I may be wrong but there are many startling parallels between films like “Pather Panchali” a “Dhobi Ghat” a “Tree of life” a “Tokyo Story” a “Bicycle Thieves” and a “Manchadikkuru”, some invigorating parallels which forces you to get out of your comfort zones & face the innermost of anxieties, insecurities as well as "the facts".
These are films made in the past, which takes the medium called Cinema into more heightened levels of Idiosyncrasy & self indulgence, not only making you realize(in hindsight) that such small world do exist after all, but also deceiving you or succumbing you to the beauty & power of pure film making, the essence of which is simply mirroring a relatable slice of life through moving images that lasts longer than usual - in our subconscious.
As opposed to the over-the-top Chennai express like comedic or shall I say shambolic piece of escapism – these are those movies which minusculed its way into "universes within universes" or in simplistic terms to such remotely “closed door” private lives, with a poignant & kaleidoscopic vision that never flinches away from the deeply inherited cultural values of it's particular geographical area, where the story is decorated and the characters are etched in- either by birth or through periodic immigration.
I remember Amir Khan saying in an interview that there are alternate universes in Mumbai, universes which are so marooned, so alienated, where the living members of the family simply circles in & around its neighborhood and does nothing except that - through-out their entire life time.! (Its fascinating, I would love to make a documentary on that.!)
They never get out of their family or the geographical area but instead they are more circumspect in living all alone in an isolated bungalow or a resident for that matter, with the exception of going & coming back from the office to the residence, merely trespassing through with what clearly looks like an arbitrary, routine process of the daily, mundane lives.
It petrifies me how marooned human lives have become now-a-days.
No-body plays cricket anymore, nobody chit-chats in public places, nobody is interested in playing carom in a Rotary club or listening to radio commentary sitting together in a round table.(Alcoholism is an exception BTW!)
And believe it or not! Nobody even takes time in eye balling the “saadi wali” aunties or the “chat pataka” choriyan’s – - something which Shakespeare once described as “Good for our senses” eloquently quoting out
“A thing of beauty is a “pleasure to the mind”, it increases its loveliness the more you peep into it, while never evaporating into nothingness.!”
I remember the days & weeks a couple of years ago when I spent in & around my residence – either watching tv or reading a book or writing articles – without ever keeping an eye on the time that’s been passing, virtually dislocating myself from the real world out there – a month after my graduation has finished.
The funny part is not realizing how stupid I was but realizing the near generalist nature of this incredible phenomenon called “EXISTENTIALISM” which gently paved way for the so-called social networking phenomenon in the 21st century.
It’s not just me who has this problem but millions of people who are out there in the country sides -either jobless or encountering a love failure problem or something which is diabolical – is also suffering from it.
Computerization & the Post Steve Jobs generation has indeed had its fair share of positives(that too in abundance) but how could one explain this ridiculous, near reductive type of living - which defies the very basics of communication & human nature…?
Blogs. Articles. Reviews. On-line shopping. Chit chatting. Video conferencing. Ticket booking. YouTube streaming. E- Mail. G-mail. E-Document. E-Drive. E-Navigagtion. Tweet & Re-tweet. Cloud computing. Fkin online gaming.INSTAGRAM.(Geez.! I don’t even know what the hell that is actually!).
There’s no way a middle class family man could go through an entire non working day, without ever getting a hold of anyone of the above said "necessities".
I think this alternation was all prophesied in the great Indian mythology "Mahabharatha" where "Vyasa" atrociously described Vishnu’s “Sudarshan chakra” as an ace weapon which can not only destroy enemies but also transform the entire universe in the blink of an eye.!
The Chakra might be a myth but it certainly made “the spinning wheel in the loom machine” possible which slowly but steadily reshaped its way into the now famous tireless tubes.
From tubes to Cube to the insanely ridiculous cyber cafe HUBS - Life has limited itself into the so-called social networking era; an era which not only informs a lot but also make us lazy & inane with literally no need for food, water & sex_ the three basic human needs encrypted wonderfully in the Need Hierarchy theory laced out by Abraham Maslow
Thank God I’ve mouthshut & a group of sports & film enthusiastic friend circle. Because otherwise I would have gone extremely mad.!Jokes apart, this is how the world works now-a-days.
Isolation have become the need of the hour all of a sudden.! It might even invent a price tag along with it, sooner or rather than later.! Hi. Hi. Hot Coffin’s & Cold storages….? Likely not….:p
