Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Television. Show all posts

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The great Indian PORN show

Porn is entertaining for few of us. But, the question here arises that can entertainment be served as porn ?

Reality Shows:

"A participant performs the ultimate act of pornography as he disrobes himself in full public view of all that he considers most intimate, stripping himself of not only dignity and self-respect but dismantling in the process, the trust he evokes from those he loves most. We watch in voyeuristic disbelief, with a combination of fascination, horror, guilt and smug superiority at someone's else's misery. It is a spectacle only when participants disclose something scandalous." Santosh Desai (Source)

Society has been constructed in the manner in which relationships are not based on absolute honesty. In fact they are based on insulation of an individuals real feelings from all. A little privacy is given to each of us so that intimacy can be hidden for the greater good. If a person needs to confess to his beloved ones, he / she should tell them in private, not because money involved in it. And I have written about it long back ago.

Television:

Showing interest in the personal lives or lifestyle of celebrities are favourite prime time of our television. TV shows end up ultimately with sex,vulgar,gossips and this idiotic things which are not done for only money to few well elite's greed of money. These have already lost any interest for family or social values. In the name of freedom and choice they want to put the voyeuristic interest to others.

We have in effect created a market for preying on someone else's personal misery. Pimps and prostitutes are jumping on the Television for their greed of quick money and we sit numb and turned into something worse than eunuchs. We behave as self-indulgent audience of consumers who wanted to be entertained no matter what the cost to characters.

Television by virtue of lacking depth and being located in real time allows for no introspection. It does not allow you to interact and alter the content. We represent just a vote or 'a sms' to them. We flick from channel to channel and rest our eyes on whatever stimulates us. We are swept away by its combined force while retaining the illusion that we are in control. We keep talking about how we should change the channel if we don't like what we see without acknowledging how the channel is changing us.

Media:

"What the media basically does is, it just strips everybody and makes money out it. The only difference between a strip-teaser and the media is that a strip-teaser bares herself so that others can enjoy her and give money, and the media strips others so that some others can enjoy and give them the money." - RGV (Source)

Porn business is in full flow and stripping each value what our society believes in. For the sake of adventure and quick fame, people are turning towards fake family shows, reality shows and entertaining news channels...

News channels have huge ability to make something out of nothing, make your emotion rush. It’s the height of manipulation. Few video clips from youtube, images from google search, music from here and there with a non sense story is the prime time coverage of news channel.The word 'Exclusive' and 'Breaking news' have lost their significance due to constant repeatable use at every hour. Even Images, ads and videos are created and seen more from the point of view of consumerism than as an expression of ideas. The media in India loves to speculate because they are constantly in need of stories. The manipulation of your emotions with back script music, melodrama and biasing makes you not a viewer but a potential consumer. The pre conceived notion of entertainment is gone. TV channels are not in our hands, we are in theirs..

Honesty is important, but not at the cost of entertainment. There's a fine line between portraying reality and stereotyping. The problems of our nation like poverty, hunger, illiteracy, naxalism, unemployment, corruption and natural disaster. We readily import the nuisance but always shrug off to import cleanliness, honesty, patriotism, sacrifice etc. because these need to come out the closet of A/C rooms of these people and need very hard work which these people are not used to.

It’s the manipulation and unreliability of methods media use to determine what people want and label as TRP ratings. What media should fix is error in the systems, not the society. Media is trying to reconfigure society by exposing the hypocrisy of others. But media itself has little understanding or control over its own actions. You will be labeled as dictator or censor on talking about self regulation. What a pity..

West:
The West is entranced by India's poverty and filth- that's the USP of India for them. Slumdog Millionaire represents the 'poverty porn' (word first coined by Times reviewer only). They don't want to show us just who we 'really' are or positive achievements but show how our lives are growing materialistic and controversial. And our our elites are clones of the modernized west.

