Discovery of India on DD India

Was casually flipping through the channels this Saturday afternoon, and I caught onto an episode of the landmark series of Doordarshan based on Nehru's 'Discovery of India'.

The particular episode was based on the plight of the 'Indigo farmers' (Neel ke kisan). How, the unbridled exploitation of the farmers set's the spark for the first flames of a national movement against the British. This movement initially finds favor with the zamindars and the bhadralok, who try to rouse the peasants into confronting the British landlords.

The episode ends with the narrator (Roshan Seth as Nehru) saying - 'jo kaum kamzor hoti hai woh apni aafat ko khud nyota deti hai' (The weak community wreaks misery upon itself).
The episode ends as usual with the stirring incantation of a Rigvedic hymn, to the praise of the Sun god, set to the musical score by Vanraj Bhatia.

The 'plight of the farmers' is a constant refrain in Indian politics, true now as it was earlier. They still remain the vanguards to the fate of the nation.

Recently, the director and members of the cast of this series were felicitated by the Government of India.

Film review: Dev D

This is certainly one of the well made films from bollywood. Nikhat Kazmi's 5* review conveys it's impact not just on mainstream bollywood cinema, but to critic's eye as well.

The film achieves an seemingly impossible feat, by rehashing the well known story of Devdas by Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. This was the fourth version of the story.
What's different about the film then, one is prompted to ask?
The impossibility is achieved by the strong characterization and a feel of contemporariness, so much so that the film outgrows the main storyline with it's sheer energy and feel.
The BMW car sequence, the MMS case, ... it's these fine elements that imbibes a feel of contemporariness around the story line. A voyeuristic view through the microcosm of Dev's existance and yet getting a glimpse of the prevailing cosmos of his world.
The single minded hedonism and purposelessness of Dev D's reality juxtaposes against the sheer magnanimity and fragmented reality of the world around him, as he seeks assimilation.

The shoulder-strap bag does seem to convey a certain sense of purpose in his demanour, but we are offered no such insights into the same, to the effect that it's of no relevance of consequence i.e., his purposelessness is intact.

The 'happy-ending' of his union with Chanda, is a departure from the actual story line, but is not a departure from his self-indulgence and hedonism. He finally lands up with her after encountering a close-shave from certain death.
For mainstream cinema, the soundtrack is truly path-breaking, we get a feel of the true assimilation power of Indian culture through the 'Patna-ka-Presley' sequence, the Punjabi hip-hop/rap duo's performance, ...
A film that breaks many stereotypes and is path-breaking in more ways than one. Definitely not to be missed by a film-buff.