Dastak - Entertaining string of plays in Singapore

Applause first for the gargantuan efforts required to bring together this event.

Appreciate the explosive mix of professionals and amateur actors drawn from society making an explosive mix

The light and sound design was impressive. Really thoughtful there to put in the subtitles making it a bigger challenge to the actors and the person controlling it to ensure synchronized play

The concept is as helpful to the audiences as laudable it is for being a creative concept. A burst of 10+1 plays played out one after the other to a live audience is a challenging concept and a treat for the paying audiences.

It will be unfair to even start with anything but praise realising the enormous task of getting this mix of incredible talent drawn from people not essentially from the entertainment industry

Rayana and Veena were simply outstanding with their dialogues and emotion. Veena (who I have seen as an excellent dancer) , was fully into her character while Rayana recited reams of dialogue with the absolute ease of a professional. Any disturbing growls you may have heard during the performance were the sounds from the GI system desperately wanting the desserts being referred to.

KPSandhu and Namita lal were very impressive with their absolute intensity.

Jhamela did tickle with some fun moments aided by the irrepressible Aditya .

Kamli with its subject was naturally intense and overall with their actors above par

Expectedly the most pleasant one was the simple neat play by Gopal Dutt and Neelu Dogra. The acting is so effortless. It almost seemed like they did not need any rehearsals. Nothing less expected from them but there was a certain simplicity reminding you of Basu Chatterjee movies.

Blue diamond will remind you of Farooque Shaikh and Deepti Naval
Guru ka Brahman was intriguing and had the toughest expectation of impressing the audience with the opening act

Subin with his genial smiling face from Dhund catches your attention.

Icing on the cake - the 30 min dance drama Nukkad performed on the lawns like a street play and so beautifully designed with minimum props and yet making an entertaining impact. One could see scores of children who have perhaps forgotten the Panchatantra, glued . Masks with some really electrifying designs and creative classical music used by Ponamma to direct this unique act of animals left a great impression and audience left asking for more. Just wondering if performed under controlled focus lights, some jungle audio and audible dialogues could have helped scale this into a full fledged theatrical on the epic tales. This can actually be a mass booked play performed for kids in schools here.

The festival director Shalaka deserves to take a bow for stringing together years in a row, a festival of this scale and keeping the cultural and drama theatre going great guns by promoting new talent.
If you have not made your stop at the Goodman's Art centre yet, try out today unless of course they are sold out!

The next time stop is at Star Theatre I guess

Shaadi Pe AANA....Confused Hoke Jaana

Ever Imagined being on a horse cart which has horses attached on all the four sides trying to pull it in different directions. Each time a horse gets tired the other fresh ones pull the cart in a different direction. Conclusively you end up at the place you started. Find it awkwardly  ( Akwward mind you ) silly example this. Don’t blame me if you remember this when you exit the theatre after heeding the Zaroor pleas of Ratna. Speaking of Exit I almost exit I almost got up thrice towards the end assuming the end was in sight. But no Siree. It was not to be. The director had blank wall surprises in store. You know the blank wall types, those that face you when you exit the theatre.  Twisting and turning in all directions without an end in sight. Before it opens a mysterious door and let’s in the noise and bustle of the real world outside.

Nasty? No I am not being more so when I think Raj Kumar Rao is the best thing happening in recent times and for second time this week a surprise – a new face on the Hindi landscape ( well almost new if you ignore her disastrous intro movie) Kriti.

I think most of the movie going audience can now identify the gallis of the key towns in UP since most of the movies in a couple of years have been google mapping their stories in the intricate alleys. Is that Bad? Well not actually considering there is a lot of colour to exploit, male chauvinism still throbbing across the open surface of society but never hindering modern cigarette smoking women who lurk beneath the scared veneer and wait to escape like Kangana or Rani.

