Fake the Nation 2010

Top 10 Fakers of 2010. No Surprises, but have a look.

10. Arundathi Roy: Her beautiful so called eye-opener articles in 'The Guardian'  newspaper has made me feel that either she is the mentally retarded or she was faking, but the clever and captivating writing style confirms that she is not mentally ill, thus she made into my top 10 list.

9. Barkha Dutt: The female crusader from the journalistic fraternity is caught in an act which she consistently denies by giving laughable replies to prudent questions asked to her on twitter. Madamji i am not saying that you have done anything wrong, but you have a crossed a line which you poeple have always said about others, we cant have differnt levels of morality, can we?

8. Vir Sanghvi: What can i say?...Long back when i used to read the 'Counterpoint' column, i seriously contemplated on the issues raised by Vir Sanghvi, but now...

7. Suresh Kalmadi: I remember Kalmadiji from a long time, long back in the doordarshan era when he was selected as the IOC chief.

6. A.Raja: "My conscience is clear" ...how can it be?  Whatever.. I have only one question Mr A.Raja where are the thousands of crores stuffed?

5. Bollywood & Reality shows: Anyone who believes that the rifts between bollywood celebrities are real and who show away your emotions during the telecast of Reality shows then i say GET A LIFE

4. Manmohan Singh: Saar, you are great Saar, as you have successfully fooled the people of this country saying that you are the Prime Minister of India.

3. CBI: This C******* Bureau of Investigation... Enough said!

2. Digvijay Singh: The mentor of our eternal prince inaugurates a book '26/11-RSS ki Sazish', i dont think more explanation is needed.

1. Media Mafia: People like me who have been screaming for a very long time about the Media-Corporate-Political Nexus is now open. If you belong to the media, then you know whether you belong to this category or not.

Happy New Year!

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams and Sexuality

Yume: A Fascinating Phantasmagoria

What are dreams? Are they mere incongruous vignettes? Or perhaps obscure series of visuals that border on meaninglessness? Why does a dream occur at all? As expounded by Sigmund Freud and psychologists, who took after him, the answers to all these lie in our unconscious. Freud explicates in his Interpretation of Dreams that dreams are ‘dramatized’ expressions of ideas latent in our unconscious. Psychoanalysts perceive dreams as complex texts made up of repressed desires, memories and encounters, which come together to weave an intricate pattern of images. A dream is far from being real and is yet a hyper real metonymic representation of the dreamer's reality. A dream is il veut dire or ‘a want to say'. Herein lays the semblance between oneiric imagery and filmic montage. What are films but endeavors to connote reality from a chosen perspective, aided by the use of visuals? The similarity is perhaps tacitly acknowledged by Freud as he compares the psychic apparatus with the camera. If a film is a dream fashioned in celluloid, a dream would be a film, where the dreamer is both the creator and the spectator – an idea that Buster Keaton shall play upon in Sherlock Jr.

Given this close correspondence, dreams have often become significant subjects of scrutiny in films. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams or Yume would provide a typical example in this context. The film met with mixed reception on its release in 1990. While some critics have been contemptuous others have admired the director's creative introspection. 

Hal Hinson of the Washington Post accuses Kurosawa of an almost profane pretension of profundity tagging the film as “pontification” and “a snooze”. He goes on to say that “Dreams seems to emerge more out of the superego than from the id.” He opines “The real problem with Akira Kurosawa's Dreams may be simply that the director's instinct to continue making films has outlived the inspiration needed for them to be worth the effort.” Vincent Canby of the New York Times, however, sees this film as “sublime” and “astonishingly beautiful”. For Canby the film stands out as an attempt where “the magical and the mysterious are mixed with the practical, funny and polemical.”

Popular opinion over the past two decades has not been so favorable about Yume. Underrated for being grandiose, lofty and preachy the film is seen as a failure in the Kurosovian oeuvre. The film has been critiqued for being a disappointing socio-philosophical commentary. Detractors of the film have fallen short of realizing that dreams are not quite about ‘what they are’ but about ‘what they suggest’. As reviewers have kept themselves busy with the ‘obvious’, what these sequences implicate has been ignored.


While incoherence has been one of the allegations against Yume, use of an entwined and connected cluster of images that pervade the film makes the unity discernible to an eager viewer. Use of visual symbols implicitly indicative of sexuality makes this film an account of a progression towards sexual growth for me.

The first of the eight dreams is Sunshine through the Rain. It starts to rain as a somber young child comes out of his house in quick steps. We as viewers cannot but think over this scene as one suggesting birth, where the house and the rain perhaps come to signify the womb and the breaking of the water. Having been born the child must now set forth on a journey to arrive at the awareness of the self. Thus despite being warned against the forbidden the boy goes to the forest to confront a wedding procession of the foxes. In Freudian parlance a dark forest has always come to symbolize the id. The foxes here come to imply the instinctive virility dormant in the child himself. As human beings masked as foxes march past the trees, their synchronized moves creates a feeling of the uncanny or the Lacanian extemité: that which is most intrinsic to us is the most fearsome as well.

Our suppressed sexuality can assume frightening dimensions if it ever becomes foregrounded. Having had his first sexual encounter, the child returns home only to find that the umbilical ties with his mother has been severed; he would not be allowed to recede back to the womb. Instead the mother passes on to him a knife that an angry fox has left for him. While the knife as a symbol is overtly suggestive of the phallus, it is also the weapon to carry out castration. For the child who has already been initiated into sexuality, life from now on shall be a negotiation between the libidinous, potent life force and the fear of castration and eventual death. The dream ends with the boy walking towards the rainbow to meet the foxes. The mythical association of the rainbow with Izanami and Izanagi, the male and the female forces of both creation and destruction in Japanese culture is a minute detail that shouldn't go unnoticed here.

The castration complex shall persist in the second dream named The Peach Orchard. Set in spring with its usual connotation as the season for mating here we find a slightly older lad enticed to the peach orchard by an illusive girl. This dream is a curious admixture of serious elements and child's fantasies. The dolls he has seen in his sister’s playroom come alive in a psychedelic sequence. As the dream unfolds, we come to know that his family has cleared off the peach trees from the orchard and these dolls, who claim to ‘spirits of nature’, are thus aggrieved. The family, here perhaps comes to imply the rule of the patriarch or the society, which demands the perpetual projection of the super ego and hence is intolerant to any lapses into the id. The family thus stands antagonistic to the ‘spirits of nature’. The boy is however allowed a glimpse of the peach orchard in full bloom by the dolls, but the fear of being castrated becomes conspicuous as the vision dissolves and the boy meets the reality of the cut off trunks. 

The girl by now has transformed into a peach tree, the only one in bloom. The dream concludes on a wistful note despite the touch of hope. The boy caught in a close-up is shown shrouded in pain – the pain of shedding off innocence.

As an almost natural consequence of the loss of innocence comes the thought of death. The third dream of the sequence deals most palpably with death. This dream called The Blizzard shows four mountaineers caught in a snow storm. As his companions succumb to the difficulties, the leader of the group tries to keep up their spirit. The peak (yet again a phallic image) must be conquered. Amidst the storm arrives death as an enchantress, who promises the warmth of ice at the denial of the flame of life. The captain is momentarily seduced by death. The lure however wears off immediately. Love is not a perverted immolation of the self but the lust to live on. As the storm ceases the camp becomes visible. The fluttering red flag representing the zeal for life is in stark contrast to the icy blue of death that is the dominant color of all the preceding frames. eros has yet again gained victory over thanatos.

