Note- This is not a straightforward DVD review & has a lot of personal insight as well.
Kandisa Alahaye, Kandisa Esana
Kandisa Alahaye, Kandisa Esana
Aalam Balam Aalam, Aamenu Aamen
Sliha Mar Yose, Almaduba Kudisa
Aangen Dhanusa, Nehave Dukharana
The above lines fromKandisa took me by surprise when I heard them for the first time in 2000/2001. That was the time when I was in B.School and most of my batch mates were busy trying to hone their skills and looking at making their way up the corporate ladder. However I was content living life on my own terms and tripping on movies, more movies and music of course. So while most of the time I would listen to Bollywood or Regional film music or maybe even Rock music, Indian Ocean’s music came over as something really refreshing. Of course that was also the time when Indi- Pop really started developing as well with record labels likeMagnasound and BMG Crescendo focusing on them. But nearly a decade later the dynamics of the Indian music industry have completely changed. Nowadays things are not the same and everything is centered around Indian film music (Bollywood & Regional) and that’s what makes an entity like Indian Ocean even more special. For not only have they held their own in the midst of all the changes sweeping the Indian music industry and continued making their kind of music, they have also worked with all kinds of formats and atmosphere, so much that Bollywood keeps beckoning them from time to time.
So as days wore on and as I stepped out of the cushy zone that B.School provided and re-entered the real world, for a long long time I floated along like many others without really knowing when I need to make the choice, the choice to follow my heart rather than my brain. All along Indian Ocean continued to make their kind of music, their albums likeJhini and Black Friday kept introducing a lot many more people to their music. I had a few options to follow my heart around the same time, but somehow things did not work out. Also maybe I was so pre-occupied with the rigmarole of life that I had probably stopped admiring some of the better things in life. When I look back in time I feel I can so much relate to the lyrics of ‘Bande’ from Black Friday with what I was going through in life then.
Are ruk ja, are tham ja
Are ruk ja re bande
Are tham ja re bande
Ki kudrat hans padegi
Ki kudrat hans padegi
Are ninde hai jakhami
Are sapane hai bhuke
Ki karvat phat padegi
Personally apart from casually following up on Indian Ocean’s music in general I had not been a full on fan boy. But nevertheless when Jaideep Varma was finally ready to bring out ‘Leaving Home’, his film and tribute to Indian Ocean, I was looking forward to the same mainly out of curiosity. After all it isn’t often that one gets to see a documentary/non fiction film on a music band getting a mainstream release. As ill luck would have it I was in Chennai when the film released and it never released there. I still remember trying to ask Jaideep if I could help in any way in getting the film released in Chennai and a few other places. Meanwhile whoever saw the film went on to talk so highly about the film that I went on to feel even worse for missing out on the experience of watching it.
Well destiny can always surprise you in many ways and pretty soon I finally took the call of listening to my heart and thus I came over to Mumbai in search of work in the entertainment space. That was when I also had the good fortune of meeting Jaideep for something else and casually when we discussed Leaving Home, he did remember that I was still waiting to watch it. So while he was telling me about the experience of filming it, I also finally managed to lay my hands on a DVD of the film. I was also told that there are a lot of extra features which the team had carefully worked into the DVD. While I got all excited and decided I’ll be watching the movie finally, I couldn’t fulfill what I wanted right away. For 3 weeks I just kept pushing away the prospect due to some reason or the other till I finally felt ashamed and saw it a few days back.
First things first- when I was seeing the movie I realized that I had missed out on something really and truly phenomenal all this while. As I sat alone and watched the 115 minutes of the movie and 58 minutes of special features unfold in front of myself, I sat mesmerized and at a loss for words. The journey that Asheem Chakravarty, Susmit Sen , Rahul Ram & Amit Kilam had undertaken is not only interesting but deeply inspiring as well. The film dispenses away with the use of a narrator and instead relies more on the 4 band members and their music to take things forward.
Keeping things in order or check are the chapters that are demarcated and unfold before us. What is interesting is that one need not be a fan of Indian Ocean or be aware of their music to understand or appreciate the film. And that’s where Jaideep and his team have scored really well according to me. Even for someone who is getting introduced to the band through this film, there’s so much on offer. While there have been so many stories of people from middle class backgrounds succeeding in life, there’s still something different and unique about the band and how they made it, which is captured in Leaving Home.For me probably the most defining moment in the film is the segment whereIndrajit Dutta, one of the original band members comes back to reflect back on his days spent with the band and how on hindsight he says he would have liked to stay back. But he knows that this was only his wishful thinking and he cannot turn back the clock. This moment hit me hard as I realized that there’s probably a reason why I’ve now decided to follow my heart. Who knows if I don’t take the call now then some years down the line I’d probably be regretting for not having the temerity to follow my heart and take the necessary decision.
The band a few years ago!!!
DVD Special Features
The DVD has a very sleek cover with some memorable media quotes mentioned on it as well. For fans of the band there’s a nice little poster of the band which shows them practicing in their favorite hangout, the old bungalow at Karol Bagh in Delhi. In addition to the film the DVD also carries 58 mins of special features which include the following- The Making of Leaving Home, Random Asheem Moments, The Longer Trip: Preview and also Trailers of the film itself. The making of LH is very tastefully done and doesn’t come across as an extra feature. In fact for a film like LH the making also comes as just an extension of the film and thus gives an added insight into the band and the film.
Jaideep and some of the key members involved with the film like Paramvir Singh, the DOP, Vivek Sachidanand who took care of the sound design, Nimish Gaur, the editor etc all give their personal insights into the film. But enough care is taken to ensure that even in the making of the film they come across only as supporting elements to the band itself. There’s also close to 15 minutes of random Asheem moments which are selected from the total footage of the film. Both the making and the random Asheem moments are enough to make even those who’ve already seen the movie to watch it again.
And yes Jaideep has planned to come up with a 286 minute longer version of the DVD which is expected to come out on 25th December, 2010. There is also a sneak preview of the longer version given along with the special features of the regular DVD. Overall the special features are neatly assigned with the actual film itself in the DVD, making it a collector’s item for those who are interested.
The Finale
Oh and when the film was about to get over I suddenly remembered there was something missing. And I realized what I was missing only when the end credits rolled and Hille Le played-
Hille le
Hille le jhakjhor duniya
janta ki chale paltaniya
deh gae rajwade deh gae maharajwa
rani kari dhool mein lutaniya
hille le Asia re hille le Amrikwa
hille poori jagat ki janataaa
After all this was one of the more popular songs played by our resident DJ’s in the parties that used to happen when I was still in campus. So as I smiled and got nostalgic and reflected over a lot of things, I realized that the journey has just about begun in my case.
Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/leaving-home-dvd-review-and-some-random-thoughts/
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