Is Meherjaan’s love any less intense than Romeo & Juliet ? by Niru

Hidden Gems’ last screening was Meherjaan, about a young desirous girl,  falling in love, against her will, with an enemy soldier. The film was a poetic, visual odyssey, somewhat akin to Jean Campion’s Bright Star.

Louis Hobson, our resident critic, compared it with Franco Zefferalli’s Romeo & Juliet and found Meheerjaan lacking in passion! His comment pricked the Eastern sensibilities and comments started pouring in from the audience.

Did it loose something in translation? Some put it down to Cultural differences. However, Love is the most universal of emotions and transcends across all creeds and colours. Nevertheless, it is expressed differently. Meherjaan’s and Juliet’s parting had the same intensity. But Eastern traditions advocate restraint-until recently, kiss was not even permitted on the screen. It reminded me of all the debate over Rhett Butler’s parting exclamation, “I don’t give damn!”

Louis would have liked to see blood dripping as the lovers clenched hands drifted apart. I saw an invisible thread, first stretch as Meherjaan receded in the distance and then break as Wasim’s boat turned the corner and disappeared. Someone mentioned “sacrifice”, a concept quite foreign to western literature as far as personal love is concerned. Love is there, to be conquered, - for personal gratification. To sacrifice one’s love for someone else’s is unimaginable in this hemisphere.

The world has always pined after unrequited love: Laila-Majnu, Sohini-Mehval, Heer-Ranjha, Romeo-Juliet. Meherjaan was evidently still in love with Wasim as she never married. The only thing I found lacking was that neither of them ever attempted to find “the other” in the ensuing 40 years!

The only eternal monument to fulfilled love is the Taj Mahal.

Niru

"Nothing but Roses!" by Niru Bhatia

Did you see the opening ceremonies of London olympics? Despite all the political manoeuvring of a major sports event, despite enormous, unproportionate security bills, despite all the controversies and all the doubting; however imperfect the circumstances, Olympics is the only light and hope in todays increasingly complex and menacing world.

Every country attempts not only to put their best face forward but tries to conceptualize what they dare to dream, without the fear of criticism. Hence, I think the opening ceremonies are the best, not only Briton but the world has to offer at any given moment. After Beijing's techno razzle-dazzle, every one was wondering what Great Britain would come up with- they already had two world-stage events recently! But those, although a tribute to Queen, are closely monitored by the palace.

Danny Boyle, nay the whole British Olympic organization deserves the credit for this extravaganza. They managed to keep thousands of teenagers with cell-phones to restrain themselves from tweeting the secret programme away! That itself deserves a Gold Medal!! Britain is known for pagentry. But nobody appreciates, preserves and depicts the history better than British. Danny Boyle took celebrations away from the monarchy and put it in the hands of people. Right from the start, from showcasing all the British isles: Ireland, Scotland,  Wales and England in that perfect depiction of English country-side and taking us by hand, through the Agricultural, Industrial and culminating in Cultural revolution. While most of the world is blaring warnings about the next revolution, namely the social media and pitfalls and anarchy of it, London's opening ceremony gave us a glimpse into how it could be harvested into a gentler, kinder world. The celebrations were firmly, of the people, by the people and for the people.

The Olympic rings were forged in the Industrial revolutions, The cauldron for the flame was assembled, petal by petal carried by British volunteers as they ushered each nation in. Brief history of Britain (less than a thousand year, compared to other nations in the world) made their achievements shine all the more brighter. Two artistic highlights for me were the doves, riders on bicycle made it so poetic; and the assembly of cauldron. As a photographer, at every stage I wanted shout, "Stop! that is perfect!" but it kept on building till it lost its artistic appeal and became a static piece of equipment.

Everything went without a hitch. The terrorists behaved. The only thing lacking was: the organizers did not give audience any chance to participate! There were no waves, to torches burning, no coloured flags flapping to make statements or whatever, till Paul McCartney asked people to join in, "Hey, Jude". I don't know, how the audio equipment were set but one couldn't even perceive any difference of pitch in the applause. Nonetheless, nothing but the Roses for the British people.

Phantom India Louis Malle

Phantom India- a documentary by Louis Malle (1969}

 Widely regarded as the crowning achievement of his career, Phantom India, in 7 parts, 378 minutes, provides an epic-length portrait of life in India circa 1968. The film is as relevant today as it was on its release.

34-year-old Malle, terrified of falling back into the same bourgeois mindset, with his marriage in pieces, he headed to India, with a two-man crew. He travelled without maps,  without any plan  and shot documentary footage instinctively,  over 30 hours of gorgeous and ground-breaking footage. He went there to escape and it turned into a voyage of discovery. He was fascinated with India: it’s contradictions, it’s ambiguities, its unwritten yet firmly entrenched social rules.

