"Jodhaa Akbar" an Epic from India

I don't know the reason why I selected this movie, Jodhaa Akbar, from Netflix. I suspected it was from Ted, but I can't find the reference. [see here. -Ted] It is a truly breathtaking spectacle and has a theme that will appeal to all those who value personal integrity, honor, and bravery. In the 1550's, a benevolent emperor, Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, has the ambition to unify Hindustan by peaceful means. The scenery is gorgeous, the characters are well crafted, and the plot is heroic in scale.

This movie will be roundly condemned by the usual militant supects because the hero is tolerant of all religions and even marries a Hindu while he himself is a Muslim. Some viewers may be critical of it for being too long (3 hrs 45 min) and for being subtitled, but I found neither to be distracting. This film is available on YouTube. For a detailed description you can read more about it at Wikipedia. I recommend it, unreservedly. There is no doubt that Bollywood can produce first rate, grand scale movies.
–Sam Erica

Here is the studio trailer:



And here is the first segment of the full length film with better sound and English subtitles:

Ergo Sum's "Leitmotif" Rational Egoism in India

Jerry J., who goes by the web name Ergo Sum, is one of India's bright young urban professionals with a positive sense of life and a pro-reason, pro-Western, pro-happiness attitude. A Mumbai (Bombay) resident, it is his chosen lifestyle that certain subhumans chose to attack recently. It is sad and ironic when terrorist barbarians know better than "civilized" Westerners what India has to be proud of.

He has invited me to reprint one of his posts from his blog and website, Leitmotif (http://ergosum.wordpress.com/) . Leitmotif is a humanist website, not just an Indian one. Jerry's interests are wide ranging, and his clarity and writing style are exemplary. There are many things of interest, and I recommend you stop by and check him out. Here is a favorite post of mine "Flamenco Passion":

Flamenco Passion

The flamenco dance is like an Ayn Rand novel in rhythmic action: hard-hitting, sharp, precise, thunderous, passionate, Flamenco Dancergripping, poised, and proud. Since the day I first witnessed a flamenco dance performance in concert, I have never forgotten the visceral experience of exaltation I had nor have I come to regard any other dance form as rivaling this one. The flamenco portrays man at his best, proudest, and most passionate stature. It depicts a committment to clarity and precision in movement. Its expressions are fierce and its colors, vivid.

The flamenco can be a fiery celebration of life, or love, or lust, or power, or some intense emotion. Its artistic selectivity is focused on the stark elements of human actions and emotions: the expressions are not vapid or one of ambivalence. The dancer’s expressions are focused, sharp, intense, often proudly disdainful, also exuberant, and radiant. The dancer moves with a loud, deliberate THUD, as if readying for battle. The subtleties of its movements are expertly weaved into the stark contrasts in its execution.

For me, after having watched a flamenco concert, I feel a new, revitalized, surge of energy–a nourishment of my soul, a renewed committment to the pursuit of my happiness in this life. I begin to walk upright with my neck slightly raised; my poise exudes more confidence; my stance implies purposeful action; my gaze reveals some worthy goal.

This is what Romantic art does. In The Romantic Manifesto, Ayn Rand aptly describes this important function of art:

Since a rational man’s ambition is unlimited, since his pursuit and achievement of values is a lifelong process… he needs a moment, an hour or some period of time in which he can experience the sense of his completed task, the sense of living in a universe where his values have been successfully achieved. It is like a moment of rest, a moment to gain fuel to move farther. Art gives him that fuel; the pleasure of contemplating the objectified reality of one’s own sense of life is the pleasure of feeling what it would be like to live in one’s ideal world. The fuel is not a theoretical principle but the fact of experiencing a moment of metaphysical joy – a moment of love for existence.

[The image of the dancer is copyrighted to Tim Kahane and was obtained by me from this Flickr link.]

Stop by Leitmotif today.

"Yaadein" a Bollywood Treat

Back in 2001 an Indian friend (who had to leave the country after 9-11 when his work visa was not renewed) lent me the movie Yaadein ("Memories"). I had told him I was interested in hearing some classical Indian music. He suggested I watch this Bollywood movie with its pop music. The movie was nothing high-brow; a soap opera plot, 1970's disco attire, boy-band performances, Busby Berekely for the Twenty-First Century. But the sense of life was positive, the music catchy, and the spice exotic from a Western viewpoint. The story was forgettable, just a vehicle for the music. I am sure there must be better movies than Yaadein, but you'd have to ask a Hindi speaker.

Here you can listen to "Jub Dil Miley, Tub Gul Khiley." (I am pretty sure it means "When the heart is sweet the rose blooms.")