tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post3994182104381734764..comments2024-03-27T14:57:37.031+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Music, fantasy and colour in V Shantaram’s NavrangJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-34088293784728552792015-04-09T23:23:17.727+05:302015-04-09T23:23:17.727+05:30I think Navrang is in a different genre of movies....I think Navrang is in a different genre of movies. If you think of the time when it was produced, in the 50s, you can fall in love with Sandhya and Mahipal. The honesty and simplicity of the film along with the pure emotion of the poet's love for his wife touches your heart. It is a very romantic film. What touched me was that with so much purity, V. Shantaram showed how the poet was living his fantasies and truly loving his wife at the same time. It is basically a movie of different times. For example how Mahipal leaves his wife's home without touching the food due to the insulting attitude of her father. It is a movie when thinking was different and sincerety was considered a very valuable trait. Times were slow then!.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-72799952493921792132014-07-30T11:18:24.226+05:302014-07-30T11:18:24.226+05:30Er, hers! :PEr, hers! :PRadhika Oltikarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-6981921837287354602014-07-30T09:37:14.508+05:302014-07-30T09:37:14.508+05:30Jai, doubt I have the patience to watch the movie,...Jai, doubt I have the patience to watch the movie, but greatly enjoyed your piece. <br /><br />P.S.: Don't think it's fair to dismiss Sandhya (as I often hear people do). She was certainly no looker, but watch her in the Marathi classic "Pinjara," and you will realise her's is an extremely intelligent and nuanced performance.Radhika Oltikarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-23563135678940394142014-07-28T23:52:52.724+05:302014-07-28T23:52:52.724+05:30Really glad to see this article... every time I se...Really glad to see this article... every time I see some of those song sequences I get blown away... sadly not much of heard nowadays of Ramachandra or Bharat Vyas... <br /><br />Another Shantaram fav for me is the final stage dance in Geet Gaya Pattharo Ne... I guess he gradually shifted from neorealist tales to fantasy/musicals... But he is one of the few people who could pull off such things... Jitadityahttp://travellingslacker.com/2014/06/10-offbeat-things-to-do-in-delhi/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-15738448038076323402014-07-26T17:12:34.216+05:302014-07-26T17:12:34.216+05:30Just found a Guardian review of Moulin Rouge that ...Just found a Guardian review of Moulin Rouge that says what I tried to: "In such a maelstrom of excess, the actors themselves have to anchor the movie as best they can ."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-12032147873526783622014-07-26T17:07:23.059+05:302014-07-26T17:07:23.059+05:30(same anon again)
Come to think of it I can't ...(same anon again)<br />Come to think of it I can't imagine Waheeda Rehman in those costumes, even if she was professional enough to wear whatever the role required. And I can't imagine her playing a seductress either ("mohini") , doesn't mean she couldn't have done it. She would have been better than Sandhya anyway. <br /><br />I still think the film needed better, more attractive actors. Think of Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor in the equally over-the-top & colourful Moulin Rouge. They added some emotion to the film Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-42313182680871100302014-07-21T18:25:53.986+05:302014-07-21T18:25:53.986+05:30Shantaram always used 'relatively weak' ac...Shantaram always used 'relatively weak' actors in his films when he thought he had a very strong narrative backed up some great artistic sets and production of dances as an form of art..<br />That may also in fact would maintain the focus on the aspects that he would like to emphasize. And he did succeed, as well. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-19475122325147575722014-07-21T14:40:41.506+05:302014-07-21T14:40:41.506+05:30Meat for an interesting longer discussion here, th...Meat for an interesting longer discussion here, though. I feel like Waheeda R at her best often had the effect of transforming a film in ways that could work against the film's overall tone, so that she seemed almost like a stand-alone component in it. (Wrote about this in the context of <i>Khamoshi</i> once, and even <i>Trishul</i>, where she brought interiority to a short Bachchan-ki-maa role that was probably meant to be a cipher. And of course her grounded performance in <i>Pyaasa</i> set against the overall baroque tone of that film.) Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-78421657306438025702014-07-21T14:36:45.453+05:302014-07-21T14:36:45.453+05:30Anon: I'm a big Waheeda Rehman fan and get you...Anon: I'm a big Waheeda Rehman fan and get your point, but have to wonder: would she have fit the mood and tone of this particular film? Theatricality is so central to its effect, and someone like Rehman might have brought a naturalistic acting style to it - how would that have gone with the film's general mise-en-scene (with the deliberately over-the-top elements in the Holi song, for example) or with Mahipal's performance? And would WR have agreed to wear those completely over-the-top costumes?<br /><br />Bharat Bhushan, on the other hand, probably would have fit into the Shantaram world (saying this with only a few dim memories of BB). Though I was fine with Mahipal.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-71806511940182685142014-07-21T14:25:46.424+05:302014-07-21T14:25:46.424+05:30I saw the film on DD aeons ago and had mixed react...I saw the film on DD aeons ago and had mixed reactions. It would probably have worked for me if it wasn't for Sandhya. I don't like her acrobatic dancing and facial contortions, don't consider her an actress at all. (Waheeda Rehman could have played the part beautifully and transformed the film.)<br />Mahipal isn't as off-putting but he isn't much of an asset either. Bharat Bhushan would have been a better choice.<br /><br />That said: there was a lot to love in the film. Thanks for the Kaviraj Kavita sequence which I didn't remember. Agha and Bharat Vyas are both under-appreciated <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com