Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Jaya.... zara bachke rehna.

Jaya should NOT apologise. Period. There is no end to this meaningless 'apology' nonsense. Look at M.F. Husain. He refused to apologise and now his stand has been vindicated by the highest court in the land. Jaya is an impulsive person, what we call 'mooh phat' in Mumbai. She speaks before she thinks. Given these touchy times, she need not have opened her mouth to 'justify' speaking in Hindi, making matters worse by pointing out that she was a 'U.P. walli'. Had she just gone ahead and spoken in Hindi, without that preamble, nobody would have noticed or cared. To make matters worse, she asked for 'maafi'. Now.... only a person who has committed a 'galti' (and is aware of it) asks for a 'maafi'. By doing that, she did herself in and gave a handle to Raj and friends to react. It was a provocative taunt, and Jaya should have known better. But was it malicious or mischievous?? Definitely not. As a woman in public life, and an M.P.Jaya has to be doubly careful of her utterances. Unfortunately, the present climate is such.... Raj insists her comments were far from 'innocent'. Why would Jaya want to invite trouble?? Raj has ungallantly referred to her as the Guddi who is a Buddhi!! Hitting below the belt, Raj. Tch. Tch.
I dragged my protesting husband to watch, "A Wednesday." How i wish I had spared him the effort. Forget the melodramatic twist in the tale (only an actor of Naseeruddin Shah's stature could provide some dignity to that), the rest of the movie was embarrassingly amateurish with jarring sound effects and a screechy background score that alerted viewers well in advance to some 'dramatic' development in the offing. Childish!! Patchy camerawork added to the misery. Jimmy's jaws must have hurt with all that determined chewing of gum.Deepal looked more like a bar girl on her day off than a serious tv reporter.Anupam was fine, but one dimensional as Mumbai's top cop. The man playing the CM looked looked like he had strolled out of an Ekta Kapoor serial after playing someone's father-in-law. The script was ridden with the worst cliches - A Muslim ATS guy sent to total FOUR Muslim terrorists, who are being tricked by another Muslim 'Common man' (Naseer). Come on.... is there no room for subtlety? Naseer's final bhashan is more appropriate in a documentary. The 'message' is delivered as a 'message', which is not what GOOD cinema is about.This is called propaganda and appealing to the masses in the old Films' Division mode. Heavy handed and lacking in sophistication of thought.Noble, it may be in intention. But cinema is about art and the power to move AUDIENCES without hammering the message home (ditto, for the 'Rang De, Basanti' ending). Should civilians take the law into their own hands and kill people they believe are 'bad' for society?? If every 'common man' decides that is the only way forward, we will get anarchy, not peace. Civil resolutions do not lie in violence-for-violence. That was my biggest shikayat against this film, which once again has been praised to the skies by maha critics!!

21 comments:

Harish said...

Zabaan Sambhaal Ke... Jaya Ji

Bengal Sweets to UP Halwai : Jaya Bhadhuri's zabaan shows bahaduri. But whats the need. I wonder? I agree she speaks very little, and when she speaks she blasts a few bombs. (Typical Arien that she is)

Guddi jo hai buddhi... he can dare to say.. can jaya retort back saying "Raju jo hai Daaku" about Raj T. No she cant, when he can get away with his freedom of expression, no matter how vehement it may be, then why cant she too dare to say that... (Anyways why comparison of Jaya with such fanatics... poles apart they are). I somehow find Maa Bachchan most sensible as compared to Pa, Bahu and Baby. (Somehow I feel that Pa Bahu and Baby (amit,Ash,abhi) are not genuine and they always have some ulterior motive behind their actions. )

A wednesday... haan reviews are good... but I am an Atheist, I dont believe in Film Critics

(lol, I mean people take film critics ka word as the gospel truth, huhhh...)

Still I will watch this movie and give Ek Ladki.... my review.

Thanks to you and your blog De, I am also making naya blog-dosts. :-)

Anonymous said...

Chalo Jaya's Bacchhan's itch has been scratched. What she was dying say was said. Not wise according to me. Frankly mooh phat, so forgive all, doesent impress me. Particularly not under her circumstances. Still she makes her bed everyday and she will figure out how to sleep in it. Both Raj and she are big boys and girls. One is buddhi one is a buddha. Neither of whom remind me much of a gudda/guddi. So there you have it!

