Lootera Movie Review

The Last Leaf

Also posted on MouthShut.

 

It's been a while there has been a beautiful romantic story in Bollywood/ Tollywood. Lootera, a heart soaking love story set in the 1950s of Bengal. And the pace of the movie really lets you dwell in the romance that by the end of the movie you are left with the memories of the feelings when you, for the first time felt true love ever.  Like many said, the pace is absolutely not the problem with this movie but works to its advantage. This movie is definitely not for the masses. But for all those who have been in love, are in love. For all those who can appreciate art. In fact there are many scenes which you DO NOT want to rush through. You would wish you stayed there for few more minutes.

Pakhi, living with his father Zamindar, is the most pampered, protected child. Sonakshi Sinha has done an amazing job in this role and she would really take home few awards this year. Pakhi's character is a sweet adorable girl which every would be forced to fall in love with her mischievous braveness. Varun & Dev come to their house as archeologists. Pakhi with her charm attracts Varun and they fall in love with each other. But Varun is not allowed to fall in love. Why? Did Varun & Dev come to there to fall in love or with some ulterior motive? 

Soon, Pakhi right on her engagement day is abandoned by Varun. Both her heart and life are shattered to pieces with Varun betraying her. Her father not coping with the events passes away too. She moves to Dalhousie and practices writing, which she always wanted to do. Her being a TB patient, she lives waiting for the day to die. Die like the old tree next to her house. She believes that the day the tree sheds its last leaf is the day she would die too. In any other movie you would have thought silly her. But in this, you would sympathize with her. Not everything in life is in absolutes. There are stories, fables, imaginations, metaphors. Director exposes all these absurdities of life so beautifully with this story.

Suddenly Varun on one fine day comes back to her life. And you would expect an usual drama with heavy dialogs, sobbing, screaming and emotions here. But there are no huge explanations nor interrogations. Each scene shouting out loud that "THAT IS LIFE". These are all eventualities which no one can escape nor can be reasoned. All one can do is to accept and come in terms with it. And each of us carry a weapon that can hurt our own selfs, with us all the time - your heart. A heart that can break you or make you. And so by the end of the movie everyone gets what they deserve from the movie. Characters and the audience.

Director is just mind-blowing with his perfect balance of drama, emotions and music. The background score elevates each scene. I would give 5 out of 5 for this movie.

Tootsie - A Movie Review

What does being a woman mean? Beautiful, docile, soft spoken, and most importantly submissive? And is that a definition by men? If so, will they be interested in this woman? If yes, do these men stop there? Do they really be happy with the woman that you are? The more weepy, needy you are the more they would pretend to be interested in you. And before you know there is already another woman in their life's. And this does not end cause a man who's interest is just skin deep is as weaker as a woman he wants. On the other hand, not many men appreciate a level-headed, strong-willed woman. These are some ghastly traits that a woman should have according to them. But there are gentlemen who really admire a strong woman and find them interesting. And the movie Tootsie just shows that in the most dramatic way possible ;).

"Dorothy: Oh I know what y'all really want is some gross, caricature of a woman to prove some idiotic point that power makes a woman masculine, or masculine women are ugly. Well shame on you for letting a man do that, or any man that does that. That means you, dear. Miss Marshall. Shame on you, you macho shit head"

Tootsie is a movie from Comedy Genre. How did I end up watching this? One of my friends shared this link where the actor in from the movie Tootise, Dustin Huffman tears up talking about making this movie and about every woman who wants to meet and match the expectations of a man.

"Julie: You taught me how to stand up for myself because you always do.
            You taught me to stop hiding and just be myself......because you're always yourself"

Michael Dorsey, has trouble getting a role in acting. Mostly cause of his nature and behavior. He finds it foolish to enact a scene which is beyond logic or reasoning. In a scene where he plays a man on his death bed, when the director asks him to walk across to the center and deliver few dialogs, he flares up asking how can a man who is dying walk across just because the director thinks that is what the audience want.

In this struggle to meet the ends, he decides to dress up like a woman for a female role in a SOAP. His desperate attempt somehow wins the role to his surprise. As he starts acting like a woman on the sets and in his real life, he himself falls in love with Dorothy Michaels, taking care of her looks and dignity. He influences people around him, especially women. They feel empowered by him. Who believes in no phony, to be what you are and to stand for what you are and not let anyone treat you less than what you deserve.
      
