Doing the right thing by whose standards?

Jagame Thandhiram (ஜகமே தந்திரம், Tamil, The Universe is Cunning; 2021)
Written and Directed: Karthik Subbaraj

Do not expect any high brow stuff here. This is purely a masala movie with a 'feel good' element with little cerebral activity involved. Suruli, a gangster from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, is summoned to London to be a consultant to a bigoted white gangster. The kingpin, Peter, is having a hard time with a rival Sri Lankan Tamil gang, and only Suruli seems capable enough to clip their activities.

Like a faithful dog and a coolie, showing gratitude to the alms strewn to him, Suruli hunts down Peter's nemesis, Sivadoss. After gunning down Sivadoss, Suruli realises that Sivadoss was actually a modern-day Robin Hood who had made it his life goal to help illegal immigrants who come into the UK from war-torn countries by getting them valid documents. His criminal activity helped to finance his noble intention. He contends that since the UK and its allies are responsible for all the world's population displacement, his nefarious activities are justified.

Suruli then changes allegiance and work for the rival faction. Through their language commonality, he gangs up with the remaining members to avenge Peter instead for his white supremacist stance. 

Although the storyline is nothing much to shout about, it did manage to bring out a few common questions that plagued the Indian psyche. It is a commonplace to compare Indians' behaviour to that of crabs. In a bucket of crabs, each crab would pull on the other, preventing the other from climbing out. 

It is also said that the Indian diaspora been has been subjugated so long under the colonial powers that they tend to seek validation from their former colonial master, even now. Macaulay's vision of wanting Indians to turn their backs on their glorious past has reached its intended target. Now, the former colonial masters have sepoys and baboos running around bending backwards doing their dirty job. The masters, through their years of warring, have mastered the art of instigating brothers to fight each other. They not only sit back and watch the melee, but they also fan the fire!

Kattabomman to Jackson
"How dare you!"

History buffs can remember a particular time in Indian history when the British were making inroads into India, then the country with almost a quarter of all world's GDP. The European traders tried to play the role of peacemakers and deal brokers by instigating wars between chieftains. A scene where a local leader, Ettappa Naiyanar, acting cahoots with the British Collector, Jackson Thurai, to win over Kottabomman comes to mind.

Everyone claims to be fighting for the truth, that the truth will prevail after all. Then the question is, what is that thing called truth; truth as decided by whom? In the case of this film, the protagonist thinks he is siding the party that is doing the right thing. The other feels that Suruli is a sell-out as he derails the Sri Lankans' efforts to give their brother-in-arms a chance at survival. 

Money changes everything. It gives status, recognition and takes care of generations to come. Once an obscene amount of wealth is usurped (and the usurper goes scot-free), everything is sanitised.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All meddling comes biting back

Kingdom (킹덤 Korean, 2013)
Netflix

It seems Man has the penchant for screwing things up most of the time. Look at the story of insecticides. He thought he was smart when he created highly toxic chemicals to kill insects to get a better yield on his produce. He deduced that he would get more returns on his plantation if there were fewer pests to suck on the fruits. Little did he realise that insects were needed to complete pollination. Not only that. He soon realised the following summer had no birds. They were either dying ingesting poisonous insects or had no insects to eat!

Then there was a certain Level 4 Biosafety Laboratory in Wuhan, which claims to delve into combating unknown possible virus epidemics in the future. What it managed to do is just to let out one of its experimental bats infected with lethal and possibly genetically modified viruses to somehow make its way to the Wuhan wet market. And the rest is, as they say, is history for generations after us to tell their kids, "... and children, this is how your ancestors screwed up this world!"

This zombie film is set in medieval Korea during the Joseon period. Legend has it a certain Governor named Ahn Hyeon led an army of 500 soldiers to defeat an invading 30,000 strong Japanese army. Unbeknownst to most Koreans, this victory is attributed to a rare herb known as 'resurrection plant', which resurrected diseased villagers into ferocious zombies. After the battle, they were executed and buried in secret. This miniseries is based on this folklore.

