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Bela Seshe

Posted on 25/7/2016 by admin

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This film just shows how far Bengali Cinema has progressed when it comes to themes and stories. Bela Seshe is about an old couple who are going to complete 50 years of married life when the man announces that he wants to divorce his wife. I do not want to reveal anything more about the story because I do not want to disturb the director’s work of revealing bit by bit the workings of the protagonists’ minds.

The screenplay has been written by two people, a man and a woman, Nandita Roy and Shiboprosad Mukherjee. This combination itself is perhaps the secret of the film because the details of domestic life seen from the point of view of a woman can add many layers that are invisible to a man to the narrative of a film. Nandita Ray is 60 and Shiboprosad is 41 so that also adds to the creative process. The freshness and daring of one can be balanced by the wisdom and experience of the other.

The reason why I wanted to see this film was because Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta team up after 30 years! I had loved ‘Ghare Baire’ and it remains one of my favourite films even today. I was stunned to see how much Swatilekha had changed physically but her skills as an actress were intact. Let us not forget that she belongs to the world of Bengali theatre and acting is in her blood. Soumitra, on the other hand continues to be good looking and charming. How unfair it is that the man continues to be cast in romantic roles, even being cast as the old husband of the luscious Radhika Apte in ‘Ahalya’ while the woman has lost all her physical beauty and can only be fit to play a grandmother.

It took me a while to recognise Swatilekha but once I did I was just full of admiration for what she was doing. From being Satyajit Ray’s Bimala in ‘Ghare Baire’ with those expressive eyes she has become granny and loving mother to a brood of adult men and women. The contrast is so sharp that it makes you sympathise more for the character she plays. One must remember that Swatilekha was totally rejected by the audience when ‘Ghare Baire’ was released and she suffered immensely from it. She admitted in an interview that in fact she had started thinking of suicide. It is true, the audience can be ruthless. In her case, in spite of being a very fine actress, who had years of experience from the stage, she was not considered good enough by the audience because of her unconventional looks. People expected a beauty like Madhabi Mukherjee who played the lead in ‘Charulata’.

‘Bela Seshe’ was so successful that the screenplay has been published as a book. At the book release event Sandip Ray, the son of Satyajit Ray, was full of praises for the film. The other path-breaking point is that this film has had an all-India release with English subtitles and it was Eros international which distributed it. This is also perhaps the first Bengali film to be released simultaneously overseas too. This film brought families into the cinemas and enjoyed the kind of commercial success that has not been the lot of many Bengali films and it proved to be as interesting for the older generations as well as to the very young.

The story deals with the love that grows and remains among married couples of an older generation, who have been brought together through the system of arranged marriages. Theirs is not the passionate love stories that we have seen in Bollywood films but the quiet affection that binds them is stronger than passion. In this film the very definition of marriage is discussed and we see all the other younger couples learning something from the old couple. Each of the married children realises where his or her own marriage has failed and what needs to be remedied. We start thinking about how generations of Indians have gone through this form of coupling without any great difficulties and yet now that women are educated and mobile the whole question of compatibility becomes so important. The problem with passion is that if it has come all of a sudden it can also vanish equally suddenly. What had taken time to grow will probably last longer too.

The film has an ensemble cast with many known faces from Bengali cinema and they all create the beautiful back ground needed for the main couple of the film. The dialogues are written taking into account the idiosyncrasies of the characters and sound very convincing. Sohini Sengupta, the real life daughter of Swatilekha, plays a small role, a guest appearance, but makes her presence felt.

There are minor hitches in the script but one can easily overlook that and enjoy this very engaging film. It has originality and depth, good performances and dialogues. This is such a beautiful film that I wouldn’t mind seeing it twice.

Posted in Film, Review | Tagged Bengali film, Cinema of India, Indian cinema, Soumitra Chatterjee, Swatilekha Sengupta | Leave a comment

Udta Punjab – killing three birds with one stone

Posted on 16/7/2016 by admin

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Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab has opened a new chapter in the history of Indian cinema. It set out to expose the drug abuse problem in Punjab but actually it has also exposed the outdated mindset of the Central Board of Film Certification as well as the unresolved question of piracy. In short, the film killed three birds with one stone.

The CBFC, which is supposed to certify films, has in fact been acting as an agency to censor them and to decide what the audience should watch. To everyone’s surprise it wanted 89 cuts in the film, mainly because of foul language, and also to remove the name ‘Punjab’ from the title. Everyone can now see how ridiculous this demand was. The dates of the release had been fixed and the promotion was in full swing. Blocking the release at that point was going spell financial disaster. The whole film industry stood united and supported the legal battle that the producers undertook at that point because many others had been victims of the arbitrary ways in which the CBFC had already demanded cuts in earlier films.

As if that wasn’t enough, someone leaked the film onto the internet only two days before the release. People could just download it and watch it for free. Anurag Kashyap who had spent stressful days and sleepless nights, fighting to get the film released without the cuts was now begging the public not to download the film. The stars were out on social media and explaining to the public that if they watched the film without paying for it they would actually be stopping the producers from getting back the money that they had invested. “If you want to see good films then you have to let the producers earn money,” urged Alia Bhatt.

In spite of such great difficulties, the film managed to get a clearance from the courts and opened in cinemas across the globe on 17th June. Not only that, but it has done very well at the box office. From being worried about not being able to show Udta Punjab at all or with cuts that would have reduced the film to nothing, and being faced with the prospects of not being able sell any tickets at the box-office, the producers are now celebrating a commercial success, after two weeks of its release. Not only have they recovered their money but they have also earned good profits on their investments.

Now that the dust has settled down on the controversy, everyone can sit back and reflect on the true role of the Certification Board and also on how to tackle the piracy issue. The CBFC has probably understood that the more one tries to stop a film from being seen the more the public will make a dash for it.

To come back to the first aim of the film – drawing people’s attention to the rampant drug abuse in Punjab – even that has been a success. Shahid Kapoor, the star of the film, said that he has received mails from young addicts who have decided to give up drugs after watching this film. “If it helps even one person to quit drugs, I am happy,” he said. So, all’s well that ends well.

The drug problem of Punjab is something more serious than a few teenagers falling into bad company – it’s almost an epidemic. To most people in India this may be a revelation but those who live close to Punjab know very well that this has been going on for ten years now. For the Punjabis this is a bitter truth and they know that they are fighting a losing battle. “Narco-terrorism” is a new word but it’s an old and dirty trick.

The film is about four very different characters who are all trying to fight this common enemy. How the four stories cross each other and overlap is the interesting part to watch. The screenplay, written after much research, holds you spell-bound.

The grimness of this story would have been unbearable had it not been for the antics of Tommy Singh, the rock star whose life as a singer is entirely built on his ‘highs’ and whose career is beginning to slide down. Shahid Kapoor shines in this role and Satish Kaushik, playing his uncle, provides him the right partnership in the comic relief he offers. Kareena Kapoor is a doctor who is running a de-addiction centre. She gives us the sweetness and light that grows even brighter when compared to the darkness in the life of the character played by Alia Bhatt, a Bihari migrant labour who is sucked into the hell that the drug mafia has created. Diljit Dosanjh plays Sartaj, a low rank police officer, who is trying to save his younger brother and teams up with the doctor to expose those who manufacture and sell drugs. This is his first appearance in a Bollywood films but Diljit is at ease. That’s because he is already a star in Punjab as a singer and an actor.

Abhishek Chaubey, the director, has co-written the screenplay along with Sudip Sharma. Although his name doesn’t sound familiar Abhishek has actually worked with Vishal Bhardwaj for a decade and one can see his master’s hand in his work. Abhishek was one of the writers of Omkara and one can see where he picked up the skill of blending the gritty realities of life with entertainment. Substance abuse is no laughing matter. So, how do you make a film about the dangers of drug addiction without making it preachy? When you watch this film you understand how the director has balanced the strong social message with humour and romance.

The casting of this film is remarkably successful. Getting a good cast is actually getting half the work done. Diljit is a new face and being a sikh he lends a touch of authenticity to the story. Alia is a surprise choice for this role but she has stunned everyone with her extraordinary acting skills. Once she appears on the screen she continues to hold us gripped till the end. But the real stroke of genius in the casting department is Prabhjyot Singh who plays Balli, the younger brother of the police officer who becomes an addict. Balli, played to perfection by Prabhjyot, is just so ordinary and pathetic, pimple-faced and simple-minded, that it becomes clear how the victims come from all social classes. It’s not only the wealthy rock-star or the uneducated farm labour who are caught in this trap but also the middle-class kid who has no idea about what he is doing.

