Twenty- five Seven

3 reasons not to see #BajiraoMastani

December 26, 2015
Hindi movie aficionados will probably pillory me for criticising the Bollywood blockbuster #BajiraoMastani but unfortunately, I am one of the few who isn’t gaga over this film that released just last Friday.

Making love stories isn’t easy. Like a soufflé, it has to be whisked just the right amount so that it remains a delicate, delectable dessert rather than a stodgy, steamed pudding. Sadly, Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s latest offering #BajiraoMastani isn’t the soufflé that you are looking for.
1. The song and dance
There was much brouhaha about the movie well before its release thanks to the songs and dance that are par for the course for Indian mainstream cinema. Of course, the songs were far less lewd than the normal Bollywood fare but despite the poetic licence and creative muse that gives a film producer to do what he wants, I felt that the songs and dance didn’t do much for the movie except drag it on for a few more reels. (I’m not sure about this though, because films these days aren’t shot the old fashioned way and are digital which means that no photofilm was used and “reel” thereby becomes superfluous)

Not only did the song and dance routine do nothing for the movie but they were most inappropriate. Granted the director /producer wasn’t retelling history but I doubt kings and queens break into song in the manner they did in #BajiraoMastani.

2. Adultery is never pardonable

It probably sounds ridiculous but I felt the love between #Bajirao and #Mastani was more juvenile and delinquent than pure and praiseworthy. Nothing can really justify infidelity especially when you have a spouse like Kashi. The love between Bajirao and Mastani to my mind is more lust and I feel that Mastani was a mere homewrecker and Bajirao a man who couldn’t control his hormones. This plain and simple physical attraction doesn’t deserve to be lauded- instead Bajirao should be castigated for being an irresponsible leader of his men and a lousy , cheating husband.

3. Oh my God ! When will this end

Apart from the unnecessary songs and dance, the movie drags in parts – the ridiculously staged attack on Mastani, the battle of Budelkhand and the most agonising , slow death of #BajiraoMastani which really had me look for the remote.

BUT

The movie does merit some credit though. Priyanka Chopra as Kashi is dazzling and was the perfect foil to the conniving Mastani played by Deepika. Another noteworthy performance was that of the dowager mother by Tanvi Azmi, whose strong personality comes through very clearly.

Ranvir Singh has never been my favourite actor but somehow there is something endearing about him and his portrayal of a Maratha warrior is commendable. His true forte comes to the fore when dances exuberantly in front of his troops.

So even though this is not a chocolate soufflé, its overall aesthetic , eye pleasing visuals and incisive and witty dialogue redeems it from being a stodgy steamed pudding.

Verdict

Definitely worth seeing though may not be at Rs. 400 a seat!
Why is Santa blue?

December 24, 2015

I was walking through the mall at Phoenix Mills and was surprised to find it looking quite empty. I wondered what happened to all the festive cheer that was being flaunted all over Singapore as early as last month?
There was no Christmas music and even the Christmas Tree inside Palladium was a white Christmas carousel.

Is that what made Santa standing outside Citibank blue?

Wishing all Write Tribers a very happy Christmas. May your pudding be sweet and your crackers resounding.
From a rickshaw in Pune#MondayMusings

December 21, 2015

Returning home in a rickshaw this morning, I was saddened by the run down, higgeldypiggeldy piggeldy mess my hometown has become.

I was born in Poona in the days when it was known as Poona. The days when it was a gracious city , a centre of learning and culture , known for its students its salubrious climate and its yummy traditional food. Sometime in the last fifty years it became Pune and sometime in the last ten years it has become a mess.

I’m down here with my parents and visiting with my daughter and her daughter which makes it a special time for us all to have four generations down the female line together. To celebrate this occasion, we are planning to have an early Christmas dinner with roast chicken and potato salad . We’ve already celebrated with Shrikhand and Puri . But that was yesterday.

This is not the first time I’ve come with my grandchild but this is the first time with a grand daughter and somehow I feel this fleeting meeting will be enough for some family lore and tradition to rub off on her.

Isn’t it strange that as children we want to run as far away as we can from our traditions and our mothers and don’t want to become like them but it is only when we become mothers ourselves that we think of our mothers and traditions and want the next generation to at least be acquainted with them if not actually follow them.

So today I went to meet another cousin who has recently become a grand father and on the way home I looked sadly at the roads that I can no longer recognise.

My sleepy old city has become one crazy mess: Cycles have been replaced by two wheelers – scooters and motor bikes, old buildings ready to fall down share walls with ugly new structures that look equally shabby; roads that were once big and spacious are now tiny little alleys with oversized shops and street vendors.

Having just returned from Singapore, I can’t help but feel sad at the way in which we develop our old cities- unplanned and without regard for our “heritage structures”. Old trees are cut down, old houses ripped apart and instead of improving the infrastructure, things have become much worse.

From a Rickshaw in Pune

in a Rickshaw in Pune

Will our cities ever change for the better ? Or will they continue to deteriorate into unlivable spaces?

Let’s hope 2016 brings more enlightened municipal governance so that “improvements ” are really improvements and not a descent into chaos and despair.

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A strange phenomenon

While I was away in Singapore, I found the time to blog everyday. I find this strange because there I was doing housework and baby care and sight seeing as well. Here back in my own environment with my regular crew to help, I just don’t seem to find the time to write!

Does this happen to you as well?

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Finally I found the link to Write Tribe’s #MondayMusings and am linking this post to Parul’s blog . Do visit this blog for interesting views on a Monday Morning!

3 reasons not to see #BajiraoMastani

Why is Santa blue?

From a rickshaw in Pune#MondayMusings