Down and Out

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

Courtesy- Pink floyd and the lack of original ideas(This is me :( )
November 15th shall always remain etched in memory as a stark remainder for what could ve been almost my self destruction almost..

Seeking the soul of Indian cinema

I have always had a burning fascination for well made indian cinema , but then 'well made indian cinema' is in itself an oxymoron(borrowed usage). However in my quest to unearth the neglected gems though rare as they may come,I chanced upon Benegal's Nishant('Night's end') , Ghattashradda (kannada: 'Funeral rites when alive') and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's 'Videyan'(Malayalam:Servile)all in Youtube(yes u can actually watch something other than soaps, sports, semi porno stuffs here!)the latter i had to sadly abandon due to lack of subtitles in youtube.

It is such meaningful cinema that shall last the test of times. For instance not many are aware that Kasaravalli's first and ground breaking movie besides winning the prestigious
Swarna kamal(Alas it remains a doubt if anyone besides the National award panel, or the film crew ever got to watch this ) is archived in Paris national films archives(Thats right not
Kannada archives mind you!) . Well as a Kannadiga colleague of mine puts it

99 per cent people watch kannada movies , and the rest watch kasaravalli

no wonder the kannada film industry
is in dire straits. There is just no point in making movies like them time and again for festivals and panels if the bulk of the population are not even aware let alone watch it!Just
dont understand how these supposedly art film makers can sustain the motivation levels(Another Friend of mine swears Kasaravalli s simply "unwatchable") Yes as "Ghattashradda" unfurled and flourished
in its innate simplicity , realism and revelled in the powerful performances it became increasingly clear ... (What?!! No item numbers, action stunts,punchlines!!! surely "Unwatchable" indeed!).


Ghattashradda


Nishant is driven by some glittering performances from brilliant artists in Nasserudin shah, Azmi, karnad, amrish puri aptly honed to perfection by the creative genius in Benegal,
Nihalani and Vijay Tendulkar. Movie leaves a lasting impression.

Nishant

It is alas a pity that i never got to watch many of Ray's classics apart from his "Apu trilogy " as also the timeless masterpieces of Bimal roy, Adoor, GV Iyer
impeded by the lack of subtitles. However sooner will work a way around it

Back home down south I finally watched Balachander's "Aval oru thodarkathai" timed it with Kamal celebrating his 50 yrs in tinseldom.
Tamil films in 70's from the house of Balachander,
Mahendran though one cannot exactly categorise them into the 'parallel cinema' mould are certainly not short of the 'soul' what with excellent scripts backed up by powerful acting, sharp dialogues and
good music.

The journey has only begun.

The Curious case of the Headbangers!

Feb 15,Sunday Evening Setting s perfect, stage set for a certain band of British Gentlemen to perform.So in Walk I with this group of Friends of mine,of whom barring two the other two have allegedly been there , seen it all and duunit all before(mean the Headbanging part).After the nauseatingly painful wait is compounded even further by a string of bands whose primary idea of entertainment being Heavy noise For heavy metal and Skimpy Broads dancing in tandem to the noise strumming from their Guitars- clearly enuf to keep the crowd preoccupied for some time or so they thought, honestly makes me puke..So even as i begin to wonder What to expect next and the first seeds of doubt already sown, coz after all your financial stakes are high i mean 1.5k for a 2 hr concert? seriously is an unreasonably high figure esp in these times of recession.Reassurance does come in the form of PARIKRAMA who showcase their brand of refreshing fusion music ,coming as a whiff of fresh air.Then come the massive moment, which they dub as "the maiden mania"- a frantic period of wishful chanting for the chosen gods of the evening.The Gods dont play with your nerves for long and do appear fairly quick enough,and when they do the atmosphere turns electric,sparks fly its almost as if an explosion was waiting to happen.With the grand entry they presented with Aces high ,i realised how i was slowly yet surely now losing control of my unsuspecting head,when the crescendo picked up momentum with "The trooper" and "Wasted years" i was by now comfortably in the air joining in the high , and revelling in my new found wildness.My orgy reached its Highest ecstacy midway through the performance(2 mins to midnight,powerslave,hallowd be thy name) with Dickinson shouting "Scream for me Bangalore" and Eddie, donning a gun walked up the ramp,i promptly responded by swaying my head in all possible directions 360 deg,195 deg,60 deg u name it.I was perfectly feeling the high my neighbouring Polish broad had been experiencing firsthand although with the aid of artificial supplements.As we approached the end i couldn't help but amaze at the near perfection with which Maiden dished out all their Rollicking numbers so much so that you ll have a tough time distinguishing em from the Stereo version, the energy of their performance bowled u over mind u these were 5 Gentlemen easily past their fifties yet they were just bout crazy as me or any of my friends here!



Overall i came out pretty fucked up with a sore neck ,drained totally,one thing however i came to realise was there was no definitive science for Headbangin its what your head does that defines u,but for the purpose of junta who go by standard textbook model i would recommend the section 'M' in Maddox's "Alphabet of Manliness" which describes Headbanging in all its intricacies.

But You've to agree indeed,when they said-
"I'm coming back I will return
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn
I have the fire I have the force
I have the power to make my evil take its course"