Three men stand in a line peeing with the two at the sides taking turns to hold the middle man’s urinating instrument.
Om Puri, a swami who swings both ways, rubs himself against a middle-aged overweight auntie and then in the next scene is shown canoodling amorously with a man.
Prem Chopra, in a yellow-blue ensemble sticks out his bum and begs Rakhi Sawant to spank him.
A girl practices her item number moves by trying to seduce her dead grandfather (Anupam Kher) by sensually dancing to “Husn ke laakhon rang”.
During a family dinner, the bahu of the house announces that her son is not the patriarch’s grandson but actually his “son”. [Shades of Chinatown “she’s my sister and my daughter” here]
Welcome to Rahul Rawail’s “Buddha Mar Gaya”, a modern-day comedy classic that rips the mask off the “Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun” perfect Indian household and lays bare a vision of Jerry Springian family dystopia where incest, defiling dead bodies, man-man love and holding the other’s pee-wee are as wholesome and joyous as a game of antakshari and tambola.
Needless to say, there will be some who will say that it would have been a more fruitful use of celluloid had the reels that store “Buddha Mar Gaya” been used to wipe human excreta off soiled asses—so putridly unfunny the entire exercise is, where shock substitutes for subtlety, where the dialogs are bereft of even a whiff of wit and where the humor is so forced that the director has to plant, at multiple places in the movie, the line “You will die laughing” as if somehow repeating this ad nauseum would shame the audience into rolling in the aisles.
The people who say this just don’t get the subversive genius inherent in this self-declared “dark comedy”. Ostensibly a story of how desperately low people can stoop for money (that theme in itself being neither novel nor excessively creative), the focus of “Buddha Mar Gaya”‘s innovative farce does not lie in the debasement of the characters in the movie for their inheritance moolah but that of the actual big-name actors who signed the dotted line out of nothing but utter desperation for a few lacs (or perhaps even thousands).
Yes I am talking about Om Puri, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher, the doyens of Indian “serious” cinema, prostituting their artistic integrity by allowing themselves to be involved in a moronic monument to seediness masquerading as a comedy with not even one redeeming quality. [Rahul Rawail only needed to have convinced Naseruddin to get into drag, Shabana to don domintatrix gear and Shyam Benegal to wear nipple rings and we could have had the whole “alternative cinema” movement in one frame].
Did I say no redeeming qualities? I take that back. There is one—Rakhi Sawant , playing a bed-hopping casting couch “struggler”, (she is so natural in the role that one might think that she is simply playing herself) who outshines the rest of the cast by a fair magin.
And when Anupam Kher, Om Puri and Paresh Rawal get upstaged in acting by Rakhi Sawant—well what can be funnier than that?
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
This movie would probably have been passed off and forgotten if it had not been for these “doyens of serious cinema”. In fact, the few people I know who did go to watch the movie where deluded by the fact that no movie could be an utter write off where these three are present.
This probably indicates a social problem in the movie industry where he stars always stick to big banners and actors are marginalized. Maybe Buddha Mar Gaya is a cry for help. Or maybe, the whole context was so earth shaking, they thought it would be a form of serious cinema.
Rahul Rawail used to be Raj Kapoor’s assistant director. Wonder what happened.
I just cannot understand how did these talented bunch of actors and actresses (rakhi sawant excluded) managed to say ‘yes’ into acting in this film.
It’s good to find that people in india are matching upto the standards of Wayans brothers(Of scary movie series). Forget this, we are waiting for the review of RGV’s aag and about how he hacked up the original(sholay)
Is it wrong that your review actually makes me want to see this masterpiece?
Wow, when half the world is reviewing and thrashing Aag left and right, we are here presented with a review of Buddha Mar Gaya, which we didn’t know even existed ( I knew, actually and wanted to watch though )
I must applaud your ability to review such movies ( after being tormented of having to watch them , as if that wasn’t enough to become mad ) with such steady head and words. But, unless it is your job , which I guess is not, why do you watch them ?
Also you have insulted Antakshari and Tambola, not done. 😉
Didn’t see the movie yet, and now decided I won’t. Seeing all those people, I assumed it would be good. Didn’t think it stank this bad. Thanks for saving me. 🙂
Omigosh!!!
Really admire the guts of the Director and the Actors!!
Just like you put it…The lure of the Greens!!
Taran Adarsh “The movie reviewer from Hell” has this to sayabout Buddha mar gaya
“On the whole, BUDDHA MAR GAYA has terrific title-value, abundant shock-value and strong entertainment-value as factors going in its favor. At the box-office, this one’s for the masses completely! ”
He gave it 3 stars by the way…….
Shyam Benegal to wear nipple rings? ha ha… tasty!
hey..
did u check out the movie named “Dharm” starring Pankaj Kapoor?
It’s the best I’ve seen out of bollywood in 2007.. seriously!!
check out my take on it here:
http://nasalcrooner.blogspot.com/2007/08/dharm-review.html
i actually kind of feel bad for rakhi sawant. when she came on koffee with karan, she was really excited and looking forward to this film..her first leading role. karan johar’s expression was classic!
oh well. too bad.
So, who is tipped to win the GreatBong Best Movies of 2007 – RGV Ki Aag or Buddha Mar Gaya?
Thanks for the review. I am off to get a pirated CD. Moments like these when actors of Om Puri’s caliber stoop so low are very rare. Can’t afford to miss them.
By the way, on a more interesting note, ‘Buddha’, ‘Mar’ and ‘Gaya’ happen to be three of the most central items in Buddhist history: Gautama Siddhartha became the ‘Buddha’ by overcoming ‘Mara’ in Bodh Gaya in 528 BCE.
