‘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/

5 films you shouldn’t have missed

I generally avoid passing judgment of a piece of art because good or bad, it was a vision which couldn’t take the desired shape. Also, I have nothing to write. If you like watching movies and follow salmaan khan religiously, there is a (mamta banerjee dislikes cartoon) % of chance that you have missed these movies. These are only some of the movies which deserve to be in the hall of fame but for some reasons, bodyguard being one, aren’t. Anyhow, read on:

1. Being Cyrus: a debutant director teams up with a brilliant cast to make a commercial-crossover movie about a edge of your seat homicide plan. The story is narrated through the eyes of cyrus and how he discovers about the plan he is played into. The reason I am recommending this is because it has nasiruddin shah and boman irani playing their supporting actor part par excellence. Not your average hero-beats-everyone-to-pulp story, the ending is sure to blow your mind

                                              

2. Jaane bhi do yaaron: kundan shah directed venture is an epic movie just because of the sheer amount of run and re-run on television. And if you had doordarshan in your homes while growing up, you will recognize bits and pieces of this movie. The story basically of a corrupt builder played brilliantly by Pankaj kapoor and his plans to cover up a faulty bridge construction in a fight with a newspaper editor(his ex-flame) and two amateur-ish pro photographers caught in between. If your stomach isnt aching from laughter in mahabharat meets ramayan meets mughalai drama scene, you need to get yourself checked

3. Kabhi haan kabhi naa: you might have your own reasons for not liking shah rukh khan (not counting dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge in the discussion), he has done 2 movies (this and swades) which kind of balance it all. Kabhi haan kabhi naa is the story of a loser goan boy sunil who falls for aana played to perfection by suchitra Krishnamurthy.it also stars deepak tijori in a weirdly likable role but you are secretly rooting for aana and sunil to walk in oblivion. It’s not every day that you find yourself rooting for a looser guy to take the girl. Find it on a dvd or catch it on tv. One of few films in which shah rukh actually tried to act. watch it for sunil, who tries to make it all work. more like talking barfi

4. Paanch: for those of you who like Anurag kashyap brand of cinema and were blown away by Shaitan(2011) (yes, the 'khoya khoya chand' one), THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.also, if you don’t agree with my opinion of shaitan, well BOO-HOO. The biggest tragedy of this movie: - it never got released. Nonetheless, find it on ‘you-know-where’ or come find me, I have a good enough print. I am not going in details about the movie except it is first movie of Mr kashyap. Turns out, he made movies even before DevD Gangs of wasseypur, which were equally awesome.

5. Gunda:  now this one is the best of the lot, ‘cult’ if you might say. This is one of those movies where you don’t need to, i repeat; DON’T need to use your brains. It has mithun (HAAAINNN) and some 30-40 bad guys where mithun da plays a railway coolie AND, hold your breath, a trolley supervisor at the airport. And it’s just the beginning of facts you don’t have to dwell upon. Villains talk in poetic language while threatening each other. This film recently bagged the golden kela award for being what it is, EPIC! watch out for all the dialogues between bad guys. not everyday there comes a movie whose dialogues get printed on T shirts (IIT-Roorkee), becomes a case study in b-School(IIM-A) or becomes part of daily lingo(IIT-Kanpur). check out reviews here 

Although i said only 5, but do try Rocket singh, if you havent. Because it deserves it, thats why.

feel free to suggest similar movies in comments section \m/oO\m/

The great indian Face-Off and after-effects

*What you are about to read is written in all seriousness and contains no joke whatsoever. If you find it funny, please leave your IP address and twitter handle in comments section (cc: Govt Of India)*

During past weeks, the whole incidents related to people leaving states to go back to their own (north-east in this case) have captured nation unlike any other in recent times. Ironically, this came barely weeks after Mary kom and Devendro (please Google them/their place of origin and consider shooting yourself) took the whole nation by surprise by displaying the unseen fighting spirit, literally and metaphorically on the biggest sporting arena in this world. Every north eastern guy was beaming with joy, because frankly speaking, how many of us can actually locate imphal, dispur or agartalla on Indian map, and more importantly, do you smell what I smell?

