Kanthara

Laptop view does no justice to Kanthara at all.  

Watching it in theater is a whole different experience.

My bad that I chose to view it on laptop the first time. There was so much that I did not grasp in my first view.

The layers of this film unfold....

In theater view, I am able to appreciate the wonderful cinematography by Arvind Kashyap and Music by Ajaneesh Loknath. Background score with the theater acoustics livens up this film to a much superior level.

The commercial elements utilized in story telling are remarkable in elevating the story-telling. I, for one, was thrilled to watched Rishab Shetty himself actually holding the tails of buffaloes for the Kambala race. No SFX, no body double. In the sequence of establishing him as an up-to-no-good ruffian, there is a poignant statement made during the chillum puffs... did you guys catch that? The old man says "It is the animals that race with their might and the man gets the honours".... something to think about animal sports and how low we stoop for our personal glory. Rishabh Shetty, being the writer for the film, it was ambiguous to me if he was for or against animal sports or just mentioning the irony of it.

The flouting of every rule of nature by consuming it for greed and creating wealth rather than to meet basic needs is shown through the irresponsible phase of Shiva. Appearance of Guliga at every such scene followed by dreams of same could not be interpreted by Shiva who had lost his way. As audience, perhaps, we need to realize and pay attention to our conscience and the cautions it gave whenever we did anything against Nature and its creatures. No point chest beating about our religion and culture if this message did not sink in.

Guliga trusts the skeptic Murali in the end to be capable of protecting the forest and the dependent lives. Not once does Murali show respect or devotion but he is true to his naithika and vrutthi dharma.

I am not a Bhagvadgita scholar but I remember what Bhagwan Krishna says about devotion. He accepts even sincere work as devotion. Perhaps, thats what this Murali and Guliga bonding was about.

The brilliance of Rishab Shetty in scripting this legend into a contemporary silver screen story keeps impressing scene after scene. His selection of right technicians to support his vision is another mark of his talent as a filmmaker.

Above all, Kanthara reminds us to believe that 

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे

The divine will intervene where human efforts have failed to fight against adharma. And the one who intends to do the right thing will always be empowered by the divine.

I repeat from my previous post on Kanthara...

We, as humans, have evolved to a level of intelligence that put us on top of the food chain. We could have lived in harmony with Nature but we have become insatiable consumers. Is this what our intelligence is for?

Here I recall what Guruva says upon being stabbed...

"It was all yours to protect"

Review of Dil Dhadakne Do

The extravaganza, reality checks, straight messages, great humor, topped by limited but good music scores - all in Zoya Akhtar's fantastic #dildhadaknedo.

From the first minute to last, Zoya has packed in great story with an immaculate script and narration. With whom do I start and stop praising the performances? Great casting. Everyone fit the bill and each role was crafted so precisely, you never feel you are watching a movie. It is so much a peek into every family's life. To me the star of star performers was Ranveer Singh. Anil Kapoor's punjabi tashan, Shefali ki badi badi expressive aankhein...hasayengi aur rulayengi bhi.

Behold - Zoya got the bull's eye in depicting our desi parenting and thinking, and I lllllove her style. Loveless marriages, business marriages, marriages of compromise, deceit, hypocrisy - she addresses it all or should I say "shoots at them all"!!

Class no bar, pressure from parents who are constantly controlling what, where, how, and with whom to be, its the story of life for most of the children in our country. The harder you oppress them with your decisions, the stronger they will rebel. Quite a note for parents of future generations.

Given through a dog's viewpoint (yes, DOG) Zoya tells us how we humans speaking so many languages fail to communicate with each other but are expert at complicating simplest of things.

Any free-spirited person will find their heart spoken in Zoya ki zubaani in Dil Dhadakne Do. I did. Hope you do too.

I rate it 5/5 and strongly recommend that you watch it. The laughs are worth it if not anything else.

