Monday, January 16, 2012

Indian test cricket is dead,long live..

This particular blog  title pretty much sums up about what all,I am sure,Indian cricket fans would have felt this afternoon,a sense of bewilderment,rage,confusion on yet another abject overseas test series defeat.THIS was supposed to the best chance ever for the "Fab 4" to be part of the winning side in a Down-Under series.But Murphy's Law had other plans.
Amidst the ever increasing clamor for the seniors to retire,let us not forget that three of the quartet have served with distinction for Indian cricket for more than a decade and a half and they deserve to go out in a winning series,not one which leaves bitter memories of "if only", for years to come.The BCCI,people,fans.media owe them that much at least, especially since India plays all it's test series at home for the next two years,it would be ideal for the Big 3 to play their last test at their respective home ground.
As for the next-gen players,here are a few,which I am sure,would form the core of the team  at least for the next decade: Abhinav Mukund,Ajinkya Rahane,Che.Pujara (ideal for the no:3 slot),Virat Kohli (captain),Rohit  Sharma,R.Ashwin (he is a good enough batsmen to play as high as num:6,more like a batting all-rounder),Manoj Tiwary,Dinesh Karthik (w.k/v.c),Robin Bist (opening batsmen,the best in Ranji for the past two years),Robin Uthappa (gutsy opening bat option), Ambati Rayudu (the most exciting talent before being sucked into the "other" IPL..ICL),Suresh Raina (potential captian,surely someone can teach him how to play the short stuff), Srivats Goswami (back-up w.k), Pragyan Ojha (he is a must in the test team).Umesh Yadav,Varon Aaron,Praveen Kumar,Ishant Sharma,Kamran Khan (left arm sling action fast bowler,played under Warnie in IPL,was highly recommended) and probably Irfan Pathan if he can get back his pace,would be a good medium pace all-rounder.There will definitely be few others in the mix,due to loss of form,injuries to the afore-mentioned players,but potentially they will be the guys who will be taking over the mantle sooner than later.
A good way of simulating over-seas match conditions for these players,is for the BCCI to allow them to participate in tournaments like the Big-Bash etc.Not the ideal way to get prepared for the "proper-formats",but not the worst either.

Indian cricket is dead,long live Indian cricket.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Zindagi na...quick review

Films dealing with life-altering epiphanies are always shot in stunning locations. And Hindi films dealing with the same, need a stunning cast as well. A possible rationale: beautiful places relieve stress and bring things into perspective. And beautiful people experiencing divine realizations can hold your perspective on the screen, often resulting in a ‘ka-ching’ sound at the box office. ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ (ZNMD) is one such film.
The film isn’t as simplistic as it seems and each character has a back story and internal conflicts that surface intermittently between thrill-seeking stunts, sugary love, drunk talking and some seriously childish pranks. What is aesthetic in this film apart from the charming Spanish countryside is that scenes which would usually be served with heightened melodrama are quite well contained and subtle, yet convey the emotion.
For a roadie movie about three guys the film’s overall humour quotient is not very high and is mostly situational and there are usually more people laughing on the screen than in the audience.
The best about the movie: Corrida de toros,La Tomtatina ,Sky-Diving,Abhay Deol & Nasseruddin Shah





Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Cool Hand Luke-review

I saw An American classic, Cool Hand Luke (1967),last Sun.It has one of my all time favorite actors,Paul Newman in one of his most memorable roles.It is as much a product of its time as any important movie ever made. CHL marks the beginning of the end of the cycle of American movies about rebels standing up to authority. In many ways it is the apotheosis of such movies, providing in one fell swoop both one of the most appealing of the rebels, while at the same time fundamentally questioning whether the "establishment" is at all vulnerable to rebellion. It is, at its core, a pessimistic film... pessimistic about the possibility of justice, of reform, and of individualism. In the end Luke dies for his sins, and to an outside observer, his reification as a folk legend among a small band of convicts seems like a hollow victory at best.

Compared to James Dean's whiny Jim Shark (Rebel Without a Cause (1955)), Marlon Brando's moronic Johnny (The Wild One (1954)), and Dustin's Hoffman's proto-slacker Benjamin Braddock (The Graduate (1967)), Paul Newman's Lucas (Luke) Jackson is a more fully-formed and appealing character. A war hero, Luke is sentenced to two years in prison for cutting the heads off parking meters. This minor act of rebellion lands him on a chain-gang, consigned to hard-labor on dusty southern roads. Why does Luke engage in petty destruction? Well, he's drunk at the time, but that isn't a sufficient explanation. We're told later in the movie that Luke has always been a non-conformist, and the movie seems to feel that is enough. Personally, I suspect that the Luke is working through issues related to his wartime service (and, indeed, at one point Luke apologizes to God for killing during the war). In any case, whatever the reason for his behavior, he ends up in prison.

At first, the other prisoners are suspicious of Luke. They see him as a glib con-man. The top-dog, Dragline (George Kennedy), warns him and the other new prisoners to learn the rules, thus echoing the instructions of the warden (Strother Martin) and barracks guard (Clifton James). The rules include obeying all instructions, asking for permission to do virtually anything, and, of course, not trying to escape. The warden, who goes by "Captain," succinctly warns, "Now, it's all up to you. Now I can be a good guy, or I can be one real mean son-of-a-bitch. It's all up to you."

