of honey and sweetness....
sweet ole bips ( a very dear frnd ) had once read one of my angst ridden posts and observed that it is "slow and sensuous pouring of emotions ...very much like fiona" ...though i dont have any such illusions about my rather plebeian writing skills ,thanks to her very generous comment i discovered fiona...and boy am i hooked...
You moved like honey in my dream last night
Yeah, some old fires were burning
You came near to me and you endeared to me
But you couldnt quite discern me
Does that scare you?
Ill let you run away
But your heart will not oblige you
Youll remember me like a melody
Yeah, Ill haunt the world inside you
And my big secret - gonna win you over
Slow like honey, heavy with mood
Ill let you see me,
Ill covet your regard
Ill invade your demeanor
And youll yield to me like a scent in the breeze
And youll wonder what it is about meI
ts my big secret - keeping you coming
Slow like honey, heavy with mood
Though dreams can be deceiving
Like faces are to hearts
They serve for sweet relieving
When fantasy and reality lie too far apart
So I stretch myself across, like a bridge
And I pull you to the edge
And stand there waiting
Trying to attainT
he end to satisfy the story
Shall I release you?
Must I release you?
As I rise to meet my glory
But my big secret
Gonna hover over your life
Gonna keep you reaching
When Im gone like yesterday
When Im high like heaven
When Im strong like music
cuz Im slow like honey,
andHeavy with mood
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Touch …
I brush past…
I push …
I jostle…
I squirm…
But rarely do I touch…
But when you embrace me with your eyes
When you look up…
Why oh why do I fade out?
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
My Film Festival
this is an excerpt of my report on the Kolkata Film Festival ...it was rejected ...the person in charge of the website felt its was just a series of comments by the bystanders...my attempt was to string together the Film Festival story...
look at me am the quintessential whiney writer...
Long after the dust settles on Nandan grounds, the flavor of the sumptuous film feast will linger in the mouths of cinephiles. The Kolkata Film Festival is a veritable feast, which leaves its patrons hungry for more, and this year the feast was particularly well laid out. The discerning jury members like fussy Chefs, ensured that only the freshest and choicest of films were served.
Many People…Many Voices…
On every second week of November people from all walks of life in Kolkata come together for a cause célèbre; a week of celluloid revelry through which Kolkata celebrates her most enduring aspect: her mythical middle class intellectual who swears by Godard and dotes on Fellini.
Therefore one wouldn’t be too off the mark if one decides to track the “mythical intellectual” in the melee of Nandan Multiplex grounds. Armed with a note pad and a pen, yours truly decided to hunt him/her down and the results were surprising to say the least.
Sample these-
Aditya Mondol, a constable with the Kolkata Police, who has been posted as security personnel in the Nandan Complex (where most of the films were screened), says “ I would love to watch movies from different parts of the world, but I also realize that as a security person my duty is to ensure that cinema lovers of Kolkata do not face any trouble. So I am not complaining, I love reading the brochures…I thrive in this atmosphere”.
Anubhati Basu, a student of cinema rues the lack of enthusiasm among the youth. She feels that “Cinema, or for that matter any form of art, cannot survive without the patronage of the youth. The fact that none of my classmates are here is very significant, and I am disillusioned…”
Nihar Gupta, a businessman, says, “The film festival is a good place to see uncensored films.”
Shakuntala Barua, a popular film and television actress feels that the Film Festival is a pilgrimage for her. She finds the experience of discovering different films and cultures “humbling”.
Jigme Bhutia, content writer, is here because it’s a “cool place to be seen in. I fail to understand why should we treat the festival as a pilgrimage. After all it’s about people isn’t it? Why make it a pretentious orgy of intellectual musings?”
Parambrata Chatterjee, a popular actor and an up and coming filmmaker, feels that the Festival like everything in Kolkata is a celebration of its people. “ It’s like a Puja Pandal here and that’s wonderful. I love discovering new films here…” like a true student of cinema, this young filmmaker loves studying the subtler nuances of filmmaking. He finds the prospects of discovering new cultures through films “ exciting and inspiring”.