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता

Inspired by the irky and irritating IIN ads

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता
तो मै chef बन जाती,
बात सिर्फ कुछ दिनो की होती
कि मै कोई award जीत जाती।

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता
तो मै फोन के सहारे लाॅयर बन जाती
टीचर बन जाती
सितार भी बजा लेती

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता
मै Drone बना देती
Economics और Biology से दिमाग खुजला लेती
वक्त को वक्त से चलाने की पिक्कड़ो वाली शायरी भी शायद कर लेती

अगर मेरे पास IIN होता
फोन की तरफ मेरी गर्दन झुकी होती
झंडु बाम की अच्छी ग्राहक होती
आँखो पर Tata या fastrack की चश्मे लग जाती

पर किस्मत ने साथ न दिया
बस Etisalat और Du के हाथो सौंप दिया
Internet connection तो ये भी देते है
शोर नही मचाते, बस थोड़ी महंगी service दिया करते है

इस NRI के सपने पूरे होने से रहे
दिल से कराह निकलती रही
अगर मेरे पास IIN होता
अगर मेरे पास IIN होता

                               - मायूस वसंता की कविता

( अगर कोई IIN की कृपा से Psychiatrist बन गया हो तो विनति है कि मेरे depression का इलाज ज़रूर करे। इस दुख को कोई IIN छात्र ही समझ सकता है।)

Skewed view of woman's choices

The VogueEmpower video "My body, my mind, my choice" a social awareness initiative, directed by Homi Adajania with Deepika Padukone as its trump card failed to make a positive impression on my friends and me, and I "chose" to voice out a collective opinion here. 

Firstly, though the video claims to have 99 women from different walks of life, you don't see them in the video.  I am disappointed to see only women from film and modeling industry in it.  Where are the sportswomen, doctors, scientists, engineers, businesswomen, survivors of cancer and rapes, leaders, and others who have made a choice to seek education, career, financial independence, fighting for a cause, sacrificing for loved ones or greater good, and shown strength of character? We know the lifestyle choices of those in glambiz are very different from that of a normal and common population.  So, to impress upon their choices as the choice of "a woman" in general is ridiculous.  If the director, and the women featured in the video stepped out of their air-conditioned cars and houses to real world, they will be able to see that the choices the real women need to make are realistic and not merely bedroom and wardrobe related.

Secondly, the choices spoken about in the video are materialistic and superficial.  Clothes, hairstyle, sexual choices - you want to say they don't define you but on the other hand you say your choices are your fingerprints.  How else are we supposed to see you but by your choices, especially when your clothes and hairstyles are supposed to be for expressing yourself?

The theme of the video is as if the modern woman has evolved and has a voice and choice.  Excuse me, but we came from stone age to this stage making choices.  Today your choices are different, perhaps but "choice" has always been there.  Especially, the city girl has been independent for at least three to four decades in India itself. If it is to the oppressors you are addressing, your scantly clad bodies, mascara lashes, and blow-dried hair don't cut the message well enough.  You speak of your mind but are not able to do that without showing your body off.  What kind of message is that?  and what does naked spirit mean anyway!! You either have spirit (to live) or you don't.

As for your sexual choices, celebrate it the way you want.  Who stopped you?  Just remember the evolution of vocabulary in every language (which, by the way, happened along with your evolution) has a word or two to define such choices.  Don't cry foul when you are called so.

And that brings me to your asking to treasure your love, but to accept that it is your choice to offer temporary love or lust for life, have sex before marriage, outside marriage, or not have it at all.  And you also say it is your choice to love a man, woman, or both.  Do you have it in you to offer the same choices to your male partner?  The very qualities that we would hate to see in a man, you are proclaiming them to be your rights.  So if you do it too, wrong becomes right?  Deepika, you broke up with your beau on account of infidelity and adultery.  So woh kare tho you make noise, and tum karo tho yeh tumhara choice?  Aren't you a wrong person to be voicing this thought!!

The choice of body size makes me laugh.  Zero or 15?  You glambiz dolls distorted and ruined the body images with which women were happy till you came on screen and magazines endorsing zero sizes.  And now you say it is just a choice?  Can you say that to any girl who is emulating you and unable to accept the way she looks?

