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I promise somewhat irregular posts on (in no particular order) Indian politics, cinema, and anything else that catches my fancy... Why "Qalandar"? So-called "liminal" religious traditions are a particular interest of mine, and "qalandar" is the sort of untranslatable, ambiguous, yet enormously evocative word that for me touches upon and articulates the experience of the sub-continent's "little" traditions in a particularly memorable way...not to mention the fact that in popular lingo the word has more than a merely religious/spiritual connotation, and can mean a bunch of other things, including a smart alec, wannabe, what-have-you...

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Qalandar Reviews THE DARK KNIGHT (English; 2008)
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July 27th, 2008

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There Are 25 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Som on 27 July 2008:

    Excellent stuff here, Qalandar!!

    BTW Abzee and Qalandar put up their reviews. What the hell is Satyam doing? :)

  2. Comment by mahaloser on 27 July 2008:

    Good review Q..
    –
    “What the hell is Satyam doing? :)”
    –

    Reading and dissecting to death, AB’s blog ;)

  3. Comment by rks on 27 July 2008:

    Ek din mei 2 bhaari reviews.

  4. Comment by Som on 27 July 2008:

    rks, please do check your mail and reply.

  5. Comment by ideaunique on 27 July 2008:

    movie’s name is “THD DARK KNIGHT” and NOT “THD DARK KNIGHT RETURNS” as mentioned throughout this review!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. Comment by rks on 27 July 2008:

    Comic effect :)

  7. Comment by Tango on 27 July 2008:

    Q- Aap aur Abzee Maharaj ka vistrit vishleshan padh kar meri jigyasa TDK dekhne ko charam seema par hai.

  8. Comment by Tango on 27 July 2008:

    rks need to know something.

    If I use use Firefox to log in to Gmail and Rediff, will I always have to log in through it? In other words it wont open in any other browser from my laptop.

    I am asking because that is what I am facing. If I use someone elses PC ( with the same ISP) I can open it it via other browsers.

  9. Comment by jeegs on 27 July 2008:

    Tango - aap TDk zaroor dekhne jaana ekdum Jhakkas film hai . bas aapke aju baju mein dhyan rakhna .

  10. Comment by Tango on 27 July 2008:

    I know Jeegs, I have loved the comics and the first few movies based on these characters.

    Abhi samasya yeh hai ki, most are going in for dubbed Hindi versions, so have to see it in New Delhio or Noida.

    I mean they can keep it simple in Hindi too, but go overboard, making it funny.

    Example The Lost Word - Arre woh dekho pashan yug ka bheemkeya danav.

  11. Comment by Tango on 27 July 2008:

    Jeegs - “aju baju mein dhyan rakhna”

    SIMI waalon ko idhar se mar kar bhagaya hai, lekin lagta hai MP and Gujarat ab unko raas aa rahi hai, Maaro salon ko, Yeh kisi ke sage nahi hai, Kabhi detail mein bataoon ga inki History.

    In brief, pehle Saudi’s ke joote chat te the, as they got aid from there, but were later kicked out, now its Malaysia aur ab Saudi’s to gaali dete hain, kal ko kisi aur traf jayenge.

  12. Comment by rks on 27 July 2008:

    Tango: You mean to say that if you login into your gmail via firefox you are not able to use IE to login into gmail?

    Ideally it should work because both of them are different browsers so they have different cache and cookies management. Just try logging out from firefox instead of closing the window.

  13. Comment by rudresh on 28 July 2008:

    excellent review Q

  14. Comment by jayshah on 28 July 2008:

    Q - this is a great review. Both you and Abzee have etched out the duality angle so well. And your analysis on Ledger/Eckhart - agree…its a coin toss for me ;-)

  15. Comment by vikschshkr on 28 July 2008:

    Brilliantly written Qalandar.
    It has been a pleasure reading you, Abzee and Sandy’s thoughts on The Dark Knight.

  16. Comment by satyam on 28 July 2008:

    Superb piece here Qalandar. Especially like the historical contexts you’ve provided.

    Som, alas I cannot match these fine pieces.. but I’ve also been a bit tied up with things.. will try to do something on the film at some point..

  17. Comment by Qalandar on 28 July 2008:

    Thanks for the kind words all — it is easy to receive praise for a review when the film in question is very good!

  18. Comment by Qalandar on 28 July 2008:

    Thanks ideaunique, I have made the correction! I think rks’ explanation for why the error happened is spot on!

  19. Comment by ILG on 28 July 2008:

    Fantastic stuff, as always.
    Great job, Q.

  20. Comment by Ravi on 28 July 2008:

    Very nice as always Q bhai, it is always a pleasure to read what you write.

  21. Comment by Qalandar on 28 July 2008:

    Thanks guys!

  22. Comment by Zen on 29 July 2008:

    Great review Q. A pleasure to read.

  23. Comment by Julie on 29 July 2008:

    Outstanding review Qalanda. Yours and abzee’s has to be the best reviews that I have read at NG followed by sandy’s.

    The movie was a pure magical experience for me. Chris Nolan has created a haunting movie so thick with atmosphere, that even the most cynical of fans won’t be able to resist. After the demise of Heath Ledger, I was prepared for the over hype surrounding his character and performance. But what I was least expecting was this kind of Oscar winning performance. The performance totally wowed me and the audience around me as I could tell, by the look of utter disbelief and the jaw dropping silence for the entire 2.5 hours of the film.

    The JOKER was the most amazing of all, a performance of a lifetime for Ledger in all its ironic tragedy. He is at all times completely believable, at all time relentlessly disturbing, at all times nightmarishly frightening and at all times THE JOKER. But it hits the mark so acutely that even Batman himself is made to feel like a secondary character. The script was tight but fantastic. The story moved forward at all times, the dialog was crisp, at times profound and always in character relative to the scenario. The Dark Knight definitely raises the bar for the comic book genre. It is the best comic genre movie that I have seen followed by Batman Begins and yes Superman II (Christopher Reeves).

    A must watch for everyone.

  24. Comment by Qalandar on 29 July 2008:

    Thanks Zen and Julie — you are too kind.

    Julie: I share your esteem for Superman II, for it has what any number of multi-hundred million budgeted SFX bonanzas lack: soul.

  25. Comment by rockstar on 29 July 2008:

    as usual fantastic review q

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