FILM VIEWS
In Delhi Safari, directed by Nikhil Advani, The Lion King seems entwined in the pages of The Jungle Book, giving us an Indian fable with a modern-day twist. Set in Borivali National Park, it features Akshaye Khanna, Urmila Matondkar, Govinda, and Boman Irani. Well, to be accurate, their voices give life to, respectively, a parrot, a queen, a monkey, and a bear. It’s been called India’s first stereoscopic 3D animation film. When an environmental crisis hits the forest and the threatened animals become politically active, the story takes a contemporary turn, fusing reality and fantasy in a relatable manner. But there’s also fun and frolicking (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composed the music), as seen in the number “Jungle Mein Mangal.”
Filmmaker Gotham Chopra,
in Decoding Deepak, follows
his father, Deepak Chopra, the
famous guru who hopscotches
across continents, moving restlessly
from one project to another
as a teacher, writer, healer, entrepreneur,
and celebrity. There’s
an endorsement from Lady Gaga
and an ordainment in Thailand,
where Chopra becomes a monk.
There’s his spirituality, but also his spiritual empire.
His forte is not only mysticism and medicine, but also
marketing. He’s thoughtful, but also glib; attentive, but
also constantly seeking attention. His ever-present
Blackberry seems as important to him as Buddhism.
It’s a contradiction the son is aware of, although
it doesn’t diminish his adoration. This Ode to Dad
will appeal to Chopra’s legions of fans. “But Decoding
dares not question its subject, just observe it,” notes
USA Today.
Which brings us to Kumare, in which Vikram Gandhi
pretends to be a guru. Growing up in suburban
New Jersey, he was put off by the spiritual supermarket
he saw around him, peopled by an assortment of
swamis—some genuine, others not—who flitted in
and out of his world, spreading their gospel to readily
available followers. Deciding
to explore this phenomenon, he
adopts a philosophy and attire
appropriate to an “enlightened
being.” Reborn as Sri Kumare, he
sprouts a beard and spouts his
“path of the mirror” teaching in
Phoenix. Gandhi realizes he has
crossed the line when people
start believing him. He has no
intention to swindle people; he
is merely making a point. So he drops the fake accent
and attire, shocking his followers. The “path
of the mirror” is apt, in a strange way, because the
solutions to our problems come from within us, not
from Sri Kumare.
Salman Rushdie is having better luck with Joseph Anton: A Memoir, which hit the bestseller
list, than with the film version of Midnight’s Children. Deepa Mehta’s take on his Booker
Prize-winning novel, for which Rushdie wrote the screenplay (he is also a producer), has received mixed
reviews. The movie, which got a lukewarm reception
at the Toronto Film Festival, features Satya Bhabha
(as Saleem Sinai), Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher,
Seema Biswas, and Rahul Bose. Earlier, Nandita
Das, Rani Mukerji, and Kangna Ranaut dropped out
because of conflicts.
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, also based on a Booker
Prize-winning novel, did better when it premiered
at the New York Film Festival. Newcomer
Suraj Sharma stars as Pi, and the other actors include
Gerard Depardieu, Tabu, and Irrfan Khan.
The 3D production with its technical wizardry
“achieves an admirable sense of wonder in this tall
tale about a shipwrecked teenager stranded in a
lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a yarn that has been
adapted from the compellingly peculiar best-seller
with its beguiling preposterousness intact,” points out
The Hollywood Reporter.
Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.
