Dangal

Movie Review (Hindi)

As with every movie that revolves around a protagonist who rises against odds or conquers all obstacles in her/his path, this story besides being all this also has three protagonists -- A middle aged man and two young women - a father (Mahavir Phogat) and his two daughters (Geeta and Babita).

In the heart of Haryana where patriarchy is phenomenal, a middle aged wrestler has the guts to push for his daughters to succeed in an arena which is a male bastion, namely the wrestling arena. 

Dangal, the movie, is a success from the word go. Several reasons for this:
Aamir Khan is the ageing wrestler;
This is a real life success story;
It is about girls winning over boys despite social stigma;
This is about Sports. 

So lots of reasons why this film should be a runaway success.

Let me also mention the biggest reason--- A story well directed, edited and with competent actors.

Kahaani 2

Movie Review (Hindi)

This is said to be the prequel to the original Kahaani, though other than Vidya Balan's name I see no threads tying the two. But nothing is impossible in the world of the movies!!! 

Director Sujoy Ghosh has hit the jackpot with these two films. I only hope he comes out with something radically different in the next. Would love to see Vidya Balan again, though in a totally different avatar.

What was good was that I enjoyed the movie just as I had enjoyed Kahaani. The twists and turns were tantalizing enough to keep me glued as to the outcome. 

Arjun Rampal was quite convincing. I am impressed with what good directors can achieve. But Jugal Hansraj??? That Masoom boy is now a cold blooded villian! Well done! 

Travel Tales

Trip to Sanganer, Rajasthan

More on my trip to Sanganer... 

I found men hard at work on carving intricate designs on wood. Each of these would go on to create the delicate prints we find on the Sanganeri textiles. 

A glimpse of some wooden textile printing blocks

 

 

Trip to Sanganer, Rajasthan

On my recent trip to Sanganer in Rajasthan, I learnt several things. One of them was the Art of Paper making. 

1.Small pieces of hosiery cotton

2. The tank where the cloth pieces are immersed in water

3. The pulpy cloth in water where pink colour is added

4. The pulp lifted in a wire mesh tray

5. The tray turned upside down

          

The sheets of paper now look like this.

                 
 6. This press removes excess water from the paper

7.Another round in the roller press ...
 
 
And the sheets look like these!!

8. Screen printing now creates magic!

9. Add petals to the paper while it is pressed!!

10. The excess paper goes back to the pulp stage,

11. The final products!!!

PINK

Movie Review (Hindi)

I could not understand why the movie had to be called pink. Isn’t it creating those very same biases that the film sets out to break down? I think the movie should have been called Blue. It is after all an essential movie for men. The movie is based on a simple notion really – No means No. When will our immature men learn this?

Loved the manual for safety of girls that the lawyer (Bachchan) spells out. No laughing when you are with boys, no drinking either, no going to rock shows and no wearing western attire. It is also dangerous to be living away from parents on your own. You cannot be independent. So if a woman follows these rules she is safe in India, right? 

Wrong!!! 

The very fact that she is a female qualifies her as a prey. She can be any age, from just born till 90 years (or more), she need not wear western clothes and need not drink or laugh. She will be preyed upon, nonetheless. We all see various survivors mentioned everyday in the media. What we don’t know is the number of survivors not covered by the media. We also do not know how they get on with their lives, knowing our society.

But the movie was well directed by Soojit Sircar and the actors did well. We need many many more of such movies. I hope these stories make the men cringe a little when they see themselves or a friend in these characters.

Movie Review (Hindi)

M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story

The film is a biopic on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the well known Indian cricket captain. The director, Neeraj Pandey, did not lose time on getting the best acting out of the younger characters. Taking in Sushant Singh Rajput and Anupam Kher made his job much easier. The film moved like a documentary in the earlier half. It picked up speed later. 

Whatever said and done, I sat through he entire movie (and it is a long one), and I did not get bored. A good reason would be that I admire Dhoni a lot for all that he has achieved. Getting a peep into his private life makes one realize that he has more to him than simply being a cricketing icon. I loved the fact that the movie ended where it did.

As an after thought: Life has its strange ways to functioning. Dhoni, as a child loved football and never tried playing cricket till he was pushed into wicket keeping. He missed crucial selection matches early in his career and became a ticket checker in the Railways. He lost his first love and learnt from it and did not make the same mistake twice. Despite his struggles or because of them, he reached the top in the game of cricket.

Guess he really wanted to reach the summit. Prayers from the heart are always answered, they say.

Theatre and the Performing Arts

Natya Samagama

The five-day Natya Samagama in Jammu has changed the cultural picture of the city. These five days have been an absolute revelation. Beginning with meeting the directors of plays staged the previous day, followed by a colourful and varied presentation of various performing arts from Jammu and Kashmir. This was again followed by plays from all over India from 5pm till 9.30pm. For a theatre lover like me this has been paradise.  The city of Jammu has seen such a conglomeration for the first time and the atmosphere was reminiscent of the Rangmahotsav in Delhi. The good thing was that all the performances were conducted in the same area. 

