What a Man can be forced to do

2 movies in 5 days. And this one didn't disappoint either.



From the first scene to the ending credits, this movie is all about 1 man, Irfan Khan, in his on-screen avatar of Paan Singh Tomar. It is like watching a 1 man infantry running through the movie and running into your hearts, the best he only can. From the first time he is introduced as the 'Bagi' - or dacoit as we would call him - to the reporter who gets the rare oppurtunity to meet him, to the end when finally he completes his 'race', Irfan Khan will enchant you with every word, every dialogue and every expression.
This is a story of a simple rustic who joins the army to fend for himself and his family. Once there, he differs himself from the crowd athleticly, seemingly enjoying the long runs out in the heat, and leaving everyone in his wake. He goes on to represent the army, becomes national champion, represents the country at the Asian Games and finally at the International Armed Forces Games, where he wins the Gold medal in front of the world. He returns back only to take retirement from the forces and return home to his waiting wife, played by an inspired Mahie Gill, and his children. A special mention here, and this might sound a bit far fetched, but Mahie Gill looks like a very young Smita Patil in the first scene where she is introduced. That in itself is quite an achievement!
The problems start once he gets back home. There are land disputes with his cousin, which ultimately changes him into the man he becomes later. He is forced to leave his village, leaving behind everything that ever belonged to him. The rest of his family also take refuge in his wife's maternal home. And then the transformation starts. From a man fighting for the country, to a man fighting against the wrongs committed against him and his next of kin. This is the story of a common man, driven to a life of lawlessness, which ultimately leads to his downfall.
There is only 1 person who runs this movie. Irfan Khan. The narration he gives while recalling the past to the reporter is said with so much emotion, the metaphors with such a touch of reality, that it will make you take notice. I've been a huge fan of his narration since he pulled off a stunner with the narration of 'Yeh Saali Zindagi'. And he doesn't disappoint here. The one-liners are worth hearing repeatedly. The conviction of a man robbed of his innocence is evident. And then he goes on to say the most important line of the movie, and I'm paraphrasing here because I don't remember exactly, "Jab desh ke lie race daur raha tha, tab kisi ne nahi pucha kaun hain. Ab ek do kya kidnapping kar li, sab Paan Singh Paan Singh kar rahe hain!"
The movie ends on a very poignant note with a message which is very close to my heart, and it should be stirring to all who enjoy sports. So go ahead and watch this movie, before this too is lost in the crowded archives of Bollywood.

The 'Mother' of all 'Kahaani'(Story)

My first visit to a movie hall since mid November. And boy! was it worth it!!



From the first scene itself, you are hit with what can only called a lot of 'Calcutta'. The city and its sights, its festival, Durga Puja, and all the sites and sounds surrounding it are captured brilliantly. And it is shown with so much reality, seen only very rarely, even in Bengali movies. As Vidya reaches the city, and is driven through it, you see it go by in a blur of sound and colour, just how an outsider would see it when they enter this bustling metropolis. As the story unfolds, you see the strength of a woman on a mission, to find her missing husband, lost in an unknown and bewildering city. You see the helpless vulnerability of a pregnant woman, seemingly on a wild goose chase a very long way from home. When the story reaches the climax, you see the resolve of a wife and mother to be, doing everything in her capability to get her life back to normal.
The story line is watertight, as watertight as I've seen in a Hindi movie in a very long time. At the end of the movie, no matter how much we tried to find some loopholes in the plot, there was none that we could put on finger on. No stone has been left unturned in making the story believable and gripping. Director Sujoy Ghosh has come up with Bollywood's answer to some of the more mind boggling movies we are used to seeing from Hollywood. I'm not sure if it would be right to talk about the movie in the same breath as 'The Departed' and 'The Usual Suspects', but it's the closest I've ever seen any Hindi movie come, except maybe 'A Wednesday'.
The movie boasts a who's who of Bengali actors with Parambrata Chatterjee and Saswata Chatterjee playing important characters. Parambrata plays a police officer who helps Vidya Balan's character in the movie. He is restrained and plays his part without much over-enthusiasm. The only downside perhaps is that he is so completely over shadowed by the Queen Bee of current day Bollywood. In every frame, in every dialogue, your attention is drawn towards the woman beside him, and perhaps it is also a complement to him, that he played the 'supporting' role so well. Saswata Chatterjee is downright scary as the LIC agent who only has one 'client', but that client doesn't ask him to help protect any lives, rather completely opposite to it. In the all too famous scene with Vidya Balan at the metro station where he pushes her onto the path of an incoming train, he is successful in scaring you with his smile, all the while shouting asking Vidya Balan's character to return back.
And then there is Vidya Balan. What do you say about someone who has won three consecutive filmfares and a National Awards in the same period? She is exemplary, stealing a march over every other of her contemporaries with this role, just like she has been doing with all of her past few roles. The expressions, the voice, the desperation of a pregnant woman caught in a dire situation she portrays with aplomb. Anything which is said in praise of her would be less. And then there is the climax, the stirring ending will make you sit up straight and take notice. Anything more I say here will just about spoil it.

