"The Lunch Box" (Hindi Film Review)

Some films are born great, some films have greatness thrust on them and some films attain greatness, to borrow a bard's phrase. "The Lunch Box" is a film that is earmarked for greatness because of a mesmerising story, bewitching script, almost flawless execution and a starcast that comes tailor-made. It has already been premierred on most film festivals from Toronto to Cannes and has won rave reviews before being showcased in India.  Director Ritesh Batra has given one of India's finest film in years with a story that is as improbable as a six sigma error in the delivery system of the famed "Dabbawallahs". 

The six sigma error is  what changes life for a middle-aged wife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) when the lunch box that she packs with utmost affection and consummate culinary skills gets swapped by the Dabbawallahs with a box that reaches one Mr Fernandez (Irrfan Khan) who is on the verge of retiring as a Senior Accountant in an Insurance Company. He has a new under-study Nawazudding Siddiqui who is deputed by the owner to learn the ropes quickly. A subtle romantic track develops between the exchange of the "Dabba" between Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur every day, appendixed with handwritten letters inserted in the box. "The food was tasty but salty" and other inane messages soon develop into gut-level communication between two adults caught in their own worlds of loneliness and desperation; Nimrat has a happy home with a school-going girl and a workaholic husband who is insensitive to her, her sole refuge is an elderly neighbour Aunty who stays one floor above her flat but helps her with all the recipes and the sage counsel she needs. Irrfan, on the other hand, is a loner (lost his wife) who is good at work but unfriendly coach to over-enthusiastic Nawaz. His zest for life and empathy for others including kids who ball around in his home environs were inscrutable, until  both Nimrat through her tasty cooking and Nawaz through his simplicity and cheerleading enthusiasm  mend Irrfan's mental makeup for better. 

The film builds up in 110 minutes of pacy narrative with sharp characterisations. Ritesh Batra has earlier made a documentary on "Daabwallahs"; now he creates a story of a lunch box mistakenly delivered by them. That could be a reason to fuss and file defamation charges from the gangs of dedicated workers who were invited for Prince Charles's wedding and etched into a Harvard case study. But the film stands out for transmitting the DNA of the times, for telling a story with a freshly different pair of Director's eyes, without pretensions, different values and uninhibited by the compulsions of cinema. Entirely shot in Mumbai's local trains and the nerve-center of Mumbai's concrete jungles of Malad and Dongri, there must be around 350 picture shots that make you live in the office and residential spaces of a society that thrives on chaos, packed with people like swarms of bees yet friendly and humane. Soundtrack of the film is by some foreigner, makes a point with regular musical instruments at just three to four instances in the film but by and large relies on the natural sounds of the deafening dins of moving locals, orchestral nature of an office canteen bustle. Occasionally, the kids on the moving locals break into a hit Kumar Sanu song and that becomes a lead sound track for the next few scenes. 

Personally, I felt a cute connect between visual and verbal literacy in this film. At a time when the biases of the film-makers are mostly towards song-and-dance and surrealistic and loud entertainment, Ritesh Batra re-creates a story that gives out as much from the imagery as from the words spoken by the three main characters - Irrfan Khan gives his best messages to Ila only in English and he gives almost a Thoreau-like commentary on issues of happiness and misery, Nimrat Kaur (that Cadbury girl caught in traffic jam with a mouthful of Five Star) is innocent, adventurous and vulnerable at the same time. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is at his entertaining best rubbing shoulders with an elegant Irrfan but has occasionally stolen the thunder; all three characters speak as much with words spoken as with their body language. In that sense, the verbal literacy is probably taken to newer highs than the visual literacy of the film. References to the 80s TV classic, "Yeh Jo Hai Jindagi" and old victorian values of diligence and restraint are messages the director wants the audience to take home despite an ending that is not so poetic. There are references to Bhutan's Gross National Happiness as opposed to our own GDP fixation.

When a film's reputation darts faster than the buying interest in India, you have to expect the Goliaths of the industry to rally behind it. No wonder, "The Lunch Box" is now a collaboration of Indo-German-French productions and the two Goliaths here are Karan Johar and Ronnie Screwala. That must give all the push needed to qualify this as India's sole entry to the Oscars. Because of the screenplay and the pacy narrative, you wouldn't feel bored even for a second. But there are flaws in this notable experiment, mostly loose ends the director forgot to tie in his stickiness to the main storyline. When Ila's husband tells her why she is making Aloo Gob every day for lunch, we don't get that. When the Dabbawallah refuses to accept the mistake of  swapping of boxes, he doesn't give a credible answer but a Harvard student might know what the director concealed. Again, not once does it occur to the two characters corresponding over lunch box to connect with the new modes of mobiles and emails. One more, Ila discovers she is trapped in a sex-less marriage because her husband is having an affair, but that is left unconfronted till the end. Obviously, there are quite a few gaffes in a film that seeks to break new ground in story-telling. But as the line in the film goes, sometimes, " A wrong train also can take you to the right destination." Ritesh Batra and team deserve a thumping watch for "The Lunch Box". My rating is 4.75 out of 5. 

