July Blind Spot: Jalsaghar(The Music Room)

Couple of years ago when I was doing my Masters in US, one of my university friends was kind enough to lend me his copy of Apu trilogy. This was my first and so far only excursion into cinematic world of Satyajit Ray, probably the only Indian director with a worldwide fame and following. Considering how successful that experiment went, (it certainly was a success, so much so that Pather Panchali(1955) sits prettily in my personal ‘Top 100’) it is rather sad that I never saw any of his other films since. So I put one of his films on this year’s blind spot list, since that is what this list is for – to get rid of such blemishes.

Even though it is directed by Satyajit Ray, considering this is a Bengali film, this film also provides me a unique opportunity. Usually films I choose for this list are those which are supposed to have been seen my most people. So I try not to get into plot details and other usual suspects of review. But I would be very surprised if many of those who frequent this place would have seen this movie. So, for a change, I get to frame this post as a traditional review.

Jalsaghar(1958) or The Music Room, as it is known internationally, is a story of Biswambhar Roy, a last of his kind landlord which means he is basically a royalty in areas surrounding vast pieces of lands he owns. It also used to mean that everyone leaving in that area would depend on him for their livelihood but his estate is in dilapidated state. He has inherited lands that are being depleted by river nearby and there is not much he can do about it. So he has the title and even respect of the people that comes with it but no perquisites that usually follow.

But his status in the community means he has to live pompous life his ancestors did, even if it is only to put up a show for others and pinnacle of his ostentation is his music room. His music room is where he would invite some of the best artists - singers, dancers, musicians - to put up a show for him and would invite most important people around to accompany him. Even being a part of this group would mean your entry in landlord's innermost circle and indication of your elevated social status.

Only problem here, however, is Biswambhar Roy's estate is running on fumes and can not really afford all this extravagance. He even has to sell family jewels of Roy family that have been passed on for generations to pay for initiation ceremony of his son but even this doesn't deter him from his flamboyance. His wife tries to open his eyes but there is no other way he can live by and in the end, he succumbs to illusion of his grandeur, leaving his his last two remaining servants helpless witnesses of this event. His manager, who handles all his financial business and other things related to his lands, is solemn, worried where this might lead to while his man servant is almost giddy to see his master back to his old ways months after. [SPOILER]What he doesn't realize is this is candle burning brightest before extinguishing[SPOILER END].

Jalsaghar was Satyajit Ray's only third film; he made it between second and third installment of Apu trilogy. But, even though this was obvious right from Pather Panchali, sensibilities of this film are of a seasoned film maker. Premise of changing times and someone who once prospered in it failing to adapt to these times is not exactly novel. But what makes it work despite being the same old story is Satyajit Ray's handling with a knack of seasoned storyteller. He knows what he is going for, how he wants to get there and he does so right on the money.

He highlights hollowness of Roy's lifestyle from very first frame. His idiosyncratic behaviour to keep up with it and cling on to stupid notions of his false status only make him more miserable and Ray does not flinch from showing this. But he doesn't make him spineless which makes it much more interesting character; someone I genuinely cared for despite being rather vain. He is not without his values, however vain they might be and not without his qualities either, however crazy they might be especially under the given circumstances.

Chhabi Biswas, playing protagonist Biswambhar Roy, makes it even more impressive with great range he puts on display here - from someone who is lordly from head to toe, riding his beautiful horse Moti to a hollow shell of that man we see in the very first scene with no idea of time and date. His ease and command with which he slips into persona of Biswambhar Roy also played major role in making me sympathetic towards him, despite all his glaring faults.

While Roy is seeing the last days of his fading glory, Ray makes this story even more contrasting by adding character of Mohit Ganguly, son of userer leaving nearby, and making him a rising star. Roy constantly feels threatened by him as quite possibly he is looking to replace him. There are quite a few confrontational scenes between the two in film and almost every single one of them would find its place on highlight reel. Ganguly, being a self made man still not used to be a part of dignified society around him, is like a new kid on playing ground; always uncomfortable around Roy. And Roy, possibly because he himself not comfortable with his rise, constantly trying to cross him.

