Suleimani Keeda: The must watch cannot find movie of the year.

Like any good movie this one too is a journey.

The journey details the paths taken by the film's three primary characters, Dulal, Ruma and Mainak. Dulal and Mainak are a writing duo hoping to make it big in bollywood. Ruma is a Mumbai girl hovering on the brink of self discovery. Through her photography she believes she has found herself and is looking to explore her depths. Their paths cross in a series of interesting coincidence that never seem forced or cliched. In fact this movie tries really hard to avoid any cliches. Certainly you can break it down into tropes if you so wish, but the tropes do not stand out. They do not at any moment overpower the script. Instead the script, their journey, flows seamlessly. Meandering this way and that. Like a gentle yet deep river. A river edging it's way not to a climatic waterfall, but the serene ocean. Providing the viewers with a thoroughly satisfying experience.


One of the many factors that work in favor of the film is it's accurate portrayal of a lifestyle many people are curious about, yet can rarely find on screen. The lifestyle of a writer, particularly one entrenched in the daily warland that is Mumbai and Bollywood. It plunges the viewer headfirst into this perspective and never drags it's feet. The dialogues shine through the clever writing. Personally I found the fact that everyone in Bombay has some nugget of knowledge/wisdom to impart particularly hilarious. The budding romance between Ruma and Dulal was also presented beautifully. Not for a moment does the movie get overbearing in it's aspects. The beautiful score blended wonderfully with the atmosphere, allowing me to enjoy every second of the film.

According to me...this is the one. The one film to change it all. All those of us who decry the frailties of Indian cinema, who bemoan the thousand splendid imperfections that shine bright in eastman color, this is the one you have been waiting for. It has humor in spades, it has clever writing from start to finish. It has a bunch of hugely talented actors at their natural best on screen. It has great music and some great shots of Mumbai. Such a shame you wont get to see it. Isnt it? The best Hindi movie of 2014 has come and is about to now go. It will slip past you before you can even blink. It's not anyone's fault this, it is after all a low budget movie. This is low key indie(nearly) cinema at it's finest and unlike the kinda of indie cinema that makes news ie: Serious artsy shit that can get us depressed, this one deals exclusively in humor. In a sense it is the opposite of artsy cinema. This movie tries it's damnedest to cheer you up despite telling you that life does not always have happy endings.

Not a happy ending.

So it is no surprise that you will be hard pressed to find a show time near you. Available exclusively in the metros and on limited show times. If you happen to live in one of the smaller cities in the country just forget about it right now. Which is kinda sad because I think a small town audience would really enjoy this movie. It is also kinda sad that the movie has garnered such low attention from mainstream media, one would think that the highly talented folks in the media would manage to keep an eye out for such a gem. If you are out there reading this review, I urge you find a show time, catch it in the theatres. There hasn’t been a movie this good out in a long while(Khosla ka Ghosla), and considering how under the radar it is...I think we will have a long wait before the next one comes along.

10/10

More about the movie: https://www.facebook.com/sulemanikeeda.official

Uberconspirational

Something strange is going on with the Government. Despite the recent air of sincerity and the promises of reason. Their steps recently taken run completely contrary. The banning of Uber, Ola on the flimsy premise that the apps have not been registered stinks. On the surface it seems like a knee jerk reaction, almost as if the Government panicked and took the step of banning the app based cab companies fearing the public fallout of yet another rape in the capital. After all it was BJP who had tactfully delayed the elections until now, ensuring weak governance in the capital under the Lt. Governer. This delaying tactic made sense from an electoral point of view but it compromised any possibility of proactive action by the administration in our capital to deal with crucial issues like public safety. After all our capital and the country at large have a massive rape epidemic raging through.

However, is it truly a knee jerk reaction? By our government’s usual standards this was an unusually speedy measure, not to mention harsh. Almost as it the decision was waiting in the wings. Could it be the Government was already mulling some sort of action on Uber and Ola? They were certainly not on great terms with Uber. Considering the recent spar between the RBI and Uber. Of course Uber smoothed things out with a timely partnership with Paytm. Avoiding any serious penalties(like a ban!). Could it be then, that this decision was all set up and ready to roll out? Of course if this decision was not as knee jerk as every one believes. If this was indeed already in the making. Then one has to wonder why? Why would this government, a government that has openly declared India open for international businesses, a government that has promised to support emerging sectors and is clearly trying to woo foreign investors suddenly turn hostile towards a well placed international firm?

Consider for a moment who had the most to lose with the emergence of Uber and Ola or who would gain the most if they were suddenly, taken out of the game, so to speak. These cabs companies had changed the game. Taking a massive slice of the pie away from established radio cab operators.  With their slashed rates and innovative business model and lack of infrastructure, these new upstarts came in fast and hard. They were ushering in a new era, being far more mobile then the larger radio cab operators, allowing for their quick expansion. These new companies were literally on the verge of making radio cab operators obsolete. Would it be too far a stretch then to imagine some of the established players of the game, players who have clearly been around long enough to develop a range of contacts within the governing structure(ruling and opposition), to have influenced this strange decision.

I do not see it as a far stretch. Despite our Prime Minister earnest pleas for faith, the BJP is not a party known for keeping the faith of the people. Nor are they a shining beacon of honesty and anti corruption. The party has been rocked by it's fair share of scandals in the past. A well placed bribe here and there would not even register on the scale of the corruption BJP has already committed. The decision makes absolutely no sense otherwise. The official reason given is pure hogwash. The government’s own app based auto facilitation service Pooch O is just as much unregistered as Uber or Ola. The driver had a valid license and a forged character certificate with him, certainly one can argue that Uber should have carried out a more stringent background check. Yet to ban them for this oversight is far from rational. Any progressive thinking government looking to make real change would have taken this opportunity to do some inward thinking. Work out the clear and present bugs in the system. It is not too hard to reflect a person's offences on their license. Not impossible to grant Uber time to fix the lapses in their hiring procedures. It is not irrational to hope that such serial predators can be tracked by a modernized and independent police force. That our masters that be have made the decision they have is telling of how progressive this government truly is.

It is easy to mask a person. Simple to cloak an object. It is much harder, to mask an ideology. To hide a rot that runs to the core of the system. Nearly impossible to mask one's true nature. We stand ready now to welcome a new year. Elections are coming to Delhi again. 2015 is nearly here and the future looks kinda dystopian with the talk of night vision drones in the air. All this might just be my imagination, there is no proof on this of course. Nor do I think there will ever be, but I am keeping a cautious eye out now. Things are afoot in our nation that have encouraged the conspirationalist inside me. Entire swathes of Tribal peoples suddenly being branded Naxals, massive forests suddenly being ear marked as prime industrial land, companies being banned out of the blue. I dont know, maybe you ought to keep an eye out too.  Our glorious leader has promised us the Moon, let us be careful his coterie does not steal the Earth from under us.