Speechless!

Talking about glitches.. one of the many reasons why my blogging has gone intermittent is because Blogger.com refuses to work on any of the browsers I have. The few-liners that managed to come out at Speechless was squeezed out of my android phone.

Long nails and touch screens are not exactly compatible.... hence few-liners.

Ever since I had watched Udaan, the first by Vikramaditya Motwane, I fell in love with his style of storytelling, attention to detail, attention to aesthetic detail. Udaan has on several occasions, been a companion to my "dukkho-bilashita" pangs...and it was only obvious that the longish wait for his second wouldn't go wasted.

Khyannan Rajbari, where the first part of LOOTERA was filmed has been portrayed beautifully. The huge courtyard was painted with an equally huge "Shantiniketan-i alpona". Paakhi, the daughter of a zamindar was dressed in tasteful simplicity throughout the film...a striking contrast to the female characters in Devdas (even if I take into account the difference in period that was captured). The underline to Lootera as a whole was - Less is more. Less dialogues more expressions that left so much more to be told, low pitched voices that kept the spectator at the edge of his seat -what did I miss?, monotonous hues focusing on the picturesque and colorful detail - even that of the snowy-white Dharashaala. Every frame was an aesthetic treat.

Lootera has silently taken its place next to Udaan and also in the hearts of audiences who like slowing down and taking a note of that moon which travels with his car at night, stops and notices the sparrow that entered his room, watches a sunset from his desk at office.

No, this is not a review of Lootera.

I went for an 8:30 pm to 11:15 pm show with my cousin about 2.5 kilometers away from my home. The cars wouldn't be available so I had spoken to a random rickshaw-wala, who gave me his word that he would arrive at the theatre on time. When I came out I was not sure if he would be there, but he was, a short middle-aged man smiling cheek-to-cheek - shei kokhun theki boshi achhi didibhai....kee zey bolo...kotha disilam...ashboni?

I came back home close to 12 at night feeling wonderful - the deserted streets, the cool breeze touching my face and the awesome lingering feel-good-factor of the Vikramaditya Motwane creation and no I am not proud but at least I can write this - Calcutta is still Calcutta - the erstwhile Indian Capital.