And finally, Indian classical music that is featured so richly in this film. I have to admit one thing though - however deplorable this guy might be, he certainly had a good taste in music. If you have any liking towards this kind of music, three concerts featured in this film alone are more than enough to make Jalsaghar worth a watch. Having artists from all over perform at your doorsteps like this, used to be a kingly habit of the class that Roy is last remnant. And Ray doesn't use them only to as a showcase of classical music but makes them very much integral parts of whole narrative. I feel really happy after getting back on Ray bandwagon with this film but this time I really hope my next stop won't be after another two years.

Bollywood Essentials: Jagte Raho(1956)

As the name of this post suggests, this series is basically about some of the best movies Hindi cinema has to offer. As a film lover and someone who has grown up watching these movies, I want to give the glimpses of my world to everyone else who hasn’t yet been initialized to it or is under the impression of it being nothing more than glitzy, glamorous melodrama and random song and dance sequences. There is more to it and I intend to showcase that through these posts.

All the films I have highlighted so far in this feature are sort of obvious inclusions. Not that they are unworthy of it, far from it, but if you ask anyone to name 10 Most Essential Hindi movies, there is a good chance that person will include 5 of these movies in that list. All these are fairly big names which have garnered quite a reputation over the years for being some of the best this behemoth of an industry has to offer. Nothing wrong with that, especially since I agree with their 'Essential' status as well. For the first time, I am going for a little obscure film in this series. For reasons that are unknown and incomprehensible to me, Jaagte Raho(1956) is not a movie that gets mentioned fairly regularly in Bollywood vernacular. It certainly deserves much more attention that it gets and if I can steer few people its way though this post, I will be extremely happy. That's what I intend to do with these posts anyway!

I have not seen it happen for a long time now but in olden days, chowkidaars or security guards and police constables on their night duty used to keep each other awake through the night with loud, intermittent shouts of "Jaagte Raho!" or Stay Awake. Title of film is a reference to that as it takes place during one single night in a big apartment complex of a city. This film follows a peasant's first night in the big city. He has just arrived empty handed from his village looking for job and is roaming through the night roads of city looking for nothing other than just a drink of water. It all fairness, it should not be too hard to find but he learns that the hard way, probably even in worst possible way.

After looking for it a while, he comes across a dog drinking water from leaking water tap inside a big housing society. He sneaks in through a small gap of their locked main door. But before he can quench his thirst and get on his way, he is sighted by a police constable on his regular night strolls. Policeman takes him for a thief and wakes up security guard of society who in turn wakes up whole society warning them of presence of a thief in their society. Next two hours consist of everyone in society hunting him like a dog and him trying to save his skin. Various encounters he has with multiple people in that society not only produce lot of dark humour but also expose dark side of so called serene, sophisticated life of city people.

First house he gets into to hide from everyone has two illicit lovers meeting in the dark to hide from girl's father. Sudden clamour this thief has created puts them at great disadvantage as these paramours can't hide in house for fear of her father, can't go out either for fear of getting caught. Next, he follows an outwardly gentleman looking guy but soon finds out this guy has lost everything on horse races and even witnesses him stealing his wife's jewellery. Then he witnesses a drunkard forcing his wife to sing and dance for him. As he goes from one house to another, gravity of crimes he witnesses that are so well swept under sham of sophistication gets more and more serious and distressful and our peasant gets trapped deeper and deeper into it. Whole thing culminates into last half hour which gives us many twists and turns but is brilliantly executed. Best thing about it though is he gets to drink water; for which he gets into all this trouble; only after he manages to get out of that building, in very last frame of film! 

Jaagte Raho was made under RK films banner which has been dormant for past few years but is one of the legendary production houses of India established by Raj Kapoor. Kapoor family is nothing short of royalty in Bollywood after producing legend after legend for four generations and Raj Kapoor is probably biggest luminary they produced. Apart from producing it, Raj Kapoor, who is considered as the greatest Showman of Hindi Cinema, plays central role of peasant. One of the joys of watching this film was getting to see so many known actors pop up in other roles. I would sooner recognize Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder(2008) than I would Pran as reporter in this film. Ifteqar, who would go on to make a career out of playing cop, is leader of search party in charge of finding thief or Pradeep Kumar, secret lover of first house, known for Jo Wada Kiya Wo...

