RIFLE RANGE BOY

Grandmaster (Malayalam; 2012) At one look, everything looks disjointed. Random occurrences happening at casual intervals with seemingly no single loose association. Only when we find a singular thread that holds each of it together, can we make sense of it.  This happens more often than we think it does. These casual links may give closure to the apparently unexplainable things around us. That too carries with it an oversimplification. The urge to provide a simple explanation to everything can be labelled 'conspiracy theory'. To navigate life, to steer through the choppy waters, it sometimes helps to be overanalytical. Like a chess grandmaster, it is useful to look at the trend, look for the pattern and anticipate far in advance what the next assault by the opponent be. Let us be checkmated right under our noses. This Malayalam film had its story based on Agatha Christie's 'ABC Murders'. Keeping to the demands of the local flavour, the tale has been geared...

ABC Murders (BBC Miniseries; 2018) Original Story by Agatha Christie Even though it was written in 1936, this story still excites many. Somebody said that the only person would execute a perfect murder would be Agatha Christie. This 2018 version comes with a slight change of characters and a little alteration in the storyline. Poirot is portrayed, not as a renowned Belgian detective, but a pastor with a very dark past. He is seen as a broken man who is disillusioned with religion and humanity on the whole. His encounter with refugees in the First World War plays recurrently in his mind. He subconsciously questions the omnipotence of God when the church where the refugees took refuge from the Germans were bombed. John Malkovich gives an excellent portrayal of Poirot. His backstory makes us want to know more of the mysteries that haunt him day and night. We yearn to discover that voice that constantly playing in his head. An interesting miniseries. http...