Brothers and Sisters

I am not a professional TV reviewer, neither am I in nay way connected with scripting, dialogue writing or acting departments of soaps ( though I wish I could, but alas, there are as many things one can do in one's life), but I am all for quality TV watching. With all the free available time at my disposal, I am quite a keen TV watcher. Now, there was a soap, which was high on my wish list, and which I couldn't watch much because my hard-disk was full with all the three season of Grey's anatomy. The show was Brothers and Sisters. Now, god bless teh souls at Star Word wo decided to air this shown in India. The show has a stellar cast and two of favorite actresses viz Sally Fied and Calsita Flockheart. Calista is seen after her long hiatus, and with old episodes of Ally Mcbeal airing on Zee Cafe, it certainly has added to my fondness for her.

Brothers and Sisters is an altogether different show produced by the same guys as 'Alias', though it does feature a few actors from 'Alias' in important roles. And, yes, I almost forgot, the most important fact that it has a lead character playing a gay attorney. I know, it's so hard to get the above combination of gay + attorney ( anything related to do with brains in INDIA, If any guy disagrees and has brains, kindly drop me a message) when all the people who you meet either turn out to be working in a BPO or some shoddy fashion House. Speaking of fashion houses, I had watched entire jassi, and let me tell you that, I had huge expectations from Ugly Betty but it was such a damp squib. Jassi was much more interesting and entertaining. On the other hand, Ugly Betty looks like one of our saas -bahu soaps where a mystery woman schemes and plots to upstage the hero..so very balaji..they must sue these people.



So, I was talking about this whole Brother's and Sisters, and the reasons I like the show. First reason is that they shot in LA. Ohh, I love California weather and the whole sunny side of things..You don't get to see a single ugly frame. Secondly, I love families. I just love the fact that despite getting angry, fighting over, calling each other name, there will remain people who don't stop loving you. It sound so cliched, but to emphsize my point, one really realizes its importance when you don't have anybody to fight with, knowing that they will be there for you despite all that. Thirdly, I love Calista Flockheart ( I still don't know if I have got her name's spelling right. Google will be too much of a bother). She does not play Ally Mcbeal, but it'd hard to miss traces of here Mcbeal days. especially when she starts speaking real fast, and gets edgy about her relationships. she is a lovely actress, and I 'd like to see more of her..A little digression, Calista Flockheart auditioned for Teri hatcher's role in Desperate Housewives. I am glad that she didn't do that role, coz Teri is just so perfect.

Now comes the real clincher, the gay brother of Calsita, I don't like him per se ( in the sense I am not over the moon over him). But, it is such a relief to see someone playing gay role in a not stereotypical profession. He is not he best looking guy around, but its not as if you would not notice him if he were in a room. I know, I am sounding a little desperate housewives myself..maybe this obsession has been rubbed off from too much of ally Mcbeal,But who cares..I jsut wish there were more interesting people in this world.
ahhh..where are you, My Mr Right

Lessons from the past

I recently finished reading 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie. Having no background in African history or history of colonialism, I had picked up the book randomly. Now, I am glad that I picked up this book and got a different perspective on India and Pakistan because our situation was not much different at the time of partition, from what Nigeria had to face, albeit ten years later. The story is as relevant today as at any other time, where different vested interest want to break apart the country on religious, castiest, and regional lines.

For most of us in the Indian subcontinent, colonialism primarily meant our two hundred years of British rule and the adversity faced, or the painful partition independence brought upon. It was not so different for Nigeria, when it got it independence from British in 1960. The book details what a country afflicted by all the maladies that a newly found independent state would face after a prolonged colonial rule. This gives us an interesting perspective to compare the situation of Nigeria with India and Pakistan. Nigeria faced the same problem of religious and ethnic divide at the time of its independence. There were many tribes - Christian Igbo and Muslims Hausa - wanting to upstage the other while making sure their own tribe prosper. The civilian government was ousted and two Military coup followed by killings of thousands of innocent people. Igbo dominated south western Nigeria claimed independence, and created a new state named Biafra. Biafra was not recognized by other African countries except for few, and Nigerian government came down heavily on rebels and a lengthy civil war was started which took as many life from hunger as from bullets and air raids. Food supply was cut off and a whole generation was conscripted to achieve the freedom from enemy state. This war gave malnutrition a new meaning, and kwashiorkor- a condition caused by severe malnutrition- thousand of faces. In the end, Biafra lost and more than a million lives were lost.

I think there are so many lessons for each of us. The futility of war cannot be overemphasized, and today when India and Pakistan are both witnessing dissent from far flung corners for autonomy and self rule, it gives us a vantage point to look at their demands. North East has still remained a place far removed from politics of delhi and even after sixty years many people from mainstream India find it hard to accept them as anything but chinky. We had had secessionist movement in punjab and kashmir which took many lives and continues to do so. Why is is so hard for people to acknowledge the presence of other and prosper with them. The answers are not so difficult to find, if we care to look around.

