Lights ! Camera ! Action! : My favourite films

It’s been ages since I blogged hence here I put some effort. Sitting peacefully in the Garden city, Bangalore here I let my creativity tap the ether for ideas. Well I will write on what I have very little idea: FILMS..!

 I seldom watch films . Till my 10^th standard I hardly went to a film theatre. (Most of films were seen in Officers club on Tuesdays) But once I entered into college, I went on absolute filmy rampage, watching a film every Friday. Blame it on citys most happening theatre “Sangeet” right next to my home in Lancer barracks, Hyderabad and citys best loafers Rajoe , Choji and Jacko for friends. So now iam back to my abstention period. Its been an year I guess I ve been to a film theatre so in dedication to my abstention period, I am penning down some films which touched my heart in last one year.

Lemme start with quote by dipika pudukone which I believe is very true. ( I am not really sure if she said or in these exact words as well)

“ I am proud to be part of business that educates and inspires masses”   

        

Political Biopic : Gandhi, Bose and Ambedkar

Attenbourgh Gandhi tops the list. Its still amazing to see the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi. There will be a line where He says in context of british, “are we fighting to punish (british) or fighting for freedom.” I was thrilled at clarity of his thought, no wonder he was pivotal in bringing down the union jack. Subash Chandra Bose the lion of Bengal is another interesting biopic related to freedom. Its full of heroism, international adventure and great convincing action by sachin kadrekar. Ambedkar is my second favourite, played by awesome kerala actor Mamooty who did total justice for his role. It sears your heart to see the society discrimination on base of caste. Even today we don’t find a single person to rise intellectual capacity of Ambedkar who despite being untouchable, holds Doctorate from Columbia (1^st Indian ), London universities in Politics, Economics, and Law. Some awesome inspiring genius He was. His  far reaching wisdom can be reflected in his grand work “Indian Constitution” which is single reason that till now, despite of worlds experts view that india would break soon as british left , and despite of fall of democracy in entire neighborhood…India survives, thrives and still exists as a single unit. One prime reason is the sheer genius of Ambedkar. What a man He was who single handedly changed the demography of Buddhism in India since the Buddha himself.

Motorcycle Diaries / Invictus and The Butler

Motorcycle Diaries surely had a deep impact on my mind and soul. It’s the Portuguese film with English subtitles. It’s the story of development of man whom world now knows as Che guevra . The international symbol of revolution and icon of youth and rebels. The film is memoirs of his travels as a student across the south America and how he changes from simple medical student to international revolutionary on seeing all the poverty, injustices and negative impact of crony crass capitalism . Ofcourse to know much more about Che , its best to watch two part documentary Che, but Motorcycle diaries is more than good enough to make you silent and deeply contemplative.

Invictus and The Butler: I bracketed together though one is set in America and another in south Africa. What connects both is cruel injustices faced by blacks historically. The butler is story of race relations between blacks and whites through the eyes of black butler in white house. And my current favourite Invictus is about story how Nelson Mandela unites the blacks and whites in end of Apartheid days with sort of rugby. Deeply touching from Rainbow nation as South Africa is called.

These two films really inspired me to scurry for book on Apartheid and Race relations in America. And whats one more common point is the influence of our own Mahatma Gandhi on these leaders. Martin luther king in USA and Nelson Mandela in South Africa , both were inspired by Gandhi’s teaching tried to assimilate the society rather than eliminate and exact revenge on superior class, whites.

Drama:  October sky, August Rush, Searching for Bobby fischer etc

In Assam while commuting in local bus few boys who were music performers recommended me this inspiring musical saga. Every music lover ought to see August rush , the heart string puller of a kid musical prodigy reuniting to his parents through his musical voyage. October Sky is again story of

bunch of science students lacking resources and education dreaming of building a rocket in a sleepy coal mine village for their science project. In credits we get to know that few of those students finally join NASA as scientists fulfilling their childhood dream. On hind sight I feel like its akin to Wings of Fire the autobio of Indian missile man, APJ Abdul Kalam. My main motivation for watching In Search of bobby fischer was my curiosity for mad chess genius bobby fischer though film has nothing to do with him but if you know some basic knowledge on chess and giants like fischer, micheal tal etc, you would certainly enjoy the film. Shawshank Redemption was super flop when the film was made but it was a sleeper hit in dvd sales , it’s the prison diary replete of stories of jail birds, hope and a haunting story line. Gran torino is all genius of clint eastwood and Big fish is fairy tale is the film that should be watched on weekend lazy nights. Enemy at Gates is story of world war tale over the fight for stalingard in soviet Russia and Schindlers List is holocaust based heart rending film on jew suffering during world war 2.  Though both the films can enjoyed by anyone, little idea of worlds state in 1940s would be immensely helpful and would make films more enriching and touchy..

Spy films: well..trust chouji and me…we had seen every james bond film screened in Sangeeth theatre. Spy films are always close to my heart ever since I was born. All Bond or Bourne Trilogy series ( Bournes Identity,Supremacy and ultimatum) are highly exaggerated but equally entertaining. People of my age would always choose Pierce Brosnan as their favourite Bond for his looks and suaveness. But my fav is Daniel Craig : Crude and Ruthless. My kind of man.  But in last year best spy films I saw were Indian.

Vishawaroopam / Madras café

Vishwaroopam is by Kamal Hassan being an undercover RAW agent deep in Al Qaeda. Never had I seen such an awesome tight script. No wonder Kamal Hassan is legend and Tamil film industry are kings of creativity in Indian Cinema. This is one film along Madras café I have seen multiple times without getting bored . Madras Cafe is strictly not spy film but I bracketed in here. It’s the story of RAW army officer in LTTE lanka which culminates in assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. For someone who followed LTTE and Assassination investigation , its sheer delight to see the similarities between reality and film. Kudos to John Abraham in making the film. Five stars to both the films.

well there ends few films that came across my mind. i hope you would share your favourite films as well..( dats the signature style of Panda girl ending all her blogs..)

