SMALL LIVING .. GREAT PLEASURES

                 THE WONDER CALLED YADAMMA.

I want to introduce an important character of my life in my writing today. She is Yadamma, the lady who helps me keep my home clean.  In feudal language, she will be called a servant maid, in modern context, she will be called, the house keeper, but for me, she is a friend of a different kind.  It’s easy to communicate to her and without any fear, bias, or thinking of any kind. She listens to everything attentively without any judgement or preset ideas.

She is not doing any of the things for drawing attention, getting more money or for some favour as she refuses all that, very honestly. There are many such people around us who live in misery but are more learned and wise, or more spiritual and philosophical than most people like me. She in fact gives me good and valid advise on several issues.

The joy comes to her and such people quite easily and they don’t get bogged down by pains and struggle as they keep getting them in abundance and very frequently. For me, talking to her and listening to her is always a great experience and i become instantly happy and contented in life. Their openness and understanding of life is far superior and matured than mine and most fortunate people like me. I haven’t seen any of the qualities in her, which i eternally attempt to conquer, the greed, lust, attachment, ego, anger. Some of those qualities, they cannot even afford as those qualities and all vices are for the privileged people.

 I endlessly wonder at her and such people who are only misunderstood and exploited forever and ever. Excepting giving more money and hearing, really do not know what can i do to better their lives. i keep feeling helpless about the state of affairs of our country where more time is spent in committing absolutely ancient crime like Rape and more time, might , energy is spent to counter/ control them in media, government etc, and obviously yes it is essential to spend time .. But are we progressive and modern?

Anyway, i am not in the mindset now to talk on those and let me focus on Yadamma. She is one of those thousands of poor Indians who love their land, their locality, and their people despite everything always going wrong for them. Who else can teach me unconditional love, commitment to work, values etc better than yadamma and people like her. Yes i do keep getting refreshed and keep learning and hopefully i am also helpful to them always on some way or the other.

The relief that i get talking to her is absolutely refreshing and pure. The heart fills up and the joy is natural and complete. The conversations range from politics in india to life in earlier days, to attitudes of people, to money to festivals, to traditions, to health to just about everything including religion, spirituality. And all this for maximum 10 to 15 minutes and what a joy and relief that gives.

I am not preaching here anything and just sharing the subtle, happy moments that i keep getting with several simple people every day. Each of them is unconditional and at best they may require few rupees for basic needs. This is how most of the life was, when i was young and now i am caught in this confused modern world of endless greed, power game, and manipulations of which i am also a part. Hopefully more interaction with people like yadamma will make a better human being. 

Idea of writing this was to express my overwhelming gratitude and appreciation to yadamma and people like her. But there is this insufficiency in me as i still feel there is lot to be done to them than just make few people resonate with me. But this is the way to say thanks to god for creating such simple , nice people around us who give so much value endless, unconditionally like the trees and plants around us and like all our mothers. I love such simple genuine people who are in abundance but we need to realize and be in touch with them. Spending 30 minutes a day will help us like its helps me always.

I want to control the temptation of writing more by making one last point. Yadamma kinds are wise, patriotic, contented , sacrificing, and only if they have had better conditions of living, good education and opportunities, wouldn’t they have been great agents of change for our country ? i will leave it here for people who came this far to read , to think and decide .. Tell me if you have an answer.

Thanks for reading this and extending my joy.

SMALL LIVING .. GREAT PLEASURES

                 THE WONDER CALLED YADAMMA.

I want to introduce an important character of my life in my writing today. She is Yadamma, the lady who helps me keep my home clean.  In feudal language, she will be called a servant maid, in modern context, she will be called, the house keeper, but for me, she is a friend of a different kind.  It’s easy to communicate to her and without any fear, bias, or thinking of any kind. She listens to everything attentively without any judgement or preset ideas.

She is not doing any of the things for drawing attention, getting more money or for some favour as she refuses all that, very honestly. There are many such people around us who live in misery but are more learned and wise, or more spiritual and philosophical than most people like me. She in fact gives me good and valid advise on several issues.

