This one is for you - my valentine

There are a few things in life that changes you as a person, I was a changed man (well I used to smile at myself not calling boy anmore).

I had saved some 400 rupees by washing and ironing my clothes for the last 2 months. 150 of it I had already planned to spend on flowers. I could get 30 roses 5 zarberas for that money back then. I wished giving one rose to everyone I thought I knew fairly in my class. And the 5 zarberas were special. The day before, for the entire day I had been trying to optimize the other hard saved 250 rs.. Her favourite shop was “My Fair Lady” and it was fairly costly for my meager means. I bought a jewellery set or something that could be called so for 100rs. The ring was beautiful. It was my first valentine and a ring, however cheap in value, I thought was must. Whole day long I had been dreaming of going on my knees with a yellow zarbera and a ring, making her feel the most loved valentine of all time. I can still remember that excitement and elation of the thought of holding her hand in mine and sliding that beautiful diamond ring in her finger, kissing her hands (the diamond part was only for the thoughts).

The day started beautifully with me giving those roses to my classmates. I remember that odd jerk getting surprised at the fact that someone gave him a flower. I could hardly hide my anticipation for the evening with blushing and smiling alternatively. I know not if she noticed me blushing from the bench behind mine. The classes took excruciatingly longer time that day as I waited for the evening. Whole day we talked in whispers as our friends teased us through the day. Well it was a rare day and I got ready in the evening for a date, my first one. I walked down the road from my rented apartment to hers, in my hand-washed and ironed clothes. I met 2 of my friends who gave very encouraging smiles (unlike these days, back then we were the only “couple” in my class). And down she came from those stairs in her white silk dress and sea green dupatta. She had looks of a young lady and she smiled like a child. As we walked that road to the restaurant, we talked of all things that made us feel special.

Valentine’s day was not a big concept back then in that small place, so we were not expecting any waiting time at the restaurant so early. We sat there on the table opposite to each other, trying to fake our just-another-date looks. There were so many differences that existed between us but not on that day, that day we were young Man and Woman almost touching our twenties, trying to be our best for the one we thought we want to be with all our life. I know it’s quite amateurish to talk of life at 20 but it’s in the age of innocence that ignorance enlightens our actions. You learn in youth the things you understand when you are old. I wanted to take out that ring from my pocket and put it on her hands, and wanted to tell her about all those romantic promises that I had thought of. I knew she too was waiting for me to talk things that she never liked listening to in books and movies. It was a state of nervous chaos, as 3 glasses of water disappeared and I was worried that it can create trouble at the right time. A usual bowl of sweet corn soup also disappeared as soft music was being played on the dim lit table of the restaurant.

I was about to utter something that I had practiced all day, when I saw head of our engineering department enter the restaurant, taking the table next to ours. He was notoriously known for not accepting students getting romantic. I swear nervousness for romance and fear of a call to parents is not a good cocktail. She too was afraid of the whole situation. But someone said to get what you never had, you need to do that you never did. In my nervous moments I took her hand, looked into her eyes and said, “I love you” (softly enough not to be heard by the devil on the next table). As I slid that ring in her right hand and hold her hand in mine, I learned things about youth and love that I now understand.

{To put the facts clearly on table, I could not kiss her hand. She now prefers spinach soup to my sweet corn soup after our marriage. She now wears a delicate diamond ring and she still laughs like a child.}

A quarter full of movies

It has been long time that I had been away from my blog, I am not sure if I will be able to continue it the way I intend to but I surely will strive coming back and writing as much as I want. So to make up for not posting any movie review blog for more than 3 months, here goes my list of movies that I watched over last 2 months. (Thanks to Bigflix). I am sure I would not have the liberty to write a long review the way I generally do but would try and breif the entire movie watching experience in a line or two. I watch most of these movies at home and hence the choice of movie for half the time is mine and for the other half its my wife's, so few of the movies listed here, would not have made it to the list if not her:)

Movies I watched In Theatre

There are a lot of movies, that are in queue and I have not watched it, but 2 I could catch up with. Utter nonsensical though as both of them were, I enjoyed it for the same reason. The two movies that I could catchup were....

