Ghajini Review

Since I have got the liberty to write anything on this blog, let me try me luck on film review .. having just seen one this evening

The film is thoroughly enjoyable, scoring points on all fronts .. comedy, emotions, action, suspense ... though I thought its a little too violent for kids to watch. The actions, though somewhat bold, is believable what with those bulky, rippling muscles which Aamir was flaunting. Also, I could not help noticing the attention that the director gave to the details .. guess it was the Aamir factor.

The emotional scenes were very touching indeed and there were quite a few of those. The comedy scenes were quite funny and I could hear people giggling at them. The song sequences were elaborate, shooted at grand locales (talking of attention to details, don't ask how they reached there!). The amplified sounds were used well to add to the suspense.

Of the cast, Asin has done pretty well, but did I hear her speaking a slightly south-indian-accented-hindi? Also, she reminded me of the "Basanti" in Sholay. Wasn't too impressed with Jiah Khan, wasn't looking so fresh and I thought her expressions were just not upto the mark. Aamir, to begin with, was looking unbelievably young and was looking the character's age and yes .. his physique was looking amazing - the bulk the definition .. he was indeed looking formidable. Needless to mention, he's acted really well.

But I was a little perplexed at the end, as to whether he had got back his memory or not - wonder how he recognised the feet impression. All in all, its a money's worth and I watched it in a multiplex.

What a farce ...

Our Judicial system is at it again ... this time it is a farce called - 'the trial of Kasab'. Here is a straight forward case where everyone knows what had happened on that fateful day of 26th November '08 with investigation providing enough proof to substantiate not only the crime that kasab committed but also the larger role of our neighbouring country.

India as a country, based on the investigation findings, has taken a stand that not only the non-state actors in Pakistan but also the state actors (read ISI) were involved in plotting the heinous act. This being so where is the case for any trial? Isn't it nothing but a farce? How can Kasab plead for innocence and justify what he along with other terrorists have done?

While investigators have already managed to bring out confessions from Kasab, who still stands firm with his beliefs and does not have an iota of remorse for his deeds, where is the need for a trial? It would be nothing short of a drama.

An authentic approach would be to just hold the culprit in our custody till the time it serves us the purpose, which is to bring the perpetrators to book and to prove to the world, the involvement of ISI which we have never been able to establish in the past. Once the required purpose is served, waste no time in hanging him till he is dead and not show any compassion or sympathy whatsoever.

Who knows .. the terrorists might plan another attack .. maybe a hijack and play some hostage drama and ask for kasab in exchange.

"To Do" list

I was reading Ms.Senorita's blog on new year resolutions and began wondering about the great custom of "New Year Resolutions". Please do not consider this as a review of that blog. These are my independent thoughts on the issue.

If you have watched the movie - 'Dasvidaniya', the central character of the movie (portrayed by Vinay Pathak) was a simpleton who used to religiously update and follow his routine to-do list and was very particular about it until there was a major turning point in his life when his to-do list got metamorphosised into greater intentions in life. His mundane life, which he just discovered is shortlived too, was never the same. He started pursuing things that he had always wanted to achieve, deep down in his heart, and in which was hidden the real meaning of life.

New year resolutions are not viewed that seriously and is mostly forgotten within a few months of making one. Of course there are no dearth of excuses for not being able to keep one. I believe one should attach the same meaning to the new year resolution as the central character in the movie gave to his new to-do list since he had just 2 months to live. Just imagine how important would your new year resolutions be if god forbid you had only one year to live. What would be the contents of the resolution and sincerity of approach?

Don't just pile up your resolutions with all sort of "ideal" things to do. Have a short list containing those things that have great significance to YOU however bizarre and audacious it might seem. Then make plans to attain them and single-mindedly pursue it as if it were the most important thing in your life. Don't allow silly excuses to stop you in your tracks.

Every year-end eve can be a good occasion to catch-up on how far you have come and then looking forward to the new year in a new light as our aspirations keep undergoing a change.

Happy New Year!

A NEW SKILL ACQUIRED …

Umm … needed to start my blog with something. Guess the best thing to start with, would be my swimming experience. Swimming is one thing I was longing to learn right since my childhood. But, for some reason, it somehow just eluded me. The first time I tried to learn it was when I was about 15 years old. My father was my coach then. We were carrying on well for some days but eventually I developed a bout of bad cold, cough and chest congestion and I had to give it up.

Since then I have been trying to learn it on my own, but as you would imagine, with little success. Every time I used to go, people who could swim even little, used to give me a complex, making me wonder - ‘what the heck am I doing here’. Even my wife who had started just recently learnt quite fast from one of her friends. I used to see the swimming coach at times, barking instructions at the learners – mostly kids, who used to swim so beautifully and I made my resolve to enrol.

Recently I was at home on a block leave with no plans to go out of town as Saumya (my wife) could not take leave at the same time. Thought this would be an opportune time to enrol for swimming classes and I just joined without giving it a second thought.

Well … like any new skill that you try to acquire, it was a little grueling to begin with. My coach was a good guy, was not very hard at me as much as he was on the kids. The pool was 25m long and while he made me take 10 rounds, the poor kids were made to take as many as 40 rounds in the beginning which would increase to as much as 160-180!

For about 10 days, I used to go daily, twice a day. It used to leave me totally exhausted at the end of the day, what with my body aching at all parts. I did not know that I had muscles at so many places in my body! I also lost some of my precious weight…. L

And at last … it happened! … I learned swimming … I was so thrilled. It was almost as if I had learnt flying! I let my body be lifelessly light and actually feel the experience of swimming. I think swimming has really helped me to relax. You know, you have to relax your body in order to help it float and then you can effortlessly swim. I now go pretty regularly for swimming – every alternate day and yes … without the complex that I used to have earlier on.

You need to be relentless in the pursuit of a new skill and then the perseverance pays. With this new found confidence, I now look forward to learning some other craft - something which I have been trying to learn for quite sometime but have not been persistent enough to actually master it .. like playing an instrument (violin), learning a language (Malayalam and French comes immediately to my mind) .. shall surely keep you updated …