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Placid - A Short Story

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  Photo by David Rangel on Unsplash As I was walking through the park on my way back home from work, I stumbled upon an odd scene. A few yards away from the walking path, I saw a man crouched below a large tree, staring at a small patch of grass and dirt. I thought that he may have dropped something and was looking for it, so I walked over to see if I can help. “Did you lose something, sir?”, I asked him as I approached. “Oh! No, not really”, he smiled in awkward surprise as he turned his attention to me, “this is where my dog was buried several years ago. I’m just visiting him.” “Must have been a special dog, very close to you I guess”, I said. “No…”, he said brusquely, “we had a weird relationship…it’s a long story.” “I am a dog owner myself…” I spoke curiously as I crouched beside him, “not sure what a weird relationship with a dog looks like.” The man smiled at me and said “I can tell you our story if you like, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about how long it is”. “I promise I wi
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4 Super-Power Movies You Must Watch

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A lot has been read and said about the latest, most anticipated super-hero movie of the year: "The Dark Knight Rises". And while this post is not a review of the same, I would like to use a few sentences to ponder upon the what made Nolan's take on Batman so endearing to all of us. I believe that Nolan's trilogy is not about the comic book character we know, but it is in fact a dark and gripping drama about a man who took matters in his own hands. It is the humanity and the madness in all of us that these movies glorify and make them different from every other CGI driven super-hero movie we know of. At this note, I want to have the pleasure of sharing with you my top favorite movies of the same kind: movies which are based on similar super-hero like themes, but with a very different aspect to them altogether. My suggestion is, watch them asap:   4. Chronicle: While Chronicle does not deal with super-heroes, it does show you the distance between super-powers and
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Movie Review: "Aarakshan" is a Foolish Fantasy Film

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W hen one makes a movie about an important social issue that touches the lives of countless people, it comes with a responsibility to stay grounded and as real as possible, and most of all, be sincere towards the issue more than anything else. If you are looking at “Aarakshan” as one such movie about the crucial issue of reservations in the Indian education system, then you are in for a big practical joke that director Prakash Jha has played with movie-watchers all across. “Aarakshan” may be a mash-up of several hot topics loosely touched with the intention of gaining on their importance in our hearts, but it is definitely not a movie about reservations. In fact, it would be even unfair to call it a movie about us- real people who live in this society. "Aarakshan" is more like a poor fiction movie with un-relatable characters, that swiftly jumps shamelessly from one important issue like reservation to others like commercialization and politicization of pre-college education w
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"Cowboys & Aliens" is Good a Dish That is Half-Baked

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Almost all movie lovers have watched great wild-west movies and cherished them. Tall men with leather boots facing off in the heat, hands on their holsters- the sand, sweat, tension in the air and eagles calling in the back- cowboy movies like “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, “A Fistful of Dollars” and several others have created a genre of movies that is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the history of cinema. On the other hand, no one can deny that alien-attack on human cities and mankind’s battle against it is one fantasy science fiction that most of us love to watch at the edge of our seats-be it “War of the Worlds” or “Independence Day”. Director Jon Favreau of “Iron Man” fame, in his latest release “Cowboys and Aliens” tries to bring together these two genres of cinema together and create and interesting piece- something that we have never watched before. It is true that “Cowboys and Aliens” will go down as a landmark in experimental cinema, for an idea, even the sound of whic
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Singham Is A Power-Packed Entertainer

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S ome of the most favorite moments in Indian cinema have been when a powerful, corrupt bad guy and his army of intimidating huge goons get ruthlessly beaten at the hands one righteous man. The image of a Rambo-like one-man army with larger than life morals standing against everything that is wrong with the world is how Indian cinema has celebrated heroism right from its origin, and it still continues to do so. Add to that jaw-dropping action sequences and car chases, heavily loaded dialogues, intense drama and characters that audiences love or hate with all their heart; and what you get is an explosive thrill ride on screen that you cannot take your eyes away from. This is what Rohit Shetty’s “Singham” is all about- it is a celebration of heroism that we have loved since always, but it only gets better now. Set in Goa, “Singham” is a movie about Inspector Bajirao Singham played by Ajay Devgan, an honest cop who shamelessly uses his authority to set things right, no matter what it take
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"Black Swan" is Intense, A Masterpiece

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I t is once in a very long while that there comes a movie which leaves the viewers jaw-dropped and shocked. And when two of such movies come from the same filmmaker, you definitely know that you are looking at the Picasso of film-making, with each of his masterpieces worth collecting, and watching over and over again for their sheer perfection. Darren Aronofsky is the man I am referring to, and I consider myself privileged to have watched his masterpieces. “Requiem For A Dream” was a masterpiece, but Aronofsky further raises the bar with his amazing psychological thriller “Black Swan”. When Heath Ledger died due to drug overdose immediately after his legendary performance as Joker in “The Dark Knight”, there was news that Heath sank psychologically too deep into his role as the psychopath, and this was speculated as a possible reason for his death. There have been many other such instances when actors have sunk completely into their roles, to such an extent that they lose the distinct
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"Tanu Weds Manu" is Fun, But Only in Parts

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I find it particularly sad when a movie that starts off really well turns into somewhat of a bore later on. You can neither hate that movie completely, nor love it absolutely. “Tanu Weds Manu”, starring Kangna Ranaut and R Madhavan, is a unique movie: in a lot of ways. TWM starts off with very life-like characters, be it from the thin alleys of Kanpur, or posh localities of Delhi. What makes these characters even better is the strong performance that the actors put into them. The movie begins really well, with a series of unpredictable and hilarious situations that these characters fall into. The comedy is really genuine, unique, and rare, and thus establishes TWM as an out-of-the-box, fun-filled romantic comedy. That moment onwards, the expectations are set, and the audience is intrigued by the characters and their amusing interactions. You realize that this isn’t a movie with a unique script, but a unique representation of things. Be it Kangana Ranaut as the abusive, rebellious and
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