Life or Something Like It.

Migration...

2009-02-04T03:22:00.000-08:00

This post is to formally announce that, I have migrated to Wordpress platform. I shall not continue to write on this blog anymore. Thank you all for your wonderful support and encouragement all these days. And I hope you will continue to read/appreciate/criticize my work in future too....here's the link to my blog on wordpress....see you all there.

http://hemanthology.wordpress.com

Adieu,
Hemanth

Mangalore Calling...

2008-12-21T11:31:00.000-08:00

This one promises to be a great journey for it marks my first trip to the Western Coast. So, here it is, Mangalore-Udupi-Dharmasthala and a bunch of other places and beaches, tour is just around the corner. Tour dates...25th-28th Dec...

Will soon blog about the whole journey as soon as I am back....:)

Signing Off,
Hemanth

When People Go Bonkers....

2008-12-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Life is a funny thing. There are those who sit on one side of the prism and say, life's colourful and some sit on another side and say, life's got too much variety and so on. So, what happens when all these perspectives culminate? Well, I don't know...quite frankly, I think, either people go crazy, or we see a whole new set of species who are more sensible and intelligent.

We in Hyderabad, have been grappling with a new wave of disease called political fever. And in this madness, a code has been set to reach each and every one of us through enormous publicity. Look around, and you will find trillions of small party flags, thousands of vehicles claiming to support some or the other party and hundreds of cars labeled as " MLA/MLC" and yada...yada. I must add that, some are leaving no stone unturned to make their presence felt, so much so that the basic ideology of electing a leader is questionable. These days, I have been coming across hundreds of hoardings of countless youth who have put there "100 watt glowing and smiling" photo along with their friends, claiming to be supporting some "God Knows Who" political leader. I am sure I will bear witness a lot more action in the coming days, and have every intention of writing something about it. Here's one such poster I have come across...have a look.

For those of you who cannot understand Telugu, here's the translation of the content in the poster...

"World is beautiful.
And without eyes it is meaningless.

....Pic...

On the Occasion of Jagan's Birthday, please donate your eyes.

Jagan Charitable Trust"

By the way, Jagan is the son of the current Chief Minister of A.P, Mr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy. Correct me if I am wrong Mr.Jagan, I went bonkers, when you (or atleast people supporting you) appealed to the public to donate their eyes on the "occasion of your birthday". You couldn't ask for a better birthday gift?!...:D...What next? You want people's blood, kidneys, liver, heart for several of your family member's birthdays?! It's a very noble intention to run a charitable trust, but it would be even great if you were more sensitive to people. Maybe next time, you can try to appeal to a broad set of audience sans your name on it, atleast not in the body of the poster...let people judge you for what you are. I have already seen some communities on orkut, which have termed you as the equivalent of "Rahul Gandhi" in A.P...and I wish you good luck for that!

I think, this is only the beginning of what promises to be a great election in the state this time. Already three lions are showing their prowess across the state, but we will have to wait a watch who stands up to be the fourth of the lions. It's funny, because, an election which is soon assuming a strong flavour of caste, political affliations and bias cannot be fair! Unless we, the people, stand up for what we truly believe in and try to make a difference. I think God has a plan for us this time, He's playing this mind game to see how far can people go to make things happen...and as we go on constructing our Tower of Babel, He's watching us...waiting for the moment when we forget what we are and who we are....and then...He will strike upon thee with fury and great vengence.

P.S: I am not a supporter of any political party...am just a ghost around...am just a common man!...:D (I know, I contradict myself!..)

The Persistance of Perseverance

2008-12-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite movies, V for Vendetta, has a beautiful monologue about a man trying to kindle a sense of hope and optimism in the imagination of his fellow brothers and sisters. And it goes something like this...(An excerpt from the movie, V for Vendetta)

" V: Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than four hundred years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot. "

The above passage has a great sense of pragmatism associated with it. And if you read closely, you will see that the speaker has appealed to what we believe in and what we subsequently end up doing. Take any great speech for that matter, and you will find the aroma of hope and at the end of it, a sense of relentless will to do something. Al Pacino's speech in "Any Given Sunday", is another example of words having an impeccable impact, so much so that, I can't sleep without listening to that clip atleast once! Over the past few years, I have come across video and audio clips of some influential speeches, out of which, Steve Jobs speech at Stanford's commencement, James Nachtwey's speech while accepting TED prize, and Barack Obama's Victory speech stand out. I would like to point out a bit about Obama here, since he's the man who seems to have captured the imagination of millions of people across the world.

A lot many things have been said and written about Obama, but nothing compares to the feeling which you undergo when you hear him talk. He doesn't say great things, but I have always wondered why some speeches become the talk of town and sometimes of the country, world as well. And after having listened to his Victory Speech in Chicago and another speech in 2004 in Illinois when he was campaigning for John Kerry, have cleared all doubts in my mind about the power of words. I have realised that no matter what, a simple phrase will reach people's heart if you utter with utmost sincerity and belief. No wonder, his political meetings bring such huge cheer and crowds from all walks of life. Probably, the next thing I am gonna do is to listen to all his debates and speeches to inject a dose of hope and optimism into my otherwise banal life.

They say, the simple and most beautiful things in life are free. Like a smile, tears, love, anger, fear, joy...ideas, perspective. And if we have to fight for them or even struggle to be able to catch a glimpse of them in our life, then be sure that there is something wrong with your life. It's not what your mirror shows you, but it's that brief moment of doubt in your mind, which makes you stand (or not stand) infront of a mirror for a longer time...that is a sign that things aren't what they have to be. People write tons of random stuff (including this post!..:P) to address how to resolve the crisis under such circumstances, I say, bullocks! How does one know what's with your life? How does a doctor know what's wrong with your head? There might be a cure for a lot of things, but is there a cure for hopelessness, the void in your life, the isolation...? Things like this can stay for a long time, consuming you from within, but life works in a magical way. All you need is a perspective called...Belief! God knows what sort of endorphin is released in our brain, but it's true! Things seem brighter and more chirpy when there is belief in our mind and heart. And what can be more beautiful, than seeing this sense of belief cure the dogma, that we cannot stand on our feet unless we have a helping hand!

At the end of the day, I wonder, how much of a changed person I am. Few years ago, when someone asked me, what do I want to be? I said, I wanted to be a respected person in the society. I didn't have an iota of knowledge what meant or how can I achieve it. And now when people ask me (after having seen how out of place I am in my current profession) what do I really wanna be and do? I say, I want to be a writer. And they laugh...See, this is what I call "The Persistence of an uncurable dogma". I now see a clear path ahead and as far as I can see, there's no one around. And I just walk alone...with a hope that, others will smile and rejoice when I reach my goal one day. Right now, I am in the middle of nowhere! Probably I would need a lot more Steves, Obamas, David Mitchells, Al Pacinos, Pete McCarthys, friends, strangers, movies, books, videos, blogs, ideas, thoughts, perspective, belief...to believe that,...."Yes, I can."

To put an end to this endless stream of consciousness, here's a modification of another quote from "V for Vendetta"...
"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea, my friend, and ideas are bulletproof."

Amen,
Hemanth

The Good Doctor

2008-12-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Weekends are always reserved for the best of things I suppose! No wonder every week, a new movie or concert happens to be on a weekend. Over the past few weeks, after having grounded myself to the confines my room, I felt a void growing in me. A void of not having done any activity which some of my fellow countrymen would say, "Fun Stuff". So, there I was, aimlessly going through loads of books at a second hand book sale and ended up picking four books. I came across, a David Mitchell's book named "Number9Dream" and another book by Pete McCarthy titled "The Road To McCarthy" and both promise to be genuinely fantastic books owing to all the great reviews the respective books have got. Sunday, 14th December has been an unusually short day for me. After having slept till 12 PM, there was little time to do anything else, so I ended up keeping my promise and landed at NIFT, Hyderabad to see, "The Good Doctor" a play performed by "Dramanon"-a theatre group.

The Good Doctor:

Based on a play by Neil Simon of the same name, "The Good Doctor" is an anthology of six stories. The story set in Russia during the 19th century, has a distinct style of Chekhovian comedy. It is composed of a series of scenes in which the only connecting thread is the character of the Writer. The writer while giving his reason behind taking up this profession suddenly comes across an idea which he feels will be a good short story and bingo...we enter that scene. And thereafter six stories are enacted one after the other with only the writer as the narrator. They are about a working class man feeling the pressure being an underdog, a Casanova taking a class on the art of seduction, a liberal father wanting his son to have a stint with a prostitute, banker being harassed by an unknown lady, a tramp willing to entertain for a few rubles and two aged strangers meeting in a park.

Of the six plays, I liked the story of the underdog, father and son's discussion, banker's story and the aged strangers meeting in a park for the sheer energy and honesty in engaging the audience. To be honest, I have never been able to understand the Russian writers. Tragedies are more difficult to understand and to interpret them in a way that makes sense, requires a degree of careful thought. Likewise, at the end of first story, the writer mentions a possibility of "Alternative Ending" and the story of the tramp who attempts a drowning act to entertain a gentleman are brain-teasers! Why did the man forget to shout for help? Were the old couple in the park able to express their emotions to one another? Why does the writer choose to cast a spell of gloom on the Casanova when everything was going great for him?! I might turn into yet another Chekov if I knew the answers to all these...:D. But the fact that the play left me and (hopefully) few others like me thinking is in itself a success. If only the movies were engaging as this...a well spent two hours I must say!

The director, R K Shenoy, who I have realised is the soul of the unit, needs special mention. Not only does he bring in a style which is so distinct but also the characters of a veteran stage actor are clearly visible. And how can I forget his rendition on the guitar!!!..Somehow, he reminds me of a senior of mine from college named, Anshuman Bagchi...both have an impeccable aura of bringing a smile onto your face. Of the rest, Madhu (as the lady who harasses the banker) is a gem of an actress! She was brilliant and hopefully we theatre enthusiasts will get to see more of her in future. Utsav, Anshu are well cast in their roles and so are the rest of the cast. After having seen couple of plays by "Dramanon", I am not surprised that they have been identified by "India Today" amongst the top five emerging threatre groups in India. A well deserved recognition I must add.

But...there is an alternate ending to this post! After having sat there for two hours, I still couldn't comprehend why was it named "The Good Doctor". It wasn't until Varun (also a member of Dramanon) clarified from where the play's name has been derived, that I realise the slow and ubiquitous undercurrent throughout the play, which made sure that we never stop laughing or smiling. Thanks Varun, if not for your explanation, I would be having the number7Dream even now!. The troupe promises to come back in 6 months and I must say, I am eagerly waiting for their next production. And thanks to Srinidhi, Harish, Astha, Gunjan for having accompanied me to this play. I am sure it was a nice experience for all of you!

There it was...yet another sunday....yet another day of my life. And I am still here waiting for an alternative ending!...

PS: Number7Dream is derived from the title of David Mitchell's Number9Dream.

PPS: After having seen NIFT and the crowd, I realise why they are such a hot favourite!..:D

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

2008-12-13T14:03:00.000-08:00

Title: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (A Couple Made By God)

Language: Hindi

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Aditya Chopra

Actors: Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak and others.

Verdict: 3/5 (Watch it once!)

Before I stepped into the Cinema Hall to watch this film, the new look of King Khan on TV and posters brought a smile onto my face. To sum up my thoughts, he has never looked this simple and hilarious. I mean, who in the world wears "Lotto" brand shoes anymore?! And that too with that ridiculous moustache he has, things are bound to be different. After having seen the movie, I have a mixed feeling, of course I still smile when I think of Shahrukh as Suri but in the end the movie grapples with clichéd scenes and lack of common sense.

The story is set in Amristar where Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan), a government employee with Punjab Power brings his newly wed wife, Taani (Anushka Sharma). As the story unfolds, Suri explains how madly he had fallen in love with Taani and under what circumstances he had to get married to Taani. A day later, when Taani drops the bombshell that she will never be able to love him, Suri decides to never force her into anything hoping that she will soon realise how much he loves her. All's well till here and the story takes a turn when Taani asks her husband if she could attend the dance classes. Suri, who loves her way too much, immediately agrees and he himself decides to go personally and watch Taani dancing. Enter the new cool dude look, Raj...and the rest as they say is...Rab Di Marzi...

The story of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi seems to have been inspired from our general fetish for dance competitions and Shahrukh's ability to entertain the audience. Seriously, no other actor would have maintained the dignity of Suri and flamboyance of Raj at the same time with such ease. The first 15 minutes of the film reminded me of Mani Ratnam's 1986 flick "Mouna Raagam". The void between the newly wed couple and the occasional pendulous interactions between Suri and Taani are brilliantly shot and mark a great beginning to what could have been a much better movie. The people around Suri especially Bobby (Vinay Pathak) are heartwarming in their respective roles so much so that, you yearn for the conversations between Suri and Bobby. Even when Raj, the cool dude avatar of Suri enters the scene with an intention to bring in happiness to Taani's life you are glued to your seats. Perhaps it's the intensity and the silly, mocking body language which Shahrukh has...and it works! It's the second half where things don't seem to fit in...literally. Ten minutes into the second half, you will know exactly what's going to happen next, so much so that I ended up predicting half the lines which are about to come up on screen!...:D (Just Kidding!..:P). But still you can...the whole setting of the Dance Classes/competition is taken off in the second half of the story only to be brought back in the climax. Rajeev Masand on CNN-IBN brings out couple of interesting points of view about the heroine not able to recognise that it's actually her husband in disguise and also her stupidity in not telling Raj that she's already married until the former proposes to her. There's no mention of Taani being unhappy with the man she's currently married to but she doesn't think for a moment when Raj asks her to elope with him! But every story has to have a happy ending in India. Continuing this tradition, the director throws in a clichéd concept called "Divine Intervention" to solve a dilemma. And there it is...a Happy Ending...Happy Audience.

On the other side, the movie works because of its simplistic sets, infact most of the film seems to have been shot in the streets of Amritsar, Suri's terrific performance as an introvert who just cannot express how deeply is he in love with his wife and that funny smile (or expression) that he has on his face. Anushka Sharma delivers a confident performance in her debut film, she surely will go a long way! If only her character and her dilemma were well scripted out, she could have been the USP of this film. But the film truly belongs to Suri and Raj...and Shahrukh rises above the script to bring in the emotion and fun element. Raj's new designer T-Shirts and a blade hanging around his neck could be the new trend in the bazaar. Vinay Pathak as Bobby is an asset, his hairstyle and the clothes make his presence felt even when he's sharing the space with Shahrukh...you just can't help smiling at his look, especially after having seen him in Dasvidaniya. And the other important character in the movie is....The God! Quite literally...the Music in the movie is soothing, "Haule Haule" is the best of the lot and quite a few others have been shot spectacularly. But most of them reminded me of some soothing melodies in Telugu especially from Venkatesh's films...maybe in the middle of this, I happened to see "Rab"...:D...[Pun Intended!]

The first song, the bike chase, the first 15 minutes, Shahrukh as Suri, Anushka and the end credits sum up all that you need to see in the movie. At the end of the day, I have nothing much to say about the movie...and if you wondering why I have written so much about this movie, then it's all...Rab Di Marzi....[Dear God, I don't mean to offend you with all this, I think I am searching for you in the Taani's around....:D...hehehe...]

Till Then,

Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Key. Phir Milenge. Chalte Chalte

Picture Courtesy: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Wikipedia)

WOW!

2008-12-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

WOW-World of Women, call it fiction or fantasy, it's every man's dream. The most often plaguing our mind is, does it really exist? There have been countless attempts in the past right from creating a Matriarch Society like The Other World Kingdom to bringing the most gorgeous of them under one umbrella. Browse the net and you are bound to find thousands of websites boasting best of women on their sites. Truth be told, most of these does contain a lot of objectionable content and thus get filtered out. But...thanks to Break Media,WOW finds a new address. Few days ago, when I happened to this, wiki-like website, I was surprised by the style in which the information was presented. It's not cramped and just gives a brief introduction and work of the chick. And hence the website's name....Chickipedia.com

It's sort of addiction which keeps me awake and blog at this odd hour when more than 80% of my fellow country men are fast asleep. It's the addiction to write, addiction to chat and browse, addiction to find the next most interesting stuff on the net. And I can say, this has been one website which has evoked a lot of interest in me. Now, don't think of me as a pervert! Maybe I am...but I would like to say, I am trying to remain sane all the time...:P...I admire beauty so much that I can't stop at one!

One such stunner I have across on this site is Sarah Varone. No words to describe what I should call this senorita...:D...and as I scoot to watch out for the next best thing on the site, I just wanna say...Go. Check it out. You Will Love It...!
Amen!

Warning: Some content in these links might require Parental Guidance. The author is not responsible for any possible accident and no objections to the content shall be entertained!!!...:P

Go Fly Kites...

2008-12-11T02:14:00.000-08:00

Amazing as it may seem, but there's no wonder that for once the leading political parties in India have reached a consensus. At last! And riding on the pulse of the populace, both Congress and BJP have taken a united stance on terrorism. This is where the brilliance of both the parties lies in. Both of them have had their share of ups and downs in the recent past, be it some high profile BJP members involved in Malegoan blasts, mutual slandering and mixed results in the recent state elections and yes, of course the major embarrasment which the Congress Government had to face in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. At this juncture, this united stance assumes significance.

For once, they seem to have put their political differences behind and get down to some action. BJP is in a fix, because it doesn't have a face to portray as a dynamic and charismatic leader for the next elections. (Accept it...Advani is too old!). Same's the case with Congress, unless of course, due to an extra-ordinary turn of events, Rahul Gandhi is touted to be the next PM! I wouldn't be surprised anyway. I have always wondered, why from a country of 1 billion plus we haven't been able to select 550 (or somewhere around that) leaders who can lead! All we see is some bunch of folks fighting with each other because the other had interefered in one's area of influence. I bet people would end up laughing on the floor, if there was a positive statement from the opposition about anything which the ruling party does. (Which is what I am doing now...after having read that both the parties have reached a consensus!!!).

Now that there's a consensus, the obvious question is, what's the way ahead? Will we see another war? Or a spate of economic sanctions? or just pure dallying till the next government comes to power so that the entire blame could be levied upon that government for all that has happened during these months of dallying! Sooner or later, each one of us will end up looking in the mirror and wonder, who's this person standing in front of me! We don't look the same, the glow ain't around, there are zillion different things in each others thoughts...all trying to find answer to a simple question. What am I doing?

And if you still can't find an answer to that question...as my boss would say...."Go Fly Kites".

Because....Life Goes On....

Absurdity of Reasoning

2008-12-10T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I saw this post on Rediff.com written by a professor from IIM-Bangalore who was fuming over the terrorist attack in Mumbai. Looks like the day of tolerance are a thing of past and we have now come out of a shell to address the situation head on. 452 comments in little under 2 days is a force to reckon with to understand the magnitude of anger and frustration we have against our neighbours. Oh...wait, this time the guns are set right at the human rights activists and liberals of the country as well.

Elsewhere in the walls of US and Indian political establishments, strategies are being made to analyse the posibility of a war! So much so that, Rice and McCain have been threatening Pakistan that India will attack if an appropriate isn't taken against the terrorists. Talk about India's sovereignty...there it goes for a toss. A war ignited by speculation, and suspicion that some terrible and dangerous activities are going on across the border on either sides. Funny thing is, I don't even know why we should go to a war in the first place.

If the intention is to take revenge for the lives lost, then an eye for an eye wouldn't make any sense. If it's just to vent out the anger, frustration or to pass on a message to Indian people that Government is indeed not so handicapped, then maybe this is not the right time! Economy has been horrible over the past year, rising oil and food prices have taken its toll. On top of that the stock market collapse and the gradual erosion of foreign investments and cash reserves. It's absurd to even think of going to a war unless we want to test the strength of our defence forces! The missiles aren't gonna rust if we rest them for a little more time!...Will they?!

And for God's sake, stop the notion of going to a war! Because tomorrow nothing will make any sense...nothing. Just the illusion of having won over the neighbour....

What the terrorists need to do?

2008-12-10T04:34:00.000-08:00

On 26th November, 2008 a terrible incident in Mumbai shook the entire nation. The battle between the NSG commandos raged for 3 days during which around 170 people lost their lives and several others were injured. And immediately after this chaos hit a pinnacle in political circle. Someone had to be made a scapegoat and media had to put blame on a handful of people. First among the bigwigs to go under the hammer was Shivraj Patel, the then Home Minister of India; R R Patil, deputy CM of Maharashtra and Vilasrao Deshmukh, CM of Maharashtra. This was not all..

The major impact, however, this time has been from the citizens. Countless protests led by some concerned citizens of Mumbai and several other places took place across the country. And as usual, media hasn't missed a chance to highlight the growing anger among the populace. I was going through some articles on various websites and newspapers which have highlighted the statements given by Sanjay Dutt, Shahrukh Khan and other celebrities about the insecurity they as citizens have been facing. What's most interesting this time is the outburst of India Inc. In a recent meeting between the Corporates and Police authorities in Bangalore, Corporate houses have demanded AK-47s be given to the security guards who guard the zillion offices around-a request which has been categorically denied by the authorities. All these incidents in a way form a perfect RGV film's plot. No wonder, he left no stone unturned to be on ground zero, 'apparently' inspired from the events and decided (or was it announced) that he would soon make a film based on these events.

Back in the headquarters, wherever these terrorists might be from I sense some really tense faces! There could be a notion that their plan backfired. The reason, they chose the wrong targets. Of course, they killed lot of people, brought the nation to its feet, but I wonder whether they can withstand the backlash and the international attention which this incident has acquired. As an Indian, I have a request for the thousands being trained for future Jihad missions.

For whatever your mission maybe, please choose India as your destination! We offer the best hospitality, best tourism, best health care, best transport, ample resources who can help you out with almost anything, right from smuggling goods to getting you an entry to a 5 star hotel. Keeping in view of all your low-cost model of execution, India should and is perhaps your most-preferred onsite location. But please fire your chief strategist! He (or she) may have been of great help in the past killing people in massive numbers, but this time he has got it all wrong. All Wrong!

We in India, still haven't forgotten the rich and poor divide. The poor always struggle for their rights and justice and not many pay attention to them! Whereas the rich, have the power which would make a nation like yours envy! This time, you chose the wrong targets, places frequented by rich and famous...no wonder there has been so much of backlash. Something which has forced the government take a strong stance for the first time in years! The next time you choose a location to plant a bomb, the usual and tested places are the best...nobody would give a damn in a day or two! If your plan is to create chaos in India, then I suppose, killing people is perhaps the worst technique. You see, everytime a bomb goes off in any location across the country, there's massive publicity, media attention, leaders asking people to show our unity...and indeed all this is true!

We, over the past 60 years have been seeing you through a prism. So, no one has a clue what your true colour and intentions are. Instead, try for once to stay calm and divert your attention to some other activity; could be as simple as searching for water and oil deposits right under your soil! That would ensure that RAW (if there is one!) is on tenterhooks 365x24 hours! Need I say more?!?!...Please nuke us...and we shall reply in a way (or atleast try to) that you will never ever forget.

Run Lola Run

2008-11-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

Title: Run Lola Run (English)

Lola Rennt(German)

Language: German (Original)

Year of Release: 1998

Director: Tom Tykwer

Actors: Franka Potente , Moritz Bleibtreu

Awards: The film was nominated for 41 awards, 26 of which were won. These included the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, Best Film at the Seattle International Film Festival, and seven separate wins at the German Film Awards

Verdict: 4/5 (Awesome! Must Watch)

Have you ever wanted to change your destiny? What happens when you alter some things in your present? How does that impact your future? How far can you go to save the one you love? Is it possible to earn $100,000 in 20 minutes?! Sounds impossible...but it's not so. Check out this awesome German Flick, "Run Lola Run" for all the possible answers. And you will end up admiring much more than you will realise.

The story begins with Lola receiving a call from her boyfriend Manni who tells her about an impending danger to his life. And to save himself, he needs $100,000 in 20 minutes which has to be delivered to his boss. Lola forseeing a possibility of Manni making some stupidity warns him from doing anything and pleads him to wait for her. And she drops the phone and runs....runs....runs.

Probably that's the maximum story I can divulge, anything more would be stupidity and anything less doesn't serve the purpose of this post. Coming back to the story, its divided into three parts which each ending in a different way. So, the movie is all about, what happens when Lola arrives after 20 minutes, just before 20 minutes and right at 20 minutes. The story brings forth an important perspective that the road to your destiny is paved by your present actions. The brilliance of Run Lola Run lies in its ability to surprise you at every stage. The style of film-making, soundtrack, editing and narration are awesome and mind you calling it "awesome" is denigrating the fast paced action and the adrenaline it boasts of. Of all the people associated with this film, Tom Tykwer(director and writer), Franka Potente (Lola) and Mathilde Bonnefoy (Editor) need special mention.

Tom Tykwer relies on the pace and narration of the story, so much so that, the entire story rests on Lola and her bumping into several people. With a clever mix of animation and themes like time limit, Tom scores the maximum in leaving a great impact on the audience. Honestly, I wouldn't have stopped raving about this film, had I seen this 2 years ago while I was in college. I say so, because you rarely get to such a film where there's no threat of a terrorist attack or someone threating to blow up a bus/building! It's a concept driven by love and doing anything for the ones you love.

Franka Potente (who later appeared in "Bourne Identity") is more than good in her role. She captures your imagination with her bleached hair and a zeal to earn 100 grand in 20 minutes. Watch her in one of her runs when she manages to get the money from the bank, it's possibly one of the best shot sequences in the flick. She's what I would call a perfect diro's actress! And at the end of the day, the most important thing is, she delivers a stunning performance!

Mathilde Bonnefoy, the editor of the movie is another asset. It's not easy to show three acts back to back with the same beginning but a different ending. With her brilliant editing, Mathilde makes sure that we as audience, don't fret about the repitition of certain scenes.

