Into the wild

When was the last time you saw a movie that took you by storm; when you sat spellbound even when it ends and the credits begin to roll ...

"Into the Wild" is that kind of a movie. A thought provoking plot (based on true story) that cuts across geographies, cultures and demographics. It depicts the contrast of what we really want and what others make us think we want in life. I would recommend one watches it alone.

Every actor aspires for that one defining role in his/her career to catapult into the next league; Amitabh Bachchan got it with Zanzeer, Brad Pitt with Fight Club.
Emile Hirsch comes of age here .. a stunning performance. He acts the part, looks the part; rather, lives the part.

Sean Penn is a creative powerhouse. This movie is spellbinding; to pen a script and give it such an enigmatic and graceful treatment suggests Sean Penn's connection to the persona of Christopher McCandless at some level.

I loved few of his intuitive genius touches:

A. Complementing a situation with the sound of guitar in background and narrating the authors like Thoreau and Tolstoy whose works McCandless carried with him.
B. The breathtaking cinematography, capturing nature's grandeur and terror in the same shots. (I later looked up and found the cinematographer is Eric Gautier, also associated with The Motorcycle Diaries)
C. The impact of side-characters; Rainey, Jan, Wayne and Ron. They come and go, making sense to McCandless's Odyssey.
D. Narration about McCandless by his younger sister.



Some quiet moments convey so much; McCandless standing with his arms wide open, looking at the city lights; when he burns money, cards and other identification; how he feels for the moose that goes bad.

In the end, Christopher McCandless; dead at 24 in a wilderness of Alaska.

His disillusionment with society is explained through dysfunctional family and disturbed childhood.
Still, that is not the reason everyone connects with him.
He reminds me of Buddha, renouncing civilization, embracing nature. He becomes a man free of bondage; no family, no home. Westerners have always been fascinated with seeking the greater truth ... many have come to India; some famous ones like Steve Jobs and The Beatles.

Was he a coward, who ran from life and died out of arrogance and stupidity? Did the uncompromising choices he faced scare him? I think he was a lone hero, who had the guts to go out in search of answers.
We like him because he acted; did not bear with something he did not understand.

We all have had this urge at some point or the other, when we desperately seek to restore meanings to our actions and to this life. But we all either outgrow this phase or bury this feeling. Nobody can deny the fact that something drives some of us to drop out of society; go on a quest and test ourselves in other ways; The famous Walkabout program in Australia is a living testament.

This movie touches everyone; because deep inside, we all believe in Christopher McCandless.

Cheers to "Alexander Supertramp".

Political Masterstroke

Meira Kumar became the First Woman and First Dalit to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Further, she hails from Bihar. Her unanimous selection was obvious. It would be politically naive to oppose a Dalit Women.

But I recall a better choice, that should truly be said as a Political Masterstroke. When NDA proposed Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for President. They didn't really had the cushion of such solid numbers as Congress led UPA had here. APJ was a distinguished citizen, a Muslim, essentially an apolitical persona. Still, he wasn't elected unopposed.
What a splendid President he turned out to be ...

Speaking of Politics, a funny observation ... Rahul Gandhi took oath in ENGLISH in the Parliament, while Varun Gandhi took the Oath in HINDI.

Go GILLY Go ... 85 off 35

Well, this entry is entirely to satisfy my EGO

The Deccan Chargers are in the Finals of IPL 2009. Delhi daredevils are out

I am just so glad that I got quite a lot right in my previous blog entry.

1. Adam Gilchrist - His innings can be summarized in one simple German word embedded in English language by the Panzer divisions of Hitler's armies ... BLITZKRIEG



2. Delhi decided to go with Warner instead of Vettori .. and it showed.

3. I said that opening pair was the key for Delhi. Well, they were none for two after 1st over.

4. In hindsight, I believe one thing has hurt Delhi more than people care to admit ... the fine print of the ass of a genious bolwer on the benches of Delhi Daredevils dugout ... Glen McGrath

Not predicting today's match; Kind of want Chennai to loose though, because:

A. I think Dhoni's stars have realligned, and the law of averages is catching up with him. His luck is out. Let him suffer here due to bad luck rather than upcoming T20 World Cup

B. Mathew hayden cannot do it over and over and over and over again.

C. My younger brother Arpan is a fierce CSK supporter, owing to past 4 years he spent at IIT Madras. I just want to pay him back for what he gave me when KKR were thrashed last year (I was in Kolkata then).