This film is made by the Phantom Films team (Vikas Behl, Vikramadity Motwani and Anurag Kashyap) and they have once again come up with a creation which is entertaining as well as thought-provoking. This is the team that has given us films like Queen and Masaan. Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor are the main producers and credit must be given to them for financially backing such a bold theme.

Cinema is such a powerful medium and at last it is being used as an effective weapon to fight the powerful enemies of our society. One such is substance abuse and now there is such a well-made film that aims to shake people up and to tell them how every little effort counts.

While the film is continuing to earn money at the box-office, the papers are full of positive reviews. And in the middle of all the stories of how successful Udta Punjab has been, Kareena Kapoor has announced that she is pregnant! There seems to be no end to celebrations now.

Posted in Film | Tagged Cinema of India, film review, Indian cinema | Leave a comment

Veenapani Chawla

Posted on 15/6/2016 by admin

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Having met up with some theatre people in Paris and sharing thoughts on our common passion I have suddenly become nostalgic and remember Veenapani Chawla.

I am still unable to delete from my phone the text message that Veenapani sent me two years ago. It was sent the day after we had performed our Bengali adaptation of Chekhov’s play “The Bear”. She had not been able to see it as she had to go to Delhi a couple of days later and she had some paperwork to finish before leaving.

“Dearest Sunayana,” the message says, “I heard you were superb”. She continued the message saying that she wanted me to come over to Adishakti for a cup of coffee after her return so that we could just have a good chat and catch up. As soon as she was back I went to see her. It seemed as if it was only yesterday that we were sitting in the verandah of her house, surrounded by hibiscus flowers. Although it was supposed to be a chat over coffee we ended up having two tall glasses of watermelon juice. That afternoon was all red and pink and green.

We spoke of so many things, laughed remembering friends and made plans to have another performance of our play at Adishakti so that she could see it. She remembered some incidents from the time when she was at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. The one hour that we spent together flew away like minutes. It was perhaps the first time in many years that we had spent a quiet time like this, only the two of us. Little did I know then that she would never be able to see our play, that she would die before we could stage it a few months later.

Twenty years earlier we had spent so much time together when she wanted to teach us all the different activities that go with stage productions. For almost a year our small group of theatre-enthusiasts had spent three nights a week learning the craft of acting, and touched on the basics of lighting, costume and set design. That was several years before she built her theatre near Auroville.

I was not such a fan of her theatre creations but I loved her energy. The format which she had chosen was not what interests me but it was so inspiring to see someone live for her passion. There was nothing else which interested her other than her work and she was learning everyday so that she could progress. What struck me most of all was the fact that she was not looking for fame; she was looking for ways in which she could take her work forward. In this respect, what she achieved is colossal.

So many images flood my memory today. I knew her first as the young lady with the big red bindi when she used to come to Pondicherry in the 1970s. She used to always wear such beautiful saris with ethnic blouses. Later when we knew each other a little better she would always have a smile for me and when she saw me in a sari she always made it a point to complement me on my taste. And then in the last decade of her life she chose to be dressed very simply, in very sober kurtas and plain salwars. She looked completely different but her smile never changed.

She looked like a serious person, an intellectual even, but she had a fine sense of humour and could be fun to be with. I still cannot believe that she is no more. And yet every now and then I think of her because in the suddenness of her departure she has taught me a lesson. From the moment that I received the news of her death in the form of a text message from a friend I cannot get it out of my mind that every minute is precious and only those who are focussed like her can turn a dream into a reality. What has to be done must be done with a one-pointed devotion and all that is not part of that goal has to be thrown out. Thank you, Veena.

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Posted in Theatre | Tagged Veenapani Chawla | Leave a comment

Luck by Chance

Posted on 8/6/2016 by admin

Luck by Chance

This film was made way back in 2009 but it still remains a delightful film to watch. Having recently seen an interview with Zoya Akhtar on youtube I was very curious to see her work and particularly Luck by Chance, as she referred to it several times. This was the first film she wrote and directed and it is an in-house production as her brother Farhan Akhtar plays the male lead role. Her father has written the lyrics of the few songs that appear in the movie and the music is by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

The story is about the young hopeful actors who come to Mumbai and try their luck at becoming a hero in Hindi films. It shows how the film industry works, what goes on in the minds of the producers and directors of the mainstream films. Evidently Zoya knows these stories and these details as she has grown up in this industry. Both her parents were part of the mainstream Bollywood films and she knows most of the star children who became actors.

As the story progresses we see the relationships which develop in this small world of cinema and how each one feeds on the weaknesses of the others. The title of the film refers to the way luck or the fact of being at the right time at the right place can make or break the future of these actors. The casting couch, the superstitious producers, the power of the media, all find a place in this story. There is also the subplot of the star daughter being launched by her mother, full of details that Zoya must have observed around her.

Farhan does a fairly good job of portraying the young struggling actor but the one to watch out for is Konkona Sen Sharma. She gets under the skin of the character and truly brings out the difficulty of the single woman trying to find a foothold in the industry. Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia are good too in their respective roles. There is a sequence a bit like Om Shanti Om where one after the other the real male stars of the industry playing themselves appear where they are supposedly being contacted by the producer.

Zoya is a special person. She is one of the rare women writer-directors of Indian cinema, there are a few others in West Bengal, and her films have something original in them. I liked Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara because the film revolves around the idea that you live only once and you cannot afford to play your cards wrong. This film got me interested in her work. She has an insight into the minds of the young Indians, particularly the urban Indian. Zoya works with Reema Kagti who is also a fiery young woman and who is on the same wavelength as Zoya.

This film has that ring of truth because she knows what she is talking about but at the same time it has a narrative style. Zoya is a part of the new breed of directors who nudge you to think about certain aspects of life as they entertain you. Until now we have not had very many intelligent women in the world of Hindi cinema. The educated film woman is only now beginning to emerge. The film industry used to be full of glamorous women who had little or no education or who in spite of being educated were so disconnected from life that they understood nothing outside the world of their own films. At last we have women directors, producers and script-writers.

Luck by Chance is a must watch for movie buffs for the good story, good performances and Zoya’s direction.

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Masaan

Posted on 18/5/2016 by admin

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This is a film which has touched me deeply and writing about it will be easy. It shows us in clear light the dark side of life in India. It is as if a thief has been dragged out of the dark hole where he was hiding. No, in fact, it’s not that at all. It is that ugly truth which we all know but can do nothing to change, so we continue living our lives. And now suddenly, this film brings it to our notice and asks us, “What are you doing about it?”

The few comments that I had seen on twitter about this film said that it was poetic. It was this word “poetic” that led me to watch a film that was clearly connected to death and dying. After all, the title “Masaan” means “burning grounds”. After watching the film the first word that came to my mind was indeed “poetic”. Images linger in the memory and the subtle way in which the story is told leaves so much to the imagination.

I would class this film as a short story. Two stories criss-cross each other and leave you intrigued, as you watch the scenes, about how they are related. The denouement at the end leaves you with the same feeling as at the end of a short story. The body of the story is also very compact. There is not a single scene you can take out.

The true strength of the film lies in making you feel that this is all real and not a film that you are watching. This effect of reality comes from several elements. Firstly, as the actors are unknown faces, even Richa Chadda who has acted in some good films, is still a face that doesn’t have a history to it. The four people who make up the two ill-fated couples are “people” and not stars. Sanjay Mishra is a good actor with a stage background so he gives a performance which is very real. Secondly, the sets are all very life-like and not dressed up to look like commercials. And thirdly, the language they speak is the everyday language spoken by people of that region and not a contrived Hindi that Bollywood uses so that everyone can understand it.

This feeling of reality is strongest in the scenes between the young couple where Vicky Kaushal is so convincing as the small town man falling in love that you keep feeling you are peeping into someone’s private life. How did he manage that? It is a master stroke. Richa Chadda says so much with her eyes. Her inner strength shines out of her silence. The casting is perfect and each actor is good in his or her role.

Many things are clear when you find out that this film has been co-produced by several companies some of which are French. That explains the choice of subject and location. It is a well-known fact that the French have a fascination for Varanasi because of the whole story of burning the dead on the banks of the Ganges which they find very “exotic”. After the success of “The Lunchbox” the French are eager to invest in Indian films and this allows film-makers to take up subjects that other Indian producers wouldn’t want to touch.
The creative group behind this is Phantom Films, the same ones who were behind “Queen”. They are young and they easily move between writing, directing, editing and producing so that they control every aspect of the film.

