Saturday 28 April 2012

Sometimes,to check if things are still the same,
I remember your face and spell out your name.

Bhooter Bhobbishot

#BHOOTERBHOBBISHOT

To watch a well made Bengali movie is always a treat and watching it in Mumbai doubles the joy. Bhooter Bhobishyot is a wonderful movie to watch. It's entertaining,wholesome and contemporary even though dealing with a subject as difficult as the plight of ghosts.It is proved that you can make a decent comedy movie on ghosts without horror with a very light dose of masala and bring in the public to the theatre.

The screenplay and the dialogues are very well synchronised and edited to fit the context. The movie never slackens the pace of the narrative even though the storyline is offbeat and satirical. This actually is remarkable
for any director to manage.

The actors in the movie does justice to their parts and each one of them have contributed to the movie like a successful cricket team. Without a conventional model of story with hero, heroine, villain, twists etc the timing and the delivery of dialogues become very important to keep up the tempo of the film and the director is successful in this with the help of a very good performance by the entire cast.

Now coming to the actors, I find Parambroto improving with every film and not surprisingly, he is there in three of the last six movies I have watched. After Baishey Shraabon and Kahaani, he again gives a very good and underplayed performance as a young film director. Swastika, one of my favs( for obvious reasons) as Kadalibala is the most sexy Petni ( chudail) I have seen after Dimple in Bees saal baad with all her Chhola Kolaa.

Wednesday 25 April 2012


After so much words are spoken,
the time of silence , at last, arrrives.
Silence , all pervading like darkness
deep and flawless, erasing all words
that were said , or were left unsaid.
This is the way alll endings begin
and are repeated all over again.
To postpone the inevitable calm
by the routine of our daily lives
does not change the ultimate outcome.
It just makes the shadows longer
and the race more tiring .

Thursday 19 April 2012

Neighbour's envy !


Two news items today lifts up the spirits after the continuous spate of news on misgovernance, Mamata, corruption and silly IPL. Firstly India has surpassed Japan to become the third largest economy in the world and secondly the successsful launch of AGNI-V missile.

The first piece of news is a statistical fact (oxymoron ?) and should be taken as such. It does not really reflect the ground level reality that the common and average Indian faces but still it is a big achievement. Frankly speaking it has happened not entirely due to our initiatives but mainly due to the decelaration of the other economies . This has to be borne in mind and it is important for us to keep up the momentum and stay ahead of competition.

The second news is quite heartening and everybody concerned needs to be lauded for the achievement. It is a big technological upgrade and the precision of the operation is very morale boosting . It is being called as a deterrent weapon and a gamechanger and maybe it is so.

Invariably, both the news are being analysed against the backdrop of our pet bugbear of the recent times, China. Here also there is scope to feel smug as we seem to have overcome the psyche of comparison with Pakistan and probably left them behind by miles except for the constant irritation of terrorism festering as a skin infection.

While there has been no reaction from China on the upgradation of Indian status on the economic front because probably they still have not developed any hangups with silly indexes like GDP, PPP, IIP etc to define the contours of their economy. They are not really bothered about all these economic jargons as long as they can exploit all resources of this earth in the production lines of their factories and use the simple theory of mass production to price the goods very cheaply, extinguish competition and spread their hegemony on the world. There is a degree of cockyness about this approach but it is mainly a bye-product of their closed and opaque society and will ultimately meet its nemesis , in due course. What that will mean for everyone else is a different matter to ponder but that is a tale for another day

More interesting , sllighly intiguing (as always with the Chinese) and very amusing (for the time being) are the reactions emanating from them on the second news . The successful missile test by India seems to have put China in a quandry and they have tried to hit out at India like a peeved neighbour envious of the new boundary wall put by a householder to stop trespassing. Downright ludicruous is their attempt to downplay the Indian achievement by predicting that India can never catch up with China in military might. If India can surpass Germany and Japan in net economy then why not China militarily , if situation demands?

