DISNEY MOVIES: A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE

By Amrita Menon (Team Creative)

1) High School Musical 

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that High School Musical has perhaps singlehandedly gotten an entire generation of kids from all over the world to fall in love with musicals forever. Whether you hated the movie as a kid, were secretly a fan, or proclaiming your love for the movie to the world unabashedly, there’s no denying that it caused a huge sensation when it came out almost 11 years ago. The combination of a great cast, even greater songs and some extremely relatable themes ensured that the movie and its sequels were huge hits.

2) Cadet Kelly

Unexpectedly metaphorical, Cadet Kelly tells a touching story about the artsy, adventure-loving Kelly who is forced to join military school and struggles to fit in. The struggle between being your individual self in a society that expects you to conform is a familiar struggle for many of us watching as tweens and that is perhaps what made it so successful. Well, that and the really fancy moves at the end, if we’re being completely honest. 

3) Camp Rock

Extremely funny, but with just the right amount of drama, Camp Rock is reportedly the third highest viewed Disney Channel Original movie of all time. No surprise there- Camp Rock starred the immensely popular teen heartthrobs, the Jonas Brothers who were making their film debut. Naturally, the movie featured some really catchy songs, and nine years later, most of us still know the lyrics to them.

4) Halloweentown

Distinctly Disney but with a charm of its own, Halloweentown is a whimsical film that hooked you in right from the start and kept you entertained all the way through. I’m sure it made every kid watching in India jealous of anyone who celebrated Halloween and made us live out our fantasies vicariously through the film.

OUR CHILDHOOD TV SHOWS AS MOVIES

By Mekhala Singhal (Team Creative)

When we were kids, the best thing that could happen to us was if our favourite TV shows were made into movies. So here is a list of some of those iconic movies and how they made us feel when we were younger.

1) Hannah Montana: The Movie

This needs to be first on the list. This movie was iconic, not just because it was a movie based on Hannah Montana, but because of the wild and crazy sequence of events taking place, as well as the absolutely wonderful songs it gave us. Even if we don’t like them now, we have to admit that songs like The Climb and Crazier are gems.

2) The Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie

Okay, agreed, the plot line was odd. But Wizards of Waverly Place was by far one of the most entertaining shows on TV. The idea that people among us could be wizards? Delightful.

3) The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

The plot line for this, too, was strange, but Spongebob Squarepants is a classic. It will never disappoint (at least, we like to think so). With just the right amount of humour, suspense and fun, the movie makes us all a bit emotional about a little yellow sponge and his star-shaped friend.

4) The Rugrats Movie

Rugrats was another TV show that was not only insightful, but also extremely entertaining. The movie was just that. The movie is a genuinely smile-inducing film, with quite a journey to keep up with.

5) Hey Arnold!: The Movie

Hey Arnold! was always a go-to show for a relaxing watch. The movie, although intense, is just that as well. The movie’s arc is extremely interesting to watch, as it follows a strange turn of events that is linked to both Arnold’s history as well as his beliefs.

6) Recess: School’s Out

Recess was a show that never really grew old. It was a show about a group of school kids, almost misfits, and their relationships with each other, as well as their various adventures in and around school. Not only did the movie (much like the show) encourage teamwork among us as children, but it also showed us the strength of friendship.

BOLLYWOOD TALES: RISE OF THE HEROINE

Women-oriented films in Bollywood are no longer a rarity in today’s time. Almost once in every three months there is some sort of a female centric film that hits the theatres. For long, Bollywood has been critiqued for reducing its women, particularly the heroines to mere eye-candies who groove to crude sounding songs, flashing their voluptuous bodies; however over the past 5 years there’s been a consistent and thankfully positive participation of the heroine in Bollywood films.

It all began with the iconic Mother India (1957) directed by Mehboob Khan that featured a woman playing a pivotal role in a mainstream Bollywood film. Nargis’ character continues to be remembered today for it broke the stereotypes about an ideal Indian woman, who’s expected to be docile and subversive; however is at heart, the epitome of resilience, grace and selflessness. Often, parallels have been drawn between the character and revered Indian goddesses. However, after Mother India there were only a handful of films that actually celebrated the spirit of womanhood, Julie, Arth, Bhumika, Mirch Masala, to name a few.

