Monday 21 May 2012
what a fine day to fly! the bird thought to itself. there is nothing compared to the early morning sight. the sun after taking over the job from his better-half was warming up for another hectic day. it was the habit of the bird to have a little chat with sun before flying high and wide in the open sky.
"good morning there"
"hello son, great morning. so you are already up and ready? what are the plans for the day?"
"nothing special. will try to keep it interesting"
"good luck son"
the bird spread its colourful wings and leapt from the tree which was its home. his slow and rhythmic sorties were looking like a hanging painting from the sky. the bird came to the shores of the mighty sea and took a deep breath. he always wondered how big the sea would be. to look at the other side of the shore was always his dream. he had thought of flying over it quite a few times. but somehow he was reluctant. today suddenly he felt the urge to conquer the sea. he slowly went to the border of the shore feeling the waves. they were powerful as if warning the bird of any idea of touching them. the bird tried to taste the water. it was sweet, sweeter than the water in the lake beside his home. the bird took few sips and felt energised. without a second thought he rose and started his journey over the giant water block.
no sooner did he start his flight he saw his friends flying.
"hey what are you doing there?"
"am trying to fly across the sea"
"are you mad? we birds cannot do that. the sea is vast and we are weak. come back and join us"
"no i am sure i want to do this. i will meet you in the evening"
"are you sure"
"very much so. bye"
the bird looked up and the sun was smiling with a grin. "good luck son" he winked through the corner of his right eye. the bird took a deep breadth and his chest grew with confidence. the sea was as beautiful it could best possibly be. from what the bird could see the sea was calm inside despite all those waves making noises at the top. the bird could see the plants and the shrubs under the water in the beginning but as it flew more and more it could see only water. it was like a never ending stretch of water poured out there. the initial ecstasy was waning away. soon he started feeling tired. his mouth was drying fast and his wings were not willing to flutter. the strong waves blowing across was not helping either. the bird started looking around for a place to relax and luckily found a rock in the middle out there with its head popping out. the bird landed on the rock and closed his eyes with total exhaustion. after gaining his breath back, he bent over the sea and started drinking the sweet water from it. it tasted heaven. he then relaxed there watching the magic in the deep sea once and the colours of the open sky in the other moment.
the blue of the sky looked polished and shiny over the waves. the water was clear like a cloudless sky and was radiating with the rays of the sun. when he was lost in the divine beauty of the sea something flashed in the sea below. he looked at the sea and saw nothing. after a moment there was that thing again. it was shining and slowly moving towards the rock he was sitting. he stood silent and watched the fish come closer. it was beautiful like heaven and the bird could not keep his eyes away from it. he had never seen something as beautiful and good as this one. it was swaying slowing and had kept its little round mouth outside the waters. the bird had seen many fishes but this one was very different. it is from the other world he decided. not able to control the urge to talk to the fish he said "hi!"
the fish which was slowly trying to get a clear view of the bird was shocked to hear its voice. she was not used to hearing birds speak to her. she had always seen the birds flying high there. she too wanted to fly away from these waters. but her mother had warned her not to get close to the top. it is dangerous for us fishes to appear in open she had said. birds will come down and take you away in their strong beaks her mother had told her. so now when she heard the bird talk to her she felt scared and promptly went under waters. she could hear the bird call her. but she swam deeper and deeper and hid herself among the plants underneath.
the bird was sad. he did not intend to harm her. he was just interested in knowing the fish. she was good and he wanted to tell her that. but seeing the fish diving deep into the water he felt disappointed. though he could swim he could not get swim deep inside the waters. otherwise he would have followed her into the deep sea. he waited for the fish in the rock calling out for her every now and then. but she did not come back. after a long wait he decided to fly back and come next day. he was feeling happy and did not know why. while flying back he looked at the sun who still had that mysterious smile in his face. he greeted the sun and joined the friends for the evening talk. he could not wait for going back and seeing the fish again. it was the first time he dreamt in colours and those colours were familiar for him. yes, they were from the beautiful scales of the fish.
inside the waters the fish was also dreaming with her eyes open. with the first ray of the sunlight touching the waters she reached the rock where she saw the bird. what a voice he had, how beautiful his wings were, what affection he had in his eyes the fish was asking itself. somehow she could not stop thinking about the bird. with the sound of every wing fluttering up there she would raise her head to see whether it was him. and then when she was about to cry he came there curling up his beautiful wings. for all the wait she was doing for the bird she felt shy and hid behind the little grass down the rock.
