Water

Watched the movie, Water, last night.
Its one of the Deepa Mehta, element n-ologies, that was nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign film, as a Canadian Entry.
While I had specifically decided to enjoy the movie, as it unfolded and not be critical of it, a few themes got me thinking over and over again.
So, I shall attempt to pass this off as a GRE practice essay, since I am desperate to pen down my thoughts, lest they get lost in the jungles of IIT thoughts.

The movie deals with, the widows of Benaras and their oppression, in the late 1930s. The whole setting is wonderfully reconstructed, though I didn't really figure out what Water had to do with it.
It no doubt had a commanding screen presence and makes an appearance in many scenes. It probably also symbolises, the Hindu religion, that although expansive and well-defined in its flow, can be skillfully shaped up, to the needs of those who read the scriptures - the Brahmins.
It might represent the time-frame of a widow's life from the instant, her husband's ashes meet the waters till the time she (or her ashes) drown themselves.
It could stand for innumerous tears that are suppressed.
Or it could be something different altogether.

While, female oppression, is something I have already blogged on, in this movie, its much more potent. Unlike, Dor where, the widow did love her husband & missed him, Water speaks of girls, not even in their teens, widowed before they met their husbands, for whom they could have no possible affection. Also, while we feel sad for Meera, what happens to the playful Chuhiya, only about 7 yrs. old, is graphicaly brutal. The setting of the ashram, with the same grief multiplied in each inmate, is gripping. (That Chuhiya constantly reminded me of a niece, I absolutely adore, didn't make it any easier.)
But, I shall give my feminist rantings a rest.
A smaller but visible undercurrent, is the Gandhi effect. Gandhiji is still remembered largely, as a leader who catalysed Indian independence. With, independence being a 2 generation old thing, and Gandhiji's relevance in present day India, almost forgotten (except, for the rib-tickling Lage Raho...Munnabhai), Water atleast reminds us, of the kind of impact Gandhiji made in a social context, then. With a miniscule screen time for the person himself, the director still manages to talk about Gandhi as a harbinger for change. All along, we are reminded, that a messiah will alleviate the pain, that we see the lead actors suffer.
One of the lines, that the character actually delivers is

For long, I thought that God is the ultimate truth. But now I know, Truth is the ultimate God.

While, one may routinely pass the above as another of Gandhi sayings, it is in the context of the movie, (with Holy Texts being used as tools for discrimination) that you realise the substance. The movie, with a central character searching for herself, as she is lost in the crowds milling for a look at Gandhi, is the most realistic picturisation of his mass popularity. Seema Biswas's acting in the closing minutes is amazing. Her confusion, desperation, will, yet uncertainty are beautifully potrayed.

Eventhough, the above themes, hurt me, for the discrimination was brutal, it never got personal. Thankfully, my family and I, have been fairly modern in their viewpoint. Widow oppression, is wholly detested. 1 UP! My both maternal grandparents, have been Gandhian in their thoughts and actions, for their whole life. My grandmother, continues to stick to his principles till today, and we have imbibed some of the easier ones from her. 2 UP!
But, what bothered me most, was the Brahminical angle to it. While, I am a non-practising Hindu and have at best vague ideas, as to what it means to be one, I have always been proud to be one. I prided my brahminical roots, for their intelligence and awareness. I dismissed anti-Brahminical movements as mere jealousy, that was mostly based on medivial happenings. This movie shook, some of them to the core.
Water, starts with a quote from Manusmriti, that screams of discrimination. The movie ends with stats, that refer to him. The movie is littered with things, he has setup! While, each refers to some distinction, a look beneath the surface, doesn't paint as bad a picture.
Lets take, a case in point. We learn, during the course of the movie, that Manu allows, a widow only 3 forms of life. A Sati (death in the pyre of her husband), or a life devoid of earthly pleasures, or (subject to consent of the family) a marriage to the younger brother of the dead husband. While it seemingly, subjects the widow to the mercy of others, it also ensures that she is not left uncared for. In a male-hounding society, it gave the widow a slight immunity against being subject to humiliation. So in principle, the laws of Manu, seem considerate, if not fair.
What has over the years, (and repeatedly so) gone wrong, is the interpretation of the laws. I never thought, that the learned men (read - Brahmins) would skew the vedas to mean things diametrically opposite, of the original intentions. As one of them says, in the movie "It is a blessing for the widow, that she gets to sleep with a brahmin. A Brahmin can sleep with any woman." This is clearly, not what Manu had in mind, while setting down the basic rules that govern Hinduism.
Over centuries, such traditions would have amounted to the most blatant and widespread misuse of power, that ever has been.
And as per Hinduism, there is no action that ever goes unaccounted for. Each action has to be redeemed and its fruits (bitter or sweet) to be consumed. Hence, in light of such atrocities, the overwhelming anti-brahminical sentiments that are running amok all over the country start to appear just. Suddenly, I feel the collective guilt weighing me down and a black smear spread all across my ancestry. The current domestic situation, doesn't really allow me to talk about this to my parents :P and clearly, its not something that my extended family will take kindly to. But, as my senses open to an outside world, I realize that the quiet manner in which all brahmin bashing is endured, doesn't reflect a strength of character but rather an attempt to passively accept the conviction for ancestral deeds.
In an ever-shrinking world, where you require every possible support to make you stand up for what you are, and carve a niche for yourself, a fundamental constituent gone rotten, is very disturbing.

