29/6/16

29/6/16

खामोश सी सेहर थी ,

कुछ भी गैर मामूली न था,

फिर यकबयक,

एक अज़ीब उथला पुतला सा दिन गुज़रा,

कुछ तनहा कुछ उदास सी शाम,

अब रात आ बैठी है देहलीज़ पर,

जाने किस सबब गुज़रे,

सेहर हो तो सांस आए ..

~ विन्नी 29/6/16

Of ‘Udta Punjab, the film..

The year was 2000, I was in a seminar at the India Habitat Centre, the discussions were about the problems that the Punjab was in need of confronting, the room was full of eminent Sardars and Punjabis’, the session’s Chair was M.S Gill, who was CEC, and Dr Manmohan Singh, not yet Prime Minister, had just walked in to sit unobtrusively in a chair at the back. I heard speaker after speaker get up to berate the Punjabi fondness for excess, for several of its failings, excessive irrigation with the Bhakra Channal waters had led to salinity of the lands, excessive fondness for material things had induced a culture that lived in the ‘glitter’, pride was excessive, which induced a vanity that was excessive, appetites were excessive, for food for drink for mind altering drugs. The ability to stand up and squarely call a spade a spade amongst the Punjabis was what impressed me that day, which is why I was a little taken aback when I heard protests from the ranks about the manner in which the film Udta Punjab depicts the drug abuse that ails the youth in the State today, it is a problem that is real and present, and no amount of hiding will wish it away.

The controversy over the idiom of the film, its language, the excessive use of expletives, and its show casing of the drug abuse amongst the youth of the Punjab, was like a preview, a foreword for the film itself, which in comparison with the drama of the debate, feels like an academic documentary, there’s a great deal of research, all that is fed to the audience, the detail denudes the narrative of lyricism, fills up the spaces where imagination would have had a play if left vacant. Several stories overlap and interplay and the film is well made nevertheless, it has its moments. The best moment for me was when Sartaj (Dosanjh) voices his fondness for Preet ( Kareena) in an endearing drug induced fuzzy state. Beautifully done. Kareena’s character could have been played by anyone, she plays a de-glammed doctor, who teams up with Dosanjh to clean up the drug racket, looks a little washed out and wasted.  Dosanjh is the revelation of the film, he shows us a Jat-Sikh, simple, a man with limited intellectual abilities, not idiotic nevertheless with a heart that sees and feels, great acting that. Shahid plays a Pop Star, named Tommy, after the Punjabi wont for such Anglicized names! high on drugs, who eventually realizes the folly of his ways and sets out to make amends by saving  Aliya Bhatt’s  Character  from the clutches of the drug mafia. They are both very good, she as the bihari migrant worker, who has tremendous spunk, he as the spaced out caricatured pop star, they hold the film together and keep the audience in their seats. Shahid plays the pop star like he was a cartoon, somewhat unreal, but then I suppose pop stars are such characters.
The film is a detailing of how drugs are accessed, supplied, and the affect they have on lives, destroying them quite literally in fatal ways. Nothing new there, except that the geographical location is the Punjab. Punjab is a border state, the young are easy to influence, icons play a part in this, all that is old hat too, which is why the film feels like a documentary. Would have much preferred a personalised drama with a similar message, would have made the point more intensely, but that is my preference.

The pop star who sings of drugs and their potent effect on the mind, sings Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s “Ek kudi jida naam mohabbat” when asked to sing in exchange for information about the girl he wishes to save. that authentically Punjabi nazm, makes a connect as it always does, with the character for whom it is sung and with the audience at large, it is beautiful , the immortal Batalvi live on in his work. The film looks real enough, the Punjab and its essential motifs are all there, the sights, the sounds, the characters, the music, the geography.

It’s a little long, two and a half hours a bit much, well made and worth a watch nevertheless.

