A fresh start. A new beginning

Okay, I admit it right at the onset that blogging is not something that comes naturally to me. Yet, I do, at times, feel the urge to express myself on certain issues and there's no better medium for doing so for a commoner like me than the blog. That's the reason that prompted me to take up this medium for the first time around a decade or so back.

Now, my first experience with this fascinating medium was a reasonably good one as, to my own pleasant surprise, I somehow did manage to get some kind words of encouragements from a few readers. But after the promising start, I failed to keep the momentum going (damn..this cricketing influence on my vocab!) As a result, the blog started being updated only once in every blue moon and gradually went completely dormant.
Tried reviving it some years later, around 2011-12 but soon 'Nirbhaya' and the 'India Against Corruption' movements happened and since then, like many a young men and women my age, Politics took a precedence over pretty much everything in my life with the sole exception of my family. As a result, blogging once again had to take a backseat.

All in all, it'll be fair to say that my first two attempts at blogging didn't really go all that well. 

So, this will be my third attempt at blogging and I must thank a dear friend of mine, Parul of the Vartikasdiary fame for encouraging me to give it another go. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration and motivation, Parul!

This time around, I'll try my best to not repeat the same mistakes from my earlier attempts and update my blog as frequently as possible with posts on varying topics, and not just sports or sher-o-shaayari/poetry.

Wish me well, folks 🙂

An Ode To Banaras

इस शहर में धूल
धीरे-धीरे उड़ती है
धीरे-धीरे चलते हैं लोग
धीरे-धीरे बजते हैं घंटे
शाम धीरे-धीरे होती है

किसी अलक्षित सूर्य को
देता हुआ अर्घ्य
शताब्दियों से इसी तरह
गंगा के जल में
अपनी एक टांग पर
खड़ा है यह शहर

These lines are an excerpt from the classic poem 'Banaras' by one of my favourite Hindi poets, the late great Kedarnath Mishr ji. I, for one, couldn't think of a more apt description for the second oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.
Yes, you read that right! Only Damascus in Syria can claim to be of an older vintage.

Speaking of Banaras, I love it like I've never loved any place! Yes, not even my beloved hometown. (Never thought I'd say that!)

Went there for the first, and hitherto, only time in May 2014 to campaign against NaMo in the General elections. Without a doubt THE best experience of my life, despite the result not favouring us!
Never felt so ALIVE as I did back then, even in the sweltering 48+℃ peak summer heat. Not even in the Delhi assembly election of 2015 where we won with a huge landslide margin of 67/3.
As they say "Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail!" 

Politics aside, there is something so vibrant, so 'magnetic' about Banaras! Though a sworn Khanabadosh, if I ever choose to "settle down", it'll have to be in Banaras.

The Ghats, the boat rides, the Dawns, the Dusks, the Aartis, the Chai Adis, the Thandai, the Paan Banaras Wala, the banter & above all the baths in Ganga! 

Everything so chilled out & relaxed. Laidback & Old school. Just the way I like it. Kehte hain kuch sheheron ka bhi apna hi ek mijaaz hota hai..
Don't know about others but it's definitely true about Lucknow (my 3rd fav. place) & Banaras; captured perfectly in Subah-E-Banaras & Sham-E-Avadh

Just realized writing this piece has made me so nostalgic. Can't wait to visit there again. May it always retain that old world charm.

Here's looking at you, Banaras..

The key to the door

[ From Fb Notes dated July 7, 2011 ]

After three years of making up His mind that She indeed is The One for Him, He finally goes to the door of His Beloved.

*Knock Knock*

“Who’s there?” asked Her voice from inside the room.

“It is Me”, He replied.

“Go away, there is no room for 'You' & 'Me' here”, came Her reply.

The door remained shut.

He goes away feeling betrayed & vowing to never return. He wanders off to a distant land and turns into a philanderer. But even after many years of knocking & entering any door that appealed to Him, He still couldn't find that which he was so craving for.

Thus, eight years later, restless, lost and deeply repentant, He returns to the one door He had vowed never to come back to.

*Knock Knock*

“Who is it?” asked Her voice from inside the room.

“It is You.” He replied.

This time the door opened to let Him in.  

My position vis-à-vis Anna & his movement

[ From Fb Notes dated August 21, 2011 at the height of the 'India Against Corruption' movement]

[Disclaimer: The views expressed below are the personal opinion of the author and admittedly pretty "layman" one at that. In no way, shape or form does the author claim to be an authority on matters pertaining legislation]

"For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong."

