The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A fun adventure crafted from the body of a fine tale

Anyone with a bit of an imagination would be immediately drawn into CS Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” series of books where Lewis creates the fantasy world of Narnia, that via their wardrobe the Pevensie family children land up in. The third movie in the popular franchise does decent justice to visually build an exciting canvas on which the adventures are showcased and also does a fair job of weaving the story well enough for both new and old fans. The Pevensie children – Lucy and Edmund and their cousin Eustace land up on the ‘Dawn Treader’, the ship being captained by Prince Caspian (technically King Caspian, since the Prince they met in the last installment of the story had overthrown the evil King Miraz who was ruling Narnia). Caspian embarks on a voyage across the sea to the edge of the world, one that brings in the usual elements of adventure as the crew meets dragons, warriors and other oddities along the way.The action is nicely done, peppered with good natured humour which makes the film a pleasant watch. The depth of the messages, which ostensibly are embedded in Lewis’ books, do not have much role here in what is brazenly executed as a family entertainer. But that doesn’t demean the source material and the actors – Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund) and Ben Barnes (Caspian) seem to be enjoying the outing. Simon Pegg as the voice of the little mouse Reepicheep is a hoot as usual and injects an extra dash of energy. “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a nice trip made worthwhile by the good CGI background work in creating the wondrous world of Lewis’ fabulous imagination.

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Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey: A historic waste of effort

Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM

There is a scene in the movie “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey” (KHJJS) where the teenage kids try to load bullets into their rifles and they do that painstakingly one bullet at a time. Those were the 1930s, before the era of automatic weapons. True to the spirit of the times, Ashutosh Gowarikar creates a world that transports us to a bygone era in an attempt to tell us a long forgotten story. Unfortunately, his assumption that not just the content but the speed and format of storytelling from the 1930s would work for the current generation with an attention span shorter than the speed of a machine gun totally misfires.

KHJJS tells the story of the revolutionary leader Surjya Sen (Abhishek Bachchan), who along with his comrades inspires a bunch of teenage kids to take up arms against the British in the Chittagong region. Sadly, the mission doesn’t succeed as planned and the gang is forced to beat a hasty retreat into the jungles only to be chased by an unrelenting British army. The way the story pans out, the revolutionaries seem to have achieved very little at the end and the same holds true for the people who made this film too.

KHJJS ends up looking more like a documentary rather than a piece of cinema, the main culprits being the linear characterisation which leaves no scope for any conflict or drama within the characters and the second is the unimaginative use of camera and background music. Barring the Vande Mataram track that plays at the end of the film, no other scene leaves an impact. One can only feel sad for the massive effort the team has put in because the same film in the hands of a more stingy editor and imaginative dialogue writer could have become an instant masterpiece.

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I would love to remake Amar Akbar Anthony

IIPM Mumbai Campus

The maker of "Lagaan", "Jodhaa Akbar", and now "khelein hum jee jaan sey", Ashutosh Gowariker has his eyes trained on history. in an interview with Neha Sarin, Ashutosh comes clean on his penchant for patriotic themes, and his sensitivity to criticism.

How did you as an actor decide to become a director? Did you always want to become one?

No. First of all, I never thought I would be an actor. I became an actor by accident. In college, I was a part of plays and I got picked up for one of those parts in Ketan Mehta's "Holi". That’s how I became an actor. I have not trained as an actor or director. My only thing was intention. I realised, even as an actor, when I was on sets, I would keenly observe everything going around even if I was not in the shot. I would observe the director. I was like Eklavya, where I was watching and learning by proxy. Luck favoured me when I got my first opportunity in the form of "Pehla Nasha"; it was by Deepak Tijori. Aamir and Shah Rukh knew that I had an inclination and they also felt very strongly that I (Ashutosh Gowariker) should become a director.

How did you stumble upon the story of "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey"?