I will never deny him as a legend or impact he has had over the industry or on generations after him, but I have always had my reservations against Raj Kapoor both as an actor and director. Though it is mostly based on films in the later phase of his life, his films are tedious, laborious and over sentimental. He is also known for playing almost same character in every film and you see traces of that character even when he was not really playing it. But I will also be the first one to admit that this is like saying Charlie Chaplin, who BTW was huge inspirational for Raj Kapoor's act and it was evident, did nothing other than playing a tramp all his life or Hitchcock did nothing other than thrillers. Like Chaplin and Hitchcock, his act had much more nuance to it if you care to scratch beneath the surface. That act gave some of the most popular and well known pieces of art like Awara(1951), Anari(1959) or Shree 420(1955) all in same decade. That was the Golden Age of Indian cinema after all!

1950s is considered as the Golden Period of Hindi cinema and for a very good reason. '50s is to Bollywood what '70s was to Hollywood. That was the time when Parallel cinema got its biggest exposure and almost merged into Mainstream cinema. That was the time when directors tackled different subjects and presented different themes. Some of the biggest stars ventured into many different territories, something that dearly lacked in Bollywood in recent times, or even became big by doing so. And more importantly, they got recognition. Bengali directors played vital part in taking industry there. Satyajit ray, probably the only Indian director with international acclaim got his start with Apu trilogy in '50s though he didn't make a Hindi movie till late '70s. Bimal Roy, a director who inspired generations of directors to follow, was at his peak during that time. Hrishikesh Mukharjee, a personal favourite, got his start with aforementioned Anari and I am sure there are many more that I am missing. To the best of my knowledge, this is that only credit of director Amit Moitra but I would like to believe that this high tide of Hindi cinema and influence of Bengali directors then played some part in that.

Rating(out of 5):

Previous Essentials: 

Satya(1998)

Sholay(1975)

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron(1983)

A Wednesday(2008)

Do Bigha Zamin(1953) 

Sarfarosh(1999)
Taare Jameen Par(2008)
Lagaan(2001)

Wrapping it Up: April

Another month, another wrap-up post full of this month's viewings.This was a tumultuous month! Due to various personal reasons and also bit due to lack of inspiration, whole month almost went silent and then I had to rush to put 2 posts on consecutive days. I can not promise how regular next month can be either because there are many things still in the balance but here is to hoping it would be a bit more regular. On to the movies of this month...

April

The Godfather(1972)(Re-watch): The Godfather is one of my absolute favourites. It has always been and it will always be. But if I tell you I have only seen it once in its entirety, would you believe that? Because that's true. I have actually read Puzo's book twice but this was only second time I saw film. I mean, it is so prevalent in pop culture that it never felt like it. I have seen bits and pieces of it over and over but whole three hours of it in one sitting - just twice now and that Diane Keaton's face in that last shot will always, always make it worth it.

Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 1(2012)(Re-watch): I had seen first part back in 2012 itself but for some reason I never went to second one from that. And since they were originally planned to release as single 5-hour long film, it was imperative for me to give this another look before diving into second part. I know I will be watching it many times over, if only to watch Manoj Bajpayee imitating washing clothes, so I am certainly not complaining. And songs! Their lyrics, their feel, their style. Everyone who decided they shouldbe done this way and everyone who executed that plan to perfection is sheer Genius!

Gangs of Wasseypur: Part 2(2012): I have not felt as strongly for any Hindi film in at least 5 years as much as I did for Wasseypur. There is absolutely nothing I will like to see changed because these films are so well put together that changing anything might mean changing the whole product. And I don't know if it can get any superior. I mean, seriously, how can you do better than "Nervousao Nahi Mora" or whichever the hell songs Yashpal Sharma was on screen for. Accept it, nobody can! 

30 For 30: The Price of Gold(2014): If you ask my mother, she will tell you that I can watch any sport; however boring it might be. There is certain level of truth in it because I can but figure skating isn't one of them. I have seen bunch of sports documentaries but all of them have been about sport that I at least know some basics of. Figure skating isn't one of them too. But then, I also haven't seen a documentary about an event so pervasive that a President of any nation references it in his speech. That makes in unique in every aspect!

