Author: The Metrognome

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Cops will watch the skies on R-Day

No paragliders or other micro-aircraft can fly near or above Shivaji Park till noon on Saturday, Republic Day, this year. Anyone breaking this rule will be arrested.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If all of us watch the skies, who will watch the land and the seas? Never mind that, the Mumbai Police seem to be saying. As per a directive issued from the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) KG Patil, a “breach of peace” is expected by terrorist or antisocial elements from the skies above the Shivaji Park (Dadar) area on Saturday, January 26, 2013.

Accordingly, no paragliders or remote controlled microlight aircraft will be allowed to fly in the jurisdiction of Mahim, Shivaji Park, Dadar and Worli police stations on that day.

An order issued today from Patil’s office reads, “On Republic Day 26/01/2013 at Shivaji Park, Dadar areas (sic) VIP, Army, Navy and Air Force officers, Consuls and citizens in large numbers come together for celebrating Republic Day, it is necessary that some checks should be put on activities around Shivaji Park area in Dadar, Mumbai, so that terrorist/anti-social elements may not attack through paragliders , remote controlled microlight aircraft (and) that immediate action is necessary for prevention of the same.”

This order is to remain in force from 6 am to noon of January 26, 2013.

(Picture courtesy thehindu.com)

 

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Event

City NGO protests commodification of women

Demands quick redressal of sexual crime complaints; urges I&B Ministry to act against films, ads showing women as sex objects.
by Hamari Sanskriti

The public uproar and anger generated in the country due to the heinous rape and murder of the 23-year-old Delhi student compels us to introspect and find the possible reasons behind increasing sexual crimes against women. Though we speak about most of the reasons, we are not considering the root cause of the increasing incidents of sexual crimes – the portrayal of women as sex objects by the media.

One cannot deny the fact that the mass media is a very powerful and influential medium, and hence whenever an awareness campaign is started by the Government, whenever a public message is to be given to the masses, the civil society and NGOs, all  of them use the mass media. If the media can have a positive influence, then why are we not acknowledging that it may have a negative influence as well?

For example: addressing a woman as ‘Chikni Chameli’, songs like ‘Sheela ki jawani’ and lyrics like ‘Main tandoori murgi hoon yaar, gatka le mujhe alcohol se‘ and ‘Pallu ke niche chhipa ke rakha hai, dikha doon toh hungama ho‘ demean women and project them as sex objects. Such references to women, to parts of their bodies, certainly convey a lot about the intention of the creator of such content about the image of a woman. The gestures of dancers in such songs, and the lyrics, invite sexual aggression against women.

The posters of recent films like Jism 2 and Raaz 3 leave nothing to the imagination. Showing the naked body of a woman, with hands placed on her private parts, on huge hoardings in the middle of the roads, photographs of film sets printed on front page of the Bombay Times on December 12, 2012 showing Arshad Warsi holding Minissha Lamba’s breast, are shocking and are examples of the levels to which the entertainment industry can stoop to sell their films.

It will be foolish to believe that the poster of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, in which a girl in micro shorts is pointing towards her buttocks with ‘Dekho Magar Pyar Se‘ written on her lower waist will not draw undue attention towards women on the road.

Be it films, advertisements, serials, newspaper photos, all of them are contributing in further demeaning women and commodifying their body. Such songs, advertisements, hoardings and posters, films and serials on television, are everywhere, in all media.

If such songs and scenes are not meant to titillate and arouse the viewer, then why are they created? Who are we displaying them for? How can songs like ‘DK Bose’ of Delhi Belly, or words like ‘Paincho’ of Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola be suitable for a U/A audience? Is this what film producers want our children to say and learn? The way the name of one entertainment channel Bindass is written on BEST buses and hoardings is also objectionable, it is written with ‘B’ on one line, followed by ‘in’ on the next line and ‘d ass’ on the third line.

All the above examples are related to women, parts of the female figure or abuses and sexually suggestive words. With repeated hammering of the same, it is reflected in the behaviour and thought process of society. The entertainment media needs to be more responsible while portraying women in songs, films and advertisements.

Hence the staged a protest against such depictions, and made an effort to make the law-enforcers accountable for permitting such violations. We demand that there should be a regulatory body (comprising of psychologists, child counsellors, sociologists, teachers, parents, eminent lawyers, representatives from print, electronic media and film-makers), which has punitive powers to which we can complain and get a redressal for grievances. Immediate action should be taken against the violators of laws.

