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.

Cheeni Kum (Hindi 2007)

Cheeni Kum stars the very attractive Amitabh Bachchan who is the owner of the best Indian restaurant in London. He meets an attractive 34 year old Nina (Tabu), a flirtation ensues and love soon follows. The trick is to convince Nina's father to give her hand in marriage to 64 year old Buddha (Amitabh Bachchan). In a subplot, Buddha's neighbor friend, 10 year old Sexy has blood cancer and is very ill. A charming and entertaining movie, I recommend this one.

Kaal (Hindi 2005)

Kaal is a Hindi thriller set in the Jim Corbett National Park in the central northern part of India. Ostensibly a thriller about naive encounters with man-eating tigers, this is actually a story about a ghost who lures unsuspecting tourists who do not follow the park rules to their death. John Abraham, Laura Dutta, and Ajay Devgan star. This is an entertaining story with some startling moments.

Gaja Gamini (Hindi 200)

A movie unlike any other, Gaja Gamini is a meditation on women. Without plot, the movie proceeds as a collage of images and scenarios. Madhuri Dixit plays the mysterious woman, Gaja Gamini. Leonardo Da Vinci's muse, Gaja Gamini smiles secretively and personifies women across the centuries. The movie is set on a stage divided by a big black wall. On the one side is reason on the other, art. Madhuri plays five distinct characters. Shahrukh Khan makes an appearance. Some people really like this film and some people really dislike it. It is an art film, the subtitles are poor, only about 1/2 of the dialogue is translated. Much of the dialogue seems to be in couplets, but it's difficult to tell. If one thinks of this film as a play set on stage, fractured into pieces much like theater of the absurd, it's a little easier to accept. While I'm not sure that I'd recommend it, I found it very difficult to follow, it is interesting for what it tries to do and how it tries to do it. The director, MF Husain, is a famous painter and was 85 when he directed this film, supposedly inspired and dedicated to the leading actress, Madhuri Dixit. (The painting at the beginning of this post is by M.F. Husain.)

Umrao Jan Ada by Mirza Muhammad Hadi Rusva

Umrao Jan Ada is the life story of a famous Lucknow courtesan. While reading through this story, I was increasingly reminded of a Hindi movie starring Aishwarya Rai. Of course, the movie is Umrao Jaan. The book is considered the first novel that was written in Urdu - the language spoken/written by Muslim Indians. Abducted from her family by a man seeking revenge against her father, Amiran is sold to the procuress of a brothel. Upon her procurement, they change her name to Umrao. Umrao is pampered and raised to read, write, dance, and sing. Upon practicing her trade, her name becomes Umrao Jan (the Jan indicating her status as a courtesan). Narrating her various affairs and ventures, the story is framed in poetry and chapters are introduced by couplets. Revealing a life of luxury and tribulation, the story is interspersed with philosophy and meditations upon the relations between the sexes. Umrao Jan finishes her account with this thought, "My poor, simple prostitutes! Never entertain the false hope that any man will ever love you with a true heart. The lover who gives his body and soul to you will depart in a few days. He will never settle down with you, and you are not even worthy of that. Only the virtuous, who see one face and never turn to another, will have the pleasure of true love. You, women of the street, will never find such a blessing from God" (200).

JP Dutta's film, Umrao Jaan, starring Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, is a very faithful adaptation of this novel.

Love and Longing in Bombay by Vikram Chandra

Vikram Chandra is a powerful writer; his short stories in Love and Longing in Bombay are masterful. All are united by the common technique of the narrator encountering a friend, Subramaniam who tells a story. The narrator says this about Subramaniam, "Subramaniam had white hair, he was thin, and in the falling dusk he looked very small to me, the kind of man who would while away the endless boredom of his life in a bar off Sasoon Dock, and so I shaped him up in my mind, and weighed him and dropped him. I should have noticed then that the waiters brought his drinks to him without being asked, and that the others talked around his silence but always with their faces turned towards him..."(3).

The stories are five, "Dharma", "Shakti", "Kama", "Artha", and "Shanti". I'd read "Shakti first in an Indian compilation called Mirrorworks and had already determined that it was a story that I'd like to use in class. Shakti means "power", as far as I know, and the story is about different levels, kinds, and exercises of power. "Dharma" is the story of a man who meets his ghost. "Kama" is a story about the motivation for committing murder, not sex or love or property, but "the most complicated thing of all." "Artha" is a story about how to live. When suffering is so great, how does one go on? How does one live? Finally, "Shanti", peace, is introduced in response to worry about a woman who is "in despair over the state of the country" and has become cynical. Subramaniam tells the story of a boy who, waiting at a train station with a friend, falls in love with a young lady who is also waiting for a train. Over a period of time, the two become acquainted. The young lady is searching for her pilot husband who is missing in action. She is traveling the length and breadth of India looking for him. Whenever she stops at the hero's station, she has a cup of tea and tells the hero stories that she has heard along the way. Finally, the hero responds by telling her a tale of his own. What the tales have in common is the pure human condition, the existential response to living.

