Asoka

Although this Shah Rukh Khan film did not do well at the box office, the film is a real tear jerker. Shah Rukh plays the role of Prince Asoka with conviction and aplomb. The movie begins with an exposition of Prince Asoka's situation as brother to the crown prince. An excellent warrior, Prince Asoka is sent hither and yon to fight the good fight, conquer the enemy, and to eventually be killed and so removed from competition to the throne. However, being such a good fighter and all, it's not so easy to kill the prince. Accordingly, the crown prince resorts to trickery and persuades the prince's mother to convince Prince Asoka to leave the kingdom and live as a commoner.

Prince Asoka makes his way through the wilderness and encounters his true love, Kaurwaki, princess of Kalinga (Kareena Kapoor). Eventually wooing and winning the princess as Pawan (the Wind), Asoka is summoned home by his mother and promises Kaurwaki that he will return quickly. Things do not turn out according to plan and Asoka becomes Emperor and embarks on a legendary killing rampage across India. The final scenes of the movie remind the audience of the frailty of life, the disappointment of accomplished goals, and the human lot of suffering.

Asoka is the story of a legendary historical figure who converts to Buddhism and leaves a humanistic legacy to India. This film provides the backstory to the legendary figure. Shah Rukh Khan is not only convincing, but is able to move the audience to tears. The several beefcake scenes do not detract from the overall excellence and serious purpose of the movie. In spite of the good looks of Shah Rukh Khan and pandering to the salacious interests of the audience, the film tells a good story and communicates a compelling message - the battlefield is the place where the beloved one lies. What cost victory? ...to what end?

Dil Bole Hadippa!

Veera wants to play cricket; she's a right and left hand batter. Only trouble is, she's a girl. The Indian team needs a good batter. But, they don't want a girl. To play, Veera disguises herself as a man.

As a girl, this kind of thinking makes me mad. (in USA) Why is it gender that determines function? Why not skill? Rani Mukherjee is excellent in this part. While she doesn't look much like a man, she gets the point across; excellence is excellence, regardless of gender. USA, India, Pakistan, Japan, it doesn't much matter; women are not respected for what they can do. They are held back by gender expectations.

It should not be gender, but performance that determines one's participation. By performance I mean performing to or surpassing a certain standard.

In the end, Rani makes her point and all's well that ends well; but, life is not so simple. People don't accept or consider female performance in the same way they do a man's (in the USA, at least). Archery is one such field of endeavor. Women can not compete with men. Why not? Is it the pudendum that pulls the bow? Of course not. Then why the gender discrimination? Are men so afraid that women will match them?

Of course, I liked this movie. Other viewers rate it lower than I do. But, some women are competitive with men; they should be allowed to compete with those who perform at their same level. Gender should not be the discriminating factor! Nor should anything else! Discriminate by actual performance level or ambition or choce or intention, but not by an accident of birth!!!

Musings on a winter evening: take me to Shah Rukh

Not a movie or book review tonight, not even creative writing. I'm happy. I'm listening to the My Name is Khan audio soundtrack. It's lovely. I wish that I could figure out how to upload a track to the blog, but I don't know how right now. I'm listening to Rang De. Such an uplifting song. I just learned that "Noor E Khuda" means, "God is Light." Oh, yes.

Shah Rukh Khan started tweeting on Jan. 2, 2010, in the morning. Talk about making himself accessible! I was there, well not there, but close enough. I was on Planet SRK when someone mentioned he had started tweeting on twitter! Wow! Such an exodus to that site, in moments twitter was overcrowded with people clicking to follow him. Such excitement. It is so fantastic to think that I can be party to his thoughts of the moment, that I can respond to his thoughts and they'll show up on his screen (in the midst of thousands of others) half way around the world.

He heals my heart. It's not that he's doing anything active in that regard, it's just that having witnessed the corpus of his work - watched every movie that I could find (some 50 - 60 or so), read every book that I have been able to find about him, read and watched his interviews, observed his expressions, his choices, his reputation, his humor, his spirit in action, I can't help but hold him in the highest regard. I started "studying" him to try to figure out why I was so attracted to him, why I felt such love for him. Initially, I couldn't figure it out. It didn't make sense. I'm not a person who falls in love with a celebrity. I've never been a fan of anyone. SRK is different. It's still a mystery to me. But I do love this man and wish all the best for him.

