Meghe Dhaka Thara

Director: Ritwik Ghatak

Language : Bengali

Neeta's (Supriya Choudhuri) family is one of many refugees who were displaced from Bangladesh and moved to West Bengal during the Partition. With her meagre earnings as a tuition teacher, Neeta strives to support not only her parents, but also an older brother Shankar (Anil Chatterjee) who is a struggling singer, a younger brother Montu whose passion for football she nurtures and a sister, the coquetish Gita. Neeta also financially supports her scientist fiance, Sanat, who is ultimately lured away by Gita at the behest of their mother who wants to ensure that Neeta remains unmarried to continue supporting the family.

Following her sister's deceit and mother's machinations, Neeta begins to feel suffocated by her life. Her sole source of emotional succour is her brother, Shankar whose life thereon gradually moves inverse to his sister's.

The family finally begins to thrive, but Neeta's emotional suffocation manifests at a metaphysical level as tuberculosis. Neeta is now a wasted human being and in the end, her final anguished vocalisation of her desire to live resonates in the hills that she always wanted to visit.

Ritwik Ghatak is considered one of the pathbreaking directors of Indian cinema. This movie is renowned for the way the sound and visual design communicate the emotional climate of each scene. The architecture of the scenes are also indicative of the turns that Neeta's life takes - from the vast tree-lined riverside vistas of West Bengal to the claustrophobic confines of the courtyard in the refugee village and then again, to the pinnacle of no return in the grounds of the sanitarium in the hills of Nainital.

Meghe Dhaka Tara is a tragic story, but one that highlights the Partition's socio-economic impact on immigrant families in post-Independence West Bengal.

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's September 2010 Issue)

The Karate Kid (2010)

 If you've seen one, you've seen them all. New boy/girl in town/school gets picked by bullies. A wizened old immigrant Chinese man teaches Caucasian kid Kung Fu. After the initial skepticism and umpteen errors, kid-San learns well. Situation arrives where Kid-San faces the bullies and wins. End of story.

However, the latest in the format is a little different. For one, the protagonist, Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) is the immigrant. Secondly, Parker moves to the heartland of Kung Fu – China - with his mother. He gets picked on by bullies who incidentally, also know kung-fu, but of the kind that inflicts damage. Parker is scared and hates feeling that way.

Enter Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man at Parker's building. He rescues Parker and ends up enrolling him in a tournament where the bullies are also participating. Han trains Parker pretty much like Mr. Miyagi of the earlier movies, by breaking down the moves into simple every day chores ('hanging up the coat' bit brought back that warm fuzzy feeling that arose previously with 'paint the fence', 'wax on, wax off' and 'praying mantis').

Meanwhile, Parker has his first crush - a violinist who studies in the same school he does. When he ends up alienating her, he reaches out to Mr. Han who has his own internal battles. Parker realises this and gently draws him out of his shell. As is expected, Parker wins the tournament, and as in the earlier movies, gains the respect of his opponent.

Jaden Smith brilliantly conveys Parker's fears in the initial sections as well his quiet grit in the climax. The stillness that his teacher speaks of, is visible in Parker in the scene where he takes charge of Mr. Han. A restrained Jackie Chan is unfamiliar to audiences who are accustomed to a charming old Mr. Miyagi of the earlier movies and Jackie Chan of quick reflexes. But Chan interprets the character of teacher in his own way. 

Pic courtesy movie's official website.

The Third Miracle

Synopsis only.
Father Frank Shore (Ed Harris) emerges from a self-imposed exile to help the church investigate a claim for sainthood. A statue of the Virgin Mary is said to shed tears of blood every November, the month of death of a pious woman called Helen O'Regan. It is said that on the day of her death, a little girl called Maria was cured of terminal lupus when the blood from the statue dripped on to her.

Shore has his own dragons to slay. In the past, he had ruled one such case as a non-miracle thereby killing the faith of many believers. He believes that he has thereby undone the faith of many.

As the investigation for the sainthood of Helen O'Regan continues, Shore is increasingly attracted to Helen's daughter, Roxanne (Anne Heche). The church's machinations on the matter of sainthood is in line with his own initial distrustful beliefs, but he unravels information from Helen's past that changes his mind. 

