RIFLE RANGE BOY

Newton (Hindi; 2017) This movie is interesting because it is set in Chattisgarh, a state not usually featured in mainstream films.  Chattisgarh is located in the East-Central part of India and is a place with a very long history. It is mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has seen many kingdoms rise and fall. The film's area is supposed to have been shot is Dakshina Kosala, the very jungle where Rama, Laxmana and Sita had undergone 14 years of exile in the wilderness. Now that jungle is said to be filled with various minerals,  everyone wants to lay their dirty hands. The Naxalites are roaming around with rifles while the ruling government want to appear to be doing the democratic thing. Come elections, all political candidates promise a new dawn of affluence and prosperity. In reality, what the politicians are really eyeing is the deal to get businessmen to mine the fortune in their land and get their cut of the whole transaction. Towards this end, the whole machiner...

Now that the news of the forthcoming 13th general elections is on every body's mind, it is only appropriate to mention something on Malaysian politics. Some people talk passionately about politics. Now, with the dissolution of the Parliament, politics is at the tip of every body's tongue. People of all ethnicity and social class, as it appears to me, seem more courteous to each other as though have teamed together to fight for the betterment of the country at large. One particularly peculiar observation that I realised is that whenever you are embroiled in heated political discussion, say in a social function - birthday, wedding reception, dinner etcetera, the person who leads the conversation with much passion, offering intricate inside information would invariably not be registered as a voter with the Election Council! Of course, you have to ask him point blank on the face to skewer this information. And you have to indulge in a lot of face reading to authenticate t...