So many things...

So many things to write about and soooo little time!Whew...

Saw Page 3 on saturday.

On sunday - Went for Natyotsav

Waman Kendre's "Madhyam Vyayog" on sunday.Not to mention the discussion session with Nasser bhai(Nasserudin Shah) after the play followed by the grand finale "Ismat aapa ke naam"

Monday - Atlast caught Choker Bali and luuuuved it!

To begin with...

Page 3.

Good Movie.Must see once for:
1.Boman Irani's gritty portrayal of the editor. He’s really got into the skin of this one. Very controlled yet sooo very effective.
2.Madhur’s honest effort at exposing the gliteratti’s and the chatteratti’s rotten side.
3.Konkana Sen’s genuine Madhavi Sharma.She looks the character.
4.Last but not the least.The ever reliable Atul Kulkarni. He conveys the angst and frustration of fighting a putrifying system oh so beautifully. He mouths one of my favourite lines,”You have to be a part of the system to change the sytem!”So true.
In the beginning albeit I was losing my patience because of the lack luster acting skills of most of the people cramming the frame initially. All of them being non-actors didn’t give me any solace. I wish Madhur could have relied on actors rather than the so called socialites that he had taken to convey his point. Only Soni Razdan stands out. Buss. Period. The rest of them suck. Nasser (NOT Nasserudin Shah!) is anything but an actor. Equipped with a squeaky voice and a macho personality the concoction is unintentionally hilarious. Dolly Thakur is awkward. (with all due respect ma’am. After knowing you as a teacher I couldn’t help but notice your uneasiness on screen.)
Sandhya Mridul rules. Good job. Tara Sharma sucks. She’s good to run around the trees but don’t you dare ask her to open her mouth. You will repent till you spit your guts out and your ears cant bear the brunt of the cacophony of her whiny voice.

Sunday was the orgasm for my theatremind. 4.00pm.Madhyam Vyayog.Dir-Waman Kendre.Me,Vineet,Parag and Kallu.
Mahakavi Bhas’s mythological drama. Waman Kendre’s skilful direction and the brilliant performance by Bhim and Ghatotkach. The orchestration and choreography was just mind blowing. The play proved to be a welcome change in genre. It was a full house and we had the audience sitting on the stairs. But full marks should also be given to the audience who encouraged the actors from time to time with their generous applause, infact there was a standing ovation at the end of the play.

Discussion with Nasserbhai. A dampner. The only thing worth writing home about - “Inspiration hits a person only when he’s prepared.”Profound.

The felicitation of Naseerbhai with Shyam babu and Satish Kaushik.
This thing went on and on. Finally Parag got fed up and left for home. Apparently he had a function to attend. Anyway we had subjected him to an overdose of theatre that day. Thank God he didn’t faint. Satish Kaushik’s speech was a riot. Like when he was narrating the incidences of his struggling days when, he had a small role to play in a film whose main lead was Nasser, Naseer had asked him then (Both were from NSD and knew each other quite well since the beginning), “Shooting dekhne aaye ho?”Satish had replied,”Nahi,acting karne aaya hoon!”
At last the play started at 9.45(It was about to start at 8.00)
Heeba did a fine job with Chuimui. (Although she hesitated a bit in between.)
Ratna Pathak with Mugal bachcha was effective. Nasser himself with lajo rocked. The story inherently is so well written that it gives an actor a lot of impetus to perform. Ismat aapa really is an amazing writer. She through her words manages to create such vivid images in our mind complete with their idiosyncrasies and nuances that we start feeling that we are actually witnessing the happenings of the tale firsthand on location! All in all a fitting end to a lovely day of theatre. Some other celebrities apart from us ;-)were,Milind Soman,Ashutosh Rana,Govind Namdeo etc.Also caught up with Kunal Khemu.Seems he’s pumped iron diligently. Apparently he’s all set to get into the hero mould.

Hush…. Now about choker Bali. What a wonderful movie. The atmosphere creation by Rituparno is brlliant.Takes us back to the Bengal of the 1940s.First of all I am biased about bong movies because I have this strong fascination towards anything bong…Bong writers have always had a deep impact on my psyche and style of wrting. Be it Sarat Chandra or Rabindranath both hold high positions in my realm of superior writers. Sometimes I find myself longing to be apart of the Bengal of the past. To live in that kind of a world. To be surrounded by diehard fanatics and downright romantics. Hmmmmm…anyways… Aishwarya as Binodini seems so perfect. I loved the way her character is established. The smallest of nuance didn’t escape my eye. She opened the heart of Binodini for us. Her longing. Her loneliness. Her wickedness. Her intelligent mind’s yearning. Her sarcasm. Everything is soo beautiful about her. Like when Mahendra is kissing her,with drowsy eyes she says that her husband died of TB and after looking at a terrified Mahendra the bout of laughter was such a sting. Wow! Special mention must be made of Raima Sen who exudes vulnerability to such an extent that you just wanna hold her close and protect her. My favourite is the scene when while drying clothes she sees the red mark on Binodini’s chest. What expressions!