Ironically, as the church sets out to debunk the claim for sainthood, Shore rediscovers his own faith.

The Immortals of Meluha

Author: Amish
 The first in the Shiva Trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha poses an interesting question - What if Lord Shiva was a mortal? - and answers it in one explosive mythology-laden plot.

Tired of the constant strife with the neighboring Pakratis, Shiva decides to migrate his tribe, the Gunas, to the empire of Meluha. There, he is introduced to the Suryavanshis and their advanced system of governance. The Meluhans' longevity concoction, Somras turns the immigrant Shiva's throat blue, bringing alive the prophecy that 'Neelkanth' (the blue-throated one), an outsider to Meluha, will wage a war to annihilate evil. Shiva does not believe the prophecy and is plagued by doubts about his role as the Neelkanth. Meanwhile, he falls madly in love with Princess Sati who is bound by a dictat called Vikarma that prohibits her interactions with him.

 When a tribe called the Nagas carry out terrorist attacks in Meluha, the Suryavanshis deduce that the Chandravanshis, their enemies for centuries, are behind these attacks. It is time for war. Will Shiva set aside his misgivings about his role and step up to lead the Suryavanshis against the Chandravanshis?

The author seems to have (consciously?) employed an everyday voice for Shiva with casual colloquial references like 'What the devil...?' etc. Once you get past the careless language, it's a good read. There is fascinating trivia on phrases that are in common parlance as well as convincing deductions on certain historical facts. The book proves that speculative fiction need not necessarily be heavily literary. 

 But truth be told, I really wish Amish would brush up his writing skills before embarking on the next in the trilogy.

You can download and read the first chapter at the official site - http://shivatrilogy.com/book.html

Prince of Persia – The Sands of Time

Dastan (Jake Gyllenhall) is the adopted son of King Sharaman who grows up in the royal palace alongside the king's sons. On a conquest, Nizam (Ben Kingsley), the king's brother and counsel, advises the princes Tus and Garsiv to invade the holy city of Alamut. Meanwhile, Tamina (Gemma Arterton), the princess of Alamut entrusts a mystical dagger to one of her subjects.

Based on the game created by Jordan Mechner, the movie is a CG-suffused action adventure with a classic heroic story at its heart.

Dastan, who is not yet considered ready for battle, decides to secretly aid the Persian conquest by breaching the eastern wall, thereby securing victory for the Persians. The subject with the dagger is killed on his way out by Dastan who assumes it to be an ordinary dagger and keeps it. When Nizam suggests a matrimonial alliance between the future king, Tus and the princess Tamina, she agrees when she notices the dagger with Dastan. 

Back in Persia, when the cloak that Dastan presents to the king turns out to be poisoned, he is assumed to be an assassin. He escapes with Tamina into the desert where they are caught by a group of bandits headed by the ostrich-racing Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina) who later becomes an ally.

With Tamina's help, Dastan learns of the mystery surrounding the mystical dagger. It becomes the key to uncovering the identity of the secret group of terrorists called Hassansins and the plot behind the king's assassination. Using the dagger, Dastan saves the Persian empire even as he absolves himself of the blame of killing the king.

Lesson from Inception

Walking out of the theatre after watching Inception on Monday morning (best Monday ever!), I wish I had spent more than the paltry Rs. 100 on the ticket. Christopher Nolan deserves more from me as an audience member. More so, for the valuable personal epiphany.

Inception is a brilliant example of a very simple seed of an idea - can a thought be implanted in a person's subconscious mind?

I realised that any of us could have come up with that idea! Before I raise the hackles of Nolan fans, let me elaborate.

Each of us comes up with the makings of at least 3 brilliant ideas a year. We're talking about those ideas that would radically alter (for the better) our areas of influence and impact a lot of people (for the better). But they're still wisps of ideas at this first stage.

The trouble is, with an idea of that magnitude, we envision BIG hurdles. And the biggest hurdles are those in the mind, even before a single step has been taken in the direction. Pursuing those ideas will demand our stretching ourselves, taking leaps of faith and seemingly, jump off the deep end with no resources to fall back on.

Do we pursue even one of those ideas?

Why do we shy away from our potential however daunting that may seem, to pursue something we're passionate about in the first place?