The joy comes to her and such people quite easily and they don’t get bogged down by pains and struggle as they keep getting them in abundance and very frequently. For me, talking to her and listening to her is always a great experience and i become instantly happy and contented in life. Their openness and understanding of life is far superior and matured than mine and most fortunate people like me. I haven’t seen any of the qualities in her, which i eternally attempt to conquer, the greed, lust, attachment, ego, anger. Some of those qualities, they cannot even afford as those qualities and all vices are for the privileged people.

 I endlessly wonder at her and such people who are only misunderstood and exploited forever and ever. Excepting giving more money and hearing, really do not know what can i do to better their lives. i keep feeling helpless about the state of affairs of our country where more time is spent in committing absolutely ancient crime like Rape and more time, might , energy is spent to counter/ control them in media, government etc, and obviously yes it is essential to spend time .. But are we progressive and modern?

Anyway, i am not in the mindset now to talk on those and let me focus on Yadamma. She is one of those thousands of poor Indians who love their land, their locality, and their people despite everything always going wrong for them. Who else can teach me unconditional love, commitment to work, values etc better than yadamma and people like her. Yes i do keep getting refreshed and keep learning and hopefully i am also helpful to them always on some way or the other.

The relief that i get talking to her is absolutely refreshing and pure. The heart fills up and the joy is natural and complete. The conversations range from politics in india to life in earlier days, to attitudes of people, to money to festivals, to traditions, to health to just about everything including religion, spirituality. And all this for maximum 10 to 15 minutes and what a joy and relief that gives.

I am not preaching here anything and just sharing the subtle, happy moments that i keep getting with several simple people every day. Each of them is unconditional and at best they may require few rupees for basic needs. This is how most of the life was, when i was young and now i am caught in this confused modern world of endless greed, power game, and manipulations of which i am also a part. Hopefully more interaction with people like yadamma will make a better human being.

Idea of writing this was to express my overwhelming gratitude and appreciation to yadamma and people like her. But there is this insufficiency in me as i still feel there is lot to be done to them THAN just make few people resonate with me. But this is the way to say thanks to god for creating such simple , nice people around us who give so much value endless, unconditionally like the trees and plants around us and like all our mothers. I love such simple genuine people who are in abundance but we need to realize and be in touch with them. Spending 30 minutes a day will help us like its helps me always.

I want to control the temptation of writing more by making one last point. Yadamma kinds are wise, patriotic, contented , sacrificing, and only if they have had better conditions of living, good education and opportunities, wouldn’t they have been great agents of change for our country ? i will leave it here for people who came this far to read , to think and decide .. Tell me if you have an answer.

Thanks for reading this and extending my joy.

GREAT MOVIE EXPERIENCE .. 26/ 11

           RGV IS BACK.... HE WILL SAY ITS MY PERCEPTION

There is one theory about watching movie and that is, the mood, time and company matters in liking or disliking the movie and my daughter Grusha also believes this. It may be true for most movies but not for 26/11, a film by RGV. Basically i have an honest bias against RGV and hated him for his arrogance, attitude and several idiotic movies that he made.( personal opinion backed by  flops history) . Hence i virtually stopped watching his movies, though i respect him for making classics like satya, company and sarkar. But i was motivated to watch this movie because of 1) My dearest friend SVS who loves RGV and he was keen about this movie 2) I got affected by all recent incidents of Kaseb, Afzal guru and Hyderabad bomb blasts 3) I hadn’t followed 26/11 event as it was too much to take those days and hence i do not know the gory details at all except the broad picture of unforgettable tragedy.

Friday evening, and by then i had heard some good talk about the movie which is uncommon about RGV movies, since several years. It was difficult to adjust the time but motivation was highest. Hence rushed to the cinema hall with a colleague of mine and was feeling bad to miss the first 8 minutes, but realized later that i had not missed much as i made for it by standing in theatre till the last line of end titles got over and everyone had left the hall by then. Yes, its a great piece of work and a good movie to watch. Wish IT WAS ALL A STORY WHICH WAS NOT TRUE AND WAS JUST A MOVIE ... Like most in the theatre, i too stood and gave a standing applause as it deserved.

