This passion goes back to the time I first saw QUAKE III ARENA. I remember my Project Manager playing this game on his 17″ Monitor (used to feel quite big in those days) in the office. Subsequently I played the game to the fullest and it became my favourite weapon to vent any office frustration that I had carried home. It was my wish that they could make a movie on QUAKE III ARENA which had some lively characters and weapons.
films
We, the People
It can’t get any auspicious than this. After 4 days of no internet, I got it back, right on our Independence Day. The problem apparently lay in some cables which might have got snapped due to the ‘Big Splash’. The cable guys at Hathway worked today to repair the cables and set my internet working again :-) Thanks a ton to them.
I had the opportunity to watch Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades on STAR Gold. Coming soon after the tremendous success of ‘Lagaan’, it must have been difficult process in making a film which would live upto the expectations of the people and Ashutosh has not disappointed. Swades is about Mohan Bhargava (Shahrukh Khan) a Project Manager on Global Precipitation Measurement at NASA. He comes to India to see his nanny in a small village in Uttar Pradesh called Charanpur where he meets his love life Gita (Gayatri Joshi making her debut on the silver screen). The story unfolds when on a trip to a neighbouring village, he sees how people are living under abject poverty and decides to do something about it. He helps in breaking the shackles of age old traditions of caste and creed which are so prevalent in rural India even today. By contructing a small hydel electric project in the village, the protaganist gives the villagers a reason to cheer. Finally his motherland beckons him to come back and the rest is history.
The highlights of the movie are just too many. The narrative itself is very simple and well tackled. The cinematography is excellent and gives one the feeling of being in a rural setting. AR Rahman & Javed Akhtar do it again after Lagaan. The Ramlila song is the highlight for me since it’s written by a non-Hindu and I am too proud about this fact.
Lastly I hope we have a Mohan Bhargava hidden somewhere inside us who can create a revolution and bring happiness to everyone’s hearts. I know that we have become too cynical about the way things have been happening about us but cynicism will only pull us back into that quicksand called hopelessness.
Leave Him Alone
It all started with the Black Bucks. Then he ran his car on the pavement and killed some folks. The he beat up some journalists outside a courtroom. Later he got involved with Aishwarya ‘Ash’ Rai and now this. He allegedly threatened her on the phone some 4 years ago and named some gangsters in that conversation. The entire transcript was published in the first edition of Hindustan Times when it got launched in Mumbai. One more round of allegations against Salam ‘Sallu’ Khan and this time it looks to be serious. His ‘Bad Boy of Bollywood’ image is here to stay.
Sarkar
I went to see Sarkar today with Aadesh and a couple of his friends. Unfortunately I had to go back to office and missed the beginning a bit but thankfully I could complete my work and enjoy the movie at ease. The movie is about a don called Subhash Nangre whose wish is the final command to his men. He rules over the city and even the chief minister is his puppet. “There is no right or wrong. Only Power” is what the posters say and that is the reality of today’s life. This was the first time I saw Amitabh and Abhishek together. I have yet to see Bunty Aur Babli. Both the father and son outdo each other in some sequences. If ever there was an actor who could play Sarkar it was only Amitabh.
Ram Gopal Varma undoubtedly has come to reign the Gangster movies genre. He’s now made Shiva, Drohi, Satya, Company, D and now Sarkar under his ‘Factory’ shed. I liked the cinematography – the sepia tones, which look pretty much real-to-life. His another style is his close ups of actors till you can see their pores on the skin :D There are no songs in the movie but only one track ‘Govinda Govinda’, which keeps playing in the background.
On the other hand, I have got, so much used to the multiplex seating arrangement, that it hurt while it lasted at Eros :-( But please go and watch Sarkar because it’s going down as one of the best performances by Amitabh in recent times :-)