There is much secrecy about the King's health since he was diagnosed with smallpox. The Crown Prince wants to know, but the Queen Consort puts the King under quarantine. The Prince smells a rat. The King has been sick too long. And the absence of any news may indicate that he may be too grimly ill or even dead. In such a situation, he has to take over. No, says the gravidly pregnant Queen, who may soon deliver a legitimate heir to take over the throne. The current Crown Prince is born to the King's concubine.

After being prevented from visiting his father, the Crown Prince heads South in disguise to contact the physician who last treated the King to get a clearer picture of his father. To his utter dismay, he discovers that the physician's hospital had been ravaged by zombies. The gist of the story is how the Prince and his followers defeat the zombies and find out the happenings at the royal courts.

The Queen had instructed the physician to use the 'resurrection plant' to keep the King alive whilst awaiting her child to be born. Fate had it that the plant harboured a particular worm that attacked the brain to turn the patients into zombies.

An exciting show with a picturesque view of the Korean outdoors shows the Korean movie industry's best. It may be a tad bit too graphic for the faint-hearted as the main characters go on a decapitating spree to keep the undead dead. Unlike other zombie shows, here, they seem to be able to run quite rapidly but cannot manoeuvre over obstacles encountered along their paths. Kudos to the make-up artists and the stunt coordinators.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

I think, therefore I am!

 The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Sadly, this film got all lost in hoopla created by the Matrix trilogy that nobody actually remembers this under-rated film. It is a convoluted film about consciousness, reality, altered reality and possibly parallels the universe.
'I think; therefore I am', said Descartes. We use our senses to make sense of who we are and our surroundings. Every input that goes through our sense organs helps build composite pictures of our personalities and determine what is right and what is not. We cannot merely rely on our powers of physical perception to ascertain reality, can we? How often our eyes have lied? What we saw was not what we got. Our dreams can sometimes appear so vivid and so real, surreal!

With our addiction to experience everything and yearning for impossible things to achieve in one lifetime, our wants have no boundaries. The creation of alternate universes in cyberspace, where we can take different personas, certainly offers escapism from the stresses of modern living. Are we going to be so impressed with our alter ego that we decide to stay in our alternate life and opt out from this present life? What happens to our current life (or it just consciousness, since all of life is just memory) after that? Do we wonder about in another realm altogether? Are there parallel universes that fit different consciousnesses? Is cyberspace a conduit to other dimensions? Can crime be committed when offenders jump from one universe to another? Well, that is the discussion in another post.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Science, scientism or pseudoscience?

Cold case (Malayalam; 2021)

Amazon Prime

We thought science had an answer for all of Man's woes. The recent pandemic just put it in plain sight to us how inadequate we are. With all the latest armamentarium, statistics and cutting-edge biomedical technology at our disposal, one year into the Covid-19, we are still groping in the dark of how to sound the death knell of this near-invisible foe.

Logically, science, with its systematic application of knowledge of the material world, which uses methodical and unbiased analysis, should uncover truths and fundamental laws of the world. There was a time when advances in the sciences helped squash beliefs propagated by religious men and shamans who claim to communicate with the netherworld to find solutions to our problems. We sniggered at them, labelling their sciences as pseudoscience or mumbo-jumbo.

Our belief in science in the 21st century is shaken. All the statistics and data in various rhymes and reasons fail to tackle the root of the problem. It seems that the virus is taking us for a spin and is having the last laugh.

Practitioners of alternatives are starting to suggest that perhaps our excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques, i.e. scientism, needs reassessment. After all, many of the fields which were dismissed as quackery never really disappeared. Telepathy, morphic resonance, synchronicity and even religion had been rejected as they cannot be verified by scientific inquiry. They suggest that we descend from our high horses and give a little credence to this field of so-called pseudosciences.