Indian cinema is changing and now at last young talented film-makers are getting a chance to say what they want to and to say it in the style they want to. Perhaps we should say a big “Merci” to the French for being so supportive of this new movement.

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Bombay Velvet

Posted on 27/1/2016 by admin

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This is not really one of my usual reviews. This piece is for those who have already seen the movie. I am just sharing my experience.

This was a film I was really looking forward to seeing. In fact, I had already seen it in its unedited version before it was released but it was in very special circumstances. And it was really special. After all, how often do you get to see a film before its release and screened by its director? You may get that opportunity if you are part of the cast and crew of the movie. But I saw this film as part of a screen-writing workshop with Anurag Kashyap. He showed it to us as it was in its final draft, when there was still some editing work to be done. So the version we saw had 20 extra minutes. And we had to say which 20 minutes could be removed. I assure you it was tough to say. That’s when you understand the difficult job of a film editor as well as the responsibility of the director who has the final say about what will stay and what will go.

Firstly, let me tell you how sad I am that the film turned out to be a commercial failure to the extent that Anurag is saying this loss will haunt him till the end of his life. He had really put a lot of work into it. But cinema is a medium that involves not just work but so much money. Because it happens over a long time and involves so many people in the end you can’t see it dispassionately. So when that money does not come back to the investors it is a loss that makes even the artistic team feel that they did a bad job.

The version I saw was more about the history of Bombay but the final released version is more of a love story. In that earlier version the whole story of Rosie’s fake death and escape was quite differently presented. There was also a scene where the police inspector and his aide go to the funeral in Goa and one of them hums a song from the 70s movie “Ram aur Shyam” and this was supposed to be a hint that the police has understood that the real Rosie is pretending to be her own sister. But luckily they removed that scene because no one today will remember that movie where Dilip Kumar plays a double role. It was a useless hint. In our discussions post screening, that scene was the only one I had suggested should be removed.

I am saying all this to point out how difficult it is to write a good script. The critics have all said that the script was weak and that no amount of good acting from all the actors could save the movie. I enjoyed the story and thought it was well-constructed. The part about the politician was a bit unclear perhaps. Karan Johar’s role was chopped off on the editing table. It was much longer in the version I saw. That’s why it was easier to get the complicated details about who was trying to get whom and why. And in the end this was the message that we took away from the workshop. You just never know what will work and what won’t. Even the celebrated Anurag Kashyap couldn’t get it right. He had come to teach us how to write a film script but he was humble enough to say that he didn’t know how to teach anyone this skill as he had not learnt it himself. He had picked it up through trial and error.

To come to the film itself, I think Ranbir did a good job. I also liked the silent and suppressed character of Rosie played adequately by Anushka Sharma. I was particularly impressed with Karan Johar’s acting as this was his very first acting role. But most of all I liked the way the era was re-created. The main sets were created in Sri Lanka as it is impossible to get that look in today’s Mumbai. The music was very effective too. Meticulous care was taken to get that uncluttered look of the city as it must have been at that time.

When I told Anurag that Ranbir looked a lot like young Raj Kapoor he said, “Also a bit like Guru Dutt.” Ranbir’s looks did suggest that we were seeing a colour version of Raj Kapoor’s black and white movies. There was that desperate desire to go somewhere and also the hopelessly in love hero.

I know that people will watch this film on DVDs and maybe online but this will not bring back the money that is lost. But at least the work will be seen and appreciated. Perhaps some viewers will appreciate some of the scenes for what the director has put in. The film may even bring more appreciation to actors like Ranbir and Anushka. It may bring them more good roles. Nothing is ever a total failure.

At the end of that workshop Anurag told us that the only way to learn how to write a script is to watch hundreds of movies and you will yourself understand what works and what doesn’t. But as time has shown, even if you watch hundreds of films you can never know what will work in the end.

Seen from a wider perspective, this film is a part of the new emerging cinema of India. From that point of view it has served a purpose.

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Posted in Film, Review | Tagged Anurag Kashyap, Cinema of India, film review, Indian cinema, Ranbir Kapur | Leave a comment

Hemlock Society (2012)– a DVD review

Posted on 9/11/2015 by admin

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For a couple of years I didn’t watch this film because I was sure that it was a pretentious film with people philosophising about life and death. But ever since I saw “Jaatiswar” I was curious to know more about Srijit Mukherjee’s work. And now with his new film “Rajkahini” out in the cinemas I am even more curious about his older works.

First of all let me admit that I watched it on youtube, on the screen of my laptop, and not on the big screen. But for this particular film it really didn’t matter because the whole focus of the film in on the dialogue.

Here is the story in short. A young woman discovers that her boyfriend of 14 years is in a relationship with another woman and leaves him even though they were about to get married. After this she decides to kill herself. So she goes to her father who is a doctor to get a prescription for sleeping pills and he gives it to her. The father lives with his second wife and has his own life. A young man who is at the pharmacy where she goes to buy the sleeping pills follows her to her flat and asks her to stop trying to kill herself.

He then tells her that he runs a school to teach people how to commit suicide successfully. It’s called Hemlock Society. He takes her to his school, which is within a film city where films are shot, and keeps her there for two days. Those workshops where teachers lecture on the various ways of killing oneself is so horrifying that she gives up all idea of suicide. She sees that all the reasons that she has for killing herself – she has broken up with her boyfriend, her father doesn’t show any affection to her, she hates her step-mother, she is going to be fired from her job – have no importance compared to the problems of others.

Not only that but she actually falls in love with the man who has brought her there. But he tells her that there is no future in their love because he is suffering from a terminal illness and has only a couple of years to live. So, that is the reason why he is doing everything he can to stop people from killing themselves. His mission is to make people see how precious life is and that one can’t end it for problems that can be overcome.

In the meantime the father of the young woman realises that he has neglected her. And now stands up for her when he sees her ex-boyfriend in a cafe with the new woman in his life. It takes a crisis like this for him to realise that his daughter needs attention too. His new wife knows very well that she can never replace the dead mother but she makes an effort to be warm and friendly with her.

The films ends with the ex trying to kill himself when the new woman in his life is not really interested in him. As he is about to jump into the river from a bridge the same man appears and tells him that he can take him to his school where he will teach him how to successfully commit suicide.

The male lead role is played by Parambrata Chatterjee and the young woman’s role is played by Koel Mullick. Srijit makes no attempt to hide the fact that this character is similar to Anand played by Rajesh Khanna in the 70s. In fact, he is called Ananda Kar, deliberately. Throughout the film he repeats that he is a movie buff and quotes from filmy dialogues. Parambrata flirts with the girl to make her fall in love with being in love again.

Koel’s role is well-written because you see that this character is at fault too. She is not a victim. As the film progresses you realise that she is a very sloppy person, shabby and unkempt. Because of this she is about to be fired. At the same time, having lost her mother some years ago she has not recovered from that and as her father has remarried she is alone. The viewer can see that she was looking for a father in her boyfriend. And that is dangerous. It is clear that the boyfriend didn’t want a shabby girl who treats him like a father. If he hasn’t married her in 14 years then there is something wrong already. Instead of seeing what was wrong with herself the young woman starts blaming everyone else.

The film can be called a dark comedy because it is making fun of a serious matter as suicide but on the other hand it is holding up a mirror to Indian society of today. India has a very high rate of suicides and people are influenced by cinema to do something drastic. Srijit has done the right thing to use cinema to try and reverse that trend and to show to the youth of this country that this is not a solution. The film has a strong message and by presenting with humour he makes the film enjoyable too.

There is a surreal aspect to the script but Srijit manages to pull it off. It could very easily not have worked. The actors have given good performances. The set design is good. The only thing that bothered me was the way one could hear every breath that Koel was taking – unless, of course, that was done deliberately to make us understand the inner turmoil of the character she was playing.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but this film gives an idea of the unusual ideas that are now pushing Bengali cinema. It is because the directors are being backed by producers who are willing to take risks that new intelligent films are being made. Let the masses have what they want. At least the intelligent viewer has something to watch too.

If you are a Parambrata fan then you should watch this film.

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Posted in Film | Tagged Bengali film, Indian cinema, Parambrata Chatterjee | Leave a comment

Road Safety

Posted on 17/10/2015 by admin

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I am writing this from my bed as my foot is in a plaster cast and I can only walk around the house with the help of a crutch. All this because the roads of Pondicherry are so choked with vehicles that no one has any place to move. People like me, riding a scooter, are pushed off the road by bigger vehicles.

