নীল আকাশের নীচে (১৯৫৯)

The film is based on a short story “চিনী ফেরিয়ালা (Chinese Vendor)” by Mahadevi Verma. Set in the background of the last days of British era in Calcutta(1930s), the film explores the lives of a number of characters including a Chinese immigrant Wang Lu (played by Kali Bandopadhay).

He is from a small village in China & was living there with his sister. But destiny brought him here in India in search of livelihood. While selling clothes he comes across a traditional Bengali house where he meets Basanti (played by Manju Dey). She is a supporter of non-violent mass movement against the British Government. She doesn’t use foreign made clothes but couldn’t refuse Wang Lu of buying the Chinese made table cloth.

Basanti & Wang Lu

Who would have imagined that in future (2013 currently), world market along with India would be flourished with Chinese made products?

Wang Lu expresses his gratitude by getting a warm welcome from Basanti where other houses were not so receptive. After that he keeps on coming to her house not to sell clothes but to get the warm appreciation that he doesn’t usually get from other people. Slowly he develops a feeling for her.

   

This lovely song (lyrics-Gauri Prasanna Mazumdar) sung by Hemanta Mukhopadhay is a question to the river about its origin & where is it flowing to. River has got a universal language of feelings. We try to understand each other’s sentiment but our language is not as simple as river. The song tells a lot about the inner emotion of Wang Lu, who wants to share something in a simple way of river. It is indeed true for every immigrant who wants to share their feelings with the people of different origin but we don’t always go with the flow.

With the declaration of Indian National Congress Party illegal by the British Government in 1932, Basanti was jailed for some years leaving behind a platonic relationship between her & Wang Lu. During that period, the Chinese Civil War was going on & due to the political turmoil in China, Wang Lu realized that he is needed there. But he is not ready to leave for his hometown without having a glimpse of her.

The Chinese Culture reflects through the background music of this film & tunes into the rhythm of Indian scales. Human emotions are also like the scales of music where a harmonious melody is required to understand each other. 

আশ্চর্য প্রদীপ (২০১৩)

Based on the short story of Shirshendu Mukhopadhay, this film is directed by Anik Dutta(his second feature film & he is already popular with his witty script & dialogues). It is made especially for the Bong audience as it involves every emotion of the Bengali people. Here the protagonist character ANILDA(played by Saswata Chatterjee) is a middle-class Bengali man who works at a company for sales promotion & lives with a typical ambitious Bengali wife(Sreelekha Mitra) who is jealous of her brother in law for their high profile lifestyle.

The title "আশ্চর্য প্রদীপ" meaning "ASTONISHING LAMP" plays an important role by creating a world of fantasy in the audience's mind before watching the film like me.

Frustrated with the normal stagnant life, ANILDA (If you jumble the word, it comes like  A N A D I L /A L A D I N ) by coincidence found a lamp on the side of a street. He then took it to his house unaware of something magical inside the lamp.

Anilda truly believes in numerology & 4 is his lucky number. He always try to relate every incident in his life like buying lottery, finishing a task on a particular date, buying property etc. with his belief of lucky number 4.Director Anik Dutta, also introduced the concept of numerology in his first movie “BHOOTER BHABISHYAT”.

At one point of time we all get frustrated when life seems to be static & we look for a change. In real life change may or may not come but in the film “আশ্চর্য্য প্রদীপ ” a দৈত্য  (genie played by Rajatava Dutta) comes out of the lamp & fulfills the materialistic desires of Anilda.

What are the desires? Here comes the main part of entertainment as well as the transformation we have been through these decades.

Since we are aware of the fantasy, comedy film “GOOPY GYNE BAGHA BYNE”(1969) directed by Satyajit Ray that is based on 3 boons given by the king of Ghosts in a forest to 2 village men who were roaming around to sing for the people without any demand of power, money, status etc.

At that point of time there were few options but less confusion. People knew about their particular desire & they were happy. But now the scenario is different. I am sharing one song of the movie "ASCHORJYO PRODEEP"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24DHATJdQfs

These songs can’t be compared but director Anik dutta with his impressive lyrics & whimsical sense of humor has shown the changes we have undergone for the last few decades & if we get a chance in our real life, we won’t be able to choose our happiness. Even 3 boons are not sufficient nowadays to fulfill our unlimited desires. We are running towards something shallow & are moving away from happiness.

Here the story of this film continues to move on a circle leaving behind one question— What is happiness? 

Los Monstruos no existen

“Los Monstruos no existen” es un cortometraje, dirigido por Paul Urkijo Alijo. Es sobre un niño de Camboya, se llama Nai, que vive en Phonem Penh con su abuela. Él creció escuchando los cuentos de especies del demonio basada en la mitología antigua.

YEAK

“Yeak” es un monstruo de la tradición Khmer que se come a los niños que se portan mal. Estos cuentos hicieron un impacto en Nai y él comienza a sufrir de pesadillas. Él alma de cada niño está pura. Según el poema de William Wordsworth:-

“Our birth is but a sleep & a forgetting”

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

HEAVEN LIES ABOUT US IN OUR INFANCY!”