- Henry Louis Mencken

First of all l'emme make it clear right at the very onset that, contrary to the impression some of my recent posts on the social media (Fb, Twitter etc.) may be giving, I am one hundred percent with Anna Hazare as well as his ‘India Against Corruption’ movement. The idea, that is. That Dr. Manmohan Singh's second term as PM has seen corruption breaking all previous records is an undisputed fact and therefore any individual or movement that seeks to bring this most incompetent of Governments to book has my unstinted support.

The issue, as we all know is corruption. Now, before we proceed it is of paramount importance to understand one bitter truth about corruption- that at it's very core corruption is a basic human flaw and thus it can, at best, be kept in check; never eradicated completely. If anyone seriously believes it is possible to completely eradicate it, he/she is severely deluded and needs to get their head examined. Now that we have that out of the way, let us move to the heart of the matter.

At the heart of the matter is the controversial Lokpal Bill. Now while my personal opinion regarding “whether we need one more institution- the LokPal- to keep corruption in check?"- is NO. Our constitution already provides us with more than enough institutions such as

-the Judiciary

-the Election Commission (EC)

-the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)

-the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

-the Central Burea of Investigation (CBI)

-the Police

-the National Commission for Minorities (NCM)

-the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

besides powerful acts like the Right To Information (RTI), which, if allowed to function independently, are more than capable of keeping corruption to the barest minimum. Thatthey are not allowed to function so is the problem and steps to ensure they are allowed to function as was intended by the constitution is the solution, not adding one more chunk of institution to the already complicated system.

But then, that’s just my personal opinion, and admittedly a pretty layman one at that (given my lack of a legal or administrative background). Who am I to challenge the wisdom of such eminent intellectuals as Mr. Arvind Kejrival, the ex-IITian? Fair enough, I am mature enough to realize that it is quite possible that I could be wrong in my opinion (that repairing and rehabilitating the already existing institutions alone can achieve the desired result & there’s no pressing need of any new legislation or institution as such) and perhaps, Lokpal *is* indeed THE only way out of this corruption mess. Fine with me, I am flexible enough to accept Jan LokPal if that’s really the case. Anything for the prevention of corruption. And if a LokPal has to be instituted then it goes without saying that I, too, like any sensible Indian would rather have Team Anna’s Jan LokPal than the Government’s JokePal.

But where I am most respectfully in complete disagreement with Team Anna is their obstinate stance on getting their version of the bill, as it stands TODAY, passed ASAP through tactics bordering on moral blackmail. Key words here being “as it stands TODAY”, for that is where my problem with the bill lies. The Jan LokPal bill, as it stands today, though brilliant for most part still has a few contentious clauses that need a serious rethink IMO.

Now, as already explicitly stated in the Disclaimer at the start of this post, I don’t fancy myself to be

any kinda authority regarding matters pertaining to legislation. So I’ve no shame in admitting that when I read through the Jan LokPal bill (as found on the ‘India Against Corruption’ official web portal), some portions of the bill went right over my head. But I did manage to grasp most of it (as can anyone who bothers to actually make the effort to read through it). From what I understood, Team IAC’s Jan LokPal seems to me to be a brilliant piece of legislation with many applause worthy provisions, none more important than the "provision for protection from victimization of the whistle blowers". Two thumbs up to the drafting committee for that.

