Why-O-Why?

Why is it that we always have to settle for a lesser hero?

Why not have a peaceful and prosperous rule of Amarendra Bahubali and Devsena, both masters in warfare and administration, both groomed as a prince and a princess, both with a good heart & resourceful minds full of empathy, and both with strategic vision?

Why do people have to be content with Mahendra Bahubali, a hero who rises after 25 years, due to his sheer strength of arms, who first set foot out of his tiny village only to find his dream girl, and fighting only with raw spirit. Yes, he pulls that last minute trick, which until I saw Bahubali 2, I thought only Alex and Jessica could pull during their European circus days in Madagascar, but still, pardon my blunt statement, he is a lesser hero!

And that makes me question more ..
Why did Ned Stark not become the king of seven kingdoms, after the rebellion. In fact, why is it even called Robert's rebellion, when it all triggered due to a Stark girl and ended after a Stark boy killed a Targaryen prince - Why did people have to settle for Robert Baratheon instead in the first place?

Why did the first Matrix, which was 'designed to be perfect' fail? Why do the race of men need that anomaly of 'the One' whose ultimate job was to eradicate almost of all them each time he got created?

Why can't Batman, who never stops being right, be the White Knight - and it is instead Harvey Dent who becomes the White Knight? [although as soon as he gets the first personal hit, he turns two-faced]

For that matter, before league of justice was formed, why does Superman need to be hunted down by the good guy Batman, despite all the heroics that Superman did for our world?

Why do the Jim Gordons of the world need to admit that Batman is the hero that the world deserves but don't need right now, so we will hunt him?

And why do the Katappas of the world have to actually hunt them down?

Why-O-Why?

- parsooram

Game of Clones :-)

So, with some breather from work and chores and traveling this weekend, decided to have a movie marathon at Xion E-Square: TNMT 9:15 AM, X-MEN Apocalypse 11:45 AM and Me Before You 3 PM show. Add to this the Game of Thrones fever currently on and by the time I could process all these movies, I had an amazing plot ready - ready to make it on this blog.

Warning: Spoilers ahead :-P

So, let me break down all that went down into different scenes/segments per movie.

scene one: so, as we all know by now, the Khaleesi has got herself a massive dothraki army riding on horses to Meereen. But, she has hitched a ride on her dragon and can fly there much faster - so, instead of going ahead and meeting Tyrion and company, she decided to go visit Bran, learn the skill of time travel from the new Raven, and guess what? She transforms herself into Lady Clark, black of hair, and goes back to the most unimaginable places of all.
Using her experience attending to the paralyzed Khal Drogo during his last days, she decides to take up a job as a maid in Lord Tywin's castle. Well, Arya did the job last time and she came out well - so, why not??
And yes, apart from the Kingslayer and the son-he-never-accepted-as-his-own, Tywin had another son, who got paralyzed from chest downwards during an accident - Oh, don't worry, his brother didn't push him down from any window - and look at the bright side, while khal Drogo had his entire body paralyzed, this son of Tywin, still has his head working, and has shit load of money, so no more care-taking in the desert.
Apparently, if Khaleesi can save this child of Tywin, may be he won't act as such a pain in everyone's ass when he returns to king's landing in the time to come. Then begins a love story between lady Clark and Will, the two romantics, which turns out to be quite real, and colorful, and makes us emotional.

So, that was the 'Me before You' part of the plot.

Lets see what else is brewing.

scene two: Well, the Unsullied were getting bored while waiting for their queen, because the breaker of chains is away and lord Tyrion is busy making Sentinels for the ultimate battle to come. So, before the mother of dragons could return, they decide to take down yet another city - a city where a few handful of mutants have taken thousands of slaves and are making them labor, while calling themselves not just masters but gods. Attack by the unsullied is swift and the city is won within few minutes. in fact, all but one of the false gods are slayed by the unsullied during this attack. The king of them all though escapes death and gets buried under a heap of debris.
It actually takes a close combat with Sansa Stark and her army of the northeners to defeat the powerful mutant, the size of a mountain in heads of both Sansa and Lord Professor. Sansa uses the power given to her by the lord of light to destroy the false god and is aided by the faceless goddess - who is, as a coincidence, known as Raven.
Thus, she fulfills the prophecy about slaying a savage giant.
And now, here comes the biggest spoiler of this blog: Sansa Stark grows to be Lady Jean Grey and gets killed in the battle of Last Stand :-P

But before that, she has done a great job reading people's minds using a gesture which seems like she is using some compact hand-phone and and in helping to save the world in this latest installment of XMEN - the 'XMEN Apocalypse' :-)

scene three: Here's how the phrase tit-for-tat came to be - What Lord Shredder, first of his name [I mean seriously, who calls himself as Shredder :-P] and ruler of the foot clan does to grand maester Baxter, the creature from the other world does to him. Aah - so much for discovering a simple short phrase !!
And yes, Nickelodeon has also graduated to the likes of Marvel and DC Comics and blamed it all on an alien invasion !! Unreal ain't it?
But then, looks like the studio had some budget constraints, so all they did was a one-off teleportation, and quick entry-and-exit of a space ship with one, yes one weird looking alien with equally weird name - Krang. Never mind that though, as the grand maester Baxter and Krang and lord Shredder have together helped us with a very important discovery - they took two of the wildlings and using a potion more powerful and exquisite than wildfire, transformed them to the animals that they are - animals whose dna is still present as part of their human dna. Yes, that's true.
So, next time some cynic asks you how the Khaleesi remains unburnt, and questions how can we regard her as the true Dragon, tell them politely to go watch 'TNMT - Out of Shadows' in nearest theater :-)

Well, enough said - let me wrap it all up now before I give away any more spoilers - after all, we do want to go watch these movies and yes, we definitely don't want to miss any episode of the 'Game of Thrones' :-)

- parsooram

Court - the masterpiece

Well, "Court" the movie which moved me out of my lethargy and made me post a blog after such a long time - where do we start the blog on this movie?

How about - the very end of it?

Setting: A bench in park of a resort.
Well, as we have seen in so many movies, books, poems and pictures - it is one place with so many possibilities for those sitting on it - it can make them see the beauties of nature around, it can help them rejoice in games of children playing, it can give them that relaxing moment to breathe life in and a stage to think, to analyze, to plan, and to dream.
Frame in picture: A grown-up, adult man with posture appearing as if he is sitting on the bench, but who is actually sleeping - despite all the possibilities that various creative brains can come up with in this free world, he is sleeping.
Scene: A bunch of kids decide to have some fun, decide to wake up a sleeping giant presuming that he will take it lightly, and they make a loud noise - loud enough to wake up the guy and when he wakes up, he gets hold of one of them, the one easiest to reach, and gives him a tight slap. And guess what, he goes back to sleep again.

Time now to extrapolate, to search for metaphors.
Think of this man not as a man, but as the Judicial and Police system of India. Its aged, its in fact antic, as we find out through various references in the movie - laws as old as 1860, and bans on books as back-dated as the Victorian rule in India, which still hold good, which still make a valid case, which can still prove people of this free nation, guilty of charges framed.
This man is also the India society, old and we all are proud of that aren't we? and sleeping a deep slumber of superstitions, sectarian beliefs, and regional prides.
Make a sound to wake this system up, try to make a statement by being different, try to raise a voice, and you will be penalized, you will be outcast, you will suffer.
Yes, the people will gather around you for some entertainment, and for a moment there, they will nod their heads to your outcry - just like they will do it for a troupe of 15 year olds dancing to a masala-bollywood-number; but at the end of it all, you will get hammered for your attempt to wake the system, to shake the system.

That is the central theme of this movie Court, and through a sequence of various events, and an unobtrusive peek into day-to-day mundane life of some of its characters, this theme unfolds itself.

