The date that went sour ~ Lunchbox

Considering I am not getting paid to write this, I am going to speak my mind. Well, I never decided to watch this movie, because I did not expect much from a movie called the ‘Lunch Box. But with the critical acclaim and the rare reviews it got and people salivating over it, I and my friend decided to give this movie a shot.

To begin with, it’s a bloody slow movie. So if you are sleep deprived, messed in life, bored or not anywhere close to extremely happy, don’t go for it.  You may just get tempted to stab yourself in the midst of it. The irony is, that it’s nowhere in the box, its way too out of the box.

The movie however does convey a couple of things that may not be too significant in your life or motivate you in anyway. The critics who called this movie ‘optimistic ‘, kindly go check out the meaning, there is no tinge of positivity in the movie. In my opinion, it could be the most sought after movie for jail inmates, the ideal torture plan. Make them watch it over and over again and that should suffice for them to succumb. You say I am being ‘vociferous’, well then go watch the movie and you shall know.

Throughout the movie I had one expression ‘Question mark ‘. Some aspects highlighted it even more like the ones below:-

•  That 0.01% probability of the Mumbai dabbawallas faltering was all because of this movie. They are simply not going to like it

• Always wondered who sang those Pandarpur songs in the train. Got to know it was these dabbawallas

• Before killing herself, a woman ensures she removes all her ornaments, so it’s preserved for the next generation. At least the movie portrays so

•  Bananas are the main source of lunch for majority of population in Mumbai as it is cheap, filling and acts as a good laxative

• Orient fans are the best source of entertainment for coma patients. It gives them a reason to stay in coma

•  Vegetables can be passed across from the top floor to the bottom floor by pulley mechanism including adult diapers

• Some people do use their suitcases as vegetable chopping tools when they travelling in trains, so that they save on time when they have to go home and cook

• Bhutan is the happiest country. Although their GDP sucks , they have high GNH i.e Gross National happiness

• Cooler in Matunga ,is still the most happening place for old couples and you get the best kheema pav there

Sounds absurd? That’s exactly how the movie is! It conveys one line consistently ‘The wrong train may also take you to the right destination ‘. There is no denying the statement, but definitely put up in a very morose fashion igniting a more negative thought.

To give the movie some credit, the acting is phenomenal without doubt. Imran Khan as usual has done a commendable job with that nonchalant look and great timing of words. Nawazzudin Sidique as ‘Irrfan Khans ‘ assistant brought some glimmer of hope in the movie with some good comic skill and Bharati Acrekars voice as Mrs Deshpande was the bonus point for the desolate sounding movie.

So watch it if you must for the actors who have done their job with finesse and not because you generally expect entertainment – then you are bound to be disappointed.

My Review on ' Madras Cafe'

 

Good Cinema is rare to come by and Madras Cafe was a movie that was not only quality cinema but also very informative which delivered a concrete message in its own unique style. To me, it was a movie I would recall for a long time as I was immensely touched, in the manner in which it was made and how it conveyed a strong message about the essence of humanity.

PLOT:-

It begins with a harrowed looking John Abraham –aka Major Vikram wrapped in morose and disgust, sharing his thoughts with the church priest. He confides in him, his innermost angst and emotion and expresses his concern of the excessive amount of ‘Fear and Greed ‘that we humans are exposed to. With deeper interrogation by the priest, John starts narrating his tale and the rest is history.

John Abraham  i.e Major Vikram was a major in the Indian army, who was dispatched to Jaffna , an area in the Eastern part of Sri-Lanka to take control of the situation which was going out of hand on account of the upheaval and mayhem caused by ( Anna Bhaskaran , the LTF chief ) – fictional name for LTTE . The set up is a little beyond post `1987 , wherein the LTF was fighting for a separate province of its own and waging war against the Sinhalese and creating ruckus with the normal civilians. The intent was to create a separate the rights of the minority i.e the Tamilians. In this situation India was forced to intrude as there was a major influx of Sri-Lankans (refugees) into India and this needed to be stopped.

