Zeenat took to Instagram on Saturday, where she shared a picture of herself from her younger days. The photograph was still from a film she starred in.
The next was the trailer of Mahindra’s Sab Culture, which in the synopsis section is described as “from Blues and Rock to Theatre and Folk, discover six iconic festivals that nurture, preserve, and celebrate India’s art and music in its purest form.”
She started the post by talking about the 1989 film “Dead Poets Society” starring Robin Williams and directed by Peter Weir.
“In the brilliant 1989 film Dead Poets Society, John Keating (played by the inimitable Robin Williams) gathers his classroom of disillusioned teenage boys to tell them that “… Medicine, law, banking- these are necessary to sustain life. But poetry, romance, love, beauty? These are what we stay alive for!” she wrote in the caption section.
Talking about the “Dead Poets Society”, which was released in 1989, Zeenat shared: “It’s a particularly moving scene because we are a society that gives short shrift to the arts beyond the narrow confines of the mainstream.”
Bollywood gave its own spin to “Dead Poets Society” with the 2000 Aditya Chopra film “Mohabbatein”, which saw the bigwigs of Hindi cinema such as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai among many others join hands.
She added: “And so it’s this scene that came to my mind when @mahindrarise sent me the trailer for their new docu series. I just love seeing a brand carve out space for the myriad, musical subcultures that have footing in India.”
“And to be entirely honest, I had no clue that there were so many festivals in the country, each devoted to a different genre of music.”
Talking about art and culture, Zeenat said: “Art is as old as humanity I suppose. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think there is any other species in the world that is as driven to expression as us. Painting, sculpture, literature, cinema, music… these are the things that allow us to escape from the mundane banalities that can consume one’s life.”
“Equally, I feel it is art that can allow us to touch one another’s humanity regardless of the social divisions we create. ‘Together We Rise’… It’s a powerful philosophy with which I can find no fault.”
The septuagenarian then revealed what her weekend is going to be like.
“So, my weekend plan is to watch #सबCultures , directed by @sameertheconceited and streaming on Hotstar. This Dead Poet’s Society scene is so poignant to me. What’s a movie scene that lives in your head “rent free”, as the kids say?”