"Dangal" (Hindi Film Review)/ "Yuddham" (Telugu Dubbed version): Intense and Mesmerising

Good story-telling in cinema  has an enduring appeal for two familiar reasons: it enhances the interest of commoners and it reduces the stress levels of movie-goers bombarded with formulaic messages.  Dangal is proof that unalloyed story-telling, intense and sincere, returns and for that reason alone the makers of the film must take a bow and get a hat-tip from all genuine film-lovers (beyond the undercurrents of controversies). In 161 minutes which escapes your time-keeping, director Nitesh Tiwary gives a captivating presentation that recreates the world of a true-life rural legend who helped bootstrap India’s lopsided sports ways into a medal-winning spree in International Women's Wrestling championships. The legend is Mahavir Singh Phogat whose two daughters Gita and Babita won a total of 29 medals at world-stage wrestling matches. While Aamir Khan plays Mahavir Singh Phogat, two debutantes Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra play his daughters Gita Phogat and Babita Phogat.

What makes this absorbing film  intense is the numerous pulse points it touches while engaging with a true-to-life portrayal of a National Wrestling Champion’s quest to make  his progeny a worthy gold medal winner at world stage, so what if it is not a boy! From that point, where Mahavir Singh is obsessed with male child, the director aces up the screen with a narrative that tugs at your heart with anger at the society’s male fixation, then calmness when good sense of gender neutrality dawns on the father who takes that his daughters have the basic DNA to make it in Wrestling, and then the elements of struggle, agony, ego conflit with coachand then the final moments of glory. All these pulse points are masterfully punctuated by the director Nitesh Tiwari to give us one of the most fulfilling cinematic experiences of our times.

There are atleast half a dozen moments in the film which get you goosebumps and make you connect with the moments that every patriotic Indian feels in a country woefully short of international medals in non-cricket sports. The resonance is enhanced by resemblance to many moments in recent sport history which highlight something wrong in our culture that doesn’t nurture Olympic medal-winners so easily. You can relate to P.V.Sindhu’s moment of glory on the night before her final Olympics game when all the media says it is okay if she doesn’t win a Gold since silver is assured (and silver is what she gets finally!). Or, to Koneru Hampy, the teenage Chess champion who insisted on keeping her father as her coach and had to face wrath of a lot of people (Doesn’t happen for sure once you take your game above National level!). Or, the high-handed way in which persona non-grata (non-sportspersons) behave when it comes to allocating training budgets. Director takes potshots at all of these gremlins plaguing Indian Sports elusively and matter-of-factly. But in doing so and touching the multiple pulse-points as discussed, there is no dodgy narrative here. The struggles of the father and the daughters and their battles within and the system are well-brought out with pace and gripping narration.

Bolywood has aced up on talking turkey about India’s latest obsession with sportspersons and their quintessential struggles through films like Mary Kom, Bhaag Milka Bhaag, MS Dhoni, Azhar and Chak De. While most of them scored high on adrenalin and dramatization, only Chak De remained subtle while giving an uplift to the game of hockey fighting the odds of women and poor resource allocation to capture attention. There were few Telugu films like Golconda High School (on cricket) and Bheemli Kabaddi which kept the flag high in inspiring youngsters to give a game they like their best shot. Lagaan represented an improbable episode that is unlikely to return ever, even with demonetization as backdrop. Sultan gave a different tilt to another street-side wrestler and the closing moments of the film actually resemble the central thesis of Dangal where a happy love story of Salman and Anushka restarts with the birthing of a girl child who may become the next wrestling champ. But Dangal is different and is going to be the most-talked sports film of recent times. In 161 minutes, the director introduces the sport of wrestling better, makes us familiar with the rules in a way your worldview of the sport changes forever and then sucks us into the pulsations of the sport closer than ever – in the manner it is played at medallion games, not your WWF style or kick-boxing-blend-style. Apart from bringing out the beauty and the maneuvres of wrestling in almost 60 minutes (which is the highest for any sports film), it brings out the magic of bonding between a father and his daughters which changes complexions in its course of evolution.