I know you might ask me to shoot myself for not catching the great acts of Vinay Pathak, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Aamir Khan and so on. But unfortunately these were the only 2 movies that I could watch and man, both of it have one thing in common - sparks of humor few and ok throughout the movie. Dostana was a good watch because of Kiron Kher's track and for Boman Irani too. Few dialogues in the movie are really humorous, I liked the "Kabhi Khusi Kabhi Bum" :) one. Bobby Deol is a certified bore. Abhishek, John does ok and so does Priyanka chopra. Spirit of Karan Johar will always live in this movie. Similarly RNBDJ would have meant little without the character of Surinder Sahani - the rest of the movie with SRK flaunting his pink, orange, red, yellow wardrobe was irritating. End credits werer really interesting. Salim Sulaiman did good in their first big break but the choreographer disappointed (I mean how could you create steps which cannot be tried by common people on lines like "Jaise suia saat se barah" or "zara kamar ko aise hilana, jaise hawa mein aath banana). Not more than 2* for each of it.

Movies at Home

Well there is a list of it , but I would divide these movies in "His Movies" and "Her Movies" Category for the obvious reasons.

His Movies

Taxi Driver : The idea of being lonely, and feeling disconnected with everything around is so beautifully played by Robert De Niro, that makes this movie favourite of many. You try and see the world from perspective of a man who finds the usual - absurd. I liked the way Martin Scorsese has used the camera in the movie. The movie is intensly metaphorical with each thing from a porn movie to a crumpled note, having potential to be interpreted in a 100 ways. He wants to save the world, a world that he does not understand. He thinks the scum needs to be cleaned but who would allow him to? The movie could have had a stronger story line and a better score. I would have loved a darker ending. Dialogues and direction are beautiful. 3.5* for the movie.


Charlie Wilson’s war : A good Man with some character flaws is what Tom Hanks gives us with his role of Charlie Wilson. The movie not only relates the history to the character of wilson well, but also touches human aspect of a real person. At times though the movie gets a little boring. The movie has got great acting from the 3 lead characters - Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Hoffman. 3* for the movie for its actors.



The Queen : The problem with the rulers of the world is that no one sees them as mortal beings. The Queen depicts the same very well. Every public figure has a different relationship with public very differently defined then the one they have in personal life. Same was the case with Diana. The movie takes us through the Queen's point of view on events after Lady Diana's death. The idea of her rule being questioned for her not overtly showing remorse, making her years of dedication to public futile is so beautifully acted out by Helen Mirren. Special mention to Michael Sheen for his portrayal of Tony Blair. 4*.



Kundun: Another great movie by Martin Scorsese, a biography of Dalai Lama. The whole process of Dalai Lama being chosen as Kundun and then followed is shown with a third person point of view, even Dalai Lama sees it that way. No value judgement is made on anything except China. Dialogues are beautiful. I loved the interaction that Dalai Lama has with Mao Zedong where the latter says "Religion is a poison. Your people are infected by it and so they are inferior. we are better becaue we want development" The cinematography is breath taking. 4* .

The Dark Knight: Well a lot has been said about this movie and a lot will be said in times to come. Its not a super-hero movie, its a super villain movie. If I start on it I think it will take a lot of time but still would like to put a couple of lines on the movie. The best thing that the movie gave I thought was the fact that both Joker and Batman are outcast, they are so similar and yet so different. I loved the scene when Joker in interrogated by Batman in the cell. The dialogues are simply marvelous, especially in the second part of the film. Special affects well and aptly done. The movie is so layered that it requires multiple viewings and thoughts to keep on discussing on the same. Though I would say that I was underwhelmed by the movie after a great great hype which preceded the DVD release. Any day a 4* and more I guess, had I watched it one the first day. Heath Ledger, you gave us a gift of your life time. Nolan and Bale team is good as before.


