Stereo Sound...So Typical!!!

WARNING: This post gets a tad too long but like every other one, this is personal!

A couple of days back, my good friend, Anand Bhaskar sent me an e-mail. He sent me a certain movie review by one Nirpan Dhaliwal published in The Guardian, a widely read British newspaper. The movie reviewed was "Rock On" that Dhaliwal completely dismissed.
Now it isn't the fact that Dhaliwal thrashed one of my favourite movies that was disturbing. A movie critic is absolutely and should be free to express whatever and however he feels about a certain film. I totally respect that!
What was extremely upsetting was how Dhaliwal chose to attack a culture under the pretext of a film review.
One can read the review at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/sep/09/rockon .
Below are both Anand and my reactions:
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Anand's response:
Dear Sir,
I went through your review of the movie ROCK ON at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/sep/09/rockon, and I would like to express my views on the same.
I'll start by addressing this to Mr. Dhaliwal himself. APPARENTLY you have a much skewed perception of the Indian Rock Scenario or shall I say the Indian Rock Underground and so does your friend who's researching a book on contemporary Indian youth culture. I would like to comment on various sections of your review.
(1) "The film is split between their younger years when they pursued their dreams and the present, where they're presented as jaded, wistful romantics who regret having sold themselves out for a life of conventional affluence. But the truth is that they never made it because their band, Magik, sucked – big time! Sentimental, anodyne and bereft of any radical edge, their music rocks but only like a granny in a chair."

Do you have any idea, sir, that how true this is. The movie shows exactly what happens in India. People who make bands, and follow their passion for rock, ultimately face the fact that ROCK MUSIC in India DOES NOT HAVE A FUTURE! Purely because money hungry producers go for stupid, lousy and NOISY music which has a local buzz rather than a genre which hasn't been explored fully yet. Has it ever dawned to you that MAYBE the music in the film was purposely composed in a way which was strictly hard rock??? Despite rock music's low popularity in India the tracks are hits, even with the "non-rock listening" audience. Apparently you are the only one with a view that the music sucked which I didn't. Some of the best musicians in India contributed to the tracks of the film. The music sticks to the "Rock Genre" and yet caters to the taste of the “general” Indian Audience.

(2) "This movie presents everything I hate most about modern India's MTV-addicted middle-class youth. Their desperate, pretentious efforts at looking hip and modern seep through this movie like effluent from a leaking toilet: chin-beards and over-stylised haircuts, faux-grunge designer outfits, empty postures of rebellion, over-enthusiastic pseudo-laddish camaraderie and stupid nicknames (the drummer calls himself KD, short for "Killer Drummer")."

Do only Brit Born Indians or Westerners have a right to make efforts to look stylish and hip? Chin-Beards?? What the hell is wrong with that? Why does it make anyone Wannabe-ish? “Desperate, Pretentious Efforts???” Who makes you the judge of that? “Empty postures of rebellion??” Perhaps you have absolutely no idea of the Indian Rock Underground.

(3) “In the west, it's long been acknowledged that the only respectable reason for forming a band is to become famous, get out of your skull on drugs and have sex with battalions of groupies. That nihilistic hedonism is the energy that has spurred every great band–The Stones, The Sex Pistols, through to Oasis. But India's mollycoddled bourgeois hipsters, who all live with their mums, seem to do it only for the backslapping fun of it, before marrying nice girls and sinking into cushy careers.”

Oh, I think its time to feel sorry for the “Wannabe-ish Indian Rock Acts” who do not form a band only to indulge in nihilistic hedonism. It is half-baked presumptions such as yours that are responsible for the surge of wannabes in any rock scenario. “Sex, Drugs and Rock n roll” is just a phrase now, most bands concentrate more on the quality of their music, and perhaps you don’t know that. And yeah, it is true that they live with their mums and dads, but I would like to point to the fact that 99% of the youngsters who try and persuade rock as a career are FORCED by family and peers to take up cushy careers not to mention music producers who want remixes in rock albums as shown in the movie.

4. “Rock music in India isn't spawned by the rage of the poor and dispossessed, as it so often is in the West. Here, it is exclusively the pastime of English-speaking, privately-educated rich kids. Hence, there will never be anything like punk in India.”

“Rage of the poor???” Have you EVER been to India? I am sure you have, but maybe you were TOO busy to notice that the “poor” in India DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH, neither are they brought up in conditions that make them appreciate something as refined as rock music, and yes only the rich can appreciate rock music, simply because they UNDERSTAND the LANGUAGE! I’m really not sure how or most importantly, WHY, you would expect a rickshaw wallah or a common milkman to understand rock music, or considering an impossible probability, form a rock band!

