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So I have this T-Shirt which I got from Walmart a couple of weeks ago which is white in color and the text in bold, center: “Do I look Like I care?” – makes for a bold, humorous fashion statement, thought I.

Anyhow, Saturday afternoon, in burning 90 degrees, I decided to wear this T, simply because it was so comfy and head to CompUsa to drool on Apples. Though my friend tells me that those days are numbered and warns me that Intel + Apple=Crapple.

Thats besides the point about this post.

As I was walking towards the store, I notice this woman walking towards me with a bunch of carrybags in her hands, obviously heading to her car. As we neared, she laughed out loudly and quipped – “Thats a lovely T-Shirt! I need to get one of those and wear in front of my husband!!!” ; “Its a good T isnt it?” I said. She asked me where I had got the T-Shirt from and remarked that she would rush there immediately lol.

I was amused by her reaction; I could already imagine her saying to her hubby – “Do I look like I care?”.

Anyhow, back home in my condo building, as I was taking the lift to the 10 floor, the two mexican women in the same lift, did the same – stare at my T-Shirt, and then seconds later, one of them burst out laffing and said – “I need to get one of those!! My children need to see me wearing this!!!”“Good heavens” I thought – These WOMEN!. Hmmmmmppph!

Moral of the story:

Women definitely dont need to wear this T-Shirt!

OK, I finished this 270 pager in one single sitting, over a period of 5 hours – Now that is not what I would be doing on most books. However that is not to say that Five Point Someone is a classic. Heck, FPS is not even the best book I have read in my life either. It didn’t move me, nor did it break my heart in the end. Yes, many facets of hostel life and college were missing too, and at times I thought the book spent too much time on three people. Yet, this book rode high on several factors that did it in for me; One- nostalgia. Next – Chetan Bhagat doesn’t try too hard, which is a blessing. Next – the characters are believable and mostly relatable. Next – it doesn’t read like a movie Screenplay!!! (Thank heavens and thank Chetan for small mercies – these days I tell you authors only… hmmph!)

Anyhow coming to the point (did I deviate anyways? Ha!), the point of the book is essentially about three pointless guys, into pointless things, generally pointless about their life, who believe education system is pointless, generally earn less grade point averages than their batch-mates, and who at one point make it a point to enjoy their college life as their primary point in life, and very well manage to do – almost. (OK, here, stop, go back, read the sentence and count the number of times I used the word “point” and exclaim at my profound abilities to use 11 “point” in one sentence).

< < OK, there are 10 “point” words – you didn’t count did you? Admit it admit it – no shame admitting it  – What your point anyways you may ask! >>

Coming to the point (And this time I did deviate!), the three guys happen to be Hari (Who writes the book in first person), Ryan and Alok, almost seeming to arrive from three different strata of life to study under the coveted IIT institute. The book essentially chronicles their lives in the four years of their engineering, complete with everything I could relate too, though I was in electronics engineering, AND not an IIT-ian. The reason why I could relate to Hari and Ryan more than anyone else was because of the way I could relate to me and my room-mate in my engineering; quintessentially I spent a better part of my engineering trying to be someone else, just like Hari does. What happens through 4 years of their life is what the book is all about, and saying anything more would probably take away the fun of reading this book! The book is a nostalgia ride, and at best left to be read.

Though that is not to say the book is not without its share of flaws; Chetan almost breezes through the joy of Hostel life, almost relegating hostel to the background. Hostel life teaches you an awful lot of things in life, and it was a factor sorely missing from the book and three friend’s life, which in turn hampers their character development strongly. Also, given the fact that the book is more about friendships and lasting friendships, it doesn’t really delve deeper into anybody’s life at all. At the end of four years, it comes across as if Hari, Alok and Ryan know about each other just a little more than what they did when they began, which is trifle unrealistic. Also, a pivotal incident about keys leaves you wondering how a character knows for sure that a bunch of car keys also contains keys to an office. . However I could easily ignore the flaws.

Though, perhaps, one of the reasons this book also clicks is Chetan Bhagat doesn’t try too hard – its difficult to explain it, but one gets a feeling that Bhagat opted to keep things in control rather than get away with “creative liberties” LOL. And another reason of course is the nostalgia it definitely builds up making you reminiscence your own college days. The favorite parantha shop, the rooftops of buildings, pink floyd, alcohol – seem to remind of some of your own incidents in your life.