Culture and traditions are inherent part of a society.  As much as ornamental you think of them, they are as unique as you think of yourself.  Yes, you have a choice to embrace them or not, but again, it is a superficial choice, which seems very important to you somehow.

Motherhood is a privilege that many women out there are praying for but cannot have it because of health problems.  And then there are young girls forced into sex and motherhood.  How petty is it to boil it down to a choice!!  Would you accept as your partner's choice if he wants or does not want children?  You say you have a choice of coming home at 6 pm or 4 am.  My my, tell me, are you smoking weed or emotionally deranged, I want to know.   I ask because I believe in equality, very much so.  If I were to exercise these choices, I am supposed to give these choices to my partner too.  But then, I must be the fool to stop and think about others who matter to me, unlike you narcissistic sociopaths.  Your choices sound selfish to the core, those which serve self alone and have no consideration for something called "relationship".  The choices you spoke of have no desire for relationship of any sort, and thus I might be allowed to call you anti-social as well. 

Womanhood and liberty are not about licentiousness.  Woman needs Man and Man needs Woman.  To talk as if you live on a planet on which only you live makes you delusional!!  The choices you speak of are majorly self-centered and sexually focused and serve a narrow group of women.  Wake up and wipe your lenses and glasses, rest of the world does not live thinking of sex in its every choice all the time.  In case you get off your high hormones, you might even realize that there is more to life than just sex, and that sensuality and sexuality are only a part of woman's or man's personality.

Chastity is not a virtue held in high regard in this era.  Agreed.

Sexual choices should not define your character.  Agreed.

These are only as important one makes them to be and looks like it is very important for you as you have been batting about your choices in this context.  But if all your choices are focused only on this aspect of life and if you think that these will liberate your existence into infinity, I only feel sorry for you and your skewed view of womanhood.  You chose to be oblivious to the very nurturing nature of a woman.  Just remember, mimicking the vices of men and calling them your choice is not freedom.  How can a woman become better by becoming man-like? The qualities that made a woman better half of man, if that very femininity is denounced, what on earth do you think you are empowering??

I agree, promiscuity is a choice.  Looks like that's what you want to defend all along.  Go ahead and knock yourselves out.  We shall agree to disagree with you on what you think to be a woman's choice.

నాణానికి రెండో వైపు...

How original is PK

So....I did a bit of research out of curiosity.  It is known that Munnabhai was inspired by Patch Adams and 3 Idiots by Chetan Bhagat's novel.  I wondered how original could PK be and found an answer.

An alien questioning age-old theology and religious beliefs of people on Earth? Ring a bell? English film "Paul" thus serves as an inspiration to the plot of PK, I guess. You can read about it in the links shared below.  Much better, watch the movie yourself (I did and it is hilarious).  Rest of the story of PK is different, and here I have to applaud Hirani for Indianizing the story and making a good cocktail of logic and comedy.  Did I pop a fan's bubble? Sorry.

Some Hindus' sentiments were hurt by PK and apparently, some Christians felt offended by Paul. Well, both religions are safe and sound and there is no threat to their existence.  Remember, people take only bad from movies.  Good messages get flushed in the theater loo itself. There is no concept of take-home message after all, is there?

http://www.christianpost.com/news/alien-encounters-in-film-paul-pushes-christianity-too-far-for-comfort-49533/