Iron Man : Its a very typical super hero movie. Usual genius getting the bad guys down single handedly. 2 things could have made this movie as good as the dark knight, layered dialogues and prodding characterization. The characters almost are black and white and has no depth, dialogues too are just ok. The fact that Ironman was a creation to destroy the harmful affects of his earlier creation could have been beautifully done but alas its a mass-pleasing take. Robert Downey Jr. is a fabulous actor and he shows it why. Iron man would havenot got 3* if not for him.

Hancock : One more good idea wasted. A superhero with PR crisis. Well the movie is silly at many times and the end, the fact that love makes him human, was really heavy to digest. Will Smith and Charlize Theron ofcoure are charming, but the movie is just average. 2*


Wanted : Ok, this is not the best of action movies that one would watch, but it was good. Infact, it was far better than what I expected out of it. John Mcvoy has been doing such a variety of role and all too well. Angelina Jolie, looks old and Morgan Freeman shows why is he one of the best. The whole concept of fraternity and loom of fate is interesting but does not appear to be ground breaking. The movie too doesnot involve the scale that we are used to see in such movies. It is about the characters and finishes just at them. 2.5* for this not so bad one.

Her Movies

Road side Romeo : I have never found dogs to be cute, and that was the problem with Roadside Romeo, everyone was a dog, trying to look good. It did not work for me as far as cuteness quotient is concerned. But I think I was absolutely floored by 2 people whom I would credit the entire movie to, Jugal Hansraj and Javed Jaffery. One with great sense of humor for dialogue writing and another with a great delivery of it. A definite 3* movie, first animation movie for adults from our Bollywood teams.

Thoda pyaar thoda magic, is both avoidable and unpardonably silly. Director woudl have done better if he had known the target audience, i thought it was made for children till the time I saw a Amisha Patel shedding her clothes!!! Utterly nonsensical, this movie is the worst I watched in last 3 months, 0.5* for the kids who look good onscreen.

Wall-E : Wall-E was very very cute. The way he calls "Eva...", the way he is mighty impressed by his love and travels across the universe to get her, the way the human race moves to a flabby, lazy lot, is all funny, satirical and serious at the same time. Andrew Stanton comes up with a very original story and a great direction. Special mention for the magic of music created by Thomas Newman - most of the scenes are without dialogues and still takes the story forward beautifully with music. A definite 4* for a beautiful treat.

Kung Fu Panda : This was hilarious, I almost related myself comletely to PO's character. The movie had very well etched characters. I liked the way it turned out to be, though I thought that the movie could have been longer. Animation and Music are really good, though i feel that the dialogues lacked punches. 3.5* for Kungfu Panda.

Definitely, Maybe : was it Bachna E haseeno or Kuch Kuch hota hai that was inspired by this movie?! or is it viceversa. The movie is funny and interesting, i liked the plot where the girl listens to a story of his dad talking about his love affairs, as she tries to find out which amongst them is her mother. All the actors especially Abigail Breslin have done well. (3*)
Mamma Mia! : The only musical on this list, this actually surprised me, very good music, great acting makes a charming fairy tale of a movie. A girl trying to find out who her father is, who can give her away to the man she is getting married to. Pierce Brosnan is charming and you might fall in love with Meryl Streep. I personally liked the movie, but thought that screenplay and story could have been better developed along with the characters. (3*)
Bedazzled : I like movies with multiple stories in it. Bedazzled is quite a fairy tale, rather a devil tale, that would make you laugh in pieces, some of the episodes though are brief and boring. Brendan Frazer fits the role very well and would have liked if someone more sexy and innocent might have played the devil. (2 *)
Never Been Kissed : I like Drew Barrymore and that might make me a little biased for this movie. Imagining her playing an ugly duckling, after watching other movies of her first was not possible for me:). The story is silly and reminds me of another horror-Main hoon na. All the actos could have acted better.(2* for the okie dokie stuff). Baby Mama : This movie is a bore apart from the character played by Tina Fey. Its funny in parts but mostly just another movie. 1.5* for Baby Mama (I did not like the title).
Erin Brokovich : This is a fantastic movie, you relate to everything that Erin Brokovich is. The dialogues are very well placed and Julia roberts is a great actress. Steven Soderbergh has researched the case well and has put it in a way that everyone understands. 4* and I am going to watch this movie again. Thomas Newman needs a special mention for his music here too.

