"The Amazing Spiderman" Movie Review (138 Minutes)

“The Amazing Spiderman” comes back with an unfamiliar bang and unhurried charm. Andrew Garfield (remember the skinny guy who played the CFO in Facebook “The Social Network”?) replaces the effable Tobey Maguire, and Emmy Stone replaces Kirsten Dunst. Director Mark Webb seems to love his surname so much that he ought to make a webby film out of it. He has done a pretty decent job of building a credible first take on the Spiderman. It delves on the improbable origins of Peter Parker in the annals of cross-genetics and how Peter’s father helps Dr. Curtis Connors in his research using complicated calculus formulae that go into making alogirithms that alter biologically.

A good deal of time gets spent in establishing how Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) goes on to investigate his roots from adopted father Martin Sheen (always good to see him back in any cameo), meets Dr Curtis Connors, gets bitten by a genetically altered spider and shoots webs at will and walks on walls and jumps from one skyscraper to another in union-jack-red-and-black attire that still looks like an urbane swimming trunk. What can get a spider? A Lizard. And so, the villain Dr.Connors becomes a giant mutant lizard that stomps the streets of New York and pulverizes people and caravans of cars like a Godzilla – most of the stunts between the Spiderman and the giant lizard are nightly in nature. I wonder if this is deliberately done to counter the ensuing next big release of the Summer is Batman’s “The Dark Knight rises”. Nevertheless, the plot moves on to more complex matters – the lizard-man becomes more menacing and engulfing for mankind and our friendly Spiderman gets help from New York Police just in time to thwart Dr.Connor’s dangerous tricks. In between, a decent romance between Andrew Garfield and Emmy Stone that is more prolonged than seen in Spidey movies (without a love triangle).

How Good is the characterization and the performances? To be fair, Andrew Garfield gives a towering performance that will appeal well to the fans of the Marvel Comic character. Early versions of Spiderman starring Tobey Maguire had a genuine likeability about him so it kind of grew on you with an earthy and credulous touch. Present version takes off on the same path of first part of Spiderman released in 2002, takes a long time to establish the family background, the upbringing, and then the accidental transformation of a boy-next-door into discovering the webby instincts. The scenes showing the adhesive nature of the superhero’s hands and feet, and the commanding horsepower of his routine actions resulting in weird consequences like glass-shattering, basket-ball goal-post smashing are eye-popping and well-picturised. Even a simple act of googling his own spidey behavior results in the unraveling of the keyboard letters which is intense and believable. The origins of a superhero and the coming of his age were never shown so fluently in any movie before. Those sequences bind you more the friendliness and acuteness of this character. Most humor is embedded in these initial sequences, afterwards the plot gets thicker and serious with the unbearable tightness of being Spiderman getting to Peter Parker’s head. Character-wise, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Rhys Ifans (who plays Dr.Connors) play their parts flawlessly. Dr.Connors character lacks texture and depth and definitely comes nowhere close to the swagger of the villain seen in first three Spidey movies. That is the major flaw in this movie – the villain’s characterization lacks substance and enough justification and as if there’s a late realization of this, Director Mark Webb shows him just after the movie’s primary title credits in conversation with another invincible power as to how to betray Spiderman yet again.

How Good is the 3-D Effect? Not that good. Except in one of the final stunts where the giant lizard leaps out of nowhere to browbeat the Spiderman, I could not perceive the third dimension with any telling effect. These days, the camera work in 2-D is so exceptional that one need not wear 3-D glasses to feel you are walking in the air with Spiderman over the nightly skyscrapers of the Manhattan, or “touch” that totempole of an Empire State Building or puke a web on the villain’s face. That’s a bit disappointing. Andrew Garfield, as I said before, has worked his lanky frame to give a unique tilt to the character, almost as incredibly as Tobey Maguire does. I am sure the shutterbags will soon report how Andrew has also done gymnastics, martial arts, weights and high-end cardio to stand out as an agile Spiderman – who needs to move at top velocity, in non-linear fashion, at tangent to gravity, within vertical limits. The effort shows - like one pose where he literally does a Shirshasana.

Is there anything else to rave about? Yes, there is. James Horner- that majestic Music composer – the only stalwart who scored award-winning music on a par with John Williams – has scored memorable BGM. Its on Sony Classical and I am going to own one.