Limelight...not for me please!

A house has four walls. Every wall is in itself complete. But together they make something that has a lot more meaning. But for now, let us concentrate on a single wall. Have you ever wondered how much stress falls on a single wall in holding up a house, or any free-standing structure for that matter? How much all the bricks have to work together as a unit to maintain the shape of which it is a part. Measure it and you'll be amazed. It's a wonder that buildings can stand on their own at all! Now consider the weight of expectations which fall on a cricketer in India, where cricket is more than a sport, and its players are more than demi-gods. In a country of more than 1.2 billion people, were every leading edge, every wide ball is scrutinised more than investigators at a crime scene, it is staggering to think that a player would last for 1 and a half decades, playing like he used to when he started, and remaining the perfect gentleman that he always was.



That, my friends, is the story of Rahul Sharad Dravid. A cricketer who represented the country with the verve and passion matched only by a few others. A player who brought hard work, dedication and determination to a sport, in a country which treats its players like a yo-yo, lifting them to the highest of highs one moment, and then plunging them into the deepest abyss the next. All because they won or lost a 'game'.
He made his debut at the crease on a cloudy day in the summer of 1996, at Lord's, no less, the home of the sport of cricket. But right from the start the spotlight seemed to have a way of avoiding him, running circles around his person but never settling on him. His debut score of 95 was overshadowed by the amazing debut century of a certain Prince of Calcutta, Sourav Ganguly. When he made 145 three years later at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup against Sri Lanka, he was overshadowed again by a pulverising 183 by that same guilty party. When he scored 180 against Australia in the now legen...wait for it...dary Test match at Eden Gardens (woohoo!!), a Very Very Special Laxman scored 281, which was at that time the highest score by an Indian. Not that Dravid did not get any plaudits for that innings, but again he was playing second fiddle. Even the Test match in which Dravid reached 10000 runs, Sehwag scored a record breaking triple century, blistering through the opposition bowling attack.



Not that he didn't star in any of India's wins. In the greatest Test achievement oversees(in my opinion) in the past 10 years, the win over Australia at Adelaide in 2003, Rahul Dravid played the lead role, scoring 233 in the first innings and a 70 odd not out in the second to pull India over the line, and forever engraving his name as a legend of the game.



His decision to retire came yesterday in what has to be described as typical Dravid fashion. When the spotlight was elsewhere, when he wasn't in the news, he decided to call an end to an illustrious career which reached across three decades of the calendar. I have come to expect nothing less of the great man. This is my salute to the glue which held the Indian batting line up together for 15 long years. Sad to see you go, The Wall. Thank you for the memories.

The Festival which Eludes Me

I think what would be more appropriate as the heading is 'The Festival I avoid like its the Plague'! If my memory serves me correctly, I was 14 the last time I returned home on the day of Holi looking like a Rainbow. And then it began, the scrubbing, the rinsing, the soaping, the shampooing, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, those damn colours just wouldn't come off! By the time I would give up on the task, I would end up having this pink hue all over with the darker colours still persisting on the fingers and fingernails. And then the worrying would start as to how I would save myself from the chastising which was awaiting at school the following day. And then, the following year, we stopped playing, my friends and me. That was that. And I haven't played Holi ever since.
It has gotten to the stage now that there are no more inclinations, no sudden urges to restart the old tradition. I used to hate it when people in college would try to put colour on me in the annual pre-Holi celebration. Even this year, when all others were busy colouring each other, I spent the morning like it was any other. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that most of the friends with whom I used to play Holi have moved on, moved to new places and to new avenues in life. Most of the friends I have in general have gone out of town as well. So, there isn't a lot of reasons to restart. Maybe, years from now, when I find a reason to, I'll play with colours on this festival again...
I have to say that I have made some friends recently, who, though I have known them for a very long time, having studied in school together since nursery, weren't exactly close. But now, having had the time to get to know them, I have to say that maybe all of us were a bit too judgmental in school, believing in people's reputations rather than giving them a chance to be themselves. The last couple of months have been quite well spent thanks to them, not to mention the people who have always been and will always remain close. They made my 23rd birthday last month really special :-). If you're reading this, you know who you are and I know you're smiling right now. So yeah, for making me smile that little bit more, this is to all of you.

Happy HOLI everyone...