Post 9/11, the words “War on Terror” and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” have been the most used and abused phrases in modern history. Numerous wars (success or failure depends on which side of the war you were on) have been raged. Countries have been toppled (quite literally and structurally).
"Three Cups of Tea ...One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time" authored by Greg Mortenson with David Oliver’s support is a very interesting book that shows a very different perspective of these wars and how best they can be won. I started reading this book at the same time the book got into controversy. But having read the book, I can safely say even if 50% of the book is true and this man Greg has even built half of the number of schools, medical facilties, vocation centers that he talks about in the book, it is still worth it. He still deserves all the accolades and appreciation for having dedicated his life, his family and his entire youth to this self-less cause.
Coming back to the book, Three Cups of Tea (or as the elongated title suggests), is a book of 1 man’s journey towards bring peace in some of the most hostile and “so-called” terrorist regions in the world be it Northern Pakistan – The Baltistan region or the Afghanistan regions. After his failed attempt to conquer the most dangerous peaks in the world (K2 – karakoram), he finds himself spending a month in Northern Pakistan’s most neglected areas and witnesses the people’s warmth and hospitality. This is where the title makes shape. Basically it is a phrase in that part of Pakistan... The first time you share tea with them, you are a stranger. The second time, you are an honored guest and the third time you share a cup of tea, you become a family.
Having witnessed the need for education, he decides to build a school for Korphe region and therein starts his struggle. This need for 1 school slowly becomes a full time job for him courtesy some generous donations and he opens Central Asia institute dedicated to the humanitarian development of the region.
The book comes across as a selfless account of this man’s journey written in a fashion that can allow more donations to flow through the institute. The basic theory remains the same. The war on terror cannot be won by Bushes and Obamas way of unsolicited and unashamed attacks but to enable people to understand the different between a school and wahhabi madarasas. To move them away from extremism to more modern educational system where they can emrace the world and allow a holistic development.
The book might not come across as a fast read as the writing style is documentary oriented but the message is strong and convincing.
The book also throws some interesting insights for an Indian like me who has always viewed Pakistan with just 1 angle. Reading about the Kargil conflict by someone who was in Pakistan at the same time is such an interesting read for me.
Overall... a good book to read if you are interested in modern history and the birth of terror in today’s times.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Dum Maaro Dum – A dumdaar first half with a feeka second half
I know I am very late in blogging about this one. Considering that the buzz around this movie was quite low initially and it was yet another Abhishek Bachchan’s movie after a series of turkeys last year put this in a low priority for me. But with word of mouth, the movie gained publicity and hence prompted me to watch it last night.
The movie starts with a bang. I loved the way the title and casting appears ... just what you need to set the tempo for a suspense action thriller. By the time the interval happens, I was totally impressed... The movie was shot at such a pace that didn’t even realized when 75 mins had passed. Everything was terrific (in critics language 5 star). The pace of the movie, action sequences, dialogues, performances, the Goan set-up under the dark shady clouds of drugs, the flashback sequences, and the smart direction...everything was packed with style (ekdum dumdar).
With this, the expectations from the second half sky rockets and that’s where I think the movie fails. The first half had covered so much that post interval, there is not much left for the filmmaker to cover. So he tends to drag the movie to ensure the audience gets his due of atleast 2 hrs for the 250 bucks they had spent. The second half tends to linger with Abhishek chasing the villain in long-winded sequences.
Having said that, DMD is still a good movie. As I said, the styling is really good. After Bluffmaster, Rohan Sippy once again comes back with a sharp direction and also uses Abhishek Bachchan to his strengths. The new hero Rana Dugubatti is even better (actually cant say he is new because people say he is a big thing in South). Liked his croaky voice. Prateik didn’t have much to do but plays the small role of Goan lad well. Bipasha just had to look the ultra glam girl and I think she plays it to the core. Aditya Pancholi comes back after a very long time (don’t even remember when was the last I saw him) but he too is brilliant in the “bad mafia lord” character.
All the songs are noteworthy. There already has been lot of buzz about the stunning item cum title song of Deepika. But to me, the best song was “Thain Thain”. With the choreography and rapid movement of story in background, this song tends to grow. The other soft song which is very nice is “Te Amo” with the Goan and Bipasha backdrops.