Rajkumar does not seem to have had a chance to leave the locales as he reprises his small town confident full of values and some beans character intent on hooking the love of his life. Dowry deals are done as a matter of fact. I sat up tense and tight hoping for a movie tackling the evil that still has Indian society in its clasp. There are no bad people here. All victims of circumstances, who have accepted and justified to themselves the usefulness of the wrong doing so as to keep themselves relevant on the food chain. Grab dowry from son to fund their daughter’s marriage. Sadly the director Ratna related to two directorial families does not even bother to justify the hero’s ignorance of this particular deed of his family while getting all hot and bothered about other values of love and trust in his life.

To cut the long chase short, a madly in love couple faces challenges in repeat cycles till you get exhausted and pray they never meet again.

I almost suspected the director at one point asked Rajkumar to play the good deed guy. He executes it beautifully. She then goes up to him and says oops sorry can  you be the bad guy…so he does it …Oops no you need to be the good guy. The distributor says so…So rajkumar being the expert that he is does it with elan with great support from a confused heroine who is happy being treated like a door mat that has for good measure feminism written all over it as she allows everyone to trample over her.

To be fair the director has an eye for drama and visuals and extracts excellent work from all characters around bringing fine nuances to even minor characters. Only she is not sure which direction the cart has to go. I ended up thoroughly confused and angry. Angry because I just could not bare to see the Rajkumar act and a lovely Kriti waste their efforts to finally do an ‘akkward ‘ dance at the end.

Govind Namdeo keeps going red and all hot. I almost feared he could have a cardiac arrest on the sets. Too intense man. Confident actors like a hiding behind her hubby Navni or a very natural Nayani dixit as Abhas sister stand out.

Rajkumar Rao owns the familiar territory though Kriti in her beautiful pink manages to hold her own in this twisting like a top in all directions enterprise.

Wish the director had stuck to Dowry and acted as a medicinal dose for the erratic society. Instead it ends up looking like it turned a blind eye to it and supports it.

Watch it if you liked all the recent Kanpur, Lucknow outings in the recent past and crave for home.

Try not to confused hoke wapas aana !

**1/2

Qarib Qarib Good

Movies these days have started featuring 'real women'

When you watch 'Qarib Qarib..' you sense a quantum relief to not to have watch boring heavily decked pancaked anorexic women pretending to be someone they are far removed from .

Parvathy in the company of Irfan is least worried about having to worry about her makeup or watch her weight:-) . Slow paced yet the two stars carry the movie forward with common intelligent banter. It is not impossible but difficult to believe that a simple dating site in india actually gets two people to set off on a journey while distrusting each other and being so unalike.

It was pleasant to watch a unkempt Irfan slipping those wry one liners while a perfectly unsure Parvathy tries to redeem her widowed lonely life while trying her best to remain occupied and shackled with boring errands.

]The pace is slow enough for you to want to peek into the neighbour's open mobile phone as he finishes urgent what's apps ( dude why do you come to the movies and why do I land up next to people who always want to read their mobile texts in the dark auditoriums :-))

Yet they are so real that you want to know what they do next

There are no surprises but am just loving some of these movies that refreshingly break Norm and tell simple stories and take you to Shillong in the north east instead of the beaten to death tourist places like Kashmir

***

****
Kangana is my female Amitabh Bachchan. Never has any actor owned the screen so much. She is confidence personified, actress par excellence. She has the gritty diligence of Aamir in taking ownership of a script and also actively contributing to it. So no wonder that the script writers get jitters when there is a glamour for credits to be shared with this brilliant actress. Her screen persona is luminscent. She dazzles in a striking combination of brilliant exposition of her art and exuding natural beauty.

Simran is hoisted on her slim looking but strong shoulders with the ease of Hanuman lifting the whole mountain in search of life saving sanjeevani. She is not sure what part of the bold script of an independent woman will work . Circumstances force an ordinary housekeeping employing at the Hilton to mix up with dangerous money lenders and start stealing all in an effort to chase her dreams and at the the same avoiding possible betrothal.