"i know you are there. come out!"
"will you eat me?"
"you know i won't right"
"but birds always come to eat us. how are you different?"
"i eat fruits and flowers. now please come out"
the fish came out and the bird could not believe his eyes. she was there with all the beauty of the world and he was speechless. he just stood there looking at her. and the fish's state was also no better. she was shivering with the deep sensation of anxiety but was still looking at him with her big eyes without blinking for a moment. time stopped and it was much later both regained their senses. the bird started speaking with the sweetest part of his voice.
"can we be friends?"
"have you ever heard a fish and bird being friends. everyone will laugh"
"i am not bothered about everyone. will you be my friend, please"
"look we are so different. you are a bird and i am a fish"
"so what? you are looking at differences. but as i see we both are same"
"same...how?"
"firstly we both are living beings. the same god made both of us. and then we both have wings. i fly in air and you fly in water. moreover isn't it destiny that we met and liked each other?"
"you are trying to fool me. i am not giving into all these intelligent words"
"ok. your wish. if you do not like me i will fly away"
"tell me why you guys are always interested in naming a relationship before we understand each other"
"....."
"look here. the moment i saw you i was curious about you. but we need to spend more time with each other, understand one other and decide what to do with our lives"
"so what am i supposed to do?"
"nothing. come here whenever you are free. we will chat and share our stories. after sometime we will be clear on what we should do. remember it is going to be tough"
"hey, are you trying to scare me off! i was the one who dared to cross this sea. i can do anything for you"
"well i have seen how much sea you have crossed. bye for now. catch you some time later"
the fish went back into the sea and the bird was left there waiting. he called for her but she did not come. so he went back home and decided to visit her frequently. they were meeting in the rock, he in the top, she in the waters, laughing and having nice time. the sun was happy to see them and was silently watching them over.
after sometime one fine day the bird decided to propose to the fish. by then they had known almost everything about each other. and he knew that she would say yes. there would be problems but he was confident of braving it. the world around looked so great and he quickly flew to the rock. he called her and waited with all anticipation. time seemed to be moving slow and he called her again. there was no reply. he thought she would be behind the rock so he went round around the rock calling her. no there was no reply. he thought she is playing a game. let me wait he though and remained silent. he was expecting her sweet voice to come anytime. but it was no to. he waited and waited for her voice but heard nothing but the sound of the wind. even the sun who usually was greeting the bird was silent and looking from above. the bird felt something is wrong but was helpless. he could not get into the sea and had to just wait up there. slowly the tears rolled out from his eyes. his voice chocked as he began to call the fish. but there was still no response from the sea.
he waited there for very long time for the fish. he cried, screamed and thumped his chest in vain. looking up in the sky he asked the sun for help. sun said he was in the duty and would return in the evening. later during the close of the day he joined the bird in the rock. the bird was inconsolable by now. all his friends were also weeping looking at his plight. then sun promised that he would go deep into the sea to search for the fish. he said he will comeback the next morning. the bird had to be taken forcibly back home by his friends. the sun went down the sea. in the morning the bird got up early and rushed to the sun to ask him about the fish. the sun was red with shame. he could not find the fish. but he promised he would go back to the sea everyday till he finds the fish. the bird went to the rock and started crying calling the fish.
they say the sea water became salty because of the tears of the bird. the sun till today goes down the sea everyday after work retuning back in the morning. the bird till today gets up early and in the crying voice goes to the sun asking for the fish. the sun and the bird are confident that they will find the fish someday.
Friday 18 May 2012
what has happened to our leading ladies? they all have changed so much. they are today not only strong headed but fiercely independent, passionately career oriented, not afraid to be labelled crazy and are often more dominating than those macho heroes. the new leading ladies of hindi cinema are no where near to the shy, god-fearing girls who would meekly say yes to the choice of their parents.
it is not that there are no precedences. they say that 'fearless nadia' was more popular than her male counterparts in action films of early days. then it was a standard that super-heroine of every period would don the role of aggressive lady punishing the wrong-doers who usually would be her family members. the most successful formula in this genre was double-role of heroines where one would be classically mild and other modern and bold.
even in the end of last millennium leading ladies still performed their age-old roles even if there was a little twist in them. so we saw kajol agreeing to her parents words and coming to india in 'dilwale dulhania le jayenge'(aditya chopra, 1995) and transforming herself into traditionalist role after initial playboyishness in 'kuch kuch hota hai'(karan johar, 1998). in films where girls were tomboyish they had to be tamed by hero. in fact in south indian languages every major hero has performed such role.