                                                

The films that came afterwards to a great extent built on the idea of the dauntless, boisterous and a ‘mass’ hero, with little importance being given to women in terms of characterization. Though films in the 1990s featured iconic love stories where the heroine had an equally important role to play, these characters were seldom liberating and ironically were quite the opposite. They were stifled by the shackles of the society, being forced to live up to the idea of the ‘Susheel Indian girl’.

Madhur Bhandarkar to some extent has to be credited for introducing women-centric films to contemporary Bollywood. Though his recent films have been undeniably sloppy and distasteful, in the past, films like Chandni Bar, Page 3, and highly popular Fashion have been critically acclaimed. Fashion (2008) marked the arrival of the mainstream, commercial heroine into the genre of female centric films. Post Fashion, there’ve been a plethora of women-oriented films that have resonated with audiences and critics alike. To some extent Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan and Kangana Ranaut ought to be thanked for blessing the audiences with films with excellent stories, starring women. Fashion, The Dirty Picture (2011), Kahaani (2012) and Queen (2014) have played a very important role in changing the perceptions of the audience and what they expect out of heroines, raising the bar and setting a new threshold for the scales that women in films can achieve.

                                                                                     

  Lately there’s been a boom of female centric films in Bollywood. While not all have been very good, Akira,Bobby Jasoos,Heroine, Begum Jaan and recently released Noor being the most plausible examples of disasters from this bandwagon, there’ve been many contemporary films that have incredible stories centered around women. Highway (2014) starring Alia Bhatt was one such film, which traced the journey of a young woman who gets kidnapped and eventually develops Stockholm syndrome that finally helps her make peace with her harrowing past. It explores the otherwise dark subject of child sexual abuse at the same time retaining Imtiaz Ali’s essence of soul-searching.Or NH10 (2015) starring Anushka Sharma, which was highly riveting and also morbid in parts; exploring the story of a lone woman’s journey through a night on a seemingly eerie highway. And one cannot talk of successful female oriented films without acknowledging Sridevi’s highly celebrated comeback film, English Vinglish (2012) that showcased a middle-aged woman redeeming and empowering herself by learning English in the US. Other films like Angry Indian Goddesses and Phobia too, despite not being commercially very popular; have been praised by critics for featuring strong female characters in highly challenging and intriguing roles.

 While we’ve still got a long way to go, particularly when it comes to the absolutely unfair disparity that comes in terms of the salaries heroes and heroines are offered and in terms of the average shelf life of an actress opposed to an actor who acts till he’s senile. We’ve got to admit that Bollywood has improved greatly in terms of the characterisation of women in films. Even in other films that aren’t essentially female oriented, women now feature in strong and important roles that make an impact. Much to our relief,with films like Mom, Simran and Haseena lined up for release very soon; there’s definitely more girl power to look forward to from Bollywood.

FILMS THAT FEATURE SOPHIA COLLEGE

By Amrita Menon (Team Creative) 

1) Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)

‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’- or ‘K3G’, as it is commonly known- is considered by many as a classic and quintessential Bollywood movie, with all the magic ingredients: big stars, legendary dialogue and oodles of melodrama. Almost two decades after its release, one can still hear people debating about the movie and spouting quotes from it but what most people don’t know is that there is a scene from the movie that features a young ‘Poo’ and Rohan and our very own Central Lawn.

2) Ishq Vishq (2003)

Most people know of ‘Ishq Vishk’ as that coming-of-age romance movie that launched Shahid Kapoor’s career and perhaps most Sophia-ites (?) would be happy to note that it was the Sophia College campus that was used to film most of the college scenes in the movie. Places like the spiral staircase and the triangular terrace are some of the locations they used to film scenes. It is also featured in music videos for some songs, such as ‘Aisa Kyun Hota Hai’.

3) Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006)

We can say with some confidence that ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’ has consistently ranked amongst Bollywoods best comedic movies. This hilarious film, starring Sanjay Dutt, featured a scene with the iconic duo- Munna Bhai and his sidekick Circuit- strolling down our very own den corridor at Sophias.

