The Eleventh Hour

Salman Rushdie is perhaps most famous for having written "Satanic Verses" in 1988 that provoked a death threat.

Before that, after graduating with an English education (Cambridge) Salman was an advertising copy writer.  While doing that he was writing a science fiction book that failed to impress either potential readers or critics.  Still working in ad agency he wrote "Midnight's Children" that came out in 1981.  It won the Booker Prize that allowed him to become a full time writer.  Years later he was involved in writing the script for the film version co-operating with Deepa Mehta and one of the stars, Shriya Saran, a favourite..

"Satanic Verses" offended Muslim fundamentalist governments and was banned in 20 countries.  More critically it raised the ire of Ayatollah Khomeni who issued a fatwa demanding Salman's death in 1989.  He went into hiding, making a few high security public appearances and continued writing.

By 2022 it seemed safe, however there were still those who took the fatwa seriously and Salmon was attacked at a public author's event.  Before anyone could restrain the attacker, Salmon suffered being stabbed that ended up losing one eye and damage to his hands and liver.

Being an outspoken author was dangerous and he decided he had to deal with this violation of trust.  One of the results was the non fiction book "Knife." 

Now he was ready to get back to what he normally does.  Write fiction.  I have been stuck by a quote from Picasso who said "Art is the lie that shows us the truth."  To me it suggests that fiction can be a tool to give us greater human insight.  

The title, "The Eleventh Hour" is meant to convey the concern that we all face; death and how to deal with it in our quest to give meaning to our life.  Salman decided on 5 short stories to give different perspectives in an engaging manner.  

He draws on his background in India, England and United States.  Some of his references hit me as I didn't expect any to Indian films, but I should have known better.  Others will pick up on things he experienced in England where he went to school or America where he took up residence.

He is credited with using a magic realism style.  As a youngster, Salman was first impressed by "The Wizard of Oz" that sets a fantasy frame to tell us a little bit about three real men.  In his five stories he combines fantasy in a historical context.

We are grateful that Salman survived and if you get a chance to read "The Eleventh Hour" you will be grateful too.

Funny Boy

 I never thought I would be touting a movie about a gay boy raised in Sri Lanka as one of my favorites for the year, but "Funny Boy" has a lot going for it.  One attention getting point is that it is the Canadian nomination for the Oscar international film category.  There are a lot of good films in that category and it is pointless to predict how far this film will go.  Regardless it is well worth the effort to watch.  CBC recently broadcast it without commercials.

First, let's deal with the gay part.  The title comes from family observations of Arjie, the protagonist when he was an 8 year old boy.  Very obviously he prefers girl things.  The opening example is a mock wedding among children where he portrays the bride (his face is initially hidden from our view).   When it comes time to kiss the bride we see he has on lipstick and one obnoxious child objects to the bride being a boy.   His parents call him "funny boy" in a concerned way and make attempts to steer him towards "boy" things, but he doesn't feel comfortable.  An aunt, Radha, returned from Canada recognizes that he is gay and encourages his "feminine" interests.

When he goes away to school he meets a kindred young man who happens to be Sinhalese and they soon realize they love each other, but for the most part have to hide their feelings.  Arjie's brother and sister are understanding but realize their parents aren't as understanding.  For me one of the most illuminating scenes is when the two boys are alone in a room and happily dancing to "Every Breath you Take" shown waist up and then covering themselves with blankets when they need to open doors to learn that violent riots are taking place nearby.  At the end of the movie when the family is at the Toronto Airport (in winter) the mother comments that now they are in Canada they are free slaves seeming to acknowledge that their son will be able to pursue who is really is.

There is another big source of tension and that is between the Tamils and Sinhalese.  The Tamils had been brought to what was then called Ceylon and they proved to be good at business and professions to such an extent the Sinhalese resented them and took steps to control them.  There are many minor encounters and references to Tamil Tigers that remind us of the tension.  The aunt who helps Arjie, falls in love with a Sinhalese and this is resisted by her parents who eventually force her to marry someone they picked.  Violence escalates and at one point they decide to flee to Canada. 