I stumbled upon the book “Do and Die” by Manini Chatterjee about the uprising of the 1930s. I initially thought the book was called “Do or Die” but it was actually called “Do and Die,” meaning there was no option; I found that intriguing. It was about a massive uprising which consisted of 64 people attacking five different sects of the British power one night. It was led by Surjya Sen who was a school teacher and 55 of the 64 people were teenagers. I was absolutely embarrassed that I did not know anything about it except the little in the school books. After I read the account, I was fascinated with the book. You have so many attempts at achieving freedom and revolutions – some of which have been violent, some non-violent, some known and some unknown. I think this was one of those on the path of violence but in a manner that the mercenaries felt strongly in their hearts. The emotion I felt while reading it, I want the nation to discover the same thing. The teenagers’ involvement had a sense of daring because in a way, they are playing with their lives. And to reflect that aspect, I chose the title “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey”.

You have worked with some of the finest actors in the industry including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan. How was it working with Abhishek Bachchan?

I've been waiting to work with Abhishek for quite some time but never found the right script. The first impression I got of Surjya Sen, Abhishek's face came to my mind right away and I thought here is an opportunity to work with him and have him play this particular part. What attracted me the most was that he was a school teacher who planned the entire revolution. On one hand is this act of rebellion, but along with that is this purity and innocence. He is a man with a dream in his eyes. I felt Abhishek has these qualities. In his persona there is strength and rebelliousness but at the same time there is a certain degree of purity. It has been tremendous working with Abhishek in this film.

Deepika is such a generation Y girl. What made you select her for the role of Kalpana Dutta in KHJJS?

Kalpana was part of the Congress, but around those times, women couldn’t get into the revolution in a big way. She was someone who had a very rich background; she was a land owner's daughter. Still she wanted to give it away and participate in the revolution. I found an uncanny resemblance between Deepika and the original Kalpana Dutta.
How did you get around to casting Shah Rukh Khan in "Swades", a movie that did touch many a heart, but somehow didn’t set the Bollywood cash registers ringing?
There has been a lot of exchange of ideas and likes and dislikes with Shah Rukh through the acting years, and then during "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa" and "Chamatkar". When I discussed the idea of "Swades" with him, his immediate reaction was, “I want to be Mohan Bhargav”. For me Mohan Bhargav had to be someone who did not belong. You don't often see Shah Rukh sitting with a book or in a train. I felt the contrast between someone qualified and someone re-entering the world at the grassroots to rediscover. I thought those two opposites helped make Shah Rukh Khan as Mohan Bhargav convincing.

Out of all the films ever made, if you had to remake one film, which one would it be?
I would love to remake “Amar Akbar Anthony” because it’s absolutely escapist entertainment. It’s something that I have never done. I have done more of realistic cinema. What inspires me is the (concept of) three religions. It’s about tolerance and coming together and living in harmony. I like the theme of the film.

Does it bother you when you get negative feedback or comments on your films?

It saddens me but it does not bother me, if you know what I mean. I like constructive criticism; I definitely like to know why it wasn't liked so that I can understand that and see whether I agree or disagree with it. It helps me in taking a step ahead. Opinions and criticisms do matter to me and I try to turn it into something positive.

From where do you draw inspiration for films like "Lagaan" and "Swades"?

One of the things that attract me is that there are people who can come together and make something happen if they want it. We can have different backgrounds and we might have divergent opinions like in the case of “Lagaan” but they decide to come together to fight a common enemy. Even in the case of “Swades”, the way the villagers come together and put their mind to it to improve their way of life. KHJJS too reflects that because there is a revolution led by Surjya Sen with 64 key members; all of them came together for the freedom of the country. If we can come together, we can do it. That is a theme that has an element of patriotism and that subconsciously interests me.

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The mushrooming of unapproved private schools in Tamil Nadu is a symptom of a larger rot in the education system

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Anybody's playground

It was perhaps a slip of the tongue. K. Devarajan, director of matriculation schools in Tamil Nadu, may not have expected newspapers to pick up the verbal gaffe. He was reported as saying that anybody can open a school in Tamil Nadu. Even a carpenter can start a school without an official licence. He was probably right.

This statement was made in the course of a public hearing held by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in Chennai recently. The event was attended by parents, educationists, students, activists and officials from the education department.