Does a higher court vindicating Hussain mean much? Janta ki Adaalat and all that! He is also deliberately provocative but the difference is that he is man enough to stand up to it without any political agenda or axe to grind. I admire him for that. Not for his great artistic skill. Bassssss. I am all for an Artists freedom of expression, so his pictures did not offend me. But if they offended others, they have every right to protest BUT peacefully. Yehin toh MNS dhaakaa kha jaat hai!

As for one side being fundamentalist and the other side being not... hmmmmm.... just hmmmmm. Degrees of fundamentalism may differ, but sensitivity to "others sentiment" does not. They just put in different words and in different social ambiances. I have my reasons to say that.

Too bad about A Wednesday! I was just about to put it on my netflix list.

Meanwhile I saw the most brilliant but chilling film on DVD this weekend. The Lives of Others.
http://gogermany.about.com/b/2007/03/04/german-stasi-film-wins-oscar-for-best-foreign-film.htm
I saw it with some friends who grew up in behind the Iron Curtain around that time. Very sobering despite the good beer, grey goose and bratwurst on hand. See it if you can.

Another Kiran in NYC

ek-ladki-anjaani-si said...

Sorry De' I disagree with both your views this time... to each his own. Being a public figure, as Jaya is, she knows better than to make such smart ass comments. Didn't she do this blooper once in the past, and then later had to apologize? Learn from your mistakes I say! And, AK said it perfectly, being Mooh-Phat doesn't justify it.

Raj Thakrey, I agree with Aham, is a Daaku, he waits on such bloopers to bank his political agenda. The Marathi card has been OVER played by MNS, I feel. In this case, as AK had said earlier, both parties deserve each other. If one cannot hold her tongue, then the other cannot hold his actions. It's all a matter of opinion whether each comment was below or above the belt. Blows have been cast, each party is injured in many-a-eyes!

Now as far as A Wednesday is concerned, I really liked the movie. Cinema doesn't always have to send a message, sometimes it can be a tale to tell, simple! Those who will get provoked by it are too immature anyway. The point of the movie was, this could happen because even the "common man" gets effected by such things, though uninvolved. Agreed, characters like the tv-reporter and CM were pathetic, but who cares? The characters that mattered were awesome. Music score, I didn't pay attention to much, but then again I never do!

The movie seemed amatuerish because this WAS Neeraj's first movie! Imagine the potential! I thought the overall camera work, editing, screenplay was above average when you compare to some of the crap that's coming out from these well established so called directors.

I feel, one should think outside the box... see the whole picture per-say. Imagine what the other was trying to say, perhaps try to understand his viewpoint. I liked it, so AK-NYC, do see it! Don't take De's word on it, or mine... give us your honest opinion.

As for you De' we agreed to disagree here, correct? This is not an anticipatory bail, just a healthy argument on viewpoints. This time we don't see it eye to eye. I calls it POETAYTOE... you calls it POTATO ;-)

Arjun said...

We love to make storms in the proverbial teacup!!
The Thackerays are specialists in the same - they're like SMEs (subject matter experts)

Now I've lived most of my life in Mumbai and call myself a Mumbaikar - even though I work and live in Delhi. It doesn't take away anything from Delhi or make Mumbai greater.

So if Jay is from UP and King Khan is from Dillliii... how does it really matter. I mean it's not going to change the country, its problems won't go away.

Yes Mr.T can divert our minds for a bit - dats all.

Anonymous said...

Kowing well that we live in dangerous times where might normally is proven right time and again, Jaya has yet to learn who can get away with some brazen comments and who cannot. Well, she cannot because the Bachchan family has flaunted their UP colours once too often, needlessly. Why can these Bollywood folk not be plain simple Maharashtrians by virtue of living in this state? Moral of the story- Tickets to Rajya Sabha or membership of political party cannot transform an actor, dancer, artist etc. into an astute politician. They are what they are- entertainers. Period!

Anonymous said...

you are writing nonsense. being a socialite does not mean u can write anything.