Peformances-wise, Aamir Khan stands tall. It is a sign of maturity and commitment to craft that Aamir should take up this role which is de-glamorised, sans romance and stunts. He wears obesity with such dignity and class that it doesn't come out as stark. He doesn’t slip even once in his penance-like persistence as a father who sculpts his wards to achieve global glory. The highlight scenes to watch out for Aamir are one, when he goes to drop his daughter at National Sports Academy at the grasp of a national coach; two, when his daughter challenges him with new rules learnt and finally, in the climax when he is all of himself – ALONE. Both the girls Fatima and Sanya have done better, their chemistry with the game and between themselves shows up in the run-up they have had for auditioning in the film. Sanya has had her bright moments even if she tailgates Fatima in the story as Babita to Geeta. Music by Pritham is enthralling and different than what you heard from him in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. The songs pump you up and the feverishness of the game seeps in with the few songs. Cinematography by Sethu Sriram is many-layered – you need the right mix of close-up shots and long-shots without missing a moment of mist in the eyes of the main characters. In that Sethu sizzles.

What takes away from the film is the treatment of coaching in training sportspersons for Olympian success. The conflict between the father and the coach, warts and all, is left unattended till the end. Perhaps the only emotion left unmilked is that – of an Aamir slapping the National Coach in the end! But that doesn’t take away the main merits of the most entertaining and well-made sports film of this year already surcharged with three or more films of that genre). Go watch it and if you like standing up for the National Anthem like all Indians do, you may enjoy doing it twice for Dangal. Remember this, if you do it spontaneously! Good to see Disney Pictures picking a real winner that every girl child and her father want to see.

My rating: 4/5

How "Bahubali" made the World look to South for films

Has Bahubali made the world change its outlook towards South Film-Industry?

My analysis:

http://www.telugu360.com/move-over-bollywood-let-south-lead-the-way/

"PK" (Hindi Film Review)

Aamir Khan's latest film has raised enough curiosity while in the making and post-production stages. This year's most-awaited film combines Aamir Khan's starpower and universal appeal with the production values of Vinod Chopra and Raj Kumar Hirani and the stamp of quality associated UTV Motion Pictures. It delivers mostly in a 153 minute saga of an atypical story of an alien who lands on our planet without a bonafide reason but meanders his way through the deserts of Rajasthan to the din of Delhi. To a large extent, the promo preceding the release of the film gave away the plot - a nude Aamir Khan is stranded on a railway track holding a 1980-model two-in-one transistor that is diagonally held to cover his vital parts. But what does an Alien know about Earthlings? What does he know about human beings? How does he communicate with them? In which language? What binds him to stay on and move from Rajasthan to Delhi and back to Rajasthan? These are the questions that move the needle  in a dramatic way characteristic of Raj Kumar Hirani who gave India some of the memorable films of the 21st century. 

Raj Kumar Hirani's speciality is unique in Bollywood. He works with familiar starcast of lesser-known but proficient stage actors. He only collaborates with Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire as the duo who compose music and lyrics. His producer is Vinod Chopra who believes his stories have an evocative emotional appeal. His best-man for the job of writing, editing and dialogues is Abhijeet Joshi except whenever an extra dimension of a blockbuster novel is borrowed. He picks his lines from one kernel of an idea and then expands that to build layer after layer of experiential wisdom and learning on the theme to come up with a winning script. His films touch the Hindi heartland but resonate across the spirit of India everywhere. He doesn't rely on too much jazz, special effects or extravagant settings to work his magic on celluloid. He choses topics that test your integrity levels at the most basic levels and then weaves a credible human drama spruced up with enduring values of compassion, affection, honesty and faith. His films take you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions and end up usually on a high note - of optimism, of hope and cheerfulness. His films make buzzwords out of simple words that convey the central messsage of the film - like "All's well" or "Jaadu ka chappi".  ("Wrong number" in this film). His films are extremely high on cinema literacy - meaning the messages that are intended by his team in the process of content delivery are symbolically apt and exceptionally easy to digest by both the intellectuals and the unevolved. His films combine responsible film-making with entertaining comedy - a combination that makes him a nonpareil. No wonder, Aamir Khan chose him twice in his career. If you observe Aamir Khan's filmography so far, he hardly repeated his directors. Early on, he worked with director and uncle, Mansoor Khan in two films - QSQT and JJWS. Later, between 1990 and 1999, he worked with director Inder Kumar in "Dil" and "Mann". Afterwards, in spite of working with some exceptional talents like Asutosh Gowarikar , he never repeated directors until Hirani directed him in "3 Idiots" and now "PK". That speaks of Aamir Khan's faith in the scripting and execution capabilities of Hirani.