The camera has played a good role in styling the movie with the entire movie pasteurised in shades of yellow adding to the Goan feel.
Some scenes especially a jail torture scene might be quite uncivilized for Indian standards but I think they form a good part in portraying the tough cop character of Abhishek.
The director wanted to create a suspense thriller. The end does have a suspense but I think somehow it loses its relevance. May be if he would have stuck to the thrill part, the movie might have come out better.
Overall, Dum Maro Dum can be watched. The movie is in its 3rd week so you will need to watch it this week itself as it is unlikely to last one more.
The movie starts with a bang. I loved the way the title and casting appears ... just what you need to set the tempo for a suspense action thriller. By the time the interval happens, I was totally impressed... The movie was shot at such a pace that didn’t even realized when 75 mins had passed. Everything was terrific (in critics language 5 star). The pace of the movie, action sequences, dialogues, performances, the Goan set-up under the dark shady clouds of drugs, the flashback sequences, and the smart direction...everything was packed with style (ekdum dumdar).
With this, the expectations from the second half sky rockets and that’s where I think the movie fails. The first half had covered so much that post interval, there is not much left for the filmmaker to cover. So he tends to drag the movie to ensure the audience gets his due of atleast 2 hrs for the 250 bucks they had spent. The second half tends to linger with Abhishek chasing the villain in long-winded sequences.
Having said that, DMD is still a good movie. As I said, the styling is really good. After Bluffmaster, Rohan Sippy once again comes back with a sharp direction and also uses Abhishek Bachchan to his strengths. The new hero Rana Dugubatti is even better (actually cant say he is new because people say he is a big thing in South). Liked his croaky voice. Prateik didn’t have much to do but plays the small role of Goan lad well. Bipasha just had to look the ultra glam girl and I think she plays it to the core. Aditya Pancholi comes back after a very long time (don’t even remember when was the last I saw him) but he too is brilliant in the “bad mafia lord” character.
All the songs are noteworthy. There already has been lot of buzz about the stunning item cum title song of Deepika. But to me, the best song was “Thain Thain”. With the choreography and rapid movement of story in background, this song tends to grow. The other soft song which is very nice is “Te Amo” with the Goan and Bipasha backdrops.
The camera has played a good role in styling the movie with the entire movie pasteurised in shades of yellow adding to the Goan feel.
Some scenes especially a jail torture scene might be quite uncivilized for Indian standards but I think they form a good part in portraying the tough cop character of Abhishek.
The director wanted to create a suspense thriller. The end does have a suspense but I think somehow it loses its relevance. May be if he would have stuck to the thrill part, the movie might have come out better.
Overall, Dum Maro Dum can be watched. The movie is in its 3rd week so you will need to watch it this week itself as it is unlikely to last one more.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The world Cup Bonus - is it fair?
With the world cup win so close and the national sentiments so high, lot of people might not like what I am going to blog about. But the fact of the matter is I went through similar emotions before writing this one.
We all loved the win and celebrated our cricketers. We turned them into national heros and icons. We have been demanding Bharat Ratna status for some and some are being moulded into religious deities. India is a land of extreme emotions but cricket takes these extremes to a new high. But the sport of cricket is also a business proposition today. There are crores riding on them. So it never surprised me when Dhoni became the largest endorsed player commanding an ad rate equivalent to top Bollywood stars or Yuvraj getting ‘Re-vitalized’ once again or for that matter some of the younger talents like Virat making crores in advertisements. What surprised me and stirred my emotions is when I started seeing our politicians doling out largess.
Last heard, BCCI announced 1 cr for each player. Fair enough, they play for BCCI and so they deserve a bonus for a sparkling performance once in a while apart from the salaries they make on every match. I can equate this to ‘healthy’ bonuses in some of our corporate parlance. No issues at all. Fully acceptable... Its a corporate body paying from their pockets... well is it? ICC just got a tax exemption for the world cup 2011. So that means they will not be paying any tax whatsoever for the enormous money they made for organizing the world cup... be it sponsorships, telecast rights, extensive and comprehensive ads placed on every nook and corner of stadiums, bats, jerseys etc...stadium charges (well we can discount that knowing that on an average it was just 20% of tickets up for sale and the remaining 80% distributed free to their families, sponsors and our ‘beloved’ politicians who by the way are still fighting on the uneven distribution of tickets because they couldn’t accommodate the ‘aunt’ of their mother-in-law’s sister into the stadium to watch the WC final...too bad)
Then came the announcements of individual states each trying to outdo the other with offers ranging from crores (A crore seems to be very common figure now) to residential plots to acres of lands to plush houses. Well who is paying for all this? A government is a representative of the people and its finances are run by tax payers’s money... yes we people ...you and I ... the one who is writing this blog and the one who is reading it now. Well who authorized them to use my money?