''As far as school education is concerned, what Mr Devarajan said is true in TN,” says Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for a Common School System. “If you have some land, some chairs and some investment, anybody can start a matriculation school in TN. Getting official approval is only a formality and a matter of time. There is a huge demand for elementary schools here. More than 4000 matriculation schools are currently functioning in the state. Around 1,000 of them are awaiting approval for many years but are operational nonetheless,” he says. As there is no monitoring of these schools, their standards are abysmal, he points out.
The fire accident a few years ago at a primary school at Kumbakonam in which 96 children died stands out as a telling example of the conditions that prevail in private educational institutions in TN. After the mishap the state seemed to take action to stem the mushrooming of private schools with inadequate infrastructural facilities.

Senior educationist and former vice-chancellor of MS University Dr Vasanthi Devi points out that 75 per cent of private schools in TN are unfit for continuation. ''As per the guidelines laid down in the Right to Education Act, if we rightly examine the educational standards of the teaching staff, infrastructure of the schools, 75 per cent of schools here are fit to be closed. This is the reality. Many of the private schools here are like petty shops. They don’t even have playgrounds. In every village, private schools have been started indiscriminately. Only when they ask for approval does the government give them approval. Otherwise they can continue as long as they wish without approval. As these schools have very poor infrastructure, it is doubtful whether we can avoid a disaster like Kumbakonam in the future,” she laments.

Her concerns can be understood in the context of a simple case that was discussed at the public hearing. There was a private school in which nine students died when the school van fell into a pond. The school still functions with a changed name. Needless to say, it does so without government approval.

When TSI met Devarajan and requested him to explain his reported statement, he said he was misunderstood by the media. “According to the prevailing law, one can start a school only after showing the necessary land, infrastructure and approval from the school education department. There is an exception only for minority institutions. But in fast developing states like TN, there is huge demand for school education. When a private institution imparts quality education, more students go and join it. When somebody approaches us after starting a school, we grant them recognition only after a thorough direct inspection,” he said.

The lack of infrastructure in TN schools came in for severe criticism at the NCPCR hearing. Statistics revealed that many schools are run from rented buildings. Many were reported for not having toilets and playgrounds. Members of NCPCR expressed their displeasure about the tardy implementation of the Right to Education Act in the state.
Dr Shantha Sinha said the state was yet to frame guidelines for the functioning of the school management committee. The fact that the mandatory state commission for students’ rights was yet to be formed in the state was also pointed out during the hearing.

Incidents of abuse of students in schools and hostels by the authorities, well documented already in news reports, were reiterated during the hearing. Many victims turned up to share their woes. When explanations were sought regarding these complaints, the district education officers failed to provide proper status reports. Some claimed that the areas in question were not under their purview.
In TN, education has been a controversial subject for several years. The Equitable Education Act and regulation of the fee structure for private schools are two key issues. Under the Equitable Education Act the state government formulated uniform syllabi for all schools across various streams of education. The move was challenged in the court of law. After a prolonged struggle the issue is now settled.

But the regulation of fees for private schools has run into rough weather. A commission headed by retired judge Govindarajan first determined a fee for matriculation schools. While the Matriculation School Association has gone to court, the judge has resigned citing poor health. Now another retired judge, Raviraja Pandian, has assumed charge.

The TN school education department has won laurels for its implementation of activity-based learning in government schools. But there are areas in which they still have miles to go. Perhaps it needs many more public hearings to debate the anomalies that have crept into the school education system here.


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Insiders say the congress faces rebellions and defections because of the lack of communication between the high command and the party leaders

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Rebels with a pause

In political circles, the Congress party is often referred to as “the big house”. This is because politicians and workers who leave tend to return to its fold in due course after testing the waters outside. It is not that other parties don't have such examples. They do. But they are few and far between. People like Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti, Madan Lal Khurana and Amar Singh have learned at their own expense that individuals are never bigger than an organisation. But as far as exceptions are concerned, there are a few in the Congress too. People like Chandrashekhar, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh in the past and Maninderjeet Singh Bitta in more recent times never returned to the party after deserting it.

