Indian top 10

[madhuban]

@John

Rekha is the ultimate diva

@A

Adoor's films aren't available in India either. I've seen all the Adoor films in film society and festival screenings where they get prints from the national archives. The disregard for good cinema in this country is appalling! I've heard rumours though of the Kerala government taking up a 2-year project to restore and release on DVD the films of the Malayalam triumvirate - G. Aravindan, John Abraham (not the model/bollywood actor) and Adoor. Hoping that it happens for real.

M

[A]

That would be great news. Hope it works out! (and don`t forget the subtitles )

[madhuban]

English subtitles will be a certainty if those films are to be seen in other parts of India. Being bilingual, trilingual and even quadrilingual doesn't help much in a country that has 25 official languages

[A]

Hoh, I forgot.
Somehow I thought india had seven officila languages...
Are there any similarities between them?

[madhuban]

Yes, there are some similarities. For instance, being a Bengali speaker and knowing Hindi, I do understand Assamese, Oriya and Marathi if they are spoken at a slow pace. If one knows Hindi, Gujarati can also be figured out to some extent. Same goes for Urdu. The South Indian languages are totally different, and within that group Malayalam (Adoor's films are in that language) has little or no resemblance to the other three. The fascinating thing is that in Pondicherry, which used to be a French colonial bastion, Tamilian rickshaw guys speak fluent French. Loads of spoken languages in different parts of the country are still not recognised as official languages. Language is such a political thing and there are such issues of power involved in marginalising some and elevating others! You should come here sometime, A

[arsaib4]

As someone who admires the work of Mani Ratnam, I'm looking forward to Guru. It's opening here next week.

[madhuban]

Which of Mani Ratnam's films have you seen arsaib? I used to be fond of Mani Ratnam too. But, Yuva was so disappointing, that I am desperately hoping that Guru will see him back in form.

[arsaib4]

I've seen just about every film he's made since Nayakan. Yuva was arguably his most mainstream film but I thought it sparkled with a certain vitality which was quite infectious.

[madhuban]

Wow, that's quite a lot!

You see, the college scenes in Yuva were shot in my alma mater and those of us who know the Kolkata student politics context and have lived it, found the film quite glib. Clearly, Mani Ratnam was trying to capture a history and a context he had little familiarity with, and it shows. Though, I have to admit that the action sequence on the second Hoogly Bridge (the older one being the famed Howrah Bridge) was nicely done. Maybe I have too much of an insider's knowledge and that makes me a tad biased.

M

[A]

Yes, I should come to India someday. I know too many people who travel all over the world, while I'm stuck here in Germany.
But it's always a question of money...
And when I'm in India, you can be sure that I'll buy hundreds of DVDs (if all have english subs), so this doesn't make it easier.