The death of a movie critic..
TARAN ADARSH was dead..shot at by a 23 year old..

Monday, November 27, 2006

The death of a movie critic..

The brilliant thing about ‘The inevitable’ is that you can’t stop it from happening. You can try, but you wont be successful. That’s probably why they term it ‘the inevitable’. You cant put the brakes on ‘the inevitable’ by raising a show-cause notice or prolong it for the fear of a rise in excise duty or simply the presence of a callous attitude. ‘The inevitable’ doesn’t stop at a grocery shop and ask for change. But ‘the inevitable’ here had a distinct smell of gunpowder associated with it. The room on the fourth floor of ‘Prakash Towers’,Andheri(w) was impregnated with the smell of gunpowder. “Noted” film critic and trade analyst ‘TARAN ADARSH’ was dead, shot at point blank by a 23 year old. Lean built, with broad shoulders, black hair and brown catty eyes, the murderer had surrendered himself to the police after having stayed back at the spot of murder. As he was taken out of the room, he kept chanting, “LONG LIVE GOOD CINEMA, DOWN WITH PREJUDICE, DOWN WITH POOR CINEMATIC SENSIBILITY”. For people who didn’t know Sudeep Nair, his act of crime seemed to have no logic or sense of purpose attached to it. “Rash and just an act of trying to create unwarranted sensationalism”, the pragmatic lot declared. “Why a movie critic??”, some remarked. “The guy’s a maniac”, the others dared to say. Those were the realists speaking. They demanded a reason. But that’s probably where the realists differ from the idealists. The idealists don’t seek reasons. So what did ‘the idealists’ say after all??

‘The Mother’ Said:
Sudeep hardly spoke a word till he was four. But he more than made up for it in the coming years. We always talked, talked our way out of the most cumbersome of situations. I had at a very early age, taught him that ‘a dialogue’ was the best possible way of resolving a conflict. I didn’t know he could even pull a trigger. Maybe it never seemed like a vice to me. As far as I know, he didn’t smoke or drink. Movies were his only passion. In fact he often described himself as a ‘budding film-maker’ trapped inside a ‘software engineer’s body’. But for an ultimate movie buff that he claimed to be, Sudeep never really reacted seriously to the ‘emotional content’ in a movie. I remember watching “Mother India” on his recommendation. We sat on the couch unmoved. At the end of it, he turned right and saw me all ‘moist-eyed’ and sulking. Our eyes met. I braced myself in anticipation of a heart-felt speech waiting to unfurl itself. And he quipped lazily, “Chill mom, its just a movie”.

The ‘First Girlfriend’ said:
The fact that he never had a proper dressing sense hardly mattered to me. I always saw our relationship beyond that deficiency of his. And it wasn’t like he left me. It was a mutual break-up. There’s no hurt, absolutely no remorse. They say every past relationship needs a reason to end and that you learn something from every broken association. In our case, the lesson I learnt was deeply connected to the reason why we decided to part. But I thank you Sudeep. It was only because we parted over me not being able to grasp the essence of “Pather Panchali” that I took the pain to watch it another time.. and another. And my first documentary, “Satyajit Ray: The Master and his Movies” is solely dedicated to you.

The ‘Best Friend’ said:
There are one-dimensional people who come into your life and turn you into schizophrenics. Sudeep was that person in my life. He introduced me to the world of Kubrick, Fellini and Polanski . I had little liking for their works even after I saw them. But I couldn’t resist faking an admiration for them. After all, I didn’t want him to feel that his enthusiasm was being left unappreciated. Wait, or was it the fear of me feeling like a complete idiot?? I don’t know. He hated most of the movie critics in town. And he loathed and despised “TARAN ADARSH”. But professional inadequacy seems to me like too small a reason to kill someone. But like his taste in cinema, his motive behind the murder too seems pretty arcane and distorted. Your actions might not be completely justified, buddy. But I promise, the day I pay you a visit in jail I would still be flagging off our conversation with our regular greeting, “HAIL KUROSAWA”!!!!.

The ‘Pan-beedi shop’ waala uncle Said:
Well I thought “TARAN ADARSH” was lucky. A slow painful death was what he truly deserved, but an instant one was what he eventually got. His reviews still continue to evoke a nauseous feeling in me every time I read it. Someone had to do it. Maybe Sudeep was the chosen one. For the guy was bright. And he loved movies. He wasn’t a versatile talker but he knew exactly what he was talking about. We met over a cigarette everyday at this very shop and talked endlessly over movies. The business of a movie hardly seemed to matter to him. I once happened to express my dislike for Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s movies terming them as ‘too self-centered’ and ‘tough for the common man to comprehend’. And Sudeep shot back vigorously, “Sir, who is the common man? I am a common man, but I still endure”. Our cigarette meetings soon graduated to meeting in the bar over a couple of drinks, but our topic of discussion hardly deviated. “Mani Ratnam’s IRUVAR, now here’s a movie that appealed to me beyond the neo-realistic premise” , his words…. I just rolled my eyeballs and nodded in support.

The ‘second girlfriend’ said:
A great kisser. And an even better toucher. And I was probably the only one who knew how to keep his ‘movie mania’ in check. The day he would go over the top with his love for cinema, I just wouldn’t “slip in the tongue”. And it worked.

The “Personal Diary” said:
NOVEMBER 22ND 2006: Just finished watching Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi-Driver” for the 23rd time. And I feel like “Travis Bickle” again. I am the nemesis here, and I know my prey. So what’s stopping me?? Just have to go through his reviews stored on my desktop. That should be inspiration enough I guess. Maybe killing “TARAN ADARSH” wont put a check on the grotesque pieces of art they release in the movie theatres every Friday. Maybe I would be deemed as an eccentric in times to come. Maybe people would still continue churning out biased, naïve and irrelevant movie reviews and “pseudo cinema pundits” would continue singing their praises. But what the hell??? If I cant afford good cinema, maybe I’ll just die for it.

Please check the following blog.

http://movie_critique.rediffblogs.com/

http://movie_critique.rediffblogs.com/

Hopefully pea-brain Adarsh 'gets' this and flings himself in front of Sudeep's gun...that would be his only redemption !!!