‘Kantara’ was one of the most trending movies of recent times. And naturally I was hyped. May be if I had discovered the film on my own, I’d have liked it better. The film wasn’t a revelation of sorts as many described. There have been far more impactful and raw Indian movies with a similar genre. Bala’s movies are prime examples. Then there are movies like ‘Jogwa’. When compared to those, ‘Kantara’ felt just like an average flick. But thanks to movies likes ‘Avane Srimannarayana’ and ‘Kantara’, Kannada has taken, “jumping into new realms” as new norm, especially with respect to fantasy films. That’s quite commendable.
The first act of Kantara was spectacular. The last act was hyped but if not for the sound and over the top acting, it wouldn’t have worked much. The real problem was with the second act. It felt like a long gap which was being filled before an explosive climax. Because we all know what was going to happen in the climax. The film was pretty one dimensional and the characters were either white or black. But the problem was the film trying to extend its story in the entire second half without much grip.
The film follows the story of Shiva (Rishab Shetty), a Kambala athlete from Kaadubettu, who is at loggerheads with forest officer Muralidhar (Kishore). Kishore does a fine job, till the time he gets injured by the gun. Post that his character gets reduced to the scope of a mere spectator. The Kambala sequence, which got famous recently, thanks to an athlete who completed the race faster than Usain Bolt, could have explored better, rather than just being used as a hero entry tool. That sequence followed by the fight could have been shot better too.
Similarly, the rift between Kishore and Shiva was just surface level. It could have been handled better, especially Kishore’s angle. It showed promise initially when he tries to defend government’s decision to not allow encroachments. Generally films like these would be plainly against government but here was someone who was trying to put sense to the action. Even though his way of things was harsh, his purpose felt good. Wish that conflict had been handled better and made the opposite party come up with their own points, instead of plain fight. It could have become something legendary on the lines of Kamal and Nasser in ‘Kuruthipunal’.
I could connect with this track better because, when I casually asked someone who was working for a resort in which I had stayed, about forest fire, he told that he was from forest area and forest fires most of the time doesn’t happen on its own. People around the area do a trick like lighting up a fireball filled with coconut coir where it’ll be just smoke for a couple of days and would burn only after long time. They do that because of anger on forest officers who don’t let them collect log. That was a great concept. People who had stayed there for years being denied a right versus a government official doing his duty. That angle could have been explored better. But instead it’s always a corrupt policeman in the movies who makes us hate him and support the villagers whole heartedly.
The characterization was lit. They failed to do justice to it. The heroine’s character, Leela (Sapthami Gowda), too could have been explored better. A protagonist’s love interest in the antagonist’s camp and trying to take government orders was a great premise. Something as great as an ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ could have been made with just these three characters but at last, it ends to be a mere gimmick.
Anyways Kantara wasn’t even trying to play that deep. All it wanted was to use the story as a mythical folklore horror. In that aspect it succeeded. People who are vociferously supporting ‘Kanatara’ are the same type of people who were calling ‘Interstellar’ as the best film ever. Thankfully I watched it with the flow. This is not a movie which would have appealed after the fizz gets faded.
It was a long term wish to watch the movie but due to largely depressing comments I tried to avoid it. Thanks to its anniversary along with ‘Varumayin Niram Sigappu’, I got a chance to watch this movie. The comments indeed were real. It was a largely depressing movie and on top of it was an unsettling movie. It shows promise with certain scenes and just when we want to lured by it, it puts us off with a completely abysmal scene. Of course it was a different attempt and director Bharatiraja wanted to explore something. But was the experiment a success, is a question which is left to be desired.
If you compare with ‘Varumayin Niram Sigappu’, it doesn’t even stand a chance because, ‘Varumayin Niram Sigappu’ was clinical. There was nothing you could find fault with respect to that film. May be your ideologies can differ and you can hate something, some characters but the end product was something which was perfectly planned and executed. But when it comes to ‘Nizhalgal’, even though it can be appreciated for trying to do something out of ordinary, it was not clear whether the confusion was intentional as part of the script or the director himself was confused with what he has written.
We see three characters, Prabhu (Rajasekaran), Gopi (Ravi) and Hari (Chandrasekhar) trying to attain a goal in life. Prabhu is a weed smoking college student, trying to attain salvation. Someone who doesn’t know what really he wants in life. Gopi is an individual trying to get a job, because he’s an idealist, he lands into problems and Hari, an aspiring music director. The only relatable thing between all three of them was the confusion. In the process of identying who they really were, they lose themselves.
Mahalakshmi (Rohini) plays the love interest of Ravi but not clear whether she has affections for Prabhu as well. Rohini played her part to perfection and was atrociously beautiful too. In fact, she looked like the only well written character. Prabhu as much as he wants to be shown as scholar, doesn’t really appear so. Maha and others around him had to constantly hype his character citing what a different individual he was. And his weed smoking scenes were badly shot too. Wish some research had been made. Cinematically too his character wasn’t appealing.
Gopi’s character on the other hand gets defined in that one interview scene, which definitely could have been better made. At least Hari’s character was better when it comes to the other two and Chandrasekar being a naturally charming individual amongst the rest, he was better suited for the role.
It’s a shame that Ilayaraja has come up with his best work for this film. The actors especially don’t deserve such great songs. And the songs too were not matching with the film, especially the lyrics. Wonder what the idea behind it was, because the songs were wholly optimistic, whereas the film was entirely pessimistic. Interesting thing was, in spite of that, the film was a musical because all the songs had a proper lead too it, it was also shot well with scenes cinematically defining the lyrics. Funny thing is that it was a confusing film for the same reason. The film need not have a proper path, individuals can be confused but if the film doesn’t even have a proper blueprint and doesn’t know what it was trying to exhibit, then it’s a problem. ‘Nizhalgal’ felt like one such film.
Of course there are enough problems even before the climax or the pre climax sequences, which was a total disaster. The conclusion felt forceful and wanted to depict all characters to be out of their mind. In a way it was a dystopian society. But starting with the death of Gopi’s father, it triggers a series of death. First being Mani’s (Manivannan) son Singam (Master Haja Sheriff), then the money lender (Janagaraj) and then the leads. The entire sequence felt hurried and makes the audience lose interest. It makes people disown the individual and the end of the movie only feels like a relief out of their depressing world.
