baboo band baaja is a marathi film directed by debutante rajesh pinjani and produced by nita jadhav .

the film tells the riveting tale of a father reluctant to educate his son , a mother who fiercely believes in its liberatory value , and the son who is caught in the crossfire .

it stars milind shinde , mitalee jagtap varadkar and vivek chabukswar in the lead roles .

the film received three national film awards , including for best actress ( mitalee jagtap varadkar ) and best debut film of a director , and six maharashtra state film awards .

baboo band baaja

baboo band baaja ( marathi ) – producer : nita jadhav . director : rajesh pinjani
baboo band baaja movie review : a sneak peek into the life of a vidarbha bandwallah .
baboo band baaja | f . i . g . h . t c . l . u . b
baboo band baaja movie review : a sneak peek into the life of a vidarbha bandwallah . | mad about moviez
baboo band baaja is a simple , heartfelt story of what appears to be parents’ struggle to make things better , and turns into something so painful , it takes a piece of your heart .
unpredictable incidents set in all roil up a spate of questions – is baboo going continue studying or join his father’s band ? is life finally going to change , despite the fact that his mother is striving hard ? baboo band baaja is a hard - hitting film showing the irrepressible surge to soar in life , pitted against the vicious grip of circumstances .
with respect to remakes , i don’t think some movies can be remade into any other language . baboo band baaja is essentially a film from vidarbha and remaking it into hindi would be equivalent to killing the authenticity of the subject .
all in all , baboo band baaja is a worthy addition to the marathi new wave , which , like a lot of good iranian cinema of the ’80s and ’90s , uses children’s stories as a medium of socio - political critique .
baboo band baaja manages to take a slice out of village life and place it before audiences who are ordinarily subjected to , well , tripe . like deool , it is one of those films that makes the marathi film industry proud . i only hope that there are enough screens that are showing this film with subtitles , so that the audience is not limited to only people who understand marathi . baboo band baaja is a film worth investing in , not just financially , but emotionally as well .
produced by nita jadhav and directed by debutante rajesh pinjani baboo band baaja is a film about the significance of education within the rural areas of the country . the story shows the irrepressible urge to soar in life despite getting caught up in unfavourable circumstances .
the traditional ‘bandwalas’ of rural india are an integral part of every ceremony like a child birth or a marriage or a funeral procession . but the tragic thing is that they are thought as untouchable and never get the respect for their art and skills . “baboo band baaja” is a story of a poor ‘bandwalaa’ , jaggu , who has lent his instrument to get some money due to unavoidable circumstances . now he has to hire his own instruments back and restart his own band party named after his son – baboo . jaggu advices baboo’s mother , shirmi , wants him to learn and become a shcoolteacher . she decides to help her son again’s all odds . ————————————————————————————————————baboo band baaja is a tug - of - war between fate and hope… babbo is the son of a band player living in dreadful poverty . his father has resigned to the idea that his son would have to carry on their family tradition of playing the band at the functions in the village . by contrast , his mother is doing everything possible to get him educated . though all his music instruments are mortgaged , the father helplessly dreams to restart his band one day – baboo band party .
marathi film baboo band baaja by rajesh pinjan and dooman river / la riviere tumen by zhang lu bagged the government of maharashtra ' s best marathi and international films awards respectively at the 9th pune international film festival ( piff ) , which concluded here on thursday .
among the marathi film awards , the jury recommended special mention for acting of sachin khedekar in taryache bait . abmcm award of rs 25 , 000 for best cinematographer went to raja fadtare and sandeep varadkar for baboo band baaja , best screenplay award of rs 25 , 000 went to saurabh bhave and kiran yadnyopavit for taryanche bait .
adopted a much more bright and positive outlook . amazingly , the makers of baboo band baajaa were observant enough to find a story in vidarbha which was equally if not more captivating than that of the cotton farmers .
we first heard about baboo band baaja when it bagged three national awards – for best first film of a director , best actress and best child artist . the film has been ready for quite sometime and it finally released last friday . some of the theatres are screening the film with subtitles . here’s mohit patil ‘s recco post for the film .
the 58th national film awards were announced recently . here is the list of winners : • best feature film : adaminte makan abu ( malayalam ) • indira gandhi award for best debut film of a director : baboo band baaja ( marathi ) • award for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment : dabangg ( hindi ) • nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration : [ … ]
jaggu is a man who runs a band that plays at every occasion in the village , be it a funeral or a marriage . a band that he has named after his only son , baboo . baboo’s mother does odd jobs for a living and has big dreams for her son – she wants to educate him in the best possible manner , against all odds . but their circumstances are such that they can’t even afford to buy him a school uniform . jaggu , on the other hand , believes that his son should take after him in the band , since that is what the men in their family have been doing for generations . stuck in the middle is baboo , a bright little kid who is always thrown out of class for some reason or the other .
if a little tugging at your heartstrings is what you need , then baboo band baaja is the film for you this weekend . this multiple national award - winning film is a simple story of the tough circumstances a family in a village face , and the manner in which they deal with it . embellished with some earnest performances that are hard to forget , this little gem is the kind of film that we should feel responsible to support .
bandwallahs are common in all places in india . the peculiarity of the vidarbha bandwallah is that he doesn’t play only at weddings but also at funerals and other occasions like the birth of a child . baboo band baaja is a heartening story of such kind of a band member and his family’s struggle to lift themselves up from abject poverty . the film is also a fine portrayal of a tug - of - war between fate and poverty . a done to death subject ? the struggles of a ‘bandwallah’ to meet his ends were hereunto undiscovered in cinema . and therein lays the film’s strength .
in a surprise move , the awards jury urged the government to shell out an additional rs . 2 . 5 lakh to ensure that both actors , as well as the two women selected for the best actress award — tamil actor saranya ponvannan for thenmerkku paruvakkatru and marathi actor mitalee jagtap paradhar for her performance in baboo band baaja — and the four children chosen for the best child artist award , did not have to split the prize money as was usually the case .
now , whether the film will be applauded by the masses remains to be seen . the director - producer rajesh pinjani though doesn’t plan to release it any soon . he hopes to get it to various international festivals first and gain some reputation . with the difficulty involved in releasing an offbeat marathi film in india one hopes that baboo band baaja is bought by some foreign distributors like gabhricha paus did . the similarity of the title of the film to the popular yashraj film band baaja baarat will be helpful to the cause of the film or would go against it also remains to be seen . but there is no doubt that the film is very likely to strike a chord with filmgoers . let’s hope that the film does get a good release and reaches a very wide audience which it certainly deserves .
thank once again for recommending and making us aware of another good film from marathi cinema . hope the film gets a wide release and ends up going the gabhricha paus way . hope that the similarity of the tile wrt yrf ‘ band baaja baarat doesn’t harm its prospects . keep up the good work n thanks for the recco .
rajesh pinjani’s debut film , baboo band baja , was made nearly two years ago and even won 4 national awards including best actress , best child artist and best debut feature last year . but it’s taken this long for his poignant tale of rural exploitation and poverty to finally get a well deserved , even if belated , theatrical release .
baboo , played convincingly by vivek chabukswar , is a sincere student who shows interest in studies but due to his economic conditions there are quite a few obstacles in his way . having a father who doesn’t encourage his schooling also doesn’t help . but baboo doesn’t lose his resolve to learn . his mother makes him a makeshift notebook out of a few loose pages . baboo’s school teacher though doesn’t approve of the notebook and punishes him by repeatedly hitting it on his head . while facing the punishment baboo is more worried about his book and pleads with his teacher to stop hitting him not because it is hurting him but the notebook , made with so much love by his mother , will tear .
after watching the marathi film , the border director got so emotional that he decided to remake itbollywood’s veteran producer and director jp dutta , who is known for his memorable films like border , refugee , loc , kargil and umrao jaan is all set to remake an award - winning marathi film . the 63 - year - old recently watched baboo band baja and [ … ]
last month , miranda house travelled back to the ' 70s as meghna gulzar and alia bhatt shot for raazi in the college . it was the first time that most of the students were witnessing a film shoot and they tried their best to get a glimpse of the actress . ' raazi ' is the latest addition to the list of films that have been shot in du , which goes back to ' do dooni chaar ' ( 2010 ) and ' band baaja baaraat ' ( 2010 ) .
there are a few poignant moments between jaggu’s wife shirmi and their son baboo . a scene where the school pant for her son that shirmi trades with vessels ends up being too loose , brings a smile on your face .
