RIFLE RANGE BOY

Amaran (Immortal; Tamil, 2024) Director: Rajkumar Periasamy A Tamil movie of the same name was made in 1992. It was a full-scale gangster movie that was initially banned from Malaysian theatres but finally screened after the censors went on a snipping spree. It was deemed too violent. The film ended suddenly as the final showdown between the hero (Karthik) and the baddies had too much gore. The Malaysian Censor Board butchered it so much that I watched a movie that was left hanging with an abrupt end, and the hall lights turned on, much to the audience's confusion about whether there was an emergency of sorts. This time around, there was violence, gore and death, but it is a legitimate form of ending one's life; that is the government's sanction war against ideologies which are hellbent on destroying peace. We call this patriotism, not turf war. I think one particular scene in the movie highlights the whole business of war and the use of religion in justifying war. An India...

Seven Days in May (1963) Humans are social animals, they say. We need each other to survive. We should look at one another as our brothers and sisters to sail through the journey of life. They say we should look at another not by colour or creed, but as a fellow being seeking temporary sojournment on Planet Earth. That, borders and nation states are artificial boundaries created by multinational conglomerates with business and acquisition of wealth on their mind! But snap out of it! This is what we have. Various nations wanting to do better than the other and do not to be taken for a fool by others. An entity called nationalism evolved over differences and the trust was put on a piece of cloth and the writings which define the nation, the Constitution. Leaders are elected democratically to guard this common belief that the Constitution is supreme, infallible and can stand the test of time as the founding fathers were visionaries extraordinaire! We all may not be happy with how thi...

Job well done smoking 'em out of their foxholes?  Wow, I just realised that my friends are getting just as twisted as me. I guess that is why they say that friends with the same mental illness flock together. When a naturalised Sikh Canadian gets elevated to the rank of Minister of Defence, normally the whole world would sing praises of equality, of globalisation and acceptance of multiculturalism. That the world is everyone's oyster and all one has to do is show allegiance to a flag, bravery and the zest to fight for the Truth against the tyranny of Evil forces. There are two forces in this world, the Good and Evil. The Evil one is hellbent on crushing something good that the rest of the world (i.e. Good) is trying to propagate. But, no! My friend looks at it as a betrayal to Sikh community. The Sikhs have always had a special place in the heart of the people of the world. Before the Partition, Sikhs were the minority in the state of Punjab, overpowered in numbers b...

Mayfair Set (Documentary, 1999) Produced, Written, Directed by Adam Curtis #1 Who Pays Wins With an uninspiring name like that, I thought the documentary would deal with something related to British affairs. The only Mayfair that I knew was the most expensive property in the original 'Monopoly' game. (Dark Blue, together with Park Lane) Glad I watched it as it opened another Pandora Box of evil that lurk in what appear to be a kind gesture. Again, the dictum, 'there is no such thing as a free lunch' holds true. It narrates the concept of mercenary soldiers and arms sales business that helped to sustain and rejuvenate the British economy after being battered in the World War 2. Colonel David Stirling, a gung ho nationalistic soldier ran SAS (Special Air Services) in Northern Africa, a mercenary army during the fight with Rommel. After WW2, he led a quiet life in Rhodesia but got embroiled in its politics there at a time of Black nationalism, through the Capricorn...

Thanks to RS for this collection of pictures starting from a time more than 150 years ago... Sikh Cavalry Officers, British India Army, attending Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1873 in London, England. circa 1919.. Photograph by Randolph Bezzant Holmes (1888-1973), India, North West Frontier, Indian army camel corp in Miran shah.. From an album, of 74 photographs compiled by Neville John Gordon Cameron,  1st Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. A British officer with his family, 1877, Mooltan. Five Indian soldiers near Miranshah, Tochi Valley, Waziristan, 1898 Military encampment in the Razmak,1898 Indian soldiers and elephants, Multan, 1898 British and Indian soldiers with elephants, Multan, 1899 Hyderabad contingent regtl center band in Toochi..1895.. Churchill introduced to Sikh VCOs in Shillong,1945.. 4th Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army. Group portrait of the Sikh officers and British captains of the 14th Sikh Regim...