Chungking Express(1994): Maybe I had my expectations set little too high after In the Mood for Love(2000) but a couple of expeditions I have takes after that to Wong Kar Wai land have been rather disappointing to me. I was glad to see something that I liked. More than one simultaneous stories that are somehow connected to each other seems to be his style, at least early in his career and he uses it here as well though they are not really simultaneous. They are both interesting and executed really well. So, no complaints from me!

Jagte Raho(1956): One of the forgotten masterpieces of Hindi cinema. I remember I first came to know about this movie in one of the lists somewhere and I have been looking for this movie ever since. I never heard anyone else talking about this movie ever and it became evident that not many people know about this movie when I actually started looking for it. I have no idea why. It really is one of the gems of Indian cinema and I intend to dedicate my next 'Bollywood Essentials' to it.






Wings(1927): Even after getting through 70 Oscar winners, films before '40s have mostly eluded me. Sure, they are difficult to get hold of than most recent ones and that is a major factor why I have seen only 2 films before 1938. But many of them have also lost their place in public consciousness. Most of these films get into conversation only when you talk about Oscar winners. You respect movie like Wings even more if you consider that. It still holds its ground even after being very first Oscar winner.

American Graffiti(1973): Blind spot of this month. I have heard many people say "I wish George Lucas would go to make movies like he did before Star Wars". I am sure most of them would say differently if he did not put a bullet into his foot with Star Wars prequels but I was interested in checking out validity of above statement. I certainly liked it way more than I usually like movies like that but it is rather ironic that news of Star Wars 7 casting came same day I published my post. Whatever tiny smudge of soft spot formed inside of me for Lucas, vanished with reminder of existence of Star Wars 7.
    

The Secret World of Arrietty(2011): I have been a Ghibli fan for a long time now and as any real fan would, I have seen most of their films. I have seen every film Hayao Miyazaki ever directed except The Wind Rises(2014) which hasn't released here yet and I am not sure if it ever will but there are a few with him not at the helm that have escaped me. I managed to check one off here. It's a well-known story of The Borrowers but one that fits perfectly in Ghibli canon and is done with enough charm to make it worth your time. 

The Big Chill(1983): I am not exactly sure how to rate this film. I mean, I really like the camaraderie amongst those friends and there were several instances that I could relate to but at the same time there were as many instances that I felt like they are going too far or being little too pretentious. I am sure anyone who has seen this movie knows what I am talking about and maybe this is cultural and I might feel differently about it in few years but there was one instance in particular which I felt like was dealt with too lightly.

Captain America: The First Avenger(2011): To get ready for new Captain America, which I still haven't seen BTW but for that, I had to clear my backlog first. I am not sure why people call it one of the best. For me, it was a typical Superhero film - a decent, fun film but nothing beyond that. Hayley Atwell was good, even Chris Evans was not bad but I am getting tired of Hugo Weaving as a menacing villain and story was rather stupid. Plus, I have always had a bit of problem with Captain America. I am sorry but he is kind of lame superhero.

Tropic Thunder(2008): I understand that comedy is a very subjective genre but so many people sang praises of this film to me that I was quite excited to check it out. As I sat there watching it, in first couple of minutes I realized this is going to be a tough task as, except for Robert Downey Jr., I don't really care for anyone in the cast. I even downright hate likes of Jake Black. Withing 15 minutes, I knew even getting through this would be a task and by the end, my overall apathy of everyone else prevailed over RDJ and unrecognizable Tom Cruise.
 

Mr. Hulot's Holiday(1953): I have never seen a Tati film before and if you ask me in one line, it was supremely disappointing. Basically, It is like a series of various unrelated gags done at or around the same place put together and I had problem with everything about it. First of all, I didn't find most of the gags funny but that can be subjective, so I won't put too much wait on it. Second, if it is presented as one film, shouldn't there be some theme, some common element to connect various incidents together? Third, was it a silent film? was it a talkie or both or neither? Fourth, well... you get my point.

An American in Paris(1951): 71st of Best Picture winners I have seen and one of the worst so far. It was a colossal waste of my time. They had about 13 minutes of story that can actually amount to something and then MGM hired Gene Kelly and couple of other people who can sing and dance and stuffed it till it bloated to 113 minutes. Every single song or dance, including An American in Paris ballet, were completely, utterly and absolutely useless as they meant zip in terms of story. It was a torture of level in A Clockwork Orange(1971). I even struggled to keep my eyes open.