( for a riveting tale of a father reluctant to educate his son , a mother who fiercely believes in its liberatory value , and the son who is caught in the crossfire , ‘baboo’ is an outstanding debut project by director . )
jaggya wants baboo to become a band member like him . the reason for this call isn’t a father wanting to see his son to be like him , but his presumption that there is no other way out . “we villagers are in no way helped by the technological advancements , ” he argues , “all that has changed is the number of airplanes flying above our heads” . throughout the film , we see his mother as a heterodox in a comparatively orthodoxical society . she wants to educate her son and goes to great lengths to earn money to buy books for baboo , whose school master won’t allow him in without books and uniform . she’s elated when she gets a pair of khaki shorts in exchange for a larger vessel , which can be used as her son’s school uniform . and she is enraged when she discovers that the reason for her husband’s anger is the fact that baboo has lost his rattle and not that he has lost his school bag .
another very impressive thing about baboo band baaja is that it has a very keen eye for detail . not a single thing here seems unauthentic or out - of - place . especially , the language used here , is pure gold . if you couldn’t buy the hindi speaking characters in some of our recent urban rom - coms , or the characters not referring to mumbai as bombay or bambai in dhobi ghat , you are bound to be more than satisfied with the language and the actors’ inch perfect dialect here . the instruments that the bandwallahs play in the film , the songs that they play , selecting the dress code for the grand wedding they are appointed for , the astute observations about the local life in vidarbha… discovering these rural life vignettes first hand is pure joy , so i’d rather not spoil it for you .
shantanu rode , the scriptwriter , excels in capturing the nitty - gritties of the life of a typical band member in vidarbha . the songs they play , the instruments used , certain events which are of importance to their livelihood have all a sense of authenticity to them . as the story unfolds we get a sneak peek into the life of the protagonist , jaggu , who once had a band of his own but had to pawn his instruments for some money . he now makes do with playing at funerals and other not so lucrative occasions . his wife shirmi being a ‘bhandiwali’ sells vessels for a living and also accepts old clothes in return for some money . she , unlike jaggu , wants their only son baboo to get educated and break the shackles of poverty . jaggu’s mother who also lives with them tries to be of some help to the family by selling handicraft items . these are the main characters around which the story revolves .
throughout the film it is visible that the makers are trying to tell a story in an honest manner . in a premise tailor made for over the top melodrama , the restraint and the effort to show humor in the routine and also difficult times of life is definitely applause worthy . no wonder then that baaboo band baajaa ended up getting 4 national awards .
one of the film’s biggest triumphs is that it sticks to its business and tells the story of the family’s endeavor with great simplicity and without diverting its focus towards “shocking the viewer with the appalling reality…” etc . i did find the emotions exaggerated at places with the lurid low angle shots of the school master punishing baboo or the histrionics of the wily politician , and wished it weren’t as overstated , but it all works nevertheless .
the film bears a remarkable similarity to jhing chik jhing , which lamented the plight of poor cotton farmers through the spirited story of a sprightly boy . like shyam in that film , baboo is intelligent and precocious . his mother and grandmother dote on him and the former puts herself through extreme hardships to send him to school . his father , on the other hand is world - weary and given to drowning his sorrows in liquor .
the characters are very well written , and the actors who play them are terrific for the most part , save for the school teacher who is baselessly portrayed as an evil baddie , as opposed to someone who is just doing his job . watch mitali jagtap and vivek chabukswar speak through their eyes in one of the best moments in the film ; the scene which has hardly any dialogue , in which shirmi readies baboo for school .
pinjani keeps the action rooted in absolute authenticity – the dialect , songs , locations and actors all contribute in equal measure . in fact , unlike recent off - beat marathi cinema , none of the actors are well - known , thus further blurring the lines between reality and make - believe . the three principal players – milind shinde as the father , mitalee jagtap varadkar as the mother and vivek chabukswar as baboo – are quite exceptional .
by keeping the focus firmly on the child’s world – how he is forced to help his father , once the owner of a band but now works as a freelancer and plays at weddings , funerals and sundry occasions , at work , his peculiar relation with a madwoman with whom he flies paper planes , his burning desire to study even when the teacher is determined to throw him out and his camaraderie with friends and neighbours – the director makes it harder for us to look away from this bleak landscape .
the film begins and ends with a funeral . in the first , baboo plays chimes as a stand - in for the regular musician who hasn’t turned up and like the other kids , picks up the coins that the funeral party keeps dropping on their way to the crematorium . in the second , life has served him his first big blow and ensured that this guileless kid who could smile through just about any situation , has grown up before his time and will never be the same again .
by rajesh pinjan and dooman river / la riviere tumen by zhang lu bagged the government of maharashtra ' s best marathi and international films awards respectively at the 9 { + t } { + h } pune international film festival ( piff ) , which concluded here on thursday .
the piff special award of rs 25 , 000 for a final year direction student from the film and television institute of india was awarded to tathagata singha .
dooman river , a south korea / france production , won a cash prize of rs 10 lakh , which was shared by director lu and producers cuillaume de seille , jeong jin lee and hye kyung woo .
the sant tukaram best marathi film award , comprising rs 5 lakh , shared by director rajesh pinjan and producers neeta jadhav and rajesh pinjan .
the government of maharashtra prabhat best international film director award of rs 5 lakh went to borys lankosz for the film the reverse ( poland ) .
the akhil bharatiya marathi chitrapat mahamandal ( abmcm ) award carrying rs 25 , 000 cash for best direction was bagged by noted actor vikram gokhale for his directoral debut film aaghaat . the abmcm best actor award comprising rs 25 , 000 went to mukta barve for her role in aaghaat .
in the world cinema competition , the jury recommended two special mentions for cinematographer christine a maier for on the path ( na putu ) ( bosnia and herzegovina , austria , germany , croatia ) and actor javier bardem for blutiful ( spain , mexico ) . special jury award was given to director of the film puzzle ( argentina ) natalia smirnoff .
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cineswami takes a look at the film’s to be screened at the international film festival of india in goasantosh sivan’s magnum opus urumi starring malayalam heartthrob prithviraj , pradhu deva , vidya balan , genelia d’souza and arya will open the indian panorama section of this year’s international film festival of india in goa . the jury headed by [ … ]
rajinikanth’s son - in - law dhanush has bagged the best actor awardtamil films swept the 58th national film awards , announced on may 19 in new delhi . awards in most of the prominent categories have been bagged by tamil cinema .
mitalee jagtap varadkar is a national film award winning indian actress from the marathi film industry . she is known for
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for , all around him is the indignity and humiliation of poverty . the father is ridiculed for dreaming of retrieving his musical instruments from the moneylender , there is stiff competition for the few jobs there are even in this small village and not enough food at dinnertime – buying a new school bag and books is a luxury well beyond their reach . the mother talks her way into a job at the cotton mill , but here too , she has to beg and plead with the manager to get her wages . the local politician treats the hamlet like his fiefdom and exploits it for personal gains .
