HAYAT (LIFE) (PERSIAN) (2005)

What is life ? Is it a series of challenges we confront or a multitude of solutions to choose from ? Noted Iranian director Gholam Reza Ramezani addresses the above and many other interesting perspectives on life in Hayat (Persian for Life) which is a beautiful slice (a very thin slice at that) of life movie which captures the events of half a day in the life of our protagonist Hayat, a teen studying in fifth grade. It is an important day for Hayat as she has to sit for an exam to qualify for a boarding school scholarship. Hayat is the best student of her class in the village school and aspires to study further. But, her poor family cannot afford to pay for her studies. Hayat understands that her best chance is to clear the tough exam to qualify for the scholarship to the boarding school and has prepared hard for the exam.

  

However, in a twist of fate, her father falls critically ill early on the morning of the exam and her mother has to rush with him to the hospital. Hayat is given the onerous responsibility of staying home to babysit her younger brother Akbar, her infant sister Nabat and to attend to sundry household work. Hayat tries her best to cope with this sudden challenging turn of events which threaten to drive a spoke through her carefully nurtured dream of cracking the exam and winning the scholarship. Watch the movie to find if Hayat succeeds in the face of the difficult situation. 

It is indeed amazing that the director Ramezani could fashion such an engaging movie with a plot so simple and sourced from an event so commonplace. The banality of the plot provides the movie with a near universal appeal. Ramezani steers clear of any melodrama, sermonising or other gimmicks and stays true to the tradition of well known Iranian directors  and adopts a clear narrative arc, a realistic setting. To this end, the natural lighting and sound are optimally harnessed by the cinematography and sound departments for creating a realistic milieu. 

Ramezani's skills as a narrator shines through in his choice of the subject and his presentation in a form that is in equal parts, a slice of life drama and an unconventional race against clock thriller which is laced with humour and subtle pointers on the state of Iranian society. 

The movie benefits to a great extent from its excellent cast. Ghazaleh Parsafar plays the practical and determined protagonist Hayat like a natural and expresses the entire spectrum of emotions convincingly. She creates an immediate connect with the viewer and as a result, the viewer feels her urgency, tension, relief, fear, frustration and silent determination as the movie progresses. The director has also chosen a competent supporting cast - be it Akbar, Hayat's defiant, yet loving younger brother, the head master of the village school who pleads for Hayat, the lady invigilator at the exam hall, the sullen old lady who is the partner of Hayat's mother and surprisingly, even in the baby playing Hayat's infant sister Nabat - who deserve kudos for their competent performance which renders the movie believable and relatable.

The movie also communicates to the viewer at several levels. While at an apparent level it presents the determined struggle of the protagonist to succeed, one can also feel several subtle subtexts underneath. The movie projects a snapshot of life in rural Iran and brings a sharp focus on the travails of the women who remain at a disadvantage resulting from deeply ingrained conservative ideas prevalent in a patriarchal society which see them as lesser beings. The movie also brings out the role of education in improving their lot by equipping them with confidence, practical knowledge and problem solving skills as showcased by Hayat's approach to her challenges as well as the lady invigilator's near instant understanding of Hayat's predicament. It is a clear testimony of Ramezani's talents as an auteur that he could achieve all this in an engrossing movie that is barely 80 minutes long. 

Hayat, promoted by the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) and a multiple award winner at several Children's Film festivals across the globe, is sure to enthrall the viewer irrespective of their age group. 

A LESSER KNOWN GEM & A MUST WATCH !!

LEIBSTER NOMINATION

Ta .. da.. I have been nominated for a Leibster Award. 

First and foremost, I am grateful to Veturisarma for nominating my blog for a Leibster Award.

The Liebster Award  is an award given by bloggers to up-and-coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. In German, “Liebster” can mean a variety of things: most beloved, lovely, kind pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, etc.

This is how the award works ...

• Link back to the persons blog who has nominated you and convey thanks for giving the award.
• Answer all questions posted by the nominator.
• Nominate 10 more bloggers whom you feel are deserving of more subscribers; you pass the award on to them.
• Create 10 questions for the nominees.
• Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award!

For as long as I can possibly remember (I confess that memory is not an area of my strengths), movies have fascinated me and have remained an enduring passion. I discovered the joy of writing in my higher secondary years and have been penning sundry pieces off and on to school magazines or even essays for several exams I took. When my rookie submission to  The Hindu's Open Page - Mobcasting Menace - was published in 2006, I was enthralled and grew further in confidence about my ability to write. 