Hindus & Muslims: Why we are more similar than different

I recently wrote a long rebuttal to a Pakistani journalist's article proclaiming Indian intellectuals can't accept Pakistan, only to later feel that I might have been a little jingoistic in my response. I absolutely agree that there are sections of Indians who feel that way, but to term an entire community, or so called liberal Indian intelligentsia, Anti-Muslim would be preposterous.

This has reminded me so many incidents from my life where I, as part of growing Indian middle class, faced people with varying degree of paranoia against muslims. Having grown up in a libearal environment, my parents never instilled any anti-muslim sentiments in my mind, whereas everywhere else I found that hindu children are told vicious things by parents about their muslim counterparts. Here I have tried to list down some of the misinformation fed to the children from a young age, which later perhaps shapes their perception of the community:
( based on my experience of growing up in small town north India)

• Muslims are the filthiest creatures to be found. They take bath only on friday, the day of prayer, and they make do with their customary 'wuzu' (ablutions) for rest of the days. And not to forget, they hardly ever change or wash their clothes.
• All muslims are incestuous. They don't value any sisterly or filial relationships and can be betrothed to even their step-mother.
  
• Muslims are very cruel, they have no feelings and in the event of slightest tiff, they will chop you like a butcher the moment they seize you . And muslim women are not far behind, they too can make a barrah kabab out of you single handedly with their knives in times of riots.
  
• They have no culture, tradition or customs. They will keep four wives and divorce their wife whenever they wish.
• Muslims can never be trusted, they would never fight shy of backstabbing at first available opportunity.

Now, these reasons are adequate enough to create a distorted picture in the impressionable young minds, but not enough to clamp down young childhood friendships. Inspite of all the misgivings parents or society tried to inculcate among my friends, none of them ever had any reservation in sharing our study notes or lunch boxes. I don't know how many of them feel the same way about muslims now, but I am very sure it must not be very different from what it used to be.

Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the place where I grew up, was once famous for it's ganga-jamuni tehzeeb, the camaraderie between different faiths and harmonious, peaceful co-existence.This, coupled with liberal attitude of my envioronment, led me to be enchanted by the wonderful cultural heritage I was exposed to. I looked forward to month of ramzaan much more than Holi or Deewali because unlike a single day of celebration, it brought steady stream of muslim delicacies in the form of iftaari for one whole month. Muhaaram was not far behind in my scheme of things, where I would listen to all the marsias and wait for the hissa, the food item given at the end of the majlis. I used to go to mosques and dargaahs with same reverence as to the temples every year before examination results were to be announced. ( Even today, I feel muslim dargah are quicker in listening to your wishes and granting them than hindu gods)

Cut to year 2006, while travelling through busy lanes of bangalore, my fairly liberal, educated, broadminded friend becomes wary of driving in a muslim ghetto. His fears are same. He feels he will be killed if he accidentally even just touches a kid running on the road. I prod him to know more about his paranoia and he gives me the same answers: how muslims are brute, and killing people is in their blood, they have no compunction while butchering people. When I remind him of the atrocities perpetrated by hindus in gujrat riots, he gets dismissive of it as a retaliatory action.

My arguments could not convince him on that day that there can be a non-violent muslim, and I had to give up. I normally don't try to act as an intellectual, liberal champion of muslim cause. But in his case, I was deeply hurt. I never expected somebody of his class, intelligence and awareness to be so rigid in his view of his muslims, and he never believed in right wing politics of BJP. I later realized that it was not his fault that he had not come across any muslim who challenged his set perception of muslims. Those beliefs were perpetuated in his mind by mass media where all terrorist activities are brandished as muslim handiwork.

As mentioned in the article by Mr. Ramchandra Guha, in whose response, the piece of Writing that I responded to was written; people who migrated from pakistan at the time of partition are most resentful of muslims. They see them as the reason they were displaced, and hold them responsible for everything they went through. Political parties have exploited this sentiment and used it to rouse people against each other. It has become another 'us' versus 'them'. When I look back, I find not 'them'. We were all 'us' and hope to continue to remain so.

In his particularly relavant book on this subject, Identity and Violence, Prof. Amartya Sen discusses the same nature of commonality which bonds people of different faiths. Dismemberment of Bangladesh is a case in point that religion alone cannot keep people united. I just wish more people become curious to find commonalities than differences among muslims of today's india and see that we are more similar to them than what is projected by political parties.

P.S. Some people might get confused as to how it is possible to be friends with muslims and all that ganga-jamuni tehzeeb remains intact, when such a malicious traits are attributed to muslim. The list of virtues ascribed to muslims are part of a folklore which gets passed down to different generation, and everyone renounces them when they see muslims are not what is projected of them, because they get chance to be frinds with them, study with them and interact with them, unlike living in a ghettoized envioronment

Who is the 'fairest' among all

Koffee with Karan is quite a popular show on Star World and the best part of the show is that you not only get A-line celebrities ( except for an episode featuring Ektaa Kapoor and her harem of Men from K-Serials. And before you scream- Rakhi Sawant, let me say, though she is not intellectual and all, she is a loved by masses who love her as much for her crassness as for her antics). The section which is most talked about in the show, or often more controversial than others is 'Rapid Fire' round, where the host asks the guest questions in rapid succession and expects some masaaledar fiery answers.

