[e-mail] Reviews

Different (2006)

See only the lowly rated Hindi movies

[8/10 · 17 July 2006]

What I am struck by the tremendous amount of creativity among Indians in all spheres - whether in Music or Movies or in Technology but apparently the Indian masses are stuck in their Masala traditions. Even the Indian movie critics - who are supposed to promote the experimental or innovative efforts at movie making - seem to judge movies by their marketability rather than genuineness of spirit. It is indeed heartening to find that young movie makers are undeterred by these and continue to create art close to their soul rather than based on public approval. I am an unabashed admirer of Indian creativity in this context.

Take the case of movies like 'Alag' or 'Benares' or 'Encounter, the Killing'. What is notable about these movies is that every frame of these movies is pulsating with action, the makers of these movies grip your attention from the word go and keep you enthralled for the entire duration of the movies and yet Indian movie goers as well as critics give them lukewarm reception. On the other movies like 'Fanaa', 'Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham' or 'Ham Aapke Hain Kyon' take such a long time to make a point that one can go for a game of tennis while watching the movie and come back and you would not missed any of the action except for a few songs. Such movies receive raves from the Box-Office as well as accolades from critics as well - as if what matters most in the final analysis is that every movie shall be a chick flick.

It just goes to prove a point that market success and genuine creativity in most cases reside on different planets. But I am thankful India is producing as many Orson Welles or Prakash Dwivedis as they are producing Karan Johars and Kunal Kohlis.

Chanakya (1990– )

A painstaking work of sheer genius and passion

[10/10 · 25 August 2005]

India is a country of a billion people and I am surprised only 1 person before me has felt compelled to write about this work of sheer genius.

If I was in India, I would seek out all the makers of this tremendous effort and personally thank them for letting me know that there was one man in India such as Chanakya. He was the first true patriot that India produced - a patriot who unified India even as he was making seminal contributions to the fields of Political Science and Economics in the earliest stages of development of these sciences. No other professor has ever held a political sway over any country leading both to its creation and a stable government - in the history of civilization.

But that is not all. The script is truly awesome. The characters of Chanakya and the others have been portrayed with remarkable depth and consistency to make them truly believable and they arouse the viewer's empathy. 48 hours of viewing is not for today's world of fleeting attention spans - but for those who are willing to put in the effort and time, the satisfaction is tremendous. It is not entertainment material like pop corn accompaniment - to be shrugged off and confined to the dustbin of memory - after a couple of hours of viewing. For the history buff, it tantalizes you enough to want to devote 4-5 hours every day for 2 whole unrelenting weeks, without hesitation. I have already done that twice over a span of 4 years. I am sure I would want to watch the entire series again after my college going boys can muster the patience and interest to do likewise to understand their Indian heritage.

My only complaint is that the names of the actors and the roles they play are curiously difficult to find. I am still trying. The web search engines provided no answers and the DVD's I have do not make the job of finding these easy either. Even the janitors who helped the filming crew seem to get more prominent billing than the cast. After all the 90+ hours of viewing, I still can't figure out the name of the genius who plays Chanakya - who figures in almost 50% of all the frames!