Anyways, out of my initial 3 favourites; Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad ; first two are out. So, I want Deccan Chargers to win IPL 2009; In my heart I believe Gilly deserves it completely.

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IMPORTANT : Champion's League, which was supposed to be held in India Dec 2008 and was cancelled dure to 26/11 attacks in Mumbai will be held in India October 23, 2009.

IPL 2: Semi-Final ONE

At the beginning of IPL, These are teams I supported (in order):

1. Delhi Daredevils
2. Mumbai Indians
3. Deccan Chargers

And now, Mumbai is down and out, and I have to choose between two teams I like.





Delhi is looking awesome. No problems anywhere.

1. Now with Sehwag and Gambhir firing yesterday, they can get Vettori in for Warner.
Bowling will look good; Nehra, Vettori, Amit Mishra, Nannes ... I would have McGrath rather than Nannes, but making him play out of the blue just like that isn't a good idea.

2. They are lucky to have a keeper whose Bat is firing; Karthik. Does wonders for team balance.

3. The terrific in-form opening pair will be followed by Dilshan and AB de Villers ... the two share more than 700 runs between them.

I believe the key for Delhi would be the Opening pair. If they fire, half the game is won then and there.



Deccan chargers started with a bang, but what worries me is that they don't have the momentum.
They were done in yesterday by Manish Pandey.
Their middle order isn't so compelling; barring Rohit Sharma of course.
Also, this is the second time they will be playing back to back games.

The thing in their favour is having match winnng players who love the big stage, important games.
Gilchrist's bat was silent all the way to the finals during World Cup 2007 in West Indies, and then he blasted Sri Lanka in the finals and made it a no contest.
Ditto with Gibbs. He is already in runs, scoring 60 yesterday.

It really doesn't matter, coz I know I will be both Heart-Broken and Euphoric when the game ends. All I really wish is that it is not a one sided game, and it doesn't rain.

***
By the way, does anyone knows What does "AB" stand for in AB de Villiers ??
It's Abraham de Villiers

Elections 2009: Results OUT !!!

I was in the 3rd AC of a train when counting commenced saturday morning and the results started pouring in (went to Raipur for Piyush's wedding). Would have simply loved to be glued to TV for those 3 - 4 hoours.

Definitely, UPA is back, NDA is out. Now I am no political Pundit/analyst. But I want to make a few comments:


1. A clear mandate was the LAST thing anyone expected in thes elections. And bhaartiya janta stumped everyone. Yippie !!!

2. This Election was not only engaging, but so much fun !!! Our Electronic media has quite come of age, and they made it a spectacular event, from campaign tracking to post-poll analysis ... Kudos to them.

3. The LEFT Parties got their ass kicked and I loved it. But not really sure if TMC would be any better.



4. Farewell Mr. Advani. I heard people say on Media that you will be remembered for demolishing Babri masjid. But I will remember you for something else; your Rath Yatra created the only viable non-Congress option in India. There was none before that. The regional parties were either the offshoots of Congress itself or a product of the Jay Prakash movement. Not commenting on what the BJP is today, it will most likely remain that thorn which will keep a check on Congress. Thanks to you, the Indian democracy stopped being a Congress Monopoly.

5. Glad that Mayawati, Mulayam, Lalu, Paswan got thrashed. They represent regressive caste politics and backward politics (SP manifesto proposed banning english and computers).




6. We will again have a Prime Minister which Indians feel proud of having. I remember when I watched the joint press conference of Dr. Singh and President Obama at theG-20 summit, I felt in my heart 'Damn, it feels good'. He is decent, clean, educated man. Dr Manmohan Singh, your political legacy as of now can be summarized in two things: Opening up Indian economy in 1991 and the Indo-US Nuke deal in 2008. I sincerely hope that you top these in this term; especially when the people of India have given a mandate which ensures you won't be hamstringed by allies again.