I went with low expectations, having watched all of the three Spidey films. This one was quite watchable with few guffaws and one or two Indian tricks. One is Irrfan Khan – it is quite a forgettable role, I wonder if it can be even called a cameo as memorable as what he did in “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Of course, we Indians cannot match Hollywood in SFX or scripting or storyboarding or marketing of a franchise. The spiderman and other comic heroes will continue to make money. The First Spiderman walked away with $400 million at the Box-Office. In India, it collected Rs.26.2 crs. The second, Rs.33.4 crs and the third, Rs.68 crs. All this, when the Income Tax Officers didn’t adjust the Cost Inflation Index for the four years very high between 2002-2007. And we Indians, we will continue to make films that please us not what the world watches. If they make about Spiders, we will make about houseflies. So be it. As far as “The Amazing Spiderman” goes, the Rupee depreciation is going to assure that with 1000 screens hit with the movie (762 screens for “Avatar”), Hollywood is going to rake it even more. Well done, Mark Webb.

Book Review: The Bilderberg Conspiracy-Inside the World's Most Powerful Secret Society by H.Paul Jeffers

When it comes to conspiracy theories, nobody brings out better books than American Writers be it Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, John Perkins ("The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"). There is a voyeur in me that seeks out more such books. My latest find and I must recommend this whole-heartedly is a book by H Paul Jeffers - "The Bilderberg Conspiracy". The Bilderberg is today considered the world's most secret society and also its most powerful comprising the most well-known and famous politicians, businessmen and businesswomen, media owners, celebrities, heads of state, His and Her Holinesses and other Royalty.

As the theory goes, this group called the Bilderberg group has been growing in membership (albeit restrictive to accomodate only the most powerful clique on the planet) ever since the group first met in 1954. The book explains, in spine-chilling detail almost all the major meetings ever convened by the group, at the hotel(s) during the two day retreats at select frequency (annual). What does the group want? Secrecy and Access by its members to the world's resources, permits, and corridors of decision-making to push the group's common and indwividual interests- both political, social and economical. Much of the headline-making events after the World War-II - the Bretton Woods agreement, the UN and the Security Council composition, the Cuban Missile crisis, the Vietnam war, the rumblings of currrency regimes changing from sterling pound to Gold standard, gold standard to dollar, the creation of the "Euro", the oil crisis of the 1970s, the battering of the pound in 1997 and the over-throwing of the Margaret Thatcher government, the list goes on...all these are engineered by the Bilderberg Group. This has had its toll on the stability of world governments, the banking system and the overall functioning of the world capital markets as we see now.


Who are the current members of this group? Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Melinda Gates (wife of Bill Gates), David Rockfeller (yes son of John D Rockfeller), Paul Wolfowitz (thats right, World Bank), Donald Rumsfeld, Tony Blair...You will be surprised the list now includes me and more influential men and women - Ben Bernanke, (Fed Chairman) Thomas Friedman (world's richest journalist? and also the most idiotic!), Paul Volcker (Ex-Fed Chairman), George Soros (quite believable, because he treks the entire world on specious lecture tours which benefit him more than his society), Walter Wriston (Citigroup Ex-Chairman). So, you see, the elite Bilderberg group virtually leaves out few men and women who move the world and this group, according to well-documented research by the author has met 56 times after 1954 almost every year. The last time they met was in June 2008 - in the aftermath of the banking crisis and the decisions taken are well-noted by now. The author has brought out the pulsating sense of what usually goes on in most meetings and the expanse of the stuff that gets discussed which is itself an agenda that topples governments, eases out presidents, and rankles cabinets of sovereign republics.


To be fair, this is breath-takingly revealing and damning of what goes on in world and foreign affairs today and you get the feeling its all true and happening. You will definitely feel there's more you like to know and get informed about this secretive society which is not ritualistic like Freemasons or racisti like Klux Klux Klan. Paul Jeffers has done painstaking research, scenting the trails left by legendary trackers of Bilderberg group like Daniel Estulin, Jim Tucker, Conrad Black, and Tony Gosling. Your world view changes after reading this book and the iconic society because the decisions taken seem to be pushing the personal agenda of this group of all-powerful people under the veils of democracy, open society, free trade and free press, and a vigilant judciary. Seventreen chapters, two hundred and thirty two pages long, racy details pop out per page that is both intense and credible, this book will not allow you to sleep well because the details unearthed are both disturbing and annoying. Would you like to hear that The Economist survey is borne out of a Bilderberg activist? That Richard Nixon was sacked as President not by Watergate Scandal but because the Bilderberg club wanted Nixon out so that "their" man - Gerald Ford can be in. That Berlin Wall was broken down out of this club's resolve. That the agenda of media is aligned to few elite members' interests - US News, Washington Post, etc. That the idea of joining Greece and Portugal and Spain into European Union was "on" since 1957. That Margaret Thatcher was overthrown because she didn't allow UK to join the European Union.


