• Synecdoche, NewYork: I lost it in the second half, with multiple copies of every character. Surely it requires repeat viewing to get hang of Kaufman's vision. But even so, the theme of love, isolation, relationship put through the movie is a brave idea. While watching the movie i was constantly reminded of the marathi poem Kunachya khandyavar (कुणाच्या खांद्यावर कुणाचे ओझे) by AartiPrabhu.
• लोकसत्ता शनिवार पुरवणी "चतुरंग" मधल्या "विज्ञानमयी" सदरा बद्दल:
  ‘इंडियन अ‍ॅकॅडमी ऑफ सायन्स’ या संस्थेने ‘लीलावतीज डॉटर्स- द विमेन सायंटिस्टस् ऑफ इंडिया’ हे पुस्तक प्रसिध्द केले आहे. या पुस्तकात सुमारे ९५ भारतीय महिला शास्त्रज्ञांची चरित्रे प्रसिद्ध झाली आहेत. रोहिणी गोडबोले आणि राम रामास्वामी यांनी हे पुस्तक संपादित केले आहे. महिलांसाठी विज्ञान व संशोधन ही क्षेत्रे रुळलेली नसताना या महिलांना विज्ञानाची कास का धरावीशी वाटली, या क्षेत्रात करिअर करताना त्यांना कसे अनुभव आले, याबद्दलची मनोगते या पुस्तकात आहेत. या सदरातून दर आठवडय़ाला पुस्तकातील दोन वैज्ञानिकांचा संक्षिप्त परिचय करून दिला जाईल. ही लेखमाला विज्ञानोत्सुक वाचाकांना सुवर्ण संधी.

-Bhakit

Waiting for SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

Film blogs as well as critics are agog with this latest movie by Charlie Kaufman. It will take some time for it to be screened in my city and hence the wait.

Please do visit the awesome site of the movie. The site provides songs featured in the movie along with their lyrics.

Here are the lyrics of Little Man:

I'm just a little person,
One person in a sea,
Of many little people,
Who are not aware of me.

I do my little job,
And live my little life,
Eat my little meals,
Miss my little kid and wife.

And somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
I'll find a second little person,
Who will look at me and say,

I know you,
You'r e the one I'hv waited for.
Let's have some fun.

Life is precious, every minute,
And more precious with you in it,
So let's have some fun.

We'll take a road trip
Way out west,
You're the one,
I like the best.

I'm glad I found you,
Like hanging' round you',
You're the one,
I like the best.

Somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
Somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,
Somewhere, maybe someday,
Maybe somewhere far away,

I'll meet a second little person,
And we'll go out and play.

श्रद्धांजली

श्री विजय तेंडुलकर आता आपल्यात नाही. त्यांची नाटके, कथा, ललित लेख म्हणजे आमच्या साठी जगण्याचा वस्तुपाठच. त्यांना माझे विनम्र आभिवादन.

-भकित

Links

1) Key to Reserva: This is a short film made by Martin Scorcese based on a 31/2 page script by Alfred Hitchcock. I have watched the video many times and it has become an exercise for me to identify scenes and its details with reference to Hitchcock's work. One interesting thing to note is the picture of Satyajit Ray in the background, when Scorcese is explaining about the script in initial part of the film. Enjoy the work of a master on a master.

2) Kishori Amonkar: Gowri Ramnarayan writes about a recent concert by Kishori Amonkar in Chennai. Her introduction by film maker Rajiv Menon was an interesting nugget of information.

-Bhakit

Relevance of short stories by Vijay Tendulkar

Disclaimer: The examples cited here, are not meant to indicate any form of copying. Instead the examples are used to emphasize the temporal relevance of the issues found in the literature by Vijay Tendulkar.

While coming back from India in January 2007, i had brought collection of short stories by Vijay Tendulkar (तेंडुलकरांच्या निवडक कथा - राजहंस प्रकाशन) edited by Nita Bhise. I read them regularly and everytime i find them relevant. He wrote stories during his initial period as a writer and then occasionally in Diwali anks. I had mentioned about his first short story here.It was converted into a play by a theatre group in Nashik and still evoked the requisite response (link).

