Everyday Things - III

Tuesday, March 11, 2008.

Went back to 1951, the year my father was born exactly around today. I watched Anjali Devi's "Mayakkari". Although I wanted to see a movie based on the cultural/social setting of that time, I had to be content with a fantasy/romantic/musical comedy. It was probably a bi-lingual movie in Telugu and Tamil. But, I watched it in Tamil. Although the film dragged along, I seemed to notice that not much of the plots have changed ever since. Villains have become more villainous(and they don't seem to repent in the end like they did in this one), heroes have become more superhuman( Nageshwar Rao, portrays a kind of a normal hero here) and comedians are still a force to be reckoned with. Was pretty fun.

The biggest discovery of the day was this site where I caught this movie: bigflicks

Not available in India, Nepal or Bhutan I believe. Its commercial, but I think there are some good movies to be watched for free if you register.

Two other movies I watched :

* "Knock Knock I'm Looking to Marry". I saw this for the second time. First time was at "Studio 5" at Sathyam Cinemas around five years ago. Another movie that expertly pokes fun at contemporary arranged marriages and rightly so. Rathi does a great job along with Suhaas.. Overall a fun/casual youth(single) entertainer. But, 2003 seems a long time ago. I don't know if any of the scenes are pretty old-fashioned now.

* "15 Park Avenue". Came in 2 years ago I believe. I don't know how and why I missed it. But, it appealed to me in all fronts. Maybe I saw it at the right time. This one I feel "found me" rather than me finding it. Konkana Sen is amazing (does she ever fail to impress?), Shabana Azmi and Rahul Bose also portray powerful characters. Meethi(Sen) is a S************.. well a long "S" word which I won't use. Since, most characters in the movie use it. Or is she? She doesn't think so. Anu (Azmi), Meethi's sister and their mom are the ones who support her and carry her weight around. Or do they? She doesn't want them to. Roy/JoJo (Bose), who is engaged to her at a point in time and later lets her go because of an unfortunate incident which I won't go into. So, he feels like he needs to make up to her the second time he meets her.

No film in the recent past has touched me so much as this one did. Atleast, I thought so because some dialogues just seem etched into my mind. Like the time when Bose says ".. stepped into her world of another reality.." or something similar and feels for her ".. poor child, she seems to be searching for something that she will never find.." to which Lakshmi(Shefali) his wife replies with a question "Aren't we all?". The film is about the alternate reality Meethi is living in. No one seems to believe her. She is suicidal, feeling like a prisoner under her sister, mom and the servant. Sometimes the film almost borders on the supernatural, but I presume the author left it to the audience to judge. I thought it was a very natural(or superN) and fluid emotional experience. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for a gripping Indian English movie( Yes.. it is 95% of the time in English).