There is an effort to sketch out the characters of her parents , prospective husband and friends well but with an half hearted approach . A slight elevation of that effort with more punch in the dailogues mouthed by these side props of the story could have catapulted this movie to another league .

And yet despite its obvious story drag you can never take your eyes of the screen as she shares a camaraderie with a barman, an extremely natural selfish relationship with her parents and a truly believable romance that envelopes her and her prospective husband.

The story never lets you guess correctly and you clasp your slightly bored and sometimes slapping with happiness,  hands  together till the end
A very satisfying visit to the screen where you get the pleasure of watching the evolution of what is possibly the resurrection of fresh story telling and innovative acting by one of the best exponents of the art

Kangana way to go !

Nothing Rings True !

At the end of the movie as I sighed over a lost chance, it seemed like three great creatives who seemed to bask in their individual luminescence without ever properly connecting. With Imtiaz you know that you can get ready for wit flying all around without any background music drowning out the calm esoteric exchanges. One is always ready to be pleasantly surprised as he fries culture to a light brown without ever burning it. His quest for defining love continues. However for once I found a connect between all the three missing – the director and the two actors don’t seem to thread convincingly.

A tour guide in Europe who diminishes his own self esteem while leading around groups of gawking tourists while not dithering from moving around in a Jagaur open top or was it a Bentley. And he bumps into the female tourist who is for a flimsy reason searching for a ring and that somehow is supposed to be the excuse for a road trip. I think the collapse begins with this unconvincing plot. Searching open roads wide eyed,  days after losing it somehow ridicules the purpose of the story itself. Assuming that it is just a ruse for the director to escape to his favourite cobbled stone pathways in picturesque Europe, the lost ring rings so untrue. Add to that insufficiently fleshed out references to Gujarati and Punjabi where mention of Dhokla, Fafda and Tractor somehow are sufficient to infuse strength of their native backgrounds into the characters or so the makers believe.

Their travails are nothing to write home about except to mention that it seems like a long dialogue smattered with chuckle worthy witticisms along the way but few and far. The monotony of the dialogue drags you down such that the entry of an interesting goon actually brightens things up.
The hero is clearly unconvinced that he should play out his tour guide character to the hilt so he must have impressed on the director to allow him to own a high end car and book tickets to a metropolitan city in India while for some strange reason he is unwilling to go back home. Home as punctuated by grey and white eerie clips reminding one of Love Aaj Kal Saif Ali Khan’s track.

SRKs cheeky romance which girls swooned over seems intact but lacks lustre. It is really Anushka with her high decibel performance almost risking going over the top that keeps you from rejecting it outright. She seems to have a reaction for every dialogue that her costar mouths. She breathes a lot of spunky life into her act.

The music drags the movie down while the superior photography compensates. Except for the hummable Hawayein a song where SRK seems to come into form and the song also syncs with the spirit of the film

I sense a disparity in the intended script of Imtiaz and the final execution probably imposed by the makers. Else it is difficult to find a confused Imtiaz after his brilliant JWM or a LAK or the more recent Highway or Rockstar. The characters grow on you for sure but you hardly feel for them in the lackluster climax other than to heave a sigh of relief and rush to catch your last bus home.

Stunning acting ensemble elevate MOM

Before I change my mind let me tell you my stars for the movie 3 1/2
Why would I change my mind?
Because it is a reluctant must watch.

A movie where you better not be having popcorns while Sridevi comes on the screen because you will for certain choke . She is that brilliant . And this coming from someone whose only good impression of the actor is a rare Sadma or Chaalbaaz or the more recent English Vinglish .

But here she gives you goosebumps and in case you think those spectacles are steaming up they are actually involuntary tears rolling down

A docile but friendly teacher and mother , loving younger one , a normal life with a kind husband and a rather disconnected step daughter.