I'm not alone in this. I was one of the first 5000 to follow him on twitter, but in six days, he has 57,614 followers with more to come. He does not just appeal to a segment of the population. His appeal is universal. What accounts for this? People say that he "connects." What does that mean? His dimples? His well-defined abs (attesting to his determination, persistence, and hard work), his smile? I believe Shah Rukh Khan is a charismatic presence. He is gifted with the presence of god. I see god in him. Now, I know this sounds a little balmy. I was a graduate student of theology and comparative religion. I know better than to deify a human. I don't think I'm doing that. Rather, I'm recognizing the presence of spirit - geistes. Parousia, the breath of god.

He has this affect on people. He makes me smile. He makes me laugh out loud. He makes me happy. He brings people together in loving community. I am inclined to say he is ego less, but that is not true. He is not selfish, but he has a strong self. It's clear that he has integrity and strives for excellence. He's a person who pursues virtue in a world too often populated by those who seldom consider the consequences of their deeds and behaviors. Shah Rukh Khan is a wake up call, but not the annoying, alarming, threatening kind. Rather he calls us to be the best that we can be. Calls us to encounter the new day with fresh hearts, clean spirits, and open hands - ready for the blessings bestowed upon us. He refers to his soon to be released movie, but these words could serve to illustrate his influence on me and so many others, "subtle and quiet. with as much noise as sleet caressing water. gentle as love should be" @iamsrk

Delhi-6 (hindi 2009)

Delhi-6 opened to mixed reviews; the music by AR Rahman was considered one of his best scores - possibly better than SlumDog Millionaire, but the movie itself was given, on the average, 3/5 stars. Abhishek Bachchan stars and Amitabh makes a cameo appearance. The story involves an NRI returning home with his grandmother. Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) gets used to life in Dehli and grows to love it. He falls in love with Bittu and eventually declares his love, knowing it will prevent her arranged marriage. During his visit, the "Black Monkey" is running rampant and causing all sorts of havoc. In the final scenes of the movie, Roshan dresses as the Black Monkey to woo Bittu and is attacked by the neighborhood and beaten almost to death. This is a story of the gods and demons housed within all of us. It examines the importance of self reflection (symbolized by the mirror) and harkens to Plato's reminder, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Kismat Konnection (Hindi 2008)

Kismat Konnection stars with Shahid Kapoor and Juhi Chawla. SRK is the voice of the narrator. This is a cute story about a guy who is at the top of his class in college and just has a streak of bad luck after. He meets a girl, Priya (Vidya Balan), and his luck seems to change. The movie is all about their relationship and the preservation of a community center. Plans are afoot to build a shopping mall on the property, but Priya has other plans and she's the one with luck! More than luck, it's a film about the value of personal relationship and networking, no matter how the relationships happen. The significant person who turns the tide is a "waving friend." For me, this movie was a good reminder about keeping in touch and maintaining relationships.

Jab We Met (Hindi 2007)

Jab We Met is a great little comedy with good acting from Kareena Kapoor (Geet) and Shahid Kapoor (Aditya). The two meet on a train. Aditya has just finished watching his girlfriend get married and is feeling very down. The talkative and sparky, Geet, befriends him and tries to cheer him up. In her attempts, she ends up getting off the train and being unable to reboard it in time. The two end up traveling through Northern India together in an attempt to catch her train and luggage. Aditya accompanies Geet to her Sikh home in Punjab. Aditya wants to elope so that she can marry her true love, Anshuman. Aditya is persuaded to accompany her and drops her off at the doorstep of Anshuman and leaves. 9 months pass. Aditya has become very successful in business and has had a positive change in attitude due to his meeting Geet. On the other hand, Geet's parents look him up and demand that he produce Geet. Geet is nowhere to be found. It turns out that Anshuman had rejected her and Geet had been living in a religious teaching order. Aditya goes to look for Geet to return her to her parents. Ironically, he ends up doing for Geet what Geet did for him 9 months earlier. All's well that ends well and the ending is a good one. I recommend this movie for music, fun, interesting culture, great scenery, and good music.