So far my favorite movie seen this year is "Peranbu" (2019) and two other Tamil films are among my top movies for 2020.  "Funny Face" will rank up among the top films seen this year.   Although this is a movie about Tamils it should be of concern to Canadians as over 100,000 Tamils came to Canada.  I have become more impressed with Tamil film: Read more about my top film so far this year:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/03/peranbu-top-film-out-of-india.html

There is lots to like about this film.  Start with the writing.  It is based on an award winning collection of short stories by Shayam Selvadurai who grew up gay in Sri Lanka before escaping to Canada.  He won the Lampa Literary Award and one for First novel authors.   He had worked on radio adaptation of one of his stories with Deepa Mehta.  After dealing with other screen writers, he gave up and decided to do it on his own.  He sought help from Deepa Mehta, a veteran screen writer, director and producer.  She has won numerous international awards with some of her outstanding films including "Fire" (1996) "Earth" (1998), "Water" (2005 also filmed in Sri Lanka), "Cooking with Stella" (2009) and "Midnight's Children" (2010). 

Beautiful cinematography by Douglas Koch including natural scenery around Colombo, Sri Lanka and wrealthy old stately buildings where some of main characters lived.  Other films of his include "The Grand Seduction" (2013), "Through Black Spruce" (2018) and one for Deepa Mehta, "Bollywood/Hollywood" (2002).

The background music score comes from Howard Shore, born in Canada and winner of 3 Oscars.  He has scored for all of the Middle Earth movies,  "The Fly" (1986) "The Departed" (2006), "Hugo" (2011),  "Rosewater" 2014) and "Spotlight" (2015).   Chances are you will recognize a number of American pop tunes, some of which blend into the story. 

The acting at all levels is very good.   

Brandon Ingram was suggested by Shayam and he plays the older Arjie.   This is his first film after some 13 years in theatre.  He is openly gay in Sri Lanka where it is illegal. 

Arush Nand, played Arjie as an 8 year old.  Appeared in Bollywood films with top stars  "Dear Zindagi" (2016),  "Neerja" (2016),  and "Pamanu: The Story of Pokran" (2018).

Agam Darshi plays the progressive aunt Radha who has a short romance with Anil, a Sinhalese and then goes through with an arranged marriage.   She has been in numerous films and tv. shows in Canada and and the Unite States.  She has done some directing and producing and was a co-founder of the International South Asia Fim Festival.

Seema Biswas is a well established Bollywood actress that has appeared in 3 of Deepa Mehta films.  Other films she has appeared in include "Bandit Queen" (1994), "Vivah" (2006), "Amal" (2007),  "Half Girlfriend" (2017)

Rehan Mudannayake who played lover to Arjie once had been an assistant casting for Metha's "Midnight's Children."  He has been a successful director of short films and founded Odyssey" that makes commercials, musical and corporate videos.  From Sri Lanka he studied at the University College in London.

On February 5, 2021 the Oscar committee narrows the international film category to 10.  From my very limited perspective it seems very possible it will make the final 10 that will get voted on by Academy members. It could be a rooting interest for Canadians.

CHALO DILLI DEALS WITH SNOBBERY

The reaction encountered most often when mentioning that I like Bollywood films is that there must be something wrong with me.  Of course this is just a perception, but it is felt.  At one time I shared this attitude but it became even more relevantt  as I still looked at Bollywood comedies as beneath me.  I enjoyed some humour in more serious movies and in romantic comedies.  I even enjoyed bits of Bollywood comedies, but found too much "over the top."

One of the examples of over the top seemed to be Anupam Kher, until I got to appreciate him in serious movies. He has had a lot of supporting roles in English speaking movies ("Silver Linings Playbook," "The Big Sick" "Bend it Like Beckham" etc).  You can read my blog on him and see a little of my earlier attitude, http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/05/anupam-kher-actor-i-now-respect.html

The big breakthrough for me was a movie called "Kal Ho Naa Ho"   It had a great buildup and I had developed a liking for Shah Rukh Khan.  When I put it through the library checkout the checker commented that it was a very sad movie.  When I started watching, my first experience was that it was pretty juvenile--corny jokes until the second half when the mood changed dramatically and I have since felt that I was being set up.  In the end I found it to be very sad, profoundly moving and I almost felt ashamed for feeling the main character Shah Rukh Khan was so shallow. The stereotypical  humour made the contrast so much more stark.  I became a fan and accepted that along with the dramatic a little corny humour serves a purpose.   Successful theatre caters to what Shakespeare students called "the peanut gallery." Shah Rukh Khan is my favorite actor and you can read about it at:http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2016/06/shah-rukh-khan-worlds-most-famous-actor.html

Early on it was explained that going to movies in India was a family affair.  Young children, parents and the grandparents would go together--entertainment had to offer somethings for the kids (or they would become unruly), something for the adults  and something for older women.  The situation has changed with couples dating at movies or groups of students socializing.