After all, the wisdom of many ancient Eastern civilisations did not fall from the sky or was infused via ancient alien transmission of technology. All the astronomical calculations, architectural par excellence and seafaring prowess, did not materialise from thin air. Maybe we have to rediscover, remind and relearn the knowledge that our ancestors knew. We need to find the key to that treasure chest, which probably got misplaced in the annals of time when we got too complacent with the pleasures of life.

I thought this movie was very nicely made, albeit its occasional holes in its plots. (Like my daughter would say, “don’t ask too many questions!”) The storytelling and the build-up are slightly different. One crime, but there are two ways the victim and the perpetrators are pinned down.

 
A fisherman nets a black garbage bag from a lake. The police are called in when he finds a human skull in it. The forensic team then determines that it belonged to a young female. Through digital facial reconstruction techniques and intelligent detective work, it is determined that the deceased is a certain Eva Maria.

On the other side of town, a recently divorced TV journalist with a young child moves into a rented house. Her area of work is paranormal activity. She soon notices some unusual occurrences in her new home. Through her guest in one of her previous shows, a seer is summoned. The seer senses the presence of an unsettled soul of a lady yearning to be heard.

Through imaginative storytelling and parallel investigations, the storytellers try to tie the twisted ends to give an intelligent and plausible explanation to the turn of events whilst pinpointing the wrongdoer in the end. The story tells us that science and mystic knowledge should complement one another to solve man's problems, not to be at loggerheads to prove one's superiority over the other. Maybe, just maybe, we should not write off non-science knowledge as mere mumbo jumbo.

scientism
excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques.

morphic resonance
the idea of mysterious telepathy-type interconnections between organisms and of collective memories within species.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Strength in Unity!

The Falcon and Winter Soldier (Miniseries, E1-6; 2021)
Marvel Cinematic Universe

Just how long did it take for a person to stay in a country for him to be accepted by his fellow countrymen to be one of them? Human beings are innately racists. For a long time, they have generally felt safe being amongst their own kind who share the same sentiments and values. Perhaps it is something that they have not been able to shed off from their tenure as dwellers of the caves. In those days (even now, of course), Nature has been quite harsh for things to be left for granted. The vulnerability of exposure to the elements of Earth made us suspicious of everything. The last thing they want to be is to end up as a meal for others.

So, it is human nature to look upon the other who looks different from them and be wary of their intention. But we also have developed a sense of awareness that teaches good values and conducts. Are these mere decorative motifs to fill books and scriptures?

'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' takes off from 'The Avengers: End Game' when Captain America (Steve Rogers) handed his mantle to Sam Wilson after 'The Blip'. Sam, feeling inadequate, donates Captain America's shield to the Museum. The real reason for his non-acceptance is that he thinks that America is not ready for a Black Captain America. He leads a life as The Falcon. When trouble starts with a group of serum enhanced anti-patriotism soldiers, Captain America's shield is gifted to an ill-prepared John Walker. 

The rest of the story tells how The Falcon teams up with The Winter Soldier to overpower the anti-patriotism group, taking the shield from John Walker to become the new Captain America, puts the names of former black soldiers who sacrificed for the USA in the annals of military hero list. The whole show is basically a social commentary that reminds us that America is neither white nor black, but it comprises a potpourri of colours and shades.

That brings us to our country, Malaysia. Modern Malaya skyrocketed to international fame in the early and mid 20th century in trade, commerce and sports. This happened primarily because of the hard work of various ethnic groups who landed here by choice or by fate. The euphoria of Independence and self-rule propelled them to even greater heights. We were labelled as the emerging 'Tiger of Asia'. The tiger, however, had its developmental milestones stunted by the works of bigoted zealots who were hellbent on purging the country of its people who were not of their selected ethnicity and religion. 

They know we grow in unity but in their blinkered eyes, but it seems that blind faith blinded them. In the meantime, we are spiralling down the ladder of hopelessness and ponder upon the possibility of becoming a 'basket case'. The pandemic is our wake up call.

