Cityscape: With the Superstar
Cinematographer: Avijit Mukul Kishore
Duration: 00:39:28; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 277.677; Saturation: 0.023; Lightness: 0.337; Volume: 0.132; Cuts per Minute: 11.959
Summary: This sequence was shot for a short film on Amitabh Bachchan. Kala Ghoda (the art district of Mumbai) festival of 2003 had a special theme as Amitabh Bachchan, the superstar. Madhusree was commissioned to make a short film as part of a Amitabh Bachchan film festival. The short thus made was Samvabhami Yuge Yuge (I shall be recycled again and again). This sequence is part of that film. 15 feet cutout of the superstar in his iconic proletariat avatar from the film Deewar traveled the city in an early Sunday morning. People’s reactions were baffling – it was illegal to take a heavy truck on the JJ Flyover, but the police patrol forgot to stop the shooting crew as they were busy watching the superstar. In the Sunday market under the Byculla bridge – people did not even pay more than a cursory glance. Only when Vibha, the young girl in the unit climbed the truck on some pretext that people started paying attention. Some women remarked- ‘ahh! Such a young Bachchan. So cute!’ Well, recycling means all of the above.
Cutout painter:Ashrafilal
Shot by Avijit Mukul Kishore
Early morning, AB gets ready for his outing. A 15 feet cutout on top of a truck to represent his iconic stature in popular memory. The image is of a rebel youth from the working class who had taught a lesson to all the wrong guys. A feel good film to identify with the protagonist. Film: Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra, 1975: The story of Deewar starts with the plight of the dock workers in blue uniform. For the rest of India the docks and its workers are known more by this iconic film than by the history of Bombay port.
J.J Flyover
actor
cutout
deewar
docks
port
proletariat
rebel
signboard painting
silhouette
truck ab
working class
amitabh bachchan
dawn
icon
popular culture
scale
superstar
Indic
Jean-Luc Godard
Previous annotation
Annotation 8: The twilight of sex and the superstar. Digital technologies and the video film mark a new era in enhancing our abilities to test out the micro-variegations of perceptual experiences by slicing up the senses to reveal very subtle shifts in states of the mind. Digital is good for exploring the minutae of perceptual ambiguities. In a mobile, chaotic opened out and unbelievably diverse material landscape like the Indic's digital can indeed be the medium made for the organicity of life here tracing the unraveling of the senses that will continue until as Godard implies the image separates out into the Bomb and the netherworld of the bar dance. Bachchan is the bomb exploding the 'blue obscenity' of the bar dance.
Next annotation
bar dance
bomb
digital
diverse material landscapes
organicity
perception
percpetual ambiguity
sensory
sex
superstar
unraveling
video
Time for some chai and then….
ab
cut out
cutting chai
flyover
roadside
The larger than life billboard slowly makes its way onto the JJ flyover.
J.J flyover, as any other flyover, is at a level where one views the city neither from the street level nor from the safe haven of a skyscraper or a building. It is an in-between space which cuts across any city for a short amount of time which throws you zoomed in pockets of the streetscape below and invites you for a closer look at newly created peripheral building inhabitants
JJ Hospital, Mohammed Ali Road, Null bazaar, Bora Bazaar, JJ Hospital
abcl
cabs
cess buildings
cut-out
divider
eastern express highway
inner city precincts
market
morning sky
sirius clouds
street lamps
truck
window sills
jj flyover
magic hour
The cut-out begins to get framed by old buildings and street lamps as it makes its way to Victoria Terminus. The pink and peach morning sky matches his blue shirt, crisscrossed by telephone lines and cable wires as he passes. The JJ flyover is constructed over the famous Mohd. Ali Road. This is one of Bombay's oldest settlements with wonderfully curved building and mosques. Below the flyover runs the road full of various markets. The flyover though escapes all the dins and chaos and facilitate the speed of the those who belong to other cities of Bombay.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
Crawford Market
J.J School of Arts
Mohd. Ali road
The Times of India Building
architecture
ascend
billboard
brake-lights
cinema
cutout
haj building
indicators
lanes
mohd. ali road
morning
proportion
road
JJ Flyover
Victoria Terminus
ab
flyover
Early morning cabbies and cars whiz past, the superstar wonders if he needs to duck as the truck approaches the VT (Victoria terminus station recently named as CST- Chhatrapati Shivajimaharaj Terminus, as a symbol of assertion of Marathi identity over all others) overbridge.
CST
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
South Bombay
VT
chhatrpati shivajimaharaj terminus
cityscape
skyroad
surreal
traffic
victoria terminus station
winding roadway
icon
Minor adjustsments are made to the setting as the intense gaze prevails. The absurdity of the scale of the icon and the fans is revealed.
actor
proletariat
stand
truck
working class
youth
billboard
cutout
The procession circles and heads back out towards the inner city precincts, which form some of the settings for the famous blockbusters. The angry young man's inner city, the mill areas, the bazaars, the migrant living space.
