A frosty magical morning

There is something magical about waking up and looking at the twinkling lights of a christmas tree. This year our tree has ice white and blue lights that are beautiful.

I looked out of the window and saw that all trees were covered with white frost.

Frost or no frost, if you have a dog you need to go out in the morning so that he can err... shit and piss. I know, the two words, don't rhyme well with christmas trees and magical ice white and blue lights, but then even on magical mornings, you can't forget the realities of life, can you?

So out we were, I and Brando, shivering together and walking amidst grass that looked like it had been altered with photoshop. In the part of the park where elderly persons have their handkerchief patches of "kitchen gardens", surviving lettuce, cabbages had been turned into ice-statues by some demon.

Someone had covered their tiny plants with plastic bottles to save them from the frost, they stood up like Milo's Venuses, their arms chopped off by the same demon.

In the end, it was indeed a magical morning.

If men could breast-feed!

The UK Paddy-Bingo ad showing a man sitting with his exposed tit with a small baby in his arms has been banned by the British tube and the Dublin bus service as "it has the potential to disturb public decency".

I think that the company has got more than what it had invested in this ad. Blogs are writing about it, newspaper carry the ad on their front pages as news, it seems like an advertiser's dream. In a few days, as the ripples of the ad will spread, more and more persons all around the world will know about the ad.

On first reflections, the ad may seem offensive. For example, it does seem to say that women are gamblers, they prefer gambling to taking care of their children. However, if you just look around you, the ad seems laughable, it is not the reality. In families with small children, it is men who go out more. An evening out, with friends at the pub or at the stadium or evening gambling, is more a male thing. Women can go out if they get a baby sitter, but the whole society has such a strong message about "good moms" that most women would feel guilty about leaving their children, especially young babies alone at home, not just for gambling but even for work.

I agree with Oliviero Toscani, the ad designer for Benetton that advertising has a social role. Toscani by using shocking pictures, creates controversies, attracts attention towards the brand he is advertising but at the same time, makes us reflect about issues. In the same way, I feel that this British ad is good as it makes us reflect on issues.

For example, I was thinking if men could breast feed, would the world be safer? Would there be less wars and fights?

Or if we could turn the ad and had a woman with a dildo in her hands and the ad had asked, "where have all the men gone?", would we be offended?

Is Bhatinda the new Jhumaritalaiya?

Finally I saw JBJ, Jhoom Baraber Jhoom.

The reviews were so bad and I am not a real fan of any of its stars, so I was not very motivated to watch the film. However the music was wonderful and I kept on listening to the songs. Even after many more newer movies had come and gone, the music of JBJ continues to pulsate in my head even now.

Plus the negative reviews are actually a plus point, the more negative the reviews, the less expectations I have when I do watch some of those film. This is true up to a point. There are certain films with unbelievable storylines, that good or bad reviews, I don’t want to watch any way. But for films like JBJ, I think that bad reviews are good since almost always I end up feeling that the film was not so terrible after all.

That is how I started watching it, ready to doze off while watching it. Yes, I hate to admit it but it seems to happen quite frequently recently, that I doze off while watching some films and my wife swears that I snore louder than the background music of some of these films. So I was there, feeling a little complacent and superior, about the depths the Bollywood film industry has fallen to, sprawled on the sofa in the living room.

Guess what, I never dozed off and on the whole I liked the film. I thought it was a little whacky but it was good fun. I loved Lara Dutta too, the first part of the film, like in the song "Ticket to Bollywood".

I even liked Amitabh Bhacchan, he looks kind of cute and he seems to be enjoying himself.

But I can understand the point of all the critics and aam junta, who didn’t like this film. It is a real nightmare, especially for those defending Bhartiya sanskriti and NRI dreams. The film bulldozes almost all the sacred cows dear to babies fed on mamma Yashraj films’ milk of Raichand families, Rahuls, Veer-Zaaras. Yes, I know I am mixing my Chopras, Johars and Barjatyas, but I am sure you get point I want to make.

The film has been packaged as usual YR Films’ dream merchants’ usual masala fare, but actually it is quite subversive and not very subtle about it.

Most of all, it does not respect Indian sensibilities. Probably it rankled the nuts of our Pakistani brothers as well. One of my femminist friends was telling me that there is nothing like an "attack on our culture" to bring Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis together. While taking care of their errant wives/daughters, they forget all their other differences. And, this film is an "attack on our culture". Let me explain myself better.

