Noukadubi (Bengali film) – a review

Posted on 13/7/2012 by admin

I must thank the friends who have encouraged me to write about films and particularly Bengali films because thanks to them I have seen the works of many directors I had not seen earlier. I didn’t watch Bengali films for several years and so now when I watch one I enjoy it doubly, because I notice the technical progress as well as the acceptance of subjects that one did not get to see on screen earlier.

Noukadubi was released in 2011 and was brought out in Hindi as well under the title “Kashmakash”. It was a homage to Rabindranath Tagore who wrote this story and whose 150th anniversary was being celebrated all over the world. But as I have not read the original novel I can’t say how faithfully the director Rituparno Ghosh has followed the story. He has very cleverly, however, skipped the real accident of the boatwreck and concentrated on the relationships.

This film is a feast for the eyes as the period of the 1920s has been very carefully recreated. But the feast doesn’t end with the sets – the true delight are the two Sen sisters. Granddaughters of the legendary Suchitra Sen, they seem to have finally found their rightful place at the top ranks of Bengali cinema. They have now acquired something of their grandmother’s physical beauty as well as her poise.

The casting of Riya and Raima Sen is very clever because although they are sisters in real life in the film they are not and play quite contrasting characters. Fortunately for Riya someone else has dubbed her dialogues and that has enhanced the performance considerably.

One might imagine that the story would be too outdated to catch the interest of young people today. Actually, much of it remains relevant as such relationships can exist even today between men and women. Yes, the practice of marrying someone without seeing his or her face may seem hard to believe for many today but the joys and difficulties of getting to know a new partner remains a common experience.

The story is a complex one. The hero is in a very difficult situation as he is in love with a woman who is his equal intellectually but she is wealthy and he isn’t. Unexpectedly he is married off to someone he hasn’t even seen. Even during the wedding he doesn’t see her. While returning, there is a storm and his boat capsizes. When he wakes up he finds himself on a bank and sees a woman by his side. He imagines that she is his wife and makes his way home with her. It takes him a while to find out that this is not the woman he had been married to. Then he feels uncomfortable to be with the wife of another man. In a strange twist of fate the real husband of this woman comes into contact with the woman the hero was in love with. They almost get married but finally break the relationship. In the end the two women are united with their right partners.

One can say that the story is too far-fetched. But I have seen situations in life which are so unbelievable that I don’t say any more, “This can never happen.” Absolutely anything can happen in this world. The story of the heroine, Hem-nalini, must happen all the time. The man she loves is taken away from her by the force of circumstances. And now she must start a new life. She has to pick up the broken pieces and go on, perhaps with a man who will not fit into the hole left by the man from whom she has been separated. The hero, Suresh, on the other hand, is unable to start an intimate relationship with the new woman in his life because emotionally he is still deeply attached to someone else. We see the scriptwriter’s skill as Kamala’s simple devotion for him brings Suresh willy nilly closer to her.

In this complex tale is the simple uncomplicated love of the father for his daughter. This role is played admirably by Dhritiman Chatterjee. He is an accomplished actor who had the opportunity to work with Satyajit Ray in his youth. The way he brings out all the tenderness of his heart for his daughter is really very touching. Since the girl has lost her mother, the father is also a mother to her and Dhritiman has that added something in his voice that makes this clear to us.

The two actors, Jishu Sengupta and Prosenjit, have both touched something true in portraying the sensitive characters they play. The director Rituparno Ghosh must be given his due credit for being able to visualise the whole story and getting the right balance in the performances of his actors. And one more thing – he has really given a great deal of important to voices, their timbre, volume, modulation and pace. This variety in the audio part of the experience is so rich – and this includes the music – that it more than makes up for the lack of action in the story.

Yes, in his refinement and elegance of expression Tagore is still relevant today. While Bollywood moves from crude to cruder Bengali cinema has found many shades of subtlety.

Share
Posted in Film | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

My New Book

Posted on 9/7/2012 by admin

Sri Aurobindo and The Cripps Proposal

My new book “Sri Aurobindo and the Cripps Mission” is finally out. This is a collection of essays and documents which show the various sides of the story of how Sir Stafford Cripps brought a proposal to India from the British Government led by Churchill. I have focussed on Sri Aurobindo’s message to Sir Stafford and his effort to advise the Indian leaders of the time to accept this offer. However, it was rejected.