There are some interesting names on this list. Ajit Jogi and K Karunakaran were expelled from the party, but were taken back to the fold. People like S Bangarappa has been in and out of the party so many times that he himself might have lost count.
So what is the reason behind this phenomenon? To start with, it appears that people lose their political standing when the defect from a big party. Congress, technically, means congregation of people, and that is what it has always proved to be. Now not everybody is like Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee, who have the money power and the political base respectively to launch and sustain an independent party. In fact, without these two factors, it is impossible to run a regional outfit. To put it in perspective, in 2007 alone, as many as six such regional outfits merged with the Congress because of “lack of funds”. Being foregone conclusions, these mergers did not make news.

The Congress budget runs into crores of rupees. At election time individual candidates are allocated huge sums. Election Commission guidelines are often flouted in ingenious ways. In fact, many candidates save money from this poll fund for completely private use. But look at the condition of regional parties. Their musclemen and local middlemen ask for exorbitant sums to manage votes. Failing to secure what they want, they threaten to transfer the votes to the official Congress candidate in lieu of money. The exasperated rebel candidate realises that life is easier under the umbrella of a big party.

Talk to any politician about this and they will pour their hearts out. Subramaniam Swamy still holds the post of the president of the Janata Party, but the party itself is now in a mummified state. Swamy has lost his status as a political leader of import; he is at best an “anarchist” with some nuisance value. People like P Chidambaram and K Karunakaran were smart enough to return to the party fold before things got out of hand.

Another question that intrigues all is, why does the Congress face so many rebellions and defections? Insiders say the primary reason is the lack of communication between the high command and the leaders. People like Natwar Singh, Arjun Singh, Sheila Dikshit and Kedar Nath Singh had differences over the election of PV Narasimha Rao as party president. They supported the one-man one-post norm, which didn't go down well with the then PM. The Gandhi family was out of politics at that juncture and Rao was at the helm of affairs. Well-wishers wanted Sonia Gandhi to come into active politics and thus raised the one-man one-post issue. They wanted Sonia to be president of the party if Rao was to keep the post of the Prime Minister. The above-mentioned quartet rebelled during the Surajkund general meeting and just after that the 'Tiwari Congress' came into being.

Tiwari Congress was an interesting case. Sonia had started giving signals that she might join active politics after all. At the Tiwari Congress's office adjoining New Delhi's Le Meridien Hotel, Narain Dutt Tiwari used to discreetly keep tabs on Sonia's plans. Even veteran journalists covering the Congress were unaware of the real reason behind this outfit. They only got wind of it when they saw Janardhan Dwivedi, considered close to Sonia, coming out of Arjun Singh's house though the latter had left the party. This rebellion was clearly not against the Gandhi-Nehru family. Not surprisingly, this outfit merged with the mother party following Sonia's entry into active politics.

It was much later that Arjun Singh and Natwar Singh fell out with the party high command. Arjun Singh is an outspoken man. Insiders say he was too forthright a leader to remain subdued for too long. Natwar Singh, on the other hand, was let down by his son's involvement in the Volcker oil-for-food scandal.

Old timers will tell you that as far as rebellions in the Congress are concerned, it was never against the high command. Talking to TSI, Bhishm Narain Singh says, “From Debkanta Barooah to Siddhartha Shankar Ray, each one of them advised Indiraji to proclaim Emergency. Because of this wrong advice, a lot of people left the Congress. This weakened the party. Our biggest enemy is in-fighting and back-stabbing.”
Had conflict with the high command been the reason for desertion, many of the rebels would not have returned to the Congress. People like Ambika Soni, Pranab Mukherjee, AK Antony and Chidambaram would have severed all links with the party once they had turned their backs on it. The fact that Agatha Sangma is a junior minister in the Cabinet also confirms that the high command doesn't keep grudges. The party's problem is that the "coterie" gives dubious advice to the high command. For example, Natwar Singh was done in by Sonia's political adviser Ahmad Patel. The latter was reportedly unhappy with Natwar's direct access to Sonia.

