Action Hero Biju

കണ്ടു മടുത്ത പോലിസ് കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളെ പൊളിച്ചടുക്കുന്ന സിനിമയും കഥാപാത്രവും എന്ന രീതിയിൽ ആണ് 'ആക്ഷൻ ഹീറോ ബിജു' സോഷ്യൽ മീഡിയയിൽ വാഴ്ത്തപ്പെടുന്നത്. പക്ഷെ സിനിമ കണ്ടിറങ്ങുന്ന പ്രേക്ഷകന് ഇമ്മാതിരി ഉള്ള ഫീൽ ഒന്നും നൽകാൻ ഈ സിനിമയ്ക്കു കഴിയുന്നില്ലെങ്കിൽ അത് സംവിധായകന്റെ പരാജയം തന്നെ ആണ്. 1983 എന്ന സിനിമയിലൂടെ ഉയർത്തിയ പ്രതീക്ഷകൾ നില നിർത്താൻ എബ്രിഡ് ഷൈൻ എന്ന സംവിധായകന് കഴിഞ്ഞില്ല.

കറുത്ത വിരൂപരായ മനുഷ്യരെ കാലാകാലങ്ങളായി മലയാള സിനിമയിൽ നെഗറ്റീവ് കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളായി കാണാറുണ്ടെങ്കിലും അതിത്ര ഭീകരമായി അനുഭവപ്പെട്ടത് ഇത് ആദ്യമായിട്ടാണ്. ഈ സിനിമയിൽ അങ്ങനെ ഉള്ള കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളുടെ ഒരു ഘോഷയാത്ര തന്നെ സംവിധായകൻ ഒരുക്കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. കാണാൻ കൊള്ളാത്ത കറുത്ത് പെടച്ച ഒരുത്തൻ നഗ്നത പ്രദർശിപ്പിച്ചു കുളിക്കുന്നതിലാണ് ഒരു സ്ത്രീയുടെ പരാതി. അത് കാണാൻ കൊള്ളാവുന്ന ഒരുത്തൻ ആയിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ കുഴപ്പമില്ലായിരുന്നു എന്നും അവർ ബിജുവിനോട് സമ്മതിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. അങ്ങനെ കണ്ടു കണ്ടു അവസാനം വെളുത്ത് സുന്ദരിയായ ഒരു സ്ത്രീ നെഗറ്റീവ് റോളിൽ വന്നപ്പോൾ അതങ്ങ് ഉൾക്കൊള്ളാൻ ഒരു കാണി എന്ന നിലയിൽ അല്പ്പം സമയം എടുത്തു.

ചാന്തുപൊട്ട് എന്ന സിനിമ തുടങ്ങി വച്ച ലൈംഗിക ന്യൂനപക്ഷങ്ങളെ വികലമായി ചിത്രീകരിക്കുന്ന രീതി ഈ സിനിമയും തുടരുന്നുണ്ട്. അന്യസംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളിലും രാജ്യങ്ങളിലും ജോലി ചെയ്യുന്ന മലയാളികൾ അയക്കുന്ന പൈസക്ക് പുട്ടടിച്ച് നാട്ടിൽ സുഖിച്ചു ജീവിക്കുന്ന മല്ലൂസ്സിന് അവിടെ പണിക്കു വരുന്ന അന്യസംസ്ഥാനക്കാരെ സംശയ ദൃഷ്ടിയോടെ മാത്രമേ ഇപ്പോഴും കാണാൻ കഴിയുന്നുള്ളൂ എന്നത് ഈ അടുത്ത കാലത്തിറങ്ങിയ മറ്റു മലയാള സിനിമകളെ പോലെ ബിജുവും അടിവരയിട്ട് പ്രസ്താവിക്കുന്നു. 'വേലി ചാടിയ പശു കോല് കൊണ്ട് ചാകും' എന്ന്‌ തുടങ്ങിയ പ്രസ്താവനകളിലൂടെ ബിജു ഒരു മോറൽ പോലീസും ആകുന്നുണ്ട് ഈ സിനിമയിലൂടെ.

