HATS OFF !!




Movies make great men.
OK. Make that "Great Sensitive Men".


I saw this movie called "Salaam Bombay" by Mira Nair today, and half-way through I knew I had to write something about it.So here it goes...( Don't expect a moview review here,although it may sound like one .I've never done a movie review before,and dunno what will I scribble here.But,yes I do think a lot about films which are moralistic in nature, the ones which try to address some social issues however remote or trivial it may be.)

The story revolves around the slum-dwelling children of the streets of Bombay,and their day-to-day adventures (I don't think "adventure" is the word they might use themselves).The story also touches on the lines of prostitution and drug-abuse, and the children in their wake.The main character is that of a boy,Krishna who comes to Bombay in search of a job,and experinces the true colors of life.His life now revolves around friends who are sucked in drugs, around pimps and harlots, rag-pickers & pickpockets.And he transforms all along, but his young heart,which still pains of his family back in the village,seeing his best friend, Chillum(Raghuvir Yadav in yet another memorable roles,essayed with elan), suffer & die of drug abuse.And most of all, he cares about the young,innocent girl ,the new catch of the slaughterhouse.The movie revolves around him, with the sub-plots given ample justification.I will not divulge the story anymore, but only write about my feelings.

The screenplay,cinematography,costume,sets,background score(by L Subramanium) : all were impeccable (in fact, I read the shooting was done on location, no sets or studios).The acting, in your face, screaming and laughing and crying and kicking and.... boy! you feel for each and every character.I felt like crying a couple of times ( and I rarely do that).And given that all those young boys were real-life slum-dwellers makes you feel like kicking some of our mainstream actor arse.I'm at a loss of words to describe the potential of those kids, and given the chance they could put a lot of us to shame.

Thinking of Krishna I wonder what kind of world is it, where a child his age goes through such gargantuan hardships in life which even a bunch of guys sometime don't experience in their lifetime,cumulatively.And if there is GOD, which I believe there is,what sort of punishment is this when you are not even old enough to understand what you are being punished for? I really can't understand the logic of one's most wonderful years being wasted such.We all are really,really lucky.( I particularly liked this scene, where this mentally-ill boy in reply to how long he's been in the prison says "May be five years.It's been long.. I don't even remember for what I was brought here".And really, I preferred the boys out on the streets,however tough-life it is, rather than in the prison.The prison depicted seemed like an 'anti-social' breeding ground.)

What I most liked about Krishna was his ability to keep a pure heart,still young,sensitive and bold;not corrupted by his vile surroundings.
And that is one of the toughest deeds in the world : keep the child in you alive !

Yes, there are some hilarious moments in here too, but one has to be extra cautious and insane enough not to miss them.One I particularly liked was this boy,kicking away to glory, emulating a kick-boxer or soccer player I don't know.But he was good at what he was doing( even dreamt of kicking the wardens arse he did).There were too many memorable scenes to discuss here (and I'd have liked to discuss some of them here,particulalry the chicken-one & the ending(I sobbed here, only a bit) but I guess it's a blog,not a news page).
I am sure my description here is as gross as one can make of such a well-crafted work of art and I'm not going to cross the line here.

The bottomline is : if you haven't done so yet, WATCH IT.
(And I'm going to make sure I feast on some more of Nairite delicacies)