Dr.Subramanian Swamy's speech at Hyderabad

Dr Subramanian Swamy is blessed with an intellect that is sharper than his age and has a wit that is trained to take jibes at opposition members. It used to be Congress-I most of his career and now in his new hat at BJP, he shows an unrelenting fervor to diatribe against the misdeeds of the  UPA-I and II government.

I showed up at 10.30 am at Public Gardens for Dr.Swamy's speech but for a change he chose to be unpunctual or atleast the organisers of BJP have miscommunicated the time of starting. It started at 11.15 am or so.

The topic of the talk today was "The Decline of the Rupee under UPA-II". Quite a heady topic and a relevant topic. He divided his speech into four parts - First part covered the fall of the Indian Rupee (INR) against the US Dollar (USD or Dollar) all through the Congress years. Second Part covered the main reasons for the fall of the Rupee. Third part covered the blatant corruption that has grown under Congress regime. The last part was focusing on whether Indians should live on hope and what we should learn from these misdeeds.

First Part

Dr.Swamy was clear that the present decline of the Rupee was not isolated to the current regime of the UPA, it started right after Independence of India because of the lopsided model adopted by Nehru as Prime Minister. Nehru suggested we follow the soviet model of industrialisation, but the Soviet model was suited for a different country - it meant agricultural resources being harnessed from agriculture and funnelled into heavy-duty industrialisation. But the Indian adaptation was inadequate -  most of the resources were already depleted by the British and hence it proved a faulty model right from the start. Soon, the industrialisation turned into a slow process and within few years after Independence, in 1957 or so, Dr Swamy said Nehru fixed the exchange rate of INR at 4.50 to a dollar. It declined rapidly ever since. 

It declined further during Indira Gandhi regime and improved once during Morarji Desai's rule when INR appreciated from 8.75 under Indira's regime to 7.75 to a dollar. All along we have had fixed exchange rate. The situation deteriorated all through the seventies and eighties even under Rajiv Gandhi government. The only other time that the Rupee appreciated was during PV Narasimha Rao's regime. Dr.Swamy quipped that the choice of PVNR was itself an improbable one in the 90s in the aftermath of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi; Rahul and Priyanka were too young and Sonia wanted to keep someone who is bound to go in six months. Dr Swamy pointed that much to her chagrin, Sonia Gandhi found that PVNR was getting hale and hearty after getting the Prime Ministership. PVNR is indeed the real architect of the reforms as he appointed Dr Manmohan Singh as the FM and several other talents in the ministry of improved sentiments. At one moment, Sonia Gandhi was getting so frustrated with PVNR's rising stature and statesmanship that she even asked him to announce resignation from President post of the Party. PVNR said it is well within the precedents of the Congress Party since the times of Nehru and Indira for PM to also hold the Party post of Presidentship. That was when Sonia's aides engineered the split in the party, the Tiwari Congress to weaken PVNR's hold. Dr Swamy also forgot to mention the famous Harshad Mehta scam in which PVNR was falsely implicated. Dr Swamy said that the way PV Narasimha Rao was treated is the shabbiest chapter in Indian politics; he has given one of the best administration and set the base for India's liberal reforms forever. For all that, PVNR became a footnote and a pawn in party politics. Dr Swamy assured the audience that whenever the next non-Congress government is formed, they will like to award Bharat Ratna to PV Narasimha Rao for his stellar contribution to the country. By contrast, Mr Singh is like the "Sing" in circus which dances to the tunes of the Ring-master who is Soniaji, said Dr Swamy. He once asked Dr Manmohan Singh what is the meaning of 2G. Dr Singh said it is nothing but Rahulji and Soniaji. Back to currency rates, when BJP ruled later under Vajpayee, INR touched 41.31 but depreciated a mere Rs.4.50 to a dollar, thats about ten percent.

Second Part

Talking about the current decline of the Rupee, Dr.Swamy said it is  no surprise that it has depreciated more than 25 per cent in the last few months and it is a combination of atleast three or four factors, which will be enumerated later. Dr Swamy emphasised an opinion that by the end of September, INR will touch 75 to a dollar because of a vortex of complex factors at work which were always initiated during UPA rule. He said Currency Rates are a function of demand and supply. The higher the supply of dollars, the lower will be the dollar to a rupee and vice-versa. Hence, in today's scenario, rupee is plummeting against the dollar because there are more rupees in the system than the dollars and we are all importing mostly useless items which are not made in India. 

