Carpe diem?

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Director, Actor: Ben Stiller

We are told that routine is good for us. We as human beings are easily swayed by our primal instincts that we need a laid-out plan and to follow a ritual to explore the fullest of our potential. The path paved by people before us gives the best assurance that our purpose of existence will be met. 

Essentially, we are told to lead dull, predictable, mundane lives. Nothing new is bound to come out of this type of arrangement. 

But then, life is as usual, not so straightforward.

“Carpe diem, Horace had said. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you will be dead for eternity”. You have one life to experience everything. Miss this, and you have lost it forever. You cannot step into the same river twice, said Heraclitus. 

For that flash-in-the-pan, out-of-the-box idea, one has to be spontaneous. Otherwise, the human race will not have that occasional vertical peaks of scientific and social discoveries that propel them forward in life. 

How often in our lives have we organised outings or holidays at the spur of the moment? In fact, these types of impulsive arrangements end up being more memorable. I remember buying tickets to watch ‘Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark’. Not knowing anything about the plot or its genre and not knowing what to expect, the two-and-a-half hours spent just blew my mind away. 

Perhaps rather than fearing that faring the alternate may derail our well-thought itineraries, one is allowed to stray away occasionally. Sometimes it is not all about the destination but also about the journey. It is not only about scaling Point A to Point B in record time but enjoying the journey and smelling the roses along the way.

This film is supposed to be a remake of a 1947 comedy of the same title. Actually, both movies approached the topic rather differently.

In the Ben Stiller version, Walter, a 42-year-old single introvert employed with LIFE magazine as a negative assets manager, is in a fix. His company is going digital, and he may be terminated. The negative needed for the next issue is missing, and the fellow female employee that he has the hots for seems unattainable. Rather than seizing the moment in front of him, Walter tends to daydream. Daydreaming gives him an outlet for him to channel his frustrations. 

A snow leopard off the mountains in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, pressure mounts to retrieve the missing negative, but the sender has no return address and is always on the move. Walter decides to embark on a rollercoaster ride to locate the sender. What he discovers is a vast world full of adventure that he never knew all this while.

The 1947 version is more of a slapstick comedy of the goody two-shoe son of a domineering mother and his entanglement with a mob. 

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. 

Can't beat the original!

Laal Singh Chaddha (Hindi;2022)

Bollywood version of 'Forest Gump'

Director: Advait Chandan

Even before Aamir Khan's latest film made it to the silver screen, a large portion of India's population, or at least those vocal on social media platforms, went on a crusade demanding its boycott. The threads #banLallSinghChaddha and #BoycottLaalSinghChaddha gave the impression that the movie was demeaning to the Indian psyche. 

It all stamped from the time following the events of the Gujerat riots. Aamir Khan, an essential icon in the average day-to-day Indian's going on, as all Bollywood of is and movie stars are, made a public statement that he, a Muslim, and his then-wife felt unsafe in intolerant India. Khan later earned the public ire in 2020 when he was photographed with the First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan, after filming in Turkey. President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, at that time, was quite vocal about the aberration of article 370 in Kashmir and had clearly stated his pro-Pakistani stance on the Kashmir issue.

The keyboard warriors had all the ammunition to run down Aamir Khan. They thought his previous film 'PK' denigrated the Hindus. Then someone suggested that Aamir Khan was not alone. It seemed that the whole Bollywood mafia was concerted in bringing the values Indians held dear to them. The platform was set to bash Bollywood and the first families of Bollywood (i.e. actors who made it big due to their sheer family connections). Films that glorified India, promoted nationalism and tried to re-narrate India's past history were given publicity and feted.

People may say that cancel culture and mob mentality are just rearing their ugly heads in public space. They are telling Aamir Khan and the likes, with their newfound Indian nationalism as the world becomes more and more inclusive, to mind their words if they wish to make money out of them. They would not continue taking all the Indian bashing anymore.

Perhaps because Netflix and the other OTTs just opened the floodlights to other new non-Bollywood mafia-linked sons and daughters of actors, people have realised that they do not need Bollywood to feel good. People have also discovered that a wealth of gems are being churned out of other Indian language cinemas, especially in the South. 

To be fair, this film 'Laal Singh Chaddha' is not all bad and demeaning. The only slacking thing is it is a bit draggy. If one were to nitty pick, one could say the film defames jawans (warriors) by implying that even a mentally challenged individual can be deployed as a soldier. This is, of course, a stark in the Vietnam War, which the original film depicted when the US Army had its hands full replenishing the numbers who kept returning in body bags. Uncle Sam took in all!

Laal Singh's characterisation appears too familiar. We think we saw him in 'PK'. And the frequent 'Mmming….' gets a bit annoying after some time. Diehard Bollywood would be pleasantly surprised by a digitally de-aged Shahrukh Khan appearing in a cameo role as a fledgeling newbie trying to break into the silver screen. 

