Method in Madness

Rrriinnggg...the shrill sound of my barely-functional, minimalistic landline telephone rudely pulls me out of my slumber and dumps me into a half-awake state.

It's 4.30 pm. I had gone to bed just a couple of hours earlier after 5 days of hardly a wink. "I don't wanna get up", I mumble. But the phone is insistent. So I crawl to the phone and grudgingly pick it up.

The conversation makes up for it. "So, you are about to leave for Scotland, even before I go back home to Trinidad for good? How about catching a play?"

I think that's a wonderful idea.

"There are two options: one is Shear Madness - it's a comedy and a murder mystery surrounding the death of a retired pianist planning a comeback; the other is called Five Guys Named Moe, also a comedy. Both are running at the Woodruff Arts Center. We may get the Thursday tickets."

"Well, go ahead, get them," I say, secretly hoping that we go to Shear Madness as the combination of a comedy and a murder mystery sounds interesting.

Thursday arrives, and Shear Madness it is. After a false start, and a silent nag over my walking-speed (or the lack thereof), we manage to board the MARTA bus that will take us to our destination.

Tickets collected from the box-office, we walk into the opera store where some souvenir-shopping is done. Of course, broke as always, I haven't bought anything. Then comes the frantic search for the Hertz Stage, which is not exactly inside the Woodruff Arts Center, contrary to what the Woodruff Arts Center website may lead you to believe.

Upon entrance, it amazes us how small the auditorium is. With a capcity of just about 200 seats wrapped around the stage, it is definitely the smallest theater either of us has ever seen. The stage is set up like a barber's saloon, and even the wallpaper features the tools of the trade. As we take our seats, I can't help smiling with amusement as I notice several Coca-Cola advertisements on the background-wall of the stage. Now I'm certain that this indeed is WOODRUFF Arts Center.

Shear Madness is the name of the saloon that the whole play is set in. During the course of events, the audience discovers that a retired stage-artist has been killed upstairs. Two undercover cops, who passed-off as customers earlier, assert that the killer is one (or more) of the four people present in the saloon. After investigation and interrogation, when a clear picture doesn't emerge, the cops ask the audience to step-in and join the dots.

Access Atlanta calls the play silly. I think Shear Madness is why theater is not about to die anytime soon.

Movies and television have taken away much of the entertainment value of theater, and used that as the foundation to build skyscrapers. Compared to theaterical productions, they have huge expert teams, unlimited access to technology and special effects, great possibilities in terms of visual presentation, the triple-comfort of retake-edit-dub, massive budgets and, of course, countless viewers.

In the face of such formidable competition, what can theater do? Should it continue doing the same old thing that it has been doing for centuries, hoping that the audience would turn up for the sake of tradition? That's the Broadway formula. And the opera formula. They seems to have a unique brand of reverse-snobbery fed continuously by their "art savvy" patrons. In fact, I've heard people say that stage-play performers are better actors than those in movies. I find the idea ridiculous. Granted that theater actors don't have retakes, and therefore no room for mistakes, but then again, to cater to large live audience, they rely on acting-by-body rather than histrionics.

I believe that as long as theater keeps doing the same things, it will continue to be a poor cousin to movies and TV.

Shear Madness is not a passive, run-of-the-mill theater production. It leverages the unique advantage of theater - live audience! Thus, not only does it weave-in city-specific and contemporary jokes, but actually gets the audience involved by making the script interactive. So, every show is different.

Admittedly, this is controlled and programmed interactivity since there are 4 different but scripted endings depending upon what the audience wants. Not quite like improv-comedy shows. But this is certainly heads and shoulders above any interactivity that I have seen in any theater-play. And the quality of interaction is great - completely engaging.

Besides, it is very funny. Not the kind of raunchy comedy that stage-comedies have come to represent, but genuinely funny, and the kind that you can watch with your mother and your kids. It's got something for everybody. From the burly, moustachioed, gay & funny barber to his girly, full-of-attitude assistant, and from the eager-beaver cop to the old, high-scoiety lady, the characters will make you smile and lighten-up.

Thumbs and toes up for Shear Madness. Watch it.

The Inferno of Heaven on Earth

"Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin asto"1 (If there is a heaven on earth, this is it, this is it, this is it)
- Jehangir [1569-1627], 5th Mogul2 emperor of India (1605-1627)

"(Kashmir is) the most dangerous place in the world today."3 (March 2000)
- William Jefferson Clinton [1946-], 42nd President of United States of America (1993-2001)

Something, somewhere, obviously went terribly wrong. So wrong, in fact, that in 2002 the world came dangerously close - the closest since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 - to a nuclear war.

So, what happened? What is Kashmir all about? Why can't these two nations that are literally joined at the hip, live together in peace? If you've ever wondered about those questions, you are in luck. This article attempts to uncover the background that few know, and fewer care to explain. Even if you are an Indian or a Pakistani, you have to keep reading, for we are seldom, if ever, shown the complete picture by our politicians.

While the ultimate genesis of the Kashmir issue can be traced back to the division on Bengal on religious lines, what is of utmost importance is to understand is how the territorial dispute begun.

After 1858, when India was formally declared Britain's "Crown Colony", colonial authority was exercised in dual fashion. About 60% of the territory was administered directly, while some “princely states” continued to be governed by local rulers – Maharaja, Raja, Nawab, or Nizam – who acknowledged the “paramountcy” of Britain. Under the doctrine of paramouncy, the monarchs could do pretty much what they wanted as long as they deferred to the crown on defense, foreign affairs, and communications. The status of these princely states was ambiguous and resembled the 'protectorate' system. This played out at the time on independence in 1947.