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( holy basil ) in the courtyard , the fragrance that rises when you spill water on the soil of dry , hot land .
isn’t the first film to be set in rural maharashtra , but it is one of those films that will not leave me in a hurry , no matter how many housefulls and golmaals i watch along the way . a poignant , touching tale of a simple family ,
has been made with the kind of honesty and sincerity that is rare to find in indian cinema today .
the film is essentially the story of the cards that life deals this troubled family and how they cope with them . the most striking aspect of this film is the lead cast .
as his mother play their parts so well that , for the first time in many years , i forgot i was watching a film . the connect with the characters , their joys , their sorrows , with their very lives felt so real that when the lights came on , first in the interval and then at the end , it felt like a jolt back to reality . no wonder then that
deserves full marks for treating the film the way he has . when making a film like this , it is easy to get over - indulgent . but
keeps any form of indulgence to a minimum , letting the village setting and the spontaneity of his cast do the talking instead . also , a special mention must go to the editor of the film ,
. there is only one thing i can say about him – he has edited the film with love .
is really about the little nuances of life that the director chooses to show – the love that a mother has for her child , the frustrated existence of a man who has resigned himself to the fact that neither he nor his son can ever rise above their financial problems , the spirited grandmother who warms your heart every time she protects the little child from a thrashing , the pride that a mother feels when her son recites the tables of 2 . every little scene evokes a little bit of warmth , a little bit of sorrow , and a whole lot of wonder at the choices that the debutante director makes in the journey of the film .
this review is by guest reviewer pradeep menon . pradeep is a filmmaker and a dreamer . he loves books , rain , winters , tea and his parents . cinema , however , is the only truth he believes in . he breathes and bleeds film , mostly in hues of saffron , white , green and blue . you can watch his short films at urltoken .
this page has additional observations , other than the ones noted in the main review .
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a bridegroom on thursday had to return home a bachelor after his bride and her family skipped the wedding at a marriage palace here and went incommunicado .
after wrapping up the shoot of zoya akhtar ' s ' gully boy ' , ranveer singh is now gearing up for rohit shetty ' s ' simmba ' . he will be starting the shooting in a month ' s time .
with the threat of glanders disease looming large over the city , “baraats” and “ghudchadis” could become less glamorous affairs . delhi government’s move to notify the entire capital as a “controlled area” has put a question mark on traditional mares being used for wedding ceremonies . while there is still no ban on their use for “ghudchadis” , bandwallahs and mare suppliers have been flooded with queries from prospective customers , who are worried about the disease impacting their “once - in - a - life - time function” .
deepak and sapna bahal threw a grand reception for their son naman and daughter - in - law nikita , who recently got married in delhi .
worried that drunken brawl between youths and blaring music is disturbing the ' culture ' of their village , residents of belawatti have imposed restrictions on baraat . the wedding procession should conclude by 7pm , else a fine of rs 10 , 000 will be imposed on the organizer .
the welcome of jitesh singh deo , the lucknow boy , who clinched the title of peter england mr india world , 2017 , at the chaudhary charan singh international airport on tuesday morning , was nothing short of a grand one .
one year after the modi government demonetised 86 % of india ' s currency , the yawning gap between the rs 500 and rs 2 , 000 notes is yet to be filled . the rs 200 note is barely in circulation .
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vidarbha . if one is playing word association he / she is most likely to associate this word with farmer suicides . over the years the large number of farmer suicides in vidarbha has , sadly , made the region being identified with it . it has also made for some cinematic fodder .
( the damned rain ) was brilliant in capturing the vidarbha cotton farmer’s situation in the drought prone region .
there’s also a parallel love story involving the daughter of a family friend of jaggu’s . this love angle though has not been used only for its own sake . rode , very smartly integrates it into the plot . the character of a crazy woman of the village , astoundingly , is also quite influential to the plot . the script which has no visible loose ends shines out . shantanu rode , who has also written the dialogues for the 2005 animated feature hanuman , is without doubt a man to watch out for .
the acting by the leads is up to the mark . milind shinde who plays the protagonist jaggu is brilliant in showing the despair that his character feels . you completely feel for jaggu as a broke bandwallah especially when he says that committing suicide is also not going to help as unlike the cotton farmers his family isn’t going to get any compensation . it strikes suddenly realize that the state of a bandwallah in vidarbha is no better than the farmers . mitali jagtap vartak as shirmi is spot on . a scene where she acts while also bathing a just born baby , leaves you particularly impressed .
the presence of a cotton mill in the village is given away by the typical siren of a mill which runs in the background when the characters are going about the daily duties . such subtlety deserves appreciation .
i am so happy rasik that you are writing about non commercial films and helping to spread the word of interesting cinema . your review does generate an interest in the viewer to see the film keep it up . oorvazi
yes . and whenever it does release cinema buffs should make an extra effort to actually go and watch it in the cinema halls .
national awards are not always fair . but yes , 4 national awards can’t be ignored .
you are really right on the first count . as low cost low risk ventures big producers should look to produce these small - medium budget regional films not only from maharashtra but from all over the country especially from tamil nadu , kerala , west bengal etc where there is obvious talent . i also think it is high time these regional movies are exposed to an all india audience by subtitling or dubbing through cinema halls or even television channels . i really wish we have a movie channel which shows quality cinema from every corner of india without limiting itself to any language .
thank you . i really didn’t know anything about this . where can one get to read the play ?
i have hard copy of this book , if you are seriously interested i will scan and upload a soft copy .
wonderful review . i am not sure when will i get a chance to see the movie . but i am certainly looking forward to it . . 🙂
if you live in maharashtra then this film is supposed to release in april / may . thanks for the kind words 🙂
i saw the film today at cinemax sion . loved the film . loved milind shinde’s & the kids mother acting as well . the movie is a social commentary on the hardships people have to face in village . have to confess , i almost broke down in the end .
the film shows how fucked up we are as a country , we cant provide basic education to kids and talk about becoming a super power . this film is like a small fish in the river and hope its not overshadowed by bollywood film ( read houseful 2 )
kushal i am so so glad watched the film and liked it . trust me only efforts like these encourage me to write on such films .
btw , aditya savnal was of the opinion that the sad ending could have been avoided . what do you think ?
the film is social commentary . at the end if you remember finally things seem to get rolling for the boy , his father able to make some money thanks to that urltoken just when we though all is set for the school buy tragedy strikes him ( he loses his mother ) . this is to show that for poor people , misery’s are never ending . imo sad end was needed to show that misery is a vicious cycle
my immediate reaction after watching the film was like aditya’s . but later as the film sunk in i didn’t feel the end was out of place . and your ‘vicious circle’ point lends the ending even more merit .
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a tug - of - war between fate and hope . it shows the irrepressible surge to soar in life , pitted against the vicious grip of circumstances .
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sweet sentimental love and care . . . with a pinch of innocence and fun in right amount !
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the film uses all its subplots , which rather smartly towards the culmination . there is metrical dichotomy in the way things fall back into place towards the end . the beautiful symmetry between the first and the last scene of the film more than made up for my feeling of redundancy after the final blow .
58th national awards have been announced . and as expected , most of the winners are from down south . the feature films jury was headed by j . p . dutta , non - feature films jury was headed by a . k . bir and best writing on cinema jury was headed by ashok vajpeyi .
adaminte makan abu ( malayalam ) – producer : salim ahamed . director : salim ahamed
( for a simple yet evocative articulation of humanist values that frees matters of faith from the constrictions of narrow parochialism . the concerns of abu , son of adam , are timeless and universal in their scope . )
dabangg ( hindi ) – producer : arbaaz khan , malaika arora khan & dhilin mehta . director : abhinav singh kashyap
moner manush ( bengali ) – producer : gautam kundu . director : goutam ghose
( for celebrating the union of the human spirit through the life and song of sufi poets in the baul tradition . )
bettada jeeva ( kannada ) – producer : basantkumar patil . director : p . sheshadri
hejjegalu ( kannada ) – producer : basantkumar patil . director : p . r . ramadas naidu
( two riveting performances that fuse character and actor into one : to dhanush for the raw , nuanced portrayal of a cocky young man who learns lessons about life the hard way . to salim for a deep , restrained performance of a simple man with an unshakeable belief in his quest for salvation )
( the picture of two mothers whose concern for bettering the lives of their children in the face of untold hardship : as a mother who strives to realise through her son her dreams of a better future . as a fiercely combative single mother who shields her son to the point of sacrifice . )
( for a heart - warming performance as a policeman who discovers his humanity in the process of capturing an escaped fugitive . )
( four actors for expressing with charm and heartbreak the world of the child : for performing with bright , shining eyes and an urchin smile , the razor sharp spirit of a survivor who dreams of excelling . for two brothers bonded by blood and responsibility battling for survival in the underbelly of a heartless city . for capturing the indomitable spirit of a young village boy who is hungry to learn in an environment that closes all doors on him .
