RIFLE RANGE BOY

Papilllon (1973) Steve McQueen, the macho guy of the 70s is seen here acting out as Henri Charrière, a French convict, a safe-cracker accused wrongly of killing a pimp. The film narrates the friendship bond that he built during his incarceration in French Guiana and his escapades to escape from confinement, first from prison then from exile in Devil's Island. By standing up for his fellow inmate, Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman), a master forger and counterfeiter, they built a bond so strong that forms the basis of this movie. Papillon is the French word for butterfly, the tattoo that Charrière wears on his chest, hence his nickname. Between cruelty in prison and solitary confinement, he still managed to plan a daring escape. Dega, the reluctant escapee, was quite content in believing that his beloved wife in France would fight for his release. (It never materialised till the end of the movie!) The attempt at escape was marred by fraudulent agents. A liaison with a group o...

Dog day afternoon (1975) What makes this bank robbery movie different from others of the same genre? We have bombarded with too many stories with nitty gritty technical details of planning and execution. DDA, however, appears to me like a satire of sorts. By the way, DDA just a poetic way of saying 'a scorching hot afternoon'. The bank heist shown on screen these days are so high-tech. The amounts planned to be robbed are in gargantuan proportions and their modus operandi is usually much bigger - including world domination, anarchy, terrorism and even nuclear warheads. In the 70s, it was a political statement. It is about the small man fighting a system dominated by greedy enterprises and politicians. This film is based on a real story.  It starts with 3 bumbling amateurs holding up a bank. Just as they unleash their weapons in the premises, one of the gang of three get cold feet and requested to be out. And off we goes, walking out the bank! The bumbling remaining duo -...

Seemabaddha -  সীমাবদ্ধ,  Company Limited (1971) Screenplay, Music, Direction: Satyajit Ray Seemabaddha is the second of trilogy of what is referred to as the Calcutta trilogy. I guess it must be depicting the changes in Calcutta society and the challenges faced the urbanites in modern times. Will wait and see what the rest has to offer... It tells the story of Shyamal, a son of a teacher from Patna who manages to secure the prestigious Senior Management Trainee post in a British electrical company after obtaining his M.A. in English. Before starting the film proper, before the opening credits, we are introduced to the protagonist for the viewers to get an idea of his background and the change of his lifestyle that he is living. After starting as a trainee in Delhi, Shyamal rapidly climbs the ladder of promotion and is given the post of Sales Manager of Hindustan-Peters fan division. Things are looking promising for him - a nice flat, 7 year-old son in boardi...

Valley of the Dolls (1967) There was a time in secondary school when everybody was trying to lay their hands on this book in the library. Even though, it was not in 'red spot section' of the library, it sure was a hit. Nobody could reserve it as it was passed among librarians and after some it was considered lost! This 1967 film was based on this book by Jacqueline Susann. Dolls here refer to sleeping pills (dolophines) and illustrates the dog eat dog world of showbiz. It revolves around the story of three young girls (Anne, Neely and Jennifer) and the involvement with people of the show business. Barbara Perkins acts as Anne, a green country girl who finds a job as a secretary in an attorney's office who deals with performing artiste in Broadway. People who lived through the 70s would remember her as Betty in Peyton Place on Malaysian TV. Neely is a small time actress who gets fired from her job with a mega-star, Helen Lawson. She manages to make it on her own but she g...

That was what I was thinking to myself as the days got nearer to the day of my favourite and respected uncle's day of indulgence drew closer. Not wanting to get something and regretting it later, I decided to leave this Herculean task to the eleventh hour. What would be special enough to be appreciated by someone who has everything? Sure, we all have heard of the sentimentality and love put into the present rather than the price. But then, he is a result centered practical man of stature who decides by the head not by the heart. Perfumes and shirts sound inappropriate as they deem too personal, not right for a nephew to buy. Accused of being the unimaginative man that I already am, I decided to wander around a premiere mall in pursuit of the perfect present and came up with a tie (a lame present, my daughter thinks). I thought that it would be practical as his profession would require him to be elegantly attired. A tie would make him that kind of man, not that he is not. Ok, a t...

Even before Alleycats came to the local music scene, there was a 15-year-old girl creating waves with her song, 'Kereta Lembu' which is kind of a classic now. She started singing at the age of 13 and carved a name for herself through Juara Kugiran in 1969. After cutting a few albums in the garage music genre and living a 7-year matrimonial life with Adnan Othman (a fellow musician who sang together) which produced a daughter, she left the country. I am referring to the famous singer of Malay songs of the 70s, Helen Velu (Halina Abdul Wahid). I just happened to hear her song on the radio. It was a plagiarized version of LaBelle's Lady Marmalade called 'Senyuman dan Kerlingan". She is now residing in LA and makes periodic returns to the motherland to perform. Helen Velu 2007   Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? ("Do you want to sleep with me (tonight)?" )

Aval Appadithaan (Tamil, She is like that;1978 ) Again into movies with themes inappropriate for general Tamil film audience for its social theme and crude (bordering on vulgarity for that era) dialogue. This film was done at end era which in my opinion is considered a watershed. Gone are the days where the characters either gleam with goodness or were bad to the core. The late 70s were the time of social consciousness. Suddenly, making mainstream films in the villages dealing with bread and butter stuff was norm..Actors donned minimal make up and gone were songs and dance-around-the park routine.  The birth of new music directors brought music and songs to be played in the background. Aval Appadithaan is a black and white film with  a slighty different camera work. Manju (Sripriya) is employed in an advertising company run by Thiagu (Rajnikanth). Arun (Kamalhasan), Thiagu's friend from out of town is shooting a documentary on double st...