Some updates and one very important realisation

It has been almost three months since I have posted a single word. I am back in the land of my birth and the hunt for that elusive 'job' is still on. Mumbai is still the same, filthy, polluted, loud, crazy, zany city...in other words full of life and colour and I would not have it any other way!!!

Even though I am part of the many million who are unemployed I have still managed to partake in one daaru session every week, which according to certain sections of society makes me one big bevda.

What constructive thing have I done since I have returned? Well, if one must know I have discovered that the best way to enjoy the effects of marijuana is to consume it in the weirdest of places, like hospitals or the rooms of doctors in hospitals!!! I have also realised that guys should not wear stockings of any kind, especially those that go up to their thighs and more importantly one should never encounter a guy wearing thigh-high stockings when one is stoned, it can be extremely scary. I still wake up at night shivering in fright...

Finally, let me end by saying how happy I am that the Aussies are getting their backsides whipped in their own backyard. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my lips and a tear to my eye. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, SHAME ON YOU!!!

Maqbool vs Omkara

Two nights ago, due to a lack of sleep and extreme boredom I revisited Maqbool and Omakara, Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptations of Macbeth and Othello and I must say that I ended up changing my initial views on these two films. I remember raving and ranting about how good Omkara was and how it was such an improvement for Vishal Bharadwaj as a filmmaker. Basically I reacted like every film critic in India. Unfortunately, I must eat my words shamelessly.

Maqbool is the movie where Bharadwaj has shown that he is a filmmaker that we should look out for. He has beautifully and very meticulously adapted Macbeth for Indian sensibilities. The main characters have been fleshed out extremely well with outstanding performances by Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Irfann Khan, Tabu and Piyush Mishra. Pankaj Kapur, though, is the standout performance. His character bears shades of Marlon Brando in the Godfather, but Kapur has made the character his own. Even though he is physically diminutive, Kapur's character (Abbaji) exudes power. Kapur's Abbaji is the definitive 'Godfather' of Hindi cinema. Maqbool, though set in the squalor of the Mumbai underworld cannot really be called a gangster film. Its focus is on the characters and their human frailties. This is where Bharadwaj leaves his stamp as someone who is not interested in aping the gangster formula as conceived and unabashedly milked by Ram Gopal Verma.

Maqbool is the right blend of a tight script, brilliant performances and exceptional directing that is rarely seen in Hindi cinema these days.

Omkara, is definitely a technically superior movie than Maqbool. It is slicker and has a grander scale. Bharadwaj has shown an eye for detail by meticulously recreating the nexus that exists between politics and the underworld, especially in Uttar Pradesh. However, unlike Maqbool the focus is on the stars and not the characters. The only character that seems completely fleshed out is that of Langda Tyagi, which is essayed by Saif Ali Khan and is, not surprisingly, the stand out performance in the film. Saif's rustic, rural Iago is foul-mouthed, treacherous and at the same time slightly endearing. Saif is able to essay the hurt and betrayal his character feels at being overlooked as a successor to Omkara quite marvellously.

Unfortunately, other than Saif's performance and two remarkable cameos by Konkona Sen Sharma and newcomer Deepak Dobriyal, the rest of the star-studded cast deliver performances that are good but not memorable. As a friend of mine once mentioned, Bharadwaj might have been better off going with relatively unknown actors, since they would have approached the roles without the baggage of their star personae.

However, Bharadwaj should be given a standing ovation for turning to classic literature for ideas and for bringing Shakespeare to the masses and the effort he takes to adapt these classics to the Indian milieu. There seems to be a genuine effort by him to make films that are entertaining and at the same time have something for the connoisseur of good cinema.

This aint a review...

Saw RocknRolla with the Zenmaster after a session at our favourite watering hole and I must say that it was extremely disappointing. Most directors these days, in my humble opinion, seem to start their careers with a bang and then...NOTHING.

Guy Ritchie's first two movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch showed a lot of promise and could well be considered to have added a new dimension to the British gangster genre with the tongue-in-cheek humour that they contained and the complex and intricately constructed script with excellent characterisation. These two movies had relative new-comers in them other than Snatch which had Brad Pitt in a role which was small yet memorable. However, Guy Ritchie has not lived up to expectations which these films created, at least not to mine.