The story of the Alien stranded with a transistor needs to be told. Someone plucks a filament of thread from Aamir Khan's neck. That thread has a pendant  embedded with a  signal transmmitter that re-connects him to the starship which helped him descend to earth. So he cannot go back to his world unless the transmitter is found. This takes him to unusual places and people including Sanjay Dutt who plays a delectable character that protects PK to learn and grow into the worldly ways of Earth. Aamir is called PK because everyone thinks he is drunk and doesn't know what he is talking. But Aamir is clever, logical and intuitively smart - he can pick the lingos of people just by holding their hands and lo! he can divine their past and current intentions. PK's quirky nature kills the curiosity of most people except Anushka Sharma who is a TV anchor in search of breaking news stories. She works for a TRP-hungry Bomman Irani who reluctantly meets PK and piqued by his unfamiliar refrain and laser-sharp intellect. Anushka eventually wins the confidence and love of PK but the real twist in the film comes here where at least one of the two men in Anushka's life who had a great spell on her hold the key to his "return passport" - one of them is her lover Sushant Singh Rathore; the other is a Godman Futurist Sourabh Shukla. The conflict between PK and Sourabh Shukla is the central point of the film as director weaves a fantastic deconstruction of what makes people flock to faith and faith-healers and how religion has come to occupy a lion's share of our minds and dictates our choices. Roughly reminding of "Oh My God", "PK" takes a tangential tour of all the major faiths and puts threadbare questions that we don't seem to be asking while taking everything as gospel - why is white color used by Hindu widows and new Christian brides? Why do Hindus and Muslims take out their shoes entering the holy places of worship whereas we enter Churches wearing them? Why is black inauspicious for Hindus but good for Muslims? What if forecasts come true only because of coincidences that are not apparent to us at the time they occur? What about the superstitions that abound in every religion? Why are we not seeking logical explanations in the name of blasphemy? 

To be fair, the film raises valid questions last revisited in "OMG" about the overarching role that religion has come to occupy in our lives. There are a number of bad examples that improve the veracity of the claims of the agnostics and the intellectuals. But there are some omissions of what blind faith can sometimes do in improving the lives of people. But for that, the movie gives you a candid camera view that will influence us to revisit some of the responsibilities that we have abrogated ourselves from taking while handing over the baton to Gods and Godmen. For all that, "PK" deserves a rich rating which could have otherwise been a perfect five. Performance-wise Aamir Khan gives a five-star performance with an incessant glare that must have hurt his pupil in the shooting. He has proved again why he is India's finest actor who can make you think and laugh and cry with his histrionics, with lines or without lines. While this movie is an entertaining take on some of the themes touched upon in the "Satyamev Jayate", it has the potential to generate fresh controversy in the treatment of scenes - like entering a church with cocunuts and incense sticks but nothing sacrilegous inside a temple or a mosque. But respect for Aamir Khan goes up as he showed the courage to tackle sensitive topics through visuals like polygamy amongst muslims or the proliferating soothsayers who thrive on the fear of devotees. Anushka Sharma fits easily into a role cut out for her personality and she lives upto her reputation for "kissing" - the only thing you never expected in Raj Kumar Hirani's films. The romance between SS Rathore and Anushka is cute. Music by Shantanu Moitra befittingly elevates the moods of the film and never tries to dominate the scene itself - how many music directors in India can do that? Sourabh Shukla has given a masterly performance as a cold-blooded Godman. Don't remember if this was his best performance till date after "Satya".  Entertainment-wise first half rocks with hilarity oozing out of every scene as an alien comes to terms with life and living on earth. Second half dullens after a prolonged debate about religion takes over the script with half-hearted attempts. But the climax finishes off the movie and takes it to new high in true Hirani style of talking turkey and clearing the air on matters of life and death. 