"Dorothy: That's very convenient.

Ron: No, wait a minute.
     Look at it from my side. See, if a woman wants me to seduce her...I usually do.
     But then she pretends I promised her something. Then I pretend I did.
    In the end, I'm the one that's exploited.

Dorothy: Bullshit, Ron!
         You know what? I understand you a lot better than you think I do."

He meets Julie, on the sets who he instantly falls in love with. And like any other cliched movie, she falls for the wrong guy Ron, the director of the show. Ron treats Julie like a doormat, and he cheats on her, hitting on every other woman. And has a convenient explanation of why he does so. And there goes a love triangle, but would Julie ever get to know who Dorothy is? And that the man behind Dorothy is really in love with her?

If its a movie made in 20's, I sure would not have appreciated it. But I can understand the applause or awards this movie/ actors got. Dustin Huffman/ Dorothy Michaels is really an interesting woman ;-)

"Michael: I'm not mentally ill, but proud...and lucky to be the woman, that was the best part of my manhood."

Life Of Pi - Movie Review

Which story do you prefer?

Also posted on MouthShut.

I picked this novel few years back, more for my book collection rather with intentions of reading it actually.This book fell in the list of "some other day". Till date I have not read the book. I heard all the reviews talking about religion and philosophy and in my life then I had least interest in these.

Last year when this movie was released, I did wanted to watch it. Just because I love movies made from books. But surprisingly I read bad reviews about this film and eventually this fell of my list of movies to watch.This year it got back on my list, simply cause I have been reading a lot about the director Ang Lee which are floating around the social networks and I decided to see his work.

I really loved the movie( I would have loved the book even more if I had gotten myself to read it).

A story of survival, religion, imagination, beliefs and most importantly how much a human wants to stay connected to something, anything a living or non-living. If you were to compare the movie with "Cast Away" I would say they two are unique in their own ways. I loved the ordeals of surviving a ship wreck, and stranded alone in the Cast Away movie more than Life of Pi. In both the movies protagonists connect with something they think is their own reflection. Something that keeps them alive. In Cast Away its a football and in Life of Pi, its a Bengal Tiger. They have conversations with these, they bond with these. Thinking of which, how much a human needs to be connected? How much a conversation with the other keeps you sane? I myself at times( ah who am I kidding
with, most of the times), talk with my pet or with myself when am alone. These very "HUMAN" aspects are brilliantly portrayed in this movie.

"***Words are all I have left to hang onto. Everything's all mixed up, fragmented, can't tell daydreams, night dreams from reality anymore***."


And does a human stop there. They form a relationship. They show their emotions, tantrums, just to feel alive. And then goes way beyond to expectations. At the end of their journey when the protagonist and tiger survive and reach an island, he cries out loud not cause he is alive, but cause the tiger left him without saying a goodbye. The entire movie runs on this theme of "never getting a chance to goodbye". This scene is the best of all.

"***I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.***"

The ending is what makes the movie stand apart. Pi narrates two stories of what actually happened. One is what we see in the movie and the other is a more realistic story that everybody especially people who are way too logical can believe in. This puts both the stories in question as to which is true. Director/ author did not leave the choice to us to decide which story is true. Rather the question is which story do you prefer to believe in? Both are stories of survival, and at the end Pi survives, after losing his entire family and past in a ship wreckage.

"***Without Richard Parker, I would have died by now. My fear of him keeps me alert. Tending to his needs gives my life purpose.***"


At the end our belief system, religion are all stories. Stories that came out of imagination or mostly from real-life experiences. How you narrate it to yourself or others, is what makes the story or the experience interesting, the trauma(if any) bearable and most importantly having all of this memorable. I need to dig my collection to read the book now!



My Ratings: 4 Star

The Little People

I love movies. Movie - a story told, a thought conveyed,  in the most imaginative and beautiful form. I really appreciate the detail, the effort, the team work, and man power that goes into movie making. And top of that the investment made in it. An art of collective minds - direction, script, music etc.

