Monthly Archive for December, 2010

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Greatbong’s Person Of The Year 2010

Published on December 14, 2010 in India. 69 Comments

And the nominees are:

Dolly Bindra: “Kisiko anda milta hain, kisiko anda naheen milta hain, isne do aande khaayein isne ek aande khayen”,  says a contestant on Big Boss IV capturing perfectly the curse of the human condition, torn between the base instincts of hunger, lust and the desire for eggs, the last mentioned being an appropriate metaphor for them both. And if there is anyone who perfectly captures Big Boss and reality shows in general, it has to be Dolly Bindra, Sushmita Sen’s true ideal for “woman of substance”.

For long, Big Boss has experimented with the tried-and-tested formula of sidey starlets and wannabe models/actors and their fake romances but this time they alighted on the perfect guest, who crystallizes perfectly Big Boss’s  biggest viewership demographic—large, aggressive foul-mouthed aunties with a penchant for hyper-drama. Whether it be reacting to Asmit Patel’s  fake “ubercool” “Talk to the hand” with a gusty “Talk to your hand kya, hand aapne **** main daal”  and “finger daalna [Asmit's MMS partner's] *** main jaake” or her writhing on the ground,  claiming to having been possessed by a ghost (perhaps a person inside her trying to get out) Ms. Bindra has been incomparable, setting the bar high, way way high for people to follow in successive iterations of Big Boss.

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Of Truth And Leaks

Published on December 9, 2010 in Politics. 68 Comments

Much has been written about Julian Assange and about Wikileaks these last few weeks. Mainstream American political figures have called for him to be put to death on charges of treason. The full force of American economic, political and technological power has been brought to bear down upon one man, in a brutally ferocious manner of the kind not seen in recent memory. Assange has been condemned by influential voices in the US public space as an anti-American anarchist who has launched an unremitting war against the entire US system, using ironically infrastructure that they created (The Internet after all having originated from a DARPA project), setting into motion a bloodless but perhaps equally damaging 9/11. At the same time, he has also been made into a hero, beatified for using the greatest weapon of mass destruction otherwise known as the truth to bring to its knees the world’s greatest power, a power that invites revulsion and fascination in equal measure from the rest of the world—with the fervor of anti-Americanism being matched only by the desire to emigrate to it given half a chance.

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Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey—the Review

Published on December 5, 2010 in Reviews. 203 Comments

Our freedom struggle has many great stories that need to be told, stories of courage, heroism and supreme sacrifice. I have always been frustrated by how the Hindi film industry, while looking to copy-paste Hollywood and Korean flicks, choose to turn their faces away from the rich material that lies hidden in the pages of our own history.

Two people whose lives I have always felt would be great material for rousing biopics are women freedom fighters. One is Matangini Hazra, a 73 year old woman who led the non-violent march to the Tamluk police station. Despite being shot, she still kept walking till she died still holding the Indian flag, an act that inspired the great Tamluk rebellion which led to large swathes of Midnapore district becoming independent of the British (till Mahatma Gandhi made them stop the struggle). And the other is Pritilata Waddedar. A brilliant scholar and feminist who wrote a famous letter asking for women to be a more intrinsic part of the freedom movement, she walked into Pahartali European Club (a place closed to brown-skins and dogs) guns blazing and after a pitched battle, cornered and running out of ammo, committed suicide at the age of 21.

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Raktha Hoon Main Khulla

Published on December 1, 2010 in Silly. 69 Comments

[This post is a contextual one, relevant only in the light of recent events]

Welcome to Handy TV–Din Raat Chalta Hai. This is Rukhi Sawant and we are here to speak about the recently aired Laundiya tapes in which Bhakti Kapoor was apparently recorded talking to an aspiring actress in his hotel room. We also speak in general about casting ethics.

This program is totally unedited, just like the Assmit-Ria MMS. We at Handy-TV are known never to involve ourselves in cover-ups.

Our panel consists of eminent personalities Shining Ahuja, and Prabhuji the editor of “Rakhta Hoon Main Khulla” magazine which first carried the transcripts of the Laundiya Tapes. And of course Mr. Bhakti Kapoor. Our show is being taped right in his living room and carried to you live.

First we will play the video tape.

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