Woking Girl : Watching Harrison Ford in a romantic movie and almost like a sidekick role was quite amusing. The movie is a feel-good romantic movie where signey weaver steals the show from both ford and Mellanie Griffith. A better editing and better dialogues would have made this movie a lot more entertaining though. 2.5* from my side.
License to wed : Its a Robin Williams movie- no other reason you should watch this movie for. Reverend Frank has his rules for giving the license to wed. A good humorous base, with a light hearted plot makes the movie enjoyable but not good. 2* for Robin Williams and the 2 bald dalls used in the movie.

Other Movies that I watched

There were a few more movies that I watched but would not like to review it now, following is a list of them and my ratings for the same.
The Darjleeng Limited (2*, director has no idea about India)
300 (4*, you feel like a spartan watching this one)
Ramchand Pakistani (3*, it could have been more engaging but the cause of the movie is worth it)
Platoon (3*, people say its a classic, but I could not relate to it)
Rock on (3.5*, superb effort by Farhan Akhtar and Shankar Ehsaan Loy to create a desi version of Rock music that is more relatable)
In Love and War (3* , inspried by true story of Ernest Hemingway, well acted by Sandra Bullock and Chris O'Donnel )
The Butterfly Effect (2.5*, thought I was watching pieces of other movies)
Yella (A german Film 2*, its about a young accountant)
1920 (Silly stupid and pointles 0*, watchout the end -exorcism by Hanuman Chalisa)
Train to Pakistan (1.5* , read the book instead)
Bachna - E - Haseeno (Typical bollywood Masala, 2*, but entertaining.)
Shakespeare Classic - Macbeath (2*, well acted by James Mcvoy, the story is a little boring, rather watch Maqbool)
Back to the Future (3.5*, I love this movie, have watched it 5 times till date)
The Prestige (4*, Superb movie, well acted, well made, nice dialogues)
Ahista Ahista (3*, Abhay Deol is a versatile actor)
Terminal (3.5*, watch this along with charlie wilson's war and Forest gump, and Tom Hanks will be your favourite actor)

{Ratings Here are no value judgement on the content of the film, take it only as my way trying to give my readers a prioritizing tool, if they have yet to watch this movies}

Pick up lines : Do I sound Like my Grandma!!!?

Someone asked me “what is the cheesiest pickup line you have ever tried?” , well , umm… , ah! , ish!!! … oops, “Pickup line”??!!!!! – I got married even before knowing what it means! Not that marriage is a good alibi for never using a pickup line but then I don’t like to admit that I never had the guts to use one.

Someone said these days even girls use it! And that makes me feel all the more miserable, where the hell did I waste my teens without knowing what it meant. I remember once asking a girl if she wants a lift to school ( can it be considered to be a “Pick up” line, I mean literally it is).

It has not been ages since I too was a college lad, but I somehow feel that these days colleges have become a lot different , a mere difference of 8-10 years has created generation gap like the one that I had with my grandmother.
(She once said “don’t go out with those girls for eating out, its wrong?!!” Well it was just a dinner and we did not even call it DATE back then )

This Generation gap that I am having with my younger brothers has become a serious cause of concern for me – a. because I don’t think I am old and b. I want to be seen as young.

So now for one like me, who does not drink or smoke (hukkas I heard are in fashion), who does not understand a word from the English songs (I confess I like Ghazals) and for whom disco and lounge are just modern kind of music types (though not my kind), relating to “young” and keeping “Young” is a big identity crisis.