Notwithstanding the vulnerabilities of the script and the occasional slippages, "PK" gives a paisa-vasool feeling and leaves you with searching questions that linger on. 

It is mostly suitable for family viewing despite some double-entendre dialogues in Bhojpuri on sex and memory. I rate the film 3.5/5 for the movie, warts and all.

#AamirKhan #PK #Bollywood #ShantanuMoitra #RajKumarHirani #VinodChopra #UTV #PKMovie #MovieReviews

"Dhoom-3" Movie Review (Hindi)

If I tell you that the first shot of the film is a young boy helping his father resusciate the Great Indian Circus facing liquidation from a banker who has invoked the equivalent of Sarfesi Act and that young boy grows up to restore the pride of his father in making the Great Indian Circus a must-go in Chicago, does it tell you where it all leads up? The young boy becomes Aamir Khan who targets the bank - Western Bank of Chicago - the bank that made his father Jackie Shroff bow out with his life and commits heist whenever he wants. Thats the bone of "Dhoom-3" for you - a kind of Dr Jekyll and Hyde in Aamir Khan - who just exchanged one kind of stardom with another for this role of double shades, in more ways than one, which you will realise as you watch. 

Shot entirely in Chicago, the film revolves around Aamir Khan from the start to finish in all the 172 minutes of sometimes breezy and sometimes agonising frames of stylish stunts on BMW motor bikes that vroom ahead with 360 degree turns, over-turns and even amphibian dexterity like the cars in James Bond films. The franchisee stamina is tested to a point of some fatigue which doesn't find much relief in most characters including the so-called-hero Abhishek Bachchan and his flunkie Uday Chopra. Infact, Abhishek should try to relinquish his second-most well-known job as a hapless cop (after baby-sitting) for someone else to add verve and vigor. He looks singularly boring and needs to move on as much as the predictable Uday Chopra who could have been booked under Nirbhaya Act routinely for the number of women he leches on as a cop in this film.

Katrina Kaif is the romantic centrepiece of this testerone-filled story who performs stunning acrobatics in her role as a circus troupe artist. She sustains the lightest and the emotional scenes of the film well with Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan is the deserving reason to watch the film but most of the time you feel you are being taken for a ride because of the ludicrous plot with gaping holes in the script and the storyline. This is where I like to ask Vijay Prakash Acharya what he had in mind when he narrated the story to YRF films or Aamir Saheb. When a banker comes knocking on the doors of the Great Indian Circus because of payment default, what is wrong with it? Is asking for your loan back an act of cruelty that makes you turn so spiteful that you hit on my bank anytime and run with the heist? What were Abhishek and Uday - cops in India doing in Chicago? Why were they called when there is abundant local talent? With so many heists happening on just one bank, why are so many people clueless about the modus operandi and the man behind the act when he leaves so many clues? Is the 27 minute flashback at the outset required to justify the villainy of Aamir Khan? If so, will all villains get so much footage to explain their motives ? Why does every heist of Aamir Khan end with dollar notes falling  on the street people of Chicago like autumn leaves? Why doesn't he just take that money and run? Or, why doesn't it add up to the per capita income of Chicago? 