First reason according to Dr Swamy is the price paid for telecom scams. Because most the Indian players who won the bids paid huge money to their foreign companies like Swann Telecom, Docomo etc.for the licenses, and the stakes are all split between the culprits all the way from Raja to Soniaji, Dr Swamy said the current exchange rates are favoring payment of royalties/ payments/considerations for the foreign companies in dollars which is creating a huge demand for them as against Rupee payments. Similarly, there are scams in Coal, etc. which is creating a huge vacuum in the country in terms of credibility and huge question marks on the government's role in corruption.

Second reason is the commonly debated point, of late, that rupee is hitting new lows because of the need to wire back the Swiss Account money of politicians close to Rs.70 lakh crores sitting outside India which is coming back to India at these high levels of exchange rates. Contrary to normal practice, Dr Swamy says the Swiss Banks actually charge service fees on the accounts held by Indians, they don't pay interest to the account holders as it is all unaccounted money. So, it is actually a jackpot for Swiss Banks to charge atleast 2 per cent service fees and then invest the money in USD Treasurys fetching 4 per cent yield, earning a whopping 6 per cent return in dollar terms. So, the UPA government politicians feel it is better for this money to come back to India rather than sitting idle in Swiss Bank Accounts. Hence, another case for a massive Rupee depreciation. Dr Swamy says, even the Finance Minister Chidamabram has a list of all the Hawala Agents in the country who are facilitating this massive trade right now at these elevated levels of exchange rates.

Third Reason, according to Dr Swamy for the Rupee Depreciation is P-Notes, Participatory Notes. Only Indian Passport holders, he says, avail of these instruments. An example of how this works, he says, goes like this. An Indian walks into a branch of Fidelity, Morgan Stanley or GoldmanSachs in a New York office, produces his Indian passport office and then gives them a stash of cash. Against this pile of money which is usually black money in Rupees, the firm will start trading on the client's account, kept confidential, in the Indian stock markets, sometimes over-trading but mostly generating more cash through legal channels of portfolio investments. Dr Swamy says, the rule is simple: pay in Rupees, get back in dollars. Another reason why demand for dollars will shoot up. Dr Swamy said P-Notes are the worst instrument available for creating unstability in Indian financial markets. He said even the Tarapore Committee has recommended for abolition of PNotes for the damaging effects on the stock market cycles but the government doesn't care. He also said Mr MK Narayanan, the National Security Advisor also was of the view that P-Notes are dangerous for India but the UPA Government is behind this P-Note business, he says and hence are unable to abolish them. He said many of the Indian companies have offices in Mauritius, in the same street, in the same building, in the same block, in the same room, which is usually locked up - which is creating funnels for money coming back through P-Notes. The Government   and the FM are aware of this but do not raise an eyebrow to stem the rot. P-notes are one reason the Government has destroyed genuine stock market cycles for wealth creation. Today, the Middle classes have left the stock market because of negative returns. P-notes are the only reason, he says, that Indian Passports are relevant for participation in them.

The last reason, as per Dr Swamy, is the massive punting  - aggressive short-selling by Mr Karthik Chidambaram, son of FM Chidambaram in a nexus of operations in Dubai and Singapore on the Rupee at levels above 75 to a dollar, which means, if Rupee appreciates, he will get wiped out of the short-selling and derivative trades. Dr Swamy said that the son of FM has gone so aggressive on these trades outside India sitting on the fringes of Singapore and Dubai that the shorts have become too strong for any recover of Rupee against the Dollar. Dr Swamy said all it takes to wipe this speculator son out of bounds is to allow RBI to pump in about $ 20 Billion to kill the speculators. He said RBI can easily manage to quell this trade out of its Forex kitty of $ 277 billion but the Government of India is not allowing because of FM Chidambaram. Instead of doing this, the FM and the PM are talking about time-pass measures like laying hands on the Tirupati Gold or Anant Padmanabhaswamy temple gold etc. Dr Swamy said we all know what happened to the government when they tried to tinker with RamSethu bridge. He said that considering the coal scam is itself Rs.4 lakh crores and our total tax receipts is in the range of Rs.4.5 lakh crores, there is no need for levy on Temple Gold reserves etc. and we needn't even levy any taxes because the Swiss kitty is itself Rs.70 lakh crores. Back to the Rupee, Dr Swamy said if the RBI is allowed to intervene with just $20 Billion out of its Forex Reserves, the trades of Karthik Chidambaram will end, and INR may even touch 50 again.