Another Teen Movie

[The following has been written with a viewpoint of someone who has read the book -- For the rest, its a college adventure movie :D]
While making a movie out of a massively successful storyline & compressing the largest Harry Potter novel so far, into 2 Hours and 17 minutes, is no mean task but (inspite of knowing all this,) I am more than mildly disappointed.
In case, you wondered, I watched Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, 1^stDay Last Show in Paris. A big Yeah to that!
To those, who think HP is abra-ca-dabra go take a hike!
To those, I promised to see the movie with, apologies, but will see it again with you anyway.
Also, incidentally, after giving Goblet a skip in the theaters, I have watched each of the others in different city - Pune, Bangalore, Bombay & now, Paris :D
I can't stop gloating :)
So basically, in an effort of squishing 800 pages of the book - the director ends up practically nowhere. One thing that the movie stands out for, is the measure of growth that the Daniel Radcliffe, as Harry & Emma Watson, as you-know-who ;) , have shown. Unlike, Goblet, where Miss Watson, had everyone from Krum to Me to many others floored, she is much more subdued. Except for a scene, where she applies a bit too much of lipstick, she's back into the mould of a best friend, who looks averagely good & not the school beauty, who sits besides you in class, but is being asked out by International Quidditch Heroes. I miss her bushy hair, though (No Pun intended - its how JKR describes her).
Among the other cast, Uncle Vernon looks hugely comical, Gwarp is fitting, Bellatrix is unnaturally loud ...
... & is part of a bigger problem, that I think the movie suffers from. All characters in the movie, have gone overboard to fit exactly into the mould JKR designed. Dumbledore, as I saw him in the movie, wasn't the same as I had mentally pictured him to be while reading, but that was OK!
This movie, has Umbridge having all the associated imagery to recreate the toad visualisation that JKR creates in the book. In a movie hard pressed for time, panning her obscenely pink office a couple of times, is a huge waste. While she might have exactly imitated the book, the added visualisations with her toadiness overdoes it. While her characteristic, 'Hem, hem' is perfectly timed and astutely executed, its an irritant as the movie progresses. Among the most frequent complaints about HP5, has been her time-consuming character. The movie doesn't help itself, by coping this part.
Similarly, with Bellatrix! It is necessary to speak of her evil laughter a few times over to get the message across, it is sufficient to display her laugh just once or twice.
While, the reason Order, as a book is vastly different from its predecessors (also, among the reasons it is complicated), is that it speaks of the Gray areas between the Dark and the Light. It shows James, in a nasty light. It speaks of Umbridge as a misguided but loyal follower. It speaks of Aunt Petunia, doing more than just feeding Harry on leftovers.
The movie blunders each time.
We are never given a chance to like Umbridge. James' arrogance as a 15 yr. old is portrayed as Harry's strength in repelling Snape. The Howler sent to Petunia is still an unexplained element. In case, JKR resolves it in Hallows, the movie HP7 will have a null pointer.
In the concluding minutes, Harry's anguish at learning the prophecy was done with, in a snap. It speaks, of Dark Lord marking him as an equal & neither surviving while the other lives. While, picturising it would no way have been an easy task, Harry's contemplations by the Great Lake, bring out the man in the boy.
What the movie succeeds in doing, however is capture the difficult scenes, well. Fudge's tinkering with the Daily Prophet uses nice techniques. The Department of Mysteries creates an aura of the unknown. Characters of Lupin, Sirius, Tonks, McGonnagal, Ron and Hagrid are self-assured. Voldemort is unnecessarily disfigured. We hear that Tom was a pretty handsome boy. Luna Lovegood, is a revelation as McDreamy. Ginny isn't positioned to be Harry's love interest in the next. Quidditch is sorely missed. But the lack of too many outdoor scenes, create a nice Dark tinge to the whole movie.
What we are left with, is our jock, with a couple of great pals, in a school with an evil teacher imposed on them. They decide, that something secret is cool and rebellious, since they have a point to prove to the world. He manages to snog a girl, in the meantime. They goof up and land in a soup. But our friendly neighbourhood jock, has to star in subsequent movies & with a little help, saves the world alrite. The evil teacher was wrong, all throughout & is duly punished. Another Teen Movie - a few JKR details, don't hurt!

