Movie Review – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Don’t know what Blomvist got out of Harriet case but I at last found solace with my obsession. You know the history so I’ll keep it short. The startup was a bad experience the book didn’t really excite me, the Swedish movie was even worse, it was exactly how a book mustn’t be adapted but the David Fincher did what Abhishek Kapoor did out of Three Mistakes of My Life. I wouldn’t have called the movie that good if it hadn’t involved the climax twist. May be still it’s a bit low than Kai Po Che and definitely nowhere near the best remake ever, Departed but still it packed the punch. Fincher showed what a professional it was.

When you have big names, studios, all the money in the world you give a glossy product, yes. But the glossy product here was classy too. He adapted everything from the book that was needed except for the Cecilia affair. The thriller part was just for an hour. The movie was more of a drama. The parallels between Salander and Blomkvist were excellent till they meet. In fact their meeting scene created as much drama as it did in the book. The way he nonchalantly walks in, Salanders insecurity and stuff. It was so brilliant.

The movie’s title sequence itself gives you an ample proof that a lot of digging in has happened. That sequence could give any Bond title credits a run for their money. It also reminded me of the sex scene in Fight Club which was brilliant which in turn was done by a body double as informed by Helena Bonham Carter. She did spoil the fun by reveling the detail. What an actor that Bellatrix Lestrange lady is? She brought the whole flavor of the character in Harry Potter.

I wasn’t really satisfied with the Rooney Mara character. She looked more normal than required except for the first scene where she meets Dirch Frode who in turn was fabulous. He had a mix of curious and cunning look which would have made people who weren’t aware of the story to suspect him. I was wondering why in the book there wasn’t an angle about Frode’s behavior or some antics of him. He was shown as a straightforward admirer of Mr. Vanger. Blomkvist on the other had was perfect. Daniel Craig was perfectly suited for the role. He was heroic, yes but that added to the substance. When I read the book Blomkvist didn’t look like the person who would look like how he did in the Swedish version. Even though they all were brilliant the best of the character was the Cat. Seriously? How did he miss in the Swedish film and I missed in my review too. Bad of us.

There were so many touches by the director which makes the film a worthy watch. First of all Daniel Craigs way of wearing spec. Don’t know from where it came but it was brilliant. The water bottle falling from the fridge, the scene where Harald Vanger tells how Gottfried and Martin are so alike. Best of all is the bible scene by the daughter. In book it looked clichéd but here the way she says her dad not to write something anti catholic and telling out the verses just about when the door of her train closes. Brilliant! Its scenes like these which make the film look good. Whether it’s a remake or adaptation you’ve to give your flavor.

If the above were the places where he had changed certain scenes there were scenes were the characters literally speak the words from the book. The beauty here is to choose where to go by the book and where to differ which Fincher has done excellently well. Needless to say the whole film has a rich feel to it. You expect that out of a mega budget film so it was no surprise to me. Even the climax, the way it was shot was beautiful. The pre climax was just like that in book. He achieved it with the help of fast editing. He might be a studio director but a very good one for that matter.

Thanks to this film I’m ending my obsession with a happy note.

Book Review – Gitanjali

I’m not really a reader of poems. I’ve always found it tough to understand. Thanks to the bombastic language. I’m taking about the English ones. Tamil lyrics I’m really fond of. Don’t know whether it’ll even count as poetry. Agananur, purananur and all were Greek and Latin for me like Hamlet and Othello.

Other than the language I feel poetry happens all of a sudden and it’s a spark. When you are doing some work and get to read a couple of lines in between you’ll have your full concentration on it and understand it or at least will give a try to understand.

On the other hand when you have it as a collection of poems it’s really tough to concentrate. That’s what happened with Gitanjali. Gitanjali should have been a pocket book which you read every once in a while when you are bored. Rather than reading it as one single book at one single time. The same problem which happened while I watched Decalogue. If I had watched the ten episode giving time for each one to sink in I could have appreciated it better. But I watched all the ten episodes over a weekend and ended up spoiling it.

