3 (Tamil) - Movie Review

2:43 PM Shanky 5 Comments


"Suicide is not a solution to any problem" is the noble thought behind the Dhanush, Shruti Hassan starrer - 3. I would have been grateful to the director, Aishwarya R Dhanush, had it remained a thought and did not materialize as a real world movie! I would recommend this movie only if you have lost everything in life; then again, I might say "Get a life dude!" 

The movie starts in the present time where Dhanush is no more and Shruti is a grieving widow. But who is Dhanush? Who is Shruti? Who are everyone crying for the loss of this guy? All these questions are answered through an interlude flashback. The flashback does start with a huge promise and the stars breeze their way through the first half. Shiva Karthikeyan has done a great cameo that will make Santhanam a little jittery! A worthy competitor for Santhanam is on the anvil. We will have to wait and watch how Shiva carries his career forward. Dhanush and Aishwarya have done very well in their innocent teen roles in the flashback and the irrational puppy love that they share has been very well made. The sequence where Aishwarya goes to Tirupathi and the separation makes the couple go mad might strike a chord with the youngsters. No one can ask Aishwarya what was different in her movie. She has special aces up her sleeve just for this question.  One of the aces is the marriage happening in a pub! I mean, why? This is when the director decides to give a break. A hope blooms that things will continue and I won't feel so bad for spending 250 bucks on the ticket. The director has other plans for minions like me. I went out and come back with loads of popcorn, eagerly waiting for the second half to begin. 

I am now eager to see the super excellent romantic sequences. Again, here is the second ace, the mother of all aces. The second half is not about their life at all! It is about how Dhanush died. Now, you will think Dhansuh's death must be somehow connected to their life, the way they lived it or something. Minions!! You are all wrong! In the second half they took me through a meaningless roller coaster ride of Dhanush and Shruti crying at various pitches and locations. Then just like how a mokkai speaker hogs all the air time and then says, "Without much further ado..." the director also finishes the movie abruptly. Maybe she thought that was her way of causing a lump in our throats. Caused a lump she did, but not because of her movie but because I  realized I have been tricked!

Debut Musician Anirudh shows a lot of promise in songs like Kannazhaga and throughout the first half with his BGM. However, in the second half he is overshadowed by Shruti with her crying BGM and he takes a back seat. At least after seeing the "Why This Kolaveri Di" song, I hope people will allow it to RIP and I strongly recommend they do the same with any thought that arises to watch this movie. This movie is best described by any 1990s Indian cricket team chasing a target. They start well but then lost not just steam but also their sanity mid-way through and then laugh derisively at the audiences who have wasted their time and money. End of it all I have only two questions for the director – “Why the name 3?” and “Why (this kolaveri di)?” 

In the end, when the message of the movie is flashed across the screen I wondered if it is the director asking me not to commit suicide after watching the movie. As a good friend, I advise you to not even think about watching this movie. But if get a free ticket because you bought two juices at the karumbu juice kadai and happen to go for the movie then get out after interval. Save yourself!

5 comments:

Deranged Marriage

2:56 PM Shanky 27 Comments

Image Courtesy: www.dhivager.com
This season is the happiest for everyone and I like happy times. Businesses are happy about the boom in sales, Parents are happy about getting their kids "settled" and kids are happy for having found the right match. Coming to think about it, everyone is actually optimistic about the future and I like optimistic thinking as well. However, in all the euphoria about the rosy future we still drag along a demon from the past which has no relevance, according to me, in the modern world. The demon is haunting me right now and what actually got me thinking about it was an interaction with one of my batch mates. This guy recently tied the knot with his girl friend and I met him for lunch as his office was near mine. We had worked together in the same committee while at Lucknow and knew quite a bit about each other. As usual the conversation started with a pointless, useless question when my friend asked me, "So when are you getting married?" I took a casual sip from my glass of carbonated poison and shrugged my shoulders. He persisted, "Arey! Tell me, saale. By now your parents must have started the hunt" He referred to the bridal hunt, which every Indian youth is aware of, as if it were the latest Roadies audition. I nodded in agreement accompanied with a wry smile. He continued, "Look, even if you go one chain lower in your FB friend list you will be able to find a suitable girl. I am sure!" I coughed up the poison that I was drinking and started laughing. Just because he has had a fairy tale wedding it cannot be that he has no clue about the system. The system of arranged marriage, which I call, deranged marriage. Initially followed by the western royal families who have now moved away from it to change according to changing times. While this practice is now prevalent in their colonial states. Intelligent buggers these colonialists!