The forth dream that follows is named The Tunnel. This is said to be made by Ishiro Honda. But the change in craftsmanship is not so obvious. This dream is beyond doubt the filmmaker’s indictment against the futility of the carnage called war. The dialogue between Major and the dead members of the annihilated third platoon, where the former admits his callousness is heart wrenching. But the dream goes beyond being just a critic of war. 

The arch of the tunnel as the major stands in front of it makes one recollect the arch of the rainbow in the first dream. The association becomes stronger as we look at the howling hound, which at once reminds a keen viewer of the angry foxes. The tedious walk along the tunnel is almost emblematic of a journey through the portal of birth. Having gained victory over death in the third dream this is perhaps a rebirth. As the major commands the dead soldiers to march back to their graves an act of exorcising the death drive present in himself takes place; a step forward in the journey towards the instinctive self.

The fifth dream titled Crows begins with an extreme close up of Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait. The multiple frames; that of the camera, the screen and the portrait piled together at once make the artist's intent perceptible. This shall be a postmodern take, where the artist deploys art to comprehend art itself. ‘I’ enters into Van Gogh’s canvas and walks through his paintings to meet the painter at last. Kurosawa’s casting of Scorsese, who is himself a filmmaker as Van Gogh is itself laden with suggestions. As ‘I’, who too is presented as an artist meets Gogh; it is almost a meeting with the self. Scorsese, a filmmaker, acting as Van Gogh a painter perhaps represents Kurosawa himself on the screen. The discourse under analysis here is the relation between art and life. Van Gogh tells ‘I’ that he “consumes” nature to create his works. While the very fact that we meet the painter in his painting suggests the reverse – art consumes the artist. The relation further complicates as Van Gogh tell ‘I’ that he ripped of his ear as he was not being able to sketch it properly in his self portrait. Is it art or life, which is of greater significance? The question remains unresolved. Here too the central theme of the sequence – the conflict between the vitality of life and the fatal forces of extinction is palpable. The dream ends in Van Gogh’s The Wheatfield and the Crows. As the painter walks out of the frame, a flight of crows bursts forth, their raucous noise almost suggesting a carcass in the vicinity. The Wheatfield and the Crows is often considered the last painting by Vincent Van Gogh before his death. Use of Chopin’s Prelude No. 15 that was nicknamed by Cortot as But Death is here, in the Shadows as a background score to this dream further accentuates the association with death. But it however, must not escape a discerning viewer that the crow or the raven is associated with the creation myth in Japanese culture. Thus life has yet again defeated death. Even while death as a looming presence cannot be overlooked, life nevertheless proceeds at its own rhythm and it is man's urge to live on that makes this possible.

The sixth and the seventh dreams are titled as Mt. Fuji is Red and The Weeping Demon respectively. They are nightmares presenting before the viewers a dystopia. Both the dreams are apparently about the nuclear holocaust and its repercussions. While the environment remains a major concern with the director, these two dreams are also about perversion and distortion of human potency. This is a world where orgasmic outburst of vitality has been replaced by an erupting nuclear plant, which shall obliterate life. A Garden, where once beauty shall reside has become a barren wilderness. Mutation has morphed flowers into demonic presences that rouse fear. Men have grown thorns (suggestive of a deformed phallus). As the journey towards growth nears its culmination, these are instances when man must confront his perversions to come in terms with those.

The last of the dreams is The Village of the Watermills. In an idyllic, nameless village death and life shall be reconciled at last. The turning watermills come to suggest life reaching a full circle. ‘I’ shall at last reckon his own fulfillment in the philosophical grandsire whom he meets. The old man makes him realize that man is but a part of nature and thus must be in awareness of his natural being, which civilization often robs off. The setting is utopic and far from achievable reality. It nevertheless fits into the structure of the film seamlessly. His journey has culminated in a recognition of his potent passion for life. The free flowing canals represented his uninhibited libido that eggs him to live on (and to procreate perhaps).

Despite being apparently disparate, the eight dreams beaded together resemble a sequence of haiku lyrics; short and yet independent narratives, they together constitute a layered and multivalent filmic text, where Japanese cultural elements like the Kabuki and Noh styles of theatrics, folk music of the land and Japanese mythology have been put into effective use to create the magic realistic texture.

--By Priyanka Mukherjee

ఓ మగువ

చేతులతో చనువులను చుట్టిన ఆ స్త్రీ అందం, సిగ్గు తో తలదించుకున్న వైనం, నన్ను ఆకర్షించాయి,
అందం ఆనందానికి కారణం, ఆకారం అందనికి నిలయం,
వీపు వయారాలు మోము మనోహరాలు,చెంపలపై చక్కరకేళీలా జాలువారు కురులు,
అరమొడ్చిన చేతులతో అందాలతో పాటు, ఆడ ఆభరణాలు అరమరికతో అణచిన ఆ చిన్నది,
అణుకువ మెళకువలా కలిగిన ఆ అపురూపవతి ఆకారం కన్నులకింపుగా ఉన్నది,
సన్నని నడుము నయాగరాల కన్నా వయారంగా వంచి, చెంపలపై చేతులుంచి,
కన్నుల కాంతి వలలు ఎవరిని చుడతాయో తెలియక తలవంచిన తలపులు,జుట్టు జలధారల మధ్య చిక్కుకున్నాయి,
ఎల్లోరా కల్లోలాలు నాకు తెలియవు , కాని నాజుకైన ఈ నయనతార చెసిన కల్లోలం
నయనానందం మాత్రం నన్ను మంత్రముగ్ధున్ని చేసాయి

ఓ మగువా నీ మాయకు వందనం !!

--  సాయి కార్తీక్

ఓ సగటు భారతీయుడు

మారాలి మారాలి నా భవిత మారాలి,

ఆకలి మంటల ఆర్తనాదం, కాలిన కడుపుల కొత్తవాదం,
తీరని అప్పుల ఆర్థిక భారం, పెరిగిన వడ్డీ విడ్డూరం,
పండని పంటల పేద బతుకు, మింగటానికి లేదు మెతుకు ,
రాలిన గింజ చేసిందా నేరం, గిట్టుబాటు లేకపోవటం మరింత ఘోరం,

ఇంకా ఏన్నాళ్ళు, మారాలి మారాలి నా భవిత మారాలి,

పట్నం లో ఓ మూల పని కోసం వచ్చా, దళారీల దోపిడీ లో నలిగిపోయి చచ్చా,
పని కొసం పది మైళ్ళు వెళ్ళా, ఖాళీ కడుపుతో కాయ కష్టం చేసా,
పెరిగిన ధరలు గుదిబండై మీదుంటే, తరగని ఆశలు తల్లకిందులు చేస్తున్నాయి,
రుపాయికెడ్చా , రోగానికెడ్చా, ఏమి చెయలేక ఆశల చితి పేర్చా,

ఇంకా ఏన్నాళ్ళు, మారాలి మారాలి నా భవిత మారాలి,

కులం పేర కుళ్ళు రాజకీయం, మతం పేర మతతత్వవాదం,
పబ్బం గడిపే ప్రజా ప్రతినిధులు, వెర్రి తలలు వేసిన వేర్పాటువాదులు,
కడుపు నిండిన వాడి దగా దౌర్జన్యం, కడుపు ఎండిన వాడి బతుకు దా"రుణం",
తూటాలతో తూట్లూ పోడుస్తున్న తీవ్రవాదం, ఊరుకుక్కలా విరుచుకుపడుతున్న ఉగ్రవాదం,

ఇంకా ఏన్నాళ్ళు, మారాలి మారాలి నా భవిత మారాలి,

అవును, లేవాలి లేవాలి నీ రాత నువ్వే మార్చుకోవాలి,

కడుపుమంటలోని కసి ఎంతో చూపు ,
మండుతున్న గుండెల మంటల్లో కలుపు,
కష్టాల కన్నీళ్ళు ఉప్పెనలా మార్చు,
ఉవ్వెత్తున ఎగిసే జనాగ్రహం లో ముంచు,

అవును, లేవాలి లేవాలి నీ రాత నువ్వే మార్చుకోవాలి,

ఓ సగటు భారతీయుడు.

