have been,or plan to be or suffer from not being.The celibate woman is to be explained and defined with reference to mariage.Thus,marriage decides the image of a woman in the society.But why does this factor not apply to a man?Independant and unmarried men are often refered to as "intellectuals".If a man goes into moral and sexual anarchy,the society overlooks it.But,if a virgin,disciplined woman stays unmarried,she is called vamp.
The purpose of this post is not to profess feminist ideologies because I am more a Humanist than a Feminist.It is just a thought that came to my mind while reading Manasi Sinha's book and I was quite disappointed to realise that tomorrow,if my marriage prolongs because of my intention to study more or maybe find my space in the world,I too will have to go through the same situations.What an ironic realisation at the time when the whole world is celebrating the 100th International Women's Day!

..............

Most of my friends in college are ardent fans of the reality shows being featured on Mtv and channel V, and thats how I happened to come across some episodes of these programmes.I find it very strange and I dont know why but some strangely bizzare thoughts came to my mind on watching the shows.
It is an acepted fact that India is an emerging economy.The global economic meltdown has given way to a huge financial downfall in the Western countries.India was one among the countries which sustained the crisis due to the strength of her agricultural sector.India could maintain her economy in a steady manner while most of the so called "developed" countries got entangled in heavy financial problems and looked enviously at India.All these things clubbed with the inherent invasionary tendency of the Occidental society has forced the Western countries to destroy the growth of the Indian economy.The western multinationals are searching for a market in India to sell their soft drinks,alcohol,junk food etc.I feel that the introduction of reality shows which feature Western lifestyle and attitudes is a ground activity for the formation of a sound market to sell western commodities.In order to sell brands like the KFC,CocaCola etc and find buyers for the branded clothes sold by western sellers,there needs to be a generation of people who like and prefer such stuff.To create that kind of a generation,their attitudes should be moulded and tilted towards that of the West.This is exactly what reality shows like Roadies and Splitsvilla are doing now.
Knowingly or unknowingly,the Indian youth are being made victims of a very planned cultural invasion which can be very very fatal because of the vulnerable nature of the Indian mental fibre.(While saying this,I also am reminded of the discusion I had with my teacher regarding the "Politics of American Actor Training", about the political stratergies that Western organisations have in mind behind allotting funds to Indian theatre persons.)The Indian youth is becoming excesively apolitical and they often fail to recognise such stratergies.
When I expressed my concerns to my friends,they laughed at me.Maybe,at a later point of time, I too may laugh at myself for having such strange thoughts or else, my friends will then agree that I was right.Whatever it is,this is what I feel now and I have expressed myself honestly.

"A Woman's Wheel Of Life"

I was fascinated by the book "A Woman's Wheel Of Life" which I read recently.It contains excerpts from the conversations that the author had with 20 eminent women of India.While reading,I came across some very perplexing and rare observations on the mental structure of contemprory women.In the chapter which deals with the life and views of Advt.Jethmalani's divorced daughter,she asks,"Why is it that most successful women are alone?Is it because they are too independant or is it because they simply intimidate men?".I found this very sensible and my mind started to look into and seek answers for this question from that very moment.
It was in this backdrop that I happened to watch a Malayalam movie "Paleeri Maanikyam".The reason I went to watch it was because the movie is supposed to discuss the insecurity the a woman faces in the Indian rural society.Initially,I was quite surprised to see a flow of people appear to watch a "supposed to be academic" movie.But as the film progressed,I witnessed what I felt was a movie which tends to commodify the feminine body and sell the agonised life of a rape victim.I watched the male minds in the playhouse turn into a perverted lot smiling with lust in their eyes and waiting to see more.The experience was more than bearable for me.My mind started reading the question posed by Ms.Jethmalani and my experience in the theatre side by side.
The condition of a woman is always the same at every era of time.She lives the same innner life- subject to the domination and possession of man.If at all she tries to exhibit her ideologies or tries to create her own creative space,she is either ostracized or killed and maybe thats why women of substance are often all alone.