The highlight of the movie is Radhika Apte's nipple. The Main Act is Radhika Apte doing a nude, simulated sex-scene. Everything else is secondary to that. Even though this is nothing new (Radhika Apte has already done full-frontal scenes in other movies), this kind of thing is still bit scandalous in India.
In order to fully understand the context, non-Indians should understand that many Indians still suffer from severe Colonial mentality which makes them believe that the Westerner is better than Indians. This is why Indians bleach their skin. This is why Indians take pride in speaking English. This is why Indians still celebrate Shakespeare when even the British have forgotten him. And this is why India's "Film Festival" gang tries desperately to impress Western audiences. There is nothing more prized in these circles than approval from the Western audience. Western approval is their currency. It is their validation. It is their Salvation.
These people know their audience. They know that the typical judge at a Western Film Festival is a liberal who wants to "Save" countries like India by manufacturing certain type of social- change. These movie makers (and actors) know how to play to that gallery. So feminism, gay rights, sexuality, etc. become main themes in their movies - because these are powerful groups in Western media. This is Radhika Apte and Leena Yadav begging Westerners, "We are willing converts, aggressively evangelizing and selling your commandments. Please give us our award now."
Though teenage Indian boys will no doubt enjoy some scenes in this movie, to the average Indian adult, the movie is nonsensical. Its as if these "Avant Garde wannabe" film-makers are pissing on India's poverty by sexualizing it and using it to titillate Westerners. They are stereotyping, disrespecting, and misrepresenting some of the most defenseless and vulnerable people in the world. Its like forcibly grabbing the old, torn saree of a poor Indian village woman and displaying it to Westerners so that they can ejaculate on it. All of this just to win some silly awards. To me, it is this stark vulgarity of their greed that is the most prominent feature of every frame in the movie. It is this obscene, cruel, narcissistic, selfish, ultra-capitalism that is the most defining aspect of these movies and such people. But at the end of it all, I can't help but feel sorry them. I hope the trinkets made them happy. I hope that someday people like Radhika Apte and Leena Yadav will recognize their own slave-mentality and find a way to understand what true freedom really is. I hope they will someday grasp the depth of their intellectual and spiritual poverty.
And for the Western audience that consumes, rewards, and encourages porn like this: I sincerely hope that you will someday understand why most of us use the term "ignorant" to describe you.
In order to fully understand the context, non-Indians should understand that many Indians still suffer from severe Colonial mentality which makes them believe that the Westerner is better than Indians. This is why Indians bleach their skin. This is why Indians take pride in speaking English. This is why Indians still celebrate Shakespeare when even the British have forgotten him. And this is why India's "Film Festival" gang tries desperately to impress Western audiences. There is nothing more prized in these circles than approval from the Western audience. Western approval is their currency. It is their validation. It is their Salvation.
These people know their audience. They know that the typical judge at a Western Film Festival is a liberal who wants to "Save" countries like India by manufacturing certain type of social- change. These movie makers (and actors) know how to play to that gallery. So feminism, gay rights, sexuality, etc. become main themes in their movies - because these are powerful groups in Western media. This is Radhika Apte and Leena Yadav begging Westerners, "We are willing converts, aggressively evangelizing and selling your commandments. Please give us our award now."
Though teenage Indian boys will no doubt enjoy some scenes in this movie, to the average Indian adult, the movie is nonsensical. Its as if these "Avant Garde wannabe" film-makers are pissing on India's poverty by sexualizing it and using it to titillate Westerners. They are stereotyping, disrespecting, and misrepresenting some of the most defenseless and vulnerable people in the world. Its like forcibly grabbing the old, torn saree of a poor Indian village woman and displaying it to Westerners so that they can ejaculate on it. All of this just to win some silly awards. To me, it is this stark vulgarity of their greed that is the most prominent feature of every frame in the movie. It is this obscene, cruel, narcissistic, selfish, ultra-capitalism that is the most defining aspect of these movies and such people. But at the end of it all, I can't help but feel sorry them. I hope the trinkets made them happy. I hope that someday people like Radhika Apte and Leena Yadav will recognize their own slave-mentality and find a way to understand what true freedom really is. I hope they will someday grasp the depth of their intellectual and spiritual poverty.
And for the Western audience that consumes, rewards, and encourages porn like this: I sincerely hope that you will someday understand why most of us use the term "ignorant" to describe you.