Allow me to structure this blog as per these various characters and events:

1) An aging folk-artist who has been associated with some or other labor and human rights organizations since his young age and who is cyclically being charged for one thing or the other, from abettment to a suicide to running extremist camps, all because he keeps singing his sarcastic, blunt, satirical, thought provoking folk songs in front of common people, trying to make them aware of their rights, trying to narrate the scams and the scandals of the government, trying to exercise his freedom of expression.
One of the other themes that clearly comes out through this character, is the way our society treats failures. Once convicted with a charge of writing article harmful to society, this tag, this blame is used against the guy to arrest him, to charge him, to make a case against him, any random time the system deems it fit.
You fail once and this society of ours will make sure to use this failure against you in so many different ways possible. That remains a sad fact which gets highlighted in the movie so well.

2) The courtroom events: While these events go on at their own pace, spanning all across the movie, with monotone of the lawyers, and routine of procedures; they bring out so many stark realities of our society. And this is done so swiftly, so subtly. There is no loud singing of 'teejaa tera rang tha main to', neither is there any melodrama of 'kachraa is dal mein khelega. jaroor khelega.'
Through accounts of various witnesses and lawyers and the judge, we understand the plight of sanitation workers in Mumbai and in the entire country as such, we share the fear that the deprived feel about the police and judicial system, we sense the discrimination done towards certain people, we panic at the obsolescence of some of our laws and censorship/bans, we witness the madness of sectarian violence.
This movie makes us watch this routine of courtrooms and while we are doing so, makes us observe, feel, think so much more.

3) The Judge played in this movie, whom some may very well categorize into the category of antagonists by the end of this movie - in turn represents the attitude, the way of life, the superstitions, the stubbornness, the limits, the narrow-minded thought process, that those with authority can possess, leading the entire system in the slumber that it is in. It also makes us think, if we are to build a stronger nation, if we have to give this nation a newer, stronger voice, should we still be believing in superstitions like numerology or should we rely on science and technology, to make this progress.

4) The Public Prosecutor character, who is sincere in her efforts to frame a case, who has a regular middle class routine of life and family, and who is happy with this 'routine' is another important perspective in the movie. When those providing a voice to our administration, our society, those connecting the people and the system, are doing so just as a routine, thankless job, and all they care is that this gives them a bread at end of the day, without thinking even a bit outside the box, how are we supposed to have the breathing space for the creative, the passionate, the enterprising, the restless? These different people will always be outcast, isn't it? And then, even a little difference as origin of the person in a different state, can lead to this process of 'outcasting'.

The character played by this lady also shows the so-called 'Indian Mentality' about doing jobs [sorry if this hurts someone] - the mentality which involves doing the minimal work required for the day, sticking to the routine, happily accepting the status quo at work place, and never even thinking of challenging the wrong systems, processes and procedures, even though you are in a position to raise your voice about it.

She also represents the many literate and well-to-do Indian nationals, who have the resources to make change happen around them, yet who decide to get busy with their routines instead and turn a blind eye to everything and anything else. She represents me and you and she does it so well.

5) The Defense lawyer is the protagonist of the movie if you ask me. May be I felt this character to be more central than our old folk artist, because he represents the 'converted'. He is the new age of India - a guy who wants to make his own mark in this country instead of just relishing on daddy's wealth or finding a fancy job abroad. He maintains his sanity by meeting up with friends, he doesn't mind if there is Portuguese music playing in the background, he also doesn't mind to have a slum dwelling family sitting in his car or even visiting a slum, he runs a non-profit for helping the deprived in his own capacity and his own ways, he shares his professional experiences with others and gains insights from their experiences by attending various forums and meetups, he is striving to bring forth the ironies and limitations of our judicial system, imposed due to its Victorian origins. Yes, sometimes he gets kickbacks for this, many times he has to return disappointed, and at times, he weeps. Yet, when the next day dawns, he is ready to fight the battles of life, battles for the deprived, battles against what is wrong with the society and the system around us, and mind well, while he is doing all this, considering that he has enough money to maintain his life style and to extend that helping hand to the needy, he is also doing really well professionally.
If you haven't guessed it yet, the whole inspiration to start writing after such a long time, came from the fear that I don't want to see myself ending up in character of bullet four but rather in character of bullet five.

Court - it's multilingual - A lot of Hindi and English, some Marathi and a little Gujarati. It's a movie which will make you think. It's award winning creation. Go watch it in theaters and let me know how you found it through your comments, reviews and feedback on the movie and on this blog post of mine.
Have a great time readers :-)

Bollywood: Inspirations, Adaptations and a slow death of Creativity !!

Well, to be frank, the only reason I would have taken the effort of watching Dhoom-3 was because it had Amir Khan as antagonist, and that meant there was a scope of some creativity in the movie. Of course, considering how the entire plot and some of the characters in the movie "Talaash" were "adapted" from the movie "Elephant White"; and considering how the antagonist in the previous movie Dhoom-2 that was played by Hritik was "inspired" frame-to-frame from the antagonist of "Ocean's Twelve", I had my doubts about originality of the Dhoom-3 Plot.

And then, when one of my cousins could not resist to narrate how he was awed by how Amir Khan steals the show in Dhoom-3 and told me the entire plot of his character, I could not help assign the label of "inspired-from-'The Prestige'" to it.

Damn it !! I mean there were days in Bollywood's history when some music composers were occasionally blamed for plagiarism and it was always the case with only select few names.
But more and more I keep watching the recent Bollywood movies, more I see all the inspirations and adaptions crowding in, more it reflects the dying creativity in Bollywood.

Well, some may argue that I cannot make such a statement based on a couple of examples I have cited above - well, want a few more? Here you go:
1. The Classic "Awara Paagal Deewana": If you thought the plot of this movie showing a married woman falling for protagonist is too bold, it was just because except one scene, the movie was entirely copied from "The Whole Nine Yards" and that one scene was copied from "The Matrix" where hero goes on shooting whole bunch of guards and concrete pillars.
2. The recent "D-Day" is a brave attempt portraying a fiction where Dawood is finally brought to justice in India, but then I could not help to notice how it was inspired from "The Inglorious Basterds" with the character of Arjun Rampal revealing inspirations from Jason Statham of "The Mechanic"
3. Raajneeti was based on Mahabharat, as is popularly known, but it also wonderfully integrated the plot of "The GodFather"
4. Even the biggest star of Bollywood could not save himself from this whole inspiration thing and his movie "Ek Ajnabee" was entirely copied from Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire"
5. "Shagird" was adaptation of another of Denzel's movie named "Training Day"
6. Recent "Players" was a classic copy of "The Italian Job"
7. "Ra.One" was an adaption of "Tron".

Examples are plenty - in fact, these days there is rarely a Bollywood movie where I don't see either a character or the entire plot inspired or adapted from some foreign movie - and that makes me worried.

In a country with so much talent, in an industry where thousands are struggling to make it, why are these film makers resorting to all of this?
Is it that some star walks up to them one fine morning and says, "hey, I want to play a Jason Statham in my new film. Can you make that happen?" OR the actor doesn't sign unless the film maker says "Please sir, I would give you the same stunts as Arnold in the movie Commando"
OR
Is it a cost cutting measure? Why go after looking for new talent and new stories when we can just pick up a film which is old enough or unseen enough for Indian audience and use its entire story?
But then, can't these big production houses just dub the original movies in Hindi, make money out of it, and employ some creative people to write original scripts and characters? I mean that's the least expenditure to show that foreign movie plot to Indian audiences - that of dubbing it in Indian languages, and with absolute profits that they make of these, making some original films would also prove to be easier for their pockets :-)

Besides, in the era of reality games, most of the film making functions are not only getting cheaper by the day; but are in fact helping the production houses earn money. Want a singer for real cheap price - launch a reality tv show on one of the many channels, award the winner with 'opportunity' to sing for a movie and earn revenue from commercials and SMS for the tv show. Not to mention, this also saturates the whole singer market for the industry forcing big names to charge lower prices as well, because now a cheaper alternative is already out there.

Can't a similar thing be repeated for story and screenplay writers? And is it really needed to do all this - considering that there would be thousands already knocking the doors of various studios in Mumbai with real good scripts !!

Of course, not all is bad - surprisingly and also ironically, I see some low budget films coming up with some real good and original plots, which tells us that although creativity is deteriorating in this field, its not absolutely dead.