Finally the trek which every Tom, Dick and Harry would’ve had done. It was not really in my list but as a quick fix plan, to go to some trek within a week, in short notice and in minimum budget, this seemed to be perfect. As I’m not a big fan of snow and chose to trek during November, it was offseason and peaceful. But what should have been a piece of cake, I myself put me in a woeful position and made it tougher.
Day -2 – Mighty Rains and soulful Central
11/3/2022
While I recommend my whole family to take bus to the railway station whenever they travel alone, I end up going by auto to Central most of the time. This time the culprit was rains. It was pouring and I had no chance to even go to bus stand as someone had to drop me. Instead of paying close to Rs. 100 for bus stand I thought I’d better pay Rs. 300 and go to railway station. I luckily got an auto for Rs. 270 but as expected he didn’t give me the change. But with the rains I expected it and didn’t really feel bad.
I reached station very well in advance. Even on normal days I reach early but as it was raining I reached a good two to three hours early. For me railway stations and airports (especially duty free liquor shops) are most tempting. Airports at least I can put some sanity to my thought owing to the prices but railway stations really tempt me. I could never avoid ID in Central station, even though it used to be atrociously expensive. Now it was removed and Madras Coffee House had come in that spot, which was equally bright and tempting but I didn’t have anything. I would have yielded to the temptation if I had not been alone. Last time during our family trip to Ooty, we had KFC chicken with Tamarind Rice, OMFG, what an experience it was. KFC chicken never tasted that good.
TAMILNADU EXP (12621) is quite a comfortable train. Starting at 22:00 from Chennai Central and reaching New Delhi railway station at 06:30 after a day. It doesn’t make difference to travel by flight. All it takes is one extra day. Plus the stoppings are less. It was the train I took for my first ever Himalayan trek. In fact the whole trek had a feel of my first trek.
I settled in my coach, the floor was watery, thanks to rain and a huge Nepali crowd got on the train, thankfully with confirmed tickets but had a hell lot of luggage. As I had reached early I could at least put my luggage in proper place and as I had got upper birth, I put my remaining stuff up there. There was also a Sowcarpet Saet ji, who was trying to converse with everyone. The two seater next to me was occupied by a bodybuilder and TTE, so our coupe was kind of breathable.
I settled in my birth and started watching the first of my list of movies, Robot & Frank. I chose it owing to the short runtime but was surprised by it. It got over by midnight and I slept peacefully post that, with thorough satisfaction.
Day -1 – A relexing train journey
11/4/2022
I spent all the time upstairs. Woke up quite late, had homemade Podi Idly, my constant when it comes train journey. Caught up with the next movie, The Internship and slept again, only to get up at Nagpur for my usual Orange juice. I had one box of homemade Tamarind Rice for lunch, watched a horrible Namak Haraam and then had another box of Tamarind Rice.
As trains nowadays are equipped with charging points and most of them not really using it, I took full advantage of it and watched all the movies without losing charge. I intentionally avoid watching movies and rather take a novel with me because, in addition to the stress of writing travelogue, I had to write reviews too. I can’t help but think, if at all I had not been writing, how many more movies I could have watched, it could be easily double the quantity but yea, writing is what differentiates me between the rest, so let’s be it that way. This time I didn’t take book because I brought the wrong book from library, The Financial Expert, which I had already read. No complaints though, I got my fix through movies this time. I anyhow have to empty by HDD sooner or later.
As I had my earphones constantly plugged in, in fact pressed it deep inside as I wasn’t able to hear the voice clearly due to train sound, I couldn’t concentrate on what was happening around. I could only see the body builder eating only chicken and protein powder throughout his journey. What a sad life. With respect to food I had planned perfectly this time by bringing the right food but also the train timings helped.
Day 0 – Delhi oh Delhi! A day of many things
11/5/2022
I reached Delhi on time. I was wishing I’d reach late so that I don’t get bored but I reached on time. I took out my camera and put the remaining luggage in Cloak Room in Platform 1. It was Rs. 35 per bag but he charged Rs. 70 for me. I only saw it later but he mazupified saying that for big bag they charge that amount. Liars!
My first place was Sita Ram Diwan Chand for breakfast. It was my long term wish to have Chole Bhature, which I had missed, even though I had been to Delhi on numerous occasions. I finally had it and how! There was some drama before that, the Google maps took deep into the gullies which got me scared and I had to come out to the main road and follow the round around path.
From there I took off to Birla Mandir, where cameras were not allowed. As I had got early, it was not crowded and I was able to spend some peaceful time there. I took a walk to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib next. It was my first visit to a Gurudwara. I ideally wanted my first Gurudwara visit to be of that of Amristar Golden Temple but as it looked like it was not going to happen in near future, I went to this Gurudwara. Absolutely loved the experience. Thanks to the heavy breakfast, I couldn’t have food in langar. Also I was so tempted to take bath but couldn’t as I was alone. May be next time or may be in Amristar.
My next stop of the day was Metro Museum which no one seemed to be aware of. It was not really a museum but a part of Patel Chowk Metro Station so I didn’t go inside. I thought I’d go there sometime in future when I’m travelling through metro. But outside Patel Chowk Metro Station there was a huge space where few students were playing guitar. It felt cinematic and I loved the sight of it. May be there are universities or tuition centers nearby, I could see a lot of young hip youngsters. Delhi girls needless to say, were chic. I was imagining how if my regular trek mates Raja and Andal had been there. Andal would have encouraged Raja to sing and I could have played guitar. I would’ve been heroic. Who knows, as a mark of friendship, the college kids would’ve even shared a joint.
My final stop of the day was Jantar Mantar, an absolutely useless place if you don’t know its significance. Plus the funny thing there was, they were not accepting cash payments. Wonder how people get so intelligent. There are so many things to change in the county and they choose change the mode of payment of a tourist spot, seriously! Anways Jantar Mantar was a good spot to shoot some pictures. As I had lot of time and I didn’t have any plan after that and the place wasn’t much crowded, I too got some good clicks. As expected, there were horny couples around the periphery but that wasn’t much of a party spoiler. I got a seat in shadows to spend some along time.
