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Unaccustomed Earth
The 2008 collection of short stories entitled « Unaccustomed Earth » by author Jhumpa Lahiri, well-known for her novel The namesake, which Mira Nair shot in 2006, has the unusual quality of being (in fact) a collection of little novels, rather than actual...
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The vendor of sweets
R.K. Narayan’s short novel The vendor of sweets (1967) is the story of a wise man, called Jagan, who lives in the narayanian town of Malgudi and prospers by selling quality sweetmeats appreciated because they aren’t overpriced or watered down with cheap...
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Swami and friends
This is a lovely, very readable, and at the same time, a rather unusual little book. Unusual because it doesn’t follow the common pattern of what might be expected from such entertainers. It gears itself towards an all-important cricket match, which the...
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Roja: how can we love and live apart?
Roja is an excellent little movie made by Mani Ratnam back in 1992, starring Arvind Swami and Madhoo (Raghunath); it was a real pleasure to watch another of Mani Ratnam’s works. His intelligence, his realism, his careful balance of private and public...
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Another day in Paradise?
“Don’t hand out money to beggars in crowded places. You will be swarmed. In fact, authorities advise that you don’t give money to anyone asking for a handout. If you want to give, by all means do so — India has many, many worthwhile charitable organizations....
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Rishte Naate (1965), a quiet family drama
Rishte Naate (family relationships) is a 1965 Gopalakrishnan movie, with Raj Kumar, Nutan, Nazir Hussain, Jamuna and Ameeta as main actors. It does seem like I’m exhausting my reserves of Nutan movies, because while this film has more than a few qualities,...
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A Fine Balance
At the bottom of page 511 [1] of Rohinton Mistry’s novel “A Fine Balance”, one can read the sentence: “the lives of the poor are rich with symbols”. One might just as well say: the book of the poor, not forgetting the fact that the book is indeed about...
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Bobby: Raj Kapoor lapsing into... (what?)
(Could this be this what happened to the great RK???) For Raj Kapoor the director, Bobby appeared in 1973 between Mera naam joker (1972) and Satyam shivam sundaram (1978) and so I was rather interested to have a look at it in order to bridge that gap....
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Don (2006), high flying stuff
Just watched Don (2006 one), by Farhan Akhtar, since it was shown on French TV last Thursday. I knew from filmiholic that « bilkul bindaas hai », and laughed at Maja ’s swooning and gushing over Arjun Rampal’s stubble. But I hadn’t given it much more...
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Umrao Jaan: does beauty lead to sorrow?
Umrao Jaan (Muzzafar Ali, 1981) belongs to the genre of tragedies which describe the destiny of a doomed character in a beautifully told narrative such as will bring out the pity and sorrow necessary for spectators to be cleansed of their own sins. And...
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Mahapurush, or religious profiteering
After having watched Kapurush (see previous instalment), I was strongly urged to see Mahapurush, Satyajit Ray’s twin production in the tandem that came out in 1965. The theme of the manipulative bigot is a famous one in French culture (see for example...
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The last Lear: one day, the King will die
Even today, I suppose all India is bracing itself, preparing itself and half-hoping that it will not come that soon, not just yet: he might still live twenty more years, mightn’t he? Our king is such an indomitable man, why fear? But then we’re all, all...
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Jalsaghar, the music-room of a monomaniac
This 1958 film, Satyajit Ray’s fourth, might seem to us, 50 years away from it, a strange and slow vestige of a time when the cinema was sadly deprived of the wizardry we now love so much in it. The narration seems clumsy; the lighting is handicapped...
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Aakrosh, cry of the wounded
Aakrosh (1980) by Govind Nihalani (whose first film it was, and who had won acclaim as Shyam Benegal’s photographer) is a sparsely told parable about the foundation of justice: should men follow the law at the expense of truth, or should they seek truth...
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Why aren't there more Nutan fans?
As unofficially self-proclaimed supporter and glorifier of Nutan, I am proud to admit within the very close circle of Nutan worshippers Sharmi , whose site is devoted to pastime movies, and especially contains some wonderful praise of Nutan Behl. She...
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If music be the food of love... Shabab
This 1954 film by M. Sadiq has qualities I wasn’t expecting. With movies that no one is reviewing or speaking about, you are faced with the unnerving problem of wondering whether you aren’t giving value to a work of art out of an idiosyncratic feeling...
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Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Woman's divine double nature
My first impression upon viewing Raj Kapoor’s mythical Satyam shivam sundaram, an impression shared by many other bloggers, is that the Showman had purely and simply been manipulated by his lecherous pulsions, and had also manipulated us spectators! Gone...
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The sari shop
The little world of The sari shop (2003) feels very familiar; Rupa Bajwa clearly belongs to it, not only because she’s from Amritsar, where the scene takes place exclusively, but also because she’s on the side of the crowds of people who mill around its...
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Rab ne bana di jodi: for couples in crisis?
I wasn’t sure I would have the patience to sit for 2 hours and a half and watch a “Bollywood” movie once again…But somehow the old passion revived, and the magic was still there: Rab ne bana di jadoo! Let’s say, to start with, that what caught me by the...
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Jodhpur et Udaipur
Enfants à Clock Tower market, Jodhpur Suite à notre séjour universitaire, le programme des étudiants comprenait la visite des villes de Jodhpur et d'Udaipur, où nous sommes à présent. Les trajets que fait notre petit car de 22 places sont plutôt rapides,...
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Pushkar et retour
Bonjour à tous, Voilà, nous sommes revenus! Ci-dessous quelques dernières impressions avant la reprise. Merci pour les commentaires, et merci à ceux qui nous ont aidés pour faire que ce voyage soit possible! La dernière étape du voyage a donc été la petite...
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Memories of our trip to India
Here are a few flashes from the activity which marked thereturn of our trip to India and JNU in February/march: First a feedback of our (too short) stay at JNU: Here's the link: http://jnujaipur.ac.in/NewsUpdate_File/JNU%20LIVE%20Newsletter,%20Dec.2013-Mar.2014_NewsLetter-May-2014.pdf...
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Dulhan ek raat ki: is tragedy more beautiful than comedy?
What do you prefer? A happy ending where the two lovers unite after having defeated the villains or convinced their parents? Or the sad one where love cannot exist because the tragic and beautiful story doesn’t permit it? DDLJ or Devdas? KKHH or Fanaa?...
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Your best bollywood film (Monsoon wedding?)
I'm a recent Bollywood fan, and I know next to nothing about oldies! I'm sure there are treasures there, but for me they're still to be unearthed... Please if some of you have suggestions, don't hesitate! So... Best Bolly film? Why not Monsoon Wedding?...
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What I like about Bollywood (Dil se)
Bollywood started for me with a selection of films shown on the French TV two years ago, and I was at first simply curious to discover a new sort of movies. One of them was Mani Ratman’s Dil se , with Manisha Koirala that literally blows up on the screen....