When something disturbs this linear life it is upto the mother to step up and hold up  a light to justice

The story is not surprising and to an extent cliched and yet you dare not move your attention away from the excellence in acting
Ensemble that pervades the screen

And as for the sort of Justice meted it you no doubt wonder if it is the only way to treat the diseased minds in our country that is a threat to the welfare of the fairer sex

In the meantime you really wait for what's next with the protagonist . Way to go is all I a new fan  can say to Sridevi. Bravo !

Who let the starter out ? who who ?

For my countrymen. Please migrate while someone finds a starter for the Tubelight.

"Heroes" meets "Bajrangi" meets "Little Boy" meets...Oh forget it !!

It's just a game son !

Virat smiles through the luniniscent screen. With a calculated brave grin followed by a laconic smile reacting to the anchor on what has just happened " It's a game and they were good on this day.  "

Yes indeed this is just a game move on I tell myself and the family.


1:00am
Dim bed light on.
"Are you again on your emails?"Wife asks ?
"Uh oh no just looking at some statistics on what could have happened if Jadeja had run out instead of Pandya!"
"But you said it was just a game. Get over it!"

"Absolutely" I said very calm and composed pulled up the sheets  a wise smile and lights off


4:00 am
Tiptoe to the front room. Please don't mistake the whites on my knuckles for any reaction to clenching the fists for 3 hours in anger
Haha absolutely not
Completely in control
These are just games
Not feeling sleepy
Just want to sit on the sofa

Son walks in " Papa you ok ".               "Absolutely just not sleepy
Checking some numbers "

"Yeah but those numbers look like number of 6's required to close the gap !
You are still thinking about it papa?
You told me it's all a game ". Son looks startled

Weak laughter. Chortling in the throat .
"Hahahaha of course. No these numbers are just some tax numbers and worries that I have linked aadhar card yet "

Son perplexed
"Papa 180 divided by 6 does not look close to any income tax number

A stern voice
"Go to sleep will you ? "


7:00 am
The wife and son at my side
"Are you sure you are ok ?"
"What are you doing making all those scenarios " picking up my scribblingsand reading it aloud
"What if that fellow had crossed over and if the next two batsmen just stuck around and what if at least 20 sixes had been possible and convert those 1s into 2 s and 2 s into 3 s and 4 s into 6 s and son "

Wife looks up
"Are you still hung up about the match . Is that not obsession that you keep harping about"

"And what is this about starting a petition to get that guy out of the team . So what if he did not move ?"


And then I scream
"HE SHOULD HAVE SACRIFICED HIS WICKET AND RUN AND WE COULD HAVE WON THE MATCH !"

The family is startled . I calm down.

"Shucks forget it . It is all a game and the captain even smiled at the end and the opposition played a great game anyway."

"Now to historically find out under what circumstances the final can be replayed if at all "

The family sighs .

Wife looks at the clock

" Bring out your blues . It's Monday and you need to go to the office "

Spoilsport I tell you !!!!!

Boundary shot that never reaches the rope - Sachin the movie

An elderly couple ambled in and occupied the seats next to me a few minutes after the screen started flashing images of a young Sachin. The gentleman helpfully explained the context of the movie to the lady. The lady looked at the screen and fished out a large Note and decided that this was more interesting than what was happening on the screen.

I sighed, tried hard to ignore the bluish luminescence next to me and looked at the young cute Sachin giggling over a prank. I looked on with hope. I was expecting the unleashing of a dramatic real life gripping re-enactment of the most loved cricketer India has ever known. Once you see James Erskine’s name you know he has been there done that with his bio pic on Pantani the Tour De France hero who ends up a sad mess at 34. 

Unfortunately it is a huge case of a missed chance. The biopic looking severely under- budgeted serves more to be larger screen version of a news channel’s patchy job to put together a life story of the star on his retirement. The grandeur of storytelling usually associated with national heroes and more importantly the poor understanding of the game and its finer moments which can lend itself to some applause worthy cinematic moments, is sorely missing.