 4) Jazbaa (2015)

The highly anticipated film ‘Jazbaa’ was known by many to be the film that served as Aishwarya Rai’s big comeback to Bollywood after her hiatus, but what most people don’t know (and what Sophia-ites probably recognised while watching it) was that a scene in the movie featuring Aishwarya herself and the legendary Shabana Azmi was shot in the Admin corridor of the Sophia College campus.

REMEMBERING SATYAJIT RAY.

By Milana Prakash (Team Creative)

Iconic Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa once said, “Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”

Satyajit Ray is undoubtedly a well-known name within any Bengali household. Exposure to his films and his writings are an almost inevitable and inextricable part of growing up as a Bengali. However, as a man of multiple talents, Ray is not just confined to the borders of Bengal and is today recognised throughout the world as one of the finest storytellers ever born. His outstanding contribution to cinema earned him an Academy Honorary Award in 1902. But his bequest sprawls more than just an impressive list of awards; and the fact that his cinema is considered as the Bible for film making even today is a true indicator of the kind of unparalleled filmmaker that he was.

(The Iconic train scene from Pather Panchali – Part 1 of the Apu Trilogy)

His films placed Indian cinema on a new pedestal and inspired, and continue to inspire filmmakers even today. Contemporary Indian filmmakers like Sujoy Ghosh,Shoojit Sarkar and Mira Nair have on multiple occasions admitted of being inspired by Ray’s cinema. Shoojit Sarkar (The director of Piku and Vicky Donor) in fact had once openly confessed that he blindly ‘copied’ Ray’s films. While Sujoy Ghosh’s (Director of Jhankaar Beats and Kahaani) films too have unmistakable and conspicuous influence of Ray’s body of cinema. Remember the scene from Kahaani, where Vidya stands by the window looking at the idol of Durga being carried around? It was inspired by a frame off Charulata; or the ‘Running Hot Water’ reference that was taken from one of the Feluda stories.

Mira Nair too in an interview said that while making ‘The Namesake’ she often went back to one of Ray’s finest works, ‘The Apu Triology’ to capture the honest essence of human emotions.

Barring Indian filmmakers, noted international filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Danny Boyle too claim to be fans of his awe-inspiring gamut of cinema.

(Tagore and Ray as a young boy)

       

While Ray left behind a legacy that’s almost eternal, it was the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore who inspired him. In fact when Ray as a child visited Tagore at his residence, felt Tagore was ‘remote, almost God like’ to him. One of his most timeless films, ‘Charulata’ was an adaptation of Tagore’s novella Nastanirh. He also went on to make a documentary on Tagore, commissioned by the government of India as a mark of tribute to his idol.

While an ordinary viewer, could insouciantly brandish Ray’s cinema as ‘slow’ or even worse ‘boring’, it is neither slow nor boring; instead is undulating and enchanting. What stands out distinctly about his films is the placid and languid tone that conveys the ordinariness of human emotions so seamlessly. His films teem with universal emotions that bring out the extra-ordinariness in the lives of his seemingly ordinary characters. For any cinema lover, to have not seen Ray’s body of work is a near deplorable sin. In fact such is his contribution to cinema, that it wouldn’t be wrong to divide Indian films into a Pre-Ray and Post-Ray era. His films etched a milestone in the timeline of the evolution of cinema and spoke a universal language that resonated with a global audience. 

AN ODE TO R.D.BURMAN

By Komal Badve (Team Creative)

Links to the music referred to will be available at the end of the article.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, when R D Burman was just nine years old, he composed his first song, ‘Sar Jo Tera Chakraye’, for his father (and renowned music director) S D Burman. After flunking 10^th grade, he ended up composing all the songs for the movie ‘Guide’ as a fifteen year old.  Burman composed musical scores for over 331 films after that, from the 1960s to the 1990s, and continues to be one of the most influential Bollywood music directors till this day. (So before you proceed any further, I suggest you play ‘Mehbooba’ in the background for added effects.)

Credited for having transformed Hindi film music, he is known for his unique ways to produce sound, and his ability to fuse Indian and Western music. In the song ‘Raina Beeti Jaaye’ from the movie ‘Amar Prem’ he combined semi-classical Hindustani music with guitar strokes.

