Humour / Waiting for Bayam

or the short film that does not exist ?!? Last summer Sridhar (he of Rebel in a Teacup fame) declared that he was shooting his 1st film along with his pal Dinesh.He was very excited about it and the to be short film was titled Bayam (Fear). He also proudly announced to me after our journalism class that they would be sending the film for short film festivals across the world. Me wannabe a filmmaker one day (if you didn’t know that already!!!) and went on a PR campaign promoting this entity. Virtually all my friends came to know about the now absconding magnum opus as I went gaga saying we must promote independent cinema in our midst. A few months passed and the director duo (ala Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) proudly announced the completion of their movie in Sridhar’s blog. Just when I was prepared to catch a pre editing screening of the film it went into a prolonged surgery on the editing table. It was stuck in cold storage for so long that I started getting my first doubts about whether there was any footage to edit in the first place (basically I started wondering if Bayam is the yeti of world cinema!). After I started pulling Sridhar’s leg about this, the master copy became just out of reach. It was rumored (by the co-director himself) to always be in his bag whenever we met, but only after we met! That is to say Sridhar would innocently say something like,'' Even today it was in my bag''. Now Dinesh and he have apparently screened it to a bunch of his friends.I am next in the hit list of prospective viewers. Sridhar has a last chance to prove that Bayam is not a myth he conjured to impress his fiancée! Amen.

Neofeminism

I don’t like gender-based bifurcation of issues. Inequality, discrinmination, abuse or any other problem needs to looked at as human maladies which need to be addressed and not divided into men’s and women’s issues. Unfortunately neofeminism ends up being no different from what it supposedly condemns – a male dominated society where women are constantly stifled. It ends up becoming just as immature and byzantine as chauvinism and neofeminists are more than glad to indulge in silly debates and conversations , which are in no way constructive. What exactly do I mean by neofeminism? I will try and define it in the context of our milieu. It is the narrow, convenient, misinterpretation of feminism, by a small section of urban Indians. It is exclusive of a large cross-section of Indian women who are in real need of empowerment. These jokers think that raising your voice against Salaman Khan beating up plastic Aishwarya Rai is being liberal and forward thinking! Wonder how many of these jerks even heard of the Imrana case. True feminism as I see it looks at empowerment of women as a whole rather than spin up pulp sentiments of the educated elite. It is an inclusive philosophy open to debate from men and women from all walks of life who are reasonable. Feminism and its ugly sister, i.e, neofeminism are as poles apart as Medha Pathkar and Shoba De.The philosophy of neo feminism is the philosophy of ‘cool’. It is a hopeless wannabe, which is more interested in wearing an attitude (remember the Weekender adds?) than highlighting any real issues. It is an insult to anyone with a genuine concern for women’s rights and human problems as a whole.