Overall
Everyone loves something they relate to – even with its share of good and bad, I still loved Five Point Someone, and would strongly recommend everyone to read it. Its not the literature classic out there, but its definitely a book to read, cherish and allow yourself some deep nostalgia.

And one other thing why I liked the book – 3 years ago, I started a chronicle of my hostel life, didn’t know why, but just wanted to pen it down. At 70 odd pages, I quit with other burdens of life. Maybe, this book has just inspired me to write down some more pages….

On trip back to the United States, by some misfortune or luck, I managed to buy just one book. That I had to still endure the Maharajah with probably another couple gave me the shudders since this was not very inspiring though. Add to that the book I did got, “The Alchemist” was just around 100-150 pages long, thereby suggesting it would get over even before we crossed the Arabian sees! However things happen for good and luckily the seat next to me sat a good looking girl, about my age and just because you asked it, well, she was a Gujju! So while I was not chatting with her about India and she not telling me about her life, I read the book. In deed, the book lasted the whole flight and it was only near the end I finished the book. Also I need to make a trip to New Jersey soon, if you know what I mean J

Now coming back to the haranguing on the book I am going to review today, first and foremost let me tell you that I prefer books over girls. Now if this had been a such a stupendous book as it claimed to be on covers, I did have been pretty unlucky not to know her J. Fortunately or unfortunately, the book is nothing but an average rendition of one man’s quest for himself.

THE ALCHEMIST

Likes of such books have been written a many. Richard  Bach’s brilliant book  ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’  or the average ‘Illusions’ come to my mind immediately which debated on similar topics albeit different ways. The problem with The Alchemist it tries vainly in the later half of the book to be come something grandiose and just falls flat on itself. So what is it about?

The Alchemist is about a dreamer who decides to follow his dream. The dreamer is a shepherd who is told that he would find a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. With a wishing from the old man, begins his journey to the pyramids. In between he meets a budding alchemist who in turn wants to meet the one (The real Alchemist) in the oasis. At last when he comes in face with The Alchemist, the alchemist then sets out to explain him about the soul of the world and the soul within. Eventually the dreamer actually reaches the pyramids to only discover that the treasure he looked for all his life lied with him back home.

MORAL

The book begins brilliantly with some really thoughtful lines hidden in the story. When author says we are always sure of how others should lead their lives, but never quite ours,  you simply nod and wonder such exquisite lines. However to the book’s loss, they are far less and few, a fact that made both of Richard Bach’s works very famous. Things go downhill when the Soul of the World and such philosophies are introduced with some bizarre things happening within the book. The dreamer’s ultimate realization of the soul of the world, that is the soul of God was his own soul, doesn’t even sound satisfactory. His path to realization that God was probably his perfect self does not come across strongly enough for us to justify with the dreamer’s dream.

FATE & DESTINY

In the beginning of the book, till the later half of book, the author presents a thoughtful discussion on Destiny and Fate. We are all destined to do the work we were supposed to in our life the authors argued, however not many do it because they are simply bound by their insecurities of their fate. This probably came across as the strongest point of the whole philosophical thread of the book.

In my personal opinion, an individual controls his fate. And yet there is always a thing called destiny. Everyone is destined to do their work, and if we are destined to something, our fate too is destined with it. Conversely, my fate binds me to my destiny. It is in my fate to follow the destiny carved for me.  So – do I believe in destiny? Yes! Do I believe in Fate – Yes! The book provides a good debate on this issue, and probably the only reason I ended up giving 3 stars to the book

PROSE

The prose of the book is very simple, straight and to the point. It does not try to be a literary classic in its own right, but manages to be simple. However, its far too simple – to the point that it bores you. Such a book requires the author to hold his reader’s interest throughout, however this is where it fails. One is never really interested so much in this book at any time.

FINALLY

Did I like this book? I thought this book was a pretty average book, and if I really had to recommend a book on similar lines, then I did seriously recommend Richard Bach’s ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull’ which is a far more superior piece of work; and yes, shorter too J

Richard Bach’s rendition of the Seagull looking to break beyond the boundaries to reach his dream to the point where his prodigy learns that to know thyself was to know the one, provides more thoughtful exposition than a dreamer lost in desert.

