Badlapur

Shriram Raghavans new movie, "Badlapur" raises questions about morality, revenge and forgiveness.
Movie starts right away, with the escape of two bank robbers and the tragedy that unfolds, a lady and a child is killed in the process, shattering the life of the protagonist Raghu. One of the culprit is caught(Laik), he never really reveals is partners name who has apparently escaped with the cash. Laik denys that he killed the lady and child during the heist, insisting that his partner did it. While we the audience all along the way, know that he is the one who committed the crime. 

Raghu is seething that one person is still on the run, he try's to get the information by intimidating Laiks girlfriend, that's when we get a glimpse of the tragedy blurring the moral view of the protagonist. Life stands still with Raghu refusing to move on, his only drive being revenge. Fifteen years passby, we see that Raghu still seeks revenge and there is no closure for him as the other person is still not found, he gets a request from a social worker to grant pardon to Laik since he is suffering from cancer and has just a year to live. Raghu is appalled that somebody could fathom that he was expected to forgive the person who destroyed his life. Well, Raghu does grant pardon resulting in Laik being freed on completing 15 years while his sentence was for 20 years. What follows after that, is the protagonist serving cold revenge, only to have things turn around which results in him getting a second chance on life. 

The characters seem real, Varun giving a very neat performance, pleased that hes attempted and even nailed something different from his routine. Navazuddin as always, delights! Tight script, good story too! 

Good to see Bollywoood attempting new ideas and themes!

The obsession with Ravanans

Watched Mani Rathnams "Ravanan" a few days ago..... twas Jus Ok! Mani has set up such high standards for himself that his recent works fall short of the expectations that we have of a movie by him! The movie is technically excellent! the camera work is jus amazin! It has decent performances by the lead actors too. But alas thats not all tht is required for a good movie.
Mani had long fallen into the group of so called intellectual film makers who romanticize violence.
When filmakers attempt a movie on Terrorism, Nexalism etc why do they get one sided?
The fact that Mani choose not to show why Rams (played by Prithviraj) character is soo hell bent on capturing Ravanan (Vikram) is disturbing...... so wht we get to see is the poor Ravanan n his people going around and killing heaps of policemen by burning and butcherin them! I am not saying that all the policemen are good, but neither are all of them bad!

Won an Essay Competetion!

There was an essay competition held by TCS.... the topic was very boring "The Role of Effective Communication in my Life!" and it had to be of 200 words only. I just sent somthing thru and I won! Here is the essay below...

The role of communication has been said and discussed so much that it’s almost become a cliché. We have been told about the importance of communication, right from when we are in school not understanding the complete importance of it.

Communication skills are skills that we need to employ to any kind of spoken or written interaction that we have with the outside world, not just while giving presentations or writing mails. Communication skills are usually thought to involve only conveying thoughts into speech or writing. For me, effective Communication skills starts right from when a thought evolves in the mind, ready to be conveyed by talking or writing. Reading and Listening is also very important since it sets for us, the very important context for communication, it helps us to talk “To - the – Point”.

Over the years, I have realized the importance of communication. Whether it’s at work, relationships with parents, spouses or friends, having good communication skills can come a long way. Effective Communication has helped me convey my thoughts with clarity. Hence, made me more effective at work, helped me to negotiate, express myself better, reduce misunderstandings of any sort during my daily interactions with others and made life smoother!

Imagine!

Iv rediscovered this gem by Lenon... I feel there is no time in history of world when its more relevant than now... How we wish all thought like this.......
The world would be such a better place!!!!



Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Relevence of Independence Day as on today! Anybody???