What can we say about the film maker who knows the art of movie making to the core except being suicidal on several occasions. This movie has the finest elements of his movie “company” and “sarkar,” in narration and style. The way he researched, and scripted the story so tight without missing many details is amazing. And restricting to the point that he wanted to convey is to be admired for ever. How does one tell such a story in a cinema and without a bias or exaggeration? It is an incident that has just happened less than 5 years ago and has caught attention of all worlds over and shattered all Indians forever. Choosing to narrate through Joint commissioner of police seems the only choice after we watch the movie and it must been a difficult choice for RGV to make and also make it look like obvious

. Are we qualified to talk  about Nana Patekar’s essaying of that role? It’s like the perfect fit and no casting was ever so perfect. Especially, the dialogue he says to Kaseb in the mortuary has to be understood to get and understand the core of the movie. RGV succeeded in what he wanted to say by this movie. It is said in chaste urdu and probably RGV should have thought of English subtitles. But never mind as the emotion in the scene makes people to make intended sense. Some slang was allowed and for the first time, it all seemed necessary. 

The movie will not make an average person angry; it will instead make him think and also leave him helpless. The violence in the movie is inevitable as the entire movie is on terrorism but we have to give it to RGV for taking those scenes sensibly. There was no need for him to dare to make this movie. With these efforts, he could have made at least 6 of his usual movies. Hence i salute him for taking so much of risk and efforts.

I really do not know how much pains and efforts he took for casting and who all helped him in this process. A highest mark on that for the entire team of casting is to be given. The police men, the terrorists, foreigners, patients, hotel staff, hospital staff, men in launcher all looked very real. That is the strength of the movie. I did not blink my eye though my emotions were high.

For the students of movies, and film making, there is lottttttttt to learn , especially voluminous detailing in every aspect. Nana Patekar’s one dialogue is enough to get the tears.  “ All those innocent killed are not the enemies of any religion and they are simple common people” This trivializes the motive of such terrorists attack. Do not miss to get engrossed when Nana patekar is quietly listening to Kaseb in the jail. The lighting, the frames, the camera work, the cuts, the editing was just outstanding and one cannot stop eulogizing nana  patekar in that scene. There are several such movements in the movie.

I will agree to the argument of some people, if they say why I should watch such gory movie which will bring back the bad memories. Yes, without a doubt you need not watch. But better than watching lots of other Indian movies which are so pretentious and have too much of violence which is meaningless. I will not name but, very recently i saw 2 movies which have more meaningless and avoidable violence than RGV film and both the movies are supposedly big hits. 

I loved the honesty in film making; i appreciate the guts in choosing this theme, and this is made by the person who knows the “craft of film making” absolutely well. Then why doesn’t he make all good movies. We do not even need to take pains of asking him. According to him, he will make movies that he thinks are good and most of us think he is eccentric and unpredictable. Perceptions and interpretations are the hall mark of the life itself and why do we glorify in some individuals and movies? Lets leave RGV from his past and appreciate him for this brilliant work.

Please avoid taking children and older people to this movie as some good like bad, should be selectively kept away from some people. My review is incomplete if i do not salute Amar Mohile for his most outstanding back ground score. Wow, i enjoyed this as a movie and will not go back to bad memories.  I Will feel that, i have seen one good movie which scores good marks in all 24 crafts.  And the man who made it possible has to be appreciated unconditionally.

KADALI..... .......... GOOD OR BAD

With or without reverence, very few of most Indians have eligibility and right to comment on Mani Ratnam’s movies.  I would have preferred if people did not ask me how the movie Kadali was. I would never like to tell someone, if on some day my mom’s cooking was not up to the mark. Just like Mani sir’s movies are metaphor based, analogy related, rich in deep philosophies and understanding of life, i will narrate a small incident / story to say how i felt about the movie.

One Mr X is deeply in love with a beautiful talented lady who one day goes off to USA for 6 to 9 months and comes back, having achieved something big and is a celebrity now. Our Mr X was waiting to meet her, see her, hug her and talk to her. His situation was worse than the dead man in her absence. She had no time to postpone the press meet after she came back. Hence she calls everyone the same evening. The friends, the relatives, press, media and everyone known and unknown to her turn up for the celebration. Our X who waited for so long also goes there. He gets to meet her, talk to her, even manage a hug, shook hands with her, held her hand for a significant time and spent more than 4 hours. He then comes out and meets his best friend Y. When Y asks him, how he felt, meeting her after such a long vulnerable and desperate meet, X has no answer. Was he sad? Was he unhappy? Did she not treat him special? Did they not spend time together? Did she not acknowledge his love? Didn’t she reciprocate? The answer was no to all and it was all positive. There was nothing wrong about the meeting and he could not point any flaw in her or the evening. Yet he did not have the fulfilment, his thirst was not quenched and he did not soulfully feel good.

