Can willpower change destiny?

Samantar (Parallel, Marathi, 2021)

Season 1&2, Mx Player.

We understand that life has its ups and downs. Sometimes, the downside drags us so severely that it buries us in the muck so entrenched that it becomes impossible to wash off. Occasionally, choices made at the spur of the moment plunges us into such miseries. If only there was a way to identify these times when these crucial decisions had to be made.

Our ancestors came to suggest ways to predict bad times and possibly avoiding bad decisions. Palm reading and astrology charts based on one's birthdate and times form a crucial Indian way of soothsaying. It is believed that celestial bodies in space affect events, behaviour and outcome of events. Hence, the importance of auspicious times in officiating life-changing events.

What if someone is given hints of events of the near future? Would he be able to avert maladies, or would he still be subject to the same path he is destined to follow? Is knowing one's fate a way to avoid tragedy? Of course not, says this miniseries. We are all enthralled in fulfilling our primal desires that we fell prey to the conducts of the others who, in desperation, aspire to fulfil specific aspirations, use all their God-given attributes toward this end. 

Our present depends on our past, and our future turns out due to our current actions. We are the results of our efforts and will carry the burden of our activities to our next birth. This transgenerational carrying of karma is the reason for many freak accidents and bizarre occurrences in one's life.

This 2-season, 18-episodes of 20 to 30 minutes each tell the tale of a down-and-out office-middle-rank-worker, Kumar, who cannot understand the spate of bad luck that befell him. A close friend who is a work colleague cajoles him to consult a palm reader/religious man. At one look, the palm reader refuses to read Kumar as he has seen that same palm before. Upon much coaxing, he said that that was the same palm of another person named Sudershan Chakrapani some thirty years previously. Looking at Chakrapani's life would predict that of Kumar's.

Next begins Kumar's obsessive hunt to find Chakrapani. Their lives, it seems, run parallel, albeit at different timelines. The end result is not palatable but can Kumar change it with the help of Chakrapani's little peak into the near future? Can willpower ever change destiny?

Follow

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Just another day at work?

Court (Hindi, Marathi, Gujerati, English; 2014)
Screenplay, Director: Chaitanya Tamhane

I remember a joke someone told recently. 

There was once a 75-year-old man who was brought to a magistrate. The spreadsheet showed that the accused was charged with molesting a 17-year-old girl.

The magistrate looked at the 75-year-old and asked, "Why? At this age, why all these? A 17-year-old?"

The accused replied, "Sir, I was also 17 when the incident happened!"

That pretty much explains how slow the legal machinery works and how farcical some of the red tapes are.

Sorry to keep you waiting!
Doctors are humans too, they need to eat.

The men in robes (and women) argue about the most frivolous point and drag their feet to put an end to the misery that the legal system places on the Joe Public.  For them, it is another day in paradise, appearing important and flaunting their verbosity. It is another day of loss of income and the uncertainty of the unknown for the average Joe.

The public looks upon the members of the legal system as someone larger than life, living true to the tenets of life and holding 'the truth' close to their hearts in everything they do. Lest we forget, they are also human beings crumbling to the trappings of life.

If songs can kill

This Marathi movie is said to be one of the best made Indian movies ever made, as described by big movie stars and filmmakers. Unfortunately, if the proof of the success of a movie is in its box-office collection, it did miserably despite receiving multiple international accolades. It was made by a debutante director who received inspiration after spending a day in an Indian court. It was a world of difference from the usual melodrama-filled court drama often depicted on the silver screen. And that is what this film is all about. He tried to illustrate the sombre mood at the courts and how the wheel of justice moves ever so slowly. He goes on to show how the officers of the court, including the judge, the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer, just go on with their lives, seemingly detached from the devasting effects their actions or inactions can have on the fate of people they are entrusted with trying. The lawyers are not as passionate, assertive or demonstrative as police dramas show us.

In reality, the worker did not commit suicide. There are

simply not enough protective gears to go around. The

blame goes back to workers and others in the vulnerable

groups. 