"Chalo Dilli" was seen mainly as a time killer, not profound or artistic.  It followed a familiar pattern with a relatively sophisticated person paired with someone more crude and unaware of how they are perceived.  After a series of incidents the plot leads to them appreciating one another as relatively equal humans.  The initial contrast was pretty stark with a sophisticated Lara Dutta and Vinay Pathak playing the role of a crude bumpkin.  There was a twist at the end that made it more poignant.  Despite many almost slapstick moments the change in the characters was well done.

The best remembered comedies have some sort of social meaning and this is no exception. The two main characters are constantly running into problems--missed flight, car breakdown, gangster intimidation, stolen money.   The Vinay character breaks it down in steps to "it's no big deal"--while each event seems catastrophic.  Lara's character undergoes a few changes, but often only temporarily.  Vinay is crude (not vulgar) and that alone makes it difficult to accept.--at one point Vinay says that instead of crying he laughs.

Vinay Pathak was one I associated with crude comedies, but looking over his movie list I have enjoyed a number of his efforts.  In his first movie, "Fire," he had a very minor role in a movie directed by Canada's Deepa Mehta.  It was very controversial in India as it portrayed a lesbian relationship.  He later had roles in two other Mehta pictures, "Water" and Midnight's Children."  I watched him in "Dasvidaniya," where he played a man wanting to do a simple bucket list as he knew he was dying.  He had a strong supporting role in "Manoram Six Feet Under" a murder thriller.   He played another strong supporting role with Shah Rukh Khan in "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi."  In " Bhejja 2" boisterous clumsy--tying up a tax inspector with a tax evader has comic potential.

"Bheja Fry" in 2007 earned him a best actor in comedy role.  (India breaks down acting awards to include both comedy and negative roles)  Beja Fry stands for "fried brain."  A sequel, "Bheja Fry2" did not get as good reviews, but set in motion for the upcoming "Bheja Fry3"

His starring roles have mostly been comedic.  He is nothing like a leading romancer,  Instead he is more ordinary, but as an actor he is versatile.

Lara Dutta a former Miss Universe who also happened to claim the highest intelligence of contestants.   In the movie she plays a beautiful, sophisticated, somewhat arrogant executive, but she does gradually modify her attitudes.   She is listed as a producer along with her husband.

Akshay Kumar has a bit role, but done well  Plays husband of Lara Dutta and is very understanding.  I am gradually warming up to him as he has taken on a number of socially relevant roles while still maintaining leading man status.

Arshad Sayed, the writer worked on "Davidaniya," "Hum Tum aur Ghost" and also on some prolific tv series.

Shashant Shah, the director has also worked on "Davidaniya" which he also produced

An enjoyable comedy I had seen just before was "Phas Gaye re Obama" with Rajat Kapoor, a frequent co-star with Vinay  (you can also see him the background of the Bheja Fry poster). It had some clever plotting and a social message.  It was about kidnapping rich people, but in this case Rajat had returned to sell some property to cover his overwhelming indebtedness.  Still he was able to con a series of kidnappers  "I have an idea" repeated after each setback .

Actors like Vinay Pathak and Anupam Kher have to be versatile and especially in their early careers accept any reasonable role they can latch onto.  As time goes by other opportunities will open up.

Many times I feel the world is absurd.  Why not laugh?

DRISHYAM BOLLYWOOD REMAKE MASTERPIECE OF MASTERPIECE

I first noticed "Drishyam" through IMDB ratings a few months ago starting at about 9.0, but not too many followers.  Then it dropped to 8.9 and it seemed would follow a pattern of when the masses see something it usually goes downhill.  Followed practically every day with raters going up a few hundred everyday, but the rate maintained.  Below I will confess the reason for my obsession.

I didn't see the original version in Malayalam but feel secure declaring it a masterpiece. The author, Jeethu Joseph also directed.  It is often the case in India that they can just dub the original, however when something is especially good, Bollywood likes to remake it in Hindi.  I don't recall ever seeing a Malalayam film, but have seen many other languages--Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil and Telegu.  There are over 38 million  Malayalam speakers mostly in India.

Ajay Devgn is the key cast member.  Although I have seen him in a number of movies that I liked he is known principally for action movies where someone is hit hard enough to do two flips and crash through a wall.  But "Raincoat," and  "Rajineeti" were both my preferred types.  He is married to Kajol, one half of my favouite jodi and they have two kids.  Ajay fitted this effort between two movies with his own production film delayed for three months.   He was assured this production could be filmed in less than 12 weeks.  There is no evidence of it being rushed, but instead with lots of subtleties.

