Fight of a Genius

"A Beautiful Mind" has inspired this post.  

I was apprehensive about watching this movie, initially. I'd heard that it was similar to the horrenduous "Mayakkam Enna" (ME)- a recent Tamil film that made me resolve to never watch any creation of the director Selvaraghavan again. There are people who saw some form of genius and beauty in the film. Not me. My simple purpose was to unwind after back-to-back Finance and Quant quizzes. ME achieved something never before done by any movie- making me shut out all sight and sound, wanting to run away from the theatre!

Hence, on a lazy holiday evening, I double-clicked the icon "A Beautiful Mind" in my laptop, deciding to close it in less than five minutes if it were anything similar to ME. 

But i forgot the small "x" button at the top-right corner for the next two hours. This story- which in contrast had a logical flow comprehensible to mere mortals like yours truly- was engrossing. And yeah, there is the fact that parts of my Microeconomics reading did help me relate well to the dating logic explained beautifully in the pub (this was soothing, given that the reading didn't help a bit in the exam).

The film talks about an extreme genius whose brain imagines to the extent of making him schizoprenic. The wife's care that helps him cope with it is touching. Yes, some of this part of the film seems to have inspired ME but if this is the director's way of improvising and adapting a story to a different context, the attempt has been pathetic. There is no part of the older movie that can be called gory. Everything seems natural and credible. There is no so-called "stark reality" that pains an average movie-watcher.

Both movies have a happy ending- the protagonist wins a prestigious award. But as the adage goes, it is the journey, the storyline, that matters. One shows a genius fighting a disease and winning over it, while the other portrays a sequence of random happenings- weakly linked, gross and mostly illogical.

Ko!

The last movie I have seen, as a B.E. student during official college hours. The movie was fresh in its look and theme. A very brief recap-

The Good:

Unusual characters. A photo journalist as the hero who keeps clicking away even when he is about to be thrashed, kindles the shutterbug in anyone possessing a camera. For me, it was a sneak peek into the world I wanted to inhabit, as a teenager. No one is clean- be it the incumbents or the opposition. Politics is a dirty world. We are obviously thrilled to see the hero cruising through it, armed with a Canon camera! The twist in the tale towards the end is very good. The climax has been handled beautifully.

The Bad: 

The lack of an element called logic. Well, though it is an accepted fact that Tamil films always have super-heroes, I still find it difficult to digest the unreal stunt scenes from an objective point of view. 

The Ugly:

The song "Venpaniye" is nothing short of a pain in the neck. A complete irritant, it has been inserted at the most inappropriate place. The heroine's mostly passive screen presence. Well, I can't call it acting. The character was a good one. An expressive portrayal would have done justice to it. And seriously, her questioning the link between the hero and another guy while the former is on the verge of a huge discovery is stupid to the normal senses, whatever significance the ensuing flashback holds.   

On the whole, "Ko" was definitely worth a watch, though I'm still wondering as to why it has been named so! (if any reader knows, kindly put it up as a comment)

Payanam FDFS

A movie on the first day of its release, after a long time! By pure coincidence,we had to do quite a lot of payanam/ travel to reach a theatre where the reels would be available for the morning show. But the movie was worth it.

Yes, there were flaws in the screenplay. Like the close-up shot of a dead man where his breathing is visible. The cast of T-shirt donning youngsters as terrorists is seen to be in tandem with the Mumbai attacks. But the guys need a good course in acting. They don't need to scream hysterically and slap random people to induce terror. Which sensible parent will leave a four-year-old kid with heart ailment on the aisle seat in a hijacked plane? 

But there were a few good issues highlighted in the movie.  For instance, the indecisive nature of the Indian Bureaucracy and the consequences of Irresponsible Journalism. The religious integration endorsed the Priest is good, but his character later on becomes melodramatic. Maybe in a normal environment we would not enjoy it so much but the Indian commandos' instant human ladder formation at a nail-biting moment during the climax makes us Proud! But at the same time, the hero's predicted-by-all-in-the-audience escape from the bomb is the pictorial description of the word "cliche". 

The movie gets a bit thrilling in the second half after the drag of "Okay. What Next?" feel that comes over one in the first half.  

Overall, a definitely better way to spend the morning session, instead of lazing around, shifting between the Department's labs. And I did learn a few things. Like the consequences of  accidentally getting into an adjacent screen's hall, sitting and starting to watch a different movie after the Intermission! :-D       

HP-6: On the First Day of Release

My friends felt apprehensive about coming to a cinema theatre with their college bags. Well, they (especially the twins) are simply too good and virtuous, I must say. But once inside, they felt comfortable, for the entire hall was filled with college students with their bags :)
A full theatre on a working day for an English movie!
That shows the wide prevalence of Potter Mania in this relatively small metro.

