50 years since Kavi Samraat Viswanatha Satyanarayana has been Conferred Jnanpith Award

 It is nothing less than an audacious attempt aided by stupidity for a person educated in English medium with no strong grip on Telugu language to write about Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana. Around 50 years back - in 1970, Viswanatha Satyanarayana became the first Telugu writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.

Telugu literature had its ups and downs, one of the lowest periods for Telugu language and literature was when parts of Telugu Desam was pillaged by Islamic invasions headed by Malik Kafur followed by barbarous rule imposed by chieftains of Delhi Sultanate. Telugu literature had a revival during the Vijayanagara Empire and later it was able to crawl on its own legs, but its prominence dwindled.

There were many writers and poets whose endeavors made sure that Telugu language and literature isn’t lost in time, but for some strange reason many are willing to give the entire credit to the revival of Telugu language to the British official, Charles Philip Brown. I have no intention to diminish the contributions of Charles Philip Brown but snubbing the works of other people is not affable.

Rangasthalam

When Raymond Chandler criticized Agatha Christie in "The Simple Art of Murder", it was criticism from a peer where Chandler makes an interesting point - "Fiction in any form has always intended to be realistic".

Sukumar's "Rangasthalam" is different and distinct in many ways. I fail to recollect when was the last time a top director made top stars appear in a period village drama in Telugu Cinema.

Sukumar has always been audacious right from his first film "Arya" where the hero introduction scene is - emerging from a crappy manhole, in "Jagadam" where the design of lead character goes against standard conventions, in "Arya 2" the hero is embedded with unprecedented grey shades, in "One: Nenokkadine" the hero has a psychological problem. In "Rangasthalam" the protagonist has hearing impairment but the audacious part of "Rangasthalam" is that it is set in the 80's.

The first top view zoom shot where Chittibabu is in a hurry tells the viewer that Sukumar's approach in Rangasthalam is going to be different when compared with his previous films. The post death ritual scene emphasizes that it has to be taken seriously, the suicide attempt - rescue scene underlines the approach of the film, the scenes of antagonist played by Jagapathi Babu gives the hint of the overall plot and politics involved in the film, the scene where President name is revealed, tell us that Sukumar has many such surprises in the film.

The most striking among the brilliant performances by actors is by Jagapathi Babu, it reminded me of Krishna Vamsi's "Samudram" and RGV's "Gaayam". Like his previous films, Sukumar comes with his trademark? item song, which increased the weight of my complain about stretching the movie beyond its potential and the target audience.

In "Rangasthalam", Sukumar doesn't shy away from escaping into humor whenever possible, doesn't feel shy to adapt melodrama, doesn't feel shy to exploit death, doesn't feel shy to use the obvious shortcomings of a village guy and also doesn't feel shy to emphasize the "thread" worn by antagonists.

Journey of "Rangasthalam" was with hiccups, definitely worth watching for its audacity, probably it will fill your mind in next few days with scenes from the movie but this still bugs me - "Fiction in any form has always intended to be realistic" or ‘Realism in art in any form has always intended to be Fiction’ or it doesn’t matter in Telugu Cinema?.

అ! reminds me of 'ఏడు చేపల కథ' - 'Story of 7 fishes'

For very long I have been detesting the reasons given by many who support mediocrity in Telugu cinema. Below are some of the reasons.

- Navarasa

- Common man works hard and expects to see a masala film which relieves him of his tensions.

- Indians expect a package in a movie.

- Navarasa:

The reason to bombard movie goers with mediocrity comes the lazy reason of "Navarasa", Indian art form does talk about Navarasas and Indian epics contain Navarasas but when and where is it commanded that Navarasas have to be sandwiched into a 21st century film? 

- Common man works hard and expects to see a masala film which relieves him of his tensions:

Probably the pukeworthy reason to celebrate, foster and perpetuate crap and mediocrity into Telugu cinema. This reason is indirectly implying that Telugu (Indian) audience aren't good enough to appreciate art and also an offending remark which insults the intelligence of the viewer.

- Indians expect a package in a movie.

This is a silly excuse. Yes, Indians do expect packages, they like their lunch to consist of different dishes with different tastes. But, remember that Indian breakfasts and snacks are not thalis, they do not come as a package, instead they have their own delicious unique tastes.

అ! reminds me of the popular Telugu children's story 'ఏడు చేపల కథ' -'Story of 7 fishes'.

In 'ఏడు చేపల కథ', the plot has seven layers, each of it is linked to the other layer, the philosophy of is very captivating but broken into different parts, but connected with the main narration and thesis. The same is done by writer and director Prasanth Varma in అ!

