Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and housemaids in movies

Now that Alfonso Cuaron's Roma bagged so many Golden Globes and nominated for multiple segments of Oscars, I add  examples of some Indian movies  hereby and I shall give an anecdotal evidence of how maids in this subcontinent matter more than family members sometimes. Roma by Cuaron documents his growing up days in Mexico city and their family maid Roma.

Khokababur Pratyabartan is a famous novel by Tagore which was made into a movie in 1960 in Bengali by starring Uttam Kumar, the screen legend. This movie and the story shows moral pangs of a trusted servant who loses the master's child and later on returns his own child to the master.

Another recent Bengali movie Nayanchapar Din Ratri (2015) made by Sekhar Das is starred by Roopa Ganguly who essays the role of a maid in Kolkata. In fact the entire movie is about the life story of maids who come to work from surrounding villages of South Bengal to Kolkata. 

Hollywood has several examples which I provide below. The Maid's Room of 2014 is a thriller based on murder and disappearance of a Columbian maid in Long Island household.

Maid in Manhattan (2002) is a Romcom starring J Lo which is quite enjoyable.

Similarly I remember an anecdote after Benazir Bhutto's assassination. I read when the entire Zardari and Bhutto family were searching for her last will , the loyal old maid of Benazir came forth and declared that she has been handed over the will by Benazir and she will hand it over only to Bilawal Bhutto, Benazir's son upon his return from UK. This story indeed buttresses the view on importance of maids in Indian subcontinent where maids turn out be trusted more than the family sometimes. 

If readers can suggest any Bollywood film on maids I shall be glad because I don't recall anything other than Lust Stories starring Bhumi Pednekar where the complexity of love  and power struggle between the maid and the master is shown.

Thanks

Bioscopewala : A review

Who told Rabindranath Tagore is no longer relevant? You have to watch the reinvented version of Kabuliwala to  realize Tagore's stories are timeless and holds sway over an audience which is more than 100 years younger than his time. The time in which the movie is set in in 1990's Calcutta where a cinephile Kabuliwala flees from war ridden Afganistan and swoons children with his mobile cinema. He befriends a small girl Minnie, daughter of a fashion photographer Rabi Basu who reminds him of her own daughter. Just like the earlier story he gets embroiled in a murder accusation and goes to Jail. While escaping the prison he comes for one last time to visit that girl but gets imprisoned again at the behest of  Rabi Basu. Upon his release finally he becomes demented and Rabi Basu now tries to fly him back to Afganistan. He dies in a plane crash and her daughter, now a film maker in France, comes back to discover Rahamat, the Afgan bioscopewala who made her childhood full of imagination and joy. I don't want to spoil the ending by disclosing the plot entirely, but the credit goes to Deb Medhekar, the director for weaving such a story of love, imagination and life as a whole. Reinventing the story in present days touching on the older strands is a task where the screenplay writers and director excel. Acting skills of Geetanjali Thapa ( Minnie) is noteworthy. Her dilemma, her reluctance, her brazen When actors of Danny's time are engaged in mindless films, Danny Denzongpa chose a meaningful film to come back. Those who are retaining Danny's image as a Bollywood villain, please see this movie to observe a new avatar.  Adil Hussain's salt n pepper look is always an winner and he did justice for the little time he spent on screen. 

I particularly liked songs written by Gulzar and some deep dialogues in this film. When Minnie encounters her father's supposedly paramour, the attractive Tisca Chopra says " Jibon amai emon kichui dei ni ja Mrityu amar kach theke kere nilo" meaning life has not given me anything that death could take away. This sentence will be etched forever in my mind.

Overall, this is a heart warming everlasting tale of universal feeling of fatherhood which Tagore portrayed. Earlier this story was made into movie twice - once in Bangla in 1957 by Tapan Sinha and another time in Hindi by Hemen Gupta in 1961. Balraj Sahani in the Hindi film and Chabi Biswas in the Bengali film made such a mark that people still remember them. Director Deb Medhekar made this movie a memorable one with Danny not deviating from the high standard of acting.