El alma pura es un regalo precioso que tenemos para el progreso del mundo que residimos hasta que sea comido por los demonios que pueden existir en forma de nuestra propia especie. Este cortometraje revela la realidad dura de Camboya. Estar embrujado por la imaginación de monstruos no es tan horrible como ser una víctima de bestia realmente humana. Aquí el personaje ficticio, Nai , es víctima de su propia imaginación de monstruos y luego un maestro inglés tomando la ventaja de su alma inocente le muestra que los Monstruos no existen en mundo ilusivo pero existen en forma de ser humano normal.

En realidad muchos niños como Nai sufren de abusos sexuales en la industria de turismo de Camboya. Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) es una Organización No Gubernamental dedicada para bloquear el laboreo sexual de niños en Camboya. En 2003 APLE y ONG española Global Humanitaria colaboró para lanzar un proyecto “THE PROTECT” con autoridades nacionales para rescatar a niños y trae a los culpables a la cuenta legal. Estoy compartiendo un enlace debajo:

http://ring-the-alarm.com/

Todo el mundo debería firmar esta petición para detener a los culpables de destruir el futuro de niños inocentes.

Gracias al productor de “Monstruos no existe” Señor Andrés Torres por su apoyo y David Zabala por su trabajo excelente de la cámara fotográfica.

Monsters do not exist

“Monsters do not exist” is a documentary fiction directed by Paul Urkijo Alijo.  It's about a Cambodian boy, Nai, who lives in Phnom Penh with his grandmother. He grew up listening to the stories of Demon species based on ancient mythology.

YEAK

 

“Yeak” is a mythical monster in Khmer tradition who eats naughty children. These stories made an impact on Nai & he starts suffering from nightmares. Every child’s soul is as pure as the driven snow. According to the poet William Wordsworth-

“Our birth is but a sleep & a forgetting”

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

HEAVEN LIES ABOUT US IN OUR INFANCY!”

Pure soul is a precious gift we have for the amelioration of the world we live in unless & until it is eaten up by the demons that may exist in the form of our own species.This film reveals the harsh reality of Cambodia. Being haunted by the imagination of monsters is not as scary as being a victim of real human beast. Here the character, Nai, is a victim of his own imagination of monsters & later an English teacher taking the advantage of his innocent soul shows him that Monsters do not exist in illusory world but exist in the form of normal human being.

In fact many children like Nai suffer from sexual assault in the tourism industry of Cambodia. Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) is a non-governmental organization dedicated to stop the sexual exploitation of children in Cambodia. In 2003 APLE & Spanish NGO Global Humanitaria partnered to launch “THE PROTECT” with national authorities to rescue children & bring perpetrators to legal account. I am sharing a link below:

                         

http://ring-the-alarm.com/

Everyone must sign this petition to stop the perpetrators from destroying the future of innocent children.

Special thanks to the producer of “Monsters do not exist” Señor Andrés Torres for his support & David Zabala for his excellent camera work.

Schwarzfahrer

With the advancement of time & technology, do people change their way of thinking?  The answer lies in the short film “Schwarzfahrer” directed by Pepe Danquart at the end of 20^th century.  “Schwarzfahrer is a German word meaning “Black rider”.

It was filmed inside some city of Germany & starts with a train shot focusing on daily life of people with an amazing cinematography. A black man(Paul Outlaw) boards a tram along with other passengers & asks an elderly white lady(Senta Moira) that the seat just beside her is occupied or not. She gives an insolence look & completely ignores him.

After taking the seat, the lady starts expressing her hatred towards the immigrants from other countries, calling them illegal & indirectly insults this black man. The train was occupied with other passengers from different countries & they felt disturbed with her comments on them. The situation was becoming tensed with her continuous remarks & it gives an impression as if the black man will go out of his temper ending up attacking her. But he remained silent while tolerating the humiliation he was facing from her. After a while the tram stops & a ticket checker enters. The lady still complaining takes out her ticket & all of a sudden the black man did something unexpected. Though one short scene from the Bollywood film “DEVD” is inspired from this act but it’s ok. We are all inspired with something.

Finally when the ticket checker arrives at her seat & asks for her ticket, she said that the black nigger sitting beside her has eaten up the ticket. Upon showing his valid ticket, the ticket checker didn't believe her excuse & tells her to come along with him. Though many passengers were aware of what’s going on, they remained silent to teach her a lesson.

So who is the black rider? The title “Schwarzfahrer” itself is the moral of this short film.

The Maid

http://vimeo.com/52065999

The German short film “The Maid” directed by Sascha Zimmermann has made a lasting impression on me. It’s a suspense thriller with only one protagonist character (Martin) on screen. An executive (Martin) working away from home calls his wife after having a tiring day. Surprisingly an unknown maid picks up the phone & informs him that she can’t give the phone to his wife.

After a certain hesitation she tells him that his wife is not alone in his bedroom & is making love with another man. On hearing this he breaks down completely & without thinking for a moment makes a deal with the unknown maid to kill his wife & her lover. The deal was finally fixed for 60000 euros to kill both of them. He was confirmed about the job when he heard their screaming on telephone before being killed. It is not the end of the story or revenge or frustration or insecurity. The suspense now takes a new turn when he discovers something more shocking than he would have imagined from this unknown maid. What’s that? Let the suspense be rolling for those who haven’t seen this film yet.