പോളിക്ക് റേഞ്ച് ഇല്ല എന്ന ശ്യാമപ്രസാദിന്റെ പ്രസ്താവന (?) ശരിവയ്ക്കുന്ന രീതിയിൽ അയാൾ മാരകമായി അഭിനയിച്ചു കളഞ്ഞു. ഡയലോഗ് ഒക്കെ പറയാൻ അങ്ങേര് ഒത്തിരി പെടാപ്പാട് പെട്ടു. പുള്ളി കുറേക്കാലം കൂടി പ്രേമം ടൈപ്പ് സിനിമകൾ ഒക്കെ ചെയ്തു തെളിയാനുണ്ട്.

(1983 ന്റെ ഓർമയിൽ ഒത്തിരി പൈസ കൊടുത്തു ഒരു മൽറ്റിപ്ലെക്സിൽ കയറി ഈ സിനിമ കണ്ട് കാശു പോയി കലിപ്പ് കയറിയ ഒരു മറുനാടൻ മലയാളി)

This new year let us be nice to everyone!

Witnessed an apparently affluent and educated middle-aged man shouting at a flight attendant yesterday just because she politely declined to serve a cup of hot coffee to him due to turbulence. She was trying her best to explain why it could not be served. However, he continued to abuse her till her fellow crew members and some other passengers intervened in the scene.

Seen another such fellow in the restaurant this morning scolding the manager and staff over some delay in serving a dish he had ordered. He threatened to underrate the property online and disturbed all those who were enjoying their breakfast on a lovely morning.

It seems, we, human beings, always forget the fact that we are all mortals and not going to stay here for long. What is the harm in being nice to others during the very little time we have got here? Most of the things in life can wait. Ultimately, you will get your coffee but by that time you might have spoiled someone's day and created so much of negativity around.

SAY NO to free basics

Three full-page advertisement has been given by Facebook in today’s Times of India to appeal the citizens of India to support ‘free basics’. Why Shukkur (Mark Zuckerberg) is so desperate about it? Do we really think that we missed out something in the past just because free basics was not available? When we have everything in abundance at an affordable cost why should be confine ourselves to whatever Shukkur wants us to see or access?

There was a column by Shukkur on 28^th Dec 2015 in TOI where he detailed the benefits of his free gift to the people of India. He says, for India to make progress, 1 billion people need to be connected to the internet. Do we think free access to Facebook, WhatsApp and some other useless websites will directly or indirectly reduce poverty in our land? If he is so concerned about pulling our people out of poverty, why can’t he give free access to the poor to wide, open and plural web?

Another argument of Shukkur is that many people in India cannot afford paid-internet services. This is absurd. People, even in our villages, really don’t find it so difficult to spend Rs.150/200 a month to get required 2G/3G data. Even if the other needs are compromised, they make sure that they stay connected 24/7. And, most importantly, they are free to access whatever sites or services they wish to.

Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik, in a letter to TRAI supporting net neutrality, said that “If you dictate what the poor should get, you take away their right to choose what they think is best for them. The airwaves and wireless spectrum of India belongs to its citizens. When the government sell it out to private telecom companies on certain terms and conditions, they should ensure that the rights and individual freedom of its citizens are protected.

Authoritarian governments worldwide, be it left, right or centre are trying to curtail people’s access to internet and information. Someway, all these attempts by Facebook and like-minded companies, help our government also to achieve their agenda i.e. to limit the citizens’ access to information. That is why such initiatives get relentless support from our government. As per my knowledge, the government has not yet produced the agreements between them and Facebook in the Supreme Court despite repeated reminders. It means something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

SAY NO to free basics.

Adversity is big but man can be bigger than adversity

No other Indian city attracted me like Calcutta during my school/college times thanks to the regular updates about the city in our newspapers just because of the notable presence of the Communist Party in West Bengal. Besides, their literature and cinema attracted me very much. I always feel that there is a strong emotional-connect between the people of West Bengal and Kerala due to many factors like this. I visited the city for the first time in 2012 with great enthusiasm and many times in the last few years and explored the city a little bit. This helped me to understand, appreciate and relate things better when I started reading the City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre.