Conclusion:
TV shows or media is not interested in the truth but specifically seeks that truth which will cause damage to the individual's self esteem and poison relationships. Children are treated as Mini adults if they are potential consumers or just neglected completely. Our society has taken voyeuristic path and children turning on to the habits of adults. People love to see other's in pain. People want to breathe a live of luxury and flamboyancy with the route of credit also. The luxury industries is doing what it takes to cater to the whims & fancies of rising class. The aspirational lifestyle doesn't limited to material objects but it has evolved into unique and personal experiences. Really rich exploit the proletariat in much the same way as the men exploit animals.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Dumpimg Ideas & Weblinks

Talking of ‘IP’, here’s what Krzysztof Zanussi has said about it. (Source)

Intellectual property, to me, is important because I benefit from it when sometimes, author’s rights are paid to me. However, I doubt it from the moral point of view that intellectual property should ever be protected. I want to be popular and I want my work to be accessible to anybody who wants to read it.

When I saw pirated cassettes of my films in Russia I wanted to embrace the seller because they bhad taken pains to make it accessible. I found pirated DVDs of my films in China and was proud. I probably lost some money, but what a joy. There is a contradiction between my desire to be accessible to anybody who is interested in my work and my greed to be paid for it.
I was paid for making the film.

In fact any intellectual who is defending his property has already been paid for it, and now we want something extra. I am not in a position to find a solution to this issue. I have participated in a number of sessions about author’s rights and I have seen pressure being mounted on poor countries like Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Steven Spielberg feels victimized because his author’s rights have not been respected in these countries.

I do not feel emotionally towards the law. I am for the people who want to see these films free. They have been deprived of money and Spielberg is very well off anyway. So my sense of justice and my sense of law are in collision. As an artist, I have the right to point out this problem.”


I have seen much of the good works of American and world cinema through torrents. The huge amount of download culture in college has helped me a lot in making collection of pirated dvd gems. I oppose intellectual piracy of the bollywood copy cats, still watch cinema with the help of piracy. As an artist, I have the right to point out this dilemna. I need suggesation in this case from the blog readers (if any) as it is hypocrite in practice. And funny thing is that, I am currently doing a distance learning course on IP rights. Where I stand in this ethical fight of copyright and copyleft (this terminology exist) ? Few noteworthy reading weblinks

1- Rethinking handloom -A look at cotton handloom industry of India. Weavers are children of a lesser god in India.
2- Why Arabs lose wars? - A look from the POV of retired U.S. Army colonel.
3- The return of history and the end of dreams - It emphazises that history repeats itself by looking at current world power order.
4- Unto This Last (1860): Four Essays On The First Principles Of Political Economy by John Ruskin. It is said to have influenced Mahatma Gandhi on his views on economics and society.
5- A take on Sach ka Samna by Santosh Desai.
6- The other side of education and Education's five fault lines .

This weblinks are motivated by line - 'Empty yourself totally, Become a Nothingness, Only then you would feel a sense of Completeness'.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Jay Hind! Title Track : First Look



Lyrics : Varun Grover
Sung By: Sumeet Raghvan
Music : Claver
Directed By: Abhigyan, Varun, Jeevak and Rahul

Sure a big controversy will arise and I am waiting for moral scavengers to attack on this show [Streisand_effect]. My personal reason to cheer it, off course Varun Sir and plain satiric truthfulness of opening song.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

What is wrong with Media?

Jean Cocteau once reportedly said "Mirrors should reflect a little before throwing back images". Cocteau would have replaced 'mirrors' with 'media' had he been alive after looking at the homogeneity with which global media - print, electronic, independent - represent any event today, thereby often masking the 'truth'.

India is a country of paradox or paradigm. The relief work in bihar floods was well covered by media. Citizen Journalist and Zindagi Live on IBN7 were only two programs worth watching these days. IBN7 is first Indian media company to start official blogs for journalist and editors. This step is worth welcome.

A phrase is much popular in India: "Fame makes everyone an expert in everything."

Our media reports only these experts on any issues. Drama, Tantrum and TRP ratings play huge role in content of news channel. The English news channel are much better in content and mode of presentation. NDTV 24x7 provides quite balanced coverage of news. Hindi news channel like Sahara Samay, Zee News, IBN 7, India TV, Star News, Aaj Tak and Jain TV are worse in the news coverage and presentation. While Star news give quite a lot of coverage to entertainment package of comedy and India TV preaches jingoism message.Jus check the idiotness of one news channel over here. They don't voice lost cause but serious attention is given to religion, cricket and bollywood.

