Persepolis

9

There was no reason for me to attend the preview of Persepolis. There were many reasons for me to not go. For one, I had returned from work at 5 am after an eight-hour graveyard shift and was groggy, crabby, exhausted. Second, Alliance Francaise was 25 km from my place, which effectively meant an hour-and-a-half spent travelling for the 3-pm screening. Third, outside was oppressively humid. Fourth, I had no background on the film and no overt interest in graphic novels either. Fifth - albeit the most inconsequential one - a rival news channel was promoting it. I went. I learnt four things: Defying reason makes one feel momentarily empowered; every autowallah in Delhi knows where India Habitat Centre ("Hebbit Centre jaaogi, madam?") is, 3 pm is bad time for anything in June. And: India needs films like Persepolis. Now without making this read....