Most of the television industry has already moved on to template based productions in form of either the daily soaps or the reality shows, where the producers tick various elements of the mix as they need, shuffle the beginnings and run the same plots for at least a couple of years.

I just hope that the glorious Bollywood doesn't give itself in entirely to easy means of scripting movie plots and building characters of stars through inspirations and adaptations; otherwise with this slow death of creativity, soon, Bollywood would become just a place to have a delayed remake of Hollywood - and being a movie buff I would hate to see that happen !!

Gravity: Going beyond the Graphics

Well, if you have not yet seen the Gravity movie, I believe it is about time you did !! Although it is a sci-fi, the concept seems quite realistic, the computer graphics in this movie are amazing, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock deliver their best and the 3-D effects are just awesome !! Although, for some reasons, I always prefer movies either in 2-D or in IMAX, this one - I loved to watch in 3-D !!

Anyways, that was all true when I watched this movie the first time. Yesterday, I got a chance to watch it the second time, and as always, when it comes to movies, every time I watch a movie, something new is uncovered.

Yesterday, it was the aspirational side of it that impressed me the most and I am going to write exactly about this side of the movie today.

So, let's begin.

In its initial few minutes, we come across a couple of themes. When you are in vacuum and you are in the dark, you have to carry your own light and flash it for others to know you and to reach to you. Also, even while you are miles away from your loved ones, holding on to only a small picture of them with you, it is worthwhile to celebrate your little victories with some singing and may be a dance, without caring for how weird it looks or sounds, and without thinking of how others are judging you based on this - if you don't remember the judging part, remember the line stating Harvard?

Anyways, moving on, sometimes it is in our interest and in interest of everyone that is with us to just let go and to not try to be perfectionist!! I wonder if Sandra Bullock had moved away from her work as soon as she got her first instruction, would they have been able to save Shariff? You know what I mean now, isn't it?

And then comes a calamity and it doesn't come once - it comes with a shout that it will strike over and over again after every 90 minutes. That's life right there isn't it? We keep on facing troubles over and over again and we have to find ways to fight with them.

George Clooney appears to be the guy who is cool enough to embrace even death when time asks for it. He is that ideal image of an hero - both brilliant and smart enough to be an astronaut and cool enough to accept any situation. For this reason, I think I am going to continue more about how Sandra goes through her struggle rather than talking much about Clooney, as her struggle is more closer to reality.

So, the first destination for Sandra and George, which would mean successful return to Earth is the explorer. While trying to reach to this destination, they space walk towards the explorer only to find out that it is of no use to them anymore. Failure - or rather first failure. It has a potential to deter us from our paths and many a times, we survive and succeed to move ahead only becuase we have someone to guide us through. Clooney does that for himself and Sandra in this movie, and soon the duo sets off to the International Space station.

During this journey, Clooney is the one whose suit has a thruster that can be used to navigate and Sandra just needs to be steady and follow along. It's like those teenager years of our life - when we think that getting that girl or scoring that rank is the ultimate aim of our life - yet, to steer clear in this struggle, we need someone to keep our path aligned - and in these years even though many of us won't admit this, it's mostly our parents. But then, while Sandra stopped the initial struggle and unrest and finally decided to follow suit with Clooney, most of us struggle to follow and that sheer friction results in so much loss which we don't even realize. The drop in level of oxygen was just another way to represent this loss.

The duo reaches close to ISS only to find out that the thruster has run out of batteries and that means if they are not already attached to the explorer, they may never reach to it. This is the time when Clooney exits knowing that if he stays, he is only going to cause trouble to both of them. That again is life - you think you are so close to achieving your dreams and suddenly "shit happens". You are out of your job or you are not doing well in your work or you face some financial difficulties - shit can take any form - and the worst part - you are also either missing or are far away from your guiding north star and have no clue what future holds for you anymore - in such situations, when you are at the rock bottom, you find many of your companions just leave you, abandon you - some have their reasons [like Clooney in this cinema] while others just see that leaving you for a better alternative will keep them off your troubles. They just prefer the cosy life without you, than the path of struggle which you have chosen.

So suddenly, you are alone and there is a vacuum and darkness in your life. You are in a state similar to Sandra in that dark, endless space.

In this state, if you won't gather yourself and decide to move forward, you will be lost - you will just be a debris invisible in the vast darkness around. Trick in the life is to keep moving forward and that is the lesson we learn from this movie.

So, you get yourself out of the deep shit and in to a safe zone. But, if you haven't reached your destination yet, and if you are not careful enough, and if you do not let go, life has its own way to strike back at you and push you back at the rock bottom again. Sandra enters the explorer and as she rushes to find the communications room and ultimately find Clooney, the tiny sparks which she ignores in her rush on her way turn into a huge fire and she has to struggle getting to the escape pod on her way back. Lesson learned - if you deviate and don't pay attention to details, you are prone to face the fumes of danger.

And what happens when the very thing that you collect with an objective that it would help you in the future turns against you? The parachute which is supposed to help you land safely becomes the greatest hurdle for your escape, as it is now open?
When the very people you collected as friends, turn against you and open all your cards in front of strangers and competitors? When the trusted become the biggest catalysts of your failure, the first thing to do is what Sandra promptly does - get a spanner and cut off ties with these assets-turned-into-liabilities. Let go off the past and realize that there is no point in staying attached with these people anymore - people who are more happy to be a hurdle in your path and enjoy the show rather than be your supporters, when you find yourself in troubles.

So, Sandra now comes over to the escape pod in ISS, after all the struggle and graphics effects, only to find that it is in fact out of fuel needed to launch itself. She tries reaching out for help and hears some unknown voice from a stranger in an unfamiliar language.

In her desperation, she tries everything to communicate with this far away stranger and fails. And then, guessing that this stranger is singing a lullaby, she just wants to switch off her own life and sleep forever to the tunes of his voice. She turns off all the life supporting systems in the escape pod.
This may seem weird to many, but if we really think about it, don't we all do this? When we are so close to failure and when we don't see any way out and when we are desperate, don't we just listen to anyone who "listens" to us - without even thinking if the person is able to understand us or if the person is able to relate to us. And then, these strangers decide our faith by their sweet words - a lawyer who advices us for legal action, a property agent who advices us to just sell off everything and move to a different place, a headhunter who convinces us how the new job is going to be so much better - somewhere, deep down, we all know that these people don't know a thing about what we are going through, yet, we are so desperate that we start nodding to their lullabies and enter into decisions without any thought, and in fact decisions which are just suicidal at many times.

But then, if we have faith, if deep inside we believe in our goal, then our subconscious mind is still working to find a way out. It tries to seek guidance from the way our elders and our mentors would have handled this situation, it tries to think laterally, and at the right moment, it just offers us a great solution. The escape pod sequence with Clooney, the picture of Saint Christopher in the escape pod, the quote by Clooney "If we shut down the rest of the world, then whats the point of living" and the excellent idea that Clooney gives Sandra, all of it comes together nicely to stress importance of having faith in yourself and may be your god, and sometimes your god or your subconscious just helps you in a way, and at times, when you need it most.

So, finally, Sandra reaches a Chinese escape pod and this pod along with many other parts of satellite are falling into the earth's atmosphere. At this point, Sandra knows that she may or may not live and yet, she has accepted her faith, she has cleared off her baggage, she has sent greetings to her daughter and now she doesn't care. This fast ride is going to either going to take her home alive or going to kill her - either way, she is fine.
And this is what I think when I am thinking of small ventures and ideas who get caught up in the heat of things. When you go along the flow, and when you let go off all the control - you can either rise to be a superstar or you die - either ways, its the journey which matters. So, sometimes when things are absolutely not under your control, and you know that you have given your best shot, and when all you can do is sit back and wait, you just need to stop thinking, trusting that your faith and your past good deeds will bring out the best results, yet knowing that things can go worse as well. This state of being prepared for any risks is sometimes what takes you through situations of uncertainty.