--  సాయి కార్తీక్

One year in Chennai

On 22nd December 2009, i was about to leave to Chennai in the 2 tier AC of Charminar Express, it was Hyderabad Winter and we still preferred to go by AC coach, as the money would be reimbursed by the company. I had very minute excitement in crossing the borders of Telugu land.

Chennai Central:

Train reached its destination, my friend and i will be escorted to the outskirts of Chennai with the help of my friend's friend. I came out of Chennai Central and took a good look at the Chennai Central railway station, the telugu films of pre-1990 era came into my mind, as Madras was the base for telugu films too.

I was struggling to carry my luggage, somehow reached 'Park Town' station, got into the local train, got down at 'Thiruvanmiyur' railway station. I was still struggling to carry my luggage, suddenly from no where there were 4 auto drivers obstructing us from moving forward, my friend's friend was saying 'Venda' .. 'Venda' .. to them, yes 'Venda' is my first tamil word. At last with the help of some good bargaining tactics a MoU was struck between the auto driver and my friend's friend. We got down at Sholinganallur, I know that non-tamil guys find the name 'Sholinganallur' as a tongue twister, my friend's friend made it easy by breaking the word into his own etymology. He said "Its simple yaar, first pronounce 'Shoe'.. then 'Linga'…then 'Nellore', now combine them and pronounce it." My friend was quick and was able to pronounce it at the first attempt and it took 3 attempts for me to get it right.

After couple of days we completed the joining formalities, staying as a Paying Guest in a 3 bedroom apartment and found a hotel which serves Tiffin’s located at Sholinganallur junction.

Dosa:

I ordered a Dosa, the Dosa was big in length, chutney was served and the hotel worker was about to pour hot sambar on the dosa, I reacted quickly and said NO, he gave back a serious look as though I have committed Blasphemy, and when I was reluctantly asking him for more chutney to complete my dosa and he was reluctantly serving chutney.

FYI: Telugu guys eat a lot of Chutney

Summer:

There are 3 seasons in Chennai, I don’t know about the rest of Tamil Nadu but for a Hyderabadi guy like me, the seasons are Hot, Hotter and Hottest. The January climate of Chennai was making me sweat a lot and I was already missing the Hyderabadi Winter. At first it was horrible for me, later I wasn’t complaining much and after that I got used to it.

I was now moderately adjusted to Chennai, one thing I could find is that there isn’t any Hanuman and Vishnu temples, this observation compelled me to read the history of Aryan-Dravidian divide. Everyone was talking about Saravana stores and I with my roommates decided to visit the Saravana stores at T.Nagar. I was shocked to see the rush in Saravana stores, I could only think of suffocation and nothing else until I left the Saravana stores. I admire people who shop for the whole day in Saravana stores. On my way back I find a Vishnu and Shiva temple.

Note: Scientifically it’s proven that there is no Aryan-Dravidian divide.

Cinema:

Maayajaal was the nearest Cinema Theater for us, and it is the biggest multiplex in India, I wouldn’t comment about the interiors of Maayajaal even though it’s owned by a political family. One thing which I will remember forever is the day when I watched ‘Ye Maaya Chesave’ in the second row from the screen in Maayajaal.

Marina Beach:

If you have read Chetan bhagat’s ‘Two States’ then you would know the Marina Beach, the book has elevated my expectations about the beach as Ananya Swaminathan refers to it as the biggest beach, but I was totally disappointed when I visited the Marina Beach due to the crowd and the beach was clearly struggling to adjust with the pollution.It has been one year and I am still living in Chennai without much complaints. Lets see how the future is gonna be.

Marina Beach

Trivia: I was in Chennai when I saw Sachin Tendulkar scoring 200* agsinst South Africa.

Update: I miss Chennai :(

మన భాష - తెలుగు భాష

తేనేలోలుకు తెలుగు మాట, తీయనైన తెలుగు మాట,
వేయి దివ్వెల కాంతి బాట, తీయనైన తెలుగు పలుకు,
బుద్ధినిచ్చు వెలుగు బాట, తీయనైన తెలుగు మాట,
పలుకు పెంచు పసిడి మాట, తీయనైన తెలుగు మాట.

తీయనైన తెలుగు మాట, చలువనిచ్చు చద్దిమూట,
తీయనైన తెలుగు పలుకు, వెలలేని వెన్నెల జిలుగు,
కమ్మనైన తెలుగు పాట, అమ్మ చేతి వెన్న ముద్ద,
అందమైన తెలుగు నేల, ఆనందాల విరుల కోట,

ఈ కమ్మదనాన్ని అమ్మదనాన్ని సంకరం చేయకు, ఓ తెలుగువాడా,
అతిథిలాంటి ఆంగ్లాన్ని అక్కున చెర్చుకో చాలు, అందలం ఏక్కించకు , ఓ తెలుగువాడా,
అమ్మ వడి ఆనందాన్ని అనుభవించు కాని కాలదన్నకు , ఓ తెలుగువాడా,
మాత్రుభాష మరువకు మరిచి నీ ఉనికిని కోల్పోకు , ఓ తెలుగువాడా.

--  సాయి కార్తీక్

Counterpoint

Digvijay Singh is back in news again, due to the remarks which he made on the death of Hemanth Karkare. Long back he was in the news because of his remarks on Naxalites and he was also in the news when he questioned the authenticity of the ‘Batla House Encounter’.

We have Padma Shri Barkha Dutt who gives good amount of time for Digvijay Singh on NDTV with her interviews. After 26/11, Mr. Antuley comes with his conspiracy theory over the death of Hemanth Karkare and it takes more than a F*****g week for Home Minister Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to pacify Mr. Antuley. Digvijay Singh talks about his views over Naxalism and Batla House Encounter with his good little smile on his face and replies to brilliant questions asked by Padma Shri Barkha Dutt. In a detailed interview on the ‘Batla House Encounter’ Barkha Dutt asks various questions to Digvijay Singh but fails to recollect one single important fact that the autonomous body National Human Rights Commission had given a clean chit to the Delhi Police over the Batla House Encounter. It takes less than common sense to understand why such so called ambiguity exists in the Congress party over sensitive issues, anyone who knows the power of the Congress HIGH COMMAND would never open their shitty mouths unless they are told to do so and accidentally? We find those views being aired on national news channels.

The recent cablegate leaks by Wikileaks have proven what the Internet Hindus and lynch mobs have been saying for very long time. "Hoping to foster that support for upcoming national elections, the Congress Party cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy"~David Mulford . Digvijay Singh blames the BJP for the above comment, we understand that Digvijay Singh is not a tech savvy and misunderstood Wikileaks for Wikipedia.

