My dear Nikita,
You flatter me, my dear, but the admiration is reciprocal. I hope you did not miss my last post on that other thread where I was, as usual, completely off topic, discussing Jodha Akbar instead of PR! It was to explain why I remembered my exchanges with you on my rather acerbic thread on Vishnu/Soham. Incidentally, look at him yesterday! His sisters is the object of obnoxious comments and he should do nothing, and must get beaten up to boot! It is plain nuts.
Equally, and undoubtedly unintentionally comic was Purvi telling Onir that she worshipped him like a Bhagwan. I did not know that bhakts made their bhagwan sleep on the floor while they themselves snuggled comfortably into a soft bed, or that they did not even worry about how the bhagwan would cope after being destroyed professionally thanks to the bhakt.
Well, that is enough to ensure that this is not off topic!
About Kai Po Che, to do a proper review for you, I would have to watch it again without interruptions late at night (I can do it, as I have it on DVD off a Showcase screening on Tatasky) . But my preliminary and necessarily brief comments would be that I found Sushant very, very promising, but I also felt that the hype about the film itself was a bit too much.
But to be fair to it, KPC is not pretentious, with endless, incomprehensible stretches of dim passageways and mysterious confabulations that end in nothing very exciting, like, say, Shanghai, which was so highly rated by the critics. KPC is very clear and is easily understood, which must have helped it in the small towns and the villages.
It is in fact a very good, competent film, which does not wander away too much from the central thread - of cricket, or sports in general, as a sure escape route from poverty, entwined with the other theme of communal violence, its causes, and how it can be defused. And it deals with both is a manner free of inbuilt prejudices, and with a degree of understanding for where the unpopular side is coming from.
The weakest point about most films/writing about the 2002 riots in Gujarat has been the almost total sidelining and disregard of the trigger, the arson attack on the train and the burning alive of so many, including a large number of women and children who were trapped in their compartment. It was as if their horrible death did not matter at all. One Indian politician actually claimed that the fire was set deliberately and they, in effect, were burned to death by their own party! The result was that even moderate, objective viewers were put off and Gujaratis as a whole were alienated by what they saw as unwarranted targetting of them as a State.
Every right thinking person must unequivocally condemn the rioting and the carnage that followed, but to blank out the dead of the train arson is inexcusable as well.
Kai Po Che does not make these glaring mistakes, and the bitter anguish caused to the families of those who were murdered in the train fire is brought out well. Even Omi, who turns into a murderous rioter, with extreme hatred being stirred up in him by his terrible personal loss in the burning of the train, is not pushed beyond the pale of humanity. One does not know if his transformation – with this hatred being extinguished when he pulls the trigger and kills a man - would have been th same if the person he shoots and kills had not been Ishaan. But the fact is that the fire of hatred within him is doused, and he is so transformed that he does not escape, as he could have done, but faces a trial and takes his punishment. He is thus fully redeemed. The way in which Ishaan's family accepts him and his prayasachit is also heartwarming.
I loved all the three young men – Ishaan, Omi, and Govind- and also Ali, the grave, withdrawn little Muslim boy who becomes a famous cricketer and finally fulfils the dream that Ishaan had for him. I liked it that he is no pushover for cricket and has to be won over. The whole ambience of his home and his family - his obdurate father, his stepmother and stepsiblings - is spot on. As is the resistance he faces when trying to take up sports. Even middle class parents would have, till recently, been very reluctant to have their kids go in for sports, even cricket, as a career. The reluctance of the school authorities to spend on sports facilities is typical, and understandable, for the parents of many of their students would complain if their children spent a lot of time on sports!
I was surprised and pleased that the rooftop tryst between Govind and Vidya (which I found odd, to say the least, and personally speaking. distasteful) did not result is a 'pavitra bachcha'. As I wrote earlier on this thread, in TV land, there seem to be only two kinds of women. One jo kabhi maa nahin ban sakti (especially if she had earlier committed the 'mortal sin' of getting an abortion). and the second who produces kids with alarming alacrity, like Kunti having Karna. It was such a nice change to have Vidya NOT expecting a kid. As was the very novel way in which Ishaan finds out about the escapade !
I loved the way in which cricket, and the pulsating excitement that pervades the dusty streets of a mofussil town whenever India is on the verge of winning big, is woven into the fabric of the narrative. And the surging tide of joy when it does, a joy that breaks all barriers, of class, creed and everything else. The last time I saw this done as well was 12 years ago, in Aamir Khan's very different Lagaan.
So, one arrives finally at Sushant Singh Rajput. The boy is a natural before any camera, with an unaffected spontaneity that belies the fact that he is a beginner in films. He can cover the whole gamut of emotions – exasperation, anger, gaiety, enthusiasm,passion, hilarity – without letting the effort behind it all show. He thus makes every scene look easy, but one knows that it is not easy. He carries the film, despite having no more footage than the other two and no romantic interest either, because he has that intangible gift: presence. And charisma. When Ishaan lies there, his eyes wide open and glassy in death, my breath was caught in my throat and I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. It was so unexpected, and so very low key - no weeping or wailing and no dramatic closeups – and yet the impact was terrific.
No wonder that Sushant is getting films from very prestigious banners, and that is necessary to him to break into the top grade. Plus he has bagged the ultimate accolade, a Pepsi commercial all to himself!
In spite of all that I liked about this film, and as you can see that is a lot, it still was faintly disappointing. I felt that there was more that could have been done, which would have heightened the impact of the serious part of the film, the one about the communal angle. But perhaps that was deliberate, to make the film broadly appealing, and not one for a niche audience that would be interested in 2002 Gujarat alone. That is why Kai Po Che has been a success commercially as well, for its message is like one of those ovoid, sugarcoated capsules that slip down the throat without the least hassle. But the message does get home.
Well, my dear Nikita, I hope you are still with me. As usual, I have gone on and on and on, and this is longer than any review should be, for all that I meant it to be brief comments! Brief? !?😉😉But at least I do not need to do any more. I had no idea I had retained so much of the film That says something about it, does it not?
Shyamala Aunty
Originally posted by: nikitagmc
@Shyamala Aunty: Offtopic but could not resist after reading your post above. Have you watched Kai Po Che? :D What did you think about it? Would love to read a review of the film and its characters by you, you write so very well.
Shiv Shakti