Having said that, there are a few features of the Jan LokPal that make me extremely uncomfortable. First and foremost, I am in total disagreement with the very idea of an ALL-POWERFUL, OMNIPOTENT body that has everyone from Supreme court to CAG, CVC, CBI to the PM all under it’s ambit. It’s a universal fact proven through history that "Power corrupts & Absolute Power corrupts absolutely". The very concept of a body that’s going to be the judge, jury and executioner all by itself is itself flawed, and not just flawed but also unconstitutional and undemocratic. Democracy stands on three pillars- the Legislature(Parliament i.e Lok sabha and Rajya sabha), the Executive (Government) & the Judiciary(Supreme Court, 21 High courts and all other lower level courts) and each of these three are mutually independent and yet at the same time keep checks and balances on the other, thereby ensuring there’s no concentration of power in any one institution or pillar. This is the basic premise of any democratic constitution and the Jan LokPal seeks to change that.  Now while I am all for PM, CBI etc. being under the ambit of Jan LokPal, the inclusion of the Judiciary too under the purview of the Jan LokPal is totally unacceptable to me. Frankly, I fail to understand why is it necessary to do that?! Barring some exceptions our judicial system, for most part, has been doing a fine job of staying free of any political influence. Why, just the other day the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision quashing UP govt.’s ban on the screening of Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan, ruled that no state government can ban the screening of a film once it has been passed by the censor board. That is just one such example off the top of my head. I am sure most of you must have, from time to time, read news reports saying “Supreme Courts raps CBI on delay in falaana case”. The fact that the likes of Kalmadi, Raja and Kanimozhi are behind bars today is largely down to the independent and impartial initiative on the part of Supreme court. It is the one institution that has managed to stay credible when all the others seem to have lost their credibility and become the mouthpiece of those in the centre. Of course, this is not to suggest that our judiciary is absolutely perfect. No, there are problems in our judicial system, none more serious than that of delay in dispensation of justice (as long as 20-30 years in some cases). Another problem is of corruption at lower levels. But these are minor problems that could be solved by introducing the long pending judicial reforms which has provision for setting up of more fast-track courts and special courts for petty crimes like theft, loot etc. (which constitute the majority of work before courts) ensuring a much quicker dispensation of justice. You can’t have the judiciary under JanLokPal’s ambit just for those reasons. Certainly not the Higher Judiciary at least. This much is absolutely non-negotiable as far as I am concerned.

My second issue with the Jan LokPal draft bill is concerning the “selection process” of the Lokpal.

The proposed selection committee is supposed to consist of Ramon Magsaysay award winners, Bharat Ratna Award winners and Nobel Laureates of Indian origin. Which means people like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Lata Mangeshkar, V.S.Naipaul etc. shall now elect the most important office in the Indian state machinery. On what rational ground, if I may ask, does winning all these  awards qualify a person to be part of such a technical and responsible selection panel? I mean, with all due respect, how the hell does being the greatest female playback singer of all time qualify Lata Ji to elect the person(s) manning the most important office in the country is, quite frankly, beyond me!

Also, sample this:

“ The members and Chairperson should have unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve and efforts to fight against corruption in the past.”

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds too naïve? Even if the answer is Yes, you can’t deny that this is a highly subjective  criteria. I, for one, am really curious to know how are they going to measure such a character trait as “integrity” in concrete terms?

Then  there are the functional & operational hazards that are bound to follow given the good-intentioned, idealistic but unrealistic goals JanLokPal has set for himself regarding the time duration for completion of investigation & trial and redressal of grievances through clauses such as-

“..if the complaint contains verifiable and specific information about misconduct or corruption, then that case shall not be rejected even if the complaint is anonymous.”

&

“Provided further that no complaint of allegation shall be rejected by questioning the motives or intention of the complainant.”

which are guaranteed to result in a tsunami of cases most of which are bound to be politically motivated & frivolous, given the size and the population of the country. How do they propose to deal with that?

Just made a quick google search and found out that at the moment the no. of central and state government employees in India is approx. 12 million. Assuming a modest figure of one complaint per 100 employees, we may have around 120,000 employees investigated per year. These complaints are to be investigated within 1 year. Even if one Lokpal can handle 100 cases a year, we will still need 1,200 Lokpals. Given three of them will be Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi & Prashant Bhushan..how are they going to unearth the rest 1197 Lokpals fitting the qualification criteria + “integrity”??

It’s quite clear that the Lokpal too is going to go the judiciary way i.e. overload resulting into extreme pendency.

In addition to these three reservations that I have regarding the Jan LokPal, I’d also like to pose two questions to all the advocates of the JanLokPal:

1-  When we couldn’t prevent 'independent-at-the-time-of-conception' institutions like the CVC & CBI from being politically influenced, how are we going to prevent the same happening to Lokpal in the long run?

&

2- If we are, through some measures, going to prevent Lokpal from being politically influenced then why can’t we employ those same measures to rid CVC, CBI etc. of the political slavery?

With this, I rest my case. I hope it is clear that I am with Anna & Team India Against Corruption but not with the Jan LokPal as it stands today because at present it is undercooked. Needs more time, deliberation and fine-tuning before it chould be passed.

[Do keep in mind that opinion expressed above are based on the draft Jan LokPal bill version 1.9 as downloaded from the official India Against Corruption forum. They’re constantly upgrading it based on the feedback from various sections of the society. I’m told that they’ve dropped the utterly juvenile “Bharat Ratna, Ramon Magsasay, Nobel awardee” qualification since then, which is a welcome decision if true. I'm yet to verify it. If they’ve indeed managed to replace it with something more logical then that takes care of my concern number 2.

