A Movie Named "Amu"

Watched a movie titled Amu. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma and Brinda Karat. The movie was released in 2005 and was a critically acclaimed art house cinema.

In the movie Konkona is a shown as being raised in America with a strong sense of belonging to her roots and a longing to discover her past.  

The best part that I liked about this movie is the way in which the director took one character, who was linked to a gory event in Indian history to bring out all the many facets of that event, the causes and the outcomes of a man-made destruction and its impact on the lives of many. The possibility of many people and families been afflicted by such incidents cannot be overlooked, so many untold stories of sadness, separation, death and longing that makes you question the motive behind all that happens around us. What could be the driving force behind making people suffer so much and knowingly so? What happens when tens and thousands of people in a mob, collectively lose all sense of judgment with a single motive of killing, looting, destroying? What force is so strong that everyone loses their conscience to not even spare children and women?

As we see today relationships getting more virtual than real, only time will tell if this is for better or for worse. Will this weakening of bonds lead to complete disinterest in the ‘other’? Will it weaken enmity as it has weakened friendships too? If it is so, I would rather opt all interactions being confined to the distant, the virtual. One can voice ones feelings and views but not hurt someone physically, so brutally.

Lucky Women!

Recently watched a Malayalam flick called 22 Female Kottayam or 22FK. No, this is not a review of the movie. This movie stirred something in me. It was a hard-hitting flick on a Woman’s Vengeance.

We exalt women on being strong- willed, for their endurance, for their ability to hold their ground and their families during the most trying times. Of course, women are all that and more, but I often wonder why do women need to go through something bad to realize this? This whole concept of the ‘caregiver’, the one who adjusts, the ‘Mother –India- figure’ is skewed! Can’t a woman be strong and happy at the same time, and why is she made to feel guilty if she is. I don’t say that all women and all families are the same, but women need to stop putting others before themselves all too often.

Naina Lal Kidwai, GM and India Head- HSBC, in an interview said that while choosing a profession, women can be more creative and do the things which they ‘like’, since they mostly do not have to carry the economic burden of their families which the poor guys usually have to. These have exactly been my thoughts always! The poor men hardly have the luxury to follow their hearts, to do stuff even if it doesn’t pay the bills, whereas women, mostly, can afford to do that. And that needs to be appreciated and celebrated by us women. Let’s stop pretending to be martyrs and concentrate on being more selfish!