A Time To Reflect

charukesi February 23rd, 2007

Now that the dust has settled over Guru, the reviews have been written and read, and reviewed in turn [many bloggers in the entertainment space - and otherwise - seem to live by this simple adage - when in doubt, write about Maniratnam], I can say this aloud. Why did the movie need Gulzar? for ta ne na ne and moyya moyya and emo emo emole? And I listened to the tape again and again in the car….

Gulzar was not in the gimmicky hummable nonsense - he was in pheeki pheeki beswadi yeh ratiya… who else could write about flavorless nights with such ease and elegance? Surely, when it comes to things earthy and physical, there is no one to beat Gulzar. Geela man shayad bistar ke paas pada hai [Izaajat] - I cannot imagine anyone else using the word bistar in a song and making it sound oh, so romantic and soulful and not crude and item-numbery. And raat kat jaayegi toh kaise din bitayenge [Sitara]. Matter-of-fact acceptance of the ease with which nights get spent in the company of the loved one. And from the same song,

Mere ghar ke aangan me chhota sa jhoola ho
saundhi saundhi mitti hogi, lepa hua chulha ho

The simple pleasures of living close to the earth. Lepa hua chulha. The closest I have come in a movie to Bharati’s Kaani nilam vaendum…

Thandi safed chaadaron me jaagein daer tak [Mausam]. Anything to do with the senses…

From Humne dekhi hi un aankhon ki mehkti khushboo [Khamoshi] to (aankhein) personal se sawaal kartey hain [Bunty aur Babli]

Since I am anyway in a rambly mood, I may as well mention those phrases in tamil that have stuck to my mind the same way. Here I consider Vairamuthu to be Gulzar’s counterpart - smells, sounds, senses… pasi konda naeram thaalikkum osai sandosha sangeetham [Minsara Kanavu]

From his fist song in Nizahalgal and this memorable line - vaanam enakkoru bodi maram

and the metaphor in Payanangal Mudivadillai,

varum vazhiyil pani mazhaiyil paruva nilaa dhinam nanaiyum
mugileduththu mugam thudaiththu vidiyum varum nadai pazhagum

to the physical, sensual in AlaiPayuthey,

sonnadhellaam pagalilae purivaen
nee sollaadhadhum iravilae purivaen…kaadhil koondhal nuzhaippaen

I think Vairamuthu was there at the right time with the right people - Ilayaraja, Bharatiraja, and then A.R.Rahman and Maniratman. So, even as the debate goes on about whether there can be a great poet than Kannadasan… and what about Kavignar Vaali?, Vairamuthu remains the popular lyricist, so to say.

But as it happens, the most evocative line in Tamil film music remains for me one penned by Vaali (in the movie Nizhalgal where Vairamuthu and Gangai Amaran also wrote other songs) - pudu raagam padaippadaale naanum iraivane - create and you are god.

Go ahead, add to the list…

• - Cinema
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charukesi February 15th, 2007

A quick dash to Konark on a dull rainy morning…

I think of my husband waiting for me back in Bombay and feel a quick pang. I pay the guide his fee and head towards the exit when I stop. I want to go back for another round, this time on my own, just to take in the magnificence of it. Standing in the shadow of the temple, watching the huge wheel intently, it is almost possible to feel it move, taking you back in time with it. Close your eyes, and you can hear the waves crashing aginst the walls of the temple, eroding the sandstone slowly through the centuries.

Read about my trip to Konark at Itchy Feet…

• My Roadblog
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charukesi February 15th, 2007

Now that the Kala Ghoda arts festival is over, I can finally take a break from all that hectic blogging at the KGAF blog and give my own blog the attention it demands and rarely gets. (If you have been regularly reading the Kala Ghoda Gazette or drop by there now, you will probably figure out - as an exceptionally intelligent and discerning reader of this blog - that I have contributed a staggering total of five - or was it, four? posts to the KGAF blog - and I know I snuck in a couple of totally pointless unrelated-to-any-event posts there too - but believe me, even that was hectic). Anyway.

More than the events, ranging from the brilliant to the terribly ordinary, what I enjoy about the kgaf is the way the area gets transformed. Everything comes out into the street - and I mean that in the best possible manner - visual displays, stalls, food, performers - check out Harini’s great post - Visual Arts at the KGF - on the kgaf blog with lovely photos. I love walking up and down the area aimlessly, camera in hand, blank look on face (mirroring usual state of mind, I confess). I enjoy watching the kids enjoy themselves, unmindful and slightly disdainful of the boring adult world around them…

Speaking of kids… I came across the puppet show organized by childline - one puppet explaining to the other about childline’s work, singing dus nau aath dial karo - dial 1098 for help and so on…

Watching the puppet show open-eyed, squatting on the ground, street kid barely 4-5 years old, holding on her lap a bawling baby half her age and more than half her size…

And barely three hundred meters away, this…

and this…

• Children and youth , - Cities and places
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charukesi February 13th, 2007

It was raining when I left Kolkata in the morning - the short flight to Bhubaneshwar was through dangerously turbulent skies. By the time we landed in Bhubaneshwar, the rain had cleared and the su was peeping out nervously. As I walked to the arrival area from the aircraft, I decided that I liked the city. Any city whose airport has rows of bright cheerful marigold flowers near the runway is bound to appeal to me. And closer to the arrival gate, a large Konarky wheel looking neglected but appealing all the same. Konark plans as of now on hold thanks to the rain that started then and has not stopped yet.

