What a way to have fun!!!

Well Done Abba

Rarely does bollywood come up with movies which highlight social problems of the people living in rural areas. People called “Aam Admi” (thanks to Rahul Gandhi, this phrase is becoming really popular). And when one does, it is mostly a serious movie or a satire which probably has a tragic ending.

Well Done Abba is far from that. It is a satire but one which has intermittent moments of laughter and an ending which does make you think, but not in a depressed manner.

WDA is set in a village in Andhra Pradesh (Chikatpalli) and is about Armaan Ali (and his quest for a well). Armaan Ali works as a driver with a big businessman in Mumbai and takes a month’s leave to find a groom for his only daughter Muskan.  But when he returns back after three months, his employer refuses to take him back. Armaan Ali convinces him to listen to his story first and then take a decision.

Like so many other villages in India, Chikatpalli has its own share of problems…and one of them is unavailability of water. After reaching the village, Armaan Ali learns that there is a scheme (Kapildhara scheme) under which those living under the poverty line will be given a sufficient amount of money to build a well on their land. When he actually decides to avail of this scheme, he faces corruption at every step. He has to bride every official and give them a percentage of the money he would get for building the well. Eventually, he ends up with literally no money in hand to dig the actual well. That’s where the first part of the movie ends and you are left wondering whether this is indeed a humorous movie.

But his fiery daughter decides to turn the table back on all the corrupt officials’ heads. The moment I heard father-daughter duo go to the police station and complain that “meri bouwdi chori ho gayee hai” (i.e., our well has been stolen), I knew it was going to be funny from then on. The duo, together with a motor-mechanic (who is secretly in love with Muskan) helps in getting the villagers together and start a movement which almost leads to a “no-confidence” motion in Vidhan Sabha.

Benegal’s Well Done Abba is a very witty film, well written and looks at relevant issues. It manages to keep you smiling for most of the movie. There are parts where you feel sad at the state of affairs in our country. It ends up making just the right statement on the many development projects that the government initiates but which frequently get hijacked by systemic corruption. Boman Irani as usual does a very good job.

Only problem with the movie is its pace. I think that the first part of the film was a bit slow, especially when all the characters were being introduced. And yes, too much time is devoted to a young married couple which frankly gets very repetitive, boring and embarrassing (if you are watching with your mother).

Shyam Benegal gives a strong message without compromising on its entertainment quotient. Worth Watching!

BTW, Well Done Abba' also bagged the National Award for best film on social issues.

My meow is like me!

“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort” ~  James Herriot

I have a cat( a kitten too but she is no more). Well, technically I do not have a cat...she just sits on our veranda and I feed her, mostly out of pity.

On most days...my early morning routine goes like this- 

Wake up, look at veranda. Nothing there.

Go to kitchen, come back and see meow is waiting for me.

I am not sure whether she is happy to see me, but she sure recognises me.

And then she purrs...

And I talk to her in Bangla, as if she can understand, letting her know that her breakfast is on the way.

Cool the boiled milk to the right temperature so that she doesn't burn her tongue.

And wait for her to finish it.

No, not because I like spending time with her or like observing...

But because she runs away whenever any other cat comes by.

With a broken leg, she has little chance of defending herself.

Is it any surprise that all her kittens died, actually got eaten. :-(

“Dogs have Owners, Cats have Staff.”

So now, why is this meow like me? 
Because she has particular preferences in food and would rather go hungry than have anything else. So her diet is basically : un-diluted milk, meat, chicken, fish and egg york (not egg white). My parents find a lot of resemble between me and her because I am a bit picky and choosy about food too and would rather make my own  food (which BTW is reasonably tasty) than have something I totally detest shoved down my throat.

How can anyone not like Dhobi Ghat!!!

Watched it…loved it! How can anyone not like it? Everything about the movie seems so fresh, including the actors. Prateik is definitely a guy to watch out for. Everybody was so natural. As a debutant, Kiran Rao has done a wonderful job. So, I guess she is also someone to watch out for.