7. I felt the market would jump 700 - 800 points. It broke the upper circuit twice !!! More than 2000 points gained today.

Ladies from the SITCOMS

I'm a big fan of Sitcoms on Western TV ... The fad really started in college ...
I started with the mother of all SITCOMS, F.R.I.E.N.D.S ... and since then, it has never really stopped ...

The level of script writing, production quality and acting has often made me wonder how can the aam janta in India bear with the Saas bahu saagaas ...

Anyway, this one is about the female leads ... so, I list my favourites below ...

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Well, I just couldn't post a pic of Monica, rachel and Phoebe alone .. I just could not do it. Frankly, it is hard for me to think of them without the guys.



SEINFELD

She holds her own amidst the wild trio - Jerry, Kramer and George.
Elaine Benes .. Great Actor ...



The OC

Now, I watched this purely for the girls ... there is nothing new or good in this teenage drama ... except the girls. Of course, the other things like the beaches, the bunglows, the cars, the parties ... they all merely add to the main thing.
Hats off to Marisa Cooper and Summer Roberts; not for acting, but for looking so hot.



LOST

This is a series I cannot praise enough. Just watch it if you are into Sitcoms ...

I have chosen seven beauties from this huge starcast ... Cynthia Watros as Libby, Elizabeth Mitchell as Julia, Emilie de Ravin as claire, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Maggie Grace as Shannon, Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia and Yunjin Kim as Sun.






















SCRUBS

Jordan and Elliot ... former is hot and latter is cute ...







BOSTON LEGAL

Another TV series I highly respect ... and the galz are goood. The best is Julie, followed by Rhona Mitra. Marisa is awesome as Alan;s secretary, and of course, the British chic Tara Summers has awesome British accent.
















GILMORE GIRLS
A shitty TV series ... but the kid daughter (Alexis) is WOW !!!



How I met your Mother

Cobie Smulders is a smokin gal, as Robin, she brings the oomph factor. This is the recent most addition to this list ...




Well, there were others as well without any female lead, like THE APPRENTICE, FULL HOUSE and WONDER YEARS... along with animated series THE SIMPSONS and SOUTHPARK.
And then there is a laugh riot ""The Coupling, where none of the females are particularly awesome.

There goes my list ... And I am sure more will follow.

To Movies and Moments ...

I saw "Good Will Hunting" (again). Boy. Some movies just grow on me. Each time I see them, I discover something I hadn't yet noticed. And this movie always reminds me of someone.

It reminds me of a college friend. He called such movies as "Talking Movies". I remember once, after a particularly heavy booze night, when he had puked and I was starting to get sober after being wild for quite some time, we decided to see "Good Will Hunting" and go for a Night-Out; and then crash in our beds after a particularly hot morning chai from Ramdhani.

That Friend is Sayantan Bhowmik aka bhoshi aka Shaitan.

Now he is in US, I am in Mumbai, last time I met him was way back in 2008. I don't recall him like ever, but when I do, I sure miss him.

Here below is the scene from that movie, which we saw repeatedly 2 - 3 times that night. I don't recall it happening exactly, and I am sure neither Bhoshi can ... but I know it happened coz it is there in my next day's diary entry.



Sean: Thought about what you said to me the other day, about my painting. Stayed up half the night thinking about it. Something occurred to me... fell into a deep peaceful sleep, and haven't thought about you since. Do you know what occurred to me?

Will: No.

Sean: You're just a kid, you don't have the faintest idea what you're talking' about.

Will: Why thank you.

Sean: It's all right. You've never been out of Boston.

Will: Nope.

Sean: So if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life's work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I'll bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. And I'd ask you about war, you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, "once more unto the breach dear friends." But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I'd ask you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms "visiting hours" don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you're a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You're an orphan right?

[Will nods]

Sean: You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally... I don't give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can't learn anything from you, I can't read in some fuckin' book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I'm fascinated. I'm in. But you don't want to do that do you sport? You're terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief.

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PS: Hope to see you soon Bhoshi ...