Dont Blacken Its Name

I happened to be running through the TV channels practising my remote control tricks.. when i happened to see a flash news about Amitabh Bachchan being a front-runner for the Best Actor Award for the movie Black... Ok.. i am no expert on acting... and i am not staking my claims to be one either.. but i consider myself to be a part of the viewing audience... admittedly a more discerning one perhaps... and this news came as a complete shock for many reasons..

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Reason 1:- Black is a remake of an English movie, and i am pretty certain that there is a rule somewhere - if there isnt there should be one - that remakes should not be considered for any award

Reason 2:- Mr. Bachchan is super personality.. and a much better actor than many actors in India.. but in Black.. c'mon it was hamming.. not acting.. It comes as no surprise that the Jury Chairman is one Saroja Devi who acted opposite one of the 'greatest' actors and arguably the greatest over actor 'Shivaji' Ganesan

Ok the truth is I have not watched every movie that has been released in India in the past year... and i am not going to say who acted better than Mr.Bachchan.. but i just think its not good for those independent filmmakers and actors who strive to keep the legacy of great directors like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak and Aravindan, if the awards go to Bollywood (a horrible term) movies.. the awards and the prize money that come with it are , in most cases, the only motivation these fimmakers have.. their movies dont get the distribution the Hindi movies get... and its only through these awards that they can get some meaning to their pursuit to create moments of magic through cinema...

Cinema represents the culture of a country... As much as Bollywood represents India to the world.. how many Indians can really relate to the trash that is produced from the extremely fecund dream-factory that resides at Mumbai.. Of course, Black is an exception in most ways... but its not an original story.. the only thing original about the movie is the cinematography apart form the things that make it Bollywood worthy....

Last year Saif Ali... this year could be AB... oh hell.... to look at the positives at least getting it for Black is better than the one he was gifted by Rajiv Gandhi ( for Agnipath i think)... When will normality resume.. or was there ever any normality in the National Awards ?

The Art of Living vis-a-vis The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Tathvam #1 - Make the most of Opportunities and Seize the moment :- Best exemplified when Eli Wallach remarks "When you wanna shoot, shoot ! Dont' talk !". If the man he kills had just shot Eli Wallach's character instead of making a speech about his struggles in life, he might have had more screen time.

Tathvam #2 - Life goes around in circles :- Eli Wallach's character screaming "One B*****d goes in and another one comes out" shows us how you could end up experiencing the same things at different stages of your life.

Tathvam #3 - Always strive to gain the most out of any situation :- Best understood in the way Clint Eastwood keeps saving Eli Wallach from the hangman's noose... only to return him back to the Sheriff one Eli Wallach's monetary value increases.. best exemplified by Clint's dialogue with Eli.. when he says "How much do you think you are worth now"

Tathvam #4 - A man becomes the man he is by the choices he makes :- To fully understand this tip.. just pay more attention to the scene between Eli Wallach (the outlaw) and his brother (the priest).. Movie line to take note of - Eli tells his bro "In our town you either became a priest or an outlaw" or something to that effect

Scenes that got cut ?!?

The Sound Of Music :- Maria (Julie Andrews) and Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) embrace passionately and rip off each other's clothes and start singing the original version of Marvin Gaye's "Let's get it on" when they fornicate in the greenhouse, next scene they get married.

Titanic :- Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) draws Rose's (Kate Winslet) assets a little small, and the old Rose sees the portrait and curses and abuses Jack and paints Jack with a small penis

Pather Panchali :- Durga does a sensuous item number in the rain with Apu watching, next scene well..she falls ill and...dies. Ok really bad one.. considering what this film is to Indian cinema.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly :- The man with one hand rubs soap on Ugly's (Eli Wallach) back and gives him an oil massage while narrating to him how he lost his hand, next scene Ugly shoots and kills the man with one hand as he is not fond of men who rub soap on him with their left hand.

When Harry met Sally :- Billy Crystal has sex with Meg Ryan.. ok.. that didnt get cut.. but it should have.. I know cinema is suspension of disbelief and all but this scene is pushing it a little too far.