Barely had the controversy surrounding ‘Da Vinci Code’ subsided (it’s not fully over as yet; Punjab  – of all states!  - has banned its release),  another much awaited film has fallen under ‘fanaa‘tic’s glare! For small mercies, this time the reason is not religious; and is restricted to one state.

I am not an Aamir fan; and wouldn’t really have cared if it hadn’t been for Yash Raj Films, Kajol and Kunal Kohli – for their sake, I want the film to be a success. On its own, the film was slated to be one major grosser, and that’s because of the above three reasons; it would have been equally awaited had it starred Saif, Salman or Shahrukh (perhaps even more, considering that as a pair Shahrukh-Kajol have a 100% hit ratio ); in my scheme of things, Aamir is the most expendable person, and that the controversy surrounds him angers me more.

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While HRD Ministry draws rightful flak for its regressive reservation policy, there is a positive tune also emanating from its corridors. The Ministry has proposed changes to the archaic Copyright Act 1957. Under the proposed changes, it will be difficult for the remix brigade to pick up any song and maul and distort it at their fancy – the journey from beautiful to beat-iful will get tougher!

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Rajesh Roshan has come up with quite an unlikely present day song. And I was correct. The roots of this melody can be traced in the background score of Kaho Na Pyar Hai. In the scene where Hrithik and Amisha are stranded on a deserted island, there is a shot where Hrithik is running towards the make-shift flag (made of Amisha’s skirt) – the dholak-based tune in that shot is same as the lines, ‘Aao sunaoon pyaar ki ek kahani’.

Often music directors develop their own background scores into full-fledged songs. Shankar-Jaikishan were particularly known to do this often. Shiv Hari converted Chandni‘s love theme into the sumptuous Kabhi Mai Kahun for Lamhe.

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Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has put a temporary halt on Da Vinci Code’s release. It’s a strange decision, and entirely unwarranted, though not very surprising. Of course, why it’s been done is no big surprise. Religion is huge in India – and any religion at that! 

Earlier, Water was stalled – to the extent that Deepa Mehta had to shoot the film in Sri Lanka surreptitiously under the guise of making a different film. I have my own reservations against films like Water, especially when they come from film-makers not living in India and their target audiences are not Indians. But I never agreed with reasons forwarded by Hindu fundamentalist in their protest. For all that came across, Water was just another film depicting things existed; if they are hard to swallow, so be it – change those old malpractices if you can!
 

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Film Review

I like Abbas Mustan, the film industry’s sole director duo. Generally they pick up a foreign idea, indianize it, garnish it with good music, add a dash of comedy and serve a slickly packaged dish. Khiladi, Baazigar, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Aitraz, Ajnabee, Badshah and Humraaz are some of their good movies. With their brother Hussain Burmawallah at the editing table, Abbas Mustan’s films always have a smooth narrative flow. 

Having grown up on a staple of Agatha Christies, Hindi films’ murder mysteries always leave me unfulfilled. So in that respect 36 China Town had a tough standard to live upto. But if for a moment we leave Christie-comparison aside and view 36 China Town individually as a film, it is definitely entertaining, and all above mentioned standard Abbas-Mustan ingredients are present. 

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On the basis of its win in Bengal, the Left claims it will be ‘stronger’ and have more say in the matters of Central interest. Everyone seems to have taken this with muted acknowledgement, as if it is a but-natural thing to happen.

I fail to understand the logic. How does a win in one (or two) states change equation at the Centre? How can a regional win mean that the party has achieved right to be a bully for the entire nation?

Can any one explain? I am completely lost!

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Last night Zee aired The Hero – Love Story of A Spy ; the film was a box office dud, but somehow I had  enjoyed it at that time. Watching it again was equally interesting. This was the review I had written to send to Filmfare at that time.

With a song on his lips, power in his biceps, punch in his voice, here comes our dashing, daring and dynamic hero. He changes his appearance faster than a chameleon, crosses the LOC single-handedly to save his beloved, preaches about nuclear bombs, and wins the hearts of the masses with his charms. 

With his penchant for Sunny Deol, Pakistan-bashing and climaxes in fast moving trains, Anil Sharma returns with his latest patriotic saga, titled, very aptly- The Hero. The sub-title (Love Story of A Spy) is a misnomer, but then, Gadar (Sharma’s previous big hit) had a ‘love story’ in its name, so we can assume it was added for superstitious benefits. Else, the love story in the film is even less loose than Pakistan’s reason for claiming Kashmir!!!
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I am not really a news freak; at the most, I view the various news channels (and there seem to be quite a lot of them!) with nothing more than a perfunctory interest, stopping at them just long enough to catch the headlines. Beyond this, their utility seems suspect. At times, they look idiots pretending to be intellectuals.

This sudden deluge of news is unbalancing, especially since I have lived without TV for long.

Even the size of newspapers is shocking. In Kathmandu, leading English dailies like Himalayan Times were at the most 12-16 pages, while Kathmandu Post finished in 6 pages; no supplements, no add-ons! In Delhi, the newspapers seem to be more weight-lifting instruments than reading materials!

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Suddenly it all went topsy-turvy.

Coming back home should have been easy, and comfortable. And that’s what I had thought too. Till the time I unpacked my bags here, and realized that nineteen months is quite a long time for new routines to settle in, which I weren’t aware of, or had missed during my brief two-three days visit every month. These changes, although subtle, can be quite irritating.

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