When you walk out of the film, you realise this is a film where everyone is reverential about Aamir Khan playing a villain and one must project him in as much good light as possible because the character he is playing can otherwise do no wrong under normal circumstances. This is an opportunity lost for Aamir Khan, methinks because thats not how the legends of Hollywood think or down south, some of the hero villains like NTR, Rajkumar, Rajnikanth did? If you are playing a villain, make even the best villains feel sorry by the menace in your character, don't pussy-foot around and don't think of your star image. While Aamir excels in his role, he could have outshined more than just giving a sheepish smile and a cunning eye to outwit police. The film could have also been shorter sans some repetitive stunts, most of whom are clearly graphics. The warning at the outset could have been aptly worded: Please do not try these stunts at home as they are unreal and designed by graphics. In the second half, there is an extended chase between Aamir and Abhishek where both of them hurl weapons and counter-weapons at each other on speeding bikes. It was hilarious and reminds one of the Astras and counter-astras used in mythological films on chariots. If every successive villain in the next editon of "Dhoom" thinks like Aamir Khan in giving a justification to character, the franchise will become an innocent version of Amul Dairy. Music by Pritham lacks melody and background score by somebody else heightens the drama. Unless you are a vroom Dhoom fan and do not enjoy speeds which optimise the fuel, this film lacks in substance and variety but delivers in style, speed and thrills and yes, the surprise that Aamir Khan throws at you at the beginning, the interval and the end. I would still rate it 2.5 out of 5 for the effort and Aamir. 

"Singam 2" ("Yamudu 2") Telugu/Tamil Movie Review

I watched "Singham" in one of the 2355 screens world-wide.  Thats a staggering number indeed - something that no Tollywood hero has ever achieved so far. Speaks of the all-pervasive appeal of Superstar Suryaa and Kollywood across global audiences.  His films combine action, intelligence, entertainment and a dominant theme that usually make a mark - something that interests film-makers outside Kollywood attracting the likes of Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgn. Given the high bar of expectations, therefore, "Singham" created an unprecedented buzz. The buzz started off with an early warning that seemed a little ominous: the length of the film. That's killing: 2 hours 46 minutes 13 seconds. You expected better stuff from the makers of "Singam": because it is a sequel in the most authentic manner - it starts off chronologically at the same point where Prakash Raj gets killed by Inspector Narasimham (Suryaa) in the last plot. 

Inspector Narasimham is under-cover this time to detect why stuff is getting imported via Kakinada port. He is appointed by Vijay Kumar in a top-secret operation that even the top cops do not know. Narasimham works unbeknownst to all including his parents, his girl friend Anushka as an NCC guard and gathers details about two gangs operated by Mukesh Rushi and Rahman who peddle drugs via Danny, an International Drug Cartel Ganglord. The first half is all about establishing the links to this deadly nexus between criminals, romantic tracks between Suryaa and Anushka (two-sided) and between Suryaa and Hansika (one-sided from the girl). Santhaanam sprinkles his sparkling comic sense throughout the film, especially enriching the entertainment value in the first half. The block on interval comes with Narasimham deciding to take charge as DSP of Kakinada as criminals run amok and the gang-leaders tighten their grip. Until this point, the film is gripping and intense, intelligent and entertaining. The gradient of entertainment drops off after that and never returns to give you that wow factor which you need in the climax to make a film a blockbuster. 

What are the highlights of the film? Undoubtedly, performance by Suryaa - he looks the most complete cop ever - suave, stern and gentle at the same time and a body that today's policemen in higher rungs don't have - abdomen made of concrete and an exterior that even Hollywood Superheroes can't fake. Next, Santhanam's comedy which has now reached a colossal status - he seems such a vast improvement over the loud Tamil comedians that were never a match for the iconic Comedian galaxy of Tollywood films. What is helping Santhanam who seems to be born with a poker face all the time is the lines that his writers write for him - they are worth a million buck. Vennelakanti has written solid lines for both Santhanam and Suryaa. "Vayasu lo figuru, Vayasayaaka Shugaru.." is just one of the many fabulous mouthfuls that Santhanam gets to speak with uproarious laughter. You don't really need a Vivek in a film that has Santhanam tickling you. Infact, this film shows Santhanam better utilised than any Comedian used by a Tamil Superstar so much in recent times. It seems a tactic borrowed from Tollywood's heroes. DSP's music is just apt for the moods and oompish songs of Singham brand. Director Hari's team has created a good dancing groove that may become as famous as Gangnam style - thats Singam style. Anushka  and Hansika look good in their roles - Anushka should switch from her brand of Yoga to Pilates and Aerobics in order to look slimmer in future. 

