6.Gandhigiri and 7.31st October

Yesterday I saw two films.One was Gandhigiri and the other was Mr.Smith Goes to Washington.I saw the former at Roxy and the other at the American Center.There was a full turnout for Mr.Smith in the sense that all the chairs there were filled.Free popcorn was meted out.That was a gesture highly appreciated,considering the hard time that I have had with the establishment regarding lost items.
The film is one of those classics that I have never gotten around to seeing.It released in 1939-probably Hollywood's famous year(Gone with the Wind,The Wizard of Oz and Stagecoach also came out that year). The message of perseverance is what I chose to take from the Frank Capra film.That and a possible quiz team name.There is a certain conservatism at its core with people of colour and women being excluded from the senate floor.Perhaps that was the reality then or what is more likely is that was the film making practice then(Hattie McDaniel was seated separately from the cast and crew of Gone with The Wind at the Academy Awards ceremony).At least Jean Arthur's character is shown to be assertive for most of the film till the point that she crumbles.But fortunately for the film her hero hangs on for a bit before the conflicted villain breaks down into confessing his misdeeds.
Later on after a bit of walking to and fro I saw Gandhigiri.It is a film which lives upto its name.It chooses to deliver a conventional message and does so in a roundabout low budget fashion.It includes a romantic sub plot to insert as many inane songs as it could.They provide no relief and add irritation.It was good to see Om Puri not caricature himself comically  but on the other hand he takes on the garb of an earnest human parrot.This film wouldn't know a moral quandary even if it stripped naked in front of it.
There is more interplay between darkness and light in 31st October. I saw it at Inox Hind today morning.For an unknown reason the Hind authorities called the film 31st October Revisited.The horror of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is fleshed out as is the helplessness of the many affected who chose to keep silent.In times of trauma the practical bent kicks in hard.You have to move on even if it is in a haze that will cover your mind and not fade away.Some dialogues are muted in the film supposedly to rein in communal influences.What can't be pushed down is the feeling of wretchedness as to what happened in Delhi then and what has happened since in many other Indian places.The film thankfully restricts its explicit messages to title cards about the numbers who got killed and worse;I recalled during my Film Studies days  hearing about the dilemma of filmmakers criticizing others who use a real life tragedy for entertainment purposes.31st October issues a disclaimer saying that though it is based on a real life story it uses the tool of dramatization for entertainment purposes.I don't think I was entertained here.The film stretches out a hand and asks for mine.I felt obliged to take it.

5.Saat Uchhakkey

Last night I went to Lake Mall for the first time,to see Saat Uchhakey.I returned home around 10.45 pm which was unsettling primarily because of me worrying about what my parents might think.A late return to one's house somehow signifies a lack of rooting-being at home implies that you are working on something proper,at least that's how it is in one's student life.But after a certain time period in one's adulthood being at work is equated with being out of one's home.Strange are the ways of shifting perceptions.
There are deviations encountered by the characters in the above mentioned film too.The ostensible cause of such changes is the pull of a shaman like figure.He will not be shackled by social forces but he will manage to impose his feeling of propriety on the people around him.What we see for the majority of the film is these naughty characters at play in the gallis of an Old Delhi that is starting to become a popular form of representation of urban life in Hindi films(I am thinking of Delhi 6,Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and Do Dooni Chaar in particular although the last mentioned film isn't as seamy as the rest).One other common element between two of these films is Manu Rishi who acts in Saat Uchhakey and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.Seeing him yesterday reminded me of the Dibakar Banerjee film.I think a sign of a good film is that it reminds you of other good films.So I was inclined to look at this film in a favourable manner.
What is truly enjoyable for most of the film is the sound recording.Throwaway lines are recorded in clarity.It's not often that you get to hear so many characters on screen-the filmmakers want us to listen,to know that they took on a certain amount of effort to create the lingo of the underbelly where curses fly freely regardless of your current predicament.Even the foul mouthed incorruptible policeman gets down and dirty to rattle and snap at those troublemakers who get him travelling day and night via his choppy scooter in the crooked bylanes.
Kay Kay Menon's character reminds me of the Frances Mcdormand cop figure from Fargo.Both are seemingly above the fold although Kay Kay is shown to be more human here and more vulnerable to the forces around him.As in Fargo we go along with the deeds of both the perpetrators and their victims.None of them are shown to be right or wrong.It's a question of who wants to have the upper hand at the particular moment.
The most deluded of the lot turns out to be the cat among the poopy pigeons.The pigeons acquiesce to him in the end ,to their benefit mostly, except for the poor policeman who is reduced to a hypnotic state and forgoes what he and we have encountered througout the film.
It's hokum but delightfully acceptable.The characters grit it out vivaciously including one female protagonist who wilfully exudes her allure on the males around her.I think the film succeeded in toying similarly with me.

4.The Girl on the Train

I saw "The Girl on The Train" last evening at Forum(I have seen as many films there as at PVR Diamond Plaza in recent times).I watched it primarily for the one week only criteria.It's being shown at three Inox theatres,Forum,Quest and South City in after 5pm slots primarily.That feels like a sign that the exhibitors do not see it lasting beyond a week.At the time of writing the film is doing well at the American box office however.The hall was fairly full on Monday.So I could well be proved wrong.
Emily Blunt's eyes are radiant and the filmmakers use it well.Somehow the colour of her eyes seemed to go well with the colour of the alcohol that she is often seen to be imbibing. Women suffer,men are the tormentors-that is the crux of the film. This is a universal truth but there is a sense of overkill even with worthy adages.One can make an efficient,or importantly, a plausible, film by sticking to conventions but when you're sailing with them,in not a particularly well covered state,then there will be rough tidings.
A person who was among the audience members said afterwards that the film was psychotic.I decidedly disagree with his conception.This was a formula served with gloss in the form of attractive white skinned people.A foreign element is paid lip service to in the form of a line or two about  a couple of accents that two characters possess.No explanation,just a mention.The film is set in a parochial landscape in the city suburbs.Everyone is there on cue(no one has to go too far) to accuse one another of rotten deeds.It is somewhat apt that the most decent seeming person turns out to be the worst of the lot.The film's threshold and level of expectations is low,it believes in moving little and when it does it goes in extremes .Alcoholism,a recurrent theme of the film, is treated superficially.Once the murder mystery is solved Blunt becomes sober even though her condition is a long persisting one.It doesn't make emotional sense and when a film fails to do that I feel underwhelmed and cheated.
Hopefully the other films that I see this week will be compensatory.

3.Queen of Katwe

I saw Mira Nair's latest film,"Queen of Katwe" at Inox Forum.This was a week ago.I went for the 11.40 am show.So I entered the hall at 11.50 am.No no luck on my end.The advertisements were still showing.Some moments of gritted teeth followed.
Anything you see in the film afterwards gets a higher rating because it is not a badly made IIMC production.I don't feel too bad about not being a part of that hallowed institute.
After seeing the film I went home and packed for a week longtrip to several places where outside influences weren't readily felt.
Seeing that the film isn't present anymore is disappointing.On the plus side I did see a film based on a true story about Ugandan chess players-that's something you don't expect to see in a film hall at Calcutta in the first place.It reflects the mixed background of Mira Nair herself and the extent of her name value.Real life sporting underdog stories rarely go wrong for me("Chariots of Fire" is a particular favourite) and this didn't fail to rouse me either.I applauded at the end and looked around hoping others would follow the same.Some obliged.It was a half filled theatre.I couldn't ask for more.