On a normal day I wouldn’t have picked up Gitanjali. Thanks to the Tagore play which I watched and overwhelmed I read this book. Ever since I watched the play I wanted to read Gitanjali or any of Tagore’s work. What a fascinating character Tagore was. A true artist! Someone who has laid hands on almost every art and mastered the artistry.

More than the poem the Nobel Prize acceptance speech which he came along with this book was awesome. It rekindled my passion to something in my life. I’ve wanted to be a teacher not just because I love the profession but I love the art in it even if I don’t know the subject. Like how Amir Khan tells in 3 Idiots, “I can show you how to teach but not the subject which of course there are many who know better than me.” Tagore also has a point saying that education should come free. He considers it a person’s duty to impart knowledge to others.

I couldn’t comment much on the poems because this is the first time I’m reading poetry from a book which talked about god, happiness, sorrow and death but I don’t have it in me to get what it is. But whatever it was I was happy to have read it.

 

Movie Review – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Frankly the movie was irritating like hell. I wasn’t impressed by the book at first place but the movie was skimmed even more and made horrible. Actually the movie makes me think that the book was so intricate and would like to take back the comment that the book was lengthy.

It’s a general notion that whenever you see a film made out of book you find it bad because of lack of details. I expected it with this one too but if it had been just the lack of details I wouldn’t have got pissed off much but the lack of details which would make this movie at least somewhat different like the relationship between Blomkvist and Cecila, Blomkvist and Erika. The whole final episode about the details of Martin being published has been taken off as the film didn’t have any story about Vanger biography. That means the entire sexual tension and bureaucratic politics was taken off. Even Martin committing suicide and climax was changed. I won’t complain much about the climax of Salander. Both were equally bad. But Martins part at least could have kept as such. Whomever he was Martin did his part well. He deserved a better climax.

The director had played it so safe that it doesn’t even require a least bit of knowledge to understand the film. If you are going to be so dishonest about the book why do you even adapt a book? The writer deserves some credit. Anything which has been changed or anything which was omitted was not at all for the artistry but for pure commercial purpose. Still the length is about two and a half hours.

I couldn’t comment much on the casting part. All the while I was thinking Daniel Craig as Blomkvist while reading. Thanks to the much famous version of the film and also the poster of the book with the leads so having a different actor as Blomkvist and Salander didn’t really sink in. In fact both Salander and Blomkvist did a decent job. Blomkvist was helpless than what I imagined and Salander was more human than the book. They were actors without much gloss so suited well for the film.

The film wasn’t as gory as it was claimed to be. It was a decent commercial pot boiler with enough elements to make you go ‘eww’ in a good way and forget it once you come out of the theatre. Unlike the Eastern Promises sauna fight or the Kill Bill eye ball crush. There isn’t much that is worth remembering for being distinct or special.

Generally in any decent adaptation of book there would be at least one scene where you’d say, “wow it has come out so well” or “wow I never expected the scene to be this way”. Here there is no such ‘wow’ element. And the relationship which Cecila and Blomkvist share in the movie is pretty confusing. When Blomvist says that he’s going to stay for the case he gives a mischievous smile at Cecila and then interrogates her about Harriet. There wasn’t any detailing with respect to the relationship between Cecila and Martin and all of a sudden this scene arrives which doesn’t add to the flow at all. Numerous such instances are there. At the end there isn’t a thing to interpret and the director solves all the riddle for us. Especially Salander. A feminist woman, well all women are feminist, let’s get to that later. A feminist woman in the form of Salander who doesn’t care the way she looks changes into all girly type by the end shows how badly the directly wanted a twist in the ending rather than giving a life to Salander. That spoils the whole enigma of Salander.

While I have been thinking of what exactly made me get hooked of this whole Dragon Tattoo series I think it’s the poster. Its vampires but not, portrait of a man and a woman who stare at us. The colors are brilliant in the background. Wish the film had been half as good as the poster.

