Pather Panchali – The Only Indian Movie To Feature In Time Magazine’s 100 Best Movies Of Last 100 Years. The Satyajit Ray Masterpiece Is Always Featured As The Indian Classic In All Such Global Lists – Often The Only Indian Movie.
Have You Watched It Yet?
The Financing Of Movie Is One Of My Favorite Anecdotes Of My PhD Thesis
Which Is Your Favorite All Time Indian Movie? The Only That You Would Cast Your Vote For?
Murder Mubarak: Social Satire Meets Ensemble Whodunnit
A murder of the gym trainer Leo at a posh Delhi club opens a can of worms. Everyone is a suspect where the dark secrets of Delhi High Society Club patrons are at stake. A charming outsider ACP Bhavani Singh investigates the case in Agastha Christie’s desi Poirot style.
The best part of the movie is the ensemble cast and loyalty to Anuja Chauhan’s brilliant writing and class satire.
Pankaj Tripathi is back in action and is effective – just another day for him at the office. Sanjay Kapoor is brilliant and continues his Merry Christmas form as a royal Rannvijay Singh – tipping 20 rupees but packing food to cover his dilapidated ruined status. Karisma Kapoor is equally magical as a former diva and B-grade movie star of C-grade movies. Vijay Varma and Dimple Kapadia are not given due justice and feel wasted – their arc should have been stronger. Sara Ali Khan tries up to keep things moving but she has a long way to go. A lot more characters like Tisca Chopra add colour to the proceedings though in a very fleeting manner.
The Delhi class divide is beautifully portrayed. “Poor people should die young!” announces Tisca Chopra or the fact that two trainers from Arunachal and Karnataka are called twins. Smart writing exists – ACP Bhavani says “It’s easy to be branded anti-national these days!”
The movie sticks to its genre and the secretive layers get unveiled gradually to keep us hooked. Though the movie could have done with sharper editing and crisper execution.
This is no ‘Knives Out’ nor Homi’s own ‘Being Cyrus!’
Watch it once for Pankaj Tripathi and Idiosyncrasies of Delhi Gentry!
Kaathal is a ground breaking and bold movie that makes a case for the acceptance of homosexuality in a traditional and conventional society.
A woman (Jyotika) seeks divorce from her husband (Mammooty) due to a loveless marriage, which resulted from his homosexual orientation. All of this happens against the backdrop of a local election, where the husband is the candidate.
Jyotika liberates herself as well as her husband by filing for divorce when Section 377 decriminalised homosexuality.
Mammooty gives a powerhouse performance with Jyotika – no over the top melodrama. Pure emotions and relationships at work – fragility, vulnerability, complexities shown in no frills manner. Very nice to see the strong friendship and bond between the couple despite filing for divorce – they do not become enemies or haters. Mammooty’s expressions and Jyotika’s silence touch us!
Great direction by Jeo Baby and a strong supporting music!
‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ Review: Shocking & Sensational Series Of Mayhem Murder!
Glam Gossip
Media Trial
Family Secrets
The Sheena Bora case, yes – Shenna Bora case, was one of the most sensational topics in the media. It was India’s Amber Heard – Johnny Depp moment or our own Kardashian coverage! There were more and more twists and turns as the case progressed – exactly the details that media loves! And the spicier story was even hotter because of the rich and famous media power couple – Peter Mukerjea was the former head of Star TV and Indrani was the INX Media Channel founder.
The movie ‘Dark Chocolate’ was based on the same case.
How it changed from Sheena Bora case to Indrani Mukerjea story is the magic of the times we live in!
‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ is a real true crime docuseries. A 25 year young bright and beautiful girl Sheena Bora is suddenly off circuit. Her fiancee’s tries to find her whereabouts and is not successful. He confronts his dad Peter Mukerjea and his step-mother Indrani Mukerjea, who claim that she has gone abroad for studies. He does not buy it. The interesting part is that Sheena is Indrani’s daughter – even her claims about Sheena’s father are very shocking!
Indrani has three marriages – none of which resulted in Sheena’s birth. Earlier, she had claimed that Sheena was her younger sister. After allegations of cover-up by Mumbai police, the case was handed over to CBI. As things stand today, all the four accused – Indrani, Peter, Sanjeev (2nd husband) and driver are on bail.
As you watch the series the list of questions are endless – why did she claim Sheena was her sister? Why did she hide that Sheena was missing? Why and how did she enroll her second husband in the alleged murder of Sheena and torture of her? Why did Peter kept silent? What was the role of Mumbai’s top cop Rakesh Maria?
Sheena’s body was found in Pen in Raigad district. It was just a conicidence that Indrani and her accomplices visited the same location for exploring farmhouse property. It was just a coincidence that DNA of the body proved that it was Sheena – defence disputed it.
Who knows the truth?
Was there a cover-up?
Why the expose happened?
Who knows the real truth?
Will Sheena Bora get justice?
