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..)