But there is something else, I wanted to write. Once, I had once written a story about a painter and his name was Arun. Somehow, when I heard that the painter’s name in the movie was Arun, I smiled. And thought of putting that story here. So here goes...

 ~~~

“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” 

~ Pablo Picasso

Lots of paintings there. Lots of them…some play with reality and some with imagination…

Once a senior, while ragging Anna, asked, “What sorts of painting do you like?”  She replied, “Modern Art, Abstract Art. Sir”

“Why that? Modern art is so confusing and incoherent. You could twist the picture, put it upside down and it would still appear the same. Tell me, how could you possibly distinguish between two abstract paintings and rate them?”

“Well, why would I need to? And how can you rate and compare the music composed by Mozart and Beethoven?”

Anna had clearly exaggerated, but also driven her point home. Arun was impressed.  With time, they became good friends and ended up doing a lot of projects together. Somehow, somewhere Anna got bored of abstract art and Arun took to abstract photography. Anna was more inspired by Indian painters, Nandalal Bose being her favourite at that time. Arun on the other hand was a big fan of the B&W style of Ansel Easton Adams. Though with time, his subjects became vague. Despite their varied interests and different electives in college, they still continued to spend a lot of time together.  Their hectic schedule never stopped them from meeting each other. They were like each other’s “morning’s cup of tea”.

Soon the bond of friendship deepened into something more, with romantic overtures to it. They started living and behaving like a couple, except they had little or no direction at all. They both loved their work and spending time in each other’s company but never thought beyond that. Flames arose. But no one wondered or thought about how it could char a part of them.

And as expected, it didn’t last. This was not Anna’s happy story with a happy ending.  Soon one could see cracks emerging, some of which had to do with their chosen lifestyles. Arun couldn’t get over his obsession with fame and money, which is one of the reasons he submitted himself to Abstract art. Somehow, that form was becoming very popular amongst the “rich and famous”. Suddenly, people had started cultivating interest and appreciated it. It wasn’t such a bad thing to happen, except Arun now got his motivation more from this requirement than passion. On the other hand, Anna was slowly getting disillusioned about the entire environment.

“I am searching for abstract ways of expressing reality, abstract forms that will enlighten my own mystery.”

“Why are you searching for abstraction when you have reality?”

“So that people use their imagination and intellect to understand my message”

“What message are you trying to convey by confusing people?”

“Any message. There should be subtlety in aesthetics.”

“But isn’t art, poetry, literature a form of making the common man understand and comprehend your thoughts?”

“I don’t do stuff for the common man. I have an elite audience”

“Even then, there is a reality. Why not just portray that in clear and simple terms?”

“Oh come on Anna, won’t that be very crude and rude? Plus that would be very unpleasant to eyes, who’d buy my work then? No one wants to put a coloured picture of a vulture waiting for a child to die in a desert in Africa on their walls! Think about your patrons. In fact I’ve been invited to showcase my work in a famous art gallery. Have you heard of Domus? They have expressed interest in me. Things are beginning to look good.”

Everything Arun said and did had to do with the buyers. Somewhere he had started making compromises and Anna couldn’t quite recognize him anymore. He began socializing more and yet seemed distant, cold and indifferent.  Slowly they drifted apart, without any formal goodbyes.

Domus Art Gallery was established in Kolkata and later branched out to Delhi. It had grown with a view to promote contemporary Indian Art…a perfect place to showcase and promote monochrome photographs of emerging talent, like Arun’s. The important thing was that this gallery was also associated with well known auction houses in India and abroad. And, that evening, it was showcasing works of a new fairly artist at IHC.

It had rained in the morning in Delhi and that meant a cold and depressing winter evening. The only reason Anna had decided to venture out to IHC after a hectic day and watch “The Players” was because of an old friend who was playing a small part in that drama.  He was terribly excited about it and she couldn’t let him down. And then, who knows…it could turn out to be fun.

And then, just as she was passing by one of the blocks, she saw a board which said something about an Art exhibition.  What sort of Art exhibition? Whose show it was? Was it some famous person?

Domus Gallery!!! And then, suddenly and out of the blue it reminded her of Arun. Where was he? How was he doing? It had been a few years since college and Anna was now working in an Advertising agency in Delhi. Despite her efforts at becoming an artist, she never quite found any buyers. She didn’t know how to market her work and never knew how to paint as per the demand. So she decided to take up a profession which allowed her to be creative and pay for the room rent. She knew that somewhere she might have sold herself short but atleast she wasn’t a fake.

It read, showcasing work of Arun S.Upadhyay.

She almost froze in her tracks, not knowing what to do. Should she go in and congratulate him? That would be the logical thing to do. She had heard of his exhibitions before but never visited them. Typically, entry was for invited guests only but that wouldn’t have mattered for an old classmate. But then, they were more than that. They used to be more than that.

So, this time, she decided that enough was enough. If nothing else, they were classmates and friends at one point of time. She stood in front of the stairs of the building wondering and trying to come up with reasons as to why she shouldn’t see his work and encourage him, atleast once? But then, did he need her encouragement at all. She thought not. Yet…

Anna almost forced herself to take a few steps forward and found herself in the reception. How had his paintings and life changed in all these years? Had his views changed with time? If not, what was the point in meeting again? She already knew that he had achieved considerable success. How could her presence help? What difference would it make? Yet…

No, she couldn’t. However hard she tried, she simply couldn’t get into the elevator. A sort of fatigue and disinterest grew over her, everytime the thought of exploring the gallery came in to her mind. And so, just as she had walked towards the building and almost wandered into the reception…in the same way she walked out. Totally unnoticed and somewhere, wonderfully relieved. 

No, some pages don’t need to be turned.

And, she walked away and disappeared into the dark.

Arun on the other hand was busy conversing with connoisseurs of his art who were praising his work. No doubt, he was good at his work. With a glass of Malt whisky in his right hand and a cigarette in the other, he looked towards his left with an effort to adjust his shirt. The wind was acting up and it was time to get inside. And just as he cast the cigarette bud over the balcony, he saw a silhouette, walking towards the open air theater. It seemed like an extension of his photographs, with a terribly familiar walk.   He kept staring at it till it disappeared. No, he didn’t wave, didn’t call either. He could have, but didn’t. Even in the dark and after so many years, he knew.

Slowly, he turned towards his patrons and went inside.

Some paintings can never be restored.