@ S Pyne
🙂 very nice…
I am sure a genius like Rahul Rawail had it all figured out.
Great review!
I recently watched (half an hour earlier in fact) watched the documentary “America from Freedom to Fascism” by Aaron Russo. Everybody, try to find some time for it. What goes on in the US has huge ramifications for the rest of the world. Also hoping for a GB post on the subject :p…
@GB
“During a family dinner, the bahu of the house announces that her son is not the patriarch’s grandson but actually his “son”. “
Shades of Harold Robbins, I thought!
The ‘commercially viable’ actors (Read SRK AB etc) are usually more careful or rather can ‘afford’ to be careful. Even then AB did a ‘Boom’.
@ S Pyne
That’s a very interesting pattern you have picked up! Is it statistically significant 🙂
BTW, Naseeruddin did get into drag in a movie called ‘Tahalka’. In fact, he had worn a blonde wig and a pink swimsuit! The monstrosity was directed by none other than Anil Sharma(‘Gadar’, ‘Apne’, etc.). Other attractions include: Amrish Puri as General Dong(“General Dong kabhi wrong nahi ho sakta”), who is a despot ruling the neighbouring Dongri-la, speaking in a Sino- Punjabi accent; and his lackeys and lieutenants who greet each other by saying “Bum chik a bum bum”! Yes, there was Shammi Kapoor in a negative role, and Dharmendra too! Dharmendra’s entry song: “Put on the ghungroo on my feet and watch the dir-ama”!
I am sure you must have seen this masterpiece. Review, please!
I can’t say how thankful I am Arnab. Thank you Thank you..
Way to go Rakhi Sawant!!!!!!
You have out-danced those pretencious culture snobs.
Now you are out-acting people like Om Puri.
Yes, yes Rakhi……………the phewchur does certainly belong to YOU.
Rakhi Sawant has out-danced all those guru-shishya-parampara snobs and is out-acting all them NSD-Pune fillum institute wallahs.
Some FAN has even put up an article about you on the wikipedia.
Rakhi…………..the phewchur is yours!
Go Rakhi, GO!
Neither seen the movie, nor have any plans to watch that. But Naseer did do a drag seen with Aditya Pancholi and Javed Jaffery in some movie. I can understand that Anupam Kher has his share of idiotic roles since “Dil”, but what prompted Om Puri to star in such movies – or may be desperation of Bachhan seems to be rubbing on him.
I regularly watch “Family Guy” and “South Park” and it is interesting to see them not crossing the fine line between off-coloured humour and vulgarity. Perhaps Rahul Rawail shuould have taken lessons from Matt Stone & Tray Parker or Seth McFarlane. But I believe it is same Rahul Rawail that gave us “Betaab”, “Arjun” and “Dacait”. But I believe after “Anjaam”, his graph is continuously going down.
Regarding portraying homosexuality in Hindi cinema, why it always have to be funny. Even a guy like Karan Johar makes gay relationship a thing to laugh in KHNH. It is time Bollywood has its “Brokeback Mountain”.
simply superb…
The so-called “parallel/serious/meaningful cinema types” alias ‘losers who don’t know to make money off the movies” and their camp followers in the NYT and film departments at foreign universities, love to act snooty and look down upon “commercial/escapist fare’ peddling mainstream Bollywood. Actually it is the commercial who are passionate about film and stake their everything to make some glossy product that makes money/slum it out intensely inthe early year/ and lead bizzare lives at the edge. OTOH the genteel sophisticated types who go on to rave reviews in Cannes and Sundance know nothing about what life is really in the trenches. Here is Rahul Rawail an industry regular just showing how freaked out and gonzo a commercial movie can get; dishing out every possible deviant behaviour thru celluloid. I hope the parallel cinema non-entities will keep their prim and propah mouths shut. I am not about to see a pieve of trash like BMG; but while it is around it is a good reminder why Indian movies peddle hope and optimism rather than drudgery and despair.
Another gem of a review:-)!
Oh boy! I can’t wait for your review of RGV ki Aag!
Relax. We need to give mediocre directors an opportunity too.
There was a time when I used to infuriated at the relentless, motivated and twisted flagellation of Bharat & her culture.
It is an established pattern, toilet papers like BBC (Al Qaeda’s, ooops Al Jazeera’s training school), National Gooographic et all digs its head in a 1,000 year exploited and wounded India’s gutters to come up with faeces, & proudly splash it over their dailies. Gleefully picked up by Hindu haters (both brown and white, Indian and non-Indian) to utilise in cyber battles.
India is surging ahead. The economic foundations are established solidly. The social and cultural roots were always there. It is a question of time. And a new breed of Indians, who cannot be cheated by Bum-ponthi or Con-graashi proaganda in to ceding another partition, is rising.
Some pathetic quality journalists, directors, and politicans are in the direct pay of Hindu-hating establishments. The others are just mediocre people being completely sidelined in the reality of a rising juggernaut, who have to stoop to India bashing to get their sorry names printed. It doesn’t matter. The world is slowly waking up to see truth from BBC coverage.
And Western cities are daily becoming like Kolootolla, both in squalour and religous mix.
We shall have the last laugh.
Guys .. you are getting it all wrong. Just watched ‘Buddha Mar Gaya’. Methinks, its a classic in the league of a ‘Loha’ or a ‘Gunda’. This movie will have a cult following on the home video circuit.
