A Little Less Sugar And Lots Of Bullets

No, I am not talking of some mumbaiya dish. Nor am I talking about some presentation that I have to deliver this thursday.

Its about this weekend. Two movies in two days. Cheeni Kum and Shootout at Lokhandwala. Hence the title for the post. Not that clever you say? well, maybe.

Cheeni kum has a brilliant performance by Amitabh Bachchan, if you are a fan ( not necessarily a BIG fan ) then you must watch this. The way he has grown as an actor and also as an individual is clearly evident in his portrayal. Its not just the portraying of the nuances of a egoistic 'old' man but also the air of having lived in London for more 20 years that makes him so special. He seems more comfortable speaking of love in more 'physical terms' than most other actors ( younger, of course ) would be. Tabu flounders once or twice, but otherwise she's as graceful as always. That swagger and easy going charm.
Cheeni Kum also scores high on my scorecard because of its excellent script, especially the way it highlights the sarcasm of Amitabh and the naughtiness of Tabu. And then there's the acceptance that physical attraction is an integral part of the process of two people falling in love. Believe me, thats quite a departure from the usual Indian movies and it DOES feel good.
But it fails in the second half. Stereotyped people, stereotyped ending, stereotyped emotions.

Overall , definitely worth a watch.

Shootout at Lokhandwala is a forgettable movie. Its pacy, but there are too many sidetracks at the wrong times, like those bar dances, like those 'emo' scenes the policemen have with their wives and the gangsters have with their kins. It can give you a headache. Only good thing - Vivek Oberoi. Back to Company days, eh? Hopefully. Luckily for me, there was a rock music piece ( though awfully placed in the movie ) which actually rocked. The movie didn't.

Overall, you should rather spend the time reading my blog than this movie :D

Leaving you with pictures of the ' Breakout Zone' of my office. Nice place.

Breathe Easy.

Rosso.

Identity Crisis

I know no one reads my blogs ( sigh ) , so i can randomly do whatever I want . Who am I kidding? please, please read my blog :D
Well, as much as I am not aware of who you are, so are you. So here are some clues in form of pictures. Go ahead, try , I have given as many hints as I could have :D

Chattisgarh!

Chattisgarh, like Orissa, is largely tribal, densely forested and ultra rich in ores and minerals. It is also home to a large number of relatively unknown( at the national level ) tourist places. Like the following places i visited this january with my family. Chitrakoot and Tirathgarh, both majestic waterfalls . Have a look.

A Perfect Day - Part One - Getting ready for office

Traveling to office by the auto-rickshaw gave me this idea. A picture of how a perfect day would look like.

The First Act:

Waking up , feeling fresh , without being woken up by the cellphone alarm, without having to put it to snooze 4 times before you start abusing yourself - ' get off the bed, you lazy bum'.Then comes the natural transition to the 'place-that-cannot-be-named'. A perfect day demands a smooth 'passage' , perfect 'timing' and zero 'effort' during that part of the morning rites.

The next part of my usual day comes with pushing oneself below the shower with the fear of being hit by the cold spikes of pouring water. Normally , I turn on the shower, let the downpour flourish in its full glory , stretch my hand out, 'test the water(s)' and then make a plunge after a deep breath. But on a perfect day like this, I stand fearlessly below the shower, turn the tap on with defiance, face the stream with equal gusto. You may wonder why such a change, 'Its the temperature , buddy !! '.

Then comes the most arduos part of the first act. Dressing up for office. Oh, how much i hate this ! Searching for clothes to wear, ironing a clean, but crumpled shirt, spending precious five minutes trying to get my hair right, searching for the socks strewn under the bed, But on such a perfect day , i come out of the bathroom, a clean pair of ironed clothes wait for me on the bed , shoes and socks placed in a perfect possible way - right below where i sit after dressing up, and of course the hair- one touch with the comb and presto! it sets by itself.

Well, that was the first act. More to come in the next posts.

Coming Up - A Perfect Day II - Travelling to office.

Rosso.

But I'm Sad

Well, I started out feeling that I'd be a hero . Now i feel like a complete fool. One single mail. The problem is that I think just a tad bit more than what I should. And that 'makes' my day.

What, lemme think. Out and out defending? in a little bombastic way, Basically, don't try to do something that you are CANNOT do. Period.

Its a lesson.

Rosso.

Man, its not easy

Writing about movies is so tiresome, that too for lazy souls like me. If you find the previous post incomplete, let me tell you that it is incomplete. Its not my fault actually. You see, I had a vision yesterday night. Someone shouted loud in my ears - 'You dumbo, do you think I can't use Google??' . I think it was Suman. So , that was it. I am no more into writing about movies. At least not in detail, just a few things about the scenes i liked, if its a must watch , or a complete no-no. Whatever.

