Thank God Only One Of Them Can Win
It does not rain,it pours..It is not one isolated case of a mobile battery exploding..One explodes and there is a barrage of incidents involving the same..It so happens that one train accident is reported and suddenly the toll mounts and the count surges of similar accidents..One Prince falls into a deep hole..suddenly there is reporting of a queue of supple bodied, flexi-limbed kids taking a plunge..At times I wonder what is happening! Is it all coincidental or a phenomena of critical mass or deliberate attempt to manipulate and influence reality?
It is more apparent in Bollywood’s culture of controversies..Are they for real or carefully constructed products? Even if one is cynical enough to brush them aside as cunning and conning creations does it really steer people away from the issue that has been raised? I doubt because no matter how unbiased one may try to be one willy-nilly joins the club and takes a position.
Of late there have been couple of posts that have literally commentaries more than comments that even authors of the posts could never imagine..Comments that took sides more than a stand on an issue..And I am sure editorial board at the PFC might be finalising a shortlist of top five posts with most comments generated..More heat than sense..With due respect to my fellow pfcites I am not saying I maybe, but I am equally guilty..
In past couple of months two authors had the coveted fortune of fighting pitched battles inadvertently. One of them for sure was caught unawares and did not have massive backup initially..The other one always had the confidence and luxury of seventh fleet at his command—Bhavana Iyer and Anurag Kashyap.. At times I wonder what Bhavana might have been feeling..And I take the liberty of imagining on her behalf..To me she might be musing ‘Kahan panga le liya yaar!’
So far Anurag is concerned I don’t have to even imagine..I can assume he must be thinking ‘Yahan panga theek liya hai yaar.’ With due acknowledgements to Sardar Khushwant Singh and thereby with malice- towards- none- at -all, I admire Anurag for his lone ranger persona..He has the audacity to take on the establishment as it manifests in Bollywood and guts to defend his point of view which viewed with objectivity at times is more pointed than pithy.
And this time around his mightier than sword pen is pointed at his betenoire Khalid Mohammed..
Now had it been only in the realm of critcism and reviews of movies it would have been fine..One could take it with pinch of salt or with a pint of sense as given by Brenden Behan ‘Critics are like eunuchs in a haven..They know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done everyday, but they are unable to do it themselves.’ Unfortunately it does not apply to two worthy opponents..Both have done it and done it often, though there may be difference of opinion on their art and skill of doing it..
I am tempted to climb up the different branches of this issue where all that is seen in Bollywod is not to be believed..where movie-making is mined with insecurities and consequent insensitivities..where cinema is reduced from a product of conviction to a project of compromise..where gullydanda gangs are taking on golf goliaths..I am tempted but I would not venture into those territories..Some other time in some other post..
What I want to know whether issues between AK and KM (taking their case specifically) can be settled with a clear cut winner.Because their battle is representative of malaise prevalent across the board in entertainment and media world amongst other opponents and proponents..If the war of attrition rages on or even if there is a tie,then God knows what will happen and how long and far this gas will expand..At present I am doubtful of any crystallisation..But how I desire there were no traces of doubt left and my wish was as simple as a Bumper sticker for fight between Kennedy v Nixon that said :’Thank God only one of them can win!’
That could make my eyes close for some sound sleep with an assurance that everything is hunkydory in tinsel town.That could give my pillow some mighty strokes when my wooden head hits it.Touchwood!
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
I wonder what the above post has to do with ‘passion’ or ‘cinema’ forget about ‘passionforcinema’. Is this website turning into a blogging site for people to vent out their personal remarks on certain issues without. If yes then it is turning out to be just another blogging site.
I thought bloggers here are passionate about cinema and would discuss cinema and not gossip.
@Rahul,
Thnx for ur opinion..In case you are unaware or choose to be so Rahul, there is a category tag listing Gossip and News as one of the fields..And there is Opinion, People tag..
And if anything concerning cinema and people inhabiting is not grist for topics and issues then only reviewing films or auteur directors is too narrow a lane to tread..I think PFC is magnaniamous and broadbased enough to embrace much more than only so called passion and cinema..
Moreover if you just revisit couple of articles where dear Anuraag has to not only answer for his own posts but to comment on behalf of other colleagues, i think he is talking people within film fraternity and not only films and passion as thought by you..thnx anyway for atleast reading this post..Cheers
well said krysh
good article krysh….
Dunno if I’m allowed to ask this, but when did the animosity between KM and AK *FIRST* surface and over what exactly?
@night as far as i know ..it happened over john abraham when KM wrote a review of “kabul express” and AK defended him .
have u watched aag yet? ;)
@aj – thanks for filling me in. And not yet! ;)