And I, being one of the most eager and ardent fans of the HP series, was definitely not disappointed by the 165 minute-long movie. Wonderful picturisation and graphics! The bridge collapse scene left the entire theatre "ooh"ing and gasping. As usual, Rupert Grint turned out to be my favourite star with his antics. I found the single Quidditch match in the movie more exciting than any T-20 match. The vanquishing of the Dark Mark ,by the positive lights from the wands of all at Hogwarts, is a moving scene.
Well, like all HP movies, this one too had omitted several key parts of they story, like the introduction to Marvolo Gaunt and his son, greater details about the horcruxes , the mayhem at Hogsmeade on the night of Dumbledore's death and his funeral. The climax, which left the 15- year old Shilpa crying for several hours while she read the book, merely made the 19-year old Shilpa sad for a few moments while she watched it on screen.
In a nutshell, it is a good movie to watch if you have read the book. Go to the theatre sans any expectation of watching every printed page on the screen and you will enjoy the experience.

The Failed Enchantment

NO!!! This story can't have been thought of by the same mind that gifted us the imagery-rich Midnight's Children!!!

'The Enchantress of Florence' has a lot of magic (or so he calls it) involved in the plot but it terribly fails to create the magic in the readers' minds that was created by 'Midnight's Children'. I usually consider myself unworthy of reviewing authors of the kind of Rushdie and Arundhati Roy, but the pathetic and contorted fairy tale I recently read left me too disappointed.

Compared to the adventures of Argalia the Turk, Sindbad's tales were far better and they had me awed at the age of ten. There seemed to be no logic behind the actions of King Akbar (as demonstrated), with his oscillations between fondness and anger for both his son and the foreigner with many names.

Lots of fleeting passion, very little true love (successful as well as failed), a lot more of flowing curtains in palaces of red-bricks, courtesans, pirates, Wars, Royal tents, witchcraft and a very very illogical theme : these are the ingredients for a fairy tale that children wouldn't understand and adults wouldn't appreciate.

But let me be optimistic- this book had one major advantage- the incomprehensible words (common in Rushdie's works) helped kick-off an idea for my mini-project this semester :)

VERSUS

Nothing can equal the joy of reading a good book- not even its visual adaptation as a movie. With the exception of "Gone With the Wind" (which lasted about 5 hrs), no movie that I have seen could bring me the pleasure that its paper and print version brought.
"Angels and Demons" was one such disappointment. But looking at things from a broader perspective, I realized that I must simply convince myself with what was shown. The makers of the film would have met with several restrictions. After all, in today's world where a single word which may not necessarily have been meant to be offensive can easily affect the religious sentiments and result in violent reactions, handling such a tender subject as the pope's liking for the biological science and his not sticking to chastity on the screen would be a serious issue. Theatres might have even refused to screen the film. Also, the palaces in Vatican City could not have been shot easily without several permits and papers involved. There was also the time restriction the makers felt that they must stick to. No longer do people want to watch long movies like "Gone With the Wind".
The reason for the pope's murder will be a puzzle to the viewers who have not read the book. There have been many unnecessary omissions in the storyline like CERN Director's character, Langdon's visit to CERN, the drag theory (that reduces the impact of fall) that I was very much interested in while reading the book and Langdon's use of the theory to save his life shortly before the climax.
Still, I would not consider this film as a waste of two hours. Whatever was shown, was shot and shown well.
Bottomline: Pen is mightier than not only the sword, but also the screen.

Identity Crisis Wonderfully packaged among printed alphabets

I did not have any expectations as I opened the cover to start reading it. But once started, I always expected to return to it after any break in between the reading process. Even after finishing the 290-something page novel, I kept thinking that I must get back to the book to read more of the story.
That was "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri. A simple tale, I'm tempted to write. But it's not as simple as it seems - a story of an NRI family bringing up their children born abroad - rather, the story captures the emotions of a boy, born in Boston to orthodox Bengali parents, who tries to identify himself among the society.
He outwardly feels American because of his peer group and the environment he grows up in. But the Indian emotions in him are brought to the fore under circumstances like his father's death.
The story is a beautiful portrayal of the dilemma faced by the so-called ABCDs ( American Born Confused Deshis ). It picturises the disastrous combination of an Indian heart and an American mind.
A must-read for all NRIs and their children!

