Memoir of a Month..

This one is tough due to the sheer length of the time period involved. I haven’t been posting here for a month and it was not due to the lack of inspiration that happens to most bloggers once in a while.

As I had told you all, it was exam season. But then, that got over on 26^th December. What was I doing after that? Precisely, movie watching for about four days and little bit of packing to complement it. On December 1^st, I started my long awaited journey back home. To Kerala, God’s own country.

How true that punchline is! The way greenery ushers in a fresh leash of air on to your heart and soul as Sabari Express crosses Tamil Nadu border and enters Palakkad cannot be described.

But it is not just that.  Humidity is a villain. I have started taking bath thrice and four times! After a couple of days at home, I packed off to the capital city, Thiruvananthapuram for a wedding fiesta. My cousin sister Dhanya got married leaving me as the next prospective bride. It is torture! People nag you without ends about how it is the right time to get married. Nobody gets the point that there is a strong requirement of a suitable state of mind to get married. It is marriage after all. Doing it when you are not ready, at the wrong time, can prove disastrous if not fatal. And I am in every other mood than to get married now! Anyway, Dhanya chechi’s wedding went superfine. As I type this, I am back at home again.

This visit is again very brief. Thiruvanathapuram beckons me with an amazing platter of films as it is the IFFK season. The International Film Festival of Kerala starts on 12^th December. I am participating for the first time with high hopes of enjoying some great movies and writing some preparatory reviews (for a future in professional film writing). More on that later.

Today, it rained heavily in Arpookara, the beautiful village where I live. Sharada called me and mentioned that Kochi is no different. Rain in December! That’s the unpredictability and beauty of Kerala. There isn’t even a dash of winter here. It is monsoon all the way.

Did I tell you that Sharada, my classmate from UoH (University of Hyderabad) has accompanied me to Kerala? Of course I did not. She is with me for 20 days and will return to Hyderabad after IFFK. Now, she is in Kochi doing rounds in the Jew Street and capturing Synagogue the Sharada way.

So that’s the post after the hiatus. More fun ones will find its way here as a very interesting festival of films awaits me. If someone in Thiruvananthapuram is reading this, try getting a pass and watch some good movies. The array of Malayalam movies itself is very impressive.

IFFK, here I come.

No Golmaal for me!

After a very long time, I decided to skip a movie due to really bad opinions from others. I was pressed for time during the week of its release. And after that, each and every soul I met dissuaded me from commiting that crime. 

As of now, I am saving my energy for some solace and friendship (due on 7th and 14th November respectively). Try and understand folks, there are some other larger causes at hand as well - like say exams!  

Multi colour reality bytes....

A shameful confession first; Fashion is the first Madhur Bhandarkar movie that I watched. From what I have heard and read, his movies oozing of reality is no news. But sometimes, stating the obvious is necessary - Fashion is an impressive movie with oodles of colour and reality. 

I thanked God I never aspired to be a model when I watched it (fashion world should also thank, I think :P). I don't really know if that is what Madhur  intended to do - create the impression that fashion world is not for those who are emotional, weak at the heart and with principles; that you should be ready to lose it all if you want to make it big out there. In whichever case, a real bad impression about the industry unavoidably forms in the heart of every viewer. I have a complaint here that it cannot be after all, that bad. So there was a bit of 'non-reality' deep inside all that reality. 

Ahead, I have all praise for the movie. The screenplay of the movie effortlessly flows until the last half an hour of this slightly long-ish movie (2 hour 45 mins). The film is about the lives of three different women in the fashion industry - Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) is a smalltown girl who leaves home yearning to make it big in Mumbai, Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut) is the reigning fashion queen, Janet Sequeira (Mugdha Godse) is a seasoned model who never got entry into that big league. The predictable plot of Meghna realizing her dream and losing quite a lot of other valuable stuff on the way has been done with quite a lot of punch. The parallel plots of Shonali's career biting the dust due to the new entrant and Janet chosing to live a life of compromise by getting married to a gay designer engages the viewer really well too. 

I am surprised by Piggy Chops' acting prowess. Seriously. Stellar performance is all what I can say. Her transition form the tensed smalltown girl who does not know the Don'ts (like not to kiss the cheek when people do the customary cheek rub while greeting) of the industry to the arrogant super model who is blind with success was phenomenally believable. One of the most memorable moments of the film for me is her expression when she woke up nude in an unfamiliar room and looked to her right with totally negative anticipation - who is sleeping next to me? It was drop-dead real. Her success track and downfall forms the livewire of the movie.

I have got bored of seeing Kangana in the crazy robe. She yells too much in all her movies. No matter how well an actor does a role, you get bored if you see the same thing a third or fourth time. She is convincing as a fantastic super model though even with her curls and not-too-lean look. Also, watch out for her wardrobe malfunction scene which supposedly got the movie an A certificate. Ridiculous is all I would say. It is too aesthetically shot and performed for an A certificate. Jai Indian moral police!