@ kacchua chap: by being so dismissive of alternate movies (the exhibition of which is the very purpose of Sundance.. so that’s why they go to Sundance) methinks you are falling into the same trap of obnoxiousness that you accuse the hindi cinema critics of..
@ Hara hara bom bom: just because one criticizes one’s culture doesnt mean they hate it.. there is no growth without introspection..national or personal.. and bollywood is a representation of hindu india? really…?
@Ad Libber: True. The presence of these big names is a supposed stamp of quality..or so we would think. Imagine Robert De Niro acting in “White Chicks” or “Beerfest”.
@Yahoo!: Desperation.
@Quicksilver: Yes shall definitely see “Aag”
@Footballnath: Not recommended. Really. The camp here isnt fun. Trust me.
@Rk: I just like to watch all sorts of movies.
@Adorable Pancreas: Welcome
@Kailas: 🙂
@Rakesh: Nothing fills me with more joy (except of course a Kanti Shah movie) than to disagree with Taran Adarsh on the merits of a movie.
@WTF: Tasty? Ahem..
@Abhishek: No I have not.
@Sang.Froid: This is as good a role as she could managed.
@DiptiKirti: This one is definitely a contender. As is “Aap Ka Suroor”
@Indiaholic: Hmm
@Pyne: Nice !!!
@Ashijit007: Okay will remember to see it.
@Ravi: AB is pretty desperate too for that matter.
@Harsh: Always wanted to see that.
@Aditi: Welcome
@Swati: Amen.
@Mitesh: Again vulgarity is subjective. I have no problems with it. But BMG is just patently unfunny…the script stinks.
@Ancient Mariner: Thanks
@Kachua Chaap: “Here is Rahul Rawail an industry regular just showing how freaked out and gonzo a commercial movie can get; dishing out every possible deviant behaviour thru celluloid.”
No he does not do that. I would have loved it if he had. He just makes a lousy movie. Period.
@Akshay: Thanks
@Rahul: 🙂
@Hara Hara Boom Boom: Mediocre directors have all the opportunities. That is the pity.
@Turrtle: I would strongly object to this being clubbed with Gunda and Loha which i can watch again and again so magnificent are they in their undiluted camp (the scripts crackle). BMG is plain boring.
Awesome Stuff !! Puh-lleeaazzee review RGV ki Aag, can’t wait for it 🙂 :)I know it’s gonna be sheer torture, but then for the sake of your die-hard fans :D:D!!
@ W.T.F wrote (Sep 4th, 2007 at 3:16 pm) ” just because one criticizes one’s culture doesnt mean they hate it.. there is no growth without introspection..national or personal..
A healthy introspection is desirable. A fixation on introspecting the rectal area to the exclusion of everything else (of the type the shady section of the media & film industry engage in) is frankly … unhealthy and suspicious !!
@ and bollywood is a representation of hindu india? really…?
No silly. Dawood controlled Boll(ox)ywood is the antithesis of things Hindu. It takes every step to denigrate Hinduism. Tbus the director gets Om Puri to prance around as a Swami & not a church father.
It must be so demeaning to actors like Om Puri to stoop to such levels! May be there should be a fund which pays them monthly pension to stop them from making such fools of themselves!
@gb
what do you mean by saying Amen?
Eh?
I am shaped ‘O’
R.S. has )( .
Hence, my intense ADMIRATION.
note use of the CAPSLOCK.
Wonder ful and thoughful…
Got any words for Taran Adarsh ?
Thanks,
Tarzan
@Hara hara bom bom
I’m confused.. exactly who is the one who is denigrating ‘bharat’? bollywood? bbc? national geographic? hindu-hating indians? dawood? journalists? politicians? al-jazeera? al-qaida?
while it is evident that all these people are exactly the same and regularly meet for power dinners to get their conspiracy against hindus on the same page.. am i to believe that everything is absolutely perfect in india right now but there is a deep rooted conspiracy to portray things as bad..in order to malign hindus.. because india as we all know despite our constitution is a hindu country .. so indian poverty and backwardness is a myth and we are hegemonized into believing that it exists..
or wait.. it exists but only because of this conspiracy to suppress hindus… so hindus all over india suffer like say, kashmiri pandits or palestanians and are living in ghettos in their own land without any economic or social opportunities..
so nothing is our own fault.. not corruption .. not bad 50 years of crass as economic policies.. not bad leadership.. not voting like donkeys .. just a deep rooted international conspiracy…
and yet .. hindus as you point out are growing phenomenally because of the inherent goodness of their religion and will overthrow this conspiracy..
THERE IS HOPE!!!!! HURRAY!
most importantly…..what does this have to do with Buddha Mar Gaya?
this Swati is seriously funny
Please Please write a review for RGV ki sholay .. i am guessing it will be your best ever!
Dear Sir,
Your movie reviews are passé, kindly do a review of one and only Jagadguru.
Thanking you
@WTF in Sentence-case. My response in UPPERCASE
I’m confused.. YOUR WORDS, NOT MINE.
exactly who is .. denigrating ‘bharat’? … hindu-hating indians? dawood? .. al-qaida?
ALL. ANYONE WITH EVEN A MODICUM OF LOVE FOR INDIAN VALUES WOULD NOT PUT ‘BHARAT’ IN ITALICS & IN LOWERCASE!!
while it is evident that all these people are exactly the same and regularly meet …..
THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. WHY DO YOU THINK THEY ARE? HOWEVER, ALL SHARE A SENSE OF CONTEMPT FOR INDIA. EVEN A CURSOSRY GLANCE AT THEIR REPORTING EXPOOSES THEM.