The book is divided into four parts: an introduction, the point of view of the Ashram, the point of view of the Indian leaders and the point of view of the British. It gives the bigger picture of the story. While putting this book together I kept in mind the common man and the average reader. This is not a scholarly work. It is just a way to familiarise those who know Sri Aurobindo with this episode and to make everyone aware about how much he was concerned about the country even when apparently he was outwardly totally cut off from the world.

This book is available from amazon.co.uk if you are outside India. You can also order it from the website of WHSmith in the UK as well as the website of Waterstones. You can buy it from SABDA if you are in India or order it online from their website.

Share
Posted in History, India, Sri Aurobindo | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Film review: The Japanese Wife

Posted on 30/6/2012 by admin

The first thing that I would like to say is that this is not a funny film. There is nothing funny about a man and a woman who can not see the one they love. It is unbearably sad. Only those who have lived lives of contentment and peace can watch this film and enjoy themselves. For all the others, for all those who have ever known the great anguish and suffering that love can bring, and there must be many in this category, this film is just a grim reminder of that.

But this is not all there is to say. The acting and the direction are of a very high order. Rahul Bose surpasses himself in this film. The way he gets into the skin of the character is worth watching. Moushumi Chatterji is a revelation. Is this the actress that we saw in innumerable Bollywood movies who was rarely ever more than a pretty face? Well, in this film she is superb. So much so that it took me a while to recognise her. Raima Sen is lovely and in her understated way so touching. The Japanese actress brings out the gentleness that I associate with Japanese culture.

The script has been written based on a short story. Generally the script-writer has the difficulty of compressing a long story to fit the time-frame of a feature film. But here the interesting thing is that a short story has been stretched out and new elements have been added to make the story for the film.

A mention has to be made of the wonderful camera work. The shots of the landscape and the cloud-laden skies are so evocative, so exactly reflect the inner state. Even in the parts filmed in Bengal one finds the same simple beauty that is there in the parts filmed in Japan. The whole film has that Japanese touch and in this way the viewer goes through the same feelings as the hero: the wife ‘s presence is constantly there, in an intangible way.

The beauty and the emotions are subtle. But it is this subtlety that is so penetrating. The thinner the edge of the knife the deeper it cuts.

Share
Posted in Film, General | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Meeting With Javed Akhtar

Posted on 9/6/2012 by admin

In 1987 I visited Bombay (yes, it was still called that). I was newly married and took that trip as a sort of honeymoon because we had come via Goa from Pondicherry by road. Our hosts were very generous and I enjoyed myself a lot. Towards the end of my stay the sister of our hostess, who was a young girl then, asked me if I wanted to visit anything in particular because she was taking me out that day.

“I have a dream of meeting Shabana Azmi,” I told her, being a big fan of the actress. This young woman immediately told her driver to take us to Shabana’s house. I was a bit surprised that she did not hesitate even for a minute. I imagined that she knew the actress. When we got down in front of the house she told me that she didn’t know her at all.

“What are we going to do? How can we go in?” I asked, totally surprised.

“We can try,” was her answer.

So we opened the gate and walked in. There was a gardener who was watering the plants. On seeing us he asked us who we wanted to meet. With an air of supreme confidence my friend said that we had come to meet Shabana. So he let us in.

I can still remember that scene. There was a verandah and Shabana was sitting there with her mother and Javed Akhtar. I even remember that she was wearing a yellow sari.

Shabana’s mother looked at me and asked. “What do you want?”

I just looked at her and after a long silence, said, “Nothing”.

“Nothing!” she exclaimed. “If you want nothing then why are you here? Please go out.” Her voice was rather harsh, and she being a stage actress, quite loud.

We turned around and walked back. When we were near the gate my friend asked, “Why did you say ‘nothing’? We were standing there, so you could have said something and gone and met her.”

“I just didn’t have the guts,” I answered. She was astonished that she had taken me up to the house and I couldn’t go and speak to Shabana.

Many, many years passed, 25 years actually. I was in London and as I was casually looking at the website of the Nehru Centre I found an announcement saying that there was a book release the next evening. Shabana Azmi was going to present her mother’s book on her father. Even though there was a very good film on that evening, I decided to skip that screening and go for Shabana’s book launch.

