Comments on: Born Into Brothels

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 11 May 2010 07:45:19 +0000

i lived where she worked for a long time and it is that bad–also that good-its a contrast. you need to chill out and understand that the slums arent an easy place to be–the toddler on chains is better than the ones that arent; the ones that run free alone! i saw many things worse than what was in her film so i dont think she did any harm…

By: Pankaj Roy

Pankaj Roy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:58:51 +0000

“By the way, who chose the background music? An accented Iskcon chant, songs from “Mohabbatein”, an uncredited lift from Satyajit Ray…”

GB, Ray is credited in the DVD version I watched last year. Have been meaning to send you this screenshot for some time -
http://yfrog.com/06bornintobrothelsendcredj

Btw, there is an Australian movie playing at the Toronto International Film Festival, about a couple wanting to adopt a child from Calcutta (Claire McCarthy’s Waiting City)

http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/waitingcity.

I wonder how the “bureaucratic snags” they hit compare with the scene in BiB (a scene I liked btw).

By: LireeUnreld

LireeUnreld — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:12:23 +0000

I’m new here.. just wanted to say hi!

By: Sughosh

Sughosh — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:14:54 +0000

On an aside, remember the Japanese tourist in Munnabhai MBBS who wanted pictures of “real India, poor people, hungry people”?

That’s pretty much the way the world approaches it , I guess. Hence the guided tours of Dharavi, and so forth.

I’d be foolish to say there’s nothing wrong with the way we live, or that it should not be shown to the world. But sometimes it does get a little out of hand.

By: NewVoice

NewVoice — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:11:38 +0000

I saw the movie – I think it was great. Lots of comments here about Zana Briski. Yes, someone can comment that it does not tell the full story of Kolkata – but that does NOT bother me. I will watch more than 1 movie, and I will read more than 1 book. But the fact remains – there is squalor and misery in some parts of the city, and this ONE artist decided to make a beautiful story out of it. Thanks to her for what she did – and showcasing what exists. At least more people are aware – and that’s always a good thing.

By: samuel

samuel — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:26:04 +0000

I feel that westerners will always feel better when they see the squalor as it is the way the country actually is.Why should we be so pricky about the sonagachi exposure when we are least concerned as sitting in our Air conditioned enclosure as to how they live and what they do? People throw stones at glass houses.Now, If we build our society as a glass house then we should be better prepared as to recieve some stones sometimes.So, cheer up.Build the society to make it a better world even if it means in disgust.

By: tipu

tipu — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:30:48 +0000

On this subject of the Theresa-fication of Calcutta, I was watching the new movie musical ‘Rent’ & there is a line in the ‘La Vie Boheme’ number, where a character reminds the other starving artists not to get too hopeful about where they are – “This is Calcutta/ Bohemia is dead”. Ouch!

By: tipu

tipu — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 03:42:00 +0000

GB, on the subject of Ray’s music being used in BiB (“…an uncredited lift from Satyajit Ray…”) when this movie had won an award at Sundance in Jan of 2004, I had mentioned it to the head of the Satyajit Ray Film Archive at the University of California at Santa Cruz, & he said that he had “helped the filmmakers choose three minutes of music from Apu Trilogy for BiB”. That doesn’t explain why it was uncredited though.

By: Alapan

Alapan — Mon, 01 May 2006 15:18:13 +0000

A documentary on progressing India or China has no value in western media except the effect shrinking jobs in the west.So these filmmakers chose the easy way of selling poverty and dirt which generally remains under the curtain in their cities.I have spent 3 years in San Francisco and even that beautiful city has so many homeless people.I have found even today how blacks are looked down upon by many in the corporate world.Alas!why asians are not making many movies on the blacks.

By: Avinash

Avinash — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:51:19 +0000

That’s really a great work….Thanks a Lot Zana Brisky.