As a dutiful friend and a co-societal being I explained the process to him. When I finished the entire process, especially the one that pertains to a traditional south Tamilnadu family, he was wide eyed in disbelief and gulped his poison, thanked his stars that he was not subjected to this torture. 


Of all the steps involved in a deranged marriage, what I find the most amusing is that you should only get married to a girl from your own caste and some parents even go into sub-castes, sub-sub castes etc. I have no clue how many levels they have. I have earlier in my old blog (which is defunct now) talked about why we should question the relevance of some practices in today's life. While we evaluate technology and adopt as per changing needs and time but refuse to do that with customs and rituals is a blinker. Let me tell you why I think the caste based marriage made sense for my ancestors but no more appeals to me. 

Why it made sense to my ancestors
Caste system in its inception, as narrated to me by history books and wiki, was a classification based on the work you do; in essence the skill you possessed. So a Brahman's son could end up being a Kshatriya while a Kshatriya's son could end up being a baniya etc. Also, even town planning was done in a way that all the people with related skills stayed together. This is further corroborated by several street names that exist even today. This not only made societal sense in terms of easy planning of town and facilities required in an area but also business sense in terms of clustering

Now, what does this tell me? Guys and girls from the same caste were in close proximity and had enough chance to interact with each other, observe each others' response to situations and other people. It gave them time and opportunity to evaluate each other. Also, the girls in the same caste understood the work life of her partner because she sees it day in and day out. She understands the difficulties, the opportunities, the up side and downside. So, it made sense for the same caste guy and girl to come together and say I understand you and I think we can make our lives easier, more pleasant and make it a journey worthwhile to be made together. 

Why it makes absolutely no sense to me
Slowly the caste system got corrupted in India. No surprises there! Any system in India is susceptible to corruption just like how any iron is susceptible to rusting. It is only a matter of time in both the cases. So it just took some time for the greedy Kings and ministers who wanted their sons and daughters to be with them. So they made caste system birth based rather than merit based. Then again, time wreaked havoc and we are in a state where it is a kichdi of the previous eras. While caste is based on birth, the work I do is not. The logical relationship between caste and work is abolished while the illogical relationship between caste and birth is still withheld. So, to find a partner in this kichdi world is to get married to a stranger who by birth is in the same caste which makes no sense to me. 

I find it logical for a guy to marry a girl from the same profession. Though this is not necessary, I find it at least appealing. But the idea of marrying a girl about who you have no idea is appalling. If you guys find any relationship between the castes of the guy/girl to get married to one another, please let me know! I will at least change the title of this post if you convince me.

27 comments:

Paan Singh Tomar - Movie Review

12:22 AM Shanky 2 Comments


There are no beautiful foreign locations, no cleavage shown, no dancing around the bush or even beating around the bush. Will this movie appeal to you - the common man? Surprisingly, it does! That’s the surprise element in this movie. Three cheers to the director and his team for having had the confidence in the fans of Indian cinema to have attempted this movie. Irrfan just did what he does the best in any movie - act with panache and elegance. Only this man can add elegance to a completely pedestrian role. The ease with which he has slipped himself into the hood of Paan Singh Tomar is amazing to say the least. He brings out the ignorance in a simple village man who takes words on the face value and not the conceited meaning that it was delivered with.
Paan Singh is the underdog athlete who joins Indian Army, where his talent is spotted and nurtured in a very Indian way. Like the humble Bihari friends who clear JEE and Civil Services exams without much fuss, Paan Singh smashes records at the athletic events he participates. A simple, humble man who is running to win medals, one day decides to run against the system for his life and his prestige. A not so uncommon family brawl turns ugly and Paan Singh is left with nowhere to go and is humiliated by the government support system. A citizen who thought his life is protected by the government is left to fend for himself and that is when Paan Singh turns to his strength and plays the system as per his strengths rather than by the rules.
When you are going to base a movie on one man and his life, it becomes apparent that he needs to carry the movie through his acting. Also, the hidden gem in delivering such a performance lies with the cinematographer and he has done a supremely awesome job in this movie. True, that there was no necessity to try anything 'out of the box' for such a straight forward plot. But don't forget that even restraint is a skill that is far from easy to acquire. Virender Sehwag is the living example of this. Kept it simple, easy on the eyes and close ups when required and you feel you are one of the Bhaagis in Paan Singh's gang.
This movie brings out the fact that fame without money is powerless in India. The neglect that the sports figures of this country face is quite evident when everyone in the theater left when the prologue is being played after the climax. Nobody gives a damn what happened with the real Paan Singh. Nobody cares what happens to our athletes while we shamelessly crib about the lack of medals in Olympics and other world events. Our athletes are people like you and me who are as patriotic as you and me, if not more. This movie is just a small example of the ill treatment that is meted to our heroes. A must watch!

