Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 110

Jail Diary - I

20. 5. 2013, Mumbai

For three months, Sanjay Dutt had been dreading the moment when he would have to leave all his loved ones and surrender himself to Tada Court. 

For three months, he had been breaking down at home, on the sets and at press conferences.

For three months, he had been preparing himself for his moment of truth but the harder he tried, the more vulnerable he turned.

Jail Diary is a journey into the mind space of a man serving his term inside the prison.

A man reared in the lap of luxuries and an actor loved by millions.

May 15: It is the day before Sanjay Dutt has to surrender and he is nervous as hell. He has not slept a wink in many days and as the hours go by, Sanjay trembles with fear. He wants to be brave but cannot fight his tears. If only he could turn the clock and live his life again but all he has now is regrets. His family has been rallying around Sanjay for many weeks now yet nothing they say or do can take away his fears. Late night when everyone has retired, Sanjay and Manyata and Sanjay tiptoe into the children’s room and watch the twins sleep peacefully. They stay awake all night holding each other’s hands waiting for the dawn that that will change their life forever.

(To be continued)

Bhawana Somaaya / Twitter: @bhawanasomaaya

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 109

Gatsby is mesmerizing, Fundamentalist is thought provoking

17.5.2013, Mumbai

Iss hafte do International filmein release ho rahi hai – jisme Indian actors ne kaam kiya hai.

Baz Luhrman ki The Great Gatsby mein Amitabh Bachchan hai aur Mira Nair ki The Reluctant Fundamentalist mein chaar Indian actors –Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Chandrachur Singh aur Naseerudin Shah ka beta - Imaad Shah.

Itna hi nahi, Fundamentalist ki editing Ab Tak Chappan ke director Shimit Amin ne ki hai aur film ki closing mein aakhri message, Javed Akhtar ne likha hai.

Dono filmein Big American Dream ke baare mein hain aur dono kitabon par bhi adharit hai.

Scot Fitzgrald ki Great Gatsby Long Island mein basse amiron ki 1920 ki kahani hai jab America pure josh mein tha! Mohsin Hamid ki The Reluctant Fundamentalist post 9/11- America Pakistani ke badalte rishte ki kahani hai.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist ka scoring point real incidents, real locations aur lajawab music hain. Great Gatsby ka scoring point film ki kahani aur presentation jo 3D mein aur bhi alishan lagta hai!

Dono filmein bahtareen likhi –edited - photographed aur performed hain.

Jay Gatsby ki bhumika mein hero Leonardo DiCaprio aur Changez Khan ki bhumika mein hero Riz Ahmed flawless hain. Amitabh Bachchan Gatsby mein sirf ek scene mein aate hain aur purre screen par chha jate hai. Reluctant Fundamentalist mein Shaban Azmi aur Om Puri hero ke maa baap ki bhumika nibhate hain.

The Great Gatsby sapnon ki tarha sundar aur kanch ki tarha nazuk - Reluctant Fundamentalist haqeeqat hain isliye disturbing hai, magar ashavadi bhi.

Dono filmein apne genre mein extra-ordinary hain aur dono ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hai 4 stars.

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Cocktail of Don & Do Kaliyaan..!

Yash Raj Films ki Aurangzeb, waise toh kahani hai do beechde bhaiyon ki, magar iske ke alava, film mein bohat saare parallel tracks chalete hain.

Aurangzeb ko hum family drama keh sakte hai, ya phir corporate world mein badhta corruption ka expose!

Writer director Atul Sabharwal police /politics aur business world par sawal uthate hain aur action genre ko realistic formula mein pesh karte hain. Isiliye film hero centric hote hue bhi, baki characters, chahe wo sirf ek scene mein Anupam Kher ho ya do scene mein Deepti 

Naval ko ahmiyat deti hain.

Film ka plus, film ki likhawat, anokhi casting  jaise Jackie Shroff - Amrita Singh ki pairing aur Arjun Kapoor ki maa ki bhumika mein Tanvi Azmi hain. 

Saare performances competent hai, nayi ladki -Sasha Aagha - Ghulam ki Rani Mukherjee ki yaad dilate hai. Aiyya ka hero, Prithvi aaj ka angry young man hai aur Rishi Kapoor itne dashakon ke bawajood bhi hume surprise karte hain!