( for a sensual and evocative rendering of a heart longing for the beloved . )
( for the visual poetry that augments and reinforces the concern of the narrative and for unfolding the infinite vistas of nascent digital technology in the visual medium . )
( for its kaleidoscopic variety that uses realism , tradition and contemporaneity , soaked in local flavour on an infinite canvas .
for retaining the concerns and values of a biographical account while translating it into the cinematic medium and honouring the essence of the original .
for bringing to life the textures of various characters through articulating their emotion and thought process . )
( for capturing the soft nuances and variations of the artists’ voices and location ambience in a sensorial manner .
for the use of various sound effects along with existing ambience to impart a subliminal experience in this abstract work .
for merging voices , location ambience , background music and other sound effects to create a near - tactile experience that is both real and artistic . )
( for the style and finesse realised in the creation of a set design that is coherent with the futuristic visual style of the narrative . )
( for the admirable detailing and remarkable consistency achieved in the etching of the characters across an extensive time span . )
for minimalistic use of appropriate background score to nurture the essence of the narrative . )
mee sindhutai sapkal ( marathi ) – producer : bindiya & sachin khanolkar . director : anant narayan mahadevan
( for bringing of age a spectrum of visual special effects in indian cinema and creating a space for the practitioners of this art form on the global map . )
1 . best non - feature film – germ ( hindi ) . director : snehal r . nair
2 . best debut non - feature film of a director – pistulya ( marathi & telugu ) . producer : nagraj manjule . director : nagraj manjule
16 . best direction – shyam raat seher ( hindi & engish ) . director : arunima sharma
17 . best cinematography – shyam raat seher ( hindi & english ) . cameraman : murali g .
18 . best audiography – a pestering journey ( malayalam , punjabi , hindi english & tulu ) . re - recordist ( final mixed track ) : harikumar madhavan nair
21 . special mention : a . ottayal ( one woman alone ) ( malayalam ) – director : shiny jacob benjamin b . the zeliangrongs ( manipuri & english ) – director : ronel haobam c . pistulya ( marathi & telugu ) – child artist : suraj pawar
joshy joseph ( english ) and n . manu chakravarthy ( kannada & english )
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konkan blues : in killa , we watch the young , pune - bred protagonist delight in the undeniable quiet beauty of his altered surroundings . courtesy : mr filmworks
this past week , i finally watched killa , one of those marathi films that won a loyal viewership last year . i wasn’t disappointed . avinash arun’s coming - of - age tale is full of understated charm . for one , it is beautifully shot , capturing the magic of a konkan seaside village , without ever making it seem too unbelievably lush . torrential monsoon rain punctuates the film , producing both momentousness and foreboding whilst steering clear of both the high drama and romance that rain now signals in popular indian cinema . alongside the ruined fort of the film’s title , the rough palm - fringed beach with its few fishing boats and a vast calm sea stretching into the distance , the rain is also integral to creating killa’s exceptionally vivid sense of place .
it helps that we’re seeing this world through a fresh pair of eyes : those of an 11 - year - old called chinmay ( chinu for short ) , who has just moved to the village . chinu is a city boy from pune , and even as he finds his new schoolwork unchallenging and his new classmates rough and unimpressive , we watch him delight in the undeniable quiet beauty of his altered surroundings : the forded stream , the mincing walk of crabs on the beach . arun zooms in on those small things that seemed so large when we were kids : a gift , a letter , a promise , a visit . here , too , place and time are made constantly relevant , positioning the film within a precise pre - liberalisation social geography — the cycle that impresses the boys is from mumbai , the new - fangled pencil box is from dubai , while the simple konkani fare seems rustic to the pune - bred boy .
what is it about seeing through the child’s eye that makes for such sensitive , observant cinema ? richard tapper , in a 2002 book on the ‘new iranian cinema’ , makes the interesting observation that “children liberate plots by introducing non - essential actions — generally loafing around on a street or in a rural area” .
indian cinema had satyajit ray , who famously stated his artistic debt to bicycle thieves , and placed children at the heart of his own first feature . though ray’s film most certainly had a plot , based on bibhutibhushan bandopadhyay’s novel , he did cast non - professional actors — and the brother - sister pair apu and durga , lithe of limb and fleet of foot , were what made pather panchali unforgettable . as they stole fruit from neighbours , ran after the sweet - seller , listened for the train and got memorably drenched in a downpour , they produced a startlingly lovely visual and aural record of life in the bengali village . and yet ray’s coming - of - age tale was hardly romantic : the rural idyll killed off one child ; the stricken family was forced to migrate to the city .
on the heels of vikramaditya motwane’s udaan ( 2010 ) also came a few small - budget hindi films reminiscing about ’80s childhoods : shashi sudigala’s cycle kick ( 2011 ) made a cycle the pivot of a tale about two not - well - off brothers — it even gets stolen , a la bicycle thief — while sanjivan lal’s refreshing bubble gum ( 2011 ) dealt with the dynamics of an ’80s housing colony .
but for some reason , marathi filmmakers appear to be the ones overwhelmingly interested in childhood . and these coming - of - age narratives seem , more often than not , to be adaptations of their own experience .
perhaps what is surprising is not that there are so many such films , but that there aren’t more of them . after all , even if the necessary 15 - minute bachpan sequence has practically disappeared from our popular films , memories of childhood are the most cinematic thing we all have in our heads .
trisha gupta is a writer - critic based in delhi . follow her on twitter @ chhotahazri
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charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen is a 1981 comedy – mystery film directed by clive donner that stars peter ustinov , angie dickinson and lee grant .

charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen is a full - throttle comedy starring peter ustinov .
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen . directed by clive donner . american cinema productions , 1981 .
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charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , us poster art , peter ustinov , 1981 . © american cinema releasing / courtesy
richard hatch - lee chan jr . michelle pfeiffer - cordelia farrington iii regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
”charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen ( 1981 ) . ” imdb . imdb . com , n . d . web .
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , us poster art , peter ustinov , 1981 . © american cinema releasing / courtesy everett collection
in hawaii , master sleuth charlie chan unmasks the dragon queen as a killer . before she ' s arrested , she places a curse on chan and his family .
' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , ' ' which has been rated pg ( ' ' parental guidance suggested ' ' ) , includes some mildly vulgar language .
july 5 , 1981 - angie dickinson . ' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen ' ' . 1981 . ( credit image : © globe photos / zumapress . com )
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - der berühmte detektiv charlie chan kommt nach san francisco , um dort geschehene rätselhafte morde aufzuklären . dabei bedroht ihn der fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' ( angie dickinson ) , einer alten rivalin . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen was released in theatres on february 13 , 1981 . [ 3 ] the film was released on dvd on september 7 , 2004 , by trinity home entertainment . [ 6 ]
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
charlie chan und der fluch der drachenkönigin - eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
eine serie grotesker und bizarrer morde hält san francisco in atem . der polizeichef ruft charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) zu hilfe . aber ein alter fluch der ' drachenkönigin ' lastet auf ihm und erschwert die ermittlungen bedrohlich . regie : clive donner aka . charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen
in hawaii , master sleuth charlie chan unmasks the dragon queen as a killer . before she ' s arrested , she places a curse on chan and his family . years later in san francisco , chan is called out of retirement when the city of san francisco finds itself in chaos over a series of weird murders . chan is assisted by his blundering grandson , lee chan jr , who is more of a hindrance than help . the shadow of the dragon queen still hangs over the chan family when she becomes his number one suspect .