A clip of bengali film Kabuliwala

A famous song from Kabuliwala, Bollywood version

10 favourite Rabindrasangeet in Movies

Bengalis are often asked why are they obsessed with Rabindrasangeet or Tagore Songs. Many find Tagore songs melancholic and of a typical pattern. However the lyrics he wrote speaks of every possible emotions humans experience and hence its popularity never wanes. Tagore mixed Ragas, folk tunes and English music to make something new....he was the original Fusion maker ....Shyam Benegal once told in an Interview on Film music to Outlook magazine in 2006 that Bengali film makers are lucky to have Tagore songs since it blends so nicely to buttress cinematic moments. He particularly spoke highly of Ghatak and Ray using Rabindrasangeet in cinema.

I grew up in 1980's and 90's Calcutta where some Rabindrasangeet in films made me hear again and again. I hereby make a list of 10 though it is not a comprehensive list. I tried to include the old and the new, the past and the recent. However a list like this cannot be complete.I urge my readers to add more in the comments section below.


1) Charano Dhorite Diogo Amare from Dadar Kirti

This one is my all time favorite sung by mellifluous Hemanta Mukherjee in a Tarun Majumdar film based on Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay novella. Except Piano there is no background music in this song and the ups and downs of notes by tenor of Hemanta is unbelievably heart rendering. It is still immensely popular.

2) Je Rat e Mor Duar Guli from Meghe Dhaka Tara

One of the classics of World Cinema by Ritwick Ghatak, this movie has a Rabindrasangeet which cannot be more apt to display the suffering of the female protagonist Neeta. The sounds of lashing reverberates with her pain. Ray being my personal favorite, grudgingly I accept that Ghatak was much better in choosing Rabindrasangeet used in his films.

3) Tumi Rab e Nirobe in Kuheli

This is another of my favorites where  sugar sweet voice of Lata Mangeshkar pitches in after a long passage by Hemanta Mukherjee....the handsome Biswajeet plays a piano and Sandhya Roy joins him....a song to celebrate togetherness and romance

4) Momo Chitte Niti Nritye ( Instrumental) in Charulata

The beginning of Charulata has an instrumental version of Momo Chitte composed by Ray and being an exiled Calcuttan I always yearn for home the moment I hear this lovely tune. Nothing essays the lonely housewife more than this music.

5) Aji Jharer Rat e Tomar Abhisar in The Last Lear

Rashid Khan singing this in a classical style was a scoop by Rituparno Ghosh in the end of this film when the title card begins to roll. It was a treat for me despite many criticized the style of singing Rabindrasangeet not fitting into the usual method.

6) Amar Bichar tumi Karo in Bicharak

One of the best examples of music in cinema where the dilemma and moral pangs  of a judge is submitted to the hands of the Lord for  final justice and deliverance. Brilliantly sung by Hemanta Mukherjee starring Uttam Kumar.

7) Sajani Sajani Radhika lo in Chokher Bali

As Aiswarya Rai gets ready for a meeting with her lover , you can feel her urge for a rendezvous.I could not obtain the video from Youtube, however I recollect vividly the song in Chokher Bali.many will remember too.


8) Mayabono Biharini in Bedroom

This was an iconoclastic fusion of rock and Rabindrasangeet which delighted me...the freshness , the spunk of Somlata Acharya Chaudhuri made me fall in love with her voice.

9) Diner Seshe Ghumer Deshe in Mukti

My grandfather, a famous surgeon of his time operated on Pankaj Mallik's daughter saving her from an amputation and the legendary Pankaj Mallik sang this to him in return and hence my personal favorite. This was also a Tagore poem set into music by Pankaj Mallik and Tagore, pleasantly surprised , allowed him to use it for a Pramathesh Barua film, Mukti.