So on one hand... ICC doesn’t pay any taxes while on the other hand the taxes that the audience pay is used to further enhance the wealth of the cricket players.
I have no qualms or issues against the cricketers. They played brilliantly and hence deserve all the accolades. Its good to be benevolent sometimes...But shouldn’t we keep it fair? What if the money could have been used to build better sporting facilities for other sports so that a WC triumph can be replicated in other areas or may be a pace bowling cricket academy.
At least this time, I have a consolation. The last time so much tax payer’s money was used in sports was for stuffing pockets of some of the organizers of the common wealth games and that too unaccounted. At least this time, we know where its going and can still attach an emotional reason for it.
We all loved the win and celebrated our cricketers. We turned them into national heros and icons. We have been demanding Bharat Ratna status for some and some are being moulded into religious deities. India is a land of extreme emotions but cricket takes these extremes to a new high. But the sport of cricket is also a business proposition today. There are crores riding on them. So it never surprised me when Dhoni became the largest endorsed player commanding an ad rate equivalent to top Bollywood stars or Yuvraj getting ‘Re-vitalized’ once again or for that matter some of the younger talents like Virat making crores in advertisements. What surprised me and stirred my emotions is when I started seeing our politicians doling out largess.
Last heard, BCCI announced 1 cr for each player. Fair enough, they play for BCCI and so they deserve a bonus for a sparkling performance once in a while apart from the salaries they make on every match. I can equate this to ‘healthy’ bonuses in some of our corporate parlance. No issues at all. Fully acceptable... Its a corporate body paying from their pockets... well is it? ICC just got a tax exemption for the world cup 2011. So that means they will not be paying any tax whatsoever for the enormous money they made for organizing the world cup... be it sponsorships, telecast rights, extensive and comprehensive ads placed on every nook and corner of stadiums, bats, jerseys etc...stadium charges (well we can discount that knowing that on an average it was just 20% of tickets up for sale and the remaining 80% distributed free to their families, sponsors and our ‘beloved’ politicians who by the way are still fighting on the uneven distribution of tickets because they couldn’t accommodate the ‘aunt’ of their mother-in-law’s sister into the stadium to watch the WC final...too bad)
Then came the announcements of individual states each trying to outdo the other with offers ranging from crores (A crore seems to be very common figure now) to residential plots to acres of lands to plush houses. Well who is paying for all this? A government is a representative of the people and its finances are run by tax payers’s money... yes we people ...you and I ... the one who is writing this blog and the one who is reading it now. Well who authorized them to use my money?
So on one hand... ICC doesn’t pay any taxes while on the other hand the taxes that the audience pay is used to further enhance the wealth of the cricket players.
I have no qualms or issues against the cricketers. They played brilliantly and hence deserve all the accolades. Its good to be benevolent sometimes...But shouldn’t we keep it fair? What if the money could have been used to build better sporting facilities for other sports so that a WC triumph can be replicated in other areas or may be a pace bowling cricket academy.
At least this time, I have a consolation. The last time so much tax payer’s money was used in sports was for stuffing pockets of some of the organizers of the common wealth games and that too unaccounted. At least this time, we know where its going and can still attach an emotional reason for it.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
‘MOHALI’DAY
30th March 2011 is a day that will get embossed in History. It’s the day when India met its arch rivals Pakistan for the 6th time in World Cup. While the past statistics strongly support India for it had won on all previous occasions. But as we all know statistics are just numbers and can be changed anytime. And on top of that, it was a Semi-Final encounter.