2 comments:

Mother Pious Lady - Book Review

12:33 PM Shanky 2 Comments


There are big books of small things, small books of big things and big book of big things and small books of small things. If I were to classify this book into one of these four then I would probably say it is a big book of small things. But these small things are those that make up the social fabric of India and in turn what India is all about. As I had earlier indicated in my review of A Rainbow in the Night, I like authors who drive their point by first showing out the entire landscape and then focusing on their object/element of choice. Mr. Desai also uses such a technique when he goes back to the dark old days to the good old days and then explains how our current thinking is either markedly different from or heavily influenzed by those days. However, because it is a big book of small things, the focus is kind of blurred and the sharpness is quite not what you get out of a research paper. This is good as well as bad depending on what you expected out of the book. For me, it was good as I got a wholesome picture and I could mould each chapter or experience to the management scenarios I encounter, to explain why customers/co-workers behave/work in a certain way.

The book follows a time-linear path as it starts from past, then moves on to the present and finishes off with future. The good thing is that the author has provided majority of pages for the past, then to present and a few pages for the future. This shows the sound research and subject knowledge of the author. He analyzes how the past experiences have affected the present. He also had the maturity to not to blabber some nonsensical prediction for our future. Rather he explains how we can shape our future and urges us to use the right lens so that we are not misled by all the brouhaha around brand India. Another good news is that the book is divided into very small chapters, each is (kind of) an experience that an average Indian citizen would have undergone. So these chapters can be read in any order or some of them can even be skipped if you are not interested. The effect it has on the overall reading experience depends on how many chapters you skipped rather than which chapters you skipped as these are experiences which tie to each other anyway. But I would recommend not to skip the initial chapters as this evoked strong sense of nostalgia in me. It made me grin from ear to ear and sometimes even crack up laughing thinking about what I had done in my childhood. Any guy/gal born in 1980s should try not to skip the early chapters.

The chapters about the Bajaj scooters and stainless steel utensils made me grin from ear to ear. While the chapters about the hill stations and vacations made me frown up on him for trivializing such an important experience in my life. But then again he shifted gears and had me in splits and nodding in smug appreciation when he trashes the concept of ‘arranged marriages’. I shall give you just one experience which he had explained with which I quite couldn’t agree. In one of the chapters he explained the emergence of small town girls and he argues that the mask or whatever it is that they make out of their duppattas as a sign of progress or sign of increasing self confidence. This explanation looked contrived in my opinion. The book in essence took me on a roller coaster in terms of my reactions to the chapters.

An interesting observation I made while reading this book is that how close is our thinking to China's when it comes to patriotism and portraying our country to outside (read: Western) world. In smoke and mirrors, Pallavi Iyer mentions that Chinese citizens hated bad news and avoided it at all cost. In fact, they had built a false Utopia around them and chose to ignore some of the pressing problems they have in their country. The media regulation is only part of that plan as media houses play an important role in upkeeping the utopian image. It is strikingly similar to our behavior wherein we ignore the presence of slums and feel indignant when a westerner points it out! Two things emerge -
  1. The author further strengthens my belief in Ubuntu, philosophy that All Towns are one. We, like the Chinese, want only the good India and good part to be known to us and the world.
  2. More importantly, he opens our eyes and hence urges us to shut up, accept it, acknowledge it and change it. Rather than ignoring it or whining about it and searching for the emergent India at the top while the emerging India is at the middle
Tackling a big problem, on which everyone has an opinion about and most have an emotional attachment to, even in a big book is tricky. There will be chapters which you have exactly the opposite view than the one that the author has taken. You might opine that the author has made a mountain out of a mole hill in certain other chapters. But the author has presented his view and smartly put into a form where you have the choice to skip the chapter if you want. So I don't really see this as a disadvantage but only a minor hiccup. From my personal experience, I found the boring chapters were in the middle and I could not help but yawn and switch off my reading lights. This was one of the most time consuming books for me. It took me almost three months to finish this book. Mumbai's traffic and commute did not help much either. Another important factor is that you run out of nostalgic moments somewhere in the middle of the book and the boring present starts to take over. These were the pages I found the most difficult to coast through because I am confused where this country is presently headed to while the author definitively tries to pave a path. At least he is clear about what he is talking.