Against the backdrop of so many scams, Dr Swamy says people like Kapil Sibal still say there is zero corruption in telecom scam or anything. We should believe him, Dr Swamy said, because Kapil Sibal cannot count anything beyond zero! Talking about Chidamaram, Dr Swam said he is the most corrupt man in the country, probably next to only the Italian Matha. Not just that the FM is allowing his own son to punt on the national currency on short-selling spree but Chidambaram is the biggest culprit on many other issues and scams. Dr Swamy said he was happy with the stance taken by RBI Governor in his farewell speech blaming the fault lay with the government measures not with what the RBI has done so far. Dr Swamy said he has tried so many ways in which to legally prosecute Chidambaram for his follies but he has been escaping all of them because he is also a lawyer. But he said, there are enough time-bombs planted by Dr Swamy to bring Chidambaram to justice. He said, sooner or later, he will get the FM to the jail as even Raja has not escaped in the past. Dr Swamy said that the Cook of Tihar jail was complaining that he can prepare only Aloo Puri but ever since so many Madrasis have been transferred to Tihar jail, he is forced to cook more of Masala Dosa, Idly and so on instead of his staple fare. Dr Swamy said he has advised the cook to learn some Italian Pizza also just in case...!

Third Part

Having delineated the reasons for the decline of the Rupee and giving the backdrop of UPA's colossal failures, he said the reason for the unprecedented corruption in the country is the greed of the politicians and the greed of the people. He recalled that when he attended the Harvard University, one of the professors asked him about Mahatma Gandhi - that he wore so less clothes. Dr Swamy said that is the civilization of India -because here the virtue lies in renouncing everything and sacrificing your luxuries. He pointed out that, compared to Indians, Americans in particular and Westerners in general gave too much importance to luxuries and dressing sense and minor points. He said if you look at the Pope, he is dressed in so much opulence unlike others in India. Dr Swamy recalled that once in a famous presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy, Nixon lost the vote because in that debate, Americans noticed that Nixon hasn't shaved properly. In summary,Dr Swamy said that Indians were always living in simple means and that will steer us to better times away from corruption. For instance, Railway Reservation system used to be corrupt but not any longer as corruption levels have drastically come down.

Last Part

Dr Swamy, in this part, moves from the topic of Rupee in Decline to the part on what to look for in future amidst so much negativity. He said that of all the 46 civilizations that we read about in World History, 45 of the ancient civilizations has perished but India is still suriving because of our courage and the will to stand up against opposition. Examples, Rana Pratap Singh, Jhansi Lakshmibhai, etc. We must never lose of this courage and the will to act, dr Swamy said. Conversions to other religions have happened for centuries in other parts of the world but India still remains Hindu upto 80 per cent. Persia used to be the land of Zorastrians but this has become muslim. Eurupe was converted into Christianity in less than 150 years and so on.

So, many forces are at play, he says, which are trying to destabilise India but we must not lose courage and optimism. A person like Julia Roberts has embraced Hinduism which speaks of the uniqueness of our culture, he says.

In short, another persuasive oration from Dr Swamy on a relevant topic with the usual nail-biting observations and sweeping conclusions. He said that the glory will return when this government is over-thrown.

Note: All the views expressed above are paraphrased based on Dr Swamy's speech today. He spoke in Hindi and I have merely translated the speech in English. I have not added my commentary on the speech nor verified the veracity of its contents. 

 

 

Duvvury Subbarao's farewell speech puts RBI on top.

RBI Governor Mr Subbarao may not have earned the popularity that other Governors have earned but that maybe more because of the misgovernance of the UPA Government. Subbarrao's biggest follly is that he tried to fight the wrong dragon (inflation) while killing growth. But the dilemmas of Modern Central Banking in Emerging markets is getting tougher by the day. I have interacted with atleast two deputy governors (S.Venkitaraman, S.S.Tarapore) and one RBI Governor Dr.YV Reddy (I was travelling first-class next to him in a flight from Mumbai to Hyderabad). The minds of these people are quite different from the minds of businessmen and professionals and housewives and students in our midst. They have to track so many variables and have to take decisions that may not be pleasant to most people and yet be guided by impact on the society as well. While I will share my experiences of my interviews with such top-brains later, this one is to put in right perspective the achievements of Subbarao after his farewell speech recently.

1. He has extended the streak of fearlessness and autonomy set forth by the preceding Governor Dr.YV Reddy. He was always clear that for every step the RBI takes, the Government has also to match it with fiscal initiatives. Too bad, the UPA Government slipped on many counts in this ground and wants to blame everything on RBI for the follies of the slippages on GDP growth, the exchange rate, etc.

2. Mr Rao, I believe, carried a resignation letter in his pocket everyday. So, nobody could have arm-twisted him to do anything that was not in principle appealing to his perception of Central Bank sensibilities. Neither the nincompoop Shankar Sharma with his unethical market behaviour or his un"bear"able fixations, nor opposition leaders like Yashwant Sinha and Arun Jaitley nor businessmen like Ambanis and Kris Gopalakrishnan nor PM or his FM could influence Mr Rao to curry favors on easing of monetary policy.

3. The incoming governor, Raghuram Rajan, will have a lower base of expectations and a weakened currency regime and an economy that will eventually climb the wall of worries. But the times that Subbarao managed are the most difficult and will help him earn more than a footnote in history even if he is thanked less now.