RocknRolla has a story that is paper thin. There are multiple story lines that converge just like his earlier ones but they only appear to be complex. The dialogues of the characters are very mediocre with obvious attempts at replicating the wit witnessed in Lock, Stock and Snatch. The worst part is none of the characters are memorable. I came out of the theatre feeling the way one feels after smoking a Marlboro made in China. IT'S JUST NOT THE SAME!

I am not trying to write a review here, but what I am trying to convey is that these days the experience of going for a movie, at least for one made in the UK or US, is just not fulfilling. None of the British or American movies that I have seen in the past one year, have really made an impact on me. I have not come out of the theatre going, "WOW! That was some flick..." Even the blockbusters seem extremely formulaic and even visually they do not stand out.

That is my biggest gripe with the films coming out of the West these days. I do not remember seeing an American or British film recently that has knocked me off my feet the way Pulp Fiction did and sadly Tarantino has also gone the Ritchie way. I think the problem here is that the directors these days are slaves of their images. So a Ram Gopal Verma (RGV) sticks to gangster and horror films which is the same with Tarantino and Ritchie. They do not seem to want to experiment with genres and styles, which is the one way they can keep their audience guessing. I doubt if RGV will ever make a musical like Rangeela. He is so wrapped up in the image of a director who makes realistic, gritty films 'exposing the underbelly' of life that a frothy, light musical from him seems as distant as a Pink Floyd reunion.

Confused...as always

What is it that I want to do with this life of mine?
A question that I have asked myself a million times and have been asked a million times...and for some strange reason unknown to myself, the answer is I DON'T KNOW!

I cannot cite confusion as a valid reason for not knowing what it is I want to pursue as a career or vocation or any other word that means the same. Most individuals my age are slightly confused or so I have been led to believe, but most of them have a vague idea about what they would like to do someday when they are 60 or married or whatever, but not me. I am just plain blank.

Now don't take me wrong, I do have interests but I cannot really see a possible future in any of them. I mean, can anyone make a career out of listening to the ethereal compositions of Pink Floyd completely high on marijuana? If anyone does know of such a career path please contact me ASAP!

So is it normal for me to be so confused? Is it possible that the answer is waiting to pounce on me and that I just have to give it time? Only time will tell. Till then I guess I will just roll another joint and wander through THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON...

Jobs, Jobs Jobs!!!

That's all everyone around me seems to be talking about. Everyone I know is in the process of looking for a job or finalising the salary details with a potential employer and to be honest its just depressing as hell. Bitching and moaning about the lack of jobs or lack of job offers, to be more precise, is ok but beyond a point its more like a creeping malaise. I call it a malaise because if you are not careful you end up only talking like the end of the world is near and in the process depressing everyone around you...I, unfortunately, have been guilty of this crime quite often these days.

What is even worse is when individuals, who have jobs, start to crib about how tough it is for freshers to get jobs and how it is a numbers game...yeah like its one big lottery with a cash prize of $1000,000,000,00 and if you play it long enough you are sure to win since the odds are in your favour...BAH!!! Such individuals need to realise that such speel is not always appreciated however good the intentions are and that the reciever of that speel rather drown himself in a barrel of really bad hooch!

Anyway, I don't want to keep complaining, but this was something that has been bugging me like a bad itch on the Gluteus Maximus and I just had to reach over and scratch.

BAH HUMBUG!!!!!

My thoughts whenever someone near me mentions the word D.I.S.S.E.R.T.A.T.I.O.N.

As any reader with my level of intelligence -- which is not much I must say -- would have guessed, I am currently involved in the arduous task of completing my MA dissertation which is due by the end of this month and from the look of things I seem to be doing everything in my power to FAIL!!!

Out of the mandatory 12,000 words (yes I have to spew out a minimum of 12, 000 words) I have achieved a little less than 4,000 and they all comprise of thoughts and observations extracted from various books and articles.

I spend my days trying to decipher various articles which supposedly contribute to my research and watching every damn movie available on the internet on those sites which are boons from the gods since they let financially unstable (broke) students like myself stream a movie for free and watch it on laptops.

With approximately three weeks left I am still behaving as if the damn thing is due in 2050!!! What will happen to me is in the hands of the 62 billion gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. In the words of my friend The OWL, "AIYYYYOOOOOO!"

GENESIS

The creation of this blog is part of the million activities undertaken while working on my MA dissertation. Well to be honest, the blog was created a few months back but I never got around to actually 'customising' it and adding to its content. Well let's hope I stick to it and keep adding some interesting tit-bits from my life and the confused garble which is my mind.