Cinema, Karam, Kapi

It has always been a point of discussion if it is ethical to double-cross a partner, whether in social life or in business or when in the Forces / Call of Duty. Well, there is not right or wrong here in my humble opinion. I guess the situation, the circumstances and the job/role that one plays decides whether he/she should deceive the other. An old adage goes thus – “The end doesn’t justify the means” cannot be more appropriate for this kind of behaviour. But then, life is not so simple and beautiful that we all don’t witness such situations. 2 Guns is just that.  A DEA cop and a Navy marine are both in disguise. While one chooses to befriend the other, the other one picks the former randomly. Bobby (Denzel Washington) and Stig (Mark Wahlber) visit a local diner to have a coffee and conversation. Bobby is waiting for his pal to arrive so he can offer some grub while Stig is giving a deep look inside the Bank which is opposite the diner. In split seconds, the Diner is set on fire for re

We cannot erase our past, but we can ensure we erase our future so it doesn’t erase our past. Yeah. Read again. And again. If you can get what I’m saying, well, then that’s Tent for you. Tenet was the first big budget outing that will be remembered for being released worldwide in theatres even as the Covid-19 pandemic shook the world all through 2020. Be glad that there is no direct or indirect connect to China. For Christopher Nolan is known to intertwine not just screenplay but also multiple geographies in his films.  In Tenet, he has stuck to just 7 countries (or geographies) including Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Norway, the UK and the US as well as amchi- Mumbai displaying a brave bungee jumping act among others in Mumbai in an Antillia-like structure. Later, they gatecrash a part of Oslo Airport with a Cargo Airliner with minimum destruction to the structure (ser, perhaps!).  Tenet is fantastically (and fanatically written and conceptualised) by Nolan, someone who has always belted m

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