Take the case of Jagan. A party bigwig from Andhra Pradesh who was promoting his aides convinced the party that Jagan's defection would not harm the party's prospects. Rahul Gandhi was not sure. So he sent a young general secretary to analyse the situation. That office-bearer was coerced by the big gun to give the same input. However, he gave the actual report saying that Jagan's departure would hurt the party in the next polls and that Jagan is of the same temperament as his father.
The list of people who left the Congress because of “neglect”, “insult”, “ego clashes” and otherwise is long. The first big name is that of K Kamraj, who was the original kingmaker. Kamraj was instrumental in getting Lal Bahadur Shastri the post of PM. It was only after his death that Indira Gandhi overcame the so-called Syndicate to become PM. Around the same time and after, Chandrashekhar, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh left the party never to return. They formed their own outfits and became political heavyweights in their own right.

Analysts might add here that since the aforementioned did not strictly adhere to the “Congress ideology”, they left the party. Similarly in February 1977, Babu Jagjivan Ram left the Congress and formed Congress for Democracy. Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and erstwhile Orissa CM Nandani Satpathy joined his ranks. The same year, Karnataka's Devraj Urs tried to split the Congress. He was initially backed by AK Antony, Sharad Pawar, Ambika Soni, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Oomen Chandi and PC Chako, but all of them returned to the Congress soon enough.
Antony, meanwhile, formed the Regional Congress (A), which was rechristened Indian Congress (S) with the inclusion of Sharad Pawar. However, the party merged with the Congress in 1981. In 1994, Tiwari Congress and Bangarappa's Karnataka Congress merged with the Congress. Bangarappa, to give him his due, revolted again and formed Karnataka Vikas Party but rejoined after much cajoling. But he again upped and quit and joined Samajwadi Party only to return when reality sunk in.

It was during the same year that GK Moopanar's Tamil Manila Congress, Madhavrao Scindhia's Madhya Pradesh Vikas Party and Gegong Apang's Regional Arunachal Congress also merged with the Congress.

Following an analysis of the defeats the party has faced in recent elections, a high-power committee of the Congress has recommended that it should actively try to woo back the sidelined old warhorses in a bid to reclaim its lost impetus. After all, as recent political history has repeatedly shown, Congress rebels are pretty prone to changing their anti-party stance with just a bit of coaxing.

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Decoding the Indian Muslim - Integration or alienation?

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A First-Ever TSI-Team Cvoter Nationwide Survey

India's largest minority community has been the subject of frenetic discussions across the political spectrum in recent decades. on the right of the divide, they are pilloried for being beneficiaries of an alleged policy of minority appeasement. On the other side, they usually end up being used and abused as a convenient vote bank. At election time, for candidates in a large number of crucial constituencies across the length and breadth of india, muslims assume great significance because they possess the power to impact the final outcome at the hustings. But how much really has the indian muslim suffered as a result of being a pawn in a game of political expediency? How has continuing economic backwardness and a lack of mainstream educational and employment opportunities impacted the way members of the community think? this exhaustive survey conducted across multiple locations and social segments seeks out the answers from a complex web of questions that confront the indian muslim in contemporary india...

Keeping The Faith

Much water has flowed down the Saryu since the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya – and the idea that is India - was reduced to rubble nearly two decades ago. One of independent India’s most cataclysmic flashpoints, this outrage committed by Hindutva's foot soldiers occurred a year or so after the process of economic liberalisation was set in motion. The nation as a whole has definitely moved on since then. But has the Indian Muslim been allowed to keep pace? Have the fruits of economic progress touched his day-to-day existence quite to the extent that it has the lives of India’s burgeoning middle class?

Let’s face it, it hasn’t. The Rajinder Sachar Committee report, tabled in Parliament in 2006, provided confirmation of that fact and, ironically, appeared to vindicate the BJP’s contention that the left and the left-of-centre political parties have only indulged in ‘minority appeasement’ and exploited Muslims merely as a vote bank. Therefore, six decades and a bit after Independence, true empowerment continues to elude major swathes of India’s largest minority community.
But it is amply clear from the findings of the exhaustive TSI-Team CVoter survey on the following pages that Indian Muslims want to put the past behind them and find their rightful place in the national scheme of things in terms of both socio-economic indices and educational parameters. But who will show them the way? Muslims are crucial to the electoral fortunes of all leading political formations of the country, but economically and socially they have constantly oscillated between real despair and false hope as those who claim to represent the community’s interests have only flattered to deceive.

