RIFLE RANGE BOY

25th Hour Director: Spike Lee Our life, our existence as we know it almost came to non-existence. By mere chance, by a flicker of hope, being at the right time, at the correct ambiance, we are now a complex body of thoughts, self, desires, wants and bonds. We are special in a way that we exist but at the same time, we are nothing. We can cease to be living just like that.  Only when we are in a dilemma, when our comfort zone is rocked or our primitive needs are deprived (pleasure and freedom), do we reassess our life and be grateful to what we have. We regret our lackadaisical attitude in not paving the lives in a way it could have been, more peaceful with less heartache. But then, laid with plethora of choices in life, we are sometimes quite lethargic or perhaps confused on which should be the best path to follow. People around us may tell us which way to follow but are we going to listen? And sometimes people by our side do not alert us of our follies as it is beneficial ...

Dheepan (Bilingual; Yaalpaanam Tamil and French; 2015) When refugees are given space to stay in a vicinity, it is not just physical space they need. They would need social and psychological support to carry on life. After all the push factors that drove them from their comfort zone, the devastations that they had endured, the love ones that they had lost, PTSD is a real problem which needs to be handled tactfully. They do not come alone. With them come the baggage of young ones who need to be paved for a future where they can fend for themselves. There are bound to be people who are non-conformists and natural fighter-cocks who would just  rebel without a cause. Bad apples are everywhere. Crime and social disharmony amongst themselves and with other communities may strain the policing duties. Refugees and immigrants, who are usually in the prime of the lives, will have dreams and desires, be it for the future or for carnal gratifications. Hence, sexual and rep...

Brooklyn (2015) At a time of the US elections and a possible candidate whose selling point seem to be to limit immigration to his country, this movie appears to be all so relevant. It is a sober reminder that movement of people is inevitable. From a time in antiquity, people have been displaced around either for political or economic reasons. We are all immigrants, not by choice but by birth. It is history that we cannot change. No one can proclaim superiority over the other. After all with the affluence of society, the menial tasks of the society would be shunned by its members. As long as the capitalistic model of keeping the rich wealthy and suppressing the wages of the working class remains status quo, till then, migration will stay. We are still a long way from automation, or perhaps the master class is quite content with this arrangement. This 2015 period drama set in the early 1950s America and Ireland, depicts aptly the uncertainties and the emotions that the immigrant...

Melancholia (2011) You realise that the end is near, that you are exiting the building soon. Your days are numbered. You are nearing the end of the road. What are your priorities? What are the next moves? Are you going to carry on life telling yourself that it is all just doomsday prophesies and that life will go on to eternity? Will you go on accumulating wealth or accumulating brownie points for your afterlife or rebirths? Would you let your hair down and party like there is no tomorrow or in late Prince's song - party like it is 1999?! Would you just ignore rituals and formalities? This may be the question that the story seems to convey but not in the usual Hollywood's bigger-than-life apocalyptic style that we are used too. Absent are the mega-destruction of mammoth buildings and tsunami-like waves or the building of suspense by the cable news network. It is set in a private wedding function at the reclusive estate in the edge of the world. The bride, Justine (Kirstin ...

Some say that the mere fact that we are born on Earth is torture. It is a punishment of sorts. All the aches, the physical pains, the emotional pains, the disappointments, the cheats, the fall and loss of function may be just an ellipse of what a man faces in his lifetime. Saying all these, even the wisest of men, would like to hold on to his last breath not matter what in exchange for all the wealth in the world. Many religions that promote themselves as a way of life suggest that the relationships that we develop along the way in our life are the cause of most of our problems. We should either not to take to heart all the miseries that develop in our daily interactions with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones or cut ourselves from these relationships. In the other words, renunciation is the word.  Renunciation can be done, it seems, in two ways. In the first instance, one can choose a life of self-sacrifice and self-avoidance from the time of adolescence or at com...

Fan (Hindi; 2016) Vaali, the Tamil lyricist, in one MGR starred movie, wrote, He sent Buddha, then He sent Jesus, then Gandhi, but the people never changed. What he was saying was that, in spite of the many reformers and philosophers that the world inherited, people are still content with continuing their way of hormonal derived instant gratification and satisfying their inner primitive needs through irrational acts. Recently, somebody mentioned that what the philosophers and theologians could not do in two millennia, can be done by pop stars and those involved in the pop culture business. Yes, it is a business alright. They have such a persona that the general public is quickly captivated and are easily ordered around like an automaton. It is no wonder that they are now brand ambassadors and are roped in by non-Government organisations for their course. They have the tremendous clout to bring in finances and sympathy. After all, the pop stars cannot be wrong, can they? Their...