10) Majhe Majhe Tobo Dekha pai in Island

This is sung by Ritu Guha in Island, a Paul Cox film. Paul Cox was an Australian who used this song in his film. However there is no Youtube video. I recall seeing this in Calcutta in 1996 and it beaitfully captures the wait of a lady in love with a man who is coming home in a ship. The lyrics weaved into the cinematic moment of pangs of loneliness of a lover. I add a link below for my readers to read about Paul Cox and Ritu Guha.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Film-Journalists-Association-pays-tribute-to-Paul-Cox/articleshow/53005765.cms

Making Film music is not an easy job. Sergei Eisenstein recruited the famous classical musician Prokofiev to put music in his films. Film has moments when music speak the language of cinema and Rabindrasangeet fits in nicely to portray the cinematic moments and evokes the emotions of the viewers in sync with the characters. I am aware this list did not include many songs and list like this can never be complete. I tried my best to cull my favorite ones, I know my readers can add many more which can be interesting additions to this blog. I welcome you all to add your favorite one with your feelings written along with it. Please write in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you.

Thank you. 

The Light Between Oceans : A review

I watched a movie in Sony Le Plex channel recently quite late at night in a Mahabaleswar hotel room. I was sleepy but as I started watching the story caught my attention and kept me awake yearning to see what happens in the end.The movie grabs your attention.

The movie begins with a World War veteran Tom Sherbourne ( Michael Fassbender) taking up a Lighthouse guard job in order to find some solitude; however he falls in love with a local girl, Isabel ( Alicia Vikander)and marries her. But two miscarriage by the wife shatter their hope of having another. The woman's depression was so palpable and the man's effort to mollify her was encouraging. The empty cot, The ruffling ocean, whistling winds, two crosses reminding the miscarriages, woman's sigh... everything put the tone of the movie into deep melancholy. However arrival of a boat with a dead man and an infant girl changed everything. Isabel sprang into life taking care of the baby. The empty cot which they prepared with great hope earlier got filled. The transformation of Isabel from a melancholic lost soul to an exuberant mother was so vividly noticeable. The call of duty dictated Tom that he informs the authorities about this sudden arrival of an infant but faded into oblivion as a frantic Isabel persuaded her husband not to steal her new found bundle of joy. The husband obliges but here begins the moral dilemma which is going to cause enormous turbulence later on. 

I don't want the full story to be disclosed but the ensuing human drama that begins after Tom finds out and contacts the infant's mother out of sheer moral compulsion. Tom lands up in jail but not a single moment he accuses Isabel. She never betrays her trust either. In the end the baby girl reunites with her biological mother and family and we see Isabel dying aged and infirm tormented with life long guilt. This movie is going to rivet you to the screen and while engrossed you will find it is a simple story of human need of love, parenthood or pangs due to lack of it. The stoic acting of Micheal Fassbender blows your mind and the melodramatic Alicia Vikander tug your heart strings.

Please watch till the end. After a long time I was engrossed by simple tale of human emotions. I expected the movie to be a dark one, instead it turned out to be a heart tugging riveting watch. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover it is based on a novel written by M.L. Stedman whom I have never heard of. Now I will be finding and reading her books.

Seemabaddha(1971) & Corporate(2006)

This blog is about similar themes of 2 movies made 4 decades apart in different languages. Satyajit Ray was a pioneer and he made Seemabaddha in 1972 about the greedy corporate culture. I don't recall any other movies on corporate in Bengali, in Hindia not either.. In Bollywood in 2006 Madhur Bhandarkar made Bipasha Basu, Kay Kay Menon Starrer Corporate movie based on Cola wars between two giants. I am inserting the links of the both for your perusal. Though the languages are different, times are different but you will find the unmistakable strain of commonness in the reckless greed and moral implications thereof. In Hollywood there are many examples of movies based on Corporate culture eg., The Wall Street, Inside Job, Erin Brokovich etc, however in India films on this premise is almost non existent. Hence I thought a discussion on Seemabaddha and Corporate can be relevant to display the similarity in corporate culture despite a gap of 4 decades in 2 different Metropolises of India - Calcutta and Bombay.

Satyajit Ray based Seemabaddha on a novel by Shankar. It is about the ruthless bigwig of Peter Fan Company Ltd who wants to become a Managing Director by any means. Shyamalendu played by Barun Chanda forgets his literature loving past and gets on the competition to head the company he works in and he adopts an unscrupulous mean to do so. His greed is reckless , he soaks in the opulence of grand old days of Industrially developed Calcutta and he compares himself to a race horse whose end line is shifting. 