On a positive note, LSC excelled in creating an emotion that connected with viewers. The narrative gave a scroll down memory lane of many significant events that happened in India in recent years. The outdoor shooting is breathtaking. The idea of showing India's different skyline must have gone through Aamir Khan's mind when he saw Forrest Gump start running the whole span of the USA. Hence Khan must have bought the rights to remake the movie. 

It may not be groundbreaking, but LSC is indeed a wholesome, feel-good movie that the family could watch together without being encountered in embarrassing adult moments. 3/5.

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It is the only way they knew to survive!

Ode to My Father (국제시장, Korean, 2014)

You see a grumpy old man seeming to be hitting out at everything around him. You ask yourself, what is wrong with him? Was he always like that? What life event changed him?

If one were to look deep enough, he would discover a reason for the way he behaves. The old man would have his own long life story to share. In his narration, one would find aches, joy, disappointments, achievements, unfulfilled ambitions and unbelievable feats that would make his life worth the while. He must be lethargic fulfiling all his duties in life. Perhaps, his self-sacrifice is not appreciated. He is taken for a fool for still living in the past and being sentimental about trivialities that mean little to the newer generation.

'Ode to My Father' is South Korean's fourth highest grossing film of all time. Even though, filmmakers may look at this production as a 'low-class tearjerker', low brow with the dearth of the finesse of modern filmmaking, viewers appreciate its nostalgia component. Like 'Forrest Gump', it infuses many small snippets that may pluck the string of the hearts of the ordinary Korean. The Hungnam Evacuation of 1950 where US Navy evacuated thousands of North Koreans to the South forms the backdrop of the melancholia as a young family is separated by the stampede of escaping refugees in the cold Korean winters. Father and daughter are left behind. The mother with her three children reaches Busan to live with her sundry shop owner sister-in-law. The eldest of the children, Deok-Soo, a boy, takes charge of the family as ordained by the father. 

Evacuation of 100,000 over refugees at Hungnam

The film is all about his escapade/hardships of life as Deok-Soo, roughs it out in Busan (Gukje Market which was set by wartime refugees) and later during the trying times of the young nation of South Korea. He tugs it out the coal mines of Germany and the landmines of warring Vietnam. All along with the film, viewers' interest is rekindled with the introduction of characters prominent in the history of South Korea, namely, Chung Ju-Yung, as seen as the future founder of Hyundai; Andre Kim, eccentric fashion designer and Nam Jin, a K-pop singer. The main driving force is to protect the family. 

The film strikes a chord with the older as well as the younger generations. The older ones who lived through the Korean War may relive their youth and appreciate their bittersweet experiences during the formative years of the country as it struggled through with handouts of the US and goodwill of the first world country. To the youngsters, it would be an eye-opener. They would be made to realise that Korean culture is not just K-Pop, plastic surgery and Winter Sonata dramas. The hard work and sacrifice of the previous generation would be appreciated.

Perhaps, when you see another grumpy old man or one fixed in his peculiar way of doing things, appreciate the fact it was just their way of doing things to survive and to bring home the bacon for their loved ones.

'Ode to My Father' was remade in Hindi in 2019.

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Live for others?

Bharat (2019)

They say this film is based on the blockbuster 'Forrest Gump', but the only similarity to the Hollywood counterpart is that the story goes through certain landmark events that are deemed necessary. For a starter, there is Partition and Nehru's death.

In keeping with the general theme of nationalism that sells these days, this offering is another one of those that spur people's patriotism.

The film is also supposed to be based on a South Korean movie, 'Ode to Father', but the Indian props are way too colourful to portray melancholy that vibrates in the background - of the family cruelly divided during the Partition in 1947.

The protagonist amongst the attendees at Nehru's funeral

Putting all that pomp, colour, splendour and gyrating bodies aside, there is a subtle lesson that is put forward through the narration. Forget the implausible storyline. Keep mum when you know it is humanly impossible for a 70-year-old Salman Khan to beat up 4 motorcycle riding ruffians with iron rods. Look through the objectification of the female body in the many dance sequences and senseless pacification of Somalian pirates with Amitabh Bachchan's songs.

It is a clash between traditional values and the modern way of looking at life. Should one sacrifice his whole life carrying the burden of ensuring the wellbeing of his family? Is the head of the family's responsibility to make sure that everyone's okay? Is the male progeny the de-facto leader of the clan in terms of hierarchy?

Colour and music that is a sine qua non of Bollywood 

As we see the society evolve from a totally patriarchal one to one where responsibility is shared, it seems that everyone is responsible for his own life. In this century of 'self', no one is answerable to another. They say, "it is my life... it's now or never...I ain't gonna live forever

I just want to live while I'm alive...!"

At the end of the show, the protagonist realised through the turn of events that it is ludicrous to stick on to traditional practices. The world changes ever so often. We need to keep up in fear of missing the next revolution bus.

P.S. It is a remake of 2015 Korean movie ‘Ode to My Father’ about a family separated by the Korean War.

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