Phantom India was very much in the cinéma vérité (“real life”) tradition that first flourished in the 1960s. Without a script, without even lighting equipment, he just wanted to capture India’s people, culture and landscape. He wanted the images “to speak for themselves “. What makes it so special is his utmost sensitivity and respect for his subjects. It is not a mere travelogue-not a touristy India. What makes it exceptional is Becker’s skilful and fluid camerawork and Malle’s reflective and insightful commentary.

The result is a journey in pursuit of the mystery of India. Certainly India holds within its fabulous culture, many profound secrets about not only who we are, but the underpinnings of what we once were and the expanded possibilities of what we perhaps could be in the future. He mentioned:  "Letting ourselves go in their presence we feel as if we’ve rediscovered something we’d lost. I’ve accepted another perspective of the world. It’s not about explaining or dominating the world but being a part of it, fitting into it”.

He shot languorously and diligently till he understood it. What amazes me is how quickly and correctly, he nails it. For example, he films  Bharatnatyam students and concludes that the key is to loose all awareness of body! How can one? When this dance is all about gestures (mudras) and facial expressions! But he is totally correct as it is only when one forgets the limbs and becomes one with the music, the theme that the real grace emerges. He goes on to say that “it is not a dance, but a language, ney, a dialogue between the dancer and God!” That is some realization for a non-Indian!

Another scene is filming the enormous Rathyatra, (Journey of the chariot) that has no steering and no brakes and is pulled by multitude of devotees, with ropes thicker than elephant’s trunk. This 3-4 stories high chariot travels a ½ a mile circuit around the temple. When it turns a corner, my heart was in my moth! I feared that at any instant it was going to crash into the building. The journey takes 5 hours. He later spoke that you forget yourself and become one of the mass. That is the only way to experience India- let it sweep over you!

He travelled the length and breadth of India within those four months. As enamored as I am with India, I had not even heard of the two aboriginal tribes he filmed. Both tribes have secluded themselves from the rest of the country. He hiked miles and shot the almost primitive tribe Bondo in the North and in complete contrast, most civilized Todos in the South. He had footage of 30 hours and took a year to edit it.  It was shown in France as a serial and a couple of years later on BBC in U.K. It was never shown in India as the Government took exception to it. If only we can look at ourselves objectively!

The series is made by Criterian Collection and is available on Amazon. Calgary Public Library has a copy. I recommend that anyone interested in learning about the essence of India, watch it.

Well-behaved Audience Overcomes "Technological Glitch"!

We had our first "Technical Breakdown"! At first, the two young lads from Cardel couldn't figure out what was wrong. At 7.05pm I poked my head in, the guys were shaking their heads vigorously. I had a sudden flash, "My God I 'll have to ask them to go home without seeing the film!' But I still did not have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach! Failure is not an option. Quarter-of-a-million $ system and a single wire was damaged which failed to connect the computer to the sound system. Boys found small desktop speakers and we were off. The speakers fell off the dais a few times. But there was no complaints from the audience. 

I am so proud of my volunteers and equally proud of our audience. Nine years ago, when I was a volunteer at CIFF, we would be at the exit doors, garbage bags in hand and people would drop their empties in as there is no time between shows to get cleaners in. They don't do that any more and pop-corn containers have grown to bath tub size & drinks are bucketful. No one can possibly finish them! So they sprinkle it all over. A couple of years back, at our photo-club I saw photos of Russian tube stations. They were magnificent, palatial and immaculate! Not a graphity any where nor any litter. That reflects the character of people. I feel, North American people have been brain-washed by movie-mannerism. You get bad news,  you go throw everything in sight! I get bad news,  I get that sinking feeling and go numb. Throwing things is not even in my subconscious. It is for that reason that I am proud of Hidden Gems audience. When we didn't start on time and there were not enough chairs for them to sit they persevered. When the speakers fell down and the film went silent, they still waited patiently. Later, I had emails: "Niru, don't worry. Even NASA has technical breakdowns!" Now, that is a zen attitude.

Via Darjeeling was a new genre for Hidden Gems. Mystery may be a stretch for art-house festival. But despite poor sound quality, it accomplished what we set out to do-to generate discussions. I know of three groups that went out for dinner afterwards and carried on discussing what happened to the husband. I had a few calls suggesting alternatives that director didn't explore. If you like us exploring new genres let us know.

Cardel does not allow food except through their very expensive caterers. We were the first ones they allowed to bring our own food. We are very thankful to Cardel for that. I was extremely pleased to sign off the post-inspection sheet that everything was ship-shape. Thanks to all present for treating the venue like your own home and my volunteers for tidying up without a word from me. I don't know how we would have entertained them without food! To thank you all we promise you a different taste from India, next time. Mark your Calendars down for Saturday, May 5th for another National award winner!