PI

In the book ‘Life Of Pi’ towards the end when the kid explains his adventures with the tiger, the police men refuse to believe him and laugh him off. When he reiterates the same story with animals, it becomes more convincing to the policemen. I probably felt the same after finishing Seagull and the Dreamer.

Do animals teach us more about life than we can to ourselves?

Yes yes, you heard it right – I am a loser. A really bad loser! Pray, what did you lose u ask – and I say WEIGHT! Ha! and I say WAIST! more HA!

So month ago i was cherry blossoms pondering my life and what had come to pass! A month later, I am in chirpy mood (tra! la! la!) and there are enough reasons to see why life has been wonderful! I have lost weight…. FiNALLYYYYYY!

OK – there is a small milestone to reach, but then, I think I am doing good :). Of course not that it didnt come with its share of problems – weight loss happened at the expense of knee injury, heel injury, tennis elbow injury, less food and other assorted pain in the world 🙁

But then I am now “Fitter”, “Stronger”, “Smarter” and “Happier” hehehehehehehehe!!

So there!

I know noone is interested in numbers, but I lost 2 inches and 22 pounds 😀

Finally, this year I did it. Since the year I had come to this country, I had been hearing a lot about the famous Cherry Blossoms of DC and the Cherry Blossom Festival. I had been planning all those years to visit the mall and see ’em, but never did. And now this year, out of the blue, saturday morning, I decided, girl or no girl, friend or no friend, date or no date, me, the supreme one, had to see Cherry Blossoms without a doubt. Who knows, I might meet the girl of my dreams there, I wondered!

Wondering, putting on nice clothes and all that, and most importantly shaving on a saturday (!!!!!!!), I went along. Being a Metro Vetran, I didnt need cars to go to Smithsonian – all I needed was a simple red and orange line. The experience however was different and unlike any other in the history of Train travel in United States I’ve had. It was like mumbai local – more people jamming in than more coming out; chaos, absurdity and noisy kids ruled! However I was wrong to have thought that entire D.C population was packed in that one single train – wait – they were all around at Smithsonian and Tidal Basin. For a brief moment after coming out into the park, I thought entire world had ensembled for some rare celestial event hapening at D.C << My wicked self hoped Bush would show up somewhere and make a speech, but not to be 🙁 >>

Anyhow, at the Tidal Basin, me alone, warrior amongst an army of families on grounds, lonely amongst all the couples walking hand in hand, single amongst friends who had come over – to see Cherry Blossoms. And when I am alone, and when I am in park alone, and when I am in park alone watching Cherry Blossoms, I did only one thing I always did – think about LIFE!

And so there it was – as I was strolling across the Tidal Basin for good several miles, I lay thinking of my life gone by, my life going to come and my present. In between, as I always do, noticed people and their expressions; Indians there were many, but one thing I began noticing again and again and again of each Indian couple was – “Why the hell were they so grumpy???!!!!!!!!”. It was amazing – scores of Indian couples, none of them were looking happy or seemed to be enjoying the view. None of them seemed enthusiastic enough on such a brilliant day to appreciate the beauty of cherry blossoms. Some of them looked even worse with their kids and their baggages behind. It was as if poppy and mommy were forced to stroll their kids in the park.

Where was the romance, where was the holding of hands between couples?! Where was the smile and nuances shared between couples! Where was the arm in arm strolling in the park happiness – what was wrong with these couples out there – as I was getting miserably angry that if I had a girl I did be romancing with her on such a perfect day, I decided to stop watching such couples alltogether – otherwise I was sure I did end up talking to some people!

Thats probably when it struck me – maybe, I am missing something or someone badly in life!

Walking ahead, yet, I saw a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural ensemble crowd, some with their dogs and cats, walking accross the lake, all on the same day enjoying the Cherry Blossoms. Next week, cherry blossoms would wither away, and people would have to wait one long year to come back to the city to view them again in such splendor. And then it dawned – one year changes a lot of things in a person’s life. People clicking photographs, people making videos – all a part of preserving some memory of a day when they are together. People clicking photographs and videos to remember not the day of Cherry Blossoms, but the memory of being together on that day perhaps. Next year may bring better memories, or worse, but memories of present probably needed to be preserved. And that is what all the people out there were doing.