Also, there have been signs in the past couple of days that they’re willing to soften their stance on the issue of bringing judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal. I sincerely hope, wish and pray that better sense prevails and they agree to leave judiciary untouched. At least the higher judiciary (Supreme courts & 21 high courts). If that happens, that’d take care of my biggest concern. The rest I don't have much problem with.

Now, I know what  the natural question by the Fb cheerleaders of the Jan LokPal would be-

 “Agar LokPal solution nahi hai to tum hi bata do kya solution hai?”

I’ll tell you. It’s this-

1- Get off your butt, stand in a queue irrespective of the weather and fuckin’ VOTE the next time an election comes round.

&

2- Make a promise to yourself that starting today I will not be a party to giving or taking bribe no matter what the price I may have to pay.

Sounds naïve & "easier said than done", I know. But it’s the only solution, for corruption at it’s very core is not a problem of the legal domain. It’s the problem of the “moral” domain and that’s where it ought to be tackled. It’s a moral war that every individual has to fight within himself and that’s the way it is, whether you like it or not]

[ Also, I’d like to make it clear that my rantish posts on this issue (the “Aap Chutiye Hain” trilogy in particular) were not meant to ridicule Anna or the India Against Corruption movement. Only a thankless retard would dare to insult a selfless 74 year old  who’s out there fasting for the past six days for the sake of a better future for my generation. Make no mistakes, Anna is a Hero & so are Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi et al. My posts were meant to ridicule the hypocrisy of my generation who believes that just mere chanting "Anna! Anna!" & sharing silly Congress jokes on facebook will absolve them of their OWN part in making corruption the Frankenstein monster it has become today. I intend to expose more of this hypocrisy but that's a tale for some other time. For now, I leave all those hypocrites with just three simple questions to ponder over:

1- How many of you, since turning 18, have even once exercised your franchise i.e cast your vote?

2- How many of you have got your driving license, passport etc. the legitimate way i.e. without paying bribe/through an agent?

&

3- How many of you Bhagat Singh’s have filed even one query  pertaining to corruption under the RTI act?

Be honest with yourself and you’ll get your answers.

Jai Siya Ram!

A toast to THE best younger brother in the history of mankind

[ From Fb Notes dated March 10, 2011- a day after Chhotu- my younger brother's 26th birthday ]

It was 9th of March yesterday. On that very day, exactly 26 years ago, you came into my life. (Sorry for disclosing your real age on a public medium :P) Ma tells me that I was pretty damn excited about your arrival. But when someone tried to hand you over to me to hold you up in my arms for the first time, I refused saying "अगर बेबी मुझसे गिर गया तो टूट जायेगा "  [the baby will break if I happen to drop him by chance]

A lot has changed between us over the past 26 years but that feeling of protectiveness that I felt towards you on your first day has remained the same :)

At first, the fact of your arrival didn't sink in. When it finally did,  I remember telling myself"Time to grow up, Bittu..you're an elder brother now!" . But then somehow, I postponed 'growing up' to the time you started school.

And have been postponing it further and further ever since :P (On last check it was found to be postponed till the time you get married :P)

As I sit here reminiscing about our childhood, my mind is filled with a million memories. Happy memories. I can still vividly picture you standing on a stool,  looking over the balcony for me to return from school and play "bat-ball" with you in that narrow Aryanagar balcony.

I remember you intently watching me mug up my hindi lessons and then repeating 'em alongside me- "पूलब पत्तित दक्कित पक्कित  (पूरब पश्चिम उत्तर दक्षिण  :P) [ East west North South]. Another personal favourite from among the plethora of your 'pronunciation gems' was- गँगरिंग गौन्ग्रंग (दैनिक जागरण) [ Dainik Jaagran- a Hindi daily] boy! did you have a funny tongue or what  :D :D

Remember the time when you silently peed into an empty bottle of some kind & upon being enquired 'bout it by Ma you feigned  ignorance and blamed it on poor monkeys instead? -  "बंदल कल गया होगा!" Yeah right, smarty-pants :D

Then it was time for you to start school. After three years of pampering, you naturally didn't take too kindly to the sudden shocking changes in your lifestyle. In fact, I recall that Ma, Papa had to negotiate a compromise with you- whereupon you reluctantly agreed to grace the school with your dignified presence THRICE a week, every alternate day. Well, life sure ain't fair but one gotta live it anyway :D