Leaving you with a wierd photograph. Sleeping at the wrong times can make you feel drunk.

Papillon 1973

Papillon ( 1973 ) starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman is an epic. It runs for almost 150 minutes with some excellent performances by both the protagonists. It is the tale of 'Papillon' and 'Louis Dega', french convicts shipped to the french penal colony of 'French Guiana' , and their quest from freedom, over a span of . The movie is based on a book of the same name by Henry Charriere.

Papillon is convicted of murdering a 'pimp' ( thats what i could gather from the movie ) , though he pleads not guilty quite a few times in the movie. Louis Dega ( Dustin Hoffman ) is convicted of swindling , involved in the National Defense Bonds. They meet while being shipped to the French Penal Colony. Most of the movie is filmed in the French Guiana Prison and revolves around Papillon's attempts at escaping , the torture meted out to him, the harsh conditions at the prison and the unlimited perseverance with which the protagonist plans is escape each time. To know more about the story of Papillon , the film, click here and to know more about the story on which the movie is based, click here.

That was all about the story.

This movie is not exactly a 'must-see'. Some of the scenes are way too long and laboured. The plot takes quite some time to develop. And most importantly, it becomes quite depressing at times. Thats also one of the reason why someone should watch it. It is one of the most realistic portrayal of the life of a convict prisoner, who struggles against infinite desperation, against infinite physical and mental torture , keeping himself alive even in the most harshest conditions. It is a story of hope and indomitable will to survive. Steve McQueen as Papillon has given a performance of a lifetime. The part where he is put in solitary confinement is gripping, makes you gasp along with him for the tiny ray of light that seeps in through the crack in the roof. Dustin Hoffman also gives a credible performance. The amount of effort put in by the actors and the director in making the whole setup look real is astounding. Its one of those movies where at the end you have nothing but respect for the actors to have worked in such harsh conditions. To give an idea, papillon is so used to catching insects and eating them during his solitary confinement , that when he's brought back to the normal prison, he cant stop himself from catching a grasshopper , staring at it for some time and then letting it go free. The acting is simply superb.

The movie's major weakness is the slow and laboured pace. Some scenes are plain superflous, and some characters just serve no purpose. For example

The same afternoon

No points for guessing. Mom and Dad.

Mom tries to find herself among 'Sangeetam', 'Sai Samiti' , 'Pooja', her daily dose of 'Eenadu' the telugu newspaper and a hell of a lot of thinking and worrying. Her latest venture - learning computers. She's some fighter. Putting in more than 2 hours per day practicing all that she has learnt at the computer centre. The hunger for learning. The inheritance.

Dad has this love for Jeypore, maybe its the place, maybe its the people. He retired from service last year. Describing him is very difficult. Seems flexible at times and absolutely rigid at times. He likes gardening, watering the plants, making salad for dinner and spending time with his pals at Vijaya Medical Store, Jeypore. His latest venture - Share Trading. Believe me.

Rosso.

The next morning.

The enthusiasm hasn't yet worn off. No matter how hard I try, the dates wont lie. Yes, its my third post since yesterday night. I think i am just compensating for some later lazy times.

The pictures you see are from my hometown. My home and my hometown. Its among the hills in the eastern ghats. Surrounded by hills on almost all sides, the journey through the mountains is inescapably refreshing. I take a bus from Vishakhapatnam. The journey is around 6 hours , of which around 2 hours are spent crossing the Andhra border. The drop in temperature as you crossover from the Andhra border into Orissa is quite steep and noticeable. Especially if its summer. Its quite a picturesque journey through the hills. Will talk about it some other time.

I am unable to write much , maybe its the early morning blues , or maybe i am not articulate enough. But I miss the clouds on the hills during monsoons. The rain, the small creeks, the smell in the air, the years of innocence. Thats Jeypore. Thats my Home.

Rosso.

While I am at it

There are certain things i should clarify
1. I am not an avid traveller, I am just an observer, capturing definitive photographs , definitive in my own way, of course. So don't expect photographs of a new place every time i post.
2. I have reconsidered my decision to make it just a photoblog. Seems like i am also interested in movies ( ** devilish grin **). so will try to pull in thoughts after a outlandishly scintillating movie session. I hope that fine with you. Who's "you". Well, its no one as of now, but who knows, someday it might be Richard P Allmacpherson. Now who's that? Like I said earlier, its no one.

Oh I am sorry, the photographs.

Matheran. Period.

Rosso.

On Second Thoughts

Yes, this was the trip to matheran. Red was the color of the earth there and red was the mid-april sun.


As you might not have noticed, i have dumped the idea of recollecting a long forgotten sad story ( too many adjectives , eh? ) and start a photoblog of some sorts.

Looking forward to myself being a little more active on this blog.

Breathe Easy.

Rosso.