Perfume- The Story Of A Murderer

One of the best things about the movie is the almost perfect (perfect, if you ask me) synchronicity of image, sound and words. Sound specially is not an aid in making things look better, but a separate entity making the expression fuller and more complete.

The hallmark of a good film is not about showing who the character is, but where does he come from, and how did he become what he is now. This movie, does all that and more. Plus, it is not slow and boring, thriving on the viewer’s ability to pay attention to detail, notice things which have not been shown,  make funny references to acts and events of the history and get his brains fried in the bargain. All in the name of art. It is but, an engaging piece of work that makes you uncomfortable,  and connects you to the life and times of the character.

In other words, it is Harry Potter on Cocaine.

Hah

That i can write as i do without having to think about my style is due to my having been as a child steeped in the Bible, The Pilgrims Progress, and Cassell’s illustrated Shakespeare. I was taught to hold the bible in such reverence that when one day, as i was buying a pennyworth of sweets in a little shop in Dublin, the shopkeeper tore a leaf out of a dismembered Bible to wrap then in, I was horrified, and half expected to see him struck by lightening. All the same i took the sweets and ate them; for to my Protestant mind the shopkeeper, as a roman catholic, would go to hell as such, Bible or no Bible, and was no gentleman anyhow. Besides, i liked eating sweets. – George Bernard Shaw

Raavana

Whenever, a person gets egoistic, people are quick to cite the example of raavana to him. The demon who died because of his ego. But, here again we are talking about death being the ultimate loss which is untrue. If you look at it, in a way, raavana never really lost. (i dont like the word lost in this context but i have no other way as of now). Raavana did what he wanted to do. It was Ram who spent a major part of his life pining for sita and was a victim of petty politics in his family. Death ultimately came to raavana but doesnt it come to everybody. Ps: i’ll try and think up about the other side of the argument in a while.

Getting Educated Cheaply

Books on cinema, or writing, are not very easily available in the grey market. And, they are very expensive so you  cannot buy the priginals, unless you are from an extremely well off family.

So, I am listing down a few places here, (in Mumbai) which can be of help to anyone who wants to read up on cinema and writing.

1.) NCPA, Nariman Point-

This has a small library on performing arts, but since it’s a niche library, you’ll find huge amounts of books on film, theatre and writing. Also, if you are interested, you can read up on painting, music, etc.

They charge you hundred bucks for a year’s membership.

2.)Max Mueller Bhavan, Kala Ghoda-

It is a german library, but it also has English translations of a few german writers. The ambience is near perfect and at 700 Rs. a year you can also get internet access and borrow DVD’s.

3.)Crossword, Kemps Corner

This has one small section on performing arts, with mostly shite stuff, but one can find screenplays at times. Plus, the autobiography and biography section has books by Gulzar, Ray, Kurosawa, etc. which one can read without interruption from the store staff.

These are the few places in Mumbai. If you live in some other city, and know of similar places then please feel free to use the comments section. More such places, in Mumbai will also be appreciated.

Dead.

This blog is dead. I am ashamed of the things that I have said on it. The only reasaon that I am not deleting it is because I have posted links to several articles and interviews in the pages, which I think might just be useful to someone. If not me.

Last Train To Mahakali

This is a telefilm made by none other than Anurag Kashyap of ‘Dev D’ fame. When, I first saw it– I was jubilant. Not because the movie is great or anything, but actually quite the opposite. The whole thing is not well researched at all, and the writing is very amateurish to say the least. Agreed some areas are cleverly executed and KK’s acting is worthy of note even though this type of a script gives more scope to impressionism than real acting.

The doctor, the passengers on the train, etc. etc. are wooden as a chair and expose the flaws in Kashyap’s writing at that time. It feels good to see the movie because if this guy can make mistakes as big as this and still come this far, then there’s hope for one and all.

Anyways, I’d still urge you to see the film. Coz’ it feels great to see one of your idols fail. Proves his imperfectionsim.And most importantly tells you about how far can an artist go.

PS: The youtube video is of part 1 only. Watch it on youtube, and you will find the remaining series in the related videos section.

