Slow, Soothing and Soulful!

Yes, this is about The Slow Interview with Neelesh Misra. I chanced upon it recently even though it has been around for the last few years. When one encounters a tsunami of online content, this comes as a serene island where weary sailors can take a breath and relish the scenery. The metaphor could not have been more apt as these interviews are often conducted in the sprawling outdoors of Misra's home set in a village near Lucknow. Featuring celebrities from different fields, the interviews not only introduce viewers to a never-before-seen side of the interviewee, but also treat them to an alluring audio-visual delight.

The interviews are more like a conversation between friends and not in a standard question-answer format. There is no grand entry by the host and no formal introduction of the guest. Instead, the dialogue could start with "kaisa lag raha hai?" or "Kya chal raha hai mann mein?" Most of the talking is in colloquial Hindi. As the title of the series suggests, the tone of the interview is laid back. The host and the guest could be sitting on a culvert amidst lush green fields, or at a stone picnic table, or on wrought iron garden furniture or they could even be standing on the terrace. The camera lovingly lingers on squirrels, rabbits, birds, goats, cows and peacocks that are very much a part of the rural milieu. Sometimes Misra walks with his guest to Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya, a school founded by his parents more than fifty years ago. The casual chat between his parents and the guest is very interesting and enjoyable. Also, everything about the show makes one long for simple, basic and uncluttered life.

What makes the Slow Interviews so special is the fact that Misra is a very good listener. He asks short questions and waits. The pauses allow the guests to reflect on their thoughts. Many a guest have confessed that they have never said the kind of things about themselves anywhere else as they have in the Slow interview. The rural setting, the open air surroundings and the genial Misra lending a patient ear turn the interview into a therapeutic experience for the guests (as some of them have admitted) as well as for the viewers. Misra makes it a point to ask the guests about their parents, their lives before they became what they are now, and the kind of bringing up they had...almost tracing their personal and career path from the past to the present. Guests have talked about their fears, their insecurities, their adolescent romances, their failures, and their teachers/role models...all thanks to Misra's friendly demeanour and non-judgemental approach. His unique style brings out the best from the guests and viewers start making an emotional connect with the guests' life stories.  

I have watched several Slow Interviews and enjoyed all of them, but did not discuss any specific interview here as that will make this post very long! Instead, I will leave it to those who are interested to find for themselves who and what appeals to them in this series of interviews. Hope to see many more guests getting featured here!  

Misra has donned various hats in his illustrious career. He has been a journalist, lyricist for Hindi films, scriptwriter, radio storyteller and author. The Slow Interview series is available on Youtube.

Gulabo Sitabo: A Quirky Combo!

Gulabo Sitabo are two puppets well-known in the folklore of Uttar Pradesh, sometimes they portray a pair of warring sisters-in-law, at other times they could be the mistress and wife of someone. But in any case, they are constantly bickering with each other about this or that. Early on in the film, we get a short demonstration of the duo in action, being handled by a puppeteer on the roadside in Lucknow.

Ambles in Mirza Chunnan Nawab. a gawky old man in a filthy kurta and short pajama, his tall frame bent in a hunch, eyes hidden behind thick glasses, bulbous nose sticking out, head covered with a scarf, and sporting a flowing white beard. Mirza picks up the puppeteer's kitty from the mat spread out in front of him, and limps away nonchalantly to his haveli, a crumbling old mansion way past its days of glory.

The grand old mansion "Fatima Mahal" has been inherited by Begum Fatima, a woman in her nineties who happens to be the wife of Mirza, 17 years her junior. She lives in her own world, rarely stepping out of her quarters. Pampered by her attendant, she enjoys relative luxury upstairs, compared to Mirza who is relegated to a room somewhere downstairs. This odd couple seems to be occupying the haveli from time immemorial. They are childless, but they have families of several tenants for company, who too appear to be living there forever, paying pittance to the landlady for rent.

The tenants are a disgruntled lot, struggling to survive in the abysmal conditions in the worn haveli, their woes exacerbated by the petty actions of Mirza, who keeps discovering new ways of making life difficult for them. The most vocal among them is Baankey Rastogi, a flour mill owner who lives in a part of the haveli with his mother and three sisters.

This is the delicious set-up around which Juhi Chaturvedi weaves her story, and Shoojit Sircar calls the shots as the director. The haveli, though dilapidated, has many lusting after it including Mirza, Baankey, a government officer from the department of archaeology, and a builder. Their greed makes them play a game of trying to outwit one another in order to acquire the property. The begum, seemingly oblivious to all this, relaxes in her chamber, sleeping peacefully under a mosquito net or getting henna applied to her hair.

The film has an old-world charm. The haveli, which is the piece de resistance of the story, has been captured very lovingly on camera. Its facade and interiors look awesome even in their run down condition. The outdoor shots bring alive streets, markets, arched gates, skyline, spires and domes of Lucknow, lending it a lovely local touch.

Amitabh Bachchan looks and acts a bit too old for his 78-year-old character, but he has maintained his bearing, complete with the prosthetics and the limp very well. He has had to tone down his famous baritone to a mutter. Some might feel that he has been reduced to a caricature, but full credit to him for carrying that look with conviction.

Ayushmann Khurrana as the school dropout looks every bit the flour mill owner that he is supposed to portray, his clothes dusted with flour. His social awkwardness is a result of his underprivileged background, in addition he has to deal with a well-to-do girlfriend, and a sister who is smarter than him. He is always at the receiving end of Mirza's petty acts, struggling to hold his own. The two indulge in a cat-and-mouse game that doesn't exactly set off fireworks, but generates some amusement. He speaks with a slight lisp, perfecting the lingo of the region he is supposed to be from. With this role, he has added one more character to his repertoire.

Vijay Raaz as the "arcology" officer, Brijendra Kala as the lawyer, and Srishti Shrivastava as the spunky go-getter Guddo are all spot-on in their performances. In fact, this film is more about sparkling performances than anything else. They are what carry the film through its slow pace at times. And they are what lend gentle comic touches to it. The dialogues are effervescent, and speak the language of "Nakhlau".

Lastly, it is Farrukh Jafar who is wholesome, funny and spirited in spite of being in her mid-eighties. She plays a woman in her mid-nineties and has the last laugh!

"Gulabo Sitabo" was released on Amazon Prime Video on June 12, 2020.