Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Gandhi-giri pe lage raho

This isn't another review of the (apparently) hugely successful Hindi film 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai'. I guess, that would allow the world to breathe easy...what with the heaps and heaps of praise that has been piled up on the film already. Must say, I guess I will watch the film one day out of sheer curiosity rather than as an avenue to kill time.

Now those who are interested in the idea of how relevant Gandhiji's teachings are in today's day and time (I know there are regular essay/debate contests held in school on the topic) might want to check out a brilliant Hindi film called 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara'*1 which was released last year. The film starred Anupam Kher and Urmila Matondkar. I felt that Ms. Matondkar went overboard in a couple of scenes, but did exceptionally well for most of the film. Anupam Kher, in his role as a retired college professor, was brilliant. The role demanded him to put across in a silent way the frustrations and anger of a generation past its prime, and Mr. Kher did it with absolute elan. In my opinion, he has only done better in Daddy (this was an era when Mahesh Bhatt did make sensible films) and his debut film, Saaransh.

Anyway, back to the post. Like I said, I was a part of the VIIIth MANLIBNET (Management Librarians Network) Convention sometime back. Mr. Thyagarajan of Nirma Labs also made a presentation there, and he ended by showing this extremely sweet picture:


What I liked even more was the manner in which Tyagi Sir described the pic, "...this is a picture which shows the past (Gandhiji) being led by the future (the kid, his grandson Tushar Gandhi) while the present (the lady standing beside Gandhiji) is a bemused spectator".

*1: 'Maine Gandhi Ko is a masterpiece', Sukanya Verma on rediff.com

7 comments:

Unknown said...

the pic is amazing.... so much can be told and understood in one glance.....and the movie "maine gandhi ko nahi maara" would love to see the movie....and yes "lage raho...is an amazing masterpiece...you will realize once you watch it...

arpana said...

thanks pal ( unrealted to the post it is ,but then , had to say it)

Shekhar said...

coffee: :)

arpz: :) Take care.

Nabeel said...

I have yet to see the film .. it's not out on DVD yet .. however .. I think Gandhi is .. well my thoughts on him is that was he successful in keeping peace? (his main idea i.e. peace) .. if yes then why was there a war in 1947?

Shekhar said...

nabeel: If one reads Louis Fischer's biography of Gandhi, one realises that towards the end of his political career, Gandhiji was a rather disappointed person because of his failures to tone down the violence which swept through India. Indeed, the partition of the country was a bigger failure than the war that you've mentioned.

However, all said and done, Gandhiji's contribution to the Independence movement cannot be neglected or sidelined. His efforts to maintain peace, unfortunately, weren't always successful; be it Chauri Chaura or the ultimate partition of the country.

arpana said...

@ shekhar kabhi time ho to aawa , is topic pe khusti lad lainge dono

Shekhar said...

arpz: Arre jaroor, jaroor! Kauno baat naahi, Gandhiji ke baare mein to jitni baat ki jai, utni kam hai. :)