All in all, it’s a great book especially if you are a sociology student or if you are a traveler in India who wants to understand why we are like this only or even if you are a resident Indian who cannot understand your neighbor who is a filter coffee sipping, Hindu newspaper reading, cricket fanatic who can argue about any topic under the sun. It’s a great read, go get it!

2 comments:

Lessons From Doing Nothing

11:27 AM Shanky 17 Comments


NangYuan Terrace and Doing Nothing

As I had told you guys before reaching Mumbai, I had been to the islands of Thailand and met people from other countries. During these encounters I realized that though every human being is unique, there are lessons we can take from everybody we meet and apply it in our lives. So here are some of my interesting observations:

Everybody has problems - If you know me personally, then you know how much I desist the Indian way of "settling down". While your parents will want you to be unique early in your school days and the trophies you bring home for poetry and elocution is much appreciated, it is never seriously viewed. It is to be written in the "hobbies" section of your resume. The main part of your resume is supposed to follow the routine route of Professional Education --> Work --> MBA --> Work --> Marry --> Home and Car --> Kids -- Die! I thought or was led to believe by the books and Hollywood movies that my counterparts in the western hemisphere have a better life! But I was proved wrong by Danielle, a 20 something English girl who was an accountant in a firm and quit her job because it became "too much". She narrated her woes in life and the pressures the society in UK puts on an individual. Her next career move, according to the society and her family should be to get an MBA, then get married and settle down in life. But she wants to be a writer and volunteer in the education space. I was totally flabbergasted! It was a story like any other Indian's only that she was super cute and had an English accent! 

Get real. Get experience - I had to walk over 5 Km to get to the highest viewing point on Koh Tao - my most favorite spot in Thailand. The viewpoint was called Nangyuan Terrace and was actually a part of a resort. As a PR move the resort had allowed free access to the public and right at the ledge of the viewpoint is a restaurant overlooking the beautiful atoll Nang Yuan which is a popular day trip among visitors. It is here that I met David - A guy from England who lost his job with Barclays Capital. He is travelling and trying to find a job in SE Asia as the economy here is touted to be better. While talking to him topics about India and its culture came up. He was very curious to know how the marriage system works and the role that gold plays in the marriage and hence the economy. He even tutored me about the economic impact at which point I yawned more than I nodded. And then he revealed that he does not even have a degree which made me almost jump off the cliff! Looking at my expression and my open mouth he explained further - "Unlike India, in the western hemisphere you need experience. Your certificate does not hold any value for a job application unless you have worked in the industry. If you want to change your sector and find a new career or even an alternate career, then get real, get some experience and work your way up. I started 7 years ago as a back office analyst and now I have been fired as a consultant" 

Exposure is reality - We often come across westerners in weird, unique, different careers and wonder how they had even thought about becoming what they were. I kind of figured out the answer to this question while exploring the beautiful reefs of Koh Tao. My dive instructor was a guy named Toby and he was all of 20 years. While it amused me to no end that he was an instructor at such a young age, it irritated him that I was amused by his age. Shamelessly, I kept prodding about how he knew that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He said he was exposed to diving at 15, the minimum age for you to be certified, and got hooked to it. He has been diving ever since and took up the instructor course at 18, again the minimum age to start, and became an instructor at 18! In India rarely do we get such exposure to a variety of professions. Rarely do we travel to other nations to give a different experience to our children. If there needs to be change in the way we look at life and career it is not enough if we swap marks for grades and give prizes for everyone. Rather, I would say make competition mandatory but the basis of competition must be different depending on the student. For that you need to expose him and bring to his cognition that there are alternate avenues available. 

Do nothing - We Indians have a compulsive need to be doing something. While we plan our holidays we plan for "activities" to be done and sights to be seen. If there were not enough things to do then we label the place as "Not so good". "It was fun but there is nothing to do beyond a day in Kodaikanal and it gets boring." Such statements are testimonial that we have lost the power to extract happiness in doing nothing and just enjoying each others' company! We need a boat ride or a monkey falls or at least a children's park to enjoy the holiday. But travelling and doing nothing during a holiday is awesome. Its fun! All through this entire sojourn I had so little to do and I enjoyed it! I did not have a "must see" place that I was anxious not to miss out or a "must try" activity that I desperately wanted to try. I did nothing but laze around the beach, read a book and eat at the local coffee shop. I simply loved it!

Confusion - After all this, I was confused! What am I doing? Am I doing the right thing? But confusion is good. Confusion leads to good conclusions. 




This post has been entered for the expedia travel competition in indiblogger. 