As per the author, the main goal of this group is to create a new world government controlled by a wealthy elite and officials of global corporations (like BP) - to have a world bank, a global currency, centralized political control, world wide free trade and so on. Reading this book so finely investigated and penned will make you read more into the actions of the "elite" who make headlines. For example, why did Hillary Clinton go to Myanmar? What is the real agenda of Melinda Gates who administers free vaccines through Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation? Why does Henry Kissinger who is so anti-India waxing so eloquently on China nowadays? My point is, if Bilderberg conspiracy is true, then there should be more transparency to the group's meetings and its proceedings because it concerns all of us. I now know most answers to why some events really happened - and you will also find out why - even if you don't agree fully, if you read this book.

The Bilderberg Conspiracy by H.Paul Jeffers published by Citadel Press Kensington, pp.234.

Book Review: "Bureaucrazy Gets Crazier: IAS Unmasked" by M.K.Kaw

IAS or the Indian Administrative Service is not just the biggest national pastime (as a combined number of more than a half million seekers write the Prelims every year), it is also the most entertaining and epicentric nucleus of policy-making in India. Even if there's no vertical accountability to "We, the People of India", these Babus have a world of their own - they read The Economist, play golf, attend AMP courses at Harvard, take study sabbaticals at INSEAD and take a ransom to do just do their job. They are easily the most-wide read amongst India's intellectuals and share a world almost like a Bilderberg or a Freemason society.

M.K.Kaw is a retired IAS officer who has been there, done that. He gives a promising preview that entertains as much as it informs in this cheeky book that is sure to be lapped up by all bureaucracy members. M.K.Kaw worked in Himachal Pradesh as well as New Delhi in various postings from Finance Secretary to the Central Pay Commission. The present book is a sequel to an earlier book "Bureaucrazy" published in 1993. It is more elegant, presentable, and full of wit in Wodehousean fashion. Divided into seven parts, and populated with 47 chapters. There is one chapter almost on every conceivable facet of bureaucracy - the ways and means of wives of IAS officers, from egoistic officers like Seshan to diffident members, the need to have Godfathers, to "sir" your officers, the anatomy of corruption, etc. There is only one flaw: while profusely witty and analytical, there's a lot of "bharichaara" and fraternity on the whimsical ways in which the Babus have been ruling our country long after the British Babus have left. Easy read.

Bureaucrazy Gets Crazier: IAS Unmasked by M.K.Kaw, pp.196, pub: Konark publishers, price: Rs.250/-.

"Shakuni" (Telugu) "Saguni" (Tamil) Movie Review

“Shakuni” is an interesting title of Karthi’s new film named after the most interesting character in Mahabharata. Despite being a dubbed film (“Saguni” in Tamil), it was  marketed well by Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh and generated quite a buzz before other big releases lined up like “Eega” and “Julai”. Its worth the excitement and hype – “Shakuni” played by Karthi, is quite a combination of a convincing political thriller and a light-hearted comedy with romance getting short shrift.

Director N Shankar Dayal creates a credible story that has many layers, backs it with a racy screenplay and great characterizations. Just like Shakuni who, after being wronged by Duryodhana befriends him and eventually brings him to a war that destroys him and his clan, Karthi plays the role of a modern Shakuni. He takes a different path to dethrone Prakash Raj. But why? His only asset is an ancestral home that is now under threat of getting demolished due to a metro rail project awarded to a protégé of Chief Minister Prakash Raj. Karthi seeks the help of the CM but gets shunted out. He then realizes like all voters who vote for cash/expectations that its time to change the king – he pushes one pawn after another, motivates an auto-rickshaw fleet owner (Radhika) to become a corporator and eventually a mayor, then moulds a roadside soothsayer (Nazar) into becoming a Billionaire Godman (he funds the elections) and finally, resurrects the fortunes of a jail inmate in Chenchalguda (rings a bell?) - the inmate (Kota Srinivasa Rao) builds new cadre, fights the elections to defeat Prakash Raj and becomes the new CM.