All James had to do was do a seamless watching of the 1984 mini-series Bodyline or the more recent Lagaan to understand how one can keep the attention of the audience mercilessly gripped with superior story telling.

If the film was supposed to serve as an inspiration to youngsters on how to achieve glory with humility riding on professional excellence and focused effort, then it ends up as a very insipid documentation that you sit through only for the man you love and for what he has done for the country.

The story of Sachin as a little boy prankster, his rigorous practices at Shivaji Park, his coach, his ideal family of a loving mother, a litterateur father, a brother who sculpts him in his earlier years, his strength his wife and his loving children all are already part of registered history. What was needed was to tease out the superman and embellish his story with realistic touches to make it more human and accessible to the common man to experience and aspire for greatness.

Instead it turns out to be lazy filmmaking with practically no effort to excavate any unknown stories, search for unseen clips,( sorry family clips easily accessible don’t account for that) and slyly move away from bumps in the story line which are uncomfortable like the fixing of matches, or the tension with other colleagues or Sachin’s own weaknesses which could made him look more human. There is no effort to even go closer to the characters surrounding him. The director seems at ease only when Sachin himself is in the studio talking peacefully, reminiscing with an angelic smile.

There are some cute moments from the family clips like the kids frolicking in bed with Sachin which looks very endearing or his wife silently admiring her husband and looking like the solid support she obviously is in real life. But these are borrowed pieces of artistry naturally .

There was a need for some dramatization, need to move away from a documentary feel of narration and make him larger than life and boldly explore his weaknesses rather than drown his failures with an apologetic loud chorus of “ Sachin Sachin” beating to A R Rahmans appropriate but frenzied drums just in case the audience thought he was being criticized.

One does feel a pang of sorrow when he retires and gives a simple speech from his heart but one has already sobbed on that one so nothing new here. But the lady next to me who had now looked up after 2.5 hours of alternating between her cellphone screen and husbands loud narration was sobbing away and I felt sad for her and for the billion Indian fans. Not for the movie or how it depicts Sachin but for realizing that we will never see our icon batting like that again. Maybe we just need to thank James for reminding us about that.

Move over Hollywood...Here we come!

One is always wary of over hyped products. Either the product is genuinely good and the surprise element is annihilated with the over sell or the makers are anxious with an inferior product created and are trying to generate noise to distract. It is with this trepidation that I approached viewing of BB2.

BB ( the first part ) was a decent experience with some rough edges in special effects but the story telling despite it’s over the top loudness was in a different stratosphere aided by some really good looking cast. BB2 in that sense does not disappoint you and actually surprises you with it’s deft & breathless storytelling and not pulling anything short on special effects. There is none of the overt focus and thrill on having cracked some delectable VFX and chest thumping to answer back to the tag of the Indian Film Industry an underdog in comparison with their smarter counterparts in the west. With this, that discussion can be laid to rest. We can make our Gladiators, Star Wars and Spiderman now and impressively. The Vfx is now only incidental to the storyline.

Fairy tales and mythical stories are always outlandish and that is why they lend themselves so well to visual artistry as the boundaries are only what the creators choose to stop at. Collaborated with intense story telling the end result can be startling. I remember Narnia as a classic and impressive example of that.

The story builds from the beginning of the first instalment tracing back the back story of Bahubali ( Prabhas) whose father also Bahubali ( Prabhas again) is one of the two children of a queen ( Ramya) and essentially battles his brother Bhalla ( Rana Dagubatti) with an evil scheming father. Bahubali with his immense strength , sense of fair justice and good looks is seen as a natural heir to the throne by his mother sidelining the natural protocol of choosing her elder son.

Bahubali is a blindly loyal son and on instructions from his queen mother sets on a journey of learning about his subjects with his loyal commander Katappa ( Sathyaraj) and comes across a beautiful princess who he wishes to marry but cannot because he is in disguise as a commoner.