This 'thrice-a-week' arrangement was to continue till std. 2, if I recall correctly. Not surprisingly, your grades too were as good as your attendance :P I had, by this time, developed a slight interest in the fairer sex and hence had started scoring well to impress 'em gals. Buoyed by my own good performance, I had a great time teasing you singing" पढना लिखना सीखो..ओ मेहनत करने वालो " :P I still believe that THAT ribbing was the catalyst in you turning the corner as a student (see..THAT is how you take credit for someone else's hard work ;) )

Now, whether it was due to you taking those jibes to heart or you, too, like me, developed 'a slight interest in the fairer sex', the outcome was that you, too, started scoring well and soon overtook me as the "next big thing" of the family, going as far as even TOPPING your class a couple of times; something even I could never achieve! (And that's saying something!! LOL)

Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug\m/

Apart from bettering me in studies, you continued to happily tag along with me as my side-kick in other matters, such as sports n time-pass. I've great memories of all the fun we had whether it was playing gully cricket or cards at Ishu & Henna's place, flying disc/kabaddi at Goal Park or WWF in our own bedroom. I still, to this day, feel guilty about delivering a stiff BIG BOOT right to your handsome face during one of our countless EPIC 'steel cage matches for world heavyweight championship' (Ho sake to mujhe maaf kar diyo mere bhai :P) & I am still proud of the way you refused to tap-out to the excruciatingly painful crossface chicken-wing applied on you by that rabid wolverine- Piyush Chandok. And to top it all, you didn't even 'pass out in a pool of your own blood' in doing so!! Stone Cold, who? 8-)




Then came the first real test of your character. The assholes at YOU PEE board screwed you big time, not once but twice, first in high school and then, just to rub it in some more, in intermediate as well. Every Tom, Dick, Harry, Gajodhar, Sankata & Ghanshyam ended up getting a better deal than you. It's not an easy place to be in life and I am speaking from experience here, for I, too, had been at the receiving end of UP board's bullshittery, albeit to a lesser extent. But while I said "fuck it" and grew disillusioned with the system forever, you chose to hang on and give it a fight. Not surprisingly, your perseverance bore fruit and you made it to the prestigious Motilal Nehru National Institue of Technology 8-)

Papa himself couldn't have been more proud of you that day than I was :) The rest, as they say, is history!

Come to think of it, Ours has always been a uniquely curious kinda relationship. I mean..unlike your 'typical Indian brothers', here, in our case, it's me- the elder brother- who's the rascal (great word!) of the family, the wild one always up to some kinda ONE-TWO-KA-FOUR, FOUR-TWO-KA-ONE, breaking all the rules, staying out late, stirring up all kinds of shit and getting in all kinds of troubles :P while you-the younger one- is the more sober, mature, sensible and reasonable one. In one word- the calming influence (okay, that's three :P)

If I had to compare ourselves with some on-screen brothers, the brothers from 'Khosla ka Ghosla' come to my mind, with me being Balwant 'Bunty' Khosla (Ranvir Shorey) & you, Chiraunjilal 'Cherry' Khosla (Parvin Dabas).

(the name 'Chiraunjilal' suits you to the T, btw :P)

& contrary to what some may feel, I am most comfortable with this arrangement, for as Jane Austen has so wisely proclaimed in her accomplished novel, Mansfield Park..

"The younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder" 

;)


Jokes aside, l'emme now come to the point. You see, the reason I am writing this to you is because, we Indians, thanks to our cultural conditioning, find it extremely hard to express our love to the very people who mean the most to us- our family, in speech. I am a product of the same conditioning and I could have NEVER said all this to you on your face. Hence this...well...essay :P

Chhotu, mere bhaaaay..I want you to know that you have been THE best younger brother anyone could ever ask for :) Wish I could say the same about myself as an elder brother but that'd be a lie, for I know that (apart from saving your ass on a couple of occasion against much older and stronger bullies growing up in the Wild Wild North) I haven't really been much good of an elder brother. In fact, a couple of my actions in the past are completely unworthy of an elder brother. YET, you go on respecting me and even looking up to me!!!! Now, while I do understand your "looking up to me"- after all, I AM a good two-and-a-half inches TALLER than you :P- but the "respect" part surely perplexes me!! :O
I mean..I have certainly not done anything to *earn* that respect for sure! The only plausible reason I could come up with to explain your respect for me despite me being a complete bully is the fact that you are aware that I still have access to all the vital pieces of that photograph from your childhood (which you tore) where you happen to be in your birth-suit with a powder-bottle in your hand. (Gotcha..didn't I? ;)   )

