Antarmahal: Views of the Inner Chamber (2005)

It gets very difficult to say something about this film. I don't really want to write about this film but this has been sitting across my mind that I chose to shed them off me, by writing them down. The storyline is not a very usual one-liner and if I try to speak something on the story, it very well will be the spoiler and turns off the entire experience for a viewer.


It's a Rituparno Ghosh film with a very illustrious & beautiful star cast that includes Jackie Shroff, Abhishek Bachhan, Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan and Raima Sen. The three ladies of the cast - Rupa Ganguly, Soha Ali Khan & Raima Sen (Though Raima's is a short special appearance) all with that typical "Bengali-ness" take no time to transcend the viewer to the late 19th Century Bengal. And a special mention on the charming Soha Ali Khan who revives back the beautiful Sharmila Tagore of the 60s on-screen. A striking resemblance ...



Sharmila Tagore in Devi (above) and Soha Ali Khan in Antarmahal (below)

Two things stand out distinctly for me -

One -- The stunning & visually appealing art direction and wonderful set decoration. The sets are so minute in detailing everything that, the period feel is kept intact right from the first frame till the last one. The story is set in a Bengali Zamindari house and such a colourful art direction will definitely stay in oneself for a long time. Somebody shows you a picture or a clip without the stars of the film and you will identify - Its that Artistic and beautiful. Combine a bright and colourful cinematography with that and everything you see on-screen is beautiful.

Two -- The film offers a saddening look on the social practices and treatment of women in ancient India. We know them all from our history books but they offer only the textual knowledge -- Polygamy, Domestic violence, a foolish dependence on whatever advice the priests have got to offer etc, all portrayed with a satirical sense. Male Chauvinism over-boils and flows through out...

And, then there is a lot more the film has got to offer ... The British rule in Bengal, "Rai Bahadur" title for Zamindars, the grandeur of "Durga Pooja" celebrations, Queen Victoria etc.

A very rewarding cinematic experience it will be. The next time you watch a Bengali art, you know what to expect ...

Mother India (1957), Sippikkul Muthu (1985) and India's Official Oscar Entries

Mother India (1957)

Mehboob khan's "Mother India" is India's first submission to the Oscars and quite deservingly, it won a nomination also in the "Best Foreign film" category. It not only received a nomination but also gave a stiff competition to Federico Fellini's "Nights of Cabiria", that the jury voted for as many as three times and it is only the third time "Nights of Cabiria" emerged the winner by a margin of just one vote. Such is the greatness of this still-favourite-of-many classic.

"Mother India" is the saga of a woman – Radha (Nargis Dutt). Radha enters the village as a newly wed bride with her husband Shamu (Raaj Kumar). There's an evil-headed money lender, Sukhilal who exploits the illiterate family and carries away the reaps from their farmland, as the interest for the money he has loaned, every year after the harvest. The family turns immensely poor and tragically, Shamu loses his hands in an accident & walks away from the family. Then, it's all about Radha's struggles with poverty & raising up her two sons, Birju and Ramu and Birju's revolt against the atrocities of the money lender Sukhilal.

The first part of the film is all about poverty and struggles. There was a lot of hopelessness & despair and Nargis scores heavily with these sequences. Portrayed with a sheer sense of motherhood, patience and sacrificial attitudes – Nargis stands tall and evokes a lot of sympathy in the viewer.

The film provides a vivid and colourful picture of India of the 50s. The villages, traditional and cultural values in the society, healthy dependence on Agriculture (backbone of India's economy), Construction of dams, tanks and canals (Temples of Modern India, as Nehru refers to) etc - India in its infancy of growth and development.

Then there's this famous fire scene, which has been re-enacted in "Om Shanti Om", with SRK and Deepika. During the shoot of a fire sequence for the film, Nargis was caught between the flames and Sunil Dutt (plays Nargis' son in the movie) saved her and the two got close that it ended up in their marriage.

One of the signature scene sequences of the 50s and 60s films should be, the closeup shots of the heroine's face. The heroines would be heavily made up so fair and with thick red lipstick, a real curvy and dark eyebrows, black dots on the chin (dhrushti) and then they would be shot with that girlishness covering up one half of their face with one hand – "Nalina"and "Naanam". There's one such sequence here and it was beautiful.


A colour film in the 50s – The film is a Indo-Russian co-production. The film's international vision could be seen by the fact that the title cards and credits are fully in English and not in Hindi. The film is technically wonderful considering the fact that it is made 52 years back - Crops and farms are photographed quite beautifully, Depiction of a flood is really good, Editing and scene-transitions though seem trivial now, would have been very well ahead of the times during 50s. More than anything, it provides a cinematic and filmy feel, when the Indian films of the period were considered stage-playish and dialogue-centric. It definitely conveys things with that "cinematic language".