Meeting people from the world of the creative and performing arts has a charm of its own. Groups of performers coming from diffucult areas of Kashmir just to be able to perform here, tell a lot about their love for their art.

These five days have opened an audio visual panorama for me that will have a lasting impact due its magic.

Rustom

Hindi Movie Review

Akshay Kumar looks good in the Indian naval uniform. It is interesting to see how he has consistently improved his acting capabilities as he has grown older. He takes care of his physique and is mindful of his age. He also has a way of overshadowing the other actors in the film.

Yes, this movie is based on a real life incident but it has a twist to it. The tie up of the murder with corruption at high places was a masterstroke and the court scenes were fast paced. The tight editing kept the audience wanting more. 

I only wish Commander Rustom would once in a while get out of his naval uniform while in custody. His whites were too white to look real. 

6 Degrees - Game of Blogs Book Review

6 Degrees - Game of Blogs by BlogAdda.com

This interesting book is also available at Amazon, Flipkart and GoodReads!! 

Madaari

Movie Review (Hindi)

Irrfan Khan is one of my favourite actors and I wanted to watch this movie only because he stars in it. As usual, he did not let me down. But the movie did. I was impressed with the opening and the jump cuts and the montage effect. Each of the actors played their parts so well but the story just lost its grip. I certainly did not expect it to end the way it did. All the effort, the buildup and then nothing. I know it is nice to reveal that our politicians fleece us and make false promises, but what's new? Also, could the director not come up with a PM who did not look like our own Prime Minister? 

The movie reminded me of A Wednesday starring Naseeruddin Shah, the common man, who like Irrfan, takes on the system and demands justice. Comparing the two, Madaari loses. 

Such scope to let the actors carry the film forward and such mishandling in telling the story!! On the whole, please watch but do not blame me if you get bored at times!!

My Dreams and Passion

I am blogging about my dreams and passions for the Club Mahindra#DreamTrails activity at BlogAdda. You can get a Club Mahindra Membership to own your holidays!

I am a History buff and from this love emerges the love for travel, art and culture. If I could just travel to all the places rich in history (which is almost the entire world!!) I think I would be the happiest person. I know I would barely be able to cover all the places I would want to visit in my lifetime, but the journey is so full of wonder that I don’t mind leaving it incomplete.

This is all about time travel, only going backwards. As I enter monuments frozen in time, I cannot resist caressing the walls or the pillars. I shut my eyes trying to recreate a moment from the past. I feel a deep sense of longing for that era. Every image in an ancient place of worship, a boudoir in a palace, a palace garden, each of these has a story to tell and I really would love to have been a part of all that.

Imagine being a part of the bustling Meena bazaar during Shahjahan’s time in the Red Fort premises which is now like any other flea market. Imagine Fatehpur Sikri where Akbar held council with the navratnas of his darbar, or his discussions on Deen-e-Ilahi at the Ibadat Khana. Old Forts and underground tunnels almost resound with gunfire.

While in Kurukshetra in Haryana, I stand under the huge peepal tree where Lord Krishna delivered the Bhagwad Gita to Arjuna before the Kurukshetra war, trying to imagine the scenario. A little ahead lies the Bheeshma Kund , a water body created by Arjuna’s arrow to quench Bheeshma’s thirst and as I dip my fingers in it I love to feel that I am a part of that story. Whether it is mythology or history, it is a part of our past and it grips me.

As I tour the Ajanta caves I try to look into the lives of monks and their daily routine. I try to see how the artists went about painting the walls in darkness filling them up with exquisite scenes or sculpting a majestic profile of the Buddha.

It is really an exciting and enticing moment to be sharing history going back hundreds or thousands of years.

History for me is not gone, it is close at hand. One needs to feel it and make a connection. As I travel, I love to interact with people asking them about their past and the changes in their environment in the past few decades. I am attracted to  art that each place speaks of which varies from the way houses are made, to the dress they wear, moving on to their culture including language and food.

It is a never ending romance that I share with travel, art and culture and with the time I have I hope my passion makes my life rich and meaningful.

Movie Review (Hindi)

Sultan

Hero of the masses, Salman Khan pulls it off once again with this movie.

Why did he pull it off? Well, the story follows the rise, fall and rise of a wrestler from Haryana and who does not love a story where odds are conquered by the underdog? 

But for me, what really stood out in the movie was the focus on wrestling as a sport, of women in this sport and also its international recognition.

Salman needs a good director and in Ali Abbas he found one. With romance, comedy, tragedy and drama thrown in for good measure within three hours in a well edited and well written story, there was bound to be but one outcome ---- a success!! (As usual the excesses were the songs which could have been edited.)

Looking forward to such entertainers... 

Movie Review (Hindi)

Dhanak

A story about two orphaned children, sister and brother, living with their uncle and aunt. The 8-year-old boy, Chotu, is blind and the 10-year-old girl, Paro, does housework as ordered by aunt and fails in class each year to catch up with brother to help him with his studies. No that is not the synopsis, just a peek into their lives and this could be the beginning of a really sad story. 

But guess what??? It is anything but sad. Director Nagesh Kuknoor has skillfully woven so much joy and wonder into this simple tale of love that you cry out of sheer love. 

