Mahesh Dattani's Final Solutions

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Prakruti ma'am, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is discussion on Mahesh Dattani's play 'Final Solutions'. In this blog there is a discussion on the experience of drama performance of 'Final Solutions' play.

How does Mahesh Dattani manipulate time and space within the dramatic framework of Final Solutions to create meaning? Explore the interplay of these elements with specific reference to the stagecraft techniques employed by the playwright.

Ans: In the play we find the past and the present of Hardika. When she came to her in-laws home newly married and the experience of her still reflected on the stage through the memory of Hardika. Dattani wonderfully captures the past and the present in his play. In the beginning of the play we might wonder why the Ramnik was so eager to give a job to the Javed but lately we know that the shop belongs to another persona and they burnt the shop and took that from Muslim family. The regret that Ramnik suffers makes him do something good for Javed. 

In Javed’s case there is a past that he also suffers from. He was a person who was one of the troublemakers in the riots but now he has changed. But others do not let him forget that accident, his humanity does not allow him to kill the Poojari. His background incident in childhood also made him follow such a path but he was misguided. This story told by Bobby adds sympathy for Javed in the audience's heart. 

There is a wonderful role that is given to the chorus, that becomes the public sometimes they become the members of Hindu and Muslim crowd. This shows the hatred of the people among various religious groups. 

Examine the complexity of guilt experienced by the characters in the play. How does this emotion shape their actions and relationships?

Firstly the character who is more in guilt is Ramnik, because he knows what his father has done to the shop of a Muslim family. So time and again tries to give a job to Javed to get out from the guilt. In the story we also find that due to his guilt he gives shelter to Javed and Bobby.  

In Javed’s character there is also a guilt that he was associated with the group that spreads riots. In that he knows whatever he did was wrong but he justified it with what happened to him in childhood. 

At last when Hardika gets to know about the wrong deed of her family, she also feels guilty and she asks Ramnik why did he not tell her that before. And he replies that now she only has to live with that for a few years. 

Smita also regrets that she misbehaved with Javed in anger, later she gets to know about the past and she feels sorry for him. 

Reflect on your journey through Final Solutions as a student of theatre. How did the process of studying, rehearsing, and performing this play shape your understanding and appreciation of theatre?

In the workshop we read the whole play with intonation. There we get to know about the characters and their way. We also tried to read between the lines, and get the essence of the play. In the performance there is altogether a different story, there we have to remember the dialogue.

On the first day when I got to know about my role I gave up on the first day, that I thought I could not remember all the dialogue. But later on I was able to remember the dialogue and then only I was able to put my emotions into that. 

While practising the scene with others I also learned to be patient, sometimes I forgot the dialogue sometimes others also forgot the dialogue, at that time we supported each other and gave prompts to one another. I learned to cooperate with others and work as a team. 

On the performance day I was a little nervous, in the final rehearsal I performed not quite not well, that makes me more nervous. But in the final performance I performed quite well, so many people praised me. I was happy and satisfied with my performance.

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Images: 3

'Black' Movie

This blog is based on the screening of the Movie  "Black" which was released in 2005 by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. But firstly let's have a look upon the importance of movie screening in the classroom.

About the movie :- 

Movie :- "Black"

Released in 2005 

Director :- Sanjay Leela Bhansali 

In 2003, Bhansali announced the production of his new project, Black. Its idea first came up when he met several physically disabled children while shooting Khamoshi: The Musical in the 1990s. The story was inspired by the activist Helen Keller's life and her 1903 autobiography, The Story of My Life.

Black is a  movie that tells the touching story of Michelle, a young girl who is both deaf and blind. The film focuses on her relationship with her teacher, Debraj Sahai, who uses innovative and patient teaching methods to help her learn to communicate and interact with the world. The movie shows the challenges Michelle faces and the hard work of her teacher in a way that shows the power of patience and the right kind of education.