BBC HAS BEEN CAUGHT SENDING E-MAILS TO STAFF INSTRUCTING THEM TO ALWAYS SHOW ISLAM IN A BETTER LIGHT. IT HAS BEEN CAUGHT STUFFING PROGRAMES (QUESTION TIME) WITH HIGHER NUMBER OF MUSLIMS TO COVERY THE MUSLIM POINT. DON’T YOU KNOW THIS?
PLEASE SHOW ME ONE, JUST ONE POST FROM NAT-GEO ON INDIA NOT ACCOMPANIED BY A PICTURE OF A SLUM OR A GUTTER, OR A BREAST-BEATING SOLILOQUY ON MASS ABORTIONS (OH SORRY, CHINA HAS ABORTIONS, INDIA HAS ‘CHILD MURDERS’)..
am i to believe that everything is absolutely perfect in india right now but there is a deep rooted conspiracy …
NO SILLY. IT HAS MANY SHORTCOMINGS. INDIA IS A PRODUCT OF 1.000 YEARS OF OPPRESSION, GENOCIDE & PLUNDER, & IT’S MANY SHORTCOMINGS SHOULD BE PUT IN THIS PERSPECTIVE ‘TOO’, RATHER THAN ALWAYS SHOVING CAMERAS DEEP IN TO THE GUTTER TO SPLASH PICTURES OF DEFECATING KIDS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
SAME TREATMENT AS CHINA, PAKISTAN & ANY OTHER NATION GETS. OR IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?
so indian poverty and backwardness is a myth …
READ ABOVE. AND INDIAN POVERTY & BACKWARDNESS WILL DISAPPEAR FAR MORE QUICKLY IF WE DELIVER A MASSIVE KICK IN THE POND-I-CHERRY TO INDIA HATERS. JUST AS CHINA DOES.
or wait.. it exists but only because of this conspiracy to suppress hindus… so hindus all over india suffer like say, kashmiri pandits or palestanians ….
AAAHHH. PALESTINE SNEAKED IN. NOW YOUR JUVENILE ATTITUDE BEGINS TO MAKE PERFECT SENSE. AND SALAAM TO YOU TOO.
OF COURSE INDIANS ALL OVER INDIA DO NOT SUFFER. IN THE LAST ONE MONTH, AGRA RIOTS, BHAGALPUR RIOTS, HYDERABAD BOMB BLASTS … ALL A DREAM. NEVER HAPPENED IN THE LAND OF THE CONFUSED.
so nothing is our own fault.. not corruption .. not bad 50 years of crass as economic policies.. not bad leadership..
ALL TRUE. WHO SAID IT WASN’T? BUT ALONG WITH THAT, THE EFFORTS OF DETRACTORS & TERRORISTS ADD NUCLEAR FUEL TO FIRE & SHOULD BE COUNTERED TOO.
AND A CRITICAL REASON FOR INDIA’S MISERY IS 1,000 YEARS OF HORRIBLE OPPRESSION THAT HAD COWED DOWN AND DISTORTED THE MASSES IN TO IMBECILES. A PHENOMENON FROM WHICH WE ARE JUST RECOVERING.
OR DO YOU WANT TO DENY HISTORY?
and yet .. hindus as you point out are growing phenomenally …
INDIA IS GROWING. PRIMARILY FOR INDIAN VALUES. THIS IS BEING RECOGNISED HOME & ABROAD. INDIAN GROWTH RATES ARE BELYING EVERY DOOMSDAY PROGNOSIS BY THE WAILING BBC & NATIONAL GEOG.
ALAS, FOR EVERY 5 STEPS FORWARD, INDIA IS BEING PULLED 4 STEPS BACK BY THE DETRACTORS CITED ABOVE. OF COURSE, IN YOUR LEXICON, A TERRORIST MAY BE A FREEDOM FIGHTER.
There is hope!!!!! Hurray!
FOR A NATION THAT HAS SURVIVED AFTER 1,000 YEARS OF GENOCIDE (IF AURANGZEB HAD THE TECHNOLOGY, HIS REIGN ALONE WOULD HAVE OUTDONE HITLER), THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE. EGYPT, ALEXANDRIA, BYZANTIUM, PERSIA .. ALL OBLITERATED FROM HISTORY. BHARAT SURVIVES. THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE.
ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO DELIVER RESOUNDING ARDHA-CHANDRAS TO ALL INDIAN DETRACTORS, TERRORISTS, CORRUPT POLITICIANS, & SMEAR CAMPAIGNERS.
SOME PURNA-CHANDRAS AS WELL.
most importantly…..what does this have to do with Buddha Mar Gaya?
READ MY FIRST POST. SIGH. SO MUCH ‘CONFUSION’.
IN THE LAND OF THE CONFUSED, THE BRAINLESS MAN IS KING.
@ Hara hara bom bom
What does your name mean? Just curious!
@ Ravi Ivaturi wrote : “What does your name mean? Just curious!”
Hara hara bom bom is an epithet for Shiva. It’s not really my name.
Hara : To take away. Shiva is one who takes souls away.
Bom : Ether. Thus Shiva = Bom kesh (He who’s hair resembles cosmic ether)
Hara hara bom bom was the battle cry used by Shaivites.
Its a wonder how i have been ignorant of the presence of such a good blog till date, given my compulsive habit of browsing at least 4 hours everyday (two of them dedicated to reading blogs!!)
i have been reading ur blogs for the past 24 hours now and though i am sure you would have heard it a million times before,i must say it..”you write really well”..
coming to this particular post “Buddha Mar gaya” is one of the worst movies which i have seen in recent times..they have attempted a modern day “Jaane bhi do yaaron” but have fumbled miserably..a very well written review!!
keep writing!! 🙂
@ hara hara bom bom: i like the way you call me ‘no silly’.. it’s cute. .. *blush*
WTF wrote : i like the way you call me ‘no silly’.. it’s cute. .. *blush*
Sorry WTF. Didn’t want to patronise you at all.
