Khuda Kay Liye..

If given a choice between Pakistani movies and Pakistani TV shows/serials, one would settle for the small screen any day.

Cinema in India has undergone a sea change and whether one likes it or not, the harsh fact remains that cinema here is entertainment driven. In that respect, KHUDA KAY LIYE is miles apart.

You really don't take to the film at the outset. For, it takes time to come to the point, but once it does, there's no stopping it. However, there's a flip side as well. A theme like the one depicted in the film is not everyone's cup of tea. Although one does identify with the proceedings, the film is more for the thinking viewer, for those who dissect cinema after watching it, it's a film that sparks off debates and discussions.

One cannot turn eyes away from the fact that Khuda Kay Liye is a well-made film that reaffirms a dangerous fact - the world is only getting more and more divided!

The film depicts the dilemma the well-educated, progressive-thinking and liberal Pakistanis face, post 9/11. The West looks at them as potential terrorists, while fundamentalists frown on them.

The educated and modern Muslims are in a difficult situation because of their approach towards life and their western attire. They are criticized and harassed by the fundamentalists and on the other hand, the western world sees them as potential suspects of terrorism just because of their Muslim names.

The film has two stories running concurrently. The elder brother wants to pursue music as a career and leaves for the U.S. The younger brother is so influenced by the fundamentalists that he turns into an altogether different person completely. The younger brother's story of forcibly marrying a woman, the woman wanting to flee from his clutches but can't, takes you back to the Karisma Kapoor starrer Shakti-The Power. The elder brother's story is novel and deftly executed. In fact, the elder brother's story is heart breaking.

Director knows exactly what he's talking about and has handled several portions with dexterity, especially the penultimate 20 minutes in the courtroom. Only thing is, the chaste Urdu spoken by Naseeruddin Shah is difficult to decipher. Naseeruddin Shah, as always, is awesome.

There can't be a better way to portray such sensitive things with so much ease. The sound track will surely make your emotions flow. I still have one doubt: Whether Muslim people willingly choose the way they lead their life or whether they are the victims of the society and the traditions and the culture in Pakistan.

Golfers paradise

The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate

and very strong...

To subdue it is...more difficult

than controlling the wind.

Arjuna's observations to Bhagavan

Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 6, Section 34

Bagger Vance, a caddie who helps World War I hero Rannulph Junah find his “authentic” swing on a Savannah golf course in 1931, is one of a kind. More than a helper with a few words of great golf advice, Bagger Vance is a fictionalized version of Bhagavan, the supreme Hindu god. And Rannulph Junah isn’t just a golfer from Savannah, Georgia. He is a fictionalized version of Arjuna, the mortal whom Bhagavan assists in the Hindu scriptural epic, the Bhagavad-Gita.

The 1931 golf match at the Links at Krewe Island between the fictional Junah and two of golf’s greatest legends, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, never happened, of course. But the backdrop of The Legend of Bagger Vance is very real. A sensational golf match would have provided folks with a much-needed diversion from the daily grind of Depression-wracked America.

It wasn’t long ago that the idea of golf instantly brought to mind the pot-bellied over-fifty crowd with plaid slacks and two-tone shoes. But even before Tiger Woods swept that image away in the real world, the aura of the game was changing in the movies. When Kevin Costner—playing a hard-drinking club pro who has squandered his talent for the game—gave Renee Russo her memorable hands-on golf lesson in Tin Cup, the idea of the golfer as macho male sex symbol had arrived.

Now, in this Robert Redford movie, Matt Damon steps up to the tee to take on Costner’s role of the prematurely over-the-hill golf genius.

If you give this movie a chance and let yourself be drawn into the tranquil and beguiling scenes of a young man struggling to find his courage and keep his balance in the green arena of the course, you’ll forget the deficiencies of plot and acting and all the rest. It has a lyrical sincerity. It catches the way in which golf takes you away from the preoccupations of daily life and transports you to a world where nature seems simultaneously friendly and indifferent to your plight. It’s a good-hearted movie about a game that never lets you forget that how you hit the ball and read the greens and cope with the hazards tells you something true about yourself.

For the millions who play the game, this movie is compulsory. For the millions more who have wondered why apparently sane people go slightly mad when they head for the fairways, it will help to explain what the madness is all about.

Waterfront?

When I watched "Ghulam" about ten years back, I found the script amazingly refreshing, and the performances were superb. Siddhu (Aamir) could really carry the movie on his shoulders (as he quite normally does these days) - those days, he was just coming out of chocolate-y boy image, and hence to carry off such a persona was breathtaking.

However, when I saw "On The Waterfront" a couple of years later, I was shocked, to say the least. The movie was a rip off. I mean, OTW came many many years ago, and was one of the best performances of Marlon Brando (though I like him most in Godfather, for no reasons at all).

I wonder whether Brando make On the Waterfront great? Or was he just great in it? I watched it yesterday yet again, but still couldn't decide.

And Pigeons - is there something in them that I fail to see? Cinematography is just wonderful, and rightly so, the movie grabbed as many as Eight Oscars! A must watch.

Take this for the starters,
"If I spill, my life ain't worth a nickel."
"And how much is your soul worth if you don't?"

"Which side are you with?"

"Me? I am with me!"

Do you believe that God loves you with all his heart?

Do you feel that God loves you with all his heart?

What's the catch?

"Come here, give me a kiss."
"Why?"
"Because I need it!"

Casablanca

..and following Notorious, Casablanca is an obvious choice. I know I have office running in the morning, but can't really let Ingrid down by not watching her best performance ever, with Bogey also doing the tricks..

So here's something to relive the moments..

Ilsa: [laughs ironically] With the whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love.
Rick: Yeah, it's pretty bad timing. Where were you, say, ten years ago?
Ilsa: [trying to be cheerful] Ten years ago? Well, let's see...
[remembers, smiles]
Ilsa: Oh, yes, I was having a brace put on my teeth. Where were you?
Rick: Looking for a job...

Notorious

Wonder why Ingrid didn't get an Oscar for playing Alicia in this awesome 1946 Hitchcock movie..and Cary Grant's brilliant, as always.

My favs:

Alicia: Don't ever leave me.
Devlin: You'll never get rid of me again.
Alicia: Never tried to.

___________________________________

Devlin: A man doesn't tell a woman what to do; she tells herself. You almost had me believing in that little hokey-pokey miracle of yours, that a woman like you could change her spots.
Alicia: Oh, you're rotten.
Devlin: That's why I didn't try to stop you. The answer had to come from you.
Alicia: I see. Some kind of love test.
Devlin: That's right.

Smile..

Every time I read this post, I fall on the floor laughing!

Here's something for you to smile, today - "http://abhinav-gupta.blogspot.com/2006/12/peg-by-peg.html"

Back to normal..

Now that I am back to a streamlined way of living (read going to office, coming back, watching a few movies a day; going to bed on time, waking up early...yes, I said early, going to office again..yaada yaada..), I shall see the facets of corporate life yet again, in a different way.

As of now, it looks interesting; exciting; thought provoking; and above all, asking for lots of hard work. Need to go back to those technical days, when we paid no attention to the profs in class. It does come back!