I was there before anyone else. As I got into the auditorium I saw Shabana standing near the podium and making cards with names to reserve seats. I went up to her and asked her if I could ask her a few questions after the show because I wanted to write about her mother’s book in the journal which I write for. She did not even look at me and replied, “I’ll try.” In a tone that made it sound more like “Don’t bother me.” She evidently didn’t believe that I was really going to write since I wasn’t aggressive like professional journalists.

The programme started. She read out passages from Shaukat Azmi’s book, about her parents and about their life. Then Javed Akhtar got up and spoke about Kaifi Azmi, Shabana’s father and his father-in-law. In his wonderful voice he read out a poem on Kaifi Azmi. That is when I could not hold back my tears because every word he used to describe Shabana’s father was a word that perfectly described my own father. Having lost him a few years ago I was still heartbroken. As I wiped my tears I could see that Javed Akhtar could see me. I am sure he must have been quite surprised since he could see that I wasn’t anyone known to the dead poet.

He continued to speak and to recite and I was charmed by his words because they were really heartfelt. He seemed to be deeply connected to real life, unlike most celebrities. His poems, which are the lyrics of film songs, have always amazed me by their insight and truth. What a joy it was to see him in person and to hear him recite his poems.

In a short while the show was over and we all went down. I waited for the crowd to thin a bit. Shabana was surrounded by her admirers and many wanted to be photographed with her. A group of young men and women were walking around with copies of the book and were trying to sell them among the invitees. Shabana was keeping an eye on them.

I went up to Javed Akhtar and told him that I was a big fan of his work. He asked me my name and what I did in London. To a poet my name must sound very interesting. After answering his questions I told him that if he was wondering why I was crying it was because I had lost my father recently and all my memories of him came crowding back as he spoke about what an unusual man Kaifi Azmi was.

As I spoke to him, once again tears came to my eyes. Javed Akhtar immediately took both my hands and pressed them in a gesture of sympathy. I was truly moved that he had so much compassion for an unknown woman who was evidently so deeply unhappy at that moment. That was another confirmation that he was a true poet, whose heart was so open and sensitive. I had only one wish in my heart and that was to go back home.

As I went to get my coat I saw Shabana Azmi coming towards me. But really I had no wish to speak to her, so much I felt chocked by my tears. As I walked away, making my way to the door, I remembered that summer day in Bombay when I had felt that I had missed such an opportunity. Here she was coming to me and all I wanted to do was to go away.

I had gone to see Shabana but in fact I met Javed Akhtar. The next day I felt that that evening at the Nehru Centre wasn’t as unfruitful as I had thought it to be at first. How many people can say that they have touched the hands of a poet they admire and received his sympathy?

Later my journalist friend Amit Roy said that if I had won as many awards as Shabana Azmi had done maybe I too would have been as aloof as she was. Absolutely right, Amit.

My favourite lines from Javed saab are the ones from the film “Refugee”:

“Birds, rivers and gusts of wind can all go across the borders (from one country to another)… what did we gain by becoming human beings?”

Share
Posted in Film, India | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Review of “Autograph” (Bengali film)

Posted on 26/5/2012 by admin

This film was presented at the London Indian Film festival last year but I didn’t see it then because I was busy with an exhibition. When the DVD came to my hands I was eager to see what made the organisers select this among so many other films for the festival.

The script is a homage to Uttam Kumar and Satyajit Ray because it is about a film-maker who wants to re-make Ray’s “Nayak”. I saw Ray’s black and white film quite recently so I could catch the references to that film. The main roles are enacted by Prasenjit, Nandana Deb Sen and Indraneil Sengupt. In keeping with the changing times the journey is not by train but in an aircraft.

It is a film within a film and the plot includes the secondary thread of the actors falling in love as they shoot for the movie they are making. Nothing unusual about that except that the heroine is the girl-friend of the director. The tussle between the two men comes to a head when the director leaks to the media a private moment of the hero which has been accidentally taped. The woman leaves her boy-friend with whom she has a relationship of friend-lover and who has betrayed her. The film ends with producer, who is also the star of the film that is being made, deciding to scrap the film altogether.

The film is as much about the profession of actors as about relationships between men and women. It makes us reflect on what happens when people are ready to sacrifice their love on the altar of success. The young director is too eager to make a name for himself and start a career in the world of cinema. When the temptation comes up before him he can not resist taking that step where he puts the woman who loves him in a very difficult position but which he thinks would generate a lot of publicity for his film. In the end he loses everything – the woman as well as the film.

