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April 28, 2005
Eight days a week
FILM
Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the man who gave us Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Shahrukh Khan’s Devdas always, always goes for overkill. Fantastical sets right out of 1,001 Nights, flamboyant dresses, and even louder acting may bedazzle audiences (as attested by the the super success of his earlier films) but the storylines often defy logic and good sense and the melodrama overwhelms any underlying sensitivity. It’s all surface gloss without any real depth.
That’s a big part of the problem with Bhansali’s latest film, Black, as well. His film is based on the inspirational life-story of Helen Keller and how the deaf and blind girl learned to communicate and function in the world with the help of her teacher, the partially blind Anne Sullivan. Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan’s story was first turned into a live television drama, called The Miracle Worker, which was then turned into a smash-hit stage play and ultimately into a movie in 1962 that won Oscars for its two lead actresses, Anne Bancroft (playing Sullivan) and Patty Duke (palying Keller). The original story is emotionally powerful in its own right and really doesn’t need further embellishment. But in Black, Bhansali heaps on the pathos and turns it into bathos by having Amitabh Bachchan (playing the Anne Sullivan equivalent) suffering from Alzheimer’s and ultimately ending the movie on an illogical, unbelievable manner just so that the movie can have an “emotional” punch.
Again, while the movie may be beautifully shot, the overtly arty cinematography (by Ravi K. Chandran) actually detracts from the story, drawing attention to itself and away from the characters. By contrast, see how beautifully Irani director Majid Majidi shot his movie about a blind boy, The Colour Of Paradise (Rang-e-Khuda). There, too, Majidi framed many of his scenes like lush paintings but it was done unobtrusively and in a way that quietly enhanced the story.
Bhansali just doesn’t know when and where to stop and his love for opulence is another problem. Helen Keller came from a poor, rural background. But putting his characters in that kind of setting wouldn’t have allowed him to create fantastically detailed sets that are bathed in wealth and luxury. Thus Bhansali’s Keller, Michelle McNally’s (Rani Mukherjee) family is an exceptionally rich one and Bhansali goes haywire in recreating a lifestyle right out of the sets of Titanic.
Bhansali’s excesses don’t stop there. Take the scene where at her engagement dinner, Michelle’s sister (Nandana Sen) starts speaking of her compicated and difficult but ultimately loving relationship with Michelle. This is a well-written, sensitive moment. But rather than letting the scene speak for itself, Bhansali has all the characters start weeping at the end just so that we, the audience, are sure to get how emotional and sensitive the scene is ––– he probably doesn’t think we’re intelligent enough to get it otherwise. This is similar to how, in Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg had his titular protagonist breakdown onscreen, lamenting the fact that he could only save such few people from the Nazis. It was an incongruous moment in an otherwise excellent film that went against established character and demonstrated, more than anything else, Spielberg’s unabashed desire to win an Oscar.
However, on a more positive note, the acting in Black is quite excellent with Ayesha Kapur actually brilliant as the young Michelle. The movie’s brevity (just about two hours) is also a plus as is the lack of songs which keeps everything tight and compact. This is not a terrible movie or anything like that but Bhansali has to learn to moderate himself before he can make a really great movie. — Khusro Mumtaz
ALBUM
Pakistan’s music industry just keeps getting stronger and better. One of the best signs of a thriving and fun industry and that a band has truly made it is parodies and the latest to hit the scene is by Mizraable (real name unknown) who has parodied the band Mizraab. Available at http://www.geocities.com/mizraablemuzik/, this playful track —– inspired by Mizraab’s weak cover of Vital Sign’s Dil Dil Pakistan –— has stirred up the music scene with its sharp, memorable lyrics and tongue-in-cheek attitude. The very existence of this parody is the surest sign that Mizraab has become a player and its controversy has led to many requests for a TR review of their debut album Maazi Haal Mustaqbil.
The quartet consists of guitarist Faraz Anwar, drummer Irfan Ahmed, bassist Khalid Mustafa Khan and rhythm guitarist Jamal Mustafa. They are at the forefront of progressive vocal rock in Pakistan. Led by Anwar’s brilliant musical creativity, Mizraab’s style is uniquely their own and quite poignant at time. Some of the highlights include Kuch Hai and Kitni Sadian.
The band is at its best with the songs are original and innovative and is at its weakest on covers such as Dil Dil Pakistan. The CD’s main theme is “insaan” and revolves around the angst and feelings of people at their most elemental level.
Some of the musical arrangements are truly exciting and overall the album cleverly amalgamates Eastern and Western tonality alongside Anwar’s complex string changes and rhythms. Another really cool thing about the album is that it is arranged into a continuous no-pause fashion similar to Pink Floyd’s The Wall.
Although their cover of Dil Dil Pakistan may not have worked, the band’s talent is obvious and their increasing success imminent. — T.U. Dawood
SINGLE
The hoopla surrounding the release of The Game’s debut album The Documentary has been phenomenal. This West Coast (California) rapper has been embraced by the East Coast and hailed as the second coming of Rap and the most anticipated rapper to emerge since Snoop Dogg took the world by storm over a decade ago. Although so far the quality of his music doesn’t quite live up to the attention, his record sales have been phenomenal. His life story is also quite amazing. He was nicknamed Game by his grandmother when he was a child because he was “game” to do anything. That didn’t change as he grew older. He did it all from car thefts to running a drug trade and then after facing a home invasion and being shot, he turned around his life and became a musician. He studied the great masters of rap including Biggie and Dr. Dre and then began to rap in December 2001, mixing up a bunch of styles into something new but familiar and telling his story in The Documentary.
The disc has its moments and in particular, his joint Hate it or Love it featuring 50 Cent is a smash hit. Produced by Cool & Dre, the track is very 90s, very Boyz ‘n the Hood, has a great melody and is at times poignantly introspective. It has just been remade by The Game and Mary J. Blige and the sophomore version (which will be out this year) is supposedly far superior, so much so there is talk of it soon competing with the original on record charts!
Hate it or Love it shows that The Game has what it takes to stick around a while, but this single along with the whole album would improve tremendously if the rapper stopped his incessant name-dropping and his self-proclamations of his talent. He’s got all the right ingredients and incredible backing, but the real test is in the music which with the exception of Hate it or Love it doesn’t quite live up to the hype. — T.U.D
EXHIBITION
An exhibition of paintings and sculptures titled Facts by Jamil Baloch, began at Canvas Gallery on April 26 and will continue till May 5. Timings are 11am to 8pm.
Baloch, a faculty member of the National College of Arts, hails from Quetta. He has recently been awarded the Rangoonwala Visual Arts Award. —A.S.
OR
An exhibition of Liesbeth Van Ginneken, an artist from the Netherlands will continue till April 30 at Majmua Gallery from 6pm onwards. Her oil paintings focus on ordinary objects like shoes, strings handbags, clothes etc and uses humour, sarcasm, anger or love, according to her moods. —A.S.
SEMINAR
Bahria Institute of Management and Computer Sciences has organized a media conference-cum-seminar to address the changes and evolution the field of advertisement is going through in the current era, and its effects on market trends and consumer communities. The event will be held on April 30, at the BIM&CS Auditorium from 10.30am to 1pm. —A.S.
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