Arjun Kapoor agar Ajay ke roop mein baahosh aur besharam hain, toh Vishal ki bhumika mein khuddaar aur samajhdar hain. 

Film ka minus, film ki slow taking hai, jo ek hi sur mein Gurgaon aur Delhi ke ird gird ghoomti hain. Bohat saare kirdaar hain, aur sabki apni back stories bhi.

Aurangzeb ab tak ki bani double role filmon ka mishran hai, kuch Don aur kuch Do Kaliyaan se churati hai, isliye thodi lambi hai, magar kuch alag hai.

Aurangzeb ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hai 3 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com    

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 108

Non Fiction Festival
15.5. 2013, Mumbai

Did you know that a fiction writer is paid more than a non fiction writer because the publisher believes that  fiction will sell larger number of copies than  non- fiction? The non-fiction writer, be he a biographer or a scholar travels a difficult path first researching his subject and later making him/ her identify with his story but it is the fiction author who is celebrated.

Not anymore it seems because finally, a festival that will celebrate non-fiction writing and authors in India!

To be held in Mumbai between 21-23 June, 2013 Nehru Centre, Worli Mumbai (indianonfictionfestival.com) the festival will cover a variety of subjects like business, management, politics, economics, health, fitness, spirituality, cookery and self-help books. This will be the first in publishing history where a platform will be provided to discuss the highs and the lows of non-fiction. Writers and authors from different fields will interact and discuss whether it is easier to write stories out of imagination or is it easier to write about facts and make real people identify with it?

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 107

Godfather of Journalism
14.5. 2013, Mumbai

If Baburao Patel, India’s pioneering film journalist were alive, he would be 104 years old this year. He dared to unmask the dream-merchants, a trend gradually picked up by future film glossies in the coming decades. Baburao launched India’s first film magazine Film India in 1935. It was the most popular film magazine of its time, widely appreciated for its bold stand on current issues and a scintillating style of writing.

It was said that Baburao’s column made and broke careers. Filmmakers dreaded his acid reviews of their films, for his comments invariably proved true at the box-office. Not surprising that he was the most hated and also the most sought-after journalist in show business.

Patel was the son of an illustrious advocate at the Bombay High Court but due to compelling circumstances, could not complete his schooling. That did not deter his confidence as he spent most of his time browsing in his father’s library at home. He enhanced his knowledge via self-education. He had big dreams for himself and he was unafraid to pursue them. It is said that he rejected his original surname, Patil because he found it too restrictive and altered it to Patel little knowing at that time that it would go on to become the most famous by-line of that era.

His wife, Sushila Rani Patel, yesteryear actress and a legendary singer hosts a music recital in the memory of her husband at her Pali Hill residence every year on his birthday.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 106

Remembering Kaifi Azmi in Lucknow
13.5.13, Mumbai

On May 10 Kaifi Azmi’s death anniversary, IPTA remembers their leader with songs and poetry. Stretching across 22 states of India with a team of 12000 members they have a long list of  plays that have been running for years but one play that generates immense curiosity and draws packed houses within hours of advance booking opening is Kaifi aur Main.

Conceived in the memory of legendary poet and IPTA founder member Kaifi Azmi, the play combines the writings of Shaukat Kaifi and Kaifi Azmi. In two years the play has travelled all over India and abroad and evoked nostalgia in a cross section of generations.  Performed by Shabana and Javed Akhtar, the duo through riveting passages travel you through two momentous lives full of romance, drama, pathos, conflict, death and dignity. There is acceptance of turbulence, struggle without compromise on principles.

The play is a document of the socio-political era and the influences prevailing at that time. The narrative combines heart rending prose punctuated with Kaifi Azmi's memorable poems like Aurat and Makan and of course his memorable songs from Kagaz Ke Phool, Haqeeqat, Hanste Zakham, Heer Ranjha and Main Azaad Hoon set to music by Kuldeep Singh and rendered by Jaswinder Singh and his orchestra.

The two-n-half hour play unfolds the most extra-ordinary love story of all times. Every performance in every city is a magical experience.