Vinny Jain

बहार

बहार 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है 
सूखी शाखें सब्ज़ हुआ चाहती है 
गुल सुर्ख़ हुआ चाहते है 
हवाएँ नरम हुआ चाहती हैं 
हाँ दिन का आसमा नीला है 
और रात का चाँद रोशन 
एक अजब धड़कन सी सुनती है 
गुन गुन गुन गुन 
और दिल की सख़्त दीवारों पर 
एक नया हरा ख़्वाब उग आया है 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है ..

सुना है बहार बस आने को है 
नए एहसास मेहमान हुआ चाहते हैं 
नग़मा बन एक तबससुम लिपटा है लबों से 
मद होश कोई जाम ख़ुद ही छलक जाए जैसे 
और एक चाप सी कहती है 
सुन सुन सुन सुन 
हाँ आँख नम है और धड़कन तेज़ 
लहू की रवानी में नयी लय सी है 
और दिल को उसकी आमद का 
इंतज़ार है शायद 
सुना है बहार बस आने को है...
विनी 
सिमला 
२९/३/१६

निराकार

निराकार 
विचार से उपजता है सभी कुछ, 
मूर्त , अमूर्त ...
परन्तु आकार लेने की  कुछ मर्यादाएं हैं...
मट्टी को नमी चाहिए, दो हाथों का सहारा चाहिए,
एक चाक के रथ  पर सवार, दुनिया की सैर चाहिए,
एक सांचे की स्थिरता चाहिए ,
सैय्यम , शक्ति, हृदयस्थल  में स्वीकृति ...
तभी पूर्ण होता है सृजन चक्र,
 यूं तो अनगढ़ नहीं  हूँ मैं ,
बस मुझे पूर्ण  आकार ही न मिल सका ...
विन्नी जैन
२९/४/१३

एक तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब

एक तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब

जलती बुझती सी रोशनी के परे 
रहते हैं अब कितने ख़्वाब नए 
सुनहरी धूप के ख़्वाब 
और स्याह रातों के भी 

मुलायम ,खुशबुओं में लिपटी महकी सीं
बात करती हवाओं के और 
तुम्हारी छत पर बरसती बूँदों के 
उस आँगन में खड़े बोराए आम की ख़ुशबू 
सब्ज़ पत्तों के रंग 
और वो जो टूट कर बिखर गए थे कभी 
उन सूर्खरूह एहसासों के भी 
और है एक आस 
आज की कल की 
आने वाले सभी मौसमों की 
और हैं उन क़दमों के कुछ निशान 
वक़्त की परवाज़ से कुछ पीछे ही चलते रहे जो 
सितारों में सफ़र करते उस तनहा से चाँद के ख़्वाब 
उस जलती बुझती रोशनी के परे 
अपना एक जहाँ आबाद करते हैं...
-विनी 
१३/४/१६

The interregnum

The interregnum 


I sense a hush, 
it's as if the universe holds its breadth in,
It feels as if we were in an interregnum , she said,
In time and space,
Between the now and the hereafter,
Between the nowhere and the somewhere,
The destination fuzzy,
The paths meander,

Ah ! He said, destiny plays itself out in interesting ways,
The inevitable trajectory, a thing to behold,
in its many splendours!

You observe askance almost detached, she smiled,
Whist I walk the subjective tightrope,
Between the wanting and the waiting,
Those wished for tomorrows fill up my dreams,
Even as everything quietens, the silences speak,
I hear them murmur,

He smiled, there's no tweaking time you know,
What will be will be,
The moving finger writes at its own bidding,
We'd best let the moment be.

-Vinny
19/4/16

of the movie Junglebook

Much is lost in translation, they say, that language carries with it the essential markers of the culture it breathes in and that merely changing the language  therefore robs the piece of its quintessence. That each word has its own subtle flavour, a nuance never quite exactly duplicated by another, even less so in another language. It was with a great deal of trepidation therefore, that one walked into a screening of the movie Jungle-Book. It was a late night show with a group of friends, hellbent on some fun, no matter what! That spirit perhaps provided the bravado, we watched the Hindi version! 

They do say that sometimes the copies are better than the original!! I cannot testify if that is so in this case, not having watched the original English version, I can say nevertheless that the Hindi version holds one spell bound!!

