Winter is early so this film must be good...

i saw Manorama Six Feet Under
a month ago
so why am i writing about it now?

this time when i returned
to delhi
winter had set in
and the film captured
that part of the year
which is so familiar
to me

the characters wearing
fake leather jackets
and thin sweaters (bought from Sarojni Nagar or Karol Bagh)
that come out during this time of the year

Gul Panag (playing Abhay Deol's wife)
actually wears a large gown
(that aunties in my colony wear in winter)
while cutting veggies
sitting outside and soaking in the morning sun

most depictions of winters
in bollywood are restricted
to characters going abroad
wearing long coats or thick sweaters
or cavorting in the snow at some hill station

but in Manorama
the characters wore
everyday stuff
made in Ludhiana
ate jalebis
and rode bikes that
respectfully ran at 50 km per hour

films have such an impact
creating images
that people who live elsewhere
tend to believe in them completely

a friend of mine
who grew up in Tehran
was asked when she returned for holidays from India
whether young people break into a song
buses and on the streets in India !!!!!
that is the impression
bollywood has ended up creating
in many parts of the world
who knows in some years
city bred kids might have
the same imptession
of villages in India
if they see the world through the eyes of bollywood

in that sense manorama
is a refreshing change

where winters look like winters
the colours on the sweaters remind you of the aunt
who used to collar you at the Diwali Mela
neighbours are suspicious
and wives have expectations from their marriages
children are demanding
politicians still use the Ambassador
and while corruption is everywhere
it is elusive when you begin to hunt it down

in the end you do not change the world
it ends up changing you

go watch this film if you can