The transition from a helpless youth to a master strategist in the political affairs of a state is essayed brilliantly by Karthi. As a brother of Super Star Soorya, he hasn’t got much to prove so far with films smacking of off-beat love stories and tribal roles but this movie shows him in better light. He uses his confusingly crooked smile and  confident screen presence with great effect. A role to remember for Karthi; Telugu dubbing in his own voice will endear him more to the masses and classes. A role that runs parallel to him throughout the movie is that of popular Tamil Comedian Santhanam – he is so under-stated, mellowed, raunchy and yet classy – unlike what we associate with Tamil comedians. This must be his finest performance till date. Kota Srinivasa Rao outshines Prakash Raj, and similarly, Radhika outclasses Nazar. Praneetha has got good screen presence but has to improve her looks, heroines have got to reduce the glare of their eyes if they have to connect with the masses.

GV Prakash Kumar, surprise, surprise, creates pleasant music in the film as well as above-par BGM. If the movie becomes a hit, I am sure it will be remade in Hindi, the plot is so irresistible and contemporary with most of its punctuation playing out in our political circles. Dialogues are terrific commentary and have the sharpness expected of a political thriller without being over-the-top. Even though 158 minutes is unusually long, the momentum gathered after the first half do not make it seem arduously long. If at all, the first 30 minutes could have been trimmed; Director tried to create a thin romantic track that is almost invisible in the drama of the politics that engulfs the second half.

After “Rangam” last year, I was quite excited to go for this movie and feel it’s a fine effort worth the time. Such films come but rarely from Tollywood directors – they rarely make story the real hero. This is a wholesome family fare.

I want to be President of India, not Prime Minister!

When the country's next-deserving Prime Minister no longer aspires the job but instead goes for the post of President - it should tell you something about the risk-averseness setting in - even for politicians. An office of power (PM) is less attractive than an office of ornamental power (President), it seems.


An office like Presidency gets you the top perks (a plush residence built by Edward Lutyens and two terrific residences in Secunderabad and Shimla plus a salary of Rs.1.50 lacs p.m that hardly gets spent plus an upkeep cost within a budgeted Rs.22.5 crs.p.a. plus overseas junkets which was highest during the current president's rule) and is the best retirement plan for any politician. Pranab Mukherjee may have had it in him to seek active politics but this move hints that nobody is interested in becoming a PM anymore - it involves too many risks of decision-making, scams, reputational damages and thankless jobs and finally, you are not even in the driving seat. What the hell! Might as well enjoy getting chauffer-driven official state car of custom-built heavily armoured Mercedes Benz S600 (W221) Pullman Guard.

But this is a good sign - it means politicians are getting risk-averse and the bottom of the establishment cycle with multiple headwinds blowing in the corridors of business, society, economy, legislature, media and judiciary is somewhere visible. I am an optimist at heart, and feel this phase will pass soon - we will emerge stronger. Too much pessimism is also unsustainable.

"Corporate Karate" & "Building Brand You" Book Reviews

There have been an explosion of books written by Indians of late. While most of the works of fiction are turning out to be metro reads and portable imitations of best-sellers by authors like Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi and Aswhin Sanghi, there is good output from less-renowned writers on non-fiction. Amongst the many books on corporate survival, there are two interesting books which help novices and sophamores.

"Corporate Karate: The Secret Art of Corporate Self-Defence" by Dwayne Lemos will pleasantly surprise you. The author uses plain, crisp copy-writing vocabulary to craft bite-sized paras on how to navigate your way through the corporate jungle. In all 250 tips on everything from freelancing to using a brief case vs.laptop or when to use leaves, how to greet and how avoid  a burnout, it has quite a bit of sagely wisdom thats surprisingly great copy to read and amazing fun to read. Even seasoned careerists will find more nuggets of wisdom in this book than atttending HRD network summits. Rupees Ninety Five is just and added inducement to lap this book in few tea breaks. What I like more about this book, is the no-nonsense approach while giving some insider tips on how to rise to the top navigating the jerks and sharks. He definitely seems to know what's happening in today's organisations  - a variety of them in fact. That should stand you well during crises. Published by BPI India.

Another book: "Building Brand You!" by Mamata R Talukdar and Sanjiv S Chaudhary gives you a more direct low-down on workstation management, social networking, boss handling, carrying yourselves in appearance/meetings/reviews/parties. There's lot of basic advice thats common-sensical and sometimes didactic. But as we say, such books are hard to come by  - the nearest equivalent of a bible for career-builders in the last few years is Subrato Bagchi's "The Professional" which gives as much lifetime wisdom as what any Indian professional can get to stay and thrive in a job. This book is not as much fun as the first book I referred to but still may be basic wisdom and should be reading for anyone getting into his or her first 90 days on the job. Priced at Rs.195.00 and published by Rupa Publications.