This is how it all happened. I was coming back from a friend’s house on Romain Rolland Street. I found myself in front of the Cluny hospital where half the road space is taken up by parked motorcycles. What is left of the road is too little for two way traffic. In front of me was a SUV vehicle so it left me with no space to continue on my way. I could have just gone back and turned into Surcouf Street and continued on Suffren Street. But that would be a long detour, moreover Suffren street is badly lit at night.

I decided to get off my scooter and push it on the narrow space left beside the SUV while I walked on the sloping cement bit that that was between the road and the pavement. Unfortunately my foot slipped and I fell down and my scooter fell on my foot. I got up, sat on the scooter and came back home. It was only in the morning that I found out, after I had it x-rayed, that my foot had a fracture.

I told the doctor at Nallam Clinic, while he was putting the plaster on my foot, that I was going to sue the Cluny hospital. His answer was: “It wasn’t the fault of the Cluny hospital. It was the fault of the Government.” I am sorry, but I beg to differ. In my opinion, it was the fault of the Cluny hospital which has done nothing to create a parking space for the large number of people who come there every day.

If the roads are used for parking then where will the traffic move?

I feel now that this fall happened to remind me that I have not done enough for the traffic situation in Pondicherry. So I am going to do what I had planned to do long back – create a booklet for children to teach them about road safety. I believe that only children will learn and they will teach their parents how to use the roads. I will distribute these books in schools and wait for the results.

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Posted in India, Road Safety | Tagged road safety | Leave a comment

Jaatishwar (Bengali film) – a dvd review

Posted on 29/8/2015 by admin

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The film I am going to write about was on the list of available Indian regional films on the flight from London Heathrow to Dubai. The special point about watching a film on a flight is that you are a captive audience. Quite literally. Because you can’t go anywhere and there is nothing else you can do, so you are totally absorbed.

The film, Jaatishwar, is surely director Srijit Mukherjee’s best film so far. And I doubt he can actually produce anything that will surpass this film in story and content. At last, Bengal has woken up. And at last there are some producers ready to put their money into these projects.

This film has two tracks and the two tracks meet at the end. The first story is that of a young Gujarati boy (played by Jisshu Sengupata) who is in love with the beautiful Mahamaya. The role of the heroine is played by Swastika whom I last saw in “Bhooter Bhibishyat”. Rohit, the Gujarati boy, follows Mahamaya and wants absolutely to win her over. She finally asks him to write and sing a song in correct Bengali and sing it without a mispronunciation.

Rohit then goes off to continue his studies. His interest is in Music and Portugal. His third interest is in learning Bengali. So the only point where Bengal, music and Portugal meet is in the story of Anthony Firingi. Those who are old enough will remember the 1967 Uttam Kumar film with the soul-stirring songs of Manna Dey. And it may bring back some vague memories about who he was.

The second story begins when Rohit chooses the subject of his dissertation and goes to Chandannagar (also known as Chandernagore). He is in search of the details of the life of Anthony Firingi, the poet and singer of Portuguese origin. At the local library he meets Kushal, an assistant. The meeting between these two men becomes the starting point from which the story of Anthony Firingi grips us. Kushal reveals to Rohit that he was himself Anthony Firingi in his past life and that he has vivid memories which keep coming back to him.

As he recounts his memories of his past life we see Anthony Firingi come alive before us. We see how Anthony was part of the European community living in that area. He was gradually attracted to the Bengali folk culture and ultimately to the musical duel style of “Kobigaan”. Anthony rescues a widow from being burnt on her husband’s funeral pyre and marries her. One year he decides to hold the Durga Puja in his own house but the villagers are totally against this. During the Puja festival he goes out to sing in a Kobigaan organised by the local Raja. When he returns he sees that the villagers have burnt down his house and that his wife has died.

Rohit takes Kushal to a psychiatrist and realises that there is an urgency in getting his story out of him. One sees Kushal suffer this intrusion on his mind from these memories of a past life. Rohit continues to record all that Kushal reveals to him as part of his dissertation for his University. This work also helps him to learn Bengali.

The three men – Rohit, Kushal and Anthony – have different lives but there are many threads that bind them and many similarities. In the meantime, Mahamaya is busy organising a musical event, a rock band competition, on behalf of the radio station for which she works. Rohit finds out about this competition and decides to participate. In the meantime, Mahamaya and Rohit reconnect on Facebook. On the night of the competition Rohit finally sings the song that he has written for Mahamaya, the challenge that she had thrown at him. She is impressed and accepts him.

The end has a twist that I wouldn’t want to disclose because I want the reader to see the film.

The beauty of the film lies in the way the various strands of the story are intercut. Although it sounds like a complicated story the actual cinematic narration is very smooth. The scenes where we see Anthony Firingi are shot with a warm glow and luminosity. That is why they stand out as different. The scenes where we see Kushal are sombre and the background of an utter ordinariness. The stark contrast makes it visually totally different from the scenes which take place in the past life. The two separate time periods are kept well apart. The scenes where we see the life of Rohit are placed in our modern times and in many ways the cinematic language is different. This intermingling of different historical periods and personalities is what makes this film worth watching.

But that is not all. Prosenjit as Anthony Firingi and Kushal is brilliant. He is definitely one of India’s finest actors. It is really fortunate that when this new phase in Indian cinema has dawned we have such terrific actors who are available to the directors. You have the impression that the two roles have been played by two completely different actors. The genius of Prosenjit lies as much in the quasi-mystic aura that he gives to Anthony as much as the totally ordinary man he becomes as Kushal. No make-up, no wigs, no other help from anything, stooped, unsure of himself, he becomes the anonymous library assistant. Prosenjit manages to switch off his charisma and become a nobody. And yet when he is Anthony you cannot take your eyes off him. This is the mark of a great actor.

Flaws there are and mostly in the way poor Rohit’s role has been written. Although he is supposed to be a Gujarati boy he doesn’t manage the Gujarati accent at all. He speaks in a Marwari accent and that too not very successfully. His early dialogues are not written convincingly enough. The whole part where Mahamaya’s friends re-unite with her does not give us the impression that she is the only one who is still single and could be feeling the need for a companion. Her loneliness is felt when she is with her mother.

The strong points of the film are many. Casting is one of them. The actors playing minor roles are well-chosen and leave a mark. Mamata Shankar, who plays the mother, is brief but memorable. The whole film rests on the pillars of music, both folk and modern. The scenes showing the musical debates are very well done. The moments where Anthony listens to Lalan Fakir’s song is also very evocative. It must have been weird for Prosenjit to do that scene because in another film he has himself played Lalan Fakir. Another sense of revisiting a past life, he must have thought. Screenplay, editing, cinematography, dialogues are all quite impressive.

Trivia – the director himself plays the role of Mahamaya’s boss in the film.

Revelation – I didn’t know that the Portuguese had lived in Chandernagore, neither the fact that it was called Farashdanga earlier (‘Farashi’ being the Bengali word for ‘French’). I associated the town only with the French and had always believed that Anthony Firingi was a Frenchman.

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Posted in Film | Tagged film review, Indian cinema, Jaatishwar, Prosenjit, Srijit Mukherjee | Leave a comment

Hay Fever – A Noel Coward play

Posted on 24/7/2015 by admin

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When I arrived at the Duke of York Theatre yesterday I was in for a surprise. I was told by the young man at the gate that they were upgrading some of the ticket holders and I was among them. This is how I managed to get a seat in the 3rd row from the stage.

After seeing Noel Coward’s Private Lives I was looking forward to an opportunity to see his other plays. Hay Fever doesn’t disappoint. Although it was written almost ninety years ago the dialogue sounds still as hilarious as it was when it was written for an audience in 1926. Human nature continues to be the same even though we now live in a world totally transformed by technology.

The play is about the Bliss family (Was the name deliberately chosen to point out their ignorance of human behaviour?) which consists of Mr. Bliss, a novelist and Mrs. Bliss, a retired stage actress and their two adult children. Unknown to the others each one has invited a guest with the hope of spending a few romantic days with them. As the guests arrive one by one we see how they are all totally ill-matched with the one who has invited them. By the end of the second act they have each found a different partner and by the third act the guests realise that the Bliss family is too loony for them and they decide to quietly leave, but not before they have paired off among themselves. The family is too busy with their own conversation to even notice that their guests have left. Not only that but they have totally forgotten all the events of the previous day!