Looking from a film studies perspective, Black is notable for its use of powerful visual and auditory techniques. The movie uses dramatic cinematography and emotional music to deeply connect viewers with Michelle’s world. Through close-up shots and carefully crafted scenes, the film effectively conveys the struggles and difficulties of both Michelle and her teacher, increasing the emotional impact of the story.

In terms of child psychology, Black shows valuable lessons on how children with disabilities need proper support. The film shows how personalised teaching methods and a supportive environment are needed for helping children to come out from their limitations. It shows that with dedication and understanding, even the most challenging problems can be overcome, highlighting the importance of very good educational ways in child development. 

Talks by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Dilip Barad, Department of English MKBU. In this blog the reflection on three talks of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. For further Information click here.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie born on 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian novelist, writer of short stories, and nonfiction.[3] She has written the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), and the book-length essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014).

1) Talk on importance of Story / Literature:

In this talk she talks about one type of story. For explaining that she gives the examples of her native place Nigeria. When she moved to America for higher studies her roommate asked her various questions related to the language, situation in Africa. Because only stories she knows about Africa's poverty and oppression. Now that stereotype storytelling only gives one side of the stories. There are other good things that happen in Africa but that story does not allow people to think for that. So she talks about the idea of story telling. She also gives an example of herself that when she was younger, she used to read American stories, that gives her the ideas that are represented in the stories she was reading.

2) We Should All Be Feminist

In this video Chimamanda talks about feminism, she says that when she enters any hotel in Luca, waiters only greet male, not her. Nowadays people believe that there is no need for feminism. But she gives various examples from her experiences. She also talks about gender discrimination, the raising of the child also plays a vital role in developing the sense of equality. In her talk that is a description of masculinity. Men have to be masculine if they do not want to. Gender roles give stereotype roles to men and women.  Both men and women must actively participate in discussions about gender, challenging inequalities and biases in everyday interactions.

3)Talk on importance of Truth in Post-Truth Era

Chimamanda Ngozi gives a lecture to Harvard’s Class of 2018 about the importance of truth, courage, and integrity in a complex world. She talks about the truth, she says that being honest is important in life. In her speech she mentions when the graduate students get into the real world or job, they are expected to do certain tasks, people would think that they are smart and intelligent. Sometimes they might not be able to manage that status, sometimes they might not be able to answer all the questions or come up with the solution then they should be able to face the world. Mostly it was an inspiring speech to motivate and make the students ready for the life ahead. In the post-truth era there are higher possibilities of spreading the half truth or altered truth. So one has to be aware about that information and cross check the information. 

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'Laughing Buddha' Poem

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Prakruti ma'am, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is discussion on the poem "Laughing Buddha" written by Praveen Gadhvi.

Smiling Buddha was the code name of India's first successful nuclear weapon test on 18 May 1974. The nuclear fission type bomb was detonated in the Pokhran Test Range of the Indian Army in Rajasthan.

• What should be of a higher moral importance for governing bodies, national security or basic needs of its citizens? What do you think is Gadhvi's opinion about this?

Ans. In Pravin Gadhvi’s poem there is criticism of the nuclear power trial, because during 1974 India was under an economic breakdown. During that time, funds should be given for people who were going through difficult economic conditions, but rather it was given on this project. I think basic needs of citizens are more important than national security, because the country would be in a war that has very less possibility and even using nuclear weapons is rare because of the history of nuclear destructive power. So the decision of the nuclear power trial was a bad decision. 

• In light of Henri Bergson's essay titled "Laughter: An Essay On The Meaning Of The Comic" share your thoughts about the possible interpretations of Buddha's laughter in Gadhvi's poem.

Ans. 