At the time of independence and partition, there were 562 princely states that varied in size from tiny fiefdoms to giant states like Mysore, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Kashmir. Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy, decreed that the states were free to join either India or Pakistan, but three principles would have to be taken into consideration. One was geographic contiguity, so if you were deep in the heart of India or what was going to become India, you couldn’t reasonably expect to join Pakistan. (Or for that matter, as the Nawab of Pakistan’s Khairpur and Sindh found out when he wanted to join India, and Nehru4 declined, saying “You’re in the heart of Sindh, we’re not going to have a Berlin corridor linking you with India.”) The second principle was demography. Pakistan would be the predominantly Muslim areas. Hence you get this peculiar geographic anomaly of countries separated by about 1500 miles of hostile territory; and third, which was somewhat contradictory, the final decision was that of the monarch. So the principles were not all exactly congruent.

Within weeks of independence, most princely states acceded either to India or to Pakistan, with a few notable exceptions.

One small state – Junagadh (now in Gujarat) – which was geographically far from Pakistan and contiguous with India, had a Muslim ruler, and a Hindu-majority populace. The ruler chose to join Pakistan. Revolt against him occurred. Using the revolt as pretext, India invaded the town. The Nawab fled and Junagadh was absorbed into the Indian Federation after a plebiscite in which the population voted overwhelmingly in India’s favor.

Roughly the size of Egypt, Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states. The Nizam (Muslim ruler) – reputed at the time to be richest man in the world – decided that he wanted to remain independent. The overwhelmingly Hindu population of this state in south central India, without access to the sea, revolted. In September 1948, a mechanized division of the Indian Army moved into Hyderabad and integrated it into India.

Bear these two accessions in mind as they are critical to Pakistan's claim over Kashmir. But for the moment, let's hold that thought and move on to the third principality.

Kashmir, in size larger than Syria, posed a peculiar problem. It was contiguous to both India and Pakistan. It had a Hindu monarch and a predominantly Muslim population. So where do you go? Both Indians and Pakistanis made representations to Maharaja Hari Singh, who entertained visions of independence. Both India and Pakistan signed a "Stand Still Agreement" with him allowing him time to decide.

Ultimately, as the maharaja refused to accede to either India or Pakistan and vacillated on the question of accession, a rebellion broke out in the Kashmiri district of Poonchh in late October 1947. The rebels quickly started to march on Srinagar, Kashmir's capital city. Faced with this rebel onslaught, the maharaja panicked and appealed to India for assistance. India promptly sent in troops, but not before one-third of the state had been occupied by the rebels, who were now assisted by Pakistani regular troops dressed as local tribesmen.5 India had also put a price on this help: Kashmir’s accession to India.

After the Indian Army stopped the Pakistani and rebel advance, the maharaja acceded to India on October 25, 1947, but with an important proviso: that at some point a plebiscite would be held to determine the wishes of the Kashmiris.

The government of Pakistan refused to recognize the accession and denounced it as a fraud even though the Indian government announced that it would require an expression of the people's will through a plebiscite after the invaders were driven back. Pakistan launched an active military and diplomatic campaign to undo the accession.

Pakistan has two major objections to the accession. Firstly, it questions the maharaja’s authority to accede, as ruler of Kashmir. It argues that since there was a rebellion, and the fact that he asked India for military aid, Hari Singh did not have control of the territory and was therefore not a competent authority to sign the Instrument of Accession.

Then, it questions whether the Instrument was ever actually signed. While Lord Mountbatten, Prime Minister Nehru and Maharaja Hari Singh are the declared signatories, the Instrument of Accession was neither presented to the United Nations nor to Pakistan. UN directives state that every treaty entered into by a member of the United Nations must be registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations. While non-presentation does not void the treaty, it does mean that India cannot invoke the treaty before any organ of the United Nations. Moreover, further shedding doubt on the treaty’s validity, in 1995 Indian authorities claimed that the original copy of the treaty was either stolen or lost.

Well, actually, Pakistan has a third argument as well: it points to the precedents of Junagarh and Hyderabad and demands plebiscite. India counters by saying that Junagarh and Hyderabad were not contiguous to Pakistan while Kashmir is to India, and therefore the analogy does not apply.

Indian Prime Minister Nehru, on the advice of Lord Mountbatten, sent the Kashmir case to the UN Security Council for adjudication, thinking that it would be a neutral ground where things could be decided along the canons of international law. That’s the last time India’s referred anything to the Security Council or believed in the neutrality of international law.

Very quickly the Kashmir dispute became entrapped in the warp and woof of the Cold War. Since the region had significant Soviet presence (Afghanistan etc.), the US was interested in maintaining a substantial Anglo-American presence in Pakistan and thus translated its profound anticommunist impulse into a strong pro-Pakistan sentiment.

The UN decided in a series of resolutions, especially two important ones in 1948-49, that three things have to happen in Kashmir. Pakistan had to vacate its aggression, India then had to reduce troops commensurate to the maintenance of law and order, and third, a plebiscite would be held to determine the wishes of the Kashmiris. None of these three things have happened.

After about 1960, the UN basically withdrew from this conflict for all practical purposes. Since then, Pakistan has ritualistically raised the issue in the UN every fall when the UN opens, and similarly the Indian representative has exercised his or her right of reply.





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1 From “Jahangirnama” (memoirs/ biography of Jehangir)
2 Mogul is the Persian name for Mongol. The Mogul dynasty, established by Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babar who invaded India in 1526, was ruling a large part of India at the time imperial English entered the country as traders. The term has since entered English vocabulary to mean a rich and powerful person
3 From "President Clinton arrives in Bangladesh for historic visit", March20, 2000, http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/south/03/20/clinton.bangladesh/
4 Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India
5 Maj. Gen. Akbar Khan in “Raiders in Kashmir”, where he proudly talks about how he gave leave to his men and organized them, trained them, provided them weaponry, trucks and the like, to aid the rebels.

Vegas Baby!

This was my Vegas weekend. But don't get any ideas already. I was there on business.

You are already aware that Las Vegas is called the sin city. I'd rather call it the city of indulgence. And I did see some posters hailing it as the city that never sleeps, though technically, New York is the city that never sleeps.

