AIDS Jaago short films
Four short films dealing with AIDS awareness, directed by some of today's Indian directors, released in 2007.
You have to jump through a registration hoop to watch them at Jaman for free, but the quality is much better than over on youtube, where you can also find them.
Migration, directed by Mira Nair is the one that I found a little hard to wrap my brain around, not because of the story, but because of the way it was told. There were a lot of different narratives happening in it, and while the jarring contrast were obviously intentional, sometimes it seemed to be a little too rich and dense for the time frame. Beautiful cinematography though, and some excellent performances by all the actors.
Blood Brothers, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj was lovely. Just visually tight and taut and perfect, and Siddhartha (as he did in Rang De Basanti) portrays anguish and heartbreak so perfectly. The little ad-man's condom advertisement breakdown bit was hilarious, and the ending hit home perfectly.
Positive, directed by Farhan Akhtar was the real surprise, because who would have though the Dil Chahta Hai guy could make something so dark, so dysfunctional, and let that ambiguity stay as the unresolved subtext throughout the narrative? This was the most subtle of the films, and Boman Irani and Arjun Mathur knocked their roles out of the park. (As did Shabana, but then, when does that woman not?)
Prarambha (The Beginning), directed by Santosh Sivan was my favourite, and not just because Sivan always does such a good job directing kids. I loved it because it had Prabhu Deva playing a smart, caring, awesome truck driver and completely turned the class stereotypes on their heads. Also his "Madam... Kanoon" line was priceless. Plus, gratuitous dosa shot! Mmm... dosas.
Each movie is around 18 minutes long, so you can watch them during a lunch break. My one complaint is the English monopoly of the titles and credits - why can't we at least have them presented bilingually? And why can't subtitles be optional for those of us who understand the language but get distracted by text flashing at the bottom?
Still, job well done, Mira and co.
You have to jump through a registration hoop to watch them at Jaman for free, but the quality is much better than over on youtube, where you can also find them.
Migration, directed by Mira Nair is the one that I found a little hard to wrap my brain around, not because of the story, but because of the way it was told. There were a lot of different narratives happening in it, and while the jarring contrast were obviously intentional, sometimes it seemed to be a little too rich and dense for the time frame. Beautiful cinematography though, and some excellent performances by all the actors.
Blood Brothers, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj was lovely. Just visually tight and taut and perfect, and Siddhartha (as he did in Rang De Basanti) portrays anguish and heartbreak so perfectly. The little ad-man's condom advertisement breakdown bit was hilarious, and the ending hit home perfectly.
Positive, directed by Farhan Akhtar was the real surprise, because who would have though the Dil Chahta Hai guy could make something so dark, so dysfunctional, and let that ambiguity stay as the unresolved subtext throughout the narrative? This was the most subtle of the films, and Boman Irani and Arjun Mathur knocked their roles out of the park. (As did Shabana, but then, when does that woman not?)
Prarambha (The Beginning), directed by Santosh Sivan was my favourite, and not just because Sivan always does such a good job directing kids. I loved it because it had Prabhu Deva playing a smart, caring, awesome truck driver and completely turned the class stereotypes on their heads. Also his "Madam... Kanoon" line was priceless. Plus, gratuitous dosa shot! Mmm... dosas.
Each movie is around 18 minutes long, so you can watch them during a lunch break. My one complaint is the English monopoly of the titles and credits - why can't we at least have them presented bilingually? And why can't subtitles be optional for those of us who understand the language but get distracted by text flashing at the bottom?
Still, job well done, Mira and co.