whenever people wanted a bold leading lady on screen they had a ready made formula. she had to be a rich spoilt kid or someone educated in foreign country or someone from big city. the pattern was becoming too boring and there was a need for an image overhaul. thankfully today we are seeing a trend reversal. what was yesterday a deviation has today become a norm. film after film is showcasing the care-free lady living in her own world. and thankfully she does not compromise nor is she apologetic. and most of the times she leads the man while doing something together.
just a list of films of recent times should make this point clear. 'london paris newyork'(anu menon, 2012), 'ek mein aur ekk thu'(shakun batra, 2012), 'mere brother ki dulhan'(ali abbas zafar, 2011), 'tanu weds manu' (aanand rai, 2011), 'ladies vs. ricky bahl'(maneesh sharma, 2011) are examples of new women power. the leading ladies in all these films were not someone which the audience were familiar with. their presence has marked the arrival of much needed freshness in indian cinema. by keeping strong women at the centre of the story telling they are making the progress from star-centric system to story-centric system.
while chandni bar (madhur bhandarkar, 2001), fashion (madhur bhandarkar, 2008), 7 khoon maaf (vishal bhardwaj, 2011), the dirty picture (milan luthria, 2011), kahaani (sujoy ghosh, 2012) were also women centric, they are in a different league. because they cater to niche audience, such films are not representative of changing times we live in. it is the changes in the mainstream films listed above which are interesting because they have commercial compulsions and have to be accepted by audience. such repeated experiments demonstrate that indian public are not averse to seeing a strong lady on-screen. that many young, upcoming heroes also do not have problem in appearing in these films is surely a positive development in the star-obsessed indian cinema industry.
Wednesday 16 May 2012
packaging is the buzzword of the day. everything needs to be packaged well in order to be presented in the market. and things which are packaged well sell in large numbers irrespective of the quality concerns. nothing has escaped this trend and unfortunately religion also has become a victim of this. today religious practices are packaged in new avatars so as to attract more people to it.
historically people with money always have tried to create niche practices for themselves. they patronise singers, painters, performers and create value for their creation. for a long time art remained within the walls of the rich. even in recent times one can see the deliberate attempts to create exclusive space in art circles by rich. the same practices have also been followed in the religious spaces from time immemorial.
public places of worship are often built by the rich and powerful. kings who wanted their names to be permanently etched in the minds of people more than their devotion built majestic temples here. the exclusivity preferred by them in the temples they built was considered as natural request. the practice has continued till date where the administrative authorities of temples see themselves more privileged in the access to inner sanctum of temples.
with the emergence of new rich in the post-liberalised india there is a resurgence in religious practices. with the inflow of more material prosperity it was believed that people would shun religion. but in india the opposite has happened. there are more temples being renovated even as new temples are being erected. practices which were long forgotten and buried deep in the scriptures are given new lease of life. there are more godmen today than in any previous times with everyone enjoying huge following among masses.
celebration and public display of religious obedience is not new. but the scale in which things are done today is surprising. crowds thronging to pilgrimage centres show no sign of coming down. with each passing year the celebrations even in small temples are increasing by an order of magnitude. there may be rarely any idols which is not covered with gold from head to toe. there seems to be an open competition among devotees to fill the coffers of some famous temples.
indian tradition does not deny the public display of devotion. as a tool for social mobilisation and mass education such acts are deemed necessary. but the notion that gods can be satisfied only with material goods should not be encouraged. more than anything creating exclusive spaces in religious places should be stopped. the stratified access policy brings discontent even among religious bent people. religion is essentially an individual pursuit and collective practices should only help strengthen it.