famous detective charlie chan is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen who is the prime suspect .
early acting appearances included television roles on fantasy island and bad cats along with an audition for television series charlie’s angels in late 1970s . in the beginning of 1980s , pfeiffer did small roles in the movies like falling in love again , the hollywood knights and the charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen . the movies without any significant impact on box office and critical response were leading her out the industry .
probably my favorite of all charlie chan films . only one flaw in the film , the profanity .
my review of charlie chan finds this famous detective missing from the tcm movie lists . no charlie chan films have been shown within my 10 year memory . . . .
clive donner ' s ' ' charlie chan and the curse of the dragon queen , ' ' which opens today at the cinerama i and other theaters , is a looselimbed , immensely good - natured entertainment that moves easily between parody and slapstick without ever doing damage to the memories of the character who , in the 1950 ' s and 1960 ' s , gained something of a following as a figure of camp .
years later in san francisco , chan is called out of retirement when the city of san francisco finds itself in chaos over a series of weird murders . chan is assisted by his blundering grandson , lee chan jr , who is more of a hindrance than help . the shadow of the dragon queen still hangs over the chan family when she becomes his number one suspect .
the chinese ring through charlie chan and the sky dragon ( 1947 - 49 ) roland winters as charlie chan an examination of animation in this era is very revealing . the depiction of asians in propaganda demonstrates american attitudes at the time . these cartoons distill the imagery the entertainment industry wished to pass on to the children of this generation .
charlie chan : the untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with american history by yunte huang norton , 354 pp .
masterful sleuth charlie chan is called out of retirement when a detective asks for his help in solving a series of murders in san francisco . now with his grandson at his side , chan matches wits against his nemesis from the old days , the dragon queen , who seems to be responsible for the crimes .
charlie chan in egypt . directed by louis king . 20 th century fox , 1935 .
charlie chan in shanghai . directed by james tinling . 20 th century fox , 1935 .
famous detective charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson ( richard hatch ) as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) who is the prime suspect . .
famous detective charlie chan ( peter ustinov ) is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson ( richard hatch ) as his sidekick , chan also encounters an old nemesis known as the dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) who is the prime suspect . . .
, was a 1981 film in which charlie chan was portrayed by peter ustinov . we also included the 2007 film ,
the mysterious dr . fu manchu the return of dr . fu manchu daughter of the dragon ( 1929 - 31 ) warner oland as fu manchu
the prime suspect in the killings is a shady lady known as the dragon queen , but soon chan ' s suspicions fall elsewhere . among those at risk are lee ' s maternal grandmother , mrs . lupowitz . even though charlie chan ' s son is , as is usually the case , rarely accurate in reading clues , he has the full love and support of cordelia , his beautiful fiancée . [ 2 ]
the principal characters are chan ' s grandson , lee chan jr . ( richard hatch ) , a young man who is half - chinese , half - jewish and all thumbs ; lee chan ' s exceedingly rich and quite mad maternal grandmother , mrs . lupowitz ( lee grant ) ; lee chan ' s beautiful , adoring fiancee , cordelia ( michelle pfeiffer ) , and the wicked dragon queen ( angie dickinson ) , who was sent up the river by chan many years before for the murder of mrs . lupowitz ' s husband , bernie .
famous detective charlie chan is called out of retirement to help a san francisco detective solve a mysterious series of murders . with his bumbling grandson as his sidekick , chan also . . . see full summary »
huang , yunte . 2010 . charlie chan : the untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with american history . 1st ed . new york : w . w . norton .
daughter of the dragon ( 1931 ) is a strange hybrid of caucasians playing asians and genuine asian actors . it features the worst of hollywood stereotypes but it also featured the beautiful and talented anna may wong . [ source ]
rzepka , charles j . 2007 .
race , region , rule : genre and the case of charlie chan .
pmla 122 ( 5 ) : 1463 - 1481 .
despite all this , huang agrees with some of chan’s detractors . “make no mistake , ” he writes , “charlie chan was an american stereotype of the chinaman . ” and yet huang isn’t very bothered by this , seeing chan as a benign stereotype , perhaps even a subversive one ; he believes he illustrates the mingling of foreign and local elements that have often gone into the making of the hybrid american culture .
viewers of charlie chan in egypt had already seen the detective in london and paris , and they would later see him in shanghai , san francisco , new york , and other places . they would also suspect that chan’s original mission would be overtaken by some murderous development , and sure enough , he’s soon informed in charlie chan in egypt that the leader of the excavation is missing . when chan is shown an ancient sarcophagus on a tour of the site , he observes , as he puts it , that “varnish on three - thousand - year - old object isn’t completely dry , ” and this leads to the discovery of the corpse of the missing archaeologist inside it .
mitchell , charles p . 1999 . a guide to charlie chan films , bibliographies and indexes in the performing arts , . westport , conn . : greenwood press .
some forty - nine movies featuring chan were made in hollywood between 1926 and 1949 , all of them based on the character invented by earl derr biggers in his novel the house without a key ( 1925 ) . biggers’s six chan novels were best sellers , and the cinematic charlie chan was one of the best - known and most - liked fictional characters in america for nearly twenty years . biggers said that in creating chan he wanted to counter the demeaning portrayals of asians that were standard at the time , particularly the evil fu manchu , the most recognizable chinese character in western books and movies before chan came along . and indeed , unlike fu , the epitome of supposed oriental cruelty and cunning , chan is decent , brave , and honorable , as well as extremely good at nailing the bad guy .
song , jaymes k . 1999 .
charlie chan
isle ' s toughest crime fighter .
honolulu star - bulletin .
despite the name , this is not a charlie chan film in the spirit of those black & white classics of the 30 ' s and 40s . this is just a poorly done slapstick comedy that ' s never seems to raise a smile . vapid and pointless !
the american unease over chan is complicated by the cinematic chan’s reception in china itself , which was very nearly worshipful . when warner oland went there in 1936 to film charlie chan in shanghai , he was given full celebrity treatment , his roles as fu manchu conveniently forgotten . at his press conferences , he even adopted the charlie chan persona , answering questions in the same pidgin he used on screen . the chinese appreciated that in chan , finally , a brilliant , charming , and esteemed chinese figure was being portrayed in american movies , and this at a time when the chinese public was highly sensitive to racial slights .
abstract : this article seeks to make sense of the enigma of charlie chan by situating him at the intersection of critical legal studies , genre studies , cognitive psychology , and postcolonial critique . it contends that chan is more than a shameful chapter in the history of american racism and orientalism , rather a product of the legal orientalist imagination’s exploitation of a peculiar genre schema of detective fiction . as such , he is a figure of ambivalence , equivocation , and exception . on the one hand , chan fits the stereotype of the maverick detective who must operate within the penumbra of formal judicial apparatuses—in the zone of the exception—in order to match wits with the master criminal . on the other hand , it is his “race” that reifies the power of the exception , making him the unctuous alter ego of the insidious criminal mastermind dr . fu manchu .
retired detective charlie chan is asked for his help by the san francisco police to solve a new series of murders . this time his usual sidekick , number one son , has been replaced by lee ' s own son , lee chan , jr .
lepore , jill . 2010 .
chan , the man : on the trail of the honorable detective .
the new yorker , 9 august .
huang sees chan in this sense less as a chinese uncle tom and more as a chinese nigger jim , whose own sort of pidgin was transformed by mark twain into an expression of courage and morality greater than could normally be imagined in the racist culture of the era . himself “a chinese man come to america , ” as chang apana did , huang makes the case that a reevaluation of charlie chan might be in order . huang’s deeper point is indisputable . charlie chan is an entirely american creation and an entirely american story . to know him is to know ourselves .