What mars the film is the length, as mentioned earlier. You don't need to establish the sincerity of an upright police officer in a sequel but Director wastes some footage in creating scenes that re-establish the character of Singam. Stunts could have been more intense and less frequent. Dubbing care has gone for a six in the film which was better handled in recent years thanks to Producers who have their ears to the ground.  Most of the film is short in a coastal town which is supposed to be Kakinada in Telugu but the editor's slip shows it as Tuticorin, most street shots still show Tamil signages. Chennai Airport is shown as Rajahmundry Airport, Kochi Airport is shown as Hyderabad Airport, pincodes of Kakinada don't add up at all and the sea coast of Kakinada can't hold a candle to the magnificent beaches of Tuticorin. Even the police station of which Suryaa is the  lion-king loosely shows the portraits of Sardar Patel and Netaji  - it looks more of a deliberate intent than a best practice amongst police stations in India. Chief Minister's Peshi shows Anna Durai, Kamaraj and others of a state from where it is dubbed from. Loose ends like this haven't been seen in a long time  - with some careful makers who eye Tollywood as much as Kollywood market. While the plot builds up to an intense crescendo at interval time, it fails to register a good finish in the second half with a dragging story and a weak climax. But the first half alone is enough for a watch-once recommendation, embellished by the performances of Suryaa and Santhaanam and glamor quotients of Anushka and Hansika. Rating: 3 on 5.

Tollywood's "Gabbar Singh" is one of top five grossers!

According to `Business Standard’, as on June 1, `Gabbar Singh’ (Telugu remake of Dabangg) grossed Rs.128 crores in box office collections taking it closer to Dabangg’s Rs.173 crores. This makes the remake catapult into the all-time five grossers. That’s the power of mass-masala fares and box-office magic which eludes realistic cinema. I have always had a liking for this kind of escapist cinema despite my occasional tantrums. And it doesn’t matter whether we like the movie or not, the audience poll says it all. That seals it. So, it was with `Dookudu’ or `Raccha’ or movies like `Kick’.


I am ever curious about the commercial cinema fans who flock to such fare and how it translates economically. When I watch a movie, I keep my thinking hat aside, my `Satyajit Ray’ mind at home and enjoy the flow looking at the commercial sensibilities. Yes, there are occasions we love art cinema and good classy films like `Ala Modalaindi’ but cinema is a mass medium, not an art exhibition for connoisseurs.

Unlike any other art, cinema is the only medium that doesn’t require the patron to be literate. You don’t have to be a cinema-literate as in book-literate or an art-literate or a gold-literate to buy or consume cinema. You just need a funny bone and a pulse to enjoy. Those who criticise a movie is good or bad should do keeping in mind the mass-reach of this medium – every day, 3.2 crore Indians watch cinema, pay Rs.28 per ticket on an average, and forget their foibles and problems in the three hours of watching a movie. The only time they take a break is during the Intermission time – which was first introduced in the world in the 1920s and then after the movie ends. As long as the content is non-offensive, non-sectarian and non-preachy and off-beat, a movie should get most likes.

Why am I making a mountain of this molehill of a datapoint on `Gabbar Singh’? Because I am irked by Outlook magazine’s collector’s edition of 100 years of Indian Cinema. But for making a fleeting reference to Telugu movies, there is no special mention of Tollywood or its enterprising breed. For them, Telugus are also part of `Madrasis’. If Bollywood regained its lustre over the last few years at the BO, thank the Tollywood and the Kollywood filmmakers for lending their scripts and even talent for making blockbusters out of superhits in South Indian vernaculars. Salman Khan to Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar to John Abraham, everybody is borrowing brilliance from Tollywood or Kollywood (Tamil film industry). To under-recognise their contribution in commercial cinema is to do gross injustice to Tollywood’s contribution.