Nandana Deb Sen, the daughter of Amartya Sen, has handled this role, which demanded a very modern outlook, rather well. The urban woman who has a live-in relationship has a crush on the hero with whom she is acting. Nandana has the right sophistication and has kept the performance on a dignified note while giving to her character the cheerfulness that makes her so endearing.

Prasenjit is a seasoned actor and his acting has the nuanced expression that an artistic film like this could bring out. Indraneil, on the other hand, has a role which the script-writer could not quite polish. The character has too many inconsistencies. He is supposed to be a new director and yet he is harsh and rough with his actors. He talks with such over-confidence, towards the end of the film, with Prasenjit that one starts wondering if a person in his place would behave like that. He never seems to have doubts about his own capacity to direct a film. A person who has only directed a documentary would face some difficulties in directing a feature film. This difficulty is never shown in the film.

Ray’s film “Nayak” dealt with the insecurity of the actor. In this film too we see the human side of larger than life icons who become like demi-gods to the common man. The young spectator may even want to see Ray’s film to find what it was that was at the source of the making of this film.

The music of this film is modern and interesting and blends harmoniously with the theme.

Bengali cinema has indeed got back to the thinking viewer.

Share
Posted in Film, India | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Film Review – Antaheen (Bengali)

Posted on 26/4/2012 by admin

Once while zapping through the channels late at night I had chanced on this very unusual film. When I started watching it nearly half of it was over, so I was curious to know how the story starts. When I got the DVD I could barely wait to start watching it.

The film is about relationships, about the nature of love and about how we express our feelings. But, of course it is an urban story. There are several couples and each couple lives its relationship in a different way. The older couple lives apart but is very much connected. The young couple is connected through e-mails with but does not even know who the other person is. Then there is the elderly aunt, played very successfully by Sharmila Tagore, who also has never seen the man she had a relationship with. Most intriguing, like an abstract painting, is the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mehra, who are together but unhappily together.

Relationships in our modern world are not the same as they were a couple of decades earlier. Relationships are based on communications and in an age when the world has undergone a revolution in communications relationships are sure to follow. Naturally, mobile phones and e-mails play an important part in the story. These modern means of communications have made it possible to live with someone only in spirit. The whole meaning of companionship takes on a different colour. The film is a comment on the love that does not need physical proximity, or the love that exists beyond physical proximity.

In this story people are defined by their work. But interestingly the women are shown more at work while the men are shown in their moments when they are not working. It is this situation of work and life that criss-cross which makes the story interesting.

Rahul Bose is an extraordinary actor and this film has made good use of his talents. It is a delight to watch Aparna Sen. In fact, the casting is perfect. The script is tight and crisp, with many interesting observations by the various characters. The storyline, of course, has similarities with the Tom Hanks starrer “You’ve Got Mail”.

Although the story has a tragic end it does bring home the point of ephemeral nature of all human relationships. Live your love to the fullest because you never know when it will go away.

Share
Posted in Film, Review | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spring in London

Posted on 24/4/2012 by admin

Regent's Park, London

Magnolia flowers, London

Tulips, London

Cherry blossom, London

Cherry blossom, London

Share
Posted in Flowers, London, Photography | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Easter

Posted on 9/4/2012 by admin

The cyclone which hit Pondy on 29th December last year brought so many trees down. One of them was the beautiful frangipani tree which used to be in Nanteuil, just next to the glass doors of our old Golden Chain Office. I used to love picking those flowers and looking at their lovely forms against the blue sky when they were clustered in bunches on the branches.

Naturally, I was very sad to see the broken tree. Soon the entire tree was cut down and the branches were piled up to be taken away. I picked up a few of those branches and took them home and re-planted them. Some in pots and some on the ground. To my utter surprise, two weeks ago, I saw buds on two of those plants and soon after the beautiful flowers appeared on those tiny branches. Strangely, the flowers were really small, almost miniature ones.

I am absolutely in awe before this phenomenon in nature. After that terrible onslaught of fury and devastation everything is regenerated, as if with a redoubled energy. That old tree had been a friend, had watched me as I typed away late into the evening, or just come in and go out from the back of the office to save time. And one day it was struck down and died and was even chopped up into little pieces. And today it lives again, stretching out to me its bunch of flowers, in my own balcony.

As I write this I realise that it is Easter Sunday! The very day to celebrate this phenomenon of regeneration, the Spring Equinox, even before Christianity was born.