While I am not going to blog about the above as by now everyone has gone through an extensive emotional turmoil and a frenzy of excitement, I just wanted to share what an interesting day I spent on this momentous day. So to start with, not knowing the day and the WC schedule (and also at that time not sure if India will reach this far), I had pre-booked some meetings in Delhi with a return flight in the evening (Yes evening, the same time when the chase begins and the entire sub-continent will be glued to TV at their homes (or may be pubs, multiplexes and in some cases even stadiums like the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad)
The meetings got over and I did manage to watch the initial explosive batting of Sehwag and some of the dropped catches of Sachin. But the real fun started, when we reached the Delhi airport at T-3 around 6:30pm for my 8pm flight back to Mumbai. First, we were told that the flight has been cancelled due to lack of passengers and now I am shifted to 9pm flight. Well not that bad, I might be able to watch some more overs.
So I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. Not a single soul in sight. The security check which in any normal day would have taken 15-20 mins was such a breeze... only 2 mins. I asked whether there would be TV inside showing live match, and the security guard very heartily responded "YES... OF COURSE" (as if I just asked for some basic essential services). Infact, he also updated me with the latest score. India had lost its 5th wicket and was struggling (as usual in its last 15 overs).
I was almost through security when I heard some loud screams inside...Not sure what it was, I walked past security and would have just crossed the first shop when I realized what cricket can do to the nation.
There was a Giant screen showing cricket with a whole lot of crowd standing in front of it. Audience included passengers, cabin crews, pilots, air hostesses and even the security guards (so much for our tight security). The power play was on and Suresh Raina was trying to achieve a respectable score for India while wickets were falling at the other end. We started searching for a place where we can sit and watch the remaining few overs of Indian batting but there was not an inch left which could offer us a good view. Finally, we went to a pub and watched the remaining overs from there.
1st innings got over and suddenly the entire space was empty as if all flights for takeoff were just waiting for the break.
We watched the first 20 overs quite comfortably before our flight announcement was made.
With some very heavy heart of missing the action, we started walking towards the gate only to find that there were more TVs near each boarding gates. Some passengers even had radios and were listening to the commentary while waiting for their boarding passes to be scanned. We boarded the plane and just casually asked the air hostess... ‘By any chance would you know what the latest score is?’ She immediately responded “Don’t worry Sir, the pilot will be updating shortly and will give regular updates throughout the journey”. Our jaws dropped...’Can this happen??’ She said “YES...OF COURSE” ... once again as if it’s part of the flight price we paid like the cold meals and the tiny water bottles we were entitled to.
The flight took off and as soon as the initial boarding instructions got over; came the first score update. ... Pakistan has lost its 5th wicket and its 144/5. We were happy that at least we will be able to hear (if not witness) some action and are not totally betraying our nation.
The score updates continued and with each update, India’s chances of winning increased. There were some Ethiopian journalists sitting next to us and they were quite curious to know what this frenzy is all about. They had very little clue about cricket and all they wanted to understand after every update was if India was winning or not. We kept confirming "YES...OF COURSE".
The anxiety continued and the pilot mentioned Pakistan needs 86 runs from 63 balls with 3 wickets remaining. And then for the next 20 mins, there were no updates... We got anxious, worried, eager, tensed and many more such emotions flooded our nervous systems. Various theories started coming in the mind. Has India lost? Has Pakistan utilized its batting power play effectively? During those 20 mins, we must have asked the airhostess at least 5 times. The poor girl said she was also upset and has reminded the pilot many times. If she barge in once more, she would be killed.
Just when all hopes were lost, there was a sound of a throat getting cleared and the update being announced. Pakistan needs 31 runs from 10 balls.
Yeh Dil Maange More... We were now desperate for a ball by ball update but the pilot couldn’t oblige much and obviously we couldn’t let the beautiful airhostess get murdered. Then suddenly as if the prayers were answered. I heard a sound which would have been normal if I were on ground. But in the flight....? Is that by any chance sound of a commentary? Is someone able to catch radio signals in the flight? No it cant be possible? I rushed to the source of the sound and tapped the gentleman? ‘By any chance, are you listening to commentary? Do you know the score?’ And he responded “YES... OF COURSE... 30 runs from 6 balls with 1 wicket remaining ... Zaheer will bowl the last over.” Phew...
Another 2 mins and the pilot announced “INDIA HAS WON”. We all clapped and cheered along with our anxious African colleagues. One of their female journalist asked if that’s all we are going to do? Won’t there be any Victory Dance and we immediately imagined and missed the streets in India at that point of time.
