Archive for Kaveetaa Kaul
Kaveetaa Kaul
November 4th, 2008
Discussions on Ng included comments on a similar score. As mentioned therein, lack of political will for obvious reasons blazed the fire, when extinguishing it was not just the crying need of the hour but also attainable.
NEW DELHI: Hate attacks and incidents of regional chauvinism can be tackled if there is a political will, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while agreeing to hear on Monday a PIL linked to the alleged violence perpetrated by Raj Thackeray’s MNS party in Maharashtra.
September 11th, 2008
It was shocking to hear the news of an attempt to suicide by Varsha Bhosle journalist daughter of Asha Bhosle (link). Initial reports flashed over the electronic media clearly spoke of her admittance to Jaslok hospital following an overdose of sleeping pills. Subsequently Doctors and the print media have tried to avoid terming it as a suicide attempt.
September 8th marked the 75th birthday of Asha Bhosle and the media was agog with interviews, tributes and so on. A few hours later i.e. 2 a.m. on 9th morning Varsha was found unconscious by her maid. If reports are to be believed she was not present in the festivities that took place the previous day.
Varsha known for her fiery, erudite and incisive writings was living with her mother at Prabhu Kunj , Peddar Road. She is estranged from her husband Hemant Kenkre, also a writer.
Varshas writings have been a personal favourite for their lucidness and clarity of thought.. though lately not much was heard. On hearing of the news, in an attempt to read more, I chanced upon this absolutely amazing piece of work..Varsha on Asha (link). Although it was she speaking on life with her mother, what came through on a subtler level was Varsha’s eloquence, her evolved sensibilities, honed talent in writing, say-it-as-you-see-it style of expression apart from the fact that she absolutely doted on her mother. It moves you tremendously, the force and impact of her words.
September 1st, 2008
July 5th, 2008
Kaveetaa Kaul
Just returned from a trip to Mussoorie and reckoned our NG friends might need a respite from the mind boggling BO figures. A reminder to life beyond movies..quite as exciting and fulfilling and so peaceful, nurturing the inner spirit and reinvigorating our core. Man is part of nature, a component in its completion.. after all. I guess we need to loop it in periodically.
December 13th, 2007
Mr. Mohan Siroya writes directly for “SACHINITI” from the festival precincts in Goa and gives us his first hand account..Interesting!
A brief profile of Mohan Siroya:
November 16th, 2007
Spoilers ahead
In the present age when media of all categories and cadres, is purposefully bombarding ones senses and time, willy nilly, with information essentially suggestive as if hypnotic capturing of ones personal opinions, myriad reviews of a film overwhelm thought processes. Easily influenced gullible minds fall prey to the insidiously, oftentimes stridently suggested message tags of ‘hit’ or ‘flop’. A more discerning populace admittedly small in percentage, decide to cast aside ‘fed’ ideas and view open minded a movie which promises ‘greatness’ in the cinema-ic denotation.
July 10th, 2007
Link: Sachiniti
Guru Dutt..the mere mention of the name conjures up a memory of those eyes, which seemed piercing but simultaneously hypnotic, romantic, questioning therefore, melancholic.They were as if making an assertion of having seen it, lost it as well, realising en route. the futility of it all !
In the short span of 39 years that he graced this planet, Guru Dutt has left an indelible mark on Indian cinema..never to be replicated or bettered but perhaps only imitated.
April 10th, 2007
A friend, who is also a film maker, enquired of me conspiratorially, prior to the release of the film ‘Guru’ as to what were my reactions to the promos or rather what were the expectations from the film. The pre- release buzz which surrounds a film based on rather nebulous criteria, word of mouth gossip, disgruntled colleagues, envious peers, or the plain diabolic variety of ‘industrywallahs, who revel in pulling down any effort they feel threatened by either by sheer enormity of the project or sincerity in its making, is often hugely erroneous.
Since I correspond to none of the above mentioned categories, my assessment was based on plain heuristics, if I may add, home grown. I had expected a ‘CitizenKane-ish’ film, dark, serious, perhaps boring. That it was meant to be major boost vehicle for AB’s son Abhishek, was another factor which added to the sentiment that here was a film which may attempt to take on more than it can chew, and leave the viewer dull and lifeless in a zombie like state ,once the curtains fell.