Earlier, I wrote a post on why Tollywood is better than Bollywood – I will expand on that a bit later. Right now, Telugu fans should rejoice that a regional movie has tasted resounding success crossing $22 Million at the Box Office. A guy like Salman Khan paid advance of Rs.50 lakhs for incorporating the famous `Anthakshari’ comedy sequence of `Gabbar Singh’ into `Dabangg-2. The power of ideas. The power of Tollywood. More power to you.

`Outlook’ should realise that watching a movie is not the same as going to Cannes film festival and get plaudits from pundits who make movies for themselves. Satyajit Ray films are a class apart always, no doubt, but let’s not forget that throughout his career, Ray didn’t get funding from anybody but the State Government. Cinema sense and sensibilities are two very different things. And movies like `Gabbar Singh’ have proved yet again what Box Office power can be unleashed by making sensible movies for the masses.

Here’s a toast to all those entertaining filmmakers of Tollywood – let your outlook not change even if mainstream media is not looking your way.

Satyameva Jayate - Doctor and the 3rd Idiot!

So "Satyameva Jayate" this Sunday takes on the Doctors abusing the trust of the patients. Even though there are instances of abuse, it is not on a scale that I am alarmed of. Some of my best friends are doctors - I know and appreciate what it takes to become a doctor. But let me not get into the issue of Doctors itself - they should be treated at a level above the rest of the professionals. But no...w that Aamir Khan has moved on from Family Abuse issues to Society Abuse issues from select professions, I want to ask Aamir: Who are all going to be in the AK net? And who is going to be outside it?


Will Aamir also cover Civil Contractors, Lawyers, Architects, Politicians, corrupt Government officials, PMO, Party Presidents, Promoters of listed companies, Mutual Fund Managers, Subsidy-Adminstrators, Drug Inspectors, Engineers of Public Works, Statisticians and Economists of Yore, journalists, Editors and press reporters, NGO officials, Forbes Billionaires, Teachers, Syllabus creators, Educationists and Tutorial Owners, Corporators and Legislators, Priests and Mullahs, TV Channel Programming Heads, Newspaper Barons, TRP Market Researchers, Violent-and-Porn Film Producers, Transport Operators. Will he cover folks from his own profession who suffer from extremes of social apathy to harbingering social awareness? What about my own tribe - Bankers, Wealth Managers, Tax Advisors, Auditors, Chartered Accountants, and Salesmen selling olive oil remedies? It appears Aamir Khan may spare my profession anyway - because we deal with, inter alia, an asset-class in which India's households invests less than 3 per cent. And we are doing a better job than the doctors. But lets leave it at that.

At this rate, Aamir Khan might declare all professions to be dishonest or he should start with his profession - Films - and set an example first before taking holier-than-thou attitude on other professions. Doctors ratio is already pathetic in India; 99 percent of the population have never developed awareness of their own body and they rely on doctors to bail them out. Most of them are genuine and good and the five percent who take the patient for a ride abound in every profession, with or without a hippocratic oath. Family issues - issues affecting the child, the girl, the woman, the bride and the boy - might deserve rich highlighting. But issues around aggrievement of an individual from a particular profession need not be a public farce - there are relevant acts and enough measures to address them. Oh, Aamir - maine Kyaa sochaa thaa aur thu kyaa nikala!

"3 Idiots" Movie Review

You don't get to watch often 20-reel blockbusters which sizzle with non-stop comedy, make you whistle, hum if not laugh out loud and cry all at once. "3 Idiots" is an absolute stunner in story-telling with affection by Munnabhai Rajkumar Hirani. Grab a seat even if you have read Chetan Bhagat's "Five point someone". Movies like this hold our own against Hollywood invasions. Super Duper Entertainer.
25.12.2009