From there I took a walk to railway station through Connaught Place, again a first time in that area. What a lovely little locality with plush restaurants, great bars etc. I’ve to visit it next time I go to Delhi. Delhi has too many options for food. That’s the problem and I want to try everything, the street food as well as plush food. That only accentuates the problem.
Even after going to all the above places, I still had a lot of time to kill in the railway station. Muthu arrived around an hour before departure of train. He was a friend of Andal and toured with me to Agumbe. So it was second meet. He is a no nonsense guy and joined the trek without much drama. We had a horrible lunch at railway station and got on the train.
Our train, DDN JANSHTBDI (12055), was surprisingly immaculate. The seats were spacious and the caterer served Pizza and Burger and on top it was polite with the customers. I was amazed by it. Unfortunately we didn’t get the seats together so couldn’t have much of a chatter. I had a deep sleep for an hour and watched an average film, The Conspirator to pass my time. Here too there was a big group, may be family or extended family and an overenthusiastic aunty (who again reminded us of Andal) who was singing religious songs.
Almost the entire train got empty at Haridwar and the weather got colder. By the time we got down at Dehradun, we could feel the chill. We came out and had dinner at Sethi’s Food Corner & Caterer. The Kadai Paneer was a joke, quantity too was very less.
The receptionist at the hotel, Mohan Vilas Residency, where we had booked room, coolly said that he can’t afford room for that price. If you book at this hotel, better be aware of the scam. So we came out in search of some other economical place to spend the night and chose Hotel Standard, an absolutely abysmal hotel. The place was very scary. But somehow, we were able to have a good night’s sleep, may be due to travel tiredness.
Day 1 – Dehradun to Sankri (1920 m)
11/6/2022
We woke up at 4 AM and came out by 4.30 AM by making the waiters raise the shutter of the hotel. It was cold alright but not unbearable. On the first attempt when we tried to check for bus to Sankri near railway station we were told that bus would start at 8 AM and it was the only bus. So we came out to check for other options because we had read that there were buses starting from 5.30 AM.
On the main road we saw a couple of buses standing and got to know they were bound to Sankri and we quickly hopped on to it. As we still had half an hour time we had tea and got water bottle from the nearby store, which in fact had even started selling Aloo Paratha by that time.
Surprisingly the bus started by 5.30 AM sharp. The ticket cost us Rs.400. Guess in government bus its cheaper and the bus goes nonstop. Here there were lot of stops. The first of which was near Vikas Nagar to load vegetables and other items. As there was no breakfast shop open, I couldn’t have breakfast. My stomach was grumbling. The next stop happened only around Damta which I knew was a lunch place. I wanted to have Paratha but had to compulsively have Thali. Even though unlimited I couldn’t have much as I was travelling and it was pre trek. But something to fill my hungry tummy. The journey was never ending and the last few kilometers was horrible because of bad roads. The bus took a different route due to that. In addition to it we had to search the hotel and our base camp. Luckily Muthu saw a van with the trekking organizations name, Himalaya Shelter, but he was not swift in stopping the bus. But eventually as the driver had to take a break for natures call, we got time to think about it and walk backwards. Muthu in fact seemed to have spotted the place correctly. Unfortunately for us, only these guys had not put on a board in front of the hotel. Many others had put it. So, good that Muthu spotted, otherwise we’d have had to walk a long way back.
The check in was seamless and the room was brilliant. It felt like a star hotel, especially after staying in a shitty room the previous day. We got introduced to our first roommate, whose name I forgot, a guy from Delhi University (whom I’d refer as DU guy, henceforth). I’m generally bad at names but this was the first time that not even a single name got registered. Also as we had booked through BanBanjara and most of the others through Thrillophilia, there was even no WhatsApp group to keep in touch post trek.
The DU guy who was rolling, asked us if we’d join him, for which we said, “no” but luckily he was our roommate. The others who came by the Himalaya Trekkers van reached in sometime. We had amazing Chai and Pakora. We were informed about dinner time and we assembled on time for it. Dinner with Rice, Roti, Mushroom Palak, Daal and Fruit Custard was amazing. We were also briefed about the trek. There were people from all parts of India and for the first time, there were no Tamilians apart from us. We filled up our water bottles with warm water and went to sleep.
Day 2 – Sankri to Juda ka Talab (2774 m)
11/7/2022
Post breakfast we started with the trek. It was annoying to wait for so much time to get our IDs photocopied as they had not told about it beforehand. Plus the greedy shop owner played a clever trick of getting five rupees from each person no matter they took photocopy separately or in the same page. The shop and the place got me reminded of my Har Ki Doon trek. We took the jeep path for few meters and started out trek through forest, through a deviation.
It was constant ascent from there. It was cold and the ascent was there throughout. It took a while for the body to warm up but with every waiting time it was getting cold. We took a long break at a Chai Point in the middle and then started walking towards our first camp. One of the guys got his shoe torn, it reminded me of my Kedartal trek where I lost the sole of the shoe on the penultimate day. But luckily the shoe was strong enough to trek even without it. But if had been slippery it would have become disaster.
This trek reminded me of my first trek. There were many people who were not really trekkers and had come for the first time. They didn’t have proper trekking gear, shoes especially. But none were worried. Of course there was rentals for it but the unpreparedness didn’t deter them, thanks to their unawareness. There was a gang of five boys from IIT-Guwahati who reminded of our gang during our first trek to Dalhousie.
As we took our own sweet time to walk, we reached Juda Ka Talab by around 2 PM and had our lunch. I hogged as I was extremely hungry. We were not allowed to sleep. We were to walk around the place. Thanks to lot of free time, Muthu and I shot few portraits of each other. As others suggested that the lake was a joke and we’d be passing around that route the next day, we didn’t go to see it.