Except me. Neither I had a camera (which is very unlike of me), nor did I have anyone to share my thoughts with. And YET, this was a very memorable day for my life. As I strolled back towards the moment and began to leave the park I realized, perhaps, I am in my Cherry Blossoms too – That one last speck of youth and freshness, that young blossom for whom the world is new, and someone whose blossoms will fade away, very quickly very soon, maybe when I do get married. I made a memory of my own today – Cherry Blossoms reminded me of who I am right now, and how important it was for me retain that memory; Of me standing alone on the bridge, over looking the lake and monument, surrounded by a thousand people, and wondering, how long will it last.

Maybe next year I will not be alone. Maybe next year I can never think the way I thought about life today. All in all, a very satisfying trip to Cherry Blossoms.

Its funny how one can know a person for more than 6 years and yet have never them; and when the time comes where you might meet them, suddenly you are left unsure about yourself, about everything between you and them, and keep wondering about everything that may happen. Its true, knowing someone and meeting someone can be so different – and especially, when the two belong to two same ethnic background, but raised in completely different cultures 6000 miles apart.

Now I know someone more than 6 long years, even before I came here and became a FOB, and even before I also realized there is another acronym called ABCD. But did ABCD or FOB ever come between the two of us? Oh yeah – lots actually – I am what I am, and she is what she is – so why not take the liberty and laugh at ourselves for that. I don’t even think it is an issue which we dealt with.

India is a land of diversity. Diversity is our biggest strength, and our biggest adversity. We are a land of such disparate cultures and peoples that any attempt to unionize them to a single religion, ideal, bond is not only useless, but in a way taking out our identities. Hence, in general, we Indians love to segregate ourselves from other Indians, even though the differences may be minimal, and at times ridiculous to a passerby. But that minimalist difference is what gives an identity which each group of Indians either carry with pride or disdain, depending on how the thinking is.

Think about it – Get a Punjabi and Gujarathi together – they will talk Hindi or English. Add a Punjabi to the circle, the two Punjabis will talk in Punjabi leaving the poor Gujarthi for fend for himself. Add two more Tamilians, Telegus and you have a completely disparate groups who are not only talking amongst themselves, but make sure that using English or any other language, some if not all ideas are exchanged.

Now what happens when this one group is sent across 6000 miles – obviously the oneness factor of being in the same boat holds, and cultural differences disappear? But we Indians as we are, love to invent them if they disappear – hence, 6000 miles apart – we have two other cultures – the FOBs and the ABCDs – essentially the same roots, but inherently different from one another. Then there are Americanized-ABCDs (whoa? What does that mean anyways), and then there are FOBs and H1FOBS ( Obviously FOBs who came to study in America are superior to those who came on H1 lol ).

I really won’t go into the immigrant life, but suffice to say I think “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri is a great introduction to the immigrant life. I guess she says it all not only from the perspective of an FOB in Ashok and Ashima Ganguly, but an ABCD in Gogol Ganguly as well. Frankly its all the same – the feeling of desolateness, the feeling of incompleteness, which exist on both side of the border; because there is no place like home and home is where the heart lies. Frankly I think its tough being an ABCD, tougher than being an FOB. An ABCD always lives in that line that dwells on the past and the present – parents don’t want let go of their culture and history, a obvious FOB trace (because they were themselves FOB once), and the children who live in a different world, different society – perhaps the origin of ‘confusion’ in American Born Desi’- Comparing to them, perhaps, I as a FOB have a simpler life.

Perhaps ABCDs think of us too in that way – as EFGH – Every F*&**% Gets Here. But they are entitled to their thinking – after all, as a diverse India, we still are culturally poles apart and a thing or two is always going to be different.

Coming to my friend, its interesting that in the 6 years or more, we have never bothered to be bothered by being a ABCD or FOB. I tease her ABCD all the time, and she calls me FOB all the time – and yet, an unmistaken bond of true friendship remains between us. Yes, she is a Bollywood freak, probably knows more than me about Bollywood, and perhaps visited more of India than I have myself all these years. But I guess what binds us is that we were willing to look beyond the obvious differences that exist between us both culturally and ideologically, and perhaps discover another individual behind the curtails of being an ABCD or an FOB. We both are glad (and I can safely speak for her) that we did – that I view her as a close friend, and she does too. Perhaps, ABCD or FOB is just another term that identifies us – its our identity, and we both chose to make fun of it, be merry, and most importantly learn about the changes in life.

As Kevin Arnold says – “Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go”.

