My Pug Marks

This Saturday saw me making an impulsive decision. Went for a completely unknown entity in the movie world named Antardwand . This movie has won The National Award for highlighting a lesser known social issue of groom kidnapping in Bihar. With this knowledge, I was sitting in a sparsely populated Audi 4 of PVR Metropolitan. Antardwand couldn't be more aptly named. Translated into English, it means - The Inner Duels. Each character in the movie was battling through various thoughts which were finally displayed in their actions. When Bihar comes to mind, one would imagine the typical Hindi dialects, the crass countryside. This movie captures the true Bihar. Based in a small town, it knocks down many cliches we hold about the state. However, also beautifully put across is how normal people get intertwined with abnormal things which is very hard for us to imagine sitting in the metros of India. We are almost insulated and untouched by reality.  A father's desperation to find th...

Spoiler Alert:  May contain brief description of a few scenes from the movie which will not impact the viewing experience. With nothing better to do and nothing better to watch - we cousins headed for Lafangey Parindey . It was very odd to have a film named so crass coming from the YRF banner.  There have been many movies built around the theme and life in Mumbai, especially capturing the plight and penury of people living in chawls. A constant overtone of how life is difficult in Mumbai and still it continues to just manage itself with millions of anomalies. Not this one. And that was a refreshing change. The movie is set in Tilakwaadi, depicting one of the many waadis in Mumbai where people live and struggle with Mumbai and their lives in Mumbai. But there was no preaching. It was a completely honest movie. Pinky and Nandu, the protagonists in the movie live their oh-so-normal lives with passion and a zest to achieve something bigger. She dreams of being one of the best...

Spoiler Alert: May contain brief description of a few scenes from the movie which will not impact the viewing experience. Finally, got time to spend a nice Sunday and decided to watch the much hyped Peepli [Live] . Needless to say, it is totally worth it. Anusha Rizvi  dished out a very tight script and directed the movie almost to  perfection. The only sad part - this sort of a movie is a wasted effort with most of the Indian audience. Why would I say that? Do I consider myself to be the only smart one out there? Not really. But here is why. As we all know from the trailers , this movie is a satirical description of the disturbing trend of farmer suicides in Vidharba and other agricultural belts in the country. It is a tough ask to depict something painful with humor thrown in and the movie does complete justice to the cause. The character Natha pulls off an amazing role representing a farmer whose land is sold off due to his inability to pay the debt. He has no money...