I have always wondered why our Indian film-makers don't make such genuine fast paced action flicks. Although they have over the past few years, it's still a long way to go before they reach a stunner! Perhaps some sensible people should watch this "Run Lola Run" over and over again....I would hate them to the core if they rip the entire movie and give it a local name, but some budding sensible film-makers, I believe have the conviction to do what's right. And hopefully we will get to see a truly stylish and genuinely good action flick sometime in future.

Watch this film over and over again....it won't fail to surprise you. One of my favourites!

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-10T04:45:00.000-08:00

Title: Quantum of Solace

Language: English

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Marc Forster

Actors: Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench

Verdict: ***

First things first...What happened to Bond, James Bond?! To put into a proper perspective, the iconic character of our age seems to have been slowly stripped off his panache. Of course, the new interpretation of James Bond is enthralling for those who bask in realism. But where is his wit?! Where are his jaw-dropping gadgets?! Where is the charm which women find irreristable?! Where did his Tuxedo go? What happened to his own Martini?! There are way too many questions than this if you have just walked out of the latest James Bond flick, "Quantum of Solace". Having said all this, I will not take any credit away from this. Despite all its shortcomings, including a theme which is very unBond like, wayward editing and total absence of everything what we have known Bond for, "Quantum of Solace" is still a movie which has loads of energy and edge-of-the-seat action.

Daniel Craig stars as James Bond, tracking down the people behind Vasper Lynd's death with vengeance in his heart. The movie begins with a stunning car chase in Italy as Bond tries to escape from the henchmen. In Siena(Italy), M awaiting Bond to bring forth Mr.White tries to know about the organisation for which Mr.White works for. And sooner she finds out that the organisation has infiltrated even Mi6, she's caught unaware when her own aide shoots at her. Back in Mi6 as the forensic experts successfully tracks down some of the key people associated with suspicious money transfers, Bond is on his heels. His voyage to track down those responsible for Vasper's death takes him to Carribean and later to Bolivia, Austria. Dominic Greene, the chief of Green Planet, and as a member of Quantum, the organisation behind some of the most heinous crimes across the world. How Dominic tries to dictate terms to the governments in South America? Who helps Bond in his path to redemption? Does Bond successfully tracks down those behind Vasper's death? All this form the basic theme of Quantum of Solace.

Quantum of Solace originally is a short story adapted from Ian Fleming's "For Your Eyes Only", and it really is SHORT! With a running time of around 105 minutes, the film hardly has time to lay down the plot for the convenience of its audience. It's stuffed with as many action sequences, car chases, hand to hand fights ., etc in those 105 minutes. And we end up getting a half-baked plot which could have been a much better one to talk about. When you clinically look at this movie, you will realise that, despite some great cinematography and action sequences, the editing is so wayward that, atleast I had no clue what was happening in that scene. The frames change faster than you can gaze, the scenes and the acts are just too short to give much of a thought and in the end, the void is so clearly seen. Daniel Craig as the Bond, looks as good as any other action hero, but isn't it the charm which the likes of Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan once displayed which makes Bond, the Bond?! These are the moments when I truly miss Brosnan, the erstwhile Bond, who despite not having the muscle, had unparallel charm and wit. Olga Kurylenko as Camellie is good in her role, but with zilch chemistry between her and Craig, it's as good as not having her in the same frame as Bond. And what happened to the "Other" Bond Girl?! She's supposed to be the hottest chick in the flick; and they had to choose Gemma Arterton, of all the beautiful women in the world! Phew, if this is what the hotness parameter has fallen to, God save Bond! (She supposed to be the one who can surge the adrenaline levels when she's on screen, but watch Gemma on screen, and you will realise why I am fretting so much!). Dominic Greene(Mathieu Amalric) is perhaps the worst antagonist of Bond I have seen in ages. It's not that Mathieu hasn't done a good job, but his character in the film is so weak that you will realise that the purpose of his existence is to wait for Bond to kill him!!!

The only reason why you cannot walk out of the cinema hall is because of some stunning action sequences (however incongruent they may be), the conversations between M and Bond, and a new theme which takes us to places where no Bond film has ever gone before! And Thank God, the antagonist is not from a country which US and UK always has on their blacklist. He's not into building nuclear weapons or any other such thing to create havoc. Judi Dench as M, shows why no other woman can usurp that role atleast for the next few years. She's almost perfect to her role and delivers a commendable performance. This film was said to be most jinxed in the history of Bond flicks. You will realise why stunt drivers lost their lives and others ended up with broken bones when you see the first 5 minutes of the film....don't miss the beginning!!!

Lets hope that someone who's thinking about the next Bond film's script sees what Bond has missed in this flick. Bring back his gadgets, his tuxedo, his style, his wit, his way with women ! Put the sex back into Bond!!! You don't feel like having seen a truly genuine Bond movie unless we see all this on screen and hear his iconic line....Bond, James Bond!

Amen!

Coming Soon...

2008-11-06T05:01:00.000-08:00

Woah...been a long time since I wrote about a movie! Not that I haven't been watching any, in fact, I have been watching quite a few over the past one month. Multiple reruns of "Infernal Affairs" has been the best so far! Fashion was the last Hindi movie I saw, and I don't feel like blogging about it here, but nevertheless shall blog about it on my other blog...http://isawthisflick.blogspot.com.

These are some of the movies, which I will be blogging about soon....

1. Infernal Affairs-I(Cantonese)
2. Run Lola Run- (German)
3. Quantum of Solace- (English)

And many more...

Till then....Adios!

Kotha Bangaru Lokam

2008-10-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

Title: Kotha Bangaru Lokam

Language: Telugu
Year of Release:2008
Director: Srikanth Addala
Actors: Varun Sandesh, Shweta Prasad, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Ahuthi Prasad and others
Verdict: 3.75 / 5 (Don't miss it!)

2008 has had its share of ups and downs for Tollywood. There are no huge blockbusters to talk about... the success of Jalsa, Ready, Krishna, and other movies may be the only so far which has the rung the cash registers. But I wouldn't be surprised if the audience complained of some void which arises for lack of fresh stories or atleast something to talk about incessantly! Finally, the wait seems to have ended...atleast in most quarters. And it's once again from the production house of ace producer Dil Raju, who has Addala Srikanth as the chief bastion to his reputation of producing good movies! The team has definitely come up with a winner which will draw in the famillies and more particularly the teenagers and youth.

Kotha Bangaru Lokam (KBL) is the story of Balu (Varun Sandesh) and Swapna (Shweta Prasad), who meet in a Residential Junior College. Balu is the kind of guy whom you would associate any teenager...the happy go lucky guy, who believes that anything is possible and for whom life's a beautiful dream which can be led as one pleases. His life takes a new turn when he bumps into Swapna in college and is compelled to know more about her. As time progresses, love blossoms...the only problem is, they don't know if it's love or attraction. When they come across their Physics Lecturer who believes that life's all about the decisions you make at different levels, they are compelled even more to question themselves as to what exactly is the funny feeling they are enduring. After a short while, they realise that it's the love for each other which makes them restless...all's well so far! But how can life be so smooth??! Obviously, the girl's father discovers the affair and takes his daughter away from the college. Now that, with the girl gone and him being sent out of college, what will Balu do? Will he confess all this to his parents ? Will he be able to meet Swapna again? How does all this end??!--To find answers to all these questions...you must watch the movie!

It's just not the question of what happens in the latter part of the story, but the movie on a whole is an earnest attempt to portray the lifestyle of a teenager and what he thinks and does. The steps to discovering oneself are sometimes the longest and the hardest to walk. If leaving your parents hands (in a strictly Indian Sense) was so easy, there would have been no question of a struggle of conscience. At every step of your life, you have this going in your mind...how would my family react if they find out what I have done? Will my family support my decision? When will the society realise that I am mature enough to make my own decisions?!....yada...yada.

Probably a dozen more of such questions have always plagued us sometime or the other. And after having seen the movie, I can say with my hand on my heart that the writers and the director understand what it's to be like a teenager....watch out for that physics class where this concept is explained as XYZ axis! Coming back to the movie, Varun Sandesh is here to stay! He's got another good role which he performs with ease after his role in "Happy Days". Of course, his American accent doesn't seem to have completely veered of him, especially for a film where he's portraying a Konaseema lad. He has shed lot of weight...and has that funny looking mush...hehe...pretty much like how most of us used to look like back then (Of course, I personally cannot claim to be thin at any stage of my life!!! :-P...). He looks a bit like Danush in this flick...check it out yourself if you don't believe me! Shweta Prasad, the girl who earlier played the role of Iqbal's sister in Nagesh Kukoonoor's "Iqbal" is the find of the year! She's just perfect for the role and has a remarkable innocence etched onto her face all the time. No wonder, her smile and the catchy phrase "Ekkada" will stand out in the movie. Ahuti Prasad is content in his role...he's got some really funny lines. Jayasudha and Prakash Raj team up again...and leave no place for any shortcomings. Although I would say, their roles don't have much footage, but the entire film owes it to their presence and the impact which they leave in those scenes in which they appear. Another big asset to this movie is the set of friends which the hero and the heroine have! I haven't laughed so much for such spontaneous lines...and the Konaseema accent adds to the sparkling humour!

Mickey J Meyer's music is another asset...couple of songs, Nijanga...Nijanga...and Nenani will continue to be among the chartbusters for a long long time! Chota K Naidu's Cinematography is probably the strongest pillar to this movie...all those wonderful scenes across Godavari, the songs and the general scenes between the hero and the heroine are wonderfully captured. The colours are rich and they exude such brilliance...one thing in particular...most of the scenes have been shot amidst the most brilliant of the sunlighting! The golden rays of sun and the soft music are probably more than enough to make you belief that you are feeling good within for some odd reason. Kudos to the director for bringing in such a wonderful team together and bringing out a genuinely fresh product. The direction is particularly brilliant towards the final act in the movie, and I truly hope this talented director comes up with something more consistent. A final word for the producer, Raju...he seems to have got the knack of finding good talent most of the times. Have got just one thing to say-"Your Bank Balance just got multipled!!!"....:D

There might be plenty of reasons for watching this movie, but probably the most important thing would be....go for the sweet romance, sparkling comedy and some beautiful music and cinematographer. Don't miss this flick...you never know when you might come across another truly genuine piece of work like this one!

Upcoming Events...

2008-10-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

Came across this pretty good site for the upcoming events in Bangalore...am sure most of you Bangalorean folks must have stumbled across it...EventsBenguluru

Upcoming Events:

In Bangalore:

Open Business Quiz on Sunday 12 October at Vista, IIM-B’s Business Fest

In Hyderabad:

Hindu Plus Presents: Theatre Fest 2008- It's Playtime Folks....click here for more details on this fest

Happy Quizzing and hope atleast some of you drop in at the Theatre fest...they do feature some good ones from time to time!

Have you been "Gaming"?!!!

2008-10-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

Have you ever laid your hands on a book and wonder if it's "The One" which will change your life?! If you go by the reviews that you find behind the book, then almost 1 out of 3 books claim that this is the best book you can ever come across...but sadly most of them don't live upto the expectations.

So, what so different about "The Game"....Yes, it's a book! Written by Neil Strauss, it chronicles his journey which he takes to understand the art of seduction and how pick up artists perform and share their information with others!

"The Game- Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick Up Artists"- By Neil Strauss is perhaps one such book which somehow manages to surprise you at every corner. Written in a very casual manner, it's not exactly a gyaan which the writer is giving out to the readers, but the extra-ordinary turn of events which at times sound too good to be true! But who knows...as time has shown us nothing is impossible!!!...The book is about Self-Discovery, believing in oneself and making your presence felt in social gatherings. This is what you would realise the book is about once you get the essence, of course, on top of all this, it's about nerds and geeks realising that they have something special going inside them. It's about people like you and me shedding their deepest fears (of rejection) and inhibitions...with the overall impact depicted when it comes to starting and carrying on a conversation with every blue eyed (or otherwise) girl who interests you!

I wouldn't go far and say that, this book will change course of your life, but then it's something which you can't stop raving about once you begin it! Right from the almost surrealistic conversations to discovering what women prefer...from discovering self to what makes you a runaway hit...the book's got it all! It's a must read for all single men...of course, mere reading of this book won't get you laid (or whatever your intent is!) but it definitely ignites a spark in you to start doing something about what you want!

P.S: Although, some would say the book is just for men, because all that people seem to be doing is flirting around with girls...but WTF...it's a brilliant book...which anyone can enjoy!

Check out...some of the related videos of how people actually go sarging!! Click Here

To know more about the Game or Neil Strauss...check out their official site ...

Where's the Awesomeness??! .....

2008-10-05T03:07:00.000-07:00

TV perhaps should be categorized in the same league as that of Cigarettes, Drugs, Alcohol...basically any damn thing which makes you addictive! It's just the news and entertainment, every program on TV caters to its respective audience across the world! And most probably it's the 40 mins (in some cases 20 mins) episodes of an ongoing or previous TV series...it sets the whole generation scouting for resources to watch the episodes by hook or crook! One TV series which has been a huge hit with our generation has been...F.R.I.E.N.D.S...it ran for almost 10 long years!...And then there were plenty of them...Numbers, Prison Break, Family Guy, Simpsons, South Park, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes...etc! The list goes on and on...

One of these which had taken me by storm was How I Met Your Mother! Thanks to Harsha and Vetti who introduced me to this series earlier this year...this series has always been something to watch out for...the reason....of Course...Barney and Robin....(Drooling....Drooling!!...;-)...).

It's 3 seasons down and the 4th one began on 22nd September in U S and A. Already 2 episodes of the current season have hit the screen...and after a long gap, I happened to see both of them...Couple of things seem to have changed. Over the past 3 seasons, Barney has been the most awe...wait for it...some, thing in the show. I say this because, he's got the diction and the style especially when it comes to his funk one-liners and also while seducing countless chicks in McLaren's (and in other places). Season 4 so far has been a little rusty when it comes to the Barney we all knew of...where's all that awesomeness!!!...maybe I should wait to check out more episodes to see if Barney's at his usual best!.....

Robin has been another surprise. She seemed to have lost some weight...and has toned her bhhhoody a bit!...(Sorry for my slangs...can't help it!). She's still hot as ever...but has lost a bit of her cuteness!!...:D. The rest of them don't seem to have changed at all!!!....Enough of my talk...I scoot to re-re-rewatch some episodes from previous seasons of HIMYM....

Check this site out....it's got an awesome collection of all your favourite shows and also tons of movies....http://surfthechannel.com

For more info on HIMYM....check this out...How I Met Your Mother-Official Site

And this one is an absolute must read....But I recommend you to read this only after having seen the awesomeness of Barney!.....Barney's Blog

Anything for you Ma'm : Book Review

2008-10-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Remember, back in 2004 there came a book titled "Five Point Someone" by Chetan Bhagat and it took the Indian publishing industry by storm. What added to the craze was the IIT tag to this book, it was after all marketed as "Five Point Someone- What not to do in an IIT". Oh...boy, Chetan Bhagat and the publishing house did indeed mint money with this book. Oh, just in case if you didn't know this...according to some sources, selling 5000 copies of a book is enough to put in Bestsellers bracket in India! And his book according to some reports in May, 2008 has touched 7 lakh copies!!..and still counting. Whatever maybe the case, it proved that you don't have to be a Rushdie to become a star overnight. If I may take a stand on this issue, I would go on to say that this book has given confidence to so many other budding writers who dream of getting their book published. And whatever maybe the case...a book would eventually find its reader.

Anything for you Ma'm, is a book written by Tushar Raheja who was a final year student in IIT, Delhi when this book was published back in 2006. The book follows the trail of a IITian named Tejas Narula who's longing to meet his lady love Shreya who's in Chennai. As you would have expected by now, the girl's dad realising that she's in love has grounded her in Chennai. And it's upto Tejas to do whatever it may take to meet his girl.

The book has got some good reviews from various newspapers and magazines, some calling it a laugh a minute book, others comparing it with a typical masala film from Bollywood...one chap even drew parallel to Virginia Wolf owing to the narattion technique which the author uses here. I would say, the book's all that...and probably it's a bit over rated! As a fellow blogger points out that, the book is filled with coincidences which one needs to build an interesting plot. Another points out that, there's not one single thing which the author disparages! Everything is beautiful...the months...the sun...the winters...the trains...the people...you name it! I don't blame him anyway...as some of you might argue that being in love one would tend to think of like this...:). I wouldn't know anyway!!!...:-P

If you are one who doesn't go for some heavy reading...this is not a bad one to flip through. It's charming in parts and treads the road travelled in other cases. The author didn't have to really use the IIT tag here...there's nothing in the book which adds to the aura of the character being an IITian. But it sells!! And that's what matters....(No offence!). Not a masterpiece in any angle, but an honest effort....:D

P.S: I have an idea....I think we all should brainstorm and come up with each and every random stuff we have done in our college lives...am sure there are enough tales to tell to the rest of the world. If not anything, we would atleast end up having a log book which we could share for our 25th reunion...should be fun! What say guys?! Who's with me?!...

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

2008-10-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

You guessed it right by now...that I would inaugurate my blogging streak with a movie review.And probably for the first time, I have written about a movie which I wouldn't have even dreamed of blogging about till sometime back. I realised that I can't just go on praising movie...have been doing that for quite sometime now! So, it's time to balance out few things and write about movies which aren't awesome...but good enough to kill a good 2 hours of your weekend!....I am putting all that stuff on this blog....http://cornflicks.blogspot.com

The first post to go up in the blog is "You Don't Mess with the Zohan". Quite a ridiculous movie it is...almost unexpected from Adam Sandler. RC if you are reading this blog by now...this one's for you, because you wanted me to write about the mundane stuff as well....:D

This year, Adam Sandler's in the limelight again with his act as an Israeli Counter-terrorist named Zohan. And the movie is all about Zohan and his wildness...:). There couldn't be a better way to start a movie, than showing some really really hot chicks with the minimalist possible bikinis and thongs running on the sandy beaches.....To read more about this flick....click here

P.S: Please let me know if you would love to write on Cornflicks as well...somehow too many of us do come up with awesome stuff libeling as well as praising anything and everything!!...:D

Where were you?

2008-10-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

Far across a land, I had never been to,

There was a treasure which was a legend.

Some said it was the creation of God,

And others that it was the Holy Grail of our times.

Deep in the dungeon of my life I was trapped,

Where the only concern was to be or not to be,

Some said the only way to break free was a quest,

And others opined that it would be foolish to go on a wild goose chase.

Then one day, I saw a moon kissing the star,

It left me wondering how the moon touched the star.

And it struck me that life’s just an illusion,

Sometimes it lets you walk on water,

And sometimes sucks you deep within.

I had resolved that the only way out of this trap was a quest,

To a land far away that existed only in legends and in my dreams.

I ran…ran and ran…to a place where earth touched the sky.

But that never came so I kept running.

I asked someone if they knew about the treasure,

And they told me a secret that none had known before.

One after the other the secrets kept tumbling out,

And what was once a legend was now a princess who was wilting with seasons.

When the palace where you were was insight,

There were no dragons and fires to scare me away…

Just a single long tunnel to across,

And I saw you on the other end of it…waiting for someone.

All I had to do was to cross the tunnel,

But little did I realize that those would be the most difficult steps I would take!

The demons of my past kept pulling me behind,

But that wouldn’t stop me going towards my glory of my future…inch by inch.

And today after all these years, I stand before you,

And wonder if I could touch you,

I couldn’t move an inch further because I was blinded,

Blinded by a beauty that was only in legends…a beauty which was a creation of God!

I shed a drop of tear out of happiness,

And something happened…something no one had told me before.

The flowers around bloom as if it was spring,

The lamps lit all by themselves and slowly darkness vanished…

As I stood agape to what had happened around, I see you lifting your face,

And there it was….the smile!

So, then we hold our hands and look into your eyes,

The pearls which had me rolling towards life,

And ask…”Where were you when the moon kissed the star?”

And you reply…”I was wondering how did the star touch the moon?”

And I smile as I lay my arms around you and gaze at the moon and the star kissing each other…again!

Let's Brainstorm....

2008-09-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Dear All,
In less than 15 minutes I sent invites to my friends to join this blog, we already have 5 of them onboard and I am sure, many more would join. This just shows how addicted we are to the comp!!!...:D. Well, wanted to put in few things before we go full throttle with the blogging....

1. As usual, I have no idea what design would look good for the blog. So, please if you have or have across a brilliant template which would be appealing to everyone, do send it to me!
2. If you don't want to blog a particular thing directly here, you can write 3-4 lines telling us what you have written and provide a link to the blog/site where you have posted that stuff.
3. Blogging about Randomest of ideas, thoughts, deeds are encouraged. It just shows, that we do a lot more when we are not compelled to do something...(Perhaps, what Freedom to do anything is all about!)
4. I do understand that life goes on during weekdays too...so do write about almost anything and everything if you feel like!
5. If you are writing about a place you have visited or describing a pub, restaurant or any other thing which you are recommended others to visit, please be more elaborate while describing about it. This is for the common interest of everyone...:-)
6. Posting pics/videos or links to where they are put up is highly encouraged!
7. If you have your buddies/colleagues who would be interested to blog here...please let me know.
8. Since most of you already seem to be blogging (sometimes on multiple blogs), let me know which of your blogs can I put on blogroll.
9. And finally...this is your blog, so suggestions and ideas are highly required!....:D

Enjoy the long weekend! Which also means, there are tons of things to be written about...:-D

Yours,
Hemanth

The mother of all weekends is here!

2008-09-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

Firstly, thanks hemanth for inviting me to this blog. Its a great idea to blog about the weekends, especially for young professionals like us. Gone are the days when we used to laze out everyday like a Saturday in BITS. We now live a life from Friday to Sunday. The rest of the week is dedicated to evil corporates who squeeze out every drop of juice in us. And that very thought makes us look forward to this lovely day called Friday.

Malaysia being an Islamic country with a difference (the difference being that the weekend is still sat-sun, unlike thu-fri in most others) can afford to boast of the mother of all weekends. Three days of Hari Raya (literally means Celebration Day, for Ramadan) on wed-thu-fri and the normal weekend after that. Its really a Friday after Monday. And I am off on some private adventure to celebrate. Will blog about it when I am back.

I look forward to reading some splendid chains of thought in TGIF, from various places on the planet (amazing how our batch ended up scattered on all the inhabited continents!), hoping to learn various cultures, the good about them and the comedy of errors they sometime become and to just dump in my random travels across peninsular Malaysia. My trip here is almost coming to an end and I hope to put in some memorable weekend adventures I have had before I forget them.

Thank God It's Friday....

2008-09-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

Ah...Thank God it's Friday..again! Perhaps, just the thought of a Friday coming again is enough to rejuvenate you. And you start making endless plans...movies, books, music...coffee shops...pubs...restaurants...backpacking to a nearby place...endless possibilities. In my case, it so happens that, after being dead wood for the whole week, weekends feel like heaven! So, every Saturday and Sunday I end up watching movies or buying Cds (strictly movies!) and books right from the Crosswords, Odessys etc to the 50% discount book sale outlets here in Hyderabad. Am all excited to write about the craziness of the weekends week after week.

Announcement:

This one is for all my buddies across the world...if you are reading this....then please do write on this blog!!!....Would be awesome....

@Abhi, Manju: All about Gulf and everywhere you have been to.
@Reagan: Can you hear me?!?!...Please do write if you aren't binging on the randomest possible stuff from the Amazon jungles!...:D
@Kapil, PD: Dude...we would love to hear from your stint in US and A
@RC: Dei...you gotta tell us in details about Koreeeans!And all those 병아리 who make your head turn everyday!
@Grover: Dude, we definitely need more of Singapore stuff now. After your F1 experience, I am craving for more!!
@Harsha: Dei...you NEED to blog more now. After reading your craziness of SE Asia trip, I would love if you write on this blog!
@Kastle Vista: You guys probably have the most fun almost every weekend...Please write more about all your Saturdays and Sundays in and around Bangalore.
@Ghom: Where are you these days dude!!...Blog...Blog...Blog!
@Vishnu: Come on dude...you must start off with some blogging now...:D
@Karo: Bhai...you need to pitch in some of your jargon and the crazy stuff you come up with week after week!..:)
@Arun: The Free books and DVDs in the library coupled with the winters in Iowa should give you a perfect reason to blog here!
@Akshaya, HB: Take sometime out of your busy schedule and write a bit about all those wonderful Ketanbhai's and Jigneshbhais!...:D

@Everyone Else: No matter where you are from...whether you know me or not...if you wanna write about anything related to what you did or didn't do on weekends, please do drop me a mail....hemanth.cr@gmail.com. You can write about almost anything! Movies..Books...a pub, restaurant, or some holiday spot....it could even be as random as...a dish you were trying to prepare on a lazy sunday!...:D

Looking forward to hear...read...write more!

Yours,
Hemanth

Welcome to Sajjanpur

2008-09-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Title: Welcome to Sajjanpur
Language: Hindi
Year of Release:2008
Director: Shyam Benegal
Actors: Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao and others
Verdict: **** (Don't miss it)

The movie is a complete laugh riot right from the scene where Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) appears on screen, something which takes you by surprise especially given the fact that it’s by Shyam Benegal. If you are among those who always crib that the quality of our Hindi films especially in terms of the story has gone down drastically, then undoubtedly this is one of the finest films you will see this year.

To read the full review of this movie....click here

Announcement!