As the sun was setting, it started getting cold. The Lucknow gang of three boys requested for camp fire I think. I was not keen on it as it would get extremely cold at night and the impromptu annual day function would be weird. Muthu too was of the same opinion. Thankfully nothing like that happened and it was just small talks around. But that too was annoying as the major talkers were getting on the nerves. I guess by that night everyone had got an opinion about each other and started sticking to their favorite people or rather, out of the people they don’t like.
We had dinner with hot Gulab Jamuns but as I had heavy lunch and had it late, I couldn’t eat much. The night was as usual a gassy affair.
Day 3 – Juda ka Talab to Kedarkantha Base Camp (3429 m)
11/8/2022
It was supposedly the easiest day of the trek but I was struggling as I had stomach upset. I felt totally dehydrated. But as it was just only few hours trek, I somehow managed. I was scared that I would not be able to complete the trek. I didn’t want to take chance by giving some time. I immediately took Norflox post lunch, tried to rest in the tent but all my thoughts were running around dysentery. I had to visit the toilet quite a few times till evening.
Luckily there was a doctor amongst us who told me that Norflox is the best tablet. His words gave me the confidence. I didn’t go to the toilet any further. But I didn’t eat any further too. Only drank the soup which they gave pre dinner. And fed on Electrol, which I hate. But with cold water it felt the tastiest drink ever. As it was really a long day, I got introduced to few others in the camp. The Doctor – son duo, the family from Bangalore, the two ladies etc. Muthu was in his elements and he was going around the camp and having fun. Thanks to my condition I wasn’t even able take out my camera.
I was really scared about the next day as I had to get up at 2 AM for trek to the summit. If I had dysentery on the way, it would be killing. With mixed thoughts I went for sleep.
Day 4 – Kedarkantha Base Camp to Kedarkatha Summit (3810 m) and back to Sankri through Hargaon (2713 m)
11/9/2022
I got up at 2 AM after sound sleep. I was already feeling better and confident. We got chai and rusks in the morning. I was insanely hungry. I ate quite a few and gulped on the chai. We also got a Sandwich on the go. With our headlamps on, we started the trek. It was cold alright but nothing unbearable, at least when we were walking.
Muthu unfortunately had stomach pain or some other discomfort and had to step aside a couple of times. I know how hard it would be, especially for introverts. So we pretty much were at the last and walked slow. Near the peak when the sun was already out, it got biting cold due the winds. There were also drizzles along the route. We were asked to carry our Poncho. Thankfully it didn’t rain. If it had, then it’d have been a real struggle.
There was a small section where ice was formed. I had a slip there. Otherwise it was a straightforward trek with gradual ascents. Even though I wasn’t at the fullest of my fitness, it was okay to cover the trek. If not for the dysentery, I think we both could have enjoyed the trek better. Also Muthu constantly was telling how it was wise to not have trekked in snow because it was difficult to trek even in that small juncture with ice. Generally I don’t like to trek in the snow but may be this one I would have preferred. Guess I’ll finally do one trek for the snow in the coming years. Let’s see.
Even though we couldn’t see the classic sunrise. The view from the top was phenomenal. May be because Sandakphu was my last trek, it wasn’t overwhelming but felt good. Muthu was happy, constantly asking me to take photographs of him and others. I too got few clicks. Even though it was biting cold, we spent close to one hour. I shot few portraits of people, wonder when they’re going to reach me out for it.
The descent was fun. Every one of us were in happy mood. We had minute snow fall but it didn’t develop into a full-fledged one. As per my plan we reached Juda ka Talab by 11 AM. We had lunch but I didn’t feast. I thought I’ll eat well only after reaching Dehradun.
Few of us had plans to reach Sankri the same day so we took off immediately post lunch. I was in a dilemma whether to spend the night in Juda Ka Talab. I was also thinking, why not spend at extra night in Sankri as the rooms were amazing but the organizers told it was not possible. By making a four day trek to three day trek they were saving on the rations, with which they could have at provided us rooms but cleverly they didn’t. Anyways Muthu wasn’t feeling good and wanted to go to Dehradun as soon as possible.
The walk was nice but the guide wasted so much time at a forceful tea spot, where even a quarrel happened between Lucknow gang and IIT gang. If not for that we would have wasted even more time there. Eventually he got us drenched en route to our room. Muthu hurried past everyone with guide to reach the base camp. I got to know that the guide stopped in a while to have a joint so he had to go alone. I along with a guy who was travelling around for a while where at last amongst our group. He was struggling to walk so I had to keep him company. Thanks to the tough situation, I got the satisfaction for the trek. Muthu was already sleeping in the same room which we had to share with the Doctor – Son duo. I had chai and feasted on the rusks. Got to know that Pakistan won the semifinal match against New Zealand. The IIT guys reached last along with the Seniors I guess.
As it was already late, I couldn’t sleep. Thankfully got warm water to wash myself. That felt liberating. The rains got heavy and we thanked our stars that we took the right decision. Dinner was amazing with Noodles and Shahi Tukda in addition to regular Roti and Daal. Thanks to the DU guy, the night got tripsy.
Day 5 – Sankri to Dehradun
11/10/2022
DU guy, Muthu and I took the first bus to Sankri. It was cold alright but was enjoyable. As my shoes was completely torn, I had to wear slippers. But I managed with it, thanks to higher level of coldness at the top. It was drizzling slightly when we started but nothing post that.
The bus stopped at Purola for breakfast. I finally had Paratha with Aloo Gobi stuffing. It was amazing. Rs. 40 for it felt slightly steep but it reignited the senses in my taste buds so no complaints. I washed it down with a sugary tea. When I asked the DU guy, whether that’s how they make tea in mountains. He said yes, Cheeni Taez. He in fact put a lot of sugar in the tea. Even in the next stop when I asked for strong tea, it was made strong but still it had high sugar content.
Muthu gave a shock at breakfast point that he wanted to leave as soon as he reached Dehradun. He asked why both of us couldn’t leave. But I didn’t want to deviate from the plan and asked him to proceed with it. As the train tickets had dynamic fairing I asked him to take flights directly from Dehradun instead but he took bus to Delhi and flight from there. Some people want to go back home immediately once the trek gets complete. Not sure whether he was of the same category but he had some physical discomfort. Not sure what exactly was that but I didn’t want to prod him more. But if it had really been his plan all the while getting down, at least I could have thought of something else or made up my mind. Anyways no worries as it was all sorted out there.