I particularly enjoyed Felicity Kendal’s fantastic stage presence and her very convincing performance. The character she plays, Judith Bliss, has a constant need for drama in her life, never losing an opportunity to be the centre of attention. One can feel Felicity enjoying every moment of this role. To single out Felicity would be unfair to other actors who were all wonderful in their roles. I must add that I was particularly impressed by Alice Orr-Ewing who plays the role of Sorel, the daughter.

The stage set was very beautiful. I loved the way one could see the countryside through the glass windows at the back of the stage. The use of lights to show rain and clouds through the windows was very effective. The women’s costumes were lovely. How I wish women could once again be seen in beautiful dresses like those, instead of the androgynous costumes in neutral colours which are so common now.

I had the wonderful company of a drama student from the university of Cork, who was sitting next to me. I don’t even know her name but we enjoyed trying to guess the end as we waited for the curtain to rise before the play as well as during the interval.

The play ends on 1st August. If you are in London, go catch it before it’s gone. I know that if this play was brought to India it would be a success.

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Posted in Theatre | Tagged Felicity Kendal, Hay Fever | Leave a comment

Little Miss Sunshine – a dvd review

Posted on 28/6/2015 by admin

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This is one othe funniest movies I have seen in a long time. It was made in 2006 and was nominated in four categories for the Oscars in 2007, including Best Picture. The film won the best original screenplay and best supporting actor awards that year.

The story is about a totally dysfunctional family in which the only sane people are the wife and the daughter. The wife’s father has come to live with them after being thrown out of a care home for taking heroin and her brother has just been brought back from the hospital after a failed suicide attempt. The husband is a life coach and is not doing well. Also with them is the teenage son of the wife from a previous marriage.

The little girl, who is called Olive, has just received a phone call informing her that she has qualified for the “Little Miss Sunshine” contest. But it looks as if getting there is going to be impossible. The only way they can go is by taking everyone along. So that is the final decision and they start off on a mad journey. Anything that could go wrong does go wrong. And more.

Finally, they make it to the contest.

Alan Arkin, who plays the grandfather of Olive, won the award for the best supporting actor. But the one who had me absolutely rolling with laughter by his acting was Paul Dano who plays Olive’s half brother. The screenplay comes from the pen (more likely a laptop) of a first-time writer and the direction is handled by a husband and wife team. It is their skill that brings out the individual characters and each one’s idiosyncrasy. This tragi-comedy picks up such a pace that when it ends you realise that you have lost track of time.

The role of Olive is played by Abigail Breslin and she has a natural look of innocence. It is so touching that you get pulled into the story out of sympathy for her. She really carries the whole film and is truly the ray of sunshine in this story.

If you need cheering up go get the DVD of this movie and watch it.

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Posted in Film | Tagged Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, film review, Little Miss Sunshine, Paul Dano | Leave a comment

Book Review: Manik and I – My life with Satyajit Ray by Bijoya Ray

Posted on 7/6/2015 by admin

We must all collectively thank Bijoya Ray for putting into words her priceless memories. Every Ray fan wants to know what he was like as a man. There is nothing so fascinating as the little details of his outward life and his likes and dislikes. Bijoya gives us a view of Satyajit the man whom we have always known as Satyajit Ray the genius. The title “Manik and I” is fully justified. ‘Manik’ was Satyajit Ray’s nickname and in this book we see indeed Manik, Bijoya’s husband, and not the public personality that we can find in other publications.

In fact Bijoya wrote her memoirs in Bangla, in a series of chapters which were serialized in the Bangla magazine Desh which were later published in a book form. After the publication of the Bangla volume the book was translated into English by Indrani Majumdar.

This book is as much about Satyajit Ray as it is about Bijoya herself. Their marriage almost didn’t happen because they were first cousins who had a common grandfather but not the same grandmother. Bijoya Ray’s paternal grandfather had married a second time after the death of his first wife. While
Satyajit Ray’s mother was the daughter of his second wife, Bijoya’s father was the son of the first. In other words, Bijoya’s father was the half-bother of Satyajit’s mother.

Clearly Bijoya was the intellectual companion that he needed, one who shared his love for Western classical music and Hollywood films. Once he started making films she joined him and helped with all the little details which needed a woman’s attention. She not only ran his home but was also the first to read many of his scripts and to give him a feedback. She went with him to shop for costumes and accessories. She was a colleague who was always in the background.

Through Bijoya’s eyes we see Satyajit starting out on this long journey which eventually made him a legendary director, recognized the world over. We see their struggle to get the right financiers and actors, to balance their family life with his all-engrossing work. She also gives us a detailed account

One discovers in this book the large network of friends and relatives who surrounded the couple. In fact, they belonged to an illustrious family of Bengal. Satyajit was the son of Sukumar Ray, writer and artist, who is a household name in Bengal. The great Chittaranjan Das was Bijoya’s uncle – he was married to her maternal aunt. Both Bijoya and Satyajit were related by blood to many talented and artistic people. Through his work they came in contact with many others who remained loyal to them through thick and thin.

Written in a language which is close to spoken everyday Bengali and translated into an equally simple language in English, the book is an easy read. One has the impression that one is listening to Bijoya narrating her story. The Bangla version even has English words which people normally use while speaking language but they are written in the Bangla script. Words such as “highbrow” and “interesting” come up in a very natural manner as they would when people speak in daily conversation.

The good thing is that the book can be read in bits and pieces, by choosing the chapters that one is more interested in. For example, the book abounds in episodes concerning Bijoya’s life with her son. One can easily skip these if one is more interested in the stories about how certain films were made. As Bijoya married late and had only one child he became the centre of her world and it is only natural that her book has entire chapters on the details of his childhood years.

Satyajit didn’t have any of the household worries on his mind as Bijoya took care of all that, leaving him free to do his work. In fact, Satyajit remained untouched by all financial matters. Bijoya also looked after both his mother and her mother. Not only that but she also entertained all the guests who dropped in at their home. Fortunately there was always somebody around to help her out of difficult situations. As we read this we become aware that we rarely take into account the work done by a woman and her contribution to the excellence achieved by her husband.

As one finishes the last pages one understands how a couple can be so immersed in their own affection for each other that material wealth becomes only a detail. The Rays never owned a house. But Bijoya endlessly thanks God for all the joys that were given to her in her happy home, her husband’s achievements, her pride in her son, and her admiration for her daughter-in-law.

I was very surprised to find that Bijoya had the courage to speak of Satyajit Ray’s one passionate relationship outside his marriage. Although she doesn’t mention the woman by name, we all know that it was Madhabi Mukherjee. Bijoya only mentions that she was so heart-broken that she fell ill and adds, “My husband was not a saint”. But we can see how she does not let out any of this when she speaks of Madhabi the actress in such high terms. She even tells us how she helped Madhabi to dress up for her role in Charulata. In fact Madhabi wore Bijoya’s saris in that film.

Of course, this relationship with Madhabi did not last very long and all was forgiven and their happy life continued. One can understand Bijoya’s distress because not only was she five years older than Satyajit but also she did not have the looks of an actress. She was her husband’s intellectual companion. The physical beauty of Madhabi proved to be too strong an attraction for Satyajit to resist as well as her youthful charm.

The book is full of factual information which is what makes this book interesting even for those who may not be keen to know the details of Ray’s family life. Many pages are devoted to the journeys they undertook together or when he went alone to the various film festivals where either Ray’s films were being screened or where he received awards. The most interesting parts of course are the small details of how in the early years they managed to circumvent the problems of finances and technical unavailability of materials. For example we come to know that Bijoya gave her own saris and jewels for the shooting of certain scenes or how Satyajit himself did much of the peripheral work before the shooting started.

A point to note is that Ray himself designed the costumes and the décor as well as composed the music for certain films. Bijoya asks him why he only took the director’s fee when he actually did so much more. Satyajit answers that he did not want the producer to lose his money. He was keenly aware that someone had invested his hard earned money and was giving him the opportunity to create his work of art.

Satyajit Ray’s work is so rich in psychological nuances that his admirers will never miss a chance to know more about his own life. There will always be a curiosity to know more about him. And Manik and I can to some extent quench that thirst. The large number of photographs which are there in every chapter in the body of the page make the stories come alive.

Manik and I – My life with Satyajit Ray by Bijoya Ray Published by Penguin Books India – 2012, 600 pages.