charlie chan , the fictitious chinese - american detective from hawaii , makes his first appearance in the movie charlie chan in egypt ( 1935 ) looking out the window of an airplane while flying over the pyramids and the sphinx . we next see him , looking awkward and unhappy , on a donkey , which takes him to the headquarters of an archaeological excavation in luxor . there he announces why he has come , his polite manner verging on the deferential : he has been hired by the french archaeological society to investigate the disappearance of some ancient objects on the black market .
biggers’s first novel about charlie chan came a decade after sax rohmer’s first fu manchu novel , but the two were simultaneous hits in hollywood , both at the height of their popularity in the 1930s . that both fu and chan were popular at the same time shouldn’t be surprising—we’ve seen bigger contradictions . still , chan does seem to mark a shift in attitudes away from the sort of unadulterated bigotry that produced the asian exclusion act and toward a willingness on the part of the public to accept asians as admirable , even if still stereotypes .
lee chan , jr . ( richard hatch ) , charlie ' s grandson , is an aspiring private eye whose only client so far is a disgruntled little girl who slaps him around for not being able to find her lost cat . in fact , there isn ' t much that lee chan , jr . can do without klutzing it up . his adoring fiancă©e ( michelle pfeiffer ) , however , is completely blind to all his flaws and follows him around as if he were her seeing - eye dog . rounding out this cast of characters on the side of the law is brian keith , a pill - popping police chief who is a bundle of fits and frets . on the side of disorder is angie dickinson as the dragon queen . charlie chan sent her to prison years ago and now she ' s out to get him .
that would suggest a certain success for precisely the racial stereotyping that chan’s detractors have decried—the artificial chinaman becoming more real than the real thing . chang apana himself came to be addressed , admiringly , as charlie chan on the streets of honolulu , his real persona having been captured by the fictional character he inspired . huang makes a quiet plea to chan’s detractors to see him in a less unfavorable light :
what sets the dragon painter apart is its authenticity of sets , costumes and predominately japanese cast who are portraying real people and not stereotypes . it is also probable that the same unique racial pov is what obscured this film .
mr . karloff’s portrayal of the chinese criminologist has nothing about it to remind audiences of the late warner oland’s “charlie chan” or of his own past performances . this oriental is a thoroughly occidentalized sleuth who takes his work seriously and refrains from kidding the blundering constabulary . he has the dazzling courage to confess himself baffled now and again by perplexing circumstances , and this unique device has the result of baffling audiences doubly . ( 39 )
of all of the pre - world war ii pop artifacts that have recently been resurrected and recycled by hollywood , the most welcome by far is charlie chan , the inscrutable detective created by earl derr biggers and brought to the screen in dozens of low - budget movies , most often in the person of warner oland and sidney toler . charlie chan is supposed to be chinese but , in fact , he ' s as american as apple pie , maxene andrews and chandu the magician . as much as any other public figure before pearl harbor , he reassured americans of their place in the world , solving drawing room mysteries in 70 minutes or so and dispensing wisdom that came straight from domestically manufactured fortune cookies .
both the yellow peril and world war ii saw the repolarization of americanness and “otherness” ( and the latter , the dominance of the hardboiled detective ) but , in the years in between , hollywood’s intention—even if misguided in its execution—was to offer the asian detective as one of america’s heroes .
review : this comedy - mystery features a brief appearance by peter ustinov as charlie chan , with the sleuth ' s grandson , lee chan , jr . ( hatch ) , a half - jewish , half - chinese detective , taking up most of the film as he bumbles through chinatown , clumsily destroying ever… ( more )
this comedy - mystery features a brief appearance by peter ustinov as charlie chan , with the sleuth ' s grandson , lee chan , jr . ( hatch ) , a half - jewish , half - chinese detective , taking up most of the film as he bumbles through chinatown , clumsily destroying everything in his path . the host of murders that greet him are on the cute side , and the dialog is inane . . . . read more
the earl carroll vanities , a popular broadway revue of the 1930s and ' 40s , is the . . .
the setting is san francisco , being rocked to the roots by a series of crimes that the newspapers persist in describing as ' ' the bizarre murders , ' ' so repeatedly that the adjective takes on the weight of a proper noun . the chief of the san francisco police department , being at loose ends , calls charlie chan out of retirement to work on the killings , including one in an acupuncture clinic and another in which the victim , a musician , was fried by his own electric guitar .
the fear , whether real or imagined , arose from the fact of the rise of nonwhite peoples and their defiance of white supremacy . and while serving to contain the other , the idea of the yellow peril also helped to define white identity , within both a nationalist and an internationalist frame . ( 138 )
this is the perfect example of how not to make a charlie chan film - - or any film for that matter ! it was meant as a comedy - - but it ' s not funny . the mystery is lame . the acting is awful . a good cast wasted by a terrible script ! peter ustinov is better than this and should have said
no !
to this one . a big waste of time and money . only for absolute chan fanatics and then only so they can say ,
yeah . i saw it .
to paraphrase from a much better chan film ,
bad film like dead fish - - can not stand test of time !
see any of the 20th century fox chan films from the 30 ' s and early 40 ' s instead .
an online magazine offering reviews of crime fiction and film , interviews with writers and more .
although both chan and wong are chinese detectives , the two characters were conceived of as different kinds of masculinity . as the motion picture herald reviewer notes with karloff’s first appearance as the detective in mr . wong , detective in october 1938 ,
not a good movie . has a few laughs but mainly nothing a real chan fan would like to see . it is a spoof , but just doesn ' t work . too silly without real slapstick . no real inside jokes for chan fans . and wouldn ' t work as a regular comedy , even without the chan link .
, features asian american culture and experience from the perspective of asian americans themselves .
haiyan lee is a professor of chinese and comparative literature at stanford university , stanford ca , 94305 . she is the author of revolution of the heart : a genealogy of love in china , 1900 - 1950 ( 2007 ) and the stranger and the chinese moral imagination ( 2014 ) .
tied to blackface and the portrayal of african americans on the stage by whites in the nineteenth century , the term yellowface appears as early as the 1950s to describe the continuation in film of having white actors playing major asian and asian american roles and the grouping together of all makeup technologies used to make one look “asian . ”
hollywood’s earliest representation of the chinese echoed the socio - political anxieties of the time . the influx of chinese immigrants to america incited a social panic in the face of the perceived “yellow peril” and resulted in the immigration act of 1924 , which restricted chinese immigration into the states . as gary okihiro explains , the yellow peril was a product of a rationalizing discourse linked to western colonial expansion :
peter ustinov , who carries on the tradition of the occidental charlie chan in this new , big - budget movie , photographed in glorious color , plays it comparatively straight , more modestly even than mr . oland or mr . toler , and thus provides the film with a center of gravity without which the lunatic goings - on would have no point . he is very funny and deserves the year ' s self - effacement award .
the setting is contemporary san francisco . the city is in an uproar over a series of bizarre murders . the police are baffled and decide to call charlie chan out of retirement . the great detective seems to be surrounded by crazies . mrs . lupowitz ( lee grant ) is a daft widow who talks to her departed husband ' s ashes in an urn and tolerates the eccentricities of her staff  namely a rude butler ( roddy mcdowall ) in a wheelchair and a paranoid maid ( the late rachel roberts ) .
it is in this sense that a movie like charlie chan in egypt has been seen by critics as deriving from the era of asian exclusion and jim crow . in the film , stepin fetchit , hollywood’s best - known black movie actor , plays a character named snowshoes , an employee of the archaeologists who is superstitious , befuddled , and easily frightened—a negro stereotype put in for comic relief . charlie chan was an aphorism - spouting , pidgin - speaking “chinaman” who took soft , feminine steps and had fake slanted eyes . it is clear why he has given offense to writers like jessica hagedorn , frank chin , and the novelist gish jen—even while many caucasians still probably see nothing wrong with him .
