Entertainment this week; Amrikan style.

January 14, 2017

Entertaining: that’s the word that comes to mind for this past week. It was entertainment at different levels; politically, culturally, emotionally and virtually. As we head into the last week to mark the era of Obama, social media has gone berserk. Viral videos, accolades, news summaries, more accolades, tears, frustration and the desperate plea of #fourmoreyears are cluttering my news feed. According to polls, Obama leaves office with the highest rating for an outgoing Potus just as his successor comes into power with the lowest ever ratings. But Trump would just say, ’Bah’ to the ratings seeing how wrong they were when it came to predicting a Hillary victory. However, even Trumpers on my feed have been magnanimous to Potus and have joined the praise fest for the #Familyobama.

This week saw two major addresses: Obama’s farewell speech and Trump’s first ever press conference after winning the elections. There could not be a better contrast. Obama epitomized everything decent, human, great values, dignity and intelligence. On the other hand, Trump was bluster, blubber, defensive, childish, churlish and undignified. Both of them made me cry. One because I love him so much and will miss his eloquence and leadership. The other, because I am so unsure about what to expect and am worried about the path ahead. Both set off twitter feeds: Obama rode a high wave whereas Trump sank even lower. And if these addresses were not enough, the icing on the cake was the emotional farewell to Biden, a beloved vice President and an incredible human being. The #bromance of Obama and Biden has not just been endearing but also heartening. The respect and love the two men have for each other goes way beyond being work colleagues and as Biden put it, they occupy each other’s hearts. Considering this election has caused a jagged tear in the very fabric of the country, their relationship nurtures hope, integrity and decency.

And as they prepare to leave, a period of uncertainty begins for all Americans. Talking about a physical act of support and there is to be a Women’s march the day after the inauguration in support of women’s rights, health, dignity and basic human rights. In fact, post elections more women are entering politics in their communities. Support for organizations such as planned parenthood has increased and many stunned citizens have decided to let their voices be heard for the greater good. In the virtual world, Pantsuit nation on Facebook has started as a platform for people to air their views: happy, sad, morose, upbeat. On inauguration day, I will be thousands of miles away, which I feel is better for my sanity as well as for the environment considering my ability to go through dozens of boxes of Kleenex. I will be more focused on the successor for the Tata group, demonetization and wedding sangeets. It will be a better reality for me compared to the insanity being unleashed in the US.

Unleashed reminds me of other weekly entertainment news with the Golden globes and Meryl Streep’s decision to let loose on Trump without so much as mentioning his name. She was not the only one, there were many others who poked fun at Trump, whose reaction was a typical Trump meltdown. He tweeted back calling Streep over rated. Trump’s victory may have been unpredictable but one prediction that did not disappoint was the one about La La Land. It was slated to be one of the contenders for the awards and actually became the first film to break all records by taking home seven awards as compared to the last couple of movies that did this by taking six awards each. La La Land now heads to the Oscars. There are some extremely worthy movies this time and while I do believe La La Land is a brilliant movie, I think there were better contenders for the best actor and actress awards. I think Casey Affleck is unsurpassed in his portrayal of an emotionless, conflicted man. And Taraji Henson was superb in Hidden Figures. At the Globes, Moonlight was a surprise for me as the best movie winner and I have decided to rectifiy this wrong by #acatching the movie this weekend.

In the meantime, New York does not disappoint when it comes to entertainment. I saw a bhangra band jam with a Cuban jazz group and produce some amazing tunes. Sunny Jain of Red Baarat performed at Subrosa, a hidden gem in the city with a music focus. In fact, I went for a concert of Brooklyn Raga Massive at Joe’s Pub in the Public Theater, which is also a phenomenal venue. BRM did an ensemble of Indian classical music written for a structured performance with some leeway for musicians to create their own music. It was a novel approach as compared to the freewheeling style of Hindustani classical music. Unfortunately, some of the music got drowned in the bigger picture especially when the vocalists were singing. I am so used to vocalists taking centre stage while performing Indian classical, it was like they were background support in this ensemble. However, most of the performers were not Indian and that made me proud. These musicians are innovative and are using their Shastriya sangeet knowledge to create new experiments away from the traditional; a group to watch out for. In between all these Indo fusion concerts, I also managed to plunge into a dive bar and catch some rock performances at Café Wha? on McDougall street, in the heart of the West Village.

And I closed out the week with a play, The Babylon Line, at The Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater. Josh Radnor from How I met your mother was the main protagonist in a play talking about people in a small New York suburb and how they relate to each other. The performers were a treat and the setting was intimate. This is New York for you. You can pick your source of entertainment and it never fails you. In a space of a week I traipsed around being entertained by music shows, plays, wine bars, political rhetoric and political heart tugging.