AB’s baby as Rikki Thakural, originally from Bhatinda and transplated in Queen’s Engliand, could be a bhaiyya living under madam Mayawati ji, even if occasionally his accent does get English. He is a crook, bumming off magazines and other things from honest shopkeepers (remember Amrish Puri, the stern father of DDLJ?). He could be Bunty who has run away from Allahabad and landed in UK. No sophistication, no house with the staircase fit for horse-riding, no chandeliers, no private helicopter, no loving mother waiting with aarti ki thali. The character must have been like ice cold showers to all those Bhatindawallas planning to sell off their lands to migrate to the land of milk and honey. I mean, do you emigrate to the land of plenty and continue to be a crook and bhaiyya? What kind of dreams are these?

And, BTW, is Bhatinda the new Jhumaritalaiya? Lot of the heroes and heroines these days are from Bhatinda. Remember JBM and the sikhni, Geet? Bet, it is a ploy to raise up the property prices in Bhatinda, but let me not digress.

Zinta baby’s Alvira Khan is a Pakistani babe who must be the nightmare of all Indian and Pakistani parents, who are losing the desperate fights to keep their children uncorrupted by the decadent values of western culture (if you can call them values and culture!). All those NRIs don’t need to go to cinema to see those nightmares, they live them every day, so why should they watch a movie that revels in glorifying that nightmare? A good Muslim girl does not wear short minis and does not talk with strangers at the Railway station. Not even one burkha scene in the film! Terrible for our culture!

And, the story of Muslim girl with Hindu boy, it is a serious business. It can be done like in Veer Zaara, but what kind of values are you promoting if you never raise the religion issue? Are we trying to say that for love, religion is not important? Terrible, no sharm haya is left in today’s world!

Lara Dutta looks good to eat as Anaida in the first half, but in the second half, her character as the tart Laila is terrible. I mean, we can be understanding about these fallen women with loose morals but they must show a bit of remorse for their action, they must be willing to cover their heads and coyly ask for maafi, while chanting Hanuman chalisa. However, Laila does not feel any remorse, she uses dirty words, behaves like a slut and then takes a honest mummy-loving dear lad like Satvinder (Bobby Deol) and turns him in to one of those modern kinds who go out with their girl friends without worrying about Bharitiya Sanskriti or their moms.

The film was not given an “adults only” certificate and I am sure that it would have had an insidious but gravely deleterious effect on the morals of our corruptible youngsters. Rightfully it was refused. I hope YR films (and their brothers and sisters in Johar films, Bartajatya films, etc.) have learnt their lesson and are preparing the next episode of Raichand-Rahul saga with half-naked cold-proof heroine dressed in a Bhartiya sari dancing in the Swiss mountains, waiting to cover her head demurely with her sari and touch senior Raichand ji’s feet as his respectful bahu, while celebrating karva chauth. I bet it will be a huge hit.

Chinglish Adventures

Recently I travelled to some small towns in south of China. The quality of hotels available there is really good.
Often there are products for sale in the hotel rooms including oils and potions for increasing your sexual potency for both men and women, with fairly explicit pictures on the packets and claming near miraculous properties. I was wondering how Chinese traditional medicine market is facing the challenge of drugs like Viagra.

It was reassuring to see packets of condoms among those oils and potions. About a decade ago, while discussing of the danger of AIDS with the mayor of a Chinese city, he had continued to insist that there was no prostitution in China. He had not even believed me when I had told him about midnight calls of giggling girls in the hotel room, who were probably sex workers.

This time the midnight giggling girls left me in peace, probably they thought that with my greying hair I was not worth wasting their time. With all those packets of oils, potions and condoms, I guess the sex worker industry is also booming in China.

Some times, the packets carry the instructions in English also. Probably some of these translations were done automatically by the computer, from Chinese to English and often I had difficulty in making sense out of them.

Like this green packet that I found in the bathroom in a beautiful hotel in Lu Feng city that is a masterpiece of Chinglish writing. The packet was of “China Shenyang Yirenbao biochemical product” and the text behind the packet claimed the following:

“Will have one’s hair wash, raise and take place, have the bath, skin care to make up in best way Come, the personage staying temporarily has offered a easy bathing in order to go out to travel Bath way, there is a bag’s, have no other it to ask. Product this prescription include many kind high-quality to is it itch, get rid of dandruff, not moist to take place, not moist to stop Skin compositions. With after make hair the elegant slip suitably, make skin whiten and lubricate, combine special addition country import perfume spices, long result stay fragrant, make you wash and come from behind the bath The letter, wash out the health.”

Walking through the London streets

I had the whole afternoon free. The flight to London was half empty.

It was a little strange. Before, there were five flights daily from Bologna to London and now there are just two, and yet there were so many unoccupied seats on the plane. Perhaps it had some thing to do with the cost of the British Pound in comparison to the Euro? Or, since the US dollar is now so cheap, perhaps all those who were going to UK now prefer to go to USA?

