Chak De

Saw this movie a few days ago. Came back extremely impressed at the progress Indian film-makers have made. In the 1980s-1990s, all they churned out were the "masala" movies where lissome lasses gyrated around trees and hunks pranced around in shiny white shoes and green slacks.

Now I see that the movies have become a lot more meaningful. Of course there have been the usual clutch of movies which are very similar to the genre I outlined above but there has been a steady stream of movies which are eminently watch-able. The movies I have seen in the past few weeks are: Chak De, Shoot-out at Lokhandwala, Honey-moon Travels. I forget the others and the list is not really very long as I am no longer in a place where I can watch new Hindi movies everyday. You can argue that in Singapore only the REALLY good Hindi movies will get screened. That apart, the list of movies that I have mentioned...well all of them turned out to be really watch-able. They all had meaningful story-lines which were right out of the ordinary and you could not guess what was coming next.

Take Chak-De for instance. The topics this movie touches upon are all very real and have been adeptly handled. This movie reminded me of Swadesh. But in a different and more pleasant way. In Swadesh, the director was simply preaching. He took a lot of topics. Laboriously preached on them. Checked thoroughly to make sure he had not left anything out and then signed off the movie with an ending which was equally idealistic and equally implausible. Here the director touched upon other topics (sorry state of affairs of our sports associations, the way every Muslim in our country has to prove his patriotism every step of the way, the way women are still viewed as house-hold help). He though did not preach but made a story-line which was watch-able, entertaining and inspiring. He also threw in major points about how to lead and motivate a team.

Swadesh is still a victory for Indian cinema as it went off the beaten track (though it went over-board doing it), but Chak-De is a coup-de-grace.

India turned 60 a few days ago. A commentator on rediff said that it has been remarkable achievement that we have stayed a united and strong country for all these years. If you look at it the odds against us are many. We don't have a common religion, a common language, script, culture...anything for that matter. You go from North India to South India and you would feel a culture shock which is not very different from what I felt coming from Bangalore to Singapore. Indeed you ask a Chinese what being Chinese means and you get a one line answer: It means speaking Chinese. You ask that same question to an Indian and you get a book: The Discovery of India. There is no direct answer.

The divisive pulls are many. Among the factors which has kept Indians together is Indian (or rather Hindi) cinema.

The entire interview in rediff is given here: I quote the relevant passage here:

"One of the greatest compliments to Hindi films mentioned in my book is that Manipuri insurgents banned the screening of Hindi films in Manipur because it would integrate them more with the other Indians. This is an extraordinary tribute to the uniting influence of the Hindi film"

Its definitely an achievement that one of our strongest media is slowly coming out of the clouds and starting to look at the major problems and handicaps which stymie us as a nation. The first step in solving a problem is appreciating that the problem exists. If through movies we realize the problems we face, I am sure we would find a way to solve them

Amen!!!!!

P.S.: Don't worry guys, I am not transforming into a political analyst. But thinking on these lines is definitely a change. I will be back to pub-reviewing very soon.