4. Inflation, is clearly, under control but beyond a point, if it refuses to die down, there are many factors at play - supply-side bottlenecks, reckless fiscal policy, exogenous forces at play, Fed's exorbitant privileges, etc.

5. Mr Rao is the first governor to open the doors of transparency and increase the frequency of interactions with public. He started the practice of monetary policy review eight times a year instead of four-six reviews a year in the previous stints.

6. Subbarao also participated in the most enlightened debates on central bank policies and its transmissions on the broad economy besides opening the Pandora's box on corporates getting new bank licenses, role of CRR etc. Of course, the debates that RBI had with the top guns at SBI are stuff of legend now - but that is only to be expected because SBI always felt it is more senior (and hence more ancient) than RBI in age.

7. Subbarao, like Dr.YV Reddy, opened the culture of TV debates and informal talks and continued the respect of peers across G-20 countries. He has also acknowledged the complexity of having multiple regulators and created the framework for right debates between the relevant regulators. If the US has today got six regulators, RBI also has created room for co-ordinated maneuvres. 

8. Willingness to act tough and learn from the history of banking crises has helped Subbarao to earn credibility. You should read his prescient essay on Basel-III norms to understand the mind of the man. Ministers like Chidamabaram who sit on intellectual tags and cannot steer clear of personal and career conflicts will never be able to hold a candle to men in public institutions like Subbarao who have nothing but unquestioned integrity, broad experience, nonconflicted judgment devoid of pollitical partisanship and the will to act. 

9. One fatal flaw that undermined Subbarao's endearing appeal is the rapidity with which he raised interest rates while cutting the interest rates in a lazy manner. He has realised the mistake but with grave consequences for the economy. He would have loved the unleashing of animal spirits had he taken more than baby steps in cutting interest rates for the little leg room that showed up somewhere in the period from September 2012-June 2013 but that proved to be a remiss too costly to miss.

10. Subbarao, despite that one fatal flaw, has kept the flag of autonomy in a developing country Central Bank unusually high. Let there be no doubt about his competence, his sense of humor, his resolve to tame inflation which was touching double-digits, his integrity and his independence. If RBI has earned its spurs today as one of the most respected central banks on the planet - whose working papers, whose policies and methods have become beacon lights of textbook economic responses, then let's credit Subbarao for joining the ranks of the great institution-builders.

 Subbarao is one of the commonest names in Telugu, it means the lucky one in Telugu. Even though Subbarao's stint in RBI has proved unlucky for India, it is not uneventful. In another country, another time, there would be a testimony of sorts. But this is India, we are like this only. Goodbye, Mr Subbarao. I will end with the words of Paul Volcker that clarify on how to size up crntral bankers: "The Federal Reserve, after all, has only one basic instrument so far as economic management is concerned—managing the supply of money and liquidity. Asked to do too much—for example, to accommodate misguided fiscal policies, to deal with structural imbalances, or to square continuously the hypothetical circles of stability, growth, and full employment—it will inevitably fall short. If in the process of trying it loses sight of its basic responsibility for price stability, a matter that is within its range of influence, then those other goals will be beyond reach."

"Madras Cafe" Hindi Film Review

Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991 is one of the most dramatic events in world history and deserves a film for the multi-layered twists and plotting that went into the act by the perpetrators  - the LTTE. For some reason, the Gandhi dynasty was more than forgiving of the whole episode and didn't want to de-classify the details of the assassination or probe further even after incriminating evidence reported by the SIT Chief D.R.Karthikeyan in the book "Conspiracy to kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files". There was also an exhaustive video film on the filming of the investigations into the plot to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi which was available for sale until a few years but now seems to be off-limits for some uncanny reason.  Even though the wounds have cleared up, "Madras Cafe" is a brilliant re-interpretation of the plot by the Tigers of Sri Lanka to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi at the height of a fiercely fought election.

Shoojit Sircar, who made "Vicky Donor" earlier, is the director who has picked up an intelligent array of artistes  - John Abraham as the RAW officer, Siddhartha Basu (remember India's original QuizTime Star) as the IB Chief, Piyush Pandey (O&M Country Head, India)  as an important Cabinet Secretary, Prakash B as a double-crossing Intelligence Director camping in Lanka and Nargis Fakri as a foreign correspondent. In 130 minutes of footage, Shoojit Sircar takes us on a gripping tour of those tumultous years of Indian Foreign Policy misadventures on creating the cauldron of IPKF Army to quell the LTTE uprising in a civil-strife Sri Lanka. While it starts off as a re-run of the strategic moves by the think-tank team of Rajiv Gandhi who were working behind the scenes, the film's screenplay moves at incredible speed to give edge-of-the-seat excitement about the buildup of the efforts by the rival teams, the LTTE, to finish off Rajiv Gandhi. Most of the narration moves forward but reminds us of the milestones at various times before the d-day of Assassination - three years before, two years before, six months before and so on. Besides, "Madras Cafe" is the actual place where the members of LTTE alongwith the arms dealers etc. have met for the conspiracy. "Madras Cafe" ends with the Ex-PM's assassination and the team's frustration in  preventing  the fateful end despite nailing the linkages to the LTTE. What makes the film worth watching is the racy and crisp narrative of Shoojit Sircar; he  modified the story to suit the documentary style with promising story-telling and little deviations into the realms of controversy - no reference to history of the conflict in detail between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, no sighting of the Sri Lankan Army, no insinuations about dark-goggled politicians, or the involvement of the local people. Whatever be the failings of the film, Shoojit Sircar stuck to basics of crafty direction with an equivocal stance on the contentious issues facing Lankan Tamils. 