What a journey this was... These memories will remain embedded forever. Last but not the least, for the first time in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed flying with the “Maharaja”
While I am not going to blog about the above as by now everyone has gone through an extensive emotional turmoil and a frenzy of excitement, I just wanted to share what an interesting day I spent on this momentous day. So to start with, not knowing the day and the WC schedule (and also at that time not sure if India will reach this far), I had pre-booked some meetings in Delhi with a return flight in the evening (Yes evening, the same time when the chase begins and the entire sub-continent will be glued to TV at their homes (or may be pubs, multiplexes and in some cases even stadiums like the Gachibowli stadium in Hyderabad)
The meetings got over and I did manage to watch the initial explosive batting of Sehwag and some of the dropped catches of Sachin. But the real fun started, when we reached the Delhi airport at T-3 around 6:30pm for my 8pm flight back to Mumbai. First, we were told that the flight has been cancelled due to lack of passengers and now I am shifted to 9pm flight. Well not that bad, I might be able to watch some more overs.
So I got my boarding pass and proceeded to security. Not a single soul in sight. The security check which in any normal day would have taken 15-20 mins was such a breeze... only 2 mins. I asked whether there would be TV inside showing live match, and the security guard very heartily responded "YES... OF COURSE" (as if I just asked for some basic essential services). Infact, he also updated me with the latest score. India had lost its 5th wicket and was struggling (as usual in its last 15 overs).
I was almost through security when I heard some loud screams inside...Not sure what it was, I walked past security and would have just crossed the first shop when I realized what cricket can do to the nation.
There was a Giant screen showing cricket with a whole lot of crowd standing in front of it. Audience included passengers, cabin crews, pilots, air hostesses and even the security guards (so much for our tight security). The power play was on and Suresh Raina was trying to achieve a respectable score for India while wickets were falling at the other end. We started searching for a place where we can sit and watch the remaining few overs of Indian batting but there was not an inch left which could offer us a good view. Finally, we went to a pub and watched the remaining overs from there.
1st innings got over and suddenly the entire space was empty as if all flights for takeoff were just waiting for the break.
We watched the first 20 overs quite comfortably before our flight announcement was made.
With some very heavy heart of missing the action, we started walking towards the gate only to find that there were more TVs near each boarding gates. Some passengers even had radios and were listening to the commentary while waiting for their boarding passes to be scanned. We boarded the plane and just casually asked the air hostess... ‘By any chance would you know what the latest score is?’ She immediately responded “Don’t worry Sir, the pilot will be updating shortly and will give regular updates throughout the journey”. Our jaws dropped...’Can this happen??’ She said “YES...OF COURSE” ... once again as if it’s part of the flight price we paid like the cold meals and the tiny water bottles we were entitled to.
The flight took off and as soon as the initial boarding instructions got over; came the first score update. ... Pakistan has lost its 5th wicket and its 144/5. We were happy that at least we will be able to hear (if not witness) some action and are not totally betraying our nation.
The score updates continued and with each update, India’s chances of winning increased. There were some Ethiopian journalists sitting next to us and they were quite curious to know what this frenzy is all about. They had very little clue about cricket and all they wanted to understand after every update was if India was winning or not. We kept confirming "YES...OF COURSE".
The anxiety continued and the pilot mentioned Pakistan needs 86 runs from 63 balls with 3 wickets remaining. And then for the next 20 mins, there were no updates... We got anxious, worried, eager, tensed and many more such emotions flooded our nervous systems. Various theories started coming in the mind. Has India lost? Has Pakistan utilized its batting power play effectively? During those 20 mins, we must have asked the airhostess at least 5 times. The poor girl said she was also upset and has reminded the pilot many times. If she barge in once more, she would be killed.
Just when all hopes were lost, there was a sound of a throat getting cleared and the update being announced. Pakistan needs 31 runs from 10 balls.
Yeh Dil Maange More... We were now desperate for a ball by ball update but the pilot couldn’t oblige much and obviously we couldn’t let the beautiful airhostess get murdered. Then suddenly as if the prayers were answered. I heard a sound which would have been normal if I were on ground. But in the flight....? Is that by any chance sound of a commentary? Is someone able to catch radio signals in the flight? No it cant be possible? I rushed to the source of the sound and tapped the gentleman? ‘By any chance, are you listening to commentary? Do you know the score?’ And he responded “YES... OF COURSE... 30 runs from 6 balls with 1 wicket remaining ... Zaheer will bowl the last over.” Phew...