While more than 40 per cent of the Muslim respondents across the three categories covered by the survey – minority college students, madarsa pupils and the rest of India – asserted that they are satisfied with the role that religious organisations play in their lives, a majority felt that they do not need a separate Muslim political party to espouse their cause. Clearly, the leadership within and outside the community has failed them. Significantly, however, 58 per cent of minority college students, 50 per cent of madarsa students and 65 per cent of general Muslims said that they do not feel insecure in Hindu majority India and an overwhelmingly large percentage asserted that they would never opt for Pakistan or Bangladesh given a chance.

It is a community in flux. Even though a whole new generation has emerged – for them the baggage of Partition is a thing of the past – they have reason to look back in anger. Yet, the dignity and maturity with which Muslims in general have reacted to the contentious Ayodhya verdict is an indication that the dust is probably beginning to settle and happier days could be up ahead.
But it can never be easy to live down the past no matter how enticing the future may appear to be. It is especially difficult when the past is littered with turns of events that have engendered fear and distrust. It is a bit of a cul-de-sac: while the doctrine of majoritarian supremacy often stares the Muslim community in the face, most political, social or administrative moves aimed at bettering the community's lot evokes instant cynicism. They get battered by Muslim-baiters even as they are accused of being mollycoddled by the so-called pseudo secularists. It's a no-win situation.

The Indian Muslim has had to weather many storms in the past few decades as a result. The Shah Bano case of the 1980s and the then Rajiv Gandhi government’s response to it triggered the accusations of appeasement that have, sadly, continued to dominate all discourse pertaining to Indian Muslims ever since.

In the 1970s, there were riots after riots in different parts of the country and in each case ordinary people bore the brunt as political and religious forces sought to cash in on heightened emotions. In the 1980s, Muslims had to repeatedly ‘pass’ the cricket loyalty test to prove their allegiance to India. In the 1990s, they had to live under the shadow of a Masjid dome that was no more. And in the first decade of the new millennium, the post-Godhra Gujarat riots exposed their vulnerability like never before. And now, every time a terror strike takes place somewhere in india, the common Muslim cowers in trepidation. The historical spectre of the two-nation theory refuses to stop haunting them.

As of April 2010, the 160 million-strong community constitutes 13.4 per cent of India’s population – only two nations, Indonesia (200 million) and Pakistan (174 million), have more Muslims. But their representation in Indian government jobs and security agencies is grossly lower than what it should ideally be.

But all is certainly not lost. The literacy rate among Muslims is 59 per cent against the all-India overall rate of 65 per cent – with a just a little effort, the gap is eminently bridgeable. A Muslim child today attends school for three years and four months compared to the national average of four years. Once again, the distance does not seem to be so yawning that it cannot be closed.
Indeed, once the education gap that separates Muslims and the rest of India is eliminated, everything else could begin to fall in place. What is needed is genuine political will. Indian Muslims have kept their faith in India’s ‘secularism’ in the face of the gravest of provocations. The nation owes them more than mere lip service.


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As long as the US remains adventurous in the Yellow Sea, China will keep playing Pyongyang card to its merit

IIPM Mumbai Campus

A Ship In My Backyard

We will never allow others to keep snoring beside our beds," Chairman Mao Zedong famously quipped years ago when he was asked to define the strategy to contain the hostile nations in the vicinity. Half a century later, with the United States' 7th fleet breathing down their necks in the backyard, the comrades appear as cool as cucumber. There is no confusion it seems. None was allowed to snore then; none, it appears, will be allowed now.

During the last weekend, China proposed emergency consultations among participants to the Six-Party Talks next month amidst growing hostility on the Korean Peninsula.
"After careful deliberations, China proposes emergency consultations, among the heads of delegations to the Six-Party Talks, in early December in Beijing," said Wu Dawei, Chinese special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs. It was China's latest decision following the exchange of artillery fire last week between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

It was deliberated as the ROK and the United States started a four-day joint naval exercise in waters west of the Korean Peninsula, with the US aircraft carrier USS George Washington spearheading the exercise.