You know where you are as soon as you land in the city. There are slot machines in the airport lounges! As you walk out of the airport, you can see the skyline dotted with tall casino/hotel buildings.

Apparently, the bulk of action is on a small patch of land called “the strip”. The casino/hotel buildings are typically architecturally interesting and theme-based, unless you are looking at an old-school casino like Treasure Island.

Some of these are quite remarkable. MGM Grand is bathed in green light at night, but otherwise looks pretty much like a regular 5-star hotel. Inside, it has some elegant lighting and is relatively subdued.

But then you get out and see something like Disneyland across the road. You go there and find out that it is called Excalibur (like in the tale of King Arthur), and is built around the theme of medieval times. I thought it was very cheesy. It’s connected to something a called Luxor which is constructed as a pyramid.

Opposite the Excalibur is a casino I liked quite a bit. It’s New York New York. It’s built like, well, New York. You see the statue of liberty, the empire state building and a commemorative laser where the twin towers of world trade center should have been. Inside, it’s pretty cool…makes you feel at home pretty quickly. Feels nice to walk in the streets, grab a pizza or enjoy some idiot’s singing in a karaoke bar. Oh, and they also have a roller coaster and a great kids’ section.

Then there is the Bellagio. I didn’t go in, but right outside it are dancing fountains, and that is worth watching – day or night. Caesar’s Palace, the next in row, is built like you know what. It's under construction. Even so, the section open for public is huge. It's the biggest shopping destination in Vegas. In fact, I wasn’t aware that so many luxury brands existed as have showrooms in Caesar’s (just kidding, but its huge).

Opposite it, is Paris. It’s got an almost life-size Eiffel Tower. I didn’t go in, but apparently the people inside have an attitude, just like the French actually do. Oh, on the outside, there’s also a replica of the original hot air balloon.

Venetian is another casino, apart from NYNY, that I loved. It's got canals complete with gondolas and canal-side shops. Since they have to keep it clean, they have chosen pathway stones that look dirty, so as to match Venice as closely as possible.

Not to forget Aladdin. This one, of course, is set up as an Arabic adventure. I couldn’t find the time to visit it, though it looked interesting from the outside. Flamingo, as the name suggests, appeared to be a damn loud place. There are others like Bally’s and Imperial Palace on the strip, which are not worth mentioning. Further down the strip are Monte Carlo, Sahara, Circus Circus, Hard Rock, Stardust, Stratosphere, Riviera etc. but I didn’t get a chance to go any further than Harrah’s.

Harrah’s is where I worked on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a damn loud place too, but compared to Rio where I worked on Friday, it would be put down as tasteful.

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, a much feared gangster, is often credited with creating Las Vegas by setting up the first major casino Flamingo. He is credited with having the vision and foresight to create this business in the middle of the deserts of Nevada. He wasn’t the one to invent Vegas, though.

In fact, initially Siegel didn't see any worth in Vegas at all; it was hot, arid and in the middle of nowhere. However, Vegas did have one major advantage that was it was in the state of Nevada and in Nevada it was legal to gamble. He saw a standard mob related opportunity and decided to act on it. Bugsy Siegel is associated with gambling in Las Vegas so much even though his work in Vegas came at the very end of his life and his project of building the finest casino ultimately lead to his death. But he surely was the man who made Las Vegas into the gambling Mecca of the United States.

Overall, the casinos are the lifeline of Vegas.

The locals, however, don’t like to gamble in the casinos on the strip. They say these casinos have their machines “tightened”, meaning that the odds of winning are low. So they go to off-strip casinos that are meant for locals – have better odds, and accept smaller bets.

Though each casino is unique, the typical business model is the same. In one building, they have essentially 7 activities – casino, hotel, comedy show, magic show, semi-nude show, shopping mall, and eateries (including a buffet).

Off the strip, there’re helicopter and boat rides of the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. There’s an ATV tour of the Grand Canyon as well. Heck, they even have bungee-jumping. (I never went off the strip – no time. A friend of mine who returned from there the day I left told me all about it) Then of course, you can rent Ferraris or Harley Davidsons or even scooters right on the strip.

That’s the family Vegas. Then there’s the Vegas underbelly, off the strip with strip-clubs and rampant prostitution. It is widely believed that even the casinos on the strip are the mob’s way of legalizing black money.

Anyways, the locals don’t like casinos. On one hand, they provide them employment whiled on the other, they suck money away from them. There is an angst against bankruptcies caused by casino gambling, and the couple of old ladies who helped me with my surveys also talked about how the traffic is very bad due to drunken driving (alcoholic beverages are typically free in most casinos) and also because of an overwhelming transit population (people visiting Vegas).

All in all, I think I’d like Vegas, if I went there for a pleasure trip. But I probably won't be able to handle more than 4-5 days of it (which is in stark contrast to my aforementioned friend who says she could live there).

Add some color to your lives

Happy Holi
The festival of colors

One of the two biggest Hindu festivals, Holi is often described as festival of colors. Indeed, it is a very colorful festival, in every sense of the word. The most obvious manifestation being the color play that marks the day. People smear each other's face with gulal (fragrant, dry holi color), squirt each other with colored water and dunk everyone in tanks of colored water. In fact, if you were in India at this time of the year, you couldn't walk a street without "becoming colorful".

But there is much more to Holi than colors. It is the day of unbridled laughter, ranging from the silly (biggest fool conferences) to intellectual (conventions of humorous and satirical poetry). Fun is the general theme of the day, and even as people color each other, they go about to homes of friends and acquaintaces in groups - always walking there, singing aloud in streets. There are several festival-specific delicacies including the sweet gujhiya and the mustard & cinnamon flavored ferment called karanji.

Most of all, Holi is the day of the embrace or the hug, as people meet each other, close the book of the last year, forget past enmities and embrace everyone as their own.

