tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post4897803979046272083..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: MAMI diary: Partition and partitions in Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely GhostJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-30439965750185937612013-10-29T09:53:23.192+05:302013-10-29T09:53:23.192+05:30“I love mainstream Hindi cinema, it has been so mu...<i>“I love mainstream Hindi cinema, it has been so much a part of my growing up,” he replied. “But I have a caveat. I feel popular cinema has played with Indian storytelling traditions but also misused them at times. We have many hierarchies as a society – in terms of class, gender and so on – and transgressions have always been important in our storytelling, going back centuries. There have always been narratives that critique the prevailing traditions and assumptions. However, when storytelling is used simply to reaffirm the status quo – which is what popular cinema often does – I think that’s a problem.”</i><br /><br />Why is that a problem? The status-quo exists the way it does for a good reason. Art derives its strength by depicting the clash between the status-quo (let's call it conventional wisdom) and the challenge to this wisdom. This clash is not a simple "good vs evil" clash. It's a clash wherein nobody's right or wrong.<br /><br />It's important that art depicts both sides. That's what makes western art so very special. Because throughout its history, Western Art examines the clash between the conservative Judeo Christian assumptions and the liberal pagan culture that rebels against these assumptions.<br /><br />It's sad that people glorify art that challenges the status-quo while dismissing films that are more sympathetic to the status-quo as being "reactionary" or "evil". You need both sides to complete the story. For every <i>Garam Hawa</i> you need a <i>Gadar</i>.<br /><br />However while people rank <i>Garam Hawa</i> (a broad melodrama in its own way) as a classic, <i>Gadar</i> is dismissed as a trashy movie. Despite the fact that there are several grains of truth in both movies. Probably more grains of truth in the latter than in the former.<br />shrikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898755392584822638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-62517200917342310882013-10-27T12:16:32.234+05:302013-10-27T12:16:32.234+05:30Anup: good to see you here, and do send me the lin...Anup: good to see you here, and do send me the link if you write about the film. By the way, I have spoken with a couple of other viewers who were dissatisfied (more dissatisfied than you, probably) about the film's split personality.<br /><br />Mayank: thanks. And yes, the dilemma is particularly hard to fight if one is functioning both as a critic and as a journalist. Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-77068534190917180232013-10-25T18:07:47.509+05:302013-10-25T18:07:47.509+05:30You make an excellent point about separating the c...You make an excellent point about separating the creation and from its creator and not letting one influence the other while reviewing it. <br /><br />It is a dilemma that is frequently encountered and hard to fight.<br /><br />Mayank ChhayaMayank Chhayahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18433071842764460405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-28575711298274669562013-10-25T16:56:55.498+05:302013-10-25T16:56:55.498+05:30Oh, you've hit right by bringing it to discuss...Oh, you've hit right by bringing it to discuss if one should wait for the Q&A after the screening. As in this case, Anup did try to be a bit defensive, as any other director would be. But this film is one that would be loved to discuss and debate about. <br /><br />I've read the film a bit differently, though... will write about it later (yet to transform my scribbled notes into a blogpost). <br /><br />If you saw this film at the Metro theatre screening, the audience member who thought that it is two different films into one, was me. :) (Only if I knew you were present there, I would have loved to meet you. :)) But, as I said there, when Umber puts towards the end, "I am not a man, neither a woman. Not a human, nor a ghost," the film stands explained and beautifully... and I guess, that also explains what you've been trying to say in this post about "dilution of themes." Anuphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16204007914903971093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-16183893508323585512013-10-25T13:53:17.761+05:302013-10-25T13:53:17.761+05:30About his inspirations: he also told a nice little...About his inspirations: he also told a nice little story about including a tribute to Mani Kaul in the original cut of the film (via a glimpse of a railway station called "Sarai ManKaul"), but that shot didn't find a place in the final cut.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-7703630838622688772013-10-25T13:51:53.348+05:302013-10-25T13:51:53.348+05:30Rahul: I probably made a leap myself in the post, ...Rahul: I probably made a leap myself in the post, without adequately clarifying it. What happened was that I asked him if he was a fan of popular Indian/Hindi cinema, which often employed the storytelling techniques he had earlier mentioned. (The question came up when he was talking about the filmmakers and films he was influenced by.) When he replied, he expressed his reservations about some of the <i>content</i> of popular films. The post probably makes it seem like it was all part of a linear conversation, but it wasn't. (You might say it was circular, disjointed and without closure, like the storytelling traditions he mentioned!)Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-5205485538984098352013-10-24T21:57:49.806+05:302013-10-24T21:57:49.806+05:30Thanks, enjoyed reading about the director's i...Thanks, enjoyed reading about the director's inspirations! <br />Its good that he got someone with genuine pedigree like Madan Gopal Singh to do the translation from English. Directors like Farhan Akhar do not take this aspect seriously.<br />I did not get this part though -<br />"However, when storytelling is used simply to reaffirm the status quo – which is what popular cinema often does – I think that’s a problem.”<br /><br />When he is talking about Indian storytelling he obviously is talking about technique, but then he ends up criticizing the popular cinema for its content? What does story telling technique has to do with that? Rahulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08600228969911790479noreply@blogger.com