I have been trying to do that but success never came from the back pocket of my newly tried low waist jeans. (Low waist jeans, that is not even an attractive concept functionally, how do I relate to it). I thought of aping them, looking at their new age idols a year back, I even started growing my hairs and thought of having a small hair-band one day, but by the time my hairs were long, they all had got it grass-chopped. I almost fell off my chair at CCD when my brother said that a girl with coloured hairs, who came in her low waist jeans and I-too-flaunt –it top, with a ciggy (that’s what they call it) in one hand , looked “COOL”. Boy, I don’t even seem to have an Idea of being cool. (Last time I felt that about a girl was when a girl in my engineering class derived an equation that said that bernouli’s theorem is another interpretation of law of conservation of energy!).

I had quite some views and strong one about politics, religion and philosophy in my college days, but it seems, that is very “uncool” these days. The idea of world politics that they have is “Barack Obama looks hot In that Black suit” and would find the question about governor of Maharashtra a rot boring discussion which “pisses” them off!!! Svu svu svu ssi…

I guess I am going to give up trying to be young. My children (Gosh! When will you ever sound young), I feel will have a century of generation gap with this “cool” generation, and I am not sure if my asking my son , “Not to go out on a blind date with boyfriend he made an hour back in the google chat room” would make me sound like my grandma!

{Though inspired by the events of my life, I would not claim factual basis for the entire article here :) and ofcourse no offence meant to anyone :))

The Unanswered Questions In My Mind

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the name means little to me, but the person stands for something that my country is up against, fighting and protecting us. The monstorous and heinous (I just don’t think that these words can describe anything) intentions that they stand for were to terrorize, and they did.

Yes, you have succeded Kamal, you and your partners in crime who wanted to terrorize people in India, all of you have succeeded. We are scared. We feel insecure. We, a bunch of people where the educated talented mass is more concerned about the money they want to make on foreign land and the uneducated once maddened by the rage of internal regionalism to fight the foreign states of India, have been stripped off our masks. We are unmasked to reveal our casual attitudes and irresponsibility as a nation to stand up against your united force of destruction. We talked, we politicized, we regionalized, we religionized, we lifted up our “Spirit”, but we never struck back. We are victims of our own crime, and may be you are the god sent punishment for us to be so.

There was no one in the attack that I knew personally, then why was it that the entire day I had a lump in my throat that wanted me to relieve it. That lump in my throat and those dew that I saw in eyes of people once in a while around me talking about our ravaged Taj and blunted Trident, all of it choked us yesterday with a feeling of guilt. Though most of those lumps and those dews would have been relieved in small silent cries in the loneliness of our bathrooms or beds, I know for some this would be never relieved. I know most of us would not question our self on this feeling of guilt, why did we feel so? The reason being that we don’t want our daily life to change. We want to go around with our lives as normal as ever, as were not affected by Kasab's action. We want someone else, rather everyone else to act responsibly.

I feel guilty. I feel guilty of being so focused on my personal life and I feel guilty that I won’t change. Now when I think of it why did this all happen, a simple analysis by anyone’s mind would take you back to things like hatred towards other races, rampant corruption, apathy towards things that don’t concern us. Aren’t we all suffering from all of it? I feel guilty of it now, I feel guilty of that bribe that I had given for speedy police enquiry of my passport, I feel guilty of all that money that I have given to the pirated books and music sellers (I know not if that money has stained my hands with blood), I feel guilty of giving a 100 rs. Note to that towing vehicle for letting me go (I know not if that is what is corrupting their superiors and theirs, till the ministers). I don’t think this is it; I am feeling guilty about everything that I have done unknowingly to lead my country to this state. And I feel guilty that I have no plans of getting this straight. I feel guilty to be self-centered, scared and weak.

I know not if democracy is good or bad, I know not if “trying to be secular” is good or not, I know not about being soft or hard on terror, I know not if its neighboring countries or our own people, but I know for sure that this is not the world that I want my kids to be in. I don’t see any ray of hope in my politicians or my political system to get us safe. Safety, and nothing else is my concern. I know nothing that I can do to change it but I know this has changed something in me, however small. There are unanswered questions my innerself (about my responsibilities as a citizen) is fighting against. I hope everyone is fighting with the same questions, because if your innerself is still not questioning yourself, it’s time for introspection. Don’t let your conscience go numb.