During the class discussion we discussed what makes us laugh? a strange thing, a surprise, newness etc. As we know Buddha has conquered all his emotions so he is calm in every situation. But in the poem we find he laughs, this shows the irony. Buddha has spent his whole life spreading a message of peace and on his birth anniversary the nuclear weapon test is the next level of irony and added to that the project was also named the Smiling buddha. This matter itself is the irony and Gadhvi has known this and shared his thoughts as a poem. The laughter and a smile that is always strange with the name of the Buddha but as we say it is an irony that Biddha himself is laughing at the deed of the Indians. One laughs at the less knowledge of the matter of the factand the message of Buddha.

• The rise and fall of significance of a particular moment in history depends on the narrative that is built around it. Discuss this statement with specific reference to Laughing Buddha.

• Share your interpretation of the lines:  "What a proper time! What an auspicious day!”

The line “What a proper time! What an auspicious day” refers to a full moon night that is called Purnima and that is considered an auspicious day for Hinduism as well as on the Buddhism. The government always wants the attention of the public so the days which have any cultural or religious significance are chosen for such events. But if we look at the matter of fact that this line in the poem refers to an irony that hasn't the government found any other day for nuclear test then Buddha Purnima it rather seems ironical.  Or is it a well organised plan to implement this operation on this day to get the attention of the people. Whatever it was but it will always seem a laughable thing for the people because Buddha and nuclear power seem totally opposite.

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Lab Activity: CLiC Dickens Project

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Dilip Barad, Department of English MKBU. In this blog there is a discussion about the activities done on the project CLiC Dickens Project. For further info visit CLiC Dickens project.

There is a project that can help in research work. On the project one can search words or phrases in the works of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. In the research one does not have to go through all the works to find the particular words or phrases used in one or another way, one can search it in an easier way. There are two activities that has done and learning outcomes are mentioned here.

Activity 15: Education, women and governesses in the 19th century

Governess is a woman probably young but not necessarily middle aged who lives with a family and is responsible for the teaching of the girl. She is employed as a home teacher who teaches 5 to 18 years old children at home. In the video Katheryn Hughes(speaker) is a historian who explains the qualities that are expected from the governess. She should play the piano, have a book in her hand, know dancing and have moral education.She is supposed to belong to a middle class family, and has financial troubles. The governess is assigned by the upper class family to show off in the society that they also can afford a governess.

Through the activity one can do deep research on any concept that belonged in the 19th century. For instance a governance, how the term is described and represented in the novel as well as in the society represented in the 19th that can be learned through the project. One does not have to read the whole text by merely finding the word one can do the research.

The governess mostly looks after a girl child, in the novel Bleak House(Ch-30) by Charles Dickens there is a reference of a governess who is  very kind to a child and tries to be a friend of them. In many other examples mostly the governess takes care of a girl child rather than a boy child.

It also has a feature that shows how many times the words are used in the work that goes into the in depth analysis of the research work. And for further reading we get the direct reference in the text that saves lots of our time. Through this activity I learnt to find the context of any particular word in the novels or literary work, through this activity and doing everything practically taught me to think in this manner to do any further research work.

9. Body language and characterisation

In this activity there is discussion of portraying the character with different body parts. There are many body parts that are used to describe the character and his/her nature. While searching for the word “chin” in three ways we get various results. The word “chin" occurs 317 times in Dickens’ Novels, which contains 15 books, it only occurs 1 time in Austen, which contains 7 books. This shows how and why the authors use the word to describe the character. 

The description also symbolises the character with his/her body parts. That can be studied in this manner. It also gives us an in depth analysis of the usage of body parts to describe the character. It helps to analyse what character traits are associated with any particular body parts and its description. When I search with the ‘lips’ in Dickens’ novel it occurs 797 times and in Austen's novels it occurs 42 times. One can also read it in various contexts why and how the lips are mentioned easily through the project.

Words: 604

Film Studies

This blog is written as a response to a task assigned by Dilip Barad sir, Department of English MKBU. This blog is about film Studies. In this blog there is discussion about three movies and its narrative structure. The movies are Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and Maharaja. For further info please visit this blog -Teacher's Blog.

