So, Sunday has been good for me. The radio show {see Radio Pancham} airs 'Mera Rang De Basanti Chola' from 23RD MARCH 1931 SHAHEED (This bad-mouthful-of-a-name film stars Bobby Deol as Bhagat Singh) and from THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH (with Ajay Devgan essaying the title role). The former is scored by Anand Raaj Anand and the latter by A R Rahman (who deserves plaudits for being less synthetic on the song). It was easy to spot the Rahman composition, and I see a clear winner on his hands. Now to hope that the film isn't another China Gate.
Soon after the Indian Radio Show had wrapped I went out for lunch with Chris to Candler Park. The place was Gato Bizco, which is interesting in that for dinner it takes on a different menu AND a different name, Gato de Noche. Great food too. The neighbourhood is a slice out of the older times. More homely houses and clearly a not-so-affordable place to live in, almost like a little Koregaon Park (which Atlanta has a lot of, separated by pseudo-metropolitan patches of car roads peppered with uniform mundane red-brick houses). A walk after lunch brought us to Full Moon Records (voted in the past by Creative Loafing as the best place to sell CDs). All tapes go for $3.99 and the CDs go for $7.99 (that's the same for used or new CDs). A decent variegated selection, unlike most used stores/zones that house a lot of junk! Got myself the original release (1972, single CD) of Deep Purple's awesome live album Made in Japan (NOTE: If a good rock band tours Japan, the CDs are a world apart. Mr. Big seemed to enjoy similar success with their Japan tour).
The next stop was Sona Imports. Finally! I was not disappointed. Take a medium-sized Indian grocery store. Now, take out everything that does not classify as audio/visual. Replace that with audio/visual (read: audio tapes, CDs, DVDs, VHS) material and voila you have Sona Imports. They had a great collection of rare R D Burman compilations too, especially the one I heard on the radio. To add icing to this cake, there was a shelf slot devoted completely to Mithun Chakraborty starrers. What more could a B-film afficionado wish for?? That said, I couldn't leave empty-handed. Here's what I got
The Golden Collection: Asha Sings for R D Burman (4-cassette/HMV)
Enchanting hour with Amit Kumar vol I (CD/T-series)
Duets all the way: Amit Kumar vol I (CD/T-series)
Evergreen hits of R D Burman (CD/T-series)
Kalakaar/Agar Tum Na Hote (CD/BMG)
Bhanwar - Rakhi Aur Hathkadi - Imaan - Dil Ka Raaja (CD/HMV)
Jaise Ko Taisaa - Rickshawala (CD/HMV) {The CD interestingly features a snapshot from Biwi O Biwi instead of Rickshawala}
Jawani Diwani - Yeh Vaada Raha (CD/Polygram)
Disco Dancer/Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki/Tarzan (CD/HMV)
As we drove on Ponce, Studio 360 was running a show on Cinematic Time, about how films have used or played around with time as we (the viewers and filmmakers) understand it. They used Memento, Run Lola Run, Timecode and Rashomon as examples. Several interesting viewpoints there, including one that looked at these films (especially Memento, with it's everyone is using me and time has no meaning take) as representing current social conditions. This was followed by a little feature on the Long Now Foundation, which is designing a clock to tell time over 10,000 years. It will tick once a year, chime once a century, and play music once a millennium.
Since the weather was SO good, we drove to Freedom Park . In addition to a nice walking/jogging/cycling track (except for this randomly placed orange fence that destroyed the colour composition wherever it lay), the place includes a bunch of faux-Victorian houses with a merciful variety in colour schemes). We had a merry walk to the Jimmy Carter Centre (didn't go in for a tour, but just sat outside and took in the great weather and well-groomed gardens). We then drove back to Midtown. The Freedom Parkway traffic stop has the best daytime view of Downtown, a vision that threatens to consume you as you drive into it!
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