tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post2010648463528880988..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Heroism on an intimate scale – about Hansal Mehta’s ShahidJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-64844524234042811842013-10-27T17:21:50.253+05:302013-10-27T17:21:50.253+05:30^ investment banking is not 'serious'; the...<i>^ investment banking is not 'serious'; the Wall Street bozos are the stupidest of the lot. Wonder who gave you the idea that investment banking is 'serious'. heh</i><br /><br />Never said it's serious. I used "serious" in quotes. Was referring to how professions are perceived. Starting with the 50s, actors sought to make their profession appear high-falutin with theories like method acting. They were no longer comfortable calling themselves entertainers or showmen. It's a bit like prostitutes branding themselves as "escort" girls.shrikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898755392584822638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-30467771094426248432013-10-25T13:24:59.614+05:302013-10-25T13:24:59.614+05:30^ investment banking is not 'serious'; the...^ investment banking is not 'serious'; the Wall Street bozos are the stupidest of the lot. Wonder who gave you the idea that investment banking is 'serious'. heh. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-8717416240840485082013-10-24T15:08:41.644+05:302013-10-24T15:08:41.644+05:30I have heard of some actors stating that they just...<i>I have heard of some actors stating that they just dissolve into the character when the director says action...and supposedly they become the characters they are playing. I somehow could not agree to that, since I believe how much ever you become the character, you are always conscious that you are acting</i><br /><br />This whole talk of "immersive acting" is something that actors talk up to make themselves sound "respectable", to make acting sound like a "science" so to speak. Something as respectable and "serious" as nuclear physics or investment banking.<br /><br />It's beneath the dignity of modern actors to call themselves "showmen" or "entertainers". Those labels probably hurt their exaggerated sense of self. Hence all this talk of immersive acting to distinguish themselves from the "simpleton" showmen of earlier generations like Chaplin or Keaton. After all they have "studied" acting in schools unlike those vulgar showmen of the 20s/30s. So they ought to know acting better.<br /><br />Hitchcock got it spot on when he said actors ought to be treated like cattle. The acting fraternity needs Hitchcock-like figures to keep having their egos punctured on a regular basis.shrikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898755392584822638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-40642526145848077912013-10-24T12:26:34.519+05:302013-10-24T12:26:34.519+05:30Last year, I had to appear in a case in Bangalore,...Last year, I had to appear in a case in Bangalore, and I was given police protection for the time that I was there because the case involved a journalist against some rowdy Bangalore lawyers, and there was every possibility of the lawyers turning against violently for representing a journalist. I remember thinking of how Shahid Azmi walked around defending people whose alleged crimes involved so much more stigma. He was a big hero for lots of us advocates, and will continue to inspire lots of us. <br /><br />Still, the fact that he was pushed to join a Mujahideen group doesn't sit well with the rest of his image. I wished this movie dealt with it in more detail. <i>That</i>, for me, was the most interesting part of his life. The fact that he was on the side of violence, but came back this way. That transformation is dealt with too lightly to paint a coherent picture of a character -- it was the flaw that made him real, and it seemed a little airbrushed. aandthirtyeightshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00644980602293705853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-8151090795855818532013-10-24T00:28:15.326+05:302013-10-24T00:28:15.326+05:30Loved Rajkumar Yadav's performance. The other ...Loved Rajkumar Yadav's performance. The other great character was Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub's. I didn't get the small confrontation he has with Shahid on the latter's return (escape) from the militant camp. Is he angry about his return or his joining in the first place? Anyway, irrelevant I guess but I first thought this is a potential discouraging person to Shahid but the film had me believing otherwise. <br /><br />The courtroom scenes were a revelation. I thought the scenes with Vipin Sharma cannot be topped and then we have the 26/11 case. The humor throughout and especially in the post-argument interaction between Vipin Sharma and Yadav.