This was made in the hey days of Calcutta when it still enjoyed financial glory and Industrial productivity. All the major British industry houses eg. Bird Company, McNeil Magor, GKW, Texmaco, Metal Box, Sen Raleigh, IISCO, Burn Standard, Balmer Lawrie, Andrew Yule were roaring at its supreme. In 1971 major corpoarte head offices were still in Calcutta though Naxals were uprising. Night life of Park Street was still a legend on the east of Suez canal. The premise of the movie was very timely. 

In this backdrop of big corporates Ray showed his hero indeed achieves what he wants but Ray shows the moral depravity of the entire fiasco by a charmingly naive sister in law Tutul ( played by Sharmila Tagore) who disapproves the entire thing by subtle gestures. In the end Shyamalendu's rise appears futile with moral pangs ridding it. 

Similarly in Corporate made in 2006 Bombay shows Nishigandha Dasgupta ( brilliantly played by Bipasha Basu) becomes a pawn in the hands of the corporate bigwig and gets destroyed in the eventual brand war. Bipasha Basu probably gave her career best performance in this film and Madhur Bhandarkar directed the movie with elan showing the inner workings of 2 corporate Cola majors. As always in his movie the city of Bombay with its glamorous highrises, posh locales play the role of the Financial Capital of India. If Ray chose 1970's Calcutta, then Madhur's choice of Bombay as the corporate city of India in 2006 is unmatchable. In the end of Cola wars, we see the death of Riteish ( Kay Kay Menon), Nishi's beau and Nishi battling in the court whereas the corporate kings make convenient adjustments for unbridled greed.

I found significant similarity in terms of greed and power in both. I am sure readers will not miss the a common thread in both the films though they were made 45 years apart , at a different timepoint in different cities of India.

Indian Author Text Books

My students, friends and colleagues know my disdain for Indian author text books in science and biotechnology. I rarely prescribe any Indian author text books of biotechnology to my students who are doing graduation and post-graduation in Biotechnology (B.Tech, M.tech, M.Sc etc). I pass snide remarks if a student says “I study Satyanarayan’s Biochemistry or B.D. Singh’s Biotechnology”. I preach them not to read Indian author textbooks. And I practice what I preach!!

I always swear by Lehninger’s Biochemistry, Bruce Alberts Cell Biology, Prescott’s Microbiology, John Smith’s Biotechnology, Schuler and Kargi’s Biochemical Engineering , Crueger & Crueger’s Fermentation technology , TA Brown’s Genome etc. Even for biochemistry and microbiology practicals I prefer David Plummer or Rodney Boyer or a  Sherman- Capuccino. For mol bio even at the cost of snobbery I prescribed Maniatis to  my M.Sc Biotech students of Xavier’s.

People know my liking and standards. I don’t deviate from those foreign author textbooks while teaching. I love those diagrams, colored photos, brilliant brain stimulating end of the chapter questions which prepared me for GATE, NET and interviews. From 1994 I have been fed on foreign author text books; during B.Sc & M.Sc Physiology I used to read Guyton or Ganong. I used to worship Harper’s Biochemistry and many of my knowledge gems came from Lehninger and Voet and Voet’s Biochemistry. Guyton’s Physiology was like a storybook suggested by Dr Yoshomalyo Banerjee ( beloved Tum dada). Ganong helped before exams. Voet and Voet had brilliant colored photos of proteins and DNA which shaped my life long interest in proteins and molecular biology and I eventually finished a PhD on tubulin-a cytoskeletal protein. While studying Biotechnology Masters in Jadavpur University my fascination for cell biology and microbiology begun with Bruce Alberts and Prescott. What a brilliantly written book. And added to the attraction was the fact that Bruce Alberts co-authors with legendary James Watson of DNA double helix fame. When I got know that Albert Lehninger discovered oxidative phosphorylation my respect grew even more, as if the best of the world’s knowledgeable scientists were giving their insights to me while I read their textbooks. Another book which shaped my career in molecular biology was Tom Maniatis’s Gene Cloning. While performing molecular biology experiments in between 2002 to 2006 in Jadavpur University , MAHYCO or while teaching in Xavier’s Mumbai from 2012-2017, I acknowledge immense help from Maniatis book, I consider it like many others as a bible of genetic engineering. Genetic Engineering books by Old & primrose or Glick & Pasternak also influenced me heavily. Notwithstanding the attractive prose, color images and extensive knowledge even  the end of chapter bibliography sparked interest in me to seek more knowledge.

