This weekend was a quiet one and was mostly spent indoors thanks to the incessant rains that came our way courtesy hurricane Ike.The husband was engrossed in Wii Tennis and monopolized the television.And like any other self-respecting techie,I took control of the laptop.During random website hopping, I chanced upon some videos of the Tamil talk show hosted by Anu Hassan.We used to watch this show quite regularly when my parents were here on vacation and I did quite like it as Anu did a darn good job as the host.So this week, her guests on the show belonged to the cast of a newly released Tamil movie which was apparently about a prostitute with a golden heart.The interview itself proceeded along familiar lines and everything seemed ok until the producer of the movie decided to share his two cents.He said something along the lines of :
"I come from a Brahmin family.When I heard the subject,I was very apprehensive about producing such a film since it had a prostitute as the main protaganist.I had several discussions with my family and only when they gave me their blessing,I decided to go ahead."
So yes,the oldest trade known to man is a touchy and uncomfortable subject to dwell upon.But what does being a Brahmin have to do with it?And this was just cinema.A form of art.Why the need to over-indulge and pontificate? Why unnecessarily bring in religion and caste ?
I was now curious to see what the fuss was all about and proceeded to watch the movie online.I could just about sit through the first 10 minutes.There is acting and then there is acting. Even if I could ignore the absurd and ridiculous portrayal of a harlot by the lead actress,the way the story was unfolding was just so damn ridiculous.This woman lives in a small town and everyone in the town knows what she does for a living.But she is so overly generous and helpful that everyone worships her.She is portrayed as this pious goddess who would have had a temple constructed in her name if not for her profession.Every other dialog was a eulogy to her.I really did not get what the director was trying to convey through this film.Why the need to glorify this character? So it does not matter that you are a prostitute as long as you spend the rest of your time and all your money in emulating Mother Teresa?
Amar Prem and Pretty Woman belong to the same genre and then there is this excuse for a movie.Enough said.
3 comments:
There are people, and then there are people. 'People' sufficing to cover the largesse of directors, producers, interviewers, interviewees, talk show hosts and guests and the gamut of the rest. So while there are intelligent movies and shows that do get their 15 minutes, most often it is such colossal idiocy that gets airtime purely for the trp ratings, celeb factor, lack of proper content to be aired, laziness and what not. Not helped by the fact that the aam junta isn't always conscious of being handed dumbed down stuff to watch, see and hear. The media has gone from being informing to insulting the viewer with the nonsense it throws at the audience.
Selective information assimilation... only way out of this muck.
Hypocrites.. that is what all are.. You know, I also saw this interview of Rani Mukherji for the movie "Laaga Chuneri mein daag" sometime ago, where she also plays a prostitute... So, the interviewer asked her what her feelings are towards prostitution.. and she gave such a ridiculous answer that the interviewer just sat quiet for 2-3 mins.. her answer was (not verbatim), "All of us are prostitutes to our trade.. we give our everything to work.. our family, our lives, our morals.. I can understand their feelings because they are similar to each and everyone of us"
I was flabbergasted, she actually called her audience, us prostitutes.. and then she compares it to our work, our livelihood!! What about red cross people, are they prostitutes to their job... Sheeeshhh.. some people....
frankly i really dunno what the bi deal is about! either about being brahmins or prostitutes!
so someone is selling their body to make money because there is no other way! or amy be this is the easiest way. it cant be an easy life, but they are living.
and what does being a prostitute have to do with being or not being nice? since when did our professions decide how good human beings we are!
it's like the classic thing everyone says "She is drak, BUT pretty"!
why the BUT? what does fair skin have to do with beauty in the first place!
so we can say, she is a prostitute, BUT she is a nice human being!" WTF!
cheers!
abha
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