Counter-Revolutionary

Reading maketh a man-

Most of the people who would be reading this blog entry will be staunch believers in the above adage. Still there are some who would term experience as being the best teacher of life. Experience does teach us a lot about how to live our life, in the environment that we are accustomed to. But if a greater, more comprehensive knowledge is needed on a variety of issues that we do not come across in our daily life, there is no option but to read.

Friends, this is not a boring formal post on the reading habit. This post has been inspired by the churning of the stereotyped opinions in my mind about issues like slavery and communism, due to a couple of books I read recently. So, if you believe that slavery is not humane or communism really gives everyone equal rights, read on..

"Slavery- the greatest sin ever perpetrated by human beings on earth. Abraham Lincoln was a God's messenger to the slaves; he freed them from the tyranny of the South Americans." - my history books told me this much. But there is a flip-side to everything and this fact was proven by Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind". This is the first book that showed the Yankees( the North Americans) as cruel specimens and the blacks as being safer under their bondage as slaves. There are a handful of lovable blacks who remain loyal to their masters even after their emancipation. The reader's heart simply goes out to them. But there are a few instances which did make me feel that the slaves were what they were because they were rigorously trained to be so. After all, what would a man-controlled machine do if it is taken out of its comfort zone and asked to work on its own?? They were taken out of the African Jungles, given food, clothing and shelter and made to work. The book portrayed slavery as a kind of a mutually beneficial establishment between the blacks and the whites. But the author failed to convince me of its benefits, solely because, in a few scenes, the slaves are physically tortured to do the masters' biding, heedless of the slaves' individual opinion. For instance, the house niggers are asked to work as field niggers and they are scolded for refusing to do what they were not trained to do. After all, they were nothing other than poor brainless machines programmed to do just certain specified things. Ms. Mitchell did churn my heart a bit but the final opinion was definitely against slavery. They could ve been given normal human rigths when they were taken out of the jungles. That part was a snag in her justification, though.
We the living- Ayn Rand... This book definitely showed the uglier face of communism of which i was unaware previously. Though I am no political wizard who knows the nuances of the policies of the various parties, I did have a nescient soft corner for any party that was anti-religious. This book, showed that how much ever one feels like sacrificing himself for the sake of the people, there are certain limits- certain things which cannot and should not be sacrificed by anybody gifted with human life. One's aim in life, personal likes and dislikes and the spending of one's time are all individualistic and subjective characteristics. If any change is effected in these aspects, without the whole-hearted assent of the person, it would be the end of his life and the reason for his living. Basically human beings should be clear and firm about their purpose in life and should not sacrifice their hearts' desires to get down to a level where all are equal, for there is no such thing as equality among human beings each of whom is distinct in atleast one aspect from the other. Sacrifices for the sake of humanity have been done by great people like Mother Teresa. But that was her calling in life. It cannot be everybody's calling to serve humanity. If an average human sacrifices his desires to help others in distress, it results in more distress because he ends up feeling more pitiful towards himself than towards those who were suffering. Also, the book highlighted the abuse of power by the hypocritic communists in the USSR. Hats off to Ms. Rand for boldly bringing out such a candid book!