~~~

Just like in the movie, in life everything isn't always well defined. You meet people, some of whom travel with you forever in whatever capacity and some you leave behind for whatever reasons. Sometimes there are no reasons. People are just gone, erased from your memory.

The movie (unlike the story above) though has to do with the city and its people, more than inter personal relationships. But then again, what makes a city - it's people! All kinds of people - the ones who play with colours, the ones who create a painting, the ones who appreciate them and the ones who spoil them.

BLACK SWAN

“We all know the story. Virginal girl, pure and sweet, trapped in the body of a swan. She desires freedom, but only true love can break the spell. Her wish is nearly granted in the form of a prince. But, before he can declare his love, the lustful twin, the Black Swan, tricks and seduces him. Devastated, the White Swan leaps off a cliff, killing herself and, in death, finds freedom”. ~Thomas Leroy

Black Swan is a psychological thriller about a sheltered, single-minded, perfection seeking ballerina, played by Natalie Portman who has been chosen to play a role which embodies both good and evil. Whilst she can play the "good" very well, she needs to change herself in order to do justice to the "evil".It is a modern retelling of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet, Swan Lake.

Thomas, the ballet director, casts Nina (Portman) for the role of the Swan Queen. But to give a flawless performance, she must be able to play the role of the Black Swan as well as the White Swan (which is not a problem for her). The Black Swan requires the dancer to be twisted, sexual and dangerous which is everything that Nina isn't. 

