From shadows to the stars

My interest in good movies started when I was a dorky 16 year-old. (I define “good” as movies that have good acting, an interesting plot/ narration and are well shot. Though I generally watch a lot of drama movies, I also enjoy films from genres such as black comedy and war to name some) I watched a lot of movies that feature regularly in ‘Greatest movies ever” and other lists. Now, as a 22 year old (still dorky) adult, I am rewatching most of these movies. To understand some of the more complex movies, I think it is necessary. A 16 year old kid doesn’t understand the complexities of a film such as Apocalypse Now. Especially if that kid grew up watching typical Indian films which do not have even moderately complex plots. Then I got thinking about this. Is it a bad thing to have too much too early? Would you be able to appreciate the finer aspects of films or any other art form or just life in general if you have too much too early?

For the past couple of months, I have been jobless. Quite literally. Living in my parents' home near the outskirts of the city, I have been passing time by trying to observe and capture (capture with the lens, not literally capture them) the various species of birds that are present here. Though the mission has been a decent success (have managed to observe over 35 different kinds and photograph about 20), what has intrigued me the most is that the caste system has made its way into the naming of the birds as well. Consider this bird. It is called the Brahminy Myna. Why Brahminy? Because the feathers on the back of it's head resemble the pony that is characteristic of Brahmins. The above bird is called the Brahminy Kite. No, it doesn't have a pony as well. This kite, in contrast to other commonly found kites, is fair. This again is a general characteristic (although not exclusively) of Brahmins. Hence the name. Guess what this birds name is? The com...

Everytime I go to one of these late night weddings of distant relatives and vague acquaintances, I come away feeling downright dirty. This type of wedding is generally scheduled at about 2 pm, right, so most - about 90% - of the attendees stay only for dinner. Eat your stomach's fill, stand in a queue of 100s of people who, just like you, are waiting to get on to the dais and wish the happy couple (or not so happy maybe, but we'll get to that later) to say hi and get the hell back to their house, never to see them again. Doesn't that feel dirty? For about 90-95% of the guests, its a very mechanical transaction. The guests dont have to come, but they do anyway. The guests shouldn't have been invited in the first place, but they are, beacause - yes - of some stupid, made up, misplaced obligation. I don't get the point. Why would you invite people who are barely in your social circle to your wedding (dinner)? Its supposed to be an intimate moment, not some sh...

I generally avoid writing about films because I realise not everyone is interested in them (and even few are probably interested in the type of films that I like), but I just could not resist the urge to do so this time. 1) The Theory of Everything A very enjoyable film, but what I want to discuss is the treatment of the lead character (Stephen Hawking) by the makers. If this movie had been made in India, I am quite sure that the people in charge would have had a field a day exploiting the hurdles that the character faced. Instead of humanising Hawking, they would have victimised him. Among the many things I dislike about Indian cinema, one of them is that the makers always seem to be hell-bent on (and derive some sort of sadistic pleasure from) evoking tears from the audience with melodrama and over-sentimentality. Another difference I noticed between Indian and foreign cinema is the way they treat intensely dramatic scenes. For example, in The Theory of Everything, the piv...

Here we go, with a quickfire Random Observations post. RO #1 In this country, why are people driving in cars exempt from the social duty of providing 'lifts' to pedestrians? If someone were foolish enough to even signal the 'thumbs up' sign towards a car to request a lift, he/ she (well you rarely see female hitchhikers, to be honest) would receive a look that says "are you fucking crazy bro?" from the driver. Sure, two-wheelers and those other mortals might be obligated to help some pedestrians now and then, but not the car owners! Who knows what kind of filth and shit they might be bringing into the car, right? I mean, come on! RO #2 Have you ever noticed that the people who make and serve pani puri/ gapshup are always in a hurry? Do they have somewhere important to go every single day? I mean, if there is a mad rush or a huge queue (hah! Indians and queues, as if!) waiting for the pani puris, then I can understand. But even when...

Though Monty Python are regarded as one of the best comedy troupes now, their struggles at the height of their popularity are also well documented. Python were constantly up in arms against the then conservative societies and also Christians, who despised movies like 'Life of Brian'. Python kept going from strength to strength. Their brilliant with saw them even parodying audience reactions to their skits and also movies. (The reaction of the General/ military personnel in 'And Now For Something Completely Different' stands out) It is not an overstatement that through their comedy routines and skits, Monty Python played a major role in 'desensitising' the conservative societies of West. Words or thoughts that were previously un-utterable were now freely used and people did not get 'offended' or 'grossed out' easily in real life as a consequence of Python grossing them out on reel. I have long been saying that India needs its Monty Python....

I have recently been enjoying some Qawwali music. Naturally, I started out by listening to ghazals of the most famous Qawwali, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I was watching the video of a Nusrat concert and was shocked to see that some of the members in the audience approached the stage and flung currency notes on to the stage. For me, throwing currency notes has always been associated with something that you do to 'item girls' and strippers (knowledge attained not through personal experience, but from Tollywood and Hollywood respectively). I thought, "Does Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan feel like a stripper when someone flings notes of currency at him? Or does a stripper feel like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan?" Would a stripper even be aware of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan? (Not because I think strippers are stupid, but because it is likely that a stripper and Nusrat belong to different regions and cultures. Not a lot of Pakistani strippers around, I suspect).