Give a miss!

Thug Life (2025)
Director: Mani Ratnam

https://www.justwatch.com/za/movie/thug-life-2025

Following the release of this film, one realises the extent to which external forces are harnessing the power of social media to sway public opinion on various matters. Furthermore, films act as platforms for disseminating the ideologies of political parties.

Even before the film's release in Karnataka, during his promotional tours, Kamal Haasan, the central star of the movie, inadvertently – or perhaps not – provoked a diplomatic row between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In his speech, he stated that the Kannada language is an offshoot of the Tamil language. This was not taken lightly by loyalists and politicians alike, who spoke the Kannada language. 

It is no secret that Kamal Hassan's political party is currently allied with the DMK, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu. The DMK practises divisive politics based on language, ethnicity, and anti-Hindu sentiments. Kamal Hassan is merely announcing his resurgence in Tamil Nadu politics. The State of Karnataka was a latecomer, having been carved out of the Mysore Presidency in 1956 on linguistic grounds, and has faced conflicts with Tamil Nadu over the flow of water from the River Cauvery, the worst of which occurred in 1991. This was when anti-Tamil looting and the burning of vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu number plates escalated after a Tribunal ordered the release of Cauvery water into Tamil Nadu. Although Hassan's statements were not incorrect, the Kannadian fundamentalists are unlikely to accept any of this. It is irrelevant that Tamil is an older language with evidence from ancient tablets, or that both languages may have arisen from a common ancestor, the Proto-Dravidian language.

The row has taken on monumental proportions, with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce collaborating with politicians to ban its screening in the state of Karnataka.

The film itself was not groundbreaking. Movie enthusiasts have encountered numerous films with similar storylines. In fact, Nayagan, which the director made in 1987 with the same star, featured a son avenging his father's death, just as this one does. Narratives of betrayal and rebellion among gangsters are nothing new. Netizens were quick to point out several glaring plot holes. There is an awkward moment when an adopted daughter might have married her brother. In another instance, both father and son could be vying for the same woman in intimate relationships. The characterisation is superficial, and there are far too many characters who do not contribute significantly to the story.

 

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people
/thuggees-002145

I was more interested in the origin of the word 'thug'. It has Indian origins. It was during the time of the British Raj, and the colonisers were eyeing the mineral-rich interior lands, which were home to a tribal group that prayed to a form of Kaali named Thugee. The Thugees naturally wanted to defend their land. Just as the Mau Mau people of Kenya were vilified by the British to create stories of them being cannibals and baby snatchers, the Thugees were described as deadly assassins who moved in groups to identify their prey. Their weapon of choice was a bandana, with which they would strangle their victims and kill them. The Thugs were feared so intensely that they entered the English lexicon.

There is another connection between thugs and the origin of the word 'assassin'. Not all thugs are Hindus; some are Muslims. The Muslim influence can be traced back to the mid-1200s in Persia. There was a group of mercenaries who were compensated with hashish; hence, they were called 'Hashshashins'. The Hashshashins became known as assassins in the English language. They moved about, fighting for and against the Muslim kingdom while opposing the Crusaders. They battled the Mongols quite disastrously, who chased them away to India, where they lived among tribal communities. They mingled with the Thugee worshippers and collaborated with them. The Hashshashins revered Kali but did not worship Her. Of course, all this could merely be a figment of the British Raj's imagination, conjuring a bogeyman out of the Indians.

 

(P.S. A film that is not worth discussing. There are already far too many YouTube channels offering brutal rundowns on this movie.)

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Anti-Brahmin sentiments ?

Ghatashraddha (Kannada, The Death Ritual; 1977)
Director, Screenplay: Girish Kasaravalli

There must be a reason why Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, George Lucas' Family Foundation, and Film Heritage Foundation decided to restore the film from the original negatives in 2024. In 2002, it was voted one of the 20 best films in Indian cinema. It also snatched the Best Feature Film award, among other awards, in 1977. Looking at current world sentiments about India, the elephant in the room is that the film is about Brahmin bashing.

The colonial masters are to be blamed for anti-Brahminic feelings running high among the Indian public at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The British wanted to understand how the Indian society was spread out. For simplicity, they used the European class system when they commenced their census taking. The varna system in India was too complicated for the Europeans to comprehend. Hence, a hierarchical system was devised with the Brahmins at the top of the food chain. The British had a vested interest. They wanted to dismantle the gokul schooling system and the teaching of Sanskrit. The Brahmins were held for fort for Sanskrit and knowledge. There was a compelling need to paint the Brahmins. So, it came to be. 
 

EV Ramasamy and many South leaders had a beef with the Indian Congress Party during the pre-Independence era. They saw their lack of opportunities to partake in the Independence struggle as a Brahmin-controlled problem. Through the Self-Respect movement, they marketed themselves as anti-Hindu. Their brand of politics persists today. As the world sees leap by bounds economically and socially, the enemies of India look at this distorted interpretation of Sanathana Dharma as the perfect weapon to run India down.

To say that caste discrimination is non-existent may be an understatement, as evidenced by the writings and experiences of many scholars and writers.