2008-09-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

The last weekend, has been quite an eventful one. Covered some movies which I had kept in backlog for quite sometime and I did watch a beautiful movie by Shyam Benegal called "Welcome to Sajjanpur". More on that later....
I came across this invite to write on Veresh Jain's site http://movies.newscrux.com which primarily caters to those who love Bollywood movies. It is with great pleasure that I announce to all the regular readers of this blog that I would be writing on Veresh's blog as well from here on. And most of the reviews of Hindi movies would be posted there, while simultaneously posting a link here as well...just in case you don't miss out anything if you like my reviews...:-)

Thank you all for your continuous support and I hope you will continue to encourage and criticize what I write.

Your Fellow Movie Buff,
Hemanth

Good Bye Lenin!

2008-09-18T00:24:00.000-07:00

Title: Good Bye Lenin!
Language: German
Year of Release: 2003
Director: Wolfgang Becker
Actors: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon, Alexander Beyer
Verdict: **** (Must Watch)

There is a general feeling I have that when God created life, he had chalked an elaborate sketch of how it would take shape. And one day, when it was time for the evolution of humans, he must have thought of who all around a human being's life would be of great influence upom him/her. He's been so generous that (or maybe I should say very sly to relieve himself from doing more work!), he didn't give himself the pinnacle position, rather he seated a lady there and named her Mother. How else can you explain the hierarchy with which we recognise the four most important people...especially in Indian Tradition....it's always...Mother, Father, Teacher and God!...it's always like that! Most of the babies seem to say "Ma" first than any other word...and especially in my part of the world, people shriek "Amma" or "Maaaaa" when they are in pain. Maybe we all owe it to her for the unconditional love, care and support she's showered on us all throughout her life. From time immemorial we have celebrated the phenomenon, which some poets have termed as "God's Greatest Gift"...Mother. Under this premise, Cinema has depicted the role of mother in various shades...sometimes she's the all caring, love, sweet and at times she's the feiry being who will do anything for her loved ones and so on. Out of all those movies from Hollywood and rest of the world that I have seen, there have been three movies so far which changed my perspective of how the West interprets emotions like Love, Marriage, Family.

The first movies about Love...was "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset". The second about Marriage was "Two for the Road", and the third about Family relations is this German flick which I saw couple of weeks ago named, "Good Bye Lenin!". I don't declare that these three are the landmark movies which changed everything, but at some level they did have a great impact on me. Now that you have an idea of what I am about to say, let me get into the skin of this movie...."Good Bye Lenin!".

Directed by Wolfgang Becker, Good Bye Lenin is set in East Germany when it was still a Socialist nation . The Socialist party in German Democratic Republic (GDR) enjoys a huge following in its populace and as it progresses towards the new millenium, even crossing a milestone of sending one of its citizen into space, Sigmund Jähn. Christiane is the mother of two, Alexander Kerner and Ariane living in East Germany. One day, Government agents storm into her house and enquire about the whereabouts of her husband, since the party suspects that he might have escaped to the west. Slowly Christiane dedicates herself completely to her children and to the cause of upliftment of the poor in the neighbourhood which earns her laurels from the Government. The younger generation of the country vexed by the growing distance with the outside world decide to protest against the Government. And this protest march is dealt with some strict force by the Police resulting in several youth being arrested, Alex being one of them. When Christiane happens to witness all this infront of her eyes, she suffers a heart attack and slips into a coma. She continues to be in that state for the next 8 months, during which some striking changes take place in East Germany...like collapsing of the current regime, people breaking the Berlin Wall, West German currency and lifestyle sweeping the whole of East Germany and so on. When Christiane finally manages to wake up, Alex suffers a serious setback when the doctor tells him that she has to be protected from the outside world because she cannot withstand anything which can excite her. All these results in a series of funny, yet warm incidents depicting a desperate trail which her son takes to keep his mother in a stable state and more importantly happy.

The reason why this movie is so remarkable is, it's got a delicate charm in its own way. It's extremely clever in its depiction of transformation; and the fact that this transformation has to do with Germany gives it a compelling authenticity. The world has seen the rapid rate of transformation happening with the fall of Berlin wall...but the theme of a son slogging along with his confidants to recreate a country and life which his mother was so fond takes you by surprise. Before his mother had gone into a coma, he approved of the luxuries which the consumerism of the west provides, but with the drastic turn of events he dreams of that life which had once existed...whose ideals were so honest, yet it wouldn't fall into place of the new age of development.

Watch the movie for some beautiful background score, brilliant story and direction...and more importantly to see how far can one go to keep his loved ones happy....trust me, if you feel what I feel...it will compel you to think a lot about the age of innocence which we once had and that special person who taught you how to interpret things and see the world with your own eyes...I am lost in my dreams...my own Nostalgia. One of the brilliant Foreign Flicks I have seen in recent years...never knew that tragic comedies could be so beautiful.

Tahaan

2008-09-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

Title: Tahaan
Language: Hindi
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Santosh Sivan
Actors: Purav Bhandare, Anupam Kher, Sarika, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee
Verdict: ****

There's a poem by Oscar Wilder titled "Panthea" and one of the stanza's goes like this
"....White lilies, in whose cups the gold bees dream,
The fallen snow of petals where the breeze
Scatters the chestnut blossom, or the gleam
Of boyish limbs in water, - are not these
Enough for thee, dost thou desire more?
Alas! the Gods will give nought else from their eternal store...."

A verse which describes about the beauty of things around us and our never ending quest for a little more than what we need. If only, life could be as simple as it exists in Ruskin Bond's books! But on the contrary, life's anything but that. This is probably why, "Tahaan" impresses you right from the beginning. Fiddling with an age of innocence to an unflinching friendship between a boy and his donkey, "Tahaan" is probably one of the most endearing movies to have hit the theatres in recent times.

It's the story of a Kashmiri boy named Tahaan (Purav Bhandare) who can't imagine without being with his dear friend, the donkey named "Birbal". His family consists of his mother Haba (Sarika), his sister Zoya(Sana Shaikh) and grandfather (Victor Banerjee). His father has been missing for over three years - and ever since the family has been in deep financial crisis. One fine day, when Tahaan's grandpa passes away, his mother decides to sell all the valuable items in the house and pay off the debt to some extent. In this process Tahaan's "Birbal" is sold off to the moneylender who inturn sells it off to another old man Subhan Darr (Anupam Kher) who carries supplies across mountains. What follows is a young boy's heart warming and persistent effort to get his friend back...there is no point in telling the story in two lines, it would be a blatant injustice to this visually brilliant poem.

The first thing about the movie is that it's one of the first films to have been entirely shot in Kashmir after a gap of 18 years. (Source: Wikipedia). And since it's one of the most respected Cinematographers of contemporary Indian Cinema, Santosh Sivan handling the camera, you could definitely expect some breath-taking shots. And he doesn't disappoint...:-). I wonder how much of research must have gone into a movie of such beauty...the reason why I say is, the environs in which this movie is set brings back some painful memories. It's a question of your convictions and ideas which are at stake. If ever your heart goes out to the people of Kashmir who are caught between the crossfire of India and Pakistan, there's a lesson to be learnt from this movie. Every time there's a scene where people are lined up by the army under the premise of investigation, you begin to think...is is right to suspect everyone with a beard or anyone who reminds you of some miscreant! And to mercilessly beat up innocent people under the pretext of suspicion....:-( ....With this as the background, if there's someone who brings a smile to your face, then imagince the impact of that character....this is exactly what's going through my mind right now. Disconnecting himself from the reality to a large extent, all Tahaan cares about is his Birbal. And he wouldn't tolerate being away from him even for a moment. So, when the very thing he cares and loves so much is under the danger of being taken away from him, he embarks on an extra-ordinary journey and doing everything and anything he can, to get his Birbal back.

Purav Bhandare is a revelation, certainly among one of the best child artist's to have hit the screen in recent times. His expressions, dialogues, innocence, vulnerability make him a big asset to the film. Check out everything he does to convince Anupam Kher to let him be with his donkey and that brilliant sequence of the race is sure to bring a smile onto your face. Anupam Kher is as good as he usually as, with almost a father like figure to those around him but at the same time nudging Tahaan and Zafar (Rahul Bose) who work for him. Underneath that stiff looking personality lies a soul which has taken a beaten with all these years of violence, a fact which is best described in a scene when they go to meet a old friend of his, a Kashmiri Pandit, who's hiding himself from the world around him. Coming to Rahul Bose, I must say, it's kinda hard to play the role of a duffer...but Rahul Bose does it with ease. Although one would expect him to have a longer footage, but this film isn't about him...it's about Tahaan. Among other roles,
Sana Shaikh impresses with her ever complaining attitude, but at the same time the warmth she shares with her brother leaves a good impression upon the family dynamics during testing times. Sarika (she's mute in the flick) as the mother of Tahaan, emotes a lot more with her eyes, radiating a lot more things than what she expresses through her hands. Check her out in all those scenes when she has to go to the police station searching for her husband...and you will realise what I am saying.

The film has some breathtaking shots of various locales of Kashmir, although most of the sequences are shot in snow (which quite a few of you might find repetetive), but kudos to the team who's scouted for these locations...it provides a great deal of authenticity to the whole story. The snow covered mountains, trees covered with snow, frozen lakes, mountains filled with fog and mist, and sun which throws the snow into a blinding glaze...it's all there, in almost every frame. Adding to that is a good background score which is in a way funny...not sure if there's any other way to describe it...maybe you can suggest me after you see the movie! The film also packs in good message about hope, dream and conviction to be good no matter how much life tests you....oh! just in case if I have missed saying the main point in the flick...I didn't wanna reveal how a ticking time bomb feels like...go check it out yourself.

A good story with some great acting and stunning cinematography make it a compulsive watch. I highly recommend this movie to all those who like good cinema, and if are among the ones who don't have a taste for plots which aren't fast paced...all I can say is, you are missing a gem of a movie..a true Made in India...one!...:D

Again another stanza from Oscar Wilde's "Panthea"....
"...O we are wearied of this sense of guilt,
Wearied of pleasure's paramour despair,
Wearied of every temple we have built,
Wearied of every right, unanswered prayer,
For man is weak; God sleeps: and heaven is high:
One fiery-coloured moment: one great love; and lo! we die..."

I think that's what life's about...we expect too much out of it...and end up doing so little! Time to buckle up and do everything thing we can to right every wrong...we could start with ourselves...lets work with our own thoughts and ideals...ask ourselves what if things are not the same?! Would all this be still the same? I don't know what the answer will be...but I see Hope...I see a life...I see Tahaan. It means Merciful. God.

P.S: For Complete version of Oscar Wilde's "Panthea" click here.

A Wednesday

2008-09-08T02:22:00.000-07:00

Title: A Wednesday

Language: Hindi
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Actors: Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Jimmy Shergill and others...
Verdict: ****1/2 ( Must Watch!!!)

There is a Chinese proverb which says "星星之火可以燎原" (it means..."A spark can start a fire that burns the entire prairie.") Quite similar to the "Butterfly Effect" which says that "A butterfly beating it wings in America can start a hurricane in China." The reason why I quote this has got a lot to do with this spellbinding movie I saw on Sunday titled "A Wednesday".

"A Wednesday" is the story about a police commissioner and his tryst with an anonymous caller on a Wednesday. The caller has no name, he can't be traced, there are no records of him...almost a phantom like figure. He demands the release of 4 dreaded terrorists in exchange for information on the locations where bombs are planted across Mumbai. To give a jist of how serious the demands and consequences (if demands are not met), the caller informs the commisioner about the bomb which he had planted in a Police Station right opposite the Commissioner's office. When the bomb squad does infact find six kilos of RDX, the entire team realises the gravity of situation and are on tenterhooks every moment. The commissioner who sees a clear picture of the vulnerability of the situation convinces the Chief Minister and others that the release of these terrorists is in the best interest of the denizens of the city. And dancing to the caller's tunes he sends his best men to finish the job which he's been told to. What follows is a edge of the seat thriller which is both compelling as well as thought-provoking turn of events leaving a definite mark in your heart of having seen a genuinely brilliant movie.

I find it hard not to use some superlatives for this flick, because it's among the rarest and the first of many things. If my memory doesn't fail me, Hindi movies over the past several years have stuck to the genre of Romance and Slapstick humour. But thanks to some film-makers who are fiddling with some naive subjects, we now can look forward to something different from seeing the landscapes of Europe or Australia...where characters are always named as Raj and Priya and the likes of them...And "A Wednesday" can be credited with several things which have been missing over the past few years. This is the kind of movie which needs to be shown in every multiplex across the country...with a running time of around 100 minutes, it's in a way tailor made for the multiplex crowds. And that running time means the editing has to be so crisp and to the point leaving no room for additional stuff just to please the audience. Thank God!!! I feel finally at peace for having seen a movie which's made without including any songs (item songs!!!) or fights, romance tracks just for the heck of it. For some odd reason all these elements have been used to prove the existence of characters other than the hero and in most cases he's depicted as the blue-eyed macho man who will have the last laugh!

Coming back to the story, the film belongs to Anupam, Naseeruddin, Jimmy Shergill, the music director Sanjoy Chowdhury, the editor Shree Narayan Singh, and most importantly the director of the filck, Neeraj Pandey. Almost all the protagonists in the flick deliver their best but when it comes to Anupam and Naseeruddin, this flick is another example why these two are among the finest actors of the contemporary cinema. Each frame with them locking horns with each other produces a spark and as the film progresses and the motives behind everything is revealed, there's no way you can find fault with one person. Both of them are right in what they did...it's like two sides of the same coin and you end up liking both of them. Anupam Kher is brilliant as a helpless cop who will do anything to maintain law and order in the city at the same time conflicting with his conscience when he lets go his fate to someone's control. On the other hand, Naseeruddin Shah who starts off as a cunning and compulsive strategist who will go to any length to get his work done does a complete turn-around towards the end of the film. His explanation behind why he has done all this is truly one of the best monologues about fear, agony, and to what extent a tortured soul can retaliate. This is where you see the "Butterfly Effect" spring into action. I really can't give you out further details about the plot..you should go and check it out yourself.
Among others, Jimmy Shergill impresses and so does all the other characters who appear throughout the flick...if only they had worked on Deepal Shaw's accent!!! Also note the brilliant efforts by the people behing the screen, a fabulous background score by Sanjoy Chowdhury runs through the entire length of the film. And what can I say about Shree Narayan Singh, the editor of the flick, his style takes the film to a whole new level. Dialogues are brilliant, there are absolutely no cliche's targeting any community or religion. If Anupam and Naseer are two pillars of this movie, then the third one is its director...Neeraj Pandey. A compelling debut, heralding a new age of film-making which I certainly hope will continue in years to come....am eagerly looking forward to see more of Neeraj's work and others like him. The final pillar of this film is the story itself...the premise that it doesn't take an angel to solve the most dangerous problems around us...all it takes is an ordinary man who's resolved to do some extra-ordinary things. And what better impact can it be, if that ordinary man was someone like you...someone like me....we are proud of what we are...who we are...we run through the blood and veins of life, enduring life as it takes us, there's nothing common among us, but when we stand up...the world sees us as the one...who knows what he's doing. We are the new age super-heroes and we are more in number than the total ammunition ever produced...it's our spirit which takes us beyond the realms of our boundaries....we are..."The Common Men" of the world.

P.S: I never thought, I would recommend a bollywood movie to the rest of the world. But there is someone who loves Indian Cinema and doesn't like his time wasted by utter nonsense then this is a must watch! And please do yourself a favour....watch "A Wednesday" on any given day.
P.P.S: The last sentence has been copied from Rajeev Masand's review on ibnlive.com
Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

WALL-E

2008-09-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

Title: WALL-E

Language: English

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Andrew Stanton

Production House: Pixar Animation Studios in association with Disney

Voices: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard

Ladies and Gentleman, now that you have clicked on my page, I assume that you are reading this. On this auspicious day, I am here to propose a theory, something which has been reconfirmed for the past 13 years. My apologies for what you might read here, this is something which will shake the very grounds of our existence. So, here is what I propse to the World...

God Doesn't Exist Anymore!!!

Well, don't strike this statement off just yet as just another hoax; I have more than enough evidence to prove it. I am not an atheist, but I strongly believe that God doesn't exist anymore...in Heaven! He has a new address and I recently stumbled across his new home....

Ha....Gotcha! Does that site look familiar to you? It is where God has shifted his base to. Located in Emeryville, California-USA this place has become a synonym for some spectacular work of art over the past several years, forcing God himself to lend in a word of advice and some creativity to the Humans who habituate this place.

How else can you explain the creation of characters like, Sherrif Woody (Toy Story), Sulley (Monsters Inc.), Marlin and Nemo (Finding Nemo) and the latest WALL-E and EVE (WALL-E)? How else can you explain that these works of art have continued to amuse you day after day and everytime you look at them, some sort of adrenaline is shot through your entire body forcing you to instantly fall in love with them!! Maybe I could go to an extent to quote that they are our new age versions of what was born once from the hands of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other great artists...I shall soon be devoting my time to understand what makes all these characters so lovable!....

Till Then,

Adieus Amigos.

Hey...Hey...wait...wait...I am not done yet. That was just my conscience beating me in the race to express itself. Now that it has finally come out, lets get down to our usual business and here's my latest rambling of truly, one of the greatest works of Animation I have seen in my life so far. It's called "WALL-E" (an acronym for, Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth class).

WALL-E is the story of a waste disposal robot which has somehow managed to keep itself active even after 700 years of its inception. And while building skyscrapers of garbage, it has developed a keen interest in finding things which amuse it, and ends up collection several items, like an electric bulb, small toys, lighters, a iPod, a tape of "Hello, Dolly!" etc. One fine day, it even finds a cockroach which becomes its wingman and after sometime a small plant which has been hiding itself from the world outside inside a refrigerator. WALL-E, after several re-runs of “Hello, Dolly!” teachers itself to dance and yearns for a touch with someone whom he could fall in love with. And luck smiles upon him one day, when EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) is sent to Earth. WALL-E instantly falls in love with EVE, but realizing that something is sneaking around itself, EVE tries to destroy it. After several narrow escapes, WALL-E confronts EVE directly and takes her to his hide-out and after several attempts to impress her, he ends up showing his most loved things, like the lighters, “Hello, Dolly!” and finally the plant. As soon as EVE sees the plant, its mission is accomplished and upon seizing and storing, it deactivates. A spaceship from the Cruise Liner, “Axiom” is sent to Earth to retrieve EVE, forcing WALL-E to embark on an extra-ordinary journey to win EVE’s heart.

*Note: This part of the review contains some spoilers and certain things whose beauty can be understood well only after seeing the movie. So, if you haven’t seen the movie already, I suggest you to go watch the movie first…but if you are curious about it, then….

There are many around us, who haven’t fully understood the scale of awesomeness which Animated flicks can take you to. I can’t remember an animated movie which has got its soul in the wrong place. Of course, the sequels of several movies haven’t struck the right chords to be in your memory for a long time; since the cynosure of all eyes here is Pixar, I will stick to the movies and characters they have come up with. Their main USP so far has been the themes they have selected for all their movies and the characters, sets seem to magically take shape once that premise is set. For instance take “Monsters Inc.”, it was really a heart-warming story about friendship between Sulley and Boo, the concept was terrific and the characters so adorable, it was an international rage in 2001. Let’s fast forward to 2003, when “Finding Nemo” was released. Nobody till that time had done such a detailed work of art about the life in the depths of ocean…sure we have been watching innumerable episodes of “The Little Mermaid”, but “Finding Nemo” took it to a whole new level of believability. Further, it’s by far among the most touching renditions of a Father-Son relationship. Then came Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille each beautiful in their own sense. All of them have been reiterating the fact that Animation Industry has come a long way from what Walt Disney had created in 1928 in the form of Mickey Mouse. Animation flicks are no kids thingy now…

If you still haven’t bought my argument, go and watch WALL-E and you will realize what exactly I have been saying. The interpretation of how universe looks like is even more beautiful than the pics which NASA publishes from time to time. The post-apocalyptic setting of a city on Earth, the eeriness which is ubiquitous, garbage neatly piled up as Skyscrapers and loneliness to battle with; what do you expect a lonely robot WALL-E to do in such a setting? What would anyone want to do if one’s confronted in such a situation? The point is, 5 minutes into the movie, you will realize why you cannot take WALL-E as just a robot. Those binocular lens kinda eyes convey a lot more meaning that you may expect. And the way he looks around for items which amuse him…my favourite one is when he finds a small box with a diamond ring (check that out…and you will realize why you can’t stop yourselves falling in love with him!!). One day, he comes across a Cockroach whom he decides to take care of (I have a feeling that they have been particularly carefully in selecting Cockroach as WALL-E’s wingman…they should have referred to this theory by journalist Richard Schweid). The brief time the roach spends with WALL-E has its sparks. And then there’s “Hello, Dolly!” the musical film which induces WALL-E to yearn for a touch. It serves as a motif to suggest the extent of loneliness which our protagonist endures day in and day out. Somehow I see a WALL-E and that eerie setting all around me…in a way each one of us represent WALL-E. His daily schedule of mechanically labouring day after day, doing the same kind of work (that hilarious scene of WALL-E waking up to put on the conveyer belts) delves into the day-to-day lives of Humans. Perhaps, searching for things which amuse him is one of the most fascinating thing which WALL-E does on any given day, much similar to what we do to bring a smile by experiencing the little things which life offers us. The entry of EVE and the subsequent events which WALL-E endures to grab her attention are sure going to be some of the most endearing moments in this flick. I had heard this quote in a flick called “Girl Next Door” and it says a great deal about how WALL-E feels about EVE….it goes like this…

“…I think moral fiber's about finding that one thing you really care about; that one special thing that means more to you than anything else in the world. And when you find her, you fight for her. You risk it all, you put her in front of everything, your future, your life, all of it…”

EVE on the other hand is introduced as a ruthless robot sent to Earth to evaluate the possibility of life…this until she stumbles across WALL-E. Moved by his innocence and down to earth nature, she develops a soft-corner for him. And when she realizes what an extra ordinary journey he has embarked upon to be with her she’s determined all the more to save him from any untoward incident in the alien land (this when they both go into AXIOM). Among other characters that you will absolutely adore is a decontamination robot named M-O. This bot is obsessed with keeping the surroundings clean and it’s confrontation with WALL-E will have you in splits…:-P.

There are just too many characters and aspects which one could about this flick, but I would like to throw some light on couple of things here…

I cannot imagine how the director Andrew Stanton and the creators could weave such a magic with less than 30 minutes of dialogues. And what’s even more impressive is the fact that the only thing WALL-E and EVE talk is pronounce each other’s names!!! It’s splendid in a way that so many emotions are conveyed in the way their names are pronounced. And the way how WALL-E yearns for a gentle touch from EVE is heart touching…I never realized that a gentle touch had so much power. (Too bad…I couldn’t try that with the people sitting on my either side…both happened to be uncles!!!..: -P…:P…hehehe). The music by Thomas Newman is a major asset for the movie. It’s in a way the soul of the movie, filling up the vacuum which one might experience while watching the movie. Don’t miss the bits of music which you will hear during EVE’s trip on Earth and the one when WALL-E and EVE dance in the space outside AXIOM…pure symphony throwing you into new levels of ecstasy.

I bow to the CGI department which has come up with some jaw-dropping imagery of a futuristic world. (Check out the massive interiors in Axiom!!!).And there’s a perfect story that you cannot find fault with, which brings several themes like consumerism, dependence on machines, pollution, destruction of environment and how Governments put their citizens in an illusion to completely blanket them from reality. But more than anything it’s a beautiful love story. It’s a pure rendition of what a love story should be like with no clichés which otherwise you will normally end up finding in countless ‘romantic’ movies like “A Walk to remember”, “Notebook”…etc.

Last month I had written about “Dark Knight” and claimed that it’s the best action flick I have ever seen and among my all time favourites. If I were to take a scale and put it on for measuring the awesomeness of a movie, I would rate Dark Knight a -10…and WALL-E a +10. I don’t mean that Dark Knight is any less when compared with WALL-E, but it’s at the other end of the spectrum. It is dark, sends a chill down your spine and hits you in your guts…yet you come out with that feeling of awesomeness with your head reeling because of some spectacular action sequences and of course The Joker. Whereas WALL-E, is inspiring, cute beyond imagination…if you aren’t much of a fan of E.T., then WALL-E is the best thing to happen to you. I have already rated Kung Fu Panda as the second most entertaining movie of this year with Dark Knight occupying the number one position…and I still stand by that, with a small inclusion. So, here’s how I put it…WALL-E stands at number one position, jointly with Dark Knight.

20 years from now, I can see myself sitting with my kids to talk about movies…and I already see myself telling them that the summer of 2008 has been one of the greatest ever for movie buffs, because we had the Awesome Trio of…WALL-E, Kung Fu Panda and Dark Knight. And that ladies and gentlemen, is no accident. I think nature is trying to tell us something…that’s it’s time that you buckle up and be awesome!

Here’s recommending you again…if you want to see what magic the hand of God could bring forth, please check into your local theatres and watch “WALL-E”…it’s an adorable flick oozing with romance. And as you enjoy this flick with your loved ones…I get back to my business of finding my EVE….

I look up in the sky and shout…..

EVE….EVE….EVE…..EVVVVVVVE………………EVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEE....

Kung Fu Panda...

2008-08-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

Title: Kung Fu Panda

Language: English
Year of Release: 2008
Director: John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Actors: Jack Black Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan

"All you people out there...put your hands up and praise the brand new Dragon Warrior, an unlikely hero in the land of Kungfu who's out to save the world... the Panda"- I am sorry for the corny introduction to possibly this Summer's second best entertainer (No offence...but "Dark Knight" is still Numero Uno!!!). I know, I know...Po (The Panda) wouldn't wait a minute to use his "Wuxi Finger Hold" Technique had he known that this is how I introduce the greatest kungfu warrior of our times. (Good for me...he doesn't know that I exist!!...:-P)...