And then, when you have landed, when you are so close to the victory, you tend to forget all the outside elements that will flow in when you open your shell and declare your arrival. The water which rushes in, when Sandra open the pod in water, without giving much thought to what will happen next, is just that. In such times, you just need to keep doing what you do best, and you will swim through this deep water. Sudden publicity, or popularity, a breakthrough deal, a great discovery after a long and tiring research, they are all great - but they bring in with them so many hopes, and comments and opinions - it's easy to drown with these inflow of public sentiments; but it is more important to just keep doing what you have been doing, with the same faith and vigor and you will come through these floods and will be able to stand on your own feet in the end.

And when you do, don't forget that there are so many expectations and stakes involved around you, a gravity, a pull that will make your feet heavier, and will need you to strive even harder for each new step you take. Just like Sandra, knowing this new regime and accepting it happily with a smile, is what will make your walk and the future runs stable.

I realize this has turned out to be a long post, but then its just how much we can learn out of watching this movie. So, if you haven't done it yet, just go buy a ticket - it is still showing in the cinemas around you :-)

Muggles .. but with dreams :-)

It all started with a post by Jui, my friend back in India. I think the post she put and the response I came up with is worth sharing beyond facebook and hence this post :-)
[p.s. the very fact that she tagged me in her post made me feel so grateful, that I cannot describe it in words]

Jui:

How much time should one give to explain to the mind that Hogwards and Zion is not true?
Madam Pomfrey does not exist nor will Carlisle come running to sort out your fragility.
Changing a few codes in the Matrix will not help find solace neither will few drops of Venom guarantee immortal strength and speed or Precious infinite time?

We are just what we are.. Muggles.

Amusing it is when the world of make-believe never goes away. But just upgrades from being envious by Calvin's Hobbes to Edward's mind reading.

Whether these alternate universes we hear and wish true behave as numbing anaesthetias to the truth of reality or crutches to walk through them is up to judgement.

But I still do wish them to be true. What do you guys think?

Prasad:

Muggles - but with dreams. Dreams to break away from this wired world; hoping that some day, we will be in control of the switches and will hack into a different reality.
Someday True Love will find us.
Someday we will fly so high that we can see the light.
That will be the day when every Phoenix will rise from ashes and every Matrix will tune in to our desire.

I think this inherent ability of ours to dream for a better world is the reason we keep drifting to the Leaky Cauldron, even though it's just for having another drink. And then, it never stops at just one drink, if you know what I mean - and that is when these drinks become anesthesia

I think we all want to believe in the magical and the super-cosmic, because it offers us faith. Faith which then picks us up every time we are down, faith which works as our crutches when we are hurt and faith which makes our efforts stronger & our actions bolder.

"Expecto Patronum" may not yet be working for us, but remembering it when dementors are around surely gives us strength and the belief that those few happy moments we cherish are STRONGER than any trouble we now face and worth every struggle we make.

Something Wicked Comes Over the Wall

Just recently, I happened to watch a Japanese short film of 35 minutes, "Nanika ga kabe wo koete kuru" - English title "Something wicked comes over the wall" [https://vimeo.com/groups/1615/videos/53159350]

Thanks to the English sub-titles embedded, anybody interested can watch this one and enjoy it with equal effect.

Before reading further, if you are someone, with any previous association with Japan, I think, you should just go ahead and watch this one. And for others, or for those who need a review before doing so, I wish to convey my take on this film.

Firstly, despite being a "short film", all the elements in this film are just at par with any full length movies we see in theaters. The Cinematography is great with HD quality video, presentation of story is unique, background music is apt and the suspense-thriller element is very well maintained throughout the movie.

When writing about a film, I mostly try to see what the director is trying to say. But before we talk about all that, let me start with a special note on the production elements of this movie as such.

May it be casting of the characters; selection of the appropriate props [like a van old enough for its owner to curse it]; implementation of covert promotions [Starbucks and 7-11 :-)]; it is all done so well even for a short film; you never feel the difference between a full length movie and this one at any instant.

And yes, all the three actors have portrayed their characters so damn well, that Layla, Amy and Osaki all look real. Within first few minutes itself, their persona becomes evident to the audience through the way they talk, the statements they make and the reactions they give.
That is a great achievement on part of all the actors Saori, Chiaki and Ryunosuke [shunning the usual Japanese convention to address people, I hope they won't mind :-)]

Coming to the storyline, the plot changes itself from a seemingly teen movie in first 7-8 minutes [with a bunch of girls talking about their boyfriends and their tastes in music and stuff] and then gradually thickens into a horror-suspense-thriller [with mention of ghosts and previous encounters of a mutual friend with such ghosts] and then as the darkness disappears and sun light comes in, plot of the movie rises into a drama with all the emotions needed.
I loved this aspect of the movie for the way all the changes are subtly introduced.

This movie has an excellent use of metaphors. The Wall itself is a metaphor, used for an actual wall overseeing waves of the sea and a blockade preserving all the emotions of someone desperately trying to hide her vulnerability.

Of course, during the course of the movie, this vulnerability gradually unfolds itself. And as it does, our impression of a teen girl changes - first she is a carefree open-minded teenager, struggling to make her mark and her living, ready to take up any job if it gives her money. Then, we come across a girl who does not believe in super-cosmic nature of things, may it be ghosts, or may it be lucky stars. When the personal tragedy of this girl is revealed, she takes all measures necessary to show that those tragedies have had no effect on her and she has just a casual on-looker approach to it all, revealing yet another side of her persona.
But when the moment comes, we see that she is about to collapse admitting failure of the wall, the one near the sea, and the one in her mind. In the end, we see that a little hope of happiness sprinkles in her mind, although she is aware of the fact that it may not last very long. In my opinion, although we see all three characters on screen for most of its length, the real protagonist of the movie is Layla.

On the other hand, although Amy is a girl who believes in miracles, in luck of the stars, in magic of the festivals and in horror of the ghosts; her hopefulness is also the one, which we equally admire. She is the one with a promise of happiness even in midst of devastation. That brings joy to all viewers, even during those last few minutes of the film. I liked her character for this surge of hope that she brings in.

I see Osaki as the one who gives a reality check to the girls from time to time, through his dialogues and quotes. Hearing about the ghosts, when panic strikes the girls he reminds them of their job. When Layla is about to cry over the wall, letting her mental wall collapse, he appears in the frame and informs of the car, reminding the girls that the world is watching. In the movie centered mostly around conversation of both the girls, Osaki manages to make his place through his timely, meaningful and metaphoric interruptions.

All-in-all, all those who love a good movie, just go ahead and watch this one. All those who like to fast forward a movie and watch, this is JUST 35 minutes long. All those who love Japan and have been to Japan even once, watch this movie and you will find that you identify yourselves at least partly, with the sentiments of these three youth in the movie.

I found this great movie recently, because one of my friends is directly associated with it. I didn't mention about it in the review earlier and I am not mentioning her name here, because after watching this movie, I now know that there are many more reasons for not only me and my friends, but everyone who loves movies and/or loves Japan, to watch this one. Go for it folks !!

RISE !!

Where to start, when writing about a movie that kept me and many like me anticipating and curious for so long - The latest feat of my favorite director Christopher Nolan, the latest episode on my favorite superhero Batman and the latest blockbuster set to break all the opening week revenue collection records :-)

Well, let me just start by telling you what I did NOT like about the movie. That way, we can go towards what I liked at the later part and end this post on a positive note :-) And yes, no matter what I write below, this movie is a must watch atleast once. You cannot miss it!!

What I am about to write is for those, who can just start watching the earlier two Batman flicks by Nolan at any time, and watch them any number of times. So, what I am about to write are not necessarily the things, that all people may mind, but as a Batman fan, and as a Nolan fan, these are the things which I think could have been different - which make this movie a lesser candidate for those any-time-repeat watches.

My biggest disappointment from this movie is that I could neither find the spirit of Batman in this movie, nor enjoy some of the signature features of a Nolan flick.

Just staying in the Wayne Manor does not make Bruce Wayne, or for that matter anyone, a Batman. For me, Batman is and will remain "One of the wealthiest, most powerful man in the world [who] is secretly a vigilante, and who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands".
You take away one thing or the other from this recipe and it does not feel like Batman anymore. And seriously, Can "THE" Bruce Wayne ever go Bankrupt?? Oh, I did NOT like that.
And, just as I said earlier, this is not something, people watching this movie would mind - it clearly adds to the cinematic and drama effects, but it is what I did not like as it disturbs the entire aura of Batman for me.