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/paul-the-movie/

స్వఛ్ఛ్ భారత్ కోసం సీపురుకట్ట

మనోళ్ళు మహా గొప్పోల్లండి బాబు.  పెదానమంత్రిగోరు సొచ్చ్ భారత్ అని పిలుపివ్వగానే మన నాయకులు యాట్టర్లు సీపురుకట్ట సేతబట్టి అలా అలా రోడ్డు మీద పడ్డ యెండుటాకులకి యే మాత్రం నొప్పి రానీకుండా మెత్తంగా సుతారంగా తుడుత్తున్నారు.  పెక్కుర్తి అంటే యెంత పేమో ఈ పెద్దోళ్లకి.  ఈళ్ళంతా టీవి లో ఆకులు చిత్తుకాగీతాలు తుడవటం సూత్తేనే తెలిసింది అయన్ని యెంత పెమాదకరమో.  సదువురానోల్లం, ఇన్నాళ్ళు మురికిగుంటల వల్ల రోగాలొస్తాయని అనుకున్నాము.  ఆకులు కాగితాల వల్ల వస్తాయన్న మాట!  మరి మేముండే గుడిసెలకాడ మురికిగుంటలే ఉన్నాయ్ సారు!  ఆకులు కాగితాలు మాత్రమే రాలే అద్దుట్టము మాకింకా రాలేదు.  తుడుసుకోండి తుడుసుకోండి...మేడమ్ములు సార్లు అందరు తెల్ల తెల్ల ఇస్త్రీ గుడ్డలు నలగకుండా మాయకుండా యెంత బాగా తుడుత్తున్నారో...సూత్తుంటే మహా ముచ్చటగా ఉంది.

కాని నాకు తెలవక అడుగుతున్నాను, మీరందరు కలిసి సుబ్బరం సేసిన ఒక్క సందుకుడా సూపెట్టలేదేంటి సారు?  సీపురు పట్టడం సూపించారు గాని మీరంత కట్టకట్టలుగా ఒచ్చేసి ఉద్దరించిన ఒక్క ఈది పేరు కూడా సెప్పలేదేంటి?

యేటీ....సుబ్బరం సేసింది మంత్రిగారి ఈది, జూబ్లీ కొండ, బంజారా కొండ అని తెలిత్తే పరువు పోద్దా? యేంటో మీ పెద్దోళ్ళ గోల.  మీ ఎత్తు కొండల్లో తారు రోడుల కాడ మీరు సీపురు తిప్పి అలిసిపోతే, బడి పిల్లలు మీ సేతిలో సీపురు తీసుకుని తుడిసేత్తారు టీవి లో సూపిత్తారు అని.  మాకు యే సీకుసింత లేదు.  మా ఈది లోకి పెబుత్వం రాదు, పెద్దోళ్ళు రారు, కాలేజి స్కూల్ పిల్లలు రారు.  మురికి కాలువ గబ్బు కంపు కదా.  పాపం, అందరికి పడదు.  మీకు ఆకుల సెత్తని సూత్తే ఎలపరం.  మాకు కుళ్ళు కాలువ ఒడ్డునే కాపురం.

మీరంతా టీవిలో పేపర్లలో కనిపించటం అయ్యాక ఆ సీపురు సేటలన్ని మాకు ఇప్పిత్తారా సారు? లేదు, లేదు...మమ్మల్ని టీవిలో సూపెట్టక్కర్లేదు.  యేదో మీ దయ తో ఆ నలగని సిరగని ఇరగని సీపుర్లు మాకిత్తే మా సందులు మేమే తుడుసుకుంటాం.  మరి నేలకి సీపురుకి నొప్పి రాకుండా తుడిత్తే మా వాడల్లో మురికి పోదు కదా.  మరిసిపోకుండా సీపుర్లు మాకు ఇప్పిత్తారా మరి?  ఇంకొక్క ఇసయం సారు....మున్సిపాల్టికి సెప్పి మా వాడల్లో సెత్తకుండిలు పెట్టించి రోజు కాలీ సేయమని సెప్పండి.  మరి సొచ్చ్ భారత్ తయారు సేయాలి కదా!!!

in mumbai

 

in Hyderbad

Please note how many people with brooms are cleaning in same small area.

A regular municipality cleaner will be cleaning the entire road alone.

Give them some cash rewards instead of wasting money on campaign T-shirts and costumes.