Slowly, though, Luke's infectious spirit wins over the other inmates. He faces off against Dragline in a weekend boxing match which is the guards' way of allowing inmates to settle disputes among themselves. Dragline beats him to a pulp, but despite the entreaties of the other prisoners and ultimately Dragline himself, Luke refuses to stay down. Finally Dragline is too disgusted to continue. He walks away, leaving the ring to the battered and wobbly Luke. This is the turning point of the movie, and ostensibly demonstrates its main theme, that spirit can overcome material adversity.

Later on, Luke turns himself in a prison idol. First he coolly bluffs another prisoner out of a big hand at poker, thus earning his nickname. He later leads a revolt of sorts by spurring the men to pave a road faster than the guards could imagine (thus robbing the guards of the satisfaction of seeing the men suffer through a particularly brutal job). Finally in a famous sequence, to pass the time on a rainy day, Luke bets that he can eat 50 hardboiled eggs in an hour. As the seconds tick down, a sickly-looking Luke manages to choke down the last egg to win the bet. Again, Luke's indomitable spirit seems to triumph.

But this is just a prelude to the main dramatic portion of the movie. Luke's popularity with the prisoners makes him unpopular with the guards who see his effect on the men. The guards are an interesting mix. Some are clearly time servers, in many ways as much prisoners as the inmates themselves. Others are portrayed as more sadistic, deriving pleasure from seeing the men broken and suffering. Ultimately, however, Luke runs into problems with Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward). Godfrey doesn't speak at all throughout the movie, and he always appears either in shadows or with his eyes hidden by mirrored sunglasses. He is a crack shot, however, a skill he demonstrates on several occasions. Godfrey represents the silent, immutable, repressive (and deadly) power of the establishment.

One day Luke receives a telegram that his mother has died. Captain takes this as an opportunity to break Luke, locking him in the "box" until after the funeral to prevent Luke from trying to escape. He portrays this preventive punishment as routine, but clearly he is responding to Luke's temperament and personality as much as anything else. Of course, being a rebel, Luke's confinement encourages him to try to escape. Luke doesn't have much on the outside and he seems relatively content to serve out his time in prison until his punishment gets him in a rebellious mood.

Luke saws his way through the barracks floor, and manages to elude his pursuers for a day. As he's running, he is constantly smiling, enjoying the adventure of it all. Finally, though, he is recaptured. Upon his return, Captain has him fitted with leg irons telling Luke it is for his own good. Luke's reply, "I wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, Captain," enrages the warden who cracks him with his whip and then observes, "What we've got here is failure to communicate," thus triggering a couple of generations of bad Strother Martin impersonations.

Almost immediately, Luke escapes again. This time he manages to avoid the law for several days... long enough to send a picture of himself with a gorgeous woman on each arm to Dragline. Naturally, this seals his status as prison idol. Unfortunately, Luke is soon recaptured. He is brought back to the barracks, brutally beaten and bloody. The inmates crowd around him, hoping to hear about his adventures on the outside. But Luke is no longer able or willing to sustain the hopes and imaginations of 49 other men. Instead, he confesses that the picture was a fake, and that all he did on the outside was work a couple of menial jobs. The process of disillusioning the other inmates continues as Captain and the guards wage a brutal campaign to break Luke's spirit. He's worked nearly to death and beaten when he pauses. Finally, he collapses and begs for mercy. Satisfied, the guards return Luke to the barracks where the other prisoners now shun him. In many ways, this is the most scathing scene in the movie, as his former idolaters now turn their backs on him when he shows he is human after all.



Still, Luke is not completely beaten. Although acting the toady, his spirit soon revives. One day on road detail, he manages to escape in a truck having stolen the keys from all of the other trucks first to prevent pursuit. As he's escaping, Dragline hails him down and climbs aboard. The two drive away and hide the truck. Dragline is exuberant about their escape at first, but Luke is still a loner at heart. He suggest they split up. At first, Dragline is crestfallen and wonders what he'll do without Luke, but he manages to put a brave face on things and he heads in one direction while Luke approaches an empty church. Inside the church, Luke launches into a soliloquy where he asks God for guidance. But God's answer when it comes is an abandonment in the form of police cars surrounding the church and Dragline appearing to talk Luke into surrendering in exchange for preferential treatment. Dragline seems almost relieved to be recaptured, and it isn't difficult to understand why. Inside the camp, Dragline is a big man, while on the outside he is a poor, illiterate farm boy with no status or future. Luke seemingly realizes he is doomed whether or not he surrenders peacefully. He approaches a window and shouts out, "What we have here is a failure to communicate," mocking Captain's earlier comment. Boss Godfrey responds by shooting him through the throat. It isn't actually clear what Captain and the other guards think of this. They seem surprised by the shots, but Captain is not obviously angry.

The local police want to take Luke an nearby hospital, but Captain loads him into a car and insists on driving him over an hour back to the prison infirmary. It is a death sentence, of course, but as the car pulls away we see Luke grinning, either in victory because his spirit remains intact or in relief for his impending death. I think the scene can be read either way frankly. The final scene has Dragline telling the story of Luke to a group of inmates by the side of the road. In this sense, Luke's spirit lives even after his death.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Ramayan 3392 AD

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