Thomas tries to create in Nina a new, aggressive and sexual alter-ego.  As the Black Swan grows in power, Nina starts hallucinating physical mutations on her body. The only person who realises Nina's transformation is her dominating mother, who tries to repress it and fears that it will cause her harm. Mirrors are used throughout the movie to symbolically reflect the true state of Nina’s psyche. As her metamorphosis advances, Nina realizes that a totally separate entity is living within her which is beyond her control. 

Right before her big performance as the Black Swan, Nina fights against herself in her dressing room. During the fight between Nina and the Black Swan, a mirror breaks, representing the collapse of the psychological boundary separating both entities. By shattering the mirror, Nina becomes the Black Swan. 

It is a psychological thriller and would be a shame if I spelled out the end too. You can't give this movie an average rating, it is either good or bad. You either like it or you don't. But even for that, one has to see it...(not meant for children though...not at all). There are a few disturbing scenes though, especially ones which show mutations on the body.

The movie is well crafted but it wouldn't have worked without Portman. She definately gets my vote for the Oscar!

De Ghuma Ke!

De Ghuma ke is the Cricket World Cup,2011 theme song. It isn't out of the world but I find it quite catch. Should be a hit :-)

Shakira's Waka waka was good (actually catchy) but somehow I liked "For the love of the game" much more.

Of course K'Naan's official World Cup Anthem was very good too.

Okay, so I like watching soccer more than cricket. I mean, it is faster and more thrilling!

Happy Thoughts

Today, I read an article by a 29 year old single male about arranged marriages. It seems that all of his extended family is looking for a bride for him. Like most men (and well, women too), he wants a love marriage. But no body throws a second glance at him and yet he thinks he is Clark Kent who turns or can turn into superman whenever he so desires! And since he is all that, he wants a super-woman.

And there were loads of comments to that post, mostly by men and as suspected most of them approved of his views. In fact a guy even asked him to write a book about this! And one particular comment captured my attention. According to that guy (who also appears to be a single male)…

“Today’s generation men prefer a career oriented woman who earns more than them, has ability to hold intelligent conversation who likes to laugh and joke, has a pert bottom and high *** drive, at the same time stay at home and bring up the children instilling traditional culture and values. Men dont want to settle anything less than perfect and women are finding it very hard to live up to these high standards. Thats why we find lot of difficulties in finding the right match in arranged marriage because nobody wants to compromise in any aspect. i also belong to the same confused era and can very well relate to the post”

And just when I was about to post this comment… “hmm…consider the opposite! Today’s woman has criteria of her own and standards that she sets. And there is a likelihood that a lot of men with fat pay cheques or jaw dropping looks do not fulfill those. So technically, perfect women also look for “perfect” men.”

My comment got rejected. And what is the reason for rejection,

“This is a happy place…please post something happy!!!”

I was shocked to read that. No one has ever said that to me. In fact it wasn’t even a person, it was an automated reply sort of a thing, which came immediately after I tried to post it. Strange…eh?

I’ve never considered myself to be a feminist in any sense of the word. Retain your identity- yes,  but not feminism. And even though, I do have a habit of generalizing things, I definately do not believe in male-bashing. Or maybe I was being a bit too personal or vociferous or who knows, a bit rude? Was I taking the benefit of the internet, which protects your identity to a large extent? Would I have said the same on his face? Hmm…let’s see…I sure would have :-)



And then a few seconds later, smiled.





What I actually wanted them to understand was that perfection is pretty much an illusion and happiness is by far a very subjective word. In any form of marriage (arranged or love), in all likelihood there would be quite a few things about your partner that you might not like. But hey, there are so many that you do. It just depends on how you look at things.  (Oh, I am not married, so all thoughts and views are…debatable!)


(p.s - This post had been written months back in another blog. Thought I'd post it again.)

Lending a Womb

Surrogacy is just an arrangement or a contract by which a woman carries and delivers the child for another couple. The child(i.e., egg) could belong to the surrogate or she could just be carrying an embryo.