There seems to be a very real self-sabotaging element in the form of our belief systems and insecurities. In other words - those who've seen the movie will relate to this - we have to make peace with the specter of Mal (Marion Cotillard) who exists in Cobb's (Leo DiCaprio) sub-conscious mind sabotaging his every effort.
 

A sense of trepidation kicks in and we misread it as fear. We panic and opt-out.

"I don't have the skill to pursue such a big idea or a big project."
"This project will require a lot of money which I don't have."
"I don't have the time."
"What if I realise as I go along, that this idea is not as brilliant as I thought it was? How stupid would I look?"

In short - "If I don't aspire, I will not fail."

The trepidation is very real and fortunately it comes with the territory of doing something bigger than usual. Something like the butterflies in one's stomach before giving a speech in public.

If we had to achieve the kind of mastery that someone like Nolan has achieved in his field of influence - cinema - we have to push forth out of our comfort zones (read insecurities), nudge things into place, inspire people to champion our idea and trust that the resources will fall in line.

Christopher Nolan's genius is not only in a brilliant what-if, but in the actual pursuing of that wisp of an idea and diligently crafting it to life over however long it took him. The result is there for all to see - a complex yet simple, real yet fantastic cinematic experience.

Rang De Basanti

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Language: Hindi

Rang De Basanti is a fascinating interplay between the narrative of a jailor in British-era India and that of his granddaughter in contemporary India. The movie evokes a comparison between the Indian freedom heroes of his time and the Indian youth of her time.

In his diary, McKinley (Steven Mackintosh) named five Indian freedom fighters - Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru, Ashfaqulla Khan, and Ramprasad Bismil - whose fearless, unwavering commitment to the Indian freedom struggle shook his very belief system. Sue (Alice Patten) arrives in India to make a documentary based on her grandfather's diary.

With the help of Sonia (Soha Ali Khan), Sue chooses a group of happy-go-lucky friends who initially seem least likely to convincingly portray legendary heroes. They are a disaffected group with no sense of identity.

Daljeet alias DJ (Aamir Khan) has long since completed his education but chooses to remain in college. Karan Singhania (Siddharth) shares a testy equation with his rich industrialist father. Aslam (Kunal Kapoor) belongs to a lower middle-class family that disapproves of his choice of friends. Exuberant Sukhi (Sharman Joshi) is ever interested in girls. Laxman Pandey (Atul Kulkarni) is the outsider to the group, a fundamentalist whom Sue chooses, much to the consternation of the group.

 

The mood shifts when Sonia, loses her fiance, Flt. Lt. Ajay Rathod (Madhavan) to an air crash. The Indian defence minister, Shastri (Mohan Agashe) casts aspersions on Rathod's flying skills and disregards allegations of the purchase of faulty spare parts for MiG aircrafts.

The corruption among politicians evokes patriotic fervour among the friends, and in a poignant mirroring between past and present, they take the law into their hands, hurtling towards a resolution that eerily matches the lives of the Indian freedom fighters of yore.

With brilliant performances by the ensemble cast and music by A. R. Rahman that dovetails into the script, Rang De Basanti won the National Award in India. It is also the first Indian movie to be nominated by BAFTA in 2006 in the Best Film Not In the English Language category.

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's August 2010 Issue) 

Ice Candy Man / Cracking India - Bapsi Sidhwa

 Bapsi Sidhwa captures the turmoil of the Partition of India through the eyes of little Lenny Sethi belonging to a wealthy Parsi family in Lahore. We first meet her when she is four years old, and grow with her, in the discovery of a world changing rapidly around her.

Lenny is a precocious child, indulged by everyone because of her polio. She is enamoured by the many suitors who woo Shanta, her ayah or nanny who accompanies her to the park - from the Masseur to the Butcher, the ZooKeeper to the cook and the gardener, but particularly with the poetry-spouting Ice Candy Man. The group meets under the guise of exchanging news, while actually each one is attracted to the lovely Shanta. The Ice Candy Man flirts incessantly with Shanta, but she herself, is drawn to the Masseur.

