RIFLE RANGE BOY

Emergency (Hindi, 2025) Story, Direction, Starring: Kangana Ranaut https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21279420/ The first thing my language teacher told me in essay writing class was to stay on topic. Therefore, with a title like 'Emergency,' I expected to learn about the events leading up to the 1975 black mark in Indian democracy. I wanted to understand how the Opposition and civil society responded to Indira Gandhi's iron-fisted rule. Instead, I received a mini biopic of Mother Indira, the so-called Mother of India. The Emergency was rushed through, I thought. It would have been better if the film had started with the events just before 1975 and given some credence to the audience to know a little bit of Indra's background. I recall that in 1977, my classmates and I, the so-called Backbenchers of the Class, engaged in lengthy, recurring debates about India, Indira, dictatorship, and democracy. Our teenage minds, albeit somewhat precocious, concluded that for a vast and com...

Sarpatta Paramparai (சர்பட்ட பரம்பரை, Tamil, 2021) Written, Directed by Pa Ranjith One can learn a thing or two by watching films, i.e. if one is bothered to check the backstory. This is one rare full-length boxing film in Tamil, coming from a land that usually infuses familial masala to the storyline. In keeping with the timeline the story is set in, in the 1970s, there is ample sprinkling of Tamil Nadu politics to set the mood. For once, we see actors who really look their part as boxers. The make-up, boxing techniques and the make-believe props that cradles us back to the mid-1970s are convincing enough. Before watching this film, I did not know that boxing was a passionate sport in northern Madras even before the 1940s. Boxing came to India with the British. In Tamil Nadu, it was named 'kuttu chandei', and it came with its own set of rules. Boxers could not hit each others' faces, not the body. In the early 1940s, it seems there was a black British boxer (some say he is...

http://www.expatgo.com/my/2016/03/14/see-kl-used-look-flashback-photos-1975/ Thanks to KKCash for sharing! This is part of a flashback editorial series on all things Malaysian. You can check out other  flashback articles  in the series for a journey through Malaysia’s past. Flickr user ‘ Savidge Family ‘ has posted some amazing photos of Kuala Lumpur and around, taken way back in 1975! Here they are, in all their untouched glory, plus their original captions: Thanks KK for sharing! Arriving at KL on 2nd August 1975 Below ground level: Start of a new highrise hotel View from the room at the Hilton Street scene, Kuala Lumpur: A fair bit of advertising. A duck runner: He looked like he was on a mission to deliver the ducks in the back streets. Temple: All these young girls were very well mannered and were quite shy to pose. Head of Malaysia Palace Polished Marble: There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. From the...