Irony

Isn’t it ironic when you finally get something you’ve always wanted (and deserved) after a long and painful wait, it takes away most of the fizz associated with it? And then it just becomes something that could have been very very special but now is plain ordinary…now it’s, ‘oh well, it was long overdue, so no big deal!’
Or is it just me?

The eternal loser

Who else but Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas? Or Anurag Kashyap’s modern day Dev D. An honest and in-your-face yarn of the quintessential loser. The best part of the movie for me was the fact that it showed Dev as how he actually was, a pitiful, self centred egoist with double standards. And the fact that the 2 women of his life actually had an identity of their own (a strong one at that) and could kick his ass anytime he took them for granted!
I loved how the music was a part of the narrative. Bravo Amit Trivedi. Make way gentlemen, the new age music composer has arrived. One more aspect that took the movie to another level altogether was the cinematography. Each frame is vivid and remains in your mind. In the 2nd half of the movie especially, it was fantastic the way the focus changed from the foreground subject and background depending on who was talking. (On another note, notice the graffiti on Dev’s room wall)
I don’t want to think of the flaws in the movie. I only know that I came away thoroughly entertained. I wasn’t bored even for a second. The engaging and bold dialogues added to the wonder of the movie. Some of them were truly priceless. Ready to get ‘Emosanal Atyacharred’ anyone? Don’t miss it, it’s radical, contemporary, honest and entertaining!

A weekend of performances

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some awesome contemporary dance performances over the weekend. It started off with my friend’s contemporary creative dance workshop for kids last week which culminated in a heart warming piece done by the kids and my friend (and her friend who are both free lance dancers).
Over the weekend, it was the inaugural dance performance of the Attakkalari India Biennial 2009. What an opening it was! An assault of the senses with their movements, music and colour. Held at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall, it was a perfect beginning to the 10 day festival.
We then chose to go for one of the performances my friend recommended. It was by a South Korean troupe – Dance Theatre CcadoO and it was called Murder in the Elevator. Now this was something else. It was a dance-play, meaning, a play that mainly had a lot of dance to portray the story and the characters. Lithe, slender bodies moving so quickly that it made one gasp. One after the other the amazing movements, the co-ordination, the acrobatic like steps which was made to look so easy, the crisp story telling, the characters, the digital art on the stage, the set …was absolutely mind blowing. I don’t think I’ve seen something like this even on TV for a long time. We all enjoyed it immensely. After the performance, there was a meet the artiste session where with the help of an interpretor, we were able to ask questions to the troupe about the whole performance.
Looking forward to the next one we will be going for, this one is by the Attakkalari group itself, it’s called Chronotopia. Check out more details and a full calendar of events here. Enjoy!