The length of the movie is something that might haunt you. It runs for about 3 hours – short by 6 minutes. Honestly speaking, the last one hour had a lot of drag-ons and I felt there are more than one unnecessary scene sequences. But, again you can never be in the shoes of a 50s cinema viewer.

The realistic portrayal of poverty in the first half and Nargis' performance are the sure highnotes of the film. Though the film has stood the test of the times, I still feel it hasn't really got a lot of cinema to offer to a modern cinema viewer of our generation. After all, It's been more than half a century since it was made.

Sippikkul Muthu (1985)

Swathi Muthyam (1985) by K.Vishwanath is India's Oscar submission for the 1986 edition. The film starred Kamal Haasan and Radhika and it was dubbed in Tamil as "Sippikkul Muthu". Sankarabharanam (1979), Saagara Sangamam (1983) [Salangai Oli in tamil] and Swathi Muthyam (1985) are three important films by Vishwanath, which redefined the telugu cinema audience's taste. All the three were made with that "auteur" sense, which we more commonly call "Art films". The first one Sankarabharanam won a National award while the last two have been India's Oscar submissions.

In "Sippikkul Muthu", Kamal Haasan plays an autistic person (retarded mental growth) with no real knowledge and understanding of whatsoever thing, he comes across. He develops a child like affection towards a widow (Radhika) & her son in the village and one fine day, ties the nuptial knot (to her surprise) to pull her out of her woes. The way he matures up and leads a meaningful life for his wife & her son , forms the rest of the plot.


Yet another good performance from Kamalhaasan and Radhika is no less. Beautiful songs, wonderful music - "Varam thantha saamikku" is still used by mothers as they feed their young ones. Definitely, A good film it is.

One thing that haunted me through out is the dubbed voice for Kamal in the tamil version, Sippikkul Muthu. We are so used to that manly Kamal voice that we miss it in this movie. And it was difficult in the beginning to get along with this dubbed one.

Both "Saagara Sangamam" and "Swathi Muthyam" - though good and worthy films on our national circuit, definitely donot deserve an Oscar nomination, in my views. Looked upon with an international vision, they have their own compromises like needless song sequences, Jayaprada's bathing sequence in "Saagara Sangamam", Deepa's bathing sequence in "Sippikkul Muthu", a not-so-fitting old man look of Kamal in "Sippikkul Muthu" etc. It is said that the jury rejected "Saagara Sangamam", as Kamal Haasan dances "Bharathanattiyam" without having his underarms shaved, which shouldn't be so. [May not be an authentic information]

India's Official entry to Oscars 2010

So... It's "Harishchandrachi Factory", a Marathi feature that is expected to bring that coveted "golden lady" to India for the first time in "Best Foreign Film" category. And what is more delightful is that the film is on Dadasaheb Phalke, rightly considered the father of Indian Cinema. It depicts the struggle of Dadasaheb Phalke in making "Raja Harishchandra" in 1913, India's first feature film, thus the birth of Indian cinema (Wiki says so). And, while I am writing this - Germany's official entry has been announced and it is none other than the Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes 2009 - "Das weiße Band" or "The White Ribbon". So, I expect it to receive a nomination and if at all our film also receives a nomination - It will be a Herculean competition. For this very reason - I respect the "Best Foreign film" winner at Oscar more than the "Best film" Oscar. The Best film oscar is fairly simple that it mostly (more than 95%) considers the Hollywood productions & English language films. And the real competition is at the "Best Foreign film" category where you have to first fight with the best cinematic works of each country to reach the final five. Once you have won a nomination, then it is all about "First among equals", I beleive. Of course, when you send a film like "Jeans" to the Oscars to speak about your cinema's valour to the west, the task becomes very simple for the jury to rule out stuff. "Jeans" over "Satya" in 1998 and "Paheli" over "Hazaaron Khwaishein aisi" in 2005 are a very few mentions of the horrendous blunders committed by the selection committee in India. Can you imagine the fact that two of the Shankar's films have been sent to Oscars from India next only to Satyajit Ray's three.

Enna Koduma Saravanan idhu !!!

Past is Past ... All the best Harishchandrachi Factory !!!