Now, one of the most frequent questions which is put across to the guests has been: " who is the best actress- Rani, Kajol or Aishwarya?". The answers have been varied and most guest choosing between Rani or Kajol, leaving Aish behind, and if I can make a rough approximations Rani would have got 40% compared to Kajol's 60%. A few weeks back, the show featured Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azami and they were asked the same question. I don't recall Javed Akhtar's response but Shabana was quite quick and convinced in her response when she chose an actress out of the troika. "Konkona Sen Sharma", said Shabana , in her characteristic equanimity, without batting an eyelid while answering the question. This answer really got me thinking. Who is the the best actress today in Indian Cinema, and fortunately I seem to be in agreement with Shabana here.

Konkana Sen Sharma won best actress national award for ' Mr & Ms Iyer' in 2002; and I, for yet not having seen the movie, felt that there again goes story of daughter of an established art house director, having considerable influence over the jury who got the best actress award favored to her daughter, much in the same way people accused Saif Ali Khan for having snatched Best actor for Hum Tum under the aegis of her mother Sharmila Tagore. In retrospect, I feel my reservation over Konkona had much more to do with my Indian sensibilities which smells a rat every time somebody with illustrious parents excels in the fields they choose, rather than some obscure underdog winning the coveted prize from hinterlands ( How many of us raised eyebrows when Meera Jasmine won in 2004).

I feel utterly humbled later on by her acting prowess when she slipped easily into varied characters one after another such as a tamilian Iyer housewife to mother of a young child inclined to 'swing' in 'Mixed Doubles' to that of a 30+ virgin in Life in a Metro..But for me, her most lovable performance was in 'Omkara' where she played a village belle to perfection. Though, each character stood out in that movie, however, she remains my personal favorite. Her diction, body language and expression transported me to western Uttar Pradesh. Now, there is a woman who is unfazed by the presence of bigger stars like kareena in Omkaara , Rani in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag ( where reports suggest that she is taking extra care in the presence of best actress of India currently to save her reputation of being queen bee of hindi films) or with Madhuri in Aaja nachle.
An overlooked perfomance of hers in Yun hota to kya hota directed by Naseerudin Shah, where he rightly acknowledged her to be THE BEST actress in India today, should also be mentioned to highlight her versatilty. Without doubt, she is not the best looking actress around, but having said that, her acting makes up for more than how she looks. And needless to add, I am a Big fan of hers!

Chak De!

I don't often watch hindi movies, but my bored life sometimes forces me to watch one, that too, all alone. Having said that, let me add, I like watching movies. Usually, the kind of movies I watch are not appreciated by people I have for company. So, I watch them all alone, without getting distracted by distraction of my fellow moviewatcher by the designer clothes or lack of them, or finding something funny in serious scenes. So, I went out and watched two movies this weekend in quick succession.

The first movie, Chak de India, was not a movie I would have gone on a normal day. Firstly, I am not too fond of Shahrukh Khan's acting abilities, and not at all fond of his looks ( He looks like a hanger in his new lean look, What's up with these oldies, I say? I just hope that he is not taking a leaf out of Shekhar Suman's book, where he, like Shahrukh, has gone popla without shedding his teeth). And let me also add a completely extraneous statement that I was not swayed by the fact it had 16 girls playing hockey players. ( Would have been different if it had 16 male hockey players like Vivan Bhatena, He was such a cute prick in the movie). It is often said that the best way to enjoy a movie is to go without any expectation and form your opinion only after you have seen the movie. This has been proved so true in this case that I had to swallow all my misgivings about this movie. The story line and everything was dissected, and was all over the news, therefore I had a fair idea what was in store. But surprised I was, when I saw the final product. Shahrukh khan for once was restrained and did not get to twist his lips, or shed copious tears while shaking his neck the way he does when he loses his heroine. All the girls were perfectly cast and showed decent acting abilities, while dribbling the hockey stick, which by no means would have been easy.

The best part of movie was its taut screenplay and editing, Shimit Amin himself being an ex-editor would have certainly helped here. Much to my chagrin, I enjoyed the movie so much so that I even fancied Sagarika Ghatge playing the role of Preeti Sabharwal. Kudos to Jaideep Sahni and Aditya Chopra for having conceived such a film and bringing it to us, without having to worry about commercial viabilty of a movie centering around women Hockey. Jaideep, who also helms the dialogue and lyrics of the movies has brought out the character sketches beautifully. All in all, though it may been inspired by hollywood movie Miracle, yet it has been indianised so well that it makes every indian shout Chak De..India!! at the end.