the rear courtyard. ‘36 china town’

samiras office is in an 5 to 6 storeyed building almost at the corner where lamington road meets opera house. like most of the buildings on that road it has a few shops on the lower floors facing the street, an awfully decrepit wooden staircase leading to offices and a few houses on the upper floors. naturally, it also has its bunch of eccentrics- samira notwithstanding- ‘the old lady of the lift’ – as she calls herself who leaves ironic topical messages every morning on the door of the lift shaft at the ground floor.

the building wraps around a rear courtyard that serves as a light shaft for the inner rooms and a dumping yard. a wrought iron staircase connects the verandahs that serve as corridors. it’s a good place for cigarette breaks- not that i smoke. but what a difference a tree would make in the middle of the court.

on the main road, many more of these buildings are falling apart and being replaced by enormous towers- courtesy regulation 33/7. traffic can only get worse.

36 china town is unbearable. i wanted to watch some bollywood fluff for a long time and i was prepared for illogical storylines, pointless song and dance, bad acting by good looking people; but i could not bear the excruciatingly long first half of the film where a murder is introduced through a long winded so called comedy sequence with paresh rawal and johnny lever playing annoying addicted gamblers, upen patel playing a jawline, and shahid and kareena looking like the bewildered idiots i suspect they are. i had such an intense urge to spank them both it scared me. the resolution of the killing takes all of the second half and akshay khanna solves it by smirking sardonically and raising one eyebrow. for the good of mankind- do not watch this film. making it flop will save countless lives.