So, naturally a question arises, why is it I have chosen this boring way to write about such an "awesome" (you are gonna hear a lot of that!) flick of this year? Huh...you got it! I am as boring and lazy as a sloth can be! Although I don't make noodles nor do I dream about saving the world, there's an uncanny resemblance between me and Po. We seem to love Food...(Yum!), and gobble down whatever and whenever we feel like eating...and the most striking of all, there seems to be an awesome psychic understanding that being "BIG" isn't that bad at all...(More of this later...I wouldn't want the Dragon Warrior to doze off, if at all he chooses to stumble across the Blog!)

Directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne from the house of "DreamWorks Animation" comes an awesome flick, animated actually, which straight away blows you away with its style. Probably the last time you had seen something this beautiful, touching, inspiring...this Awesome, would be "Finding Nemo". The flick has already been declared a smash hit across the world, and India, I hope is no different. You will hardly find someone who hasn't come out of the cinema hall with a huge smile spread across the face after watching this movie. The reason being, not only it's incredibly funny but also it takes you along for a joy ride, and leaves you with a feeling of awesomeness by the end of it. Another thing I must add is the genuine respect for the Chinese Culture which is quite evident from the film, where there's hardly any cliche' when it comes to characters.

"Kungfu Panda" is the story of Po, the Panda (Voice Over by Jack Black) who assists his father, the goose (for some odd reason!!!) in running the restaurant preparing noodles. But he always dreams of becoming a Kungfu warrior, something which he's unable to express to his father. And one day, when Master Oogway (The Tortoise) reveals the prophecy that Tai Lung (the Snow Leopard) will escape from the prison, it drives his student, Master Shifu (Red Panda, VO by Dustin Hoffman) crazy. He orders the security to be doubled at the prison, but the over confident and reluctant commander of the armed forces doesn't heed to Shifu's request. After an unusually awesome escape sequence, Tai Lung manages to escape from the prison and claim his rightful position. In the meantime, it's announced that the next "Dragon Warrior" will be chosen, who will be capable of protecting and bringing peace to the valley. When the whole valley's waiting for Oogway's decision about the next Dragon Warrior, Po-the Panda, falls from sky all of a sudden. And to the dismay of Master Shifu and his very skilful students, Po is chosen the new "Dragon Warrior". After some unsuccessful attempts at disparaging and making Po quit, and upon the advice of Oogway, Shifu finally relents and decides to train Po to become a pro at Kungfu....the rest of the story has to be seen on screen to bask the actual awesomeness!

Be it the scene, where Po tries to get inside the palace, or that when Tai Lung escapes from prison and the stylishly shot chopsticks fight between Shifu and Po...there's a uncanny style which mesmerizes you, sucking you into its brilliance for the entire 90 min footage. I should confess that I was watching this flick in my room with some friends...I so wish I had seen the Imax version in the first place! Coming back to the characters...the flick belongs to Po and Shifu. Po for his overbearing personality (he's awesomely cute in his knickers...:-P!) and striking sense of humour who has the potential to turn around any serious or grim discussion into a funny and witty one. Thank God, the writers realised that he should be the way he is throughout the movie...otherwise a scene of the Panda stretching to build a six pack, would have taken quite a few pounds away from his awesomeness...:-). All hail Jack Black, who's given a stunning voice over for Po...I somehow have this feeling that they might have drawn Po's character after seeing Jack Black in Nacho Libre and otherwise!...hehehe...wouldn't you agree??!:-D....and Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu completes Jack Black with his performance at the other end of the line. He scorns, hisses at almost everything Po does, but at the same time he's genuinely caring and guiding light to his students. The rest of the star cast, the Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper, Mantis, Crane are cool...they have got the kicks and moves of a brilliant Kungfu Master. A special word for Tai Lung, the Snow Leopard whose character is so well developed that it's hard not to empathize with him.
But then as one expects...Good always has the last laugh in the fight with Evil. This is what's so predictable in the flick...you know that Po's gonna beat Tai Lung in the final battle...you know that he's gonna save the world...but you can't walk out. You can't choose to move your eyes away from the screen...I guess it's an obligation for most of the animated flicks to end on an inspiring and good note, this is what exactly makes them a worldwide rage. And "Kungfu Panda" is already among the finest flicks you would see this year...

And the final battle cry
Prepare for Awesomeness!!!...Because he's coming to steal your heart...his name is Panda, Kungfu Panda...the Dragon Warrior.

P.S: My second recommend of this summer after....Dark Knight! Hope you have liked what you have read...and as you bask in awesomeness, I most probably would be watching the flick right now!

The Dark Knight

2008-07-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

Title: The Dark Knight
Language: English
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan

Actors: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman.

For the past 8 years of so, ever since I switched my loyalty to Star Movies, HBO, I have tried to ask myself what is it about Hollywood flicks that makes me watch more and more? For the past 8 years I haven't been able to understand why I have fallen in love with movies so much!!! For the past 8 years, I have tried to compare one movie after the other and come to a conclusion which is my favourite movie of all...I think, my search ends now and on 20th July, 2008 I got the answer for my quest so far. I saw "The Dark Knight".

Before getting into the details of the story, a little bit about the reviews I had read before watching the flick...Rottentomatoes gives a 90% fresh rating, IMDB ranks it at no.1 among the Top 250 movies of all time, atleast for now...and among the Indian Critics, Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gives a 4 star rating out of 5. And added to that little reviews from my friends added to my curiosity. Too many good things...huh?! I guess the best was yet to come and the IMAX version of the flick (I somehow managed to get a ticket for Sunday) made the "best" a little better!!!..

Sitting in the 5th row from the screen amidst a packed crowd, the story unfolded. The flick opens with a bank robbery which the antagonist, Joker (Heath Ledger) carries out along with others. The nemesis of the criminals in Gotham, Batman (Christian Bale) has been largely successful in controlling the crime rate along with Lieutenant James Gordon. But as the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent(Aaron Eckhart) vows to put every lawbreaker behind the bars, Batman is forced to reconcile his resolution to save the city all alone. He finally decides to give up everything and let Harvey take control. But before he would do it, he's confronted with Joker, the lip smacking, greasy, pyschopath, whose main aim is to spread chaos across Gotham forcing everyone to madness. He demands that Batman must come forward and make his identity public, saying that the city needs the hero with a face.

The rest of the story...well, I am gonna leave it to you to watch it on the Big screen! Because to reveal everything would be like trying to explain how Leonardo painted his "Mona Lisa"....[:-)]

I find it rather difficult to not use any superlatives/adjectives for the spectacular work done by each and every department and each and every character associated with the flick. But have got two words for Nolan and Ledger, Fuckin Awesome!!!!!! I don't know what it takes to be a genius at something, I think it's only after you see the product that you appreciate the creator. Christopher Nolan, who's directed films like, Memento, Prestige, Batman Begins pulls off another masterpiece. Never reeling into boredom, this 150 min+ flick packs a powerful punch especially in terms of the pace of the storyline; the characters just keep getting better and better and the same with the action.

I think the initiative to do away with "Breaks/Intervals" for an English flick is one of the good things which has been introduced. Popcorn and Cool Drinks, will be sold anyway!!! But it's the experience to watch a English flick uninterrupted for this long which pays off eventually. Never giving you a moment to ponder upon any possible loopholes, everyone around is sucked into the mood of the film. Dark beyond one's imagination, you cannot help but gaze with a feeling of awe at Joker's evil mechanisms. To masterfully spread havoc across a city requires either a genius or as Joker would put it, someone who just does it without any plan!!! He's evil beyond one could fathom to an extent which leaves a lump in your throat at the end of it. My favourite scene from the movie is that 5 minute scene where people aboard a ferry have to decide who lives....what a scene!!!

To cater to your adrenaline, there are enough fights, guns, bombs, chases, I love the Batpod!!! But it's not gory where you find blood spilling around...I think the lump in my throat had to do more with the fact that, you are actually trying to understand what Joker would do next, who's the next to die, how will he carry out his evil plans, for a moment, you are one among the denizens of Gotham. Watch out for that scene where Batman chases Joker in his Batpod and eventually flips the truck at a 180 degree angle, and his own Batpod doing a 360!!!!....Stunner!!! Truly one of the several "Woah" moments in the flick...

I have always wondered, how writers create a character; and my curiosity just got increased after seeing Joker and Harvey Dent! Such variations in their characters, your heart goes out to them in both ways, sure they are both dark and evil in the end, but the reason why they have turned that way and they would end up doing; you cannot take your eyes off them and at times you want to see them more than Batman! Probably for the first time, it's a villain who overshadows a superhero...the menacing, lip smacking, man of the moment is the Joker, portrayed so brilliantly by Heath Ledger. Truly a performance which is worthy of Oscar and almost every other award imaginable. For a moment, I suspected that his facial expressions might come close to "V" in "V for Vendetta". But Heath Ledger completely takes you by surprise with his awesome portrayal of Joker. His versions of how how got a big smile on his face, the simplicity with which he drives everyone around him into confusion, chaos sends a chill down your spine. And kudos to the writers who have given him some memorable one-liners. Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart is another surprise package. He's sincere, focused as the DA, but equally scary as the "Two Face" who would stop at nothing to exact revenge.

You must be wondering why I haven't put a word for Christian Bale who's donning that Batsuit for the second time in a row! Well, that's what he does through most part of the flick...with Joker around, he doesn't face the camera as the charismatic Billionaire Bruce Wayne for long, except when he's conversing with Alfred, his Butler (Micheal Caine) and Fox (Morgan Freeman) or partying with some blondes and meeting Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal). If at all, I have a problem with this film...then that would be the voice modulation of Batman once he gets into that suit...somehow, he sounds like Sylvester Stallone with a sore throat!!...:-P...but that doesn't matter, because he's got this awesome Batpod this time...and performs some death-defying stunts, whether he's flying across Hongkong skyscrapers or in Gotham. And everytime, he dives from the top of a skyscraper, you wish you had that suit with you!!!

And finally, the director of the movie, Christopher Nolan. I bow to the genius and his team who have come up with such dark interpretation of the characters from this comic book. He's really pushed Batman far ahead than Spiderman, who's the closest superhero to Batman who has been brought to life on screen. (Somehow, in all these years, Superman is the only character who's got such ridiculous interpretations...after having watched all these superheroes, I think it's time for a makeover for Superman!). The filming with IMAX cameras is a big asset to the flick, and the CGI is out of the world. Watch Harvey Dent after he turns into "Two Face" if you don't believe me...

I think I can go on like this...but the fact of the matter is, I understand what I have been looking for. I have a perspective that there's no shortage of creative talent and irrespective of what region it comes from, it will eventually find its audience. I bow to the entire team of "The Dark Knight" for delivering this gem of a movie and specifically to Wally Pfister, the Cinematographer of the flick, Zimmer and Howard who composed the music, Christopher Nolan, the Director and Heath Ledger who's delivered a awesomely scary performance as Joker. He's in a way, the very reason why you should watch this movie.

Sometimes, I get this feeling that film critics across the world have been little harsh on the flick. Why rate it only at 4 out of 5?! Its not every time, you end up with tears in your eyes and clap at the end, unless you have seen something overwhelmingly terrific. I am gonna go with 5 out of 5 for this flick and without hesitation, I declare that this is the best Action/Superhero flick I have ever seen...cancel all your plans this weekend and make all possible attempts to get tickets for this flick. Make sure you watch it only in the best cinema hall in your place( the best would be IMAX, if it's playing there), and if you are in the city of Hyderabad, please watch it only in Prasads, IMAX. It belongs to the rarest set of flicks which give a feeling of "Awesomeness!!!".

I wonder if 90% rating on Rottentomatoes is this good, then how would a 97% rating for a flick be!! Watch out for that next...it's the latest from the house of Pixar Studios..and it's called "WALL-E".

Iron Man

2008-06-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Title: Iron Man

Language: English

Year of Release: 2008

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges

I had never seen the cartoon of the same name, until I heard about it from a friend who claims to have been following it for a long time. I guess it was his recommendation and the promos of the flick that gave me a great impetus to check this one out. One thing which I was wary about was what would be the storyline of this “Man”? To be frank my interest in most of the Superhero movies has been waning for quite sometime. Although Superman has got the steel, there’s not much of variety in what he does (Correct me if I am wrong!!...:-P)…and Spiderman, I loved the first part about a dud turning into a DUDE! Honestly, I am kinda curious about the type of spiders lurking around me…hehehe…. But it turned out to be yet another gyan session on countless occasions…where kids are advised to be good…and how about those scenes where Spidy would come from nowhere to save those who are in danger…..more or less all the superhero movies have fallen under this category, which is what gets so boooooooring flick after flick. I had no clue what to expect from this one…but thanks to some rave reviews, this one promised to be one helluva roller coaster ride.

“Iron Man” is the story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) billionaire industrialist and the chief of Stark Industries which is one of the chief Arms Supplier to the US Army. Tony is on a trip to the desert of Afghanistan to give a demo of his company’s new weapon “Jericho”, a cluster missile capable of mass destruction. Later his convoy is attacked and Tony is shocked to see that a missile made by his own firm has been used to attack him. His captors attach an electromagnet to his chest to keep the shrapnel from touching his heart. He’s threatened of murder by the Terrorist Group if he doesn’t build the “Jericho” missile for them. After gaining enough insight as to what lays ahead of him, Tony demands absolute privacy while building the missile, but he instead builds an Iron armour powered by an miniature arc reactor which will give the electromagnet enough energy from letting the shrapnel touch his heart. He manages to escapes from his captors and is somehow found by the US Army. Back home, he’s advised by his company’s executive Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) to lay low from the media. Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) is Tony’s assistant who is in love with him but doesn’t express it. Tony builds a more powerful miniature “Arc Reactor” and tells Obadiah about his earlier one. He secretly builds a new armour equipped with all the gizmos. (PHEEwwww…..you should check out all that drawings and designing yourself…mind blowing!). When he comes to know about how his own weapons are creating havoc, he decides to take the matter in his own hands…and what follows is a stunning gamut of some terrific stunts, gadgets and a fight for the good to prevail.

What makes it such an enjoyable flick is its story and the absence of senseless action! It’s completely believable the way things go on, especially when a fact that Tony is an inventor, is established. Of course, it’s upto your discretion if you wanna believe all that! But think about it, if you can accept Bruce Willis doing all those stunts in Die Hard-4 and Indian Jones escaping an Atom Bomb explosion by enclosing himself in a lead-lined refrigerator…then all that Tony does makes sense!!..:-P The thing I loved most about the flick was that, it was more of a sci-fi action adventure, rather than a superhero who’s on a mission to save the world! Yes, Iron Man does that eventually…but the way he does is SO different from any of his peers…you want another reason to look upto him?!...He doesn’t wear an undie on top of his pants!!!...hehehe…[:-P]. If you are a gadget freak…then look for his suit which doubles up as his armour and the capability to fly, the weapons, his maneuvers while on a flight ….nothing short of a Visual Orgasm! After checking out at his house on top of rock on the Malibu seafront, can you not dream of such lavish lifestyle?!?!...the garage filled with the funkiest of the cars…some awesome robots, a private jet…multi-billion dollar Business Empire…!!!...Phew!

Robert Downey Jr. delivers a classic…his histrionics as a billionaire industrialist, playboy, inventor are brilliant…but what’s more blatant is this, he’s one hell of a super cool…charming…stud whose heart goes out to those who have suffered directly or indirectly because of his company (Check out his expressions and the intensity he puts in his acting in that village scene where he saves scores of people). Jeff Bridges, who plays the character of Obadiah Stane, the executive of Stark Industries with a mission of his own, stands out in his character, especially from the point where his plan is revealed (although many of us must have sensed it early in the flick), he gets better and better as the story progresses. Gwyneth Paltrow is sweet in her role as Pepper Potts who’s in love with her boss…almost giving the impression of a love story from yesteryears where both the protagonists wait for the other one to confess first. Whoever has designed the iron man’s suit needs to be given special credit…it’s absolutely fantastic.

I guess I have written too many good things about the flick…although there are some weak links which some of my fellow movie buffs have raised…like, how did Stane gain some much knowledge about how Tony’s armour and the gadgets…How does Stane escape from that altitude?! And even the melodramatic climax, a David Vs Goliath fight…looks kinda too much. Above all…however intelligent one might be, creating something that big, how does Tony manage to do everything all by himself!!(Somehow I feel too much of Intelligence is difficult to digest!!!...). This flick will definitely be in the list of Best Movies of 2008…and if you are an action movie buff…then, this one is bound to be on top of that list…atleast for this year!I saw this flick, last month, but I can still remember lots of details particularly those involving Tony testing his new suit, he dodging couple of fighter planes, the robots assisting Tony in building the suit…

Laced with wit and some cool action, this is a must watch for all the action movie buffs…it’s also something you can watch out for, even if you don’t like cartoons…for there is no trace of anything of that sort here. If only, one can lie hands on that suit…and fly away to glory..:-)

check out this teaser of the flick...

Eastern Promises

2008-06-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

Title: Eastern Promises
Language: English
Year of Release: 2007
Director: David Cronenberg

Actors:Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Vincent Cassel

The first weekend of June was quite exceptional in many cases. I caught up with some friends after an year or so…and worked on a Saturday after more than 3 months! Since I am here to talk about cinema…I will stick to that! Couple of big Hindi flicks released last week, “Sarkar Raj” (this one seems to have gathered a universal thumbs up from the audience, although quite a few critics haven’t been so impressed) and then “Aamir” (starring Rajeev Khandelwal, which has been strongly recommended to watch by too many critics, although I haven’t met too many people who have seen it!). But I chose to watch both the flicks at a later stage. My primary concern in this city was to watch as many english flicks as possible (ironically, despite having around 100+ screens, an english flick rarely sticks around…and if it doesn’t have big names associated, then it would be a miracle if it is given a slot for more than 2 weeks!). And last week my choice was…David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises”.

First things first, this flick was supposed to be “coming soon” for a long time! And it finally saw the light last weekend. I had faintly heard about this one, but later decided to watch it on the advise of a friend and also some good reviews on IMDB.com and Rottentomatoes.com, which is to say that I knew what to expect from it. And I am sure I wasn’t disappointed at the end of it, although I guess I will have enough number of people contradicting my point.

The flick opens with a brutal murder of a Russian mobster followed by the death of Tatiana, a 14 year old girl during childbirth. The mid-wife stumbles upon a diary of this girl and upon Tatiana’s death, she is determined to translate the diary to English, to see if she can find the whereabouts of Tatiana’s relatives. She comes across a card belonging to Trans-Siberian Restaurant and tracks down the restaurant in London, thus meeting the owner of the restaurant Semyon, who’s also the boss of the Russian Mafia or Vory V Zakone ("Thieves of Law"). She accidentally mentions to him that she has the diary and Seymon who’s more than curious about the contents of the diary convinces her to bring the diary to him. But her Russian uncle happens to read it and tells her that it has many dark secrets about her life and also that of the Vory v Zakone’s activities. Kiril who’s the son of Seymon does some deals without informing his father with the help of his chauffeur, Nikolai Luzhin . This enrages Seymon who’s certain of a backlash from the now deceased mobster’s kin. He hatches a plan to save his son and thus takes Nikolai, who’s promised to stand up for Kiril in trouble, into confidence. What follows is a desperate attempt to find out what had happened to Tatiana and who had caused all that ghastly things to her. And also how the Vory v Zakone’s try to clean their sins…but as the tagline of the flick goes….Every Sin Leaves a Mark.

The story of the movie is not that difficult to understand, but what makes it different from a normal one is its screenplay which makes a strong impact. Like a carefully painted portrait every scene in the flick is brilliantly directed with even the minute details taken care . The major emphasis in most part of the story is on the characterization of the actors. There’s Luzhin, who begins as a ruthless maniac who will stop at nothing to take care of Kiril but as the story progresses, he sympathizes with Anna, the mid-wife and in a way tries to find out what had happened with Tatiana. Anna, who’s obsessed to find out the truth behind Tatiana’s death goes on a trail and tumbling across the mobster along the way. Kiril, the son of the mob head who’s dreaming to fill in his father’s shoes soon but at the same time shows compassion towards Luzhin always treating him like a brother. Seymon, with his calm expression hisses venom under his innocent looks. And a gamut of others who are some way or the other connected to them put in a splendid performance.

The person who stands out, from almost every frame in which he’s part of is Nikolai Luzhin, brilliantly enacted by Viggo Mortensen (he’s the same fellow who played Aragorn in LOTR). I would call him the soul of the film who blows your mind with his composed performance and each dialouge of his hitting you like a brick. One of my favourite lines from the flick is from the scene where Anna asks him, why is he helping them? To that he replies, “I can't become king if someone else already sits on the throne.” There are plenty of one liners which stay on for quite sometime….Undoubtedly a performance worthy of many awards (he was nominated for Oscars this year, which finally went to Daniel Day Lewis for his gem of a performance in “There will be Blood”.). Viggo puts on a Russian accent for his performance (although I have no clue if that’s how it’s supposed to be spoken!), but I guess he brings in a certain amount of mystery to his role…you just can’t read his mind! Sometimes he’s a cold-blooded person who won’t listen to anyone, and another time he goes an extra mile to help others. Another point here is about the style of his activties, there’s no shooting at others, no bombs exploding, no shouting at the top of lungs to drive a point home…just plain expressions (like the one with his confrontation with Anna’s Uncle).

Naomi Watts as the mid-wife Anna, is remarkable and is quite successful in catching the attention of the audience till the end. I guess a lot of credit must go to the director David Cronenberg who’s been quite successful in getting such remarkable performances from his actors. His strength in direction is quite evident in more than few scenes, but the scenes which I loved were the ones between Luzhin and Kiril.

I must confess that I have seen an Indian version of this flick and as per the norms of the censor board, I realise that I must have missed quite a few scenes related to violence and Nudity, in particular the Bathroom knife scene which has been touted by many as one of the best things in the movie….God knows when would these “elite” people understand that audience almost everywhere is quite mature to receive the matter…I wonder what do they do with all those zillions of reels of edited content!!!...:P…any guesses?!!..J

When I saw this flick, many people were disappointed with the ending and few didn’t even understand what was going on in the flick…and I still have some unanswered questions about the flick…like what does the title mean? What’s the point of view of others who have liked the flick? And if I have missed observing something….then what all are they?! . But maybe you should watch the flick before coming to a conclusion…don’t miss this one, you might miss a good crime thriller flick loaded with some cool dialouges to have released in a long time! Roger Ebert, gave the film a 4/4 rating…imdb.com puts it at 7.9/10 and rottentomatoes.com gives it a solid fresh rating of 89%...and all I can do is recommend you to watch this flick before it is thrashed into obscurity.

Check out this teaser of the flick..

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull

2008-06-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull

Language: English
Country: USA
Year of Release: 2008
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Harrison Ford , Cate Blanchett

Indy is Back!!!

A shadow in front of an US Army Truck bending down to pick up his Fedora who’s surrounded by a group of KGB agents marks the return of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) after 19 long years! To be honest, I haven’t seen any of the Indiana movies of the past, still the premise of going to this flick was definitely the media hype and also the fact that certain biggies like Spielberg, Lucas were associated with it. And what more can I say?! I loved it…Loved it for the way the story unfolded (although I would say kinda complicated for my lack of knowledge in this legend!), loved the characters, the direction, the cinematography, and many more like that.

Set in the year 1957, amidst the Cold War, a group of Russian KGB agents lead by Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett)) infiltrate into a Military Location in US on the lookout for a crate which they believe contains an alien sort of thing which was recovered a decade ago from New Mexico. Indiana Jones was one of the few people who had worked on that project to restore the alien sort of thing safely; he’s captured by KGB and after being double crossed by his longtime friend Mac, he agrees to help them in finding out that crate (You must watch this scene on screen, especially for the technique which he uses!!, one of my favourite scenes in the flick). A fight commences and Indy manages to escape from the clutches of KGB, but runs straight into a town, which in fact is a Nuclear testing site; guess what?!!! Indy manages to escape this too by enclosing himself in a Lead lined Refrigerator (hehehe….reminds me of the countless unbelievable stunts I have seen in Indian flicks!.. since it’s Hollywood, there is some sense of believability. But escaping from a Nuclear Bomb?!!! Phew! ). He’s later interrogated by the FBI agents, for his associated with Mac, who turns out to be a Soviet Agent. Despite his repeated claims of innocence, FBI rummages around his office which compels the University where he’s teaching to let him go on a long leave of absence. Disappointed by the attitude of the University, Indy plans to leave for New York and there after go to London. But when the train to NY is about to leave, he comes across Mutt Williams (Shia LeBeouf) who tells Indy that he needs his help to find Oxley, an old colleague of Indy and mother who have disappeared somewhere in South America. After a brilliant motorcycle chase around the college campus (again brilliantly filmed), Indy and Mutt escape to Peru where they find out that Oxley had once been locked in a psychiatric hospital until he was kidnapped.

In the cell, Indy is successful in deciphering some clues which would lead them to the Crystal Skull which is believed to contain mystical powers. The search leads them to the grave of Fransisco, who went missing in the 1500s while seeking Akator (also known as El Dorado). Here, they successfully find the Crystal Skull which was hidden by Oxley. But they are soon captured by Spalko’s gang who force Indy to translate what Oxley could tell about Akator. Indy reunites with his longtime friend Marion Williams who’s the mother of Mutt; but later comes to know that he’s the real father of Mutt. What follows next is a gamut of fights, chases, some spectacular locales depicting the jungles surrounding Amazon River and finally the destination…Akator!