  But the whole phase was short lived and before any of them knew what happened, SMS started circulating in south Indian states, including Maharashtra blaming them (yes yes, all north eastern states same thing) for something related to Bangladeshi immigrants and some violence in Assam and asking them to leave the city/state and go back to their home state, whichever or wherever it may be. Some of these guys also beat up policemen and media persons because THAT totally makes sense. Wait this gets (I am going to hell for saying this), better. Our govt, as efficient as they are, did what most citizen friendly govts would do. They provided as many trains as were required for north eastern guys to flee while also trying to co-ax them to stay promising to ‘protect’ them because our national need to be secular beats the shit out of common sense any day. The ‘National No Shit Sherlock’ dept, also known as police dept in some parts of country according to unconfirmed reports expressed complete cluelessness at the turn of events and promised to take action against Pakistan by providing them with ample proof. Pakistan responded by banning ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and was condemned all and sundry for the hideous action.

  Meanwhile, SMS’s and photo tagging was in full swing at the public wedding hall also known as face-book. It was when a tibetian guy (long story, they blurred it in rockstar) was stabbed with a knife and was warned to leave before the date that panic spread. But the problem with our PM is, he exhausted his entire madam approved speaking quota for the month on Independence Day itself and strongly condemning an action can very easily be done by secretaries as well. So, he ordered*(citation needed) that twitter shut down all his parody accounts as well (some word limit thing). Our govt swung into action again and, in between all the ‘they made money in auctioning coal’ ‘oh my god why is PM selling coal?’ ‘When will Poonam pandey take bath again?’ ‘Look, unicorn!’ ‘PM MUST RESIGN’, our all knowing, aryabhatta devotee, Mr. Kapil Sibal did what any rational thinking person in power would have done. He ordered to block twitter handles of random people because apparently you can’t shutdown internet, because lets be honest. People hell bent on killing each other, do keep tab on what people are writing on twitter and…. WHAT DID YOU JUST WRITE THERE? I AM GOING TO KILL MY NEIGHBOUR! Twitter started with blocking account of IT minister, to which most of government employee’s reaction was ‘don’t believe in rumors, we have no such ministry?’.

  At the time of writing, Apple is yet to announce its new phone and Suhel Seth & kargil ‘you-know-who’ journalist have whole-heartedly supported the decision. Mahesh Bhatt could not be reached. Arindam choudhry was quick to jump to bandwagon and wasted a lot of ink in the process of; you wont believe it, writing. Last heard, Rahul Gandhi was having lunch with a BPL family, the exact co-ordinates of which has not been revealed due to security reasons. If you are wondering how this helps distraught people in Assam or any of northeastern people, raise your hand. Now take that hand and try to make a 5 finger imprint on your cheeks.

  I would have commented on the turn of events and made an intellectual joke but sadly, I am yet to be a verified secular ideologist/fundamentalist/ left-right- east- west wing. 

I love my government. RAHUL GANDHI FOR PRESIDENT, oh wait.

The day superman died: Et tu Mr. Armstrong

Today morning while glancing through the usual kadharshian and Madonna stories in national daily supplement I saw my horoscope for the week which read, be prepared, there might be a theft in your place. Within half an hour of that, I open twitter and saw Lance Armstrong trending. The news that it bore was the theft as predicted. He quit fight against drug charges and will be stripped of all tour-de-France titles, all seven of them and will be banned for life from cycling. *Pause* link to article here.

   Sports persons keep getting involved in all sorts of drug allegations and why is this shattering news you ask? Remember the day when you found out that metro city didn’t exist on United States map and superman was a fictitious character? Or Captain vyom was strikingly similar to Star trek. When you google’d and found out that the princess you were looking for so desperately all your childhood didn’t actually exist in any castle whatsoever. Remember the feeling? You just couldn’t bring yourself to admit to the fact. You were short of words to react? You knew you couldn’t counter the facts because it was truth but deep down, you didn’t want to believe it. That.

  Mind you tour-de-France is no child’s play and he did it 7 times, after beating cancer. He was pinnacle of human spirit, proof that human determination can move mountains. He was the best thing to have happened to cancer patients since chemotherapy because he turned the doctor’s advice on its head and was back on road cycling and winning like before. he started lance armtsrong cancer foundation and was at the heart of the cancer support revolution which ahd people wearing rubber bands etched 'Livestrong'. He was the shinning light, like the beach lighthouse for tired sailors. He was the ‘aal iz well’ personified.

