Category Archives: 1-By Laksh

All these articles are from Laksh’s desk

1-By Laksh, ET, TV

Perry Mason: A super origin story on HBO

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In Indian mythology, Hindu God Krishna teaches a lesson to the dreaded child killer Kamsa, and announces his arrival as the incarnation of Supreme God. Perry Mason’s legend begins the moment he solves the crime involving a child killing and when justice is delivered both in and out of the court room.

Image Courtesy: HBO

Perry Mason (HBO) Season 1 springs several surprises during the course of its eight episodes, by toying with the pace of narration, as in the super fast transformation of Perry Mason into a lawyer. But the writers keep the best for the last. (Spoilers ahead)

In Episode 8, showing the actual perpetration of the crime while Perry Mason struggles to weave a coherent and convincing argument sets up the emotional build-up very nicely. It gives a reason to his outburst, as someone who knows for sure what the truth is and the innocence of his client, yet has to find a way to get it across to the jury. In one masterstroke, the writers managed not only to create the drama in the court room but also help Perry Mason understand what lawyering (with a profanity for emphasis), is all about. And in the process also bring out the key differentiator in the characterization of Perry Mason, as someone who is a crusader, and takes everything very personal. A case is always a more than just a case for our detective turned lawyer, and hence a hero with a mission.

What’s really terrific about the series is the lavish scale on which it is mounted and the effort in bringing out the racial and gender prejudices that are relevant even today.  And it warms your heart when Ms.Della Street announces her intentions to be a lawyer without a modifier and his detective having no inhibitions in haggling for his fee. Differences apart, they make one heck of a team.

Season 1 of Perry Mason succeeds in creating the legend of how it all began and now the audience is ready for his exploits. It would be interesting to see how Season 2 is handled, if it would be one big case again or a series of small ones set for a big finale.

1-By Laksh

A hearful of goodies from the 90s.

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There are times when your pocket is empty, but the heart is full with a child like emotion. And you scrounge for every penny to buy an audio tape to listen to your favourite artiste/band– Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Bach, L.Subramaniam etc. Most likely you started off the illegal way i.e. buying blank cassettes and copying from the original songs from a friend, and graduating to buying a copy for yourself. Your collection would grow over a period of time, but you had to tuck them deep inside your shelf and show it just to your best buddy, because your parents would know that every transaction to the local store had incurred an invisible service charge.

This was much before iTunes where you could buy tracks separately, so even if you were very careful and choosy, you would be still ‘cheated’ with unwanted tracks when you buy the tape for the track/s you liked. You wanted original tapes anyway, even though the collections you recorded made for far better listening, as it had all the tracks you loved.

‘Another day in paradise’ was one such song from Phil Collins (now available free on Youtube), was one of my first additions to the original tapes. It redefined scrounging for me, as Magnasound the company that released it, would typically price English music tapes over and above Rs.60. My mother would sense a sudden spurt in my enthusiasm for trips to the local store and notice my forgetfulness, much to my chagrin, to account for the handed over money.

Music all on digital now and there is no fool proof way to play the cassettes without getting stuck or at a higher quality than that is available now, but this boxful of goodies is a reference to the experience a true feeling. I keep reminding myself that it’s the dream in the heart that matters, and never the size of the pocket.

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘The Perfect Murder’

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Inspector Ghote/Naseeruddin Shah

Middle class is called so for a reason. They float between flying aspirations and ground reality. They need to prioritize everything in life, and Inspector Ghote is no different. He just has to prioritize even more…from a list of three or more important priorities at work and a zillion at home. He would love to travel abroad but he is prioritising his other ground priority, a colour TV.

‘The Perfect Murder’ (based on HRF Keating’s work) released in 1988 is a perfect film in terms of casting led by the sublime Naseeruddin Shah. He brings such a human touch to his portrayal, that if Police were to showcase a friendly brand at that time, he would’ve been the perfect ambassador. As a man stickler to process and procedure, and burdened under Indian culture and conditions yet determined to do his job, he delivers one of the finest performances surprisingly in a detective/inspector led crime movie role. All the other cast members including the veteran Amjad Khan with his Indian English (only), shine in the Mumbai backdrop film.

With a new series around Inspector Ghote, around the corner, it will be interesting to see how the new avatar would take shape. Will it be a tech savvy reboot like Sherlock or a gritty and grisly Perry Mason? Worth finding it out.