Recently released "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu deals with horrors of abortion during the communist regime. As a motivation, he mentions the urge to bring out the condition of those times. Tendulkar in "बॅकसीट" (Backsit) deals with the consequences faced by a free spirited Manu who gets pregnant. Her abortion takes place in Mumbai at her cousin's place for whom she had liking, but was thwarted by his no-response. Afterwards in the village she is virtually prayed for adopting an orphan. But the question she asks is: "हा कोण कुणाचा पोर मी पाळला तर त्याचे सगळे तोण्ड फाटेस्तोवर कवतुक करतात आणि माझा पोटचा पोर...” (why she is now so much respected for adopting a child with no relation to him, and why they didn't feel anything while ending life of her own child). In the story “बेडूक” (Beduk) in the same collection, we are introduced to a dropout from medical school, who is an old friend of our middle class father and now specializes in abortion. He is hideous and his morally unconventional remarks disturbs the father. In particular he asks the father to take care of his innocent girl. The story concludes with the father asking his wife to take the pregnant daughter to the same friend-doctor for help. The character in both these stories came from middle class with an attached value system and the stories present the confusion amongst its followers when faced with an exception.

“Blue Velvet” by David Lynch is a celebrated movie and i was introduced to it through the article by David Malcolm in Guardian. I enjoyed the movie and in particular want to mention the scene where hero secretly watches the torture of the lady (played by Isabella Rossellini) by mafia don. Her husband and child are kidnapped by the don and she is not only helpless to his torture but has got habituated to it . In the play “Baby” (mentioned here) by Tendulkar, the eponymous heroine is at the mercy of the local don who asks her to perform slave like routine to please him. When she performs the same routine in front of a relatively conventional man (read middle class) invited by her, he is horrified and leaves. The idea of voyeurism and curiosity of hero in “Blue Velvet” is not relevant for the play Baby. The point I want to make is regarding the terrible atrocities incurred by the powerful on the helpless in both the situations.

These examples and the similar ideas in the stories by Tendulkar underline the importance and value of his stories. Time and again he has mentioned about the people and his observations as the source for his literature. Infact he has dedicated the short story collection to the times which offered such experiences and people.

He is widely and rightly regarded as the father of modern Indian theatre and I wish his short stories too get the deserved recognition and readership.

Bhakit.

श्रद्धांजली

श्री पु भागवत आता आपल्यात नाही. मौज चे सम्पादक म्हणून त्यांची कामगिरी अतुलनीय आहे. त्यांच्या कारकिर्दित मौज ने पुस्तक आणि दिवाळी अंका द्वारे वाचकाना दर्जेदार साहित्य उपलब्ध करून दिले.
त्यांच्या स्मृतिस माझे अभिवादन.

-भाकित

जी ए कुलकर्णी यांच्या लेखा वरुन प्रेरित:

