Bark when you should and bite when you ought to...

This is in response to the recent "headline" that Shiv Sena chief has hit out at Sachin Tendulkar on comments made to the media last week.

In the democratic country such as India, every citizen has a right to express. The Master has it, the Old Tiger has it, as well as we have it. So, there's nothing unique about that. What is unique and of special significance is the ability to decide when to express yourself. It is quite special since an averaged opinion of the mass bares a certain relative value in every context.

The Master opined, the Old Tiger opined something completely irrelevant and then we are following the same course. Whatever the Shiv Sena maestro opined becomes the party's stand on the (non-existent) issue and not, mind you not Maharashtra's or for that matter even any Maharashtrian's opinion. And let's not even go into the relevancy of his comments, because it will be a futile exercise.

Having said that, one must recognize that its best not to regurgitate this matter further by discussing about it. Do I mean to say that Shiv Sena is right and that you have no right to express? No! I simply want to say that a line becomes a Headline depending on the stress given on it and the extent of attention it gains. Let's not give any importance at all to any such irrational, absurd, ill-conceived and politically inclined statement by chewing on it further. Be it by MNS-XYZ party, and be it against SRT-ABC individual - if its that irrelevant, its got to vanish in the archives as soon as possible!

Ohh well .. you wuss .. why not speak out? That's exactly what they want you to do. They .. who?? The media, the politicians et. al. Why?? Media - of course for their TRPs and high SEO rankings for their shows and websites and politicos - for divide and conquer! The sad part - the policy makers have turned into "issue" makers!!! They just love making mountains out of molehills - it bodes well for them during elections!

And we are just as much responsible for it as the politicians. Over the past few years, just after the media-boom in India, we have "over-expressed" ourselves a few too many times over trivial and insignificant issues; which has played in favour of political parties and the media in some way or the other. We should have stepped off the gas yesterday and its never too late!

Its probably more important not to discuss and give importance to insignificant issues than discussing the urgent matters. Yes, we are a democracy and everyone has a right to express; but don't forget that those rights come with a certain amount of responsibility. If every one of us recognizes the power that resides in controlled and focussed expression of opinion (irrespective of what the others may or may not do), it won't be too long before we'll see a much responsible media and probably 1 or 2 responsible and respectable politicians!

So .. Let them bark, do not bark back at them and give a false sense of fear that there's a wolf nearby. Let it just get bored in the absence of any response, put its tail between the legs and leave quietly. Focus your viciousness and power on the real wolves and hyaenas lurking in the woods nearby. Bark when you should and bite when you ought to!

Technorati Tags: Shivsena, Sachin, Tendulkar, Opinion, Democracy, Politics, Media, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Maharashtrian, Marathi, Mumbai, Bombay, Comments, Critique, Views, India

The Hurricane: A moving classic

I wonder how I'd missed watching this and I am glad that I finally got to it.

The Hurricane is a truly delightful piece of cinema that you will ever witness, something so true about the entire life story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter that touches your human side .. carries you with it and wrenches out your guts. This is consummate story-telling at its best.

This is a story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence. Directed by Norman Jewison, famous for Fiddler on the roof. Danzel Washington delivers one of his most scintillating performances ever as Rubin Carter and he portrays the character with immensely dedicated conviction and sincerity.

This movie takes you by the storm! The other movie I remember that moved me so much was Cinderella Man and obviously there is only one common element between the two and that is Boxing. I'd give The Hurricane a 8.5/10 and definitely recommend as a MUST WATCH.

Amar

Technorati Tags: Rubin, Carter, Hurricane, Justice, Movie, Cinema, Racism, Fight, Prison

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Note to self - Do not believe Ghajini is based on Memento ...

I am republishing a note written on Facebook on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 11:35pm .. for the benefit of readers (which I don't think are many, but whatever) and because I would like it to be a part of this ...

Yes .. this is a note before I forget .. you see I have this condition .. it's not amnesia .. i do remember everything .. everything before the "incident" ... :D

... no I am not trying to mock people who may actually have anterograde short term memory loss ..

.. in fact, consider this a mockery of Ghajini ..

The recipe is simple ...

1. Take the Memento plot
2. Remove all the neatly woven complexity
3. Remove the directive brilliance
4. Remove the cinematographic brilliance
5. Convince a GOOD ACTOR who's in search of a different role
6. Better .. show him some southie movie done similarly and just remake it in hindi
7. Gather around a bunch of goons who can best their shoddy work till now
8. Throw in a decent music director .. who wants to go on a vacation .. instead you pay him to make bathroom music
9. Throw in a barby doll actress ... just so that the "Public" are glued by the "angles"
10. Most importantly, the main character .. bloat it up by not just few but million notches
10. a. How? .. Get the ala "Tarzan ka baap look" going for him
10. b. ......... Get him howl and scream every time he remembers the "incident"
10. c. ......... Even better .. to cover all this madness, try to get the skull suture details anatomically perfect ... hahh!
10. d. ......... Weave an unbelievably stupid story around his character to intensify the misery..
11. Now that you have fragmented the plot completely, you gonna need someone who puts it all together and still somehow has no reason whatsoever to feature in the plot .. so, throw in a medical student ... and her story .. importantly, make her run in outfits that will make you forget what she's doing here in the first place !
12. Umm .. the plot still sticks together somehow??? Break the damn thing down with a few songs .. after all we are paying the music director !!!
13. Publicity .. an essential for bollywood movies nowadays ! Here, I remember a dialogue from the movie "American Gangster" .. "How many times have I told you? The loudest person in the room is the weakest !" .. someone please record it and make Mr. AK listen to it ...

