Sunder Kaand

The 1981, phenomenal saga tailored by one of the greatest Woman Film Makers of India, Sai Paranjpe... The particular point to be mentioned is, Sai was way ahead of her times & a Woman in a Man's world as compared to today's Farah Khan or Meera Nair or others, where liberalization is second nature bagged by Western influence & technology. No woman in India dared to make movies in those days. Sai Paranjpe for first, never made movies for women. Her stories themed around a collective set of characters irrespective of gender. The fairer sex always had fair share. Amongst Sai's many movies such as, (ref Wikipedia...) The Little Tea Shop (TV 1972) Jadu Ka Shankh (1974) Begaar (1975) Sikander (1976) Dabcherry Milk Project (1976) Captain Laxmi (1977) Freedom From Fear (1978) Sparsh (1980) Chasme Buddoor (1981) Books That Talk (1981) Katha (1983) Ados Pados (TV 1984) Chote Bade (TV 1985) Angootha Chhaap (1988) Disha (1990) Papeeha...

What is the best way to spend time when you want to get entertained when you want your heart and also mind to get involved(which goes without saying, most entertainment is with no mind... matter rules mind)? I'd say, go with your loved one(s) to watch a subtle romantic movie, recently released, called "The Lunchbox"!  I cannot stop being gaga over Good Romantic Movies, ever. Some of the great English Romantic movies that I vouch for are: Casablanca Gone with the Wind You've got mail...  One fine day Pretty Woman ... and so many... The one from Hindi movies' lot, Bollywood actually rides on numero-uno concept of Love, Romance etc. Dream merchants like Yash Chopra have always snow-ladden as a backdrop of the lead pair. Personally, I never liked this personification or caricaturization of 'Love' , though as glamor it is ultimate. I detest such concepts, since it takes us away from reality. That does not mean, in real life there is no Love/R...

Why we do not respect women? ('We' means exclusively Indians)! I do not know about western countries and their attitude towards women, but as far as I know, their culture and law are way too different than ours. I mean a man can sue a woman just because she was dressed inappropriately and he got distracted & hence he rammed his car into lamp-post. At the same time, there are cases where women get away with lot of legal support. So, let me not talk about West. India is a country where boys are taught not in regular sessions, but sub-consciously that the fairer sex is to be looked upon. I remember my school days when we used to have Devi Pooja etc, my father used to make me sit next to him to recite the sermons & also explain them. The recitals embodied what Goddess Kali is about or Goddess Durga was about or Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge was about. In all this, it was Goddess after all, a woman. But I used to see my Mother being subjected to scolding or reprim...

I am back in the blogging circle after year and a half. Reasons are not so trivial. There have been many things that happened that I possibly can neither put here in brief nor justify the absence with something substantial. I would like to put the perspective directly. Pardon me for speaking in indirect references or pronouns but diplomacy is what I have learned from this journey. I am on the drive which is 'supposed' to lead me to a Career that encircles Knowledge. But sadly, the experience has been a Real Education. Although it has not been a complete disaster , but the administrators of knowledge, my fellow participants and the system overall have been a Big Disappointment. I would create the caricatures of the participants to narrate the story in brief. The battle is between these three candidates - The Knowledge Keepers, The Fellow Participants & The Administrators, all encompassed in a Sphere of Time. Those who have experienced what I have, will readily identify the c...

Why do humans need entertainment? Any guesses...? Well, frankly no one can say why we need it. Perhaps we can answer the question why we get bored? Any guesses...? No? So it is a vicious pair huh! Perhaps some viewers can guess why I am asking this question! Meanwhile, I tried to google about Animal kingdom sans Humans and found that Animals (Terrestrial, Aerial, Amphibious & Aquatic) don’t get bored. They do relax, obviously after they had their meals but don’t get bored and do not hence seek for entertainment. The young ones till they are young do play and have fun but there is no boring time to do time pass or seek entertainment per se. Entertainment, recreation, time-pass or whatever, we all want some during the day. Forms of entertainments could be different for different people. Well, this posting is no lecture on forms of entertainment and people’s choice. This posting is about entertainment’s one form – cinema/tv where actually we can choose from what is offered and not men...

Most of us often spend time in becoming what we are not and forget who we actually are. Well, I do not mean by profession but by person. I have comic examples for that, He-man, Spiderman & Superman et al! Taking my favorites it is clear that He-man in his non superhero form is Prince Adams, Spiderman is Peter Parker and Superman is Clark Kent. These three characters are really interesting to speak. No! I would not narrate any episode, but the characters I am talking about. Peter Parker’s alter ego is Spiderman, meaning Peter Parker when he goes to bed wakes up as Peter Parker but becomes Spiderman when his city denizens are in trouble. I wonder why he wears a mask when he is doing nothing wrong. Why a superhero has to anyway? Superman’s alter ego is Clark Kent. Superman hides himself as Clark Kent and not the other way around. Though Superman hardly has a mask (it is arguable enough that what he conceals and what he doesn’t and what he should or shouldn’t) He-man is from the wo...

I stayed away from blogging for many other reasons but incidentally 26/11, I could not stop myself! 26/11 is date now in the league of those black dates such as 9/11 or 7/11 where ordinary innocent civilians got killed in the name of Religious War right at their work place or while commuting to home or office or at a place which they used to visit often. Incidentally it is this same black date that I share my birthday too. I was born 32 years ago, but on 26/11 – 2008, I was reborn. I did not witness the event live but I happened to be in the same area where one of the actions took place. I was at Jazz by Bay, Pizzeria Restaurant right at the junction of Marine Drive and Churchgate Road. I was having my birthday dinner with my beloved. What gives me goose bumps is not being there, but actually these three things – 1)My favorite eat out place is always Bade Miyan, a Mughlai Fast Food corner behind Taj Hotel, but something made me choose this place. What if I would have chosen Bade Miyan....