Reviews

A great film. It is a depressing tale of how the Indian govt, bureaucracy and jealousy kill a spirited, maverick medical scientist's original work which leaves him shattered and devastated. The delicate relationship between the doctor, who totally ignores domestic and family life immersing himself into research and his wife is portrayed so nicely.

It is a NFDC production and certainly belongs to the art house genre. The direction and screenplay are realistic and natural. The brilliant performances by Shabana Azmi and Pankaj Kapur in lead roles are so full of life and emotion. The background music with the full flair of Bengal is touching and throbbing in many frames of the film.

The movie was inspired a real life personality Subhash Mukhopadhyay, who was the first scientist in the world to create IVF baby, but was denied that honor and eventually committed suicide.

The film brought alive the overall cynicism and social mores around 70s and 80s. There is lot of public anger over state apathy and corruption in today's India too. The non recognition of true talent by the state and the society, humiliation (instead of recognition) for hard work - this still exists in some quarters. But, I think, things have improved and become better to a far greater extent compared to the times that this film portrays. After watching the film, I was overcome also with a sense of relief, along with depression and despondency, perhaps out of this reason.

Ship of Theseus - saw this Hinglish film over the weekend and liked it immensely. Three stories, quite different from one another, yet intertwined and converging..The stories explore the famous SoT paradox artistically - whether the 'parts' really become the 'whole' if stitched together and what is really the relation between the parts and the whole. The similarities and contrasts between the characters in the three stories offer profound philosophical insights about life and its perceived and real purpose. At one end is the monk unwilling to even take standard life-saving medicines as it violates the rules of his ethical universe. At the other end are men who are ready to trade kidneys and even human lives. There are very subtle links throughout the film - For example, in the first story Aliya talks about the frog asking centipede how it manages to walk with so many legs and in the second story, the monk saves the centipede (in itself, a symbol for the hapless common man) from the mercilessly trampling feet of the walkers. The screenplay is engrossing, the dialogues are witty, intelligent and riveting at many places. The actors playing the roles of the main protagonists in each story have done a splendid job - especially the monk. Even the secondary characters, like the young advocate in the monk story and the Dadi ma in the last story are so carefully chiseled and presented. The very "range" of the film - from the portrayal of Arab- origin liberal Muslim girl living in Mumbai, all the way to the nuances of atheist-but-not-materialist Jain philosophy - is breathtaking. Writer and director Anand Gandhi has presented a masterly film.

Not so often you come across Indian movies that understand and speak in the meta language of "cinema" instead of plain narration - this film in one such. The visuals were just stunning in many parts. The angles, cuts and movements, the natural colors and hues - the masterly cinematography was at work everywhere. Solitary walks of the characters in long winding passages - be it the buzzing city, or the Himalayan passage, or the Windmill dense path - those visuals are sheer poetry. Sound re recording is superb; the way the natural sounds are presented create a magical experience (eg. Aliya "feeling" the *loudness* of Mumbai traffic after she got the *eyes*). Background music is mellowed and in the right measure, "filling" the scenes beautuifully only when required, instead of jarring all the time. I read somewhere that the version released in Indian theaters is not the original, but after some editing and reordering. If so, that means the editing has been marvelous and has played a big role in making the film very presentable. Another thing to notice is that the intense and transforming moments in the story are given more screen time (like Aliya regaining her eyes, Maitreya's suffering with writhing pain, Navin helping the Dadi ma with bed pan etc.) and events that move the story are presented more rapidly. Kudos the editors.

This is truly a grand Indian film (No, not Bollywood film, it does not belong there at all) that portrays deeper spiritual and philosophical quest, raising above mundane existence. A Must watch.