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 105

Gippy - Go Goa Gone -  Four Two Ka One
11.05.2013, Mumbai

Gippy for teenagers

Karan Johar produced Gippy - 14 saal ki Gurpreet Kaur aur uske aapsi rishton ki kahani hain. Gurpreet thodi moti aur thodi clumsy hain.

Class ke doori ladkiyon ki tarha nahi use ladkon mein dilchaspi hain - aur nahi sajne sawarne mein.Wo har raat icecream khati hain aur Shammi Kapoor ke ganon par dance karti hain – tab tak jab tak use pyaar nahi ho jata.

Gippy ke kirdar mein Riya Vij golmattol aur meethi hain - aur baaki namak milate hain Gippy ka chotta bhai - Arbaaz Kadwani aur bade dil walimaa Divya Datta.

Film one track - one dimensional aur slow hain magar. Plus ye hai ki Dharma Productions diverse subjects aur naye directors ko protsahan deta hain.

Gippy ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 3 stars.

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Go Goa Gone for whacky
Go Goa Gone kahani hain- teen dost – Kunal Khemu/ Vir Das/ Anand Tiwari aur unki Goa mein guzari ek hassen ya yun kahiye khatarnakh sham ki.

Ye apne Genre ki pehli Indian film hain – jo zombies ke baare mein hain.Aur kyon ki pehli film hain - isliye thodi ajeeb bhi hain.

Film ka minus – film ki burri zaban- jo subject ke hisab se jayaz hain – magar kanon ko taklif deta hain!

Film repetitive hain aur ek samay baad hum burri shakal/ burre vyavhar ko dekh kar tang aajate hain.

Film humourous hain – writing witty hai -aur sabhi actors ne kamal ka kaam kiya hain - phir bhi Go Goa Gone sab ke flavour ki film nahi hain.

Go Goa Gone ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 3 stars.

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Four Two ka One for MKD followers

Director Anwer Khan 20 saal Manmohan Desai ke assistant rahe.

Sunil Shah ki Four Two ka One ek tarha se Manmohan Desai ki filmon ko tribute hain – sirf ek antar hain – ismein bhai bichadkar nahi milte hain– suitcase bichadkar milti hai.

Mana ki Anwer Khan ki chotti budget/ chotti starcast/ mediocre film apne guru ki alishaan filmon ki parchayein bhi nahi chooti...

Magar unki filmon ki spirit zaroor pakadti hain - Four Two ka One bhi Manmohan Desai ki filmon ki tarha – 2 ghante mein sab ko poetic justice deti hain.

Four Two ka One ko Big Entertainment Ratings milte hain 2 stars.

Bhawana Somaaya / www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Cutting Chai with Bhawana Somaaya - Day 104

Treasure Trove
10.5.2013, Mumbai

Today Voices of India - a kaleidoscope of the rich aural inheritance of our country launches in Bangalore and later travels to several other cities of India starting with New Delhi on 28 June 2013 where Manish Tewari, Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India flags off the week-long exhibition. In end August, the ICCR and Weavers’ Studio in Kolkata host the exhibition for two weeks on their premises in the city following shows in Chennai and Mumbai.

The Archive and the website on the archive in Bangalore will be launched by Dr. H.R. Bhardwaj, Governor of Karnataka at the Alliance de Francaise followed by a week-long exhibition titled ‘Voices of India’.

‘Voices of India’ would be the first audio exhibition of its kind in the country where the oldest music of India is accessed through the latest technology using Smart Phone apps that would create a different kind of immersion into the music of the past! The exhibition presents a sample of treasure trove and represents the diverse voices of the country.

Recorded during the Gramophone era, right from the first recording artist Gauhar Jaan in 1902 till the 1950s the exhibition comprises pristine voices of classical music stalwarts like Abdul Karim Khan, Kesarbai Kerkar, M S Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar and others to the rustic lilting folk tunes of Tamil Kavadi Chindu.

From the theatre music of Bal Gandharva’s Marathi theatre to the cinematic geniuses K L Saigal, MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, Bai Sundarabai of Pune and PLeela to the first recording of the National Anthem by the Vishwa Bharati chorus, devotional songs and speeches by Mahatma Gandhi.

An exhibition not to be missed!

Bhawana Somaaya/ www.bhawanasomaaya.com