Staying Alive

There's a drought of writers. Good writers. Screenwriters who bring substance and value to writing. The absence of a talented name like Sujit Sen, who wrote a number of films for Mahesh Bhatt and who penned the script of STAYING ALIVE, makes you recognize this fact all the more. STAYING ALIVE, a black comedy that borrows from real life, may not be riveting in entirety, but it makes an effort to say something novel, something inventive.

When was the last time you took a long walk with your husband/wife? Talked about the natural beauty you saw around? About young children who'd soon grow up to become responsible individuals? Or just went up to an estranged friend and repented for being a rogue?

Staying Alive is a sensitive film but it will find the going tough. On the whole, Staying Alive may be a well-made film but it is meant more for the festival circuit. Commercially, it will turn out to be a below-average fare.

Canvas, sculptures, stills… 'sleeping art' is passé. It jumped out of the freeze-frame mode six years ago, when artist Chintan Upadhaya posed nude in Sarjan Art Gallery in Gujarat, next to his artwork of burnt drawing sheets. His exhibit depicted the plight of riot victims in Gujarat. Soon after his display, artists all over India embraced this concept to challenge conformity. "Performance art is still a very new concept. It allows an artist to take art to a new level.