Mumbai meri jaan
I saw 'Mumbai meri jaan' .. and let me assure u, its a kickass movie. Brilliant it is!
The movie is like a crow.. it nibbles at your wounds and makes noises that you would not like to hear. Its naked. A friend of mine was complaining '.. but I don't want to see this mumbai'.
I won't give a description of the movies, or the details of the scene, (and I am so tempted to.. the sheer brilliance of them shots.. every shot has its politics.) or venture into an analysis of how this movie has shades of anti capitalism and so on $ ... but the beauty of the movie is in it's truthfulness and politics. I hope there were more crows like these. :P
Another friend was complaining at the climax of the cliche therein, but then again why be non- cliche for the sake of it. The director pokes with the sensibility stick to the jaded zombified couch potato audience, and after the audience wakes up and becomes responsive, he holds the open soul-mouth of the audience so that he can deliver through the age old wisdom, which is cliche because its age old. :P
There is only one song in the movie, and by itself, its not all that great a song. But that songs holds your breath with much earnestness. The song acts as the moment of comprehension. A moment when things settle in one's head and a clear picture emerges. Dust gone, essence still.
Brilliant stuff! Brilliant stuff!
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I read a few reviews of the movie, that of TOI and screen weekly. Utter idiots*. I don't quite understand how can a simplistic precise of a movie be called as a review. Besides, most of the times what they do is try to find some similarity between the movie in question and a hollywood flick. This time around, the screen report compared 'mumbai meri jaan' to 'crash'. Crash is one of my all time favourite movies. Its utterly beautiful. And 'Mumbai..' was brilliant in it own right.
But apart from a certain narrative paradigm that 'Mumbai ...' borrows, there's nothing 'crash' about 'Mumbai'. The narratives converge to different spots altogether. So except for multiple narratives weaved at a tragic event, there's nothing common between the two.
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*Idiots. i had theorized about 'idiots' a long time back, and the theory goes something like this..
Idiots are the ones who think others are idiots. This essentially builds on the premise of the futility of being judgmental. Hence, I had never used this word until now. why did i use it now, u ask? well, i wrote it and was about to backspace it, then thought might as well explain why i would delete it. besides, truthfully speaking, there's hardly any other word to describe ignorants with such efficiency.
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$ and so on. A tribute to the genius of Kurt Vonnegut. and so on.
The movie is like a crow.. it nibbles at your wounds and makes noises that you would not like to hear. Its naked. A friend of mine was complaining '.. but I don't want to see this mumbai'.
I won't give a description of the movies, or the details of the scene, (and I am so tempted to.. the sheer brilliance of them shots.. every shot has its politics.) or venture into an analysis of how this movie has shades of anti capitalism and so on $ ... but the beauty of the movie is in it's truthfulness and politics. I hope there were more crows like these. :P
Another friend was complaining at the climax of the cliche therein, but then again why be non- cliche for the sake of it. The director pokes with the sensibility stick to the jaded zombified couch potato audience, and after the audience wakes up and becomes responsive, he holds the open soul-mouth of the audience so that he can deliver through the age old wisdom, which is cliche because its age old. :P
There is only one song in the movie, and by itself, its not all that great a song. But that songs holds your breath with much earnestness. The song acts as the moment of comprehension. A moment when things settle in one's head and a clear picture emerges. Dust gone, essence still.
Brilliant stuff! Brilliant stuff!
_______
___________I read a few reviews of the movie, that of TOI and screen weekly. Utter idiots*. I don't quite understand how can a simplistic precise of a movie be called as a review. Besides, most of the times what they do is try to find some similarity between the movie in question and a hollywood flick. This time around, the screen report compared 'mumbai meri jaan' to 'crash'. Crash is one of my all time favourite movies. Its utterly beautiful. And 'Mumbai..' was brilliant in it own right.
But apart from a certain narrative paradigm that 'Mumbai ...' borrows, there's nothing 'crash' about 'Mumbai'. The narratives converge to different spots altogether. So except for multiple narratives weaved at a tragic event, there's nothing common between the two.
______________________________________
*Idiots. i had theorized about 'idiots' a long time back, and the theory goes something like this..
Idiots are the ones who think others are idiots. This essentially builds on the premise of the futility of being judgmental. Hence, I had never used this word until now. why did i use it now, u ask? well, i wrote it and was about to backspace it, then thought might as well explain why i would delete it. besides, truthfully speaking, there's hardly any other word to describe ignorants with such efficiency.
______________________________________
$ and so on. A tribute to the genius of Kurt Vonnegut. and so on.
Comments
instead they beautifully showed mumbaikars and their lives. true to the spirit without harping on it.
and the mumbai meri jaan song in the end wouldve been cliche had the movie not been so good. but it was haunting this time round...
its as if its a blindfold that people willingly put on their eyes so that their inhumanly cramped, polluted life becomes a little bearable.
But there's some credit due to the reaction by people of Mumbai in times of peril such as the floods, the blast, etc.. they organise into efficient relief and help agencies in no time.. The efficiency of it all always amazes me. Its so organic... people just rise into being an efficient smiling willing machine of humanity.
there there... 'spirit of mumbai'. :P
its as if its a blindfold that people willingly put on their eyes so that their inhumanly cramped, polluted life becomes a little bearable.
But there's some credit due to the reaction by people of Mumbai in times of peril such as the floods, the blast, etc.. they organise into efficient relief and help agencies in no time.. The efficiency of it all always amazes me. Its so organic... people just rise into being an efficient smiling willing machine of humanity.
there there... 'spirit of mumbai'. :P
instead they beautifully showed mumbaikars and their lives. true to the spirit without harping on it.
and the mumbai meri jaan song in the end wouldve been cliche had the movie not been so good. but it was haunting this time round...