Another 2 mins and the pilot announced “INDIA HAS WON”. We all clapped and cheered along with our anxious African colleagues. One of their female journalist asked if that’s all we are going to do? Won’t there be any Victory Dance and we immediately imagined and missed the streets in India at that point of time.
What a journey this was... These memories will remain embedded forever. Last but not the least, for the first time in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed flying with the “Maharaja”
Thursday, February 24, 2011
7 Khoon Maaf - A dark movie
Last week was “Yeh saali Zindagi” – a quirky dark comedy and this week “7 Khoon Maaf”. Seems like “dark” dimensions are the new “in” things in Bollywood.
Honestly, it was quite difficult for me to write this movie’s review. This is a movie which people will either like it or discard it altogether (like the college teens sitting behind me in the theatre and planned to leave in interval).
So I decided to ask myself a few questions:
Did I like the movie myself? “May Be”
Was the movie bad? “Definitely not”
How was the direction? “All I can say is that I have my doubts if someone else could have directed it better. Vishal Bhardwaj has always been a brilliant director. I don’t think there were ever any doubts. Whether it was his first movie Maqbool or the other ones that followed like Omkara, Ishqiya and Kaminey. He has the habit of exploring the dark psyche of his characters and does it beautifully.”
What about Acting? “7 Khoon Maaf is a movie that transitions with the central character of Priyanka Chopra (Susanna) and her transformation from a shy, scared of her husband housewife to a bold, unapologetic elderly female as she moves from 1 murder to another. Once again I am not sure if someone else could have played Susanna better. All actors (Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah, Irrfan Khan and the Russian actor) have their own moments in the movie. Priyanka though brilliant is still restrained and doesn’t try to overshadow the others.”
Where I am trying to reach through this self Q&A is that the subject of the movie was complex. It is inspired from a short story by Ruskin Bond “Susanna’s seven husbands”.
With a complicated subject like this and still managing to hold the audience attention as one murder unfolds after another is definitely an achievement and who better than Vishal Bhardwaj? There are some scenes that are top-notch in Indian cinema and that’s where the director’s brilliance comes in.
The movie picks pace in the second half which is much better than the first. Inspite being a dark movie, it still manages some witty moments and also an excellent surprise (Suspense) in the end. I also liked the fact that though so many husbands are murdered but at no point you either feel sympathetic for the wife or express anger and resentment. Somehow, they continue to have a detached feel.
Overall, cant say whether you will like it or not (I am figuring out myself) but you will certainly have an opinion on it. By the way, it certainly might be the critics’ choice for this year with Vishal and Priyanka bagging the honors.
Honestly, it was quite difficult for me to write this movie’s review. This is a movie which people will either like it or discard it altogether (like the college teens sitting behind me in the theatre and planned to leave in interval).
So I decided to ask myself a few questions:
Did I like the movie myself? “May Be”
Was the movie bad? “Definitely not”
How was the direction? “All I can say is that I have my doubts if someone else could have directed it better. Vishal Bhardwaj has always been a brilliant director. I don’t think there were ever any doubts. Whether it was his first movie Maqbool or the other ones that followed like Omkara, Ishqiya and Kaminey. He has the habit of exploring the dark psyche of his characters and does it beautifully.”
What about Acting? “7 Khoon Maaf is a movie that transitions with the central character of Priyanka Chopra (Susanna) and her transformation from a shy, scared of her husband housewife to a bold, unapologetic elderly female as she moves from 1 murder to another. Once again I am not sure if someone else could have played Susanna better. All actors (Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Naseeruddin Shah, Annu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah, Irrfan Khan and the Russian actor) have their own moments in the movie. Priyanka though brilliant is still restrained and doesn’t try to overshadow the others.”
Where I am trying to reach through this self Q&A is that the subject of the movie was complex. It is inspired from a short story by Ruskin Bond “Susanna’s seven husbands”.
With a complicated subject like this and still managing to hold the audience attention as one murder unfolds after another is definitely an achievement and who better than Vishal Bhardwaj? There are some scenes that are top-notch in Indian cinema and that’s where the director’s brilliance comes in.
