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*Spoilers ahead*
Rajneeti was a strange experience. It didn’t feel like a bad movie while watching it, but it didn’t feel like a great movie either. I am stuck somewhere in between the two, leaning towards good.
My issues with the movie that stop me from saying it is a great movie:
1. Every now and then, there would be an uncomfortable incident : The Naseruddin-Nikhila Trikha rain scene at the start; the Ajay Devgan-Nikhila Trikha confrontation; the scene where Ranbir Kapoor agrees to marry Katrina; the one, later, where he decides that Arjun Rampal should instead marry Katrina. Too many for comfort.
2. The movie has definite parallels with the Mahabharata, but I would have preferred an undercurrent, rather than an explicit parallel. The problem occurred when these parallels were clearly forced into the narrative. For instance, the Nana Patekar-Ranbir Kapoor Bhagvad Gita scene. It didn’t make any sense, because by that point, everyone had killed plenty of unarmed people. So Ranbir hesitating at the climax was out of place.
3. Inconsistent characters: Ranbir, out of nowhere, turning into a mastermind. His character’s interaction with Katrina’s, which never seemed coherent right till the last scene.
On the other hand, there was plenty going for the movie:
1. Pace : This made all the difference, because I couldn’t notice many flaws while watching the movie.
2. Acting : I immensely enjoyed the scenes where Ranbir Kapoor and Nana Patekar were on-screen together. It is tough to describe their relationship, but they had brilliant chemistry. Most actors did well, but they could only go as far as the flaws in character. There were some weak links, but they didn’t get much screen time.
3. Story: I liked the story, and that’s subjective.
In all, if a movie is an experience, Rajneeti is good. But if a movie is something more than that, this movie has problems.
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You’d think they’d bury Ranbir’s American girlfriend instead of cremating her.
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The category Movie Reviews has been renamed to Thoughts on Movies. I realized how arrogant I was in calling them Movie Reviews. Yes, two years later.
I’ve made enough fun of Nithyananda, but now I feel sorry for the man (which by the way, he claims he isn’t). It is partly because I’ve run out of jokes, but it still says a lot about how empathetic I am.
After being granted bail, Nithyananda began his penance, presumably as penalty for penal misconducts. While meditating, he sat and prayed surrounded by fire — lit using blue kerosene meant for Below Poverty Line ration card holders. Therefore, cops have registered a case and he could be convicted for seven-years, this article claims.
So long, my friend.
And I’m not referring to what you think I am.
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Speaking of people whom their respective gods haven’t protected, read this story of an American caught on the Af-Pak border who was on a mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. He was armed with 40-inch sword, a pistol, night vision goggles and a copy of the Bible. When asked why he thought he had a chance of tracing Bin Laden, he replied, “God is with me, and I am confident I will be successful in killing him”.
This will go down as a negative point in Jesus’ performance review.
.. please be patient. The blogroll will show up as a separate link along with FAQs, etc. So in effect, it will be buried. The good news is that it’ll include many more blogs. I had to cut down the previous list as it was occupying precious space.
But come on, be honest: Were you getting any hits at all from my blog?
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A majority* of readers have said positive things about the new design. Thank you.
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*For this case, majority wasn’t calculated numerically.
The quote of the day comes from Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari. He was responding to allegation that the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, had something to do with the escape of Union Carbide (of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy) chief Warren Anderson.
Rajiv Gandhi or his government had nothing to do with it. It is baseless and cheap to insinuate that a Prime Minister, who had to sacrifice his mother just one and half month ago (before assuming his office) and then sacrificed his own life five years later for the nation’s integrity, allowed somebody to escape out of the country under any pressure (from the US).
I would agree if:
1. Rajiv Gandhi had shot Indira Gandhi for the country, implying that he made a choice to sacrifice his mother.
2. He had later killed himself, again, for the country.
Both didn’t happen, and Rajiv Gandhi had no control over either of the events.
But the most WTF bit was:
Tewari added, “I do not think that those who are levelling such allegations have any patriotism left in them.”
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The one event Rajiv Gandhi had any control over, was the 1984 Sikh pogrom. His response to that was the infamous quote:
Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little.
If you not someone who reads this blog in an RSS reader, you’ll notice a design change. I have tried to be minimalistic, although I could do better.
Why?
Design was never part of my thinking. That changed recently, as design is an extremely important entity at my workplace. So now, whenever I can, I try and think of design. I’m not good at it yet, but it’s a start.
Think of all the blogs and websites you visit : How much content do you consume and how much of it do you ignore? The next time you visit one, take note of the number of words you read vs. those you ignore. The answer will surprise you. The internet is a distracting place, and it has evolved to be so. Lack of a sense of design contributed.