A death at Agartala must have same effect like a death in other part of India. Sadly, it is not. Media Circus in 14 year old Aarushi and servant Hemraj's murder was really a cause to worry. Considering the kind of questions being asked, over and over and over by the media to person at verge of death or loss of relative in an accident, my personal favorite---'How does it feel'?

Example: The experiment conducted in CERN will cause 'Doomsday' was such a cheap prank (When the LHC is switched on, could it "create a shower of unstable black holes that could 'eat' the planet from within;) but it became a super-breaking news across channels in India.

Crap and over hyped events are produced on the name of fast coverage. Sensational news and random heading of breaking news can make you crazy enough. 24 hour coverage of national news (i.e. entertainment) exist only in India. CNN and BBC are 24 hours channel but international coverage of news is taken there. I was smirking that Indian media is one sensationalized. But then I checked out CNN:"Bush hugs bikini-clad US Olympians".

The Hindi media also erupt in a series of poetic headlines in all situations. "Twenty20 ke sher / Twenty overs mein dher" and "Chhe sau run banane wale chhihattar mein chhitraaye".Link of the match;

People must get what they need not what they want.
I have taken these haunting lines from here"Therefore, the news of an Indian winning an award at Berlin Film Festival needs to be reported, the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights to Dr. Binyak Sen should be seen and, definitely, the voice of Kashmir should be heard.It’s precisely then there could be a balance between what the audience ‘want’ and what the ‘media’ perceives, because perception in itself is formed out of judgment that is routinely based on surveys and rating. But the mere outline of their ‘research’ is faulty because the mass at large is already blinded that they themselves don’t know what they doing. Since their opinions and perceptions are formed out of ideas and judgment that are routinely formed by the ‘spectacle’ of cinema and television, it gives rise to parochialism; often due to the reiterations of the images projected and opinion transferred through dialogues, as also interviews and text bombarded in terms of superlatives not to mention faux “ Breaking News” blurbs.The word 'Exclusive' and 'Breaking news' have lost their significance due to constant repeatable use at every hour.Even,Images,ads and videos are created and seen more from the point of view of consumerism than as an expression of ideas.So many breakdowns, in so short a span of time.

Interestingly, ‘Idol-worship’ continued to be an important part of the culture: socially and politically, where the ‘matinee’ idol embodied an important place in the minds and heart of film lovers. This ‘spirit’ has continued to grow and today in the age of satellite boom the media has populated the images into a state of fetish (Like offering prayers when their superstar is sick, and the media reports it as breaking news). While a win by a film director, at an important film festival, in the competitive section of the festival goes unreported. This type of fetish is seen across India.
"

Bottom lime:Look guys, beyond the media roller-coaster of champagne and chappals every human life is priceless. Also Read this covergae about our media achievements in 2008.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Reality Shows in India

The first ever music reality show was- Popstars. And the nation was hooked on to the fortunes of Viva, long before Abhijeet Sawant of Mumbai or Silchar Assam ke Debojit and Sanjaya Malakar of Mohawk hair fame! But I recalled due to age limit that there was a dance show named Boggie Woggie. It was the first dance show that changed the idiot box viewers interaction. It was the first popular show across India that made the participation of an average Indian possible. Even S. Sreesanth danced to its tune in his childhood days.

Apart from the past, the airing program reminded me of unlimited potential spread across our land. India is beautiful nation and full of colors in each aspect of life. Brilliant Performance by children shows the changing attitude of previous generation towards dance, songs and cultural values. Ethics are changing with time (Degrading according to previous generation).

A new type of show is spreading across cable channels: Reality Show for talent hunting.

Until now, so called 'reality shows' have really been talent shows. Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul, Sa re ga ma,Great Indian Laughter Challenge - all of them promise to make a star out of an unknown quantity.On one hand rich cultural heritage and diversity are expressed to us by competition and on other 'Make a name of yourself fast & big philosophy' is in full flow in masses. Mainly dance, songs, comedy or mimicry is limited to bollywood. Folk culture is dying in fast rush of population for city culture or consumer culture. Leave alone the Drama, Tantrum and TRP ratings. For nonjudicial and biased decision of reality shows, read this brilliant article:

From youthcurry blog, one line thrashers for this trash shows:

Rock n Roll Family: They flirt shamelessly with the judges, and debate on saali being aadhi or poori gharwali. All scripted for sure but there is no sharam or lihaaj in either the banter or the matkas and jhatkas.