Performances by the starcast are just apt and measured for the emoticons they display: Nargis Fakri is strictly professional with John Abraham, Siddhartha Basu is the trusting boss of John Abraham with a precise brief and then the important trio of LTTE including Prabhakaran, played by well by a veteran Tamil actor. The actor who steals the thunder is a veteran Kannada theatre artist  Prakash B who plays the role of a boot-legger, corrupt Intelligence officer who calls the shots until his cover is blown by John Abraham. John Abraham looks appropriate but his acting never got the better of his cool body. Dialogues are pithy and journalistic in appeal, more like soundbytes that appeal to the intellectual senses. BGM score by George Joseph and T Tambi is a backbone of the film that helps build the tempo and the crescendo. Shantanu Moitra is a folksy music composer who gets the credits as music director but only one song is shown in the end as the credits roll. 

"Madras Cafe" is going to be a classic in the way an assassination plot can be made to look engrossing with almost zero emotional and entertainment value. Director Sircar gives a good spin to the story of the plot by bringing in inferences to the Military-Industrial Complex, Arms-dealings, Economic Hit Men without fully explaining them. He  doesn't show the people of Sri Lanka, how they are affected, how their government and the army was thinking, what is the context in the conflict between the Sinhalese and the Lankan Tamils ( I covered this earlier in my blog)  and how the IPKF operated in Sri Lanka which caused so much consternation amongst the Tamils. It could have been an emotional high if some sympathy could have been created either for the Lankan Tamils or the Eelam Tigers fighting for their causes. By concentrating on the Intelligence Taskforce efforts to fix LTTE and later unravel the plot to assassinate Gandhi (in vain), Sircar misses a golden chance to resonate with the audience. 

Even if there's nothing offensive in the film, "Madras Cafe" is banned in Tamil. In the end, the authenticity of the original events does  not hold up  to the real  events that transpired post-assassination. There is no mention made of the Justice Verma commission in passing or about the people who were eventually exonerated - Cabinet Secretary Vinod Pande, Intelligence Bureau Chief M K Narayanan (Siddhartha Basu), Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs Shromani Sharma and Secretary Security GS Baj Pai. All the four officers excluded themselves saying they were immune from any actions as they had already retired. But in the film, they show that Siddhartha Basu himself resigns. Eventually, as history proved, Congress leaders themselves allowed Justice Verma commission report to die a natural death. But "Madras Cafe" lives on, its a moving feast of slick adventures and misadventures of intelligent cops who couldn't finally prevent the assassination of their ex-Prime Minister. "Madras Cafe" may not be the last word on the subject but its a welcome experiment by Bollywood to make more relevant cinema that throws light on issues burnt into our national consciousness. Rating: 4 out of 5 for a gripping watch.

Malathi Chandoor - A life of wisdom, clarity and simplicity

Malathi Chandoor's passing at age 87 hasn't got the due attention amidst a day of a high-profile Telugu wedding and the never-ending saga of Telugu state divisions. Malathi Chandoor has been a literary sensation in her own right for over seven decades. She inspired many women to move out of their comfort zones and become economically productive. My mother owes her formative years to becoming a die-hard fan of Malathi Chandoor since she began a column "Pramadaavanaalu" in Andhra Prabha weekly. That column, my mother says, had  covered most FAQs in crisp capsules on topics ranging from The Consitution of India and Career Planning to History, Science, Economics, Astronomy and even Culinary sciences. 

Over the years, she earned respect as one of the most-well-read and well-informed Telugu writers getting an audience that spans all ages. I remember "Vantalu, Pindi Vantalu" (Recipes, Traditional recipes) which my mother used to refer for cooking up delicacies we used to gorge on - Mysore Pak, Bisibele Bath, Sambaar - dishes that have now become commonplace. But in those days that book was handy for winning plaudits in the kitchen for womenfolk.