I am impressed by Mugdha. A very subdued performace which not once reminded me that its her debut movie. For once, Arbaaz Khan did a great job, and so did others of the huge cast - Arjun Bajwa, Kitu Gidwani, Harsh Chhaya, Sameer Soni.. One doubt remains though. Is it possible for such a huge percentage of people in the fashion industry to be gay? Let me stop that thought right here to avoid the risk of sounding sexist or whatever! But even otherwise, the males in the movie have little to do. It is totally a women's movie. :)

The dialogues of the movie need a special mention. They are truly power packed. Some of the punchlines:

• Yahaan pe jitna kum sochogi, utna zyaada kamaogi.
• Success ke bare mein hamesha wahi log lecture kyon dete hai jisne success kabhi experience hi nahi kiya?
• "Model banne aayi ho?" "Ji nahi, super model."

May be, I did not sound too convincing; but when ou see the movie you will know what amount of power these dialogues hold in those situations. The scene where a drunk Meghna exposes the real colour of Abhijeet Sarin (Khan) to his wife has been written really well too. 

The movie post Meghna's downfall drags a bit though. It is great that the otherwise depressing (due to hard hitting facts) movie ends well, but the rising of the phoenix took a while to happen and tested my patience. A little trimming of the flab there, and the movie can be rated AWESOME doubtlessly. Ya, with a repeated thought : Is the fashion world that bad? 

I guess we don't have a choice but to believe Madhur since most of us are not going to be insiders there. Unless thats happening, you should definitely watch this movie. :)

Is business the noun for being busy?

Last week was crazy for the 1st MA students of Communication here in S N School. Our 2 week radio workshop was being wrapped up and we had loads of assignments to finish. Sound recording was easy to do while editing ate up most of our time. This was the first time I laid my hands on something so exciting; something that I always so wanted to do. Almost like a holiday package, after 4 days and 3 nights of relentless editing and sleepless work, now we are at ease. And I feel so good now! Our faculty is pretty impressed with the work we submitted.

 The month ahead is equally busy as well. We have exams lined up on 17th November. Before that, there is a complete portfolio to be made for the Basic Writing course, a video to be edited for the Video Production course, two term papers to be submitted for two other courses and an extempore film review to be written on an intellectual movie! Sounds exciting especially in the 'contextuality' of severe dearth of time. Ha! That's the language one of our Professors use. He is a genius. :)

Meanwhile, there is no 'meltdown' on my movie watching. So if not anything else, movie reviews will still find their way here. Stay with me for some Fashion updates. ;)

The Train Tigress

MMTS has been my single most important mode of transport from the time I joined Hyderabad Central University. And such a superb public transport system it is! For various reasons like spaciousness (is there a word like that?), blue-ness, small size, frequency of trips, cost-effectiveness, connectivity, I just love it.

The other day though, I had a horrible experience. I was on my way back to University with three of my friends after a day of city shopping. Assuming 49M buses would be over-crowded, we patiently waited for the train and got into one. That is when we got to know what the real crowd is! 49M is nothing compared to that. This was the first time I was witnessing (and being crushed in) such a gargantuan crowd. I mean, really. There was literally no inch left in the train left when I got in from the Secunderabad station.

And what's even more fascinationg (not really), the Ladies coach had more than  40% men! This is not something unusual in MMTS trains. However, considering the train was over crowded and there were many women who could not get in due to lack of space, this was unpardonable. 

Alas! Nobody including me reacted for a very long time even while we were being literally squashed. And then.. a man tried to invade in through a door brimming with women. And our heroine lost control. She started shouting and yelling in English and Hindi. The train had started moving by then. The man thought it was funny for a woman to react like that. And grinned. Well, it wasn't too funny; especially what she did next. She pounced with her paws on him (who was clinging on to a mere  handle and hanging out loose in the cold air) and tried to loosen his hold. While this was extremely dangerous as the man could have fallen out, nobody who was in that train would ever make that allegation. 

Of course, other gentler ladies discouraged her and saved the man. The tigress let him off on the promise that he would get down at the next station. And guess what! The guy showed the himmat to try to get in again from the next station. And the tigress literally pushed him out. Yes, she succeeded and he could not travel in our compartment. 

Men on the other side of the compartment laughed at him to make fun of the fact that a mere woman could push him out. I hope that I was able to drive home another point to all the men who are reading this. To women too. :)

India Untouched!

I have a love-hate relationship with my University Mondays. It is effectively the only day on which we have an inflexible afternoon schedule. We have a film screening during that time. Okay, don’t be mistaken by ‘films.’ They are documentary films and not the usual feature films that most of you may be thinking about.

Coming to the point, our class watched the gem of a movie called ‘India Untouched’ on such an afternoon. Conceptualised and created by a talented man called Stalin, it took me into a hitherto undiscovered planet of information on untouchability. And I.. was left astonished.

