From dak at sarai.net Fri Jul 2 17:20:03 2004 From: dak at sarai.net (The Sarai Programme) Date: Fri, 2 Jul 2004 17:20:03 +0530 Subject: [Sarai Newsletter] FILM @ SARAI Message-ID: <200407021720.03886.dak@sarai.net> FILM @ SARAI Asian Film Cultures: Hong Kong Comedy Friday, July 16, 2004, 4:30 pm Love on Delivery (1994), 109 minutes Directed by Lik-Chi Lee Stephen Chow plays a love struck dim-sum delivery boy who falls for a beautiful judo student, Christy Chung. After being humiliated by her boyfriend, Michael Chow, Stephen goes out to learn kung-fu from an aging master, Ng Man Tat, who swindles Chow out of large sums of money while teaching him useless kung-fu "Karate Kid" style. After actually learning how to fight using this style (much to Man Tat's surprise) he dresses up like Garfield and beats up Michael Chow. But he's challenged to a fight by Ng Man Tat's former foe. This film is hilarious and features Stephen Chow, Hong Kong's King of Comedy, at his most likable. What pulls the film together is Chow's endearing, self-effacing performance and the direction, which relies on sports-film construction and timing that is usually seen in Japanime. Friday, July 23, 2004, 4:30 pm God of Cookery (1996), 95 minutes Directed by Stephen Chow & Lik-Chi Lee Stephen Chow is Sik San, the self-styled God of Cookery, an arrogant restaurateur who uses his image to launch substandard restaurants and poor quality instant food. He loses it all when he's betrayed by his employees Ng Man-Tat and Vincent Kok, who becomes the new God of Cookery. Eventually, Chow must challenge Kok to regain his title, but not before he heads to Mainland China to learn the cooking fundamentals that he's sorely lacking. 'God of Cookery' parodies other cooking comedies like 'The Chinese Feast', as well as giving us the usual Chow themes. Stephen Chow returns with this frenetic comedy that reflects all of his earlier work. Friday, July 30, 2004, 4:30 pm You Shoot I Shoot (2001), 94 minutes Directed by Ho Cheung Ping Eric Kot plays an assassin who has trouble finding work due to the Asian financial crisis. One of his clients offers a lot of work on the condition that it must be filmed. Kot finds a wannabe director, Cheung Tat Ming, who idolizes Martin Scorcese, and has initial objections to their new partnership, especially after he realises that they are actually killing people. However, as the accolades roll in, Cheung succumbs to the allure of their new business. They soon become the toast of the hitmen-hiring, which means even more complications: copycat killers, annoying clients, and the eventual brush with the law. Director Edmond Pang and producer Vincent Kok co-wrote this black comedy, which is almost gleeful in its approach. Hong Kong's economic climate, the business of assassination and Hong Kong's sagging film industry are all parodied by the filmmakers. -- Ranita Chatterjee The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 Tel: (+91) 11 23960040 (+91) 11 23942199, ext 307 Fax: (+91) 11 23943450 www.sarai.net From dak at sarai.net Thu Jul 22 17:40:44 2004 From: dak at sarai.net (The Sarai Programme) Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:40:44 +0530 Subject: [Sarai Newsletter] Yamuna Pushta: A Conversation Message-ID: <200407221740.44687.dak@sarai.net> A Conversation on the Yamuna Pushta July 30, 2:00 pm onwards Sarai Interface Zone, 29 Rajpur Road, New Delhi-54. In the last ten years, the landscape of Delhi has morphed out of recognition. From mixed neighborhoods to exclusive elite conclaves; hundreds of informal markets to a score of glitzy shopping malls; from ‘brick and mortar’ industries to high tech information highways, the change has been rapid and palpable. With the addition of Gurgaon and Noida, the city has lost its center - in accept the broad political consensus crafted through the last decade's gentrification process. This pact has on the one has brought a determinate new ‘vision’ to city planning - seeking to build capital assets and infrastructures, and 'improve' the ‘environment’ of the city. On the other, it has depopulated the city of low-income communities. Since the year 2000, over one lakh jhuggies have been demolished. While some basti residents have got tiny pieces of land in the inhospitable, un-serviced wildernesses on the periphery of the city, a huge mass of people have simply been rendered homeless. Resettlement colonies like Bawana and Holambi Kalan do not have even minimum basic urban services or security of tenure. Precedents for service provision to the poor are being progressively diluted. Given this scenario, is it possible to imagine an idea of equity in the new city? What is it? How can it be forged? The lesson of the recently demolished Yamuna Pushta is that there are very few existing means of democratic representation for the urban poor. Indeed, the eviction took place under sheer psychological, and sometimes physical, violence. Channels for organized opposition also seem to be in a state of bewilderment. The new UPA coalition, is of course, sending out mixed signals. The CMP says that “forced evictions and demolition of slums will be stopped”. But given the all pervasiveness of the existing paradigm of “urban renewal” can we really expect a fundamental shift in policy? And of course, more importantly, what political economy is policy really based on? This brings us to the most important question of them all - what is the role of non-state actors at this juncture in Delhi? Are we going to only focus on the de jure change of policies? Is that enough to shake the balance of forces in a way significant enough to effect a de facto change in situation? Do we need to go beyond the realm of ‘civil society’ in order to understand and intervene in the not-so-civil‘ political society’? Do we need a new language, a new discourse to articulate opposition and alternatives? How do we link this task of crafting a new language or new frameworks with our day to day tasks, energies, pursuits, concerns, skills and, of course, our interests? We hope you will join us for an open house discussion on these and other issues. Diya Mehra and Lalit Batra -- The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 Tel: (+91) 11 23960040 (+91) 11 23942199, ext 307 Fax: (+91) 11 23943450 www.sarai.net