Reflecting On Reflections

Its a long time that I've blogged and in the delerious state that I am in, I wonder wether this post is going to make any sense at all.. The reason for this current state of 'Highness' can be attributed singularly to two people, Vaishnavi and Sunil. Well, its not neccessarily a bad thing, but 8 + poori's (south indian dish, similar to a roti, but has all the oil that was ex-communicated from the roti.) can defenitely hinder your judgement. And now enter Sunil. Or rather, wonderful Madras Meals at Sangeetha restaurant. This assortment of the most common south indian dishes, unhesitantly frowned upon, when made by dotting mothers for their children seems to gain this unworldly charm of being extremely palatable when served on a large plate at Sangeetha. All this food requires tremendous amounts of efforts to be digested, that meagre amounts of engergy is being used up by the brain to construct this post is only whats left after catering to the calls of all the other auxillary systems that keep me alive... (Btw, CC, this is the state that i often find you in when i call you, so i guess you wouldn't have any difficulty in relating to this..)

And now comming back to the point from which i have wandered way off, Reflections '05. An event being organized by S.R.M Images, the in campus photography club in my college.. also the richest of the clubs in our college. The reason for their apparent richness seems to be the fact that they hold total monopoly over photographic / video coverage of any event happening in and around the college. Antitrust legislations are somethings thats unheard of in the club I guess.

The above mentioned event, the club's impotence not withstanding, was defenitely a platform for those budding directors and camera-persons to showcase their talent. More than 15 short films were accepted from various colleges in and around the city for screening during the event. But the real icing on the cake, was that those selected were also screened at Satyam Cineplex this sunday. It was an interesting motley of short films from students of various colleges. Though some were exceptionally boring and well below average.. I should say some did stand out as the stars of the day. And here are some of the films that seemed to have made lasting marks on a silent observer....

The first one, by students of loyola college (if i am right), was this amazing short film. It starts with a hazy view of a young little girl, named jeeva, narrating to us about her family. The girl leads us into her little albeit wonderful and loving world comprising of her mother, father, her little bro and the most favourite member of her family-her elder brother. With the voice over so surreal, it really takes us into her mind. Only later do we realise that, her elder brother, whom jeeva loves unconditionaly is an invalid of some sort. He is ridiculed by everyone around him and on certain occasions by his own father. Unable to bear the shame and humiliation he decides to end his own life by jumping into a well. But instants after he does this, his sister jeeva in a childish and impractical effort, blinded by faternal love follows the suit to save him, only to be snatched away from this earth by the cruel arms of fate. Only here do we actually realise that the original jeeva we see is not real, but dead. Dead men tell no tales or so the saying goes. and this is an valiant effort to prove it wrong. It has defenitely succeded. Hats off to you guys.

The second one, which also caught my eye and imagination was this short film titled 'AMMA', (no relation to our CM). Dealing with issues of adoption is a big task, but doing so in an effective manner in a span of ten minutes or lesser is simply astounding. And thats exactly what this short film has achieved. The extremely cute kid starring in the movie displayed such a wide gamut of emotions which is still well beyond the grasp of most our regular 'stars'. Wether it was the efforts of the director, or facing the harsh realities of being an orphan, or whatever that was which made the kid such a profound and wonderful actor for those fleeting minutes is something that deserves more than a single round of applause. The concept of showcasing the yearinings of an young orphan for a family through a dream was something that is not only a powerful way to say it, but also something that could thaw the iciest heart in the audience. I would not be suprised if there were people who did shed a tear from a corner of their eye at the plight of the kid. If there was a shipwreck event where the director of the film was the captain, then I would probably go ahead and offer the lifeboat to him without further delay. Congrats guys, even though you din't win, you did do something meaningful.

The third movie, which I would like to comment about is this movie about a remote island paradise in the winding meanders of the river Periayar in Ernakulam, Kerala, and how it has been severely affected by large scale environmental pollution. Hmm, I am in no way qualified to comment about this masterpiece (ha! like that has ever stopped me from doing so!). but in one..er two words, the film is 'Visually Breathtaking'. The imagery is not just amazing, but surely professional and is beyond words. It is true that a picture is worth thousand words, but there are sometimes, when even a thousand words do fall short.. and every frame of this film is an example to the above case. The coherence and the clarity with which the film has been presented is not merely professional, but excellent. Kudos to the director. The use of special color filters at just the right places is something that makes this film excellent 'award material' in all aspects. Also the insights of experts and the plight of locals interspersed within those ten or so minutes of amazing footage is not just thoughtful, but extremely thoughtprovoking. For guys who made this film, take my advice... send this to NG/Discovery and you will probably land yourself your own nature documentary show. And if someone from Columbia Univ is reading, guys before you anounce the pulitzers for this year, give this film a good look before you decide.

Well, usually great occasions seldom transpire without great company, and here's where I would like to really thank Kris and Laxmi for the amazing company they kept me. And one more thing, Hats of to Kris and all the other student co-ords for making this happen.


Signing off
Vishnu