A serene, remorseful man looks at his second wife and thinks why couldnt he love her the way she wants him to? The second wife wallows in self hatred for having doublecrossed her loving husband and cannot seem to forgive herself – she wants her husband to be angry at her, shout at her and be furious about her misdeeds. Instead, the husband has taken it all within himself; he wants to love a woman who has been battered emotionally. He wants to be understanding of her, and make her know that he lovves her and not hate her. Its when, his first wife reminds him – Pity is not a substitute for love.

Stunningly told, superbly written, Cuckold, a first person narrative of heir apparent of Mewar, begs your attention and refuses to let go till you finish it. Kiran Nagarkar’s critically aclaimed novel is a translation of his own book in marathi; a sahitya akademi winner, this book justifies not just justifies its acclaim, but manages to converge a part of history that we might have either not realized or not bothered to know. Its a love story, Its a triangular love story, its a story of peace, a story of friendship, a story of war and strategies, and ultimately the story of man and god, and his wish to become god to conquer love.

Its the sixteenth century, when Mewar ruled by Rajputs, and is at the peak of its powers. However the kingdom of mewar has a intricately built relationship with its neighbors – a fundamentalist islmaic rule in Gujurath, and a weaking Sultan Lodi at North. And then of course the looming effect of Babur and his advances into hindustan.Amidst the chaos, the prince, Maharaj Kumar, heir apparent to Chittor sets across to tell his story and his life.

The Princess whom he marries to declares on the first night that she is bethroed to someone else – and that someone else is the blue god. He is her husband, he is lover and she was entirely his; He is the supreme one – Krishna. And she is beloved – Meera. A dejected and rejected Maharaj tries to find peace and love elsewhere, and so begins his journey where he contemplates not just his life, but existance of god himself and the core of human nature.

As much as he tries to find love elswhere, Maharaj Kumar finds himself falling love with his wife; only that his wife loves god himself, and he has to challege god to feel her love. In between, the Maharaj contemplates the nature of war, the necessity of strategy and his own greed to get the crown of his father. And yet, Maharaj Kumar is patient enough to wait for his turn at the crown, inspite of a conspiring Queen karmavati and her son Virkramaditya; And yet Maharaj Kumar is patient enough to wait for his love to come back to him – by not just his wife, but everyone else whom he fell in love with.

Cuckold, as the name suggests the state of mind of maharaj kumar – a cuckold to his wife he loves so much. A cuckold to the society he wants to lead. Where does his love lead to? where does his mannerisms lead to? Why did the Mewar empire collapse to Babur? Cuckold manages to span a gamut of questions in a single book.

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The writing style of the book is good – it has its own share of quirks when it comes to translation, but on the whole it is very well written. The mood of the book shifts from first person narrative to a onlooker back and forth as situation demands; A onlooker when his princes is around – and first person when its him trying to find answers within himself.

What makes cuckold a very strong book is the treatment of history to the tale; yes, one cannot claim this is exactly what happened, but its a interesting point of view to read. We as always knew more and more about Meera Bai, the saint of Mathura and her life, but Cuckold presents a viewpoint from her husband. What did he feel? What did he undergo? Cuckold beautifully manages to capture the inner turmoils and life in and around Maharaj Kumar, Meera’s husband. It is this change that keeps the book bold and attentive.

Like any historical book, the abundance of characters only adds to the complexity and layers of a rich storyline; Multiple subplots, and multiple love stories only add to character study of individuals, but what is definitely the most striking feature of the book is Maharaj Kumar trying to win his love back from God himself. It is this that really sets apart the book, and comes across as a forceful read!

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All in all Cuckold is a brilliantly told piece of history interwined with a love story of his own. The balance is perfect, and so is the content – pick this one immediately! You won’t regret it a bit.

In a age where the destruction caused by natural disasters and man made disasters is difficult to compare (as they both seem to do similar damage), any disaster is given an eyeful before being determined whether it was indeed nature playing on its fury or a man made idea gone awry. I must confess, it was the latest Tsunamis which actually made me think and write this review – peculiarly because I have just completed a book that addresses threat of global warming, eco terrorists et al – [b]State of Fear[/b] written by one of my favorite authors [b]Michael Crichton[/b].

Crichton’s strength has largely always been his impeccable research and his ability to convince a reader about the misguided possibilities of science. State of Fear is no different from his usual trend of novels, though it is much better than his off late efforts which read more like movie scripts. Not that this one doesn’t too, but Crichton manages to infuse enough book into to merit it being called a Book. And of course, the research!