My words may appear harsh, but please look at the bigger picture of how India is being unnecessarily denigrated, far more than her warts & blemishes warrant.
Check out the next National Geog mags, or regularly monitor the BBC website on South Asia & I’m convinced you’ll seethe like me.
Not that mis-reporting really natters. In the long run, India will prevail. Satyameva Jayate.
Best wishes to you & happy Janmashtami.
And wasn’t this film supposed to be a thinly veiled reference to the financial tussle between the Ambani brothers that presumably started even before Ambani senior popped off? And about how Kokilaben smot her two wayward sons with an iron hand and proved yet again that the Indian man is putty in the hands of mommy dearest?
Ok, it’s obvious from your review that the film has nothing to do with this. A pity – because a black comedy version of Guru (which literally lionised the Polyester Prince) would have been fantastic.
@ hara hara bom bom:
unless you believe that arnab da is part of the ‘relentless, motivated and twisted flagellation of Bharat & her culture’ your observations do not have any relevance to this post.
if you do i would suggest you substantiate your accusation or risk being condemned by the people who read this blog as having no sense of humour.
try rediff.com, pick any article, one on say, the price of cheese in argentina, and post these views, you will find plenty of supporters.
@ thalassa:
any sort of intelligent black comedy would be awesome. but i dont know about it being a critique on ‘guru’ but in general bollywood loves to bemoan the loss of the indian ethos of caring for our parents ( a certain baghbaan does pop into mind *shudder*). then again, there is sooraj bhai with his candy floss la-la land joint family *shudder even more*.
Put on the ghungroos on my feat and watch my drr-aama..
nachoonga aise gaaoonga aise hoga hungama..
main hoon gharam dharam.. haa ji aise sharam !!!!!!!!!!
gem of a song.. Composed and sung by “None other than Annu Malik”….
movie was released in 1991 0r 1992
Thanks harsh for reminding me of this gem..
GB, review please !!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ WTF : “unless you believe that arnab da is part of the ‘relentless, motivated and twisted flagellation of Bharat & her culture’ your observations do not have any relevance to this post”.
Why? I was pointing out to Great Bong (is that Arnabda?) not to get too worried about this sick movie. This sort of relentless anti-India tirade is nothing new.
You are going off at a tangent again. Stay off the wacky baccy.
WTF : “try rediff.com, pick any article, one on say, the price of cheese in argentina, and post these views, you will find plenty of supporters”.
Don’t like Antipodean cheese. Like Argentina though. Have better things to do with my time than post about cheese. If I did though, I’m sure I’d find you as a supporter.
Cheese yukkh. Rabri yum yum.
@Hara hara bom bom:
Even the usual suspects Hujur and Khujur didn’t find anything anti-Hindu or anti-Indian in this post to rail about. You however have brought discourse to a new and hitherto unrealized dimension by responding to a good review of a bad film by bringing your brand of extreme nationalism in your comments. Sorry, I have to agree with w.t.f. Your comments have no connection (except the tenuous, tangential one in your lopsided mind) to the post by Arnab.
Oh, and another thing. Some psychologists might be very interested in exploring the root cause behind your gleeful and repeated references to excreta and excretory organs in almost all your posts. Or maybe it just reflects on the contents your mind?
_____________________
Much as I love Arnab’s writing, I actually hesitate to comment on the blog nowadays, so overrun it seems to have become with right wing extremists.
i know i should let this go but i just want to respond to one thing..
‘wacky baccy’? oh yes.. i am a proud smoker (evidently i guess). and i do it proudly because it is part of our culture and scientifically proven less harmful than alcohol. our forms of getting high are ‘tribal’ or ‘evil’ deserving to be criminalized while the gora sahib’s way of getting smashed is ‘sophistication’ or a sign of culture.
as a self-confessed Shiv bhakt i would expect you to know this. what do you think is distrubuted as prasad on shiv ratri my friend? what is bhaang?
i finally understood your point. ok.. so ‘buddha mar gaya’ mocks indian or hindu culture. but it does so in a crass and disgusting manner, which robs it of any legitimacy and completely fails to make its point (not unlike your posts).
nobody is going to draw any adverse deductions from this movie about indian culture except for the fact that we can make some really bad movies.
go oppose ‘fire’, ‘water’ or ‘gandhi:my father’ instead.
@ shan: thanks for your support. i have been complaining about this too. dont let right wing extremists ever affect what you want to do because then they win.
Shan,
Thanks for your post
“bringing your brand of extreme nationalism in your comments”
Pointing out systematic & obvious India baiting, with facts, is not “extreme nationalism”. It is a want to preserve national dignity.
“Sorry, I have to agree with w.t.f”.
Hey, don’t be sorry. You & WTF are entitled to your opinions. As I am to mine. We live in a free India. With explosion of a certain minority though, it’ll soon be like our ‘neighbour’, & all 3 of us will have to shut up.
“Your comments have no connection (with Arnabda’s)”.
I think they do. I am bringing in a different angle to Arnab’s original observation. All responses do not need to be a direct affirmation or dispute of the primal point. That would be condescending but patronising.
“gleeful and repeated references to excreta and excretory organs in almost all your posts. Or maybe it just reflects on the contents your mind”?