An update to the Safari browser was released recently, called Safari 5. It is currently my primary browser. One feature in Safari 5 is a potential game-changer : Reader mode. Read more about it here. It strips out all the noise from an article, and presents only the content. I’ve been using it for a few days now, and I can see how much litter is present on the internet. I don’t want to add to it.
This current theme isn’t perfect or what I’d ideally want. But this is one of the few minimalistic ones WordPress allows. To reduce noise, I’ve decided to not tag posts (I’ll still add categories to posts, but limit those to one per post). I don’t see any use of tags, except the very occasional traffic. Contrast that to the noise it creates while you are reading, and the tradeoff is acceptable.
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I’m seriously thinking about disabling comments, but haven’t reached a conclusion on that yet. I’d still open commenting on topics where a debate is needed, but not all posts fall in that category.
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And don’t even think of going all freedom-of-speechy on me if I ever disable comments. I’ll go all property-rightsy on you.
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Suggestions and thoughts are welcome.
Nice:
Wish I could say this is the end of the matter.
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While on Khap Panchayats and same gotra marriages:
It is funny because a gotra “is the lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth”.
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In many parts of the world, the fight is over allowing same-sex marriages. In other parts, some are fighting over disallowing same-gotra marriages.
On a lighter note, this news piece:
Pak ‘spy’ pigeon caught on border, police suspect ISI hand.
Police suspect that the pigeon, which landed in Indian territory, may be on “special mission of spying” and might have been pushed by Pakistan intelligence agency ISI.
The pigeon is being kept in an air conditioned room which is being guarded by policemen. A medical examination of the bird was carried out by the doctor from the state animal husbandry department.
After the recent killing of two Pakistan-based terrorists in a gunbattle in Gurdaspur district, special instructions were issued to border inhabitants to report anything suspicious to the police, the SHO said.
Chahal said he has been asked by his seniors not to leave the police station or to proceed on leave until the fate of pigeon was decided.
The number ’303-6284620′ was written in red on the pigeon’s feathers along with a rubber stamp – Islamabad Wazirabad-Pakistan.
Chahal said they suspected that the pigeon must have landed on Indian soil from Pakistan with a message, which has not be traced so far.
The SHO said that Pakistani pigeon are easily recognisable as they have a “different look”.
“There are five to six families on Indo-Pak border village that have keen interest in keeping pigeons in their houses. They have told us about the difference between Indian and Pakistani birds,” he said.
It could be true, but that doesn’t take away the fact that it is funny as hell.
And if it is true, charge the damn pigeon, I say.
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, this year, were held in Sri Lanka. All south Indian film associations decided to boycott it “in deference to Tamil sentiments”. That’s not all:
However, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s participation in IIFA has evoked strong protests from the Tamil film industry.
Many Bollywood A-listers including Arjun Rampal are also giving the event a miss. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, who were a regular at IIFA, will not be attending the three-day event as they are busy in promoting ‘Raavan’.
Let’s leave aside the debate of whether Arjun Rampal and Abhishek Bachchan are A-listers. I welcome this move of south Indian film associations to refuse to step into a nation that conducted atrocities against its people. That’s called being principled.
Now if I could get a date when they’re moving out of India ..
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Recently, writer Amitav Ghosh was honoured by an Israeli university. The British press called for him to refuse it. He then wrote a reply, which is a great read.
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In the IIFA case, had it been a Sri Lankan government award, the argument would atleast be slightly more reasonable that it is now. Slightly.
Religion and faith are complex issues in India. In many cases, they involves voluntary delusion. It shouldn’t be my concern what someone chooses to do in their private life — but when mass delusion infringes on someone’s rights or creates impediments in the implementation of law, it is a problem.
Vishal Arora writes a fascinating piece for The Caravan : The Land of Illusion, on Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi. It is long, but if you have the time, please read it.
After reading it, the only explanation I could come up with is: Faith is a straw for most.
The past few weeks we’ve had the record for youngest person to scale the Everest broken twice. First, by 16-year old Indian Arjun Bajpayee, and a few hours later, 13-year old Jordan Romero.
Interestingly, Nepal has a minimum age limit of 16 and Jordan had to sneak into the Everest region via China (Tibet). As news of Jordan’s record broke out, China revised its rules: They now have a minimum and maximum age limit for climbers attempting Everest : 16 and 60 respectively.
So to attempt Everest from the Chinese side, you have to be over 16 or under-16 with a fake Chinese passport (à la gymnastics, Olympics ’08) or Shahid Afridi.
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I’m not sure if I agree with the rule, but it sure will ease the pressure of Indian American kids, whose parents are now looking for new avenues to showcase their kids’ talents. The Spelling Bee, of course, has now been conquered beyond doubt. Winning it isn’t even a praiseworthy feat now.
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How many years do you have before you can use the rules as an excuse for not climbing Mt. Everest?