Book Review – The Cat and Shakespeare

How do you write a review about a book in which you didn’t understand even single word. What is a word if the user doesn’t get what you are trying to say? A word gets its meaning only if both get to know the meaning. The one who says it and the one who hears. What makes the one who says the word become superior if the one who hears doesn’t understand it? Words are for mere communication isn’t it. How does better language, superior language or inferior language qualify?

I write reviews for books I like, I hate, I understand and I don’t understand. Some like it, some hate it and few are irritated who say I don’t have a tip or top to write a review. I honestly didn’t understand what was the tip and the top that was mentioned. Whatever? What gives me the right to write reviews? Moreover what gives him the right to get irritated? But no one needs any right. It’s up to the individual to write, get irritated or do whatever?

I’m judging someone who has said something against me. Or not even against me. It was some random thought for random someone. Worse than that I’m judging a literary work which is not only intended to me but to the whole world. But is judging and reviewing really the same? Is it a sin to voice your opinion for something? Is it meant to be taken personal? Is it an attack on the author or the attack on the authors work? Isn’t it an attack on author even if the attack is on his work? The work is by author. When you hit the second wall you tend to hit the first one too. Or the attack is an attack only if the review is negative?

The book follows the story of Mr. Pai who has a couple of wife, or is it a wife and mistress or is it a wife and an illusion or he himself is an illusion. Other than that he adores Govindhan Nair of whom we hear almost throughout the book. He’s the principle character followed by the cat and her kittens. The kittens come very late in the story so it is about the cat. Is the cat Mr. Pai and the all the ones surrounding him are the kittens.

I thought that reading the introduction will help me understand something about the book. But it only confused me more. I don’t think I’m going to read any of his other books any time sooner as this book will take some time to sink in. But that ‘word’ thing I wrote about in first paragraph was similar to Waking Life monologue about ‘word’. May be that’s why it was the only part I understood.

I felt like calling Pai, Mr. Pai. You can’t reason out why? Similarly you can’t reason out why things happen here. When we are busy digging in Flauberts and Dostoveskies here is a guy who’d make Paulo Coelho go begging.

Book Review – Half Girlfriend

The problem with Chetan Bhagat is either you love him or hate him. You can’t ignore him. I made a conscious decision to not read the book but whenever someone sees me reading a book in bus or there is a conversation about any books you end up talking about Chetan Bhagat. Even if you don’t the opposite party does. This guy has got quite an impact with the Indian youth who wanted to add one more book to their shelf. Like his previous book I was literally shoved with this book in my hand and I too have a soft corner with this guy. Five point someone was gem of a book. Any student will like it. But the problem with him his he didn’t try anything different. The books which he wrote later were the ones with loser guys and gorgeous girls. But he didn’t end with that. His worst decision was to try to educate Indian or clean India. Bringing his political view points and stuff. That pretty much spoilt even the least bit of respect I had on him.

The maximum he could have done was to talk in colleges. His funny anecdotes and how life sucks would have got a lot of applause. But when he started talking about reforming India, share his political viewpoints in paper etc. made him a horrible literary figure. He forgot that his base is literature. I’m not criticizing his literary structure or his writing style. He does what is necessary. You have to know what to expect when you are reading him. What I’m trying to say his even he has to know what he’s writing.

His previous book revolution 2020 dealt with colleges which looked like the after effect of watching his own book five point someone on screen as Three Idiots. Now Half Girlfriend. If Revolution 2020 was about college and education system dealt badly. Half girlfriend was about rural places or more specifically Bihar. Both looks like books written out of paper cuttings and a couple of visits to the place. The hero and heroine meet for the second time and he shows all the places around Bihar. ‘You see I’ve travelled and got all the places in my list. I’ll shove everything in a chapter and then proceed with the story.’