300: Rise of an Empire(2014): I have seen many bad films and I am sure I will many more this year as well but any 2014 film will have a very stiff competition from this film to beat as the worst film of the year. To tell you the truth, I knew exactly what I was walking into. As campy and ridiculous as first 300(2006) was, I still like it for great dialogues, amazing action and its graphic novel feel. Everything that made first one cool, mind you, I am not saying good, makes this one insufferable. I swear, anyone who sat through these two hours without fending strong urge to bolt out deserves some kind of medal.

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song(1971): I know I am way out of my element saying anything about this film; I was way out of it just by watching it because I do not have any yardstick to measure this film as anything other than just a film. This might be a cultural phenomena, a cultural revolution even but that doesn't conceal the fact that this is a terrible film in every aspect. Maybe I am looking at it as just a film and that's biggest problem here but there was not a moment in this film that made me think "What the FXXX am I watching?"

Total Count: 16. 14 First Time Watches and 2 Re-watch .

2014 YTD Count

Total Count: 69. 62 First Time Watches and 7 Re-watches.

It certainly was a turbulent month. Last month, I said that my last month might be the best I have had in a long time in terms of quality of films I saw. I am following it with probably one of the worst. It certainly is very peculiar, if nothing else. I don't think I have had a month before where I had at least one film under each star rating. Under some circumstances that might mean something to celebrate but here it means 1/3 of films I saw in entire month were below average and I think I am pretty generous when it comes to calling a movie average.

So, how was your month? Did you see anything interesting? What do you think of the movies I saw? Any favorites?

Bollywood Essentials: Lagaan

Indian squad in all it's glory!

As the name of this post suggests, this series is basically about some of the best movies Hindi cinema has to offer. As a film lover and someone who has grown up watching these movies, I want to give the glimpses of my world to everyone else who hasn’t yet been initialized to it or is under the impression of it being nothing more than glitzy, glamorous melodrama and random song and dance sequences. There is more to it and I intend to showcase that through these posts. 

I wrote first entry for this series almost one and half years ago for LAMB Foreign Chops. That day I made a conscious decision of starting this series with Satya(1998) than with Lagaan(2001) because I thought later would be too obvious a choice. You would imagine I will get back to it right after and I promise I did intend to but for some unexplained reason I kept postponing it. So today as I finally sit down to do just that, I am really surprised that it took me this much time and more than half a dozen posts to get back to it. That is not a strike against the quality of this film because I believe Lagaan is a quintessential Bollywood film. It is also a monumental film, a trendsetter in many ways that I will get to little later in this post. There will be spoilers almost throughout this post. So if you haven't seen this film and don't want it spoiled, avoid this but to tell you the truth, I don't think it matters. Everything that happens in this film is trademark Bollywood. So if you know the industry, most of it will not come as a surprise to you though it's no less riveting.

It takes place sometime in nineteenth century, when India was under British rule, in a small village called Champaner. Champaner hasn't seen a drop of rain in whole year but Captain Russell, British officer in-charge of Champaner and other villages in the vicinity which were originally under Raja Puran Singh's rule, wants to double the taxes. Villagers know that it won't be possible for them to pay a penny and decide to go and request Puran Singh to exempt them for this year. Captain Russell, however, has some other plans. He singles out Bhuvan, a young, dynamic guy who has already caused some troubles for him, and challenges them for a game of cricket. Britishers have been playing this game for a while and are quite skilled in it and villagers don't even know how to hold the bat right. But catch is if they win, they will pay no tax for three years and if they loose, they will have to pay triple tax. Quite a do-or-die situation! Bhuvan accepts the challenge. Initially everyone feels like it is a suicide mission but Bhuvan is determined to go the distance. He slowly starts putting a team together but real turning point comes when Captain Russell's sister agrees to teach them the game as she thinks they should get a fair chance in this match.

