Monthly Archive for January, 2009

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Of Ray and Boyle

Published on January 17, 2009 in Satyajit Ray. 130 Comments

[Warning: long post]

“Taare Zamein Par” won’t be bringing the Oscars to India. Not that we uber-nationalists need to worry—”Slumdog Millionaire” will be winning many and “do India proud”. Coming back to TZP, I cannot say that it deserved to be nominated as I have not seen any of the movies that edged it out. However I can say that I thought it was an exceptional bit of work from mainstream commercial Bollywood, not because of the noble “message” or because of the story but because of its immensely cinematic first half where we are provided a beautiful insight into the world of a child, as he skips out of school and wonders on the small wonders of the world like the glories of paint mixing and the other small miracles we adults no longer are moved by.What it was perhaps missing was a bit of Indian exotica or a bit of the old sweat-and-dung-and-heat kind of muskiness that defines the sub-continetal cinematic experience—the Darsheel character’s dyslexia was fine and all but if he only had leprosy along with it, TZP would have been a “celebration of the wonder that is India”. Perhaps.

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And He’s Out !

Published on January 13, 2009 in Sexuality and Silly. 77 Comments

[No this is not a post on Hayden's retirement]

It all started when I came to know that Noddy telling Big Ears “Let’s have a gay time in the woods” did not mean that they were going for flowers a-plucking but possibly to do something that simply rhymes with plucking.

Barely had I recovered from that shock then I was told of the subtext in the dynamics of the relationship between my two favorite superheros—dynamic duo Batman and Robin. Suffice to say, there were many activities happening in the darkness of the batcave that Alfred “Penny(s)”worth kept hidden from the world.

Finally it was revealed by wise men that Prince Adam’s transformation from a pink-wearing softie to a muscle-bound confident “He-Man” was a metaphor for “coming out of the closet” and that the secret of Prince Adam, the one that the Sorceress and Man-At-Arms knew, was not the one we were led to assume.

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Satyam-eva Jayate

Published on January 7, 2009 in Crime and Economics. 94 Comments

The corporate malfeasance confessed to at Satyam has shocked the nation with words like “financial 26/11″ and “India’s Enron” being used to describe this catastrophe for India Inc. Satyam has been subject to ritual humiliations like having their corporate ethics award withdrawn and being taken off stock indices. The economic pundits are baying for blood. On the board floor.

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Ghajini—the Review

Published on January 2, 2009 in Reviews. 124 Comments

“Ghajini” is a fascinating study of the darkest and the noblest recesses of the human mind, a monument to ultra-violence, a gripping action thriller with characters so beautifully etched that you end up caring for the protagonists and what happens to them. Deservedly the top grosser of 2008.

I wish I could have said this for ‘Ghajini’ if only because I greatly admire Aamir Khan, his acting methods, his meticulous attention to detail and his association with “different” non-formulaic commercially risky movies like 2007′s brilliant “Taare Zamein Par”.

But I just cannot.

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