RIFLE RANGE BOY

Padaithaane (from Nitchaya Thaapoolam, Tamil; 1962) Lyricist: Kannadasan My wife thinks that I am nuts, listening to sad songs. No, I tell her. I am not into an exercise of self-pity or melancholy porn. It is just that, like Elton John said, sad songs say so much. I am in for the philosophy. Nietzsche suggested that we all need tragedy in our life, or at least in its art form. Like a Greek tragedy where the two opposing forces, the 'Apollonian' and the 'Dionysian', get intertwined to create art, life is no different. We are brought down from our high chair to the ground by Nature to make us realise of our vulnerabilities by infusing sadness into our lives. Tamil songs just got it right, to infuse intricate facts of life to its audiences when a character is facing obstacles of life. Its messages are immortalised via its many evergreen songs. 'Padaithane' (He Created) from 1962 hit 'Nitchaya Thamboolam' (a ritual of exchanging trays with gifts to ...

Melancholia (2011) You realise that the end is near, that you are exiting the building soon. Your days are numbered. You are nearing the end of the road. What are your priorities? What are the next moves? Are you going to carry on life telling yourself that it is all just doomsday prophesies and that life will go on to eternity? Will you go on accumulating wealth or accumulating brownie points for your afterlife or rebirths? Would you let your hair down and party like there is no tomorrow or in late Prince's song - party like it is 1999?! Would you just ignore rituals and formalities? This may be the question that the story seems to convey but not in the usual Hollywood's bigger-than-life apocalyptic style that we are used too. Absent are the mega-destruction of mammoth buildings and tsunami-like waves or the building of suspense by the cable news network. It is set in a private wedding function at the reclusive estate in the edge of the world. The bride, Justine (Kirstin ...