"Shanghai" Movie Review (Hindi)

“Shanghai” is the title of the latest movie directed by Dibakar Banerjee who made films like “Khosla ka Ghosla” and “Oye Lucky”. One of the true tests of finding new benefactors in film financing is to be able to continue to make films irrespective of box office success. If I remember well, DPB has found a PE firm focused on films – CinemaCapital for “Oye Lucky” and of late, it is PVR Pictures. The advantages are too many for a title like this, it will attract multiplex audiences in Mumbai as well as Shanghai, should the movie be released at all. But enough flossing, I think the title “Shanghai” is itself audacious at best. “Don’t imitate Shanghai’s success in India”, that’s the subtle message the director is trying to say.


Is he telling something original? No. As most would have covered, this movie is inspired by “Z”, made in 1969 which got the Best Picture nomination that year. Just to clarify, Costa Gavras directed the film and was made into many films before and after that.

Dibakar Banerjee ropes in the most unlikely cast who are different from each other like Idly and Pav Bhaji. Emraan Hashmi as a petty pornographer (might have been perfect except that the fellow hardly gets to kiss anybody in the film including the subjects of his video), Abhay Deol as a Tam-Brahm Investigating Officer, Farook Sheikh as his gluttony boss, Prosenjit Chatterjee as Prof.Ahmedi, a left-wing activist who is the crux character of the film and Kalki K as his lady-love and student. Then there are other characters - the lady minister who douses in gold ornaments, the two accomplices who abet arson and mindless run-overs on innocent men with a matador van and the cunning wife and widow of Prof.Ahmedi. The whole plot of the film moves on after Prof. Ahmedi gets killed by a group of right-wingers allegedly with the support of the police. And the plot thickens to reveal “fifty shades of darker grey” (pun intended) often seen in Indian corridors of power where politicians and their crony capitalists contrive to grab land masses of poor people as if they are improving their plight but actually, it’s the SEZ scam again and all that.

I can’t believe the story of “Z” fits so well into the current socio-econo-politcal scenario in India as brought out by Dibakar Banerjee. He has attempted a stunning canvass which shows things as they are without an iota of preachiness, letting the characters infuse fire into their actions and words. Each character is true to its core without creating any screen biases for the viewer to take sides thereby creating an unparalleled non-judgementality seldom achieved in our films – a pornographer wants to help the student who wants to uncover the truth, a police officer investigating the murder is upright but he gets influenced by wrong people at times and misreads the clues, a minister who clears all interfering influences on the officer becomes guilty of the crime and the wife of the activist who is killed doesn’t make efforts to nab the murderers but shamelessly stands for election on a sympathy wave. This kind of treatment and characterization is not obtained by close-up shots with latest cameras but by exuberant and skilful screenwriting – Dibakar seems to have a mastery of the medium. He gets superb performances from most people and the message at the end is both stirring and credible. There is almost a feeling that the audience knows who is right and who is wrong based on the camera evidence and the scripted lines each character speaks. I was reminded of the play of Ayn Rand – “The Night of 16th of January” where the audience becomes the jury to decide.



Dibakar Banerjee also gets extravagant and classy output from the technical departments of editing, cinematography and music by Vishal Shekar. A special mention, I feel, must be made of Michael Mcarthy ( I waited for end titles to note this name) who scored background music. It’s a great experiment I thought must be closer to what a Rasoolkutty and AR Rahman achieve together. The music is vibrant and apt and evocative like in Satyajit Ray films but the background sounds around the scene are also mercilessly captured – so you find the tindrum vibrations of the staircase leading to the living room where action is, or you find the near and far drumbeats of the next byelanes away from the scene or you find a literal pin-drop sound which doesn’t distract but adds a rare natural feel.


114 minutes of this film must be breezy viewing but there are occasional lags. Treat them like the occasional indulgences of a brilliant Bengali film-maker. This is good, realistic and entertaining too without any cinematic liberties. I can’t remember when NFDC last co-produced a film made for mainstream audiences. Performances-wise, Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi come out quite good. Farook Sheikh shows his shinier side of acting so well- why isn’t he seen as often as Naseeruddin Shah, I wonder? Prosenjit Chatterjee, the leading Bengali actor is the most memorable face in the film, not Kalki (she is forgettable). His intensity on the screen while he is going is hard to beat. On the whole, if you are in the mood for a good arty-realistic commercial cinema from a dapper film-maker DPB, its worth a while.