For a change the heroine wasn’t a bitch unlike his other books. The difference here is like how a guy has a past the girl has a past here. It’s a must that a character must have a dramatic past to be quiet in Chetan’s books. The hero on the other hand is a regular chap, a loser to be precise but I think here he’s a handsome fellow. That’s what Riya’s friends say at least. But still a loser who could say funny anecdotes. Thankfully he doesn’t have a dad here.

He starts the book by saying it’s for non-English types. Great way to escape from grammar police and literary bureaucrats. That one line was enough to make us think, “Ok! This guy is not gonna prosper!”

The title didn’t make enough sense. The mention of the word ‘Half Girlfriend’ which was given so much hype didn’t have that much of meaning in the book. It was just mentioned only once when Madhav and Riya were talking sweet nothings. I didn’t like even poster of the book. It was misleading. It most probably looked like a sad ending. I’m not sure why the scarf and the bottom were in same color. It gave me a feel that the lady is an airhostess with Indian origin. May be I was reading too much into it but the story and the poster didn’t really have a connect.

Book Review – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Finchers ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ made me curious about this whole series. Thanks to my procrastination to watch the movie. I got the original Swedish movie which made me even curious. Then I thought I’ll rather read the book first so that I’ll have a better understanding of both the movies. It was Fincher who spoiled it for me. That was a time I was crazy about Fight Club like how every youngster would have been at some point of life. That’s the reason this whole digging up thing happened.

It’s a huge book. 550 pages. Big books either give you satisfaction or make you so angry by the end of it you want to rip it off and shed into pieces. The latter was exactly what happened when I read ‘The Lost Symbol’. This book took some time to settle. Too many characters, too many places, too many events in too little time. I read in one of the books where it was mentioned a good author would let out all the names in one go but Stieg Larsson here did exactly the same. I know when you write you get attached to characters or assume yourself to one of the characters and write. In that way it makes the writer think that the audience too would be able to remember all the characters name like the writer does.

Here he gives us the entire Vanger chronicle in one go. I never referred to the hierarchy again as it was a page turner you don’t yourself to waste time and look at the hierarchy. Names next to that was pretty confusing. You could hardly differentiate between the names of characters and the places. Even though it took some time to settle I liked the way the story built up with Blomvist on one side and Salander on the other. The love angle of Blomvist and the sexual preference of Salander was done in such a nonchalant way that I was thinking I’m going to read a good book.

But as soon the author delves into the plot everything is lost. It becomes a regular crime drama. It’d have been better if we had more of Blomvist and Salander to read about. Salander and her feminism or the author’s feminism gets to become boring after a time. In fact the single quotes of women in Sweden being sexually harassed etc. and all were escapism so that people won’t get to criticize the work and get more lost in the plot.

May be it was supposed to be a regular pulp fiction which I wasn’t aware of. I thought it to be a super awesome book because it has been translated from other language. But it was indeed a pulp fiction. The author’s eye for details too became bland after the plot starts. On the other hand when I read ‘Airport’ I was astonished by Arthur Hailey’s eye for details. It was a pleasure to read because the detailing went on till the end without affecting the plot. Here the plot affected the detailing. When you are going to write a page turner why don’t you write and stop the turning of pages soon.

I was again saved by my good habit of not reading the first and last page where it was clearly mentioned that the book is about Harriet and not about either Blomvist or Salander. And the climax? Seriously? What was that?

I was very excited to read the book along with the remaining two in the series. But not only my affinity for the book has decreased but I’m not skeptical to even go for the movies.

Travelogue – Mullayanagiri-Baba Budangiri-Kemmangundi

I was very eager for this trip because it was supposed to be our hat trick trip. I always wanted 6 people to travel by train as it’d fill the coupe and we could use the train as our own private room. I was happy that it was going to happen this time. There was in fact 7 totally. Even though Seena was skeptical about travelling we booked his tickets too but at the final moment had to cancel his ticket along with Vignesh and Dhana. So the regular gang without Seena started for the trip. It’d have been great if Seena too had come but being a hapless workaholic he didn’t.