I watched an amazing, Kingsman: The Secret Service, which changed my mood. For lunch, we had at the same thali place where stopped during onward journey. I wanted to have their Fish Thali but I was full so didn’t have anything. Muthu for the first time felt comfortable I think, he had a satisfying lunch there.
I was wishing the bus would reach late so I could easily talk for a 24 hours room but it reached before 4 PM. We got down, took 5 number Vikram to Railway station. After a lot of hassle got a bad room for Rs. 1200 which didn’t even have a lock or TV. We didn’t want to go for a horrible room like day one but Hotel Krishna Palace too was not worth money.
After quickly freshening up, we took a Vikram to Ghanta Ghar and got down at Kumar Sweet Shop. I remember, how even the previous time, I had snacks at Kumar Sweet Shop and how amazing it was. Muthu bought a lot of sweets. I too felt like buying but as it was mentioned that it wouldn’t last for more than two days, I couldn’t. Everything was tempting there. We had Kesar Rasamalai and Chaat, which was out of the world. Especially I love their ambience. I’d surely have chat there whenever I visit Dehradun, after all there are many treks to go.
We went to Black Pepper Restaurant for mandatory drinks. It was a decent experience but I’d have liked to go all out and sloshed myself out but as he was to take bus the same night and I had to return home, I had to be on my senses. He took an auto to his pickup point and I walked home to room. As I was mighty tired, I dozed off immediately.
Day 6 – A day out in Dehradun
11/11/2022
Unfortunately I got up quite early and couldn’t sleep further. I went and had a chai and a super oily Bread Pakoda. Initially I thought we both would roam around Delhi by keeping our bags in the Cloak Room but I was alone and the price of Cloak Room was equivalent to dormitory, I booked a bed in Delhi Dormitory. After freshening up, I wanted to visit Khalanga War Memorial. I took a Vikram to a Chowk for Rs. 10 and E Rickshaw to Nala Pani for Rs. 20. From there I took an Uber Bike to War Memorial, only to see there was nothing there. I guess if I had walked few steps further, I could have seen the memorial but I was too scared to see such a deserted place so I took the same bike and got down. I tried to visit another temple there but there was nothing.
On return, I took E Rickshaw from there to Kali Mata and then to Ghata ghar, each Rs.10. In the second E Rickshaw he had forgotten that I was there at the back and started waiting for someone. So I had to walk few extra steps to Doon Darbar. Not that I complain, I had to kill some time. I had an average sugarcane juice en route to Doon Darbar and had amazing Romali Roti and Changezi Chicken there. That one food was worth the entire trip.
I went back to room, took a nap, watched 3:10 to Yuma, packed swiftly and went to Uss Da Dhaba for amazing dinner. I thought of eating light but had a hefty dinner, thanks to the pricing. The train arrived well before time and I settled in it. Thankfully everyone slept as soon as the train started. So it was a smooth experience.
Day 7 – The last few hours in Delhi
11/12/2022
The train again reached on time. Thanks to the heavy dinner I was in urgent need to use restroom but I didn’t know the procedure to get to the dorm. Somehow I managed and got my room on time and could use the restroom. Dorm even though was not great was spacious at least. Bathroom could have been better. Plus there was no hot water. Anyways I took bath as it was not very cold.
I wanted to take a bus to Jama Masjid but couldn’t, as it was very confusing. I rather took a rickshaw for Rs. 50 to Al-Jawahar Restaurant. If you’re planning to go there for lunch, better go after 1 PM because they have only breakfast options prior to that. I had a good brunch there, parceled a biryani for night and took another E Rickshaw to Delhi station for Rs. 50. It was my first time in GRAND TRUNK EXP (12616). It started on time at 16.10. I had got a lower birth this time but slept in the upper birth as there were a couple of old ladies in my coupe. I watched a Mustang had a horrible biryani which I had packed earlier, which I couldn’t even finish and slept peacefully.
Day 8 – An irritating day in the train
11/13/2022
By morning, most of the restrooms had clogged. Though my coupe mates got down, the next set of people were with unreserved tickets made the coupe their own. I was happy that at least they had to pay fine. Post breakfast, I watched Escape from Planet Earth which only spoilt my mood further. I took a nap once in a while, couldn’t get juice in Nagpur, settled for horrible Egg Biryani in the afternoon and passed my time. Unfortunately the last of the movie which I had didn’t have subtitle so I couldn’t even watch a movie in the evening. For dinner I got Idly and Vada so I was happy at least in that aspect. I thought I would book some nice online food while returning but as I was alone the day before, I didn’t feel like it.
Day 9 – Return
11/14/2022
There was storm warning and it had rain incessantly the previous week. But thankfully the rain had stopped since the previous day so I didn’t have any problem in commuting back to home. I should have taken the train but I got in the bus. It was crowded alright but to pay for luggage was irritating. Anways, I reached bus stop, had a mandatory Chennai Tea on the way home and thus my trip ended.
‘3:10 to Yuma’ is a classic example of how important actors are. Generally in a western film, the locales, music and dust take over the entire setting. So filmmakers don’t even prefer proper actors and even if they do they’d not be given any scope to emote. They’d be a point of interest in the story we could relate to, but not really humans. ‘3:10 to Yuma’ breaks the template and gives actors rich importance. Or maybe the actors were so great that they took over the onus set by the director. The end product due to that is a highly refined emotive intelligent piece of work with which we could empathize.
Every time a Christian Bale movie starts, it makes me feel why is he rated so highly but he himself answers the question by the end of the movie. Especially with this movie, it was more challenging because Russell Crowe is one of my favorite actors. But even with him around, Christian Bale overtakes him in the end. The whole movie had an interesting conflict between them. Not only as characters but as actors too. It felt like subconsciously they were in awe of each other’s acting and fighting their inner demons to go past them. It was a beautiful feeling if you could understand that.