From the dates of its foundation in 1690 by some British merchants until the departure of its last Governor on August 15, 1947; Calcutta had epitomized the white man's domination of the globe. For nearly two and a half centuries, it had been the capital of the British Indian Empire and the largest city in the empire after London. It continued to be one of the most active and prosperous cities in Asia for one more decade in the post-independence era thanks to its harbour, numerous industries, metal foundries, chemical and pharmaceutical works, jute and cotton factories.

The city was also considered the cultural capital of the country being the homeland of Tagore, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Satyajit Ray and many others of the same stature. Calcutta produced more writers than Paris and Rome combined, more literary reviews than London and New York, more cinemas than New Delhi and more publishers than the rest of the country. 

However, for the migrant workers and refugees, Calcutta represented neither culture nor history. For them it meant only the faint hope of finding some crumbs to allow them to survive until the next day. As Lapierre narrates, the mass exodus of refugees towards Calcutta was caused by many incidents in the history such as the earthquake that shook Bihar in 1937, the famine that killed more than 3.5 million people in Bengal alone in 1943, India's independence and partition alone cast upon Calcutta some four million Muslims and Hindus fleeing from Bihar and East Pakistan, war with China in 1962, subsequently the war with Pakistan also added the number of refugees in the city. Besides, droughts, famines and cyclones in different parts of the Eastern side of the country added to the burden of the city. It was, of course, beyond the capacity of the city to accommodate and manage. The population residing in slums increased drastically. The governments could not even provide basic amenities to them. Many slept on pavements. Unemployment, poverty, epidemics and crimes added to the woes of the city and resulted in total collapse of the systems.

The central characters in this novel are Stephen Kovalski, a Polish Priest living a life of total renunciation in a Calcutta slum and working for its dwellers; Max Loeb, a young American doctor who joins Kovalski to run a clinic in the slum; Bandona, an Assamese girl who helps Kovalski and Max Loeb in their charity and relief work; and Hazari Pal, a farmer from rural Bengal affected by drought and set out with his family for Calcutta in search of work and end up in pulling a rikshaw for survival. For many who sought refuge in Calcutta since independence, the shafts of hand-pulled rikshaws provided a means of earning a living.

What appealed me personally in the book is the realisation of Stephen Kovalski that human suffering cannot be seen as part of the redemptive process as taught by religions and charity serves only to make people more dependable unless it is supported with actions designed to wipe out the actual roots of poverty.

As a whole, City of Joy celebrates the humanity's zest for life, capacity for hope and the will to survive against all odds. No matter what happens, life goes on with an energy and vigour that is constantly renewed.

Movie Review: Ennu Ninte Moideen (Malayalam)

"If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love"

I read the real life love story of Moideen and Kanchanamala that happened in Mukkam, Kozhikode during the 1960s in Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly a few years back. Moideen belonged to a well-known Muslim family while Kanchana is from a rich Hindu family. The crux of the story is the inter-religious love affair between them and their struggles to live together. The movie 'Ennu Ninte Moideen' was inspired by the lives of Moideen and Kanchanamala. Many such stories have already been told on the silver screen but what makes ENM different is the genuine attempts by the director, R. S Vimal, to do 100% justice to this eternal love story while adapting it for a film. It is, undoubtedly, one among the finest love stories ever filmed in Malayalam!

The mutual love of Moideen and Kanchana was so ardent but it was not at all about possessing the other which is evident from their long wait for more than twenty years to live together despite having opportunities to run away and start their own life. They do not even touch each other except for two instances during the second half of the movie where the storyline demands it. Moideen seemed to have been an admirer of Kanchana more than just being a lover which is evident from his dialogue, ‘her mind is more beautiful than her face’.

This movie is not focused only on Moideen and Kanchana. Apart from the tale of their love, it also talks about the sacrifices and sufferings of those around them. Yes, behind every love story, succeeded or failed, there are also stories of the pain endured by their near and dear ones which are clearly narrated in ENM and you may not find the same in similar movies.

