Highway

Beauty: Indefinable, Abundant and Asphyxiating

Atop a boulder, as the heroine watches the stream of water gushing forth and as she tries to understand the beauty unleashed by nature and as her face breaks into myriad expressions of joy, we join her in trying to configure the beauty which is indefinable, abundant and at the same time leaving us asphyxiated !!!

While we all could wax eloquently about this poetic journey, this movie should be remembered for its casting coup. 

Alia Bhat is innocence personified. And the casting overrides the writing and you are cast in a trance that many a times you do not even follow the story.

When the rustic, Randeep Hooda, whose rusticity is accentuated by the Haryanvi dialect, does break into a smile, it certainly did  warm the cockles of my heart. With Randeep, the writing and the casting seamlessly integrate to give you many moments of acting ecstasy.

Anil Mehta the cinematographer and A.R. Rahman do their bit in enhancing the experience.

As the story progresses from the barren terrain of Rajasthan, to the snow peaked mountains of wherever, Imitiaz Ali transports you to a world that all of us aspire to live and as he pushes us from the edge of the snow capped mountains it is an exhilarating free fall, to be savored at the rate of fraction of an infinitesimal second.

And when you do come out of the movie hall and when the car horn did blare at the signal you had the uncomfortable feeling  and rude shock of coming back to the real world!!!

Thank you Imitiaz Ali for this liberating experience

Highway, Hindi Movie: Beauty: Indefinable, Abundant and Asphyxiating

Atop a boulder, as the heroine watches the stream of water gushing forth and as she tries to understand the beauty unleashed by nature and as her face breaks into myriad expressions of joy, we join her in trying to configure the beauty which is indefinable, abundant and at the same time leaving us asphyxiated !!!

While we all could wax eloquently about this poetic journey, this movie should be remembered for its casting coup.

Alia Bhat is innocence personified. And the casting overrides the writing and you are cast in a trance that many a times you do not even follow the story.

When the rustic, Randeep Hooda, whose rusticity is accentuated by the Haryanvi dialect, does break into a smile, it certainly did  warm the cockles of my heart. With Randeep, the writing and the casting seamlessly integrate to give you many moments of acting ecstasy.

Anil Mehta the cinematographer and A.R. Rahman do their bit in enhancing the experience.

As the story progresses from the barren terrain of Rajasthan, to the snow peaked mountains of wherever, Imitiaz Ali transports you to a world that all of us aspire to live and as he pushes us from the edge of the snow capped mountains it is an exhilarating free fall, to be savored at the rate of fraction of an infinitesimal second.

And when you do come out of the movie hall and when the car horn did blare at the signal you had the uncomfortable feeling  and rude shock of coming back to the real world!!!

Thank you Imitiaz Ali for this liberating experience

Balu Mahendra

As the curtains came down, in the recent film "Thalamuraigal", we heard the grand old man of cinematography in his debut as an actor ominously tell his grandson, " Do not forget your grand dad", " Do not forget your mother tongue"...

Well for you Sir, your mother tongue was cinematography and we shall certainly never forget those eternally divine frames...

The light shall never go out of our lives.

Pannayarum Padminiyum, A Tamil Film:The Mysterious Equations of Love

For Non-Tamil Speaking friends, the title roughly translated into "The Landlord and his Premier Padmini"

I am taking the liberty of reproducing the Nobel Prize award acceptance of Prof Nash, whose life was captured in the movie, A beautiful mind.

Quote

Nash: Thank you. I've always believed in numbers and the equations and logic that lead to reason.

But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask,

    "What truly is logic?"

    "Who decides reason?"

My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional -- and back.

And I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life: It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found.

I'm only here tonight because of you [wife, Alicia].

You are the reason I am.

You are all my reasons.

Unquote

In Pannayarum Padminiyum, the object of affection and unconditional love for an entire village, is an inanimate Premier Padmini which accidentally lands into the Pannayar's(Landlord's house).

Not only do the three principal characters vie for their engagement with the Padmini, but also the little boy down the lane who is putting up a sum of Rs. 5/- to get a seat in the front seat for a promised joy ride in the car.

The little boy grows into a man and buys a snazzy car. He travels back to his town, bereft of any enthusiasm, accompanied by a constant nagging thought of his unrequited desire of having not been able to take the joy ride in the front seat of the Premier Padmini. As he parks his car in front of the landlord's house, aching for a view of Padmini, he just finds the Padmini cruising towards him and stopping just short of him. And finally when he gets the opportunity to sit in the front seat and realise his dreams, watch him disowning his snazzy car.

Forgive me for letting out the beans, but for me the climax of Pannayaram Padminiyum is very creative, unique in many ways, liberating and a celebration of life.

The seeds of the mysterious equations of love remain in the virtues of empathy, understanding, giving and no conditions. In Jayaprakash and Thulasi's relationship are enshrined the magical equations of a successful marriage and relationship.

The charismatic Vijay Sethupathy manages to hold his own against the backdrop of Jayaprakash and Thulasi's power performances.

Justin Prabhakaran, the music director is another great talent to watch out.

Not only is the movie about love but it is also about living and in the present, savouring the dainty little precious things which we take for granted.

If the director could have chopped of thirty minutes especially in the first half, this could have been a greater experience.

For the patient film viewer, the movie blooms in the second half and certainly worth the patience.

Goli soda, Tamil Movie Irrepressible Fizz

For people outside Tamil Nadu, a few inputs on Goli Soda, Goli Soda was the earlier of the Avataar of the Soda. Goli, a marble, bottled up the fizz in the soda and a shot at the marble was done in with some purpose and energy, accompanied by an audible pop to let the effervescence of the bubbling Soda out. The quaintly designed bottle along with its marble does manage to rustle up nostalgia of the bygone times.

We were treated to tonnes of revenge dramas in the twentieth century.
And then with the onset of the twenty first century the strain changed, we had Okkadu(Telugu) and Run(Tamil). Heros did not suffer on the screen for very long times, they got onto interactive engagement with the villain and in the cat and mouse game, the hero was always not only keeping the villain on the back foot, but also had the audience vocally  root for the heros. The strain mutated a bit.

Goli Soda, an evolution of the mutation, follows the spirit of Okkadu and Run, four adolescent protagonist in search of an identity, take on the baddies without fear.

Overlook the logic, the limitations and the implausibilities. Sit back, relax, hoot along with audience and enjoy this unadulterated fun ride.

Allow yourself to experience the flutters of joy as the under dogs pound back at the helpless hoodlums without an iota of fear.

While I have been feasting on some great Urdu(Dedh IShqiya), scintillating Malayalam(Drishyam), Goli Soda serves some great Gaana songs in the background which adds to pep and vigour of this breezy narrative.

The week is about the begin. What are we waiting for Let's take on the world!!!