Dan Evans (Christian Bale) was not really a hero but in constant pursuit of being one. In the very first scene we get to know that he has lost a leg. Despite the fact, he was ready to fight a ruthless leader of a gang of outlaws Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). We know that Dan doesn’t have an iota of chance against him. But he goes for a fight against him not only to be a hero in front of his family, his son to be precise, but to redeem himself. May be deep within he knew it was a suicidal attempt or maybe he really thought he could do it but he reminded me of Jaime Lannister after losing his hand. May be Dan too would have been heroic like him before losing his leg.
Thanks to have watched ‘Asuran’, the opening scenes reminded of that and I thought, at some point Dan Evans would come out heroic and kill all the goons. Only then his annoying son, William Evans (Logan Lerman) would know his value. But ‘3:10 to Yuma’ shows why it’s a greater film than ‘Asuran’ and stands the test of time by not making Dan heroic at any instant. In fact Christian Bale needs to be appreciated to have taken such a deeply unheroic role.
Ben Wade on the other hand was an effortlessly ruthless villain. He spits venom just by mere look. The role was in fact a reversal of sorts because generally Russell Crowe would always be a good guy and good guy phenomena suits him to tee, just like he did in ‘Gladiator’ and even so brilliantly in ‘Cinderella Man’.
The arc of Ben wade was really interesting. For some reason he has that admiration for Dan Evans. May be because he had a life that Ben Wade doesn’t and that’s what led him to this or maybe he just liked the gut of that man, a true straightforward person who was ready to fight him but he also knew that he didn’t have any chance. The bromance between the both was brilliant. This type of bromance wouldn’t have been special even if they both had been on the same side, because it would have been one-dimensional and Sholayish. They being opposites and still admiring each other was something special.
Even though, from the time Ben Wade gets captured, you’d be at the edge of the seat. It’s only when Dan tells him why he wants the win more than the money, was where one would truly break up. Post that Dan helps him of course and I liked the fact that the train which was supposed to arrive at 3:10 as per the title doesn’t arrive on time. It was a nice pun. But what I didn’t like was Ben killing his aids. Of course he wanted Dan to succeed and he had plans to escape but may be the killing gave a sense of forceful completion to his character. May be as he had killed his entire group, he’d escape and be a good guy going forward.
Generally in westerns, it would be okay to bask in the feel of the movie unless there would be no crowd, like the desert, Ben’s house etc. but when they come to a town, it feels artificial to just see such less people around. We don’t really get a feel that it’s a world of the past. It’s something I wish filmmakers negate in the future.
It was the last of movies which I watched during my recent travel. It had least running time among the list of films I had with me. As I watched films as per the running time it came last. Just like any other film, I had no idea what this film was about. I was surprised to know it was an animation but the surprise didn’t last long. The movie felt like a disgrace to so many other interesting works which had come off late. I was expecting something on that lines but ended up terribly disappointed.
Right from the word go, it was understandable that the movie was going to be quirky. Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser), a supposedly famous yet reckless space pilot who gets himself in tough situations but comes out heroically, thanks to his brother Gary Supernova (Rob Corddry). We see a live example right at the start of the movie, where he was supposed to save few kids from another planet but in an attempt to play with the kids, he wakes up the monsters of the planet and had to fight out with them with the help of Gary.
Even though Gary helps him like that in his mission, Scorch doesn’t acknowledge of him. So Gary walks out of the next mission where Scorch was supposed to go to Dark Planet (the Baabians’ name for Earth). The movie could have got interesting from there but except for them landing in Area 51, there wasn’t anything even remotely funny to enjoy. As typical of what you’d expect, Scorch again lands himself in trouble and Gary understands that it’s upto him to go save Scorch. In the process they meet equally irritating characters from other planet. Actually I was feeling bad of Gary throughout. How difficult it is to be a single sane person in a group.
The funny thing about the movie was the villain of Area 51 was named as Shanker (William Shatner). Of course it doesn’t have any connect to the Tamil director. But how funny to think how it would have been a parody in Hollywood for a Kollywood director who wants to shoot like Hollywood film. But the fun ends there, there wasn’t anything interesting apart from that thought.
I was waiting for the film to get over. The double cross, aliens, conspiracy etc. didn’t help in any sort of way. It just felt like a no brainer which only people with no brains could enjoy. Even for kids after certain age, this film would have been plain boring. May be the ones who’re getting to see animated characters and getting a first glimpse of color, might have liked it.
When you’re watching movies out of the blue, without any real research, disasters like this tend to happen. Generally my sources are good so I get more positives than negatives but this one was one of the worst films i’ve ever watched.
Foreign films are always a pleasure to watch because by the time it transcends boundaries and comes within our reach, it would have already undergone so many filters, by passed so many criterion and would reach us only if it’s worth. So when it comes to foreign films, one can be rest assured that it’d be of minimum guarantee. So as soon as I saw subtitles for the film I was happy. Plus the film revolved around five beautiful girls. So I was rest assured that I wouldn’t regret watching it.
As soon as the film started it reminded me of ‘32A’. It had all the vibes of ‘32A’. May be in some time when the first serious scene appears and with the diction of the language, my mind wavered through to ‘About Elly’ too, it would have been because I watched it recently. But otherwise, as soon as you see a household of the girls, you’d get reminded of Iranian films because we’ve been exposed to Iranian films more than Turkish ones. But the film treaded more on the former line and was a lot more global than ‘32A’. ’32A’ felt more personal when compared to this and thus I would rate it better between the two. But that doesn’t take anything away from ‘Mustang’ though.
The film revolves around five beautiful young woman, intentionally avoiding to use the term “kids”. The five sisters, Lale (Güneş Şensoy), Nur (Doğa Doğuşlu), Ece (Elit İşcan), Selma (Tuğba Sunguroğlu), Sonay (İlayda Akdoğan) are all equally charming individuals, part of an extremely strict Turkish household of the countryside. They’re represented as a society. Not sure whether the reality really is that bad but through the film we are made to feel so like that.
Lale, the youngest and the most dynamic gets to see what all their elder sisters had to undergo, so she plans to escape right from the start. With every sister being married off, we could potentially feel Lale’s tension where she knows that the bullet was going to pierce her sooner or later. Through voiceover, when she tells about their last night together, it was a deeply emotional moment.