Malathi Chandoor wrote several easy-reading novels with clean  fare that may not have found the dizzy appeal for  cinema scripts like Yandamoori Veerendranath and Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani. But she had her mark that found her niche audience. She has also translated over 300 famous English and European language novels into Telugu; "Paatha Kerataalu" was one such successful column. Telugu novelists like Yaddanapudi have outgrown fiction to write lengthier treatises on self-help themes to cater to a wider audience but Malathi Chandoor stuck to her forte of penning the occasional novels but maintaining her sagacious grasp of matters that baffle us everyday - Personal Finance, Legal problems, Subprime Crisis, Corruption in Society, Received wisdom in bringing up kids, What to look for when marrying, How to balance work and life, Importance of learning history etc. In a world that's full of information, hers was a voice of clarity that struck gold with lakhs of readers. Often, the questions posed by her readers are longer than answers but you will never find an out-of-place solution to the dilemmas presented by her audience. Concise, practical and crystalline are her answers. "Swaathi" the Telugu weekly carries her column and many readers who grew up on her writings like my mother might be reading the columns to all family members at the dining table. For most of what my own mother achieved in her life be it taking up teaching, rearing up kids, making them read and study well, taking up Social Sciences, pursuing a Ph.D, writing articles and starting a Girl's college - she owes much to Malathi Chandoor. Infact, we now tear off the page of Malathi's column and make a bound copy of her summary on a diversity of topics. I strongly hope that "Swaathi" publish her columns into books. Ditto with Andhra Prabha columns.

Besides her versatility and knowledge, Malathi Chandoor was gutsy. She carved out her own cult distinct `from her husband Chandoor Nageshwar Rao who was a creative writer since age 20. She didn't give up her writing after her husband passed away recently as she traverses a range of topics. She recently protested against Ramoji Rao of Eenadu group for publishing false reports about Potti Sreeramulu University. Unlike many writers who became saints from questionable background (like Malladi Venkata Krishna Moorthy) or writers who built reputation on faulty pillars of values (like Yandamoori) or writers who created exceptional impact on the women of the Telugu society for a generation or two with  nativised Western sensibilities (like Yaddanapudi), Malathi Chandoor lived a life of simple living and high thinking from beginning till the end. For her column in "Swaathi", she uses a tagline that goes something like this: "Human Happiness and Moral Duty are inseparably connected." That line itself says a million words without expanding much and that itself should seal the nobility and the timeless appeal of Madam Malathi Chandoor's writings. One only wishes Malathi wrote more books of non-fiction considering that her popularity could have outsold those who had lesser credentials. 

She has always understood the power of a word, the power of a written word that can make someone's mental makeup right, heal someone, inspire a professional or nudge a housewife into budget planning or give hope  to a Retiree couple. Incidentally, the last "agony" our Aunty answered was from an elderly couple who are living off EMIs coming from their house under "Reverse Mortgage" now getting pressured by both daughter-in-law and daughter to sell the home. Malathi's suggestion? File a PIL through an advocate against both of them to leave the old couple in peace. Hints and Tips like this are more than a household suggestion that can help millions of hapless old parents who are getting torn between affection and insensitivities of children. Mrs.Malathi Chandoor  - you have been a writer that inspired many like my mom with writing that is practical, homely and clear. You were the original "agony aunt" for many readers like my mother. Cancer has withered you away  but your worldly-wise nature will win you more fans in the other worlds. 

"Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara" (Hindi Film Review)

Milan Luthria is a stylish film-maker who must have been fed on the crazy films of the 70s and 80s when film scripts were revolving around only three or four things - hero, heroine, villain and the xtra factor  - which is either an item girl, the sadist rapist, or the occasional vamp. He has been lucky so far with stars who love a throwback to that era - the era where villainy was glorified, heroism was hedonistic and heroinism was objectified beyond today's off-limits of feminism. Milan revels in creating motifs that Bollywood has painfully outgrown in the last two decades after the last Superstar moved on to better scripts - chain-smoking heroes in James Bond suits, uber-rich metrosexual villains masquerading as well-oiled and swashbuckling heroes, heroines with heavy bosoms and heavy-metal costumes and heavier makeups.  "OUTMD" is every foot carrying the signature style of Milan Luthria but this time despite the props and a fresh-looking starcast that combines youth and experience, the film fails to deliver fully. It starts off with the usual promise of Milan - the swagger, oomph and spice that almost pulls off till the first half but later peters out, infact meanders pointlessly in the second half ending with a sick feeling in the end.

Story is loosely resembling the plot of "Muqaddar Ka Sikander". Shoab (Akshay Kumar) is a Don who commands Mumbai (first rushes mirror the personality of Dawood Ibrahim). He employs Aslam (Imran Khan) and Salim in teens and helps them grow under his shadow. Enter Jasmine  (Sonakshi Sinha) who is friendly with both Shoab and Aslam who think they are in love with the girl without realising that it is the same "x" until the last reel. Meanwhile, Mahesh Manjrekar is the villain who is out to finish Shoab (Akshay). Shoab plots to eliminate Mahesh by setting up a drama where Aslam has to be the lover of Jasmine and her guardian angel. In truth, Shoab has unfolded a sequence that makes a fiction truth. In the drama that unfolds, Shoab finds out the real truth, trains his guns on the real culprit Aslam but instead gets killed by the Mumbai police in the climactic chase. 