तेंडुलकरांनी म्हंटले "आम्च्यावर कोण प्रेम करणार" आणि तुम्ही ठोम्ब्या प्रमाणे त्याला साद दिली. काशी भोपळ्यांनो, अरे, प्रेम करता येत नाही म्हणून आपण ओषाळे व्हायचे की त्याचीच री ओढायची? chekov तर अश्या ढोंगीपणाला, स्वतःची कीव करून प्राप्त सहानभूतीला पाप म्हणतो. आम्ही वागतो सदा-सर्वदा बद्ध्कोष्ट अस्ल्यागत. एखादी प्रेमकथा ऐकावी आणि सर्वाना सांगावे की असे घडते का? तुम्ही जन्मतः संशयी, सामान्यत्वाची पताका मिरवण्यात तुम्हाला आभिमान. आणि ज्या सामान्यत्वाचा गवगवा करता, त्यात आम्ही काय दिवे लावतो, तर दुस्र्या यशस्वी लोकांवर जळण्यात, त्यांना शिवी घाल्ण्यात , थट्टा करण्यात. जास्ती-जास्त आपली मजल काय तर हातात बिअर ची बाटली घेवुन ग्रेस च्या ओळी "नाहीच कुणी अपुले रे प्राणांवर नभ धरणारे,दिक्काल धुक्याच्या वेळी हृदयाला स्पंदविणारे" आळवणार. पण मिस्टर नुसतेच ग्रेस, मर्ढेकर आयुष्यात पुरत नाही. कुसुमाग्रजांचा अढळ चांगुलपणावरचा विश्वास पण म्हत्त्वाचा :
प्रेम कुणावर करावे ?
प्रेम कुणावर ही करावं.
कारण प्रेम आहे माणसाच्या संस्कृतिचा सारांश ,
इतिहासचा निष्कर्ष आणि
भाविष्यकालीन अभुदयाची आशा.

तुमचा हा रुक्षपणा वरवरचा. तसे नाही तर मग Crime and Punishment मधले रास्केलनिकोव आणि सोनिया चे सात्विक प्रेम मनाला का भावते? Wuthering heights मधील हिथक्लिफ च्या क्रूर वाग्ण्यात पण तुम्हाला त्याचे केथरीन बद्दलचे प्रेम जाणवते. एवढेच कशाला तर दिलवाले दुल्हनिया ले जायेंगे मधे शाहरुख़ साठी काजोल ने ट्रेन चढताना वळले पाहिजे असेच तुम्हाला पण वाटते.
म्हणून म्हणतो माझा सल्ला एका
चीड़-चीड़, तळतळाट करु नका आणि गुणी-जणांवर जळु नका

-भाकित

Duets in Hindi cinema

Duet /Dwandgeet or more famously referred to as "Dogaana" on VividhBharti is one of my favourite Hindi film song type. I like them because a good duet is a two way dialogue like the musical plays. To illustrate this idea i have picked the following three songs from recent movies:

१) अगर मैं कहू
सिनेमा: लक्ष्य
गीतकार : जावेद अख्थर
संगीत: शंकर-एहसान-लोई
गायक जोडी: अलका याग्निक, उदित नारायण
The hero is using the song as a medium to express his love for heroine. Heroine complains about the traditional ways and demands for innovation. Hero after some struggle gives up. At this point heroine asks for none of these as they both are aware of each others affection. The lyrics are on the lighter side. I was compelled to compare it with an old classic "जाने कहा मेरा जिगर गया" sung by Mohammad Rafi - Geeta Dutt. This song also has the inherent naughtiness-joy and the real hidden agenda is the mutual affection.

२) हम है इस पल यहा
सिनेमा: किसना
गीतकार : जावेद अख्थर
संगीत: ए आर रहमान
गायक जोडी: मधुश्री, उदित नारायण
The song is melancholic with haunting music. Again for me the highlight is the lyrics which extols the permanence of love in spite of physical distance. I sympathised with the lover duo and wished for their union.

३) एक दिन आप यूँ हमको मिल जायेंगे:
सिनेमा: येसँ बॉस
गीत: जावेद अख़्तर
संगीत: जतिन-ललित
गायक जोडी: अलका याग्निक, कुमार सानू
This song will always feature in my best list। Music is great but again my focus is on lyrics. They are actually convalescing. The duo has got few moments of respite and experience bliss. Through the song they imagine how their union would be and create a utopia? Such is the power of lyrics that we accompany the duo and wish for their well-being.

The common thread amongst all the songs is the communication that takes place between the man and woman. The communication may be to strengthen the bond or the last one or dreams about the future. They carry forward the story and we are with them. The measure of success for a hindi song should be its assimilation with the main story line. I believe all the above three songs pass this test.

आज का चित्रहार (विविध भारती कार्यक्रम) यही समाप्त कर्ता हूँ.
फिर मिलेंगे,
भाकित.