Questions that remain unanswered!
The documentary tries to be as objective as possible and gives a well-rounded view of every perspective. The testimonies are complemented well with actual footage and events. Access to Indrani is a big plus and they fact check her claims as well. Her intervention when her lawyers speaks (Alleged) and how lawyer asks her to ‘Chill’ are important unedited footage. Indrani’s bold statements will produce a factory of Instagram reels. She is Sheela of Wild Wild Country!
Indrani Mukerjea!
Imperfect Mom!
Gold Digger!
Secret Past!
Social Climber!
Who knows her?
Let us not forget that the documentary also has its point of view and soft corners – which could influence our understanding and hence opinion of the actual incident. And that is the intent – the documentary allows the audience to be the judge, jury and executioner.
Let’s not forget the ethics and responsibilities in the whole episode.
Covid was one of the biggest disruptors of our times – which forced us to evaluate our whole lives and existence. Our perspectives towards everything changed – career, health, family, relationships and self. We reprioritised our life and made several promises to self and the world.
As the world has bounced back to normal, we seem to have forgotten the covid lessons. How many of us are still living the covid promises that we made? Are you?
Bhakshak: Bhumi’s Stellar Performance In A Hard-Hitting Expose! But Who Cares?
Based on the horrific Muzzafarpur shelter home case that rocked the nation in 2018, Bhakshak is a gripping tale of a fearless small town journalist Vaishali. She follows a tip of horrific crimes and painful realities of a shelter home and pursues it relentlessly. The politicians, corrupt cops, bureaucrats and ’system’ live up to their cliche of blocking justice, abusing power and being partners in crime but Vaishali manages to release the victimised girls and ensure justice.
Bhumi Pednekar gives a solid performance with her driven and empathetic approach – Afwaah, Bheed and now Bhakshak. Sanjay Mishra as her cameraman and Aditya Srivastava as the criminal perpetrator give a praise worthy performance.
The screenplay is solid but editing and writing could be crisper. Clear loopholes and gaps exist but the overall honest intentions overshadow them.
The biggest challenge for the movie is the lack of interest and audience fatigue – who cares about child abuse, sexual torture, rape, and murder crime in shelter homes of Bihar? As Bhumi asks: “Doosro ke dard mein dukhi hona bhool gaye hain kya?” Scrolling continues…
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s ‘An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy’ covers all of the above and more themes!
Like its iconic subjects, Uncommon Love is a simple, candid and honest story of the early life of Sudha and Narayan Murthy. The couple have led a very private life and hence it is quite insightful to get a peek into their personal world. The book is filled with rich anecdotes which are a delight for everyone. These tales give us a clear understanding of the individual traits of Sudha and Narayan.
Indeed a few stories stand out:
Sudha Murty is a movie buff and a certified ‘First Day First Show’ fan. She won the title of Miss Cinema, after winning the bet to watch one movie every day of the year in a theatre! I can relate to it totally!
She was the only woman in the engineering class of 150 men and had to face a lot of challenges including derogatory comments and total unkindness. Her admission conditions included compulsory wearing of saree, no access to canteen and no chatting with boys! The college had no toilet and she had to travel to home in break. But not only she excelled despite the systemic misogyny, she won the respect of everyone!
She got prestigious MIT admission but she gave it up for a shop floor job at Telco – A job where she challenged J R D Tata for ‘men only’ employment policy of Tatas and won the coveted job. She faced similar challenges like the engineering college but her persistence and diligence and professionalism won the day. Later in life, she cried profusely when she visited MIT.
Sudha supported the entrepreneurial dreams of Murthy emotionally, physically and even financially! Murthy would be broke and she would loan money and fund their expenses. She had a notebook of loans which she destroyed on their wedding day.
She regularly financed Infosys and saved it – even pawned her wedding jewellery. She had to be away from her young daughter Akshata to help Infosys as well as manage her job.
Narayan Murthy got an IIT admission but his father’s financial situation forced him to turn it down. He was devastated.
He learnt English due to the nudge and kind help of a roadside shopkeeper!
He proposed to Sudha in an autorickshaw. Though she agreed, her father was not convinced. Narayana also had worn a Red Shirt when meeting his prospective in-laws and gave weird responses to their questioning.
He turned down a lucrative job offer at Hindustan Lever because of the ‘separate toilets’ policy.
Azim Premji interviewed Murthy but did not offer him the job as he thought Murthy was too simple. What if Azim Premji had hired Narayan Murthy?
Narayan Murthy founded Infosys but he gave a lion’s share to all other colleagues. All the other co-founders got big equity share – more than the normal business parlance. He kept only 30% and distributed the rest. He took a 90% salary cut while gave a 20% hike to others. He always focussed on the comfort of the employees. Compassionate Capital is his mantra!