What makes the film tick in the first half is the stamina of dialogue writer and lyricist Rajat Aroraa which makes Milan Luthria films a resounding watch. Akshay and Imran keep getting their amazing one-liners which are each worth a million bucks. A dialogue on love: "Aajkal Pyaar Naukrani ki taraf hoti hai...Aati, Bell Bajati, Apna Kaam Karti aur phir chup chaap chale jaati." There's one on mosquitos: "Macchar jis aadmi ka khoon peeta hai usike haath maara jati." One on men and women. "Ladki jab roti hai kaaran kahi hai par ladka jab rota hai, uska kaaran sirf ladki hi hai." One on the common man: "Aam Aadmi Aam ki taraf hai. Koyi Aam ki juice choosleta hai, to koyi use kaat leta hai ya phir koyi use poora khaa leta hai." One more on Love: "Pyaar googly jaisi hai - mile tho badam nahin tho moonphali." One last on Mumbai: " Mumbai sirf do cheeso se chalta hai - luck aur local - ek gayi tho doosra aayi." One-liners like this sizzle almost every four minutes in the 160-odd minute long film. Probably, a few less than what you heard in "The Dirty Picture" but make it count for the entertainment quotient with adult appeal. Normally, Milan's idiom for film-making is the original flavor of entertainment that films like those made by Manmohan Shetty, Prakash Mehra and Ramesh Sippy used to stand  for. (No wonder I noticed the head of distribution is Ramesh Sippy).                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Akshay Kumar as the swashbuckling Don looks fabulous in the film with neat performances by both Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi has looked better in other movies than this one, either she hasn't stopped putting on weight or she needs a new makeup-man. 

Music by Pritham is a highlight - both the BGM which reminds of the flamboyance of yesteryears and the songs splendidly picturised. Milan Luthria has hit jackpots with a hundred-crore film with "The Dirty Picture" but in this film, he has taken a flimsy story with a cliched ending and failed to fire up the last-mile hurrahs that makes a stylish film. He has failed in characterisation - all three leading stars' portrayal leaves something incomplete in the end; Sonakshi is friendly to both but warms up to Aslam almost in an instant, Imran is faithful to his master but turns his back in the last, Akshay is consistent throughout as a mercenary who eliminates competition but fails to relent when his sounding board Sonali Bendre convinces him to let go of Sonakshi. On the whole, despite flashes of brilliance, class and entertainment appeal, the film doesn't sustain the interest for long after the interval. You could walk out at interval because that had the best lines, best songs and the best entertainment. Milan will have to think hard how long he will cast the spell of nostalgia to breath fire into frames that still hold enormous talent and promise as a film-maker. He continues to get the patronage of Balaji Films but is he barking up the wrong tree or can he commission stories that are current? His making lacks improvisation and variety in screenplay, pace and melodrama. 2.5/5 for a film that fails to engage till the last.

Happy Independence Day, India!

Motherland. Fatherland. Homeland. Native land. The description of land as mother and father is a recognition of its generative power. Yet, I find many of us Indians, you and me included, have become more cynical, depressive, hopeless and critical of the generative and even re-generative powers of India as a land of opportunities. If individuals like us have weathered more storms and crises to move on and come up better, India with a collective strength of 1.3 Billion individuals like me has greater potential for opportunities, optimism and happiness. More importantly, it stands a greater chance to become a better nation at age 67 than many other nations. Remember, India is a country of nations, as I said earlier, not just a homogenous nation. Like Earth spinning on itself at tachyonic speeds and yet remaining stable, India is seeing delta changes at incredible speeds in all aspects and yet we are more stable despite chaos all-round - which lesser diverse and heterogenous nations in East and West haven't been fortunate enough to see and remain united. It's a privilege and a blessing we must applaud and celebrate. When we were far happier and nationalistic and patriotic when we had poor roads, fiat cars, non-AC theatres, dirty surroundings and lower per-capita incomes, what stops us being happy and energetic and passionate about India now? Let's not abrogate our right to be happy and optimistic about the future  - it is never more brighter than now - and fool ourselves into depression by believing our politicians and mediapersons. When we say "Happy Birthday" to someone, we mean it. Let's mean it too when we say "Happy Independence Day". India deserves it more and Indians which make India deserve to mean and live it too by becoming better individuals which make up a country.  Again, Happy Independence Day folks. A very happy I-Day to all my Indians who carry Indian-ness across the planet. I am proud and happy to be born into an independent nation. Are you? If not, why aren't you? We don't give up on ourselves. Why do we give up so easily on India?