Hey, I am pointing out that this is exactly the type of photos plastered all over the Nat Geog & many other foreign ‘reporting’ sites. Pick up the latest edition of the Nat Geog. On the article on Mumbai, it starts with a horrific photo of a decrepit woman next to a slum gutter.
This is not the contents of “my mind”. This is me highlighting the contents of “their mind”. Do you see now?
If you are ‘stung’ by my observations, surely you should be ‘moved’ by the consistent barrage of negative propaganda against India? Yes.
Perhaps not.
“Overrun with right wing extremists”.
Relax. Neither am I right-wing, or extremist. You may very likely get a taste of true “RIGHT WING EXTREMISM” in the near future. In the last month itself Hindus have experienced it in Agra, Hyderabad and Bhagalpur. For decades Hindus have experienced it in Kashmir, Gujarat (train burning), Punjab, Maharashtra (Mumbai riots & bombing), Andhra, Tamil Nadu (Chennai bombs), Kerala, Karnataka (Bangalore shootings), and the ‘hidden hand’ affecting all the NE states. And I am just speaking of the post-partition era.
The laws of probability state that you’ll probably get a strong taste of true “RIGHT WING” extremism soon.
Final point about journalism. Kofi Annan was due to visit Pak & India. In Pak, he clearly stated to a horrified media that the UN resolution on Kashmir was no longer relevant, thus giving a huge fillip to India.
Annan was due to visit India the very next day. Think of the psychological and strategic advantage this would have conferred on India when he repated this in India. A section of the Indian press & politica would have ensured this was properly structured as fact, rather than consigning it to amnesia as the rest of the world.
On that very day, Tehelka came out with it’s half true, half false allegations, and the rest is history. Where our TV screens and papers should have been filled with a vast strategic advantage conferred on India, they were filled by columns on ‘sleaze and honey traps’.
Those who suggest this was a pure conincidence are either insane or foetally (not even childeshly) naiive.
Anyway. Please check out the last few editions of National Geographic, & give me your comments on how they project India. I’ve requested WTF to do the same as well.
Warm regards
Dear Har Har Bom Bom,
Take it easy. Please don’t get worked up !
This topic has been discussed in great detail on this GB thread: Banana Republic
Hujur
The correct link to the “Banana Repubic” discussion is:
https://greatbong.net/2007/08/07/banana-republic/
Hujur
Dear Shan,
Pinning tacky labels on fellow GB readers when you failed to come up with convincing, logical rebuttals to their arguments is just lame.
I thought you could do better than that, man.
Hujur
@ Hujur
Seems like the arguments continue without a break. Am thoroughly enjoying Chingri Maach-er Malai Curry and Aalu Posto in the sweltering heat of Kolkata right now.
@ Shan and a few others
Labeling Khujur and Hujur as right-wing extremists seems to be the easy way out my friend.
I wish all the problems of the world could be solved by just labelling them.
@ Har Har Bom Bom
Interesting set of comments.
Do not hesitate to refer material from previous discussions on RTDM.
@ Har Har Bom Bom:
The NatGeo comments are self defeating. The media portrays India the way it is. I can point to many articles in other prestigious magazines where India and Indian entrepreneurs have been lauded, including the latest edition of The Economist that profiles Goyal, Mittal and Ambani (http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=9762898).
In Jan they profiled (favorably) Ratan Tata (http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8516356).
Of course RNT is not Hindu so that may be part of the anti-Hindu conspiracy as well.
You may also remember a travelogue cum documentary that NYT’s Thomas Friedman did when he toured the backoffice establishments in Bangalore in order to examine outsourcing. That series (shown on Discovery) was very favorable to India as well.
But the call centers are cesspools of western style moral decadence, so I suppose that doesn’t count.
When you see conspiracy theories everywhere, it also blinds you to the other side of the issue. The defecating children on the sides of the streets cannot be wished away. That is the stark truth. If you don’t believe it, come visit Bombay and take a drive along the Western Express Highway en route to Kandivali from Andheri. When media covers a country, they cover it warts and all. You can’t expect them only to cover the nice aspects while turning a blind evil to the negatives.
Considering any negative coverage a conspiracy shows a wilful blindness to reality and yes, a jingoistic, xenophobic attitude.
Hmmmmm. Still awaiting a reply from W.T.F & Shan on whether they’ve checked a few editions of National Geographic, & the date of Annan’s visit & Tehelka.
Meanwhile, you can check the ‘BEST’ (sic) of Nat-Geo on
http://podcast.nationalgeographic.com/best-of-ngm/
The 2 articles on India in this ‘BEST’ category are
– Dharavi slums
– India’s Untouchables
Contrast this with the ‘wonder story’ of Dubai reported.
Glance today’s BBC South Asia website. Especially the crocodile tears shed on cholera in Orissa. Pictures on India are usually restricted to the ugliest people they can photograph.
Not that it really matters. As I said earlier, Satyameva Jayate. My point was the enshrined India-hatred in sections of the national and international media has to be acknowledged.
No wild laments and baseless name calling (extremist) by a tribe of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” bipeds will be able to prove otherwise.
Saying that, issues like Tehelka ‘do’ matter. Hindus are continuing to have their throats slit in Kashmir as a result.
Of course, this is obviously not as important to some as applying a band-aid to a poor oppressed Palestian who’s nicked his finger while bombing Jewish children.