Holi, also known as Holikotsav (Holi Festival), Vasantostsav (Spring Festival), and Madanotsav (Festival of the God of Desire), is celebrated 20 days after Vasant Panchmi (5th day of Spring) - a festival marked by a kite-dotted sky and worship of the Goddess of Learning. It can also be thought of as the new year of the farmers (Diwali being the new year of traders), and is the time when the harvest of the season is just ready.

For a quick primer (4 very short pages) on Holi, visit http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa030401a.htm

You can send Holi eCards to your desi friends from http://www.123greetings.com/events/holi/

You may also want to check out the rather amateurishly charming game Rang De (Color Me) at http://games.indiatimes.com/gameslist/gameshow/47845680.cms

Quotation of the Day

"Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand."
- one of my MBA professors

America says Kerry on Bush

I’m running late for a class and cursing the elevator for it’s speed, or the lack thereof, when it halts at a floor. But I don’t mind because as the door opens, a very attractive girl wearing a rather tempting dress enters. We nod at each other, and I struggle hard not to make my stare too obvious.

She speaks, “I’m considering whether to go for the class at 1.30 or watch Kerry’s speech at 2.” That was abrupt, but I gather myself together, “What? To watch him concede?” She agrees that it would have been so much more worthwhile had Kerry won, and decides that attending the class may be a better idea.

By now, my interest is aroused. So I go down to the business school lounge at two to check out the mood. The lounge is jam-packed with somber looking youngsters. While some show frustration (“Why did he have to concede? What did he have to lose if he waited?”), the general mood is of disappointed resignation.

I check back at three (the time of Bush’s acceptance speech) only to find the lounge largely empty. Those who are present aren’t ecstatic either. The dominant emotion in the Bush camp is relief. This is a southern state, a Republican stronghold, so one can well imagine the reaction across the campuses in pro-Democrat states.

Young America cares and more youth voted in this election than in any before it. According to The Boston Globe, at least 20.9 million Americans under the age of 30 voted in this presidential-election, which is an increase of 4.6 million over 2000.

It is abundantly clear that the young voters favored Kerry. I jokingly paraphrase Churchill “If you are not a Democrat at 20 you don’t have a heart. If you are not a Republican at 40, you don’t have a brain.” A student sitting on the next couch, says sagely, “Just because the young voted for Kerry, why did everyone think he would win? America has a very grey population and a lot of the old, ‘very American’ people came out to vote for Bush.”

The president to have won by the thinnest margin ever is also the president to have received the highest number of votes ever. That is America’s democracy for you. Quirky. Intriguing. Alive.

Quotation of the Day

"Life is dangerous; it has a 100% mortality rate."
- yours truly The Maverick

The Irony

True, I was sad but at least I didn’t know as much
Sure, I didn’t know that I was waiting for your touch

Yes, I was alone but at least wasn’t lonely
Till I hadn’t seen your face so lovely

I used to think that I was in control of my life
And then you walked in and bared the strife

You have turned everything in my life topsy turvy
An acute pain of the realization that I was unhappy

I have been longing for you since I was born
Didn’t know you but eternally love-lorn

Watching your bright smile light up the room
Makes me believe that I can ward off the gloom

The way wind blows up your tress
Reassures me that I am capable of bliss

I have the whole world in my control
And you have control on which way I roll

So near – just need move my hand to touch yours
Yet so far that I’d not try and sit still for hours

My dream that steals my sleep, My life yet not in my life,
My love, are you my greatest joy, or my biggest plight?

Quotation of the Day

"There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who can read binary, and those who can't."
- yours truly The Maverick

Whose republic day is it anyway?

I am biased. Based in Delhi, I can't help but wish that I could avoid the traffic snarls and other associated fringe benefits of the republic day. I just have to wonder whether the "public celebration" of Republic Day is worth the effort, money and inconvenience. After all, the heart of the nation's capital comes to a standstill for several days flanking the republic day.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against celebrating republic day. Far from it. I appreciate the fact that 26 January has the place of honor in India's history.

After Nehru unfurled the tricolor on the banks of Ravi at the stroke of midnight on 31 December 1929 and the declaration of complete independence was passed, Gandhi called for the celebration of an "Independence Day" on January 26 presumably to judge the mood of the nation. The first Independence Day in 1930 was, therefore, but a precursor to the Dandi march. As the independence movement gained momentum, however, 26 January came to symbolize the aspirations of the populace.

So, it posed a peculiar problem when the British panicked, packed their bags and ran away on 15 August 1947, ahead of the scheduled date, which was 26 January 1948. It was decided that though formally India gained independence on the 15th of August, we would continue to celebrate the "original" Independence Day - 26 January. In order to give tradition a semblance of rationale, 26 January was accorded the status of Republic Day.

So, in essence 26 January is our real independence day by proxy, and I'd have to be a thankless, shameless, nihilist not to respect this day. What I despise, though, is the manner of celebration.

Our republic day celebration boils down to a display of the assorted advanced weaponry accumulated by the country and a march past by the various sections of the armed forces. Both are meant to demonstrate the military might of the country. Tableaus purported to highlight our cultural diversity seem to have been added to the rigmarole as an afterthought.

To me, this smacks of an inferiority complex that India Shining can ill afford. Do we really need to shout from the rooftops post-Pokhran II ? When, if ever, will we realize that we have ceased to be a potential world-power, and have started to tread the path of realizing that potential?

The speech-parade routine is a legacy of the cold war years when the socialist states like Russia needed to reassure their masses that they were safe and had the wherewithal to take on anyone in the world, especially the bourgeois capitalist nations. Our friendly socialist nations have fallen, but we refuse to shed the baggage.

International diplomatic relations have changed dramatically during the past 5 decades, and we are closer than ever to America. Even so, we are still nursing the hangover of communism (socialism, to be politically correct).

We continue to celebrate our republic day the same way as a communist nation would. All arrangements are handled by the government. Government offices and organizations are required to "celebrate" it. And the whole ritual is handled in an unenthusiastic, cold, high handed manner that is characteristic of official business in the country of babudom.