We would boycott all films and film/television stars who depict women on a demeaning manner or treat them as sex objects. The I&B Ministry being the ultimate authority for enforcing the various laws in the print and electronic medium cannot shirk its responsibility towards society. So we urge you to take immediate steps to ensure that henceforth no advertisement or film in the media treats women in a derogatory manner or as sex objects.

We also demand that those committing sexual crimes against women and children must be given stringent punishments and such cases be sent to fast track courts, with a time limit of maximum six months to deliver the judgment.

 

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Big story

Theatre owners will not be charged more entertainment duty

State rolls back decision to charge theatres more duty if they priced tickets higher during weekends and for blockbuster releases.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Last week, the State Government of Maharashtra had proposed a policy wherein it would charge theatres more entertainment duty for film tickets that were priced higher during weekends and holidays. It meant that the higher the ticket price, the higher the duty paid to the Government.

In a cabinet meeting today, this decision was rolled back.

It was widely discussed earlier that the proposal would help the Government earn substantial sums to encash on the ‘100-crore club’ that most major releases of such stars as the Khans, for example, normally come under. However, the increased duty would be charged only on tickets charged over Rs 250 per ticket.

The proposal had originally come from the Revenue Department, which had prepared a note that mentioned that reports of brisk business of new films, to the tune of Rs 30 crore on a single day (for a film such as Ek Tha Tiger, for example) could not be possible without tickets being priced higher than their normal rates. If the new policy had been implemented, theatre owners would have to work out a system wherein booking of tickets would be fully computerised so that the ticket sales could be recorded.

Some newspaper reports mentioned that the State earned upwards of Rs 87 crore from multiplexes and Rs 108.16 crore from single screen theatres in the last financial year.

100 per cent hike in service tax for single screens

In the cabinet meeting today, the State decided that single screen theatres’ development in the rural areas be given a boost by not imposing any entertainment tax on them for a period of seven years. Also, the State will now allow service tax per ticket to be increased from Rs 6.50 per ticket to Rs 14 for single screen theatres, provided they computerise their booking system and provide central air-conditioning for the patrons. This decision applies to all single screen theatres across the State; it simply means that tickets will now cost higher in single screen theatres.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

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Guest writer

Back from Bharat bhraman

Two Mumbai men toured India, wishing to plant trees in all 35 States and UTs. Hari Chakyar tells the story.
by Hari Chakyar

It’s been two days since we got back from our ‘Bharat bhraman’ (the duo were out on their pet project, Project 35 Trees). I have been treating my weary traveller’s stomach to some ma ke haath ka khaana and sleeping in my own bed. It feels good to be back.

When we set out on October 10, 2012, the dream was to plant trees in all the 35 States and Union Territories of India and to encourage young Indians to do the same. Now, almost four months later, we are happy to announce that we have managed to do that in 32 states and Union Territories. The three that are left are Mumbai, Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep.

We’ll do the Mumbai leg of the session soon. Plus, we’ll identify locations and guardians and plant a lot of trees in Mumbai and Pune.

We tried going to Arunachal Pradesh twice but both plans got squashed thanks to the Arunachal Pradesh Students Union elections. No host, no rooms in hotels or lodges, struck up public transport systems and no contact person; it didn’t seem like a risk we could take with expensive crowd-funded and crowd-sourced equipment.

The next ship to the archipelago of Lakshadweep leaves on February 27… that i,s if you take the tourism department’s package. Alternatively, if someone from the island invites you over with an attested letter that goes to the administrative office in Kochi, you can go on an official visit. We had neither the invite nor the time to wait till the next ship. Even if we did, there is no way one can break away from the package and do their own thing. One can take a flight to Lakshadweep too but would you really spend 17,000 rupees per head one way if you were us? We decided we would rather plant trees worth that much in places that need them the most.

Technically, we did not achieve what we had set out to do but then we feel we’ve got a lot more done. We feel fitter, probably from the regular routine of lugging heavy bags around. We’ve greater respect for time…we realise there is so much to do in life but there’s so little time. We met a lot of amazing people who are doing amazing work. We saw the country we call our own on every Republic Day and Independence Day, but which we had never seen with our own eyes. We heard languages never heard before and vowed to return when we could speak some of them.

We loved every moment of it. Now, while I can sit back and think of the amazing India tour, Anthony and team will be working on the film part of the project.

Honestly, I can’t wait to do this again!