May we learn something from this. The Divine is sending us messages that we can pick up if we keep our eyes and ears open.

Share
Posted in Flowers, India | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Alexandra David-Neel: the film

Posted on 15/3/2012 by admin

At last, we had the much-awaited screening of the film on Alexandra David-Neel’s journey to Lhasa. Although it was held very quietly this was actually the very first screening anywhere in the world.

For a long time we had thought that the lead actress Dominique Blanc was going to be present at the premiere but in the end she could not make it. Fortunately the director Joel Farges was there to present his film and speak about his experience of making it.

In spite of all the difficulties faced during the shooting it has turned out to be a beautiful piece of work. Dominique Blanc, with her years of experience and her natural grace, carries this film on her shoulders. It is a pleasure to watch her, to see her face shining with an inner strength. Particularly well-done is the scene where she meets Sri Aurobindo. The cinematographer has really put in a lot of thought into the images of this sequence.

All the scenes shot in the Himalayas are of an extraordinary beauty and Alexandra’s quest is shown a very moving way. The little Tibetan boy who played Yongden as a little boy has done a good job and the relationship between him and Alexandra is brought out with little touches of humour.

I can not look at the film dispassionately because I have seen the filming and especially the scenes where I am myself there I keep thinking of how we shot them when I watch them on the screen. My character, Uma, is an invented one. Even though the story of Alexandra spending a month in a private house in Kolkata is true, we don’t know who the hosts really were. All I can say is that this character brings out Alexandra’s thoughts on marriage and relationships in general. What Alexandra says to Uma gives us a view into Alexandra’s mind and her feminist views.

Surprisingly, in an age when travel has become so easy and is considered a pleasure, there are so many people who look up to Alexandra David-Neel as an icon and a heroine.
Behind her difficult journey lies her spiritual quest, her desire to know the invisible occult world and her great respect for Buddism.

This film will be officially released in France at the end of March 2012 and will be telecast on ARTE channel on 1st June. These dates should be put down on every cinema lover’s diary. Although it was initially made for television this film should be ideally seen in the big screen to get the full enjoyment of the beauty of the panoramic views shot in Sikkim and Ladakh.

Dominique Blanc as Alexandra David-Neel

Share
Posted in Film, India, Travel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Oscar Night

Posted on 29/2/2012 by admin

I woke up a bit late on 27th and found that I had missed the first one hour of the Oscar ceremony but once I found the channel which was telecasting it live I could not leave my seat. It was really well presented by Billy Crystal and the awards were mostly what had already been predicted by many.

My favourite moment was when Meryl Streep got her award. She has been my favourite actress ever since I first saw her in Out of Africa. She has such a presence that she draws everyone’s attention just by being there. The most difficult thing for an actor is to portray a real person on screen, especially if that person is well-known and is still alive.

I was very happy for the awards that went to The Artist. The French have a passion in everything they do that makes them such good film makers. Actually, the Lumiere brothers invented cinema, so the French have a claim to the top slot in the world of moving pictures that no one can take away.

I am a faithful fan of Brad Pitt and was a bit disappointed that he didn’t pick up any of the statuettes. I read that he and Anjelina Jolie had been at the venue since the early hours of the morning, so it must have been a bit sad for Brad not to have received any awards. I watched Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life and even though I liked it I knew it would not get any votes as far as Oscars were concerned. The film was so unusual and so philosophical that it may not be everybody’s cup of tea.

One of the journalists on BBC said that she found the reactions of some of the winners of the awards a bit too much, “over the top” as she said. But really can one ever understand what happens to the person who is given so big an award? I think the reactions of actors can only be dramatic because, after all, they live in their emotions. When so many cameras are relaying that moment to countries across the globe, when one is handed the award that every single person who is in any way connected to the world of cinema dreams of receiving, can one remain unmoved?

I would go so far as to say that I found Cristopher Plummer extraordinarily composed when his name was announced for the award for the best supporting actor. For those who may not know, he is the actor who played the father to those naughty children in The Sound of Music. Imagine being such a popular actor for so many years and receiving an award only this year. As he very wittily said, “Where have you been all these years?” looking at the trophy.

I am sure I will find the first part of the ceremony, which I missed, on some channel or the other and catch up with all those funny things that Billy Crystal said and which I have only read in the papers. Only a very good actor can maintain a poker face after having cracked a really good joke. Billy Crystal said that Meryl Streep deserves an Oscar for looking as if she was really happy that someone else won an Oscar every time she was nominated and didn’t win. But he himself deserves an Oscar for not laughing at his own jokes.