similarly , the reviewer for the motion picture daily praises the film for not duplicating chan because , as the review implies , chan seemed more interested “in coining philosophical wisecracks or kidding policemen” than actually apprehending criminals ( 6 ) . certainly , the chan films had a large comic component with chan’s african - american chauffeur ( most often birmingham brown ) and older offspring ( mainly lee , jimmy , and tommy ) acting as foils to their father during the investigation ; on the other hand , mr . wong is thoughtful , somewhat impassive , and mainly serious—although he does smile when he occasionally makes a humorous pun . according to rimoldi , the wong series was not meant to compete with fox’s successful chan series but instead to cash in on the popularity of the asian detective ( 173 ) . and the success of mr . wong was most likely due to the star who portrayed him—boris karloff , an eurasian actor who had made his name playing in monster movies—and the publicity material highlighted karloff’s name above all else .
history is complex and a full analysis of the influences and cultural attitudes of each time period is far beyond the scope of this article . however , we hope that readers keep an open mind and allow the pictures to speak for themselves . included below are examples of whitewashing of southern and middle eastern asian characters ( more properly considered brownface ) .
magazine featured multiple images of asian americans as detrimental to the creation of a well - functioning economy and society . these types of representations of asians favored white , anti - immigrant values and undermined authentic asian american culture and representation . these media representations furthered edward said’s idea of
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the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
hollywood continues to produce new variations of old stereotypes for asian american performers . though the country has largely discarded the practice of blackface , the use of yellowface and brownface in hollywood production continues to be the norm .
“that’s it ! ” cried [ the prosecutor ] triumphantly . “that’s my confession , and not a word spoken . i’ve witnesses , jennison—they all saw you—you couldn’t stand the disgrace a man in your position—you tried to kill yourself . with an empty gun . ” he went over and patted chan on the shoulder . “a great idea , charlie , ” he said . “chan thought of it , ” he added to jennison . “the oriental mind , harry . rather subtle , isn’t it ? ” ( biggers , 309 )
this article was first published in the october 28 , 2010 issue of the new york review of books .
along with the acclaim she gets , pfeiffer has refused very successful films like pretty woman , silence of the lamb and basic instinct in the period of 1990 and 1993 . during the period she accepted the roles including the russia house , frankie and johnny with a golden globe nomination . the same period she formed her production company and boutique named via rosa production . the company alongside the touchstones pictures produced a movie love field of the label name the walt disney studios . the movie gets award nomination for golden globe and academy awards and wins silver bear best actress award at the berlin international film festival .
the lack of asian american representation in the media is the primary idea conveyed through our flyer and can be related to key historical themes . for example , the
on april 29 , 1958 , richard pfeiffer and donna taverna gives birth michelle marie pfeiffer as the second child of the family . michelle is a daughter of an air - conditioning contractor and a housewife . she is sister to an elder brother rick and two young sisters dedee and lori pfeiffer . michelle’s father is of german british ancestry and her mother is of swiss - german and swedish ancestry .
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funny : peter ustinov is well - known as hercule poirot , the best detective in the world . here , he played charlie chan , the best detective in the world . let me not waste too much time on this film : it wants to be funny , but it has no good gags . the crime plot is so unrealistic ( as is the solution in the end ) that i think it was supposed to be a parody . the acting performances were unconvincing , also young michelle pfeiffer ' s , unfortunately . maybe there are many inside jokes for charlie chan fans . but for an ordinary public , this film holds no attraction .
during the 1970s took initiative to go out onto the streets and capture images that would most accurately demonstrate real lives of asian americans in the community ( lee 127 - 128 ) . the expression of
michelle pfeiffer inner conflicts let her out of the box in the acting of the movies she carries on . she is a singer , actress and producer with remarkable timeless qualities .
landy , joshua . 2012 .
the devil , the master - criminal , and the re - enchantment of the world ( on the usual suspects ) .
philosophy and literature 36 ( 1 ) : 37 - 57 .
served as a connective tool , and the presence of a shared identity formed these progressive movements against unfavorable misrepresentations and the general lack of representation ( iijima 6 ) . these efforts at forming a
pfeiffer is the one - time winner of the miss orange county beauty pageant of 1978 and participant of miss california the same year . the sixth position in miss california in 1978 leads her to keep an acting agent with the mentality to give an audition . michelle after doing some part in films and television learnt of not being able to act then she studied at the beverly hills playhouse in the period of 1980s .
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kung fu ( 1972 - 75 ) david carradine as kwai chang caine perhaps one of the most notorious examples of yellowface was the casting of the late david carradine in a role originally conceived and envisioned for bruce lee .
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the first of 3 films in which lee grant and roddy mcdowall work together . the second was
million dollar face
( 1981 ) ; and the third and final was
it ' s my party
( 1996 . )
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both chan and wong can be regarded as positive representations of chinese masculinity as they are cast as heroes but they are also often regarded by critics as the substitution of one stereotype for another . following the yellow peril - inspired demonization of the chinese in american culture came another stereotype—“the model minority”—which referred to immigrants who assimilated into mainstream society . as chung explains , with japan’s undeclared war on china throughout the 1930s , “the chinese were viewed no longer as the oppressors , but now as the oppressed , seeking the aid of americans” ( 540 - 41 ) . this was reflected in films at the time with the smiling , hard - working peasant and other more “positive” portrayals of chinese characters , including chan and wong , who fit very much into this new conception of the “model minority : ” they were chinese detectives who had assimilated into mainstream society and employ their skills to serve western interests . the japanese , however , would be portrayed in a different manner .
maeda , daryl j . chains of babylon : the rise of asian america . minneapolis : u of minnesota , 2009 . print .
many movies , including classics like the thief of baghdad ( 1924 ) —in which a wily oriental despot is the bad guy—and all the fu manchu movies were banned in china , but charlie chan was extremely popular . there was even a series of chinese knockoffs of the character , this time played by a chinese actor who , according to huang , “followed oland’s incarnation closely in almost all aspects . ” in other words , as he puts it , “we seem to have reached the final , if not slightly bizarre , frontier of yellowface , where a real chinaman imitates a swede’s imitation of a chinaman . ”
it turns out—though huang is not the first writer to discover this—that there was a real charlie chan in american life who inspired the fictional one . a man named chang apana was a legendary figure in the honolulu police force in the first third of the twentieth century , the only ethnic chinese during those years to make detective . apana , who spent most of his early childhood in china’s guangdong province , was an american hybrid . for some years he was a paniolo , or hawaiian cowboy , working on the biggest cattle ranch on the island of hawaii . when he became a policeman around the turn of the twentieth century , the wiry , five - foot - tall apana was famous for carrying a rawhide whip as his only weapon . he was the scourge of the gambling and opium dens that proliferated in honolulu’s chinatown .
in contrast to the biggers novels , where we see chan at home , wearing a chinese gown and silk shoes , surrounded by porcelain and lanterns , in the movies he has little in the way of a private life ; we never see where he lives , but he is not rootless or unattached . two of his children , a boy and a girl , for whom he shows great affection , appear in some of the films . chan tries to convince the son he meets up with in shanghai to have a good time rather than get involved in the father’s dangerous business . “joy in heart better than bullet , ” he tells him , but the son helps solve the crime anyway .
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the stereotype that men and women of asian descent were incapable of creating complex and subtle characters in film ( not to mention their inability to speak english well ) was once again recirculated .
posner , richard a . 1999 . the problematics of moral and legal theory . cambridge , mass . : belknap press of harvard university press .
in the past , there have been efforts to bring positive representations of asian americans to the media as well . the
boltanski , luc . 2014 . mysteries and conspiracies : detective stories , spy novels and the making of modern societies . cambridge , uk : polity press .
asther had the “impassive face” and “slightly pedantic” accent that capra was looking for , so the make - up artist covered his upper eyelids with “skins” and clipped his eyelashes to a third of their normal length , and the wardrobe department decked him out in sumptuous mandarin robes and a tall black skullcap .