From the opening chase, it’s clear that we’re not going to be short-changed in terms of running, jumping, swinging, and falling action, but more impressive is the balance between threat and pathos, comedy and peril, which Favreau, the Director, manages with aplomb.
We all know the story of course, a boy lost in the jungle, raised by a pack of wolves, strange but largely accepted by the animals that inhabit the jungle, friends all, except Shere Khan who is hell bent on revenge, having permanently lost an eye in human encounter...chase, escape, revenge, a fight, and eventual victory, a return of harmony post elimination of evil, a story as old as the woods! What breathes new life in it is the animated format and the life like montage, the sights and sounds truly awesome.

 Bollywood actors Nana Patekar as Shere Khan, Om Puri as Bageera, Irfaan Khan as Bhallu and Priyanka Chopra as Kaa, seem to be having a lot of fun, and that comes through as an audible input in the film's soundtrack. Nana has the cocksure self assured egotistical Shere Khan down to a T ! Drunk on power determined to protect his turf! Irfaan plays Bhallu with a Punjabi flavour, it's mild Delhi Punjabi though!Not quite rustic enough, entertaining nevertheless, the Punjabi simplicity and bonhomie comes through beautifully!I wondered as I watched if Ben Kingsley and Bill Murray did any better, must watch that version too I suppose!

Priyanka plays kaa the serpent seductress adequately enough,(Scarlett Johansson plays the part in the English original) as does Puri, playing  Bageera who is also the narrator. 

Disney movies have come to be layered narratives, the fairy tale settings allegorical, metaphors for life lessons. Thus the good and the evil is now nuanced with shades of grey in between, as with sleeping beauty, 'Maleficent' the evil witch played by Angelina Jolie, walks away with sympathy as the tale unfolds, Rapunzel is also about finding one's own niche, the Beauty and the Beast as much about the real as the fairy tale, as much about acceptance of one's flaws, as it is about the power of passion and love. The Jungle-Book too is about growing up and self discovery , about making choices and about having the courage of one's own convictions, the will and the intent to make the world see things from one's perspective . Therein perhaps lies the appeal that these films have had for the adult audience in recent times. 

Each act of reading, they say again, is an act of writing, each act of translation, transcription , therefore adds an additional flavour to the narrative. I wondered how Kipling wrote the characters as I watched, and if a film makes me want to go back to the book , then at least in my reckoning the film  is a success. I thought the same years ago when the television serial was being screened and yes Gulzar's Mowgli song still brings a smile to my face. Neel Sethi is terrific as Mowgli, whose frame and stance eerily echo those of his animated predecessor.

Disney movies are beautiful montages, the animated format providing just enough leeway for the essential poetic fuzziness that renders the magical, real! The detailing is exquisite, I thought the jungle was straight out of the Lord of the Rings movie, the sounds real, the animals and their movement authentic. The tree that Kaa inhabits is a sight to behold, that entire space truly magically unreal! The director very significantly uses size as an indicator of the extraordinary, the true evil, the supernatural...the elephants considered divine are humongous, kaa, truly evil is larger than life, the monkey king Louie, an Orangutan is disproportionately large. perhaps the only thing lost in translation is the self appointed gigantic king's musical abilities, the rap format falling somewhat flat in the Hindi version of " I wanna be like you"

In many ways this is a movie that could not have been made before now, as much of what one sees on screen is unreal, like Cinderella and the Life of Pie, the movie owes its success to technology, the jungle looks jaw droppingly real, the animals life like, some more than others of course, but all good nevertheless! despite the fact that the film keeps to well established troupes and is somewhat limited by that, (one waits a little to see something new other than the walking talking animals) this is a movie well worth a watch, and may be the best Jungle Book movie yet.

Oh and one last thought! Kipling did write this in India, it's an Indian Jungle, North Indian at that! makes sense that the characters speak Hindi! is that  coming a full circle? You betcha, it is  !!!

Vinny

23/4/16