Bhendi bazaar
Mohd. Ali Road
South Bombay
bollywood
cabs
cess buildings
cityscape
divider
eastern express highway
haj building
inner city precincts
jj flyover
journey
market
morning sky
romance
street lamps
window sills
JJ flyover
The camera zooms in on ABCL as we pass the Minara masjid on the right on the flyover.
abcl
bill board
display
iconisation
minara masjid
poster painter
rebel
texture
Signboard and billboards frame the buildings as the truck reaches Byculla bridge, the cutout seeming to fill the billboard behind it.Behind,the iconic Richardson & Cruddas 1972 hoarding on the mill, serves as the reminder of one of the last large industrial spaces at the edge of the inner city, and at the foot of the JJ flyover. Here starts the area which was once a working class neighbourhood. The working class avatar of the superstar visits the neighbourhood in one Sunday morning.
billboards
bridge
labour
mills
neighbourhood
proletariat
scale
signage
signboards
streetscape
textile industry
working class
Byculla bridge
ab
Bombay
The truck make sits way across the Byculla bridge over the railway lines.
byculla
city
sunday
traffic
truck
Byculla market
The truck enters Byculla market; the camera starts to pan to the street as we see people heads flying back, bewildered looks on their faces at the strange sight playing out in front of them.
bewilderment
buses
bustling
glance
ignore
interaction
item
sidelong looks
sight
stare
trucks
display
gaze
market
street
Framed between the bridge on the right and the building on the left, the crowded Byculla market seems an apt setting to try and garner some reactions from the general public. The immediate attention now shifting from just the superstar to his general viewing public, as he tries to hold their gaze, their attention. Deewar was a superhit film which reaffirmed Amitabh's superstardom and made him undisputed king of Bollywood. The film's character was loosely based on Haji Mastan, Mumbai's notorious don from the 70's.The tragic rise and fall of a gangster, isolated form his family as well as society, always has a special place in people's hearts.
ab
amitabh bachchan
bollywood
buzz
bygone
chores
cinema
crime
curious onlookers
don
era
fantasy
migrant
narrative
reality
rebel
romance
shopping
society
spectators
sunday morning
superstar
underworld
vegetable
workers
youth
Byculla bridge
ambience
attention
billboard
mafia
people
public
The people seem to be reacting more to the camera trained on them rather than watching the cut-out. Only people who are passing by on bicycles or their vehicles register cursory or long glances, because they don't end up seeing the camera as well as the huge cut out.
bridge
camera
crowd
fruits
neighbourhood
scale
shooting
sight
sunday
vegetables
vehicles
vendors
AB's luck seems to be running out, since there seems to be scant attention
abcl
amitabh bachchan
fleeting
icon
invoke
memory
popular
scant
superstar
Byculla bridge
Some watch the cutout with mild amusement, some totally ignore it. The market is too busy a space to be distracted over such things anyhow. A man buying coconuts from a street vendor is busy grinning and taking more time than he needs to, clearly enjoying the gaze of the camera, although not quite understanding it.
business
camera
coconuts
crowd
curious onlookers
gaze
morning
onlooker
preoccupation
shooting
shopping
sunday
vegetable
vendor
ambience
buzz
chores
curious
market
migrant
street
workers
Street sounds from a busy market road fill the frame as people go about their daily chores, and work.
onlookers
routine
sunday morning
vegetable shopping
Byculla market
The camera moves a little away from the direct line of sight of the parked truck, so that people only get distracted by the huge poster.
camera
cutout
gaze
passerby
poster
truck
shooting
surveillance
The crew starts logging in people from a distance, watching their route, hoping they look up and Byculla market react. Some do, favourably, other ignore or choose to ignore it.
abcl
ambience
amitabh bachchan
buzz
chores
curious onlookers
migrant
street
sunday morning
superstar
vegetable shopping
workers
candid
crowd
market
people
Byculla market
A large number of people have collected on the side of the road though, thinking there is some significance to the cutout, probably expecting some shoot to begin, not knowing that they are in fact the subject matter.
bollywood
subject
urban
There are a lot of vegetable vendors and wholesale vegetable dealers so generally people are too busy, or carrying very heavy goods to even have time to stop and reflect about the cutout. All along the street, you can see a lot of gathered, curious bystanders, as if waiting.
bazaar
business
chores
customer
goods
merchandise
morning
reaction
shopping
street
street culture
sunday
vendors
The usual genuine reactions come by way of the passing-by cyclist,
their expressions registering plainly.
amitabh bachchan
cyclist
expressions
gaze
honking
street sounds
ab
superstar
Street sounds filter through the market, the regular peppering of horns and vehicles. A man on a bullock cart, men walking along the street, vendors, etc go about their work.
Finally, we witness two men gesticulating, smiling and apparently animatedly discussing the cutout in front, occasionally looking at the camera too.