Any way, I was in London so let me just talk about that rather than make gloomy predictions about apparent decline of the British economy!

I had a whole afternoon and I decided to walk, starting from the Victoria station and taking Buckingham Palace road that goes behind the palace. It was probably the time of the daily exercise for Her Royal Majesty's horses and ponies, since horse driven carriages were coming out of a side gate, going around the palace and then going back inside from the side gate on the Buckingham Palace road. May be it is someone from the royal family dressing up as Her Majesty's staff and going out in incognito? Knowing the scoop hungry British tabloids, I don't think the British Royalty would try that, but just in case, I decided to click a few pictures.

The guards outside the palace, no longer carry those big furry caps made of bear fur. I agree completely that you can't kill and clean the earth of the poor bears just for those caps, but with all the punks and other creative talents in UK, couldn't they design some nice but unusual new cap for these guards? The ones they have now suck big time. Perhaps Her Majesty would read these lines and find a way out?

The park with the small artificial lake outside the palace was full of water birds. Most of the time I can hardly tell the difference between ducks, swans, canadian goose, graynecks, etc. but there were some boards there showing the different species with their names. Like the ones in the picture below are called Coots.

As I walked around the horse parade ground, it had started to rain. Actually I had checked the "weather in London for next five days" that morning on the BBC meteo site, it had shown a warm sunny day and thus being trusty and gullible, I had not taken any umbrella with me. (Do you think that they would do it deliberately, just to boost the sales of umbrellas? And so, when they are sure that it is not going to rain, they predict heavy rains and thus you go out all covered with umbrellas under your arms and under the sun, feel hot and bothered, and thus boost the sales of London pubs?)

So when it started to rain, I gave up my plans for going towards Downing street, and instead, hurried towards Waterloo place, finding these nursery teachers (?) with all the small kids in triplet prams. Probably they had also checked the weather at the BBC meteo site for planning their picnic?

In the Waterloo place, there was this statue of the Lord John Lawrence, "Governor of Punjab during the sepoy mutiny of 1857" and there are some other statues of the valiant soldiers of Her Majesty's army who had brought the civilization to our poor natives of India and other corners of uncivilized and unknown world. Anyway, there was no time to stop and thank them for their spirit of generosity, brotherhood and unselfish kindness towards mankind and instead, I rushed towards Trafalgar square.

In Trafalgar square, the statue of disabled pregnant woman is gone. In its place is a strange sculpture that made me think of Jewish Hanukkah rising up from an Egyptian pyramid. Perhaps it is the British way of assuring the multi-culturism for the non Christians, who are "offended" by the christmas tree there? Or it is just me feeling cynical?

Anyway, I did not dwell on my nasty thoughts and found refuse from the rain in the Gallery of Modern Art (lovely website they have for exploring their masterpieces through web).

Renoir, Van Gogh, Pierro della Francesca, Seurat, Monet, Cèzanne, Caravaggio, Rubens, ... by the time, I came out the art museum my head was exploding with the beauty of art and my feet were killing me, but it was not raining any more.

It was already dark. I sat down in a bar to drink some beer and then off I was in the underground to Westminister for the second part of the walk. Riverside by the night, that was my objective. The projector above the street outside the acquarium next to Dali museum was projecting pictures from the acquarium in the street. It was strange to stand on the picture and to feel the fishes moving around on my body.

The riverside with the British Airways' London Eye, British Petroleum's Big Ben, MacDonald's British National Theatre, (ok, I am making some of these up but it gives you an idea) etc. were full of twinkling lights dancing in the reflections on the Thames waters (all these sponsorships must have inspired the Indian politicians! I had thought that Medha Patakar was exagerating but according to Outlook, Maharashtra Government is considering "selling" 200 plus km stretch of a river and dam to a private company and Chattisgarh Government has already sold 23 km of another river. I am waiting for the discount sale of parliament seats now.)

Anyway, sorry for the digression, enjoy the pictures of London by night below.

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Yesterday it had snowed slightly. Today it has been snowing since morning here in Bologna. It does seem that christmas is coming! Whoa!!

Films of Ferzan Ozpetek

Today I saw the new film of Ferzan Ozpetek. "Saturno contro". Means the saturn is in opposition. Like in the horoscopes. For a long time afterwards I was thinking about his films. I think that he is among the best Italian film directors today though I am not sure if his name or his films are known to English speakers? (In this picture Ferzan Ozpetek).