Nenokkidine - review

Mix Harry Potter baseline and bits of Paycheck smartly in a South-Indian bowl and you get a gourmet dish called Nenokkidine.  Here our Harry Potter has no magic world but a childhood with vague and traumatic memory of parents murdered, and a world that treats him like a wierdo. And then like Ben Afleck in Paycheck he tries to remember what has happened to him, picks bits n pieces of his memory, clues he finds in things happening to him, and of course from the 3 abstract things his dead father leaves for him (In Paycheck, Ben leaves clues for himself before zapping his memory).

Sukumar has indeed done a very good job and both Mahesh and Kriti look like million bucks. The pair looks perfect. For a newbie, Kriti has done well.

Devoid of regular sidekicks and comedy of slapping people, dramatic scenes, punchlines, and deep dialogues, Nenokkadine is a chef special taste to our Telugu audience who are hardcore masala movie patrons.  So there will be people whose palate wont appreciate it and there will be those who are thrilled by it.  Our audience movie staple includes laughing and crying and seeking gratification in hero's revenge.  You wont get any of that in Nenokkadine.

A big flaw in otherwise good story was the doctor's character. Doctors dealing with brain disorders and behavioral problems do not ridicule patients and their beliefs.  Director even gave a fancy name to hero's problem while all I could see was repressed memories of a severe and prolonged emotional trauma surfacing after encountering faces of those who caused that trauma in childhood.  Trying to get away with easy names Sukumar?? Hallucinations added for effect which seem to stop conveniently when heart's desire to kill those responsible is fulfilled (errr..isnt that similar to condition Jyothika had in Chandramukhi? What was that called??? She had imaginary rival and Mahesh has real life people whom people think to be imaginary). But then, we are used to lack of logic in Telugu movies. There, thats something common with regular movies, eh? Songs and dances too, which are really good by the way. Oh, not to forget the wall cracking muscled fights by a very smart n intelligent hero. What do you make of that? Nenokkadine is out and out a commercial movie of a different flavour!!!

The climax where Mahesh finally puts the last piece of puzzle in place, recognizes the place of his childhood and discovers his identity, master stroke by Sukumar and Mahesh. Really emotional.

They had guts to try something different, do we have a palate to try and appreciate something novel? I definitely do. If I were to rate this movie, I would give 3.5/5.

Review of Telugu movie "Attharintiki Daaredi"

"Attharintiki Daaredi" movie is a decent movie in a gist. Go ahead and watch it, it's a regular commercial flick, more like a Telugu Karan Johar film, all the gloss and sentiment packed together nicely. Just remember to not expect Carnatic music at a disco, and you are set. In summer, water is sufficient to quench thirst, but the kick of drinking a cola is well known. Thats what it is.

To go in details, my girlish crush for Pavan Kalyan gets a goodie bag of eyecandy (blusssssshhhhhh), but I cant help saying that this movie could have been made better. A simple story of very rich people. The term "very rich" is the only explanation for many things that happen in the movie. As most of Trivikram Srinivas' stories do, this one too drives point to home regarding parents mindset towards their children's love choices and that any difference of opinion in that regard should be set aside just to value their own relationships more. Fans of both Trivikram and Pavan Kalyan will have a field day with loads of one liners dished out in the movie.

Nadia fits the bill well and the scenes between her and PK were executed well (of course it had to be that way, their roles are crux of the story). Choice of Boman Irani for grandfather's role seems to be more out of fancy than need. One could say the lead actors are PK and Nadia, few of them supporting characters, and rest - just appendages that are mere accessories and have to be there because they belong to PK's or TS' clan.

The Rajinikanth kinda stunt suited well to Pavan Kalyan. However, some parts of the story didn't seem to be tailored and hemmed well enough to give a designer finish. Above anything else, I want to kick the choreographer in shins for not doing justice to the music, not even one song. DSP's music is the USP of this movie and it indeed raised expectations. It's painfully disappointing to see that the best batch of tracks of this year weren't utilized to advantage.

My plea to intelligent directors like Trivikram Srinivas would be to not fall in trap of slapstick comedy. Common yaar, MS Narayana and Brahmanandam are actors of senior age now...why should comedy be at expense of slapping them for every line they have to utter? You wanna show them as duffers, go ahead, but have some sense before making it a stinky stale staple to add slapping scenes for them. At least do enough hard work to make up lines that should justify the slapping, for sake of sanity if not anything else.

