startling banals
05 May 2006
India! Here I come!
Its time to pack up to go home. There is no excitement. Have I attained nirvana?
Two movies today.
Four Rooms - a comedy co-directed by Quentin Tarantino. Smart plot and enjoyable 3/5.
Ju Dou - nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1990 starring Li Gong(she is a beauty). Li Gong - does that name ring a bell? 'gong! gong!' She played the part of the tragic, scheming and stunning Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha and also starred in 2046 by Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai - a friend of Tarantino (His movie Chunking Express is really good). Chinese esp Hong Kong movies are really unmissable and it is un-parvadable not to watch them. All of us know Jackie Chan - he is great and has singlehandedly engendered his own unique genre of action. But not many of us movie maniacs from India have heard of Tony Leung. He is one great acting-actor. Because of the excellent LAN in iitb we guys could watch Infernal Affairs(I & II), A World without Thieves, The Road Home & the above mentioned movies. And there has been no looking back! Besides it was fun going nuts about Chinese actresses like Ziyi Zhang, Li Gong and Faye. Of course movies don't depict the way-of-life of common people but still its such a pity we know absolutely nothing about China and its culture. Did our politicians edit textbooks after the Indo-China War in 62? Even some war serial on DD (ParamVirChakra?) in the early 90's painted a black and white picture of Chinese soldiers shouting Hindi-Chini bhai bhai and doing a 'Muhh mein Ram, Bagal mein Choori' which reinforced our stereotypes which block even our curiousity. But I was relieved when I found a document - 'Across the Himalayan gap'. 'How to understand China' written in a very personal voice by an Indian guy who attended Beijing University in 1947 is very good I haven't read the other articles. Such a long vacation and so many things to do. Anyway let me signoff by quoting a silly dialogue by Saif Ali Khan - 'Hum bahot jaldi milenge Riya. Pata hai kyu? kyunki yeh zindagi bahot lambi hai aur hamare paas waqt bahot kam.' Catharsis over. Waiting for another jet-lag now :)
Two movies today.
Four Rooms - a comedy co-directed by Quentin Tarantino. Smart plot and enjoyable 3/5.
Ju Dou - nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1990 starring Li Gong(she is a beauty). Li Gong - does that name ring a bell? 'gong! gong!' She played the part of the tragic, scheming and stunning Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha and also starred in 2046 by Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai - a friend of Tarantino (His movie Chunking Express is really good). Chinese esp Hong Kong movies are really unmissable and it is un-parvadable not to watch them. All of us know Jackie Chan - he is great and has singlehandedly engendered his own unique genre of action. But not many of us movie maniacs from India have heard of Tony Leung. He is one great acting-actor. Because of the excellent LAN in iitb we guys could watch Infernal Affairs(I & II), A World without Thieves, The Road Home & the above mentioned movies. And there has been no looking back! Besides it was fun going nuts about Chinese actresses like Ziyi Zhang, Li Gong and Faye. Of course movies don't depict the way-of-life of common people but still its such a pity we know absolutely nothing about China and its culture. Did our politicians edit textbooks after the Indo-China War in 62? Even some war serial on DD (ParamVirChakra?) in the early 90's painted a black and white picture of Chinese soldiers shouting Hindi-Chini bhai bhai and doing a 'Muhh mein Ram, Bagal mein Choori' which reinforced our stereotypes which block even our curiousity. But I was relieved when I found a document - 'Across the Himalayan gap'. 'How to understand China' written in a very personal voice by an Indian guy who attended Beijing University in 1947 is very good I haven't read the other articles. Such a long vacation and so many things to do. Anyway let me signoff by quoting a silly dialogue by Saif Ali Khan - 'Hum bahot jaldi milenge Riya. Pata hai kyu? kyunki yeh zindagi bahot lambi hai aur hamare paas waqt bahot kam.' Catharsis over. Waiting for another jet-lag now :)
2 Comments:
why are you so not-excited about coming to india....?
i will miss my friends from boston. for 2 nights we have been playing carrom at home and it has been fun. This is the way things are. You get used to stuff and people. But nothing is permanent. I dont know why I sound glum. I am definitely happy to go to India and I will go to Mysore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Banglore and maybe Calcutta too. Also have plans to trek in Kumaon. Lets see what I can do. My flight is in 3 hours so see u from India. :)