Rise and Shine

Rain and Shine ..!!

Both the rain in the streets and incessant thoughts in my mind appear to never to cease. So many thoughts ran in past yet I procrastinated penning anyone of them. Even this blog was written in parts and snippets and now glued together. As nature unleashed its cold water projectiles to earth I smile at irony. Here its raining non stop and delhi is scorching at record heat. Whatever, iam kinda awe at majesty of world . Awe at life of human in general and my life and path in particular . My mind races from one end of feel-good moments to spectrum on the other end.

Simple vegetarian home made meal seems to warm heart more then multi course cuisine in fancy restaurants. I still get goose pimples when I face nature in its majestic splendor. Always awestruck at the divine artist who painted all those myriad colours on this planet. Cool wind brushing my hair, thirst quenching  water ,lonely mountains, simple sleep under shade of giant oaks , a good comic book, gentle drizzle , fresh air,  soothing full moon and countless stars (go out of city to witness this spectacle) , etc etc and so many simple moments and events that make our life more divine .

How can we ignore the human element? All those people whom you have walked along with you not long before etching deep into heart? My infinitely sweet baby bunny nephews whose simple adorable acts make my day making this life worth living, my banker pal Ashish without whom my life in vizag would ve been miserable ,horrible and definitely disabled,, big boss satya who taught me strategies both in chess and life, rushmi panda who is all magical and mental tease (meet her once, ur life wud neve be same) , VDs soothing simplicity n gentle smile (yet to see how much vileness is behind dat gentle smile n ravishing pink ) and many many more names that are hidden in crevices of my cranium

I don’t claim that any of these to be any special than you are. I don’t even claim that Iam like them or we are similar in thoughts and deeds n attitude and aptitude . There could be a massive personality chasm yet these are few who made me what iam today. For good or bad, they made my life all magical. Special and blissful. Fresh and Exotic!!!

All bliss? My mind refuses to stop , it goes on full throttle as it veers to darker shades  , I wonder how RAW officers work in enemy nations risking their lives 24/7? I happen to interact with soldiers from security establishment  sometime ago who had served at border. I was aghast at terrible conditions they live , far away from their families ,sometimes with zero connection  and in snowy forested mountainous areas for days and months. Some camps will be in areas where nature and terrain is harsher enemy then cross border enemy . Dealing with hostile population in JK and NE can shoot your cortisols to roof. All at the end of day no one gives them due credit they deserve.

I wondered how do tribal people survive in forests and mountains? how is water and sanitation is managed in mountains and I wonder how common people in JK,NE and naxal belt cope with almost daily violence and tension?

Well, iam not one to get into morals and sentiments. At times mind goes haywire. There are times iam all numb to societal morals and moments of love and affection. Guess this is how world is created. Sun and rain, black and white , stupids like me and genius like you and so on…

I happen to open my yahoo after ages and guess what I found? This stupid poem I might have written for some one whom I don’t even remember but smacks some moments of my extreme optimism

World says Skies and Sand never meet

At horizon, they do

World says Days and Nights are different

At twilight, each blends into other

World says, some are hard to catch

I say,hmm..havent you heard this?..Persistence beats Resistence??

Dive Deep Within…!!!

Dive Deep Within…!!!

“Joy is “A” of life not something that should be attained in the end”-Sadhguru in his book Joy 24/7

I really don’t know why I have chosen the title

 “Dive Deep Within”, but I did. Last time I blogged was ages ago, probably when dinosaurs and dragons stalked the earth and imagination alike. Professional commitments and personal laziness saw that I become redundant writer. Now i am back blogging my experiences!

Other day I was just relaxing with no particular thoughts in my balcony watching buildings in front of me. As cool wind played around, I could sense aroma in air but nothing caught my attention as my mind drifted from one thought to another aimlessly.

Then suddenly it happened. Everything in one millionth of second. I could see the buildings in front of me. But whats a big deal in it? I see those old lump of concrete everyday but today something changed the way I see. I could see that i am seeing. As if all my life I was blind and today eyes got the ability to see back. There was sudden spurt of extreme ecstasy all through me. I could feel my entire body in totality. Top to toe, all strands of hair , I could feel my entire body. My senses have heightened phenomenally. I could feel the breath pumping from depths of lungs to nostrils and the aroma it carries.

 But all this is secondary as I was exhilarated with very fact I could see things around me in different manner. Something changed. The quality of vision changed absolutely. Everything around appeared so lovely. Everything animate and inanimate…stones, dust,leaves,trees…air..my own hands..everything appeared so lovely. I fell in love with myself and existence around me,absolutely unconditionally.The climax that off euphoric feeling is that of my ability to locate the source of exhilaration. I was able to pinpoint the fountain of My Happiness.

It was emerging from within me. Its as simple as that. Source of happiness is from within.!!

All our lives we keep chasing happiness externally when the fountainhead of inexhaustible happiness is very much within. It was sudden realization how external objects merely magnify and reflect happiness present inside.

I read in zillion books that happiness is found within but its all intellectual understandings. But now I had that profound experience from deep within..it might lasted less than a second but this split second experience is worth tons of bookish knowledge.

Now I have tasted what n how it is,I really wonder how can I lengthen this state longer rather then a second. I really wonder how I can draw joy 24/7 from within consistently than make joy rare visitor in life??

Well, question has arisen…time for answer to arise..!! Time to Dive Deep Within!!!