Susan Sontag once said that “fear of sexuality is the new, disease-sponsored register of the universe of fear in which everyone now lives”. In India, this fear is buttressed by social conservatism and hypocrisy and our films, for the most part, are a reflection of this. Burdened by archaic censorship laws and the pressure of [...]
Entries from August 2007
August 21, 2007
The Third Eye of Freedom
Around this time of the year, reams of newsprint are dedicated to recounting the greatness of Gandhi and much column space devoted to Nehru, and as an extension, his dynasty (however dubious their contributions or integrity remain). It would be remiss of me to not talk about a third “forgotten hero”, considering I probably owe [...]
August 15, 2007
60 and getting sexier?
Sixty years of independence and the mood is dichotomous. India-shining-style optimism is colliding with the stark reality of 250 million still below the poverty line and two of our most important newspapers reflect this divide in the usual, predictable ways. The Times of India is replete with gung-ho proclamations. The front page screams “60 and [...]
August 2, 2007
CNN-IBN, Sanjeeb’s blog and racism
CNN-IBN journalist Sanjeeb Mukherjea has “written about” (since anything passes for writing, these days) Sivaji on his IBN Live blog. I was taken aback as soon as I read this:
We Aryan Indians are terribly clannish in our collective ignorance of Dravidian cinema and stars. Hence we are “kanstantly” overhyped about a certain tall dapper man [...]
