tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post6810340746671969610..comments2024-03-29T15:45:04.867+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Half a girl – notes on Jalpari: The Desert MermaidJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-73577756199477813512013-05-02T16:07:33.310+05:302013-05-02T16:07:33.310+05:30Hi Jabberwock - First of all, thanks for the revie...Hi Jabberwock - First of all, thanks for the review. It was mainly because of this review that I bothered to buy the CD, and I believe it was money well spent. Jalpari is just the kind of film that slips your notice if you aren't writing about movies for a living or hooked to music channels 24X7.<br />However, I do have my own quibbles with the movie itself. Like many well-meaning "message" films, this one makes it too easy for the audience to take sides. While the exact nature of evil lurking in this village is revealed as some sort of suspense twist, you already know the good guys from the bad ones. The old guard Sarpanch, the Vaid, the Bengali cook's mother-in-law are just the kind of people you'd expect to be complicit in a foeticide racket. The benevolent boxer on the other hand, can be just as surely counted on to come to the rescue when our little protagonists find themselves in peril.<br />So the big 'revelation' in the climax doesn't really reveal much to us about the issue of foeticide. The epilogue that informs us about the abysmal sex ratio of that region of Haryana too, isn't enlightening - if anything, it confirms a certain stereotype. The film doesn't tell us anything about the kind of people who think they are justified in aborting female foeti - like the possibility that some of the 'nice' people in the story, the ones who support Dev in his mission, the ones who seem to be fond of Shreya, could be among the ones ushering their daughters-in-law to the ominous mobile clinic.Deepti Sharmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09462873637851411701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-86110222828702207852012-09-06T00:58:51.084+05:302012-09-06T00:58:51.084+05:30Though you mentioned it was contentious, I totally...Though you mentioned it was contentious, I totally agree about unconcious gender imprinting. I so look forward to seeing this movie now. In some liberal families, girls do feel a vague pressure to discard their feminity. And these are the remnants of parental psychological baggage most of the time. When we were young, I do remember very clearly that being more "boy" than the boys was the best way to be taken seriously. A certain aggression and competition came with the the territory.<br />"Jalpari": Just perfect. It ties in perfectly withe Anderson fairy tale too. After all, it is the story of a girl who gives up her voice to be part of a man's world. Great review!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-37549471816294006872012-09-05T20:01:09.145+05:302012-09-05T20:01:09.145+05:30thanks, for the comments. thanks, for the comments. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-33605307201648656132012-09-05T16:20:42.368+05:302012-09-05T16:20:42.368+05:30Anon: I don't think reading genres other than ...Anon: I don't think reading genres other than the one you want to write in is a solution to unconcious plagiarism. And it can be highly disadvantageous in the first place: most of my understanding of film criticism has come from reading good film criticism (and by this I don't mean "theoretical books", if you use that phrase to mean academic books or textbooks - I've stayed very far away from those). To some extent, avoiding unconscious plagiarism is a lifelong struggle for any good, conscientious writer who has also read widely. There are no foolproof ways of avoiding it, but one should be on guard all the time, and place a premium on expressing one's own original thoughts.<br /><br />Incidentally, these days, when I know I'm going to write about a particular book or film, I'm careful not to read reviews by anyone whom I hold in high regard until I've finished my own piece. Not because of fear of plagiarism but because I don't want to second-guess myself or feel disheartened because someone else has had a similar thought about the book/film (and perhaps expressed it better than I could).<br /><br />About the process of writing: I certainly didn't intend to suggest that a good writer should spend all his time reading and consequently not getting any writing done! To my mind, it's understood that a good writer is most likely to be someone who has a strong hunger for writing in the first place, and who has therefore been doing it in some form or the other since a fairly early age - even if it's only jotting down rough thoughts in a notepad. And of course practice is hugely important. I think of everything I write as practice (even if it's a structured essay for a high-profile publication), and that's a process which will continue all my writing life.