Counterpoint


Its sad that Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi are unfairly targeted by the Internet Hindus and Lynch Mobs by labeling them as #Barkhagate and #Virgate over the leaked audio tapes related to 2G scam, which is the biggest scam in the history of our country.

Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi are recipients of the Padma awards for their contribution in the field of journalism. It is obvious that people who have received the Padma awards should carry some morals and ethics related to their profession, unfortunately the recent tapes have questioned the morality and ethics of Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi.

Padma Shri Barkha Dutt who vehemently talks about morals, rights, wrongs, justice etc…is now a soft target for her detractors. People who know her contribution towards secularism and nationalism will never doubt her ethics but it is for those people who have questioned her journalistic ethics need to be answered, the best way to answer them is by giving away the Padma Shri title, because it would be a tight slap for the lynch mob and serves as the role model for many journalists and women in india. I am quite sure that Barkha Dutt who emulates the highest standards of morality and ethics will give up her Padma Shri award. I wish she would appear in more bollywood films and her role will be emulated in many films.
Below are the excerpts from the audio tapes which tried to malign Padma Shri Barkha Dutt.

“Oh God. So now what? What should I tell them? Tell me what should I tell them?”

"Congress ne tho statement thank god issue karva diya. Barkha ne karvaliya usay. It is not about individuals."

Vir Sanghvi who is also a padma awardee and is one the most experienced journalists in India, now a target of Lynch Mob. Vir Sanghvi who has generously shared his wisdom with the fellow Indians with his counterpoint column in the Hindustan Times is now being asked to prove his integrity. It’s a shame that Indians forget the good deeds done by others, the beautiful and thought provoking articles written by Vir Sanghvi like the one on Air India, Reliance Gas dispute, etc… and how can anyone forget the campaign instigated by him to deny the Padma award to Sant Singh Chatwal.

Its now necessary that Vir Sanghvi who stands for integrity and morality to act, as he is constantly being targeted by some who are jealous of his achievements, time has come for Vir Sanghvi to prove his integrity by giving away the Padma award and display to the whole world that he can go to any extent for his values.Below are the excerpts from the audio tapes which tried to malign Vir Sanghvi. Recently Taslima Nasreen accused Vir Sanghvi over twiiter saying..

Vir Sanghvi once wrote a column full of lies about me to serve the purpose of someone influential who wanted me to leave the country.

“What kind of story do you want?”

"I have dressed it up as a piece about how public will not stand for resources being cornered, how we’re creating a new list of oligarchs"

I hope Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi will give away the Padma awards which will teach the Internet Hindus and Lynch mobs a good lesson and will stay as a testimony to their commitment towards journalism.

Mahesh KHALEJA: Logics of Faith

Trivikram Srinivas is perhaps the only director after jandhyala in Telugu Film Industry whose dialogues are often discussed and interpreted to enjoy the wittiness. Trivikram who has a impressive background in Nuclear Physics comes with a semi-supernal film 'Mahesh KHALEJA' and it gives an end to Mahesh Babu's 3 year hiatus on Silver Screen.

Trivikram uses GOD as a backdrop and tries to convert the intangible comprehension of the meaning of GOD by mutilating it in a structural format. This huge budget film which was under ustulation by time has been at the receiving end of mixed views. The trademark dialogues of Trivikram are very much visible in the film, he refers 'Barista' as గుమాస్తా and makes a sarcastic dig at the coffee served. Looks like Trivikram is also a bit uncomfortable with the so called independent modern women, the protagonist asks whether the heroine has forgotten to wear a pant when she appears in a miniskirt to meet him and he also points out that these days the urban youth are tattooing their bodies without the difference of gender.

The focal point in the script is about the village named Paali where the people are dying with an unidentified disease, the people of the village are in fear and they look for benediction.  Due to unusual circumstances the hero has to go to Rajasthan, faces some adventures and eventually he comes to the village Paali with the heroine. The villagers see him as GOD who has come to save them from the current Cataclysm. The villagers are convinced that he is the GOD but our hero refuses to believe so, symbolism's like flowers falling from a tree, water flowing on the ground etc...he is not convinced with explanations given by the villagers and categorizes them as mad people but the protagonist is sent into a Imbroglio when he gets back the life of a dead girl. All the above mentioned instances and scenes may or may not be on the brighter side of the film but trivikram gives us a very convincing moment when the hero realizes that he is GOD, some might have been disappointed with the same but i don't find any better way to show the realization of god in a human being and i don't think there are any directors in Telugu Film Industry who has a better way to capture it on the screen.

Its a fact that the Telugu Film Industry is facing the threat of bankruptcy of artists who have the intellectuality and who can cogitate over our indigenous  culture,  literature and epics.  Trivikram Srinivas gives a brilliant explanation on his  theologoumenon of GOD in 'Mahesh KHALEJA' with apropos to Lord Rama of Ramayana and Lord Krishna of Bhagvadgita. Watch the video embedded here to comprehend the concept of GOD which he infused in the film. His explanaton starts at 6 min 15 sec.



I am happy to find the typical punches and humor which we expect from a trivikram film. Indirectly Mahesh Babu refers to his fans and says 'Expectations tattukolekapotunnau' and ...

" Kota: ఫొను చెయొఛ్చు కదా ?
Mahesh Babu:  అక్కడ సిగ్నల్ లేదు ?
Kota:  ఉత్తరం రయోచ్చు కదా? ఏ పెన్ లొ ఇంక్ లేదా? "

and the best one.....

" అధ్భుతం జరిగేటప్పుడు ఎవరు గుర్థించలేరు,  అధ్భుతం జరిగిన తరువాత ఎవరు గుర్తించాలసిన అవసరము లెదు... "

I have many issues with 'Mahesh KHALEJA' and there are gray areas in the film, there are few scenes in the film which weren't cogent enough for me. Mahesh Babu is good and his expressions are tangential with his Godavari slang. The first fight of the film looks insipid, heroine refuses to give her Armani Scarf but how come a taxi driver wears such stylish clothes? if Anushka was acting with an other hero who is not as thin as Mahesh Babu then i wouldn't have any complaints on her body which carries some extra calories but trivikram tries to cover it by referring to calf of her legs and the biggest disappointment for me is that the climacteric of the film is ruined, if G.K (played by Prakash Raj) is equal to billion dollars, 10 Corporate companies, 100 M.P and ministers then why would he go and kill a single man instead of choosing other simple ways? . For me 'Mahesh KHALEJA' falls short of what i expect from a Trivikram film.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Coens, Cars and the Highway

Its not strange that filmmakers have their own way of conveying their perceptions and shooting the scenes in a particular format. Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese and Sergio Leone are the first names which pop into my mind when i think of resembling shots and scenes.

Coen Brothers have a peculiar style too, in most of the films we find a character driving a car on the highway. The shot usually starts with the camera facing the character and later showing the highway, sometimes conversations between the characters. These shots which show the highway through the front window of the car takes place at an important time in the film. Coen Brothers use these scenes for juxtapositions which involves objects of a crime scene, murder, guilt, apprehension...

Blood Simple

Fargo

The Big Lebowski

The Man Who Wasn't There

No Country for Old Men

జవాబు లేని ప్రశ్న?

చీకటికీ వెలుగుకీ మధ్య సన్నని చితి మంట సూరీడు,

ఉదయపు కిరణాలు చీల్చి రొజుకి స్వాగతం పలుకుతాయి,

వెన్నెల కాంతుల చల్లని తిమ్మిరిలు తలనుంచి వీడతాయి,

తెల్లని పాలలా చంద్రుని చెక్కిలిని ముద్దాడిన వెన్నెల కనుమరుగవుతుంది.