I would like to mention the fact that I find your review horrendous and offensive to the Indian audience and most importantly to those who compete in one of the most competitive education systems to find respectable professions. I was born and brought up in this country, and founded and fronted a pioneer “Indian Rock” band named Descant. And I understand the hardships that any band in India has to go through to get record deals. We took 3 years to launch one EP titled MAD AMBITION. You were born and brought up in Britain, where a Brit Rock band hits the international rock scene every year. Coldplay, The Killers are the best examples. The same, sadly isn’t easy for and India n Rock band. And I am not sure that you’ve EVER been a part of festivals such as the Great Indian Rock or I Rock or Hornbill Festival or Strawberry Fields. Your comments are purely based on a bird’s eye view of India and the Indian rock scene, something which is not expected from a reputed journalist such as yours. I suggest picking up a few copies of Rock Street Journal to understand what’s going on before writing absolutely lame reviews based purely on your prejudices about India.

Thanks and Regards
Anand Bhaskar

Anand's webpages:
http://bhaskarspace.blogspot.com/
http://bhaskarview.blogspot.com/
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My response:
Sir,
This might seem a rather "Johnny-come-lately" thingie especially since the movie in question has been long released and is already out on DVD but I could not help but endorse Anand Bhaskar's views.
More so because Nirpal Dhaliwal's efforts at reviewing "Rock On" reflects a perspective that is twisted and disgustingly dangerous.
I wouldn't really be critical about how a movie critic goes about doing his job. I respect opinions but not opinionated people. I sure will agree that the movie was not really a masterpiece but it had its own appeal. What is absolutely outlandish is how Dhaliwal chooses to spew venom at a culture and country with a movie review as a pretext.
It's mighty saddening to note Dhaliwal's short-sightedness about a country he probably has no idea about. He dares to make fleeting statements at his own peril and such views published in a publication like The Guardian would only help to build further stereotypes.
Very apparently, Dhaliwal is best said, warped in time, when he talks about the whole "sex, drugs and rock n roll" thing. So we do stay with our parents! Is that bad? What was the last band you heard, Dhaliwal? Iron Maiden still plays to sold out venues. And I don't remember them being a part of the "sex, drugs and rock n roll" phase. Jim Morrison was, so was Hendrix. They are dead!!! SEX PISTOLS SUCKS; and the less said about the Gallaghers' dumb attempt at rock music, the better!
Just to second Anand's opinion, bands whether Indian or from the West now are more into the kind of music they dish out and not getting stoned silly in some alley.
And for Dhaliwal's information, I have a "cushy career" or day jobs as is known in the civilized world that pays me well. And I have a band too that I gig around with. I stay with my mum indeed, and my dad and sister as well and I find it completely normal to do so. It would be lovely if I do marry a "nice girl". Hopefully, so has Dhaliwal. And surprise, surprise Dhaliwal, nobody finds this lifestyle abnormal, not in India, not in U.K. or anywhere else where people know me.
With this whole issue being associated with The Guardian and for the love of still being a responsible media representative and a pissed off consumer later keep me from stooping to the levels of Dhaliwal and making sweeping generalisations like he so loves.
Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal, for the love of God, it's about "reviewing a movie"; don't confuse it as a platform to attack a culture that you don't subscribe to.
Thanks and regards
Biprorshee
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Late addition: Neha's response:

Hiya

A friend of mine just forwarded me his angry reply to Mr.Nirpal Dhaliwal's review of the movie 'Rock On!!!' and I feel compelled to say that I was completely aghast at the way your movie reviewer based in New Delhi starts his review with a personal attack.

"India is currently thronging with wannabe rock acts." Is this the only country which has a section of pseudos? How can a man sitting on a chair pass a comment like that? Is it fair? Is India spawning wannabes and The Guardian will condone this man's view?

I am a journalist myself, and I tend to swing towards objectivity rather than petty stone pelting for perverse joy. My editor will not lap such a sentence "India is currently thronging with wannabe rock acts." in a hurry. There has to be a fair analysis of a movie, not a personal agenda in the making at the very start of a review! The build-up to the movie's review is an absolute shame.

However, his review is amusing purely because it barely passes off as a movie review! It is more about his anger towards some real or imaginary rock musicians in the country. Maybe Mr.Dhaliwal had successive bad nights at a pub where they didn't play good music. How else can you justify his comments? Please see the movie yourself.

Regards

Neha

Neha's blog:

http://mostlyfordistraction.blogspot.com/

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All things bright and Biprorshee