Ferzan was born in Istambul and came to Italy as a young student in late nineteen seventies. For fifteen years he worked as assistant to different directors including the wonderful Massimo Troisi. In 1997 he directed his first film, "Hammam, Bagno turco" (Hammam - the Turkish baths). "Saturno Contro" that I saw today is his sixth film. I haven't seen all of them, I missed one of them, Harem Suaré that had come out in 1999.

Alternate sexuality is a common thread running through his films and sometimes, I have heard people dismiss him as the director of "gay films", but I feel that this would be reductive way to look at his work.

Alternate sexualities including gays, bisexuals, lesbians, transexuals, all find place in his film world and are portrayed as real people, not as caricatures. Often he mixes the theme of alternate sexuality with other marginalised persons like elderly and urban poor.

Another common theme of his film is that of persons, especially women, who live lives cut off from their emotions and then something happens, that stimulates a radical transformation in the way they see the world and themselves.

Another common theme in his films is that of death, separation, loss and grief, and how we cope with it, how it changes us.

"Saturno Contro" starts with a group of friends. Most of them have crossed forty. David (Pierfrancesco Favino) the gay writer and his companion Lorenzo (Luca Argentero), Antonio (Stefano Accorsi), his wife Angelica (Margherita Buy), and Antonio's mistress Laura (Isabella Ferrari), a Turkish translator Neval (Serra Yilmaz) and her policeman husband Roberto (Filippo Timi), David's ex-boyfriend Sergio (Ennio Fantastichini), an astrolger and drug addict Roberta (Ambra Angiolini) and Paolo (Michelangelo Tommaso) a medical student and an aspiring writer who wants to come close to David.

They meet regularly. Antonio and David are childhood friends but now it is Angelica who is closer to David and Lorenzo. Lorenzo discovers Antonio with his girl friend and does not what to do to protect Angelica. During the dinner, Antonio finds an excuse to go out to meet his girl friend. Then suddenly Lorenzo, who was not feeling too well loses consciousness. Rest of the film is about Lorenzo's coma and then death in the hospital and how David and other friends react to it. (Below from left Roberta, David e Lorenzo).

The film is an exploration of grief, when you suddenly lose the person you love and the world does not have any meaning. Each of them in their own way understands that the pain of David is strongest and yet do not know how to deal with it. It is a very moving film, slow and lingering over the details.

Le Fate Ignoranti (The ignorant angels) was another film of Ozpetek that came out in 2001 and became a popular and critical success. It was the story of a apparently happy and successful couple, Antonia and Massimo. Massimo suddenly dies in an accident and Antonia (Margherita Buy), a doctor is grief-stricken and shocked. Her whole life seems empty and meaning less. One day among Massimo's office things she finds a painting, behind it somebody has written, "From your angel". Suspicious that her husband had an affair, she tries to find out the person who had given that painting to Massimo. That is how she discovers that her husband had a relationship with a man, Michele (Stefano Accorsi) for the last seven years.

Initially shocked and repulsed she can't belive it but then she wants to understand and enters the world of Michele, a house where a group of gays, transexuals and lesbians live together as a community. Michele says, "Don't be angry with me, you will be always his wife. Outside this house I could never be anything for Massimo. I loved him for seven years yet I can't go and cry on his grave". Antonia wants to understand that part of Massimo that she never knew existed. She feels attracted towards Michele but he is gay and slowly she understands that Michele is not the answer to her grief. Learning to cope with her grief, Antonia goes back to her own world. (Below Antonia & Michele)

In 2003, Ozpetek made La Finestra di Fronte (The window in front) about a woman Giovanna (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) with two children, living an unhappy life, her attraction for a young man Lorenzo (Raoul Bova)who lives accross from her house. One day she finds an elderly man who has lost his memory. Giovanna and Lorenzo try to discover about the past and family of the man, discovering that he was put in a concentration camp by Nazis because he was gay and his remorse for his companion, whom he could not save from death. (Below Giovanna & Lorenzo)

In 2005, Ozpetek made his most spiritual film, Cuore Sacro (Sacred heart). It was the story of Irene (Borbora Bobulova), a successful and ruthless entrepreneur, who seems unperturned by the suicide of her old friends because she has taken over their old company. Then while planning to take over an old family home, she discoveres the secret of her mother, who was apparently mentally ill and prisoner in that house. Her encounter with a thief young girl and the young girl's death bring her in contact with the reality of urban poor and her own guilt. Filled with remorse she gives up everything and in a gesture of penitence removes all her clothes in a metrostation. (Below Irene)

If you have not seen any of his films, I hope that this brief discription of his works will make you curious to see his films. I like his gentle way of story telling and his film worlds very much.