These stories are moving, masterful, and mindful.

One 2 Ka 4 (Hindi 2001)

Another good Shah Rukh Khan movie, One 2 Ka 4 is the story of two cop partners who are working on a big drug lord bust. The senior partner, Javed (Jackie Shroff) is the good father of four kids. Ajay (Shahrukh Khan) is the junior partner and hates kids. Javed is killed in a drug bust and Ajay finds himself the adoptive father of the four kids. This is the story of his attempts to raise the kids with the help of a quirky female friend, Geeta (Juhi Chawla). Of course, it all comes right in the end and we see SRK's character's growth and development throughout. A very endearing and heartwarming story, I recommend this one. (The picture shows Ajay after having begged for just 10 minutes of silence, please...)

Pardes (Hindi 1997)

Pardes is a wonderful film about the difficulties of being an NRI and the difficulties of adjusting to a new land. After 25 years, Kishorilal (Amrish Puri) visits his dear friend in India. He becomes enamored of Ganga (Mahima Chaudhry) and decides the village girl would be perfect for his prince of a son, Rajiv (Agnihotri). Arjun (Shah Rukh Khan) is commissioned by his adopted father, Kishorilal, to plead the suite of Rajiv. He does so successfully and Ganga agrees to the engagement. She visits America, Rajiv's homeland, for a month prior to the marriage. Rajiv shows his true colors and even Arjun can not put an acceptable spin on his behavior. In the meantime, Arjun and Ganga have gained one another's trust and have fallen in love. The movie is their love story and the troubles attendant upon differences in culture. This is a great little movie with strong Indian values contrasted with shallow American values. There is an awesome scene where Arjun demonstrates his unselfish love for Ganga by clasping a naked blade and running his bleeding hand along it...

Parzania (2007 - American/Hindi)

Parzania is a movie about the communal riots in the Indian State of Gujarat. Hindus set fire to Muslim communities, destroyed people and families, and police stood by, watched, and laughed. The movie traces a middle class Parsi family who lives within a Muslim community. Suddenly, without warning, riots erupt, people try to save themselves, and Parzan, the young son and brother, is separated from his mother. The parents spend years trying to locate him. The movie also gives a phone number to call with any info. Starring in the movie is Nasaruddin Shah and Sarika Masterm. Both of these two are very good in their roles. The actors who play the young son and daughter are also good. The American role was annoying. The character cussed every two words and drank continuously from a flask. I'm sure all Americans who visit India are not this uncouth, at least I hope so.

Yeh Mera India (Hindi 2009)

This movie is a melange of different characters trying to make it in Mumbai in the span of one day. Yeh Mera India is about bias and prejudice. By the end of the span, several of the main characters have realized their bias and addressed it. This was a good movie, but much of it was untranslated. About 2/3 was translated and 1/3 was not. Unfortunately, there were periodic episodes of a voice over, I suppose making an editorial comment about the action, that were not translated. Particularly moving was a scene wherein a Muslim terrorist is readying himself to shoot a Hindu target. By chance encounter, he is reminded that one can look at the good in interactions with the other or one can focus on the bad. He remembers being saved during the time of Muslim terror when Hindus were lighting the Muslim neighborhoods on fire and remembers that it was a Hindu home that gave him and his child shelter. After this memory, he witnesses a lost Muslim girl on the street. She is crying and a small boy, whom we and he later find out is Hindu, gives her succor. Her mother finds her and is grateful to the Hindu boy. The terrorist watches. Then another Muslim terrorist plants a teddy bear bomb under a political rally grandstand in the same vicinity. The Hindu boy, seeing the abandoned teddy bear, wants it and reaches for it. The Muslim terrorist watches this as his mark comes out, his partner yells at him to shoot, and he chooses to rush to the aid of the boy, grab the bear, throw it, and is blown to bits himself. Later, another character confronts patrons of a restaurant who are overheard talking about Muslim terrorists and confronts them with their stereotypes, reminding them that all terrorists are not Muslim. Issues dealt with in this film include, economic status, religious affiliation, immigrant status, newcomer status, competition for jobs, attribution of responsibility, and appreciation of the good in people. I recommend seeing this film, but possibly look for a version with better subtitles. I watched Adlabs.

Dostana (Hindi 2008)

Starring what has to be three of the most attractive people on the planet, Dostana is a comedy about two attractive "hot" guys who say they are gay lovers in order to get two rooms in a desirable condo in a Miami high rise. Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham play the two guys and Priyanka Chopra plays the girl who owns the apartment and rents to the two. The guys are actually convincing as gay boyfriends. There are several amusing scenes between the two. Abhishek lets himself go more and John Abraham reminds one of George Clooney. One scene between Kunal (John Abraham) and Neha (Priyanka Chopra) features a background of SRK dancing in the rain during the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai; they imitate SRK's dance moves. I enjoyed the irony of using SRK to move the romantic plot of the movie along... This was a good little comedy although the gay theme was stereotypical...