RIFLE RANGE BOY

Buddha in a Traffic Jam (2014) Written and Directed by Vivek Agnihotri What would Buddha, being a pacifist, would do when he is caught in a bad traffic jam? Instead of cussing and cursing explicitly or under His breath, He would probably, wait patiently, not to upset the already tense atmosphere, but instead deal the situation calmly. Mere mortals around him would probably jump at the chance to pounce on his non-aggressive way of handling his machine to squeeze to ahead by at least a few cars. For mere mortals that would mean a big deal, they would retaliate, but not Buddha.  The storyteller is trying to equate the Adivasis (aborigines) to Buddha whilst the capitalists and the communists as mortals try to bribe their way to usurp the Adivasis' rightly owned lands for personal interests. For a movie that Agnihotri had so much difficulty trying to secure financial backings from the movie stalwarts in the initial stage and abandonment by financiers later, it sure did fan a lot of exci...

Caste as Social Capital The Complex Place of Caste in Indian Society Prof. R. Vaidyanathan Caste has been looked upon as a curse of sorts to the Indian society. It has been drilled repeatedly by the so-called Indologists as a demeaning curse to the nation. Scores of films and spreads of literature are shreds of evidence of this. It has been used as a stick to beat anything connected to Indian religions, customs and culture in the same way Holocaust has done to Austrians and Germans.  Prof. R. Vaidyanathan (RV) is one of those who look at caste quite differently.  Firstly, 'Caste' is a Western concept. It is a Portuguese word that made its way through the colonists. In traditional Indian varna (caste) system, people were classified not by birth but by 'gunas' (virtue, merit or excellence). The colonialist masters conveniently pigeon-holed the Crown's subject into a hierarchical system for statistics purpose to aid their 'divide and rule' administration. Confl...

The White Tiger (2021) Netflix This is your typical Hollywood's stereotyping of Indian society - that the country is dysfunctional, divided by class and wealth. It paints a picture of a place where humanity had died replaced by a selfish group of people who assess the other from the lens of birth, caste and money. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game. Subservience is kept under check with mystical mumbo jumbo about life's purpose and punishment of previous births' sins. Poverty is endemic, so is filth and need for sadhu-like NRI saviours to save the day with the knowledge acquired from 'civilised' nations, so the film portrays. It showcases a world where only criminals and politicians thrive. The rest are merely accidental to make the numbers. Again and again, these Hollywood flicks paint a stereotypical paint of the whole of India, one of toxic caste division. They reinforce the idea of the fable of Great Indian Rooster Coop of which all the chickens in ...

Forensic Files (S1-S7) Netflix Collection After spending over 50 hours binge-watching 100 over Forensic Files episodes on Netflix, all I say is the idea of a perfect crime is just a pipe dream. With the ever-changing field of forensic sciences, a crime can be solved even without the presence of a body. What used to be science fiction will soon be bread-and-butter stuff in day to day police work in time to come. If the records and specimens of a crime are left intact, the sky is the limit how distant in the future perpetrators will have to do time for their crimes. I think the most crucial determinant of whether crimes will be solved is the country's financial standing. If one were to look at most of the cases presented in this series, there were cold cases. These are cases where initial investigations hit a stone wall, and the investigators had no more clues at their disposal. They had the resources to set aside time, money and manpower with a fresh set of eyes to look into cases t...

2046 (Cantonese; 2004) Writer, Director: Wong Kar-Wai Our life is like a moving speed-train. We catch glimpses of experiences that excite us and poof, it is gone. We yearn to immortalise the pleasant encounter's memory, but unfortunately, it is not always possible. The journey itself is so unpredictable that the last delightful experience may not be the best, the best may yet be on the horizon. Or maybe, that was it! Oh, life is so uncertain.  Are all memories traces of tears and is nostalgia a bad thing? Does living in the memory of the past a wrong thing? Things that we learn in the past are the guiding lights for future battles, but somehow sometimes we still feel we accidentally let something slip by too prematurely or inadvertently. Regrets we may have a few.  For these, the writer creates a fictitious world/city/future where memories are permanent and can be re-captured. Nobody knew for sure if such a place existed but, nobody who went there ever returned. That is, excep...

In the Mood for Love (Cantonese; 2000) Director: Wong Kar-wai This film must surely be a fruit of a labour of love. It is such a joyful experience to watch as the viewers are cradled back to a Shanghainese community's claustrophobic surroundings in 1962 Hong Kong. It is a story of a close-knit group tenant, specifically of two couples, in an apartment building. Two spouses who are often left alone by their busy working partners end up developing feelings for each other. The busy partners in real fact are embroiled in an affair, between themselves. The scorned spouses discover a common interest, create a platonic relationship but soon realise it is romantic. They resist the temptations to be as low as their partners, despite the circumstances of time and the lure of their biological attractions. The theme of this story segues nicely into a discussion I had with my friends recently. What is this thing about marriage? Is it a mere a public declaration of a property much like when Vasc...

Days of Being Wild (1990) Director: Wong Kar-Wai What is the thing that keeps a person plunge deep into a relationship so toxic and still longs to be embroiled in a never-ending imbroglio of heartaches and melancholy? Is it just physical attraction or a sense of achievement, a kind of trophy? Is it some kind of masochism or playing victim to gain attention? Is this the same power of love that made King Edward VII abdicate his crown for a divorcee with two living ex-husbands? Is it merely a hormonal surge at the spring of one's youth or a debt that needed to be settled if relationships bring in baggage and its encumbrances? Something that springs up quite so suddenly may fizzle out just as quick when the fluff disappears. Then what? Do it all again? But then, by then, there would come too many webs of entanglement and spoils of love that are just too difficult to detach. It appears that it is a play of time. Invariably, with the passage of time, the ludicrousness of all these may ap...