Sounds like a simple Question.... I was asked this on Independence Day celebration in my ODC... n I fumbled n mumbled and rattled a speech..... n I knew people had lost me in 30 secs!!!!
One of my colleagues said "Hmmmm...... wht do I say!....... hehehe........ Hey! It’s a holiday!!!! wht more can I say! thts all!!!!"
This set me thinking.... phew seems like a simple n obvious Question isn't it? Now wht is the relevance??? Has it boiled down to just a holiday in these times?
Over the years have we forgotten the struggle that lead to Indian Independence? Are we taking our freedom for granted? We have a free press, we have freedom of expression, freedom to choose a profession we wish, freedom to go wherever we want, freedom to travel however we want without any signs saying "Indians and dogs not allowed" in our own motherland!
Have we been fed with sooo much of gaudy patriotism that it has ceased to evoke any kind of real emotions in us?
C'mon!!! Let’s not forget the sacrifices made by thousands to realize the dream of a free and prosperous India.... Yes! We still have a looong way to go.... considering that we are still a developing country. Even after 62 years of independence we are yet to realize the dream completely.... we are still to weed out corruption, increase literacy rates, control crime, bring about equality, decrease the rich - poor divide, build infrastructure.... the list can go on and on! In spite of all the problems, we have managed to maintain a free and Independent India with a long way to go!!!
So lets take this day to remind us, of all the responsibilities that still rests on us...The first step was taken, we got our independence..... But we are still on a journey, to realize the dream of a Prosperous India.... lets tread it with responsibility and respect for the Independence that we enjoy... lets not forget that we got the Independence that we enjoy today.... on the landmark day of the 15th of August.

Sights and Sounds of Melbourne :-))

Its been 3 months since im back from Melbourne n finally today... i have sat down to write a few lines as a tribute to this beautiful city!!! This is something I wrote while I was there....
Sights and Sounds of Melbourne
A walk on Bourke Street on a working day brought me closer to the heart of "Melbourne; A Beautiful, Vibrant City.... Multicultural... n How!!!!!" Get into the trains and you can see people from all parts of the world!!!
A walk to the train station at South Yarra from Rosas (my buddy with whom i stayed thru Jan ) place you see some of the most well dressed people walking around through streets... same around the CBD, full of shops and Restaurants.... shops selling clothes, footwear, bags n wht not!.... Restaurants from Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Bangladeshi, Lebanese, Indian, Greek, Italian.....phew!!! the list can GO ON n ON! Its surely a Foodie's paradise :-D
A walk along the Banks of Yarra at South Banks on a Sunday n WOW! This street along the river side must be one of the most beautiful streets that I have seen... from the throngin people on streets with towering buildings in the background, the beautiful river, the bridges on them, street performers singing, enacting plays, playing bugles, a small adorable girl playing the piano, arists making pastel art, families enjoin all this, lovers on the banks, photographers trying to capture the beauty of all this! Lovely!!!
In Bangalore you can see people from all parts of India n in Melbourne from all parts of the world!!! Melbourne was truly a treat to the senses!

The Gender Funda!

It has been really......reeeeeeeeeaaaally long since iv made an effort to put down my thoughts online.... I always think to get it done n never got time...well.... or u may even say that i really dint make the effort... like my boss told me somtime back... I dint manage time right... "If u really want to do it... u wud find time fr it". I dont dispute his wise words... any way here I am... back again... making an opinion!

There has been loots of hulla about reservations fr women... gender equality being spoken about everywhere.... I just read the Sunday Times n found a sizable number of articles about women power! There are few strange facts abt gender equality... think abt this.... we all know that in India we are way behind gender equality.... dowry deaths, crime against women, female infanticide, selective abortions etc are very high in our society, women are still denied literacy, they are expected to play the complete homemaker even if they have a full time career. Still, we can afford to have a female CM, PM, Speaker, President etc. While a progressive society like that of USA still has never had a female President! Is it coz we are more hippocritical? I dunno....

Looks like they have passed the bill.... so..... Is it a landmark achievement? hmmmmm.... I have my doubts.... think abt this.... whn Rabri was the CM of Bihar... we all knew that Lalu was the one who was runnin the govt... hers was a proxy govt! Imagine how many are goin to misuse this reservation and have proxies running govt fr them?
So if u ask me... I say "ITS A VERY VERY BAD IDEA!" We dont need reservations.... whn the time is right... whn our society is ready fr a parliament with a 50% Women, we will have it! It will reflect the progress that women in our society has made... till then we can wait!!!