However today in this blog I disclose that once I was helped by many Indian author textbooks which I may not follow as a teacher but that had a done a great deal of help in terms of passing exams and gaining sufficient knowledge. Why am I writing this has a reason? Yes, recently while teaching clinical biochemistry I found Devlin’s Clinical Biochemistry unaffordable. And I have to teach it. So I resorted to good old dog eared copy of Biochemistry by Debajyoti Das I bought in 1994 in College Street , Calcutta while beginning B.Sc.. I had found very soon that in Calcutta University pattern of education Debajyoti Das and C.C.Chatterji’s books will help me in sailing through. A very well written book, Debajyoti Das’s Biochemistry, helps a lot of doctors and biochemistry students across the medical colleges also. I am privileged to attend the lectures of this great man in Presidency College from 1998-1999. His book encompasses general biochemistry, nutrition, physiology and clinical biochemistry – the depth and breadth of which is sometime missing in Harper’s Biochemistry which medical students vouch for. And he enlightened with Indian statistics on nutrition and clinical biochemistry which is missing in foreign authors. We as a race have different food habits and physiological parameters which is not mentioned by foreign authors. But from Debajyoti Das I got to know why Indians prefer a combination of Dal-Rice, Idly-Sambar, Dal Roti etc. I got to know why Indians suffer from Thalassemia in certain parts of this country. Even C.C. Chatterji’s Physiology was many a time life saver just before exams. While panicking and looking at the untouched portions I frowned at the subject in Guyton or Ganong but Calcutta University question paper is set in such a way in last moment a C.C Chatterji will save you in passing physiology exam rather than a glamorous copy of Ganong. I don’t demean Ganong, Guyton or Lenhinger, Harper but it is a truth I am sharing and many of my friends in academics or medicine from Calcutta will vouch for the fact that while preparing for fear-inducing exams with last moment study and vast uncovered syllabus, a Debajyoti Das or C.C Chatterji can calm you down and make you pass through the ordeal of passing degree not compromising with the quality knowledge. In fact I learnt my pharmacology first from K.D.Tripathy's Medical Pharmacology, a widely read book by doctors in making and written with Indian patients in mind. Later on while doing PhD I loved reading Goodman Gilman but K.D Tripathy was irreplaceable while embarking a PhD on biochemical pharmacology from IIT Bombay under Prof Dulal Panda.

I have no idea of other fields like Engineering or Law or Arts, those subjects may have distinguished Indian author books. But while studying H.S. (12^th standard) I was benefitted by Das & Mukherji’s Calculus, Ganguly & Mukherji’s Algebra, Trigonometry, Souren Dey’s Mathematics, Ranajit Das and S.N. Poddar’s Chemistry, Bahl & Bahl’s Organic Chemistry, Sanyal Chatterji’s Biology, Das-Adhikary-Sinha –Roy’s Biology, C.R.D.G's Physics or DPC's Physics. At that time neither did we have access to foreign author text books in schools nor did anybody prescribe. Some students used to get A Level ELBS Biology, Physics, Chemistry books, some used to read Morrison Boyd’s Organic Chemistry, I.L.Finar’s Organic Chemistry , J.D.Lee’s Inorganic Chemistry or Resnick Halliday’s Physics for IIT preparations. But I was no extra ordinary student and I limited my study to the before mentioned Indian author books of science.

