En la cabeza

It's probably like that symptom...a symptom of self destruction that exists in all of us...but often enough it's that same seed that helps one grow too. Paradoxical isn't it...like a lot of life.

I don't know what it is that draws one incessantly...with alarming regularity to bits of alternate culture that continually mock and ridicule normalcy, a sense of being stable...that stokes the feeling of not settling for what's accepted. Looking the status quo horse in the mouth and living life on terms if not of your own, then on those drawn from a melange of counter culture implosions brought about through films, music, conversations, talking with other counter culture junkies all tossed about in your head, whipping up this exotic and heady cocktail that's all consuming...

I sit here just returning from registering for my next French course, drinking in Spanish spoken in a Madrileño accent set in a movie filmed in Barcelona and now trying to make sense of these implosions listening to Julieta Venegas. I mean...what sense am I going to make? Who am I kidding? Is all this real and supposed to mean something or is one just living in a delusion, happy to ignore the immediate reality of life by surrounding oneself with abstract thoughts, aesthetic ideas and ridiculously unrealistic concepts of life?

Thought may liberate you but watch out she can also be hard to be with...hard to be without. Much like Maria Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona...pienso ....no...seguro que tengo que escribir desde hoy en español...un poquito...una vez la semana...cada semana. Sobre este blog. Sí.

J'adore le ciné!

I have seen some truly fantastic movies in the last few weeks. I increasingly realise that I truly enjoy movies made by international film makers far more than I ever did Bolly/Hollywood ones. One of the reasons I switched off movie going was the volume of rubbish we subject ourselves to in the form of Indian & Hollywood cinema. That is not to say of course that good movies don't come from either place but there are far too many nuggets of delight floating around the bafflingly labelled "world movie" genre to be missed.

I've barely scratched the surface but all these films: Etre et Avoir, Roman de Gare, The Edge of Heaven, Coffee & Cigarettes, and Les Gouts des Autres are not to be missed!

Plausibly deniable but...

Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race, ethnicity.

In August last year I spent 6 weeks in Gujarat. I blogged extensively about those experiences and I will revisit them to reflect on the year gone by since my time there. Given a more resolute will, I would have stayed back and continued to work there indefinitely: such is the pull of the people who continue to create change there. I met several ordinary people who were anything but.

One who I didn't meet then I got to meet last evening. Stalin K heads an organization called Drishti Media. They believe "with a firm faith in the ability of video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society." Two of his movies on untouchability and the caste system in India have been shot in association with Navsarjan.

Last evening, I saw a screening of his 2nd movie on the caste system in India titled "India Untouched - stories of a people apart". You can read a little about the movie here.

I have a copy of the movie and I hope to screen it for as many people as possible and make as many copies of the film as I can for those who might want it. Like "An Inconvenient Truth", this film too is one that needs to be shown and seen. Unlike climate change however, the solutions for addressing issues spoken about here are far easier to adopt and yet, will be far more difficult to confront for an India where an egalitarian society is unthinkable, where dignity of labour is unheard of and prejudices continue to thrive in the most upper class and educated of households and institutions. But watching this film could be a start. Engaging in a discussion with the Director after the movie, he says "I don't know if I'm a film maker or an activist first...and I try not to draw that line". We can be whatever we choose to be to earn a living and yet, we can also be an "activist". But I think realistically, lets sensitize to the problems first. If you're in India and want the film, let me know. If you're outside India and want the film, let me know as well and we'll figure a way so I can get it to you.

PS - Quite a contrast from the movie I saw on Sunday night what! heh.

BOSS

Sensitivity, aesthetics, artistic appreciation, good acting, a reasonably sound story or even a botched but well intentioned effort to convey a social message. I go to the movies to sit back and enjoy all these things. Watching movies has been one of the most refreshing and relaxing of times for me. Being one among 7 others in a theatre in Rotterdam watching Seabiscuit is still something that is fresh in my mind. Dil Chahta Hai in PVR Saket left me in awe at how a simple portrayal of daily turmoil could be woven into something so aspirational. Watching Duet at a drive-in cinema in Madras was my first time sitting bewitched at A.R Rahman's melodies, heedless of the fact that I didn't understand most of what was being said in the Tamil movie.

I've seen films from around the world...documentaries, pot boilers, Hollywood tripe (think American Pie) , action films (I'm a huge "First Blood" fan and Guns of Navarone is an all time favourite), sappy chick flicks et al.

But never in all this time did I stumble into a typical Rajnikanth movie. I am still unable to decide if this gent revels in satire or is attempting some kind of prank on audiences by putting together this movie I saw last night called Sivaji. I won't get into the details of the film but I would encourage people to watch it just so I can have your reactions. :-) Oh and don't come here seeking a refund on your ticket!

Rare

I recently saw what I think is one of the most influential (for me) 2 hours of audio visual footage. Joan Baez, Martin Luther King Jr., Woody Guthrie & Johnny Cash serve but to accentuate the genius that will forever be Bob Dylan.

No Direction Home is a treasure I shall gift to the people who I think will see it the same way I did, to those in need of or seeking inspiration, to impressionable young minds, to anyone wanting to learn about how they could probably lead their lives.

There are many, many recountable scenes & moments from the film. One of them that struck me was a photograph (black & white of course) of a very young Dylan (probably around 25 years or so) standing next to a poster as tall as himself, that said "Fight against the rising tide of conformity"

He saw it back then...before most people did. Most people actually still don't. Watch the film.

Refresh

Poignant. Moving. True. And many more but words seldom (with me they never seem to) suffice when it comes to doing justice in expressing powerful & enjoyable experiences. The Namesake is one such work, subliminally moving yet starkly revealing...love, lust, betrayal, bonds big small strong weak rejected embraced. Irrfan Khan & Tabu are brilliant with Kal Penn not too far behind and the background score...heaven.

To say this is a movie on the Indian story in the States would be to appreciate a very small part of what Mira Nair manages to weave through 2 hours. But it is representative. And it transcends cultures. And now I'm also more than mildly curious about Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol.

Shantaram should be a cracker.

''danda lé ke maaru ché''

Parzania is hardly alone; India maintains a storied and constantly replenished dustbin of cannot-be-seen movies. Among the best known is "Black Friday," Anurag Kashyap's film about the 1993 terror attacks on Mumbai, in which Islamist militants were blamed....read here

The usual story. We aren't mature enough to appreciate cinema and acknowledge reality without distorting it. So cinema lovers like me will be left to read that these movies were screened in Venice and Toronto and New York and Cannes and all those other places but oh no! Not in India thank you. We prefer our movies with songs, dances and love all tinged with a very Indian breed of fake morality. In this case I don't think I'll watch Parzania though for reasons obvious...

The more things change.....

I just saw a Hindi movie titled Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. Apart from being a fairly well made film, it brought into sharp relief the Emergency period that was brought about by then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi in 1975. I am always left with a feeling of incredulity, anger, disbelief and horror that this actually occurred in my country, often touted as the world's largest democracy. All the "participative democracy'' mantras I am so excited by were rendered puny and inconsequential with a single stroke. One might take some comfort and believe we have progressed, that our political system & bureaucracy have more checks & balances. But then again, I visited Gujarat only a few months back......