‘Life of Pi’ is no ‘Cast Away’

  Didn’t update blog for a while because I didn’t have too much to say. Plus i LOVE my govt/A regional party/their Leader(s) and don’t want to get arrested. Well, you get the picture. Speaking of picture, this post is about what I could make of Life of Pi.

*May contain spoilers, NOT a review. Viewing advised before reading*

  I just caught late night show of ‘Life of Pi’, which left me speechless. I had my fears because of the reviews, which suggested that god connection which filmmaker wanted to establish was a hit and miss. I have not read the book and believe that written fiction always surpasses whatever can bedepicted on screen. But for me the movie does so much to get that wow feeling by it’s ending that you just don’t want to get into good or bad debate. Hence, the post.

  Movie is your regular shipwreck story about the lone survivor who finds himself on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard parker along with a hyena, Zebra and a rat and how instincts guide him to his survival. I suggest you catch the movie with the other dimension because you wouldn’t want to miss out on the gorgeous CGI. The part I found most interesting was the connection protagonist establishes with something that threatens his existence and he should ideally fear. The tiger actually helps him stay alert and think for the entire period. People might find traces of Wilson, the plank, from Tom Hanks’s cast away here but unlike the later; Richard parker is not only a carnivore, but also a hungry one at that.

Pi and Richard parker

  The fact that movie features Tiger in a supporting role, which is silent most of the time in the movie, turns out to be the most riveting part instead of being a handicap. What is intriguing about the fact is, and I keep stressing on the fact, that these two make an odd pair to be together on a stranded boat in a survival story. Throughout I felt, and I may be wrong, it was more the connection between the two and less about the struggle. Although parker does try to kill him once but then it adapts to the situation, i.e. accepts the fact they have to be together in this. Pi writes in his journal that the fear of survival from a Bengal tiger keeps him thinking and stops him from going insane.  There is also an intended god connect part which is left open for you to interpret. What I could figure out was, it was when pi decides to accept whatever fate has thrown its way was when he is at peace with himself.

  After the end credits started rolling, I was silent and didn’t quite put a finger on what made it such a great watch. And even after so much time, I am not sure why I found it so calming. This feeling was nothing like the epic-win feeling after the thunder-ish escape scene unfolds in Shawshank Redemption or the pity at the ending scene in Cast away because hanks’s character was supposed to die and by having survived he has just upset the regular state of being. Or maybe I was just relieved that Pi managed to live a normal life and start a family, in short start all over again, despite loosing everything dear to him and surviving a near death experience.

  Not to forget, this is a work of fiction. But like Pi says in the end, a story is as real as you believe it to be. It’s your choice how you chose to interpret. I saw it, as fictional as it might be, as a journey where life teaches you to have faith, accept things the way they are and never lose hope no matter how harsh the circumstances are.

Grab a loved one, preferably the one that doesn’t have too many questions or doesnt fit the stereotype between the movies and see it for yourself. Thank me later.

 

Saw the movie? Liked/disliked it? Have something to add, please do. \m/oO\m/

Arjun: indian animation turns a page

Finally, I got to see Arjun. It has been in making for more than 2 years now. All thanks for Disney, without which, Indian cine-goers could not relish a home made animated blockbuster, which, for a change, doesn’t look like a drawing board of a 2 year old kid. Yes, despite being a fanboy of animation movies I have skipped all the good, bad and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD homemade animation movies dished out in recent times. 

 My love for animation movies goes back to my school days when I loved reading Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv, Bankelal, Doga (I feel sorry for you if you haven’t heard of these guys, read up!) along with Spiderman, Batman etc. So while some of you were busy sweating it out in the field and getting into relationships, I was in my fantasy world of comic books, cartoons and video games. So much so that a stuck stage in Mario meant continuous slogging for hours. On related note, not being able to rescue or at least see the princess remains one of the biggest disappointments of my childhood, others involved something called marksheets(pfffft).

  This was before I had heard of Disney-Pixar or the likes. I love animated movies because of the freedom it bestows upon the creator. The only limit is the imagination. If you can imagine, it’s possible. The good part of reading fiction is you are free to imagine it the way you want to. The more vivid imagination you or the more interesting picture author paints, the more you enjoy reading it; and the sad part is when you see it reduced to mere mortality in live action movies. Ask any harry potter fan and he/she will tell you how disappointed they are with the movies, though personally not big on potter, i agree. Its actually tough to create fiction in a live action movie because of expectations and that’s where animation scores. 

  Now imagine what it can do to the epics like Chandrakanta, Alif Laila, Vikram Baitaal or a Hatim Tai. I did not add Mahabharata to this because they will require at least a trilogy to show it completely which doesn’t seem feasible right now. But you do get a glimpse of how awefantasticsome would that be, if and when, they actually decide to do it in the process of watching Arjun. You are left gasping for breath with the lavishness of the whole frame when the protagonist jumps in the pond to spear the goldfish. I could only compare it with what I saw in B R Chopra’s work , which wont be fair, because frankly speaking I wouldn’t have bothered with this movie if it weren’t for him. He made Mahabharata interesting for me with whatever means he had at his disposal at that time.

 

  Animation quality of Arjun however is generations behind Pixar’s other works like UP or Ratatouille but this has certainly set the wheels rolling. People that be, will notice animation movies as a sustainable market and who knows we might even get to see a full blown ‘Rajnagar ki tabahi’ featuring Nagraj and Super commando dhruv battling it out with Grand master Robo in a action packed 3D blockbuster or a KroorSingh in all his glory (YAKKOO). After all Toy Story was an experimental movie too.

  I have my fingers crossed. In the mean time, go watch it on the big screen. And those who are stick stuck with the idea of animation being for kids, GROW UP!  \m/oO\m/