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Paromitar ek Din – a review

Posted on 2/6/2015 by admin

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The purpose of writing these reviews is to give to the prospective viewer the opportunity to know what the film is like. Now that movie viewing is not as it used to be and we end up seeing dvds rather than going to a cinema hall, we often need some indication as to what we can expect from a film. I want to be careful not to give away the endings which are often a surprise.

This is by far Aparna Sen’s best film. She is the scriptwriter, the director and has played the role of one of the main characters of the film. Her creative intelligence is present in many aspects of this very interesting cinematic creation.

This story hits the nail on the head and speaks about that uncomfortable truth about Indian life. Far too many intelligent, creative, sensitive women are married to prosaic, unintelligent men. Salman Rushdie himself had said that Indian women were far more interesting than the men. This film only confirms this. This situation is created by our institution of arranged marriages which continues to be practised in our modern world. This arrangement does not take into account the fact that two adults who have developed their individual personalities cannot live their entire lives together if they have not found any common points of interest.

The story begins with the death of Sanaka. Paromita is invited to the funeral rites observed on the 12th day after her passing. As she waits for the rites to be over she remembers the days she had spent in this family home with Sanaka, who was then her mother-in-law. Although the relationship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is the most difficult of human relationships, this story shows us two women who live it quite differently. They develop a friendship because they share a common sorrow – the burden of bringing up abnormal children. The older woman has a daughter who is schizophrenic while the younger woman has a spastic son. The fact that they both have children with abnormalities points to the fact that this streak must have come from the men they have married. While Sanaka, the older woman, remains stuck in this unhappy situation, Paromita decides to change her life.

In this film Aparna plays a role which is totally different from her usual types. Here she is not the urban, sophisticated, free-bird. She is quite “basic” as we say these days, meaning “not very educated, not very refined”. Here she has almost an aggressive side to herself. When she speaks we often have to strain to understand as she speaks with her mouth full of the paan she is chewing. In short, Aparna is not playing herself.

Rituparna Sengupta has entered into the skin of her character. She embodies very successfully the new middle-class Indian woman who will not take her fate lying down and who has decided that she will take that difficult step of breaking away from a meaningless life. Even if the new man in her life is not Mr. Perfect at least he is better than what she has. This step is heart-wrenching as she knows that her mother-in-law has no one beside her and it spells doom for her. It is not an easy choice. Her evolution from the housewife to the working woman takes place in a very matter-of -fact way. There is nothing dramatic abut it.

The very last scene very cleverly ties up the film where death and birth are fused into one. In fact, the film is a study in contrasts, the contrast between men and women, between the old society and the new that is emerging, between the normal and the not-so-normal, between birth and death. While the film speaks of tragedies it also weaves in a tale of hope and strength.

I cannot end this piece without saying a few words about Sohini Sengupta, who plays the role of the schizophrenic daughter. She received the national award for the best supporting actress for this film. And she richly deserved it. I was wondering what her background was when I discovered that she is the daughter of Swatilekha and Rudraprakash Sengupta. Indeed, she is the daughter of the actress who played the heroine in Satyajit Ray’s “Ghare Baire” (Home and the World). Her parents being giants in the world of theatre she understands a role from the inside.

The other superb performance is that of Soumitra Chatterjee. He plays a quiet man who does not have the strength that is usually expected of a man. Poetic, silently observing people, he gives depth to this story.

You should watch this film not only for the excellent individual performances but also for the cohesive and unusual story it tells. Hats off to the multifaceted talented woman director, Aparna Sen.

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Posted in Film, Review | Tagged Aparna Sen, Film, film review, Indian cinema, Rituparna Sengupta | Leave a comment

Review of Aparna Sen’s film ‘Iti Mrinalini’

Posted on 3/5/2015 by admin

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For those who are fans of Aparna Sen this film which was released in 2011 is a must-see. Her sensibility is present in many aspects of this work. Unlike her other films this story unfolds over a longer spanof time and has a greater complexity. The uniqueness of Aparna’s work is that it gives us a woman’s point of view of a series of events. And when an actress becomes a director she can bring to the finished product a degree of perfection and an insight that is not found in the works of others.

The story is about an actress past her prime who decides to take her won life after being disappointed yet another time in love. She spends the whole night remembering past events of her life and as the first light of the morning appears she decides that suicide is not an answer. But don’t think that this an autobiography of the Actress-Director Aparna Sen herself. The script is co-written with Ranjan Roy who wrote it as part of his project as a student in a movie school. Aprana then developed it and found it so interesting that she decided to get the film made and direct it herself. Of course, she has taken the role of the older version of the heroine.

In a series of flashbacks Mrinalini’s life is reaveled to the viewer and we see her evolution from a simple middleclass college girl to a mature and sophisticated woman. While we have her own story in the foreground we have the history of the city as well as of Bengali cinema in the background. One can see some parallels with Shyam Benegal’s film “Bhumika”, an actress who goes through a series of relationships, most of which are unsatisfying, but all through these experiences the woman grows as an individual.

The role of the actress in her youth is played by Konkona Sen Sharma, Aparna’s real life daughter. Even though they don’t physically resemble each other very much there is an effort to bring out the psychological resemblance and we end up believing that it is the same person. Konkona is a good actress and this role is one of her best. In fact, the casting in this film is one of its strong points. Rajat Kapoor does such a good job of the film director who can’t bring himslef to divorce his wife to marry Mrinalini. Upamanyu Chatterjee’s good looks convince you that Mrinalini’s falling in love was inevitable. Kaushik Sen plays Chintan Nair, her friend-philosopher-guide who is also perhaps in love with her. He manages the right accent of Bengali spoken by a South Indian and has the right amount of detachment from Mrinalini.

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The story is set in the world of cinema but the film is not so much about her life as an actress as about her relationships. This milieu gives her the opportunity to meet and bond with unusual people. On the one hand Mrinalini has money and fame, on the other she has neither family nor a steady loving presence in her life. But we admire her for being an individual and making her own choices. Although she passes through a series of difficulties the ray of hope in the story comes from Chintan Nair who tells her that there are different kinds of love and she should not expect that she will be loved the way she wants to be loved.

Care has been taken to recreate the past through the right kind of costume, decor and vocabulary. The images are rich and varied. The music is a treat.

I was very amused that in the story Chintan Nair lives in Auroville. I don’t know how well Aparna knows Auroville but at least she has identified that it is a place where people follow an unconventional way of thinking. It is this element of quest for something beyond the mundane that redeems the film.

If one wants to start nitpicking then there is no end to finding faults but when one knows how much hard work and how many different skills are required to make a movie one can only be grateful that someone put their money into a project like this. After all, you don’t get to see a poetic film like this everyday.

The film tells you that beyond a certain point you can’t plan your life. Life takes its own course.Take what it has to offer.

Posted in Film | Tagged Aparna Sen, film review, Indian cinema, Iti Mirinalini, Konkona Sen Sharma | Leave a comment

Shubho Muharat

Posted on 26/4/2015 by admin

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When I bought the dvd of Shubho Mahurat on College Street in Calcutta I realised that it was thanks to so many changes in technology and marketing in the world of Indian cinema that I could watch a film which was released 12 years ago. True, I watched it on the small screen of my laptop but that is better than not seeing it at all. What is that proverb in Bengali? Better to have a one-eyed uncle than no uncle at all.

This film brings together three fine actresses and a very talented director: Sharmila Tagore, Rakhee, Nandita Das and Rituparna Ghosh. Right at the outset let me inform the reader that this film is a Bengali adaptation of an Agatha Christie story which was also made into an English film. The story is called “The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side” and the title of the film is shortened to “The Mirror Cracked”. It may be that Agatha Christie was herself inspired by a true story which happened in an English village. The role played by Rakhee is actually a Bengali version of Miss Marple! But how wonderfully Rituparna (whom I will henceforth call Ritu-da) has created this character who is totally original and totally Indian.

The story is a murder mystery so I won’t write the plot which I usually do. All I can say is that it is a typical crime thriller written by Christie, which goes through various twists and turns. The film begins with the first day of shooting of a new film being produced by a retired actress. A journalist comes to cover this event. Soon after the shot is over the main actress dies in her flat. So the search for the killer begins.

There are three love stories which run parallel through the film. The first is between an ageing actress and her producer husband, the second is between a young woman journalist and two men who are in love with her and the third is a bond between the camera-man of the new film being made and the make-up woman. Each of the love stories is set in a different context. The three women come from a different class and a different age-group. But it is interesting how they are interconnected.