55th National Film Awards - Highlights

So...It's official...Prakashraj is a better actor than the Khans and Tamil Cinema is frequently under the Awards scanner now...Priyamani last year and Prakash raj this year.Prakash raj has scored the sixth national award for the Best actor,for tamil cinema.MGR,Kamal Haasan(thrice)and Vikram are the others.Its real sad that Kamal hasn't picked up National awards for many of his masterpieces like Pushpak,Hey Ram,Anbae Sivam etc. :(

And Kanchivaram - Best film.Its only the second instance,where a tamil film is getting the Swarna Kamal for the Best Film.And for a industry that produces around 120 films every year... :(

Veterans like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Girish Kasaravalli are still delivering good and meaningful cinema and Adoor walked with his Seventh National award.For a career spanning almost 40 years,Adoor has directed less than 15 feature films and seven national awards !!!.Kasaravalli's lady-lead in Gulabi-Talkies,Umashree wins the Best Actress award.

And Chak De!India - Popular film - Justified.

Gnana Rajasekaran's Periyar is the best feature film in Tamil.Films like these need to be encouraged,because biopics are a brand of cinema which pass the historical greats to the posterity.Biopics are a rare phenomenon in India...Indira Gandhi,Nehru,Dhyan chand,Kapil Dev,Satyajit Ray,MS Subbulakshmi...Icons galore but no films :(

I don't know how many have heard about Tingya,a marathi feature which has silently made giant strides at many International film festivals.Have been trying to grab a copy of it,in vain.Tingya's lead Sharad Goekar is the Best child artiste.

Shreya Ghoshal is with Three national awards for the best playback-female now and has equalled Lata Mangeshkar.The iconic Asha Bhonsle has only two.However,Our Chinnakkuyil Chithra with Six is still ahead. :)
Buck up Shreya !!!

And last but not least...Sivaji the Boss,with all its big budget and grand production scales has justified them and has won the award for Best Special Effects.

Godmother (1999) - Rambhiben ki Jay !!!

Godmother (1999) - Film Review
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233808/

Starring : Shabana Azmi,Milind Gunaji,Raima Sen.

Most in this world have appreciated Francis Coppola's "The Godfather",in its original form and if not,have witnessed it in some other forms.Such was the influence that this timeless classic has on the filmmakers and it radically restructured the film theory,in general.


Can a woman be a power-center,can she be a influencing political figure,How will she don a mafiosi ... If a marvellous actress like Shabana Azmi can do it with effortless ease on-screen,It's always a treat to watch and mind you,Shabana won the National Award for the Best-Actress for Godmother in 1999,her fifth and the most recent one.

The film starts in a drought-hit village/terrain/plains in Gujarat and offers several dry but colourful and captivating images.The protagonist couple, Veeram(Milind)and Rambhi(Shabana) are planning to leave the village,reluctantly.They reach a nearby town and here,Veeram achieves a cult status and influential & faithful following among his community people with all his saviour acts.There's a lot of communalism portrayed in the film and how this communal unity has been utilised for the political gains of the people at the top,is shown through-out.


Rambhi(Shabana)has been a humble and calm housewife,bringing up her newborn and kitchen-stuff for almost half the movie.Veeram gets murdered and Rambhi becomes the power-center.From here on,Shabana takes control and carries the film with her.The transition from the housewife to a powerful panchayat leader is portrayed in a two-minute sequence and it is awesome.And like "The Godfather" and "Nayagan", there's a vendetta sequence portraying cruel murders of the people,who killed her husband.


Rambhi has a son,his love for Sejal(Raima Sen),Sejal's love with a muslim guy,Communal riots,Rambhi's justice,Rambhi's sacrifice and all that forms the rest of the story.There's nothing great or novel with the film's plot or screenplay.The only thing that is worth discussing is Shabana's performance throughout the film and especially after she becomes the power-center of her village.She has worked well on the walking styles(she just walks like a man,shedding off the female Nalina)and body language.

There are many other impressive characterisations and performances but they get effectively masked by Rambhiben's (Shabana) image and personality cult.It was a real pain to see a naive and amateurish performance from Raima Sen sharing the screenspace with iconic Shabana.Aged Shabana Azmi looking old in the first part of the movie,was a negative aspect.

The cinematogaphy captured everything in its true sense and color and there were lots of close-up shots in the movie,studying the faces of the protagonist and the support-cast.With the actors,emoting right with the eyes and facial expressions,the idea didn't sound bad.

This is not an absolute off-beat film or a serious parallel cinema stuff.The film has its own dramatizations,share of cliches,one or two bollywood-ish song sequences,communal riots and all that.Recommended for Shabana Azmi's fans,who would like to watch her,do a DON.

Rating:2.5/5

Finally, Just for fun...A Maggi ad... :)

My Favourite Emotional scene sequences

I am an ardent lover of Emotional films irrespective of the star-cast,language and the plot of the film.I truly believe that Emotional films are the REAL Cinema in a sense that they speak,communicate,emote and kindle its mood in you.
[I am afraid Pornography qualify for this league in view of the above description I gave,though :)]

Years after watching a particular scene sequence in a movie,that particular actor and the kind of feel he conveyed to us on-screen will stay with us and there lies their greatness.Action sequences,Thriller genre and Chase films will entertain you only in the cinema halls for 2 hrs and not there after.There are lovers of fast-paced films but I am not in favour of adrenaline rushes,atleast in cinema.