The local Oriya girl who does work for us off and on told me proudly about her new government job. Her dream come true. School teacher in a village in rural Orissa. Class I to VII. Over four hundred students. And four teachers. Two helpers who generally take care of the kids who do not have a teacher around, look after the midday meal, clean the premises and so on. She went on to add, the school does not have the money to pay the teachers, the government does not pay them - so a couple of days in a month, the food meant for the midday meal is sold and the money is given to these women. I must have looked startled for she refused to tell me more. Rural education…

I also met another girl Banoshri here - she was translating some things for me from Oriya - Banoshri is just appearing for her XII std exams this March. she wants to become an air-hostess after this. As she told me this, she looked down on her smal figure and told me - I know I am short and dark - I dont know if I will get to be an air-hostess. Anyway I am trying. She has been religiously applying various miracle fairness creams for the last few months, ever since her dream took shape. Here is hoping her dream takes wings too…

The hotel I went to this afternoon to meet my local contacts has several interesting notices - there is a ‘behavior for the perfect hotel guest’ guide pasted somewhere near the lobby (and I am told, in guest rooms too) containing a list of stern warnings - first of them being - please do not practice any unfair practices that are forbidden in the eyes of the law and god in side the premise. That of course rules out anything slightly fun under the sun, making the “premise” a highly aseptic if boring place.

And the hotel I am staying at also has this arresting line on the home page of their website - …makes it an ideal place for all who carve for peace, privacy and poise.

With that I am off to do my bit for world peace and poise by carving the night away.. and hoping the rain stops soon.

• - Cities and places
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charukesi February 6th, 2007

The net is such a wonderful place to find entertainment. Some unintended.

As this report today, on the home page of rediff - which only seems to get better and better with each pasing day - Sachin meets his lookalike

the pic - the effort of reproducing that photograph here is too much for me at this late hour - but go see the pic and judge for yourself. reading from left to right - embarrased and where-can-I-hide-now Sachin Tendulkar, plump and pleased as punch boy, plump and drunk-on-punch-pleased mother

the report - After the brief introduction Sachin asked Aakash what kind of sports he plays? Akaash said he plays soccer, basketball and tennis. Sachin was impressed and said good.

the comments - at last look, there were 131 comments - most of them much more insightful and interesting than anything rediff (or most such portals, including those of news channels) serve anyway as news. Among them, Next, we’ll have a snap of a lady who thinks her daughter looks like Salman Khan! and I am still confused whether the lady looks like sachin or the kid looks like sachin or sachin looks like the kid. Also from somone who hs cracked the resemblence - Yes, Rediff you are right. He is Sachin look alike… He has 2 eyes, 1 nose, lips, 2 ears, black hair and yes, teeth too…

***
And then this truly funny gem from Baradwaj Rangan’s review of Traffic Signal on the character Silsila played by whashsisname…

…threatens to blossom between Rani and Silsila – yes, that’s the name of the “manager” played by Kunal Khemu, because he was born the year Yash Chopra’s ode to infidelity was released; I guess he’s thanking his stars he wasn’t born in 1988, the year of Paap Ko Jalaa Kar Raakh Kar Doonga.

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charukesi February 6th, 2007

There is no ho-hum hoarding of the month - yet. Instead, there is an absolutely awful TV ad (yeah, I know - I have this thing for truly terrible alliteration) - The Camlin ad for permanent markers - really permanent.

Exactly how permanent? Since I am still in a state of shock after watching this to describe it in any detail, here is agencyfaqs :

The film opens inside a hut where a man lying on his deathbed is surrounded by his wife…

The ad ends as the wife hugs him on his well-being. VO: “Camlin permanent markers. Really permanent.”

Yes, really permanent. Widowhood, breaking of bangles, erasing of sindoor… the works. In the last scene, the poor man comes back to life, else what would have been the next shot in the ad, I wonder - sati? Even “worse”, what if the poor man does not come back to life, and the bindi does not got erased? What a blow to Indian culture that would have been…

Is that the most creative idea the agency (Lowe) could come up with? Fevicol (O&M) has similar advertising - but with humour - tongue-in-cheek, momerable, clear communication of brand values… As opposed to that, what exactly does this Camlin ad say anyway? And to whom?

If the ad was in terrible taste, here is a comment on it on agencyfaqs -

1-the ad doesnt cater to the tg
2-widows wud have high expectations
3-what wud a villager do with permanent marker,paibnt his wifes bindi??;)

What are these high expectations, I wonder…?

• Advertising , Branding and Marketing
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charukesi February 4th, 2007

The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is on in Mumbai. Street installations and street food (actually restaurant food at restaurant prices on the street but what the heck!), dance and music, heritage walks, special events for children, literary events… it’s all there.

Aamchi Helicoptook…

And again this year, the Kala Ghoda Gazette is up and running at Caferati. Check it out for great posts and pictures of the events. And this morning, a fascinating vintage car rally… followed by Morning Ragas with Jayateerth Mevundi. Sunday bliss.

• - Cities and places
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charukesi February 1st, 2007

The “maximum” city gets more and more paranoid with each day. Last week, it took me more than two hours to reach Bandra from Vashi - the check naka at Mankhurd just after Vashi creek had nakabandi in full force - there were three barriers side by side on the road and the police was letting one car pass at a time. The queue of waiting vehicles reached half-way to Pune. It was the evening before Republic Day.

Same situation last night. An hour to Chembur, over half an hour in line to get past the nakabandi.

Republic day eve. Republic Day. Election eve. Elections. Whatever.

Flashing signboards in red at all major junctions - slow traffic - nakabandi in progress for your safety. No doubt. Metal detectors at movie halls, shopping malls, open spaces. Bag checks. Suspicious glances too?

The last straw - sign on a BEST bus reading roughly - instead of looking out of the window, look around for suspicious people around you. I mean, what? Fuel paranoia that anyway exists. And breed paranoia if and where none does?

• - Cities and places
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