Going back to the story of a black being Captain America, my friends and I had invested in hours of discussion on the above subject. On the one hand, the great divide is attributed to repetitive restrictive laws and social constructs that segregate and suppress a race the already had a checked start from the starting line. They were enslaved and systematically oppressed over generations leaving scars that left a trans-generational dent in their psyche. Opposition to this type of argument is that 150 years after their emancipation in 1865 is a long time for the oppressed to pull themselves up by the bootstrap. American history has its fair share of black success stories as well. Many black millionaires, entrepreneurs, and many musicians of the Harlem renaissance re-engineered songwriting and music appreciation. One or two success stories are here for perusal...

Harry Pace (1884-1943)
Founder of Black Swans Records and Northeastern Life Assurance Company.

Georgia born, orphaned and passed out as a white to live in a white-dominated housing area under the Jim Crow laws. In his later years obtained a law degree to have a legal practice.

Roland Hayes (1887-1977)

Started singing in his early teenage years in church choirs. After singing in troops, he finally picked the courage to have his own musical recital of classical European music at a time when black music was limited to minstrelsy and getting a sponsor was impossible. Using his good office at the church and kind sponsors, he rented a whole hall for this purpose. His popularity soared. He soon performed in many major US cities. He later performed in London for the British royalty. His magnum opus must be performing Schubert's piece in Berlin in 1924 in front of a jeering German crowd. This was after WW1 when the Germans were unhappy with placing black American soldiers in Germany. There was pin-drop silence once he started singing.

Roland Hayes' 'Were you there.'

(narrating the biblical moment when Christ was on the Cross.)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Machiavelli is child's play, meet Chanakya!

Chanakya
Amar Chitra Katha Classics

Thanks, Aman, for the suggestion.

Forget the 16th century Niccolo Machiavelli and his devious Machiavellian tactics in 'The Prince' to usurp power and defeat your enemies. Forget Adam Smith as the 18th century Father of modern economics and his treatise 'Wealth of Nation.

Before the modern world knew about science, politics and economics, Indian civilisation had already delved deep into the above subject. Chanakya, who lived around the 300CE, was a master political advisor exemplaire. A Brahmana, a scholar knowledgable of various sciences, is said to have been instrumental in masterminding Chandragupta to establish the Maurya Empire. 

It was about 2,500 years ago when Alexander (questionable whether he was Great) from Macedonia was creating a ruckus in Northern India. Maghada was the largest kingdom in India then. Hence, most people thought that it was natural for its ruler to chase away foreign aggressors from their land. 

It started with a minister in the Maghada kingdom, Shakhtar, getting insulted by the ruler. The minister deviously got Chanakya to get an audience with King Nanda, the Maghada monarch. In a stuprous state, the drunken king ridiculed scholar Chanakya.

An incensed Chanakya vowed to strip the King and his sons of their powers. Shakhtar and Chanakya sneaked a cunning plan to instigate Nanda's eldest son, the most intelligent and the strongest of his sons, Chandragupta, to snatch the rein of power. They also induced a pact of convenience with a greedy king Parvathak for his army.

Nanda was defeated and poisoned by Chanakya's spies. Forget 'House of Cards', Chanakya was a master planner. He engineered who should be in and who should be out in Chandragupta's newly established reign. Royal hidden manoeuvres, quick sleigh hand tactics, backstabbing and attempted poisoning of Chandragupta, all were nipped in the bud by the maverick Chanakya in the course of his illustrious career in the courtyard.

Chandragupta Maurya

It is said after organising a solid army, Chandragupta went on to build an Empire. Even this story in Amar Chitra Katha simplifies and perhaps, romanticises Chandragupta to have warded off Alexander away from India, the timeline is a bit off. History tells us that King Porus is credited for defeating Alexander. But the Macedonians fought many wars over the Indian frontier. In one such clash with the Nanda Empire (remember the early part of the story!) and Gangaridai, Alexander's army mutinied because the raving elephant army was too intimidating. Their morale declined, and the military had to retreat.

