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...