Although republic day is ostensibly a "public function", I wonder what proportion of that public is involved in the celebrations. Come to think of it, are there ANY civil celebrations out there? Does the common man even bother to flick the remote to watch the republic day parade? I don't have to be R.K.Laxman to sadly conclude that India's republic day is a "state function", not a "public celebration".

Contrast this to how the Americans celebrate their independence day. Private Citizens participate in the floats, bands and music that parade through towns and cities. They enjoy the community pyrotechnics and organize reunions and get-togethers. And they thank the heroes who won them the independence and those who guard it. Can we move towards such a celebration, where citizens rejoice, celebrate, and congratulate each other? That would be my republic day. And yours?

Lagaan: Not quite taxing :-)

Okay, so I finally went to watch Lagaan. And regretted it even before I got into the theater. No, not because the movie sucks, but because I discovered that it was becoming tax-free from the next morning.

About the movie - till the interval, it’s exceptionally good - with only minor irritants like the inconsistent dialect (seems that everybody is converting their shudh Hindi dialogs to the accent and dialect he or she likes the most at that particular moment) and the squeaky clean clothes (a pretty rich village - everyone's wearing new clothes. If Levi's can sell new jeans with the lived-in look, the filmmaker could surely have arranged for clothes with a "worn-out" feel)

Actually, it remains bearable for a short while even after the intermission - that is till the match starts. After that it deteriorates into a cheap parody of a cricket match. Even so, the match is so firmly entrenched and so intriguingly interwoven into the plot that the film manages to sail through. (One thing I found surprising was the interest with which most of the audience was watching the pre-fixed match)

I know that the newspapers have been telling you that a lot of painstaking research had been done for the film. They've been telling you anecdotes about how Amir Khan got to lay his hands on a cricket bat of 1890s vintage, and so on. They have been lying, apparently under the influence of, well, a PR campaign.

Not Quite Cricket

1. In 1890s, bats used to be slightly crooked, unlike the ones shown in the film.
2. The 3 day, 1 inning test is a modern invention. In those days, they only had the 2 inning version.
3. In those days, an over meant 8 balls.
4. In that day and age, "tackling the ball twice" was considered out. But Gurran, one of Amir's team-members bounces the ball off his bat, and then knocks it to the boundary without jeopardizing his position in the field.
5. What happens in a test match if the team batting second is not able to equal/exceed those made by the first team? The match is declared drawn - except if the whole team manages to get out by the end of the match. But Lagaan turns rules on their head. Here, though it is a 3 day, single inning test match, the winning rules are pretty much the same as ODIs. Some intelligent filmmaker this!
etc.

One fallacy in the winning captain's game plan – When the rival captain has kicked the ball across the boundary in order to prevent Amir from maintaining the strike (4th last over), Amir again gives him a chance to do the same in the penultimate over, though the loser doesn't repeat his intelligent move.

Obviously, both Bhuvan and Gauri (and sundry other bachelors) look well past the normal marriageable age, for an Indian village (esp. in 1890s).

Also, quite odd how quickly Elizabeth learns Hindi, isn't it? Even odder is the ease with which Hindi versions of cricketing terms come to Ram Singh. Two linguistically very talented people, I must say.

Finally, the biggest flaw - monsoon is never a 4 month extravaganza in India, at least not in Bihar. But Ashutosh Gowarikar can defy Mother Nature. It’s 1 month past the normal date for arrival of monsoon when Amir Khan takes up the challenge. And the first monsoon showers start the day he wins the match - i.e. 3 months after the day of the bet.

In the final analysis, I wonder why this film is being praised so much by the "classes" (who "hate" Govinda-David Dhawan flicks because they are expected to leave their brains at their homes). It could have been that, just like me, they noticed the flaws, and liked the film in spite of all that. But the point is, that every damned person id touting it as a perfect movie. So its much more likely that its the fabulously handled PR, with every newspaper and magazine singing paeans in praise of Lagaan, that has not permitted our gentry to think otherwise. That's the power of fourth estate for you.

Despite all this criticism, the fact is, I sort of liked the movie. Come to think of it, had it been a normal Hindi flick, perhaps I wouldn't even have noticed these flaws. But the film is otherwise so brilliant that the rough patches are glaringly apparent.

The last word: Lagaan is not a great film. But it’s definitely a good one. And a must see, too.

Shall I spoil the fun by saying "Just like Gadar"?

Letter to the Editor: Outlook

Ref: Outlook Vol.XLI, no. 26 dated July 09, 2001

Apropos your cover story “Gadar: Riding High on Controversy”, I’ve got several objections. I’m listing them out for you, though I know you’re not going to publish my letter.

Collection Stats

Let me begin right at the beginning (where else?). I’m really disappointed with the collection stats shown in the box. Gadar collections are hugely under-depicted for the simple reason that the box shows only the first week’s earnings. The film was released on the 15th of June, while the issue was dated July 9. Surely you could have given more recent stats? As far as I know, Punjab has never seen such frenzied adulation for a movie – not even Border. I mean, at a lot of places, the average occupancy is over 130-140%. At some theaters they are running 6 screenings a day! Also, Gadar collections strengthened greatly in CI, Nizam and UK during the second and third weeks.

Cover Story

And yes, I definitely protest against the cover story title “Riding High on Controversy”. This title implies, not so clandestinely, that Gadar is becoming a hit due to the controversy shrouding it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Gadar was already a major hit when the protests began.

Box Office

“Till yesterday the film had been the quintessential box office underdog”. Says who? Definitely not the distributors who shelled out 2.75 crore per territory as against Lagaan’s more modest (“more realistic” according to the authors) 2.25 crore. Doesn’t the larger amount say something about the distributors’ belief in the film?

It’s true that Gadar was definitely an underdog in public perception, but that was only because of the momentous pre-release publicity blitzkrieg for Lagaan launched by Amir Khan. While Amir Khan took great pains to publicize his film through events, contests, personal appearances, high profile previews and PR campaign (read articles in newspapers and magazines), Zee did virtually zero PR for Gadar.