చావుకి బ్రతుకుకి, జన్మకి జన్మకి మధ్యన సన్నని మంట చితి,

చితికి ముందు చిగురాకులాగా రాలిన నీ శరీరం ఏం చెసింది,

ప్రపంచపు వేలకోట్ల జీవరాశి లో ఒకటి గా ఉందా, లేక,

ప్రపంచాన్ని నిర్ధెశించే జీవితం అయ్యిందా,

ప్రతి పని ప్రతి మాటా ఎక్కడ నిన్ను ఆనందపరిచింది,

అదే పని అదే మాట ఎవరిని బాధపెట్టింది,

అశరీరమైన నీ ఆత్మ ఈ శరీరాన్ని వీడీపోవలసిందేగా,

ఆశల తీరమైన నీ జన్మ ఈ శరీరాన్ని వదలలేకపోయిందేగ ?

అన్నింటికి అంతం మంట , అన్నింటికి ఆరంభం మంట,

చితి లో అంతమయిన నీ జన్మ, ఆ చితి తరువాత ఇంకో చోట మొదలవుతుంది,

ఈ జన్మ జన్మల పరంపర ల మధ్య ఏం సాధించావ్ ? ఏం కోల్పోయావ్ ?

సమాధానం లేని ప్రశ్న అడిగానా, సమధిలోనే జవాబు దొరికేనా,

ఏమో ??

జీవితపు చివరంచున పెర్చే చితి లోపు సమాధానం దొరకాలని ఆశిస్తూ.....

By,

Sai Karthik

Shadows and Fog

It’s an irony that we have to watch the performances of artists like Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Madonna and Woody Allen himself in the dark night accompanied by Shadows and fog. Woody Allen’s ‘Shadows and Fog’ is a delicious and unique version of homage to German Expressionism.

Kleinman (Played by Woody Allen) is awakened by a group of people who forcibly ask his help for catching the serial killer. Kleinman walks aimlessly around the streets, not knowing what to do. Irmy (Mia Farrow) and Paul (John Malkovich) are performers of a circus troop. Irmy is sword shallower and Paul is a clown. Imry leaves Paul after an altercation, as he is found in a compromising position with Marie (Madonna).

The funniest thing about Woody Allen works is his Farrago of women and sex. Apparently Irmy takes shelter in a brothel for a night as it is feared that the serial killer is roaming around the streets. Jodie Forster is one of the prostitutes in the brothel and here Woody comes up with an interesting conversation of Love and marriage among the prostitutes.

--Marriage. Let me tell you gals something about marriage.
You gotta work at marriage, like anything else.
--A good marriage takes a lot of work.
--When it starts feeling like work, it's over.
--It's all luck. We're all so dependent on luck.

 Jack (John Cusack) is a University student who visits the brothel with his friends. He sees Irmy and is attracted to her and makes an offer to sleep with her.

Jack: I'll give you anything you want.
Irmy: No, I'm just spending the night here.
Jack: Well, that's all I plan to do.

Jack: I'll give you $20.
Irmy: I'm afraid not.

Jack: $50.
Irmy: Sorry.

Jack: $100, $200..
Jack: I'll give you $500 to spend an hour with me.
Irmy: That is an exorbitant sum.
Jack: You're worth it.
Irmy: How do you know? I might be very disappointing.

Jack: 600. Cash.
Irmy: What's wrong with you? Can't you hear?

Jack: You're the most desirable woman I've ever met. I wanna make love to you. $700. You're really the most sensual woman I've ever seen. It's a quick $700.
Irmy: Let me see the $700. Can we use the back room?

 The conversation reminds me of ‘George Bernard Shaw’. There is a very gossamer relation between the two but for me it gives the vague hint of dichotomy on how Woody looks at female characters in his films.

George Bernard Shaw: Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?
Woman: My goodness, Well, I'd certainly think about it.
Shaw: Would you sleep with me for a pound?.
Woman: Certainly not! What kind of woman do you think I am?!
Shaw: Madam, we've already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.

Irmy is caught in a police raid for not having a license and staying in a brothel. She meets Kleinman at the police station, later they both walk on streets. Kleinman asks her

“So when you have the sword down your throat,... what happens if you get hiccups?”

Even Kleinman visits the brothel to save himself from a violent mob who misunderstands him to be serial killer and here we see Woody Allen following the footsteps of the great Ingmar Bergman. Kleinman talks about Existentialism with Jack in the brothel. He talks about it with a dubious smirk and neurotic expression.

Jack: What are your views on divine matters?
Kleinman: Excuse me. Me?

Jack: I'm asking if you believe in God.
Kleinman: It's incredible. That's the third time tonight some body asked me that exact question.
--------
Kleinman: You doubt his existence and you can't make the leap of faith necessary.
I can't make the leap of faith to believe in my own existence.

(The beautiful conversation on Existentialism is deliberately trimmed.)

"Probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera"-- Woody Allen on Ingmar Bergman. Eventually Kleinman joins as an assistant to the magician Almstead of the circus troop. The serial killer is caught by Kleinman and the magician but he manages to escape.

The story ends without any information about the serial killer, he is free. Who knows may be the ‘serial killer’ character is just a MacGuffin which he picked from Alfred Hitchcock or just a tool to provide German Expressionism in the film. Woody Allen brilliantly uses the elements like noir, humour, intimacy, suspense, existentialism, MacGuffin, Voyeurism, Clairvoyance etc… in a single dark night with shadows and fog.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Wild Strawberries: Politics of Existentialism

As Hamm enquires about time in Beckett’s Endgame, Clov retorts that it is "the same as usual". In Endgame, Beckett deliberately constructs a very specific temporal framework, which nullifies the basic notion of time. If in Beckett’s play the ends and the beginnings are often dissolved into one another to create a sense of timelessness then in Wild Strawberries clocks without hands become a persistent symbol to suggest the same. While being interviewed by Jörn Donner, Bergman once recalled an encounter with death. During a minor operation, which he had, he was given a very high dose of anesthesia and as a consequence he remained senseless for eight long hours. Bergman recollected how during those eight hours, he was outside the realm of time. He experienced a total freedom from the tyranny of time which only death can ensure. But such freedom shall come along with the fear of the unknown that lays ahead and hence the desire for life over death. In Wild Strawberries Bergman shall indulge in a negotiation between life and death, the Eros and the Thanatos to arrive at self-knowledge. Right at the onset the protagonist meets his own corpse in a dream of apocalyptic dimensions. The film shall progress, as Isak Borg shall gradually come in terms with his own reality during the span of a day.

Isak Borg is a physician in his seventies, who’s has always secured a shelter within a cocoon, largely created by the figments of his own imagination. Borg has always maintained a distance from the harsh truth and has managed creating a fictive reality around him. The film however almost assumes the pattern of a dramatic monologue to expose him through a constant projection of the mismatch between his words and his deeds. In an epilogue to the film Isak claims his indifference towards human relationships, as people tend to become judgmental. As the film proceeds, however, we find that the old doctor is oversensitive when it comes to what others think of him. The character of Isak Borg was modeled after Bergman himself. The director was himself a compulsive liar as a child. Often being compelled to conform to the bourgeois structure against his wish, young Bergman would find his escape route in blatant lies. He too, like Isak shall weave a fiction around himself and would eventually get lost in it. Film making for Bergman has mostly been a process of "cleaning his upbringing" to confront his own lost self. This explains how film for Bergman becomes an anti-establishment political weapon to counter the bourgeoisie. The celluloid medium thus becomes for him a tool to defy the societal stereotypes.