Moving on - when the latest two movies by Nolan are The Dark Knight and the Inception, one with a truck load of awesome quotes and other with the mind-boggling twists, turns and complications, you expect a strong flavor of both in his upcoming movie.

Well, not that there are no good quotes in this one, and we will see them soon - but when I recall the Dark Knight release, me and my friends were actually speaking using only those quotes with each other for many days after watching the movie first time - and then somebody use to stop us saying 'Enough of the Joker' and we got back saying - "that is another dialogue from the same movie. Welcome to the club"

That scale is missing in this one. Partly, I can attribute this to the fact that the Darth Vader styled mask-and-tone of Bane, did not leave too much room for Tom Hardy to throw in quotes every now and then, and then there was also a shift in behavior of Alfred. He is now seen as a more concerned and more I-want-to-see-your-kids kinda old man, which is a behavior we see in the real world as well - but that took away his opportunity to throw in some cheesy one-liners, taunting and encouraging and teasing the Batman and Bruce Wayne, every now and then.

On the overall plot, Nolan has chosen the widely-accepted flashbacks over his signature non-linear arrangement of the plot. He has chosen an inclination towards emotional drama over his usual reality-based-twists. Its not something we mind while watching the movie, but after we come out of the movie, we keep wondering, would his signature non-linear plot or some other arrangement of script make the emotional drama part squeeze, so that we enjoy more of the action between Batman and Bane than the whole drama thing.

What I did not like above all is that Nolan has focused more on making the "Grand" "Finale" than making another Nolan movie.

When I look at it, I clearly see a conflict between making a commercially hit movie and a batman-nolan kinda movie.
I remember that when Dark Knight Rises was first announced, there was a polling taken for who should be the next villain and if my memory serves well - most votes were received for Catwoman.

So, there was inclusion of Catwoman done, and frankly, it is only in past 6-7 months that I saw and heard the name of Bane in this movie. The very reason that the Catwoman may not have been not a part of Nolan's original plan of things for this movie, explains his handling of the character. I mean Catwoman is a comic-icon in herself and from whatever scraps she has grabbed in this movie, the character in this movie could have very well been just-some-burglar-girl next door. The overall justice done to the character of Catwoman in this movie seems to point that her name was included only to keep the voter-fans happy.

Good part is that whatever time Anna has been on the screen as Catwoman, she steals the show by her moves and expressions. In fact, she is one character you adore in this movie.

What I missed the most in a Nolan movie is that, Bane did not make use of any human instinct against Batman or against the Gotham city. After using Panic and Chaos as tools for his Ras-al-ghul and Joker, Nolan just deprives Bane from any such intricate weapon.

I am not sure, if the objective was to make a movie grander than the Avengers, but Nolan's entire focus for a hero-villian fight shifted from a fight escalated by internal conflicts to a fight which was grand enough to call it a war.

Nolan has done a good job with the grandeur, and for those who liked the last action sequence in the Avengers, last 45 minutes of this movie would be a real treat. Nolan has taken the good-evil fight to another level - and watching all that in a big screen of IMAX was a thrilling experience.

On that note, lets see the things I liked in this movie.
Well, I liked the movie as a whole - let me answer that question in your mind right away - Not as much as the Dark Knight, but yes, I like this movie.

And yes, to describe it in one word - i would say it is 'Grand'.

Some people may say it is too long - Well, for me it is a boon - I get to see more of Batman, more of a Nolan movie. So, I liked that it was lengthy and I liked it a lot.

Logistics get even better in this movie. We get to see many tumblers moving around streets of Gotham; the Batpod has the awesome twisting wheels, which make it look even more appealing, and we have "The Bat" - which is seen flying in the skies of Gotham, evading the police chases and fighting the bad guys and yes, it comes in black !!

The Stock Exchange theft was brilliantly done - I could not understand exactly what those people are doing, until all the pieces were joined; and when the theft was revealed, I was amazed.

Last 45 minutes, which Nolan has shot in IMAX, with thousands of Police and Rioters confronting each other - with bad-men controlling tumblers on one side and Batman in his Bat, Catwoman on Batpod on the other - is just too good to be missed.

The scene of entire stadium and then many parts of city getting blown up is briliantly created. The initial plane-hijacking scene is just too good.

This film has a lot of emotional elements and Bollywood movie buffs would just adore it for that. There is love and betrayal element involved around the Hero and his girls, there is a fatherly caring concern seen in Alfred, there is Commisioner Gordon caught in his dilemma of Harvey Dent's truth, there is even Bane who is in love, there is a honest young cop taking all the risks he can, to save his city.

Movie has some good quotes to remember as well - "It does not matter who we are, what matters is our plan", "I am adaptable","A girl's gotta eat","Or perhaps, he is just wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane" are some of my favorites.

The one I liked the most is "Leave the rope behind and you will Rise" - Too deep :-)

Nolan has successfully mended many parts of the first and second movie to this one and brought most of them to a conclusion.

The Harvey Dent episode was obvious one. If the Dark Knight had to rise, somebody had to reveal Harvey Dent's actions.

League of Shadows is back and so is the Scarecrow. The entire plot around League of shadows actually reminded me of the tagline for next Bourne film - There was never only one :-)

The link I liked most is when Selena asks Bruce Wayne "So, what are you pretending to be?" and he replies "Bruce Wayne". This immediately took me back to the Batman begins climax, when Rachel tells Bruce Wayne that his face is his mask. That was the moment I knew that there is a romance brewing here :-)

All the cast members have done their job brilliantly. They look like their characters and live them on screen. Bale looks a man who has been in a hiding and who is suffering from physical and emotional pains, Anna is brilliant in her role of cat burglar, Veterans like Morgan Freeman, Micheal Caine and Gary Oldman are icons in themselves anyways. Joseph Gordon's Blake is promising and Tom Hardy does scare the hell out of his opponents by his mere strength. There is one particular occasion where he asks a corporate boss by putting a hand on his shoulder - "Do you really feel in-charge??". You can sense Bane's might in this scene and that is a success of Hardy.

All-in-all, It was a herculean task to top the effect of Dark Knight movie and a more difficult task to close all the open ends in the previous movies.

Some of it took special climax settings, some required unbelievable acts and bollywood style closures, some just needed a mention of truth.
To that effect, Nolan has done good justice in this movie and this movie sums up the entire Dark Knight Trilogy very nicely.

A few months down the line, If I have to watch this once again, I may not watch just this movie.
But, it is equally true that whenever I watch Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, I will definitely follow them up with The Dark Knight Rises.

This movie completes the entire narration of Batman by Chris Nolan; that is why it is a must watch episode of the trilogy.

So going forward, When you have watched all three, then you have Bane's permission to stop.
And remember, "You should be as afraid of him as I am" :-)

Fast Five for the Fortnight

I know sometimes I write too much of a review and all that my readers want to know is whether the movie is worth watching or not :-)

So, even while I will continue to write my thoughts, analysis, reviews, feedback, likes and dislikes of movies, directors, actors, actresses and movie plots with the same details as I have been doing so far; I have also decided to start something fast-track.

Something which would paraphrase my overall impression of a movie in a few lines and which will indicate my ratings for the movie. While, it is one of my favorite hobbies to watch new releases as soon as they hit the cinema halls, if there are not enough new releases, or if I cannot watch enough of them, I would add up my reviews for some of the older movies that may be relevant with current context or lists. And yes, to tell you the exact number - I will be covering five movies every fortnight and we will be moving upwards through the list, thus discussing the best movie at the end of the blog :-)

So, we begin this series with some power-packed performances and movies by the veterans of the film industry.

 

Underworld Awakening

Kate Beckinsale rocks!! She might just be a real Vampire, destined to look young forever. I mean it has been six long years since the earlier Underworld flick that she acted in, and yet she looks just the same. So much so that for a moment there, you can't help but wonder - Has this latest movie in the Underworld sequence of movies been shot way back in 2006 and released only now?