Sonay, the prettiest or may be even the hottest of all, luckily has a life she wishes too but same can’t be said about Selma, who is married off to the individual who comes to see Sonay. I didn’t know that the bed sheet ritual happens in that part of the world too. I thought the plates would change after sometime but we don’t get to hear anything about them further. Thus assuming that Sonay lived happily but Selma didn’t. Anyways the film was about Lale, more than anyone else, so that could be a reason too.
Similarly when the next one gets ready to be married off, she starts acting differently and kills herself off. It was mentioned that she was sexually abused by her uncle but I couldn’t get it while watching the film but she looked despondent, ever since her marriage had been announced. She comes to a stage that she doesn’t care about anything but her death happens out of the blue. Wonder why even her death ceremony was conducted secretly and there were not any interventions from police. That idea looked far-fetched.
Now when it comes for the penultimate one, Nur. The marriage looks sudden. She visibly looks very young for marriage and Lale gets as much surprised as us. As Lale had already known to drive, I knew what was going to be the climax but there was a moment of scare, when she gets into an accident while driving the car. I thought she’d get caught but luckily they escape.
In fact the whole moment till the last shot was scary because I didn’t want the film to have a depressing ending. I was skeptical of the guy who was helping her and as she reaches Istanbul and searches for an address, it didn’t look like a typical residential place. Plus a male opens the door in the climax. But finally when a warm embrace happens with her teacher just like that of scene one, we could be rest assured that all is well. May be they’d have to face further challenges in life but for the moment when that scene happened, it felt like a relief.
Probably one of the most fun filled movie which I’ve watched in recent times. And as I had no idea about it and it took me out of blue, it was even more terrific. Films like these are the reason that you watch cinema for. With ample amount of action, sarcasm and a convoluted storyline, it makes for a terrific watch. Especially if you had watched it in theatres, your joy would have knew no bounds.
The movie has a ‘Tropic Thunder’ kind of opening and reveals what kind of film it was going to be, right from the word go. So you can’t be mistaken for what you’re in for. But with time, it gets a slightly serious tone and it confuses you. It doesn’t last long though. As it’s not a regional film for me, the opening was even more interesting for me. When a professor is kidnapped and someone fights everyone in the room and delivers a punch dialogue about saving him, we tend to believe that he’s the hero but he gets killed in the same scene. That was a beauty. Because if I had either known about the cast or had known who were the big stars, the surprise factor wouldn’t have happened.
Harry Hart (Colin Firth) gives a medal engraved with an emergency assistance number to his agent’s son Eggsy (Taron Egerton). They both make a great mentor – kid combo. Especially Eggsy, an utterly charming individual. Plus the fact that it’s a reveal of an underground organization for the first half of the movie, makes it an interesting watch. It’s like those superhero’s first part where he gets to know about his powers. No matter how many films come and go, that part would always remain interesting. It’s the same here too.
As it’s an English film, obviously the place looks beautiful, everyone is a gentleman, except for the maverick psychopathic villain Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson). How cool does that tailor shop look, even without knowing anything about it. They celebrate their drinks and every time you see a frame with someone with alcohol in hand, it looks like picture perfect moment. Any of it could be made into a poster for either the drink, the suit or the shoes. It looks like a front page GQ ad.
The surprise factor of the movie was its suddenness. One major twist which I didn’t expect was the death of Harry. Just like Valentine says, “Well, it’s not one of those movies”. It really wasn’t. We don’t get much time to lament on the death of Harry. Plus we get another shock when Eggsy doesn’t get selected as Galahad. The final task felt like he did the right thing by not shooting the done. We’d have expected him to have got the title for able to empathize with a living being and give importance to any life. But again it’s not one of those movies so he doesn’t get the job. Anyways it doesn’t matter in the end as he comes out as true savior.
Another good thing about the movie was the friendship of Eggsy and Roxanne “Roxy” Morton (Sophie Cookson). It looked like they both would be a couple but Eggsy had other ideas. The climax wasn’t a total win-win as Valentine gets to his party sometime. The satellite scene was quite hilarious. With such stylish action sequences and a highly entertaining screenplay, it’s a movie worth its mettle.
Period films should always be given some settling time and doesn’t immediately work because it talks about the situation and politics around that time rather than focusing an individual and their story. So unless you know a little bit of history or not inclined towards knowing it, it remains distant. ‘The Conspirator’ too felt to be in the same category. As soon as it gets revealed to be a period flick, a sense of relaxation lures into the air which gets bypassed only by time. But once we get a grip of what’s happening or rather once the film grips us. Then it makes for a compelling watch.
The film’s story was a really interesting one, something surprisingly no one has thought of. It works as a conspiracy theory too, so it would always make for a good watch. But the events happen quite fast and it jumps from one event to another with varied time. The real crux of film gets to be known only around thirty minutes after the film when Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) gets arrested and Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) reluctantly defends him. If Frederick had been a guy who was the only person who wanted to defend Mary, then it would have been a straightforward story. But Frederick compulsively takes the job but rather than sympathizing with his client, he stays true to his job and preserves his work ethics. That’s the beauty of the film.
James McAvoy and Robin Wright were eclectic in their roles and did to perfection. In fact the whole film was about the two of them. Mary even though wrongly convicted doesn’t let the identity of his son because she knows that once it comes out, it’s fairly simple to put all the charges on him and give him a death sentence so Frederick has double trouble of saving Mary when she is not ready to give out any clues about his son. The conversation between both of them were nicely taken. There was a specific scene where she sits out and gets some sun, it actually makes us feel a breath of fresh air. Another scene where an umbrella is held over shows what a proud individual she is. She resembles Julia Roberts so much in that scene but remains her own in delivering the right performance.
A couple of good things about the film were its tone and the eventualities. The whole film has a smoky depressing tone, especially the courtroom scenes. It’s really important in a period film as to what you show. You can’t get away with a vast canvas if you’re not an auteur. Plus it’s a confined film which wants to show about the individual’s plight rather than the place. So the focus rests solely on the people rather than the environment. Yet the environment has to be right no matter what the canvas is. The director Robert Redford does it just about the correct level.