....... and there ... You have got yourself a film made named "Ghajini"

.... I would rather take a dump ....

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Slumdog, perceptions and fissiparous attitude

Perceptions .. mysterious and yet so every day phenomenon.

Art, almost all forms of it emanate from the way an artist perceives. Likewise, Cinema - another art form is a creation of perception. It is also a medium of expression - a medium where filmmakers exercise their freedom of expression to create a lasting image of how they see what they see and why they see it the way they see it. That's what writers, poets, painters, sculptors, directors do - they help create a piece that mirrors its true nature perceived by them. That's how it is supposed to be and that's how it may attain greatness if it ought to - by the sheer magnificence of its true nature.

On the other hand, viewers, readers, onlookers - in general the "people" who "view" these pieces of creation possess yet another level of perception. Here, because of the very nature of heterogeneity among "people", the complexity and the inscrutability of perception acquires an unimaginable magnitude of non-linearity. If one decides to stay true to the creator's perception (whatever it may be) and views the piece of art from an unbiased point of view, it becomes easier to focus on the "core" rather than the "skin". Such a stand point allows you to comprehend and appreciate the "art of making" rather than the "art of application". In reality though, the world is far from such ideal views and tangled in its more than a fair share of biases - yet completely and comfortably oblivious to it!

Many have and practice "individualistic" biases. Others exercise "institutional" or "socialist" biases - mostly "anthropological". Some believe in "political" biases. Most ignorant fools though suffer from the chronic "mechanistic" bias syndrome and let themselves be dragged into the social pandemonium full of such muddled idiocy.

Such biases and their existential influence allows mortally ill attitudes in society. Fissiparous attitude is a child of such biases and today's world would be a much better place without it. This is what lets politics (special reservation for Indian politics) be the way it is, this is what lends freedom and power to anti-social elements and this is what forces every mumbaikar into a sleepless night on 26/11 and days to follow.

... OK .. agreed .. almost every independent thinker recognizes these facts .. so, why do I bother the effort of reiterating it and why now???

The reasons are many and by now have become an accumulated pile covered of "Yeh India hai Bhai .. yahan pe aisa ich chalta hai" dust. Though, the current reason and stimulus to such provocative outburst is just one - Slumdog Millionaire, a film directed by British director Danny Boyle and based on a novel titled "Q&A" by diplomat Vikas Swarup.

Over the past few days local newspapers in India and across the world, as well as several online news websites flashed bold headlines that applauded, encouraged, blasted, cautioned, celebrated, or trashed this film in ways that are best known to today's corporate media. The film bagged 4 awards at the 66th Golden Globe awards, including that of the best motion picture ..
...Amitabh Bacchan blasted the film - Four days ago, Bachchan wrote on his blog: "If SM projects India as a Third World, dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations."
.. this started a debate and TOI dutifully reported and followed the juicy story ..
.. AB replied "Someone mentioned the film on my blog. Some expressed opinion for it, some against... I merely put both of them up and invited debate." ..TOI.
.. "Yes, we are idiots and you are senile, we get it! Then why write?" - moi ..
..Vikas Swarup replied "Slumdog has my stamp of approval.", "Slumdog Millionaire isn't poverty porn" - again dutifully reported and followed by TOI.
I overheard someone talking about the film saying "It's too anti-hindu".
Me: "Ohh, interesting!" ..

I just sat, read, mused and persisted with the developments .. until today. Today, I write.

People, do you understand that it is a film directed by someone who perceived it in a certain way and that's why it is the way it is? Do you understand the concept of not mixing politics, socialism, regionalism etc. with the pure joy of art appreciation? Have you ever watched a film as a film - a story narrated, acted, directed and filmed by a group pf people from their point of view? Have you ever watched a painting unfold with a pure idea of appreciating its strokes, colours, patterns, and composition rather than thinking about whether its a nude portrait of some hindu deity among the 33 crore of them?

If you have then you will simply laugh at the pettiness of this debate and if you haven't well .. you are probably in accordance with Mr. AB.