PAINTER OF THE LITTLE GANESHA

That was an exceptionally bad day at office for Sid. It was again appraisal time and it again did not go the way he wanted it to go. Life at an IT company was not exactly what he had planned for himself just a couple of years back when he completed his Civil engineering. He for his life had dreamt of making it big as a builder. He wanted that the world knows him as a businessman and that he creates sky scrapers that would be the most sought after places in the growing cities. He wanted to be a part of the growing world and give his name to everything he touched; he wanted his identity to live beyond his life.

But that today felt like a lost dream - a lost passion. But deep down in his heart he felt at times that it was a passion that he did not have enough courage to follow. It was he who chose a more rewarding life for himself that to follow what he thought was his dream. The identity which he always wanted to create for himself was getting lost. Now he was a part of the back office team, who wrote programs for the Money Vending Machines integration with a banking firm’s internal systems. Times when he used to write a program and put a comment with his system ID, he used to feel that all he has become is a zero and a one. He has broken down into bits. He felt very insignificant to know that there were lakhs of line of these programs written by thousands of people across the world who ran these systems. He was just one amongst those thousands. No one noticed his work and no would ever will.

College days are still the ones which one remembers the most, those are the happy days you turn back to in times of distress. You want to go back and see those classrooms where you used to shout and dance more than what you used to study, you want to see those benches where you scribbled the answers for the exam, you like in these times to remember that sweet little smile from the girl you had your heart on, you want to have that hot cup of tea that you used to share with your friends in the shoddy college canteen. He had the hot cup of tea but not the friends to share it today and this made him feel exceptionally lonely. He asked Raman kaka, to give him one cup of tea and wanted to spend some time out of the mental turmoil in those places. Outside the canteen he could see from the window, the road that stretched from the college to the Krishna Hospital, he could see a Mcdonals, a beautiful temple, a statue of Shivaji and a huge building touching sky that Shivaji’s sword pointed towards. On the other side from the main gate of the canteen came a person who had a can of Red Paint in one of his hand and all his clothes were dirty with the dust he must have spent his day on. Apart from a table on which a young couple was sitting Sid’s was the only table where the person could have been seated and so he did as sid was viewing outside and looking at the sky scraper whose ground floor had the Mcdonalds.

“ I made that Ronald’s smile”, said the man sipping his tea from the after taking it in to the saucer making noise that Sid might not have heard in ages in his office. Sid felt a little awkward and annoyed especially by that little smirk which the man wore on his face.

“Yes that yellow and red smile that you see on that white face is painted by me. It feels so nice.”

Sid was in no mood to extend his talk. Sid never liked small people – small not by money but by ambition. A man who is smiling at a small paint that he applied over a plastic face was small and unambitions to him. what should he feel nice about?

Sid could not stop asking him ,
“ What is to feel nice in it? No one knows you made it, no one cares who made it, more so no one even cares that the Ronald is sitting right outside that building. All that matters is the burgers people come in for and eat. You don’t exist in that thing you made.”

He was speaking as if he wanted to burst out and throw his anger on someone who could not understand it. But the man he shared the table with had a bigger smile this time to offer for his outburst.

“Do you see that small girl coming out with her icecream from there? You did not notice her small smile when she passed near that Plastic Man, I did “

“And that is what makes you sit here and smile. It takes you no where, you don’t grow, you don’t move ahead in life, no one would ever know you if you get satisfied with these things.”

“Why do you work? Let me guess, its for money. But money in itself is not satisfying; it’s the things that it buys which makes it satisfying. The cost of buying those things is not the money you pay; it’s the time, effort and dreams that you give up for getting that money. I have a family to feed and I am neither literate nor am I one of the best painters in the world, so I do whatever little I get to paint, it feeds my family and that is the reward I spend my sweat for.”