Some people might want to avoid అ! Awe going by some reviews and also might suspect that the film may be devoid of Navarasas, lacked masala or it isn't a package - I have to say that అ! has Navarasas, masala and comes as a package if the Telugu viewer is willing to find it like the philosophy in 'ఏడు చేపల కథ' -'Story of 7 fishes'.

25 years of Aapadbandhavudu

I don't think one needs to look beyond K Viswanath's "Aapadbandhavudu" to get a glimpse of Chiranjeevi's talent.

Aapadbandhavudu was released 25 years back, like many other people of my age, I watched Aapadbandhavudu on TV.

Arjun Reddy - Nostalgia isn't the same anymore.

I will not pretend to be hysterical and at the same time I will not shy away from strongly recommending Sandeep Reddy's "Arjun Reddy".

It is like an extinct mammal coming back to normalcy as the average appetite of Telugu audience to digest 3 hours of celluloid work without regular songs, group dances and anti-gravity fights is a rarity.

Trump's speech signals a change of USA's Pakistan Policy

"Civilization begins with distillation". Long before Bharat became the frequent target of invaders from Central Asia, Afghanistan was under the Mauryan Empire where special alcoholic drinks were prepared and exported to the rest of the continent.

Distillation is necessary in some aspects of present day Afghanistan, especially when it comes to approach of United States. Observers of Donald Trump’s speech on Afghanistan and South Asia may categorize it as:

• Continuing the interventionist policy of USA.
• No clear policy on withdrawal of troops.
• Change in stance on Pakistan.
• Nothing more than rhetoric of American exceptionalism.

The other one, often missed by editorials of American newspapers, is the dilution of post-cold-war attitude of USA towards India with respect to geo politics. For many years after the Cold war, USA has seen India with old lens as India was close to Russia during the Cold war.

Rage of the Elite – Hindi supremacists

Shudras humbly display scars of their rock hard hands, Warriors carry their wounds with pride, Merchants exude their acumen by saving gold, priests effuse with their chants and the jobless elite breast beat their pomposity for nothing.

At the risk of offending the elite, allow me to say that justifications given to impose Hindi on others has changed with time from normal decibel rhetoric to the cacophonic rage of the unworthy elite.

It starts with the India’s elite family, where Jawaharlal Nehru made sure that Hindi is the blue-eyed boy of Independent India snubbing other languages. It followed by official push for Urdu in Jammu and Kashmir over other local languages. If hadn’t been for the sacrifice of Potti Sreeramulu which led to division of Indian states on linguistic basis, Chahaji could have imposed elite Urdu in Telangana and Andhra because Telangana was under Nizam rule for quite some time.

Language supremacists and desert cults share some commonalities; both want to impose their beliefs citing "majority", claim civilizational superiority and divine superiority.

Before appropriating Feminism, understand its recent rhetoric and actions

विना बुद्धिः ईषदपि स्वीकरणं अनुचितं (Mindless appropriation of anything is bad)

Any ism that claims to bring a change in society deserves to be criticized; any ideology that deliberately misrepresents itself citing its own history deserves to be put on trial, any ism that claims to be superior should be subjected to scrutiny.

There is a silent agreement among spectrum of Indian intellectuals when it comes to criticism of Feminism - all of them have decided to take a sympathetic approach towards its analysis and criticism snubbing its precarious actions in the recent past.

One should not have a sympathetic approach towards an ideology that has the tendencies to confiscate individual rights; one ought to have the gumption to ask uncomfortable questions when it comes to “Feminism”, as questioning “Feminism” can make one infamous and unpopular instantly and probably this is the reason for many to take a lenient stand towards its perilous rhetoric.

Let me put this upfront, today’s Feminism is not about equality of rights, self-proclaimed feminists shouldn’t be excused, when they equate Feminism with a definition that is half a century old. We do not see “Jihad” as an internal fight for peace, in today’s context it is a holy war which mercilessly kills innocents based on hatred, bigotry and delusion, words have remained the same for decades but the way they got transformed over years have to be kept in mind.

Can USA maintain the world order which it created 100 years ago?

 It has been 100 years since the inception of a world order in which USA was the primary architect. In his book ‘The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931’ Adam Tooze goes through the events and how the present world order came into existence. 1916 can be termed as the year which gave USA the buttons to set the power graphs across the world, creating political movements and acquired keys to regime changes. Following the stunning victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election, many predict that the new world order is on its way and probably USA might not be the primary architect.