The movie picks pace in the second half which is much better than the first. Inspite being a dark movie, it still manages some witty moments and also an excellent surprise (Suspense) in the end. I also liked the fact that though so many husbands are murdered but at no point you either feel sympathetic for the wife or express anger and resentment. Somehow, they continue to have a detached feel.
Overall, cant say whether you will like it or not (I am figuring out myself) but you will certainly have an opinion on it. By the way, it certainly might be the critics’ choice for this year with Vishal and Priyanka bagging the honors.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ajmal Kasab case - Is this really a win for our judicial system?
This week, Ajmal Kasab’s verdict was announced and he was sentenced to death.
The news was on all National Dailies and media for 1 day and then slowly faded away for other news like Godhra Verdict (after 9 years), World cup cricket (Biggies winning over minnows) and others.
The news was also coupled with lot of smart people providing their comments and analysis. Some were praising the Indian democracy and how he was given a proper court hearing which can happen only in India. There were others who appreciated the speed of Indian judicial system in reaching the verdict so fast (in just 24 months). While others just spoke about how Indian legal system has all the right ingredients in place to ensure that the criminals are punished. One of the politician even went ahead and said while we have completed the process, Pakistan has not even started the case (Read he was referring to Pakistan trying the perpetrators of this heinous act within their own country against those people whom India has suggested were involved in it).
All these praises were for a case of a lone terrorist who survived out of the 10 who mercilessly killed scores of Indians. This guy was caught red handed, was witnessed by numerous people, was caught on CCTV and media cameras while committing the act. He initially even accepted his guilt (only to be retracted later). Everyone in the country including the judge, lawyers, general public and Indian politicos were aware of the case, the accused and I can bet everyone were also sure of the verdict in advance. Still in order to prove that we have the world’s best democracy and may be the world’s best legal system now (???), we went ahead with this long court drama with multiple charges levelled against him (including Ajmal travelling without ticket in a local train), numerous witnesses being paraded in court, many defense lawyers being replaced (after some of them were bashed up by local “Senas”) and providing a ‘Z’ level security to Kasab (So that he doesn’t die before him being pronounced guilty).
All in all, we spent Rs 45 Crore so far (and still counting) and this is over and above the crores that this guy anyways inflicted upon the Indian infrastructure by bombs and bullets. This guy can still appeal in Supreme court and file for mercy petition. There are also very high chances that he might never be hanged (as is the case with previous death sentences) and we continue to bear his expenses.
So should we believe all of this and feel proud about our democracy and judicial system? Was it really important to conduct this entire farce?
Food for thought: What if like the Jessica Lal case (the witnesses would have changed their statements and turned hostile) and there was no proof to convict him, would he have walked out scot-free? What would have we done then?
The news was on all National Dailies and media for 1 day and then slowly faded away for other news like Godhra Verdict (after 9 years), World cup cricket (Biggies winning over minnows) and others.
The news was also coupled with lot of smart people providing their comments and analysis. Some were praising the Indian democracy and how he was given a proper court hearing which can happen only in India. There were others who appreciated the speed of Indian judicial system in reaching the verdict so fast (in just 24 months). While others just spoke about how Indian legal system has all the right ingredients in place to ensure that the criminals are punished. One of the politician even went ahead and said while we have completed the process, Pakistan has not even started the case (Read he was referring to Pakistan trying the perpetrators of this heinous act within their own country against those people whom India has suggested were involved in it).
All these praises were for a case of a lone terrorist who survived out of the 10 who mercilessly killed scores of Indians. This guy was caught red handed, was witnessed by numerous people, was caught on CCTV and media cameras while committing the act. He initially even accepted his guilt (only to be retracted later). Everyone in the country including the judge, lawyers, general public and Indian politicos were aware of the case, the accused and I can bet everyone were also sure of the verdict in advance. Still in order to prove that we have the world’s best democracy and may be the world’s best legal system now (???), we went ahead with this long court drama with multiple charges levelled against him (including Ajmal travelling without ticket in a local train), numerous witnesses being paraded in court, many defense lawyers being replaced (after some of them were bashed up by local “Senas”) and providing a ‘Z’ level security to Kasab (So that he doesn’t die before him being pronounced guilty).