However, sources close to TSI have maintained that no live-fire drills were planned at the US' 7th Fleet. Officials would not provide the immediate site for the exercise but sources said it was being conducted at about 160 kilometres south of Yeonpyeong Island, the scene of last week's artillery exchange.

Let's look into the reason behind the current spike in hostilities. The basic rationale behind this showdown is the long-term inter-Korean mutual military deterrence. In the run up to the latest exchange of artillery fire, tensions were still lingering on the Korean Peninsula following the sinking of the Cheonan. The situation was made complex because of the refusal of the US and the ROK to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang while indulging in a series of joint military exercises.
To worsen the situation, in response to the hard-line policy of the US and the ROK, the DPRK took an even pugnacious formulation and threatened to wage war against the ROK saying that if the latter's force infringe on even one inch of its territorial sea, it will come all guns blazing.

More perturbing, Pyongyang unveiled its new uranium enrichment plant to an American scientist while the ROK's hawkish defence minister has hinted that Seoul might weigh asking the US to redeploy nuclear weapons, which were withdrawn from the peninsula following the collapse of Soviet Union.

It is expected that Beijing will try to induce Pyongyang to exercise restraint and stop its military dealings, and will talk Seoul into stopping military determent and showdown. However, under the menace of predominant large-scale US-ROK military exercises, it is hard to conceive of that Pyongyang will evaluate Beijing's proposal.
Recently, China's leaders marked the 60th anniversary of its entry into the Korean War and the "friendship established in battle" with the North. However, experts have started to believe that its neighbour and ally is more often a source of frustration than sympathy these days.

"Of course our statesmen are peeved. But they don't express it in public,” said Shi Yinhong, an expert on Peninsula hostilities at Renmin University in Beijing. “For us it has become increasingly difficult to balance our relationship with the North and the South.”

Experts also warn that Beijing's forbearance would run out if the North continued to act incendiary. Indeed, Beijing's cagy reaction to the artillery attack – refusing to impute blame and calling on all sides to show restraint – should not be mistaken for blessing.

China has, in the past, snubbed the North in public, however, it can not afford to damage its relationship. Pyongyang is already bitter about Beijing's maximising ties with Seoul – financial dealings between China and Seoul reached $140 bn last year; in relation, that with Pyongyang was worth less than $3bn the previous year.

However, America's continued adventures off China's coast has made Beijing prioritise its responses. The situation is made complex by China’s inquisitive attempts to liken economic waters, which commonly extend about 200 nautical miles off a nation's coast, with territorial waters, which normally reach about 12 nautical miles off the same. But experts seem to have answer for that.

"During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union constituted nuclear missile bases on the island, the US objected to the close propinquity of the Soviet weapons system even though they travelled only through international waters to reach Cuba, and the US set up a encirclement to stop them being positioned," points out Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, while talking to TSI. "When the US ponders the idea of positioning its nuclear aircraft carrier in the Yellow Sea, very next to China, shouldn't China have the aforesaid notion as the US did when the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba?" Point Taken.

China may not have the militaristic forte to forcefully forestall such drills now, but it may do so in consequence to such provocative acts in the futurity. Also in terms of geopolitical scheme, the Yellow Sea is the entryway to China's capital area and a critical transit to the heartland of Beijing and Tianjin. The exercise location chosen by the United States and South Korea is only 500 kilometres off Beijing. Naturally, China will be mindful of the security imperativeness from military drills conducted so close to China's heartland.

Major General Luo Yuan, a military expert at the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, says, “7th Fleet has a combat radius of 600 kilometres and its fighters have that of 1,000 kilometres. The drills present a direct security menace to China's hinterland and the Bohai Rim Economic Circle.”

Under the circumstances, China will continue to play the Pyongyang card – a potent card in its hand as a regional and global player. However, there are terminus ad quem to its use as it will not risk regional imbalance, the North's collapse, a deluge of refugees along its extended border with the North and possibly a unified peninsula. As one Chinese diplomat quipped famously, “North Korea is our East Germany. We wont let it die. Remember what happened when East collapsed? Soviet Union collapsed too.” That says it all.

