Last night, as part of my internship, I was sent to the opening of the 2010 India Film Festival, which is a part of the Festival of India in China. The film festival is to be a series of 10 Indian films shown in three different cities in China--Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou. I wrote my story today, and published it, so if you'd like to learn more about the event, click here.
The reception/dinner served before the film was fantastic. There were several Indian dishes, most of which I couldn't learn the names, but all of which were delicious. As usual, I should have taken pictures of the food, but I forgot.
The story I wrote about the festival was a news story. I had the choice to write a review of the movie or a report on the event. While the reveiw might have been more interesting I wasn't confident enough in my knowledge of film to attempt to write a professional review of a foriegn film, so I went with what I knew. I'm going to practice being a critic on my blog, instead.
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Antaheen (in English, The Endless Wait) is a tale of two people in Kolkata, India, who have met online. The pair fall in love through their daily instant messaging, but they don't know each others' names. You might recognize the story as a remake of You've Got Mail. In fact, that's exactly what it is. However, The Endless Wait is much more complex and meaningful than the predictable Hollywood story you're used to.
Brinda is a TV investigative journalist, and Abhik is a policeman. They first come in contact when Abhik busts a large arms deal and Brinda wants to interview him. He says no, because he doesn't want to deal with the press, and she is outraged. For much of the movie, whenever they meet in public, she pesters him about the public's right to the information he has about his case, and they argue.
As online lovers, they have already decided that they don't want to meet, because they like the mystery that surrounds their relationship. But at several points, the characters long for one another, what they call an endless wait.
They finally resolve to meet, but put it off a little longer. "This endless wait is a hard habit to get rid of," Brinda says.
Their waiting evokes what I've been told is a very typical part of Indian film--a musical break. There are several scenes where the lead actress singsabout longing and loneliness, or where music plays in the background and the actors portray the emotion of the song in silence. These scenes looked as though they more MTV music videos than scenes in a movie, but it was a refreshing difference from the Hollywood standard.
Brinda dies in a car accident just after she realizes that Abhik is her Internet lover--bringing tears to several audience members, myself included. It is not explained if the crash is true accident, or if her overzealous investigations get her into trouble with bad people, but Abhik only realizes that Brinda is his online friend after she dies, at which point his wait for her really is endless.
The music used for the film seems to have been written for it; the lyrics are accurate and appropriate, and the songs are implemented at the best points in the movie. The movie is filled with symbolism and fluctuating forces: As the main couple's relationship changes, two other couples in the movie are also changed. In this way, there is much more depth in The Endless Wait than in You've Got Mail.
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I really enjoyed the movie, and I hope I get to see more during the festival. I have been assigned to attend a Chinese documentary this weekend about the effects of pollution on farming.
I ran up to KFC for lunch today; I couldn't bring myself to take another day of the cafeteria. KFC doesn't have biscuits, and I didn't see mashed potatoes, so I'm not quite sure what the point of KFC is. I got an order of popcorn chicken, which wasn't terrible, but it wasn't nearly as tasty as in the U.S. It was mostly just bland, and it was made with scrap dark meat rather than white meat.
Work was busy today. I started the day writing my story about the film festival, and I spent the afternoon editing a Michael Jackson story. Whoo!
Nice title... sounds like the name of a book.
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