  So much so that when I was going through a tough phase some time back, I resorted to the life story of steve jobs and lance Armstrong and that helped me. Sheer fact that these gentlemen, if I may, braved all odds stacked against them and not only came out victorious but made history while doing so. It’s just uplifting. When you are down and dusted, looking up to people who have braved such situations does wonders to you and makes you get up and go for the kill again. Its like the single life jacket when your titanic is sinking. And when accusations are made against man of such stature, it shakes the whole belief one had in fairy tales and happy endings.

  Now I am no cycling sport fanatic. No sir. The only thing I know about cycling starts and ends with you. I know about the sport as much as Indian govt knows about governance, so to speak. I am even more clueless about drugs and how it spikes/helps/boosts performances. Heck, I didn’t even bother to Google the names that came up in your accusations. Because, I DON’T CARE. All I know is, you cheated. Of all people, it was you. It might result in you getting charged for cheating/doping and might even land you in prison. But you have lost a fan today. You would know the feeling, if the person you looked up all your life turns out to be a cheat.

  I am not angry sir, I am just……. disappointed.

Type of people at theatre

If you have had the chance of watching movies in different towns in india, you won’t argue with the fact that audiences are different everywhere. Ranging from the rusty single screen theatre in interiors of north india which actually feels for the actor (notice faijal khan in theatre watching trishool in GOW?) to the pseudo uber- cool i-don’t-watch-hindi-movies audiences normally found in south direction of India’s metros. Having said that, I ve tried to classify moviegoers by their reactions and came up with 7 kinds. They are:

1. The Corleone’s: ever been to a movie when the entire row, save for 2-3 seats is filled with ‘NACHOS KISKE PASS HAIN?’ ‘BOLA THA NA MIRINDA LENA’ ‘THIS IS MEDIUM, DID YOU ASK FOR LARGE?’ People. Yes, they are *munch* *munch* *munch* THE family. These normally consist of more than 1 couple, 2-3 VERY LOUD children who mistake theatre for a park and an elderly person who is constantly looking if they are in the right seat(s).

2. Child bearers: more often than not, part of the Corleone’s and, after rigorous research, is proven to be a major reason most people decide not to have kids, EVER! Because when I pay for a movie ticket, I don’t want someone explaining why that guy shot the other guy and why are they kissing now. And NO my hair is NOT part of your entertainment tax. This pretty much answers the question, why they check for knives before entering into theatres. According to unconfirmed reports, this topic will be covered in next season of SMJ.

3. Busy guy:  this guy is basically either the leading member of Carleone or is flying solo and constantly updating people that he is in the theatre. By the end of movie, however good or bad it is, you are sure to remember his ring tone and are most probably looking to elbow him in his nuts. Oh, he will be a Blackberry owner,have very strong feelings about android and if pressed harder, will cry his heart out about how he can’t afford an iPhone.

4. Mushi mushi couple’s: if you are wondering why do you need to pay 750 for a movie ticket, or why someone without a scar on his face would, find these people and shoot them. Normally found with a gprs enabled phone and nobody told them that they could actually talk to each other instead of those muah muah’s on fb wall. Also, they go ballistic at mere mention of word ‘Relationship’

5. The ORACLE: ever had one of those moments when you have stopped the popcorn just short of your mouth because actor has ventured outside in the woods and is showing his brilliance by trying to strike up a conversation. And suddenly someone from back row says ‘he will die now’. You turn back to curse and hear a *STAB* sound. They know everything about movie and try to enlighten other people. Given a chance, 98.43% of human species would like to gas these people inside theatres.

6. Sarcastic witch: these guys are mostly delusional and feel their responsibility to fill in for any joke that didn’t work with the audience. And since theatre doesn’t particularly allow verbal communication during the movie, they assume a silent ovation at their remark by themselves and keep going. Normally found in single screen theatres and are die-hard salmaan khan fans.

7. Whistlers: normally the guy sitting next to the sarcastic witch, whistles every time either the actor or the actress flexes his/her muscles which leaves a lot of people confused about their orientations #ifyouknowwhatimean least irritating of the bunch but is known to induce inferiority complex because not everyone is blessed with art of whistling

 These are the types I could figure out in all these years. There are ofcourse more like ‘Gigling females’, ‘beauty and the beast’,’the college gang’. Have you had an experience with any of these in theatres? Do share \m/oO\m/