'Court' centres around a 65-year-old folk singer-teacher-social worker who is charged for enticing a sanitation worker to commit suicide via his songs. An archaic law still in force, making it a crime to sing inciteful songs, is probably a colonial legacy. A sanitation worker apparently entered a manhole without any protective apparatus with the suicide in his mind, it is alleged.


The folk singer denies everything. He did not know his songs had such effects on his listeners. He is defended by a well-heeled activist and defence lawyer who is well versed in English, Hindi and Gujerati but not Marathi, in which the whole court proceeding is conducted. Then there is the feisty prosecutor who morphs into a housewife and a mother outside the courts. The judge, we soon learn, believes in numerology and can also be impulsive when challenged outside the courts. The filmmakers humanise all the characters. They are never overtly good or bad, but just products of the space and social construct they grow.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

When is it enough?

The Disciple (Marathi, 2021)
Netflix

Life is easy with eyes closed, accepting whatever we 'see'. However, for someone who questions, examines and introspects his every move or feeling, life can be a very tedious affair. The indecisiveness and guilt are just too much to bear. The answers available to us are just too ambivalent and can be interpreted however we want to. The more one thinks about it, the more confused he becomes in choosing the desired path.

Probably that is why we all look for shortcuts. We look upon those who have been there and done that with reverence. We hope we can use their wisdom to manoeuvre through the options available to us. It is easier this way, leaving life's big decisions to what the elders preach. If only there were a 'to do' list that answers all our queries. Even then, the answers will be not so forthcoming.

See how 'man made' law need regular amendments all the time? So how is it that the 'divine decrees' stands the test of time without considering the ambiguity of societal changes and 'modernity'? 

From the viewpoint of career, most of us have to answer at one point in our lives whether to what actually gives us satisfaction in our professional duties. Is financial gain the be-all and end-all of all professions? Is being a purist and sticking to doing the right thing adhering to the profession's rules the end goal? Is financial gain the final yardstick to determine success? 

Our tutors showed us the wisdom in performing our tasks following rules and regulations set out by the doyens of our respective fields. Working in the dark, they discovered groundbreaking finds and help to enlist the dos and don'ts. We learnt and promise to uphold the 'truth' of the respective fields. We gave these truths divine statuses.

After being thrown to the deep end of the marketplace, we soon realised that the societal demands are a world of difference from what we thought. We would be caught in a conundrum whether to stay faithful to the teachings or take shortcuts to meet the customer demands? Should we be purists or pragmatists? With the passage of time and the need to perform filial piety, the pressures for monetary fulfilment supersedes that of personal vocational gratifications. Individual satisfaction takes a back seat. We crumble and fall prey to doing what is perceived as the intelligent thing.

This Marathi film reminds me of two other movies I have seen before - Satyajit Ray's Jalsaghar  (Music Room, 1958) and Inside Llewyn Jones (2013). Like in 'Jalsaghar', viewers can truly appreciate the nuances, intricacies, and various voice modulation ranges that makes classical Indian singing so unique. As in all fields of knowledge known to Indians, music is given an esteemed place as a gift from God. Singing and music are provided respectable positions in society. People submit a lifelong commitment to trying to learn music. They believe one lifetime is not enough.

Like in 'Inside Llewyn Jones', the protagonist spends a big chunk of his life thinking he is gifted musically. Only after many disappointments does he realise that he may never be good enough. Is it because his masters have set their standard too high, unattainable by his students? Or is it that the Master himself is unsure what it is to excel and what is perfection?

This movie almost made it as India's entry to the Oscars but lost out to Jallikattu. It tells the story of a young man who is in pursuit of being somebody in the field of classical Indian singing. He wants to stay true to the teachings of his Gurus, who treated the art form not as a field of knowledge but as something akin to divinity.  They looked upon music and singing as the part of Goddess Saraswati herself to master it! Thus are the intricacies and the things it is capable and we, human beings, have not even scratched its surface. One life is definitely not enough to master it. His gurus advised him to safeguard its purity. There should not be any shortcuts or selling out for commercial interests.