You must watch all this on screen to fully appreciate the cinematography, direction and the story. Lot of reviews have compared it with the previous Indy flicks and thus came to a conclusion that it doesn’t have the same charm because of a predictable plot and so on…but I don’t know how many of us actually have seen the movie! (It’s very difficult to watch movies which are 15-20 years old unless you have the perfect source or if you are lucky enough to watch them on the movie channels!!). Sure, it’s predictable, but the way, things move on is what keeps us (or atleast kept me) interested to watch the flick. Coming to the characters, Ford is still good to perform such a demanding role despite his age! The series has five parts, of which four have released till now. It would be interesting to see if Ford appears in the last part too! In this one, Ford delivers a good performance with some cool stunts, and charm that’s evident on screen. The Transformers hero Shia LaBeouf is making waves with his performance, first with Transformers and now with this…check him out for that scene where he prepares himself for a fight and that comb!!! His Marlon Brando kinda style is sure gonna go down well with the audience. And with Starwars fame, George Lucas, and E.T fame Spielberg around, how can we not come to the world of Extraterrestrial beings!!

Whatever maybe the case, this flick has all that what it takes to make a full-fledged action-adventure flick, although it's kinda tough to digest it for a 2008 flick! But as Lucas says, it looks like it was filmed just 3 years after the last Indy film was released! Watch it with a suspension of disbelief …it won’t disappoint you. If only there was someone like Megan Foxx with Shia LaBeouf in the film!!...Hope Spielberg is listening…:-)

Wag the Dog!

2008-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

At last a post on this blog! feels so good to be writing again about movies. With the number of movies that I have been watching over a period of time, I think I would soon be back here with more things to write about..[:)].....however this time, this one is not the review of the Dustin Hoffman starrer "Wag the Dog!", but a perspective of how things are going on with the current flicks...

For someone, who looks up to the world of cinema as a form of liberation, an expression of a feeling so profound which can move you to tears and inspire, a form of art which is as beautiful as music and painting, there’s one thing going on in my mind…What is wrong with the new generation of film makers who have a reputation of churning out blockbuster movies? I have almost given up on Hindi flicks, except maybe for some few directors and actors whom I believe have some sense left in them to make a good cinema. It’s been ages since I have seen a movie which made me belief that Hindi movies can make the difference in someone’s perception of what Cinema should be like (perhaps, my last favourite was “Taare Zameen Par”). And Hollywood keeps my hope alive…but that’s not what I am worrying about.

The contention here is about the Telugu Film Industry a.k.a Tollywood. It's today one of the biggest regional language film Industry, maybe only second to Hindi. There was a time, when almost every other movie had something to look upto. Flicks those were true to their plots which are quite unlike the today’s genre of potpourris of God knows what all, those flicks of the golden era are definitely a thing of the past. What we see today, is producers and directors simply catering to the needs (read as demands) of the audience. Well, obviously a question arises at this point…is it detrimental to do something like that? It’s a very subjective point of view, but what is interesting to see is that, there seems to be a general opinion among my generation that there is something missing…and that is the “Awesomeness” which we experience sometime or the other while watching a good flick. Perhaps it wouldn’t take too much time in understanding such trite plots and over the top sentiments! To sum it up it’s almost like everyone’s is induced to “Lemon Law” the flick right after 10 mins into the plot (Inspired from Barney’s Law from the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother”)!!!...

What’s even more flabbergasting to see is how film makers boast about the production values and hell a lot of things like acting, songs, characterization and yada..yada. After going through some grueling hours in PVR, Prasads, IMAX over the past several months sitting through some of the so called Blockbusters…I can only show pity on me. For one, I don’t really know why I keep going week after week and spending a fortune on something like that…maybe I still have some hope left in me that someday, someone would surprise me with a good flick! I am having serious thoughts about watching a flick just for the reputation that the director commends or those who constitute my favourite protagonists. I think, I can only blame the unknown for all this, can’t really point out any particular person in the industry….but atleast I hope someday someone would read this earnest plea of this movie buff…

1. For Heaven’s sake, somebody move away from 6 songs, 5 fights (or whatever the number maybe), comedy and sentiment which look terribly out of place! I can’t help to not observe this phenomenon that certain scenes of comedy and sentiment in most of the plots are shoved in to please certain sections of the audience.

2. The budding directors of today’s era who have a great talent to make it big, could also fiddle with the idea of making the length of the movie to just 90 or 100 minutes. It not only adds effect but also saves time for almost everyone. It’s very difficult to please all sections of the audience all at the same time and if not handled properly the results are there to see in zillion movies around.

3. And someone please….please chop off the so called “item songs”! It’s been sometime since it only adds to the burden of having to withstand all this…of course they do the job of pulling the crowd and giving great publicity, but come to think of it, we are on the verge of creating another Jayamalini and Jyothilaxmi today. If the producers believe that people want change everytime and that’s why zillion new female leads are introduced, then why not even in the “Item Songs” front??!

4. I really don’t know what constitutes a blockbuster, but if it’s just money which makes or breaks a flick, then how do you fit good cinema into the bill?! (My definition of a good cinema is something which can be applaudable sincerely from the bottom of your heart. And something which you can watch over and over and over again….for the overall aura which the flick creates and not just because it’s the flick of your favourite actors/actresses). So, please give art a chance to find its place! It’s rather pleasing to watch a flick which you feel difficult to understand or something which is different from the rest, than to watch something which makes you feel all the more stupid! (Wouldn’t you agree on that?!)

5. You gotta give credit...quite literally! Credit to the countless flicked tunes, scenes, even plots! Just a simple mention of this at the end of the movie or in interviews would give credibility to the flick, in the sense that atleast those who have seen the original would want to check out how the Tollywood's take on it is! Right now, the situation is that, instead of listening to the tunes or watching the film, atleast the me is trying to remember the original version...(one of the recent blockbuster reminded me of 5 different movies! Of course a lot many of you might have observed it too).

To conclude this monologue which I have been trying to frame in my mind, I do realize that I am not the only one living around to watch movies, and also it’s not me on whom the outcome of the flick depends on. But an idea, a notion is as immortal as life itself. Right from the moment it germinates in someone’s dream it takes an enormous form and someone is bound to put some life into it. It’s bound to have a domino effect and one day finally changing into a conclusive action. If only, we are lucky enough to see some of this change in the near future…. Wouldn’t you agree that one thing inspires the other? In fact that’s what makes us so progressive. Few days ago, one of the directors of the film Industry wrote an open letter in one of the websites that the film makers are entirely aware of what they are doing, and that there’s no point in voicing opinions which usually doesn’t result in anything. Well, he has a point with what he says. But I am of this staunch opinion that any phenomenon will not last forever. There will be a day when the dog will no longer wag the tail, instead it will be the tail which will wag the dog!The history of Tollywood like that of Bollywood has been undergoing a sort of cycle every 10-15 years. From showcasing the early years of Independence, then to the social revolution, added to this a lot of Family Drama with plots revolving around the bonding within the family, and finally to that of Love and Action. I am not sure if we are still in the era of Love and Action, it certainly seems so, but nowadays with things changing faster than ever, I can see a paradigm shift soon in the offing.Who takes the first step forward remains to be seen! Someone’s gotta understand that whatever has happened so far and what’s been going on, will one day push us into a feeling of void, if it continues. A hunger for something fulfilling will emerge and it’s bound to spread like a plague, because we no longer live in a society where people are alienated from one another. If everyone thinks that the purpose of films is to just entertain, then it does have a serious competition from countless other things. My humble request as I get ready for the upcoming releases would be, maybe you cannot escape the Murphy’s Law, but you can definitely try not to be Lemon Law’ed.

Suit Up! No...No...That should be “Think Suit Up!“

When NEWS is not from N.E.W.S....

2008-05-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

"Earth has only 4 more years left!" "Khali shows his muscles and 100people faint!" " yet another twist in the "slapgate" scandal" Breaking News:-"Cheerleaders are worse than Bar Dancers" "Thousands line up in streets to see the XYZ of Bollywood…"….Blah…blah…blah…blah…blah.

No, am not trying to promote the self-proclaimed audacity of "anti-blah-blah channel"; but news like this is a common sight. Almost 24 hours a day some or the other channel in around 200 channels that we have in India indulge in the utter stupendous nonsensical stupidity!If you are wondering what exactly I am referring to, then please switch on to a leading Hindi news channel which has the "distinction"of being the best for the past several years. (I have serious doubts on how they proclaim themselves as the best, although I would save that discussion for another day.) The latest fad, or should I call"Breaking News" is that the Earth will come to an end on 21stDecember, 2012. I have no problem when the world is coming to an end,but the oddity in this news is the way things are generated and thesheer impulsiveness of the host in coming to almost over the topbizarre conclusions. Coming back to this report, according to theanalysis of the drawings/paintings found in North America by the erstwhile Mayans claims that the Earth will come to an end in another 4 years.(the first loophole in this happened to be the way, the Mexican pyramids were located while telecasting them in this channel, I could never in my dreams think that Mayans were somewhere close to Hudsonriver!!! Maybe they did...Have to google it sometime..:) ) The then Mayan astrologists had predicted that the age of the present sun is about 5000 odd years and that it will come to an end in 2012 which will then give rise to a new civilization. Sounds like the story of "Stargate", like movies to me….:) . Another twist in the story is that, this is the 5th Sun that we have in our solar system.

To prove this already bizarre finding, the channel brings in a current age astronomer (or was he an Astrologer!??) . I think, he must have been in a fix to keep his version in tandem with the channels' content. And he came up with evenbizarre version of the "Judgment Day". According to him, our solar system will pretty close to the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy and since there is a black hole in the centre, everything is bound to be sucked in. WTF!!!!...This surely is a reason for us to be worried about….but will sense prevail on humanity (read as people who religiously follow the content of this channel) remains to be seen. I mean, someone give this chap and the channel a "NOBELest Prize" for making the discovery of a lifetime. WTF was NASA or ESA doing if we are going to have such a calamity sometime soon. Or is it possiblethat the superpowers have kept mum on this issue to avoid any possible chaos??

Possibly a good example of sensationalism and Yellow Journalism, the channel can be credited with some of the most bizarre things explainedwith all the possible intricacies on primetime. Hold on now, the so called "anti- blah-blah" channel is also not far behind. A partner in crime, it is a haven for page-3 kinda stories (and again debating that likes of page-3 is bringing immorality and destroying the Indian"sanskriti"..) and creating icons out of nothing. Take the WWE wrestler for example, almost an hour or two is dedicated for himeveryday, and the channels just seem to be following him day and night! Shouldn't be a problem, when you can withstand the likes of Sawants, Khans hogging the entire limelight on TV, but is it that important to explain what he eats, wears, thinks, does…..crap!Somebody drive sense to people who think this is worthy enough, but I am nobody to blame or pass a judgment. It's again a moral debate todebate what's good and what's not? But my humble request is to thinkbefore putting the content on TV, there might be zillion better thingsthat could be shown on TV. The same goes on for zillion Regional Channels....it's better to stop transmission of the channel than to rather fill it with crappiest of things...but again am nobody to pass on a judgement. Which is why I switch on to a movie channel everytime such things are highlighted as "BREAKING NEWS"....:-P

On the Rocks...

2008-03-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I had been wondering if I could get a good long break from work. And thanks to the timely coincidence of my completion of training, along with Holi, Good Friday, my prayers had been answered. I was finally out of the hullabaloo of having to run along with everyone and try to prove that you are still worth it to stick to your work every single day on some or the other pretext. A friend of mine from college, Harsha informed me that he was planning a weekend trip to Hampi and asked if I could join him and others who were planning to go. This buddy had quite a few things to rave about from his previous trip to the west coast few months ago, so I thought, maybe I should tag along with him….it all sounded so exciting. A group travelling to a place where most of us hadn’t been to before, on the banks of a river and a haven for foreigners who are on a trip across India. And I was game for it….

Finally on the D-day, 5 of us ended up travelling to Hampi, two of us from Bangalore and the rest from Hyderabad. This post is a chronicle of our journey to the city of Victory which over the years has been christened as City of Ruins….Hampi.

March 22, 2008

Morning: 6:00 AM

Me and Arun reached the town of Hospet which was 13 kms away from Hampi. After 5 months in Hyderabad, and 5 months in Bangalore, this small town looked like some other world!...so serene atleast in those wee hours. After 30 minutes, we got the first bus to Hampi and 2 kms away from Hospet we realized that we left behind the umbrella behind in the bus stand at Hospet, so it was later decided that my friend would go back to get that. The journey to Hampi was quite a smooth one…it literally reminded me of my village, those small roads, fields on either sides with occasional small little canals and the aroma of the dusk and the firewood. It makes one feel as if this was such an important thing that lot many of us have been missing for a long time!....

After about 8 kms from Hampi, the detour to Hampi starts and after couple of villages and lot of Plantain plantations you get the first glimpse of huge boulders….and then their count keeps on increasing. Finally, after almost 30 mins of drive from Hospet in the bus, we reached Hampi. Have to say some impressive structures greet you at the entrance of the town, among them are the Krishna and the Ganesha Temple. And that was my first impression of the place….quite difficult to understand the beauty of it! Should we look at it that it’s still standing even after 500 years of negligence…or appreciate the beauty and glory that once stood there….I was sure that I wouldn’t get answer to this question and ended up asking myself the same thing more than few times.

7:15 AM… (A little later after Arun went back to Hospet)

“Hello….Rooms sir, 80 rupees, 100 Rs, 120 Rs…rooms sir, just 2 mins walk from here” a tout was screaming (or should I rather say doing his part of the job) at a foreigner. Am pretty sure this sight of an Indian shouting at him would have knocked him out, the gentleman regained his senses and replied with a simple smile that he knows where he has to go. That’s when he took out his guide cum encyclopedia….Lonely Planet’s guide to India!!!....This was like a bible, a must in the hands of every foreigner who was laying his foot there (ahh…someone really said it right. Books are indeed your best friends!) And over the next 1 hour, found out that the number of foreign travelers to this place out number the Indians by a huge margin. I had never been to such a place, so was kinda expecting this one to be quite different from any of the ones that I had seen or been to before.

8:30 AM:

Arun comes back to Hampi along with his ‘lucky’ umbrella. We found out where our friends from Hyderabad, Ranga and Harsha were and set out in that direction. The thing with Hampi is, you can never really understand it’s beauty unless you explore it completely. One side it’s full of boulders, almost giving the entire place a barren look and immediately beyond those boulders in the Thungabhadra river surrounding which are beautiful agricultural fields. And Hampi as a whole is divided by this river. In the main town we have the Virupaksha Temple (Lord Shiva’s temple dating back to the 7^th Century A.D, the main deity of the Vijayanagara Empire), the Vittala temple, monolithic bull , the main ruins and loads of places to eat and shop. And the other part of the town is cut across by the river and is aptly called the Hampi Island or The Other side of River. This part has lot of guest houses and few houses for the tourists to stay over for sometime. After the 2 minute boat ride to the Island, we guys met each other at this serene place named…”The Goan Corner”. Quite a popular spot for the foreigners, this place is perhaps neglected by many because of its distance from the main river, but after going to this place, you will realize that the same distance works out in its favour!!! A perfect get away from a busy life, this place had all the basic amenities to spend a memorable holiday. We guys were again perhaps the only Indians in that corner, but thanks to a pervious visit by a couple of us, we were known faces there! And since it being the eve of Holi, everyone was game for putting some enthu…we guys joined the celebration along with our fellow tourists [;)]...(hehehe……evil grin!!..:P)

11:00 AM

Our first visit around Hampi kicked off on a moped towards the village, Anegondi which apparently was the actual capital of the Vijayanagara empire before it was moved to Hampi. Travelling across the countryside under dark clouds and cool breeze is like having a beautiful dream…you do want to last longer, but the moment the climax comes you miss the ending. Here too…you want this thing to go on forever, but somewhere down the line, either we move far away from it, or it just stays of figment of one’s imagination. After reaching Anegondi, we realized that there were couple of temples in that part and nothing what we had expected to see….but to our surprise, we came across the unfinished bridge across Tungabhadra. (Some of you might have seen it, it was aired in one of the episodes of Roadies…). After some heavy showers and getting drenched, we crossed the river in a coracle…quite an experience.

1:00 PM

A little further down the road, started out tryst with the ruins. First was the Tallargatta Gate, and after some heavy posing for the camera we were on our way to the town of Kamalapura. On the way we were guided to a temple which was on top of a small hill. From outside, I wondered why someone would build such a huge temple so far away from the village or town amidst these boulders. The boulders seemed to have a story to tell, each one of them strangely arranged to give an unmistakable identity. Actually along with the lighting around under overcast conditions, it turned out to be a photographer’s dream! The temple was on its way of neglect and it remains to be seen, how long it’s going to sustain. But am sure even at that stage, it will continue to remain puzzling to those around as to how exactly someone could build it so close to the rocks. According to a legend, Rama and Lakhsmana took rest at this hill while they were on their way searching Sita and hence a temple. Probably this one temple would be more memorable to us to some thrills for some stunning camera work by Harsha!...Here’s one such pic from the gallery…

4:00 PM

We were on our way back to Hampi and the other side of river with a lot more to explore for the next day. Completely drenched along with some holi colours, the day was a good starter for what was in store for us!...

7:00 PM

“What do you do?”…”I do nothing man…”…..(heavy laughing in one corner)….”Look at him dude…he’s too lost!!”…(more laughter!)….Five of us sharing a jumbo…and then down to three trying out the missilistic pan!...[:P]….”It was like nothing….It’s awesome…it’s like nothing….indescribable”….”Check that chick out….I think that dude is hitting on her….”….”awww…comeon guys, lets leave”….

That was how the day ended on a extremely “high” note, it surely was going to remain in our memories baring the last 3 hours before hitting the sack!...[:P]…

Next Day…March 23rd. Sunday

9:00 AM:

I was woken up by a random lost drop of rain which managed to sneak in through the thatched roof. And after sometime, all of us pulled ourselves together and bade goodbye to “Goan Corner” and its wonderful host Sharmila…and “Vicky”!!!...(phew!!!...I so wanna go back there now!!...[:P]) and all those foreigners with whom we had shared little moments of joy. After crossing the river, we turned towards the “Mango Tree Restaurant”. This place is easily one of the best hangouts in Hampi…located in a Mango Orchid, the place offers a magnificent view of the island and the river. And on a rainy day it’s a different story altogether. Perfect place to spend as much time as possible just staring at things around….all the serenity!

11:30 AM

This time we took some better bikes to explore the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire. We started off with a Ganesha and Krishna temple followed by an underground Shiva Temple little further down the road. Just at the back of this temple is the main part….something which stood once for its glory and the legend that gold, diamonds, rubies were once sold in huge quantities in its streets…the ruins. It’s actually unbelievable that a 600 years old thing could come down like that…and all that remains were some walls here and there and basement of what would have once existed. Thanks that this place was declared as a UNESCO heritage site, otherwise God knows what all we would have lost by now. There were ruins of what would have been a busy street, lots of public baths, temples, mosques (those kings were secular too!!), bazaars, elephant stables, even a minting place. Spanning 59,000 sq mts, this huge complex of remaining basements and other pillars is a site worth exploring. Maybe you could get into a game, guessing what activity could have been in which street and things like that. The most impressive of all is the Durbar, which is a three-tier structure, offering a panoramic view of the whole area. Adjacent to this are the Hazara Rama Temple and the Stepped Tank…both of them stand as an example of the lavish Dravidian Architectural style. What’s disturbing at first was to find no idols in any of the temples that we had been to in the ruined city. Later we realized that the subsequent conquerors post 1565 must have destroyed them or they could have been stolen over the years post the downfall of the Vijayanagara Empire…

3:00 PM

We were still hanging out in that place and trying to explore more things, the stepped tank was beautiful and the water transport system to this place was interesting to watch! This is where rain eventually caught up with us and along with it, brought some stunning variety of clouds consisting of a beautiful mélange of azure and black. Should say, it’s really difficult to say whether we were chasing the clouds or vice versa. Everywhere we went, as Harsha puts it…was ”A Wallpaper Material”…and thanks to Ranga’s SLR and Harsha’s thrills, the shots have come out brilliantly….here’s a small glimpse of it…Both these pics were shot within a gap of 10 minutes, so you can imagine how things were that day...

4:30 PM

Our last tryst with the Vijayanagara Empire culminated with the Queen’s palace and the Elephant stables. This complex also has a Lotus Mahal, which is constructed in the Indo-Ismalic style. It was a bit disappointing that only it’s style of architecture was described in almost all these places. This makes it a little difficult to understand the significance of each structure (A guide along with you would help a lot!!!). I remembered that Hampi was quite famous for its Stone Chariot and we found out that it was in the Vittala Temple couple of kms away from Hampi on the banks of the river. But we couldn’t reach it on time…that place closes down at 5:30 PM!!!...[:(]

6:00 PM

A visit back to Mango Tree Restaurant to laze around a bit…and 5 of us sat there staring at the orange sun going down the horizon, the motor boat going silent….little bulbs glowing across the river and life coming to a stand still…..peace…eternal peace…

It was just 2 days of trip to this place which we thought was gonna be blazing hot! But it took us totally by surprise with the overcast conditions; I think it added more to the glamour of this place and the rain!!...Rain and its unpredictability…. Would say, it was a perfect trip for 2 days and life seemed so different…it’s like you have no clue what you would do next, but you always knew that this was your view for a perfect outing…or rather a Perfect Life!... I wish I could have captured that serenity, that music of the river dancing down the rocks, the vision of the ruins which speak a lot for themselves. I know I cannot do that….but some pictures would serve as an alternative to remind me of that wonderful time. And I believe, every time I close my eyes and try to remember few things related to fun and happiness, these 2 days would come back again and again…I haven’t traveled much, but of the little I have, I would put this one in the bracket of the finest I have ever been to….I guess this was because I was traveling with a bunch of great guys…thanks Harsha, Ranga, Arun and Praneeth!....I so wish everyone from Kastle Vista should have joined us….but anyway, that leaves me a good excuse to go back to this place some other time….and this time, I wish I could stay for more time there…it’s a great place to write…to think…to laze…to ogle[:P]…to do…to get lost in the beauty….to get on a high …..on nature ([:P]). And that’s what I call….Nature, On the Rocks!

Click Here to check out few more pics from the trip on Harsha's Gallery....

The Sea

2008-03-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

There is a saying far in a land unknown,
“A drop of water can be saved forever, only when it is thrown into the sea”
I never knew what that meant,
And I wanted to be saved, for I was one.

I was born on the day when Gods sent me to earth,
Only to be lost in isolated paths of life,
And all through I would stare down at the stream below,
Which filled me with curiosity unknown.

One fine day, I took the plunge of my life,
Drooping from the great tree which held me safely,
Guess What?! That was the most adventurous thing I had done,
And the hills of my land couldn’t stop talking about the one, who took the wrong turn.

I couldn’t see where I was heading,
But met millions like me all the way,
And saw million eyes filled with hope and dreams,
But all had one thing in common, the will to reach the sea!

Holding and pushing ourselves downstream,
I looked up into the heaven to see if I could find my home?
All I could see were the clouds obscuring the little possible I could see.

For some reason, I felt lost and stopped for a while;
And when I looked back I could see a trail behind,
A proof that I had lived my life and made others follow.

It brought a smile on my little face,
And wondered how others see their lives as?
I asked,” O! My friend. which part of heaven are you from?”
He smiled and said, I don’t know, I am yet to find one.
And I knew, we would all eventually, in the sea!

The sea, made of millions like me,
Outwitting, outclassing those around,
It is this sense of struggle which keeps us going,
And I don’t know where to stop…where to end this journey.
When that happens, I know that I am saved forever, I am immortal…

And that part of heaven is called the sea,…made of millions like me,
Outwitting…outclassing each other to leave a trail for others to follow….

---Hemanth Kumar

(Written on 22/2/2008)

This one was written on my Birthday...22/2/2008...for all my friends...[:)]

Reminiscence

2008-03-17T06:17:00.001-07:00

The streets are too desolate to imagine,
And so are the coffee shops around the corner,
Why am I walking on the road at this hour?
Darkness is all around and there is no light ahead.

I sat in the coffee shop for a drink,
The aroma of Chocolate was captivating,
Where have I come this day?
The scent of flowers reminds me of days past.

I used to gaze around and wonder where life was running,
The spring at that time was at its best,
On one fine day I ran into you,
And life was never the same again.

When blink of the eye was a moment wasted,
What more could I do to think about you?
I so wish I had the power to stop time,
Maybe then I can find a rhythm to my life’s hymn.

I followed your steps and took the same lanes,
It’s a wonder that I could never lose your sight,
How could I? I saw you everywhere I went,
And one find day I could tell what was dream and what reality…

I look at myself in the mirror,
And wonder whom I am seeing,
I lost my features….my identity,
Haven’t looked this good till now, and I don’t even know since when?!

And I ran to see you again,
To tell you that my dawn begins with a glimpse of your smile,
And ends when I can see you no longer,
To tell you that you have filled the void in my life,
And I can no longer stay alone!
I ran…and I kept running…

The world is a small place to hide,
But what do I do with this splinter in my mind,
How long would I have to run to find you?
I can’t see you, but I keep thinking maybe you are around,
I keep hoping that one day you will make me a part of your life…
And I keep running towards that day…thinking…hoping…..

THE MASK

2008-03-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

think I cried the moment I was born,
But I still wonder how I brought smile back to the faces forlorn,
What kind of world have I entered?
Where ones sadness is another’s happiness.

Years later when I could walk and think on my own,
I realized that things are way too different than what they seem,
And to see them you need for yourself a mask,
It gives you an identity alien before.

And now I have many in my closet,
One for Monday and another for Tuesday,
I always have a smile and appear full of hope,
After all it’s a great way to start a week and kick start the race.

They wear out sooner than one can think of,
And I take out another two, one for Wednesday and another for Thursday,
I look all worked up and desperate for some break,
What more can you pray for than some peace of mind?