It also talks how easy it is to preach secularism and other values and how difficult it is to practice in real life whatever one preaches.

Parvathy Nair was just amazing as Kanchana and Prithviraj is here to stay for long! The way he has evolved is unbelievable! He may not be a born-actor but his passion and dedication for the profession have started yielding great results.

#EnnuNinteMoideen

Lead Kindly Light!

I know a catholic nun who used to work in villages in the outskirts of Bangalore. As she enters every house, she gets all members of the family assembled in front of the image or idol of the god in whom the family believes and starts a standard prayer in Kannada which goes like this, 'belagagi bandhire devare, nanna jeevanathalli nee belagu devare' (Come down as light oh god, you are the light in my life).

Yes, for the follower of any religion his/her god has to be the light in his/her life. However, our spiritual leaders have ignored their primary responsibility of leading the seekers to light and thereby ensure their spiritual nourishment. Instead, they are creating unnecessary fear and insecurity feeling among the followers and motivate and equip them to take up arms to protect their gods and beliefs. Is it something that your god would be happy to see you doing for him? The nexus between political parties and religious leadership has further worsened the situation.

Nowadays, almost 70% of the content in Facebook and other social media is religious abuse. Ironically, those who belong to the new generation and those of my own generation are behind it, all well educated and employed ones. Don't you guys have anything worthwhile to do in your life? Otherwise, spend the time you are now using to abuse others to read the scriptures of your own religion which might help you to become a 'normal' human being. Come out and enjoy life in the real world where I think life is not as complicated as it is in the virtual world. History proves that religions have always divided people on various grounds. God has never been a unifying factor.

Feeling so unfortunate to be living in these times when the right wing forces are emerging across the world and not only in India. Worried about my son who will be growing up into such a world. Not much hope. Still I join the sister from Bangalore in her prayer 'belagagi bandhire devare, nanna jeevanathalli nee belagu devare'.

A Very Special Sunday

As usual, I went for the evening mass in our parish church on last Sunday. It was after a long time I managed to reach the church before the beginning of the mass. The service was about to begin and there was not one to assist the priest. I did not think twice, took the text developed for the faithful and assisted the priest as an altar boy. I also managed the readings. Initially I got a bit frightened as the text was a new version. For me, there has been no practice of using the text while attending mass for a long time. However, I succeeded in managing everything.

Anyways, this incident took me twenty five years down memory lane. Back in our village, the parish church is just 500 metres away from our home. I started attending the morning mass in our parish as soon as I started my schooling at the age of five. The morning mass was at 7.00 AM. I used to be the only kid in the gathering of mainly elderly people and some nuns. I would rush back to home after the mass to have my breakfast and get ready for school where the classes used to start at 10.00 AM.

As I entered third standard and learnt to read well, the parish priest invited me to start serving as an altar boy. I got trained under the senior altar boys. Normally, only those who have received the first Holy Communion were allowed to serve as altar boys. However, this rule was relaxed for the first time in my case. I was so small and, therefore, the faithful were not able to see me as the altar is elevated. As a solution, the priest allowed me to stand at one side of the altar from where I was visible to all.

I had a very innocent and priestly look at that time and there were many elders who predicted that I would join seminary and become a priest one day. Though the first part of their dream got materialised, the second part did not. I consoled myself as the Lord himself had said ‘many are called but a few are chosen’. I could not be among those who were chosen.

I also have very fond memories about the annual training cum retreat camp the diocese used to organise for altar boys. I learnt my first acting lessons from there.

At the age of thirteen, I was chosen as the Sacristan of the church with a monthly remuneration of 200 rupees which was a big amount at that time. I became the only earning student in my class. Gradually, this led me to some unwanted companies and I started spending the money mainly on movies. I started bunking classes to go for movies. The culmination of all these was that I could not attend any paper of my final examination in 9^th standard. At that point, I had to give up everything including my job as sacristan.

Anyways, the Lord had not forsaken me for all the good service I did for him before going astray. After a long time, somehow, the Lord wanted me to remember all these once again and I believe it was his plan to make me assist the priest once again.