He, She or Just Me

There was always something reassuring about Rituparna Ghosh’s movies. No matter how they ended, they always seemed to say, “It’s OK to be different.” His movies were a reflection of him and were therefore all about finding the courage to fight for what you believe in, regardless of the consequences.  

Many of his characters took on the challenge that Ghosh had made his life’s mission… to question the stereotypes perpetuated by the gender binary. These characters did it with such dignity and grace that after a point you looked at them just as people, not men or women, just human beings with dreams and extraordinary strength.

Meanwhile speculation is ripe that Sujoy Ghosh could step into Rituda’s shoes to finish Satyanweshi, a film based on one of Bengal’s favourite detectives, Byomkesh Bakshi. This is his last film, but that shouldn’t stop you from revisiting some of his best work.

Our pick is Ar Ekti Premer Golpo where Rituda plays two characters, a jatra actor who has spent a lifetime playing female characters and a gay filmmaker who is making a film based on the actor’s life. The film is a rare treat where you also get to see the legendary Chapal Bhaduri play himself. Rituparno plays the younger Chapal and the director Abhiroop. The film is a discovery of every element of one’s identity personal, social and sexual.

Ar Ekti Premer Golpo shines like a tiny flame atop a fast melting candle in a dark old crumbling house braving against a crushing storm. It is bright as a beacon of hope, yet vulnerable to its life being snuffed out by one strong gust of wind.

Rituparno Ghosh, you will be missed.

The Cleanest Picture

While the uproar over I&B Ministry’s high-handedness in cancelling the telecast of The Dirty Picture still continues, few have bothered to examine what really makes the said film ‘dirty’. There are no sex scenes, just one kissing scene, no bare back scenes… just a lot of cleavage thrust ‘shamelessly’ into the viewer’s face. 

But ask yourselves… doesn’t your friendly neighbourhood Bhalla aunty show off more when she bends to pick up the morning newspaper or your very own Sakku bai when she swabs the floor? And why is it offensive for a woman to show off her décolletage? What is wrong with acknowledging the existence of breasts? Would you ever be ashamed of having knees or fingers or a nose? What’s the harm in showing off an aesthetically packaged cleavage… 

We have all aspired at some point of time to be able to carry off a plunging neckline! (Plug! Plug! Plug!)

Haven’t we seen far greater skin show by Urmila Matondkar (“Hai Rama yeh kya hua?’) in Rangeela that has been telecast at least a hundred times on TV since its release 15 years ago? And what could possibly be dirtier than the sundry characters played by Shakti Kapoor? Haven’t Juhi Chawla and Anil Kapoor gyrated to, “Main maal gaadi tu dhakka laga” and “Khada hai khada hai khada hai” from Andaaz? I clearly remember watching Mamta Kulkarni and Mithun Chakravarty’s now legendary “Button meri kurti ka” being played on DD Metro’s Superhit Mukabala (now isn’t that a Sarkari channel?) And don’t even get me started on Madhuri in Beta and Khalnayak!

The Dirty Picture is perhaps one of the cleanest movies ever made… It’s not about sex… It’s about insecurity, politics and jealousy coming together in a wild orgy of hopelessness… and one woman who used her body to pull the right strings till she too was swept away by hubris and loneliness…

Jerk!

This Friday is going to be very interesting for movie watchers. While the affable Ayushman Khurana will play Vicky, a young man who gets paid to jerk off... newest Bong bombshell to come out of the Bhatt arsenal, Palomi Dam, will lay bare the deep dark recesses of the mind of a woman seeking redemption (always an interesting area to explore). Wonder why the Bhadralok in Poshcim Bongo want to paint her bare back blue in the film's posters... Do they have some secret Smurf kink?

I know what will be my 'paisa vasool' moment... a shirtless John Abraham getting wet and wild in a song that I'm sure will make no contribution to the storyline of the film he is producing. But as the said film's tag-line goes... Every Drop Counts ;-)

Takes me back to lines immortalised by his ex-flame Bipasha (the original Bong Bombshell of the Bhatt camp) in Jism... "Barson se is banjar zameen par barsaat ki ek boond tak nahi giri... Aur ab yahaan toofan aayega..." (I wanna kiss the horny little devil who wrote that!)

Vicky Donor also took me back to the 'reckless abandonment' argument from Legally Blonde. Or the priceless "Tujhe Holi khelne ka bada shauk hai, par suna hai ki teri pichkaari mein dum nahi!" from The Dirty Picture. Man... I love this new breed of writers!

That Woman

It is only right, that I begin my blog with a piece on the woman who inspired its name. Silk Smita made plunging necklines fashionable… she immortalised them… Silk used plunging necklines to wield a power that many before her, had failed to even comprehend. 


She wasn’t the first woman to use her sexuality to get attention, but she was certainly one of the most memorable… for she was fully aware of its raw power and she used it unabashedly. The intent was always there… her eyes were always more naked than her bosom… Every bust-thrust was deliberate, every gyration pre-meditated. 


I remember first watching her in Sadma, wondering what was someone like her doing in a ‘serious’ movie. As I grew older and watched many of her other gems, usually on late night cable TV, I understood where her real power came from. It was her unique ability to be an enigma even when she was stark naked. They don’t make them like that anymore. 

I hope Vidya Balan doesn’t let her down. The promos of The Dirty Picture look promising, but I’m going to reserve comments till I see the film. Meanwhile, I hope this blog does justice to the memory of Silk Smita… Plunging Necklines will be as wholesome, as lust-inducing and as stark as one of the most powerful women of our times. Here’s to a gutsy gal. 


May you rest in peace.