Having said that, the same question also comes in your mind after seeing that the plot of "Entire Underworld versus the Human Race" which was so much publicized in the movie trailers and promos was just an illusion.
The writers of this movie have not really moved at all from the age old conflict between Vampires and Lycans and it is still the Lycans who come close to harming the Vampires!!
 Unfortunately, this one is another set of movies, which is now moving close to the Resident Evil movie line-up, purely because there is nothing new anymore that the movie-makers have to offer.

There is more blood shown in the movie, and for those who like the Matrix movies, Kate plays Neo for a moment in this movie, when she puts in her hand in body of another vampire and squeezes his stopped heart to make it pound again.
My rating for this movie would be a 2.5 on 5. 

Ghost Rider

Frankly speaking, I was not sure if I wanted to spend money for watching this one. Somehow, Nicholas Cage has become too stereotypical in last couple of years. He is either a sorcerer, or a rider from hell, or a father battling some magical or cosmic forces - I mean come'on!! We have seen you in better movies and better roles Nick!! And if most of the movie has to have a skull-on-fire or an animated-face trying to cope with itself, as a protagonist; does it matter who plays that role? It could have been any poker faced guy covering up the left overs of the role that were left after all the special effects and nobody would have noticed!!

Thanks to the history of great acting associated with Nicholas Cage, I decided to go for the movie anyways. I don't know where to begin on shortcomings of the movie. Firstly, the plot is too predictable. Secondly, was there really a need to make the "ghost-rider" a good guy with all the angel stuff in the plot?? Thirdly, I really missed the oomph appeal of Eva Mendes ;-)
And again, Can Nicholas Cage try something new for a change? I mean while I was watching this movie, I was getting confused - whether I am watching the sequel of 'Ghost-rider' or a sequel of 'Drive Angry' - the plots are so damn similar, the role which Nicholas Cage plays is almost the same and the only difference in this one is that the infant baby of Drive Angry has now grown into a Young Boy [I know the baby in Drive Angry was a girl, and my statement is just a sarcastic comment]
The effectiveness of special effects and a bearable pace of events make movie watchable.
My rating for this movie would be a 3 on 5.

Safe House

I had already posted a one-liner review of this one on my facebook page. Here it is, in a little more words.

In 'Book of Eli', we have a traveler fighting the armies of the whole world to protect that one thing he possesses and which is the thing that would change the world around him. Sometimes, he goes bad, sometimes he is ruthless and sometimes he just takes you by a surprise. Well, Denzel Washington is all of that in the 'Safe House'. And, he is more ruthless, leaving behind a bleeding companion and killing whoever comes in his way. He is also more wicked in this one. Add to it, he has a history with CIA and knows how the CIA works and will react to his every move. He acquires an apprentice against his will and now has secretly decided to defend this apprentice. I know what you are thinking, this plot is not just similar to the Book of Eli anymore, but is also similar to the "Enemy of the State".
That's it folks - You got it right.
To sum it all up, "Safe House" is a movie you get when "Enemy of the State" meets "The book of Eli".

Acting wise, Ryan Reynolds is promising and Denzel Washington is damn good as always.

While the plot is old and predictable, the real demerit of this movie is with the cinematography. I think the makers of this movie wanted it's viewers to have a feel that they are watching a live footage of various cameras currently placed in all nooks and corners of the world. A lot of noise is therefore observed in the picture quality. Unfortunately, it hasn't really achieved its real effect. There are parts in the movie which seem like they were supposed to be shown in HD mode and are instead being shown to you in regular mode - I think you must have got the quality degradation I am trying to refer to :-) That's the reason for my comment in the review line posted on facebook "Not sure what settings the camera-man was trying to achieve :-)"
My overall rating for this movie would be 3.5 out of 5.

Iron Lady

Meryl Streep has done it again. This versatile actress has worked her magic and brought to life the lifes and times of Margaret Thatcher - the Iron Lady.
The movie makers have also ensured that this does not turn out to be just another documentary and the movie has it's own cinematic elements.

Through-out the movie, Meryl lives what is now commonly known as Thatcherism - the moral absolutism, the nationalism, the interest in Individual and the uncompromising attitude of Margaret Thatcher to achieve political goals. She plays the "Iron Lady" perfectly well.

Meryl successfully justifies the gratitude expressed by James Cameron for the Iron Lady - "You have got to do the right thing even if it is painful. Don't trim or track all over the place. Set your course and take the difficult decisions because that is what needs to be done ... I think that influence, that character she had, that conviction she had, I think that will be very important." and it is all showcased in the little actions and scenes and expressions that we observe in the movie.

And then, when the movie is about to end, and just when we think that we have seen it all, the game changes. Meryl elevates her acting and movie ending gets an unexpected twist. After working hard on getting rid of the hallucinations of her dead husband being around, a drop of tear slowly slides down from the eyes of Iron Lady - Iron Lady also weeps.

It is then that we realize that the movie is not really about justifying what James Cameron had said of the Iron Lady, but what the Iron Lady had herself once said "Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis there I was never alone...". When you come out of the movie hall, you carry the heavy impression of the loneliness that the Iron Lady is now fighting in the last phases of her life.
My overall rating for this movie is 4.5 out of 5.

Hugo

Papa George, one of the characters in Hugo introduces the world of cinema to his audience in one of the scenes of this movie. His opening remarks are "If you have ever wondered where your dreams come from, look around... This is where they are made".

Hugo, as a movie has succeeded in doing just that. This movie has so many magical and mystical elements to it, when they pile up, they make it the best movie among those listed here and many more.

Plot of the movie is simple and for those who have read the original Novel, on which this movie is based, it is also familiar. But for those like me, who have not read the story before, it is definitely not predictable. In fact, it is rather engaging and curious. Yes, Curious.

If Movies create magic, Martin Scorsese is truly a magician of highest standing. This latest offering from him showcases his immense love for the world of cinema and at the same time, takes us through a journey of cinema in it's earliest days. The details showcased in various aspects of the movie from the set designs to the details of clock work to the creation of an post world war I era - everything is just perfect.

What I liked the most is that at every moment in this movie, we are expecting a miracle, an in-road to some magical world. We become one with the protagonist and we want the little automaton to be a magical device - like the golden compass, which would take us all to some mystical land like Narnia. We cannot help to anticipate magic when the automaton starts working when it is finally repaired by the boy. We feel the same anxiety as both the kids, who are eagerly watching what the automaton is drawing.

Martin Scorsese succeeds in making us believe for a while, that Hugo's father has not died, but has just got lost somewhere in a magical land. We sense the urgency of Hugo's rescue attempts. We despise the Station Inspector who is always trying to put Hugo and other kids off to the orphanage, we become keen and eager along with Rene Tabard to meet the maestro of Cinema and know the secrets of his life, we also get fixed to the notion that Papa George has got to be some wizard, who can magically set everything right.

In fact, one corner of my mind also had a suspicion that the old lady with the dog and her admirer, both being historically associated with Harry Potter franchise, may just turn out to be guardians of Hugo in this real world, appointed by his father :-)

But the magic and anxiety and anticipation is not just all that we get to see in Hugo. Our protagonist also gives a valuable message to his audience, "I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason".
And when it all ends, we are happy for our protagonist as he gets a new home and he also help resurrection of a veteran movie maker. Moreover, we are happy to see that persistent efforts of even a little nobody can create magical endings.

All-in-all, if you want to watch a really good movie, you can blindly go watch Hugo.

My rating for this movie is 5 out of 5.

RV.ONE on RA.ONE

RANDOM ACCESS 1.0  - What is it that this ONE RANDOM VIEWER got to say about it?

Well, to describe it in ONE PHRASE, it is a Geek Movie - And no matter how much SRK tries to ground it by his P.Js. [Bruce Lee ki teen betiyaan - Iski Lee, Uski Lee, Sabki Lee :-)] and no matter how much KRK tries to spice it up by her curses [Pau ka puda??, Tau ka Poda?? :-)], it still remains a geek movie at large!!

While personally I liked this movie, before we get into the parts I liked, let's discuss it's shortcomings.
As I see it, RA.ONE has VICE.ONE, FLAW.ONE, MALFUNCTION.ONE, GOOF-UP.ONE and a PILE-UP.ONE.