Well, whatever be the case, I want you to know that I genuinely regret all those instances of my un-elder-brotherly & bully-like conduct from the core of my being & Thank you for forgiving me for the same (I know that you have forgiven me)

I also want you to know that I am glad that we have covered a lot of distance in the past couple of years, so much so that I can now proudly say it that you are not just my brother but you also happen to be my OLDEST &  BEST friend, as well. (In fact, more than one of your Bhabhis have told me that they haven't seen any brothers chatting with each other on the phone DAILY and for so long :P)

In closing, all I'd say is..it was nice growing up with you, kid. Eagerly looking forward to the next 26 years and many more..

Happy Birthday once again. You are THE best\m/

Love & Aashirwaad............ Khoob bade ho :)

[PS: I ain't gonna blackmail you about that photo so take it easy & chillax, chico ;) ]

A (not so) brief background to my cinematic aesthetics-2

 [In the first part of the series "A brief background to my cinematic aesthetics", I tried to put forth my opinion of the "cause" of the slow evolution of Indian cinema. In this, i.e. the second installment of the series , I would state what I believe are the "effects" of the cause.]



Carrying on from where I left, I would now like to point out a few natural outcomes of excessive commercialization of cinema.

In a scenario where box-office success is considered the be-all and end-all of  the art of movie making, it gives rise to some very unhealthy trends; trends which, in the long run, become the undoing of the art-form itself. To name a few such trends (which come in vogue as a result of attaching too much importance to the commercial success of a film) :-

1- Encouragement to formula:- As in, following the current trend. For instance, if a comedy strikes big at the box-office, every Tom, Dick or Harry starts churning out comedies, just for the heck of it; whether or not he possesses the required tools for a successful comedy (for eg., a sense of humour in case of a director and 'comic-timing' in case of an actor)

The result: This trend halts the growth and evolution of cinema in the long run.

2- Encouragement to 'Star system':- The most over-rated, and as a result the most pampered exponents of the entire movie making machine are the actors. It's the actors who tend to run away with all the applause when a certain film succeeds, as if it's all thanks to them alone and the crew (director+ the rest of technical staff) is just incidental.

And the more the emphasis on commercial success; the more pampering the stars demand and succeed in getting.


3- Less emphasis on the three most vital aspects of cinema:the 3 S namely the Story, the Script & the Screenplay:- Point 3 is a direct outcome of point 1 & 2 i.e. when a movie is to be made keeping in mind the current formula and the actors are to be the stars of the show, then the 3 S's are bound to be ignored.


 4- Encouragement to plagiarism:- When box-office success is THE parameter and it's all about delivering hits non-stop, who really gives a fuck about things like 'originality' and shit! Pritam Chakraborty is a living example. Pritam sells like no other does and the one who sells the most is, quite naturally, the most deserving to be honoured with awards. Isn't it? (If your answer is "It isn't", you can go and fly a kite, Thank you!)

5- Encouragement to nefarious activities like having the media on payroll, buying out critics and even, awards! :- Such a moolah driven state of affair is an open invitation to corruption and it is precisely what follows. You see, when the only thing that matters is hitting the bull's eye at the box-office, the smarter of the bollywood lot are bound to employ every possible trick at their disposal, be it "inventing" gossip regarding the lead pair (in most cases, with the consent of the said lead pair!); "creating" some kind of controversy deliberately, for controversy begets publicity; other publicity stunts (I remember Mahesh Bhatt  circulating news of Manisha Koirala's murder prior to the release of his movie Criminal during the 90s..can you believe it?!); hiring efficient PR team to ensure good relations with Media; Buying out certain media houses (It's obvious that most of the top selling stars have many prominent media houses on their payroll for ensuing continued lip-service to them); buying out the so called critics; And last, but by no means the least, buying  out  the honours (awards), as well. [sarcasm]After all, how can the top-selling star (or director/producer etc.) not be THE best, too? It's inconceivable. Is it not? [/sarcasm]

Hence, the sham that goes on in the name of award functions.