Obviously, game of cricket forms an integral part of the whole narrative. As someone who loves the game, what's interesting to me is during those three days of this match, every single thing that can happen in the game of cricket does happen. You have freakish run-outs, a hat-trick, on-ground controversies, complete collapse of batting orders and unlikely partnership that leads to last ball heroics. Anywhere else all these in one place would have looked hokey but this script makes it enjoyable. I also admire that director Ashutosh Gowarikar chose to show Bhuvan's teammates to be unaware of nitty-gritties of game. No one can in such a short time as villagers were given but this David vs Goliath match-up is what makes it so entertaining and thrilling. Also, cricket is not the most well-known sports in many parts of the world. So I was always skeptical about how it will travel overseas. I am so glad to be proven wrong by many people who have enjoyed this film as much as I did despite knowing next to nothing about the game. To me that is indicative of the game being so much more than just a cricket match.

And it is not 'just' a cricket match. As the whole diaspora starts to think of this as an opportunity than calamity, it becomes a channel to vent their anger, their frustration against their oppressors. A symbolic fight to beat British at their own game, in this case quite literally. It becomes some sort of glue to bring everyone together, a communal thing that everyone celebrates together or even reproach at times. By including Kachra who is from lower cast who were socially condemned then in team, Gowarikar also uses this opportunity to make social commentary. Another aspect that I make special point of mentioning in this posts is songs. In case of Lagaan, there is a special reason for that. If you consider all the songs in any film as some sort of album, I think I can make a very strong case of this being THE best in 100 years of Bollywood. Not only is every song just so much better than the previous, there is so much variety in them that it's mind boggling. There is an inspirational song, devotional song, straight-up love song, communal rain song and sort of lovers quarrel song. Each and every one of them have beautiful meanings, offer much more than surface value and are only one-uped by probably the best music A.R. Rehman has done in his career. 

Like me, there are many who consider it to be a ‘quintessential’ Bollywood film. Whatever you can expect from a typical Bollywood movie, you will get it here. You have an uplifting story with message that has a happy ending and provides a lot of social commentary. With Elizabeth falling in love with Bhuvan and Gauri who everyone in the village knows will be married to Bhuvan one day, you also have a love triangle, songs, good triumphing over bad with our protagonist snatching the victory from the jaws of defeat. You even have a character who sells the villagers out for his hatred of Bhuvan but even he redeems himself by the end. And on top of all that, there is cricket in the cricket crazy nation of billions. What else can you want? However where Lagaan distinguishes itself from most others is it handles this juggernaut really well. Despite being a sweeping epic of David Lean proportions which many others have tried in Hindi industry to varying results, there is not much I can find fault with in here.

It has created quite a legacy for itself by being only third and last Indian film to be nominated for Oscars (Mother Indian(1957) and Salaam Bombay!(1988) were the other two). But it has nothing to do with what I was talking about being a trendsetter. As far as I remember, it was the first Indian film that had a proper marketing budget and it was done with perfect planning. Aamir Khan, who starred in the film and also produced it, made sure that it would reach every corner of the country and everyone was talking about it even before it was released. But the reason I say there was great planning behind it is despite being marketed so heavily, no one had any idea that there was cricket involved in it until the day it was released. And that cricket match consists of about 50% of it's 224 minutes run time! When people came out of theaters on the opening day, everyone was extremely surprised about it. Once it rode that wave of surprise, it literally never looked back till the day of Oscars.

I like this film. I have always liked it but at the same time, I don't consider it to be one of my favourite films. As good and legendary it is, I have always had some minor quarrels with it. Minor because I am fully aware it's unfair to hold it against it but I can't help it. I have seen this movie more than half a dozen time, last time being less than a year ago, but over the last few watches I feel like this is dated already. I also have small problem with overall acting and tone of the movie. Even though there is a lot of humour in it, it's mainly melodrama and it's so much at the knife's edge that a smidge more of it would undo everything. It never really crosses that edge for me but it feels like it would on many occasions. However here I would like to underline the fact that I still think it is one of the essentials. I will even go further and say that if you've never seen any Bollywood movie before, Lagaan is as good a start you can hope for.

Rating(out of 5):

Previous Essentials: 

Satya(1998)

Sholay(1975)

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron(1983)

A Wednesday(2008)

Do Bigha Zamin(1953) 

Sarfarosh(1999)
Taare Jameen Par(2008)