Anyways after much deliberation we four went for the trip. It was decided it’s going to be Mangalore. What first started as a trip to Kumara Paravartha Trek and then to two day Mullayanagiri-Baba Budangiri trek changed to actual one day trek plus Kemmangundi. We didn’t go to Mangalore at all. It was a Chikmagalur trip rather than a Mangalore trip. Only disappointment was we couldn’t complete Hebbe falls but one thing I came to know is never could one place be completed fully in one go. But still it’s disappointing. It’s the feeling of not having watched so many movies even though I know that it’s an impossible task.

Kumara Paravartha option was taken of the list because trekkers weren’t allowed till September end. We took a wise decision to cover Mullayanagiri and Baba Budangiri. We couldn’t make a two day trek not only because we didn’t have tent but also because our bus to Chikmagalur reached really late. But that’s the good thing. If we had reached in between time we’d have had the confusion of whether to go or not.

Day 0 – Chennai to Mangalore

The day was extra special because I enjoyed the trip from office to station too which usually is boring. This gang of five is special for me. I’ve some sort of bonding and comfort level which I don’t share with anyone. It all started with Himalayas trip. Good thing is they don’t ask me any questions and I’m free to do all the planning, selection of place etc. Their only reply would be yes or no. At the end of each trip Prasanna asks me, “where next?” It’s a good feel.

As soon as everyone reached we started laughing. I forgot everything, my work, the ever pending composer tool, coming Monday, trek plans everything. Balaji and Seena are a terrific combo. So he was missed but still the fun was intact. Its stupidity to take a book when I go with this guys but still I took and didn’t read a single page till the end. The amount of pages I read in a book is directly proportional to how lonely I feel during the trip.

Train journey needless to say was awesome with nonstop chatting, hunt for food and all the catching up going on. To add more drama it rained that night and we had to urgently shift our bags. Our train was the worst I had travelled so far. We were four people in three seater thanks to all those open ticketers. If that was not enough the sheet beneath the middle berth was hanging loose and about to fall. In spite of all this drama I had a sound sleep. Sleep had never been a problem for me anyways

Day 1 – Mangalore to Chikmagalur

We thought that the major part of the travel was over but we were in for a surprise. Not a pleasant surprise that. The amount of crowd in the morning was considerably less. All the standees and the open ticketers had left by night. Got down somewhere around Kerala. So when I woke up it was almost empty and shabby. Thanks to the overnight train.

Each of us were doing our own work and after sometime played Bluff. I finished my cards exactly at the time the train reached Mangalore central. Once we asked about the bus to Chikmagalur we went out of the station drew cash etc. There was a huge rally going on with something written as ‘Swach Bharath.’ Kids were cleaning an atrociously shabby road along with their teachers while we were busy hunting for our breakfast restaurant.

After much search we got into a small restaurant cum fast-food. We ordered Appam and Parotta with Peas masala and Egg curry respectively. Mangalore Parotta is the best. It so huge, of the size of Kal Dosa here in Tamil Nadu. Add to that we had a couple of Tea and kattan. All for 180 rupees. It was a feast. Then we had to go to KSRTC bus stand in Lal Bagh to get bus to Chikmagalur so we took one of the ‘2’ series bus as suggested by a gentleman in the restaurant and went to the bus stand. Within no time we got the bus and got the last seat that we all deserved. What we didn’t know was in the five seater in addition to us four, three more people would sit.

The bus was jam packed. Add to that traffic on road and humidity. It was hell to sit in it for 5 straight hours. You can’t imagine the relief that I felt when the bus stopped somewhere in front of Chikmagalur. Worst was when one guy said it’s about an hour journey from there. It was more than an hour thanks to the puncture.

