Aparna Sen and her ’15 Park Avenue’

Ever got envious of mind-bending films like inception or shutter island and wonder if Bollywood can produce such films?

There was one such film I can think of, which I thought was better and an even bigger mind-bender but not as much celebrated. This is ’15 Park Avenue’ from Aparna Sen.  

My new love - Haruki Murakami (and art films)

Being a late laggard has its advantages.  I discover Haruki Murakami thanks to Scheherazade in the New Yorker and am instantly hooked.  The advantage is that there is a great, and big body of work to now savour given how prolific this author has been (writing since the 1980s).

However, Haruki is not everyone’s cup of tea and can be challenging – and perhaps that challenge is the very thing that makes his short stories and novels interesting.

Haruki’s stories can have various effects – right from melancholy, to surprise, regret, an epiphany, nostalgia, interest – the whole panoply of emotions can come through at any point. As you go through them. But the one which is inevitable is a strong desire to discuss this immediately.

Main Radha tu mera shaam from Vishwaroop

Some songs from Indian films are simply outstanding.

And since I love dancing and theatre, those with an element of dance are also my favourites. 

Whats better is when the entire things comes together beautifully on screen.  This one almost does...

And then One day... A memoir by Naseeruddin Shah

Hi, Not much to write here. The title pretty much says it all.

Ever since this book was published and I heard about it on the web waves, I wanted a copy of this. Unfortunately not so easy when you are in distant shores.

So the moment I land in India, I manage to grab a copy,

Broken Images: Shabana Azmi at her best

There are such gifted playwrights and actors on the Indian stage (we are indeed very lucky to live during their times) – its hard to choose one best performance out of so many.


However if I had to choose the second ten best  – this would be one of them. (I think top ten would be hard for me... and just to rub it in - I just recently read Naseeruddin Shah's excellent memoir "And then One day" where in the photos section he lists the ten greatest performances on theatre he has ever seen - and each of them stellar actors. The closest I have come to the list is - to see a few of the actors live, or a couple of performances from other actors - not exactly fulfilling - close but no cigar...)

Broken Images is a play written by Girish Karnad and the English version directed by Alyque Padamsee and stars Shabana Azmi.

                             

I had watched Shabana before in Tumhari Amrita where it was fairly staid and not really the best showcase of her talent (I think!).  But Broken Images is truly a testimony to her enormous talent.  Even better – it pits her, against herself.  So she’s competing with the very best – herself!!