Arpita Bagchi and Siddharth Bagchi have been patrons of this festival from its very inception. They were regulars in the quadrennial International Film Festival of India (which is now an annual event in Goa) too. Their love for cinema is enduring to say the least. As Mrs.Bagchi fondly reminiscences “I still remember the joy of discovering Godard, Bergman and Adoor Gopalakrishnan…the festival is something we eagerly look forward to every year.”
Dipak Das, a tea seller in the Festival Grounds says “ I have served cups of tea to many luminaries with my own hands during the Kolkata Film Festival. I probably am not educated enough to fully comprehend their work but I make it a point to see them. Initially they didn’t make sense but today I think Bergman is a beautiful filmmaker.”
Chandan Sen a reputed theatre personality feels that the Film Festival is a good platform to “understand the thought process of the world personae.”
Probably, in between these somewhat conflicting views, I have found the true (and not the mythical) Kolkata Intellectual…or at least his/her shadow
On every second week of November people from all walks of life in Kolkata come together for a cause célèbre; a week of celluloid revelry through which Kolkata celebrates her most enduring aspect: her mythical middle class intellectual who swears by Godard and dotes on Fellini.
Therefore one wouldn’t be too off the mark if one decides to track the “mythical intellectual” in the melee of Nandan Multiplex grounds. Armed with a note pad and a pen, yours truly decided to hunt him/her down and the results were surprising to say the least.
Sample these-
Aditya Mondol, a constable with the Kolkata Police, who has been posted as security personnel in the Nandan Complex (where most of the films were screened), says “ I would love to watch movies from different parts of the world, but I also realize that as a security person my duty is to ensure that cinema lovers of Kolkata do not face any trouble. So I am not complaining, I love reading the brochures…I thrive in this atmosphere”.
Anubhati Basu, a student of cinema rues the lack of enthusiasm among the youth. She feels that “Cinema, or for that matter any form of art, cannot survive without the patronage of the youth. The fact that none of my classmates are here is very significant, and I am disillusioned…”
Nihar Gupta, a businessman, says, “The film festival is a good place to see uncensored films.”
Shakuntala Barua, a popular film and television actress feels that the Film Festival is a pilgrimage for her. She finds the experience of discovering different films and cultures “humbling”.
Jigme Bhutia, content writer, is here because it’s a “cool place to be seen in. I fail to understand why should we treat the festival as a pilgrimage. After all it’s about people isn’t it? Why make it a pretentious orgy of intellectual musings?”
Parambrata Chatterjee, a popular actor and an up and coming filmmaker, feels that the Festival like everything in Kolkata is a celebration of its people. “ It’s like a Puja Pandal here and that’s wonderful. I love discovering new films here…” like a true student of cinema, this young filmmaker loves studying the subtler nuances of filmmaking. He finds the prospects of discovering new cultures through films “ exciting and inspiring”.
Arpita Bagchi and Siddharth Bagchi have been patrons of this festival from its very inception. They were regulars in the quadrennial International Film Festival of India (which is now an annual event in Goa) too. Their love for cinema is enduring to say the least. As Mrs.Bagchi fondly reminiscences “I still remember the joy of discovering Godard, Bergman and Adoor Gopalakrishnan…the festival is something we eagerly look forward to every year.”
Dipak Das, a tea seller in the Festival Grounds says “ I have served cups of tea to many luminaries with my own hands during the Kolkata Film Festival. I probably am not educated enough to fully comprehend their work but I make it a point to see them. Initially they didn’t make sense but today I think Bergman is a beautiful filmmaker.”
Chandan Sen a reputed theatre personality feels that the Film Festival is a good platform to “understand the thought process of the world personae.”
Probably, in between these somewhat conflicting views, I have found the true (and not the mythical) Kolkata Intellectual…or at least his/her shadow
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Signals...