What happens thereafter forms part of a breathtaking spectacle though at places tiresome storytelling relieved only when the special effects steps in and shakes you up. Note especially a thrilling encounter in a corridor with an army stylishly executed. Be it the encounters with the elephants, charging bulls, flaming livestock , the vfx has been executed with incredible hardwork and seeming perfection. At places you do feel the animation a bit out of place as some of the visuals of the palaces and kingdom, where hard structures are panned against a background of superimposed extensions of building graphics. The difference in shades perhaps look a bit awkward and distract from the otherwise massive scale of the art design.

The cast acts and over acts as is emphasized in all mythologies and stories of the evil and the good in the days of yore when all had to scream , grimace and shout to be heard and influence people around. You can barely take your eyes of Prabhas a brilliant mix of compassion, strength and grace bolstered with good looks. He even over shadows the heroine Anushka Shetty who holds her ground and an equally handsome Rana who seems let down by the story making him look like a very strong confused man.

The movie is overly long and at times feels like a never ending Chandamama story. Made me feel like the director was so much in love with what he had shot that he refused to give in to the editor. But this should not take away from a thoroughly entertaining film that is if you like mythologies and historicals with more than decent special effects. The scale is grandiose, the music very average especially in the Hindi version awkwardly retrofitted. The dubbing too tends to distract but guess they did not have much choice and re-shooting could have been too expensive. BB2 does seem tiresomely repetitive for the first 45 minutes before the director takes control and moves out from the loud palace to the more down to earth surrounding of the commoners.

Rajamouli has without doubt set a new benchmark on size and scale and buffeting it with strong special effects sheen like never before. And whether the question that was whatsApp rage joke for the last one year all one can say it is silly but smart marketing. Your jaws won’t drop for sure.

But the jaws will drop for sure with pride and surprise when cows with flaming horns charge or when Prabhas creates a lasting image as he strides lithe and agile over an elephant. Do watch it with the kids who have never read the Amar Chitra Katha or Chandamama and have been fed on a diet of superman and Spiderman movies. They will be enamoured.

And the birthday continues

Consequential to my birthday wishes write ups a friend probably wanting to sacrifice me at the altar of friendship messaged me to please give a hug to the better three fourths on her behalf and so ... ....

The thunder storms reflected the turmoil within . Tasked by a friend  with an unusual commitment to transfer a hug I had worked for 3 hours to draw up the blue print. How does one do it ?

Wracked my brain for another 2 hours to extract close encounters  of the hug kind almost two decades back and gameplan on how it could be done . More like war games actually .

Hug from the right shoulder to shoulder buddy style and a quick 'your friend gave a hug'.

Or

perhaps more like a religious hug with lots of smiles and kind words praising the lord .

This was tortuous but had to be done.

"Hello listen "The subject stopped in her tracks expecting some berating and readied self defense with a glare.

'Listen . No actually not listen . Here take this '

Arms spread out . But no reciprocation . She actually takes a martial arts defensive stance.

" What are you doing ? "

" Well ', edging more closer to envelop the being .

" WAIT ' a shocked troubled, perturbed and irked voice and irritated face in an unusual combination emerged

" Is this some trick - I am not in a mood for those lousy childlike antics . Even Virohan has give up those "

'Uh' I said , warily backing off

"What then ?"

" You know that Nandita   she wrote that a hug needs to be transferred to you ..so"

" WHAT?" I knew then when a what comes in bold and caps it is over

" Are you nuts?. You should tell her she can hug me when she meets me . Why all this electronic mail transfer "

"Yes I say meekly you are right " and back off actually relieved

"WAIT" again in bold and caps she screams

I stop in my tracks

'Why are you relieved?'

 The startling ringing  tone of a strident phone saves me and I escape .....!!!

FB saves me !