And they wear out sooner than one can think of,
Only 2 are left, one for Friday and another for Saturday,
What more can I ask for? I look as if I was born yesterday,
All I could think of was some fun and some frolic.

And I ran out of masks,
Thank Goodness, I didn’t have to wear any at least for one day,
The world looks so different without a disguise,
Everything’s so pure and exists in solitude and solace.

But who’s this in the mirror?
I have never seen him, though it’s me standing in front of the mirror,
I tried to draw my picture, but got lost in the contours of my face,
They keep changing, probably getting ready for the week ahead.

I wish I could throw away my masks,
And all those fake expressions and acts of purposeful existence,
But where would I stand devoid my mask?
It’s my identity and maybe my way of life…

And I open my closet to choose the mask for the day,
To go back to my existence and keep my life and conscience at fray,
To walk into oblivion and be one among you,
And keep believing that one day all of this would come to an end…

Rhyme of the Wind

2008-03-17T06:16:00.001-07:00

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter;
The rhythm of the downpour accentuates the thunder in the clouds,
And the ferocious wind from the sea howls wildly,
I wonder if the Gods are having a fight up in the Heaven;

The rain descends to the ground below,
Flooding the roads and making all life come to a standstill,
Have never seen things around so calm,
I wish it rains like this everyday just to see everything still and soothing,

Alas, I never wished to see few things,
Like logs of wood floating in the sea,
I fear for a ship far from my sight,
Like an infant crying on the street,
I think about the mother, who has lost her child,
Like a leaf flying in the wind,
And I think about the tree turning bare.

This almost sounds like a lullaby,
Or maybe like a rhyme from a Gaelic bard.
The whispers of the breeze are too obstinate,
They fill the hopes and dreams of people of the spring ahead.

I wish the winds bring along with them,
A message from my Knight, who’s far away in a Crusade,
Oh…my Love, Why do you fight so much?
Don’t you see that it doesn’t even matter if you win?
All I want is your blade doesn’t taste more blood than this,
We don’t want to rule over a land of Ghosts!

I wish the rain washes away the blood on the land,
If not, it will always stay as a memoir of a battle once fought,
A battle which changed the course of history,
And turned brothers into Enemies

Oh God of Rain…What are you waiting for?
Unleash your power, and let the clouds drain out every bit,
Let the masks of people be washed away,
Let the disguise of egotism be unveiled,
Perhaps that day, their souls will drop,
Let them repent for what they have done,
And contemplate for what may lie ahead…

One Step Wayward...

2008-03-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

The wheel spun faster than I thought,
And the day was just beginning to wake up,
Clear road ahead, and our gusto fraught,
Oh passerby, did you see the strangers who hit the road?

The ball of fire was too mellowed down,
And what a spectacle was that!
We stared directly into the Sun,
And felt like He was warming up for his routine!

The boulevard took us to lands unknown,
Fields in the countryside were fully mown,
But the Sunflowers smiled at us,
I think we were obstructing the Sun at that moment.

The fog cleared away,
And took away with it the solitude around,
The humming of the birds in trees and bustle of men around,
I wonder how things can change in a moment,
For a moment you see what freedom is, what Heaven is,
But then you realize that you are never alone and are still mortal!

Aimless and free of burden, what more could you ask for?
All we were doing was to find out where the road leads us,
And we go on….we go on…
And we would go on till the point where the road ends.

The Sun kept following us all the way,
I think even He got bored and finally hid the Sun behind the mountains,
The darkness wraps around leaving no void,
But still, there is never a moment morbid,
Maybe this is what happens when we stand and stare…

Sometimes a step out of our banal lives changes everything,
You see what you have been missing all the while,
Sometimes a moment well spent works wonders,
It stays on like that forever…memories are so hard to forget!

Sometimes I wonder if we have time for anything.
All we seem to do is run towards the next post,
Unaware of what lies ahead and hopeful of crossing the finish line,
Oh brother, look back, maybe you have missed a step or two…
Where would you run if there’s no road ahead?

Drop in the Rain

2008-03-17T06:15:00.000-07:00

The clouds are too beautiful to describe,
And so is the rainbow spread across it,
I try to catch the glimpse over and over again,
But it just conjures up when I think of it,
Where does it go when I am awake?
I wish I could walk on the clouds and splash across the rain,

On the streets, early in the morning,
I see the birds chirping in oblivion,
I try to look around and come across few,
But I wonder if it’s the same voice that I heard?
The music stays on and so does the aroma of the dawn,
I wish the day goes on like this and wonder what if it doesn’t?

I step out and am lost in the crowd,
I try to find a way out,
And I end up taking a wrong turn in the maze,
There’s no way back and then only hope remains,
Hope that some new turns and ways come on the way,
What would happen if this goes on forever?

I end up taking the same road everyday,
And it leads to the same place,
I wonder where I would be if I had taken the other way,
What makes me turn towards the same turn everyday?
What if something else happens one fine day?
Where would I be on that day?

With the sun setting in the horizon,
I stare at the sky every night,
And wonder why do the stars appear all over the skies?
It doesn’t matter if I end up seeing a different star everyday,
They too end up doing the same thing over and over again,
What makes them different from what we are?
What makes them so beautiful night after night?

What if…what if…
I end up doing nothing and yet, there’s so much to look out for,
Oh…brother, don’t laugh at me; I am not lazy,
I don’t understand why I stand still in the race,
If idleness is boredom, then isn’t work?
If only you could see that there is no point trying to catch up with life,
You go and change the world, and I would stand beside to clap for you,
But the question is…what would you do if you were me?!

Walking Through Haze...

2008-03-17T06:14:00.001-07:00

Cindrella…o…Cindrella,
What are you waiting for?
Days go on, but you won’t comply…
When shall thou realize the maze?
Up there from the tower,
What do you look for down here?
Miles and miles across,
There’s nothing but emptiness

You can’t move, you can’t shout,
Neither can you smile, nor can you laugh,
Yet you wait for the day to do all that
When shall thou realize that it’s not a matter of time,
But the confluence of you two which will free you.

The knight is too naïve to realize the truth,
He thinks, that there’s no tower on this earth which he has missed,
Yet he can’t find you and he keeps looking,
When shall he decode the enigma?
When shall he break the spell cast by the witch?

The witch was too shrewd and challenged the Knight to the crest,
And what a spell it was, she hid you inside your Knight’s heart!
But here’s the catch …you can’t be free unless one of you die!!!
Either way, it’s a heavy price to pay… my princess.

What if the knight realizes this spell?
I think, he would give his life to set you free,
But if he did, then would you want to be alive?!
So far, so good…no one knows this, neither he nor you.
And the search continues…

Look around Cindrella and you will hear your name rebound!
O Knight, look within she’s there in you,
Let there be no tears, and no fears…
You are bounded for eternity...this is just the other side of the spell.

Come what may, you won’t know this,
And the search continues,
And the day you realize the truth,
Neither of you shall survive.

Keep moving…keep looking, maybe one day you will take the road less traveled,
Maybe you will walk through haze without a clue what’s around
Who knows what you may come across, keep searching…keep walking.

The Dawn

2008-03-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

As the valley relishes in its deep slumber,
The mist creeps in and kisses my feet,
I go further into the layers of my quilt,
Too curious I am to know the end of my dream.

I ain’t sure when I woke up,
But am sure that others were still dreaming,
I saw myself in the mirror,
And after too many days to remember, saw myself smile.

I hate the fact that we wake up with the same feeling,
Day after day, year after year it’s the same.
What if something abnormal happens at times?
Like snowing in the middle of summer,
Like flowers blooming in autumn,
Like a feeling that something great is in store for us…

Dew dripping down the trees,
Clouds hanging around searching for a place,
Hills singing in melody for the monsoon,
And we thought that everyday is the same.

Late last night, something exceptional happened,
The hills for the first time in ages had turned white!
Reflecting like a mirror, they shone like silver,
So strong was the glaze that even the Sun closed his eyes.

I kept the morning coffee aside and gazed around,
The aroma of dawn filled my mind,
I can’t help but think, if this isn’t beauty then what is?
If this isn’t bliss then what is?

Dallying and sauntering on the boulevard
Singing with the wind and catching the snow,
I smiled at the Tulips and Roses in my hand,
And there it was…the Sun in its full glory,
For a moment it looked as if heaven had dawned on the hills.

The snow started melting and the drops fell on the rocks,
It’s probably the most soothing sound in the world,
Sounds as if an invisible Mozart at his best!
And what bigger Opera can there be if there are birds chirping along.

The warmth of the Sun set the vale ablaze,
The silence of the night gave way to the din of the day,
And by the time the town was on its feet, snow was gone
Alas it was just another day for most of them!

I am back to my room and thought the day passed too soon,
When would I get to see the snow again?
When would the hills drape in ubiquitous silence again?
I sleep again wishing that I won’t wake up the same way as today
I sleep again wishing that I would smile and hope a great day is in store,
I sleep again…dreaming that there would be another morning…
I sleep again….to see another dawn.

Road to Nirvana

2008-03-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Just another day in just another town,
Walking, strolling, and dancing in the wind,
I wonder why the sun always rises from the East,
It makes the Sun so predictable!

I see, plenty others staring at Him,
Hoping that He would show some mercy,
I wonder what they lose if their prayers are unheard,
Life goes on like the eternal sun.

I thought my job was perhaps the most banal of all,
And thought, there are thousands of bored people like me,
I saw the Sun and the prayers,
And realized that my life is no different from theirs,
We walk the same road and crisscross in oblivion

What would I be if I wasn’t just another average Joe, with an average job?
What would I do, if I had no reason to work?
What would I do, if I had no reason to live?
What would I do…why should I do anything?

What drives us crazy to do something?
Hope that it will be a better day tomorrow?
Will to succeed and be the best?
Madness to rise above the rest?

I ask my alter-ego who seems to be always happy
Maybe it exists to see another Sunrise, to see another sunset,
To see another smile, to see another tear,
To see another night, to see another moon & stars,
Live on…Live on…Eternity comes before 100!

Am just another ghost, in just another town,
Waiting for the sun to rise to start my day
A day devoid of reason, but ironically, the means to find a reason
If everything is so predictable, then where does the smile or tears come from?

I tell my shadow to follow me,
Too difficult to lay all your egos at rest,
If escaping from yourself is the solution,
Where would you go to live a life?
It’s the same sun, same wind, and same night everywhere.
Madness, confusion, smile, tears, hope, destiny, Oblivion, Chaos, Win, Loss, Conquer, Defeat, Bliss, Innocence, Happiness, Knowledge, Nirvana….

What dreams may come true?

2008-03-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

Far away in the sky,
Came an unlikely guest to peep across the horizon,
A horizon quite unlikely to have taken place
But when it did, nothing could stop it.

The flakes of snow which kissed my cheeks all this time,
seem to have vanished in no time
And the moment the sun came into the picture,
I knew I had a reason to smile.

What does it mean to smile...to chuckle?
I look at the solitary swing in my backyard,
And smile at an era bygone, when there was joy around,
Now, all I do is wonder what and when did things go wrong?

Isolated are the streets and so are my dreams,
I can't think of anything different from what I see,
Images gory pass through my mind,
but i wonder who gives them a reason to occur in first place.

I hold the edges of the threads dangling from my mother's dress,
And think of the days, when this would have been an oddity
that the queen of the house can't maintain the dress properly
But what do I do, I see the awkward silence on her face
And wonder, where did her aura go?

All I hear outside are boots singing in unison,
they remind me of another futile battle,
A battle, where everything is lost after the victory.
It's not the battle for power but of egos

I cry not because I am sad, but to wash the dirt on my face,
I can't think any more and have dreams
But if I am still existing, then maybe there's still some hope left
To see the day, when I can walk down the road without any fear...

I dream to see the sky azure, without any smoke
I dream to fly a kite without a bullet piercing it,
I dream to walk around the bazaar and haggle for everything possible
I dream to sleep everynight without fear
I dream...to dream...and dream...and dream...

First Take

2008-03-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Everything you are about to read is not fictitious, any resemblance to an event or idea existent or not, is purely intentional and not coincidental. Although, I am just going to write about what I think, and not emphasizing on what one should think.

The following post is a real scenario which came too close to existence but couldn’t in the end. So, everything that I write here is genuine stuff and not a figment of my imagination.

One fine day, I was wondering what’s the best thing to talk about in front of 119 people. Should it be something which everyone understands. Or should it be one which might interest people to actually listen to me?...By the end of the day, it struck me that, maybe I can talk about what I love to talk about if given a chance….Cinema.
Suddenly, my brain put on its thinking cap and tons of incidents, ideas, trivia popped up and I indeed had a lot of stuff to talk about. And for a moment I daydreamt of the scene where I would be talking about this stuff…literally nothing short of Robert Langdon clearing some myth to his students in Da Vinci Code…(Oops…I think that was exaggerated to quite an extent, but I guess you have an idea of how excited I was.)
And the daydream developed into a good script which takes place like this….

“Good Afternoon One and all….My name is Hemanth Kumar and I am from Batch 827 And today I am going to talk about Cinema and its Impact”

“I understand that each one of us understand cinema in a different way, so I would relate my experiences with Cinema and how it has influenced me. Before going any further, I would like to have a close look at this letter from English Alphabet….”i” What all things can you think of when you look at this letter?!
1. 9th letter in the alphabet.
2. The only vowel which exists along with a meaning.
3. The only letter which is giving the same preference as your own Name and even God. Have you ever thought why should we equate ourselves to God?!...or why should the first letter when referring to God should be in caps?!

What I mean to say is, when you can come up so much stuff, so many questions from just one letter, imagine the impact thousands of word would have on you?! If you believe that a picture speaks a thousand words, imagine the impact created by thousands and thousands of images. That’s the amount of information you can convey through cinema…absolutely impeccable, and endless possibilities when you think about it.

Before going ahead, let me define what Cinema means to me through a small story. In some parts of the world, before all the modern techniques came into existence, Gold was extracted in a different method. Hundreds of tons of sand would be processed to extract gold. If man had given up digging for Gold because there was too much sand, maybe we could never have got Gold…for me Cinema is that Gold. So, cinema for me is something which makes an impact…and sand is the stuff which is available in plenty around, sometimes hindering people from differentiating quality stuff from the banality around.

There are two quotes which really inspired me…something which reiterate why it’s great falling in love with movies…

“If photography is truth, then Cinema is Truth 24 times a second”-a quote from the French movie…”Le Petit Soldat”
“Talking about movie, is like talking about Dreams”-Fredrico Felini, Italian director, one of the greatest filmmakers ever.

The process of making an image movie is quite similar to the way, how we as kids used to make cartoons at the top of the page and flip it at one go, it looks as if the action is taking place. Similarly, for every second there are 24 frames (pictures) moved at a go, so that looks like an action.
All of us watch movies for different reasons, some would say it’s just entertainment, some for timepass…and quite a few would agree that it really changes the way you think about things around and life in general. Coming to some of the types of cinema, there do exist quite a number of types of cinema, prominent among them are the Commercial cinema and the Parallel cinema. And these can be divided further on the basis of the genres that they fall under...like Action, Drama, Romance…etc.

In my view, people who make commercial cinema understand what people want to see and Parallel Cinema, expects the audience to think and try to understand what the director wants to convey. Most of the times, they literally put you off to sleep…so, it really a test of your patience and your interest in cinema. Personally I like parallel cinema, because I tend to relate the protagonists to people around me and most of the times I find that people don’t sing, dance like what’s shown in commercial cinema…and they are not some superheroes either. Most of the times, Parallel cinema is quite successful in portraying people in different shades where they have feelings quite similar to how you and I feel.

What makes Cinema such an interesting thing is its power to reach a wider audience and also make people aware of several issues like War, Genocide, Racism in places where it is not known. There are plenty of movies which deal with issues related to war…like few of the WWII movies which depict the atrocities by Nazis (have to say, that’s just a part of the greater picture associated with war) and you have loads of documentaries which bring the views from inside…for example, Farenheit 9/11, Sicko, The Inconvenient Truth etc. There are few other great movies which have been adaptations from great books, plays. People surprise you with their view of life…someone like Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman (these people are adept at depicting traits like loneliness, spirituality, Dark comedies…etc).

Let me take you back to my past, maybe you will get an idea about how this passion for movies started. In Andhra Pradesh, we have a great culture with respect to movies. Every festive season there are tons of movies released, there was a time when we would end up watching everything. This phenomenon transformed to Passion for cinema 15 years later. And I realized how much I had fallen in love with movies in college. Should say it had made me more and more interesting towards things other than books and grades. And I am deeply indebted to it for this. On the flipside, if I have to say, about the not so good things…I became a couch potato, am 84kilos right now and deeply confused about what I am doing right now….But would also add that I know clearly what I love the most, and what I would do few years down the lane.

People always ask me how I get so much stamina to watch movies (I am not exaggerating, the average count was around 3-4 movies per day at one point of time…). The answer is…. I don’t know, probably we don’t mind spending time for something which we love to do. Foreign Cinema, especially that from Europe has made me realize the power and outreach of great cinema. Directors like Bergman, Felini, Pedro Almodovar, Roman Polanski and loads of others from France have redefined my perspective of cinema. Their take on themes that are difficult to comprehend and satirical subjects create an impact which only few can understand; which makes the very point of watching all their so called “philosophical” and “boring” movies so interesting and demanding to watch. It’s like having to talk to a person whom you don’t want to talk to. But after sometime, you tend to look for ways to like that person. And when you do fall in love with that person, you wonder how could you think the way you earlier were thinking? Watching a great movie makes me feel like that. And foreign cinema…the more you watch it, I sometimes feel that the more original themes seem. It’s like eating ice-creams…first you would try having all the flavours and then decide which one you like more. For me, foreign cinema is an untouched flavour.

A bit about Indian Cinema, it has come a great way from Alam Ara to Shree 420, from Mughal-E-Azam to Sholay to Lagaan. What’s most interesting about the trend in Indian Cinema is the effect of the Indian psyche or the conditions in the society which have been adapted so well in many of the movies. The movies which came in the decade after Independence had a huge influence of the prevalent conditions like fight for land, hunger, man vs machines and so on. Some of the best examples for this kind of genre are….Do Bheega Zameen, Mother India, Naya Daur. And then came Mughal-E-Azam, by far such grandeur hasn’t been achieved in Indian Cinema History (perhaps Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas might come close…but considering that Mughal-E-Azam is from 60’s, it has an upper hand). This film took 9 years to finish, some 4000 horses, 8000 troops were used for the war scenes. Also one of the first Indian Films to have a song in Colour (Jab Pyar Kiya tho Darna Kya?), it was a commercial BlockBuster, and one of the very few films which was granted a theatrical release in Pakistan. In the year 1975, another film took the nation by storm, Sholay. Never in the history of the cinema would people end up loving everything associated with the movie. Dialogues would last for eternity and so will the action and emotion. 80’s brought along with it themes like fight for justice, socialism and also the influence of emergency was clearly evident. 90’s was dominated by Romance and we had films like DDLJ stand up for more than a decade. Then in 2001, a film came which turned cinema halls in Cricket Stadiums, Lagaan. Never had a movie captured the imagination of the entire nation the way Lagaan had done. Eventually it was nominated for Oscars and was one of the five finalists. And no list of classic movies is complete without the mention of directors like Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and a host of others from Malayalam and West Bengal.

Cinema is also a great medium to bring forth issues to a wider audience. One of the best examples could be stated is that of Marlon Brando. When he had won the Oscar for his role in Godfather, he sent a little known actress named Sacheen Littlefeather who was dressed in the Red Indian Style. And he wrote a letter which she read out to the august audience, the reasons why he wasn’t present on the occasion, and also his objections to the depiction of Native Americans by Hollywood and Television. In 1915, D.W.Griffith came up with a movie “Birth of a Nation” about white supremacy and interracial relationships. Although, it had a bit of negative impact on the society at large, it was also responsible for the resurrection of Ku Klux Klan.

With the advent of new technology and also internet, piracy movie marketing, distribution and advertising have taken the centre stage. There was a time when we had to wait for 6 months, sometimes even a year for an English movie, but the trend changed with Matrix Revolutions, the movie released worldwide on a single day. In India, Reliance came up with a strategy where the movies could be telecasted through satellite. What this means is, cinema halls in rural and remote areas wouldn’t have to wait for longer time to watch a movie…they can simply order a movie within a week of release and it will be telecasted. Also movie merchandising and distribution with the entry of huge corporate houses has helped the production houses rake in huge profits.

There’s a famous debate on whether “Life imitates art or Art imitates Life?” Whatever maybe the case, the ultimate aim of a film should be to influence and make an impact. We have more than 6 billion people across the world. And each one of them have a different story to tell, a different point of view of life…which means at any point of time, we must have more than 5 billion stories….so, it’s crap to say that we don’t have enough films…either you haven’t come across enough or you haven’t made an effort to catch a flick. I would like to conclude this session with a brief mention of my transitions in life. I call it the CD transition. When I was a kid, C stood for Cat and D for Dog. After few years, C was for Cool, and D for Drinks. In college, C stood for Compact and D for Disks. And now, at the turn of an important phase of my life, I have realized that C is for Cinema and D is for Dreams. I hope we as a generation pass the knowledge what we have gained from this life and not what you learnt from your forefathers. I hope we never cease to believe that possibilities are endless and there can never be an end to what one can think. I hope that we never cease to explore the unknown and interpret things more and more.

Thank You and I hope You Dream a Lot!!!

I, Dream

2008-03-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

Rays of Sun with a gentle breeze,
Birds chirping in a distant corner,
And a coffee in hand & smile on your face and next,
Is it yet another day or am I waking up to one?

Traveling through hordes of anxious eyes,
Trying to come across the same as yours,
What wishes may come true?
What dreams may come true?

I am not on top where I have to be,
Maybe that’s a good thing to know that you have a long way to go,
And a step forward is just the starting,
You might just end up at a different destination.

What’s good for me & what’s bad…
Do I know or should I know?
I look around to understand this,
And find the same rebound.

Anxiety should I call it or fear of unknown,
At a time when every moment is meant to be exciting,
I sniff something around,
I think I am trying to read alien thoughts.

I am not crawling, am trying to walk,
I want to fall down,
I want to melt infront of an adversary,
And when I see myself standing the next day,
I know I have won, I am still standing.

Walk until you droop, you will know the road,
Run until you stop, you will endure the fight & the race,
Live and let the destiny take you along,
After all things shouldn’t be kept under control.

Dream….dream….dream
What dreams can you dream?
What dreams do you wish would come true?
What dreams end as dreams?
I, Dream….Do you?

-Hemanth

(23-10-07)

This poem was written on the second day at Satyam...Auditorium, loads of people around and me...

The "Y" Side...

2007-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

A generous smile greeted me when I opened my eyes,
It was different around than what I had imagined in my mother's womb,
I tried to move around and saw him then,
My source, such was his graceful appearance...

I instantly realised that I knew him,
He had heard me move in my mother's womb,
Placing his hand to feel how big I had grown,
That was my first contact with things alien separated by a thin membrane..

One day, he took me around,
me sitting on his shoulders,
to a place too far that I can't remember,
To see a Sun setting, a life down the hill gearing up for the night.

I wondered, why he was so calm most of the time,
Everyone else around seem to talk as if there's no tomorrow,
He replied for everything with an unreasonable smile and calmness,
I believed everything what others had told about him...he was so unusual!

One fine day, I happened to see his other side,
He was talking too much....and something seemed to be awry,
I think he just wanted to be himself,
A shade of his persona which was unknown to many.

Years later I looked at myself in the mirror,
And couldn't stop wondering,
How in the world could two people be so similar!
I had inherited his calmness...that eternal calmness!
and everything which people couldn't understand about him...

He's more than twice my age now
and staring down at the other half of life,
he drops a little hints here and there,
just to make me realize that my days have come to stand up for the rest!

Another day,Another night
I come across the bills and recall those visits,
For a moment I forget about the blood and hysteria around
Thinking about the feeling of togetherness...if only for a brief time
A privacy felt amongst a crowd...in a foreign land...

I think the day isn't too far,
which he had been preparing me for,
A day when he no longer would be on my side holding my hand
and let me fly free with time...

If only he could be with me,
To let me put my head on his shoulder,
and see the sun going down the sea,
With a calmness that exists between us...

P.S...To a person who gave me my name
From a person trying to live upto that name....

Alapana...

2007-09-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

A chorus in my backyard forced me to take notice,
Something so soothing...so reminiscent of days of my youth,
I walk now with a stick in my hand,
which never forgets to remind me of the days to come...

The evening sun infront of the house was going down the sea,
A glowing red spreads across the waters
Never had it ceased to amuse me as a child,
That Sea could engulf something so powerful...

The little waves touching my feet,
taking the sand away from underneath,
Something like time does to you...
Takes away moments but promising to return with better ones...

Once, I prayed so hard to let me fall back in time,
To a life that I had once lived,
Where all I would care was to forget about time,
That was the time when the next day was more promising...

I was amidst people who were brimming with life,
Bustling but serene at the same time,
When severing was not in mind,
yet knowing that one day we have to face it.

And then we did face it,
promising each other to never forget,
Etching the memories to our souls,
we moved on to the other side of life...

That's when probably I began thinking about time,
and from then on it started going faster than I thought of,
Years later, I looked back,
Found nothing apart from the lingering images of my youth...

I ask the rain, do you fall there too?
Where someone I know lives...
I ask the wind, do you blow there too?
Where someone I know lives...

Perhaps the sun is the best of all the messengers,
Rising in one part of the world while setting in the opposite,
It soothed me that we all share the same warmth,
Just reflecting what someone else is thinking in some part of the world...

I smiled that the waves washing my feet,
once kissed the feet of others I knew,
It made me jealous for an instant,
that when I couldn't,they met the ones I love.

