Sunday, January 21, 2007

Communication problems


I would argue that Priyadarshan has relentlessly brought out and addressed the problem of communication in our society. This problem of mis-communication or a lack of communication happens due to different reasons. In the latest ‘Bhagam Bhag’ the small mis-interpretation of ‘heroin’ for ‘heroine’ (due to a trick of hearing and the incomprehension of a ‘Dehati’ played by Govinda for the word ‘heroin’) leads two innocent guys into a mad world of deception and merry-go-around chase. In ‘Malamal Weekly’ greed and fear involving intertwined ‘murder and lottery prize’ become the reason for people ‘to lie’ and then ‘lie over a lie’ and so all three – ‘greed, fear and lies’ multiply and proliferate. It is the same fear which leads Paresh Rawal’s character in 'Hulchul' to go on lying in a comedy-of-errors manner to hide the fact that he is married.

Characters in his films speak a lot; they seem deeply perturbed, talking very little sense and giving vent to their frustration. Also, they are very bad listeners. Priyadarshan brings out the absurdity of over-communication as a lack of communication brilliantly. Rajpal Yadav playing Bandya is a luckless servant bound to Gundya (Paresh Rawal), an equally luckless master in ‘Chup Chup Ke’. He seems to be complaining all the time about his condition and ends up worsening it. Through all his garrulous talks, he only invites further wrath from the family of Prabhat Singh Chauhan (played by Om Puri) and their servants, the silent Jeetu (Shahid Kapoor) however gets away. Bandya’s dilemma is that nobody is prepared to listen to him, he just cannot communicate his suspicion about Jeetu or his observations about him, and he gets mixed up.

In Priyadarshan’s films, the supporting cast is important because through them he creates a world of total chaos. Films like, ‘Chup Chup Ke’, ‘Malamal Weekly’ are undoubtedly inspired form other flicks but they also show a director who has an eye for an ironically grotesque world - a world where people are driven by the weight of such compulsions that mis-communication becomes inevitable – a son thinks that by killing himself his father can use the money from his life insurance and pay off his debts, a poor person earning a rupee a day suddenly sees the possibilities of one crore rupees and ostensibly looses his head.

His side-kicks recall parodists like clowns in circus or cross-talk comedians in a music hall, and by showing the fact that they always keep getting kicked, Priyadarshan also symbolically poses the problem of the ‘Others’. The hero’s friend ironically named ‘Lucky’ played by Arshad Warsi in ‘Hulchul’, an incredulous guy who with great commitment helps his friend in carrying out pranks, always bears the brunt of people while mistakes are done by somebody else, many a times notably by the hero himself. The character of Gullu executed yet again by Rajpal Yadav has the same story to tell. An Indian taxi-driver in U.K., Gullu wants to help Indian guests coming to London but ends up getting cursed and beaten again and again.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Ivan Klima - Moments when love pops out unexpectedly


Chekov's short stories have travelled continents, inspired writers speaking, thinking , dreaming and writing in different languages. If the Chinese writer Gao Xingjian takes a leaf of minimalism from him, another genius, the Czech writer Ivan Klima is equally sparse and equally concerned about the brilliance dimly perceptible in banality.

He has a strategy in those collection of short stories "Lovers for a Day". When the two lovers fall in love, they seem so unlikely a match and their falling for each other happens in such uncertain circumstances, and yet, they do, then love flies away as quickly as it had come. Some compromise and stay, others get up from the bedside, leave the dim room and are gone into their early lives, there is a compromise here too. Through all this Klima gives hope too, a slight one.

He seems to be the asking the question - "Why do we talk about love all the time, when do we start talking about it, can it be the point where it has ended, can there be sympathy between two people after love between them has gone, can there be love-filled moments when we take calculated risks and then discover them to be blunders"

Elegant and he does not write even an extra irrelevant alphabet. Much less political than his earlier published novels, a lovely read.

Monday, January 01, 2007

biting sadness and happiness engulf you at the same time

It is surprising how I forget she has an impairment of sorts. It has been thirteen years since she got hurt and it stuck to her. We were shocked , traumatized and dismayed, then slowly with time, it left us for most of the time, revealed itself to us only in moments. During these times, I have been jealous, loving, condescending, arrogant and tender towards her. How should I react to her impairment?, has been a question I have asked myself. "Normalize Things" is what people say. Recently she has come to terms with her impairment and when she tells it very matter-of-factly, I miss a beat each time. I feel very proud of her then. When she told me recently, she has had it verified from the doctor that she has no vision in one eye and then asked me how does she look today draped in madurai silk, I told beautiful and she said the greatest moments in life are those when both biting sadness and happiness engulf you at the same time. I could only say yes -- sibling affection as we paired together to cross the traffic and have Biryani.