American Left Liberals are yet to digest the fact that power equations are getting changed in their nation which is beyond their control and their discourse on social and political issues is strongly being challenged. 2016 is a phenomenal year for any American intellectual who is willing to assess the changes happening in American society and around the world. "Westworld" and "The Man in the High Castle" are written by Michael Crichton and Philip K. Dick who are known to be the best American sci-fi writers and their work has been adopted into TV series.

"Westworld" and ‘The Man in the High Castle’ are now part of casual, intellectual and profane discussions as they resonate with some sense of intangible situation which Americans find themselves in and using the themes in these TV serials as allegories of what might be the situation of USA post 2016.

Pelli Choopulu

1- Watched the trailer and liked it a lot, made a note that I have to watch this film on the first day.
2- Music of the film was catchy with classical ragas fused with contemporary music, this increased my curiosity, again made a note that I shouldn't miss this film.
3- Music, cinematography and dialogues in the trailer induces a lot of trust in the film when you realize that it's by a new director.
4- Some films instantly attract your attention and give a hunch that there is a lot of honestly in it.

In the above four points, the director was 'Sekhar Kammula' and the film was 'Anand'.

When everyone was fighting for tickets of Chiranjeevi's 'Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.', I was hoping to get tickets for Sekhar Kammula's 'Anand' on the first day.

It was nostalgic and same things went through my mind when I watched the trailer of Tharun Bhascker's 'Pelli Choopulu'. 'Pelli Choopulu' is definitely one of the best films of 2016, it is honest in its approach.

I absolutely loved the first half and I don't remember when was the last time I laughed so much while watching a Telugu film.Graph of the second half is not appealing as the first half and the climax was like a jump cut, I guess some scenes were omitted in the editing room, but nevertheless its a total joy to watch Tharun Bhascker's 'Pelli Choopulu'. Happy weekend.

Note: Playing 'Chinuku Taake' and 'Aanandamayenu' in continuous loop, kudos to Vivek Sagar for beautiful tracks.

Udta Punjab controversy and hypocrisy of its breast beaters

The Udta Punjab controversy reminded me of a conversation in Mahabharata.

Yama: What is hypocrisy?
Yudhisthira: The setting up of standards for others is hypocrisy.

Self-righteousness born out of victim-hood rather than on unbiased and fair principles usually leads to hypocrisy. When director of "Buddha in a Traffic Jam" and others were attacked by comrades of a Central University, some of the current breast beaters for Udta Punjab controversy preferred to remain mute spectators, some had selective amnesia and some even indirectly justified violence and were visibly happy that film wasn't allowed for screening.

Some Udta Punjab breast beaters who cite "Freedom of Expression" forget that even others deserve the right of "Freedom of Expression" irrespective of political and ideological inclinations.

Freedom of Speech is not the privilege of the few who claim to be superior than others in aspects of art, its a principle which has to be applied equally irrespective of what you feel. Its plain hypocrisy when one justifies ban and violence against other films with "propaganda", "motivated" and claim their films as "creative", "realistic" and "pushing the envelope" when compared with same yardstick of "Freedom of Expression".

CBFC has rules and regulations which it has to follow , it cannot take decisions and make approvals based on the whims of individuals. Some advocate that there should be no censor board and every film should be released without any cuts, do you apply the same for films like "Innocence of Muslims"?.

I feel much more comfortable discussing with a conservative bigot than a so called liberal who applies lofty principles selectively. One of the symbol of a functioning democracy is when people use the right to talk crap openly, Ex: India turned into North Korea. Such statements are a periodic reminder that right to speech and expression in India are alive unlike in other countries like North Korea.

Before joining the chorus to support Udta Punjab, I would like you consider the below points
- Is this a publicity stunt?
- Did CBFC follow rules/regulations/guidelines?
- In supporting a genuine cause are you indirectly taking side of hypocrites?
- Will they support you when you face the same trouble if your work doesn't meet their standards?

A Aa (అఆ)

Let me begin by asking you this question, "How can I insult you?" read the question again, I didn't ask "How can I offend you?".

I belong to the part of Telugu generation which coincides with the rise of Triviklram Srinivas who have enjoyed and praised his works as a writer and director and slowly even criticized his works lately. Fraction of criticism is genuine and every film maker comes across it but its the other type of criticism which irritated me the most in last couple of years.

Punch Dialogues, "..there are no punch dialogues in the film...its not good...so its not worth watching", I feel like debating to the end how lack of punch dialogues doesn't make a film good.

Remember my question "How can I insult you?", or let me generalize it, "How can a filmmaker insult the intelligence of audience?"

Let me tell you a secret which many people don't know, you liked previous works of Trivikram Srinivas not for his punch dialogues but for the emotions which he handled in the story. Surprised? Watch those films again and you will realize it.