బేసిక్ గా మీరు మంచి సినిమా చూసే అర్హత కోల్పోయారంతే!!!!!!

అబ్బో....సినిమా చూసి పాడయిపోతారు అన్న గోల విన్నాము కాని సినిమా చూసి నిజాలు గ్రహించి జనాలు బుద్ధి తెచ్చుకోవడం, బాగుపడిపోవటం ఎక్కడా చూడలేదు వినలేదు.  మరి ఎందుకు కొంతమంది సినిమా డైలాగుల వల్ల జనాలు తమ గురించి తప్పుగా అనుకుంటారని ఆవేశం చూపిస్తారో అర్ధం కాదు.  సినిమాకి అంత మహిమే ఉంటే సమాజం ఏనాడో మారేది (మారిన సమాజపు అభిరుచికి తగ్గట్టుగా సినిమాల్లో కూడా అశ్లీలత హింస పాళ్లు తగ్గేవేమో!!) కొన్ని చిత్రాలలో ఫలానా వారి గురించి అభ్యంతరకరంగా మాట్లాడారు అని ఆ చిత్రప్రదర్శనని నిలిపివేయటం, నటులు దర్శకుల ఇళ్ళ మీద దాడి చేయడాలు జరుగుతున్నాయి.  నిజంగా అభ్యంతరకరంగా ఉన్నవి చొంగ కారుస్తూ చూస్తారు కాని నిజాలు వినిపిస్తే మటుకు మొహాన ఉమ్ముతున్నారు.  తాగుబోతుకి నీతులు చెప్తే తిక్కరేగినట్టు మతకులోన్మాదం, ప్రాంతీయవాదం, వక్ర అభిమానోన్మాదంలో మునిగితేలుతున్నవారికి ‘అమ్మ’ అన్నా ‘నీయమ్మ’లా వినిపిస్తుంది.  ఈ మూర్ఖత్వం పట్ల మసలుతున్న అసహనంలో పుట్టిన హాస్యం క్రింద ఉన్న పేరడి డైలాగ్ (అపహాస్యంలా ఎవరికైనా అనిపిస్తే ....Sorry, but No Sorry)

(to be read in the Pavan Kalyan style in Khushi where he tears Bhoomika’s photo in intoxicated state)

"రెండున్నర గంటల సినిమాలో పాటలు ఫైట్స్ మధ్యలో చిన్నగా నైస్ గా కొన్ని సామాజిక స్పృహ (ఓహ్...మన తెలుగు సినిమాలో అలా అనకూడదు కదా...ఓకే..)... చిన్నగా నైస్ గా కొన్ని పంచ్ ఉన్న డైలాగ్స్ వస్తాయి, సినిమావాళ్ళు ఆటోమాటిక్ గా వాటిని పెడతారు, అది వాళ్ళ నైజం, అది మీరు పట్టించుకోకుండా ఉండాల్సింది!!

బూతు పాటలు...సినిమాలో భాగమే, అర్ధనగ్న స్త్రీల నృత్యాలు... సినిమాలో భాగమే, (మంచి) పంచ్ డైలాగ్స్ ... సినిమాలో భాగమే

బూతు పాటలు అర్ధనగ్న స్త్రీల నృత్యాలు చూస్తే కోపం రాలేదు, పంచ్ (మంచి) డైలాగ్స్ పెడితే కోపం వచ్చింది!

ఎందుకు కోపం వచ్చిందని మేము ప్రశ్నస్తున్నాము అంతే!!!!!

ఇప్పుడు పంచ్ డైలాగ్సే కాదు మా సినిమానుండి సౌండు మొత్తం తీసేస్తున్నాము....ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ... ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ ఆఁ...ఆఁ!!

బేసిక్ గా మీరు మంచి సినిమా చూసే అర్హత కోల్పోయారంతే!!!!!!”