Monday 14 May 2012
the normal order of things are as follows. people have to work to earn their livelihood. when they are bored of their jobs they need to turn to things that help them relax and rejuvenate. with their batteries recharged they have to continue their works in increased zeal. that which helps masses ease their wok-tensions and in addition give them small capsules of thought is what is labelled as entertainment.
in today's times it is being told that entertainment should not be separate entity but should be part of all mainstream activities. therefore we have terms like infotainment, edutainment, newstainment where entertainment is becoming the unequal partner. now it is preferred that education have a dash of entertainment quotient, information be given to masses in entertaining ways and unfortunately news also be delivered in the same way.
the problem of these mixtures is that there is no space left untouched by entertainment virus. if everything is in same colours it becomes boring and tiring after some time. the novelty of that entity wanes and performers should struggle to entertain people. the sensitivity of audience is very important and if there is continuous assault on ones sensibilities, it gets lost permanently. therefore there should be a check on the overdose of entertainment.
there should also be a distinction between active and passive forms of entertainment. the former should be preferred over latter which assumes audience just as a crowd. moreover the populist forms of entertainment with the effect of market forces looks at audience merely as customer. this downplays the responsibility of artists who consider themselves as service providers satisfying the needs of paying customers.
facts and fiction needs to be treated differently. the general public should be trained enough to separate them when one mixes both. otherwise there will be no space left for projecting reality. if entertainment is considered essentially as an escape route for suffering masses then bringing news, education and information delivery under its realm is dangerous. there is no doubt that these different worlds have to meet. but how should they merge is the question.
if entertainment becomes the dominant partner in the relationship there is a danger of education and news losing its sanctity. the casual attitude associated with entertainment will kill the seriousness required in the perusal of education or news. therefore instead of contaminating them with the virus of entertainment it is better to make entertainment itself more responsible. so the right formula would be to make entertainment more educative rather than making education more entertaining and likewise.
Friday 11 May 2012
remaking a successful film is a recent trend in indian industry. like its western counterparts which try to revive the old success stories in order to encash on nostalgia and hype, indian film makers too are trying this route. but seldom have such attempts tasted success. the primary reason for failures of such attempts is the inability of modern makers to recreate the magic old masters were able to create on-screen.
to override the initial impression created by a block-buster is a difficult task. to attempt to retell a cult classic could not even be imagined before few years. the new experimental generation are daring to go where previous film-makers would not even think in their wildest dreams. in its new avatar agneepath (karan malhotra, 2012) is a better adaptation than many such attempts we have seen in recent times.
the positives in this film are many to count. the way the writers have recreated the film sans some principal characters from the previous version is commendable. the attempt to re-cast some characters has also worked. the main win of the writing team is disassociating hritik roshan from iconic characterisation of amitabh bachchan. that even someone who has watched the earlier film gets involved in this version is its biggest accomplishment.
in a way this film departs from the accepted way of remaking hit classics. the makers seem to have carried the weight of the previous one lightly. the path they chose is to keep the original just as a reference and redo the entire film in their own way. the only thing that remains constant is the spirit of the characters. the addition of rauf laala brought a new dimension to the story and what a performance rishi kapoor has delivered! kudos to the casting team for this acting coup!
the storyline did not provide any scope for grey shades. it is a simple, straight-forward narrative of the clash between good and evil. in the new avatar the makers have remained loyal this premise and therefore they win. though they have extensively reworked the plot they have retained the simplicity of the core issue. by retaining the hero in his modest locality the story gains the extra edge.
if there is one person who should be regretting signing this film, it should be priyanka chopra. for some one as talented as her it is sad to see how she is sidelined in the film. there should have been more space for her with at least one duet song. overall the film works and it works great. this film traces its own path in its attempt to retell the story which is known to all and it still works. that is its greatest victory and its win should give people who want to try same thing some hope to carry on their ventures with increased zeal.
Wednesday 09 May 2012
imagine a country with an active, ideal government. one of the primary tasks of such a government is to see that no one dies of hunger. now what is the actual task before such a government? should it shoulder the responsibility of feeding everyone? or should the government deal with this matter without interfering directly? or is government irrelevant in this scenario i.e. can we assume that people will take care of themselves irrespective of government's action?
there can be counter-arguments for every stand listed above. if every person in that country knows that government will feed him will he not become lazy? if government does not interfere directly won't the prices be hiked irrationally thereby making many suffer? or if people feel government itself is irrelevant won't it result in anarchy and thereby bring suffering to all in the long term? the analysis of the possible answers to a singe question can teach us a lot regarding the various governance patterns that have emerged mainly from the western world.
on one extreme is the theory of marxism where government assumes the role of benevolent dictator taking the responsibility of all its citizens. on the other extreme there is free market economics where government sees itself as a mediator without any direct role. between these extremes there are many alternates suggested where government's role is in various proportions. amidst all these debates, anarchists question the need for formal governance structure in the society.