The Artist film

Meryl Streep

The Oscars 2012

Share
Posted in Film | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The traffic in Pondicherry

Posted on 30/1/2012 by admin

Last night we went for dinner to a new restaurant in the far end of Mission street, where it touches Bussy Street. It served supposesdly Italian cuisine but actually it is adapted to Indian tastes – much like Indian Chinese cuisine. We came out and before going home wanted to try out the chocolate shop across the street, owned by one of my former students Srinath.

Sadly, it took us almost five minutes to cross this narrow strip of road. It used to be a place some years ago where there was not a soul and one used to feel a bit scared even to walk alone in that area. But last night we felt we were risking our lives to take those ten steps to cross to the other side of the road. There were so many motorcycles that zipped past us, in that badly-lit road, that we had to stop in the middle and wait. The speed at which they were coming at us was frightening. No one wanted to slow down and let the two pedestrians pass.

Thousands of illiterate and semi-educated young men in Pondicherry now own big powerful motorcycles. But no one knows the first thing about how to use the roads. Just having money isn’t going to solve anything. As I said, ignorance is a form of poverty.

Share
Posted in India, Road Safety | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Why India will never be a superpower

Posted on 25/1/2012 by admin

While everyone is thinking that India is surging ahead and will soon be a country of great economic prosperity the view from my window tells me that it will never be that.

Days after the cyclone that hit Pondicherry there was a huge pile of garbage that collected in front of my house and no one came to remove it. Days went by and it just got bigger. I ran from person to person asking them to do something. I was very intrigued to see that municipal workers were actually coming but the pile got bigger until I realised that they were bringing garbage from elsewhere and dumping them on the pavement opposite my house. There are no front doors on that pavement and my neighbours feel they can throw their garbage in front of someone’s backdoor and along that entire pavement.

Finally, a call to the municipal contractor who is in charge of our area brought a small group of women in their uniforms who picked up only a small part of the huge pile and left.

The next day a tractor came and instead of picking up the garbage the two men who had come switched on their FM radio and listened to Bollywood songs in full blast and rested in the shade. When they left they picked up a very small part of the rotting pile. Women from my neighborhood, in their shining saris and heavy gold necklaces, came one after the other to throw their vegetable peels and the empty cartons of cereals on the hill of garbage that had started stinking. They gave me a blank look when I told them that they should throw their garbage in the bin provided further up the road.

A friend gave me the phone number of the municipal commissioner and when I called him he asked me to give a complaint in writing. He must have called up the concerned contractor and pulled him up because within a couple of hours the entire pavement was cleaned. There wasn’t even a piece of paper there. For three weeks I couldn’t open my front door because of the stench from the piling up garbage right in front and it was only after complaining to the highest officer that I managed to get that cleared.

There is enough money for garbage collectors to listen to FM radio and housewives to wear gold necklaces that weigh half a kilo but there is no awareness that garbage cannot be thrown on pavements which are supposed to be for people to walk on. Most of all there is no courtesy towards a neighbour.

Just having money doesn’t change anything. Ignorance is the greatest poverty.

Share
Posted in India | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Posted on 22/1/2012 by admin

Watching the curious case of Benjamin Button, I can’t help exclaiming to myself “What a fantastic actor Brad Pitt is.” Some months back, while flicking through the channels on television, I chanced on this film. When I started watching it was already somewhere in the middle. Even though I watched only the second half I found it really interesting. Now I am watching it from the beginning. So it feels as if I am watching the film backwards. It’s a curious case of watching The Curious Case backwards.

Share
Posted in General | Leave a comment

A New Year begins

Posted on 1/1/2012 by admin

What a way to start the New Near! The cyclone that raged through the night of the 30th kept us awake much of that night. It was much more terrifying than the one we had experienced in November 2000. In the clear light of the morning we saw the destruction. In the boulevard area, specially in the old French town, the main damage was caused by fallen trees. The sight of old massive trees fallen across the roads was akin to watching a battlefield where old warriors had died after fighting valiantly. Perhaps it is a lesson that it is not a good idea to plant trees on pavements in a town which wasn’t designed for it.

The feeling in many hearts is that it is a warning sign. To others it is the Divine telling us in a symbolic way that there is always destruction before a new creation. Something in us must make a new beginning.

