RIFLE RANGE BOY

Once a war starts, nobody can control its trajectory. The promise of a swift surgical strike with minimal casualties is anything but a fallacy. We have more than enough examples to tell us this wisdom in our present times, but we just refuse to listen. The Kuwait War and Iraq Wars were just propaganda wars attacking something non-existent. It also proved  that there is no such thing as precision bombing with zero casualties. It is no use telling us it is just collateral damage.  The Vietnam War showed how elections can be lost. When the body count piles up, and the disadvantaged fraction of society bears all the sorrows of seeing their sons returning in body bags while the elite dodges their way from drafting, the public knows they have been taken for a ride. It happens because, like a broken dam, war has a mind of its own that cannot be reined at will. An episode in the Mahabharata tells us a thing or two about wars. All the war ethics were closely followed until about day 12...

Kalki 2898 AD (Telegu; 2024) Director: Nag Ashwin Why is it that every culture predicts a nihilistic future where annihilation is the final outcome? Almost all paint a picture of chaos where morality is down the drain, virtue becomes an alien feature, and pandemonium is king. According to Hindu culture, time is cyclical in Nature. A time unit, chaturyoga, lasts 8.64 million years. It is divided into four yugas—Satya, Treta, Dwarpa, and Kali. We are in Kaliyuga, which commenced in 3102 BCE and will last for 432,000 years.  Each yuga depicts further deterioration of human behaviour. Like the four seasons on Earth will repeat indefinitely. By the end of Kaliyuga, human behaviour will be despicable, with total anarchy and chaos, reaching the point of entropy. Decoiry, emphasis on external beauty, false divinity, fakery, greed, and the list go on about what can be expected by the end of Kaliyuga. Nature would need to reboot and restart the system, returning to Satya, the golde...

Shakuni, Master of the Game (2019) Author: Ashutosh Nadkar That is the essence behind the Mahābhārata. It is not supposed to give a 2-dimensional view of things. It should make us realise that good and evil are a spectrum. One man's good deed can be to another's detriment. One man's version of the truth is another's untruth. I suppose, in the same way, Shakuni, the archetypical villain of the epic saga, could have his version of what actually transpired in his lifetime. He would have his version of what happened between the two noble families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. This book goes on to tell exactly that; Shakuni's actions, reactions and justifications of all the things that he allegedly connived in eventually leading up to one of the bloodiest wars in history amongst brothers, cousins and uncles. Shakuni gives the lowdowns and dirty secrets of the family his beloved sister was married to. He claimed he was not handicapped as per common misconception. He was...

Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai  (a.k.a. Bandaa; A Common Man, Hindi; 2023) Director: Apoorv Singh Karki It is not about being religious or anti-religious, especially when it comes to a crime committed by a godman. Just because one utters something in favour of the accused does not mean he condones the accused's actions. Conversely, saying something against the victim does not indicate victim-blaming.  This point becomes very relevant in the present-day context when we discuss the Hamas versus Israeli issue. Many join the increasing bandwagon and assert that if one does not condemn the Israeli retaliation (defence), one does not empathise with the Palestinian course but supports the Israeli killing of civilians and children. Never mind that Hamas is a terrorist group; they drew first blood (this time around) and used civilian human shields to defend themselves. Never mind that Israelites have to protect themselves, too. Life is not straightforward. The film is based on a true event. ...

Karnan (Tamil, கர்ணன்  2021) Written and Directed by: Mari Selvaraj Nobody actually thinks much about the presence of a bus stop. It is just there. But for the village of Pudiyankulam, it is, or rather the absence of it questions their existence on Earth. The village is considered a wasteland where nobody wants to live. But for a group of lower caste families, it the place where they live, their children grew, and the memories of their presence in this Universe is embedded. And they want recognition for that.  For years the villagers had to walk all the way to the adjacent neighbouring village to alight the bus as the buses refuse to stop for the villagers as there was no designed stop there. For years, an application to local authorities for a bus stop drew a blank. The neighbours are not too happy having people of lower caste hanging around their area. Quarrel frequently arise.  In emergencies, the dwellers have to resort to stopping speeding lorries to hitch a ride. In...

Doctor Strange (2016) They say Dr Strange dabbles with magic in his crusade to fight the destructive forces that attack Earth. An intelligent but arrogant neurosurgeon in the real world, he is floored by a nasty accident that damaged his hands so severely that all the modern medicine could offer could not put his hands in working order again. No amount of aggressive physiotherapy or experimental avant-garde modality of treatment could resurrect his limp hands. They continued tremoring like leaves. At this juncture, he heard of a patient with a transacted spinal cord who attained 100% recovery with alternative therapy when modern science failed him. Dr Steven Strange's subsequent journey for a cure led him to Kathmandu to things beyond his imagination. He got sucked into a world of 'magic', harvesting inner energies, dark forces and alternate dimensions. Things became so complicated that he found himself defending the Universe's right side against the Dark Forces. I coul...