1942: A Love Story (Hindi 1994)

The story of revolutionaries involved in India's separation from Britain, 1942: A Love Story is set in the Himalayan Mountains of Northern India - possibly Kashmir. The scenery is gorgeous and I've seen some of the locations and houses in other movies ( Jab We Met). Naren (Anil Kapoor) is the son of a rich pro-English landowner. Naren falls in love with Rajeshwari, the daughter of a revolutionary. When Naren attempts to ask permission from his father to marry Rajeshwari, the father turns in the revolutionary and his daughter in an attempt to prevent the marriage. The father dies in a bomb blast and the daughter is saved by a fellow revolutionary (Jackie Schroff). The revolutionary attends a ceremony where he hopes to assassinate an English general. Naren, having broken with his family, attempts to help the freedom fighter and uses a pistol in an attempt to help the revolutionary plan. He is captured and taken to be hanged. The revolutionary saves him and they both accomplish the impossible together. This is a love story with a happy ending, unlike what the beginning of the movie leads us to believe.

The movie won several awards; the music is especially good.

Taal (HIndi 1999)

Taal is a love story between a rich returned from London son with the daughter of a famous folk singer. Aishwarya Rai plays Mansi who falls in love with a man who, returned from school in London, disregards social convention and courts a woman who is below him in caste. Though his father honors the father of the girl who is a famous folk singer in his village, he refuses to recognize him or give him honor in the city. Mansi, insulted on behalf of her father for the treatment he has been given, disavows her love and turns to Vikrant Kapoor (Anil Kapoor), a famous pop singer, producer, and director. Recognizing her talent as a singer and dancer, Vikrant Kapoor catapults Mansi to stardom and asks her to marry him. She agrees. In the meantime, her forsaken love, Manav, vows to win her back and follows her career and attends her wedding ceremony. While there, he confronts Mansi who is unable to hide her feelings for him. Vikrant sacrifices his own interests in the interests of true love and encourages Mansi to leave him and express her feelings for Manav. She runs from his car and embraces Manav as the two fathers forget their differences and embrace also.

While something of a cheesy plot, the acting is good and Aishwarya Rai is great as always.

Devdas (Hindi 1955)

This older Devdas with Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, and Vyjayantimala was quite good. Filling in the story of Devdas and Paro as children, and then fleshing out the Chandramukhi (Vyjayantimala) character added quite a bit to the story. While much simpler than the more recent Devdas, the costuming and sets are simple, this Devdas delivers more of a story and provides more motivation for the characters' acting. Filled with longing, suffering, pride, and irony, Devdas is deservedly considered a classic. The musical score is also quite good. Dilip Kumar's Devdas is a weak man who can't come to grips with his decisions or lack of will power. He is impulsive, loyal, and prideful. His alcoholism seems accidental and then an excuse to avoid responsibility. On the other hand, SRK's Devdas is a tortured soul who truly seems to care for Paro. While I like the back story provided in the older Devdas better, I like the acting in the newer Devdas best.

Faraar (Hindi 1975)

Amitabh Bachchan is considered by many to be the King of Bollywood (compared to him, SRK is not even considered a challenger; however, SRK is the best.) As I have only seen Mr. Bachchan in recent movies, like Cheeni Kum, Veer-Zaara, Mohabbatein, Bhagban, Bhoothnath, and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, I wanted to see him in a movie from when he first became famous. Faraar was recommended to me by the very helpful person in the video store. In this movie, Raj (Amitabh Bachchan) learns of his sister's death at the hands of a person who is acquitted at the hands of the law. Raj takes it upon himself to see justice done and ends up murdering the man. He goes on the run and hides in the house of a police man, where he takes the policeman's son hostage. It turns out that Raj is intimately connected in the past with the policeman's wife. She discovers who he is when she overhears Raj singing a song the two of them had shared to her son as a lullaby. (The same lullaby she sings to her son...) What ensues is interesting. The acting is good and the action believable. A good human interest story. I'd recommend this movie also.