Kismet short By Shalini Vatsa, Ankur Ahuja, Himanshu Tyagi, the kids and the Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan team

Matheran

An old gate to the market street I think

Best thing about Matheran is that no vehicles are allowed inside the small township. So no pollution whatsoever.

This is their school. Who wouldn't want to study here?

The other good thing is that it is easily accessible from Mumbai, Pune . The road is good.(barring the last stretch before the incline, which is bumpy, but once you reach the incline then it is fine again. Ther eis a dedicated parking for vehicles outside the gate which is safe. There is an entry fee to Matheran but it is very nominal) Since it is completely dependent on tourists, there are different hotels in all kinds of price range and you can have a small holiday, getaway in your budget.

shalini decided that she does not want to walk any more. So, the pony ride. The ponncho like thing that she is wearing is something you get for a very minimal cost to protect you from rain at matheran. So if you are visiting during the rainy season, don't worry you will can buy your cut polythene sheet and the hat to protect you from the rains.

some adventure is thrown in, you pay for it ofcourse. I hope it does not fail ever or else you pay with you know what...

views...lovely

The lake

we didn't go there, it could have been a trap(just kidding)



many trails like this one

Market street

 There are some spots in Matheran that everyone throngs to and then there are trails that you can follow in solitude. Safety it seems is of no concern again because the locals being dependent on tourist inflow are very vigilant. You do have to be beware of the animals especially the monkeys, they won't hurt you but if you have food in your hands that they want, they will just take it away. They are the dons of the place, they take what they want. For those who do not want to exercise their legs too much there are ponies for a price which can take you to different points that you may want to visit. However, Matheran is good because you can just walk around and be amidst all the greenery.

A performance

Slumdog Millionaire and me

When an actor friend told me about the audition for a film going to be made by a foreign director, I was not greatly enthused. Also , I was writing a television show at that point of time and was quite busy but then I did send my pictures to Lovleen who was casting for the film and surprisingly I was invited for an audition.

(When you come to Mumbai to act in films the first thing you are asked to do is to get a portfolio done, what that means is that you get still pictures clicked of yourself in different costumes and poses. There are a number of professional photographers who actually do just portfolio work for aspiring actors in the film industry. This is important , they say as this is the way the casting directors will get to know how you look and where you fit into the films they are casting. I am not sure if it works exact same way. In the time that I have been around I have figured out that the photos play a very small part in your getting cast in films, you have to know people who can put you through to others who can help you get a decent audition and then you get cast.)

This was an explanation of why I was surprised when someone actually saw my photos and called me for an audition. Another thing to be understood is that you can also get these portfolios or so called, clicked at your neighbourhood studios. They do advise you to get a make up artist, your costumes and then once the photos get clicked they also ask you to get them corrected through photoshop. So my photos were also similar, clicked at a low price by a neighbourhood photographer, my face was made up, though I did not let him correct the pictures .

Now I was working with arguably one of the best exponents in theater in India - Habib Tanvir. I had also worked with Barry John and was relatively liked by both of them. However, it was difficult , I knew to get an inroad into the film industry. You had to look glossy , so I decided, so what if I don't in real life, atleast in my pictures I can and I did. That did not help much because when Lovleen saw me in real life, she wasn't impressed.

 She called her assistant aside and demanded why I have been called for an audition. The assistant told her that it was she who indeed saw my pictures and asked for me to be called. She actually went down to check the pictures and looked at me , I think she was about to say something but then she decided not to be rude and held herself back. I think out of sheer decency she called me in for the audition and my short but memorable journey of Slumdog Millionaire started. Short because I shot with them for two days only , memorable because it was the first film that I acted in and it went on to win eight oscars. Infact, I feel I am more a part of history than a number of fairly successful actors because the kind of films that they work in could be soon forgotten but Slumdog Millionaire is going to be watched by millions of viewers in the future too.

Intially there were two scenes in the film that I was a part of. One scene where the teacher is teaching the class which was shot in Dharavi, one of the biggest slum areas in Mumbai. I have had a lot of experience of working in these settings and working with kids so it was not diffcult for me to do this scene at all.

The other scene ( edited out of the film) was when the teacher leads a mob of rioters. The riot scene is retained but the teacher chasing the kids during a riot is edited out. That was a scene I did enjoy shooting although to do this scene I had to go all the way to a studio at Trombay from the Mumbai airport. I was supposed to be acting in a Habib Tanvir show at Guwahati but then I told him that there are these people who want to shoot with me and I can't drop out of it or rather I wouldn't want to. Habib Saab was very understanding and he said 'I can understand you are excited because it is your first work in front of the camera, and generally you do not make excuses, so I am okay if you go back and do not do this show, I will get someone else to do your part, but I have another axe to grind with you, and that is, why did you go to Mumbai and the film industry. That is not the place for you.' I am testing the latter part of his statement and sticking it out.

So he let me fly down from Guwahati and another actor replaced me for the next show. But once I landed here it was a nightmare, despite many requests to the assistant director handling me I did not get any transport to Trombay. I had to do an autorickshaw and go all the way to the studio.

However, working with Danny Boyle was completely worth it.Just as kids test their parents and teachers, actors and lazy ones like me do test the directors for how much will be enough for this guy. Danny Boyle showed me the walk that he would want this character to take and I understood that he does know his stuff and I will have to do my best. unfortunately you cannot see that scene as it has been edited out. But nonetheless , it was an experience to cherish also because the film was so well received. 

