MANJHA!!!

• So, all of you must have seen my relentless marketing for “Slumdog Millionaire” , by having it as my orkut title from November 2008 till Feb 2009 until the day it got an oscar. Something in this movie struck a chord and before watching it i knew it would be a sensation, there was this shear energy around this movie, starting from the toronto film festival. So, the other day i rented out the blu-ray version to check out director comments, behind the scenes and also a short-film included in the blue-ray version called “MANJHA”.
• I first read abt manjha at passionforcinema.com. This is a marathi movie made by Rahi Anil Barve. The film was running around in the indian film festivals but it got noticed by danny boyle through anurag kashyup(director of DEV D, No Smoking). We must really thank danny boyle to showcase indian talent at a world stage coz this movie is THE BOMB.
• A hard-hitting in the face drama abt child molestation. Its uncompromising to say the least and the mood doesn’t alter for a second. This is the kind of cinema indians should embrace.These kind of topics are conveniently put aside in the indian society as if it doesn’t exists, as if we are all at a higher level from the world, have a better culture from the rest of the world, and all these are not for india. Well, because of this ignorance and pride of our culture coupled with poverty and illiteracy that india is such a vulnerable place for children.
• We are scared to talk about these issues and so we pretend they don’t exists. People must be educated about these sensitive issues especially in a country like india and efforts have to be done to reduce poverty and illiteracy.
• You can start educating yourself by watching this movie. Unfortunately this movie is available only on the Blu-ray disc of slumdog millionaire.

Thanks to danny boyle for discovering india and help us rediscover it.