the problem with all these western theories on governance is their acceptance that private and public lives of an individual are different. the institutionalising of this notion has resulted in the present mess we are seeing in the world governance. and moreover there is this set of international organisations who take every available opportunity to give unsolicited advice to countries regrading the best form of governance. recently some agencies are also wielding the weapon of ratings to threaten countries to accept various policy decisions thereby undermining the power of autonomous governments.
ancient indian thinking on governance is very different from this. here the individual and public life was not considered different. it was well understood that government should create and implement measures for making the life of an individual easy. to see that every man leads his life in the path of dharma was the main agenda of governance. therefore the entire governance structure was geared up for the protection and propagation of dharma which is both individual and collective at the same time. answering the question raised in the beginning of this writing the indian notion of governance is to enable people earn their own food in their own chosen rightful way by formulating appropriate policies and overseeing its effective implementation.
Monday 07 May 2012
"did you call for me"
"yes, i had asked you to do something. did you do that?"
"i usually do everything on time. what are you referring to?"
"i had asked you to arrange for some coffee"
"well i have done that using all standard operating procedures"
"then where is the coffee?"
"well i have no idea. let me ask people who should know about this"
"then what were you doing"
"i made committees to do this task. all the co-ordinators of these committees report to me"
"what...did you form committees for a cup of coffee? how many committees?"
"let me recollect.. 4,5,...9.....i think there are 10 committees assigned to this task"
"i cannot believe this! 10 committees ! please explain what is going on"
"well i first made a committee to oversee everything. then there was committee to give suggestions. next there were eight committees which were given different tasks"
"can i know what these eight committees were up to?"
"let me think. one committee for selecting coffee powder, second for choosing sugar, third for bringing milk, fourth for fetching water, fifth for providing utensils, sixth for getting cooking device, seventh for arranging money for everyone and eight for assisting all other committees"
"that is very exhaustive list. then why is there no coffee?"
"as i said i have to check with committee co-ordinators. give me a minute"
"take your time"
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---
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"i have checked with everyone. everything is fine"
"then what is the problem?"
"i don't know. i have done everything right. the committees have done everything what was asked for"
"so is everything there?"
"everything is in place. but coffee is not ready. i am very confused"
"well you missed one thing. coffee cannot come out on its own just because everything is in place. in the language you understand there was no committee designated to mix everything, switch on the cooking device and make coffee!!"
Friday 04 May 2012
every generation needs a mascot who can represent it in all its simplicity and sincerity. cinema tries to glorify such gentlemen every now and then. there are some ground rules for people who want to fit into such roles. they should be young, intelligent, hard-working and romantic in their own unique way. most importantly they should have a dead-pan look which oozes sincerity at every moment.
amol palekar leads this group. his films at those times were representative of a common man. he edged farooq sheik in this race and till today remains a reference point for such acts. anant nag held much promise in this direction but he gave himself up to the charms of commercial cinema. in the post-2k indian cinema such average-joe was missing from the scene. the over-glorified stars and me-too kind of newbies swarmed the screens. thankfully it looks like we have found one gentleman out there who can claim this place.
imran khan's films are getting increasingly interesting. after some wandering around his latest two flicks have more things in common. 'meri brother ki dulhan'(ali abbas zafar, 2011) and 'ek meain aur ek thu' (shakun batra, 2012) provide a glimpse of what this man can do. the post-modern world that young people live was never adequately represented on screen. films shot in foreign destinations either become self-indulgent or cover tourist friendly spots in songs. the inhabitants in such stories are also boringly unidimensional thus depriving us a chance to savour real things on screen.
in both the above mentioned films irfan khan shows that he has the potential to represent modern guy with all his complexities on-screen. making a character relate to audience is tough job especially if you are targeting a certain age-group. their fast changing preferences will be difficult to cater to. but to imran's credit he underplays the emotions and appears at-ease even in handling the irrelevant parts of the roles he performs.
what makes his tasks doubly difficult is the fact that he is casted against seasoned female leads who know a trick or two to grab eyeballs. it should have been a herculean task to just stand with super-charged katrina and kareena in back-to-back releases. the very fact that he manages to make his presence felt in these films should give him confidence to try out newer ventures. he can now think of taking a film on his own relying only on his performance.
there are very few actors today who are not scared of trying something new. the impulsive generation of today needs a calming actor like imran khan to be their mascot. he has it in him what it takes to shoulder this responsibility. his kind of films are representative of today's youth. so there is nothing wrong in branding this deserving gentleman as the amol palekar of present times.