Or is it the fact that military upgradation ( however unwanted or unnecessary) by India is stretching China beyond their means too. Or does the capability of striking Beijing anytime from the shores of Odhisha has really flustered the Chinese. They were very recently flexing their muscles with incursions on Arunachal Pradesh borders . They are also trying to surround India with unfriendly neighbours with their creeping presence in Nepal,Sri Lanka and now Myanmar. Thats because in the race for the top spot in economic superpowerdom, India is the only threat for them. It is surprising for them ( and also for many Indians too ) how India has achieved so much in spite of the inherent contradictions and pestilence of democracy. In spite of their facade of centrally unified command, China is a fragmented society within. And they are always wary of external influences which is the biggest impediment to a free society.

Time will tell how India matches up to China. But one thing is certain and that ironically is the strength of India which many of us have not yet realised and there is no effort to develop . Our main resource is the much maligned population increase. We will definitely surpass China in the foreseeable future and continue to spread throughout the world . This will be a natural progression because our land area will not support the population explosion . Its a pity that we do not care about our biggest resource and make it qualitatively more efficient through education and healthcare , the two basic and simple needs of the society.

With a large population equipped with education and health, economic and technological achievements as experienced today would be much more deeply satisfying and savouring.

Sunday 15 April 2012

Paoli Dam


Many of you may have by now been quite intrigued and curious to know the name of the lady who is being featured in the promos of the movie Hate story, scheduled to be released by next weekend. She is all over the place and as the tempo builds up before the release it has generated a fair amount of controversy and titillation. Which is what the makers of the movie wanted , in the first place.

I guess this week , we will all have an overdose of Paoli Dam in the media. Knowing Vikram Bhatt ( or all the Bhatts , if you please) and his record of sensational promotion campaigns for films , this is not surprising. Many may have already viewed the teaser promos of the movie Hate Story by now on TV and more importantly on the daily newspapers and as you read this, if you are a male,then you must be having a sly little smile on your face and licking your lips involuntarily as you visualise this Bengali bombshell. (#HateStory)

Yes, Paoli Dam is most probably the boldest and the hottest thing to hit the Indian screens . But wait, before you tag her as only an object of desire and self exhibitionist and bracket her with Poonam Pandey, Mallika Sherawat or Rakhi Sawant et al ,then request you to please make a background check. A search on wikipedia at the following address http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paoli_Dam will provide you her filmography, which looks quite impressive already.

For the pan-Indian audience, Paoli may be a new starlet but those who follow the developments of Bengali cinema will know that she has already established herself as a talented actress who is also game for the dare-bare scenes as demanded by the script. She has already acted in films and TV series directed by Gautam Ghosh , Rituparno Ghosh and Budhdhadeb Dasgupta and proved her mettle as a fine actress. (#PaoliDam)

But her most daring and bold scenes were done in the movie Chhatrak ( dubbed Mushroom internationally) which was directed by Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara which won critical acclaim in the festival circuit. A 40 second clip which was purportedly snipped off by the censors did the round on the internet and left nothing to imagination about the uninhibited and bold intentions of the actress. She has herself upped the ante by giving controversial statements and interviews and always positioned herself as an actress who would not mind to cross the limits of accepted norms if the situation or the scene demands it. So now she has a big challenge to prove herself worthy of a bigger audience after trying her luck with Bollywood.

This is her big break with the national audience . And maybe a stepping stone for her to bigger things. She has a very beautiful pair of eyes and nice features which I personally feel appeals to the senses more than her body show. And yes, she can act. Let's hope she gets a good script in Hate Story and the movie catapults her to the league of Vidya Balan.She definitely deserves a good international audience for her unconventional style.

All the best to Paoli Dam . But I am not too sure about the fate of Hate Story. Let's see how it unfolds.

Saturday 14 April 2012

On certain nights


Certain nights are different.
Secrets are revealed in #whispers
through the hidden wavelengths.
In every fold of the darkness
are some eager secrets hidden;
those unknown ambiguities,
which cover the sprouting desires
like a shroud without bothering
too much about their pains
or the consequences of denial.
In the crowd of the mourners
it is difficult to spot the real friend,
everybody wears the mask of sadness
and the corpse, bereft of life, lies still.
Purveyors of some occult practice
stand silently with their stony faces
upturned towards the dark skies
on such moonless night , calling out
to the darkness all around them,
soaking them within the senses
to prepare for the tortuous days ahead,
when the rays of light will blind them.
They realise very well that the sanctuary
of the darkness , after all is not eternal.




#poetry, #Just Arunangshu, #Oncertainnights