Saturday, September 26, 2009

Musings some and Observations some

Whats with AB?....Why why would he take up something like anchoring Big Boss? One can see him as the host for KBC: understated, suave, the poser of intelligent queries, maintaining the fine line between approachable and intimidating... but what is he doing as the host of a vacuummed -of-intelligence voyueristic freak show? Guess AB is too busy with advertisements to take time out for introspection or is it that AB the persona is bigger than AB the person and we expect too much from a man who can be bought for too little...

Moving from AB and his principles or lack of them, whats with this city and and the redevelopment mania?...recently took a walk along a convenient short cut on an errand, and felt like alice would have on tumbling into wonderland...gone were the quaint old buildings,replaced with cookie cutter towers. All look principally the same, tall to qualify as a tower,painted in bright colours, sporting fancy names, a compound full of shiny parked cars and a surly looking watchman. So though miss the sight of charming old lived- in buildings,am glad atleast employment through watchmen and daily wage labourers is on the rise...

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Of Kaminey, Caulfield & Lalbaug cha Raja

Yep, the only common thread twixt the three is me. Happened to experience all three in the same week...and yep as usual all three got me thinking...

Lets start with the god that lords over mumbai. Lalbaug cha raja. This diety is the biggest celebrity this side of town. And as i learnt last weekend, getting a glimpse of him, with both your feet on the ground and your belongings and bearings all in one place,is no mean feat.

Having declared myself as agnostic, i can conveniently jump from one side of the fence to the other. So from the believer side of the fence, family in tow proceeded towards lalbaug. Only to find the whole city in a serpentine queue for the darshan. After much jostling, shoving and pushing (lost my fav watch in the process) got 2 minutes of face time. But must admit is worth it. The moorti is quite magnificent and radiates a quiet benevolence. But might stick to watching him on the telly next time around than have the whole city treading on my toes. Guess, just about everybody is hungry for miracles.

From celebrated dieties to celebrated directors. Kaminey sure generated a lot of hype, thanks to all the 4 star reviews and was eagerly looking forward to it. But came away disappointed. The first half holds your attention only because you are busy trying to figure, what the hell is going on?...And though the film finally moves and starts making sense in the second half, it is not riveting. It is a huge exercise in join the dots and some dots like the mushy psychology of guddu and charlie's past botch it up.I did like the dripping with maharashtrian nuances bhope. And i loved priyanka as the fiesty maharashtrian mulgi.The sweety-guddu angle was nicely handled, and wish it had gotten more screen space than charlie's antics and weird dreams.As far as black comedies with confusion go, give me a jaane bhi do yaaron anyday.

Caulfied...ah holden kills me...he really does. After all these years, catcher in the rye can still grip and move you. What really makes it super as far as i am concerned are the sarcastic gems. Like when he is dancing with someone wooden, - it was like dancing with the statue of liberty, he says. And all those fictional role plays of him getting shot and bleeding from the gut, that he conjures up just about anywhere to amuse himself.Yes, holden kills me. It’s an exceptional insight into the mind of an intelligent, witty but somewhat rambling introverted teenager. Holden with beyond his age maturity, his craving for intellectual conversation and his feeling of not being understood...is a summing up of teenage angst of introverts at its best. Like holden says, a good book is one, when you want to call up the author and speak to him. I think a good book is one when you want to really call up and speak to the protagonist.So Holden, you are in queue, right after am done with sherlock holmes.
 
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