Firaaq got a theatrical release on friday yesterday all over India.

Well, for the newbie readers here, 'Firaaq' is the directorial Debut of Actress and Social activist, Nandita Das. I heard her talk about her movie on TV yesterday .This is what i gather about the theme of the movie.

The film is an attempt to engage with the complexities of lives especially in the context of the Godhra riots.

I did write a blog entry about this previously . I had wanted for someone to release it for viewers in India. That is exactly what happenned yesterday. Numerous multiplexes in India released this movie on their screens for people to watch.yay ! Jumps around in glee ! We are bringing back the age of sensible indian cinema.
The sad part for me though is that , the very eager that i am to get to watch this movie, I am completely tied up in work till atleast the first week of april and I just hope that this movie still is running then. I would definitely post a review on here if I manage to watch this move in the theatre. I am gonna watch a bunch of classy Indian movies after april and post my reviews on here.That is a promise.
Speaking of which, They kept talking about GARAM HAVA during the course of the Interview. I am gonna try getting hold of Garam hava if i can .
Meanwhile, All you lovely people who have oodles of free time this weekend , do go and catch it .
Speaking of movies based on a senstive topic like 'riots', I wasn't even aware of this other movie called Amu (though i vaguely remember having heard about it during film festival coverage on tv) till ofcourse Goel commented on my older blog entry about firaaq and mentioned AMU. Amu is based on the 1984 riots. Do you know how many people left the country during those riots because they didn't feel safe in India anymore?
Now AMU is another movie that I have added to me MUST WATCH LIST.

'parzania' and 'firaaq' !

For those of you who have never heard these words. These are movie titles. Indian movie titles. I am sure these movies broadly digress from the mindless noisy song and dance and letcher routine that is the norm of most indian movies that are commercially marketed.

These two movies are ,'Acclaimed movies'. Accalimed at the film festivals . There has not been any mass showcasing at theatres in India.

Both of these movies are broadly based on Communal riots -more precisely 'The Godhra riots' that took place in the Indian state of Gujarath in the year 2002.

Yes, you guessed right, the riots took place in the name of religion.

My question is, "Since when is religion more valuable than a human life?"

Life is a indelible gift of nature.The human body is a miracle of nature. To think that a group of molecules function and sustain on their own , move around and produce more of their own kind. That notion of life , baffles me and fills me with Awe. And here are people , are killing life without a thought just primarily prompted by anger .

Someone once said that Religion is the opium of the masses. Hmmm.Makes me think.

I shall write a more serious blog entry about Godhra , but meanwhile let us get back to these two movies.

PARZANIA is allegedly(i haven't watched this movie yet !) about a boy that gets lost during these riots and there are stories of other people also told during the narrative of this main plotline. This movie was released solely for the film festival in 2005 and found itself a theatrical release in 2007. I want to watch this movie. But , where can i find it? These movies are not as easily availabe to find as much as the more noisy pointless commercial indian movies are. Probably the movie makers or the marketers think that there are no people who might want to watch it . Well, They are wrong. Indian public is far more sensitive than the movie makers think. Yes, the villagers and the small towners included. Incidentally, Parzania is the directorial work of one LA based director of Indian origin, Mr.Rahul Dholakia. Cast consists of Nasseruddin shah whom i immensely respect as an actor. He belongs to the meagre clan of actors in India ,who actually are really professional and end up making your respect their trade .

Meanwhile FIRAAQ is the directorial debut of Ms.Nandita Das. She is a very talented person in general from what i can gather by her social work , her views on things(which time and again i get to hear on tv by way of interviews and people discussion forums).I was very impressed with her work in this national award winning movied called "Deveeri" .More on Deveeri in another blog entry of mine.

Firaaq also revolves around the Godhra riots but deals with the subject in a different way. It chides the topic of how lives are interconnected and how something drastic as riots can affect and change lives forever.

Again Firaaq has won acclaim at film festivals .It was released in 2008. I am yet to watch this film.

Gosh, can someone trust the Indian audience and please start releasing these sensible movies on a more larger scale. I personally know a lot of men and women and youngsters from small towns and villages even who want to watch these movies. But , instead of ever getting to watch these movies, all they get is the crass movies at their local movie theatres. Can someone do something to make available national award movies at theatres in small towns and cities?

Just as i was scouring for places i can by a dvd for firaaq and parzania. i find this link

FIRAAQ (2009) DVD, Buy VCD online

But why must i need to buy every dvd ? Can we not have large scale theatrical releases?

But , perhaps , 'doordarshan' (India's national Tv broadcast) or this new 'loksabha channel' (appears also to be sister channel of doordarshan) showcase this movie .I am hoping .One can only hope.

Indian mania over British film about mumbai -Slumdog !

It is a pity that what inspired Danny Boyle(a british guy) to make a move is the very same thing that millions of mumbaikers including a lot of mumbaiker filmmakers watch and notice each day.Yet, no indian had it in them to make a movie on the slumdwellers. Danny Boyle on his visits to mumbai saw and was mesmerized by the optimism of the slumdwellers which belied the utter poverty they lived in.He made a movie.He made it well. It was very professionally and artistically done.It was his vision.
I mean , It is ridiculous when I see every Indian jumping up and down,all ecstatic, when a british movie wins the oscar . What exactly are they getting ecstatic about? The poverty of mumbai ? or the movie making genius of Boyle? If boyle is a great filmmaker, so be it, he is..but why are indians jumping up and down about it?
Movie makers in India lack vision or sincerity or perfection.They make cheap shoddy spin offs of hollywood themes that don't fit in the Indian soceital scheme of things at all. That is why classy works of art seldom get made in India.
The last time i saw a well made indian movie on a very indian theme was years ago. speaking of which i am yet to watch Nandita Das' directorial venture, which she lovingly named firaaq , if am right.I hope that all these stupid cable tv channels start showcasing these wonderful movies that indians make about India. I want to watch Firaaq . If these stupid news channels can go on and on about the oscars over and over , like there is no tommorow I am pretty sure they can do all sensible indians a favor and give equal amount of media coverage for these beautiful movies by indians like this one by Nandita das.
We Indians have no real appreciation for anything but we will go maniacal about anything remotely connected to india if some foreigner recongnizes it or someone else gives an award. Why? because we don't trust our own likes and dislikes.We refuse to have real likes and dislikes. We depend on someone else to dictate to us as to what we must like or dislike.
Rehman said something very interesting while accepting the award though, He said and I quote: " At each point of my life i had the option of choosing between love and hate.I chose love and I am here today" .I think that is a great point to all the religious extremists in our country who waste time preaching their own religions to others .. I say ,"Stop preaching , start living."
For now, I have been wanting to watch Firaaq and Smile pinki on tv.. No luck..If someone from the media is reading this, Please trust the Indian audience.We are must smarter than you guys conveniently want to brand us.Most of us are raving for greatly made highly authentic Indian movies. Please humor us with more programs that are deeply indian and deeply rooted and progressive too. I would like to think that there is much much more to indian roots than saas_bahu petty family fights(mother-in-law _daughter_in_law feuds) and NO, people in towns and villages don't like them either. People in lil towns of India are eager to watch sensible stuff.

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