<br /><br />There was always this inherent goodness about him stressed and his doubts about himself and how others perceive him, like he defensively repeats to the judge about the prosecutor in the 26/11 case, "I can sue her but I won't." "I can sue you but I won't". <br /><br />Did anyone else feel a bit giddy when Kay Kay Menon popped up on the other side of the system (a good guy but still guilty in the eye of some misguided judiciary) after his terrific Rakesh Maria in Black Friday?Gradwolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07031246793161524667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-36889959797968131782013-10-20T21:34:01.179+05:302013-10-20T21:34:01.179+05:30I agree with you in that, I can never blur the lin...I agree with you in that, I can never blur the lines between an actor and the character they are playing. I can be involved, and deeply at that, but you are always conscious that you are watching a piece of work. I too envy those who can immerse themselves completely. <br />On the subject of immersive 'acting', I have heard of some actors stating that they just dissolve into the character when the director says action...and supposedly they become the characters they are playing. I somehow could not agree to that, since I believe how much ever you become the character, you are always conscious that you are acting, because acting means also reacting and you are always looking for the 'cues' so to speak.<br />What do you think about this? <br />Cheers,<br />RahulReadnRytehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00209735777668026556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-78674098336281081002013-10-17T14:15:57.545+05:302013-10-17T14:15:57.545+05:30@ Rahul, Jai - Interesting discussion this is. I r...@ Rahul, Jai - Interesting discussion this is. I remember watching Love, Sex and Dhokha and I was so impressed with acting that I didn't feel like knowing even the names of those actors who played those characters and Rajkumar Yadav was one of the actors. I agree with Jai that no matter how good Om Puri etc are, its impossible to not think of them as Om Puri. One performance on those lines by Hellen Mireen in The Queen, but again in that case, I had only seen one film of hers before watching The Queen. Pessimist Foolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06057153008708242962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-61612783117473493372013-10-16T21:36:52.399+05:302013-10-16T21:36:52.399+05:30Jai, great reply , Thanks! `
"In some of thos...Jai, great reply , Thanks! `<br />"In some of those cases at least, those actors have simply never had the personality traits that create a strong vibe with a mass audience."<br />Pavan Malhotra comes to mind, as we have talked before in this space. <br /><br />I remember an interview in which Irfan was talking about his technique. He mentioned he tried to learn method acting, read a few books, but nothing concrete came out of it. He said that he tries to engage the viewer at every instance. So, even when he is playing an understated character like in Namesake or Lunchbox, he is thinking of ways to relate to and engage the audience. Perhaps, this has resulted in greater mainstream success for him.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Rahulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08600228969911790479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-67920024033536625202013-10-16T21:13:11.789+05:302013-10-16T21:13:11.789+05:30Rahul: narcissism in some cases, yes. But I'm ...Rahul: narcissism in some cases, yes. But I'm also a believer in intangibles, such as the possibility that a certain actor might have an innate quality that strikes a chord with a particular audience, and when that actor gets cast in the "right" film at the "right" time, a star personality gets established. And such a personality, once established, becomes very difficult to erase.<br /><br />Another way of putting it is that I am sometimes sceptical of the over-the-top praise directed at actors who "immerse" themselves in a range of characters, and who never get "stereotyped". In some of those cases at least, those actors have simply never had the personality traits that create a strong vibe with a mass audience. This makes it easier for them to be chameleons, or "versatile" in the narrow sense of the word. <br /><br />It's all subjective, in any case. I always find it surprising when someone tells me that when they watch, say, Om Puri or Shabana Azmi, they think only of the character, never the actor. I envy the level of immersion those viewers can achieve, but I can never achieve it myself when it comes to an actor whose body of work and past history I am familiar with. Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-57689616779418821652013-10-16T20:16:16.244+05:302013-10-16T20:16:16.244+05:30Rajkumar Yadav was brilliant in Kai Po Che. In oth...Rajkumar Yadav was brilliant in Kai Po Che. In other movies he was probably too good to register his presence. I wonder, if this is a factor of a personality trait along with acting technique - sometimes an actor may develop "actorly tics" because he is narcissistic? Rahulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08600228969911790479noreply@blogger.com