The movie is about the experience of a young student, Naani, at a dilapidated  Vedic school. The teacher's daughter, Yamuna, is a sad young widow. Yamuna has an affair with another teacher and gets pregnant. She tries to conceal her pregnancy from the inquisitive neighbours and tries to get it aborted illegally. She is exposed and is humiliated. Her father ex-communicates with her by performing Ghatshradda,  a death ritual signifying that his daughter is dead to her.

 

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The many roads that converge...

Kanthara (Kannada; 2022)
Director, Writer, and Actor: Rishab Shetty

Through this movie, I learnt about the 1.8 million people from the districts of  Udupi and Dakshina of Karnataka and the Kasaragod region of Kerala who call themselves the Tulu people. These cultural occupants of Tulu Nadu believe that their land was salvaged from the sea by Vishnu's 6th avatar, Parasuraman, the sage warrior. He is said to have yielded his axe to reclaim the land from the sea. To neutralise the land of salt and change it into a lush, fertile land, he employed the venom of Vasuki, the Snake King. The Tuluvas, as a gesture of appreciation to the guardians of the land, the boars, snakes and tigers, have celebrations called Bhuta Kola, an annual ritual performance. This type of their merriment was what Hollywood thought was exotic when it decided to depict eye-ball gobbling Thugee believers in their second instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise. 

I also learned that there is a movement towards the demand for acceptance of the Tulu language as another accepted language of India and a Tulu land.

Since its release, this film has garnered the attention of many moviegoers and even academics. In the current rage of cinema buffs wanting to know many of the long-forgotten cultural beliefs of Indians, this presentation is trying to erase the colonial mindsets that the cultural practices are animistic and pantheistic. A rational explanation is that people are trying to live in a symbiotic relationship with Nature, one of self-respect. Whichever way people show their reverence to the Almighty, it all refers to one distinct entity in different names or avatars, as is known in India. 

Cultural flag of Tulunadu (Wiki)

During the era of the British Raj, in their rapaciousness to reap the wealth from the lands and jungles, they passed a law to make forests restricted areas. The tribal people, who live off the ground, protested. The British vilified a particular group of Thurgeeswari-worshipping freedom fighters as bogeymen. They painted them as members of a secret cult that robs and kills people. They created such fear among the speakers of the English Language that the word 'thug' had been appropriated into the language and is synonymous with violent crimes.

This storyline follows the same vein as what the British did back in the day if one were to analyse it critically. 

In 1847, an unhappy King was looking for the meaning of life. After searching near and far, he realised that happiness was in his backyard. He found solace in a deity worshipped by the tribesmen. He took home the deity to honour and verbally agreed to let the nomads roam freely in the forest owned by him. Such was the arrangement till the new generations of the King, now landowners, no more royalty, wanted to reclaim the forest.

Guliga Daiva, the Protector.

This time, the descendants used the guise of the Government wanting to reclaim the forest to usurp back the land. The Government is painted as bad and the tribes as troublemakers. The movie shows this showdown in many graphic portrayals accompanied by spectacular cinematography and mesmerising music. The shenanigan is exposed with the help of the Protectorates of the jungle, and the symbiotic mutual-respecting way of existence between the tribals, the beasts of the wilderness, and the authority continues. Everyone agrees that God is One, albeit our different pathways to reaching Him.

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The rest, all side show.

 Thithi (ತಿಥಿ, Lunar day, Kannada; 2015)

Our wants and needs vary as we grow older (and hopefully wiser). In the spring of our youth, we are brimming with raging hormones. Our biological needs somehow shut off our cognitive powers. The pudendal nerve and illusive higher centres control the more rational neuronal connexions. Unfortunately, the seeds and the ghosts of our action persist in haunting us in the later phase of our lives.

Supposing we pass through youth unscathed, in the next phase of our lives, stuck with baggage of our past, we are expected to provide for our kin. Social hierarchy dictates we are responsible for the seeds that we sow. The emphasis of life is to provide for the living and to accumulate material wealth for an uncertain future. If we are 'cursed' with a long but unproductive life, we have to fend for ourselves. Conversely, a short affluent one will only benefit the dependants.

After completing the deeds that we are assigned to do, to fulfil our karma, we finally understand everything. The dents and blows of the Hard Knock School of Life open our eyes to reality. The heartaches and betrayals lay bare the illusory nature of life. We become pessimistic. Somehow, all our prior chase for material and bodily gratifications do not matter anymore. That is when others think we are fools.

This simple neo-realistic movie using non-professional actors utilising natural backdrops and naked sounds of nature is a multiple-award-winning offering from the Kannada cinema, often labelled as Sandalwood. It tells the tales of a centenarian, Century Gowda, who dies suddenly. Gowda had been a hunk in his heydays, and that created a rift between him and his son, Gaddappa. Gaddappa is disillusioned with material things and prepare to live as an ascetic (or vagabond, pick your choose). Gaddappa's son, Tamanna, is a householder who is striving to keep his family intact minding his sugar cane plantation and erratic water supply. Tamanna's son, Abhi, a loafer who gets on by doing odd jobs and surfing porn on his mobile phone, and has both his eyes hooked on a pretty goat shepherd girl.

