Month: March 2018

Footpath (1953)

footpath

 

Nashu (Dilip Kumar) is an idealist young man who works for a small newspaper run by Ghosh babu. He lives with his brother Bani (Romesh Thapar) and sister-in-law Meena (Achla Sachdev). Nashu loves Mala (Meena Kumari) who lives nearby his house.   Times change and slowly it becomes difficult for Nashu to sustain his living by working in that small newspaper. Though his brother Bani cares for him, his sister-in-law does not. In the home, he had to bear a lot of humiliation from her.  Out of desperation, he enters the world of black-marketing. From here, the story takes a dramatic twist. He becomes the most trusted associate of Ram Babu (Anwar Hussain). Being aware of this, Mala maintains a safe distance from him. At the same time, his elder brother suffers from poverty. His comfort-loving wife Meena deserts him. The entire film looks into the psyche of a man who failed to earn money by honest means.

The problem with the film is that it does make the point by repeating it often. On the positive side, the film gives a glimpse of the black-market world. Also, the mood of the film is extremely dark. This mood wasn’t common in Hindi films back then. Director Zia Sarhadi showed a lot of promise and eye for detail. The sequences shot indoors as well as in the black-marketing den shot in natural light by N. Raiaram are really convincing. However, keeping with the trend during that period, the villains look unconvincing. On the whole, the music score of the film leaves a lot more to be desired, considering that the film carries the Khayyam stamp. However, the film boasts of one of the most memorable Talat Mehmood songs “Shaam-e-Gham Ki Kasam”.It is clear that Zia Sarhadi was heavily influenced by neo-realism. Dilip Kumar does well in the lead role. Low pitched modulated dialogue delivery and great use of right arm were his acting hallmarks. However, at times, his low pitched delivery looks unconvincing. He did well but this is not among his best works.  Meena kumari gives a very restrained performance. In this film, she is shown taking a bath. Such a scene was uncommon back then.

 

Get Out

get out

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut will make you think about your own privileges. In the opening sequence, we see a young black guy walking down a suburban street. While talking on his phone, he gets attacked by some random white people. White Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) wants to take her black boyfriend, Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), to meet her parents. While Chris was initially anxious, later he agrees to meet her parents. Her parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener), welcome him in grand fashion. They were very supportive of him initially. At times, it seems that they are behaving too well. The body language all seems perfectly above board. Why is their basement locked? Why are their two black employees – a housemaid and groundsman – both black appear to be controlled by some unseen force?
 What’s the deal with old white people showing up to a party scheduled for his visit? Get Out is tense, thrilling, and gorgeous. If anything, the film becomes darker and more soul-chilling once the secret is revealed. Get Out is very direct and unapologetic about what it wants to convey.  There was an unsettling vibe throughout the film. Chris’s friend Rod warned him not to visit white people’s houses. While all this was going on, his girlfriend Rose was completely supportive of him. One can find references to many films here, starting from Halloween to Rosemary’s Baby.  Peele has effectively kept audiences on edge from the beginning, sending occasional jolts through the crowd. During Obama’s era, racism was under the carpet. White people were happy to pretend as liberals. In Trump’s era, white people are concerned about racism again. Get out shows racism within progressive whites and it is done by genre-mixing.  Daniel Kaluuya was very good as the main protagonist, but the surprise came from Allison Williams. Watch the film to get to know the reason.

Lady Bird

lady bird

 

“Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.”- Joan Didion. Hedonism refers to the idea that pleasure is the ultimate aim of human life. Sacramento has a charm of old world Americana. It is very much different from rest of California. Interestingly the director of Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig was born in the same place.  The film starts with the famous quote made by Didion. It centers on Christine McPherson ( Saoirse Ronan), a high-schooler who likes to live life on her own terms and conditions. She insists that she be called by her “given” name of  Lady Bird . She wants to spread her wings. She dreams of bigger things and feels weighed down by her circumstances.  More than anything, she wants to break free from Sacramento . She wants to go to a place where culture is omnipresent. Its not that she has great idea about culture itself. She is an average student in school. She doesn’t seem to be an intellectual from any angle. She wants to go to New York as it is famous for culture. Her mother strongly disagrees. Her mother is pragmatic while her daughter likes to live in her own world.
Her father is jobless. They don’t have enough money to recruit her in any college of New York. So, Lady Bird decides to apply for scholarships to east coast colleges with the help from her father. New York is at the core of Lady Bird. New York is the city of Lady Bird’s dreams, but her reality is Sacramento. The film, loosely inspired by Gerwig’s formative years, is a love letter to the city of her childhood. That is why the film is set in 2002-2003. Lady bird not only wants her mother to love her, she also expects that her mother likes her. Lady bird thinks that her mother doesn’t care for her. While her mother thinks that her daughter doesn’t love her. In reality,both of them love each other. Some of the sequences are extremely funny while some are very serious. Calling it a coming-of-age story doesn’t do much justice to the film.  The film also questions parenthood as much as it does on adolescence. While her mother fails to understand her daughter well-enough, her father is over-protective of her daughter. Lady bird thinks that she is an atheist. In reality,it seems that she is confused. It doesn’t glorify or condemn religion. In one of the most important scenes,it acted as a trigger which connects Lady bird to her mother as well as to her hometown. Saoirse Ronan is fantastic in the film and brings such heart to the character of Lady Bird. Metcalf is brilliant as the constrained mother that’s trying her best to keep the family afloat during tough times.