The dusk reminded me of the night to come,
Reminding me that the time has come,
To walk back into oblivion of my life,
And seek a rhythm to this dwindling life....

I smile at the days bygone and hope the time keeps its promise,
But life's just that...made up of broken promises and hopes of undoing that,
Pure melody I would say, this way of life,
Chaotic yet reminding you that serenity exists in some part of the world,
A peace which everybody seeks, but only some find....

Dedicated to.....12 men with whom Time had been glorious(I wish there was no such thing as time!), a friend whose passion for books/theatre is immense, a friend who has never ceased to surprise me(my best partner when it comes to movies!)..."A n S", a journey through the lanes of Pilani which introduced another friend into list of specials, a lovely friendship forged in 3-2(i regret for not knowing all of them before...but better late than never!)....a lovely school where I first learnt to "converse".....Orkut/Facebook/Yahoo msgr for keeping those conversations alive after 8 long years!....and everyone else with whom I have spend my days and those whom I always to know but couldn't....[:)]

Note....In Indian classical music, an alapana is defined as the exposition of a raga(Melody). The flavor of the raga is outlined in the alapana by rendering the raga's permitted notes in structures and phrases unique to the raga. Alapana typically precedes a song that is going to be sung in the given raga.

Samsara...

2007-09-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

A fine morning greeted by singing birds and warm sun,
There was buzz around nothing like I had ever seen,
Quite an anxious day it was turning out to be,
I was being goaded to prepare myself to meet my prospective in-laws along with their son,

It was as if my whole life depended on that nod!
How old was I? Twenty??
I was cajoled to leave everything in the hands of God...
It wasn't the God that I thought of, but my life ahead which was filled with hopes plenty.

Little after 9 I guess, they had come,
I couldn't wait and saw the guy from a crack on the door,
Impressive I thought, he looked too calm!
My plans had changed now and I toyed with the idea of life with him more and more...

I walked into the room and pretended not to see him,
He didn't look at me either, but had the nerve to request for a private moment with me,
I wondered what he's gonna say
That was the first time I cursed myself for being unprepared for this moment

He looked around the room,
And admired the zari on my saree,
Maybe he didn't know where to start,
And I comforted him by blurting out something stupid!

After sometime we seemed to have hit a roadblock,
This was more or less a negotation
of what he likes and what I like,
little did we know how we are gonna end it!

And the unexpected happened atlast...
He asked, "What do you expect from me?"
I seriously had no clue...I had never thought about it myself,
He repeated once more, but I couldn't say anything..

Now it was my turn and I struck my blow!
I asked,"Are you ready for this?"
This caught him off-guard and he kept calm,
Both of us kept calm and looked into each other's eyes.

A little later, everything was fixed,
nobody gave us a chance to speak,
we were told that we were too shy to say anything
So...there it was...things worked out without even my nod.

Years later....one fine night,
I woke up to the sound of a thunder in the middle of a rain,
Wondering if my life was a dream or just a joke,
I looked around and found nothing but silence.
Silence and more of it, I had all day,
But I couldn't get an answer for that "why?"
Why did this happen?
Why didn't anyone stop it?

When I met him first, he asked me,
How do you see your life 10 years down the lane?
I didn't have an answer, but he did
I wonder why he never told me what he had in mind.

Over the years, the roads diverged
and one fine afternoon that happened.
Ever since I tried hard to connect the dots of our lives
Trying to understand if he was one unhappy or was it me?

The smile on my face is gone
replacing that is a eternal gloom
of having done something terrible
An unfathomable fear of being the reason for his death.

Yes, he died...but he had killed me years before,
Years before, when he became indifferent to my presence,
It was as if I am no more than a ghost,
Ghost who destroyed his Samsara...

His Samsara...where I didn't have a place!

The Cursed...

2007-09-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

The drops of rain kissing my body woke me up,
And people I saw around me giving a look profound,
How many times do I tell them that such things I scorn,
Yet the anger of my thoughts dies without making a sound.

Many a times I think with this burden on my back,
How cruel could Zeus be to give such a spherical shape to this stack,
How could he do this to me?...I merely played my part in the war...
he cursed me to bear this burden for eternity!

You know what the worst part is?...
I can't look at the Heaven, though it's me who bears the burden
Neither can I see the Earth , though it's just below where the heaven is,
Day and night, I look down and see nothing but a path untrodden.

I wasn't meant to be like this,
I hope my Lord would heed to my prayers,
but he never forgets to mention the betrayal,
and that erodes my hopes of redemption layer by layer.

All you creatures glaring at me from down there,
I have just one thing to tell you,
Don't forget that you too have a burden on your shoulders,
The burden of hopes and that of consequences,
You can't escape it, yet you think I am the only one around to carry it!

My lord! You have kept me down for time immemorial,
Yet I never understood what delight that begets
Maybe soon, one day you will realise my worth
And that day, I will look into your eyes
And say to myself, so this is how you look after all these years?

I once had a dream, to stand tall!
That's still a dream, but maybe the day isn't too far
I will swim across this pool and put the sphere under my feet
And scream....I am Atlas, the immortal Titan!

I am Atlas...I am Atlas...

What lies Beyond??

2007-09-05T00:32:00.000-07:00

One...two..three...I am coming,
"Sebastian, Ariel I shall find you".
I swim rather quickly flapping my small fins,
But I seem to be falling behind the other two.

Atlast I see them laughing in one corner
Laughing at my innocent and curious looks to find them,
I give up and swim across to join them rather meekly,
It's all so beautiful with them....we dance, we swim.

One day, I looked at the mighty gates of Atlantis,
Sebastian told me that beyond it lies a world turbulent,
So turbulent that you rarely have a chance to look back
I couldn't take my eyes of those gates, beyond it everthing looked fabulous

I began to think about those gates day and night
and began wondering how would life be without Sebastian and Airel?
Finally, I dared one day and crossed those gates
And I told myself,"Flounder, Here you go........!"

I swam..I swam as if there was no end,
All along, there were schools of others like me,
And there were corals, plants alien to me
Everything looked so beautiful and merry

And then I reached the edge of that land,
Beyond that, it was getting darker
I remembered Sebastian's words about a turbulent world,
I wondered if this was that? Yet, I couldn't stop myself...I carried on.

Somewhere down there, I got sucked into the current,
I couldn't look back...there was no looking back
I loved my ride, but little did I know where I would end up,
Something about life beyond the gates intrigued me.

The water was calm again, and I had no clue where to go,
Suddenly a Shark saw me and invited to have dinner with him,
I didn't like him and so I carried on my journey,
But perhaps that was my mistake, I should have stayed back with him

I turned and found myself heading straight towards the whale
It sucked everything down and I was afraid of getting lost
I tried to flap back and don't fall trap to this,
somewhere I prayed that I should have died in the hands of that shark rather than the whale!

The situation got too frantic
and as a last resort I prayed
O King Triton...O God Posiedon...Help Me...Help Me!
I don't know who it was, but with that flash of lightening I fainted

I woke up amidst Ariel and Sebastian,
They were laughing again that I had a daydream!
I smiled at my moronic dream,
Yet..I couldn't stop thinking about the life beyond...

What lies beyond? What lies beyond?

Hope....

2007-08-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

I fell down from heaven,
and was about to go where others go;
but maybe it was the wind,
I drifted away and no longer knew where I would go.

Up in the heaven sat my lord who said
"What are you doing? Don't you see you have strayed from your path?"
I couldn't wait to hear him,
I got sucked down to the earth

As we moved forward, I saw others falling into the sea,
they said, that's where we have to go;
I looked at myself determined to go the other way
This was my maiden journey and I couldn't go back

My lord up there banished me,
said, I betrayed everybody,
and that, heaven's door is closed forever for me!
I wondered if he had noticed what wind had done?

As I was falling down,
I saw a man sqautting beside a field mown,
Alas! I saw the agony in his eyes,
I saw the hope that one day someone like me would arrive;

My journey had a purpose
and I was soon going to be His messenger!
How you ask me? Haven't you heard of what are called as prayers?
My lord happens to listen to some of them;

Soon I found out that he was a farmer,
and I wanted to greet him with such a force
that he would notice me and open the doors
to his hope that Lord would listen to his murmur!

In an instant, I think I touched him,
I think he looked up
I think he saw where others had fallen,
As I lay dead infront of his eyes,
he smiled and wanted others to come

I came to an end...a tragic end
because never had I thought that someone would smile at my death!
but perhaps this was a message that to my Lord I send,
No matter how we stray, there's always a purpose
and no purpose is unworthy because it always results in something!

You ask me, what did my purpose result in?
Maybe more prayers....but I think it was Hope....and keeping it alive..
Beause that hope always results in something..

Hemanth
21/8/07

Highway to Truth

2007-08-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

once upon a time...maybe long ago,
it's believed that someone popped up in the garden of Eden,
after a moment of bliss, in came satan;
and tempted to commit the sin upon which He had decreed an embargo.

In a state of anger, He lost his senses,
and shunned his children to mortality
And years after they descended, they started building fences
And generations later they forgot the meaning of morality!

He saw that we were forgetting Him,
so he sent his messengers to remind about His presence,
for a moment there was no bounds to one's effervescenece
but I think it all started there and for some strange reason we divided Him,

In a strange turn of events, the apple turned the world around,
the infamous fruit had invoked a genius
things were never same again and a notion lost its ground,
A notion that He is the unquestionable genius!

Soon, they started defining things,
until one day, someone shattered the whole world
he proved that, God is just a made up story
and the reality is much more complex

Years later, another defined energy,
yet he looked at stars and exclaimed,"How can you look at stars and say God doesn't exist?"
You call him genius, but he's the most Humane Human
he initiated the eternal question!

Does God exist?
Is science the new Tower of Babel?
Everytime you define something ethereal,
you climb one level of the tower
maybe one day we will reach the tip too....

I just hope He doesn't show up in some corner,
that will just shatter everything that we have believed in so far,
Words, art, music have changed with time,
what if notions don't change?

I am no more naive,
I maybe wrong, but i am on the highway to truth
truth that will one day define what science has been trying for so long,
But, What if i reach that truth?...
If something is proved then science will have an upperhand,
does that mean, defining God will mean that He isn't what we think,
Will that proof make me an athiest?

Hemanth
19/8/07

Night

2007-08-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

It all happened one cold night, when I took a turn wrong...
and ended on a path unknown,
with snow dancing down from heaven
I greeted the wind on my cheeks with contempt;

Not that I hated the wind,
but the day was very unkind....perhaps it was my life that was!
Days, I spent wandering for something,
perhaps it's been years or maybe more.

I was told by many that I was looking for truth about too many things,
Things perhaps that I shouldn't ask myself,
why am I walking down this road?
Where would I reach?
It makes me all the more miserable....this having to choose!

I think I heard music somewhere on that road,
and I walked over to the fence to see what it was,
the strings of some instrument created magic,
and I heard something that I hadn't before;

I looked around and saw people sleeping,
and I looked at the grass they stamped below,
The air suddenly turned warm,
I couldn't understand why?

Maybe there were too many people,
maybe it was the magic of the music,
Someone told me that it's just movement of air molecules,
if that's so, then what's cold wind?
Am I falling deaf to things around?

I looked around and saw the joy and applause,
I saw the courteous thanking of the musicians,
I saw the harmony of life there,
I shifted my glance towards a baby, a little angel there,
I saw her curious glances and innocent smile

And I smiled....or maybe a smile escaped from my heart,
because I saw myself in her eyes,
I was no different than her; then what is this that torments me?
Am I carrying a burden to be someone among the crowd?
I think I am...and I don't know why?

Perhaps that's my quest now,
I looked towards the sky and saw the night glowing with stars,
They were smiling back and I was happy I looked at them,
It's been so long since I looked up...since I was happy.
And it all happened one night, when I took a turn wrong...

Hemanth
15/8/07

Are You in Heaven?

2007-08-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

Phew!...been so long since i posted something here...and been too long since i tried to write something good...Finally came up something last week....here's the poem of sorts...hope you will like it...and do pls comment on it, if you happen to read this one and few others above...[:)]

Are you in Heaven?

At the stroke of midnight, I was born,
not knowing what was happening;
There was commotion, there was mayhem,
little did I know why people were crying!

It made me sad that people always cried on that day,
it's my birthday for heaven's sake!
Yet, I can't stop people to keep their emotions at bay,
tell me what can I do for this anomaly to break?

Everytime I fly, I see people looking at me,
I see their joy, I see their pain,
But I also sometimes see victory in their pain,

One day, finally I saw someone smiling on my birthday,
I asked him why he was doing that?
He smiled more and walked away
But he told me one line which made me ponder,
"I am free....I am free"

I wanted to know what had happened on the day I was born;
one said he came outside the limbo,
another, he became rich;
one said, he was just happy;
but I think I found my answer when I bumped into someone!

"I learnt to look up and see the skies beyond,
I can see beyond the boundaries,
I can feel my urge ti stand up,
so everytime you fly, I look up and see the skies beyond!"

I thought, then why is that not everyone is the same?
Are they bound by the shackles of their mind?
That after all these years, they feel there's still something missing?

Sure, we have moved away from lot of kingdoms
from time immemorial and finally reached freedom.
For us, freedom was the kingdom where there were no boundaries,
first we fought for it, but still not everyone could have it;

So, here's what I say to all those who cry on my birthday;
Freedom isn't just a day of the year on which you can unfurl me;
I am your mirage, I am your apparition;
I am in your happiness, I am in your failure;
Perhaps.....that's what I am...

I am your peace....and peace within yourself is what I call Heaven is!
So, now tell me, are you just free?
or are you in heaven?

Hemanth
15/8/07

C.R.A.Z.Y

2007-08-01T04:31:00.000-07:00

Title: C.R.A.Z.Y
Language: French
Country: Canada
Year of Release: 2005
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Actors: Michel Côté, Marc-André Grondin,Danielle Proulx
Awards: 33 wins and 4 nominations...for the entire list click here

Every now and then, you come across some quite unexpected movies which will excite you to a great level and compel you to take notice of that kind of genre too. Of course, not every movie dealing with the same theme might be as captivating as the one which inspired you...what's more important is how the story is told. Also the level to which a director can go to make his point without going over the top will definitely create a great impression about the movie. In India, where these days, we have quite a few film makers who are trying to deal with the theme of homosexuality in the society...perhaps for all of them this Canadian movie C.R.A.Z.Y would be a good script to study...for the simple reason that the director has a good aesthetic sense of dealing the theme with sensitivity!

C.R.A.Z.Y is a family drama set in the suburbs of Quebec, Canada. The family has five sons Brainy (Christian); Druggy (Raymond); Sporty (Antoine); Fairy (Zachary); and Fatty (Yvan) ..that's why the title of the story, which has been derived from the starting letter from their names. The main character of all of them is Zac, and the whole story revolves around his life and how that in turn has its effects on others. While growing up, the family comes in terms with their strict father who struggles hard to bring up his children with utmost discipline. But things don't go as he would have wanted, so we have each of his sons taking a different course. While in school, Zac makes himself belief that he has "more than normal-level of male hormones" and also develops a feeling that he's homosexual. One fine day, his father catches Zac cosying up with his friend and he's embarrassed to what he has become. After they grow up, Zac who's struggling with his identity, also fosters a desire to please his father by returning the record of Patsy Cline's classic song "Crazy", which Zac had broken out of rage in his childhood. What follows after that is one man's journey to find himself and how he realizes what he has been missing all his life and a climax to their confused lives which brings the estranged father and son together.

Almost every character stands out in the movie...be it the father, or Zac and his rivalry and unexplained love and care for his elder brother Raymond, and Raymond himself who's become a drug addict. The theme fiddles around Zac's identity about how he fathoms it and how his family and society at large want him to think. Quite literally it's a struggle going on in a youth's mind and how he tries to come in terms with everything around him. There isn't a strand of vulgarity unless you are quite uncomfortable at the very words of homosexuality itself, as you would see in the movie are a series of misunderstandings which jeopardizes quite a number of relationships in a family.

It's a film with a good story and also very well narrated, be it the sub-plot of the healing powers that Zac had supposedly possessed, or the one which shows his journey to distant lands to seek wisdom....watch the film...you won't restrain yourself from feeling awe at almost every scene.

Check out this teaser on the movie....

Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam (Master, Mistress and Slave)

2007-07-31T01:08:00.000-07:00

Title: Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam (Master, Mistress and Slave)
Language: Hindi
Country: India
Year of Release: 1962
Director: Abrar Alvi
Actors: Meena Kumari, Rehman, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman
Awards: This movie won 4 awards at the 1963 Filmfare Awards for Best Movie, BestActress (Meena Kumari), Best Director (Abrar Alvi), Best Cinematographer (V.K.Murthy)....
Also the film won the President's Silver Medal that year

Five years after the release of Pyaasa and it's subsequent commercial failure, almost the same team of actors along with Meena Kumari this time, teamed up to act in the movie Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam. Based on a book by Bimal Mitra, the film directed by Abrar Alvi and produced by Guru Dutt, the film was about the lifestyle of the upper class Zamindars in the pre-independence era and its subsequent fall.

The story revolves mainly around Choti Bahu (Meena Kumari) who's the wife and also the youngest daughter-in-law in the haveli of the local Zamindar (Rehman). Coming from an ordinary household, all she aspires is to literally "worship" her husband, and heed and follow his wishes. But the only catch is that, he really doesn't bother about her; instead he spends his nights in mehfils, drinking all night. One fine day, Boothnath (Guru Dutt) comes to the haveli and stays in one of the outhouses and works in a Mohini Sindoor Factory outside in the city. There he comes across Jabba (Waheeda Rehman) the daughter of his employer and what starts as a silly fight, develops into fascination for one another. Choti Bahu asks for Boothnath's help in getting her the Mohini Sindoor which is rumoured to have special powers. Boothnath smitten by her beauty has unparalleled respect for Choti Bahu and it matures into a deep friendship. One night, out of desperation, Choti Bahu pleads her husband not to leave her that night and to prove that she can go to any length to please him, consumes alcohol. What follows latter on is a tale of sorrow, traditions which are too deep-rooted to change and a devastating end to what was once a majestic lifestyle.

The film is about the lifestyle of Zamindars and the women in these havelis. The usual desire for adorning more gold and leading a lavish lifestyle is questioned by a simple girl who places the desire to serve her husband above everything else. What struck me most about this movie was the way the characters were moulded in the story. Especially that of...Meena Kumari and Boothnath. Both of them start as someone extremely innocent to those who are quite confident and someone who can stand on their own feet. In that sense, I think, the major part of the entire credit for the movie should go to Meena Kumari for her role as Choti Bahu. She is stunningly beautiful and all those closeup shots of hers in this black and white movie simply illuminate the whole screen! I think the camera man was just awestruck by her beauty and every single time the focus is on her, she just stands out with her acting. Her role as a woman who would forgo the normal traditions (in this case...read as consuming alcohol) just to please her husband and later on looking after him amidst lost glory would go down as one of the best performances in Hindi Cinema.The rest of the star cast is good and in this movie too...the dialouges and music stand out. The music is by Hemant Kumar and lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni and together they have come up with some memorable songs like Na Jao Saiyaan(Don't go my dear) and others. Songs are shot in sync with the mood of the film and also they add more meaning to the characters thoughts...esp the song Na Jao Saiyaan....

Do watch the movie for the story of the pre-independence portrayal of the zamindars, the prevailing customs and traditions in the society at that time....a good and strong story...great performances, music and Meena Kumari...she's definitely the heart and soul of the movie!

To listen to probably one of the best songs from the movie...Na Jao Saiyaan....click here
Another beautiful song from the movie featuring Meena Kumari....Piya aiso jiya mein

Pyaasa (Thirst)

2007-07-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

Title: Pyaasa (Thirst)
Language: Hindi
Country:

India

Year of Release: 1957
Director: Guru Dutt
Actors: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha
Trivia: Named as one of the 100 best films of all time by the TIME magazine.

Cinema is perhaps one of the best medium of representing the lifestyle of people. If you consider Indian Cinema in particular, then the themes dealt with in each decades relate directly to the respective lifestyle of that time. 1950's cinema was about a country which had just become independent and this trend continued through most of the 1960's. Then 1970's changed a lot of things. There was a silent revolution around the country, Socialist and Communist ideologies were fast catching attention and correspondingly there were movies which depicted this..and the1980's and 1990's slowly shifted their focus on individuals depicting individual traits like Love, Marriage. Particularly 1950's and 60's movies were truly international in the sense that, they had such a distinct identity when compared with the Italian and French cinema. It's also considered by many as the Golden age of Bollywood.

In 1957, Guru Dutt came up with perhaps would be his most talked about movie even after 50 years of its release. Titled "Pyaasa" the flick had some of the finest talent that Hindi cinema has seen....Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Johny Walker, Rehman....the music by S.D.Burman, Lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi and written by Abrar Alvi and singing by Mohammed Rafi. It truly is the one of the best combos of finest talent in Hindi Cinema and the result is nothing short of a masterpiece and a timeless Classic.

Pyaasa, is the story of Vijay(Guru Dutt), an unsuccessful poet who is struggling to get his poems published. His brothers despise him for being worthless and one day they sell his poems as waste paper which are inturn purchased from a store by a prostitute, Gulabo(Waheeda Rehman). One night, while sleeping in a park, Vijay overhears his poetry being sung as a song by Gulabo and follows her to the brother house. When Gulabo finally finds out that he is penniless, she drives him away, but later realizes that he is the same poet whose poems she had been singing. She falls in love with him and after sometime, Vijay also begins to like her for she's the only one who treats him with love and respect. While walking down a road, Vijay sees Meena(Mala Sinha) his ex-girlfriend who's now married to a big publisher Mr.Ghosh(Rehman). Vijay goes to his college reunion and sings a song in that ceremony and there he again sees Meena and Ghosh. Ghosh calls him to his office and offers a small job in his office. Out of desperation for money, Vijay accepts it; but Meena tries to make him understand that there's always a danger of her husband finding out about their past relationship. When Ghosh comes to know about this, he fires Vijay from his job. One night while trying to cross a railway track, there's an accident and Vijay loses his memory. But the world thinks that, Vijay has died because his coat was found at the accident site when infact it was that of a beggar to whom Vijay had given.
Gulabo takes the poems to Ghosh and convinces him to publish Vijay's poetry. Vijay's poetry becomes a huge hit and people just fall in love with him. In the meantime, Vijay's brother's come to meet Ghosh to demand for a share in the profit saying that, whatever Vijay's property was they also should have a share in that. One day, the nurse reads out Vijay's poetry infront of him and he finally becomes normal, but nobody believes him. He's put in a prison like room which is filled with insane people. Mr.Ghosh comes to know about his condition and when he reaches to see him, he lies that the man isn't Vijay. Then Ghosh also convinces Vijay's brothers that they shouldn't recognise him otherwise the whole business would be destroyed. With the help of his friend Abdul Sattar(Johnny Walker) Vijay manages to escape and goes home. His brothers refuse to recognise him saying that his brother had died. Then after sometime he comes to know that there is a public gathering which has been organized to honour Vijay, after a year of his death. In that function, Vijay sings a song which draws all the attention and he's brought to the main stage. Slowly after realising that they can turn Vijay's return into profit one after the other all his acquaintances who had earlier rejected him, claim that this is the real Vijay. And people are elated upon this fact. Seeing all this fame which he has earned during his absence and influenced by the attitude of the people around him....Vijay makes a U turn and says that he is not the Vijay whom people think. He denounces everything and leaves the society which doesn't care about one another, questioning the hypocrisy of the people. Gulabo joins him and they go away far from everybody from where they wouldn't need to go any further.

Sounds pretty normal for 21st century, but think of the same thing in 1957! It truly would have been shocking to see such a thing on screen, of a society which doesn't care about people while in reality the concept of joint family was still strong. Much ahead of its age, Guru Dutt's masterpiece was a commercial disaster. But nevertheless, this film pointed out fingers about society in an age where few film-makers dared to do the same. There are quite a few number of things to be talked about the movie.
The music of the film by S.D.Burman is remarkable and added with Sahir Ludhianvi's lyrics creates an ever lasting impression....something which you would like to sing/hum for a long time! It's pure poetry about what's going on in a unsuccessful poet's mind who's fed up with the society. Each word of the lyrics is equivalent to thousand emotions unexpressed ... especially the last song where Vijay sings about the society stands out from almost everything in the movie! Mohammed Rafi's voice adds magic to the lyrics...no wonder he's one of the best ever...perhaps the best! Dialogues by Abrar Alvi are great...they have this bitterness in them which suggests that the writer understands the thoughts of a dejected man with remarkable profoundness. Acting by everyone is good...but one person who stands out from almost everybody else in the movie is Guru Dutt himself. In one line, "He's a God in everything he does!" His looks, his thoughts, his questions, his silence....everything he does speak volumes about his understanding of the theme he's trying to project.

I think I can add more to this list, but maybe I should leave a lot more for you to experience. A masterpiece from Hindi Cinema, the flick has withstood the test of time and is still counted among the best films ever! Some people might say that, it's kinda slow and boring but maybe you should come to your own conclusion after watching this...maybe watching this movie from a point of view of a young nation which had achieved its freedom just a decade ago and coming to terms with poverty, employment, development, family values would help in understanding it better. A film like this atleast once a decade will stand as an example for others not to emulate but to get inspiration...to come up with themes that challenge ideas and perceptions. A timeless classic...with haunting music and great dialouges and acting....this definitely deserves to be watched over and over again....Highly recommended.

To download all the songs and verses from the movie click here

A beautiful song from the movie...this one is basically about how hypocritical people are...

Another nice song from the movie...this has been used in numerous ads in India over the years....

Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)

2007-07-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

Title: Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)

Language: Spanish
Country: International Co-Production comprising several countries from South America
Year of Release: 2004
Director: Walter Salles
Actors: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna
Awards: Oscar; Best Original Song Jorge Drexler; for the song "Al Otro Lado Del Río"; 2005) and several other awards...Click here for the complete list

I am not from South America. I am not a Communist or a Socialist...I don't know which ideology I support. I quite rarely follow music or pop culture...and one fine day, I saw a picture of a man in his 30's sporting a beard with a posture that can't be easily forgotten, I became curious and asked my friend, "Who is he?"....To be honest, that look from my friend suggested that I was the most illiterate person on Earth at that moment and how I could be so ignorant. Nevertheless, he was kind enough to enlighten me and said...."Dude, that's Che Guevera-The Cuban Revolutionary!" And couple of years ago, when I was in college, a friend of mine told me that there's a new movie on campus which is about Che, and also that it's brilliant. That day, when I saw this movie "Motorcycle Diaries", I understood the passion behind his work and how events around you can change your perspective of life and thereafter your life itself.

Directed by Walter Salles, this 2004 flick is based on Diarios de motocicleta by Guevara, and Con el Che por America Latina by Alberto Granado (Che's friend). It's an international co-production with most of the South American countries being a part of it, and in Spanish language, which I presume more or less most of these countries speak or atleast understand. The story is about two friends Che Guevara played by Gael García Bernal and Alberto Granado played by Rodrigo de la Serna.

In 1952, just a semester before Che's graduation from medicine, he and Alberto decide to go on a journey from Buenos Aries (Argentina) all the way to a leper colony in Peru, finally ending their journey in Venezuela on Alberto's motorcycle, a Norton 500 motorcycle which he calls "La Pedarosa". Che convinces his father about his journey and they start moving south of Buenos Aires, reaching Miramar where Che spends sometime with his girlfriend and promises that he would soon come back for her. Later, they enter Chile and while travelling through the country, he receives a letter from his girlfriend that she cannot wait any longer. Upon reaching a town in Chile, they come to know that their motorcycle has completely broken down and from there on they continue the rest of the journey on foot. While traveling through Atacama Desert, they come across a couple, from whom Che learns that they were being tormented because of their affiliations towards Communism and the only place where they can have some work is the mines. From then on, they come across lot of locals who tell their economic and social problems. Finally, they reach Macchu Picchu, where they are just dumbstruck to see how the course of humanity had changed in a brief period of time; a civilization which was capable of building something like that, completely wiped out and started building a different city, Lima(Peru). There in Peru, they meet a professor who tells them about the basic problem of the locals is that they don't have their own land and also their rights are suppressed. From there on, Che begins to see life differently, as someone who tries to understand the problem of those around him and treat them with love and care..especially after the duo reaches the Leper Colony on the Amazon coast in Peru. His days in the leper colony bring a lot of change and one fine day, he becomes so emotionally attached to the people that he plans to drop his Medicine plans and do something which he's thinking about now.
Here in Peru he celebrates his birthday and while making a speech, he says the following lines..

"Even though we are too insignificant to be spokesmen for such a noble cause, we believe, and this journey has only confirmed this belief, that the division of American into unstable and illusory nations is a complete fiction. We are one single mestizo race from Mexico to the Magellan Straits. And so, in an attempt to free ourselves from narrow minded provincialism, I propose a toast to Peru and to a united America"

Perhaps something which he believed in completely and something which will change him and those around him. Inspite of being an Asthma patient, he dares to swim across the Amazon to spend the rest of the night with the lepers. Such is his grit! Finally they reach Venezuela, where Alberto decides to stay back and Che goes back home as a completely different person.

Shot with a terrific mix of Documentary style as well as maintaining a normal movie like feel this is a great biographical movie. It's such a huge task to depict such an icon with complete honesty and perhaps only those who have known and completely understood his passion could have done that. I don't claim that Walter Salles has done the picture perfect job, but then you cannot rule out the true theme about this depiction of Che. It's not really about his philosophy but the events which made him think so. That's perhaps why this is politically correct and something which everyone should keep in mind while watching this film. The backdrop of the rural South America is beautiful...it makes me so wanna go there, especially Peru!

The two actors, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna, are good. Bernal as a passionate young man who identifies himself with the locals and Rodrigo as Alberto who initially criticises Che for being so straight forward but eventually understanding what's going on in his mind; their conversations truly bring out the sense of friendship that they have. Also, the background music of the film....it's so soothing as well as something which will inspire you every single time when you listen to it.

Watch it...watch it...watch it...this is a brilliant movie and a must for everyone who own a poster of Che and for all those who wanted to know how can a journey change your life!
The film stands by its tagline which resonates even after you complete the flick and think about it days later...."Let the World Change You and You can Change the World".

By the way, if you are still wondering about that poster you have in your room, it was clicked by Alberto Korda....Click here for more info on what's been named as the "Most Famous picture of the 20th Century" by the The Maryland Institute College of Art

For more reviews....Click here

Check out this trailer of the movie....

This is the OST of the movie titled "On the Other Side of the River" sung by Jorge Drexler, this song got the Oscar for Best Song in 2005....

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amelie)

2007-07-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

Title: Le Fabulex Destin d'Amelie Poulain (Amelie)
Language: French
Year of Release: 2001
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Actors: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz
Awards: Nominated for five Oscars, won 4 Cesar Awards and several others

Narrator: "On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born."

This is how the movie begins! The first time I saw this movie, I couldn't understand what was going on....it switched to another channel in 5 minutes. Two years later when I saw this again, I realized what a fool I was!!...How could I have missed such a beautiful movie on the previous occasion? That was all I thought about that day. Released in 2001, this French movie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet featuring Audrey Tautou who later acted as Sophie in "Da Vinci Code" alongside Tom Hanks.

The story is about Amelie. Her father who's a doctor thinks that she has a unhealthy heart (while the real reason is that, Amelie yearns for her father so much that everytime he touches her, which is only while doing a checkup, her heart beats unusually rapid!) and she's never sent to school. After her mother's death she becomes even more lonley and from there after she develops great interest in doing some simple, but different things. One fine day, she leaves her home and starts working in a Cafe'. Her colleagues at the Cafe' each have an issue or you can say problem of their own which makes them quite uneasy on several occasions. One fine day, Amelie stumbles upon a box hid behind a loose bathroom tile and when she opens it she finds a small treasure....a collection of small objects which perhaps a young boy had left behind. Amelie begins her quest to find the owner of the box and return this to him. After some days she finds him and is quite happy when she secretly sees how that person reacts upon finding his treasure. From them on Amelie decides that she would help people around her and make them happy; and in doing so, she will be happy too. She accidentally bumps into Nino, a guy who's hobby is to collect the torn and discarded passport photo booths and falls in love with him. But given the fact how shy Amelie is, she never appears face to face with him and is quite afraid to express her love for him....and help finds its way through Raymond Dufayel, her neighbour who's called as the Glass man by everyone....And how this happens...makes up the rest of the story.

Narrator: September 28th, 1997. It is exactly 11am. At the funfair, near the ghost train, the marshmallow twister is twisting. Meanwhile, on a bench in Villette Square, Félix Lerbier learns there are more links in his brain than atoms in the universe. Meanwhile, at the Sacré Coeur, the nuns are practising their backhand. The temperature is 24°C, humidity 70%, atmospheric pressure 990 millibars.

This is how the film ends!!...What makes this film so special is the way, the character of Amelie is portrayed...as a person who never hesitates to help others, but when it is about herself she doesn't take a step forward. Acting is beautiful especially by Audrey Tautou, and the little girl who portrays the role of Amelie when she's young...is so damn cute! Dialouges are good; but some of them are quite unexpected...in one of the scenes, while explaining the different interests of Amelie it is said that, right now she's counting how many people are having an orgasm in the city! and many more like this....for more quotes from the movie...click here

The film has got a great look too...beautiful colours, there's never a dull moment in the movie. And there are quite a few number of references too...like Princess Diana (one of the characters wonders what British are going to Princess Di's ashes...he hopes that it will be thrown in space so that it becomes a star...[:)]..)

It's cute, refreshing, romantic...a perfect feel good movie. This one is among my all time favourite movies and definitely my favourite French movie! Highly recommended...one of the best films from Europe!
For more reviews of this flick...click here

Check out this English trailer of the movie...

Nostalghia

2007-07-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Title: Nostalghia
Language: Italian/ Russian
Country: Italy/Russia
Year of Release: 1983
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Actors: Oleg Yankovsky, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano

"Nostalghia", the name itself brings back thousand memories with it. And with a director like, Tarkovsky making a cinema out of this theme is bound to be compelling. He definitely is among the few directors in Cinema who have given it a new meaning through his vision and whole idea of including philosophy into Cinema. This was my first rendezvous with Tarkovsky's style of cinema and also with themes that sometimes seem to be impossible to be shown on the silver screen. Something like, I have always wondered how someone can depict silence on screen without it looking out of place or how can someone make you think while watching a scene itself. But Tarkovsky does it with such grace! Perhaps, the situation in which he was in while filming "Nostalghia" also helped him in bringing out that degree of emotion...he was in exile...away from his country, Russia.

The story is about Andrei Gorèakov, a Russian writer who travels to Bologna, Italy to research the work of a Russian composer who lived there in 18th Century. He has Eugenia, as his companion who's also a translator for him. One day while roaming around Bologna they happen to meet a person named Domenico, who's said to be a lunatic. But, Andrei takes some interest in talking to Domenico and in the course of their discussion Andrei senses that he understands what Domenico is going through. Meanwhile, Eugenia is growing fond of Andrei but he doesn't reciprocate her feelings...out of anger she returns to Rome to meet a man, whom she says is going to marry. Andrei before leaving to his own country meets Domenico where the latter requests him to finish one last task on his behalf.....To carry a lit candle across a dried outdoor pool. Then Andrei leaves the place and around the same time, Domenico goes to Rome and gives a speech to a group. At the end of it, he commits suicide. On the other hand, Andrei changes his mind at the last moment about leaving the country and goes back to Bologna to finish the task what Domenico had asked him to do.

One of the primary characteristics of the film is the use of "silence" to carry forward the story. At one point, I was growing so impatient that, it was as though, the silence in the film has transcended everything and filling up the unknown part of my brain which usually thinks! It's such a demanding entity of the movie which makes it extremely difficult to sit through at a stretch. But after having the full movie and making an attempt to understand it (which I still can't), I gave up. It was until, I met a friend who had watched this movie that I kind of understood from what point of view I should think about the movie. He told me, sometimes trying to understand a movie doesn't make sense...it all about experiencing the emotion that's being depicted! He was right....

There's a sense of alienation which is evident from the use of such long gaps of silence, alienation from the family, as depicted in numerous scenes, alienation from one's country and also alienation from one's culture and oneself! The sound of water is there in almost every scene of the movie...it's almost as if it is trying to convey something...something that life goes on irrespective of what you do...also Tarkovsky masterfully uses this sound of water to convey the mood of the scene...sometimes it's slow..sometimes fast. Also, the philosophy in the movie is worth brooding upon. In one of the scenes it is said that....one drop of water plus another drop of water doesn't make two drops of water, but a bigger drop!....and in another scene....a man should only smoke when he has nothing else to do.....such things just add a whole new perspective to cinema.

Another thing which the director often uses in his films are the unusually long shots to depict a scene. And the master of all this, the climax of the film where Andrei tries to cross the pool is an eight minute, forty five second long scene without any cuts!!!...just Unbelievable!!

A work of art blended with astounding emotional, philosophical touch; Tarkovsky's Nostalghia is truly one of its kind. Don't see the film...WATCH it!!....Don't try to understand it, but EXPERIENCE it!!...it's one of the unique films which you won't forget for a long time! And if you manage to sit through the whole 2 hours of the film, trust me, you can listen to silence....[:)]

Requiem For A Dream

2007-07-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Year of Release:2000
Director:Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans,etc.

There aren’t too many movies that move. Sounds ironical, but true. Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem For a Dream, based on the novel by Hubert Selby Jr., is one of those. It may have been touted as one of those movies that’s too graphically shocking and raw to qualify as the perfect home video to watch on a Sunday evening. It may have been banned from screening in a million gazillion theatres for similar reasons. For now, it shall be what I call a must-see for the very same reasons.

Requiem for a dream is the story of four people, their lives and how their lives grow to be controlled by addictions. Simple as it may sound, it strikes one as possibly the most realistic depiction of desperation, love and woes.

The lives of four people.

Harry and Marion(played by Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly respectively) are a beautiful couple. They have dreams; dreams of a better life. Tyrone(Marlon Wayans) is another young man who loves his life and people. Sarah Goldfarb(Ellen Burstyn) is an old mother; left to herself, to sink into her own wrinkles, to stare at the television all day, so much that it pervades her dreams. Aptly named, the movie portrays the efforts of the above characters to realise their dreams and their miserable failures, spiraled by their respective addictions.

The dialogues, though few, are supplemented by stupendous acting and haunting background scores, making the movie an unforgettably disturbing one.

One never realises how movies never tend to be tragic. There are too many movies with happy endings to notice the few that are truly sad. Move over movies with triumphant heroes, elated mothers, dollish women and doltish right-hands. This one has none. The hero loses. His mother drowns in broken dreams. His lover loses. His friend is behind bars.

A must watch for those who do not call a tragedy a farce and those who do.

Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers)

2007-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Title: Viskningar och rop (Cries and Whispers)
Language: Swedish
Year of Release: 1972
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Actors: Harriet Andersson, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann
Awards: Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and the film was also nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Director, and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. Unusually for a foreign language film, it was also nominated for Best Picture, not for Best Foreign Language Film

Ingmar Bergman's movies have something special about them....more or less, his stories deal with relationships especially among those who are in a family. This 1972 flick, Cries and Whispers is one such story.

This is the story of Karin and Maria who come over to look after their sister Anges along with the loyal maid, Anna. Anges is taken ill and she is not expected to survive for long...and as the story progresses, mysterious and often sad relationships are unravelled among the members of the family. Marie cheats on her husband and has an affair with their family doctor David. Karin is having a very unhappy marriage and Anges suffers from her perrenial illness. After sometime Anges dies and Maria and Karin who were not in talking terms with each other try to mend their relationship. Finally both the families decide that everything in the mansion would be sold and they would settle down in the nearby city.

What's so striking about this movie is the it's use of silence throughout the story. All you hear is a silence which is momentarily shattered by the cries of agony, of pain. Also each one's life is full of secrets. The film is also about inter-sibling rivalry. In what is told as a series of events using the stream of consciousness technique, we come to know how each one had distanced themselves from the other.
In one of the scenes the focus is on what one of the sisters, Karin thinks about her childhood. Karin says, "Mother and Maria always had many things to whisper about, but then they were so alike. Jealously I used to wonder what they were laughing at together. Everyone was in gay spirits, I was the only one who couldn't join in the merriment," continuing, "Yet I could not help feeling sorry for her... and now that I'm older, I understand her much better. I wish I could see her again...to tell her what I understand... of her boredom, her impatience...her longing and her loneliness." Beautiful lines to understand what's going through someone's mind!

Also towards the climax of the movie, we come to know about Karin's hatred towards Marie all these years and her agony and pain that nobody has touched her in years....in between all this is the character of Anna, who wants to serve her beloved Anges and she does care about her like her mother.... we see there's hope left in Anges when she's alive...always dreaming of the days when they were happy and dreaming that, that day would come again. To sum it up all about what Anges thinks about, she quotes, " Come what may, this is happiness…here for a moment. I can experience perfection.”

What makes me so impatient about this movie is it's use of long gaps of silence...something which can be very demanding. Also, the use of the colour Crimson Red for the majority of the scenes has a great spiritual meaning to it, to some level it denotes the situation of the house where a person is about to die....no wonder it is rated among the Top 100 Spiritual movies of all time.....All credit to the director for extracting some excellent performances, his ability to carry forward a story with so few characters and depict such complex relationships. A beautiful work of art by Bergman...something which I won't forget for quite sometime.

Ta'm e guilass (Taste of Cherry)

2007-07-21T05:33:00.000-07:00

Title: Ta'm e guilass (Taste of Cherry)
Language: Persian
Year of Release: 1997
Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Actor: Homayon Ershadi
Awards: Palme d'Or in Cannes Film Festival, 1997

This was my first tryst with Persian movies and I have no words for Kiarostami's concept of cinema! Found it too difficult to understand, perhaps a good enough reason to accept that Cinema has too many layers...maybe it means more than what we understand at one go! This is definitely one of those movies, where you would want something to happen...but not sure what. You would want the film to end, because you don't see a point in what's going on....but at the same time, wonder why it's going on.

The plot basically deals with a man named Badii, who's driving near the hills of Tehran, always looking for something, with a purpose of his own. He interacts with few people while travelling across the terrains and asks them to come along with him on an errand for which he will be paying a lot of money. Some people agree and when they finally get to the spot where Mr. Badii takes them, they are shattered at his request. One of them runs away on hearing this request, another is too flabbergasted and starts quoting the verses in Kuran which says it's a Sin to do such a thing. The request which Badii makes to them is,....." You see that small hole there under the tree....I am going to lie down in that hole and commit suicide tonight. All you have to do is come the next morning at 6 and see if I am dead. If I am alive, please pull me back otherwise, throw earth on my dead body."!!!!....And finally he meets a person named Bagheri,who gives him a personal account of what happened to him and how the taste of mulberries changed his life...(extremely symbolic!!)...and the story ends with what happens to Mr. Badii at the end.

Personally, I think this was an extremely difficult movie to understand because although it seems very simplistic that there's a man who wants to die and wants someone to be there by his side...it's the journey that makes us ponder lot of things. Why does he want to die? Why doesn't he stop by an average person on the streets of Tehran and take them along with him?...at one point, after he convinces a young Kurd to come along with him...he gives his explanation of how it's the duty of every Muslim to help his fellow Muslim....he questions the Kurd's beliefs. I guess that's what the movie is about...it questions your beliefs...it makes you wonder why is he doing, what he is doing??...Nevertheless...this 90 minute movie depicts a wonderful landscape of the arid mountains and the signs of development in the city. Most of the scenes are shot from within the car, so that gives a clear picture of his journey of Mr.Badii....he's so emotionless in the movie!!...no anger, no pain...just blankness which makes you wonder, what had happened in his life which has made him what he is now....

To be honest all these questions came to my mind only after finishing the movie...because all through the movie i was cursing the pace at which the story is told....and why the hell does he drive the car so slow!!!..[:)]..This is one of those movies, which will most probably be shown in some "Film Studies" course and thereafter a discussion would ensue about the theme. And I think, not many people are capable of coming up with such concepts and even if they do, I wonder how long the movie would stand! This is one of those films, which is too subtle and only reveals itself if one thinks more and more about it. Perhaps that's why one should watch it...because it makes you think. Call it boring or...too boring, it still remains a mystery and I end up wondering how someone is able to come up with such a storyline!!....

Subtle, extremely symbolic and a theme which questions one's beliefs....taste this cherry, maybe you will find the new definition of Taste (Read as Taste of Cinema)....!!!

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

2007-07-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

Title: Perfume-The Story of a Murderer
Director: Tom Tykwer
Actors: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood
Year of Release: 2006

Not too often can we find a movie which really stands by its title. Sometimes the titles are so bizzare that it really makes us wonder how is it connected to the story. For example this flick, "Perfume: The story of a murderer" is one such thing. Based on the German Novel "Das Parfum" by Patrick Suskind, the movie directed by Tom Tykwer was released in 2006. This happen after directors like Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese had once exclaimed that the novel was unadaptable on the big screen! Eventually it was adapted and after having seen this flick, I wonder would it have been different had the likes of Kubrick or Scorsese had directed it!....Whatever it maybe, the title couldn't have been better for the gripping storyline of a murderer. And it's a beautiful story of a anti-hero which is spectacularly shot too.

Perfume, is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who's born in 18th Century Paris in one of the filthiest parts of the city, the city's Fish Market. His mother who's a fish-seller has had many miscarriages before and when the baby is born, she just discards him amidst a puddle of blood and rotten meat thinking that this one shall meet the same fate too. The baby responds to the external smells finally and eventually cries. His mother who accused of trying to kill her child, is hanged to death. Thus, Grenouille is sent to an orphanage and as he grows up, he realizes that he has an extraordinary sense of Olfactory and he uses this sense of scent and smell to recognize the things around him. After he grows up, he's sold to a Tannery. He survives the hazardous working conditions and one day he's taken to the city for a delivery. In the city, Jean sees a girl and enchanted by her scent, he follows her through the streets of Paris. Finally when he meets her, instead of talking to her, he stands behind her back and starts to inhaling her. The girl gets terrified and she tries to scream. Out of fear that someone would find out, Jean muffles her scream which eventually kills her. This disappoints Jean that he wasn't able to preserve the scent of such beauty, so he decides that he should try to learn to preserve the scent. One day, he meets Baldini who's the owner of a once famous Perfume shop in Paris. Jean impresses Baldini with his peculiar style of creating new perfumes and eventually Baldini agrees to teach him how to make great perfumes. He tells him that to create a truly entrancing perfume, it takes 12 "notes" and a final 13th to add that extra feature of uniqueness. Then Jean who thinks that, using the usual methods of producing a perfume out of roses, he can preserve the scent of almost everything. He begins experimenting with different things like metals, cat and so on...and finally realizes that the current procedure isn't sufficient. Then Baldini tells him that there's another method called enfleurage, but also that he doesn't know the exact procedure. Jean leaves the formulae to make 100 different perfumes for his freedom to go to Grasse, where he can learn more about enfleurage. But when Jean leaves the place, the building collapses and Baldini is killed. On his way to Grasse, Jean sleeps in a cave and one fine day, he wakes up and finds out that he cannot smell himself! As he enters Grasse, he sees a young beautiful girl and imprints her scent and image in his brain. His motive, to create the one of a kind perfume using all this olfactory senses. And for this, he decides that by capturing the scent of beautiful women he would be able to create such a thing. And what follows is a carefully planned murder or 13 different women to capture their scent without leaving any trace....

It would be unwise on my part to reveal what happens when he finally succeeds to make that perfume....it deserves to be watched and then come to a conclusion whether it makes sense. Of course I don't claim that everyone would agree with each other, as seen from the reviews of various critics who have given this flick a 57% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com. But it has all the points to make it a flick worth watching....what I loved in the flick was....

Acting: Ben Whishaw, who plays the role of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is brilliant. Such few dialouges, yet to be able to convey the message which this film intends to, is remarkable. His emotions in the end of the movie when he realises what he has done speak everything about his acting!
Dialouges: Kinda few, especially for the lead character. I wonder, what prompted Ben Whishaw to accept this role!....But others, who have it are crisp and well conveyed. The narration of the scenes is good enough.
Cinematography: It's one of the most splendidly shot movies that I have seen in recent times....colours are very rich and bright and gives a great feel to the whole movie. The way the new born baby is pictured in the beginning is quite gory but also at the same time tells a great deal about the conditions around....also the climax, phew!...got not words for it...[:)]
Music: Ah!!!....what can i say about it....it just accentuates the mood of the scene...or should I say the scent of the Perfume!!...[:)]...it's almost the music substitutes the dialogues especially of Jean-Bastite Grenouille in most of his scenes. It's like an invisible character in the story...

It's a good story which is sure to receive some mixed opinions...but nevertheless something which is wonderfully shot with great background score. This one is definitely going into my collection! Watch it...it might turn out to be unexpected movie which will leave a good impression.

Check out the trailer of the movie....

Anbe Sivam

2007-07-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

Language:Tamizh
Director:Sundar C
Starring:Kamal Hassan, R.Madhavan,Nasser, Santana Bharathi, Kiran, etc.
Music:Vidyasagar
Year of Release:2003

When I read about red riots around the country, I realize that every theory is misconstrued and has its repercussions and that the world is too selfish for the true spirit of communism.

Communism is not about power; it’s about the people. It’s about how the world belongs to everyone; not just the rich or the poor. It’s about creating a world that is free from divisions; a utopian society that sees everyone in the same light, through the same many eyes that are one.

Marx did not talk of killing and burning buses for a share in a material world. He asked people to stand up for their own rights; to pride in what they are and their culture. That way, he’s no different from the buddha or the redeemer or the prophet. They’re all the same. They loved their people. They loved the world. They are all gods.

Anbe Sivam; “Love is God”. When I first came across these words atop the Kabaleeshwara Temple in Mylapore, Madras, it made me cry. The truth in the words struck me like a branding iron. I was proud that I knew and believed in a religion called love, if not anything else. The deities inside exuded this love. I felt warmed by it. I felt loved.

“Anbe Sivam” is about a man who believes in this simple power; the power of love. Nallasivam is a communist worker; an artist by profession, he stands up for the rights of underpaid tea factory workers. The story takes a turn when he is badly maimed in a road accident. He survives like a miracle. Like a resurrected god. Love saves him. Everyone.

The movie is also about Anbarasu, an advertising agent who meets Nallasivam in the midst of a Bhubhaneshwar flood. They are forced to travel together and he grows as their journey takes them home. As brothers. Just like the rest of the world.

The circumstances that weave the two stories together, the everyday humour, the astounding music, the simplicity of men; a dash of everything that go to make a good movie.

As for the acting, I guess that nothing needs to be said of Kamal Hassan. He is easily the best actor that Tamizh cinema has seen. Madhavan does an awesome job too; possibly his best till date. Nasser and Santhana Bharathi are naturals; they tell me that good Tamizh cinema isn’t dead yet.

My definition of good movies is a trifle different from what others would agree upon. I think that a good movie should make you cry. It should make you think. It should strum that string in you that’s always been there but was never played. It should make you want to watch it over and over again and make you cry every time like it were the first time.

I’ve watched Anbe Sivam four times. And I’ve cried with it. Every time.