tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post9068211842316955766..comments2024-03-18T19:46:10.130+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: Pushpak, then and nowJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-21477157450770334262010-12-23T11:26:28.285+05:302010-12-23T11:26:28.285+05:30"20-year-olds with no writing or editing skil..."20-year-olds with no writing or editing skills can be assured of heavy pay-cheques."<br /><br />Where is this exactly?Nimit Kathuriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04273752834403114009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-65882858999141816502007-12-04T09:19:00.000+05:302007-12-04T09:19:00.000+05:30Sadhana: that's nice to know. I'm always a bit def...Sadhana: that's nice to know. I'm always a bit defensive about films I liked as a child - about whether they would seem too old-fashioned or boring to today's kids.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-33621729006025746982007-12-03T22:42:00.000+05:302007-12-03T22:42:00.000+05:30Great post, J. I watched it today with my 12 year ...Great post, J. I watched it today with my 12 year old son who sat down a tad skeptically (silent movie? how can that be?) and yes, it is a bit dated now and there are some slow, dragging scenes that could do with editing - but it was still a very funny and a very moving story. My son, who has grown up with slick movies of this milennium was captivated by both the slapstick and the morality tale.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-59317992988361272962007-05-06T15:49:00.000+05:302007-05-06T15:49:00.000+05:30Interesting coincidence. I emailed you and discove...Interesting coincidence. I emailed you and discovered your blog yesterday and I happened to have had borrowed Pushpak's dvd which I saw today. I have always wanted to watch it but was too lazy to do so for the last 19 years or so :) <BR/><BR/>So as 30+ yr oldie seeing the movie for the first time I was disappointed. The utter lack of dialogues seems like a gimmick, the movie is tackily made and the background score intrudes into the 'narrative'. It does have its moments though and I liked the fact that despite being an Indian movie, made way back in 1987, the hero doesn't get the girl in the end. Also I had forgotten how cute looking amala is, so the movie does have some plus points. :)<BR/><BR/>Incidently saw another "gimmicky" movie today 'conversation(s) with other women'. It uses a split screen format throughout the narrative. Quite a nicely made movie.Sachinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311776172273725202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-25253407667415194982007-02-23T18:34:00.000+05:302007-02-23T18:34:00.000+05:30thanks for reminding me of this film but i agree w...thanks for reminding me of this film but i agree with falstaff here, i do not have the courage (patience actually) to sit through the movie now. besides some films such as this one are relegated to happy childhood memories. like shehensha, not a film anywhere in this league but a film that i watched umpteen times growing up and never would now.hedonistic hobohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02693480297800328494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-84342227024952791262007-02-23T16:08:00.000+05:302007-02-23T16:08:00.000+05:30"Nor – insert personal rant here – was Indian jour..."Nor – insert personal rant here – was Indian journalism in the ridiculous state it is in today, where new magazines and papers are being launched on a weekly basis and demand so outstrips supply that 20-year-olds with no writing or editing skills can be assured of heavy pay-cheques."<BR/><BR/>If there was no demand for writers that were full of crap, you'd be on the streets. Don't you forget that, you shithead.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-29588080355720863792007-02-23T13:14:00.000+05:302007-02-23T13:14:00.000+05:30So strange... I never really liked this film. I re...So strange... I never really liked this film. I remember everyone recommending it at home, (the whole "silent" angle of the film that was supposed to be the highlight) but once I got down to watching it I thought it was so bad. The gift wrapping part, even that bit when there's a dead body and the girl's father (he was a magician, I think) suddenly bringing out a rose or something...it was quite terrible...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-59832869357302795742007-02-23T07:43:00.000+05:302007-02-23T07:43:00.000+05:30A great movie. Do you remember the lecherous chawl...A great movie. Do you remember the lecherous chawl tenant - the one who tries to peer down the cleavage of the bai who come to sweep?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-15990333100801401972007-02-22T19:05:00.000+05:302007-02-22T19:05:00.000+05:30Its one my Fv films.brilliant script.Kamal haasan ...Its one my Fv films.brilliant script.Kamal haasan was great.Its a cult film for sure the other one being ' jaane bhi do yaaron'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-24974992405043317682007-02-22T14:07:00.000+05:302007-02-22T14:07:00.000+05:30nice! very nice!reaqding ur post was like revisiti...nice! very nice!<BR/><BR/>reaqding ur post was like revisiting the movie :)<BR/><BR/>count me in the fans! absolutely loved it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-10082592212816725642007-02-22T13:44:00.000+05:302007-02-22T13:44:00.000+05:30I've watched it often in the recent past. Vijay TV...I've watched it often in the recent past. Vijay TV keeps showing it every couple of months or so. I can keep watching it.<BR/><BR/>The film shows a brilliant usage of props and non-verbal communication - both of which Kamal has always excelled at!Jagadishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07945971736885159644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-32817698995875950532007-02-22T12:30:00.000+05:302007-02-22T12:30:00.000+05:30i dunno how I wud react if I watch it again today....i dunno how I wud react if I watch it again today.<BR/>I think i would like to preserve my nostalgic picture of it.<BR/><BR/>I also remember the scene where the maid-servant comes to clean, where Kamal Hasaan tries to pick the flower for Amla(yaa, yaa thatz my mushy self) and of course the last scene where he loses the paper which Amla leaves for him.Swathi Sambhani aka Chimerahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01847827658841829629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-39738539499426351422007-02-22T07:22:00.000+05:302007-02-22T07:22:00.000+05:30So that's where Takeshi Kitano got his style from....So that's where Takeshi Kitano got his style from...