The film begins with a dedication note to all the people of India who think and say that untouchability does not exist here any more. It goes on to show visuals from a multitude of Indian states including my state to prove this claim wrong.

I felt very strongly about what he showcased in the film; I still do. A Malayali woman who started talking about a land feud she had with her neighbour on the grounds of roadway, ended her byte in tears explaining how the rich and the upper class neighbour also caused her husband die a slow and horrific death. How? By banging him against their house wall multiple times on different occasions. I always knew that untouchability and caste differentiation are still prevalent in those dark states of North. I never knew it was existent so close by, at home.

Another realization I had – caste was one of the reasons used by many animalistic men to exercise their ‘rights’ on poor women who did not have a voice. The film showed two Dalit women who were brutally raped at a very young age and left with nothing but deep scars. When shot, both of them were married and mature ladies, but I wonder if the wound inside would ever heal.

Two little girls explained in amusement how they (lower caste boys and girls) were made to sit on the floor in a corner while the privileged ones used the benches and desks. Additionally, they also had to clean the toilets for others to enjoy a neat and tidy experience! It is extremely pathetic that even schools, the temples of knowledge, are not devoid of caste bias.

There was a Swami (I detest calling him one though, considering the divine undertones of that word) whose interview formed the crux of the film. He was adamant that the upper class represents God’s head and the lower – His feet. For the very same reason, they should perform their respective jobs as prescribed by the caste system (read all dirty jobs for the lower caste, and the divine stuff for the upper class). He went on to say, “the lower castes do not have the right to study or do anything related to acquiring or sharing knowledge. Hinduism and Manusmriti say so. These are rules we cannot live without.” Absolute rubbish. I wonder what he knows about Hinduism which is not a religion, but a way of life; a culture in itself. For once, I felt I am much closer to God than many others who proclaim themselves to be so.

The opening and closing shots were of some innocent children from Uttar Pradesh who were born into and brought up in the filthy pool of casteism. Initially, the director asks some of the upper caste kids to accept water offered by the lower caste ones who also happens to be their classmates. They obviously don’t do that. The film ends where one kid with great hesitation gulps the ‘lower caste water.’ And lo! Nothing happens. No mountains fell, no sky came down.

Just before I say bye this time, a small point to ponder for you. A Malayali girl gave a byte that she does not think that Kerala practises casteism in anyway. She herself says though that she would prefer a person from her own caste when it comes to things like marriage. What does this mean? To you, to me, and to all of us? Is change really the thing that never changes? I don’t think so. India truly remains untouched.

Hello, Good bye!

This was the first time I watched the adaptation of a novel as a movie – barring may be Omkara, which was more inspired by rather than adapted from Othello. I am right now nodding my head in consensus with the millions of Harry Potter fans who said adaptation is after all a bad idea.

Hello, the movie, really is a bad idea! The amateur hands of the director, Atul Agnihotri, are seen swaying throughout the film. The camera angles he has chosen, the way he has made his cast perform, the flow of scenes – everything speaks for substandard directorial capability.

Showcasing the array of the Khan family just for the sake it also wasn’t really a great idea. The choice of the cast, on the whole, is dismal. Sharman Joshi who played the lead male role of Shyam actually suited to play Vroom. Sohail Khan looked way too old for Vroom. Sharad Saxena was wonderful in his Military Uncle suit. However, he would have done a better job being Bakshi, the beast. Each time Gul Panag laughed, I was horrified because she sounded more like a witch than a heroine. Eesha Koppikhar (Yes, that’s how she calls herself now) and Amrita Arora did not disappoint too much though.

Chetan Bhagat! Ignoring all the criticism his works have faced – shallow, lacking substance, being identical, filled with masala factor – let me confess, I like reading his books. One Night @ The Call Centre, I thought, was a very unique piece because of the story being depicted in a night’s time and its unusual narrative. None of this replicated in Chetan’s screenplay of Hello though. The narration lacked the soul which his book originally had. For example, the scene where Radhika along with her team discovers that her husband is betraying her was so plain and jaded that it made nil impression. In the novel, it was one of those moments that made me aghast. The chilling climax episode of the Operation Anti-Bakshi and the Operation Call Boom was so well executed in the book. The movie did not do justice to that. Suresh Menon as the systems guy made such a buffoon of himself with his non-sensical mutterings throwing all attempts of Chetan to infuse humour out of the podium. Also, for a person who hasn’t the read the book, the movie would not make much sense as my friend told me.

It is better that I don’t mention how the music was because I may end up sounding rude. I didn’t hear any music basically. There were just randomly thrown in songs which were shot even more pathetically. I guess you are not supposed to be surprised if you see semi nude men and women for no reason in Hindi film songs.

The look of the call centre was chic though. The art director did a good job. And that’s about it – the positives I mean.

On the whole, watch it only and only if you are a die-hard fan of Chetan Bhagat. I warn though – you might return losing the love for him.