Hari Chakyar and Anthony Karbhari left on their tour, which they call Project 35 Trees, on October 10, 2012. Read about the project here.

(Pictures courtesy Hari Chakyar)

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M

Naach na jaane

Most Bollywood actors can’t dance. Meanwhile, the girls are dancing their way into roles that require little else from them.
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Bollywood is synonymous with naach gaana. It is what defines Hindi cinema, and when done in foreign locales with local residents gaping in astonishment, it truly embarrasses us (the audience, not the filmmakers). In recent times, the gaana bit (read ‘lyrics’) has been reduced to a mockery, with popular numbers having words like ‘Po, Po’ (pronounced ‘Paw, Paw’) in them. Meanwhile, the naach hasn’t been doing too well, either.

Choreographer Remo D’Souza’s upcoming flim ABCD promises some good dance moves, at least in the trailers. Which makes me wonder: in a country of dancers, why has it taken so long for anyone to make a good dance film?

If Judson Laipply (of the The Evolution of Dance stand up act) were to do a piece on Bollywood dance, it would be called the Degradation of Bollywood Dance. And why not? In this particular sphere, comedians around the world have so much material to choose from. From Salman’s inexplicable moves to Sanjay Dutt’s (supposed) pelvic thrusts, there’s enough and more to make one shut their eyes and never watch another Hindi film ever.

I was astounded at the dance steps assigned to a certain Ms Sharma in her last release, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, which required a vigorous butt jiggle. I was even more astounded when the same steps were re-assigned to Pankaj Kapur. Anybody else in his place, veteran actor or not, would have been reduced to a caricature of himself with that dance, but to his credit, he can dance.

Which brings me to the many actors in the industry who hate to dance. I understand that they hate it, what I don’t get is that they make no effort to learn dancing while being in a profession that requires them to move their feet. Some specimens that belong to this category are Ajay Devgn, Himesh Reshamiya and Saif Ali Khan and more. This bunch was highly active last year, and there will be a reprise in the near future.

The other interesting category of actors are the once who could dance, once upon a time, but now can’t dance to save their lives. Some of them are now too beefy or too old to do anything more than a cursory hip shake. Salman Khan is the King of this club. It is painful to watch him dance these days. Equally painful to watch is Sanjubaba. He was no match for Madhuri in ‘Tamma Tamma’ (Thanedar), but he didn’t have two left feet back then. Salman in Dabangg  with his ridiculous moves involving the belt is beyond rubbish. His attempts to keep up with the lissom Katrina Kaif in Ek Tha Tiger were actually funny.

Fortunately, the actresses these days can shake a leg. Well, they have to, or they wouldn’t qualify for several roles if they didn’t know how to move that waist and look pretty while doing so. But I won’t lay blame only on the actors; choreographers need to work harder, too. Kareena Kapoor’s latest item number ‘Fevicol Se’ in Dabangg 2 was a disaster. Farah Khan is one of the few dance directors who has consistently delivered. Among the men, Prabhudeva is reliable. We’ll see him soon in ABCD. But can he save the last (good) dance for Bollywood?

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

(Picture courtesy fillum.com)

Categories
Event

Feting Obama in Mumbai

A select few in Mumbai watched and applauded as US Consulate Mumbai telecast Barack Obama’s Inaugural Ball in Washington DC.

The US Consul General, Peter Haas and Atul Nishar, President of ‘Namaste America’, co-hosted an inaugural ball in honour of the 44th President of The United States of America, Barack Obama. The Consulate’s Inauguration Ceremony featured a live telecast of the Presidential Address from Washington DC. Bajaj Group was the presenting supporter of this prestigious event.

Popular Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji graced the occasion and was felicitated for her valued contribution to Indian Cinema.

The evening began with a dance performance by renowned choreographer Rahul Saxena and his team of accomplished dancers. The event was attended by a diverse cross-section of Mumbai society. Those in attendance included Dr Alka Nishar, Niraj Bajaj, Anne E Grimes, Deanna Abdeen, Satish Shah, Nisha Jamvwal, Poonam Dhillon, Talat Aziz, Dalip Tahil, Sushma Reddy, Sunita Menon and other prominent personalities.

‘Namaste America’ Indo American Association of Art and Culture promotes and fosters goodwill between the people of the United States of America and India by providing a platform for  cultural and trade exchange particularly in the areas of Education, Media, Entertainment, Science and Sports.

(Pictures courtesy Presidential Inaugural Committee 2013 and US Consulate Mumbai)

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