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weisberg , richard h . 1992 . poethics , and other strategies of law and literature . new york : columbia university press .
i bought this as a xmas present for my wife , as she likes the black x white charlie chan films of old . i wish i hadn ' t . even the great peter ustinov seemed unenthusiastic about finding himself starring in this poorly made turkey . the slap - stick humour was painful and the picture quality , awful . we switched it off before the end , it was that rubbish . this film is even too poor to give to the charity shop . don ' t buy it , you will only be disappointed .
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the earl carroll vanities , a popular broadway revue of the 1930s and ' 40s , is the setting for this murder mystery interspersed with an assortment of variety acts , including duke ellington performing ebony rhapsody and a novelty number called marijuana . victor . . .
in 2017 , where is kyra ? the wizard of lies of pfeiffer made a notable impact on the viewers and the critics . she claims that she can now deliver acting as per requirements with her role of a mother is now a bit restive .
imagine a person , tall , lean and feline , high - shouldered , with a brow like shakespeare and a face like satan , a close - shaven skull , and long , magnetic eyes of the true cat - green . invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire eastern race , accumulated in one giant intellect , with all the resources of science past and present , and you have a mental picture of dr . fu - manchu , the “yellow peril” incarnate in one man . ( 7 )
the famed detective comes out of retirement to solve a baffling series of murders in san francisco . as he and his bumbling grandson investigate , they begin to suspect the crimes may be the work of an old enemy . comedy mystery , starring peter ustinov , angie dickinson , roddy mcdowall and michelle pfeiffer .
miss grant has never been in better form than she is as the grande dame manquee , a woman whose loathing for chan is never better expressed than in her haughty greeting , ' ' welcome to san francisco , charles . ' ' as lee chan jr . , the would - be detective who worships his grandfather and never reads a clue correctly , mr . hatch ( of television ' s ' ' battlestar gallactea ' ' and ' ' the streets of san francisco ' ' ) is pricelessly eager and inept , qualities that go forever unrecognized by miss pfeiffer who , as the faithful cordelia , is another find .
few examples of modern yellowface are as notorious as the films 21 and dragonball : evolution . in 21 , the story of real - life asian american blackjack players was re - cast to feature white actors in every prominent role . dragonball ‘s goku , the japanese equivalent of superman ( an alien child lands on earth , is raised by the native culture , and becomes adopted as the champion of his new home ) , was likewise whitewashed with the casting of justin chatwin .
through our magazine article , we wanted to bring forward the discussion of more contemporary modes of representation for asian american characters . on social media , we noticed content related to the cast of the upcoming new movie ,
iijima , chris . “pointifications on the distinction between grains of sand and yellow pearls . ” asian americans : the movement and the moment . by steve louie and glenn omatsu . los angeles , ca : ucla asian american studies center , 2014 . 3 - 15 . print .
prince of persia : the sands of time ( 2010 ) jake gyllenhaal as 6th century persian prince dastan gemma arterton as “exotic indian princess tamina” tragically , the next decade will be heralded by a slew of summer films that perpetuates hollywood’s systematic casting bias against performers of color . prince of persia will depict two caucasian champions leading subjects of color and battling brown villains .
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at times , mr . donner ' s work recalls the ebullient slapstick routines of blake edwards , but the director , best known for such early films as ' ' nothing but the best ' ' and ' ' what ' s new , pussycat ? ' ' also does very well with the parody . be prepared for a quintessential chan routine in which mr . ustinov explains what the script calls ' ' the fork in the teacup ' ' routine .
, which created a distinct divide between eastern and western culture that praised the west and oriented eastern cultures as inferior and barbaric ( maeda 20 ) . as these ideas persisted , positive representations of asians were continuously neglected . our primary goal with our flyer was to expose the “whitewashed” representations that continued to plague the mainstream media into the late 20th century and even today , while communicating the sentiments of asian americans that call for more genuine representations .
the period between 2000 and 2006 she appears in the movies like original sin , what lies beneath , i am sam and white oleander with box office justification and awards like screen actors guild nomination . in an animation film sinbad : legend of the seven seas she voiced a character of a goddess of chaos eris in 2003 . michelle pfeiffer inner understanding makes her stay away from the movies for 4 years .
a sophisticated , expensively - dressed group of people gather in a spooky old mansion to watch the first performance of a play . the highlight of the production is a realistic on - stage murder , wherein the victim is shot point - blank , right through the heart , . . .
research and writing of this article were supported by a frederick burkhardt residential fellowship from the american council of learned societies . i presented earlier versions at the university of notre dame , the center for advanced study in the behavioral sciences , and the university of toulouse . i would like to thank nan da , louis hyman , katherine howe , lionel jensen , joshua landy , mark selden , r . john williams as well as the three anonymous readers for transnational asia for their helpful feedback . an earlier version of this article appeared in the inaugural issue of transnational asia : an online interdisciplinary journal .
strap on your holster and reach for your ray gun with this collection of eight . . .
are all modern examples of asian americans fighting back against the remaining lack of positive representation . our group hopes that in the future , there will be increased opportunities for constructive representation in the mainstream media and that asian american creatives will continue to foster new ways to convey the asian american experience in true and engaging ways .
also on the scene and adding to the sometimes hilarious confusion are the late , great rachel roberts as mrs . lupowitz ' s unstable maid ; roddy mcdowall as mrs . lupowitz ' s paraplegic butler , an ill - tempered fellow who serves at table from his motorized wheelchair , and brian keith , who gives one of the best comic performances of the season as the police chief .
the american audiences liked their asians to be psychopathic fu man chus or comic laundrymen and cooks . though popular in the teens , hayakawa fell into obscurity with a rising tide of anti - immigration laws aimed at asians and the japanese in particular in the 1920s . [ source ]
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regardless of the ethnicity in the source material – whether mythological , fictional , or historical – hollywood continues to enforce a glass ceiling for performers of color .
although the script abounds with funny lines , the overall effect of this film is as though someone ( producer ? director ? studio ? ) took a deft charlie chan send up and stamped heavily on it , adding elements clearly inserted for commercial appeal rather than inherent value . these elements do their best to destroy what would have otherwise been an enjoyable hour and a half . as it stands , you ' ll want to see it for some stellar performances , and because you don ' t want to miss young michelle pfeiffer in one of her earliest roles . she lights up the screen . peter ustinov does his spiffy warner oland impression , and a talented cast does its best with the sparkly script but on - again - off - again plot .
the whole film pitches colored—black , yellow , arab—men against anglo - european whites , with the former united by their interest in truth and justice and the latter condemned by their insatiable hunger for material wealth .
pfeiffer is a nominee for academy award for best supporting actress and won the bafta award for best actress in a supporting role for dangerous liaisons ( 1988 ) . she is second time nominee of academy awards for best actress and winner of the golden globe award for best actress - motion picture drama for the fabulous baker boys ( 1989 ) . pfeiffer is a consistently good actor in the movies like the witches of eastwick ( 1987 ) , married to the mob ( 1988 ) , frankie and johnny ( 1991 ) , the age of innocence ( 1993 ) , wolf ( 1994 ) and white oleander ( 2002 ) .
agamben , giorgio . 2005 . state of exception . chicago : university of chicago press .
what is remarkable is that such a singular and benevolent chinese character could have emerged from the midwest and become a huge popular success in an america of intensely nativist , anti - chinese feeling . fu manchu in this sense would seem to have been the more predictable cultural expression of the larger attitude toward “chinamen . ” fu came along on the eve of world war i , the creation of the british writer sax rohmer , whose first fu manchu novel was published in the united states in 1913 and went into at least twenty printings . rohmer followed this effort with a succession of novels , each one more lurid than the last . fu , satanically inventive , gets his victims to handle perfume and then kills them with scorpions drawn to the scent . he kills with snakes , incantations , and a poison known as “silence of flower . ”
for our political flyer , we decided to use a cherry blossom , a typified “asian” icon , to track the trajectory of and demonstrate instances of “yellow face” through a timeline format that begins in the 1960s . the first film that we incorporated is