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Film Festival: A not-so-sweet sixteen

IIPM Mumbai Campus

Kolkata's annual cinema celebration has been run to the ground by ill-equipped bureaucrats

The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is riddled with flaws. The principal one is that the Bengal government runs the show. When a festival of this nature is managed by the government, it can only be bad news. No festival in the world is state-controlled to the extent that KIFF is and none is as badly run.

Take the example of the International Film Festival of Kerala. It is organised by a state where the leftist LDF and the Congress-led UDF wield political power by turns. But never does the government get directly involved with the conduct of the film festival. The event is run by an autonomous body made up of filmmakers, producers, actors and cinema experts. The person who is appointed the director of the festival is somebody who has put in years of work in cinema. In contrast, the film festival in Kolkata is headed by the CEO of Nandan Film Centre. It makes no sense at all.
Take the Pusan Film Festival in Korea as another case in point. Currently it is Asia’s number one film festival. It is also counted among the world’s top six or seven film festivals. Like the Kolkata Film Festival, the Pusan event is 16 years old. While the Kolkata festival has steadily lost its lustre, Pusan has gone from strength to strength. It isn’t difficult to see why.

The Kolkata festival is plagued by corruption and nepotism at every level. The event is controlled completely by bureaucrats and politically connected functionaries. They have a free run of the field. No wonder affairs have come to such a sorry pass.
It is not as if the Kolkata Film Festival was always like this. When it started 16 years ago, and for several years thereafter, it was a much-awaited annual celebration of the art and craft of cinema. The first director of this festival was the unimpeachable Prabodh Maitra, whose knowledge of and passion for the medium was beyond question. He has been replaced today by people whose only claim to fame is that they are close to the CM.

These men have decided they can organise a festival by doing DVD projections. They have no clue that DVD projections can never be the real thing. Amazingly, the festival director has argued that major festivals like the one in Cannes also screen DVDs. This false claim obviously stems from a lack of awareness. Has this gentleman ever been to the Cannes Film Festival? If he had, he would never ever said what he has. He would have known that what he claims to be a DVD projection is actually the screening of a master tape, or digibeta.

It is a natural urge for every nation to promote its cultural identity. An international film festival is an important means of doing that. The essence of Kolkata’s intellectual spirit could have been raised to new heights in the 16 years that this film festival has been in existence. The event could have given the city a unique branding of its own. Were that to happen, the exercise would have had the involvement of a wide cross-section of people. However, the bureaucrats at the helm have not allowed that to happen.

To get down to a more specific problem, is every film that the Kolkata Film Festival screens backed by formal permissions from the rights owners? Do they invite the makers of these films as a rule? I have my doubts. Last year, they screened my documentary film, Wagah, but they did not seek my permission nor did they extend a formal invitation to me. In the West, many producers and sales agents refuse to screen their films at festivals unless they receive a screening fee.

Why are policemen deployed in such large numbers at the festival venue? A cultural activity should be a liberating experience that encourages a free exchange of ideas. In the Nandan complex, freedom is conspicuous by its absence. Why should a filmmaker have to seek the permission of policemen to enter the premises. It’s a shame. The complex has no space for adda sessions, no restaurants and no lounges. There is no infrastructure here for people who might want to meet each other in a convivial, relaxed atmosphere.

Several steps need to be taken to salvage the festival from its inertia. First and foremost, it should be taken away from the government and handed over to an autonomous body manned by people who understand cinema. The event should also be turned into a competitive festival – that is the only way to attract high quality films. Pusan and Kerala have competitive festivals. In Kerala, the prize money is to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. Moreover, the focus of the Kolkata film festival should always firmly be on Bengali cinema.

I have another crucial suggestion: the festival should have two directors, one creative, the other financial. And to make the festival really worthwhile for aspiring filmmakers, a film fund should be set up so that grants could be given to promising new projects. It is important to save the Kolkata Film Festival because the fortunes of Bengali cinema are intertwined with its health.

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