How to tie a lungi

In response to my post on Mundus...this is what my friend Sunitha has sent me

Kerala 4: Places to visit: ernakulam, kochi, pothundi dam, nelliampathy , paniyeli poru

 Three places are hugely advertised by the Kerala tourism in Palghat- silent valley which is actually at about 40 km distance from palghat, Malapuzham dam which is close to the palghat town and tipu’s fort which is apparently in the heart of the town.

 only a limited number are allowed entry in silent valley everyday and thus we missed the bus by almost a month.

Pramod decided that we take a car and go to the less frequented Nelliampathy forest. It was lovely but forthe harrowing jeep ride on something which is not even an apology of a road. It can be back breaking and is an advertisement for Mahindra jeeps because they can survive several rides on that track. Once you go inside the trails at Nelliampathy forest you can be assured absolute solitude for the time your jeep driver allows you there but that limited time is really well spent and all the hard work is worth it. We missed the other three advertised places.

Enroute to Nelliampathy

View from Pothundi dam with our posing for the camera enroute to Nelliampathy, you can also see Pramod in the back ground trying to fix Allepey houseboat the next day which he tried the whole day and failed

At pothundi dam with Sunitha

A picture of the dam with my phone camera

Enroute to Nelliampathy

The next day we wanted to go to Allepey and spend a night on a houseboat but the prices at year end had hit the roof and bookings were difficult to come by. So we decided to go to Ernakulam which is the twin city of Kochi. you can stay at Ernakulam and keep going to kochi on the ferry which takes about 20 minutes and offers you some beautiful sights.

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

view from the ferry

We stayed at YMCA, the accommodation is modest but safe. The rooms are decent and clean. In any case we were not looking for any luxury here so this was okay. Also because it was very close to the heart of the Ernakulam town.

The next day we went to Paniyeli poru( around 40 km from ernakulam), not many people knew about it. This visit was a treat. We passed through many rubber and coconut plantations to hit the main entry of Paniyeli poru. Flowing water breaks into three streams creating an impression that they are in a conflict with eachother. The day we went it also rained so the air was slightly moist and had a different fresh feel to it- there was silence broken mostly only by the sound of the flowing water and birds. There was a trail into the forest and we followed it quite far. We hardly saw anyone here except for the forest guards.

The next day was dedicated to buying gifts for friends. Nothing much to report.

Kerala Part 3: The Mundu Country

The famous Gandhian loincloth, the dhoti, worn by men in rural North India has a distant cousin, the ‘Mundu’ in Kerala. Dhoti is slowly disappearing from the urban Indian landscape. If you see the earlier Hindi films you will see top stars like Dilip Kumar wearing dhotis  but today with some education and urbanization, the north Indian male shifts very quickly to trousers and jeans… so the dhoti remains alive only in the villages. Pyjama ,Kurta is still quite in vogue in urban North India which is worn as a sleeping dress or even as an evening dress for special occasions but the dhoti has mostly gone missing in action. In the east, however, in Bengal you can still see the Bengali bhadralok endorsing it.

Well, what is it…just a piece of cloth really which is tied around the waist in varying styles

A confession- in several of Habib Tanvir’s plays I have to wear a dhoti and it really gets me so stressed that I start dressing up almost an hour in advance than I usually do because I have to find a dhoti specialist from one of the rural actors in the troupe. Thankfully, there are quite a few of those in the troupe. I think why dhoti bit the dust was because it has a slightly complicated process to wear and you have to practice to get it right. Nothing like that in the case of the ‘Mundu’, the distant cousin of the dhoti which still is quite alive in both the urban and rural Kerala- and I guess it is the most convenient thing to wear in the land where it really pours during the monsoons.

So you can wear the mundu full length on formal occassions

Or     just                                    like that...

 

 In the market... at a shop...queuing up...at the train station... 



Smoking at the train station...well this one could be reprimanded...




And then there are the coloured ones...





Or short ones...almost as if the intention is to show off the legs...

 

 

 

 

There are mundus which are coloured...my friend tells me they are more towards the 'working class' mundus...so the mundus have a class divide too...the white ones are more for the elite...but then some of the colours are beautiful...

Mundus respond to other preferences too...some like it tight...but some may prefer it loose...

 

Well this one is a right leaning Mundu...you get to know of the character of the man too by the way he ties his mundu...he likes to be neat...

Mundus are convenient...they can be readjusted...used to wipe your hands...or simply just occupy them...I am told that sometimes when people get angry...they just open the mundus...an extreme expression of the anger, wouldn't you say...but savour some of the hand held mundus...





both hands held





readjusting on the move





don't worry , not an angry mundu...just getting readjusted





wish could capture the full readjustment process in pictures...but here this one is just getting converted from a long full size one to a smaller size one...and ......these are getting readjusted on the move...you see this a lot on Kerala roads and markets...so the mundu is an amazing dress....you can keep readjusting it based on your current needs...



 





this formal mundu is changing itself into an informal one... 



aah and the ones below are just hand held for the sake of it...

one size does not fit all...nor does it work all the times...there are mundus tied full length...short...and there are the ones somewhere in between...

Finally there are the ritual mundus...'muthuppans' , indigenous godmen...or rather messengers of gods themselves...in urban kerala...reversing the class and caste divide...wear dresses which are colourful...ritualistic...ornamented...obviously the mundus they wear will be colourful too....

Well, mundus are inseparable from kerala's everyday life...they are part of the tradition...and they will survive...