I sat down to list down five emotional scenes that would spring up to my mind,as soon as I thought about this topic.These are my genuine favourites that just splashed through my mind as soon as I thought about them.

So, Here goes my list ...

1) SWADES

This film should be my all-time favourite and I have lost count of the number of times I enjoyed this film.

Mohan Bhargav,a scientist at NASA returns back to India to get Kaveriamma,his nanny back to the US.The whole of the film rest comfortably with Shah Rukh Khan's awesome performance,as he conveys through his eyes and accent,his love for his country.His emotional journey the Villages,tradition and culture of the country is beautifully picturised.

And then there is the song,"Yeh jo desh hai" which summarises the entire film in a 4 minute sequence.The Crux of the film is one's love for the motherland and this one is an Intense Emotional drama.Highly recommended...

2) OCTOBER SKY

Its based on a true story.The Russians have entered the space with their "Sputnik" and Homer Hickam,son of an ordinary coal miner in West-Virginia starts building his own rocket,with dreams as high as reaching the space.His teacher Miss Riley and his friends help him while his father and brother have different ideas.But there's no stopping him and he ends up at NASA as a space scientist.

"...Homer Hickam,Roy Lee Cook,Quentin Wilson and Sherman O'Dell for their ingenious display of amateur rocket building techniques..." and you will feel enthralled as though you are getting that honour.

"And this is to CoalWood...There are a few people who believed in us even before we did", As Homer Hickam proudly displays his Gold medal,a sense of accomplishment naturally acquires us.

[I am quoting the lines from memory...mishaps any in the words need your pardon]

It's a great feel-good film that will definitely set your spirits on fire.An Unsung movie but has infinite potentials...

3) TAARE ZAMEEN PAR

This movie identified a great director for Bollywood, Aamir Khan.And, this movie is India's official entry to the Oscars last year.The film is on the uniqueness of the creativity of each child and the title of the film translates to "Stars on Earth", quite poetically and philosophically.

Ishaan Nandkishore Awasti is eight years old and dyslexic.He has a unique way of looking at things and that way is not fetching him marks in his exams.He is dreamy and highly imaginative and Aamir Khan,his teacher identifies his potentials and showcases his brilliance and artistry to the school and his parents.

When Ishaan cries with his mom for not going to boarding school, you cry with him and when he emerges successful in the art competition and in his exams, you feel joyous with him.The songs "Maa" and "Kholo Kholo" are honest emotional portrayals.Heard many wept,when the film was screened at our college auditorium.

4) THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

This is again a true story based on the life of a self-made entrepreneur Chris Gardener.I wish to call Will Smith's performance in this movie,a life-time act and quite deservingly he got a Academy award nomination for this grand performance.

Chris Gardener struggles for a living as he goofs up his savings by investing them in a x-ray kinda apparatus.His wife leaves him and he goes through a very lean patch and stuggles with his son & without a job.Then, its rags-to-riches,though the riches part is not portrayed much in the film.

"Because tomorrow is going to be your first day...if you'd like to work here as a broker...would you like that Chris ??" and Will Smith just don't answer but emotes his feelings with his eyes and chin with no screen-consciousness.Top Notch performance from Will here.

"This part of my life..this little part is called Happyness" and we all know that he has got the job, yet this scene immerses all in tears as Will cries and walks clapping his hands into the crowd

5) ... What to say ... ??? .... ###

So,I was thinking a while for my fifth choice and didn't get one Immediately.There were a lot of sequences that went through my mind and I chose to list them all down.

a) Titanic - A Romantic whirl-wind..Need I say more ??
b) Black - It'll be an Unbelievable,out-of-the-box,Intense film for any outsider who believes Bollywood is all about bright colours,Glam-dolls and dance & Music.
c) Not without my daughter - Not a common film that everyone would have seen.But try it and you'll definitely feel pleased.It has one sequence "Mommy...I forgot Toby bunny" which will convey millions to you.
d) Schindler's List - When Oskar Schindler cries for not being able to save/rescue a few more jews...
e) Kamal Haasan's five minute sequence at the Railway station in the climax of "Moondram Pirai",that fetched him the National Award.
f) Children of Heaven - Watch the movie if you haven't yet and Ali & Sarah will convey the rest.

Of the above...Swades,Taare Zameen Par,The pursuit of happiness,Titanic,Black and Schindler's list are main-stream cinema.I hope these go fine with everybody ... :)