He even made electronic rock popular within the industry, and also mixed disco and rock elements with Bengali folk!  Burman was also inspired by Latin, Oriental and Arabic music and included elements from these in his own music as well. Among his non-film work was his album named ‘Pantera’, which combined Latin American music with a little bit of rock, jazz and funk.

Nicknamed ‘Panchamda’, he had a tremendous appetite for musical experiments, and created almost weird yet matchless sounds with ordinary objects, adding a very distinctive touch to his songs. The catchy intro of ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’ from the movie ‘Yadon Ki Barat’ was fashioned by tapping a glass with a spoon.

For ‘Mere Samnewali Khidki Mein’ (from ‘Padosan’), he used the guiro, a Latin American scraper made of metal, to give the effect of scraping a comb!

Not only did he add life to movies with his songs but his background scores also helped intensify scenes. For instance, when Thakur sees the dead bodies of his family members in ‘Sholay’, we hear an extremely creepy sound in the background, literally giving us goosebumps. Burman used the differential part of a truck to create this. It’s honestly mind boggling how inventive that man was.

One of his quirkiest ways to produce rhythm was by thumping his music assistant Maruti Rao’s back! In the song ‘Duniya Mein Logo Ko’, he introduced rhythm through the way we pant. Burman made singer Annette Pinto gurgle to produce the background score in ‘Satte Pe Satta’, and rubbed sandpaper and knocked bamboo sticks to give a running train’s effect for the song ‘Hoga Tumse Pyara Kaun’.

The genius that he was, he blew into beer bottles for ‘Mehbooba’, and needless to say, he literally slayed with his gruff voice. Fun fact: His signature singing style was inspired by jazz legend Louis Amstrong. He used to say, “Meri awaaz ki koi pehchaan honi chaahiye”, and didn’t want to be stereotyped as a conventional playback singer.

In conclusion, all I would like to say is thank you, Panchamda, for proving that academic failure is a small and very insignificant part of our lives. And trust me you want to click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJiohcg-gKo

Other links:

‘Raina Beeti Jaaye’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRk9pG5Upe4

‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMI__UgwOJM

‘Mere Samnewali Khidki Mein’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM3vA9rrIVc

‘Sholay’ sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc-ZMFilyyo&t=8s

‘Satte pe Satta’ background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyqac1bA-3E

‘Mehbooba’ sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PCxTGZynpo

WHY IS THE WONDER WOMAN MOVIE SO IMPORTANT?

By Mekhala Singhal (Team Creative)

Wonder Woman is a superhero we’ve all grown up with- be it through comic books or animated TV serials about this fascinating character, we’ve all been exposed to her strength and wonder (!!!) already. The 2017 film is the first ever live-action theatrical depiction of this character and there are many reasons why this movie has made the impact that it has (and many reasons why it should).

Directed by Patty Jenkins (the first ever female director for a superhero movie), the Wonder Woman film has already made history. For instance, it is already the highest grossing female-led comic book superhero movie ever. While the advertising and outreach for this movie was visibly far less than that we usually witness for other mainstream superhero movies, this movie sets a precedent for any future films within the various superhero universes; female superheroes and female-led superhero movies are both important as well as deserving of the same appreciation that we (often mindlessly) provide male superhero films with.

Considering we live in a time where superhero movies dominate the blockbuster releases, not only does the Wonder Woman movie now provide children and young adults who look toward the superhero universes for inspiration with a female role model, but it also ensures that a female-led movie, in a world where superhero movies are not only male-centric but also masculinity-centric, has thrived and been recognised.

The roles we see in conventional superhero movies have been switched around for this movie- the male character is the one who needs saving. This allows for young girls watching the movie to understand that the older movies might be wrong, that maybe they don’t actually need a superhero (or a man) to come and save them.

Although the Wonder Woman movie is a milestone, it shouldn’t be and it is a shame that we had to wait over a decade for a female-led superhero movie to be released again. To not grant this movie the attention and appreciation it deserves is to contribute to the cycle of refusing female-led movies (in general) a place in cinematic history.

However, the world is witnessing a revolution of sorts with the release of this movie- there are people flocking to movie theatres and cinema halls for a chance to see Gal Gadot on screen, with war-appropriate armour and a badass story.