Shriya Saran played his wife and she is the reason I followed this movie so closely.   Saw her in "At the Other End of the Line," an English speaking movie where she played a call centre worker, very much a girl next door type, except she decided on impulse to travel to America to sneak up on an American she had talked to on the phone.  Shortly after some effort saw her in her native Tamil, as a sexy double crossing bitch where she was impressive in a different way.  She has appeared in a Canadian movie,  "Cooking with Stella,"   More famously she was in "Midnight's Children" directed by Deepa Mehta.  Mostly she gets stuck with supporting roles and reviewers usually commenting on her looks.   I follow her on IMDB, but lately there hasn't been very much positive except for "Drishyam."

Rajat Kapoor is another familiar face  usually in small supporting roles, often as a sophisticated business man.  He played an important small role in  "Dil Chatha Hai," a movie partly set in Goa  as is "Drishyam."  He is also in comedies.  In "Drishyam" he again plays the sophisticated business man but is the one squeamish character which turns out to be an important factor in this movie.  He plays the husband to the real star, Tabu.

Tabu (birth name Tabassum Hashmi) has established a strong reputation.  She played a small role in "The Life of Pi"  (Pi's mother then dies off),  and "The Namesake"  She played a military leader in "Fanaa".  She  was in a romance comedy, "Cheeni Kum."  In "Astitva" " she plays the one time unfaithful wife of a hypocritical husband.  She won an award playing in "Haider " (as Hamlet's mother) and has won numerous awards in India.  She is award worthy in this film.  The trailer portrays her as a tough opponent, and in that regard she is more brutal than shown in the trailer, but also much more nuanced--particularly as a mother of a missing son.  More on her:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/12/tabu.html

Two young girls who you might think are just decorations, but both required for critical moments and perform very well.  Ishita Dutta played the elder daughter and Mruan Javhad the younger.

Supporting actors are better than average.  A rough and ready police officer is well done as you will come to despise him.  Friends and family roles done well.

The story is a little different in that we know who committed the "crime" and we know the efforts to   catch them, but this is focused on how to avoid detection. Psychology is very important and is so well done that you feel yourself tensing up numerous times.

The director Nishikant Kamat uses such subtleties that reminds one of Hitchcock.  Actors are required to display a wide range of emotions.  I can only vaguely recall one other of his movies, "Mumbai Meri Jann" about a terrorist attack done with suspense.

The movie is a clever cat and mouse game with Tabu and Ajay.  She is the only one to realize he has concocted a story and cleverly induced many others to back it up.  The ending is poetic, but some have described as a twist, but there are many twists before hand and the ending is really sublime.

Except for some violence (mostly beatings), the movie is suitable for family viewing.  Bollywood for the most part is not as sexually explicit as Europe, Asia or even Hollywood, but you realize Ajay has a healthy sex relation with his wife and that sex sensitivity in a more puritanical society like India plays a key role.

My wife and I are watching and enjoying  "How to Get Away with Murder" which in a way could have been the title of "Drishyam."  The Viola Davis drama is more sensational and less psychological and with a lot of gratuitous sex.  I like a balanced diet of entertainment.

I came across comments that the story came from "The Devotion of Suspect X," a book I think is one of the best crime psychology books ever written, but what they have in common is only the idea of dueling with a smart detective.  There is a Japanese movie of that book and I would love to see it.

Chances are good you will before too long have access through your local library or maybe Netflix.  Likely there will be another adaptation.  I am also looking forward to the next movie of Tabu, "Talvar" that is already doing well at the festivals (including TIFF) with Irrfan Khan.  Ajay is in "Dilwale" with his wife, Kajol and the other half of my favorite jodi, Shah Rukh Khan which should be an interesting grouping.

As I rarely do single movie reviews the following links are to other exceptions.  To view another posting about a Bollywood classic with one of the same participants check out:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/07/dil-chatha-hai-bollywood-classic.html  Still another single movie review with a "Drishyam" participant is at:  http://www.johnfdavidson.com/2015/02/haider-bollywoods-version-of-shakespeare.html

The Bollywood Gender Gap and Culture

What makes you decide which movie to watch?  Of course some of us look at a lot of details, but for this post I am interested in whether the male lead or the female lead influences your decision.  Even this can be a bit difficult as many of us go as a couple and have to consider the opinion of our companion.  Even with same gender groups, decisions may partly be made by whether or not they are looking for the opposite sex or to affirm their own gender culture.