“Wo –ho , welcome to the club friend. I too hate my job. I never wanted to do that, you see all of us are running after Mirages.”

“Its not a mirage it’s like fetching the water from a well, when your original Idea was to go for a river. Well isn’t what you wanted, It looks a way to small, and dead when you compare it to the river, but that does not change the water. The Idea of river was so big for you that you are not able to quench your thirst with this water”

“ I hate people talking to me in riddles”

“You see that temple? One of the Ganpatis in that temple out of the painting of around 50 deities was painted by me. I know no one would stand and appreciate it, but I believe ones in a life time for some person I don’t know, that figure would be an image of god he would remember to pray his god. His image of god would be my creation. There is no direct link of my fulfilling his wish, but there definitely is my contribution. It is only the way you look at it”

His tea was over by then, and he kept the small glass of tea over his saucer giving a warm smile to Sid as he left.

While driving back Sid saw an elderly couple, coming out of an ATM on the road, both walking with a stick in one hand and each other’s hands in the other. He knew how important the money would be to him and he was the painter of the little Ganesha in this temple of connected world.

Vantage Point : One review In between the 8 views

There is no such thing as reality, reality is what you perceive to be real. That is one thing that Vantage point pushes on to the viewer with a lot of impact. One incident looked on by different people differently, multiple views - each decoding the entire landscape of things happening at a place. No one has a complete view of everything and everyone contributes to the story from where they are. The premise of this movie is definitely challenging. Telling a story of how 15 mins worked for all its central characters showing different point of views of the same event and also moving the story ahead at the same time is difficult and I feel the director Pete Travis, has done a marvellous job in shooting it.

But even before starting to talk about movie I would go out of my way and appreciate the screen writer Barry Levy for writing such stuff. One of the tightest and best screenplay I have seen for a movie in recent times.

The Incident

The incident is not very complex. There is a summit in which president of USA Ashton (William hurt) is participating with the Spanish authorities for Anti-terrorism movement. There are mixed reactions from the people in Spain on this as he reaches the place for the summit. Once he finishes his speech, someone shoots him. This is followed by 2 bomb blasts one at the podium there and one outside somewhere.

Perspectives of the incident

This same incident is shown to the viewer with multiple perspectives of people who are reporting it - the media - represented by Sigourney Weaver as Rex. The other perspective is of the secret agents - Barnes and Kent (Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), they try and find who is the culprit, post the event. Then you have the perspective of President Ashton (William hurt) . Add to it a common man perspective - an American who is overwhelmed by the presence of American president in Spain. Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker) is a simple man who puts his heart first, loves his family and is having a bad patch in life. His camera captures the most important cues that takes the movie forward. Then there is a view of a Spanish Cop Enrique (Eduardo) and his girlfriend Veronica (Ayelet Zurer) - how their acts make the whole incident move and end is interesting. Lastly and the most interestingly there is this terrorist's perspective with a beautifully acted role of Said Taghmaoui (Suarez) as a cool, smart and menacing terrorist, who is as he says smarter than Americans. He is assisted by a few of his allies.

Putting so many perspectives of an incident with complex causes and effects and developing the each of the character in 90 mins - making us understand what are the drives for each one of them seems like a mammoth task. And surely the screen writer has succeeded in making that happen along with the director. Every 10 minutes the movie reveals itself a little more. Its like story doing a striptease in a slow and entertaining fashion :).

The only thing that I thought spoiled the power packed action was the end. It was just too quick and too unbelievable to get everything at the same place co-incidentally. The end leaves you a little unsatisfied.

Actors have done fabulous job with Dennis Quaid and Said Taghmaoui leading the pack. The best part of the movie is that the actors did not have to command the screen, everyone had to underplay their characters as everyone was equally important and each of them have done perfectly well. Ayelet Zurer as confident independent Veronica impresses the viewer for sure.