Neerja (2016) They always say that we all have that 'selfish gene' in us that helps us and our dependents to survive and continue our progeny. It is our inborn safety mechanism. This 'gene' theory just remains a theory and has never been identified. There are, however, certain chemicals and hormones in our body that are secreted in abundance at certain times to initiate 'proactive' gestures to build that bond that paves the way to the 'protected list'. Progestrogenic hormones during pregnancy, parturient and lactational times ensure the protection of unborn and newborn. Flooding of the blood and brain with feel-good hormone of oxytocin during passionate and intimate moments cements the closeness of two individuals to provide security for one another. To go the whole nine yard, to endanger one's self for someone unrelated for humanity sake is a feat often praised relentlessly. Why do some go beyond the call of duty, risking one's life is any...

Inside Out ( Animation; 2015) Wow, Pixar is going cerebral now, dwelling into the realm of neuropsychology! After telling stories about toys, cars, sea creatures, bugs and monsters, there are literally playing with emotions now. Their latest offering is about the going-ons of traits in the mind, the little voices in the head that control our final action! It shows this through the eyes of an 11-year-old girl as we see her grow from a baby. Life was bliss, all about joy and learning till her parents decide to migrate from icy cold hockey loving Minnesota to sunny San Francisco. The new environment, school, friends (lack of) and the shoe box townhouse proved too much for Riley, the protagonist, to handle. We learn that the brain is controlled by 5 basic emotions - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Then there is core memory which stores up thoughts for the long term. The child’s brain builds islands of personality based on her everyday learning and other life input. O...

Seconds 1966 Man can never be satisfied with what he has. He is forever yearning for the unattainable and not satisfied with what he already has. If by a twist of fate, he is bestowed with his boon, he would still feel discontented and would crave for what he already had before! This obscure sci-fi thriller never left its mark on anyone’s list of favourite movies. Nevertheless, it has many meaningful philosophical messages which are relevant to mankind even 50 years after its release. It follows the mundane life of a middle age banking executive whose purpose in life seems to have been lost along the way. Having two adult kids who could fend for themselves, a predictable routine which gives him a comfortable life and cursory purposeless conversation with his wife appear meaningless to Arthur Hamilton. He wants something else but what is it? A mysterious phone call from his supposedly dead friend brings him to an eerie clinic which promises him a complete make-over of himse...

The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2013) Most people would go watch a movie, get immersed in its fantasy for a while, forget their daily aches and pains, re-live their fantasies and then come back to earth; but not all. Some dissected, analyse and read the fine prints and between the lines. One of them, besides yours truly is modern day ‘Rock Star’ Czech philosopher Slavoj Zizek. He glides through some famous and not-so-famous movies to try to read the real messages imparted by them. The films he chose range from famous blockbusters like ‘Jaws’, ‘Sound of music’ and ’Titanic’ to obscure ones like ’Seconds’ and Russian movie ‘Fall of Berlin’. In his typical engaging hand gesture and tics, he dissects the ideologies behind of some of the most seemingly innocent movies. Zizek himself is the narrator, and he tells his story in the background of the movie’s recreated set. They say that cinema is the alternative platform of reality. We project our inner unfilled or desired feelings on...

Room (2015) When a tragedy befalls a family, it is not just the victim who has to deal with the brunt of the misery. Everybody in the family also goes through hell and faces stresses on a daily basis. Relationships go sour and bonds break. The victims cannot be thinking that they can demand special attention for the ordeal that they went through. Everyone else goes through the pain too. This emotional drama with a string of accolades behind it narrates the story of how a kidnapped and raped young mother with her child adjust to life after escaping their captor. Jo was kidnapped, trapped and locked up in a shed seven years previously. Jack, the product of rape, grows up cooped up without ever seeing anything beyond the skylight on the ceiling. Their routine is monotonous with repetitive unstimulating activity. Their only connection to the world is a grainy TV. Jack actually grows up thinking that the universe is the shed. Beyond the wall of his room is outer space. Jack celebrates...