For the record and for the sake of Mr. Bacchan I'd like to state a few things:
The world already is fully aware of the dirty underbelly of even the developed nations. There have been numerous films that have successfully and boldly shown the inside view of its existence and just to name one - "City of God" (Cidade de Deus) that showed a true view of the ghettos of Rio de Janeiro six years ago. If this movie is able to evoke emotions such as "pain and disgust" among the so called nationalists and patriots, then we might as well grant Danny Boyle some national level award! He deserves it as he's been successful in causing "pain" - an extremely rare human emotion - in the species known as "Politica rhinocera moronae". I mean cm'on you can't be serious, AB!! And even if we agree that it did cause them "pain and disgust", then where were these jerks in 1988, 21 years back, when Mira Nair directed "Salaam Bombay"?? Where were they in 2001, 8 years back when Madhur Bhandarkar directed "Chandni Bar"??? This is the only time they got struck by the thunderbolt of apathy? or is this the only time when AB got struck with the thunderbolt of cinematic wisdom?? Come to think of it, was it AB who signed up for "Shantaram" directed by Mira Nair or do you find "Wasn't me!" written on his blog somewhere? "Shantaram" based on a novel by Gregory David Roberts portrays an even truer and cut throat picture of India's/ Mumbai's "underbelly" like never before. Sadly though, as of January 2009 the film remains postponed and Mira retains her opinion that the film was still on track and that it would be released by 2011.

For the sake of people who say that this is an "anti-hindu" film -
Cm'on now! This is a film that revolves around the story of a muslim boy. How the hell do you even arrive at such a conclusion?? I don't see you making a hue and cry about films made on the likes of Savarkar, Ambedkar, Sardal Patel et. al. to be anti-muslim?? Actually .. let it be. You just want something to chew on when there's nothing at all. To be honest, I in fact adored the scene where these two young boys - Jamal and his elder brother - are running frantically during the communal riots and come across a young boy who's dressed as "Lord Rama" in one of the by lanes - there's something charismatic about that particular frame when they show Rama - through that single frame the director displays the state of conflict, similarity and yet striking difference between Jamal and Rama , the intensity of influence it may have had on Jamal etc. .. very powerfully! That's the beauty of his direction, cinematographer's view .. appreciate THAT .. don't waste your time in labeling!!!

Coincidently, I found an article written by Khalid Mohamed in The Observer,  Sunday 18 January 2009. He's also the national culture editor of the Hindustan Times. I like what he has written - of course in much lessor words compared to me - but then, he's paid to write every word of it and I am not! Big difference!!! I quote him here: "There is no taking away from the team's achievement. All the pros and cons of its cinematic flourishes considered, Slumdog Millionaire is a bloody good, riveting and emotionally rousing film. Somebody had to pull the flush. Boyle did. While others might raise a stink, I'll salute."

And thus, I rest my case.

Amar

Technorati Tags: Art, Amitabh, Bacchan, Films, Cinema, Critique, Views, Comments, Perception, Direction, India, Mumbai, Bombay, Slumdog, Millionaire, Blog, Blogging, Celebrity, News, Papers

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Jayyy ho! Slumdog millionaire !!! .. Jayyy hoooooo ..

Just finished watching the movie ... don't have much time to write about all that I felt while watching it .. in short Brilliant ! Brilliant !! and Super-Brilliant !!! .. Rarely a movie gives you so much joy ...

Rehman totally deserves the Gloden Globe for the Background Score .. why, he would even win the Oscar .. as he himself said "Indian people are crazy about Oscars" .. I think what he forgot was "..and they are crazy about Rehman (or something to the same effect)" ;)

Ayush Mahesh Khedekar .. a real cutie (even when he's covered in all that poop) who plays youngest Jamal .. deserves to be recognized as one of the best child actors of his generation ... that boy has done wonderful piece to acting .. his innocent smile and similarly intense devastatedness steals your heart .. even stops it!

Dev Patel & Freida Pinto .. they have done well with some honest, down-to-earth, and just simple .. really true-to-the character role play .. it was nice to see some fresh and young faces staying with the character throughout .. I doubt if the effect would have been the same with established actors .. barring few exceptions from the gang of "theatre actors" ..

Saurabh Shukla, Irrfan Khan do what they are good at .. nothing earth shatteringly impressive .. just about enough to remain a little out of focus and that is extremely difficult for even "manjhe hue actors" mostly because of their habit of staying in the focus .. this story required Saurabh and Irrfan to remain out of focus and they have done exactly that.

I will not say much about Mahesh Manjrekar, except - "What a waste of talent, Mahesh!"

Lasly, Mr. Anil Kapoor ... considering the kind of character he is put into, it is extremely unfair to say whether he floats or drownes .. but, as my personal openion, they just needed a famous face in the anchor's seat .. it could've been anyone .. Anil, I guess, was chosen mostly because of his age, career length in Bollywood, apparently visible experience on face, his close-to-baritone voice .. and because they needed him ;) ... whatever may be the reason .. he is to me a huge disappointment ! An actor like him should have .. ought to have done a better job at it .. I expect it .. people expect it .. but, again as I said, this may not be a very fair test and a fair opinion.

It was worth staying up till late and finishing the movie! What fun!!

And now I shall rest in peace till tomorrow dawns with afterthoughts to be penned down!

Amar

P.S. : Can you believe it? Within days after its release in US & UK, it has reached to #37 in "Top 250" movies at IMDB. It has managed to beat "Forrest Gump", "To Kill A Mockingbird", "The Pianist", "Saving Private Ryan", "Reservoir Dogs" and many many more .... what a feat!!!