On the other hand, the film accepts eventualities. I liked the fact that Mary Surratt dies, even though the film was about her. And in post credits scene we get to know that John Surratt gets released. But it’s not really a happy feeling. It ideally should have been the other way around. If it had been the ideal way, the film would have been simple and boring. Just because of the complexities, it marked itself as an interesting film.
As a whole, it makes for an interesting story to be known, rather than an interesting watch. If someone like Oliver Stone had made the movie, I’m sure it would have been far more engrossing. I guess when it comes to ‘The Conspirator’, it’s the leads and their sincerity which makes for an interesting. But when you’re binging, you got to watch movies of all kind, everything can’t be one of a kind.
It was yet another mistake by me to have watched this soupy friendship tale disguised in the form of a cult classic. Wonder how to choose a good old Bollywood movie to watch. ‘Pyaasa’ was termed as classic and so was ‘Silsila’ but they both were grounds apart. Even otherwise, it is quite difficult to get into any sort of streamlined process to watch a good Bollywood movie of the past. Every time I expect to get something like ‘Sholay’, I only end up being disappointed. Plus the fact that each of these are going to be for three hours is not helping at all.
‘Namak Haraam’ was about a couple of friends. Firstly the entire film happens in flashback mode but the way it starts with Vikram ‘Vicky’ Maharaj (Amitabh Bachchan) coming out of jail, rightly pointed out by Manisha (Simi Garewal) that he looks like some psychology professor, actually got me curious. It was like sitting in an unknown place on a dog day afternoon and feeling something mysterious, yet pleasant about it. How Amitabh comes out so fresh out of jail as if he was in some therapeutic resort is a question which we’re not supposed to act but the feel of it was nice. But the happiness doesn’t last long.
We see a young Vicky and Somnath ‘Somu’ Chander Singh (Rajesh Khanna) in the flashback mode, who were given built up first by a couple of old men in tea shop bench, about how strong is their friendship. If that was not enough, the introduction scene was made cheesier by Somu’s sister “cutely” asking for pocket money from Vicky, Vicky having sweets from Somu’s mom and what’s worse, Somu appears in the same shirt as Vicky does. Why? I mean why were male friendships of the past projected as if they were gay. Even the playful encounter between Abbas and Vineeth looks weird in “Mustafa Mustafa” song. Wonder what the directors were actually thinking.
The movie treads in the same cheesy line throughout. There were various instances of one supporting another throughout the movie. Even though we know eventually sense was gonna prevail, the time taken was too much. The whole of the first half was just fooling around and when Somu gets to know that Vicky has some trouble by the workers. He disguises himself as a worker so that he could take revenge on the union leader.
If first half was about Vicky getting cheesy, the second half was about Somu and his romance. Absolutely abysmal. Even with his charm, it was really hard to digest that part of the story. With songs and slapstick comedies, it was annoying at best.
Sense prevails finally in the climax but by the time it happens it was too late and the sequence of events happen too sudden, which doesn’t give us any time to absorb. The titular dialogue happens just for name sake towards the end and doesn’t appeal at all. We don’t get any time to sympathize with Somu and be confused for Vicky. Conveniently Vicky’s dad ends up being the villain and gets hated by all.
What could have made the film interesting was instead of Vicky’s dad being projected as an outright villain, he could have shared how his ideology was correct. Even if we couldn’t have sympathized by him, there should have been some points were we could have been put into a confusion. The same confusion could have made Vicky vulnerable and not able to choose which the right path was. Plus when it comes to an emotional war between his dad and his best friend, the situation could have been more hectic for him and interesting for us.
Instead around the end, Vicky’s dad becomes the bad guy, Somu becomes the good guy and by the time Vicky could react, everything gets over. May be filmmakers of the past just want to cash in on the opportunity of the big stars but I could see it as only plain escapism because there were movies in the past which had tried to have some emotional value in addition to just being a dramatic slam bang sort of filmmaking. Hope I don’t end up being disappointed like this for yet another yesteryear Bollywood movie.
‘The Internship’ is a kind of a film which you can watch any time of the day, with anyone and still be not disappointed with it. It’s a kind of film, even if you don’t want to put an effort to watch, you don’t end up regretting. It’s a kind of film which I typically attribute as a ‘K TV film’ if it had been a Tamil film, a pure no nonsense no brainer worth a watch on a lazy day. With a stellar cast and a moving screenplay, it works as a joyous watch or to say in a lighter vein, an absolute guilty pleasure.
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It was a pleasure to watch Owen Wilson. What a great actor he is. Thanks to ‘Midnight in Paris’, he was noticed and given more respect. Till that time he was at max seen a funny sidekick to other actors, but thanks to ‘Midnight in Paris’, he got accreditation for his performance. His performance, more so, the opening act itself was enough to induce the joy of ‘Midnight in Paris’. Not comparing both the films, but only very few actors can be as charming on screen like him. It was pure joy.
William “Billy” McMahon (Vince Vaughn) and Nicholas “Nick” Campbell (Owen Wilson) are people in sales who think they’re big shots but in actual terms, are losers. After losing the job and trying to make ends meet, they apply for an internship at Google. It’s a riot from there on. The movie was quite personal to me thanks to my training days in Infosys. And not sure how Google were okay for this movie, which looked like a ridicule than tribute. Wonder if they had used the same campus or was a set put up.
The movie had some genuine laughs and may be some ‘meh’ moments. But it’s not really a movie which you can criticize it for being meh. Billy wasn’t as interesting as Nick but was given more screen space. May be Owen Wilson was good enough to underplay and do his role to perfection. Especially his dinner date with Dana Simms (Rose Byrne) which was lovely. Rose Byrne was a beauty with brains ain’t it.
Other actors were stereotypes specific of their region and didn’t make much impact. Obviously the bar scene was the high point of the entire film and as expected an emotional scene happens post that. The good thing was that, even though typical, the scene actually worked. It made me forget that I was watching a film and got me into the movie. Post that, as expected, their sales experience helps them secure a win in a dramatic fashion.
constantscribbles 