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NEWSNOTES
SHOWBIZ
It's Raining Praise: Mira Lionised
in Venice
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WINNER: Nair receives the Golden Lion
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Mira Nair is a mercurial filmmaker. She can create
gut-wrenching art like her Oscar-nominated debut film Salaam Bombay but
also churn out junk like the infantile sex romp Kama Sutra. With Monsoon
Wedding, Nair returns to form.
Last week, Nair walked away with the Golden
Lion Award at the 58th Venice Film Festival in Italy. This is the first
time a woman has won the top prize at the world's oldest film festival.
And it is the first time that an Indian film has won since Satyajit Ray's
Aparajito wowed Venice in 1957. "This is one for India," said
Nair as she accepted the statuette, "my beloved
India, my continuing inspiration."
Monsoon Wedding, which was also shown earlier
at Cannes, follows the four days and nights leading up to a wedding in
a modern Punjabi family in Delhi. But soon enough the gaudy lights and
sumptuous colours of marriage begin to crack revealing conflicts, betrayals
and the terrible secret that the family patriarch is a child molester.
Nair and her script-writer Sabrina Dhawan create a vibrant portrait of
India's emerging middle class where cell phones, e-mail and tradition
co-exist.
Form-wise, Nair returns to her earlier days
as a documentary filmmaker. Monsoon Wedding was shot with a hand-held
camera to create a sense of immediacy. Originally planned as a small digital
film, Wedding eventually grew into a crew of 60, including Indian actors
Naseeruddin Shah, Lillette Dubey and Roshan Seth. Dubey, who plays a very
maternal "Binny Aunty" in the film, says, "In spite of
a tight schedule and budget we workshopped before shooting. It is very
rare in cinema to spend such time and get inputs before shooting."
Nair is "open to ideas and to improvising scenes, but at the same
time very clear on what exactly she wants-she can turn down a suggestion
very quickly.'' says Kulbhushan Kharbanda, who plays an NRI uncle in the
film.
Nanni Moretti, head of the Venice jury, described
Nair as a "visionary" but Nair played down the praise. "I
wanted to make a small film," she said, "but I am so very happy
to say that it has become big."
—Anupama Chopra
FUNQUIZ
 Q.
Serials Buniyaad, Nukkad and Hum Log can be seen on...
a. A short journey in a time machine.
b. Mommy's defunct home video collection.
c. Doordarshan.
 Q.
What gets all the three Bachchans-Big B, Little B and Mummy B-together
in Mahesh Manjrekar's Kutumb?
a. The director's belief: more Bs the
merrier.
b. Lots of moolah.
c. The film is called Kutumb, hence.
 Q.
Raveena Tandon, gushing about Kamal Haasan, co-star in Abhay, says, "He
starts with C and ends with A" because ...
a. She's trying to spell out "cinema"
b. She doesn't know which comes first.
c. It wasn't Raveena, it was a schoolteacher
in disguise.
Answers: 1(c), 2(c), 3(a)
MUSIC RELEASES
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Mast Qalandar (Sony Music; Rs 55)Two spontaneous singers
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen render Sufi classics.
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The Daddy Mix(Universal; Rs 55) Kishore Kumar is still a
favourite. dj Aqueel remixes his songs for Gen Next.
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A Sojourn (Music Today; Rs 65) Carnatic music on the saxophone
by Kadri Gopalnath. Eight bhakti compositions.
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