Ramanujam (2014) Some 2 years ago, my son asked me about the Indian subcontinent's contribution to the sciences in modern times. He told me about accolades conferred to Indians, but scientific discoveries were far too few to enumerate, he said. Besides telling the usual adage that ‘everything comes from India’, pizza (crusted masala thosai) to noodles/spaghetti (idiyapam) to philosophy to NASA scientists and silicon valley geeks, he was surprised to hear about India’s Nobel prize winner and the Quantum Indians of the early 20th century. These three forgotten Indian scientists of Satyendra Nath Bose, CV Raman and Meghnad Saha revolutionised Physics and Indian Science in the early part of the 20th century by giving the world Bosons, the Raman Effect, the Saha Equation and India's first and only Nobel for Science. Unlike these highly educated scholars, in Madras, there lived a timid Brahmin boy who thought of nothing else by Mathematics. He slept, drank, ate and even dreamt M...

Grantchester (TV series, Season 1, 2; 2014) An interesting depiction of a Man of God who seems more like a sceptic. He realises that every action that one does has two ways of looking at it. There are no clear-cut answers to all the queries of life. He sometimes even wonders  whether he could just give a straight answer to anything. At times, his belief is also shaken. Reverend Sidney Chalmers is a vicar of a small church in a town adjacent to Cambridge. The young clergyman teams up with a policeman in this town to solve many of the murders that seem to be popping up very so often. Between solving crimes and handling the church matters, Rev Chalmers has to deal with many of his inner demons. There is an unending saga of unrequited love between him and an old flame who is soon to be and later marries off to a man of her family’s choice. The widow of the murdered that he solves in the first episode is romantically linked to the hero. Even this does not work out after he...

Panam (noun) பனம் Tamil meaning money. Panama பனமா- expressed as a question or an exclamation of awesomeness. The word Panama is often used in combination with Pasama (love in a question mode) in philosophical circles to ponder upon life - பனமா பாசமா ; whether which one takes the precedence over matters of life. Is it money or love? பனமா பாசமா ( Panama Pasama) is also the name of the 1968 tearjerker starring Gemini Ganesan and B Saroja Devi. In the year 2016, the mention of the word 'Panama' strikes awe in the minds of the plebeians who would hear of the cavalier attitude of leaders who would transfer monies of gargantuan proportions across borders without an iota of guilt or feeling of moral misconduct. If fact, they would claim it to be of their sovereign rights and that no laws were broken in the process. Like the catchphrase of the Little Eva's 1962 hit song. 'Loco-motion', they say everybody is doing it, why don't you? Is it a mere coincidence t...

X Files Season 10 (E1-E5) More than 10 years after their tour of duty, the last the two renegade FBI agents are still at their conspiracy theories. They are still keen to expose to the world of their employers’ devious plans to hide major secrets from mankind and their attempts at hastening the annihilation of mankind as we know it. Many things have happened since their last outing. The paranormal department had been closed. Fox Mulder is on medication for depression. Dana Scully is working in a hospital, minding her own business. There is a mention of Scully having been abducted by aliens before. They (Mulder and Scully) have an 11-year-old child whom they have given away for adoption for security reasons. They have reason to believe that the child must have been infused with alien DNA, hence the secrecy. The smoking man is still around! The last time I saw him, he had laryngeal cancer. In the first episode, he is seen with a tracheostomy but still smoking via his tracheal ...

The Physician (2013) The mention of names like Bukhara, Isfahan, Rey and Samarkand may not mean much to an average Joe in the 21st century except for its turmoil and uncertainty. Less a millennium ago, however, these places were beaming with a hive of intellectual activities while the rest of its neighbours were frozen in the dark ages. These places had some of the greatest minds which engaged in the fields of sciences, medicine, philosophy, astronomy, theology, geography and much more. The zest to understand the secrets of the universe was so deeply entrenched. Even though many scholars from this region left their mark in the history of mankind, Avicenna @ Ibn Sina remains the leading figures who is said to have mastered all the knowledge that need to be known. He allegedly had memorised the Quran by the age of 10 and had been certified a physician by 16! His father had a tough time trying to find a suitable tutor because he soon out learned his masters before long. Being a d...

They say people will cherry pick and pluck what they want to see and hear. Read in Wendy Doniger’s book ‘The Hindus, An Alternate History’ about the vestigial mention of the three components of the mind in Ramayana! Sigmund Freud proposed the three levels our minds are controlled; id which satisfies us with primal satiety needs of hunger, libido, sleep and resorting to violence, the ego which acts as the rein to control id but sometimes fail to control and superego as the master controller which conforms an individual to the norms of society. Surprise, surprise. The author found the same comparison through the presence of the Ravana, King of Lanka King and his brothers. Kumbhakarna , the younger brother got a boon from the God (by mistake, mispronunciation) of ability to spend most of the time sleeping. And that is what he did - eating and sleeping (personification of id). Ravana, the learner of many arts and knowledge obtained the boon of power so powerful undefeated by any ...