At this juncture, the Indian govt was keen on the provincial elections in Sri- Lanka taking place and hoped that the opposition leader of LTF could be taken into confidence. However this attempt failed and had to look into ways to dismantle the situation. The military forces of India had failed to take control with LTF and thus looked further into creating ways with its intel team i.e R&AW. Major Vikram was chosen for this assignment and had to work with Robin, Head of Intel in Sri-Lanka. However, turns out the there was leak in information and Robin turned out to be a traitor which proves to be an expensive deal for the Indian Govt.

The plot also brings in a foreign element with people from Bangkok, Singapore, US etc who were keen on supporting the LTF due to vested interests in the strategic location of Sri-Lanka with access to the Indian Ocean and its bounties (My presumption here). The LTF gains more traction due to the support of arms and ammunition from this foreign aid. The arms sent by the Indian government for Indian army purpose was too hijacked the LTF.

In the interim John becomes a threat to the LTF as he managed to garner pivotal information which thereafter led to brutal killing of his wife. This pushes John to further get to the root of crisis and expresses his wish of de-coding this entire trap to the, then President. With his trusted sources, he’s able to track foreign communication and de-codes the on-coming assassination of the ex-PM who was standing for elections and had taken a strong resolve to end the woeful story of Sri-Lanka. This propelled the LTF head to execute a plan on killing him.

John managed to track this information which was communicated to the Indian Govt who was then helpless with limitations in provision of the security. The ex-PM chose to ignore the information and go ahead with his rallies for the upcoming elections.

At the rally in Tamil Nadu, a well trained suicide bomber and her team managed to blow up the area leading to the assassination of the Ex-PM (Then Rajiv Gandhi) and lives of many innocent people.  With that the movie ended, ushering in John in the same spot in the church still morose but with the hope that things will change.

MOVIE MAKING: - The movie is directed by Shoojit Sircar, maker of Vicky Donor and produced by John Abraham. Together they conceptualised a fast moving gripper, getting people glued to their seats without wanting to budge. The beauty of the movie lied in the way they communicated so much of information in a unique style without being too blatant or loud about sensitive issues. The cinematography was brilliant which was dabbled in places i.e Sri-Lanka, India and Bangkok- Singapore. The places were beautifully captured with great clarity in nuances and the feel given was completely of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The fresh faces used in the movie made it look even more realistic with John carrying the movie beautifully on his shoulders as protagonist. The sequencing was good, must say every moment was captivating with second half being fast paced and interesting. What I cannot miss out on is the script, which was witty, flawless interjected with intelligent timely lines that were very though provoking. In a nutshell, a very well researched movie which conveyed all the events in a crisp duration of 120 mins. The movie left people thinking.

Take Away: - What stood out for me in this movie was the beginning and end. The end was with John quoting Rabindranath Tagore’s famous lines on; “where the mind is without fear”. This conveyed the intent of disseminating a fearless attitude on sacrificing for the country and taking up the right steps for the betterment of the nation. The movie appealed to my sensibilities, as I learnt about the whole of era of the Sri- Lankan Civil war which ran into long 26 years leading to killing about at least a lakh of civilians. It is a strong message to everyone on how wars lead to only destruction and peace should be maintained for the greater good of the society. It is an indirect hint to the politicians and decision makers on how to ignore their vested interest, abandon greed and look into the welfare of the common people.  This take away upgrades the movie to a new level and places it in the niche segment of ‘Must Watch’.

 

DISCLAIMER : The interpretations are solely my opinion and I am strongly opinionated . Also very delayed re-view , but I knew I had to write this one. Intended for it to be a mix of the story and my interpretation of the movie. Cheers :)

Cast Away

It’s Saturday afternoon and I have nothing concrete to do. I see the contents of my hard-disk .Yes; I’m in the mood to watch a good movie. A friend gave me a couple of new stuff and one of this movie was called ‘Cast Away ‘ .The protagonist was played by ‘Tom Hanks’ and directed by ‘Robert Henrick’. Well I heard it was a classic and decided to watch it.