As mentioned, the topic of Crichton’s fancy this time is Global Warming – a term which we have come to know in daily life as earth’s temperature going up, ice melting at caps, weather patterns changing to create havoc on earth. However, Crichton treads the path of controversy this time by not just refuting Global Warming and its implications, but goes on to argue about the danger of eco terrorists trying to take over human sensibilities.

[b]Story[/b]

Unlike Crichton’s normal pattern where a group of scientists always mess up something good, this one begins right within a mess. The Island nation of Vanatu has decided to sue Environmental Protection Agency because Vanatu is sinking due to polar melting. Since United States is the biggest contributor to earth’s pollution, EPA has been targeted with a lawsuit which is to be revealed in a conference. A millionaire philanthropist who is about donate millions to environmental research organization fighting this lawsuit suddenly rebukes his offer and in a booze binge, dies. Somewhere across the world, mysterious dealings involving arms, detonators, scientific equipment and materials of world war 2.

Enter a professor from MIT who doubles as a FBI agent on a goose chase to hunt down the terrorists who have bought the materials. Involving the millionaire’s lawyer and his secretary, the trio begins to hunt down the terrorists and their plans trough their codes – together they traverse across half the world from Iceland to Antartica to Arizona to Tokyo trying to uncover the mammoth plans lay by eco terrorists. In between they also try to link up the mysterious relation between the environmental agency and its lawsuit with the eco terrorists.

[b] Research [/b]

However its not the story per se that holds your attention as in most Crichton’s books – it is the research. While the troika are globe trotting, the professor agent begins to discourse on how the entire global warming science is completely unfounded in its own unpredictability. Crichton cleverly showcases how warming may affect cities, but there is no relevant data to show that it has affected smaller towns. Or that sea levels have not really increased in the last 30 years. Crichton does away with the arguments of glaciers melting and instead offers a view point of glaciers actually rising up, and how the earth is actually getting colder instead of warmer.

What sets apart Crichton’s story telling is the degree of authenticity Crichton presents in terms of scientific references, papers, graphs and so son. At many times, footnotes capture the scientific detail inappropriate for storytelling – add to that a mammoth 15 page bibliography on environmental research. However, the most compelling part of the book really is in its Appendix, where Crichton discusses the issue of Science and Politicized science.

He argues that like eugenics, global warming too has been used by the western nations to deprive other countries from getting industrialized. Eugenics (a study of how whites were superior to other people) formed the basis of Hitler’s argument in cleansing Jews – and surprisingly study of eugenics was a funded research in US University. However after World War II, eugenics lost its hold in all communities, and slowly became something of a dangerous science. Crichton argues that global warming is similar in its approach that, while scientific research is good for the world, politicizing it and using it as a shield towards other countries is not.

Crichton makes a wonderful point about how global warming is misplaced amongst almost half the humanity for what it is – and that misinformation is being used by western nations to force smaller nations to NOT be industrialized. Indeed, the appendix itself is worth every penny of this book for the way it is written.

[b] Overall [/b]

Overall, this definitely must rank as Crichton’s best novels – though this one very much feels like a movie script, the extent is very less, and hence the book comes through. All in all, a good read and must be read by anyone who is a fan of Crichton.

[b] The tsunami connection [/b]

An episode in the book reflects on how eco terrorists plan to create a tsunami by using resonating waves to create an earthquake under water. Convincingly chilling, it just brings out the human tragedy that can happen when a man tries to ape nature. And perhaps [b] nature is best left alone [/i].

Happy reading – and it feels good be back in penning mode!

Ostentatious

That perhaps is one single word which rightly explains ‘The Lord of the Rings – Return Of The King’ (hence referred as ROTK). One of the most anticipated movie trilogies of our times, the Lord of the Rings finally ends its journey this year, in what must be termed as one of the greatest cinematic achievement on the big screen. After the three hour twenty one minute spectacle (201 minutes), when you finally begin to move from the theater you think if there could another grandiose series like this. And yet with all is theatrical enigma of being a cinematic classic on screen, The ROTK is the one word I looked for – Ostentatious.

Ostentatious – Pretentious, Showy, Affected, Brazen, Flamboyant, Grandiose.

