There are lot of small tidbits that seem to be waiting to be expressed.. blognothings!! First of all about the last weekend.. I happened to go to a show by Bangalore Film Society.. they were having this festival about women.. I watched 2 shows there..

1. A documentary ( video link) about women in Jaffna, Sri Lanka: No more tears, sister

This was in particular about one Anatomy professor ( A tamil Christian female) , who on the event of the war becomes involved , when her sister is taken as a political prisoner for supporting LTTE, which then was an idealistic outfit filled with revolutionaries with a dream and a need for justice.  Later on the tone of the outfit changed as a  hardliner and more violence and the sisters lose hope and disenchanted. However, this lady returns to Jaffna to continue to live and teach there. To manage to keep a semblance of normalcy. She becomes vocally involved into human rights and is killed by LTTE for her stringent opposition against both LTTE and the Sri Lankan government..

The salient points that i loved about this documentary

1. The story is said by the victims, sister , husband and children and hence is very personal

2. At places, her own letters to her sister and husband is read, which tracks down the growth of a formidable woman from a seemingly clueless and naive girl

3. Few quotes.. Like when she wrote to her husband.. " A revolutionary has no cause.. no country.. no religion..just violence" and what she said about the women.. " Its amazing how these women take care of the house, provide food for the children and in general keep the home fires burning even when they are caught in the middle of the war and they are losing family either to sickness or to the war.. while men are busy fighting for the country that is rapidly depleting.. the world that we knew as kids no longer is present..."

4. The portrayal is very very sensitive and doesn't take side.. even though initially it seems so coz both the sisters were enamoured by violence..

I guess its the mark of maturity when one accepts that in war there are no victors.. just dead bodies!!

2. Sanchaaram ( The journey): This was a Malayalam movie with English subtitles. It amazingly talked about lesbainism and the journey of exploring sexuality of two females in the restrictive society that looks down at it. The subject was handled with amazing sensitivity.. the first sexual fantasy of one of the protogonist, her confusion, guilt and finally the acceptance. The sweetness of the first touch.. even though it was about sex.. there is no scene in the movie which you could call nude or explicit. It simply is about two close friends who realize they love each other more than just friends. And how both the family reacts.. and how they cope up with it and well how they realize they are meant to be together. I loved it. Though I am not oriented that way.. I find.. and imagine that sexual relations between tow females would be more than just satisfying.. it would be amazingly sweet and a celebration of togetherness.. 

And just today, saw this amazing comedy called as "Beyond the land of hattamala"  It is a play that was hosted in Rangashankara. It tells a story of 2 theives who end up in an unknown land where there is no concept of buying, selling or even money. They keep jewels, money and anything precious in Library, where you can borrow it for sometime if you like ( personally I love this concept! You can renovate every month if you like!!) .. every one works at their favorite "profession" and they live happily ever after.. with the theives learning their lesson :) Well it has a simple almost cliched morale.. its not the script but the acting of the supposedly amateur theatre group that made it value for money.. the easy conversational tone of the main lead actor and his antics kept us so entertained that there was spontaneous appluase not just after the different acts but also in between the story.. And not to forget the guy with the guitar.. he not only sang songs in English but also in hindi and Bengali.. especially the song with folksy "naav wala" tone with lyrics in english. He even gave a little back ground effect with the tone when the theif hides.. it was lovely..

Ah and this is an adaptation of Badal Sircar's play of the same name( more information here)