Share
Posted in General | Leave a comment

Review of ‘Mausam’

Posted on 10/12/2011 by admin

There was not much choice at the DVD shop when I went there last week, so I got a DVD of Mausam. The irritating thing is that there is a very good film by that same name which was made ages ago and one can’t help remembering it the moment one pronounces the name. It brings back flashes of scenes with Sharmila Tagore and Sanjeev Kumar.

This new film will not be remembered like the old one is for many reasons. It tries too hard to be a fantastic love story. That kind of story-telling is gone and the young viewers can’t relate to those emotions any more. The story is fine. Many critics have said that the story is hard to believe because in this day and age you can’t lose track of someone. Actually you can. And this story is set in the 1990s when instant connect didn’t exist. What doesn’t quite come off is the chemistry between the characters.

The one thing that really makes me laugh outright is the way Sonam Kapoor goes to Scotland and becomes a ballet dancer. I wish I could go to Pankaj Kapoor and tell him classical ballet isn’t Odissi. You can’t just go from rural Punjab at the age of twenty and become a ballet dancer in a dance academy in Edinburgh. Ballet requires years of training from childhood. A dancer’s body is formed by years of exercises and practice. There are movements you just can’t do if you haven’t done it from age 7 or 8. A young woman of twenty or more who has never done any physical activities will never ever be able to do a single sequence of the barre exercises. A woman who was all wrapped up in sawar-kameez and dupatta till early adulthood can not suddenly get into tights and tutus.

And the scenes of ballroom dancing! I couldn’t take that either. I have seen young Indian women who have grown up in Britain and who still look at ballroom dancing as something obscene. A muslim family in this film goes totally western within a couple of years of coming to Scotland looks too far-fetched when they haven’t been through a western education.

Why do directors go into territories that are totally alien to them? Why don’t they do a bit of research at the script level?

I know that the name “Mausam” will only evoke the old film in my mind. This film will always bring back to my mind the hilarious scenes of Sonam Kapoor trying to do ballet!

Share
Posted in Film, India, Review | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The shooting of the film on Alexandra David-Neel

Posted on 23/11/2011 by admin

The film on the life of Alexandra David-Neel is taking a while to be ready for release. The post-production work is taking longer than expected and now it seems that it won’t be released before the end of December. A whole month to go.

A few of us had the chance of seeing the rushes of the first part in summer this year. The scenes shot in Sikkim are really impressive. The scenes in the snow have been shot with such an artistic eye that it’s a visual delight. The costumes of the scenes shot in Sikkim are also very well done. The costume designer Edith was really a perfectionist and had done her research thoroughly before coming to Pondicherry. Unfortunately the same can not be said of the Indian woman who was in charge of the Indian costumes in other scenes.

If only there were proper training institutes in India where people could learn how to be historically accurate where costumes and accessories are concerned.

The thing which impressed me most about the work done by Edith was the way got shoes made for each and every character as well as for the extras. There were fifty pairs of shoes, all carefully hand-stitched. And no one was ever going to see the ones worn by the ladies because they wore long dresses that touched the floor.

This is something India could learn from.

Share
Posted in Film | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Mandir Annual

Posted on 21/10/2011 by admin

The annual publication of the Pathamandir in Kolkata is out. Popularly known as the “Mandir Annual”, it is a magazine of high calibre and has been coming out since the 1940s. I remember seeing copies of the magazine in my father’s bookshelf. I also remember Kishore Gandhi sometimes informing me of certain essays by prominent writers being first published in the Mandir Annual. It is a matter of great honour for me that this time one of my own essays is included in it.

The volume has selections from the writings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo and they are well-chosen. The pages that follow have pieces by various well-known writers but the essay by Ranajit-da has a special importance as he is now no more.

Ranajit-da grew up in the Ashram along with his brothers and sister who were our teachers and coaches. He left the Ashram some time in the 1960s to follow higher studies in Europe. Soft-spoken and gentle, he was loved and respected by everyone. We did not see much of him but his presence was felt in the Ashram circle because he wrote so regularly for various publications. He also wrote the plays which were staged by his sister, Namita-di, and in which students and teachers participated.

The contribution of Shraddhavan to this issue of the Mandir Annual is actually the transcript of a conversation which took place in her class. It is an interesting format of presenting a write-up. Since the words are actually spoken spontaneously the whole text is more readable than the usual essays that are written out in the formal style.