We finally reached Chikmagalur at 5PM. So our plan for the day to reach Sarpadhari to Mullayanagiri and stay there was screwed. Glad that it was screwed because we’d have gone in double mind whether to go or not as we didn’t have tents. We checked for hotels. One was a double bed for two people which is for 300 rupees. It was so shabby even to our standards. Next one was reasonably better with 700 for four.

Once we freshened up we went to enquire about the trek. Most of them were saying NO and needless to say I was disappointed. Especially when the sugar cane wala said that it’s definitely a no-no because there are hundred tigers and it’s dangerous. Finally we settled for Annapurna restaurant for dinner which had free Wi-Fi. We had to wait there for more than half an hour to get a seat. I was happy because my comment, “Dei naan tasmacla kooda evalo neram wait panathilla da” got a few laughs from one mother-daughter duo and a chick.

As we came to know that we had to get up at 5 the next day morning we slept early. It was a sound sleep. Thanks to all the tiredness.

Day 2 – Mullayangiri-Baba Budangiri-Manikyadhara falls

Thanks to Balaji’s ring tone at 4.45 our sleep was shattered. He didn’t switch off the phone. The rest of us got up at 5. Got ready and settled in bus. We didn’t have the slightest idea that it’d take 2 hours for the bus to roll on. They were slowly decorating the bus. There seemed to be no hurry at all. There were people inside the bus even before we settled in. Don’t know whether they knew about the bus timings or not. Whatever! Once we took some scary photos I settled for sleep. Rest of the guys were playing cricket in Balaji’s phone which discharges faster than air in the balloon.

The good thing he did was to buy vada first up in the morning. We should have taken his advice and had breakfast then but we went without breakfast. The bus started at 8. We reached there about 9.30 and started our trek from Sarpadari. There was one more gang with us. We lost them in few minutes. The bus driver was humble enough to give the phone number for us to call while returning. May be they did for their good but we were relieved that the bus would be there.

I didn’t take much photos throughout. The path from Sarpadari to Mullayanagiri was quite tough. The ascent was steep and your body takes some time to warm up. I was okay within ten minutes. Karthik started strong but got tired after a while. Balaji was surprisingly better than I thought. Prasanna was the worst sufferer.

That’s when the unthinkable happened. If for the rest of the people climbing was the problem. For me my stomach was the problem. I so badly wanted to shit. I didn’t know whether it’d be a wise decision to wait till the end of the day or go then and there. I decided the later. Wow what a pleasure it was to unload at the top of mountain. Well… you need a first for everything. Balaji and Prasanna were guarding me from below and taking the much needed rest. Karthik was up there taking rest. We all then started our journey and I was the one who was relived beyond words.

After a short rest we saw one more Tamil group who were huffing and puffing to reach the top. They gave us confidence. We reached the top where we somewhat explored the cave and took a couple of photos. Then rested and had bread jam lunch at the top. Two were descending while we were ascending who had inquired about Baba Budangiri. I asked them to inquire about it from the priest. They did and started on their own. After half an hour we too followed.

The initial few minutes were scary. One guy who didn’t know either Tamil or Hindi tried to guide us. We were so skeptical. What I read was in front of us and we didn’t have a clue where this guy was guiding. I was contemplating whether to go forward or return. Finally I thought we’ll go to a point from where we could return in broad daylight. It was 12.11 then so may be for two more hours but within minutes we found out the route and started travelling.

From then it was a cakewalk. We were flawless after that in spite of cramps which Balaji developed. We walked straight for next four hours and cleared good ground. We had to shell out 200 rupees to walk from the road we hit after 1.5 hours to waterfalls. That 1.5 hours was the best. Prasanna started to gain his energy and Karthik got back normal.

In the next half an hour or so the ridge walk was a bit difficult to negotiate but was a great experience. There was a huge mountain on top of which we had to get to see the BSNL tower. That’s the landmark I had read about in various blogs. Never did I think that I’d be so relieved to see a BSNL tower. The last 10 minutes again had a twist for us. We could see all the cars parked, shops being there but waterfalls was nowhere to be seen as well as no trodden path. We took the path we liked and got a way to both.