The movie - 'Dor' ;

& little More !

While the rhyme up there is on the lighter side, the rest of the post will not necessarily be :)

I am just done watching the movie - 'Dor'.
While I must agree that I had heard positively about the movie, I had no idea what the movie was about.
The movie starts and doesnt take too long to introduce the main cast :-
Gul Panag - I never knew much about her, other than the fact that she landed some pageant crown, some years back. With minimal beauty accessories in the movie, she is still very beautiful. She plays Zeenat, a self willed teacher from Himachal.
Ayesha Takia - I always knew she was ravishing, but she manages to act here & not appear a misfit in a rural setting as a Meera.

Zeenat maries Amir, just as he leaves for Saudi, while in parallel Meera takes a tearful farewell of her husband, as he leaves as well. Meera finding herself, being shoved into the background & behind the veil, as the doting husband leaves, is a perfect foil to Zeenat.

Other characters, like the commanding in-laws of Meera, the stern grand-ma, the effervescent girl and few others are seen around.

Their lives collide when, Amir is indicted for murdering roommate Shankar [Meera's Husband], while in Saudi & the put on the death row. Only a pardon, by Meera can save Amir [according to Saudi laws].
In search of this pardon, Zeenat leaves on a journey to Rajasthan, that is portrayed very beautifully. The interaction between the two leading ladies in the backdrop of a very conservative Rajput family, forms the major of the later part of the movie.

At this point, I will stop from making a movie review and stress slightly on the few things that twanged my heart strings - while watching the movie.
That the happy starting and romancing, between the two couples would end was obvious, the depiction of Meera's stress disturbed me a lot. Call me a sissy or whatever, the scenes following the death rites were brutal to say the least.
Her resignation to her fate and compliance with the traditional norms of the family structure bring about an inherent imbalance in the family structure. Very subtly, the issues of a widow being forced and expected to remain sad - as a mark of loyalty - to the memory of her late husband are brought up.

While clearly, the urban Indian society has come far from this speed breaker, & that contemporary girls cant be granted even a percent of the innocence of Meera, I over the years have come to accept atleast to myself, that certain inequalities still persist. While I have no idea, how my parents would have treated a girl child, I do see many parents [of guy-friends + gal-friends] still making a marked distinction between the two.
I am sure, never was the utmost importance of the academic career of any guy friends, ever questioned. I am pretty positive that wasn't the case, with most of the girls, even those - who mingle and wander amongst us.
Similarly, never was I expected to devote valuable [& justified] academic time to do housework, something that I find out doesn't translate on to girls in equal measure, even now.
I was shocked a few days ago, when I came to hear of, that a professor teaching in IITB still held the view that - 'Beti engineering kar ke kya karegi?' !

Every time, any girl confides in me something about her family - I am like 'Aise bhi hota hai kya?' . Suddenly, I feel so very advantaged that am a guy. Most of the things that have been so very obvious to me over these years, apparently are not equally obvious to some parents, wrt both genders.

The icing on this cake turns out to be - that my classmates are being confronted by their parents about getting married, at regular intervals. YA RITE !!
Just that, there comes a time, when one can no longer laugh it off !

[Disclaimer: This neither explains nor justifies all that actions that contemporary girls are known to indulge in, which are still very deplorable. The above post talks only about the inequality in a family structure. I have not come across, nor do I expect to do so, any such example in college setup.]