The rest of the tale tells about Tamanna, fed up with his father, Gadappa's, lackadaisical attitude with life wanting to sell off his grandfather's land to support his family. Unfortunately, Gadappa does not want to write off the plot of land to his son. Tamanna then plots a convoluted plan to create a fake death certificate of his father whilst sending him off on an extended vacation towards this end. 

The story shows us how these members of the three generations are embroiled in their own shenanigans as each of them pursues their own purpose in life. It all ends up in a twisted comedy of errors. The rest of the villagers are there to enjoy the party; the party being the final funeral rites of Century Gowda. Here, they celebrate his full life by feasting on the family's mutton meal and the stage show that was arranged. The rest is all sideshow for them.

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Go for Gold?

K.G.F. Kolar Gold Fields, Chapter 1 (Kannada, 2018)

It is touted as the highest-grossing Kannada film, the fourth highest-earning Hindi-dubbed film after the Bahuubali movies and 2.0, an international success and was feted at the National Film Awards. It was dubbed to Hindi, Telegu, Tamil and Malayalam almost immediately after its Kannada release with much success. And Chapter 2 is in the making. Am I missing something here that everyone else seems to enjoy? And, to say that this is one of the films that give people a reason to watch movies coming from the South, as quoted in a blog and recommended to me, is just too much.

Just how many times have we seen a child wronged at childhood to grow up with vengeance against the rich and the powerful as mighty as Sri Rama himself to be a Robin Hood to the poor? How many times have we seen unknowns infiltrating into gangs just to disintegrate the whole setup from within? Think Nayagan, Thalapathi and the umpteen Bollywood and Kollywood productions. Even the hero's nickname in the film is not original. I remember Sanjay Dutt calling himself as 'Rocky', a scrambler wielding kid-wonder who was able to achieve the unimaginable in an 80's crowd-pleasing matinee.

The film narrates how a cartel enslaved people in a gold mine to extract the precious metal in secrecy in cahoots with the politicians. Even though it is made to appear that gold is smuggled from overseas, it was mined locally in a clandestine manner. Everybody wants to have a stronghold in its control, even gangsters from abroad. To get this message across, viewers have to endure senseless violence, ruthless decapitation, gravity-defying stunts and larger-than-life pyrotechnic display. Again and again, there are repeated scenes of the macho hero walking away, leaving behind a trail of a destructive cloud of explosions and cadaver.

What spurred my interest while watching the movie was the fascination of man to gold. History of gold is as old as the modern history of mankind. It had been a fascination with Man for ages. The destruction of Aztec, as well as many of the advanced civilisations in the Americas, were solely because of gold. Rappage of India by Muslim invaders and 'traders' from the West was also due to this precious metal.

It is said the temples of India in ancient times were so rich with gold that they could finance many of its international naval expeditions as well as create a conducive environment for research on science, mathematics and Nature. Its wealth became its very downfall as it also drew many barbaric tribes. The gold stock had to be locked away in underground vaults only which were only to be lost in the annals of history. 

The Indian diaspora has always looked at gold as their fixed deposits. In times of needs, jewellery is still there for the rescue. No need laborious credit application and credit ratings. The friendly pawnshop owners are always willing to take your piece at low-interest rates. Gold will go a long way.

In one of the numerous Youtube presentations that I received recently, an economist was suggesting that perhaps with the amount of gold lying around in India, it could be used as leverage to secure loans for small businesses. Now that there is talk some countries are trying to put gold back as the golden standard as the value of currency instead of the Greenback, this could be a good option. With the colossal amount of gold lying around in India, this could be an exciting thing for the even big players to look into. But then, nobody is going to be so open to display their hidden treasures in public. It may attract the attention of the wrong kind. of thieves and legal pilferers from the internal revenue service. These significant changes require political will but the powers that be are quite content with the status quo. Many third-world leaders have parked their assets in foreign lands. Do they really care what becomes of the country they lead?

Dhanteras – Dhan meaning wealth and teras meaning the 13th day –
 precedes Diwali and is dedicated to summoning longevity,
wealth and prosperity. ©Jayanto Banerjee.

According to one story, the young son of King Hima was fated to die of snakebite on the fourth day after his wedding. His wife would have none of it. She sealed the entrances to the royal chamber with all her gold ornaments and, to dispel the darkness and snakes, she surrounded the place with lamps. All night long, she told her husband stories to keep him awake. The snake that came to kill him rested on the roof of the chamber, listening to the stories, and slithered away at dawn. It was the god of death, Yama, himself, and the princess had fended him off. The day is now Dhanteras when women light lamps, worship Lord Yama and seek protection for their loved ones. Lord Dhanvantri, who expounded the principles of Ayurveda, and is a Vishnu avatar, is believed to have emerged on this day and it is customary to pray to him for good health. Kuber, the lord of wealth, and Lakshmi are also central figures in the pujas. (Hindustan Times)

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