When people say they voted for congress; what they exactly mean can be at 180 degree from what we perceive from the statement. The political checkmate actually is a stalemate.

People didn’t vote for a capable government; rather accepted the TINA factor. There Is No Alternative. With NDA doing a less than average as an opposition and Left standing aloof of ground realities, the job was half done for Mr. Singh. In last five years, learning nothing from past and fighting like monkeys in public, BJP did more damage to reputation than any other factor.

When NDA was ousted from rule half a decade ago, the reason was not the bubble-wreck of India Shining but extreme focus on Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. Had they ignored that five years ago, the picture might have been totally different. India was shining and instead of doing a Ratha- Yatra, Advani should have taken the route of roads to prove his point. Congress rallied on the roads BJP constructed to snatch a victory from them.

After losing, NDA should have played the role of a capable and idealistic opposition. But they were too busy with internal issues and lambasting government for no good reason. Like Narendra Modi, Singh silenced his opposition by his work, however keeping a low profile.

On the other hand, Left had no case from the very beginning. They lost the battle at Nandigram and Singur. An ideology that is so public-oriented in nature stands against the poor villagers! People saw the difference in what Left says and it does.

An aspirant; who must have felt the need for Asprin after polls, was Ms. Mayawati. She was extremely vocal against criminals some time back and supported them this time like there is no tomorrow. Her anti-criminal stance was deflated by her actions. She gave ticket to numerous people with criminal background and luckily, most of them fell of the elephant.

SP was never in any race and by ditching Congress in the last moment, Lalu lost faith in public eyes. Nitish Kumar was rewarded by public and so was Navin Patnaik.

Another factor that took public attention was Rahul Gandhi. Some people say he perceive public as commodity, but public perceive his as a leader. That is most important.

Now, UPA is back on the hot seat. Tall promises, mediocre hopes. Let’s see what will happen.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

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Legendary Dilip Kumar saw Mughal-E-Azam for the first time in 1975, some fifteen years after its first premiere. Why? Read on.

It was onset of a classic romance, Dilip and Madhubala were a perfect match, they were both rising stars and had similar backgrounds to help take the relationship forward. Bliss followed with ecstasy of Dilip-Madhu Relationship mirroring that of Saleem-Anarkali relationship in the beginning. K Asif, the director would drop by at Dilip’s house for lengthy discussions, here he met Dilip elder sister Akhtar. Akhtar was a MA in Philosophy and would have long Conversatios with K Asif. K Asif was married to Nigar Sultana (who played the crafty Bahar in the movie).

From then on relationship between these co –workers took downturn. Ironically, tense turn in Saleem-Anarkali relationship in script also mirrored in Dilip-Madhu Relationship. Madhu’s father was against the relation as she was the sole breadwinner in the family.They stopped seeing each other. K Asif and Akhtar got married against the wishes of Dilip. Which in turn also estranged K Asif from Nigar Sultana.

Shooting took about ten years to complete and these people would grudgingly work together. So by the time shoot got over, most of the major people didn’t want to see each others face, to the extent that Dilip Kumar did not attend the premiere.

Thus one of the greatest films of Indian Cinema was also the cause of immense pain to many greats of the industry…

For The Reel; Written By: Ali Naqvi

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36 Chowringhee Lane is considered to be one of the most appreciated movies beyond the borders. The lady who directed the movie was Aparna Sen.

She started her career as an actress at age of sixteen, with Satyajit Ray’s famed saga Teen Kanya. She did some more movies with Ray including highly acclaimed movie Pikoo. With Mrinal Sen, she worked in Akash Kusum. In her acting career she performed in numerous Bangla, Hindi and English movies. But acting was not her destiny.

In ’81, she directed 36 Chowringhee Lane. She got accolades for her directorial debut. She won National Awards and Golden Eagle at Manila. The film was about an Anglo-English teacher living in Calcutta. SShe followed up the success with Paroma, Sati and Yugant. In these movies, she examined and highlighted the state of women in India.

In 2002, she presented her extremely gifted daughter Konkana Sen Sharma in movie Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. The movie dealt with two totally different people pretending to be husband and wife in extremely adverse conditions. She won National Award for direction and Konkana grabbed it for her stunning performance. Apart from these, the movie got extremely favorable remarks at different film festivals.

In 2005, she presented a story of schizophrenic patient and her relations with her sister. The movie was 15, Park Avenue. Again, Konkana played the lead role. Her last venture was The Japanese Wife starring Raima Sen and Rahul Bose.

To the world of cinema, she is known as a strong intellectual who has the guts to say spade a spade. She is not one in the league of diplomats. In 1986, she was bestowed upon with Padma Shri for her contribution to Indian Cinema. This reflects what she means to Cinema. She is a blessing while some directors are making mockery of the art.

For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

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