 

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Lord of the Rings has always been a flamboyant take off from the original work by J. R. R. Tolkein. Right from the shire to the two towers, the ugly orcs, the castle of Gondor, the elves and their lands; each one of it has been realized to be complete cinematic aesthetics.

For a brief caper – the fellowship of the ring is formed when the Evil ring of Sauron (which can cause destruction of middle earth) has been found by Froddo’s grandpa (Froddo and his friends are Hobbits); Gandalf the wizard bestows the task of returning the evil ring back to the doom mountain where it must be destroyed, and to help him out form the fellowship of 9 people, led by Froddo, his friend Sam, his two friends Merry and Pippin, Gandalf, Aragon (The true heir of Gondor), Boromir (Aragon and Boromir are humans), Elf Legolas, and the Dwarf Gimli. Sauron who is constantly getting stronger in his evil powers does his best to take charge of the fellowship, and manages to break it apart, while 2 people are killed and Gandalf is assumed dead.

In the two towers, Sam and Froddo continue their journey albeit without the fellowship to Mordor the place of Doom Mountain and the one ruled by Sauron. Meanwhile, Gandalf resurfaces with rest of the fellowship to fight a monstrous battle at Helm’s deep in their way towards Gondor. At the same time, Merry and Pippin together with trees fight the evil wizard Saruman and his towers. Meanwhile, Arwen the daughter of Legolas has developed more than interest in Aragon, the warrior. However the two towers introduces to Froddo and Sam and to us as well, Gollum, an ancestral hobbit who was the previous owner of the Ring and still desires it. The cunningly duplicitous Gollum whims and plans to get the Ring back but has the patience to lead Froddo and his friend Sam to Mordor too.

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ROTK begins with the battle of Saruman and Helm’s deep won of course by the good people. Gollum, still plotting and planning is taking the hobbits across, while at Gondor (ruled by a steward), is held by Gandalf to rally the forces for the battle against the army of Sauron, while the rest of the fellowship regroups the army of Rohan (it will take another review to explain this one). While the fellowship fights the war against the orcs, Aragon convinces the undead (soul keeper, you cannot miss this part!), to lead the war. The fellowship then restores the king (Aragon) back to throne and lead a deviation for Froddo and Sam to demolish the ring; how they do it – watch the movie!

[Note – I haven’t even dwelled into the numerous subplots AT ALL!]

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ROTK is grandiose personified. It would simply be an understatement of the year if I did say that the battle scenes look simply spell binding and incredibly done. You will witness without any doubts, one of the best battle scenes in cinema; you will see one of the most articulately done sets in Gondor; and you cannot miss the breath taking beauty of New Zealand in the background all along, nor can you miss the chillingly done Mordor. But most of all you cannot miss Gollum, wily hobbit who is part animation part human – he is simply incredibly done in this movie.

And yet, ROTK is showy. While the battle scenes take up more than 1/3^rd of the movie, they don’t form more than 4 chapters in the book. While the battle is at their cinematic best, somehow the undead souls look straight out of the Mummy. Lots of places swords don’t have blood in spite of the kill, ugly looking orcs who could have been better looking, giants birds, giants, and elephants – there is an aura of something really pompous about the whole series, especially this last one. Maybe Jackson filmed it that way – ROTK ends up being a pompous end to the trilogy.

ROTK is affected too by its own complications and sub plots. There are subplots a many and Jackson very neatly manages to put all of them together and that is appreciable (In fact a big pat to Jackson for his imagination in putting together such a cinematic experience). While Froddo and Sam are nearly absent from half the movie, there is lack of depth in characters other than Sam and Gollum. Of course, having shooting such a movie in this scale has its toll, but I wouldn’t complain much about it. ROTK is more than affected by the battle itself – the ultra long battle sequences just makes the movie even more longer because Jackson couldn’t compromise on others at the expense of the war.

ROTK is let down by some brazen acting. None of the lead characters really show any depth in their acting. Except for Gollum and Sam, none of the characters touch you. Arwen the elf (Liv Tyler who looks absolutely stunning), manages to impress you but the rest of star cast simply pales in comparison, including Gandalf. Aragon fails to impress in the final sequences where he forms the most important part of the movie – nor does the dwarf impress who simply goes around joking. The other cast of sub plots and sub sub plots simply meander away because either they have too little time on screen or they are just a part of the huge enterprise.

