RIFLE RANGE BOY

Shutter Island (2010) Director: Martin Scorsese Back when India was a newly independent nation, its Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was officiating the opening of a psychiatric hospital in New Delhi. As part of his visit, he did a walkabout. All its inmates were excited to have a PM visiting them. All of them were standing smiling, waiting for Nehru to speak with them, except one. He was sitting in a corner, looking away, staring into space. Nehru approached him.   "Hello, how are you?" told Nehru. "I am the Prime Minister of India. How do you find this hospital?" The man slowly turned around, lifted his head to look at the Premier, and replied, "Yeah, that is what I thought when I first arrived, too. Don't worry, they will give you medicine, and you will be alright!" That is how it is. There is a thin line between reality and insanity, which is detachment from reality. It is all about perspective. Imagine telling the world that someone is wat...

The Lighthouse (2019) When we were young, we were fascinated with the lighthouse. Any sketch of nature would include seas, boats, seagulls, clouds and flashing beacons. As Penang, our hometown is a port city, we had the pleasure of seeing many in our lifetimes.  Many stories have been written on the heroic deeds of many a keeper or 'wickies' as they were referred to put their lives at stake to provide a continuous beacon of light to the safety of travelling vessels. The job is an unrewarding one with boredom being the most significant and dangerous occupational hazard to beat. Being located far from civilisation and at precarious locations, access to these places may be easily compromised by inclement weather. Hence, the keepers may sometimes be stranded for months altogether. Solitude was thought to be the single most typical reason for the prevalence of madness in the profession. Another possible aetiology of insanity could be mercury poisoning. In the older models of Fr...

Raj and The End Of Tragedy Instant Cafe Theatre Company Presentation In conjunction with their 25th anniversary, this was their offering. A modern drama with 5 actors, it narrates essentially the restless hearts of the two main characters of the show, Raj and Uncle Lingam, who are paired to travel to America. The story tells us of their background, their journey there and the people whom they meet along the way. It is not a conventional drama with change of sets and costumes but rather a modern one with minimal improvisation of props. Story is told by a narrator who is also part of ensemble of actors through a set of dances and facial expressions. It went on for 1h45m without intermission. Jo Kukathas and her crew of 4 other talented actors gave quite an intense performance which brought the audience over to the dark side of human life. To my understanding, it showcases that everyone of us have some unfulfilled madness within us. Some decide to externalise it much to chagrin of ...

Welcome to New York (French-English; 2014) I cannot fathom why the doyen, Gérard Depardieu, the name who is synonymous with modern contemporary French cinema would stoop so low as to appear in a meaningless movie like this one. It is no secret that it is a thinly veiled saga of the defamed ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. There are too many similarities between the two to deny. If one were to think that the film was made to highlight how he was framed, or show another version of how it have happened or how the whole fracas affected his career or his nomination of Presidency, you are in for a surprise. It depicts none of those. As you are aware, this high flying big gun with a soft spot for the fairer sex was to go for Presidency of France. The fact that the the accusation of rape by a chamber-maid in a New York so near before the win event screamed to high heavens of conspiracy theories. However, the film depicted none of the above. In short it was a pure meaningless gr...

Finally met up with a university mate after 20 years. 30 years ago we were in the same boat as our kids, trying to set sail in the ocean of knowledge and curve a name for themselves in society. Time sure flies fast and we sat there reminiscing the good old days.  I had the pleasure and honour to bump into him when I was wandering about in the streets of Edinburgh and subsequently attended his convocation as he graduated from the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. As I went on rambling on the small things that happened during our stay there, he was caught unaware. I remember it like it happened yesterday but unfortunately my friend had absolutely no recollection of such things happening in his life!  Then, I started wondering! Was that a good thing that I could remember all those things and he could not? Perhaps, it shows that I am appreciative small little things in life. Does that mean I am a sensitive being, in keeping with my horoscope symbol, The Crab? Or ...