This film was made by Ritu-da just before he made “Chokher Bali”, his magnum opus. In “Shubho Mahurat” he was working with actresses who were stars in Bollywood but he was going to present them before Bengali viewers for whom that would be a novelty. It was with this film that he was going to start his long association with Bollywood stars, casting them in his films because that was the only way he could get a very large audience. He was surely one of the best directors and screenwriters we have had but he never lost sight of the box-office.

All three main actresses – Sharmila, Rakhee and Nandita – give to the film a touch of their very realistic style of acting and keep the viewer’s attention fixed to the narration. How harmoniously Nandita’s youth contrasts with Rakhee’s maturity! How beautifully Sharmila’s sophistication contrasts with Rakhee’s simplicity! How seamlessly Nandita’s carefree attitude contrasts with Sharmila’s calculated moves! All three complement each other. Perhaps this is Rakhee’s last film role and she has put her heart into it. She truly becomes Ranga Pishi.

The secondary roles have been played with great success too. The dialogues are very interesting and keep the pace of the story at a steady rhythm. This film can stand as an example of good screenplay writing in Indian cinema. Even though the basic story is taken from elsewhere the script in my eyes is an original one. As Vishal Bhardwaj once said, “The plot belonged to Shakespeare but I built my house on it.” (I have added this to my collection of puns, as you can imagine.) Ritu-da has done exactly the same kind of work that Vishal does when he adapts Shakesperean plays to the Indian context.

Rituparna Ghosh was someone who understood the mind of a woman. In fact, he was so much in the world of women that he actually wanted to become one himself. This deep fascination for women gave him an insight into the feminine nature. This is why the three women are so real in all their details. This may even be the reason why he chose this story because it gave him the opportunity to explore the feminine psyche.

Whatever may have been the reason for which he chose this story the end result is that the public has an opportunity to watch such an interesting film and we have to thank Ritu-da for pulling Bengali cinema out of the pit into which it had fallen. Rakhee received the 2003 National Award for the best supporting actress for this film. This film also received the National Award for Best Bengali Film of 2003.

Posted in Film | Tagged film review, Indian cinema, Nandita Das, Rakhee, Rituparno Ghosh, Sharmila Tagore, Shubho Mahurat | Leave a comment

Malala Yousafzai

Posted on 16/4/2015 by admin

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I love true stories. No fiction writer can invent anything half as interesting as true stories. But the book I have just finished reading is by far the most fascinating one I have read in the last ten years. I picked up “I am Malala” to read on a journey but I have re-read it a second time after I reached home.

The extraordinary courage of Malala is something we Indian women could learn from. We all know that she is an exceptional girl but from this book you come to know just how extraordinary she is. Malala is not from a city like Islamabad. She grew up as a poor girl in a remote place like the Taliban infested Swat valley in Pakistan. It is a place where people still live with the mindset of the tribal life of a thousand years ago.

Reading this book is getting to know the other side of all the news items we have read in papers or watched on TV. It is a revelation to know how the same stories were perceived by those who actually lived the trauma of these violent events in their own country. For example the way Benazir Bhutto was killed was a shock to all of us but how much more shattering it was to young girls growing up holding her up as a role model before them as hoping that she would become their President. Important events like the death of Osama Bin Laden or the 9/11 attacks are all told from the point of view of a child growing up in a Muslim country.

The book has been written with the help of an experienced journalist Christina Lamb and so there is a flow in the language. Fortunately, the tone and vocabulary of the teenager is kept intact. One does get the feel of listening to a young girl telling her story. The little details of her life as a girl make this book so unique because we see not only that this activist has barely come out of her childhood but also what kind of childhood exists in the small towns taken over by the Taliban.

There are many facts that I did not know and these bits of information give a clearer picture of Malala’s life and achievement. The background information such as the fact that her father had a chain of schools is an important one also the fact that she had already started speaking publicly about the importance of education in Pakistan. I did not know that Malala had already met many dignitaries because of her activism for education and had been interviewed on radio and television. Now I understand why she was so specifically targeted.

When I had first read that Malala had been shot in the head I could not figure out how she had survived. The book gives a detailed account of how the doctors worked and saved her life. It is an eye-opener about how developed medical science is in the UK but at the same time you cannot miss the clear message that there is something called Divine Grace. You cannot deny that God’s protecting hand was there over Malala’s head. Malala feels that she was saved so that she could do her work and help humanity. There is no doubt about that.

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I must have read the last two chapters at least three times to fully understand what the doctors did to make Malala come back to normal life. The entire process was so complicated and poor Malala had to undergo such suffering that one can only look up at the doctors as well as at Malala with heart-felt admiration.

Malala was a beautiful girl with a perfectly symmetrical face before she was shot in the head. What she has suffered would have made any other girl never come out again. But here she is out there doing what she was doing with a greater energy than ever before. She deserves every bit of the Nobel Prize that she has received. She has kept her own suffering out of the picture but any fool can deduct what she must have gone through. I have seen Malala being interviewed on TV and one can see that she has the wisdom that comes from having seen a great deal of suffering from an early age.

I was very touched by the part where Malala describes how she received a present from Benazir Bhuttos’s children after she had recovered from her operations in Birmingham. They gave her two shawls which had belonged to their mother. Full of emotion Malala buried her face in them and later she found a long black hair on one of them.

Now when I see her smiling face in a picture I know the value of that smile. You can only know how she got back her smile when you have read the book!

Posted in India | Tagged Malala, Malala Yousafzai | Leave a comment

Aamir Khan

Posted on 4/4/2015 by admin

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I became a fan of Aamir Khan after seeing Mangal Pandey. I had no doubt that he was a good actor but after watching Satyameva Jayate I now also have a great deal of respect for him. He has taken up so many issues and discussed them in such a clear and comprehensive manner that one cannot remain unmoved.

All his episodes are interesting but the one dealing with road accidents was the one that has remained in my mind in all its details. He took the trouble of calling every category of people involved in this subject. From families who had lost members in road accidents to truck drivers who carry overloaded vehicles to policemen, they were all there.

The country has no idea about the scale of destruction that road accidents bring on. People say, “It was destined and we have to accept that death.” Aamir Khan brought it to the attention of the nation that these are entirely avoidable disasters. At the end of the show when he asked the people in the audience to raise their hands if they had paid to get a driving license, all except two lifted their hands! If no one actually passes a test to be able to drive then how can we expect to have safe roads?

The construction industry is responsible for the overloading of trucks carrying steel rods. Not only do trucks take double the permissible quantity but they also take rods which hang out of the rear of the trucks by several metres. Sometimes all there is is a small piece of red cloth tied to the end of the protruding rods to indicate that they end there. But how can a driver coming behind the truck at a speed judge the distance if at all he can see that cloth. Can a driver not understand that steel rods jutting out of the back is dangerous to those who are behind? The drivers of these trucks claim that they cannot say anything as they are asked to take that load by the constructor who has bought those steel rods.

I was very touched to see Aamir ask his audience, “How can one live in a flat knowing that people have died in road accidents while steel rods for the construction were being transported?” The police are very much aware of this problem but do nothing about it.

Another horrifying truth that came out in that episode was the fact that long distance drivers often take drugs to stay awake in order to drive all night. The highways are full of drivers who are actually under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The drivers admitted that often they sleep with their eyes open while they are driving on the highways.

If all film stars use their fame to do something for the country then we would be living in a better world. There is a social responsibility that goes with the love that people give an actor. Creating social awareness by actors and actresses has been going on for a long time in Hollywood and Europe but we are seeing it for the first time in India on this scale.

As I end this post I must mention how much I enjoyed watching Aamir’s film “PK”. I don’t know of any other actor who would have the guts to take up such a role and point out the ignorance in which we live, turning our heads towards the past instead of looking at the powerful future that is standing in front of us.

Posted in Film, India, Road Safety | Tagged Aamir Khan, road safety | Leave a comment

Poroma by Aparna Sen, a review

Posted on 31/3/2015 by admin

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I had seen this film a good 20 years ago but I found the dvd at a friend’s house and thought of watching it once again. Films, like books, should be revisited once every 10 years. What has escaped your understanding will become clearly visible after you have crossed certain landmarks of life. And so it was with this film. There were points that I had completely overlooked which cried out to be seen this time round.

The first thing to say about this film is that it has a good, tight script. Sadly, even after looking on the internet for the script-writer’s name I have not been able to find it. Aparna Sen may have written it herself or must have worked closely with the person who wrote it.