My own essay is the one read out during the “Reflections on the Way” talks on the occasion of the April Darshan this year. It is titled “The Significance of the Mother’s Final Arrival in Pondicherry” and highlights the importance of the April Darshan and how it was started.

This issue of the Mandir Annual has an interesting variety of essays and every type of reader will find something to his or her taste.

Share
Posted in India, Publishing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Posted on 13/9/2011 by admin

zindagi-na-milegi-dobara

After watching Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara one has the feeling that it is the sister of Dil Chahta Hai. That’s because the director of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Zoya Akhtar, is the sister of Farhan Akhtar, the director of Dil Chahta Hai. The two films are about friendship between three young men, male bonding and growing up. The women are part of the script but one tends to forget them when one thinks of the message of the film.

The three young men are very different one from the other and the inner dilemma of each of the three men is brought out very skilfully. The film ends on a high note, as each one finds a solution to his problems. As in a good novel, a good film is one where the protagonists evolve and are transformed.

To most Indian viewers the film will be a free trip to Spain, where they will get an opportunity to see all the tourist attractions and get an introduction to Spanish culture. In fact, this travelogue aspect of the film softens the psychological pressures that the characters are going through and which the viewer has to share. By eliminating India altogether has Zoya Akhtar created a silence in which we could listen very attentively to the story and the problems faced by the three men.

It’s good to see that friendship is back in the limelight and romantic love is put on the sidelines. After all, friendship was once a common theme in Hindi films. As my friend and novelist Christine de Rivoyre says, “Friendship is stronger than love.” So even though we see Katerina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan enter an intense relationship, what remains as the aftertaste of the film in the mind of viewer is the depth of friendship and how it acts as a fulcrum on which the three young men are raised higher in their inner growth.

katrina kaif

Share
Posted in Film, India, Review | Leave a comment

This too is India

Posted on 11/9/2011 by admin

I wrote some time back about an incident which showed one of the things that is wrong in our country. Now I have to set the balance right by speaking about the positive things that exist side by side in India.

This happened about a month back. I was coming home one evening on my scooter when it stopped and I realised to my dismay that I had run out of petrol. So I started pushing it to the nearest petrol station which was almost half a kilometre away. I had taken about ten steps and was beginning to sweat already when a total stranger came up to me on his motorcycle and asked, “Have you run out of petrol?” I told him that I had. Immediately he asked me to stand where I was and offered to go and get some petrol for me. “How can you push your scooter that far?” he said as he went off on his motorcycle towards the petrol station.

I saw him disappear into the traffic, not sure whether he really meant what he said. I stood near the pavement, exactly where we had spoken to each other and waited for him. I said to myself, “In case he was just talking in the air, he will not come back. I will give him twenty minutes and then go away. I will make use of this wait by making a few phone calls.”

I made my three phone calls as the traffic continued to flow on that road. I had hardly waited 15 minutes when I saw the man reappear. He stopped near me, pulled out a plastic bottle in which he had brought half a litre of petrol and handed it to me. I was really surprised. “There is just enough petrol to get to a petrol station,” he said. I didn’t know how to thank him, but in the end I did find the words.

“I felt sorry for you,” he said “when I saw you pushing your scooter. How far could you have gone like that?” Then he rode away on his motorcycle. He was a complete stranger and he had done me such a great favour that night. My faith in humanity was restored, I must say.

Share
Posted in India | Tagged | Leave a comment

Exhibition of paintings

Posted on 7/7/2011 by admin

We are in full phase of preparation for the upcoming exhibition of Giles’ paintings.

The pictures can be roughly divided into four sections – Japan, India, France and scenes from the imagination. The paintings which show Japan are a reminder of our trips to the country which has not ceased to fascinate us. The wonderful thing about this collection is that there is such a variety. Not only do we see the East and the West but there are also streetscapes, landscapes, interiors and symbolic representations.

The gallery where the exhibition will be held is in a charming little pedestrian square which is full of restaurants and little shops, only steps away from the well-known Curzon Cinema in Mayfair. Tucked away between attractive shop windows and next to animated groups of people dining, the gallery fits into the surroundings perfectly.

We just hope that the weather remains sunny and bright for the week of the exhibition – from 19th to 24th July.

Restaurant, Nippori (2009)

Share
Posted in General | Leave a comment