After all the hype the waterfalls was a tourist place. But the water was freezing. Balaji stayed back to take care of the dress. Kathik wasn’t having any problems but myself and Prasanna we could keep the feet on ground. It was paining like hell. Thanks to the coldness.

We had bread omelet without salt which was divine and took a selfie with BSNL tower in the background. We called the bus guy who said he’s there in Baba Budangiri. We never knew the distance between the falls and Baba Budangiri so began to walk but finally got a 4×4 which dropped us to Baba Budangiri for free. We got the bus and in a while settle for deep sleep. From the 4×4 by which we returned we could see why it was called Baba Budangiri. There was a darga for Baba which we missed due to time constraint.

I felt like I reached Chikmagalur within a second. Thanks to the morning incident I settled for a modest veg parotta that night. We initially went for non-veg restaurant but thanks to the crowd quickly shifted to veg only restaurant. And needless to say a deep sleep that day too. I was the relieved man. Felt happy for completing the trek

Day 3 – Kemmangundi

We checked bus to Kallathigiri in private bus stand because we got to know that direct bus to Kemmangundi is not available. We took bus till there then to Kemmangundi. All on right time.

When I asked auto from Kallathigiri to Kemmangundi he said 500 rupees and asked to go by bus. I thought he was mocking at us but he was nice enough to get us in the right bus. The first conductor said the last bus from Kallathigiri was at 4.30. But there was only one connecting bus was which started at 4.20 from there. But we started with our trek anyhow.

It was nothing when compared to what we did the previous day. 6 Km to and fro which we completed in no time. It was at Kemmangundi where I clicked most of the photos. Thanks to the relaxed pace we took. The gang we met the previous day were there, huffing and puffing again while we were returning.

Once we went to the base point we checked about Hebbe falls. Seems the jeep service was stopped 3 years before and only trek. There also seemed to be private waterfalls in the midst of tea estate. Both of which a guy near the ice cream parlor said he’d take us too. But 500 for him + 200 per head for forest officer was quite demanding. So we decided against it. It was actually a 9 Km path but he said it’d could be done in some 3 hours with some shortcut. Anyways we weren’t in a mood so settled for lunch.

The lunch place was a shabby roof top canteen with shabbier food. I felt like some stinging in my legs. When I checked it was a leech bite but the leech had fallen off somehow. Blood was stilling oozing out but. What scared me even more when I removed the socks was the two red spots I had below. It looked like a snake bite. Even though I was steady I was afraid whether it could be any slow poison or things like that. I thought I’ll instruct if I feel dizzy like how Surya instructs in Ayutha Ezuthu once he gets shot. Good that situation never happened.

After our lunch we settled below for an hour. Rest of the guys were playing phone cricket and I was idle. I too joined them while waiting for bus and continued in the link bus too. We called the guy for the bus but we got to know that we missed it so took the next one. When enquiring about the bus we got to know that the last bus was at 8’o clock. Anyway we couldn’t have done Hebbe falls because there is only one link bus. One lesson learnt. Never could we complete all the places in one go. I’m like Ranbir in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani who roams around with a list. It takes a Deepika to make me sit down and watch the sunset rather. When I write all I could think of is her cleavage in that scene. Wow it was awesome.

We returned around the same time that too. We thought we should celebrate but to our dismay the liquor shops were closed that day. We had heavy dinner but which was deserving. Also there was CL final going on which Chennai won effortlessly.

Day 4 – Back to Mangalore and Train Journey

The next day again we had to get up at 6 to take a bus at 8. We thought of going to a 1000 year old temple and all but couldn’t because of the time constraint. We had breakfast in Annapurna again and got a bus. The same last row this time too. Only that the bus wasn’t crowded but took us for a ride. We started around 9 and reached there around 1. Four straight hours. The journey was less tiresome this time but I couldn’t sleep at all as I was rolling here and there.