During B.Sc I had Zoology and Chemistry Pass and I stuck to Indian author texts like Ganguly Adhikary’s Zoology, S.R.Palit’s Physical Chemistry, Bahl & Bahl’s Organic Chemistry etc. Sometimes Indian author texts have printing mistakes, they are not that attractive due to lack of colourful images and overall the lavish packaging of the foreign author books attracted me more. Nevertheless, I disclose happily that I was once benefitted by Indian author textbooks immensely and now as I teach I need few of them foreign authors being unaffordable financially. The packaging may be bad, the black and white images may look dull but the knowledge I acquired from Debajyoti Das’s Biochemistry or C.C Chatterji’s Physiology or Das Mukherji’s Calculus or Ranajit Das’s Chemistry or Bahl and Bahl’s Organic Chemistry will remain with  me lifetime. 

Even my previous generation from Calcutta told me they loved their Ladli Mohan Mitra Chemistry book, D.P.Ray Choudhury's Physics book, A.C. Dutta's Botany, Samar Mitra's Anatomy & Physiology, K.C. Nag's Mathematics, Jadav Chandra Chowdhury's Arithmetic or K.P.Basu's Algebra. P.K.De sarkar's English book was another gem for learning English with the help of Bengali language. I was a Bangla medium student and I have affinity for this book particularly. My grandfather used to prescribe many of these to me. Even I remember he bought a guide book of K.P.Basu and Jadav Chowdhury and will look into it only when I failed to solve certain sums.Bengali students will forever remember these books despite the flooding of Chaya Prokashoni and so called Ray& Martin's ( a crappy copy of venerable British author Wren & Martin which we followed in schools) these days.

As I make this disclosure and eulogize Indian author books which I do rarely and secretively, I am certain many of my friends in academia or medicine or science profession will share my views. All said and done, in Indian educational system, due to their affordability and faithful delivery of good science, these Indian author textbooks formed many careers. They saved many from the trauma of certain and imminent failure in exams. They saved a lot many from the ignominy of not getting the coveted degree, those books were the last resort in those stressful days when the realization dawned upon you that you are utterly unprepared for the upcoming degree exams and you are going to fail surely and certainly. I am always fascinated and enamored by the dazzle and brilliance of foreign text books but I must declare that those Indian author text books I clung to my heart before B.Sc or M.Sc finals and I did not flunk the important exams. Rather I flung those fancy foreign textbooks for those panic stricken days and nights and I clung to Indian authors for saving my face.

I hope you liked it, I welcome your comments and want to know their point of views. Thank you.

Cairo Time : A Review

Recently me and my wife watched Cairo Time and came to the conclusion this is a rare display of restraint in what could be otherwise a tempestuous extra marital love story. This is a contrary view of the film which many critics dismissed as vapid and reticent. Cairo Time begins with a premise of extra marital affair and you expect sparks will fly when a middle aged married woman meets a dashing bachelor on a foreign shore. However nothing much happens to indicate a stormy relationship. Patricia Clarkson is a Canadian woman, married and a mother of two. She is a magazine editor. When she lands up in Egypt for a vacation with her husband she has to wait because her husband works for UN and is held up in Gaza. In the meanwhile Alexander Siddiq, a confirmed bachelor working as a security officer spends time with her and takes her around. The beautiful cinematography of the city, the white desert  and the Pyramids made me feel like visiting Cairo. The pace of the movie is as languid as the river Nile flows. However there are subtle moments between the svelte Patricia and the handsome Siddiq that makes you fall in love. Slight touch, ungiven kiss and silent admiration are the hallmarks of this movie which exemplifies that true love has to be felt not expressed.

In general, movies on extra marital affairs are expected to be pots of emotions stirred with physical intimacy. Emotional upheavals and resultant physical tensions become palpable in such movies. But Cairo Time is all about restrain in such situation and it is very plausible to display such restrain because we human beings are aware of such situations where we do maintain calm and composure even when faced with temptations of flesh. We know we get embroiled in such situations where the body wants to give in but mind says No. And that’s how we maintain civility in many such tempting relations of life. So I cannot dismiss this movie as taciturn due to lack of tumultuous affair.

My wife also pointed out the beautiful dresses Patricia Clarkson was wearing in the movie. Music  in the movie is well composed, particularly the piano pieces. Overall the movie is well planned and well executed. I would recommend anyone any day. I watched this movie in 2011 and then very recently. The admiration did not fade in these 7 years. Hence you can well understand this is my favorite.