For Bergman the artist the question that looms large is "who am I?" and all his creations might be seen as an endeavour to seek an answer to this. He acknowledges the presence of "an enormous amount of chaos" in him. He is also into a simultaneous recognition of the inefficiency of our social existence to accommodate this "chaos". He is aware of the duality residing in him but knows that this existence shall demand of him to play the role of a one-dimensional being. As Bergman points out how this uninspired living curbs down the possibilities for human potential, we are jerked out of our complacency towards a drudgery, which we had mistaken for life. We are compelled to ponder over what lies hidden beneath the apparent serenity as imposed by culture upon us. Marianne Borg shall provide as a perfect example to illustrate this case. Marianne is a fine young woman, whose sophistication perfectly conceals the pain of an individual nearing her spiritual exhaustion. Bergman’s characters are masked actors performing at the meaningless pantomime. While commenting upon the frequent use of close ups by Bergman, Peter Cowie, a Bergman scholar points out that the faces have become masks here and the close ups are intended to show how the different emotion find expression upon these masks.

It will not be an exaggeration perhaps to suggest that the growth of Existentialism as Philosophy is intrinsically linked with the intimidating socio-political realities of the mid twentieth century. The horrors of the world wars had shaken human belief. Existentialism exposes the inadequacy of this survival to provide human faculty with any scope for its betterment. For Bergman Existentialism becomes a potent form of protest against the contraption that this system has become.

Isak, when we first see him in the movie is into a habitual certainty of seeing himself as nothing but the old pedant he has made himself into. He is almost into a deliberate ignorance of what he is beneath this surface. The film thus attempts at revealing his subconscious through his dreams. As the old scholar revisits his youth through his dreams, Bergman adopts the technique of flashbacks into the past. In his dreams Isak visits their vacationing villa at the east coast of Sweden- a space where everything has been preserved as if untouched by time. Things have remained the same while Isak himself has grown old, showing signs of decay.

Initially in his dreams Isak assumes the role of a voyeur. He sees episodes that had taken place in his absence. And often the world of the dream and that of reality are fused into each other. The handless clock that had occurred to him in his dream becomes a real object when Isak’s mother shows him one such pocket watch that once belonged to the father and now shall be given to his eldest nephew.

As Isak’s mother complaints that she has always felt cold around her stomach we are left to ponder if the womb that had given birth to Isak is a dead womb or not. Our speculations are further endorsed by Marianne who sees the old lady as the epitome of the coldness that death is. We realize at once that being born from a dead womb, Isak strives to derive his succor from what others think about him. Isak must do this to sustain his ego, thus even in his dreams he listens to what is being said about him by Sara while the speaker remain unaware of his presence.

Sara was Isak’s first love. For Isak, Sara is the embodiment of ideal beauty. She could have provided him with the religion of love, but Isak’s desires were thwarted as Sara married his brother and not him. Bergman, however, makes Isak meet a new age Sara. The young girl in fact claims it to be a better idea for her admirers to talk about her than to quarrel over the existence of God. Bergman thus subtly presents here his view on religiosity- while institutionalized religion often becomes a weapon used by the bourgeoisie to manipulate the mass, spirituality, as contrary to the popular believe, lies in love.

It is Sara, who shall make Isak meet himself through her mirror. At the patch where wild strawberries once grew, Isak experiences his second birth. It’s a painful recognition of himself that Isak goes through but then every birth is through the portals of pain. Sigfrid’s baby becomes almost becomes a visual metaphor for the newly born Isak and Sara as the new mother comforts her child with the promises of a new beginning.

Isak has made a long journey to arrive at his anagnorisis. It is the journey of Jesus, son of man too the awareness of being Christ, the Son of God. Bergman subtly suggests this through his efficient use of montage. After catching a glimpse of Sara’s happy domesticity, as Isak stand dejected outside a door; he receives a Christ like injury as his palm starts bleeding, as he is hurt at a nail.

Isak Borg is exalted to the heights of a true absurd hero as he discerns the "extraordinary logic" permeating the apparently incoherent events of the day. He has finally arrived at recognition of himself. Those whom he has met during the day have made Isak confront fragments of him in them and he has been able to gather the pieces and arrange them together to arrive at a holistic understanding of himself. Free from the imposed identity that he had mistaken for himself, the old physician decides to share his experience with others. The film ends with Isak revisiting his childhood in yet another dream. But unlike the other disturbing nightmares that he has already experienced, in this last dream Isak finds back his parents. He is at last reconciled to his roots

But can there be any reconciliation within the frameworks of existentialism in which Bergman posits Isak Borg? Is it at all possible to reach an awareness about the self? Is their really any meaning for which we aspire? The questions remain unresolved. Bergman admits to his friend Donnar that with passing time he is becoming all the more unknown to himself. The distance between the person and the persona has become greater with time. Is then Bergman’s project of searching the self as undertaken in his films a failure? Perhaps not. Through his work Bergman has arrived at the supreme knowledge that there cannot be any specific identity. Neither is it possible nor desired. A specific identity shall limit the artist. It is through the acknowledgement of the different personas that dwell within that an artist strives at an estimation of the self.

By,
Priyanka Mukherjee

Battleship Potemkin : Revolution in Cinema

The lion was in a slumber. The lion woke up to revolt. The lion rose to roar in glory of the rebellion, which held the promise of a free tomorrow - Eisenstein’s adept use of montage could kindle life into cold marble- three shots of a marble figure from three different angles, juxtaposed, became the metaphor for the Mutiny at Odessa. For years to come this scene shall provide, film critics, from all over the world, with an example of the best use of intellectual montage ever on celluloid. And for the common cine- enthusiast, this shall be one of the most memorable junctures in the History of World Cinema - Surely one of its defining moments. Eisenstein dared to free the medium from its fetters and to propose a new language for it. Collision of shots, shall from now on make celluloid all the more eloquent. Cinema would never be the same again.

Hyderabad to Chennai in just Rupees 14 !

My friend travelled from hyd to chennai in just Rupees 14.

A journey is nevertheless enjoyable, joyful with some real fun and people around. Also, it is very much true that not all journeys are same. A twist here and there, a surprise out of unknown baggage, a delay in reaching to station, glitches, meeting unknown people, what not, these are few things that make a transit memorable.

So, why am I taking about journey?

Yes, there is a reason my dear friends, it is because of my dearest friend, who travelled all the way from Hyderabad to Chennai. C'mon why is this journey so different? No point in wasting the time let us delve into the details....

One day I got a call from my friend "COOL DUDE", he was happy to tell me that he is joining ICICI bank in chennai, more than joining his bank, we are meeting after a long time of one year. I was happy too, thinking we will have fun along with my other friends in my room. He told he is coming on so and so date.

All set my boy, his adventurous journey started on 13-Aug-2010 at 7.00 PM in Charminar Express, at Hyderabad. Got into the train, went to his berth, to his surprise another person was already sitting. Oh Gosh! he is even more surprised to see someone occupying his seat. Started explaining to that guy this is so and so train and he is owner of that berth for that day. The other guy was also in dire shock, so both had a cross check of their respective tickets, HOLY COW, are these tickets Xerox with only the name change. My friend ran to TT standing on the platform and tried to explain the situation. Instead of driving the point home, TT advised our COOL DUDE to entrain.

