Kaala Paani

 Lest we forget !!

Set in the picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the near future - December 2027 - 'Kaala Paani' deals with the outbreak of a mysterious and deadly epidemic. The narrative moves back and forth in time. It goes back to the Japanese occupation of the islands in1943 during World War II and further back to portray the resilient indigenous tribes who have lived in this region for centuries.

The survival thriller ambitiously explores themes of social stigma and identity, environmental exploitation, bureaucratic corruption and the harmonious relationship of the indigenous Orakas with nature which renders them immune to the dreaded disease LHF-27. A desperate effort for survival and a race to find a remedy forms the background of tales of love, loss and despair ... designed to parallel the horrors of Covid-19 pandemic.

The script is rich in metaphors. The title refers to the Cellular Jail in Port Blair where freedom fighters were incarcerated in the colonial-era, just as the island is 'locked-down' by the administration and becomes a veritable prison !!

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Bijoya Dashami

Durga Puja

Bijoya Dashami ... 🌷

Eclipse !!

 All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come

And everything under the sun is in tune

But the sun is eclipsed by the moon ...

Once in a while, the sun, the moon and the earth play a game of hide and seek. The most spectacular of this is when the sun hides from our vision in broad daylight ... and we are left face to face with the dark side of the moon !

An amazing album ... dark and conceptual, "The Dark Side of the Moon" (1973) delves into the vast regions of the human mind leaving a lot to the imagination of the listener. Interpreted in a sequential order, the ten songs in the album depict the self, as it reconsiders its place in the larger human community that exists beyond the confines of self hood. Speak to Me Breathe is about birth and being a child trying to appreciate deeper meanings in everyday life, On the Run explores fear and paranoia, Time deals with growing older and the overwhelmingly fast approach of death - youth being gone before one even realizes it. The Great Gig in the Sky explores thoughts of religion and death; Money mocks greed and consumerism, Us and Them addresses ethnocentrism; Any Colour you Like is about the illusion that you have a choice when, really, there is none. Brain Damage looks at mental illness and whether "insanity" is only relative and growing too old to be who one once was and finally ... Eclipse ends the album. 

Other than being an incredible ending to an incredible album, it concludes, repeats, and reinforces the message throughout the album, which is the search for meaning in a life that has none ! Eclipse is indeed the climactic moment of the album. Life's binaries - love and hate, giving and taking, creation and destruction , light and darkness - exist side by side, daring us to make ethical choices that might yet change the world. The past, present and future become conjoined in the eternal here and now of humanity's existence ...

All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come

And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun is eclipsed by the moon ...

A Leaf

“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that's the way new leaves grow.”

Durga Puja. 2023.

 The annual countdown begins.
10 days to go ...

'Jaane Jaa'

 Aa Jaane Jaa

Tere liye, hai aas lagaaye,

O Zaalim aa jaana.

Aa Jaane Jaa ... ♫

Inspired by the Japanese best-seller 'Devotion Of Suspect X', Sujoy Ghosh's 'Jaane Jaan' creates intrigue like a complicated Maths problem which takes years to solve, and yet remains unattainable !!

Set in beautiful Kalimpong, this crime drama is not a "whodunit", it's a psychological thriller. A mother and daughter try to cover up the murder of the estranged husband/father with help of their neighbour ... a Maths teacher, amidst relentless police investigation. The cinematography is amazing and perhaps the best part of the film ... the exotic locales, the early morning walks along long misty roads, the hillside staircase ... create a serene backdrop while the tension rises, as one loses sense of what is real and what is not.

'Jaane Jaan' is definitely worth a watch for the performances of Jaideep Ahlawat, Vijay Verma, Saurabh Sachdeva and Kareena Kapoor Khan ... and perhaps, even a double-take !!

The River

Row, row, row your boat 

Gently down the stream
If Jenny grabs you by the toe
Don't forget to scream ... 

Sarah, an avid kayaker, retreats to the river to recover from betrayal, but discovers something far more disturbing lurking beneath the water.  The urban myth of Jenny Green Teeth is plastered on a local bridge as she continues her jaunt down the river, surely a signifier of bad things to come. Jenny Greenteeth a.k.a. Wicked Jenny  is a figure in English folklore, a river-hag who would pull children or the elderly into the water and drown them. 

Though this film is full of jumpscares, but it is worth a watch because of stunning visuals, a build up of tension ... creeping unease and dread; and the acting skills of the the leading lady !!