(Disclaimer- Any resemblance to the likes of SRK-YRF-Dharma-Taran-Filmfare-etc. is "purely" coincidental ;)   )

And lastly,

6- Discouragement to the real meritorious artist; be him a director, an actor, music director, art director, lyricist, cinematographer, choreographer or any other exponent of this huge movie making machine:- 

This point is, perhaps, THE gravest harm that too much emphasis on commercial success of a venture does to the art of cinema. The real meritorious and passionate artist is bound to be discouraged by this state of affairs where mediocrity is not only rewarded heftily but awarded as well and is dubbed as if it's a thing of supreme beauty! I mean why would a director want to make an Ardhsatya when it's a Kaho Na Pyaar Hai  which sets the cash registers ringing?( And even if he somehow does, what's the probability of him finding a willing producer to finance his dream.....Zilch. ZERO); why would an actor bother honing his acting skills at theatre circuits or institutes like the FTII etc. when things like having a toned physique and being a good dancer, horse-rider, black-belt etc. are given more weightage than the skill of expressing various emotions through facial expressions, tone of dialogue delivery and body language?; why would a music director bother banging his head, spending sleepless nights just to come up with a never heard before tune when he can easily lift some popular tune from some other land, rejig it and not only get away doing so but even win awards for the great Ctrl C Ctrl V job?!

Why? What would be their motivation? A true artist, by his very nature, is a sort of person who can live without big money but not without recognition, acknowledgment, and respect to his craft. And what goes on in the name of these various award functions is nothing but the gravest insult to any true artist. I mean..one can understand if a SRK or a Hrithik or a Akshay Kumar gets the "Best Star or Superstar of the year" award but "Best Actor"??? Come onnnn......that's height of corruption!

The end result of all this is: even the most passionate and the meritorious ones are forced to kneel down to this monster of commercialization at some point or the other, and join this mediocrity if they wish to survive in this "market". That is why you see a thespian of the caliber of Naseeruddin Shah making an ass outta himself in the unbelievably crap Asambhav; a maestro like Priyadarshan churning out one crappy so-called comedy (with almost the same set of actors as well as the same kinda 'climax', with all characters running after one another in utter chaos)  after another; a Paresh Rawal getting typecast as a funny man to the point of not looking funny at all; a Om Puri embarassing himself as a gay sadhu in Buddha Mar Gaya. And so on...



And the loser in all mucky business this is the very art of the cinema itself.

*Sigh*

[This concludes the 2nd part i.e "the effect". In the 3rd and the concluding part, I intend to dwell upon MY solution to correct the flaws in the system.]

A brief background into my cinematic aesthetics- 1

Since as long as I can remember, I've been a connoisseur of quality cinema, be it of any genre, any language, any nation. I used the word "connoisseur" instead of "fan" deliberately, for unlike a casual fan, I've always viewed cinema from a connoisseur's, a student's, a critic's, point of view. I remember watching Satyajit Ray's Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne(Adventures of Goopy and Bagha) (1968)on Doordarshan  sometime around '93 and being completely smitten by the movie despite of my total lack of understanding of bengali. I remember watching the Marathi film Aaplee Maansee sometime around 1995 and falling completely in love with Renuka Shahane for the way she portrayed that innocence. I remember watching Mithun Chakravarthy perform as Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa (Yeah!) in the Odiya movie Swami Vivekananda sometime around 1996 and being in complete awe of the way in which Mithun not only managed to alter his body language and mannerism but even the texture of his voice! I can vividly remember cycling up at top speed along with my gang to a single screen theater about 15 kms. from my locality (those days, there was only one (half) decent cinema hall in Sitapur city, and Dil Se was showing at a hall in a tehseel of Sitapur, some 15-20 kms. away) so as to not miss even a frame of Shahrukh Khan dancing atop a moving toy train to the beats of "Chhainya Chhainya" in Mani Rathnam's Dil Se and once inside the dark theater, forgetting everything about the superstar and getting lost in the finer aspects of the genius director's craft- aspects like photography, cinematography, lighting, screenplay, background score etc.

But for many years, it was not possible for me to indulge myself in this passion of  mine of exploring quality cinema from all over the world, for the simple reason that there was only so much that was available to me staying at Sitapur. So, I had to make do with whatever I could manage to get my hands on, which was mostly the Hindi classics of yore by makers like Bimal Roy, Gurudutt, Raj Kapoor, K.Asif, Mehboob, Basu Bhattacharya, Hrishikesh Mukherji etc., besides some regional gems shown on Doordarshan on Sundays and a rare Video Cassette of some Charlie Chaplin classic here and there.

