Posts from — February 2005

With the Kishlay kidnapping generating so much political smoke with both Lalu Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan accusing each other, there just had to be some kind of fire!

And it doesn’t take too much guesswork to deduct why the gangster Vicky thakur, prime accused in the Kishlay kidnapping, was killed in police firing!

Cinema equals escapism for most film-makers. Some, however, know that cinema is a medium for visual expression. And these film-makers give us movies that speak to us through that medium. And then, there are rare souls who consider cinema as an art-form and create stunning works of art that make you want to stand up and applaud.

With ‘Black’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali attempts to recast himself into one of those rare souls. And to his credit, he succeeds. ‘Black’ is like a master artist’s first masterpiece… maybe not yet perfect, but getting there!

Do not let the title, ‘Black’, mislead you into conjuring up notions of a morose, painful film about disabilities. Far from it, the movie is all about perseverence, belief, hope and dignity. Rather than a negative, melancholy strain that this movie could’ve degenerated into, a positive note rings clearly through the narrative and performances.

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Goa’s swaying palms and the golden sands suggest peace and quietude that is belied by the tumultuous events in the corridors of power. No sirree, Bob! … Goa’s politics is anything but tranquil at the moment!!

People have been concentrating a lot on the Governor’s and the Speaker’s actions. They should of course be studied and analysed. I’ll do that in a moment. But the real drama began last week with the curious incident of a party merging with the BJP and its members defecting a couple of days later. This is the action that kickstarted a series of events that eventually led to the downfall of the BJP government in Goa. On the face of it, it seems highly probable that the decision by UGDP (S) to merge with the BJP was just a ruse to circumvent some provisions of the Anti Defection Law. Even allowing for stupidity, that comes naturally to most politicians today, I cannot think of any other reason for (even) a political party to switch sides twice within two days. If you ask me, this was Congress placing its pieces on the chess-board before the end-game.

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If ‘Lalu Yadav is a visionary‘, then I am Santa Claus!!