Facebook notification wakes me up. Let Sarita Navindutt Rao know what you are thinking of her !
I mean like has FB gone mad. I am supposed to tell her what I think of her? 'Pagal kutte ne kaata hain kya ?'

Incredibly disturbed that FB was now trying to rake up matrimonial disharmony I reread the notification and heaved a sigh of relief.

It read ' Let Sarita know you are thinking of her'
Clever. Aah ! They had read my mind and removed the 'What'

I went across to her this morning and told her I was thinking of her.  She looked at me like something the cat had brought in.

"What ?" She asked in a dramatic fashion followed by an emphatic Mumbaiyaa " Kuch Bhi "

I said " Look my social life governance manager directed me to say so"

"What ??? . And who is that? "  disbelieving  perhaps that someone actually wanted to manage her husbands social life.

" I mean like the social network site that I visit and obey daily"

" Hmmmm. Is that just what you read? or something else?"

I was now unsure. Was this a trap? Had she sent me a message that I had missed? But she is not on FB so was unsure what she was alluding to.

Her hands on her waist now . Oh oh .. Not a good sign..pursed lips...the situation was getting worse...nostrils flaring..this was real bad now....

" Perhaps you may want to consider getting your social life managed by your son? "

"Why?" I asked meekly

" Because he wished me a happy birthday this morning and that a part of the prelude to the notification was perhaps lost on you??? " She glared hands pressing hard into a poor lemon she was trying to squeeze the juice of. The lemon begged for forgiveness but then I am digressing.

I looked at my son. He looked calmly nonchalantly at his laptop screen pretending to be delving deep into quantum mechanics trying hard to ignore his betrayal of his father. They guy had sucked up serious brownie points by being the lone ranger to wish in the family. He tried hard not to meet my stare lest it lead to a financial grave for his next pocket money dole out.

I turned back to my wife " Look that is a different issue. I was meaning to surprise you "

" Surprise ??? . When?  After the day is over ? " She glared back shocked

" Errr , I was planning to join hands with Brutus err I mean Virohan and actually take you to Komala's for lunch'

" Komala's ...even today"   I knew now I had gone 9 feet deep digging.

" No look forget the lunch, let's go for a walk in the nature park"

" And do what ? Look at you staring into the lovely pixellated eyes of a dragon fly ? ....NO ! "

Ok Sarita .. I get the point....and went back to my laptop

The social governance manager had refreshed.

Today is Sarita's birthday. Hope you have wished her well

Ooooppss......I rushed back

" Happy Birthday Sarita. Have a great day "

The Pat

The PAT

Watched as a mother gently patted her baby on the back to help it burp. The baby duly executed it and then leaned back carefully to smile gratefully. I think these are the first of the touch gestures in a human life which can be interpreted.

Watched as a Principal patted all the children on the back during an award ceremony. In the course of the routine the principal forgot to pat one of the children and after having collected his reward the child stood there unsure if the ritual of appreciation had been fully completed.  The principal quickly recognized the need and extended the gesture which cost him nothing but a physical move and yet he had made one more little being happier for life.

Then that pat on the back of the head. These can groove in two categories. The happy and the Ouch! Remember dad lightly patting you on the head for a probable misdemeanor, the intention being to chide without really being mean. But the more serious pats on the head can draw the ire of the mother who rants loudly about how the brain can get damaged. “Please slap him if you want, not on the head” and you look for the fastest way out of the room not sure if your mom is really your best friend.

There are those guerilla type teachers who rush in on cheating students and execute the pat on the back or a pat on the head to indicate that indiscrete tactics will not go unnoticed.

A soft pat on the head is also welcome as symbolic of critical affection.

I have had celebs who patted me on the back when amused with something I said or wrote and then that stays with you for a longtime. The recognition stamped for posterity with a pat.

I am always wary of the types who launch into hard destabilizing pats to establish their boisterous nature and shout to the world of how popular and comical they are. Usually these pats are accompanied by a loud guffaw.