It was only after I left home and arrived at Nagpur for my engineering that I was exposed to cinema other than Hindi. Thanks partly to some like minded company at the hostel and partly to the free Internet & LAN across the campus, I finally got to quench my thirst for quality cinema, be it Indian regional or International (and not just Hollywood)

It was during my engineering years only that I first happened to watch what was to later become THE cinematic bible to me- Coppola's The Godfather. It was during this period that I made acquaintance with the work of actors like Humphrey Bogart, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep and above all, The Godfather of Acting- Marlon Brando and came to the shocking realization that contrary to my long cherished belief, Amitabh Bachchan, with all due respect, is NOT the last word on acting!

L'emme make it clear here, lest anyone is having any doubts regarding me being one of those "art-movie types", I am NOT. I would like to think of myself as just an admirer of "good, quality cinema", be it mainstream or non-mainstream. The fact that I genuinely consider Sholay as THE finest movie made in ANY Indian language EVER, should be proof enough. I would be the first to admit that not every so called art movie is actually quality. There are crap movies in non-mainstream as well. I myself have not been able to sit through boring supposed masterpieces like Zubeida etc. just like I can not sit through similar crap, albeit dressed rather ostentatiously, that the likes of YRF and Dharma production keep churning out with amazing regularity year after year. It becomes important to mention here that contrary to the popular opinion, I DO NOT have any axe to grind with either the YRF/Dharma/SRK school of cinema or, for that matter, with the fans of their brand of candyfloss cinema.  I perfectly understand that cinema, like any performing art, is a subjective medium and your opinion on what constitutes great cinema can be different than mine. Perfectly acceptable. To each his own.

But what gets my goat is when I see a well planned and financed propaganda on behalf of certain camps in the Indian Film Industry to legitimize their brand of cinema as THE finest cinema there could be. I mean how the hell can you explain an institution (The Filmfare) which used to award the best actor to the likes of Sanjeev Kumar, Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher throughout the 70s and the 80s, suddenly start awarding the prestigious trophy to stars like SRK  for out n out commercial ventures (Dil To Pagal Hai in '98 & Devdas in '03) & Hrithik (for Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in '00, Dhoom 2 in '07 & Jodha Akbar in '09)!! Just because those movies did huge business, does that automatically translate that the lead actor in the said blockbuster gave the acting performance of the year??? What, if I may ask the FF jury was so great in what Hrithik did in his debut vehicle KNPH?? As far as I can remember, all he did was wear awesome jackets, cool specs, ride sexy bikes, did some funky new dance moves and flex his muscles towards the end. Is that what great acting is all about?? Same goes for SRK. (Mind you, I have not questioned SRK winning for his work in Baazigar, DDLJ, KKHH, Swades and Chak De). And I may have lived with it if this commercialization of award functions was limited to private institutions like The Filmfare/Stardust & Star screen/Zee Cine etc. but this cancer of commercialization seems to have crept it's way into even the National Awards for Cinema- the one institution which, till not too long ago, used to be the benchmark for merit and credibility- if the recent history of award winners is anything to go by. I mean..the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut & Arjun Rampal winning the National awards for acting...WTF!!

It's not as if this cancer of commercialization is a local epidemic. Naah, it's a global phenomenon. Even in Hollywood, the likes of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and Will Smith enjoy far greater fan following than the likes of, say, a De Niro or a Pacino, or even their own contemporaries- Ed Norton, Sean Penn, Late Heath Ledger, Val Kilmer and Mickey Rourke etc. I can understand the reasons, After all, the phenomena of 'classes' and 'masses' is not limited to India alone. They are everywhere where ever there is an art up for public consumption. And because it is so, the individual with stronger mass-appeal is bound to enjoy more popularity, and as a result, more commercial success than one with stronger class-appeal.

I am perfectly okay with that as long as this popularity vs merit thingy does not start meddling with art-honours and robbing the really deserving ones of their rightful due.To their credit, Hollywood, has, so far, managed to stay clean on that count, more or less. Agreed, they too have goofed up on a couple of occasions but both the Golden Globe as well as The Academy Awards (Oscar) are still  any day far more credible than any that we have here in India. Proof is the fact that the likes of Cruise, Pitt, Depp and Smith are all yet to win an Oscar! Can you imagine a similar scenario in India?? No way...

[Just occurred to me that this piece has gone lengthier than I intended it to be and I am far from finished. So, let's make it a series with this one being part-1. More to come..]