In this century watching a film would be a hobby of many, people like to watch movies of different genres. Movie is nothing but storytelling but with visual techniques. In some movies there are simple story lines, action and happy endings. Some come up with various narrative techniques that create tension, suspense and give thrilling experience to the watchers. In some movies one has to stop thinking logically then and then  movie can be enjoyed but in other movies one has to be active logically then and then story can be understood. Here are three movies related to these type of strange story telling, which gives us different timelines and at the end we get the real reason for the actions that took place earlier.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel in his film debut as Jamal, and filmed in India, it was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director.

In the movie Slumdog millionaire, there are three timelines. First is Interrogation, second is in the show Who wants to be a millionaire and third is the flashback life story of the protagonist. The movie shifts from one timeline to another and at the end three of the storyline matched with his last question at Who wants to be a millionaire show. In the beginning frame we find a question with 4 options and at the end we find the answer in the last scene. Through this time the movie becomes fun to watch. 

With the questions of interrogation we enter in the show and from there we enter into Jamal Malik’s life. This type of weaving of the story makes the film very good to watch and throughout the end it keeps the attention of the watchers.This technique is used in many movies, it can be called story within the story. A wonderful thing that connects the dots of the question with the flashback scene where the audience gets to know how he knows the answer and slowly the story unfolds how and why he entered the show.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee. Based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name, it stars Suraj Sharma in his film debut, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu and Adil Hussain in lead roles. The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

In the movie Life of pie, there are two timelines. One is of questions and answers of Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) and the author, second is flashback. Movie changes in  between with the questions of the author we get into the life story of Pi. This technique can be useful in telling a story with the visuals. It also gives the idea of an unreliable narrator because we know in the movie Pi also tells another story which also feels real so what to believe and what not that questions also arises at the end of the movie. It also makes us question how we can believe in others' stories without even thinking that the story can not happen in real life.

 

Maharaja

Maharaja is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film, directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, who co-wrote the script with Raam Murali. It is jointly produced by The Route, Think Studios and Passion Studios. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi in the titular role, alongside Anurag Kashyap, Mamta Mohandas, Natarajan Subramaniam.

(Rangan, Baradwaj)

In Maharaja movies there are three timelines, one is of 2009 second is of 2023 which can be classified in two parts before the incident and after the incident scene. That can be observed in the chart. Maharaja movie is a challenging movie, one can not understand what is happening at first time watching in the end we get to know the why and how things occur. 

In the movie watcher is not notified in which timeline the movie is going on. One has to interpret it using one’s own mind. One has to be aware of what happens in the movie then and then the movie can be understood. The Maharaja movie is in this way a very challenging movie to understand. In the following chart there is a description of how events occur chronologically.

Comparative Analysis of the films: 

In three of the movies the narrative technique that is used is commonly a flashback technique. In Life of pi and Slumdog Millionaire the different timeline can be observed very clearly. The Watcher knows in which timeline is going on. In the Maharaja movie there is no distinction between the timeline it seems almost similar. No timeframe of colour difference we find in various timelines. It is done intentionally to confuse the watcher till the climax, this technique is quite useful to keep the audience engaged. 

In Slumdog Millionaire there is a point in the movie where three of the timeline meet and we get the similar ending, whereas life of Pie is a storytelling of the past. In Maharaja there is only a occurance of the scenes which only resolve in the end. In the Drishyam movie we also observe the same sequence that till the climax one sits tight in observing the details.

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Images: 07

Resources:

Barad, Dilip. “Film Studies: An Introduction.” Film Studies: An Introduction, 1 Jan. 1970, blog.dilipbarad.com/2021/09/film-studies-introduction.html. Accessed 01 Aug. 2024.

Rangan, Baradwaj. “Readers Write in #710: Where to Look and What to See: An Appreciation of ‘Maharaja.’” Baradwaj Rangan, 14 July 2024, baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2024/07/14/readers-write-in-710-where-to-look-and-what-to-see-an-appreciation-of-maharaja/. Accessed 01 Aug. 2024.