The ONE VICE it has is it's length!! I mean c'mon - 160 minutes!! Really??
In the age where we are seeing a lot of Bollywood movies of shorter or rather optimum lengths - SRK should have given a serious thought to whether he really needs such a loooooooong film.

Even before the last fight, I could hear the kids sitting here and there shouting, "When are we going home??" and that was a feeling developed more or less in minds of many others sitting in the cinema hall - and I can tell what made them impatient, what made me impatient!!

It was the PILE-UP of the "KRK in Unstoppable Train" sequence on the entire plot of movie. Think of it - Was the entire train related sequence really necessary?? It was ONE PILE-UP that tested my patience as an audience. I mean agreed that the most brilliant of the nerds in special effects department came up with the falling building scene - but then, it could have come handy in RA.TWO as well. It looked to me as if the script was made to swell just to showcase that one special effect achieved!!

Moving on, while bringing Chitti on-board got maximum whistles from audience, it also introduced us to a digital tracker which beeped on Chitti's radar saying RA.ONE identified and which beeped on RA.ONE's radar saying Chitti identified. So, what happens when suddenly the Chhammak-Chhallo is taken over by RA.ONE?? Is G.ONE so busy in dancing that he does an oversight error of not sensing RA.ONE in disguise OR was it just ONE MALFUNCTION of the beeper system?? Whatever it was, it is the basis which later leads to the whole 'Stop the train, Save the girl' sequence and that is more of a reason why I didn't like this malfunction.

And what is the ONE GOOF-UP that this movie has?? Well, agree that RA.ONE is made up by combining the thought processes of ten different villains, but his making only started after the thought process of having a villain which cannot be defeated was already over - how the hell would RA.ONE know and tell G.ONE during the last fight that the kid needed a villain which cannot be defeated, hence I am splitting into 10??
But then, this one goof-up - we can forgive, forget and digest for the sake of cinematic effect :-)

What I can't digest is the obvious flaw that the movie has - Probably one of the ten villains used to develop RA.ONE's logic was the Joker from the Dark Knight - so, he kidnapped the leading lady and the side-kick at the same time [sorry, but I do not think of the kid as protagonist, and I did not think of Harvey Dent as a protagonist either - from my point of view, he too was just a side-kick] and then gives a choice to our super-hero among them - but hello!! Isn't G.ONE a digital programme synced with a rubber suit??
Why would he ever make a choice between logical decision and emotional decision??

Hasn't it got to be all logical??

Or did I miss the frame where G.ONE has an emotional evolution after getting into the real world? [May be it was somewhere when G.ONE suddenly starts obeying commands of the MOM [Sarah Connor :-)] instead of confining himself to be of service to just the kid :-)] And to top it all, he makes the emotional choice - goes after the girl first instead of going after the boy!! Aaargh!!

More I think of it, more I realize that all the parts that I disliked in this movie are by ONE way or other related to same branched out sequence of the unstoppable train.

Let's stop thinking more about it and get on to what I liked about RA.ONE!!

So, we were all wondering about what would be the SRK Super-hero like? We already had a super-hero Krissh blessed by cosmic powers, and Drona blessed with magical powers and of-course our very own tele-hero Shaktiman created by vedic powers!!

That left a little space for innovation and for creating a super-hero which is different from all of them.

Kudos to the makers of RA.ONE [and of TRON + TRON LEGACY :P], team-SRK did it!! They came up with a super-hero which is created in a different way - and for the Indian audience which may not be so familiar with many Hollywood movies, it is a very innovative way as well!!

And yes, while the concept of digital and real worlds meeting is inspired from TRON, this is not a story of protagonist trapped into digital world, but the antagonist let loose in the real world. It's like the Reverse Bungee - while the basic playground is same - where people tie you to a rope and throw you, it is not upside down - but into the sky :D

Not to mention, SRK is fairly reasonable as a "superhero"!!
I mean, we have seen bollywood "heroes" beating up goons in the lot of dozens by a single stroke of their fist - by those standards, whatever SRK does being a superhero - seems natural. That is another reason we buy the G.ONE character as such.

And RA.ONE - it is.. oops, he is made up of many different villains for sure - Darth Vader in all his initial getup and digital styling, then the T-1000 Terminator which can take form of anyone and assemble from droplets, the Joker giving out his cunning choices and a Dark Jedi controlling minds of others, a Rogue 'kung-fu' Assassin, and many more!!

BTW, Did I mention about some of the brilliant dialogues that RA.AMPAL has delivered?? "Raavan ko har saal isliye maarte hai, kyunki wo kabhi nahi martaa!!" That's an interesting theory, isn't it?

KRK - the Bebo - is just good enough but I feel Kajol would have been just perfect for this role!! Somehow, I kept having the feeling that KRK is trying too hard to create the same magic which Kajol created in "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum". Her curses and abuses are innovative though - and the Women's Liberation Fronts will embrace them with gratitude :-P

Talking again about the falling train station and other special effects in RA.ONE  - they are brilliant for a bollywood flick!! I mean at least there are no cardboard cars and buildings being crushed to make the whole affair low cost!!
SRK has put all the necessary resources to get the desired effect out of the movie - and they work just fine for him and for the audience!!

The guest appearances in movie are awesome too!!

First in the guest list is of course - SUPERHERO.ONE - RAJNIKANTH. His Chitti gets so much applause, you have to be in a theater with at least half the audience being Tamil, to experience the charisma!!

Then there is BLONDIE.ONE - I mean, look at the body language, the sensuousness, the sexy and naive gestures of Priyanaka as she plays the Desi Girl in opening sequence - When we have hotties like Priyanka around, who needs any Blondies in Bollywood :-)

And how can we forget VILLIAN.ONE when we are talking about the opening sequence!! Even though he appears for only a short duration, Sanju Baba leaves an impression with his dialogues and his persona.

Talking about the supporting cast - It is a welcome break to see Satish Shah creating comedy around straight gestures of SRK, instead of falling for some gayish gestures which is slowly becoming the stereotype of Satish's comedy.
[Of Course, that did not prevent SRK to announce the sex appeal that gay folks have towards him - and this time, he did it with lots of metal ;-) ]

More than Sathish Shah and Brigade, I liked the Jackie Chan comedy in the movie :-)

Chhammak-Chhallo song - I am already impressed with it!! Akon - a non-desi singer rapping the bollywood audience with a very very desi item number!! Too Good!!

All-in-all SRK has put in so many ingredients for appealing various masses - a Tamil God-star for good omen [remember the world cup final?], Video gaming and child fantasy, Bebo, Chhammak-challo item number, great special effects, good storyline, bearable action sequences and the magic of King-khan himself!!

Those who haven't seen it yet, give it a try folks - It's different!!

Also, this movie has an open ended climax and we can see more of G.ONE soon :-)

Following Christopher Nolan

If I have not mentioned this earlier already, Christopher Nolan happens to be my favorite movie director. I have enjoyed his movies - old and new, for the way they explore the basic human instincts, for the thriller element in them, for the twists and turns in them, for the story-lines [almost all of them by Chris himself] and for the awesome dialogues and quotes; also for the fact that every time you see one of these movies again - you find something new and uncover a new aspect, and every single time you end up enjoying and relishing the movie to it's every bit!!

Alright!! Let me stop with the praises and get on to the theme of this blog. Well, at this point of time, I have watched all the mainstream movies directed by Chris Nolan and have also managed to get enough information on his first film - a college time short-film venture.

And while following this director, I found a pattern, a flow, a connection between various movies Chris Nolan has written and directed. This blog is to take you through this thought-process that I see in these movies.

Let's start with the short film which Nolan made in his college days - Doodlebug.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411302/

A young man is seen in his flat trying to hit a bug with his shoe. At the end of it all, this man himself gets squashed; he becomes a doodlebug.
While the film was short, it created a theme, a concept - which we can also see in the next project by Nolan - His first mainstream cinema: Following.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154506/

I know, it's not just a coincidence that this blog is labeled "Following" Christopher Nolan - the title is a metaphor which hints at the inseparable nature of Nolan and his films.