"A Aa" is not the best work of Trivikram Srinivas but definitely worth watching where he released himself from the slavery of fraction of dimwitted audience who look for punch dialogues and nothing related to art of film making. There are instances in the film like the suitcase scenes, that's the Muhammad Ali punch if you understood those scenes correctly.

Very happy that Trivikram Srinivas made "A Aa(అఆ)".

Climate Change Deniers

These days just being cynic towards the concept “Climate Change” is viewed like an act of blasphemy.

People who question “Climate Change” are now being suffixed with word “Deniers”, and are seen as some kind of untouchables by activists and environmental fundamentalists. The word “Deniers” caught my attention, it was a powerful word long back, it was used by religious heads at religious gatherings to punish apostates.

I have my own doubts about “Climate Change” and refuse to believe EVERYTHING what is being propagated. Not so long back we had the concept of “Global Warming”, now activists and environmentalists do not use the word “Global Warming”, they have replaced it with “Climate Change” because many sane people have pointed that planet Earth is not just getting warm but also getting cold in some places.

Old civilizations recorded temperatures for many many years and have seen rise and decrease of temperate and its not a new phenomenon and even in the recent history of 150-200 years, recorded temperatures prove that climate has been fluctuating. Just an FYI, the word climate in a sense means that something should be changing.

Indian Establishment and its Mercenaries

In politics where there is a presence of strong "establishment" it is hard to differentiate between ideological adversaries and their nescient mercenaries. It is even more difficult to define the word "Establishment" which usually holds some minor strings of power.

“Establishment” is not something which gets replaced or voted to power with democratic elections but a cabal without any democratic legitimacy but has some control or influence over the institutions, committees and organizations of a democratic and sovereign nation. A large typical establishment in a democratic republic would have its hegemony in the aspects of Arts, Culture, History, Universities, Awards, Media and other social institutions with or without the support of government.

Image Courtesy: NewIndianExpress

The 1960s and the early 1970s are important in modern Indian history.

• After the China war of 1962, India realized that they need to have a strong Army unlike what Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru envisioned.
• War with Pakistan in 1965 kept us vigil as it exposed the evil ideas of Pakistan.
• Genocide in East Pakistan which resulted in 1971 war contributed to the rise of patriotism in Indians.

Other things happened in 60s and 70s.

• Indira Gandhi, whom I consider to be a patriot with flaws made a deal with Communists due to political compulsions where she agreed to install Communists and their comrades as the heads of Indian institutions.
• Amar Chitra Katha started to become popular.
• Rise of Left terrorism.

"Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Vande Mataram"

I told myself that I will be less acerbic in my views and ignore the ranting from the usual suspects but decided to hold it back partially due to bunkum published by Troll.in and Co.

"Bharat Mata" sounds offensive for Sharia Bolsheviks not just because it has idol form but also because it doesn't represent country as "Fatherland".

The concept of "Motherland" is ingrained in Indic thought and philosophy, this concept doesn't get total approval in Monotheism and Communism.

"Fatherland" is what Communists have been preaching for decades with very rare exceptions, some Socialists prescribe to the term "Motherland" opposing the leftish rhetoric, usually they are from a land which has rich cultural and literary heritage.

Cultures & Traditions which are not substantially exposed to organized religions and not strongly influenced by Communism refer to their country as "Motherland".

"Bharat Mata" comes to every Indian by default because the idea of a nation can be associated with a female form. No one says "Bharat Pita".

How many nations achieved freedom based on a slogan associated with motherland? Indian freedom struggle got amplified by "Vande Mataram". The slogan "Vande Mataram" was the essence of Indian freedom struggle, the origins of nationalist movement happened through "Vande Mataram". I am aware that it has became an irresistible fashion for some Urbans to support the slogan "Pakistan Zindabad" and make a mockery of "Bharat Mata" and "Vande Mataram".

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad resolved these controversies long back but they come back again with help of Left Liberals and their hatred for some individuals. I am not in favor of compelling others to say "Bharat Mata" or "Vande Mataram" as I am a supporter of Freedom of Speech and expression, but remember that these are the slogans which represent and encapsulate the ethos of India.

Interview with Satish Kasetty

Satish Kasetty is a Telugu filmmaker. His first film “Hope” won the National Award which was based on student suicides, his second film Kalavaramaye Madilo won the state Nandi award. His recent film “Terror” got released couple of weeks back which is based on Terrorism and Politics.

Many days have passed since your film got released, how was the response?

Positive response from everywhere

Did you expect such positive response?

