RIFLE RANGE BOY

Soni (Hindi, 2018) Direction: Ivan Ayr I always thought that having female-only buses and trains are steps in the wrong direction. We seem to be going back to the dark ages when members of the fairer sex were preferably not seen and not heard. Not only they were handed the dubious title of the root of sins, but they were also killed at birth. Even though we like to think that the ignorant era of jahiliyyah is over, in reality, it is anything but done with. On the other spectrum, we have people who insist that gender is fluid, that gender expression (identity) is a social construct. They posit that gender is a continuum between masculine and feminine, can vary with time and is different from sexual orientation (attraction).  Gender studies started as an interdisciplinary academic field to improve female representation in public life and pursue women's equality. Of late, however, the emphasis is more on LGBTQA+ issues rather than fulfilling their original objective, which, sadly, rem...

The Yellow Bird (Singapore, 2016) Director: K Rajendran How does one make a genuinely Singaporean (or Malaysian) movie? What language does he use to make it look authentic? Just look at the ground level. Stand in the marketplace in the heart of town and listen to the murmur. One hears a potpourri of languages spoken by different tongues and in different accents. It must be a treasure trove for a person like Professor Higgins (of 'My Fair Lady') to do his fieldwork. Hence, quite rightly so, the filmmakers decided to utilise a hodgepodge of common languages spoken amongst the characters in the film to make it look believable. One can say this is a Singaporean Tamil film as the protagonist is Tamil-speaking. Still, otherwise, there are Mandarin, English, Singlish and Hokkien spoken laced with a liberal dose of profanity in keeping with the company of the crowd that the main character is associating. When Singapore is shown in any setting, the views that often pop up are the Merlio...

Velayutham from Pudukkothai It looks like every Malaysian leader who claims to represent the Indian community in the country also wants to bend over backwards to represent Indian migrant workers. Ever since a migrant Indian worker who escaped his abusive employer in Kuala Lumpur to showcase his sufferings on a Tamil Nadu talk show, every leader here, the ruling as well as on the opposition seems to be jumping up and down like an excited kindergarten child wanting to have the last say on the issue. To summarise the point at hand, a 40 years old carpenter from Tamil Nadu came into Malaysia, through an agent, with a tourist visa to work. His agent's arrangement was that he would be placed to commensurate his carpentering experience and that his tourist visa would be converted to a working visa in time. Upon arrival, he found himself having his passport confiscated, sent to be enslaved in a banana-leaf restaurant from 5am to 11pm every day. His wages were withheld, exposed to verbal ab...

Pariyerum Perumal (2018) Story & Direction: Mari Selvaraj The world out there is just there to bring you down. Those who succeed in life do so not because of the people around them but, despite the people breathing down their necks. The world is cruel, and every living day can be a struggle for some. But, the successful indeed have a treasure chest full of adventures and near-misses stories to tell about their journey to victory. These rag to riches stories may inspire another foothill soldier at the foot of the hill to scale greater heights. And at the end of the day, the ferocious desire to succeed burns within the individual. Events around him spark the tinder. This is one such story of a person from the marginalised part of society trying against all odds to fit into Law College. He befriends a fellow female student who seems to be fond of him. Sure, we have seen such movies. A lone wolf with fighting skills that Hercules would be ashamed of, bulldozing through the army of the ...

Kalifat (Miniseries S1 E1-8, Swedish, 2020) Netflix BR Ambedkar, the Indian polymath, an economist, a jurist, a philosopher, politician and social reformer, was once at a crossroad.  Having had first-hand experience pulling himself out of poverty and earning himself a myriad of international recognitions, the public's discriminatory behaviour was still palpable. The honour of leading the committee to draft the Indian Constitution meant nothing. Post-Independent India still oozed caste discrimination bigotry.  He ventured into the possibility of leading the whole oppressed and backward communities to embrace another religion. Babasaheb Ambedkar took a deep dive into various religions, including Islam and Christianity, and finally decided upon Buddhism. About Islam, he had this to say. The  Brotherhood of Islam is not the brotherhood of Man but an exclusive club to care for their own kind.  Even though the religion preaches egalitarianism, in reality, this is far from ...

If anything happens I love you! (2020) Animated Short Film This 11-minutes short film won itself an Academy Award in the Best Short Animated film category. In a concise graphic representation, the storytellers managed to capture the essence of emotions surrounding the loss of a young child. This emotional turmoil can make or break a family unit. The gamut of blaming, what-ifs, guilt and fault finding missions would eventually lead to a brick wall among the living but definitely not bring back the dead. The death of a member of a family who has not lived his full potential, however, may invoke a myriad of responses. They say an addition to the family, especially the first-born, unites families. The sight of a newborn will make everyone all jello but strong enough to cement whatever minor frictions that may have been present in day-to-day dealings. It may make or break the bonds between the close relatives, especially parents, in the case of a young child. This short film with no dialogu...

Biriyani, Flavours of Flesh (Malayalam, 2021) Story & Direction: Sajin Baabu At the outset, it must be mentioned that this film is not for the faint-hearted or squirm at the sight of animal slaughter or of plain view of a surgical operating field. The scenes, however, are essential to driving home the message embedded behind the story. As the title suggests, the selling point of a biriyani dish is the flavour derived from the juices of the meat (flesh). Vegetarian biriyani is no biriyani at all. This kind of movie is not suitable for family viewing as some scenes are obviously of adult content. Biriyani is quintessentially a Muslim dish popularised by the invading Muslim marauders. Some say it originated from Persia. The cooks found a novel way to feed a large army - slow cook meat, rice, vegetables and spices buried in the hot desert sands.  In the 7th century, when Islam was revealed to Beduin herders, the religion boasted of features way ahead of its time. Putting an end to ...

The Family Man (Miniseries, Season 1,2; 2019-21) Amazon Prime I would not have given a damn to this web series if not for the adverse publicity it garnered after the release of its trailer for the second season. Many people and leaders from the ruling party from the state of Tamil Nadu were up in arms and wanted the show to be banned. But, as they say in showbiz lingo, any news is good news. All that hoopla just piqued the interest of even those remotely interested in the turmoil perpetrated on India by its neighbours. Suddenly everybody took an interest and have become experts on India's strategic defence. Its detractors, however, say that it is India's uninvited meddling of their affairs that is at fault. But, perhaps, it is not so straightforward.  India, much like Israel, is surrounded by neighbours who try to correct their cognitive dissonance by shoving down their narrow and destructive ideologies across their borders. However, practising passive resistance or turning the...

At a time when tranquillity is a distant memory and race politics is rearing its ugly head, it is only appropriate that we re-evaluate our stand on what it is to be a Malaysian. Does it encompass only the majority of people of a particular ethnicity who dominate most fields, as determined by the country's social engineering policies? Does it refer to the earliest occupants of the country? Does being a Malaysian mean being a Muslim only? What happened to all the people who sacrificed their hearts and minds for the nation all this while? Their  “blood, toil, tears and sweat” mean nothing? To the pea-brained who insists that Malaysia is only for Malay-Muslims and the rest are most temporary occupants of the land who should be thankful for their temporary occupation, read this. The Dass legacy: Soldering on By Adrian David June 14, 2021, New Straits Times.   Flying Officer (Rtd) David Samuel Dass in his Royal Air Force uniform during War War I. - Pic courtesy of Brig-Gen Dr Alexan...