Water; An attempt to understand cinema

I was just listening to the music of Water by AR Rahman.. Melodious music no doubt from the master, but this post isn't about the music. Instead I was thinking about the theme of Water directed by Deepa Mehta. This is the last in the trilogy after Earth and Fire. I am not a great fan of Deepa's work, & happened to see the above 2 movies for their controversial themes, especially Fire. I watched Earth for Aamir Khan..!..
Water is the movie which was disrupted by Bajrang Dal activists in Varanasi, protesting against the way the hindu widows were being betrayed by Deepa Mehta.
I saw the trailer of the movie in some website, I am not able to recall, some days back & it did have something to do with how a child is married & she becomes a widow at a young age (played by Lisa Ray). She can then no longer marry & is forced into isolation till the time she happens to meet John Abraham & I am assuming the rest of the movie is how they overcome the odds and get married.

This triggered a thought process, where I was wondering what the real purpose of cinema is;
is it for entertainment or does it serve a kind of larger social cause.
Can it trigger an awareness of the society's problems, or is it that directors like Deepa Mehta want to sensationalise some incident and gain popularity (this was the main grouse of people when she released Fire, which did not address the hidden-under-wraps issue of lesbians).

Why do people see cinema?
I for one think it is mainly entertainment & I am sure for most of the masses would not want to spend 50 rs for being lectured on morality or see some serious issue after spending a hectic day at office or work.
Is it any wonder that No Entry a laugh-a-minute comedy is the biggest hit.. if so why do people like Deepa Mehta make these kind of movies?

Change

Hey
I have changed the look and feel of the blogpage... the old one I thought had outlived its exsitence..
Do let me know how this feels..?

Currently reading..

Heat & Dust by Ruth Praver Jhabvala...
the Booker Prize winning novel...

Review of Rising.. Mangal Pandey

I managed to see Rising some days back at Rex cinema in Bangalore.. this was my first movie in quite a while & Aamir Khan's in 4 years..!..

Needless to say Aamir Khan doesnt disappoint.. he is revolutionary incarnate as Mangal Pandey, his eyes, his face convey all the emotions & bring to life this long forgotten freedom fighter.
Toby Stephens as Capt Gordon is excellent & is unbelievably good in the last scene where he tries to defend Mangal.

There are also grey areas in the movie, esp the two heroines Rani & Amisha whose characters arent very well developed. Also some songs, esp the Rasiya one can be easily removed from the movie since it dampens the proceedings. Rahman's music is also OK, but could have been better.

But all in all a very good attempt by Ketan Mehta to bring to life a long forgotten historical figure & yes Aamir Khan (good to see you..!!)

The Rising.. Mangal Pandey

Rising is all set to hit the screens on 12 August.. & is the most awaited movie of the year.
It has already been premiered at Locarno festival..
The reviews from there havent been very good though.. read here

Betting has already begun for the movie, whether it will be a hit/flop etc... bookies have been to Locarno for the movie & have predicted that the Rising will be a flop..!...

Lots of reasons given..
1. Ketan Mehta's awful record as film maker. (Maya Memsaab, Oh Darling yeh hai India etc)
2. Period films generally havent done well in India.. (Bose is the most recent example)
3. Rising has been in the making for almost 4 years now.. & a film loses its punch once it takes so long to make..

These have been the arguments..

I for one would defintely like to go & watch whatever the press says... simply for Aamir Khan & the fact that he is acting after a gap of 4 years.. & also for Rahman's music..
Sak kushal Mangal hui Jaaye..!!...

Bangalore's traffic.. & my take on it

My solutions are quite simple really..

1. Metro
2. Metro
3. Metro...

Well, its that simple... Metro or any kind of mass transport system is definitely the need of the hour. I think we have wasted enough time & resources trying to figure out what is best for Bangalore.. Delhi Metro has shown the way ahead & this I feel should be the way going forward.

4. Traffic police & their role in the traffic management needs to be redefined. They need to be more proactive & book people on spot during traffic violations, especially auto & bus drivers. On busy roads one observes this quite frequently, where traffic police are mere bystanders & dont take any firm action.

5. People (pedestrians) should be taught to walk on footpaths, sometime footpaths are occupied by hawkers etc, the traffic police should ensure that these are cleared off. Sometimes debris is collected on footpaths, this also hinders pedestrian movement. The agency responsible has to act & clear the debris immediately.

6. Usage of traffic lights on all busy traffic intersections, I have observed that even on Hosur Rd, there arent traffic lights, leading to lots of chaos...

These are small suggesstions, but I guess this is the only way forward.

Bangalore's traffic.. & Ethiraj is caught in it..!..

Well.. well.. so Govindraj Ethiraj of CNBC is caught in the famed Blore traffic... for us it is a daily ordeal..
http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jul/15guest.htm

His article is suprisingly quite mild where he praises the citizens of Blore & says that they are trying to save the city. Well if the citizens have to pay taxes and come to the streets every now & then, what is the Govt for?

The BDA only gives deadlines & more deadlines for existing projects to complete... while on the other hand it announces new ones..!!... ironical..!!...

I promised I will give my take on what needs to be done for this mess... well I am going to do so.. watch out....

Bangalore's traffic.. & solutions

I have now spent almost 27 years of my life in Bangalore, the famed garden city of India.. now this very sobriquet will only elicit cynical laughter or a sigh from Bangaloreans...
I travel by the dreaded Hosur Road daily, since I work in Electronics City, I notice that to cover just 9 kms of stretch from Electronics City to Silk Board Jn it takes 25-30 minutes, which is a pathetic 20 kmph on an average... this distance should ideally be covered in 10-12 minutes..
Anyways to cover the distance to my house in distant Yelahanka it takes 1 hr 15 minutes.. !!.. the distance just 30 Kms.. again an average speed of just 24 Kmph...

With this kind of infrastructure it is ridiculous to find the so called administrators of bangalore messrs Deve Gowda, Dharam Singh, BJP fight over Metro/Mono rail...
If my memory serves right this Metro project was conceived some 15 years ago.. when I was in school... yet the debate goes on.. why? what has happened since then.. Why hasnt any decision been taken.. Ditto for International Airport.. this project too was initiated some 15 years ago.. it is only now that some action has been taken...

This list is endles.. (Now that I write this, I can recollect the Hudson Circle flyover was supposed to start long long time ago.. it is only now I can see some activity happen & I am sure no flyover will materialise in the near future)
I think time has now come for some decisive action from the residents of Bangalore.
What are the solutions... let me brainstorm in the next post.

Back again.. & again..!...

Last time I had remarked that I would be regular in my postings.. but seems I really havent done justice to my remarks..
Anyways hope to be more regular...

Some of the important events that happened since the last time..
My son Dhruv's arrival....will upload some snaps soon.
Trip to US & some great learning experiences..
New found interest in Marathi Literature, Marathi movies, philosophy esp Gita, Wine making, HR-BPO.. ha ha seems like a pretty wierd list...
will want to talk about them in the future...