Narayan Murthy did not allow Sudha to join Infosys as he wanted to create a totally professional company. He told her that if she wants to join Infosys, he will support her decision – he would leave and let her run the show. Sudha was very disappointed, hurt and angry. These hard decisions created Infosys as a different company (there was a brief departure from this position when Rohan joined as EA for a short period).
What if Sudha Murthy ran Infosys?
Murthy was busy building Infosys and could not spend time with the kid. The children felt that Infosys was the third sibling – the favourite child that never grew up and required constant attention.
He continues to be the simpleton. He cleans his own toilet.
Sudha clearly emerges as the brighter, smarter and more generous with her untold sacrifices. But Narayan Murthy’s simplicity, humanity, ethical approach and care for everyone else is his distinguishing hallmark. As Sudha said, he was the trapeze artist in the circus and she was the safety net!
In summary, Uncommon Love is a great read. The author’s grip on the content is not consistent and the book is bereft of any pictures – the one big disappointment in such a rich historically important biography. While the childhood, career, courtship, marriage, childbirth and entrepreneurship is captured well, the rise of Infosys and Sudha’s author career is very rushed.
The love, understanding, respect and support that Sudha and Narayan gave each other is the core message of the book. They do not need anyone else other than each other’s company. They are mirror to each other and their bond strengthened by shared values and idealistic principles.
The book also gives a glimpse of the challenges that Narayan Murthy faced in setting up Infosys after his first failure as an entrepreneur. Indeed it is due to persistence of him and likes of Fakir Chand Kohli, that India has emerged as an IT superpower – that would change the glo
The great Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have inspired several Hindi movies, regional movies, TV serials and even Hollywood movies (Think Matrix).
As we gear up for one of the most important events of the great Indian nation, let us recap how Ramayana has influenced our screens.
Quick points:
1. As noted in my PhD thesis, ‘Ram Leela’ plays have been an integral part of our entertainment history. The early films were dominated by religious and mythological stories, littered with special effects and relating tales based on the great Hindu epics, ‘The Mahabharata’ and ‘The Ramayan’.
2. Lanka Dahan – One of India’s first superhits: The 1917 movie on Ramayan by Father Of Indian Cinema, Shri Dadasaheb Phalke, was a cult hit. The shows ran every hour from 7 am to midnight making it one of the most watched movies of the early Indian Cinema. Shri Phalke was inspired to make the movie after watching ‘The Life Of Christ’ and felt a strong urge to tell the Indian mythological gem.
3. Seeta: The first significant talkie was Debaki Bose’s Seeta where Prithviraj Kapoor played Ram and Durga Khote was Seeta. Another movie of same time was Ram Janma.
4. Ram Rajya: Vikram Bhatt’s grandfather Vijay Bhatt made couple of movies on Ramayana – Bharat Milap and Ram Rajya. Both were super hits.
5. Ram Rajya was one of the only two-three movies that Mahatma Gandhi watched in his lifetime. Gandhi started using the word Ram Rajya as a welfare benign state.
6. Sampoorna Ramayana: The classic of the 60s is still one of the popular movies for legendary epic.
7. Bajrangbali: Lord’s biggest bhakt Shri Hanuman takes centre stage in the movie. Dara Singh is Hanuman in this epic. Mahabali Hanuman, Hanuman Paatal Vijay & Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman are other representations of Shri Hanuman.
8. Luv Kush: Jeetendra & Jaya Prada starrer focusses on the Lord Ram’s two sons after the Lord sends Sitaji to exile
9. Ramayana – The Legend Of Prince Rama: The India-Japanese anime movie has been a favourite with the 90s kids.
10. AdiPurush: One of the most disastrous movies of recent times which was criticised across the board for damaging our holy imagery of Ramayana and the crass treatment.
Similarly, several regional movies are inspired by Ramayana and the legendary NTR’s work is very prominent.
The epic Ramayana has influenced the Indian cinema in other indirect representations:
1. Hum Saath Saath Hain: Trust Rajshri to give us a perfect family values packed entertainment. This is the most popular replication of Ramayana in a modern context. Shobhana Samarth’s grandson Mohnish is the Ram like figure in the movie. Incidentally, Shobhana Samarth was Sita in Bharat Milap (She is Nutan’s mother and Kajol’s grandmother).
2. Raavan: Maestro Mani Ratnam gives the perspective of Raavan in Abhishek – Aishwarya movie starrer.
3. Baahubali & RRR have episodic influence of Ramayana. Even Ram Teri Ganga Maili as well!
4. Ram Setu, Rudraksha are other movies linked to Ramayana.
5. Hey Ram is not about Ram, it’s about Gandhi.
6. The message of ‘Victory of Good Over Evil’ has been central to the innumerable movies.
Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana remains the most popular and Ramayana – a cult whose telecast timing stopped the nation. Its repeat telecast broke records in Covid times.
Shri Rama has remained in Indian consciousness since ancient times and Indian Cinema has continued to revisit Shri Ramayana and bring it in the main discourse in multiple ways. The trend will continue…