Big Boss: It may be trivial, perfectly "yeww" in parts. But even discussing how much you supposedly hate it... is fodder for canteen conversation.

MTV Roadies:The irony of each rounds is that if you ask a junior to do this kind of thing in college, it's called 'ragging' and you could go to jail.

Splitsvilla: The I & B ministry recently issued a notice to MTV for 'denigrating women' .
In my(yayaver) opinion 15 girls to seduce 2 boys is really cat fight not to miss by each boy/guy at home alone.Truly,all of them are one more step ahead for voyeurism,vulgar language and dirty politics on idiot box.And all things are done in the name of reality.

My opinion: We are feeding upcoming generation with "reality TV" obsessed culture. The way the real-life viewers ignore the real lives of their compatriots and customers while focusing on a false life on screen; whose life is more real and whose is worth living? Instead, the insight aspect of the reality show has been catapulted by a society that would more readily watch "reality" than live it.Notable watch for understanding and future of reality showbiz: The Truman Show in this genre.

Message for die hard reality shows fan: The audience that watched the reality show is a self-indulgent audience of consumers who wanted to be entertained no matter what the cost to characters, reminded me of the soaps opera & Paparazzi, of how we like to know about the celebrities, and ultimately of how the product could be the death of someone such as Princess Diana.

Rashmi Bansal quotes in her post about sad state of affairs---
"The whole idea of the new generation of 'reality' shows is to create an 'emotional infection'. While the characters in a soap opera act and evoke emotions, reality shows set up a showdown of some kind which induce emotions, spontaneously. The ultimate irony, isn't it? 'Reality shows' and their contestants are becoming more real and newsworthy for viewers ... than reality itself."

Bottomline: Life is not fair - that is reality. Neither are reality shows which are actually not real at all...

Monday, December 15, 2008

Calcutta Chromosome

I was going through all post of Calcutta Chromosome and after reading 100 posts from archives, posting some of the funniest lines here. FYI, I and that great guy has a similarity that we have degree in mechanical engineering.

1-'I hate Ekta kapoor fans' will find it interesting.

"Religion is the opium of the masses – Karl Marx.

Karl Marx did not know about Ekta Kapoor – Anonymous."

2-Manmohan Desai fans will love and hate it for same reason.

" Manmohan Desai wrote only one story in his life.
x (where x = integer greater than 1) siblings and y sets of parents (where y = integer greater than 1 but not equal to x) are separated due to evil relatives or natural calamities. They have a unique common trait in physical (locket, letter, tattoo) or metaphysical (secret, habit, song) form. They grow up (old) while coming in contact with each other at regular intervals but are unable to recognize each other. They are united after 7 songs, 4 fights and one drunken scene featuring Amitabh Bachchan.

Manmohan Desai: At least two brothers separated at birth. Three religions. Shuddering Nirupa Roy. Doddering Pran. Amitabh Bachchan. One gibberish song. One trained dog/hawk/cow/Easter egg/heroine's bodyguard. One operating theatre scene. One natural calamity (not including Kader Khan's wig). Divine intervention to cure blindness/TB/AIDS/obesity. Fourteen coincidences, each having odds of 786,000,000 to 1.
And he directed 21 films, of which at least 16 were box-office record-breakers."

3-X rated article(not for everyone.....)
I find that after 'Garv' the pride,its gay pride coming into our bollywood by Karan Johar,the fighter of lost causes.Lot of Dostana here.....
"Konkona Sensharma has already become to this what Nirupa Roy was to motherhood! She has already done in twice (Page 3, Life in a Metro) and looking good for more. With more and more films being made on a realistic gay relationship, it is only natural that the most dominant theme – closet homosexuality – will have to be depicted pretty regularly.
What will make it tiresome is the way it will be shown. In both the films mentioned above, the scene unfolds in exactly the same manner in which the hetero partner (cuckold?) arrives at the apartment of the closet-gay for a celebration (Konkona was even holding exactly the same things – a bottle of wine and flowers) and sees her lover in bed with (an)other man.
How long before a man walks on to a lesbian couple? I can bet the expression would not be the aghast look which Konkona had!"

For more post like this just wait for few days or read the blog of that guy only....