@ hara hara bom bom:
what you want?
you have gone on a freewheeling rampage on the pages of this website distastefully abusing the faith of other people.
as much as you ridicule the intelligence of people who refuse to share your pearls of wisdom, your arguments betray exactly how jaundiced your opinion is. you resort to minutiae and sophistry in order to prove your arguments. yet the logical conclusion of your statements are unavoidable – you want people to share your hatred.
i dont care two hoots about what national geographic says about india. i live here and i know exactly whats good or bad about this country. india cannot be belittled by some magazine that is still best known for showing the groodies of african women before playboy. and employing your logic, this media house is biased against blue whales and ivory billed woodpeckers as well.
at the same time, india is far from perfect and has a very long way to go before it can assure its citizens the constitutional guarantee of dignity.
on hand one hand you say we are blind to the evil of muslims but on the other hand you want us to be blind to the deep social disparities in this country. anybody who seeks to point this out is suddenly anti-hindu or anti-indian? maybe you’d prefer it if the west waged war against us and published flattering articles in their magazines to say we build marvelous buildings in order to feel nice about themselves.
stop waiting for the goras to endorse how great our country is and wake up to the fact that their views about our country ceased to be relevant in 1947.
you have deep seated insecurities and your kind of thinking leads to an endless circle of violence. It reeks of a sense of inferiority.
one more thing – this country is never going to have a state religion. you can howl. you can cry. you can roll on the floor. india rejected religious self-determination at its birth and continues. it is an inferior and myopic ideology as pakistan and isreal have proved to the world.
stop abusing islam and protest minority appeasement. do something constructive if you are so concerned.
and oh.. ‘buddha mar gaya’ sucks.
@ W.T.F
Oh my, my, that’s a most severe rant. Most amusing sermonising ;-).
You’ve already lost the debate. Instead of commenting on fixed and specified points raised, you’ve resorted to a very predictable yet nevertheless tiresome fulmination to conceal the fact that you have no answers.
I’ll pick out the relevant points from your brazen tirade :
“you want people to share your hatred”.
If by hatred you mean a distaste of terrorism, injustice (by Hindus or otherwise), 24/7 incorrect & biased mis-reporting against a nation, then yes, others should share this distaste. You obviously don’t.
Failure of face of evil has led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“i dont care two hoots about what national geographic says about india” –
Hmm, you should care about how your nation is being perceived. Follow up the CAPEEM case in California.
Do I also conclude that you don’t care about the brutal effect Tehelka’s irresponsible reporting has had on the fate of Kashmiris?
Apathy to how others perceive and treat you is what has led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“on the other hand you want us to be blind to the deep social disparities in this country”
This is a untrue. Show me in my posts where I have asked others to ignore injustices by Indians / Hindus. If you cannot, retract.
Confusing fact with fiction is what has led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“maybe you’d prefer it if the west waged war against us and published flattering articles in their magazines” –
I have asked for equal, consistent and unbiased reporting on India. Nothing more, nothing less. The rest is your imagination.
Unbridled sky-pie imagination has led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“stop waiting for the goras to endorse how great our country is and wake up to the fact that their views about our country ceased to be relevant in 1947.”
The problem is not just with the goras, but Indian establishments as well. For what it’s worth, I’ll raise Tehelka and the effect on Kashmir again.
Either way, do I assume that you are not concerned whether your country is depicted as garbage?
If your character was being maligned, or someone dear to you, I bet you’d bang on the doors of the law-courts at midnight. Logic follows that if you do that for what you cherish, yet are apathetic about excoriation of your country, then you do not cherish your country.
Am I right? Is there any flaw in the logic?
Lack of love and respect for India has led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“you have deep seated insecurities and your kind of thinking leads to an endless circle of violence. It reeks of a sense of inferiority”.
Armchair psychology. And bad psychology at that.
Pseudo-pundits have led to 1,000 of Indian slavery.
“do something constructive if you are so concerned”.
Have, still & will continue to do many things constructive for India and Hinduism. Again you are making baseless assumptions.
Bad assumptions have led to 1,000 years of Indian slavery.
Oh, is she now thinking of posting something against me that concludes with a sarcastic “has led to 1,000 years of Indian slavery” for a cheap laugh? Darn, have I pre-mpted that? Don’t bother, I don’t care.
India has endured 1,000 years of slavery. It is obvious that some Indians are hankering for another 1,000 years of servitude.
@ Shan :
Thanks for your nice post. Sorry I missed it earlier.
“The media portrays India the way it is. I can point to many articles in other prestigious magazines where India and Indian entrepreneurs have been lauded”
Yes, some sections of the media are responsible, Economist included. That doesn’t mean that other and equally (if not more) powerful channels like the BBC should be allowed to spew rubbish unchallenged.
How many people read the Economist, and how many people get the BBC broadcast in to their homes at prime time? It is disgusting seeing the BBC showing the negative side 95% of the time, with a trickle of 5% positive to deflect claims of bias.
“When you see conspiracy theories everywhere”
I don’t. Read my post again, & you’ll see I say that “of the section that misreport”, some do it in collusion (BBC with Islamic channels like Al-Jazeera – This is an established fact), while others do it out of contempt.
“it also blinds you to the other side of the issue. The defecating children on the sides of the streets cannot be wished away … When media covers a country, they cover it warts and all. ”
No it doesn’t blind me, & I’m not against comprehensive coverage, warts and all. But harping on about the negatives alone clealry proves an anti-Indian bias.
My posts reiterate that things should be shown for what they are. If Motababu put’s his house up for sale, he’ll expect all rooms of his house to be described, including his toilet room. If his agents just display his toilet-room in their ad and nothing else, bet you a million Motababu’s house won’t sell. There is something wrong with the agent.
That is the point.