Despite venturing into the blogosphere as early as 2008 with my initial post, it was to be followed by a lazy fallow period of five years, when my writing was restricted to drab office correspondence and an occasional report as a sarkari babu. It was during the last year and half or so, when I started putting up Facebook posts to share my thoughts on the movies I had watched, I found that there was quite a bit of positive respsonse for them among my friends. The final push came from my good friend, fellow blogger and someone, I can as well refer to as my blogging mentor - Sakshi Nanda (Click here to follow her much awarded superlative blog !!) who in a way dragged me back to my long abandoned blog. Since then, I have discovered, nay rediscovered, a long forgotten joyous part of me. 

Now, I am at the happy intersection of two of my favourite activities and I find that my joy of watching movies is further accentuated by the idea of sharing my thoughts on them through this blog. A double delight indeed. While it is undeniably true that writing to express oneself is a very personal experience, I believe that it is equally true that writing in public domain like a blog is also an interactive experience where the readers are as much a part of the process as the writer and in their own unique ways contribute to what is written. 

I wish to thank every reader of this blog and I hope that posts in this blog bring the same amount joy to them as I have in writing them.

Now, after that loooooong prelude, I come to the business part of the award and begin by answering the questions posted to me by my nominator. 

1.      Which character from any work of fiction you can identify yourself the most with?

           While each of us are unique in our own ways, one character that I find an immediate resonance with is the character  of Guido played by Benigni in Life is  Beautiful  for its persistent positive outlook even in the grimmest of circumstances.

2.      What is your most favorite movie and why?

        There are so many I thoroughly enjoy that it would be not be possible  to identify any one as the most favourite.  Nevertheless, if you were to insist, I would count (in no particular order) The Dark Knight Trilogy (especially The Dark Knight), Old Boy, Joint Security Area,  To  Kill a Mockingbird, 12  Angry Men, Rashomon, Toy Story series, Kung Fu Panda, Wall  E,  Udaan and  several other movies that I've written about in this blog.

3.      What is your reading frequency?

       It has been coming down steadily. I try to read for about an hour or so every day. 

4.     What is the greatest challenge you face in writing?

      To find time at a stretch is the key challenge. Most times, I do it in bits and pieces in the small lumps of time that I manage to pinch from my schedule. 

5.     What makes you want to read a book? It’s blurb? Review from a person you like? Cover Page? Author’s previous works?

    My familiarity with the author and his previous works as well as recommendations/reviews from trusted sources. 

6.      What are your reading patterns?

     I try to read an hour at least every day before I sleep. I also read whenever I have to wait for something/someone.

7.     How do you fight blogger’s block?

      Haven't come across that yet unless you would count laziness as block. So, can't comment on it yet.

8.     Do you think setting yourself a target works in writing?

       No targets. I watch movies and start jotting thoughts in the blog which I develop as and when I find time.

9.      How important do you think grammar is in writing? Especially in English?

       I strongly believe grammar is very important in writing in any language. It may sound a bit out of date. Nevertheless,  I feel grammar brings a structure which renders the writing readable and aids in clear communication of the ideas as intended by the writer.  

10.  What time of the day is the most conducive for you to write?

       

      Quite literally, any time is a good time as long as I feel like it. 

Next up, I am required to nominate ten other bloggers for the Leibster Award. Here are my nominations (in no particular order).

1. Nivedita Louis - http://cloudninetalks.blogspot.in/
2. Sakshi Nanda - http://sakshinanda.blogspot.in/
3. Sibichen Mathew - http://sibi-cyberdiary.blogspot.in/
4. Vishal Kataria - http://alwaysarocker.blogspot.in/
5. Alex Paul Menon - http://alexmenon.blogspot.in/
6. Manivannan - http://manivannan1972ias.blogspot.in/
7. Rajesh Dangi - http://bangalore-city.blogspot.in/
8. Baby Anandan - http://babyanandan.blogspot.in/
9. Sadhu Narasimha Reddy - http://itcsa.blogspot.in
10. Abhishek Dhingra - http://xpress4life.blogspot.in

Finally, here are my set of ten questions for the nominees.

1. Which recent movie you saw would you recommend to others and why ?
2. Describe your ideal holiday?
3. What do you admire most about yourself ?
4. What quality do you find most attractive in others?
5. What would be the best job/profession for you?
6. A dessert for which you would never say no ?
7. What/Who inspires you to write ?
8. What is the best compliment you've received so far for your writing ?
9. Is democracy overrated ? 
10. A subject/language/skill you would love to learn ?