Gulabo Sitabo - Movie

Watched it on Amazon. I was looking forward to Shoojit Sircar's movie with Ayushman and Amitabh but it never got together for me. For starters, Amitabh's motive or character was never clear - that he is stingy is evident. But after that, we don't know what to do with him - love him, pity him, sympathise with him. Same goes for most other characters including Ayushman. Forgettable.

Anjali - Stepping Out After 3 Months

It was perhaps on the 15th March that Anjali had last stepped out of home - because that was when schools had cancelled exams and children were asked to stay home. Since then, she has not stepped out of the gate of our house.

Tranquil life

Ever since the lockdown has been relaxed, several children in the colony take a walk, play or cycle every evening, but she has steadfastly remained home. Yesterday she finally told me she would like to go for a walk in the morning. So we decided to go at 7 am today.

Under the shower of gulmohurs

She was up and ready, dressed fully, with a scarf for the cold. For the first time, she wore a mask and found it rather funny and restricting. Anyway off we went - it was a first for me too - though I have been going for grocer visits I haven't gone for a morning walk like this.

The back entrance to the colony blocked off

Thanks to the light drizzle there was no one on the road. The weather was heavenly and we enjoyed walking and chatting. We noticed how the road that leads to BK Guda from our colony has been barricaded off for all traffic. we walked to the main road so she could get a sense of what was happening there.

Then we headed home after a brief stop at the grocer Srinivas, who has manfully handled the demands of the colony through these tough times. He was delighted to see Anjali after three months and said so. He'd always treat her well and had a thing or two to say to her - in English. We bought stuff and came away.

Anjali said she liked this walk the best among all the things she did today. I'm glad.

Nayak - Movie

1966. Satyajit Ray. Uttam Kumar plays a matinee idol going to receive a national award to Delhi. He takes the train and meets a young journalist (Sharmila Tagore). While talking on the 24-hour journey we get to know the real person behind the trappings of fame. Again, a movie, you cannot miss a frame, for some reason, because the little things tell so much about the person.

Do Aankhen Barah Haath - Movie

1957. V Shantaram. Winner of the Golden Bear and the Golden Globe award. An idealistic jail warden gets permission to run an open jail with 6 chosen convicts to see if the circumstances will reform them. All six are murderers and the warden risks his very life to live in an open house with them. They farm and begin to make a living and slowly start respecting the good-hearted warden. They find his two watchful eyes full of love and caring for them.

A toy seller who passes their house every day provides an outside, female perspective. They run away, plan to murder him, get drunk and even try to molest the toy seller but in the end, they reform. Never before did the song 'Ae maalik tere bandhe hum,' sound better than in the movie.

From the first scene, it gets off like a shot until a dramatic end. Highly watchable. Also part of the 100 all-time great Indian movies to watch list I have been ticking off.

https://www.news18.com/photogallery/movies/100-years-of-indian-cinema-the-100-greatest-indian-films-of-all-time-903065.html

Eat the Rich - PJ Rourke

PJ Rourke writes an entertaining account of his understanding of wealth and economics. He sets off on a journey across the world to figure out why certain countries are doing well and why some are not. So he starts with 'good capitalism' with Wall Street in America.

Then he heads to Albania and sees 'bad capitalism' in Albania where the country is under no control and everything is falling apart with pyramid schemes and all sorts of problems like crime and poverty. He examines 'good socialism', in Sweden where everyone is well taken care of and there's no poverty. But Rourke feels that perhaps they lost out on becoming even richer since they decided on socialism. He visits Cuba and checks out 'bad socialism' which is pretty bad. The couple he meets who cannot leave Cuba for some reason has a bad story to narrate. Also, the mention of Hemmingway's mansion in Cuba was interesting.

It's funny and entertaining. He explains economics and tries to make a case but I am beyond theories at the moment. The stories stayed and he is a very entertaining writer.

D Day - Movie

2013. A film where RW attempts to kill Dawood Ibrahim (and in this movie) actually kills him off after busting him from Karachi. I didn't quite get the idea. Anyway, Rishi Kapoor as Dawood Ibrahim and Irrfan Khan as Wali Khan entertain.

Kissa Kursi Ka - Movie

1977. Satire made on Indira Gandhi and the Emergency which was immediately banned and the prints seized by Indira Gandhi's government. I heard so much about it then so decided to check it out.

It is about a functional country called JanGan which is led by two political parties - Neela and Peela parties. Enter an idealist Meera who says that the entire system can be manipulated and anyone can be made the leader. She moots for change and is supported by many young idealists including her boyfriend. They pick a man off the streets, Gangu, and manipulate him into becoming the President. Their motto - garibi hatao. Gangu learns the tricks of his trade from his secretary Deshpal who looks suspiciously like RK Dhawan. Of course, there is the Janta of the country represented by a mute Shabana who is always taken for a ride.

Gangu finds an issue - rats. He decides that the country must eliminate rats and makes a deal with a foreigner for 20000 dollars. In return they export cats from Jan Gan for 10000 dollars. actually nothing happens and only money changes hands and gone into Swiss accounts. The government then announces a scheme offering a reward to catch rats to the public - every rat will be paid 10 bucks. people come, bribe the officials, get a certificate that they caught rats and get paid. everyone is happy until Janta lands up with five dead rats she has caught. They ask her many questions and ask her to bring proof that she caught the rats. There will be an enquiry.

In the end, almost everyone dies including Gangu. Almost everything in the movie is relatable even today. Shabana Azmi, Manohar Singh, Raj Kiran.