The story revolves around a married woman who meets a young photographer who is totally charmed by her. They fall in love and spend a lot of time together. Poroma, the woman in question is not only married but also has three children of whom one is a teenage girl. The man with whom she is in love, and who is younger than her, is an Indian who is settled in the USA and is in Calcutta only on a brief visit.

He brings to her life the appreciation that she has never received from her husband. She has always been fulfilling her duties as wife, mother, daughter-in-law and has never been considered a person in her own right. Here is a man who not only tells her that she is beautiful but wants to know her mind and her heart. The film explores the attraction that grows between them, but firstly it explores the mind of an Indian woman who so willingly switches off her own dreams and desires once she is married.

One day, inevitably, the husband comes to know of this relationship and all hell breaks loose. At this point in the story we hear echoes of Ibsen’s “Doll’s House”. The husband suddenly feels that Poroma is not fit to bring up his children. All at once even the children are not hers. Her mother-in-law falls ill as she is totally shocked and Poroma becomes the evil woman in everyone’s eyes.

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All this ultimately leads to Poroma’s nervous breakdown and she attempts to take her own life. When she is recovering her family comes to see her at the hospital but she realises that she can no longer go back to her old life because she has been somehow re-born. Now she decides that she wants to lead a new life. She is completely transformed. She tells her family that she is now thinking of working and earning a living.

Although this film was made in the early 1980s it has a perfectly contemporary feel. True, the clothes and hairstyles have changed but the mentality remains the same in our country. There are still so few women who can live a love story. Love and marriage are two different things and not everybody has the good fortune to live that wonderful experience of being totally in love.

The film’s strong points are the visuals and the narration. It has many subtle ways of conveying the closeness of the couple and has many beautiful touches. For all this the credit must go to Aparna, the director. But the one thing for which a film buff should see this film is surely Rakhee’s acting. Bollywood had made us believe that she was a dumb beauty but Bengali cinema has been able to bring out the sensitive actress and the great performer that she is. There is something about her voice that compels you to listen to her. The intensity that comes through her eyes is rare in Indian actresses. She was a star and it was something she had earned rightfully, through hard work. But here we see the fine actress who was always there within that star.

The interesting point about this film is that the role of the young lover is played by Aparna Sen’s own then husband, Mukul Sharma. He is an academic so I really found his acting very good because when this is not your profession it can be hard to play such a role. How difficult it must be to look seductive and roll around in a bed with a beautiful actress when your own wife is standing behind the camera and scrutinising your every expression? For years I have read his column “Mindsport” in the Indian Express and am his fan. So I was thrilled to see him on screen.

Thirty years have passed since this film was made but it continues to be as fresh in its essence. It is true that women have made great strides in every field in India but the man-woman relationship continues to be disbalanced. The words “wife” and “love” still don’t go together. The pace of change however is picking up. Sooner or later people are going to understand that marriage is an institution that has had its day. The day women achieve financial independence we will have relationships of equality and maybe….even love.

Posted in Film, Review | Tagged Aparna Sen, film review, Indian cinema, Mukul Sharma, Parama, Poroma | Leave a comment

Stonehenge

Posted on 12/9/2014 by admin

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It looks like Obama and I have something in common. We had both put down Stonehenge on our bucket list. And we went there within the same week too!

It was a dream come true and an old dream at that. Even though I had seen so many photos of Stonehenge it was quite another thing to actually stand before those mysterious rocks.

We took a bus from London and were there in 2 hours. But I had never imagined that it would be so windy and cold on the last day of August. But strangely, feeling cold as I was, it made me think of those primitive people who actually built this structure and their labour in those windswept plains. How exposed they were to the weather and the sky!

No one will ever know what Stonehenge really was. But the fact remains that those humans who lived in this part of Britain 4500 years ago or more worked together and built something on a massive scale. It could have been a temple or a place to bury the important people of the region. It could have been an observatory. Or all three and more. Their sense of wonderment at the world must have been so deep.

It was the childhood of mankind. I don’t look upon it as a British historic site. I look at it as a site of historical importance concerning mankind as a whole. We human beings were there, trying to understand what the world and human life is all about. We were in the infancy of our mental development and were trying to understand what Life and Death, Time and Space and God were all about. These stones are a testimony to that struggle of the human race to come to grips with the laws of Nature and our efforts to come out of ignorance into Light.

If you visit it don’t forget to go into the museum to have a look at the fantastic projection they have installed. There is a round room where the visitor has the imptression of standing in the centre of the stone circles. On the walls on both sides there is a projection where one can see the enormous stones columns as they were 4500 years ago and in the 3-minute video which runs in a loop one can see the seasons pass as well as the sun rising and setting. Of particular beaty is the moment when the stones are covered in snow. In the distance one can see the prehistoric men and women walking in small groups. Whoever made this video is an artist and his work is a joy to watch.

The newly built Visitor Center is another sucessful creation. Constructed at a distance so as not to spoil the landscape the structure is designed in such a way that it harmoniously blends with the surrounding landscape. It has all the services that are needed. There are toilets and a cafe as well as a souvenir shop. An electric vehicle takes you to the stones at frequent intervals. Visors are not allowed to go into the stone circles. The path that goes around the circles is very close at one point but mostly it is a good ten to twenty feet away. One can walk all around it and get a view from varying distance. This is wonderful because one can get different perspectives.

As we sipped our hot coffee at the cafeteria we wondered what the Stonehenge man would have thought of it if his spirit re-appeared and he could see the Chinese girl in front of us swiping websites and pictures on her smart phone sending photos of herself, standing in front of the stones, to her friends in China!

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Posted in History, Travel, UK | Tagged Stonehenge. history | Leave a comment

Commonwealth Games

Posted on 12/8/2014 by admin

Since the Olympic Games happened only 2 years ago in London the Commonwealth Games which took place in Glasgow, again in the UK, looked like a miniature version of it. The hero of the Olympiad, Usain Bolt, was there once again as were the British gymnasts and divers.

The opening ceremony, as expected had a lot of Scottish pride and tartans. But once the games began it was a flow of many colours and skills. I watched the gymnastics and diving events and was most moved to see Indians participating in these. Many other countries such as Malaysia, Canada and South Africa were present in these games, who had not been so visible in the Olympics. It took me a while getting used to seeing Scotland and Wales were competing as independent groups.

My focus was on gymnastics and diving and I watched much of it on the BBC website live. I was absolutely spell-bound by the performances in men’s events. It is really amazing how far the human body can go in its efforts to cross the boundaries of capacities. In control, balance and suppleness we have truly progressed. I say “we” because the whole human race is represented by these sportmen and women.

In women’s gynmastics I was delighted to see a young Indian woman win a medal in vault. This was a historic moment in Indian Sports. I have myself been a keen gymnast so this was a moment to cherish. Dipa Karmakar’s smile will remain in my memory for a long time. The other girls were impressive, specially the three English girls who won gold, silver and bronze. But “impressive” is the only word that comes to mind because the grace that epitomised gymnastics is gone. The joy of watching the women gymnasts embody beauty and grace was something that nothing can replace.

That grace I now find more in diving than in gymnastics. Synchronised diving has the precision and beauty that is something superhuman, something that makes one believe that we can go beyond ourselves. It took my breath away to see Tom Daley perform his 10 metres platform dives. Diving is a fantastic combination of courage and beauty. How lucky are today’s children that they can watch all this so easily and be inspired. This is possibly the greatest benefit that the Games bring: so many young people turn to sports, channelising their energies in a constructive direction.

The closing ceremony was well designed and enjoyable. The Australians with their special energy presented their country and the next venue for the Commonwealth Games in a brilliant manner. There was such a sense of togetherness and friendship that when they began playing Auld Lang Syne on the bagpipes it felt as if it had come to an end much too soon.

To sports lovers all over the world the countdown has already begun for the next Olympic Games which are only two years away.

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Posted in General | Tagged Commonwealth Games, Dipa Karmakar | Leave a comment

Bela Seshe

Udta Punjab – killing three birds with one stone

Veenapani Chawla

Luck by Chance

Masaan

Bombay Velvet

Hemlock Society (2012)– a DVD review

Road Safety

Jaatishwar (Bengali film) – a dvd review

Hay Fever – A Noel Coward play

Little Miss Sunshine – a dvd review

Book Review: Manik and I – My life with Satyajit Ray by Bijoya Ray

Paromitar ek Din – a review

Review of Aparna Sen’s film ‘Iti Mrinalini’

Shubho Muharat

Malala Yousafzai

Aamir Khan

Poroma by Aparna Sen, a review

Stonehenge

Commonwealth Games

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