When Lahore is declared part of Pakistan, there is a spate of migrations, conversions and much violence in the name of religion. The Ice Candy Man, sees a train full of Muslim passengers hacked to death by Sikhs, and in that instant, turns from poet to instigator. In one terrible night, Lenny witnesses the carnage that was Partition from the Ice Candy Man's rooftop even as he revels in the mindless violence. One day, the masseur's hacked body is found, stuffed in a gunny sack.

When marauders descend on the Sethi household looking for Hindus in hiding, Lenny is deceived by the Ice Candy Man into uttering the truth, thereby forever changing the destiny of the Ayah. Through it all, it is Lenny's godmother, Roda, who becomes her bulwark. When the missing Ayah is found to be in the red light area of Lahore, it is the Godmother who rights the wrong caused by Lenny's truth.

Bapsi Sidhwa wonderfully captures Lenny's voice, with its raw frankness, stirring sensitivity and mourning of lost innocence. 

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's August 2010 Issue) 

The Indian Tricolour

If D.N. Bhatt had his way, every Indian flag purchased in the nation would provide income to Indian villages. Having said that, he can take pride in the fact that the flags he manufactures, aid this process to a great measure.

Mr. Bhatt owns Khadi Dyers & Printers (KDP), one of the two units in India licensed to manufacture the Indian Tricolour as per the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Few are aware that the making of a good quality Indian flag is a process that adheres not only to stringent standards, but also retains the human touch at its core – the cotton cloth from which the flag is made, is hand-spun and hand-woven, also called Khadi.

Mr. Bhatt narrated a historical anecdote few would be aware of. “In the early 1950s, the Director General of the BIS, Mr. O.P. Khullar received a message from the then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. He requested an important specification to be included in the standards for manufacturing the Indian flag – that it must be made of Khadi cotton cloth, hand-spun and hand-woven at the village level, thereby ensuring a stream of income to Indian villages.”

Every step of the manufacturing process is ruled by the quality standards as laid out by BIS. Mr. Bhatt elaborates, “Khadi cloth is sourced by the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and it arrives at our workshop. Here, we test it for quality. Only the fabric that passes the standard will have the ISI quality stamp on the finished product. The fabric is then sent to a mill where it is dyed (saffron and green) and bleached (white) as per the standard shade card. The Ashok Chakra emblem is screen printed in dark blue on the white panels. The dyed, bleached and printed panels are then stitched. Once assembled with the rope and toggle, the completed flags are despatched to the Khadi Bhandars or outlets based on the quantities ordered.”

Mr. Bhatt details the standards maintained at KDP, “Our flags are subject to stringent tests for colour-fastness from sun and water. The corners of the flag are stitched diagonally to ensure strength when the flag flaps in the wind. Every intricate detail is ensured down to the groove that holds the rope in the toggle, the size of the rope and even the depth of hem on the flags. The most challenging process we have managed to master is the printing of the Ashok Chakra at the exact position on both sides of the flag.”

“Today, although people accord respect to the Indian tricolour, they end up buying the paper and plastic flags sold at traffic signals. While those also do contribute to someone's livelihood, citizens are not aware that buying a Khadi one has such economic significance for Indian village industries.” says Mr. Bhatt.

Flags of the BIS standard sizes are manufactured at KDP - the smallest being the table-top variety at 2 inches by 3 inches and the largest at a gigantic 14 feet by 21 feet. They are available at KVIC's Khadi bhandars or sales outlets across India with the ISI quality mark clearly branded on the 'duck' – the unbleached, uncoloured stem of the flag.

TRIVIA

• New Delhi is the biggest market for flags with most government departments are located in Delhi.
  
• The size of the state has no connection to the number of flags sold. Relative to its size, Madhya Pradesh has lower demand compared to say, Maharashtra or Rajasthan.
  
• A flag, if used every day for eight hours a day as in Government Agencies, will fray in a year. If it is used only for Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations, it will last for even ten years.
  
• While BIS ensures the quality of Indian flags, the Flag Code of India ensures that the Indian flag is accorded the respect befitting a national symbol. The Flag Code of India can be accessed at http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_flag.php
• Arundhati Virmani's book, A National Flag For India traces the evolution of thought that went behind designing the Indian Tricolour.
  

(An edited version appeared in Culturama's August 2010 Issue)