Analysing films

  Cinema is a medium to convey a message; message which are verbal or visual based. It has the power to alter narrative or perhaps the discourse too. In the 50's 60's and even more pronounced in the 70's and 80's film stars commanded a huge influence on the audience. Hair style, clothes and accessories were copied by audience blindly. The Sadhana Cut became a famous hairstyle or the bouffant of Asha Parekh or the Sharmila Tagore style eye liners; even the men folk were not left behind. The ear hiding hairstyle of Amitabh Bachchan or the bell bottom or the unbuttoned shirt (only the first 2-3 buttons) went on to be cult classics. But, this rage was/is actually a global phenomena. It happened across the world and it still continues to create a sense of dystopian world which audience are more than happy to lap up.  In more recent times, two Hindi films, Dil Chahta Hai and later Zindagi Na Mile Dobara went on to change the way how youth looked at lifestyle and travel. Infac...

Growing up in the sub-continent and that too in a difficult city in Eastern UP (Uttar Pradesh) it was/will always be difficult to miss the subtle undercurrents that blows through cities, societies, towns and the villages. Class, caste, disparity, religion and the simple existence of everyday life remains a challenge. Always judgmental and willing to tow the line it becomes difficult after a point and even starts to become a state of mind. I remember for the longest time it was hard to make people understand that I was not a Baniya (a trading community in India) just because my surname ended with a Gupta. Infact, it was even more difficult to make them understand that I was myself unsure of my caste and was pretty much happy in being just a random teenager with a Bong mother tongue.  The scarcity of the 70's and the 80's further added to the pangs of staying in a small city. Both parents being in academics and me in further ignominy of being always handed limited dole as pocket ...