All in all, we spent Rs 45 Crore so far (and still counting) and this is over and above the crores that this guy anyways inflicted upon the Indian infrastructure by bombs and bullets. This guy can still appeal in Supreme court and file for mercy petition. There are also very high chances that he might never be hanged (as is the case with previous death sentences) and we continue to bear his expenses.
So should we believe all of this and feel proud about our democracy and judicial system? Was it really important to conduct this entire farce?
Food for thought: What if like the Jessica Lal case (the witnesses would have changed their statements and turned hostile) and there was no proof to convict him, would he have walked out scot-free? What would have we done then?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Yeh Saali Zindagi - 100% raw
When a director like Sudhir Mishra teams up with someone like Prakash Jha, you can be assured the movie will be good, but if the final product exceeds your already high expectations, you know it that the movie was definitely worth much more than the ticket price.
“Yeh Saali Zindagi” is edgy and 100% raw. For those who have loved Quentin Tarantino cinema, Yeh Saali Zindagi has all its traits and characteristics albeit with a Desi Stamp and feel.
There is no point describing the story because the movie has many plots, many turns and many many twists. Each character has its main story and a side story which is dark.
The highlight of the movie is by no doubt its crudeness which gets reflected in its sharp dialogues. The dialogues are rough, witty, coarse, and may be even offensive to many. The direction is superb with the voiceover providing strength to the many storylines. And acting... well the movie has Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Chitrangada so no doubt it cant go wrong here as well. Irrfan Khan is brilliant to say the least. In fact he is so good that sometimes he overshadows the other actors in the movie who otherwise have acted brilliantly on their own as well. Chitrangada Singh is sensuous. Arunodya Singh (last seen in Mirchi) has also tried hard to compete with the other stalwarts. In fact his numerous smooches with the newcomer Aditi Rao can give competition to our Emraan Hashmi.
The movie has been shot in Delhi. Recently, “Dilli” has taken centre stage in many Bollywood ventures and this one also tries to have the same “Dilliness” in it. The plot can happen anywhere but “Dilli” feel lends its own charm.
The title song is superb and I am still humming it while writing this review.
I could have easily rated this movie as top stars but for the length of the movie. Such movies should be short so that their crispiness can be maintained. I think that’s where Sudhir might have erred a bit. In order to make it more twisting and turning, he indulged himself further.
Just one last point: The movie has been rated as “A” so respect the decision of Censor Boards and keep your kids at home. There is not a single scene in the movie where you will not cringe if your kids are somewhere nearby.
“Yeh Saali Zindagi” is edgy and 100% raw. For those who have loved Quentin Tarantino cinema, Yeh Saali Zindagi has all its traits and characteristics albeit with a Desi Stamp and feel.
There is no point describing the story because the movie has many plots, many turns and many many twists. Each character has its main story and a side story which is dark.
The highlight of the movie is by no doubt its crudeness which gets reflected in its sharp dialogues. The dialogues are rough, witty, coarse, and may be even offensive to many. The direction is superb with the voiceover providing strength to the many storylines. And acting... well the movie has Irrfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh, Yashpal Sharma, Chitrangada so no doubt it cant go wrong here as well. Irrfan Khan is brilliant to say the least. In fact he is so good that sometimes he overshadows the other actors in the movie who otherwise have acted brilliantly on their own as well. Chitrangada Singh is sensuous. Arunodya Singh (last seen in Mirchi) has also tried hard to compete with the other stalwarts. In fact his numerous smooches with the newcomer Aditi Rao can give competition to our Emraan Hashmi.
The movie has been shot in Delhi. Recently, “Dilli” has taken centre stage in many Bollywood ventures and this one also tries to have the same “Dilliness” in it. The plot can happen anywhere but “Dilli” feel lends its own charm.
The title song is superb and I am still humming it while writing this review.
I could have easily rated this movie as top stars but for the length of the movie. Such movies should be short so that their crispiness can be maintained. I think that’s where Sudhir might have erred a bit. In order to make it more twisting and turning, he indulged himself further.
Just one last point: The movie has been rated as “A” so respect the decision of Censor Boards and keep your kids at home. There is not a single scene in the movie where you will not cringe if your kids are somewhere nearby.
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