Dog's Bite better than Tiger's

You never get what you expect. This is the unwritten rule for anyone watching a movie or reading a book after getting the reviews of other people on it. This rule did prove to be true in two instances in my recent past.
I read the booker prize winning novel "The White Tiger" after listening to great reviews on its wonderful portrayal of what the critics called as "the stark reality in India". I did not of course expect a catalogue of the "glorious shining India" in the book, but what met the eyes was an overdone exaggeration of the darker side of our country. I do not deny certain facts in the book, like poverty and illiteracy prevailing in many parts of the nation but the portrayal of these was gory. I do not believe, for instance, in the women clawing at the men for their meagre earnings and feeding the cow before feeding the men. And the servant community is shown in such a poor light. This is the India of the 21st century and I see the chauffeurs, cooks and housemaids being given respect and proper rights and independence. The master community is shown to be perpetrating slavery of the worst kind. Mr. Adiga's exhibition, be it of the Dark or the Lit face of India, is in poor taste. In fact, the very theme of his book is against the Indian culture wherein a family, despite many an internal strife, tries to present a pleasant face to a visiting guest, to make his stay enjoyable. We do not write a letter to a visitor, prior to his visit, telling him that this is wrong and that is bad in our family. We know that each family has its own problems for there would be no excitement or interest in life without those. The same applies to Mr. Adiga's theme of a visiting foreigner with a populous country full of problems. It is simply not in the Indian tradition to give away our family ( Our Nation ) to an alien whose family ( nation ) is no better than ours.
Then, came the Golden-Globe winning, Oscar-nominated "Slum Dog Millionaire".
Here I had heard too many rave reviews on it and watched the movie, expecting a picturisation of "The White Tiger". But this movie, in my opinion, was mild; milder than what I had expected. The symptoms of boiling blood showed up a little in the scene where a lady "shows the True America" by gifting a 100 dollar bill even while she had not yet recovered from the shock of having the tyres of her car stolen. Well, their country is no better than ours and even worse things can happen there, for, with their so-called "sophisticated techniques" they could have stolen an entire car, before the blink of an eye, in America. And to think that America with its unhealthy culture should be shown in a good light on comparison with our ethical Motherland!! Not only America, but every country has thieving rogues, who are driven to do what they do, because of their poverty. So that particular portrayal would have truly hurt any Indian who might have liked the rest of the movie.
Barring that unpleasant scene, the rest of the movie was not intolerable. I will frankly accept that all those kinds of people portrayed- kidnappers, pimps, drug peddlers, common thieves, underground goons- exist in India. Nothing was exaggerated.
The actors have mostly done justice to their roles and Rahman's music is undeniably good. Still, a nagging persists in my mind that his "Vande Mataram" was a tad better than "Jai Ho".
Reality sans exaggeration is very difficult to portray as the thin border line is almost negligible and the story-writer himself is unaware of crossing it, if he does. The Englishman Danny Boyle has proved to be better than the Indian Aravind Adiga in portraying India, without as much exaggeration. A proud moment for the nation! :-/

VILLU - POWERFULLU ( yes, more powerful than poison!! )

Wow!! This is the first time I have completely understood the meaning of several words, from a movie rather than from a dictionary. Referring to a dictionary ofcourse, would have not cost me Rs.100( 60 for the ticket and 40 for the popcorn that helped me pull through the ordeal, alive ).. Still the experience was unique!! The words whose meanings became crystal clear to me were:

1. Sub-standard


2. Boring


3. Stupid


4. Illogical


5. Moronic..............

..........................

Well the list goes on and I hate to have so many bad words in my blog..

The movie started off with an old flower-seller telling why she loves the super-hero whose primary job is flying in the air with the help of the special effects technician and fracturing the villains' hands with nothing so much as a grasp! After an intro song blasted through the speakers, our hero saves a villain from the police and (supposedly) kills him. Then he attends a wedding in a village, where his presence is not explained in any place. The village scenes were the most irritating ones. The female who is supposed to play the role of the heroine does nothing other than sport variations of swimsuits and fall victim to the hero's antiques to make her love him. No one with common sense can stand watching the heroine experiencing an electric shock and vibrating to and fro, kissing the hero; if that wasn't enough, the comedian, who is wasted in this movie, also joins the kissing club. PATHETIC!!!

The pair then make a transit to Munich. Well, here starts the copycat job. Bits of Billa can be seen in most of the scenes, with the swift use of weapons. Atleast Ajith sported classic suits which looked far better than the garish ones this super-hero dons. Vijay even brings back to memory that he is a kuruvi when he hangs by the wing of an aircraft and kills a villain.

Top Question: What is the role of the heroine in this movie?
Answer: Entertaining the hero after each murder he commits, by singing and dancing with him, being scantily clothed.

A series of killings and stress-reliever songs later, we learn of the super-hero's tragic past of having his army-major father wrongly labelled as a traitor posthumously. And where in India does the wife of such a man get tatooed 'Desa Drohi Manaivi' ('Wife of Traitor') on the forehead?? SILLY!!

As we all would have guessed, the hero then successfully kills the last of the villains ( the brilliant actor Prakashraj's potential is not at all used.. It's bad to see him wasted, after his great "Hai Chellam" villain character ), after making him confess that he and the other villains were the original criminals and our super-hero's dad was impeccable.

The story ends on a happy note( I was not happy because the hero achieved his ambition, but because the film finally got over in 2.5 hrs!! ).. :-D

But what happened to the pity-inducing comedian and the heroine whose scenes were left hanging as such??

Atleast something could've been made out of the fact that the heroine was the daughter of the main villain.. She could've been made to ACT atleast in one scene.. Hmmm...

Simple Bottomline: DO NOT WATCH IT, EVEN IF U R JOBLESS FOR 2.5 HRS.