All these may sound romantic, but romanticism does not fill up an empty stomach. Neither does it meet the realistic challenges of modern life. Modern societies are not interested in immersing themselves intoxicated with ragas, talas and the melodic and voice control of Indian classical singing. They yearn for musical intoxication but the headbanging and lyrics with sexual innuendos, not in praise of Nature and Divinity. As one cannot sing on an empty stomach and money is essential for survival, preservation of life seems more urgent than conservation on age-old traditional music.

Slow-moving, but after all the fanfare, it makes you think. What do we actually want? How far would we go to maintain the purity of the field of our expertise? Is it alright to cut enough to meet the demand of the marketplace? Is upholding tradition at all costs worth the sacrifice, and what expense?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The cycle is a MacGuffin

Cycle (Marathi, 2017)

A Malay proverb goes, 'gajah mati meninggalkan tulang, harimau mati meninggalkan belang, manusia mati meninggalkan nama'. Literally translated it meant elephants die leaving bones, tigers leave their stripes and men leave their good name. Essentially it denotes that a legacy of a person is his deeds, not his materialistic assets.

It may all be make-believe and fabled narration - that the world is so good where it provides for everybody. Your deeds are the only that matter. That is the only thing that is remembered of you are your virtues. The material representations of you are not you but the mere reminders of your existence.

The movie set in 1958 rural India. Perhaps the innocence of Man that existed in the yesteryears is just a forgotten relic of the past. Modern Man is more self-centred and suspicious of the person beside him. Money has pervaded into everyone's life that it supersedes doing good or the right thing.

Maybe somewhere in the corner of our hearts, we still hope that humanity and all the traits that protected mankind through hardship over the years are still alive. People would yet be assessed by their virtues and not their bank balance. Material possessions are essential but not be-all and end-all of our being. 

The story tells about a decent much-loved astrologer, Keshav, who is placed in high regards by people near and far. He is gentle when speaking bad omen and sometimes tells his client the good things that they want to hear and sugarcoats the unpleasant one. His one much-prized possession is his yellow bicycle. It was bequeathed to him by his grandfather who received it from a British officer for his services. Keshav loves his vehicle too much, to the level of obsession. No one is allowed to ride his bike, strictly nobody. He even keeps it indoors.

During his absence, on a faithful day, Keshav's bicycle gets stolen by two bumbling thieves who had just robbed a house but were chased by dogs. A devastated Keshav goes in search of his machine.

Meanwhile, the robbers on their getaway, get the royal treatment from the adjacent villagers. They believe them when told, though they were initially unconvinced, that Keshav had loaned them his contraption. Long story short, the thieves realised they had stolen from a decent chap. Keshav also gets back his cycle, but by then, he realises his folly. He had emphasised too much on his bicycle but failed to see all the love around him.

In this unsettled world full of uncertainties, this movie could be a wake-up call for us to reassess our priorities. We should not be all rapacious in our zest for wealth acquisition but consider having a re-visit upon things we had wanted to do all our lives but never the opportunity to do so.

P.S. Learnt a new word - MacGuffin. It is an object or device in a film which serves merely as a trigger for the plot. It has nothing to do with the story. It was coined by Alfred Hitchcock. Asked in an interview, "what is a MacGuffin?", he replied, " It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish highlands."

The interviewer went on to enquire, "But there are no lions in the Scottish highlands."
He cheekily said, "Then that's no MacGuffin."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. 

To relook, recreate and remind

Panipat, The Great Betrayal (Hindi; 2019)

Many post-colonial nations are eager to re-write their histories. Previously their colonial masters painted a story of their land as seen from their jaundiced eyes, in keeping with their narration as being the saviour and liberators. Now, after years of accepting the past history as the gospel truth, the natives have arisen from long slumbers. They want to re-write the baloney. There is an urgent need to re-look at our history books.