A good screenplay assists the editor well. Stuart baird does fair in his job. At times though you feel that you are watching the same seen again, as he spends more time on the incident and less on characters. Atti Orvarsson's music too is adequate. Did not find it extraordinary. Same was the case with Cinematography by Amir Mokri which in parts was extraordinary but was average in some other parts.

Overall its a thin story line, with a dissatisfying ending but fabulously written, directed and acted. You need to watch it to make your own view. But for me it easily goes with a 3*.

I am an Atheist if ....

They say I am a Jain. They say it was our biggest festival yesterday. They say if I am a Jain I need to follow a few things as per what they say Jainism Says. They say, I follow. They say pray, I do. They say believe in not killing smaller animals, I do believe so. But who are "They"? They are no one but people like you and me who were told by someone else that they belong to a particular religion. The key here is "to belong" , we all do chores and follow our notions of religion "to belong".

Every person is unique not just because he looks so, but also because of the complexity of his thoughts. Everyone has a personal set of beliefs and everyone defines for himself what he wants out of life. We are all so different and then based on a set of belief we get together, we form a group of people following a particular belief structure - we say we follow a particular religion. I dont think that english word "Religion" completely translates the essence of "Dharma".

I have read somewhere Dharma is nothing but a way of living, also read somewhere that religion is to give a person ethics and teaches him the difference between the good and the bad. Combining both I think Dharma is an Ideal way of living which we think we should follow. Moreover, I strongly believe that existence is defined by purpose. The existence of Dharma should hence always be "to direct" - to direct us to the best and ideal way of living to justify our purpose of existence. Now the question is who defines this best and ideal way of living? I just wonder for my life, how would someone else define what I choose, based on my belief structure, I define MY DHARMA (I am getting microsoftised it seems) .

Hey wait ! so am I trying to say that everyone should have a different Dharma?

Bingo! yes I am trying to say just that.

But then, having a known number of religion today is making us divide into groups, making us fight with each other based on set of beliefs for each, wouldn't each person having different Dharma lead to Chaos then?

I think - No. Think of it, when we will appreciate that all of us are different, all of us have a set of their own beliefs (doesnot matter if it comes from Jainism, Buddhism, Hiduism, Islam or Christianity or all of them) , we will appreciate that each person has a different dharma, which comes to him not by his birth but by his own effort to find the purpose of his existence. This will in some way make all of us different, but as a race all of us will be homogenous. There will be no groups based on set of beliefs. Hence there will be no faction claiming that their set of beleifs are better than the other factions. We will respect everyone's views and the challenge will be not to try to convert someone else to our set of belief (call it dharm parivartan, but not in the connotation that it is used now). We will truly "belong" - belong to human race more than belonging to religious divides. We will be "Dharm Nirpeksh".

Oh! So Am I suggesting that I would leave Jainism and would prompt people to leave whatever religion they "belong" to get their Idea of Dharm?

No.
Different religions we have have come out of years of experience, trials, understanding of the society and it would be ridiculous to say that all of it doesnot matter. Infact everything does. If one is confused about certain issue regarding the morals and ethics and the directions required in life, there should be someone he can turn to. He needs to refer to these standard set of beliefs that we, as a society have created over years. He need to seek these answers in various forms, in various scriptures, in various religion. And he should choose what his individual intellect would say is the best. One should not be stopped to follow the beliefs of other religion just because he was born in another.

So, If believing in one religion is believing in god - I am an atheist.

But I believe in God and his definition cannot be something that someone else teaches me, it has to come from within. Just like everyone reinvents the wheel when he learns to walk - my experience of my childhood will not help my child to stand up and run, similarly everyone has to reinvent the wheel as far as finding his Dharma is considered.

So yesterday, while sitting in that group of people praying things that I dont understand, I think I could understand to an extent, that I need directions from the Ideal way to live and I need to define My Dharma. I need to define the belief of what would be my ideal way of living (defining cannot be a one time activity here, its a lifetime one). I hope I find MY DHARMA one day and I truly "Belong" to my own beliefs.