Mild interest, part performance.
ambience
bullock cart
business
buzz
camera
curious onlookers
hangers-on
horns blaring
migrant
performance
shooting
shopping
street
sunday
transaction
urban
vegetable
vendor
vendors
workers
chores
market
morning
Sunday morning market shoppers can be seen moving sleepily around the market, or contrarily, with a sense of Sunday morning purpose. Occasionally you see a long hard stare directed at the cut out. One Sunday morning shopper actually looked back, seemed to make some mental decision, then turned around and trudged about his way.
actor
behaviour
billboard
cutout
icon
instant
instinct
memory
precession
reaction
rebel
routine
social
sunday abcl
youth
amitabh bachchan
display
Again, a group of people have collected almost with a collective aim, or figuring out why that cutout is there and when something else will happen. A baffled and bewildered set of expressions are passed around. All we Indians need is a small crowd to gather before interests are piqued. One boy stands stupefied, another resolves himself to keep smiling and posing for the camera.
gape
herd
shooting
spectacle
truck
witness
camera
crowd
documentation
observation
spectator
surveillance
The camera starts switching from person to person as quick cursory glances, and stares are caught on tape, slightly more zoomed in.
citizens
document
faces
group
mass
candid
The camera crew move to the top of the bridge, thus being able to "candidly" record the street below and its inhabitants as they perceive the almost Ganpati-like procession of the cutout on the truck. If only, it could be immersed…..
ab
billboard
bollywood
bridge
candid camera
cutout
fans
icon
idol
image
ritual
shadows
silhouettes
spectators
truck
amitabh bachchan
superstar
The street vendors go about their business; workers waiting around, seem pleased to have some sort of "timepass" A worker, so used to carrying his basket above his head, seems to have forgotten all about it as he analyses ABCL. The fruit market is livelier than ever.
abcl
basket
business
coolie
curiosity
display
fruit
labour
market
rhythm
routine
spectacle
top angle
workers
The sun rises up and the light changes, starts casting shadows on the cutout, the bridge and the vehicles on it, throwing shadows as they pass.
bridge
light
shadow
time
traffic
vehicles
ab
An old lady seems really taken up by it. pausing every few minutes as she makes her way, looking back, gazing, waving her hand at it as though in dismissal, then stopping and looking again, drawing a few laughs from the camera crew itself.
audience
disbelief
display
fan
fantasy
idol
junta
market
memory
old lady
rebel
romance
shopping
spectator
youth
Byculla market
ab
amitabh bachchan
cutout
discussion
display
gossip
icon
image
immediacy
imposing
mass
people
popular culture
representation
scale
superstar
icon
spectacle
As this inquisitive lady and her companion walk away, discussing the presence of AB, another woman actually stops them to discuss the issue further.
crowd
curious gaze
migrant workers
morning market
reproduction
street ambience
vegetable shopping
buzz
chores
curious onlookers
image
scale
sunday
Two roadside Romeos eating apples traipse nonchalantly along the opposite direction, then one gets alerted to the scene playing out in front of them; their curiosity piqued . They stop and start viewing it animatedly, always up for some "adventure", they soon lose interest and wander off
A couple discusses the scene in front. She notices the camera and knows something is up, smiling brightly at the camera. Both seem aware of the camera and its connection to the cutout in front as it form an anomaly to their everyday scene.
ambience
migrant
shopping
spectator
street
vegetable
workers
market
morning
ABCL has had enough. The procession continues through his old haunts and his Bambai, the work of the Bombay poster painters forming the texture against the blue sky.
bambai
billboards
cityscape
cutout
face
light
painted
shadow
street ambience
texture
Lower Parel
curious
migrant workers
onlookers
vegetable shopping
People see the cutout pass by, their attention drawn to the moving structure, the camera slows down to a man on a haathgaadi (handpulled cart), his vegetable stacked and tied down, probably resting after a long day's work, as he surveys everyone's favourite hero.
abcl
actor
ambience
hand cart
merchandise
migrant
passersby
romantic
street
worker
working class
bollywood
image
ABCL now disturbs a few tree branches as he continues on his yatra (journey) through the inner city precincts from where he rose up. All these metaphors just like in his smash hit films. The very dated look of his earlier 70's flicks filling the camera frame.
Lower Parel
ab
angry
billboard
cinema
city
cityscape
cutout
height
journey
narrative
popular culture
rebel
romance
scale
shadow
street culture
youth
Bambai
Bombay
Bombay
Lower Parel
The crew picks up speed as people watch in mild interest.As the truck rises up to the top of the bridge, so does ABCL, towering over his Bambai, purveyor of the city he conquered.
actor
amitbh Bachchan
billboard
bridge
cutout
icon
idol
image
painted
popular culture
rebel
truck
workers
working class
youth
Pad.ma requires JavaScript.