Most of us very definitely like to look at the opposite sex and the more attractive the better.  Men also  like to see what masculinity standards and which approaches to desirable women work.   Women also want to see what fashion (and behaviour) standards are important. Members of the LGBT community might spin things a little differently, but have a definite interest in gender issues.

With all that, it is fair to say that we are attracted to both male and female leads and roughly equally.  Strange to say that is not reflected in their pay.  Some reports regarding Bollywood point out that in the past the male lead has been paid as much as ten times what the female lead is paid.  Also there are more significant male roles in the film industry.

India, like many other cultures has a long history of male dominance.  Men are the ones with the aggressive hormones that lead to fighting and bossing.  And they have been the ones controlling the money.   With men dominating families in real life it was naturally reflected in films.  Not getting pregnant helps men develop leverage for salary negotiations, but really it is primarily their traditional position in families.

Negotiating for compensation for films can be complicated.  Seldom is it a straight fee, often it is a share of the profits with different calculations used.  Females are less inclined to accept share of box office receipts in lieu of a larger fee.  Both established actors and actresses can make a big part of their income from product endorsements.

Athletes were at one time demanding what seemed like large amounts of money and one of the rationalizations was that their careers were short and risky.  Actresses, particularly the ones whose avatar must reflect youthfulness and attractiveness are subject to a short big income career.  In India years ago it was taken for granted that when a woman gets married she retires from whatever work she was doing to concentrate on household duties..


Today more Indian women are working outside the home and more unmarried couples are attending movies as dates.  If a young man wants to make an impression he will have to consider what his prospective date would be attracted to.  Women want to see their lives reflected in what is shown on screen and this is starting to happen.

To me one of the reasons Western societies have gained prominence has been their willingness to give women more credit and more responsibility.  Getting the vote was a big breakthrough and so was their contributions to war efforts. Glamour is still important (to both sexes), but as women achieve more economic, social and political power they need to be represented by a wider range of activities. Women  in India are more visible in policing, the military, politics, business and even boxing.

Women consumers have enough clout that women centric movies are more common.  Examples include "Kahanni," "Queen," "Mary Kom," "Mardaani," and "English Vinglish."  There are still plenty of male oriented films with the women serving merely as props for the men, but there are changes there as well

Bollywood actresses are looking for something more meaningful than complementing the male lead.

Nandita Das has played her share of romantic roles, but has sought more meaningful roles--for my first awareness she played a gun toting rebel in "A Peck on the Cheek.." In " Provoked" had her playing an activist in a wife abuse case.   She has written and directed "Firaaq" concerning the aftermath of the Gujarti riots. She had had key roles in Canadian Deepa Metha's films "Earth" and "Fire" set in India. The latter film was very controversial with Nandita's role at the centre.

Juhi Chawla basically played romantic roles in her early career, but was smart enough to accumulate resources to get involved in film production and has produced four movies. Rani Mukerji (who recently married a producer), Vidya Balan (also married a producer), Kangana Ranaut and Priyanka Chopra have all had leading glamorous romantic roles, but have sought more meaningful roles and more money.  Deepika Padukone is supposed to have received bigger contracts in recognition that she does attract big audiences.

Mira Nair got started with documentaries and then in1988 directed and helped write "Salaam Bombay" which was nominated for the Oscar best foreign film.  She is most famous probably for "Monsoon Wedding"  I was very struck by "The Namesake."

Farah Khan was a noted choreographer for popular dance sequences.  Her ability to organize the most elaborate dance routines gave her the opportunity to direct "Main Hoon Na" and continues to direct big budget films.

Women directors are now receiving more opportunities and also getting involving in producing decisions.  Gauri Schinde, after doing ad commercials and short films made her feature "English Vinglish" in tribute to her mother who ran a home business and never spoke very good English as a sort of apology.  Sridevi made her comeback in this film.  It might be a step for female directors for women centric movies, but it might be a bigger step for them to direct big budget male oriented movies such as "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" directed and written by Zoya Akhtar.

As women direct and produce more films they will give the female perspective more emphasis.  As more consumers accept their critical importance to the success of a film (financially and artistically) they will get closer to pay equality.

As India achieves more gender equality it can create its own momentum.  Real life inspires movies and movies in turn inspire more dreams that reach towards reality.  There will always be gender differences (thank goodness), but it will be better for all when there is more gender equality.