Once we reached Mangalore we quickly got a restro-bar which Balaji was wanting more than any of us. We had a beer, rum etc. and celebrated. Got a bus to station. Got into the train which again was free so each of slept for a couple of hours. It was overcast there and started to rain in few minutes which made the train nice and cool. Till night it was decent but all of a sudden like some 30 sports kids entered our coach and started to sleep everywhere with no place even to move. It was irritating but that’s the beauty of sleeper class. Other than the story you intend to you’ve a story to tell whenever you travel.

Movie Review – Haider

This film I must have watched no matter how the reviews were. But thanks to overwhelming reviews I went quite soon. But my friends were right, Hindi was above my standard. Couldn’t understand half the dialogues. I wouldn’t have preferred to watch with subtitles even if I could have. It’s a curious situation. I wasn’t wishing to let go off both my experience as well as my understanding. Whatever, it was a rewarding experience.

Vishal Bhardwaj has a thing for Shahid Kapoor. Or maybe he’s just a lucky charm with whom he strikes whenever he collaborates. But Shahid here doesn’t have that much to do unlike his previous outing like Kaminey. Kaminey was Shahids movie with great direction by Vishal Bhardwaj. Here Haider is full and full Bhardwaj movie with Shahid in it. An actor like Vikram would have taken it to next level. May be he’d have even spoilt the movie by over acting. That’s his problem, to get bigger than the movies. But Ravanan wouldn’t have happened without Vikram. That’s his effect.

Sharaddha, even though doesn’t have much to do was another gem of an actor who’s cute too. She does her part so well. Being a quiet lover. Tabu and Kay Kay needless to say were terrific. If their angle was sensual Shahid and Tabu’s angle was even better. Tabu comes down as a dirty bitch. See the drama which unfolds. Bhardwaj really has that Shakespearian connect more than anybody else. Ram Leela felt Shakespearian but this one looked like how a movie could be made out of a Thirukural or a testament. Perfect in every aspect.

You see Dr. Halal trying to help a terrorist and you can’t decide whether he’s for them or against them. In fact Tabu to asks for it. When Tabu asks to Dr. Hilaal as to what will happen to Haider. At that point of time I thought may be Tabu was pregnant. But I was proved wrong in few minutes when Shahid comes in search of his dad.

The first half of the movie is shorter than the second and even has more songs than the first half. The movie is quite bold and be confidently be said as the first of its kinds. When a movie which is so pro Pakistani with incest was released before. When movies like Dirty Picture being hailed as being bold I wonder why no one called Incest bold. I wasn’t even sure how it got released without any protest. May be the protestors and the government officials didn’t have the patience to sit and watch the movie. May be they wouldn’t have understood what they saw. Whatever thanks to everyone for such an attempt. Now we could see more of Oliver Stone kind of movies in Indian too.

What an introduction for Irrfan Khan. He got the loudest of cheers from theatre out of nowhere. Also the terrific background music added to the awesomeness. Not sure what’s the idea of including Salman and Salman to the film. Even though it added nativity to the film. It got down the serious tone a bit. Yes they too later get involved in catching Haider and there is also a typical ‘Guy Ritchie’ scene where Shahid escapes out of the police van like how he does in Kaminey too. Ever man needs a certain bit of luck. Accepted!

Haider has an interesting development to it. It’s there to be read in Wikipedia. That in fact is more interesting than the film itself. The way Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies come up is terrific. He’s a musician turned director. His aides are awesome. He consults Gulzar who’s a lyricist. So when an intelligent lyricist and a diligent musician join hands together you get magic. Best thing is it doesn’t stop with the music. It extends to the fim. It’s like writing lyrics and adding music to it. None of Bharadwaj’s film will have unnecessary songs. It all looks like a blend. For example the mortuary song is absolutely terrific and see how the wry humor extends in the movie where an old man sings it in between the rounds of fire he does. In fact that’s the best scene in the movie.