Lunar Eclipse

Last week’s little excitement was the Lunar Eclipse on the 21st. It was raining all day, and the rain stopped, though the clouds still hung heavy, and I doubted that anything would be visible. Happily, the clouds cleared before 10 PM and when I stepped out at 10:15 the sky was perfectly clear. The moon was about halfway into shadow when I saw it, its innocent white giving way to an ominous orange-red shade. It was the sort of moon, I thought, with a shiver, that brings out werewolves. My imagination overworking, I gave a quick nod to Saturn, hanging below the moon and slipped back inside, and into my cozy bed, where I slept untroubled by loony monsters.

Jodhaa-Akbar

I was pleasantly surprised my the movie JodhaaAkbar last night, as I had gone without high expectations. Though its quality no where near the inspirational Lagaan and Swades that director Ashuthosh Gowarikar has made before, but it is a fantastic spectacle. The sets are opulent eye-candy (so are the two leads), the costumes are gorgeous (did I mention the leads?).

The story itself is more historical fiction than history (as virtually admitted in the narration), but as it is admitted, the protests about its accuracy are quite unnecessary. It never claims to be historically accurate. (So there!).

I was highly impressed by Hrithik Roshan's Akbar. He seems to be channeling the character, not simply acting him out. I cannot imagine anyone else in that role now(love the little mushtache). When he speaks, he sounds aunthentic- not simply reading a dialogue (unlike almost everyone else). Aishwarya (thinkfully) has little to do but look lovely (which he does) and occasionally show eyes brimming over with tears (which she does very well, indeed).

The movie is far from flawless. Its far too long, for one. The voice over naration by Amitabh could have been cut(or replaced with scenes with proper dialogue), along with several other scenes in the couple of hours. The movie as a whole could have used a whole lot of editing to make it at least an hour shorter. I'm afraid, that the length alone may keep it from being a hit.

Rehman's music is disappointing, the songs and the background music alike. Most of the actors are wooden and have obviously just memorised their dialogues and are reciting it off like bad poetry. The initial battle sequence was squirm-worthy. I did like the other fight scenes though, especially the last one.

So, worth a watch for sure(an in the theatre- DVD wouldn't do the sets justice), but I wouldn't do it more than once.

A picture is worth a thousand words that I could do without!

For the last several weeks, my weekend trips to my aunt's house have included one important function- taking pictures. By that I don't mean the making memories kind, or landscape or portrait photography, amateur or professional. This is a category all of its own- its Marriage Market photography. It started with a Maami who was dismayed by the meagre number of pictures my Mom offered her of me. "Other girls send portfolios" , she protested. "Other girls must be models, not geeky software engineers", I snorted. I was overruled by my alarmed mother though, and so every weekend I come bearing a couple of my Salwar Kameezes and pose around the solarium, while my aunt directs me and takes the snaps, and my cousin critiques. Sometimes, if its not enough, I try out their dresses and do my hair several different ways: pull it back, leave it loose, a little in front. And once its all done I send them on their way to my Mom in India.

She promptly and diligently goes through them and comes back with several more suggestions for the next week. "Try a different duppatta... comb your hair after every shot, don't leave it loose... don't tie it too tight.... wear heel... don't wear heels...no shoes...no bare feet, wear sandals with open toes... not that dress, its too tight... not that one either, its too floppy.... stand up straight... don't stand too straight, be natural... sit... no sitting shots... wear powder... no make up... jewellery... close ups of you face, full length shots...

Ok... who cares precisely to look at so many pictures?!! Unfortunately, alas, there are enough people who do. And even worse(for me) there are girls who happily (it seems- my smiles are simply fake, and not all the cajoling in the world can help with that) sit through an entire photoshoot, for all the world like they were at America's Top Model or something. Today it is to be garden shots(never mind that it s perfectly dreary winter's day), in carefully arranged 'natural' poses.

So if you ever come across pictures of me with a forced smile, strangely stiff, and teetering on high heels, smelling the non-existent roses, all in different clothes, for all the world like a heroine from a Tamil movie, changing costumes through a song sequence, you know that story behind it.