Hardly do Kolkata roads hold as much promise from me as they do when I take an auto home from office every evening…the billows of smoke that carbon monoxide spewing buses blow on/in (?) my face don’t seem to be that bothersome…the irritable cab driver who insists that I pay him in impossible changes seems almost likable…and all these because of the assurance of a sanctuary to retire to…
And today my journey home was quite significant…. as the traffic signal turned green from red, everything seemed to make more sense…wonder what was keeping me from taking necessary steps…
The signal of course….
And today my journey home was quite significant…. as the traffic signal turned green from red, everything seemed to make more sense…wonder what was keeping me from taking necessary steps…
The signal of course….
Friday, November 03, 2006
Elizabeth, Darcy and more ....
Ahem ahem. …Encouraged by the somewhat unexpected response to my last post (4 comments as opposed to 0 comments on my last post …pathetic u say??? what to do am a man of mediocre ambitions) on a favorite classic adaptation I will take the liberty to critique another eternal favorite…
Jane Austen's delightful rendering of passion in polite society has inspired many an adaptation but the 1995 one, stands out not simply because of the canvas it employs to tell a story so heartwarming that it has touched the hearts of generations, but also because of the way it is told.
Austens six major published novels create a world within the world, the threat of the ensuing wars of that period and other socio political circumstances do cast their shadow over the dramatic flow of the novels but hardly so. One is reminded of them through an absentee family member or a dead one. But the world of Jane Austen is primarily that of a woman’s, Austen a wise and a judicious writer that she is, is believed to have said that since she had very little exposure to the outside worlds she could hardly write about them.
And this version of Austens arguably, greatest novel, plays on that very clash; that of the inner and the outer worlds, depicted brilliantly by use of spaces by the director. Elizabeth and her dilemmas find their way to the screen through the subtlest insinuations. We, the audience are enthralled by director Simon Langtons capacity to capture the inner conflicts of the characters through visual metaphors. Sample this- Elizabeth’s walks are important turning points of the film; the juxtaposition of her against the sprawling backdrops makes her a kind of a lone ranger, an iconoclast.
Jane Austen’s heroines were never overtly feminists, but in them a keen reader will notice the seeds of the feminist philosophy developing. Through their little way they defy the norms of the repressed English society of their times. Simon Langton’s Elizabeth exudes “a kind of self independent air “ which makes her quite detestable to the Bingley sisters, her gait and her mannerisms are not at all in keeping with the delicate movements that one associates with the women of that period. Her body language is distinctly more confident than all the other characters, both male and female.
Darcy is appropriately grave and smoldering but in him one sees the shadows of self-doubt and self-questioning (specially in his conversations with Elizabeth) that gives another dimension to the character. Interestingly the director chooses to sexualize Darcy’s character by making him emerge out of water (a la Bo Derek in 10 …ok maybe not that sexualized). One wonders if his intention to objectify Darcy was intentional….
Pride and Prejudice was always meant to be much more than the story of the realization of Darcy-Elizabeth love intrigue. Its as much a story of the other unions, namely that of Jane-Bingley, Mr.and Mrs.Bennet, Charlotte and Mr.Collins, Mr. And Mrs Gardener and of course Lydia-Wickham. The director rightly documents the development of these relationships as faithfully as possible.
The Bennet family is suitably dysfunctional, headed by an eccentric father and a hysterical, scheming, shallow, crude mother (Mrs.Bennet is not for nothing one of the most loved literary figures of all time). Mr.Collins seems to be a case of a masterstroke casting, for the actor lives the role. Thanks to the four-hour plus running time each and every character gets ample screen time to register growth.
All the actors more than rise to the occasion and deliver satisfactory performances, never trying to steal scenes from each other. The intention of each and every member of the cast and the crew of this production was obviously to produce a composite product instead of a patchily brilliant one.