<br /><br />Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-46122723546532069402012-09-04T21:03:07.170+05:302012-09-04T21:03:07.170+05:30thanks for the insight Jai. One more thing--lot of...thanks for the insight Jai. One more thing--lot of advice is there on reading other works--and I have heard it from more than one person (and on more than once occasion) that reading is important to write well. But the way I see it, there are two issues: (both of them equally important to me)<br /><br />-Unintended plagiarism: In your blog, you often write about reading other reviewers, and some of them are internationally famous. How can one avoid some unmindful copying--or should I say, reusing the same type of phrases as the other writer? (My own instinct tells me that a good way to avoid this is to read genres other than the one you intend to write--so by my logic you should read not film books as much as say, travel books, or crime fiction, or general journalism books. And use only theoretical books to improve your knowledge)<br /><br />-The actual process: In the end, we read (for this context only) to write well. But what about the actual writing process--shouldn't a budding writer spend as much time writing as reading? It is good to do something which is complimentary, but doing the actual thing is just as important (for example--it would be of great help if a batsman has good stamina--he can build his stamina by running exercises and yoga etc. but he will also have to do batting practice [what i call the 'actual process'] to be a good batsman). In your case this might not be applicable as you are a professional journalist and you end up writing for assignments. But to an untrained writer, I think, writing (and editing his own work) should be just as important as reading. <br /><br />Would love to read your response to these queries. <br /><br />Thanks. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-44646175796786687532012-09-04T19:53:52.198+05:302012-09-04T19:53:52.198+05:30Sudipta and Anon: thanks for the compliment, but r...Sudipta and Anon: thanks for the compliment, but really, it's all relative. I can think of dozens of stock words and phrases that I overuse in both speech and writing; to some extent these things are unavoidable.<br /><br />(Since you bring this up: I noticed recently that in two book reviews I wrote in the space of 4-5 days - <a href="http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2012/08/the-hills-are-alive-but-only-just-on.html" rel="nofollow">this one</a> and <a href="http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2012/08/the-sender-street-cats-and-sourpusses.html" rel="nofollow">this one</a> - I used the phrase "moving/flowing beneath the surface of..." in a somewhat portentous way.)<br /><br />That said, of course I've made it clear that I take reviewing very seriously (when I have a decent word-count to work with, which has usually not been a problem ever since I began blogging). And taking it seriously includes taking the actual <i>writing</i> seriously: trying to be lucid and clear-sighted and, when possible, even a little "stylish" (in the conventionally used sense of that word). It can be a time-consuming process though, because I don't think I'm a naturally skilled writer (if there is such a thing) - for instance, clever turns of phrase don't come easily to me. And so, I do completely understand why reviewers working on very short deadlines tend to fall back on timeworn phrases. Unfortunately that often affects the quality of the thought being expressed - form and content being inseparable, etc - and it adds to the increasing perception that criticism is not "real" writing, which is a pity.<br /><br />The only meaningful advice I can ever think to give someone who asks for writing tips is: read well and read varied things, and try to understand how the better writers achieve their effects.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-79066406948888022962012-09-04T18:20:56.706+05:302012-09-04T18:20:56.706+05:30Liked your review Jai. Somehow all the other revie...Liked your review Jai. Somehow all the other reviews gave me the impression that 'Jalpari' would be one of those movies which are 'laudable' only because of the 'message' and not because its a good movie. Your review seems to suggest otherwise. <br /><br />Agree with anonymous about the non-repetitive nature of your writing style [have you read Rajeev Masand's reviews? you will proably get the point:-)]. I know you have explained over various previous blogs that you painstakingly work on your writing skills (and hence the impressive output week after week) - but I would be really grateful if you could share a couple of specific tips that you think are worth remembering while articulating one's thoughts through written wordsSudipta Bhattacharjeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-31542768188477102842012-09-04T14:06:10.567+05:302012-09-04T14:06:10.567+05:30hi, how do you avoid being repetitious while writi...hi, how do you avoid being repetitious while writing reviews/articles. I think you usually work on a weekly deadline and there is a tendency amongst reviewers to use stock phrases--but you always manage to write a "different" review each time. any tips on this? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-69113987392531135342012-09-04T08:17:52.947+05:302012-09-04T08:17:52.947+05:30Eswarprasath: Jalpari has got a commercial release...Eswarprasath: <i>Jalpari</i> has got a commercial release, a very small one though - it is playing at a few halls in Delhi this week.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-19540215825899728532012-09-04T00:42:53.308+05:302012-09-04T00:42:53.308+05:30Hi Jabberwock: How do you come to know about such ...Hi Jabberwock: How do you come to know about such movies and how do you get to see these movies usually ? Some of the movies that you write about doesn't seem to be released via the usual commercial channels and the mainstream media writes nothing about it. So was just curious. <br /><br />Thanks<br />EswarAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16685479014406068999noreply@blogger.com