A letter to Nandita

Dear Nandita,

Let me begin by saying that I have been a fan of your work ever since I watched 1947 Earth. Your performance was stunning and has been so in all the movies you have acted in. You bring a certain 'believability' to your character and they are amazingly easy to relate to.

Your direction brought out the same in each frame and riding on the formidable cast, every scene seemed,oh so real. The thing that actually disturbs me was the subject and its treatment.

What happened was horrible and there's no denying that. But it also seems to be a safe bet for debut, given your CV. Who wouldn't expect you to make a sensitive movie about the wrongs of our society. But should it really have been the topic? It happened long back and honestly,insensitive as it might sound, I don't want to be reminded of that.

I had hoped that you would deliver a certain 'other perspective'. But there was none. It was just about the cruelty on the Muslims and the way they coped with them.
I do agree that the portrayal is startling. Specially the scene where a nonchalant Paresh Rawal asked his brother if he enjoyed raping women and they both chuckle. Also the last scene where a 'aam hindu' just kills an unsuspecting man running away from the police by dropping a huge slab on him.

All through this, some questions beg to be asked. Why is Sanjay Suri's friend so insensitive? Why is Nasser ignorant of the happenings while his man friday is continuously bickering and nagging? Above all, how did you forget to even make a fleeting reference to Mr. Modi and the Bhagva Brigade who we all hold responsible?

I think I have all the answers. What was shown completes the movie, arousing exactly the reactions from viewers you intended to. And if you had openly stated anyone as the culprit, the movie would have been in for a controversy which you surely did not want. You also might have lost revenues since the movie wouldn't be played in any part of Gujrat then.

To me it was a movie made only to draw tears and anguish and in that sense, I interpret it as a 'thinking man's K-serial. I so wish it were better than this. I so wish it had shown some stories which also had good people and was more than a depressing movie about the plight of a certain community. If you really were making a movie about real events, then why not one on the Mumbai blasts or 9/11 or the way muslims suffer due to a handful of Jehadis? Why did you not portray any character which could remind of us Oscar Schindler, which could give us hope?

But you played your cards well. No critic even dare pan a movie which has you in the director's seat and when the cast includes Paresh Rawal, Naseer, Deepti Naval and even Lillette Dubey because these are the people who have been keeping cinema in touch with reality for decades now. To me it was a great piece of work but mediocre by your standards.

yours sincerely,
Ashutosh Bihani

Update: she replied... although it was only 2 statements n said something like u r free to have ur views...

Railway station

Today i realised that I am most relaxed and perhaps happiest at a railway station.. Lost in a sea of people, everyone judging you by your clothes, luggage, looks, accent n ticket but you don't care.. Through The uncertainty of getting on the wrong train or missing one, i am always sure of reaching my destination, sometimes in general compartment, sometimes talking it through with the tte n at a few other times letting money do the talking. The latter has been rare as initially i was careful to get a ticket and lately i just dont bother to carry enough.. I have never been a chatty guy so the journey in itself gives me time to ponder, to let my thoughts run with the only interruption being the frequent cups of tea.. Amazing experience this, on a train, without a ticket and less than sufficient cash.. What's more, i neither have my uncle's address nor my atm card.. My dad will frown if he comes to know.. Good luck to me..

Written on my way to Nagpur...