Admissions (Part 2)

Finally, I have a confirmed place at a college. It’s called Wilsons, and it’s a grade-3 heritage building located bang opposite Chowpatty. Plus, I have also enrolled in the hostel accompanying the college. It’s called St. Andrews House. (Search for it on orkut and facebook, and you will be able to read some hilariously funny experiences of previous boarders in the college)

As I mentioned in my last post, the choice was between Jai Hind and Wilsons. I chose Wilsons primarily for the hostel but there are other reasons too. For eg. the fact that Wilsonians looked a bit more grounded at first look certainly helped. Not all Wilsonians, definitely, but then in matters like judging a college– you always have to judge it from the best. The faculty didn’t look bad– in fact, one teacher even complimented me by saying that I had a good percentage. How funny is that! Can’t blame her though, most people who have applied for B.A have tremendously low scores.

Then, coming to the hostel part– well, there are certain things that make me feel good about it. One, is the experience of hostel life itself, which I think is a good experience to have in your kitty. I have to check in on 29th, which leaves me with just 6 days to explore Nerul which makes me feel slightly sad as I know the place on the back of my fingernails. Not that I am leaving it forever, I might just come back on weekends– but then it’s not home anymore.

Admissions (Part 1)

So, now, I have to finally decide a college. And yeah, finally shed the tag of being an Apeejayite.  And become an ex-apeejayite.  So, I am kinda anxious now. I joined Apeejay in 1st standard and till then I have been amongst familiar faces.

Now, then —  moving out from the past and coming back to the present. I have a choice between two colleges– Jai Hind and Wilsons. You can google them if you like. Now, I haven’t had favourable feedback on either of these. Jai Hind, people say, is filled by posh kids flaunting latest stuff that are in vogue. And Wilsons, it’s supposed to be filled by Christians. And the sad part is that when I went to these places to fill up the forms– both of my beliefs were confirmed.

So what if the Jai Hind kids are posh, and wilsonians are christians, you ask. Well, there’s really no big deal except that they are different social setup than the one I come from. I’ll adjust in both these environments, I know. But choosing between the two is really making me nervous.

Personally, I know more about Wilson College because I have an online friend whose blog posts I read. And I also read the blog posts of his friends. All, in my attempt to get to know something about how the alumnus is.

Metaphors.

There are two kinds of student filmmakers I completely hate. I don’t see much from the third kind.

Well, the first kind is pretty common. It’s the kind you see in every mass communication institute. The kind that thinks that the best (and the only) way to learn how to make movies is by watching them. More often than not, their film is nothing more than a poorly shot public service advertisement, the  synopsis contains the whole movie. And yeah, most films have bad acting. Really Really bad acting.

The second kind is rarer. It feeds on world cinema. Which is great. But but, the films made by these people suck even harder. The acting ain’t really great. It’s shot in black and white and yeah, it’s filled with undecipherable metaphors. It’s decipherable if you try– but then our version may not match theirs.  Which they say, is a good thing because they want their work to be interpreted in different ways. Now, ain’t that one fucking load of uninformed talk.

You see, interpretation is a funny thing. I can interpret lyrics like, ‘Pappu can’t dance saala’ and write a 350 page treatise on it. And, give my explanation as to why it is art.

Metaphors, are not really a bad thing. Especially in films which attempt to be more like poetry than a story. But but but, one rule of using metaphors should be that if the audience doesn’t get it– or is unwilling to make his own interpretation– he should still be able to enjoy the movie. I am not a great fan of films like No Smoking, and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind but whenever these films have used metaphors– it’s been done in such a way– that an interpretation is planted in the viewer’s mind. One should try not to invent metaphors and integrate them in the film. These things come naturally, in case the film demands it. Don’t place a tulsi plant in the film just because it is meant to signify something. Layers of cream added to a terrible cake doesn’t make the cake taste good.

Will get over soon…

I have been writing a script for a short film, and am planning to finish it’s  second draft  by Monday. I am writing this post for the sole reason, that I will have a moral obligation to complete it by monday.

It’s going to be available on this site. (As if anyone cares.)

Update:The script is ready, and you can mail me at  sam71190(at)gmail(dot)com to get it.