The same thing happened to me after watching Kadali. Was it bad technically? No. Did not the actors perform well? They did. Was there a flaw in characterization or story or logic? No, not at all. Cinematography, editing, BG score, new pair, just about everything was class, beyond most Indian movies. There were many spell bound visuals, tear jerking scenes and very sensitive dialogues. But as a whole, the weaving to give that cinematic experience was grossly missing. People talked about pace being slow. But did we not appreciate several movies of Mani ratnam that lacked pace and yet we appreciated and accepted. We cannot exactly say what, but the missing factor for commercial cinema space was too conspicuous. 

Mani ratnam’s fascination, obsession for depicting the dynamics between good and bad, the discovery of life’s truth thru  his stories in movies, constant high references to illegitimate child as hero, love emanating out of self insufficiencies is again dealt in this movie and probably more deeply than necessary for a medium like cinema. We cannot take away the impression that arjun’s character creates and his dialogues like , “bad comes to humans as easy as walking to them , but good is like flying and needs wings and hence great efforts” are good and hitting. 

He makes a strong statement yet again that, the quality of good is to suffer in this world and bad dominates to suppress good. But good has to triumph finally, even if people lose hope. Such strong philosophical treaties in a cinema and that for this generation in 2013, is not probably ok. This age cinema is like Pokiri dialogue, “ ee tokkalo meeting yentannayya.. Neekentha, nakentha? “ .. The movies also are done, and accepted the same way. Message has to be inherent in the movie and not as dominant method in the narration. People like light hearted themes or styles, with exceptions of course, albeit at the cost of being silly and thrash also. 

Is this piece a criticism or post mortem of the movie? It is neither. But, this movie is not fit for the commercial space and not in the trend for the current movie patrons. But is it a bad cinema? Is it an art movie? No it is not? Does it have an entertainment? Is it vulgar or violent? None of these apply to the movie. But then should you watch? Please do not watch if you are a patron of regular entertaining movies. Watch without fail if you are a devotee of Mani sir and if you are a student of film, or a budding, aspiring film maker or want to have some lonely time for yourself. Yes, cannot go with the company who are not intellectually in sync with you.

But this movie is like a literary classic book and also in that format. Except being visually extra ordinary, it cannot qualify as a regular movie and is more a poetry, read and enjoyed by people who love classic tastes like Scotch whisky, cold coffee, Ayn Rand books, theatre, western classical music etc. Is any of these things bad? Certainly not, but these are not for everyone like KADALI too.

Audiences and their tastes have changed and Kamal hasan, Mani ratnam need to know the audiences and make their movies if they want to get their money back or make classics for fewer people without compromising on their style, form and passion but in a low budget. We salute them and also pity them for they fail to know their audiences well.  But seriously, Kadali has to be seen by people who are ardent film buffs and not in a hurry to judge. It is must for people who involve in deep thinking about life and are eternally striving to find meanings. This is one such way and that too in a poetically enriching manner.

There is an urge to quickly see his Geetanjali, Sakhi, yuva, Bombay, Dilse to reassure for ourselves that, indeed this great man knows the audience pulse and that too the deep sensitive audience pulse and make them think and stir emotions. How could he have super imposed such a great song like Gungukunna when hero and heroine are getting to know each other and actually talking sense? The dialogues are missed and so is the song. This is a blunder? Mani ratnam is known to present songs well. This is third major disappointment. Jaage in guru, Bahenedo in Raavan , and now this song is not pictured  well. Surely one best thing that can happen is the arrival of the new hero for Tamil industry. Kartik son has made an impact on his debut. Even the heroine is good but Seemed like mani ratnam made her act well. Second movie of her will decide how good she is.