Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Over the last week, I was on a road trip on work. But I chose not to drive rather be driven, so I can take calls, do some work while seated in the rear seat or probably catch up some sleep or even watch a movie. Actually, I did all of these this trip. Most of the time while I drive, I am engrossed in thoughts, sometimes deep and heavy and this distracts my speed, concentration and blurs my vision – literally and emotionally. When I was watching Kodachrome in my hotel room, I couldn’t agree more what this solo-driving means to me, most of the time. This time is mostly “Me Time” – without much distractions even as I look back the rear and side view mirrors of my car as well as my own past life. No regrets, yes. I have lived a complete life, just like Ben – Benjamin Asher Ryder (Ed Harris), a famous photographer of his times who goes on one last road trip with his estranged son Matt Ryder (Jason Sudeikis) with whom he reunites after a decade though Matt grows up with Ben’s brother and his

A young muslim boy aged 7 was distributing newspapers in a quaint town of South India many decades back. His school teacher who was a Hindu, identified him as a bright young man in the making and encouraged him to study well, though the boy had to still make ends meet for his poverty stuck family. Today, the entrance of Rameswaram, the town that he lived and grew up has an edifice of his lifetime work in the name and style of “Kalam Memorial” where a rocket that he commissioned in his early years stands proudly showcasing his years of work and dedication, before he eventually became the First Citizen of India and made his homeland proud. Other than this, there are many many such examples of people who have come up, literally from the rags and have risen to higher echelons of the society, in the professional, entrepreneurial and even political space. The White Tiger, now streaming on Netflix is about this phenomenon – Poverty Porn – as the name that has been coined for this as a referen

unhinge   verb past tense:  unhinged ; past participle:  unhinged   make (someone) mentally unbalanced. "the loneliness had nearly unhinged her"      deprive of stability; throw into disorder. "a chain of events unhinges the structure of his family" Three things I learned early in my life to lead a better life – use PST liberally and without any hesitation or shame as the situation may be: Please, Sorry & Thank You. In many occasions, this has come in handy; in some it didn’t. After all, it requires a lot of grace to say these three words. And a lot more to accept them.   Unhinged   is all about one of these words. And how someone can bully another. Who bullied who? Later in this article. Rachel, very well played by Caren Pistorius, a single mother (in the making) is a distressed person due to various reasons and lives with her son Kyle (Gabriel Bateman who is in real only 14 years younger to her). While she’s rushing to drop her son to the school as she over-sl

  Corporate Politics has remained ever since Corporates have existed. Now, whether it is good for an Organisation or not is anyone’s guess. Similarly, should one play politics at workplace is another question which remains unanswered and is left to an individual’s prerogative at the end. Over the past 20 years, I have tried as much as possible to remain apolitical and without aligning too left or right with colleagues and this, has perhaps made all the difference. To my success, rather the limited success, as I reckon with no regrets at all over 24 years at work. Though I am quite happy with my outcomes, to be what I am after all, in my own style of working. I happened to watch two films back to back last weekend and it was only coincidence that the names of both the films begin with the alphabet, B. One was Beirut and another was Backstabbing for Beginners. Both were gripping screenplays, both were worth watching on a big screen and both were finely crafted, in my humble opinion. And

Prof. Selvam was a big inspiration when I was still in school. In the climax of the film “Nammavar”, a title which Mr. Kamal Hassan’s supporters  have been liberally using for his political posters, advises the young ones that “Change” will take time, but one shouldn’t expect immediate results as the system has been corrupted for a long time. 25+ years later, Prof. John Durairaj also concludes in the film with a similar message. That we should keep trying for improvements and never stop becoming better – at things around us as well as ourselves. While everything was reasonably good with Vijay’s Master, the Kutti story that was intended was a tad too long – spanning almost 180 minutes.  Lokesh Kanagaraj, who’s “Kaithi” feat. Karthi had a great outing a year back has been on the news ever since his “Master” feat. not one but two Vijay namesakes was announced. Along with the veteran Vijay (Sr.), we also have Vijay Sethupathi who plays a negative role yet again after Vikram Vedha (with Mad

Well, I decided to call it “Nayak” myself as the film is all about the Nayak and his Khalnayak. Or the other way around. So it sounded all the way from frame 1 till the climax with a twist. With the way the film ended, I won’t be surprised if the makers end up making a sequel to the movie. Rather, a prequel, up to where Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor argue on a stage where Anurag teases Anil to the hilt and their admonishment of each other not just amuses the live audience, rather shocks them with the turn of things in the first few mins of the film rolling on.  AK vs. AK is supposedly a “real-life movie” starring Director Anurag Kashyap and Bollywood Superstar Anil Kapoor as themselves. Apparently, there’s a former rivalry between the two and things take an ugly turn with Anurag kidnapping none other than Sonam Kapoor who appears as herself in the “movie”. He sets a deadline unto sunrise next morning by when the actor has to search for his daughter all across Mumbai city and it’s subu

I was casually browsing Amazon Prime and stumbled upon this movie’s 2-line review and was intrigued to watch it. For 2 reasons. It was about friendship. And Entrepreneurship. Two of the most important things I cherish in my own life. The 1 hour 20 film was a breezy roll with some great camaraderie, nonsensical stuff that closest friends end up doing, personal and professional challenges we all go through, especially when we decide to work “together” and finally the big and ugly world of “Vulture Capitalists” as it is being displayed in many films as well as in the general domain. The reality, is of course different.   Mia Carter (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel Paige (Rose Byrne) are two childhood friends who set-up and run a Cosmetics business and have adorned the cover of many a few local magazines and garnered awards. As is the case in many start-ups, they have built a great business running huge debts (read: Investments), especially with their signature “One-Night Stand” make-up kit which