I knew that film is good, script is good, and screenplay is good. I knew the film will keep the viewers engaged. I knew that audience would feel that they have watched a 2hrs 10min film and did not get bored. Srikanth's previous films didn’t fare well, if this film is at least little good, people will come and watch it, as audience don’t hate Srikanth. But I didn’t expect such unanimous appreciation from everyone.

There is a 6 year gap between this film (Terror) and your previous film (Kalavaramaye Madilo), I think it’s a big gap for a filmmaker, what happened?

Let me tell you this the other way. Muhurtam of "Terror" was held in 2014, later some film union strikes happened; we resumed the shoot and got the censor certificate in September 2015. We had to wait for release dates as we didn't have theaters to release. Totally it took 2 years to get "Terror" released. For the remaining 3 years, after I completed “Kalavaramaye Madilo”, couple of producers approached me but I didn’t have scripts. I started writing my scripts, I was in writing mode, as new ideas kept coming, and I went on writing and decided to complete my scripts.

The movie was scheduled to be released on March 4th but it got advanced to February 26th, any specific reason?

11-12 movies are getting released on that week. So the producer decided to advance its release date.

Happy Women's Day

Being a self proclaimed polemic, I like to add my comments over this picture which is being shared by prominent people on social media.

The problem with analogies like the one in the pic is that it obfuscates history and exposes how Indians are still in colonial hangover.

Chess was invented in India, and the old stories say that it was invented by Ravana to charm his wife.
Indian Chess didn't have the "Queen" till it traveled to different parts of the world. Indian chess had "Mantri" or "Minister" and not the "Queen" or "Rani" as some Indians today call it.

The introduction of "Powerful Queen" happened in Europe. The Spanish Queen was not amused the way chess was being played and ordered the rules of the game to be changed. To please the Spanish Queen, the rules of Chess were slightly changed and it finally accommodated the "Powerful Queen". 

Prominent people should be careful while citing examples and analogies which have a fractured and dubious history. Crackpot Feminists love today's chess for obvious reasons, teach them the history of Chess and Indian Chess especially to Desi Feminists.

If you want to please women or feminists today as today is "Women's Day", tell them that quite often Ravana's wife Mandodari used to defeat him in the game of Chess.

The Wolfpack - few thoughts.

It is almost impossible to find a compelling reason to watch a film which is a documentary about 6 New York boys with long hair. Crystal Moselle's documentary film "The Wolfpack" is about children who are brought up in a quarantine environment of their apartment.

"The Wolfpack" is a Sad, Funny and Intriguing documentary with lots of Innocence. Whether its the guitar solo which they play, enacting the scenes from their favorite movies or dancing to "Tarzan Boy" in their apartment with New York City lights in the background, it exudes energy and lot of warmth.

The narration of their stories is kind of hypnotic and on numerous occasions it is funny and there are some wonderful moments, for example when the boys come out, one of them says "This is like 3D, man" and when they watch one of their favorite film "Batman Begins" in a Movie theater for the first time, "I play that guy in The Dark Knight.".

Cynics may doubt that this cannot be a real story, if that’s true then please give them best acting awards. "The Wolfpack" is disturbing on many levels because of stark reality but beneath it contains hope which has to be cherished.

Movies, Art and Ideology

Do not praise a movie just because it is morally superior, possesses a righteous outlook and ethically correct. A movie is a piece of art, its not just about values.

Vishal Bhardwaj's "Haider" which has unbearable stench of Left Liberal agenda, driven by misrepresentation and lies to suit a particular narrative is definitely a superior movie in terms of art than Neeraj Pandey's "Baby".

Throughout the history of cinema it has been the case where ideologies are infused into Art, but Art in its form cannot be put behind over an ideology or an agenda.

Bernardo Bertolucci is one of my favorite director, who constantly expresses his romance with Communism on screen but I have been careful not to influence my views towards his work with his ideological inclination.You can add Oliver Stone to this list.

Many aspiring young film makers seem to be more concerned about ideological inclinations ignoring the art in film making. If tapestry of film making is confined to a narrative than film as an Art is bound to perish.

Its not just film makers who have to be honest with film as Art but its also the viewer who has to be honest with his/her expression towards the film as an Art.

Your right to eat beef..

Before asserting your right to eat beef, just have a minuscule thought about the animals right to live.

I am aware that above statement might be misunderstood. Let me explain.

Every animal has the right to live, my problem is with the assertion that eating something by taking a life is seen as "Right". I am against the argument that killing of something should be seen as some kind of fundamental right.

I am all for eating meat, but don't call it as some kind of fundamental right with vulgar display of your left liberal ostentation. I even support human cannibalism if you want to extend the debate to a stratospheric level.