It began with the protagonist being this employee of Fed Ex who was obsessed with time and wanted to ensure his delivery standards were impeccable. Well yes, fair enough. He was a workaholic and due to which most of his relationships were put on the back burner. Correct, not correct, don’t know? To each his own.

Then comes the day when he was summoned to Malaysia to check on the processes there. As the aircraft was flying over the Pacific Ocean, it suddenly faced a deadly storm .The aircraft succumbed and so did the fed ex employees in it. But fate had a different story for ‘Chuck Nolan ‘(Tom Hanks). He managed to survive with this float and was thrown on a desolate island.

Now begins the real story. No job, no people, just sheer him and the island. In the beginning he’s desperate with several attempts to get help. However that seemed futile. He even tried to kill himself by hanging himself with a rope .But the branch broke, thus another reminder to him that he was meant to live. He accepted his fate and chose to move on. Some Fed-ex packages were sent to the shore. Most of the items inside seemed useless (divorce papers, video tapes, girls dress, volleyball). However, most of these things become useful when there’s absolutely nothing to your aid. As he was dying of hunger he had to make do with whatever was available. He satiated his thirst with coconut water and learnt the art of nailing fishes. To add on to it, he learnt how to make fire purely out of wood and friction. Something that we read only in our history books but never experienced. He also managed to extract his own tooth and became his own dentist. That sight was disgusting as blood gushed out and that pain put him to sleep. Compelling times enforces compelling remedies. The volleyball turned into his best ally, at all times whom he could confide into everything. He called it ‘Wilson’. This is the best part about the movie. The relationship between the man and inanimate object is woven so well .It actually seemed so beautiful. Nature and he merged as one entity. He made weather charts and could forecast what was coming. Something that most us would not be able to comprehend as we are too busy to watch nature closely or we have sabotaged to it to an extensive level.

Four years that he lived there, he craved for his loved ones .Something that he did not value too much with his job .He cherished them now even more. More so, he thought it was about time to take the risk and venture out of the island .Isolation was something he could not deal with anymore. He managed to make a raft with logs tied together .He used the video tapes for it. A plastic plank found on the island was used as a sail. He managed to construct a pretty formidable structure. Made me wonder and understand, that our brain is a beautiful faculty and can be used in the most creative manner when needed .It prompts you when desperation or need glides in. He tied his ‘Wilson ‘securely to the raft as he was his only companion. He managed to sail quite a distance but lost ‘Wilson’ in the journey. Four years had made him tired and weary and so wasn’t alert enough when Wilson moved away. When he woke up to realize it, he was shattered. His emotions were so real ,it made me want to cry too.

Finally, a ship located him and took him back home. Most of them had assumed he was dead. The fed –ex team hosted him a grand welcome back party. But he did not feel ecstatic to be back as his long time girlfriend had married someone else because of his long absence. Her photograph was the sole inspiration for his survival on a lonely island .Coming back and not having her felt void and ruthless. Made him question the very purpose of his existence.

This movie probably dint have the perfect ending, although I loved it thoroughly. It had so much silence unlike the chaotic movies today .But it brought in a lot of meaning .Every emotion was captured so well .His transition due to circumstances was enthralling and kept me captivated throughout. From the first time he eats a ‘raw fish and crab ‘to how conveniently he knives out blood from his palms to create Wilson again.

From what I gather from the movie is, we as human beings feel it’s easy to conquer nature and make it dance to our tunes. But nature will always take its course. The storm brought the protagonist to live like the most primal human being .That’s how perhaps people lived once upon a time until we ushered in technology and probably will live like that again cause nature will have its threshold. Also how important it is to nurture relationships and value it because it’s painful when you get isolated and there’s no love .That the basic most thing in our DNA.

This writer has somehow visualized it perfectly and the director has executed it carefully capturing every nuance of movement and emotion. This movie is certainly an impressionable one and will always be on my ‘all time favorite list’.