RIFLE RANGE BOY

R Arumugam @ Spiderman in action I remember a time in primary school when Malaysia was playing hockey in the World Cup, and we were hosting them. One of my friends, ignorant that he was, predicted that Malaysia would lose, not because India is a good team but because Malaysia had too many players of Indian ethnicity. The Malaysians would not play with as much zest due to allegiance to their ancestral roots. Of course not, I told him. It was like the national goalie Spidey R Arumugam letting in a few goals during Merdeka tournament to India for old times’ sake. No way that was going to happen. In the same way, I fail to see why many individuals of the Indian diaspora are getting all excited, ad nauseam, after the announcement of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate. For the record, Kamala is half Indian on the maternal side and Jamaican on the other. Kamala @ Momala with hubby and stepkids. Kamala Harris is an American true and true. She was born in America, read in t...

Main aur Charles  (Me and Charles, Hindi; 2015) Earlier in life, I took a keen interest in the intriguing case of the suave serial killer of Indo-Vietnamese descent who used to grace the tabloids in the 70s. He is alleged to be a master manipulator, a psychopath, a successful impersonator who speak many languages and could make members of the fairer sex weak in the knees! Hence, it is only logical that I should give a go at this mini-biography of the man himself. Unfortunately, the film seems like a bit haphazard initially, moving to and back between timelines as the story moves between three lifelines in three decades. The second half of the film starts to grasp the essence of the story by impressing upon us the conniving nature of the man. The choice of actor picked to depict Charles Sobhraj is excellent. His external appearance, barrette and large framed square spectacles caught the uncanny likeness of the serial killer himself. In the building of character and gaining emp...

Back in 1976, I remember reading about a serial killer in a Sunday newspaper. Somehow, the story got stuck with me. Over the years, I have been periodically coming across this person's escapades (misadventures) in the dailies. I think it felt exciting and got stuck on to most people's grey matter because of the inclusion of the prefix 'bikini'! Now, with Google, every piece of information on this notorious psychopath is just at the tip of everyone's fingertip. A few years ago, I visited one of the friends I know (not too many friends I have, anyway), whose wife had just delivered a baby boy a few days before that. I almost choked on the cordial drink that he cordially offered to me when he said, “We named him Sabhraj. What do you think?” I answered, “Fine! Nice name.” not wanting to be a wet blanket. I was just chuckled to myself and hoped that he never found out that he named his son after a serial killer! (A little bit too late to change as the child’s name had ...