I don't doubt the basis, intent, thought behind resorting to surrogacy or an altruistic act of a surrogate. Afterall, she is helping a couple who are incapable of having their own child. She delivers this enormous amount of happiness and joy to a couple in form of a beautiful baby. This is indeed an act of supreme kindness. But then, there is commercial surrogacy too. And that is what India specializes in.

Some of the surrogates interviewed in Gujrat have said that they don't consider the baby as their own from the moment they sign the contract. So when he/she kicks in the middle of the night and makes his presence felt, he doesn't belong to her. They have somehow managed to convince themselves about this. But, how could a woman not feel anything (no, its not a question mark...we all know the answer).

"The fetus is theirs, so I'm not sad to give it back," said Gheewala, who plans to save the $6,250 US she's earning for her two daughters' education. "The child will go to the U.S. and lead a better life and I'll be happy."

The reason they do it - it is noble and nice to help out people and give them this enormous joy of being a parent and filling their lives with a bundle of joy. And, it helps them economically. The later is an issue which requires some discussion (by the policy makers).

The question isn't exactly whether surrogacy is legally correct or not (though there are legal implications to be considered)? In India, it is. In fact here surrogacy is particularly attractive for two reasons. Surrogacy comes at a considerably cheaper price and there are hardly any legal hurdles. But then, just as India is becoming a hub of "baby-production", new issues seem to crop up.

For instance, what if the foetus dies prematurely?  What if the surrogate dies while in labour or  immediately after that? What if she gives birth to a stillborn baby?  Every birth leads to calcium depletion in a woman. Is there any follow-up or any method by which some help could be provided in that regard? India doesn't have a proper legal framework to handle such cases.

What about the rights of the child? Does he ever get to know his surrogate mother? What if the couple get divorced during the nine months? Sometimes due to legal issues, few couples just end up adopting their own child because the laws in their country do not approve of surrogacy. The case of the twin brothers in Mumbai is very poignant, disheartening and raises a lot of questions. The Norwegian government has refused to make this surrogacy legal and India has refused to grant them citizenship too because they belong to the Norwegian couple. The problem is that the DNA of the children do not match with the couple's DNA, even though the clinic has claimed that no foul play is involved. The problem remains- the children have nowhere to stay! No place to call their own place! India does have a surrogacy bill which addresses citizenship issues but that might not be of much help in providing a home to these two babies.

In such cases...I mean where the couple are unable to conceive for whatever reasons, what is so bad about adopting an orphan? A baby is a baby...as pure as a flower. How does it matter whether its yours or mine? If you give someone love, they'd love you back...isn't that what the world is about? Afterall, Yashoda wasn't any less of a mother than Devaki!!! Krishna wasn't any less closer to Yashoda (if not more!).

There are ethical issues which crop up too. Is surrogacy some sort of exploitation? The maternal mortality rate is very high in India and so something like this does increase the risk to life. Surrogacy has become a flourishing profession in some places. Sometimes, it isn't exactly voluntary in the true sense of the word. When there are a couple of mouths to feed at home and income too little, such a step would be considered normal. So then, is this another form of outsourcing?  There are travel agencies which specialise in medical tourism. They often offer a package deal, with flight tickets to the actual babies!!!

There is an interesting example. Haryana is a male dominant state where the M/F ratio is seriously skewed. Women aren't very educated and have little rights/say about anything. In fact family members (male) have killed their daughters when they tried to marry on  their own will or marry someone of their own caste/gotra/village etc in the name of honour killing. The father of a CWG gold-medalist says that he would kill his daughter if she married against his wishes, infront of the entire media! They do not approve of western wear (jeans) for women. They have "khap panchyats" which are almost like parallel governments and make legally binding decisions. But...but when it comes to surrogacy, then everything is okay! And why is that- because it is economically profitable, at the cost of a woman's health! A woman gets about a lac or two (above all medical bills) and that is definately alluring. So there is an entire village which does this! Is this not exploiting a woman?

Is outsourcing wombs morally right?