Wow! Journey started, these two poor people saw each of their faces, fellow passengers joined, out of those herd someone pointed to the grave mistake (probably the truth) COOL DUDE's ticket was booked for 14-AUG-2010. "Are you crazy, :() , how on earth you could travel a day earlier, with next days reservation." COOL DUDE, asked himself.

Now it is time to get panic, yes he did panic, called up few friends, thought of getting down from running train to pulling the chain... all the thoughts that can possible come to already panicked brain, a kind of dismal thoughts. The best thought, of course, was to call friends, YES, he received a suggestion to just speak to TT and try to get a berth.

Not all bad things happen to good people, COOL DUDE met a bunch of good people, out of which fortunately or unfortunately one of the guy missed the train. He engaged into a conversation with them and told about his adventure, GOOD PEOPLE right, they offered him a berth. Our COOL DUDE was looking at TT , traversed S1 to S14 and S14 to S1 , 3 times, no signs of TT. "GOD IS GREAT", felt himself, and slept.

Haaa, a yarn, phone rang early in the morning, don’t mistake me it is 7.15AM 14-Aug-2010. I woke up, COOL DUDE on the other side, he was tensed..... grrrr ( my feeling)... He got berth, slept bindaaaaas whole night, not paid a penny to TT, why tensed. COOL DUDE got down at sullurpet (last stop before Chennai), thinking he will get caught in chennai for travelling without a valid ticket. OMG! I yelled, I was about to start to railway station to pick him up(although I woke up just now), was not prepared for this unexpected twist!!!

Okay, I suggested him again to catch up a local train and come to chennai.

Great, a adventure ended, finally the cost of travelling from Hyderabad to Chennai is 14Rs.

Do you think, this is the end of the story? Believe me it is not, YES, it is not... now comes the roller coaster ride.


I am at Chennai central station, with bleak charge in my mobile, hoping that it will not shutdown till I meet COOL DUDE. Dialed his number.... tring tring .... tring tring... this is what I expected, else you would have expected some ring back tone..


"The Mobile phone number you are trying to reach is currently, switched OFF"

What, yes COOL DUDE's mobile is switched OFF. He is gone, the only contact for him in Chennai is me, and .. and what no other option.

Suddenly, my mobile switched OFF..

Do you expect a better suspense, a thriller, or what ever you name it..... Enough...

I was searching for Common charging point and STORY COMES TO AN END, COOL DUDE is also there to charge his mobile, calling me just to hear, what I heard....

"The Mobile phone number you are trying to reach is currently, switched OFF"

This cool dude is an Assistant Manager in ICICI bank.

By
Sai Karthik

Krishna doesn't share food!

One of my colleague has a complaint on me, she repeatedly used to say that 'You have a bad habit of not sharing food with your collegues and friends'. I was a bit surprised with that statement, she was partially correct, i dont share food but its not true with all the food items which i eat, i would readily grant the whole plate if it is made from Dondakaya or Bendakaya.

So my colleague tells this to her friend and her friend asks "Is Krishna the only offspring?" and she was spot on, and what made her ask this question (conclusion?) . The theory which she told is that the Only son/daughter are not used to sharing food in their childhood as they dont have any brothers or sisters to share. May be she is right but i would not agree to such an allegation because i do share food with others. So what made my colleague to make such a statement? She has seen me couple of times for not allowing my friends to share my  Ice-Cream and thus she had made a opinion on me.

I still dont get how others share their Ice-Creams and Chocolates. If i share my ice-creams or choclocates i feel that i havent eaten it at all. I admire people who share their Ice-Creams and Chocolates with their friends and colleagues.

3 years down

Its been 3 years … I still remember the day, around 2000 candidates appeared for the first round to get selected into this IT company which was held in my college itself, somehow cleared the first round, and somehow cleared the Technical Round where the interviewer was asking random questions from UNIX, Operating Systems, C, JAVA, Database etc.. , I really don’t know what I was answering …the subject mentioned were part of my Computer Engineering Curriculum but as you know… who gives a damn about studies when you are swimming in the pool of engineering life?.. After the technical round I was allowed to enter the HR round… Krishna Rao Pasupuleti with all the wisdom which he gained by his engineering days FAKES almost every reply to the questions asked by HR. I came out of the room which was like an oven for me as the Q and A with the HR were deciding my career; it was around 10:30 pm ….Yet to have my dinner, dragged myself into the cafeteria, had some food and was roaming in my college campus, security guards warned me not to roam in the campus as even snakes talk a walk at that time. I went to the Ganesh Temple which was recently built and I was thinking “What IF I screw this one too? ..It would be a HATTRICK..3 in a row” …. Slept on the marble floor of the temple till 2:30 am and something woke me up… results are announced at 3:00 am. I am selected to work with this IT giant.

--------Fast forward---------

My Engineering is completed. The joyful days are over.

Here comes the uninvited guest Recession, some call it as the worst financial crisis after the great depression. Thanks to the U.S.A and its clients, the Indian IT Industry receives a Mohammed Ali punch. We were totally bewildered … I didn't tell you that we are yet to hear about an another IT company which is going to make news …yes …the SATYAM Scam. Suddenly the Software Industry which is full of shine to outsiders now seems to be a black hole to many. Guys like me who have no other choice other than to join the company and earn bucks to fill the stomachs are in –(Cloud 9). Everyday I was asking the same question ‘What is my future? Why the hell did I choose Computer Engineering?’…

A confession (not exactly a confession..) tasted C2H5OH and Nicotine for the first time.


-----Days get passed--------

By the way…i still have the same passion, love, craze for movies which I had in my engineering days...in fact my love for movies multiplied, i was literally watching 3 movies every day...let's call them as Morning, Matinee and Second Shows. Now ORKUT is my Ex-lover, Dating FACEBOOK & flirting with TWITTER. After flirting with TWITTER I felt that it was not for me and left it. Movies, Movies and Movies are my world, now almost officially movies are my life. Middle class life is not an easy one, now I have to search for a job till I get a call from my company. Attended 15 interviews to find a job in BPO filed, there were 2 things common in all the 15 interviews which I attended, 1) I was rejected in all the interviews. 2) I was rejected in Voice/Accent round . The BPO trials were a learning experience for me…It didn’t make me improve my English language but it made me feel that I would never try to improve my English…come what may.

Being a movie-buff I read a lot about news related to films. Never liked the Telugu Cinema websites for various reasons…I accidentally find a place where all the film lovers meet … it www.passionforcinema.com.. It took me 4 articles to be an author at PFC, came to know about OZ, his real name is Pankaj (was very much impressed by his blog, which is not active now), and WB, real name is Ranga (Used to call me from Australia just to talk with me on Telugu films) and had a lot of fun at PFC-Club. To be frank I was a very bad writer and it is very much reflected in articles which I wrote. Journey with PFC was good and there was break to this journey to some reasons which I don’t want to disclose here. In the mean time I used to meet Satish Kasetty garu, talking with him increased my knowledge on films, his views on films were a bit different from mine, met some Assistant Directors, Editors, writers who live in Krishna Nagar, these guys are very hard working people, Shiva is one of them, he took me into Annapoorna Studios, it was my first time. I hope Shiva gets a break as a director very soon…. Ram Gopal Varma and Aamir Khan were actively blogging. Aamir was talking about some dog and Ram Gopal Varma says that we all are dogs.