Incidents that give an insight to the minds of the characters are of incredible importance in a novel, but most cinematic adaptations strangely choose to bypass them, focusing more on the dramatic flow of the film, this adaptation thankfully focuses on the incidents that shape the perception of a character i.e. the Charlotte -Elizabeth confrontation scene which ends with Elizabeth being disillusioned with the “pragmatic” Charlotte.
The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice is indeed a satisfying movie adaptation experience, especially to the sub genre of human race called “Pride and Prejudice-philes”. God knows we are hard to satisfy.
Here is to you Mr.Langton, your next fruit punch is on me.
Jane Austen's delightful rendering of passion in polite society has inspired many an adaptation but the 1995 one, stands out not simply because of the canvas it employs to tell a story so heartwarming that it has touched the hearts of generations, but also because of the way it is told.
Austens six major published novels create a world within the world, the threat of the ensuing wars of that period and other socio political circumstances do cast their shadow over the dramatic flow of the novels but hardly so. One is reminded of them through an absentee family member or a dead one. But the world of Jane Austen is primarily that of a woman’s, Austen a wise and a judicious writer that she is, is believed to have said that since she had very little exposure to the outside worlds she could hardly write about them.
And this version of Austens arguably, greatest novel, plays on that very clash; that of the inner and the outer worlds, depicted brilliantly by use of spaces by the director. Elizabeth and her dilemmas find their way to the screen through the subtlest insinuations. We, the audience are enthralled by director Simon Langtons capacity to capture the inner conflicts of the characters through visual metaphors. Sample this- Elizabeth’s walks are important turning points of the film; the juxtaposition of her against the sprawling backdrops makes her a kind of a lone ranger, an iconoclast.
Jane Austen’s heroines were never overtly feminists, but in them a keen reader will notice the seeds of the feminist philosophy developing. Through their little way they defy the norms of the repressed English society of their times. Simon Langton’s Elizabeth exudes “a kind of self independent air “ which makes her quite detestable to the Bingley sisters, her gait and her mannerisms are not at all in keeping with the delicate movements that one associates with the women of that period. Her body language is distinctly more confident than all the other characters, both male and female.
Darcy is appropriately grave and smoldering but in him one sees the shadows of self-doubt and self-questioning (specially in his conversations with Elizabeth) that gives another dimension to the character. Interestingly the director chooses to sexualize Darcy’s character by making him emerge out of water (a la Bo Derek in 10 …ok maybe not that sexualized). One wonders if his intention to objectify Darcy was intentional….
Pride and Prejudice was always meant to be much more than the story of the realization of Darcy-Elizabeth love intrigue. Its as much a story of the other unions, namely that of Jane-Bingley, Mr.and Mrs.Bennet, Charlotte and Mr.Collins, Mr. And Mrs Gardener and of course Lydia-Wickham. The director rightly documents the development of these relationships as faithfully as possible.
The Bennet family is suitably dysfunctional, headed by an eccentric father and a hysterical, scheming, shallow, crude mother (Mrs.Bennet is not for nothing one of the most loved literary figures of all time). Mr.Collins seems to be a case of a masterstroke casting, for the actor lives the role. Thanks to the four-hour plus running time each and every character gets ample screen time to register growth.
All the actors more than rise to the occasion and deliver satisfactory performances, never trying to steal scenes from each other. The intention of each and every member of the cast and the crew of this production was obviously to produce a composite product instead of a patchily brilliant one.
Incidents that give an insight to the minds of the characters are of incredible importance in a novel, but most cinematic adaptations strangely choose to bypass them, focusing more on the dramatic flow of the film, this adaptation thankfully focuses on the incidents that shape the perception of a character i.e. the Charlotte -Elizabeth confrontation scene which ends with Elizabeth being disillusioned with the “pragmatic” Charlotte.
The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice is indeed a satisfying movie adaptation experience, especially to the sub genre of human race called “Pride and Prejudice-philes”. God knows we are hard to satisfy.
Here is to you Mr.Langton, your next fruit punch is on me.
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