Indians complain that their history books are only filled with a dramatic depiction of impoverished India where the liberators from the West, rose to their occasion to illuminate wisdom and a sense of purpose. Their glorious pasts are conveniently whitewashed. It seems that even the narration about India's most prominent kingdoms like Vijayanagara, Paalavi and the Pandava Dynasties are conspicuously absent from the history textbooks.

Bollywood is trying to patch the gap conveniently blanked out of history. Of course, it is not going to be easy on all parties, as many have been mired in one kind of truth. To re-educate or re-wire their understanding of the original script may actually question their own existence. Loyalists, traitors, conspirators, villains and double-crossers may all be re-casted, depending on the scriptwriters.

Panipat, a site in modern-day Haryana, had witnessed three brutal wars. This film showcases the last of the Panipat Wars at the zenith of the once-great Maratha Empire which is famed by India's iconic hero, Shivaji Chhatrapati.

After defeating the Nizam of Hyderabad, Sadashiv Bhao Rao and cousins march towards Delhi to fight a Pashtun speaking chieftain, Najib-ad-Daulad of Rohilkhand who refuses to pay taxes and has form allegiance with the Afghan King, Ahmad Shah Abdali @ Ahmad Shah Durrani. Nawab of Oudh also supported Durrani.

It is not a showcase of the clash between the Muslims and the Hindus. The Maratha warrior had a Muslim warrior, Ibrahim Gardi, the artillery expert. In fact, the Maratha army had always had a regiment of mixed ethnicities and religiosities. The betrayal, as mentioned in the title, does not refer to Muslims acting as turncoats. The traitors here are the Rajputs and Jhats who decided to support the invaders due to high taxes.

King Ahmad Shah Abdali @ Durrani

The war is said to be the most brutal one with the dubious record of having the highest number of dead warriors in a single day. The Maratha's mistake was to bring in too many civilians. Their public relations with the local chieftains and strategical outlay was poor. Even though the Marathas lost the battle, its army was apparently praised by Durrani, in a message sent later, for the bravery and tenacity. King Durrani gave up his wish to conquer India after that.

This film is not without controversies. Effigy of the director and cinemas were torched to show peoples' displeasure. The Afghani embassy stated their objection for the depiction of the founder of Afghanistan like an Arab prince, with the crew's wardrobe choice and makeup (application of kohl).

Verdict: 3.5/5. The filmmakers have spent a lot of time to make the film believable. They have employed younger actors with the appropriate physique to pass off of warriors. Time and effort had been spent on war tactics and strategies. Though there can be room for improvement in the CGI department, the director managed to create the grandiosity of an army in full regalia and the aura of an ancient battlefield.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Need more than music, love and sunshine to live!

Sairat (Wild, Marathi; 2016)

The Marathi cinema has the reputation of producing the first-ever full-length Indian film in 1913. Honouring the doyens of the yesteryears, the Government of India gives out an annual award to an icon of Indian cinema for lifetime achievement, named after the director of this movie, Dadasaheb Phalke.

Unfortunately, over the years, it lost out to its glamorous, world acclaimed and well-funded cousin, Hindi films of Bollywood. Of late, Marathi films are making a come back of sorts after the Government of Maharashtra made it tax exempted.

Many Bollywood actors and directors are jumping the bandwagon to dwell on the craze. 'Sairat' is the highest grossing Marathi film and is the first to cross the ₹50 crore mark.

The story is nothing spectacular. It is a tale teenage love of members of contrasting classes (a fisherman's son and a landowner's daughter). The lovebirds are hellbent on being with fulfilling their youthful desires despite the massive opposition from the girl's thuggish father. There is a lot of running, bashing and display of injustice and inequality. The positive feature of this flick, unlike its counterparts of filmy unrequited love, one does not see a lone macho boyfriend fighting tirelessly against the whole tirade of hard-core gangsters. He gets bashed up hardly giving a fight. The heroine is the dominant one who actually kickass to get things done.

The cinematography is pleasing to the eye and the narration shows the reality of love. Desire may feel the heart but the truth is, in the real world, we need a roof, food, place to call home and above all, money to get things in order. We cannot live on sunshine, air, music and undying love!