 Amusingly pats in official settings are used to establish dominance. It is understandable when a senior pats you affectionately on the back for a job well done. Motivates you for the next 3.5 weeks. But then you squirm when unusually a peer out of the blue pats you to establish a dominant position in the relationship. And you wonder if you are going to hear of the elevation soon. It is funny sometimes to see people trying to out pat each other. The guy who gets to pat first gets into Square A.

I vividly remember things not going too well when the President of a western country tried to vociferously pat an equally strong president of a rival nation. The intention was to create bonhomie but with a clear intent to set the ranking straight.

The most insightful pointer on pats came from a psychological study that said that people who patted each other while hugging wanted the hug to end soon and the pat was a hint.

And all these days I thought it meant I like this guy and you did a good job. Need to watch out for that one.

So the final questions is what does one do when one pats oneself on the back or someone tells you to pat yourself on the back. Need to ask them if they meant it in an affectionate way or critically or just a proxy appreciation.

It must really mean work for the brain as it decodes every pat depending

Viewer ka dimag aur critic ka writing :)

I have always disagreed with morals behind movies glorifying evil gangsters who have harmed societies in more ways than one can imagine. The clinical argument is that it is storytelling and that cannot be compartmentalized in a free society. Yes. So we get a version of SRK’s Agneepath. The little myopic boy who gets his dose of life’s philosophy from his mother – no business is small and there is no right way of living or religion bigger than business. Yes right but mother forgot to add that crime, bootlegging, murders do not constitute right conduct of society for a business.

But then that is swept under the carpet and little boy hurt by a society that calls him ‘battery’( a term that is used for belittling bespectacled youngsters) decides to hit back with his brains of a businessman collaboratively with his daring. Rising from a small gangster to a name to reckon with the story vaguely trails the shadows of a real life gangster.

There is no real flesh to the story other than staged action scenes and one liners intended to draw the whistles of the crowd a scene reminiscent of the movies in the 70s and 80s when heroes spouted more dialogues than bullets to fell gangsters. All smashups were accompanied by furious warnings in dialogues cloaked with the foreseeable danger for those challenging.

There is a surprising screen time carefully reserved for Nawazuddin Siddique a police inspector who seems to gun for the anti hero more out of personal spite than the need to do the society good. But he also gets impressive one liners. Actually the one liners are less smart than the spiffiness he delivers it with. We end up wishing he was around more often and with more to do than sip tea.

To be truthful the movie does begin interestingly with narration and direction that reminds you it is of Rahul Dholakia who has a realistic Parzania in his resume. But the script trails off mid way unsure of what it wants to achieve. Its protagonist who appears to be cocksure of himself in the beginning seems to be faltering at the altar of a more powerful mafia dom that seems to get the better of him. So are we supposed to feel sympathetic ? They add in a religious angle to convince the audience that the gangster was almost a social do gooder when he was not gunning people down.

Our heart goes out to Mahira Khan who is thoroughly wasted in the movie and have watched her emote much more effectively in soaps from her country, it appears that both the director and she were more than a tad bit careful of how to portray her. So she cautiously smiles, embraces and dances without full involvement.

And then there is that super talented Zeeshan who is reduced to mouthing dialogues and emoting very ordinarily. He could have been used more effectively.
The most annoying part of the movie are the songs which stick out like sore thumbs all through the screenplay derailing the story and any tightness the director managed to build in leading to a watchable climax.

Topping it all is SRK himself who holds back well in the first half and delivers a bravura performance though certainly not his best. Yet he has never looked this good before unless one counts the Swades look.

The art direction is uniform, detailed and good save for digital phones and duplex board Ship matches which one suspects did not exist in the 80s and early 90s

A healthy budgeted movie laboring under a unsure director, script that seems to have been delivered in mixed up packets, great artistes and music that one could do without , one cannot wait to choke on the climax and exit with a Viewer ka dimag aur critic ka writing

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