Monthly Archives: June 2006

Monica B. Playing Sonia G.? A Look At Director Jag Mundhra

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Up from the news tab: Sonia Gandhi is going to be played by Italian actress Monica Belluci in an upcoming (apolitical) biopic called Sonia. In his comment on the article, Bongopondit points out that director Jag Mundhra has made his mark as a filmmaker doing a string of sleazy ‘skinemax’ flicks, with titles like Tales of Kama Sutra, Tropical Heat, and the memorably-titled Wild Cactus. Perhaps not by accident, on a number of these ventures Mundhra has worked with Producer Ashok Amritraj, who became the Harvey Weinstein of the genre before officially graduating to mainstream Hollywood mediocrity. (Though actually, I thought Raising Helen was a pretty decent romantic comedy, and it did have Sakina Jaffrey…)

The story gets more interesting: interspersed with spicier fare, Mundhra has also done a number of serious (but minor) Hindi films along the way, some of them with heavy-hitting actors (Kabir Bedi in Vishkanya! Nandita Das in Bawandar!). Most recently, of course, Mundhra directed TMBWITW Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews in Provoked. The film gains some legitimacy from the cast, from the soundtrack by A.R. Rahman, and from the true story it is based on: a British court case that tested the legal definition of ‘provocation’ (Regina v. Ahluwalia; the Southall Black Sisters played a major role in her defense). There is a serious legal question here: can prolonged experience of severe domestic violence be considered sufficient provocation for a kind of defensive homicide? I would tend to think not, but as I understand it the British court finally decided in Kiranjit Ahluwalia’s favor. (Update: the court reduced her sentence to time served, but they did not reverse the guilty verdict.)

As a final note, there’s an irony in Jag Mundhra’s schizophrenic directing work that I can’t quite understand: many of Mundhra’s serious films protest crimes against women (Bawandar is about a woman who has been raped, and Provoked is about domestic violence), while his erotic thrillers obviously feature the exploitative display of women’s bodies. Interesting… Continue reading →

Desi Goth Manifesto

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Up until recently, I had always assumed that I was one of the few desis who seriously considered herself a goth. No, I don’t walk around in black lipstick and white powder–and that’s one of the misconceptions that I want this post to refute. The Desi Goth is a rare, largely nocturnal species that does not always associate with other desis, or goths. Here are a few simple guidelines.

  1. I do not claim to universally define “Desi Goth.” I leave that to the comments section of this post. In my experience, both desis and goths are very touchy about labeling, which leads to some interesting problems of self-identification. That said, if you’re a Desi, and you find yourself influenced, moved or interested in goth culture, welcome aboard.

  2. A brief history of goth culture here. There are an infinite number of types of goths. Marilyn Manson is not considered goth culture, but don’t tell that to his followers. Victorian goths, with their affinity for cognac and opium, their penchant for wearing ruffles and velvet in summer, their gramaphones and their oil paintings, have very little in common with the punk goth, who wears torn tee’s, squats in a basement apartment, plays in a death metal band, and is covered in Celtic tattoos.

  3. Goth culture never goes away. It goes underground. From the tortured antiheros of Byron’s poetry, to Goethe’s Faust, to tecno-goth masterpieces like Blade Runner and Metropolis, to Noseferatu, Lestat, Dracul and all the other famous vampires, goth culture pops up in cycles in art, literature, pop culture and public consciousness. Particularly in troubled times. (The term gothic originates from the late 18th century, to describe popular and high culture reacting to political and social uncertainty. An excellent resource to the history of the gothic .; note the limited information from a Desi perspective. here

  4. Misconception One: Not all goths work in video stores. There is such a thing as corporate goth. They work from within the system. Admittedly, their attire is restricted, but you do what you can. Continue reading →

25

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I just wanted to make sure that everyone was aware that AIDS “turns” 25 this week. India now has the largest number of infected people and is still trending downhill:

Twenty-five years after the first AIDS cases were reported, there is no sign of a halt to the pandemic which is likely to spread to every corner of the globe, the head of the United Nations’ AIDS agency said.

Peter Piot was speaking as UNAIDS released a report which declared that the world’s response to the disease, that has infected about 65 million people and killed 25 million, has been nowhere near adequate. Five years after a special U.N. session pledged its commitment to halt the AIDS pandemic, only a few countries have met the targets laid down…

India has the largest number of people living with the virus. With 5.7 million infections, it has overtaken South Africa’s total of 5.5 million. But, the epidemic is still at its worst in sub-Saharan Africa, where 90% of the world’s HIV-infected children live. [Link]

The first reported case in India came nearly 5 years after the first reported case in the U.S.

The first case of HIV infection in India was diagnosed among commercial sex workers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 1986. Soon after, a number of screening centres were established throughout the country. Initially the focus was on screening foreigners, especially foreign students. Gradually, the focus moved on to screening blood banks. By early 1987, efforts were made up to set up a national network of HIV screening centres in major urban areas. [Link]

The statistics are grim:

The UN Population Division projects that India’s adult HIV prevalence will peak at 1.9% in 2019. The UN estimates there were 2.7 million AIDS deaths in India between 1980 and 2000. During 2000-15, the UN has projected 12.3 million AIDS deaths and 49.5 million deaths during 2015-50.

A 2002 report by the CIA’s National Intelligence Council predicted 20 million to 25 million AIDS cases in India by 2010, more than any other country in the world. [Link]

So you guys tell me. We know what some of the problems are. What more can be done to stop this boulder from rolling?

Continue reading →