Trivia

The authors have even got their facts all mixed up. Yes, Dil was released on the same day as Ghayal. But Ghayal had pipped it to the post as far as collections are concerned. And Sunny had beaten Amir at Filmfare. Then Raja Hindustani was pitted against Ghatak (they were not released on the same day though), and again both were runaway hits. Raja Hindustani, however, was a much bigger hit than Ghatak. And of course, Amir then scored over Sunny at Filmfare.

Grays?

The authors lament “there’s no room for grays..” I’d categorize this as sheer ignorant audacity. After all, the villain goes through the entire gamut of shades – successful Indian businessman & loving father to Pakistani politician full of hatred and venom for India (because the partition's aftermath had deprived him of his son, his daughter and all his worldly possessions) to a reformed father moved by his son-in-law’s love for his daughter. On his part, the hero is shown to be braying for Muslim blood in his very first appearance/ sequence in the film. The director has very ably shown that there were no culprits in the bloody aftermath of partition. The guy who can forgive and forget is the hero. The one who can’t is the villain. What more could anybody ask for?

Obviously, I won’t comment on the demolition man stuff. It seems that I’ve seen many more Arnie and Sly movies than the authors, to even begin to bother about that.

Communal (Anti-Islam)

The “conversion to Islam” sequence that a lot of so called moderates, including Shabana Azmi, have objected to, saying that it implies that “…any Muslim is automatically a Pakistani”, has nothing objectionable either. The qazi is happy to take the jat into Islamic fold. The mass finds nothing amiss. It is only Amrish Puri, a politician – who incidentally is shown to be villain – who undertakes the slogan campaign to work the jat up. Probably the “moderates” would next complain and protest against a Muslim being shown as a villain!

Anyway, in this same sequence, the hero lambastes the villain with “(Pakistan) se jyaada Musalmaan Hindustaan mein rehte hain, unke dil ki dhadkan hamesha yahi kehti hai – Hindustaan Jindabaad. To kya wo musalmaan nahi hai?” Now this, very specifically and categorically delineates religion from nation and politics. How can anybody complain that this film mixes communism with patriotism?

When asked to utter “Hindustaan Murdabad”, the hero says, “Apka Pakistan zindabaad ho hamein ismein koi etraaz nahi, par Hindustaan zindabaad tha, hai, aur rahega”. The director is very visibly glorifying the point of view that we shouldn’t be obsessed with Pakistan’s downfall, and should instead concern ourselves with our progress only. In fact the hero even chooses to say “Pakistan zindabaad”. Crass patriotism?

The authors say that Gadar is a cunningly made film as it is pitched against Pakistanis only. Would they have preferred it if the movie had spat venom against Indian Muslims?

And obviously there are other, even more ridiculous objections like the one on the choice of the leading lady’s name. What’s wrong with naming her Sakina, even if that is the name of the prophet’s great-granddaughter? What was wrong even if this were to be the name of the prophet’s mother for that matter? I mean, are there or are there not Muslim girls called Sakina? If it’s acceptable in real life, what’s the problem with having a Sakina, or Maria or Mohammed, or Mustafa on screen?

Problems with a Sikh driver marrying a rich Muslim kid? Cut to real life. Ever heard of Buta Singh? Or at least about the Gurdas Mann, Divya Dutta starrer Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Buta Singh?

Then again, where is the use of sindoor prohibited in Islam? Which part of Koran, Shariah or Hadith bans it? Isn’t it natural for a lady to follow the customs of her husband’s house, even if she continues to practice her own religion?
Come to think of it, Islam does explicitly prohibit idol-worship, and therefore the custom of mannat at mazaars should be “haraam” for Muslims. This custom is a totally Indian twist (shall I say adaptation?) to the religion and an example of how people rarely desert the cultural underpinnings hardwired into their neural system.

Hero

Another laughable aspect of the article is calling Sunny Deol histrionically challenged. Sunny is typecast, and is not in the same class as Amir, but he’s a national award winner. And hello, he’s given great performances time and again. Remember Ghayal, Damini, Ghatak, Jeet, Border, Arjun Pandit…?

Clash of the Titans

Another thing that I’m unable to understand is: why is everybody comparing Gadar and Lagaan as if they are some sort of ‘firsts’? Gadar is about the courage to stand alone. So was Ghulam. Lagaan is about the strength of unity. So was Zor. Gadar is about love in the times of war. So was QSQT or Sanam Bewafa. Lagaan is about the irrepressible human spirit. So was Vijeta. Big deal!

While on it, I’d like to say that Lagaan is an exceptionally beautiful movie. But there’s something clinical and antiseptic about it. Gadar has an earthy, and hence more realistic, feel.

Join the issue

I don’t think that Bal Thakery’s statement about the “Pakistan Zindabad” scene is true. But if it is, his anguish is understandable. Your preference of a cricket team definitely doesn’t depict your loyalty to a country (and Mr.Thakery was definitely erring when he endorsed the original Tebbit test). But here, we’re directly talking about two (proxy) warring nations. If this doesn’t say which side you are on, I’m sorry that I fail to understand, what does? The authors needn’t have been cynical about Mr.Thakery’s statement.

Timing

There are also some voices saying that the timing could have been better, in view of the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit. What can the producer do, if the government decides to do a volte-face on the eve of his film’s release? Just why should he delay it to conform to the official policy?

But that’s beside the point. The fact is, there couldn’t have been a more opportune time to release the film. This is the time we must remind ourselves what caused the partition and what followed it. This is the time to learn from the past and pledge not to repeat the mistakes. Most of the younger people are ignorant about the partition aftermath and as a result don’t feel the pain and anger. That’s probably why Gadar crowd at PVR is of the elderly variety while the youngsters prefer the slickly made Lagaan (and that’s probably why Gadar is such a major draw in Punjab which is at the border).

