The Blue Umbrella: A Beautifully Simple but Impactful Little Fable

Blue Umbrella is a screen version of Ruskin Bond's short story Blue Umbrella.
The protagonist is Biniya (Shreya Sharma), a precocious girl who lives in a picturesque mountain village. The town is a stopping point for tourists on their way through the mountains. One day, Biniya meets a group of tourists and trades her lucky necklace for a beautiful, blue Japanese-style umbrella. The blue umbrella stands out among the alpine greenery, and Biniya and her umbrella become the town’s main attraction. Tourists pose for photos with her when they stop at the local snack shop, run by an old man named Nandu (Pankaj Kapoor). Nandu covets Biniya’s blue umbrella, as do several other adults in town. He tries to trick and bribe her into giving him the umbrella, but she isn’t interested. When the umbrella is stolen one night, Nandu is Bindiya’s prime suspect.
At her request, the cops raid Nandu’s shop, but the umbrella’s not there. Humiliated, Nandu vows to buy his own umbrella. A short while later, Nandu receives a delivery: an umbrella exactly like Biniya’s, only red. He becomes the de facto mayor of the village, though heart-broken Biniya still harbors suspicions about him.

But what's really incredible about the film is the sheer spirit of humanity that pervades and shines through the entire film. It is indeed ironical that the film that has been named the 'best children's film' at the Indian National awards is actually not a kiddies’ flick at all. But The Blue Umbrella can make you feel like being a child all over again- rather like Nand Kishore in the film, who despite all his vices still retains the child in him.
I won't say anymore about this one. If you are reading this I will urge you to watch this. It's a real cool piece of cinema, a great pleasure for the eyes and the mind. I am regretting for not watching the movie in theater.
And yes, an umbrella plays one of the main characters. ;)



Happy Watching :)

Lagaan: Once Upon a TIme in India!

An Indian modern classic "Lagaan", Nominated as Best Foreign Language Film at Oscars 2002, shows India during the Victorian Age, taking us back to 1893. The movie centers on the village of Champaner, which is controlled by a cantonment of British soldiers and their mustache-twirling Captain, Andrew Russell (Paul Blackthorne). Every year the villagers are required to pay a lagaan, or land tax (a form of taxation that the villagers have to pay to their Kings, who in turn pays the British for protection against invading forces and rivals from other Kings); this year there has been no rain and little crop yield. Young, rebellious Bhuvan (Aamir Khan, who also produced the film) takes a wager proposed by Russell: if, in three months' time, the villagers defeat the soldiers in a game of cricket, they will be excused from the tax for three years. On the other hand, if they fail, they must pay three times the normal tax and so, probably starve. The movie revolves around how Bhuvan convinces the villagers and creates a team of 11 to play against the team of Andrew Russell. Russell's kind-hearted sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) opts to secretly help the Champaner team with teaching them the game, and even hopes to play the field between the two sides.

The middle of the film focuses on two plot strands - the local team's haphazard preparation for the match aided by Russell's sympathetic sister Elizabeth, and the romantic triangle that develops between Bhuvan, Elizabeth and Gauri(Gracy Singh), the local girl smitten since childhood with Bhuvan.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker captures the beauty and simplicity of rural life in India at the turn of the century. The vast landscapes and majestic palaces make for enchanting settings to tell the story. As a musical, the film also captivates with well choreographed dances.

Fair warning--this is Bollywood cinema, so there are certain things you can expect up front. First: the film is long. Second: there will be a good amount of singing. Yes, there are a number of songs involved, but they're not bad. In fact, Bollywood musical or not, this is a decent flick. The music by A.R. Rahman, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, takes the movie up a notch.
A very enjoyable and entertaining flick.

Bombay! Based on true incidents.

This movie is about Hindu-Muslim conflicts back in 1990s and the director (Mani Ratnam) used the backdrop of romeo-juliet love story.

Bombay is the story of Shekhar (Arvind Swamy) and Shaila (Manisha Koirala). A south indian hindu man falls for a simple beautiful muslim girl. Their traditional conservative family decline their request to get married.They marry against family wishes and move to Mumbai. The man starts to work as a reporter for a large daily newspaper. Eventually, the couple has twin boys, Kabir Narayan and Kamal Basheer. The twins are raised in both religions. For six years, the family live in Bombay, settling in well, and begin the process of repairing relations with their respective families.

Meanwhile, in India, religious extremism launches each community against the other, causing a wave of Hindu/Muslim riots that leave hundreds dead in Bombay. The rest of the film is set during the December 1992-January 1993 period when the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy raised religious tension in Mumbai and other parts of India, which sparked rioting and violence.Targets of violence from both sides, Shaila and Shekhar worry increasingly over the safety of their children, who do not have a fixed religion. They are constantly under threat. The growing tension threatens to bring tragedy to the family and during this tensed situation, they lose their children in the city and the parents of Shekhar and Shaila get burnt in their house.