Anonymous said...

she has not only committed a galti she has also shown great disrespect to the ppl of maharashtra.

it is sad that you do not consider yourself to be a maharashtrian and do not have pride as such.

Renu said...

I say now where are the intelligentia of Mumbai? why dont they speak up now? why Raj thackerey is given so much importance in the papers, how is he differnet from the separatist propaganda of kashmir. Wy make them outlaws and he is a prom inent politician, a person who is trying to divide the nation and its people---what should we call him? Not that i like bacchan family any more than him, but here its a question of national unity.

Shobhaa De said...

guys, both protagonists are playing political games and appeasing their individual constituencies.Paisa pheko, tamasha dekho.Raj and Jaya .... as of now, it's love all.The Last Lear or The Last Laugh?? Who will have what?THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAROCHIALISM AND NATIONALISM. I PREFER THE LATTER.

sanju ayyar said...

mumbai belongs to its citizens. anybody who lives in mumbai and loves mumbai is a true mumbaikar and a true marathi. period. i am a south indian born and brought up in maharashtra, particularly in mumbai. i speak better marathi than more maharashtrians. but i talk to my mahatashtrian friends in hindi only as it is my national language. nobody can stop me from exercising that fundamental right. if the MNS wants non-marathi speaking people out of Mumbai, I pity him because he's losing his marbles for sure. And I am not going anywhere. Vishay samplaa.

Kris Bass said...

I don't know what to say about the Jaya Bacchan incident. But I know that whatever is it that you criticize about 'A Wednesday', if you can watch Singh Is Kinnnggg for Akshay, I can watch 'A Wednesday' for Naseer.

Anonymous said...

see
www.aamirblues.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

renu, the so called intellegentia including the writer of this blog, will always find ways to humiliate others who are not so favorably placed to give their comments on blogs.

why are they treating thackarays as beating boys? Dont they have a right to expect respect for their state and their people?

Anonymous said...

I think Jaya Bhaduri has made a very irresponsible statement. What if each person starts insisting on speaking only in their respective mother tongue could he or she be justified? I wonder what happens to our national integration. I think Raj Thackrey has a point although it must be made gracefully and democratically.

Anonymous said...

if you have no pride in maharashtra and maharashtrians, would you like to shift to allahabad where bachahans and amar and mulayam singhs will make everything to make life comfortable in the typical UP-an way.

Anonymous said...

How can you say inidrectly that you are not parochial but nationalist?

ppl who have pride in their own state in the first place, can have pride in their nation.

Anonymous said...

When Raj made the statement that Jaya is a guddi who became a buddi - did he think that he belonged to a select crowd who remained young forever. You mean he is never going to become a budda!!!What nonsense!

Anonymous said...

MP- J.B is entitled to an opinion, which, she may have liked to keep private like the rest of us sometimes do using the better part of our discretion. What she's proven time and again, is how both she and the MNS make for the perfect bedfellows with their on the fly histrionics and socially reckless, juvenile comments.
That she is a bad case of sebum over-production is common knowledge but the fact that she has it in her to make the cut for the MNS cadre is something few Marathi people seem to willingly want to acknowledge.
Peace!

hakim jamali said...

Well its all said and done...but I dont think Jaya bacchan said any against maharashtrans, so there was no point to react. Even priyanka chopra said the same thing why was she not targetted? It was all personal, n Raj Thackrey needed a reason to target bacchans.

Anonymous said...

Ms. De! I have been reading your blogs and have forced myself many a times from commenting about the extent to which i disagreed with your thinking. People read your blog because you are a celebrity, devoid of your celeb status noone would give a rip about what you thought. And I must say you have some cheeks to write people off left and right with your ultimate judgement.
I watched Wednesday too. And i belive it was a very honest attempt. Definitely not the response you gave it. I wonder what your credibility is to write people and movies and everything around you off.
I remember a passage from Protima Bedi's autobiography where she had written not so good things about you. that was more interesting! I gues its De time now!De is here and De will devour. De is absolutely prejudiced and hating. De needs compassion! God help De.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely agree with your views on A Wednesday and RDB. You said it!

Regards,
Rahul