<BR/>But seriously, I laughed my ass off when I first saw Pushpak a few years ago. Love the kung-fu theater sleeping scene.Ananghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13093712350047601404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-41591907718409294362007-02-22T06:08:00.000+05:302007-02-22T06:08:00.000+05:30I actually managed to watch Pushpak again a couple...I actually managed to watch Pushpak again a couple of years ago. I still liked it, though my nostalgic memories said it was an amazing movie. What I really still like about the movie is the pace....it never feels forced.<BR/><BR/>And yes....it definitely has a cult-following.Sunilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07776658071546232685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-72001633225061081642007-02-21T15:11:00.000+05:302007-02-21T15:11:00.000+05:3030?!!!!30?!!!!Black Muddy Riverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15955846722038215253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-86346768382102715252007-02-21T14:41:00.000+05:302007-02-21T14:41:00.000+05:30Pardon the multiple amazings and the lack of obeis...Pardon the multiple <I>amazing</I>s and the lack of obeisance to grammar in general in the above comment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-18997268856402916862007-02-21T14:34:00.000+05:302007-02-21T14:34:00.000+05:30Nice post!>>"Best of all, the film is so artless, ...Nice post!<BR/><BR/>>>"Best of all, the film is so artless, so unforced, that one never thinks of the lack of sound as a gimmick. If anything, it suits this story – it’s a parable anyway, and an over-earnest scriptwriter might easily have ruined it."<BR/><BR/>Indeed! The way it pulls off an amazing ode to silent cinema in such an unforced fashion is amazing.<BR/>This is brilliant screenwriting (I wish you had mentioned Singeetam Srinivasa Rao in your post), right from the moment you see the backside of a "talkies". The choices the film makes to achieve this are worth mentioning. The film choose to keep the natural sounds because of which it stays true to its times. And, the scenarios are weaved in a fashion in which the audience doesn't feel the absence of dialogue at all. The audience is "manipulated" into this. Characters communicate secretively, beckon at each other from long distances, and then, there's almost an in-joke of sorts (which is probably when one can overtly see the cleverness of the film) when Prathap Pothen and Tinnu Anand strike a deal in a "furtively professional" manner without talking a word waving their ties.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-89797223291358775792007-02-21T13:56:00.000+05:302007-02-21T13:56:00.000+05:30I meant to say - the 'slapstickness' was perhaps k...I meant to say - the 'slapstickness' was perhaps keeping commerciaul interests blah blah - blogger swallowed a lineAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-20496044856368519692007-02-21T13:55:00.000+05:302007-02-21T13:55:00.000+05:30keeping so-called commercial interests in mind - a...keeping so-called commercial interests in mind - as in not keeping things too subtle, what with the absence of dialogue and more importantly song and dance... I havent watched Pushpak in years but like you say, the vignettes stay on - the scene where the beggar dies - the film is one nice big moral but very simply told..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-77909163530348605422007-02-21T12:59:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:59:00.000+05:30Sublime Thoughts: yes, Tinnu Anand ruled, though a...Sublime Thoughts: yes, Tinnu Anand ruled, though a couple of his scenes were way over the top. Loved the concentration on his face though, and the way he dedicatedly set the thermos down and started opening it every time Kamal Haasan walked by.<BR/><BR/>Reaching Mumbai on Friday morning, should be at the fest all three days. See you!Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-33359154733675249602007-02-21T12:51:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:51:00.000+05:30I remember having to choose between Tezaab and Pus...I remember having to choose between Tezaab and Pushpak at that time,and I chose to watch Pushpak. Tinnu Anand's character was by far one of the funniest characters I have seen.<BR/><BR/>PS:So when do you land in 'amchi' Mumbai? :-) I will be attending the Kitab fest on saturday.Mystic Bardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05418532544254967520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-7301964247500236312007-02-21T12:49:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:49:00.000+05:30This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Mystic Bardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05418532544254967520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-83639081376837323412007-02-21T12:44:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:44:00.000+05:30Falstaff: thanks, have changed it. Renovatio: yes,...Falstaff: thanks, have changed it. <BR/><BR/>Renovatio: yes, that pigeon bit was one of the low points of the film - though funny in a crude sort of way. The scene gave the impression that even the birds were enjoying Kamal Haasan's predicament.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-12516366766472659512007-02-21T12:19:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:19:00.000+05:30I think I remember parts of it, well the enema par...I think I remember parts of it, well the enema parts... think I saw it years ago with my dad... it involved a very large gift wrapped box and a dog, and at one point a pigeon crapping into the enema basin too I believe?Renovatiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08287413128345582022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-60126906688353553022007-02-21T12:05:00.000+05:302007-02-21T12:05:00.000+05:30"it has a small but very loyal following"Count me ..."it has a small but very loyal following"<BR/><BR/>Count me in. You're braver than I am though - I wouldn't dare rewatch it now because I'm sure I wouldn't be able to forgive the slapstick-ness of the whole thing. Still I loved it when I first saw it and laughed myself silly. <BR/><BR/>Oh, and presumably you mean "layers of symbolism" not laters.Falstaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791162324919462038noreply@blogger.com