Following is a story of a nobody, a young loner who chooses to follow people so that he can understand them and write about them. Yes, he is aspiring to be a writer.
In this pursuit, he meets Cobb, a serial burglar, who likes to not only break in people's houses, but also likes to leave his mark on their private lives, in one way or another.
Despite being his first mainstream movie, Following treats us with many of Nolan's signature features. To start with, it has a non-linear plot. Also, Nolan started using basic human emotions/instincts as the chosen weapon of his Antagonists [Villains] right from this film itself.
And, what is the weapon his antagonist Cobb deploys - Shock!!
"You take it away and you show them what they had!!"
That's the modus operandi of Cobb and yes, that quote also highlights another of Nolan's features - Awesome movie quotes and dialogues!!
So, we already have a young man who chooses to follow others to get material for his writing, rather than using his own imagination and creativity. Cobb takes the young man under his wing and shows him how to know more about people - by breaking in their houses and going through the books they read, the songs they listen, the little things which they keep in their boxes. Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say - and our young man does exactly that. He starts dressing like Cobb, he starts talking and walking like Cobb, he starts breaking in like Cobb and then, at the end of it all, he gets framed for something which Cobb does. It is only at the end that the young man realizes that he is being framed and he is shocked to the core - Cobb takes away all the thinking ability of young man, and shows him what he had!!
Well, that was something about the movie which I had to mention here, but I am not going to spoil the entire plot - so you guys better watch the movie to know what really happens.

I am however going to reveal one more thing though - the connection bit of this movie with Nolan's earlier and later movies.
When you watch the movie you will appreciate the fact that the blonde in the movie is a perfect doodlebug. She sets a trap for the young man and at the end f it all the same trap gives her a fatal blow. Nolan has escalated the doodlebug phenomenon so well in this movie, you can't help but to notice it!!

The next movies which Nolan directed were Insomnia and Memento.
Let us first talk about Insomnia for the connection's sake.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278504/

Insomnia is a movie which Nolan only directed and did not write by himself. However, Say it Destiny or a mere coincidence, it is still very close to the Nolan brand of movies.

While Following had a nobody as protagonist, who follows people for stories, Insomnia has a well-known cop as protagonist, and he has a huge following thanks to his brave track record. Each of his cases is a story in itself.
Following shows how a man gets framed while he is on some pursuit, Insomnia tells us about a man who is carrying a baggage that he framed a person for getting him punished.
This is another treat for those who dig movie quotes - 'Don't lose your way' says the dying cop to sum it all!!
Al Pacino plays one of the best roles in his career in this movie and that is one more BIG reason for watching this movie.

And what is the basic human instinct that comes handy to the bad guy in this movie - Guilt!!
It is guilt that causes Insomnia, it is guilt which leads Al Pacino to gradually lose himself and makes him vulnerable. It is guilt which the villian highlights through one way or other, whenever he has conversation with Al Pacino. It is this guilt which takes away all the sleep from our Protagonist.

So, after Shock we had Guilt. To know what's next, let's change over to the other side.

What if our hero, our protagonist does not have to carry any guilt with him?? what if he does not have any baggage??
But, how is this possible??
Well, it is possible if the hero has a short term memory loss. It is possible, if he cannot remember whatever he did.
And that brings us to our next movie - Memento.
Lets go to the next movie in this discussion - Memento.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/

Memento is story of a man, who suffers from a short term memory loss after a violent event in his life. As the movie progresses, we see him tracking down people and of course killing them, as he thinks they were involved in killing of his wife. It is only at the end of this movie, that we know what the tracking and killing is all about. It is only at the end, we know what is the weapon that struck our protagonist. In Memento, our hero falls prey to Addiction!!
As he lives every day of his life killing people and forgetting about it, he gets addicted to it all.
And it is this addiction which destroys all the goodness in him.
So, while the cop in Insomnia destroys himself due to his guilt, in Memento our guy [his name is Guy Pierce in the movie :-) ] has a guilt-free pass to kill and he uses this pass pretty well!!
And the movie quotes?
'We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I am no different!!'
The quotes just keep getting better!!

Insomnia also flows into another of Nolan's ventures - Inception. A project which Nolan was working for a long time, but which got released very recently.
If Insomnia is a condition where humans cannot sleep, then what would happen if they sleep?? They will "Dream".
Dreams - Dreams become the weapon of choice by our Antagonist in the movie Inception.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

I just loved this movie for the whole concept of Inception, for the fabulous acting by Leonardo and all the other crew members, for the open ended climax making us wonder if it was a dream or a reality??
Non linear plot is back in this movie and what do you think of this quote - 'You mind telling your subconscious to take it easy?'
Twisted, isn't it? Well, when the movie ends, you realize the meaning of each twist and turn it took and then you just keep on admiring the imagination which has gone into it.

Moving on, we already know that the chief protagonist of Memento is a man who keeps taking lives everyday and forgets about it soon. We have seen too much of blood shed by now.

Let's flip the side now. So, what can be the exact opposite of a man killing someone everyday??
How about a man getting killed everyday?
And how about him killing himself??
Is that possible?? Does the man possess some kind of Magic??
Well, this and more becomes the plot of Nolan's next movie - Prestige.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/

Prestige is about the all-time-fantasy of human beings - Magic. It is also about Prestige.
It is only after I saw this movie when I began to watch each magic trick more closely. Specially to determine the various parts of magic. As Cutter explains, each magic trick has 3 parts to it - the pledge, the turn and most difficult of it all - the prestige!!
This is again a movie with non-linear plot and yet again has some superb quotes - 'You're familiar with the phrase "man's reach exceeds his grasp"? It's a lie: man's grasp exceeds his nerve.'
It gives a new perspective on a magician's life and also mystifies Tesla even more. It shows the extent to which men go to guard their prestige and it also imbibes a lesson - sometimes, simple solutions are the ones which are real. If you think too complex, you may end up expending huge resources for no reason, and these resources can include you as well.
I would say, if you have started to believe in magic after all the Harry Potter movies, you will also understand magic after watching prestige.

Of Course, this was one way to move on from a man who is killing someone daily. Other way can be to create a Hero - so great that he can devote his entire life to reduction and prevention of crime.
But then, we want the hero to have all the resources he needs, all the gadgets he needs, all the money he needs, all the weapons and martial arts training he needs. So, what do we have? We have a Bruce Wayne, we have Batman!!

You guessed the next movie right - it's Batman Begins!!

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/

Like all the Nolan movies, the antagonist in this film deploys his own weapon for mass destruction - and it is not just the chemical toxin that he releases in Gotham's water stream. To quote the words of Ra's Al Ghul himself - 'The word is Panic'.

Again some amazing quotes and a perfect depiction of how Batman begins!!
More about Batman as a superhero in my earlier blog:
http://eastman-colors-of-silver-screen.blogspot.com/2009/04/tell-me-whos-your-favourite-superhero.html

Well, now that we have an established super-hero, what's next??
Let's put him to test. Let's pitch him against a mighty opponent!!
Joker steals the show in The Dark Knight - Nolan's next movie.

IMDB reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/

To describe the contest between Batman and Joker in the Dark Knight using one of the movie quotes - 'This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.'
And forever is how you will remember this movie and it's quotes. The joker just gets into your heads.

And his favorite weapon for doing this? It's Chaos!!

'Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm?' He says. And he spreads chaos in Gotham city even while he insists 'I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve. '

And, he succeeds to turn Gotham's white knight into a dark knight!!

Well, Batman comes to rescue of even the dead and in-turn transpires in to the Dark Knight. In Gordon's words, 'Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.'

Man!! This is my most favorite movie of all times!! I can keep on watching it over and over again and still feel like watching it yet another time.

And now I am waiting for Nolan's next venture - Because the Dark Knight has to rise now!! and rise he will for sure, in The Dark Knight Rises.

IMDB Reference: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/

It's an enjoyable journey, from Doodlebug to Dark Knight. Hop on the thrilling ride and you will find mesmerizing entertainment and a lot of food for thought. So, What are you waiting for???