17 comments:

Bangkok To Bombay

4:02 PM Shanky 5 Comments


Beautiful Sunset at Koh Tao
Heylos!
I would really like to apologize for the unexplained hiatus. However, that would mean an arrogant me thinking that a lot of you are actually waiting with bated breath for the next masterpiece from this huge master of words. I know, I know - you are not! So, I just thought I will leave it at that and continue to blog as usual, as much as Mumbai would allow me to blog. Yes, I have shifted base to Mumbai from Ang Thong now. My work requires me to travel every 3 months and so, Mumbai it is for next 3 months. What happened between the last post and the time & energy sucking Mumbai is what this post is all about
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After I watched Eat Pray Love and one other divorcee women-goes-travelling movie it was getting too much for me. so I packed my bags and headed to the lovely islands on the gulf of Thailand. There are three of them and each has its own charm and purpose. If I have to describe the three in one word here it is - Koh Samui - Touristy; Koh Phangan - Party; Koh Tao - Relaxation.

I decided to spend time in all three of them. I wanted the last few days on this beautiful country to be the best and wanted it to stay in my memory forever. I took a train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, one of the inland ports from where ferry services to the islands were available. The second class train ride was surprisingly convenient and comfortable except that the rest room was as smelly as the trains in India, if not more. But the berth provided was superb. A attendant made my berth with an extra layer of cushion, a bed spread, pillow and a fresh blanket to protect from the cold. All the berths were also provided with a curtain. My compartment was filled with students from US, UK and the Nordic countries. Noisy, boisterous and of course - sexy ;) At Surat Thani I took a bus + ferry combo that will take me to the port in Surat Thani which was quite a distance from the railway station and then ferry across the gulf of Thailand to Koh Samui - The touristy yet beautiful place.

Koh Samui, the southern most of the islands, was the first place where I am travelling alone in my 25 years of existence on this blue planet. So I was feeling a little insecure, bored, cautious - all those anxious kind of emotions. I wanted to show-off like a seasoned traveler while inside I was full of doubts. What to do? Where to eat? Will I be bored to death or will I find interesting people to talk to? Samui was spent in quelling these doubts by reaching out to new people and some alone time at the wonderful beaches. I met quite a few characters here - gap year students, people who got bored of their job and a few who were fired. Most of all Samui helped me overcome my lonely traveler fears and doubts - For that alone, I am thankful to this island.

Though Koh Phangan was the next island while moving north I decided to keep it last and went to Koh Tao next, for some chilling. Two reasons - I wanted to complete a SCUBA diving course and I wanted the party to be the befitting end to this trip. Koh Tao is a small, likeable diving village island. The entire business ecology is based on the dive shops that dot the shoreline of this island. I had done my research and booked my course with Roctopus dive. It was small, friendly and personal dive shop. But after arriving here, I realized that booking a dive course is as simple as picking up a t shirt from Renganathan Street or vada pav in Mumbai. If you just want to chill out, soak in the sun, the best place - of the three islands, ought to be Tao. And here is where I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets in my life. Partly because I was so relaxed and happy and partly because rarely do I consciously wait and enjoy the sunset. In all probability sun set in Mahabalipuram is as beautiful as this one. After few dives and training I got my license to dive anywhere in the world up to 18 feet! I am a certified open water diver - woohoo!!

After the diving accomplishment, it was time to celebrate it with my diving buddies - two Argentinean students and their friend from NZ. So all of us headed to Phangan for the most (in)famous beach party. My UG friend also joined us from India for the full moon party. Thousands of revelers, hundreds of nationalities, numerous liquor shops, miles of white sand beach and one awesome insane party! This is like the most insane party I have ever been to; not that I had attended a lot of them. Still, this was too good! But that awesomeness might be, and in my case was, overshadowed by the hangover that rips through your upper abdomen to head. My friend and I were to travel to Bangkok the very morning when the party got over. So we had exactly 45 minutes between when we stopped drinking and when our ferry was scheduled. Luckily we had prebooked the ferry tickets and the combo bus tickets to Bangkok as well and slept through most of the journey. When the bus stopped for food we ate some spicy Khao Pad Thai and fresh fruits to ease our stomachs.

After a bit of shopping and pubbing in Bangkok that night, we retired to the room for a power nap of exactly 3 hours. Then I had to leave for my factory in Ang Thong and he had a morning flight to catch. Luckily we were able to get our drunken, party weary asses out of the bed to get to our respective destinations safely and on time. One hell of a trip; one hell of a country. There is still much more to see in Thailand and I vowed to return soon as a tourist who need not worry about the presentation and report that I had to submit. The following week I slogged a little to complete the report and the presentation. So after all those awesome things I did, here I am in Mumbai , my home for the next three months.

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