“Considering any negative coverage a conspiracy shows a wilful blindness to reality and yes, a jingoistic, xenophobic attitude”.
Hmm. This is not the consideration here, it is a leaping assumption. The fact here is that a dogged refusal to recognise abuse when it is being patently heaped, is not only blindness, but dangerous lunacy, as it leads the abuser to up the ante.
Interested on your views on Tehelka when you have time.
@ Hara Hara Bom Bom
Just a friendly suggestion!
Some of what you are saying may be true, but you’re not doing your cause any favor by starting out on a high rhetorical pitch. Being passionate and all that is a good thing, but when your post lacks a balanced tone- you don’t build credibility. You obviously appreciate the amount of subjectivity that’s inherent in these kinds of issues- so a neutral approach becomes critical to build your case.
@ hara hara whatever:
i agree. there is an international conspiracy to defame indians.
now go away.
W.T.F (what the f …) :
“i agree. there is an international conspiracy to defame indians”.
Your words. Not mine. There is a conspiracy in some quarters. There are overwhelming facts for this, and only complete liars, retards & blind people will claim otherwise.
In other quarters there is just undiluted contempt for India.
“now go away”.
Yes. And you can embark upon the last word of your name.
And you were posting on a Saturday? How sad. Get some friends & a life.
@ hara hara bom bom:
you’ll be surprised.. ive met some rather intelligent blind people. and once i met a retard who could play chess. and there was this complete liar who said he never lied.
yes.. its quite sad.. i surf the internet on a saturday.. see the thing is that during the week i have to work and it doesnt leave that much time for other stuff. even now.. see i am posting at 10:00pm.
i hope people like you succeed and the country develops. then all of us will have time like you to read and post such lengthy replies to so many of arnab da’s posts during the week in the middle of the afternoon.
if anything is worthy of such undivided attention it is arnab da’s writing.
@ W.T.F
“if anything is worthy of such undivided attention it is arnab da’s writing”.
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y we agree upon something. Joydhaakh bajao, Sanhkha bajao.
Truly, Arnabda’s writing is immaculate. I’ve yet to see another Indian, far less a Bong, even approach his quality. Keep up the good work Arnabda.
P.S : I don’t have to be posting in the middle of the afternoon … I could be travelling (so the timing varies).
Then again, I could be at my desk, getting my staff to do the work …. Ah the pressures of management 🙂
@ hara hara bom bom:
“Truly, Arnabda’s writing is immaculate. I’ve yet to see another Indian, far less a Bong, even approach his quality. Keep up the good work Arnabda.”
you cant even compliment someone without being bigoted?
and heaven forbid some loon balloon may interpret that to mean that you have undiluted contempt for indian writers especially bengali ones..
carefully there sugarplum. maybe you should ask your staff to post for you. they must be used to doing a good job by themselves.
@ W.T.F
“you cant even compliment someone without being bigoted?”
You cant even see a compliment without wrenching it from ints intended meaning. >:-( You have issues.
Is it due to staying awake and posting at midnight after a hard day’s slog? All that sleep deprivation.
“maybe you should ask your staff to post for you. they must be used to doing a good job by themselves”.
They’re not good, dearie. They’re brilliant. After all, I trained them. 🙂
hara hara bom bom:
seriously.. pardon me if ive misunderstood you but what do you mean by this:
“I’ve yet to see another Indian, far less a Bong, even approach his quality.”
W.T.F :
” what do you mean by this: “I’ve yet to see another Indian, far less a Bong, even approach his quality.”
Basically, there are far more Indians than Bongs. Also, I have dealt with far more Indians than Bongs in my life.
None of them, whether the large no. of Bongs or the larger no. of Indians, approaches Arnabda’s calibre.
“seriously.. pardon me if ive misunderstood”
You’ve misunderstood. And I pardon you.
@hara hara bom bom:
thank you.
People, don’t feed the troll.
@ Troll Buster “People, don’t feed the troll.”
Yeah. Especially during Ramadan
Rakhi Sawant, I am a fan.
The girl is so completely “cool”, for lack of a better word. I patiently wait for news features involving her.
And Om Puri, just what the eff, man. You have done Z grade movies, I know. But this was just bleargh. May be they should remove you from the title cards of Ardh Satya, Bhavni Bhavai, Mirch Masala, with your face blotted out. Such a dhabba.
I was forced to watch this movie as I travelled on a video a.c. bus.
I mean forced.
And gb watches it by his own free will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think gb’s random thoughts are actually controlled by some alien schoolboy who is doing a Social Studies project of 10 marks on primitive cultures on the far side of the Milky Way.
I mean, try to think of a better explanation…………
I saw this movie without seeing the reviews. The 3 stars lured us to watch the movie. But it has not only been disappointing but even frustrating to watch. As a social responsibility I felt I should tell as many people as possible about this crap and save their time. Storyless, themeless, third grade jokes which don’t make you laugh but make you feel ashamed if you are watching with your family. DON’T SPEND time/money on this movie.
The shock factor WAS overdone a bit. But I must say, I found the comedy quite deliciously black (You know what I mean). This ain’t for a family, that’s for damn sure, but it is funny. I agree with whoever above said that this would become sort of Gunda-esque cult classic.
Of course the Shan’s of this world will see nothing wrong in this. In fact, they will be proud that India’s name is being bathed with such fragrance and poise.
Of course, lesser men than Shan (me for one) will continue to maintain that the BBC, whose South Asian editor is a Pakistani gentleman (sic), is nothing but a grovelling egregious “shit-seeker” vis a vis India.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7071130.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7070494.stm