Lastly, and sadly, ROTK is a pretentious attempt at the real book. While the battle of Mordor hardly lasts 4 chapters, it’s the integral part of this movie. However the biggest disappointment comes from Saruman (the evil wizard whom the trees defeat in second part), never comes back. It is Saruman who ends the trilogy and its final battle between Gandalf the good and Saruman the evil where Gandalf finds his own nemesis. By twisting this part of the story, Jackson has infuriated many a fans around the world. ROTK then spends a luxurious amount of time winding all the loose ends and ends on a brilliant note.

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Lastly is this movie worth going? Yes it definitely is one of the most epic movies you will see in a long long time. Excuse its length, and you are ready to witness what must be called an absolutely brilliant end to the trilogy in cinematic experience.

How many times do you come across a movie that is so simple in its theme, so predictable in its story that you can almost predict the next dialogue; filled with all the right scenes you did already know would be there; and still absolutely LOVE the movie? That’s the magic of Mani Rathnam and his most talked about movie – Mouna Raagam, meaning Silent Melodies. Yes, you know what is going to happen in the movie from the very first scene, and yet you are interested in every scene of the movie. Simple, beautiful movie on love, I now know fully why this movie is hailed as one of Mani’s ever best.

Mouna Raagam

At the very outset, let me tell you that I don’t understand Tamil one word. I would have never understood the movie if not for the sub-titles! Even given that, I am in love with this movie.

Revathi plays the girl next door who is nearing her graduation. As all normal middle class families, her marriage is of the utmost importance to the family. Being the eldest of three daughters only makes her case worse. On the day the groom is supposed to come, she deliberately decides not to come home and instead wanders all around the town. However to her shock, the groom and his family are still awaiting her even in the night. After a confession to the groom that she is not interested in the marriage, much to her horror, the groom simply says – I like you in a typical groom style and walks away.

After a cliché heart attack to her dad, she agrees to marry. However again, she is not happy. She makes it known to the hero that she is not really interested in the marriage. The loving husband makes all amends to adjust with her, but she doesn’t budge. Once when he suggests ask him for a gift, she demands a divorce. The day he brings her the gift is also the day when she tells him about her previous love and why she is not happy with this marriage. To her, he was the one she was going to marry, however he dies right in front of her. After a sobbing wife tries to walk away, the husband still tries to hand her the gift he got – the divorce papers and pair of payals. The husband meekly asks her to choose between the gift he gave and the gift she wants.

She chooses the divorce papers; however according to Indian Penal Code, a married couple has to stay together for 1 year before a mutual divorce. Mouna Raagam is the story of that one year.

Direction

Mani Rathnam is the best director of Indian Cinema for me (Ram Gopal Verma, Shekar Kapur, Bhansali  and Yash Chopra follow next). Mani’s magic is scene (pun intended) in every scene of the movie! The first casual glance between the hero and the heroine to the smallest of nuances has been captured superbly on screen. Add to it, Mani chooses to stay Indian in the movie. No Swiss locales, but you have Rajasthan. No Queen Victoria’s Mahal anywhere, but instead he chooses to direct a beautiful song on the bank of Taj Mahal.

Music

Music has always been Mani’s strength. This is no different – rather this must be one of the best melodies I have heard in my life. Again, I don’t understand the songs, but I do feel them. Each song except a bubbly song in beginning is a gem by itself. As the name suggests of the movie, every song is silent melody. There are just 5 songs in the movie, and 4 of them are absolutely mind blowing.

Performances

Show me a Mani Rathnam movie where the lead performers don’t act well? If he could make Madhu act in Roja, he may very well make a donkey act like Hrithik Roshan (err..thats not a very big improvement is it?) . Anyways, clearly without saying, this movie belongs to Revathi for her inspired and sincere performance as the troubled wife coming to terms with her husband. Both lead actors perform their roles superbly, and specially the first love who puts in a small but spirited performance. [please excuse…my lack of Tamil knowledge leaves me no idea of who those actors were!]

So Says Supremus

Finally, in the end, to sum it up – well – Don’t Miss this movie. If you are looking for one of Mani’s ever best, then this is the perfect movie for you. Just take care that either you have a vcd/dvd with subtitles, or drag your Madrasi friend to sit with you throughout the movie. By the way for trivia, this is the original movie which since then has inspired countless number of movies on the same theme – from Woh Saath Din to HDDCS – every script resembles the silent melody cast upon us by Mani!

Happy viewing!