These people find the events too gory and unrealistic to identify with them. They have started finding the Kashmir struggle a waste of time, and think that options like freezing the LOC into international border (as suggested by Outlook) can be possible solutions. These people have to be told that partition was also supposed to buy peace. Just look at what it has led to.

Basically, Pakistan has now shown that it isn’t particularly trustworthy. There’s no guarantee that upon getting an immediate benefit, it will honor a commitment stretching into the future. Also, we must keep in mind that our problems won’t end even if we make Kashmir an independent state. We must have the perspective right before thinking about any solution. This film is definitely a help, as it reminds us of some long-forgotten and some perennially-ignored facts.

The Last Word

Gadar is essentially a “prem katha”…though of the Sunny Deol variety. The story is oft-repeated – a love marriage out of your class and religion, and the ensuing family pressures, and how, finally, the families bow before the lovers’ grit. The director has just changed the background and suitably adapted the script. That’s all there’s to it and I wish that people won’t draw inferences that lie outside ambit of logic. Yes, Gadar has its flaws, but all this hoo-ha seems to be unjustified and motivated.

Frankly, I don’t think that Namrata and Manu have even seen the film (due to the long lines at the booking counters, or otherwise). And this makes me seriously doubt their journalistic credentials.

The original article "Gadar: Riding High on Controvercy" is now available at: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20010709&fname=Gadar+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1 It is also presented below:


Hot Cake Aesthetics

Beginning as a box-office underdog, 'Gadar', because of its jingoistic idiom, has appealed to the prevailing mood and become a super-duper hit

NAMRATA JOSHI

One just needs to stand outside a cinema hall to gauge the success of a film. Houseful boards, the throng of families trying to jostle their way in, long booking-counter queues and manic scalpers offering to get you the best of seats in the balcony—scenes of a filmi frenzy that you thought had gone out of fashion. The euphoria is palpable, in fact, it only gets magnified once the reels unspool in the 70 mm darkness. "Baap baap hota hai, beta beta hota hai... Beta baap se nikalta hai...Hindustan Pakistan ka baap hai..." The hero's comic sidekick thunders these brazen lines. The audience reciprocates with cheeky wolf-whistles, deafening claps, loud catcalls and roars of approval. Welcome to Gadar—Ek Prem Katha, the millennium's superhit clarion call to patriotism.

Till yesterday the film had been the quintessential box office underdog. Gadar's Rs 18-crore flashback to the Partition got somewhat dwarfed by the Rs 25-crore epic sweep of Lagaan's cricket at Champaner. Uttam Singh's tepid music provided no competition to A.R. Rahman's inspired compositions. Worse, Sunny Deol's fading charisma couldn't stand up to the media blitz unleashed by a savvy Aamir Khan. What's more, Gadar was sold at about Rs 2.75 crore per territory to Lagaan's more reasonable average of Rs 2.25 crore.

But after almost two weeks, Gadar seems to have a clear edge at the box office (see infobox). While it's early days yet to club them with the all-time blockbusters, the films have all the makings of one, having connected with the audience in a way that Kaho Na Pyaar Hai did one-and-a-half years ago. The other semi-hits of the year, Jodi No. 1 and Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai, have overnight become as stale as yesterday's leftovers.

They're calling Lagaan "lambi race ka ghoda (the long-distance runner)", but it's the success of Gadar—kept in the headlines by a controversy that's still unspooling—that's the surprise. While the media and the filmdom itself has fallen hopelessly in love with Lagaan, it's Gadar that seems to be emerging as the distributors' favourite. Outlook talked to the well-known trade analysts and the verdict has been unanimous: it's a close duel in which Gadar could become the bigger blockbuster.

The trivia-gatherers have a little nugget to offer on this much-celebrated match. Aamir and Sunny have had two similar outings together. First time it was a case of Aamir's Dil pitted against Sunny's Ghayal. Then Raja Hindustani crossed swords with Ghatak. While Aamir had been ahead in the earlier bouts, this time it's Sunny who has taken the lead. In fact, Gadar might be Sunny's biggest hit till date, bigger than Border and Ghayal.

To be fair, Lagaan's slightly lower collections are also because it has only three shows a day as against Gadar's four and the timings of the shows are also proving to be a bit inconvenient for the viewers. Nonetheless, Gadar's success in some pockets has been unbelievable. In Nizam, Hyderabad, a Muslim-dominated area, the film had a remote chance of making it, so the run began with a mere 10 prints on Friday. However, by Monday, the prints had to be upped to 12 and by Thursday 14 prints were in circulation. "In Punjab the occupancy has been 140 per cent with the theatre owners putting up extra seats and sofas to accommodate the overflow," says Amod Mehra, a trade analyst. "It's creating havoc, going over-capacity in East Punjab territory," says Komal Nahata, editor of Film Information. According to Taran Adarsh of Trade Guide, in Punjab Gadar is set to surpass the run of the biggest hit Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.

While Gadar has set north India afire, Lagaan has hooked the spectators in the west and the south. In upmarket halls like Delhi's PVR Anupam and Priya, the clash of audiences is not so pronounced. Both are faring equally well with the young people going in for Lagaan and the older lot preferring Gadar. The overseas market is more Lagaan-inclined while Gadar's hold has been very pronounced in the small towns. Bareilly is a classic instance. According to Trade Guide, Lagaan could log in only 40 per cent collection here to Gadar's 84 per cent. Similarly, in Bhilai Lagaan mustered 62 per cent collection while Gadar lined 99 per cent. "Lagaan is the film of the gentry, Gadar is for the masses," says Mehra. "Lagaan is working better in the A grade centres while Gadar is faring better in B/C class cities," says Nahata. According to Mehra, in the long run, Gadar is likely to rake in about Rs 7-8 crore from each of the five major territories in the country with Lagaan making about Rs 5-6 crore. Incidentally, HAHK has the record of raking in the most moolah with an awesome Rs 50 crore in earnings.

