Vanity Fair

Casting Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine McEwan, Ruth Sheen, Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Rhys Ifans, Romola Garai, Lilette Dubey..etc Writing credits William Makepeace Thackeray (novel) Julian Fellowes (screenplay) Matthew Faulk screenplay Mark Skeet screenplay A good adaption of the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray this is the story of a woman who is orphaned and does not give up any chance to make a good life for herself. In fact this movie delves with every aspect of a survivor when times are tough. With a dollop of satire thrown in. Vanity is the theme here. Losing is vanity... winning is vanity.. and how the story consistently shows light upon the society that lives with so much scruples and hypocrisy and the author never fails to make it a point to rub it in.... how money could buy anything from relationships to aristrocracy is very well depicted here. It is something to raise your eyebrows but I think given the period when the story was concocted and written, it portrays the very aspect of the other side of the coin of a frivolous and vain social circle among which the main protagonist , Becky Sharp makes the best of the situation. Sometimes she is cold and calculative. Sometimes she is endearing but she always wants to get the best of what is available. And I think it is very justifiable for an orphan who has to fend for her own and who does not have noble parents.. to do the things which they do to put their daughters in the elite society. She is respected and sconed, lusted and befriended, a grudging admiration too.The other characters are equally important but the author of the story has given credit even to the most evil person. Maybe it is a way of looking at humans... mostly a strong message that comes forth is that even if the man is his most evil self there will be some quality in himself that redeems him of his nature... and the fact that even if a human is in his or her very best nature, there are times when the darker aspects can take over one... Moreover the story tests the limits of patience of all characters and one is left feeling when is she going to break down.. when is he going to realise his mistake.. is he going to fall for that trap... Mira Nair has done a great job in bringing so many characters together and balancing the whole act so that each one can hold one's own in the movie.. though the stories are intermingled it is easy to continue from where the story of one left to the other... All in all a nice movie... something to think about and well frankly its kind of long and detailed and it needs for you to think and connect to the movie. I would not reccomend this movie if you are in a fast movie mood.. A melancholic, reflecting mood with some good time in your hands and then the movis will work for you otherwise ... do not bother.. you will come out of the hall bored to tears.. dont say I did not warn you.. :)

Zen Katha ... a review

A beautiful play directed by Lillete Dubey, this expounds on the story of a prince who becomes the first partriarch who spreads the ideology of Zen and Buddhism in China. Casting included Rajiv Gopalkrishna, Sandhya Mridal, Denzil Smith, Vikram Chaturvedi, Asif Ali Beg, Shardul Chaturvedi, Anu Menon, Pawan Singh, Pallavi Symons. Martial Arts by Sensei Parvez Mistry Original music score by Mahesh Tinaikar Went to this play mainly because I was interested in how they would be depicting the martial arts and zen given the fact that I am doing a lot of reading on these themes myself . On the other hand it had two of my favorite actresses.. Lilette Dubey as the director and Sandhya Mridul as one of the actors. The play, Primetime Theatre Company’s twentieth production, was based on the story of Bodhidharma, a prince from the ancient kingdom of Kanchi in 525 A.D, who was the first patriarch of Zen and Martial Arts, as we know them today. The first half devotes itself to the introduction of Prince Dharma who belonged to the royal family of the Pallavas and how he was brought up under the wise guidance of his guru prajna.The first half also brings forth the innocent love of Sanghameeta who was ready to give up everything for her Prince Dharma even allow him access to the secret codes of buddhist martial arts... from her father. Written by the famous narrator and playwright Pratap Sharma, the play is an interesting and colourfully dramatic piece which enraptures you with its story flow and the flawless performance of the characters in it. I would like to specially mention Denzil Smith who simply stole the show as Boddhidharma's guru in the first half and then as teh Chinese emperor in Wu Ti of the Lian dynasty. His depiction of the Chinese emperor and the nuances of the language commands special attention. His delightful baritone of a voice and his acting skills have held the audience enthralled and I was thinking to myself that I needed to see more of this man's performance. Another very versatile actor is Asif Ali Beg who donned many hats to perform many roles.. Be it the tantrik who has a lascvicious attitude or the 28th aging Partriarch of Buddhism, or the rogue who accosts Boddhidharma or the Hui 'Ko who becomes the second patriarch of Zen, he is a actor to watch out for. It was as if he was pulling out rabbits out of a magic hat... when he was changing his character so quick and fast. Among ladies, Sandhya Mridul put up a lively performance as the role of Sanghameeta and of Velu the disguised Sanghameeta who follows the love of her life to the mountains under the monk's garb. She is a refreshing as I had seen her in the serials... The play had some good choreography of martial arts which was one of the main things that I was interested in. I must say that the main protagonist, Rajiv Gopalakrishnan who acted as Boddhidharma needs some more years on him to hone his performance. His stage presence was lacking and well maybe its personal.. but I was not impressed with his performance be it his acting or his delivery of the dialouges. I think he will be better with more acts.. Well I had an enriching experience and look forward to watching more of them ... and sincerely hope that they keep coming to Bangalore with such interesting themes...