daag achche nahi hote!

come the navratri season, theatres get flooded with new releases-by-the-dozen… the latest to hit the silver screen were akki baby’s bhool bhulaiiya and rani’s laga chunari main daag…

like most ppl, i was more kicked abt the former… but lack of tickets and a “half-start” better rating that both the tabloids that come home gave Laga, pushed us into the wide comfy chairs at one of the plush cineplexes in bbay to watch…. hold ur breath — Laga Chunari Mein Daag —! {y? u ask… well.. to be frank.. i’m asking that question to myself too… }

but… coming back to the daag … in my personal opinion the movie in a few short words is “waste of time money effort” to watch on the big screen that is… rani’s superb performance would actually offset the DVD rental charge…

the cinematography though is excellent… and in that aspect, one can actually believe that it is a Pradeep Sarkar film… the same guy who gave us Parineeta..

the story however, and i must say this was a little expected, dragged at a lot of places… the first half of the film especially.. the second half does pick up for a while that kunal kapoor is on the screen.. (errrm.. u mite hv a call an impartial judge for that one..) but.. yeah.. the tempo falls back straight down..

i was actually amazed at the climax… i had expected quite a lot of drama shama… rona dhona was ther…but not tooo much drama… (i mean considering what extent is possible in the realm of the given topic) …

all in all.. an ok watch… maybe one time.. that too on DVD… though frankly, I’d rather have Ameya’s AJAD version of the film please…. any directors listening??

Blah La!

My colleague and co-lover of terry pratchet and other such fascinating and out of this world books has constantly been praising me for my ‘consulting services’ — constantly meaning whenever he needed fresh ideas for that blog of his..

coming back to the point.. Mr. Bala, the afore-mentioned blogger, has written many-a-times on topics suggested by moi…. and the sweet soul that he is, never forgets to mention and credit me everytime he does..

but that.. again.. is not the topic of this post… the real topic of this post is why i let my mind wander and come back with topics that mr. bala then converts into a info-post…… for that.. u;ve gotta read this

now.. i think, anyone who shows this type of admirable talent of converting any topic, deserves some divisions of your TDMed brain just so u can read it later on and have a hearty laugh..

cheers bala! and u know where to ask for the next topic..

Culturally shocked..!

I recently had the good fortune of seeing one of the most talked abt marathi theatrical productions around — “Marathi Bana”, literally meaning the Marathi tradition / culture/ way of life..

first, a little about the show.. tagged as a “70 mm marathi natak”, it is an “all-live” performance,  with a cast of around 125 performers.. who sing/ dance/ play musical instruments & spread awareness… yes, and all 125 do appear on stage simultaneously a number of times!   – dont ask how they fit on the stage!

masterminded by a certain Mr. ashok Hande, who has directed/ produced / compered and sung in the show, the show is an excellent compilation of the marathi traditions. And since music and dance form the intrinsic base of any tradition, this show essentially translates as a two and a half hr dance routine covering all possible marathi traditions — right from how the dance forms differ on the plateau, konkan and the hills … to a compilation of the most famous marathi festivals … to marriage celebrations …. to excerpts from the patriotric streak brought to the fore by the likes of Shivaji …

what strikes me most about the  show, in addition to the excellent way it captured all that happens around maharashtra, was the presentation … ther was not one dull moment in the whole of the duration of the show ….  the performers emoted effortlessly in all the myraid of situations … and the dances were live-wire to say the least.

the dancers must have changed costumes atleast 10 times  during the entire show — and no simple costumes too… most were the traditional nine-yard saris and dhotis… and not once during the entire time did the tempo of the song and dance routine reduce even fractionally… to give you an idea… consider dancing to foot tapping fast paced with matching choreographed moves… for about 50 songs.. almost back-to-back..!

and in the midst of this all, they even managed to put through to the audience social messages — right from discussing why tradition says married ladies should wear a bindi, and keep their hair long, to why women should breast-feed… and a fair bit of current affairs too … including the fact that anil kumble scored his test century (while the show was going on!)

at the end, the show did wat it promised… introduced the new generations to customs and traditions that have long been lost… buried somewhere under the liberalization and westernization of our world… not to mention the cross cultural influences from within India — it reminded people what being maharashtrian actually means.. and in not quite the way a certain political organisation has been doing for the past so many years… it reminded people to believe in what they are.. and be just that … and more importantly, bring to people the quintessential maharashtra.. the way it was long ago..

kudos mr.  Hande!