So what's the fuss all about? While Lagaan's cinematic quality shines through, the peculiar tug of Gadar is slightly difficult to reconcile with given the fact that it is one of the most aesthetically challenged films of recent times starring a histrionically challenged hero. But Bollywood, like its movies, has easy explanations for its success stories. "It's the action climax which has clicked. After a long while we don't just have gunfights and car chases but raw fist fights," says Mehra. "It's the content and the massive scale of the film," explains producer Nitin Keni of Zee Telefilms, the moving force behind Gadar. "Maine Pyar Kiya brought in a barrage of love stories, with HAHK came the family films, with KKHH youth became the flavour of the day. Gadar has brought in a new story and a new way of story-telling," says Adarsh. This novelty, however, is less about stirring the dormant imagination than about appealing to the collective gut which is currently obsessed with the national (read communal) counterpart. Says Vinod Mirani of Box Office: "It has appealed to people's mood. Our guy just picks up his girl from under their noses and scores over the Pakistanis."

At the outset, what wins the day for Gadar is a potent packaging of mush and jingoism masquerading as patriotism. The first half of the film is nothing more than a soft-focus romance between a rough and tough but good-at-heart and musically-inclined truck driver and the coy, beautiful, vulnerable and waif-like Ms Goody-Two-Shoes heroine, who also happens to be a rich Muslim—a token coming together of two communities in strife-ridden times. Never mind the obvious lack of chemistry between Sunny and Amisha Patel (who looks young enough to be his daughter), the relationship is too cloyingly sweet, pretty and ponderous to hold the viewer's interest, its ostensible political correctness notwithstanding.

What ignites the viewers is the second half, a lethal brand of nationalism built on hatred and a patriotism in the form of unbridled violence—not just physical but linguistic as well. Gadar is a cunningly manufactured film. One which desists from saying anything negative about the Indian Muslims. Instead, the battle is pitched against the Muslims on the other side of the line. "The common Indian Muslims are taking to it because the Muslim girl is protected by the Sikh and he is even willing to convert to Islam," says Mehra.

Perhaps that's the reason why the protests against the film appear to be so misplaced. Clearly, the protesters are holding the wrong end of the stick here. The umbrage at the heroine being called Sakina and objecting to the scene where she offers namaaz while wearing sindoor is too facile and lends further credence and legitimacy to Gadar's jingoistic game. "When a film is successful everyone wants to use it to their advantage," says Keni. Latest to jump into the fray is Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray himself. In a report carried in the party mouthpiece Saamna, he gave a clean chit to Gadar finding nothing provocative in it. He said the protesters (from their organisational mirror image, Ali Sena) "should be kicked out of the country". He further wrote that when the protagonist is forced to say "Pakistan zindabad", a section of Muslims in the audience applauded—his version of the Tebbit test which he has employed in the field of cricket earlier.

Fact is the protests are working in the film's favour. Its success is a shot in the arm of the new, emerging genre of patriotic films that play on the animus against Pakistan. From the stodgy and cardboard Bharat of Manoj Kumar to the panoramic and pretty 1942, A Love Story, Roja and Bombay, patriotism has now moved on to represent a duel between "them" and "us". Border, Pukaar and Sarfarosh played on the same sentiments, but while their messages were reluctantly concealed, with Gadar the anti-Pakistan rhetoric gets a blatant new idiom that strikes an immediate chord with the masses. Sample some gems: "Hindustaniyon, kaatna humse seekho," says one rioter. "Kis Pakistan ki baat kar rahe ho. Agar humne tumhe 65 crore rupaye nahin diye hote to tumhare sar par tripal nahin dalti," roars the hero.

According to film critic Deepa Gahlot, jingoistic tendencies started creeping into Hindi films "when terrorism raised its violent head". "The horrors of cruel and random killing of innocents needed to be presented in a manner that would serve to console a disturbed national psyche. And that meant the home side always had to triumph and cause the other side maximum damage," she writes.

There's no room for shades of grey, the portrayals are completely black or white. Pakistanis are villains and traitors, a Pakistani woman seems to know nothing more than producing a huge brood of kids. And our hero is the quintessential Indian, one who has forgotten the hatred for "them" and moved on. He never initiates violence but is forced to retaliate when provoked by the enemies. He is willing to embrace Islam, say 'Islam zindabad', even 'Pakistan zindabad' but when they coerce him to say 'Hindustan murdabad', he can't help but uproot the nearest hand-pump and turn into a demolition man, an act that's sure to give Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone an inferiority complex.

"The film exploits hatred commercially. It does not have any element of courtesy," says film critic Shreesh Mishra. While defending the right for Gadar to be screened, actress and MP Shabana Azmi says she found it provocative. "It subliminally reinforces the canard that any Muslim is automatically a Pakistani. It confuses issues of nationalism, religion and identities," she says. Keni feels that Gadar doesn't take any potshots at Pakistan or at Muslims. "It's pro-India. Can't I say Hindustan zindabad in my own country? We have been far too defensive about this for far too long," he says.

At a time when President Pervez Musharraf comes calling, Gadar shows that the ghosts of Partition have still not been laid to rest. They continue to haunt us in new shapes and forms.

First Week's Collection

Territory	Gadar	Lagaan
	(28 shows)	(21 Shows)
Bombay Circuit	Rs. 2 cr	1.75 cr
Delhi-U.P.	Rs. 2.25 cr	1.50 cr
East Punjab	Super Hit	Hit
C.P. Berar (parts of MP & Maharashtra)	Rs. 1 crore	60 Lakh
C.I.	Rs. 20 Lakh	25 Lakh
Rajasthan	Rs. 50 lakh	30 Lakh
Nizam	Rs. 40 lakh	50 Lakh
US	Rs. 90 lakh	1.5 cr
UK	Rs. 50 lakh	1 cr

*Approximate figures, Source: Trade journals