I loved his master stroke of getting Shahrukh to play a very important character in the movie without actually having to give him credit for it!! 

Blindness does not necessarily find a friend in pathos. Chotu was full of joie de vivre, belting out melodious folk songs, witty rebuts, building stories around his hero, Salman Bhai and showing unadulterated love for Paro. 

And it did work for me --Dhanak is about Paro leading her brother along a magical journey to witness the Rainbow.

The Jungle Book

Movie Review (English)

I remember reading The Jungle Book as a kid, and that was many, many years ago. Mowgli finding a home with wolves always fascinated me. Later, I saw the animated movie and after a long hiatus saw the latest one directed by Jon Favreau. 

With every frame, I lived with Mowgli in the forest, roaming with the wolves, the elephants, Kaa, Baloo, Bagheera and of course Sher Khan. It was quite a magical journey. That an animation movie could accomplish all this really is indescribable.

Its exciting to imagine the kind of movies we will be watching by the end of this decade. Technologically, I mean. The 3 D effect already had me inside the jungle, almost hynotised by Kaa  and devoured by Sher Khan. Neel Sethi couldn't have given a better performance considering he had to imagine the jungle around him.

 Jon Favreau, you have patience and resilience. Hopefully, you will continue on this difficult path and give the world many such pleasures!!

Airlift

Movie Review (Hindi)

Quite a misnomer. I really do not understand why the movie has been titled Airlift when the act of lifting in the air happens at the end of the movie. For me, it was the journey towards the rescue operation that was the highlight of the movie rather than flying out.

Many of us would not have the faintest idea of what really happened to Indians during the Iraq war with Kuwait. So this movie truly engages. The film is well shot and the editing is tight. There are no moments of relief keeping in mind the nature of the plot.

I stayed glued to the screen wanting to know how Ranjit Katiyal (Akshay Kumar), the protagonist, overcomes one obstacle after another. A man who was a go-getter businessman turns into a messiah for more than a lakh Indians stranded in Kuwait.

There are moments in the movie where patriotism shines through and it is nice to see the bureaucratic wheel turning sometimes, while the politicians are really painted in a bad light, though I am not complaining.  I generally do not watch Akshay Kumar’s movies, but am glad I watched this one. You should watch it too. 

Travel Tales 4

Daulatabad Fort

On the way back from Ellora, I visited the Daulatabad Fort. I was exhausted with the long day at Ellora no doubt but the opportunity to see this heavily guarded fort was too much to resist. Daulatabad fort has a special history. It has been occupied by eight kingdoms, viz., Yadava, Khilji, Tughlaq, Bahamani, Nizamshahi, Mughal, Asafjahi and Marathas before it became a part of independent India.

Amberkot

This place was known as Deogiri (the abode of Gods) and ruled by the Yadavas in the 12^th century. Then followed three invasions by the Khiljis which ended the Yadava rule and began the rule of the Sultanate of Delhi.  Mohammad-bin-Tughlaq decided to make this his capital when he shifted the capital from Delhi. He named it Daulatabad. It’s another matter that he had to return back to Delhi very soon.

With the Sultanate growing weak, a power struggle in the Deccan led to Hasan Gangu, a General with the Sultanate, establishing the Bahamani kingdom. This kingdom broke up into five and Daulatabad came under Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar. The Mughals came and Shah Jehan captured this fort. His son, Aurangzeb made it the capital of the Deccan. After the power of the Mughals dwindled, it passed on to the Nizam of Hyderabad, founder of the Asafjahi dynasty. The Marathas occupied the fort for two years during the Nizam’s rule. In 1948, along with Hyderabad, this fort too became a part of independent India.

Ramparts

The fort stands atop a hill, the sides of which are so smooth that it is impossible to climb the fort from the sides. The fort has two moats, one which surrounds the fort and is dry, while the other surrounds the citadel at the top which is filled with water. There are three huge gates or ramparts you have to cross to enter this fort. The rampart, known as Kot are named Amberkot, Mahakot and Kalakot. Each one was heavily guarded.  As you walk from Amberkot towards Mahakot, you cross the area which was once Daulatabad town.

The moat full of water

 You then reach Mahakot, the entry to the citadel and there are 8 gates to cross. These gates are strategically designed so that the enemy cannot simply break open the barrier using elephants. Then you come across the moat filled with water. 

A Cannon guarding the fort

If you do cross the moat and Kalakot, you encounter the dark passage or Andheri. This passage is in complete darkness and the stairs are not symmetrical. More often than not, the enemies slipped and caused a stampede. Light filtering into the cave misled the enemy into thinking that this was the much sought after opening and led them straight into the moat infested with crocodiles. For those looking for another way out, stones were pelted from above. Still others who found their way out, stepped right on to a huge hot pan kept outside the exit. Besides these tactics, there were canons placed strategically. The enemy had no way of escaping. It is said that the fort fell into enemy hands only because of treachery. 

Chand Minar

The Hathi haud (tank)

The fort has several water tanks to look after the water supply which is scarce in this region. The Chand Minar commemorates the rule of Hasan Gangu and is seen rising majestically just before the entry to the citadel.