Dangal

Movie Review (Hindi)

As with every movie that revolves around a protagonist who rises against odds or conquers all obstacles in her/his path, this story besides being all this also has three protagonists -- A middle aged man and two young women - a father (Mahavir Phogat) and his two daughters (Geeta and Babita).

In the heart of Haryana where patriarchy is phenomenal, a middle aged wrestler has the guts to push for his daughters to succeed in an arena which is a male bastion, namely the wrestling arena. 

Dangal, the movie, is a success from the word go. Several reasons for this:
Aamir Khan is the ageing wrestler;
This is a real life success story;
It is about girls winning over boys despite social stigma;
This is about Sports. 

So lots of reasons why this film should be a runaway success.

Let me also mention the biggest reason--- A story well directed, edited and with competent actors.

Kahaani 2

Movie Review (Hindi)

This is said to be the prequel to the original Kahaani, though other than Vidya Balan's name I see no threads tying the two. But nothing is impossible in the world of the movies!!! 

Director Sujoy Ghosh has hit the jackpot with these two films. I only hope he comes out with something radically different in the next. Would love to see Vidya Balan again, though in a totally different avatar.

What was good was that I enjoyed the movie just as I had enjoyed Kahaani. The twists and turns were tantalizing enough to keep me glued as to the outcome. 

Arjun Rampal was quite convincing. I am impressed with what good directors can achieve. But Jugal Hansraj??? That Masoom boy is now a cold blooded villian! Well done! 

Travel Tales

Trip to Sanganer, Rajasthan

More on my trip to Sanganer... 

I found men hard at work on carving intricate designs on wood. Each of these would go on to create the delicate prints we find on the Sanganeri textiles. 

A glimpse of some wooden textile printing blocks

 

 

Trip to Sanganer, Rajasthan

On my recent trip to Sanganer in Rajasthan, I learnt several things. One of them was the Art of Paper making. 

1.Small pieces of hosiery cotton

2. The tank where the cloth pieces are immersed in water

3. The pulpy cloth in water where pink colour is added

4. The pulp lifted in a wire mesh tray

5. The tray turned upside down

          

The sheets of paper now look like this.

                 
 6. This press removes excess water from the paper

7.Another round in the roller press ...
 
 
And the sheets look like these!!

8. Screen printing now creates magic!

9. Add petals to the paper while it is pressed!!

10. The excess paper goes back to the pulp stage,

11. The final products!!!

PINK

Movie Review (Hindi)

I could not understand why the movie had to be called pink. Isn’t it creating those very same biases that the film sets out to break down? I think the movie should have been called Blue. It is after all an essential movie for men. The movie is based on a simple notion really – No means No. When will our immature men learn this?

Loved the manual for safety of girls that the lawyer (Bachchan) spells out. No laughing when you are with boys, no drinking either, no going to rock shows and no wearing western attire. It is also dangerous to be living away from parents on your own. You cannot be independent. So if a woman follows these rules she is safe in India, right? 

Wrong!!! 

The very fact that she is a female qualifies her as a prey. She can be any age, from just born till 90 years (or more), she need not wear western clothes and need not drink or laugh. She will be preyed upon, nonetheless. We all see various survivors mentioned everyday in the media. What we don’t know is the number of survivors not covered by the media. We also do not know how they get on with their lives, knowing our society.

But the movie was well directed by Soojit Sircar and the actors did well. We need many many more of such movies. I hope these stories make the men cringe a little when they see themselves or a friend in these characters.

Movie Review (Hindi)

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story

The film is a biopic on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the well known Indian cricket captain. The director, Neeraj Pandey, did not lose time on getting the best acting out of the younger characters. Taking in Sushant Singh Rajput and Anupam Kher made his job much easier. The film moved like a documentary in the earlier half. It picked up speed later. 

Whatever said and done, I sat through he entire movie (and it is a long one), and I did not get bored. A good reason would be that I admire Dhoni a lot for all that he has achieved. Getting a peep into his private life makes one realize that he has more to him than simply being a cricketing icon. I loved the fact that the movie ended where it did.

As an after thought: Life has its strange ways to functioning. Dhoni, as a child loved football and never tried playing cricket till he was pushed into wicket keeping. He missed crucial selection matches early in his career and became a ticket checker in the Railways. He lost his first love and learnt from it and did not make the same mistake twice. Despite his struggles or because of them, he reached the top in the game of cricket.

Guess he really wanted to reach the summit. Prayers from the heart are always answered, they say.

Theatre and the Performing Arts

Natya Samagama

The five-day Natya Samagama in Jammu has changed the cultural picture of the city. These five days have been an absolute revelation. Beginning with meeting the directors of plays staged the previous day, followed by a colourful and varied presentation of various performing arts from Jammu and Kashmir. This was again followed by plays from all over India from 5pm till 9.30pm. For a theatre lover like me this has been paradise.  The city of Jammu has seen such a conglomeration for the first time and the atmosphere was reminiscent of the Rangmahotsav in Delhi. The good thing was that all the performances were conducted in the same area. 

Meeting people from the world of the creative and performing arts has a charm of its own. Groups of performers coming from diffucult areas of Kashmir just to be able to perform here, tell a lot about their love for their art.

These five days have opened an audio visual panorama for me that will have a lasting impact due its magic.