April 9th, 2007
Link
Sure does leave you speechless..if not ‘wordless’…as the title suggests.
At the outset, expectations from the film pre-viewing, were not something to write home about. RGV’s reprising failures, a major contributory factor. However, one’s hopes were pinned on the decision making process of Amitabh Bachchan, which leads him to accept/reject a script and consequently his compliance in assaying the character.
Perhaps this film has proven once and for that the infallibility of both the artists, as in humans, was not a myth after all.
Lets not even attempt comparisons with ‘American Beauty’ subject wise, which one suspects however, has been the trigger for the rather dismal story line of Nishabd. RGV ain’t no Sam Mendes, who incidentally debuted with the aforesaid film.
Its pointless to elucidate on the premise..its common knowledge.. of a not so common prevalence. So heres the 60+ ‘Vijay’ aka Amitabh Bachchan, ( chuckled at the attempt to recreate the magic of ‘Vijay’ of the 70’s..darn!! is this what ‘that’ Vijay’ has metamorphed into!!) placidly comfortable, enviably placed, professionally, personally, photographically( could not control the impulse to alliterate) well ensconced in his life, when in steps young Jiah or rather Jee….aaahhhh, and out goes Vijays jiya !
April 6th, 2007
Link
There are films that entertain you and then there is a film like ‘Water’ by Deepa Mehta which moves you and shames you at once, for belonging to an ethos which conforms to the barabarities portrayed via the story of widows, perhaps sequestering,therefore further criminalised , ages ranging from eight to eighty.
There maybe no answers, but should that hinder us from questioning? Especially in the darkened hall where you are spared looking at another Indian, in the eye. Should we hide these truths about India as we would our personal crimes?
April 2nd, 2007
Mira Nair is a woman much respected in her chosen profession, having received accolades fairly early in her career. Therefore she has managed to inculcate faithfuls to her style of cinema the world over. Being of Indian origin, one would like to believe has embellished her visual and aesthetics to the extent that she has managed to carve an enviable niche in the legion of film makers, where gender offers no privileges, contrarily may oftentimes spring in a spanner.
Simply put, ‘The Namesake’ may well be her most refined, mature, superior offering to date. That the film was based on a book by the same name, written by Jhumpa Lahiri and Soni Taraporewala on her team as her screenplay writer must have undoubtedly contributed majorly to the wholesomeness of the final product.
Spanning across a generation, the fizgig of the mind resulting in acceptance of your roots, this is a tale of Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, the quintessential Bengali couple who travel half way across the world to make a future for themselves, which promised hope and happiness. Their subsequent journey encompassing the birth of their children Gogol and Sonia and the transformation of a family floundering amidst the wave of cultural differences, provides the backdrop whilst unravelling the narrative effortlessly, emotionally, subtly and finally leaving you numb with pathos.
December 27th, 2006
Link: Sachiniti
Film-makers attempting to flow against the tide, who break away from the razzmatazz of films in the manner popularly understood, catering to the masses, subscribing to the rationale of ‘anything for a HIT’ ..risking loss of aesthetics and abandonment of creative expression, deserve that their efforts be lauded.
The danger in not taking cognisance of films and film makers who are talented and passionate, will result in a never-ending scenario, a continuum of ‘below the mark’ films flooding the theatres, as occurring presently, conforming to just the commercial aspect of Cinema. Any wonder then that come ‘Oscar’ and we are at a total loss for entries which we can proudly ennumerate!!
Riddled under the syndrome that bespeaks of a herd mentality in film making today, where one was often bored stiff at the onslaught of films which defined the statement..”If you have seen one, you have seen them all’ or better yet..”If you have seen ALL, its as if you have seen..ONE’ , films which expressed cinematic language in a new idiom, evinced a gush of praise for the maker who ‘dared to be different’, who essayed loyalty to his craft, beyond populist dictates.
One such is Onir, the maker of “My Brother Nikhil” and more recently “Bas Ek Pal’. The films were evidently works of a man who loved his ‘medium of expression’ and more importantly respected its grammar.
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Goodfella: LOL!!!! 