That event essentially marked the end of the Alexander warrior days. He died on the way back, the cause of which remains speculative. It ranged from malaria to depression after the demise of his male companion to poisoning.

Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, authored 'Kautilya Arthsashtra' in the 3rd century BCE. He is a pioneer in the fields of political sciences and economics. His work is the basis of classical economics.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Memories are made of these?

Sardar ka Grandson (Hindi, Sardar's Grandson; 2021)
Netflix

Somebody was comparing two pieces of land that were carved out of a more significant portion of land, circa 1947-48. See how the parent state reacts to the other. What a contrast!  In 1947, the Muslim state of Pakistan (1,030,000 km²) was carved out of a large piece of land that was essentially Buddhist/Hindu for thousands of years. Despite all the bloodshed and emotional trauma that accompanied this creation, India, by and significant accepted the turn of historical events and carried on with life, trying to improve itself.

In contrast, the tiny Jewish State of Israel  (22,000 km²) was reborn in 1948 after 2000 years in a place where their forefathers, thousands of years previously before, were exiled. Yet, their neighbours and their yeomen are hellbent on the state's annihilation. The problem is where to mark the beginning of history and selective bias of record to determine who was there first. 

Since its inception, Israel has been defending itself from hostile neighbours. It had turned a deaf ear to curses from many of their proxies. Collectively, the enemies of Israel have made it a crusade to fight the land held sacred by other believers as well, Christians and Baha'is included. Still, there can be no place for intellectual discourse. Instead of living in harmony with its neighbours as the great scriptures advocate and improving their living standards, they chose anarchy. There has been no peace for the past 70 years.

When someone loses a place that they call home, what do they actually lose? Is it the physical space occupied by the person, or is it the memories associated with the place? Can the experiences and feelings be quantifiable? Is it justified to live brooding over lost land, living in melancholy reminiscing on how things were? Or should we accept it as the ever-changing tide of history and move on? Cambodia was once a race of master builders. Greece was where people of Europe started thinking beyond their primal, animalistic needs. But look at them now. Wind of change does not escape anyone.

Maybe it is trans-generational trauma of sorts, or perhaps it will be forgotten as the older generation, which was there in flesh and blood during the 1947 Partition. The event has affected the Punjabi community tremendously. 

This 2021 light comedy tells the tale of a Punjabi American immigrant (Amreek) who has to return urgently to Amritsar to visit his 90-year-old ailing grandmother, Sardar Kaur. In the USA, he runs a moving business with his fiancée, Radha. Due to his lackadaisical attitude and bumbling demeanour, they part ways.

Back in India, his grandmother's dying wish is to visit her former home in Lahore. Before the Partition, she and her husband had built a home. She had to leave it in desperation when Pakistanis moved in and killed her husband. So get a visa and go, right? The problem is that the grandmother is denied entry to Pakistan. On record, she has assaulted a Pakistani official many years before, as a spectator, before during a friendly cricket match. 

By then, Radha has moved on to other things. Amreek once witnesses her advertisement of her translocating a whole tree. Amreek decides to do the same for Sardar's house. As fate would have it, the official whom Sardar had assaulted is now Lahore's mayor, and he is not going to give the permit for translocation so easily. As expected, Amreek is successful, he and Radha are united, Sardar is happy, and the film managed to portray an image of buffoonery on the people of Pakistan and their officials. Perhaps that is the reason why the film fared so poorly on IMDB and Rotten Apples' scales.  The leftist media have to stand in support of their brethren. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The movie is average, but there are a lot of loopholes in the storyline. Imagine navigating a double-storey townhouse through the narrow and diabolical streets of Lahore on a trailer. If the viewers were to look beyond all these faux pas, they might enjoy this romcom.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.