26/11 happened. Ram Gopal Varma is seen in Taj and Vilas Rao is fired by Madamji, etc.. etc… we never learned from our mistakes. Indian Journalists and Media were practicing true spirit of journalism as always. The largest democracy in the world goes to polls and I am witnessing the whole tamasha on TV. Chiranjeevi enters politics, Chandra Babu brings Jr.NTR and Balayya for the TDP campaigns, YSR brings Supers Star Krishna and Krishna tries to bring Mahesh Babu. Mahesh Babu says ‘I don’t know the difference between MP and a MLA’. YSR is back to power, I was preparing myself to my state to be renamed to ‘Rajiv Pradesh’ the media said Singh is King (really?). Rahul Gandhi is close to 40 but media still says that he is young, Sachin is 36 and the media says that he is old.

-----Days get passed--------

I am back on twitter, deleted the only tweet and posted my first tweet ‘Back to Twitter’, the special journey has started, now Twitter is my new crush, met a lot of interesting people .. Celebrities on twitter were growing like mushrooms, met a lot of hyderabadis and attended the Tweetup meets which were held on the weekends. Good things for me is that I found few movie-buffs like me, even though i met many people through i would like to mention Vemana and Hemanth as we used to meet regularly and they were film lovers like me, I liked their passion for films, Hemanth occasionally used to talk about the last days which he is spending in SATYAM, Vemana is tech geek and movie-buff like me, he doesnt like Woody Allen though… Now Vemana, Hemanth and I planned to do something which was related to movies….nothing concrete was happening due to some reasons… I am asked by my company to report at Chennai for training.

End of Part 1.

One Shot that defines INCEPTION

Lets say 'What is Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION to you?' . Nolan's INCEPTION is not a path breaking nor a trend setting film. For me its just a film which increases my love towards films. Many film lovers like me started comparing the complexity of 'Inception' with 'Mulholland Drive','2001 A Space Odyssey', '8 1/2' etc.. i would disagree to view INCEPTION on those lines... its a film with a different meaning and different substance. For me one shot in the film defines the whole film and it is ....

CLICK on the image to enlarge

Wild Fruits

Wild Fruits which i found at an SEZ(Special Economic Zone) in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh.

Click on the image to enlarge it

Few thoughts on VEDAM

Looks like many filmgoers have taken a CRASH course in ‘Identifying Plagiarism’. Krish’s VEDAM starring Allu Arjun, Manchu Manoj and Anushka gets a concoction release and publicity. Even before the release of VEDAM we have heard film experts (so called) saying that it’s a copy of a Hollywood film, Krish’s first film ‘GAMYAM’ was bashed for the same reason that it was a copy of ‘Motorcycle Diaries’. It’s quite clear that people who said that ‘Gamyam’ is a copy of ‘Motorcycle Diaries’ haven’t seen Dennis Hopper’s ‘Easy Rider’. Coming back to VEDAM, all those folks who say that VEDAM is a copy of CRASH should know the difference between Plagiarism and Inspiration.

Seeing the hype created for VEDAM before its release I was under some kind of intangible impression that this movie is gonna be a disaster(Critically and Commercially) at the Box-Office, the mutual praise by actors and directors made me feel that VEDAM will be TELUGU TASHAN. After the following poster of VEDAM was released I developed some kind of interest towards the film

Just before the release we have seen Allu Arjun , Krish talking about Vedam, lot of online publicity, the twitter publicity, TV Channels publicity, other contemporary directors praising the work of Krish …Oh God….what not… I could sense the change which telugu cinema has slowly embraced. The change may be due to inevitable compulsions or it’s a positive metamorphosis.

/*Possible Spoiler Alert*/

VEDAM is a hyperlink film of 5 stories. Cable Raju(Allu Arjun) who traps a rich girl by pretending to be a rich guy. Vivek(Manchu Manoj) wants to give a live rock show but his mother wants him to join the army, Saroja(Anushka) is a Amalapuram prostitute who runs away from a brothel house to setup her own brothel company in Hyderabad. Rehman(Manoj Bajpai) is a honest Hyderabadi Muslim who is seen as an extremist and Ramulu(Nagayya) is a old man under the curse of poverty and in search of money to free his grandson from the landlord.
Director Krish has a lot of understanding on human emotions, he relies on human emotions, and he possesses the rare talent of capturing the vulnerable human emotions on screen. Krish successfully presents the gamut of human emotions and psychological itch lingering with it.

I guess Krish is a studious follower of Syd Field, the screenplay is styled with respect to the audience thinking, and he has a firm grip on the raw characters like we have seen in the character ‘Gaali Seenu’ in ‘Gamyam’ and here now in ‘Vedam’ as ‘Cable Raju’. Cinematography by Gnana Sekhar is an asset to Krish, the Jubilee hills slum is shown as slum and nothing more. How often do we see a telugu actor holding a guitar in the way it needs to be? Manch Manoj was very good as a wannabe rock star. I liked the scene in which Vivek has a brawl with moral police guys and the way he attacks the vehicle with a stone was brilliantly shot and the scene where Cable Raju tries to run away with the money but Nagayya catches his leg.

Anushka plays the role of Saroja, a prostitute. The legacy of K.Ragahavendra Rao is carried forward, we see some navel shots and low tied sarees, and we should remember that Anushka is not Kate Winslet and Krish is not Bernardo Bertolucci and thus the skin show ends there, guys who are expecting more than the usual stuff would be disappointed. As always the prostitute is accompanied by a eunuch named ‘Karpooram’ and we are shown a cameo by Bhramanandam who counters ‘Karpooram’ by saying ‘Agarbatti emi kaadu….?’ and a very mediocre joke on ‘Karpooram’. Cliché is the apt word to describe the story of Rehman played by ‘Manoj Bajpai’. The role of Rehman lacks freshness and the talented Manoj Bajpai is underused. Like most of the hyperlink films even VEDAM has one climax, it’s like watching the good old movies where we are informed that here is the climax…. the climax is not forced upon the audience but instead it traces the unexpected and peculiar ending when compared with the normal telugu films.
Observe the scene when ‘Cable Raju’ is about to handover the money to buy the passes….the image of Cable Raju is reflected multiple times in the mirror, this reminded me of Orson Welles ‘Citizen Kane’, you are free to assume whether this shot was a copy or inspiration or coincidence. Even ‘Wim Wenders’ has copy or inspiration or coincidence.

What did Telugu Cinema Achieve/Change?
Frankly very little is achieved and some things are changed by the release of VEDAM. There is much to be achieved and changed by the path set by Vedam. Here are some changes which might happen…
•New directors can dare to come up with innovative scripts leaving back the prescribed formulae based stories.
•Telugu Cinema can hope for Multi-Starrer films provided good scripts are available.
•Films with noble intentions can still be produced with innovation added to it.
•Hopefully we can see less of cars crashing against each other unnecessarily and Tata Sumo’s blowing into air etc…
•May be now directors will think twice to showcase the Superman stunts of our heroes and I guess they will give some respect to Newton’s “Laws of Gravity”
•Films with different genres, different narration etc… might pop up.
•Publicity tactics may undergo dramatic changes including the posters.
•Filmmakers may not feel shy to show taboo roles.

People who still insist that ‘Vedam’ is a copy of ‘Crash’ should digest the fact that ‘Sholay’ is also a copy , 'Inglorious Bastards' is directed by ‘Sergio Leone’ not by Quentin Tarantino.

Why is the tag “Guest Appearance” attached to ‘Manchu Manoj’ during credits????

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com