Why do people just cant simply enjoy a movie? Why don't they just see it as a source of entertainment? I have seen movies that bore you to death to movies that keep my interest no matter how many times I watch them. Some times I wonder how could they make such master pieces. Sometimes when I watch a boring movie I just see it as a poor art.

But banning a movie cause of religion? People are ok if a female is shown half naked dancing to an item number among hundred men, in a country that respects the women most. People are ok with movies made on cheating, adultery, theft and so on., calling them sizzlers, thrillers. People are ok with movies that pollute our morals, values, traditions but they have a problem with a movie made on terrorism! Such hypocrites.

Kamal Hasan is a great artist and a good human being. He is a risk-taking versatile actor. He is wise, reads a lot of books and he has a sense of humor. I watched one of his interviews with IIM Mumbai an year ago and he sure is a legend. I was not a great fan of his before, but now I am. Just because I do not want those cheap buggers to corner Kamal and make him the one - the victim. They should be in the minority not people like Kamal. Do they even know that half of his name "Hassan" is a muslim prophet name and that Kamal's father took this name from one of his friend out of sheer friendship?

He should be commended for taking a risk to make this movie Vishwaroopam on terrorism which really is needed to let at least the young crowd know ( I guess the most easy way to reach young generation is through movies). They SHOULD know the darker sides. They should know to respect and love ones country. I am not a great patriot nor am a fan of collectivism. But for good things, the more the better.

The Secret Life Of Words - Movie Review

Another master piece of Tim Robbins after The Shawshank Redemption. But whole credit goes to Sarah Polley for her brilliant performance. Movie is set in the middle of the sea, an oil rig, which perfectly captures the mood of the film. And the background sound tracks just add to the movie experience.

Direction is so powerful that even simple narrations by the actors, simplest of the dialogs talk so loud. Mean so much than what they are actually saying. Story of two people dealing with their terrible pasts. When the movie starts we see Sarah as a loner, stiff person who is so anti-social. Who has never taken one day leave or a sick leave from work for the last 4 years. Who eats rice, chicken and apples everyday, doing the same routine everyday. Even when she is asked to take a vacation, she spends the month helping burns victim in an oil rig. That is when we meet Tim Robbins, who is heart broken for loving best friend's wife, losing both love and friendship.

We tend to sympathize with him, till we know Sarah's story. A war victim. Two most captivating and moving scenes in the movie are when Josef(Tim Robins) talks about his fear of water and the way his father threw him into the sea, and when Hanna( Sarah Polley) shares her miseries. Josef realizes that his sorrows are nothing when compared to hers. Isn't everything in life relative? We may think we are drowned with problems, worries and issues. But compared to what?

Josef: How does one live with what has happened?
         The consequences.
          How does one live with the dead?

Hanna:  l don't know. You'll have to go on, l suppose.
            Everyone keeps on living for the future, some how.
            Or not.
            There are those who don't make it through.



My best character in the movie though is Martin. He is a Oceanographer, who measures the number of waves that hit the oil rig, the strength of the sea and water temperature. Though his job is just this, he collects mussels, and is interested in sea life. He is the only positive character who adds meaning to the movie. Who says Life is worth living and worth hoping for even if you have to be a loner. And even if no one notices you. Just keep going. Just keep thinking something can be done.

Hanna: They're shutting down, anyway.
Martin: Not if l can help it.
Hanna: What will you do?
Martin: This could be used for lots of things.
            Use the drilling motors to purge the water.
             lt's possible to cleanse the water.
Hanna:  What will happen if nobody takes any notice of you?
Martin: Well, l'll keep on measuring waves.
            Collecting mussels.
            And l'll keep thinking that something can be done.
Hanna:  l envy you, Martin.
            Really, l ... l didn't know
            there were still people like you about.

Drafts

I wanted to make an entry on this blog on March 11th the day I officially committed to share my life with Vinod, but thought otherwise as I had so much to write and did not know how to say all that. And two more entries for the movie "A Separation" and the book " Before I go To Sleep". Like always say, someday!

I Cannot Die Washing Up A Tea Cup

I do not call myself a feminist, but I try to watch every movie that is made on women. Watched this movie "The Iron Lady", one cause its a movie based on a woman and two cause one of my favorite actress Meryl Streep got an Oscar for the Best Actress. I did not so much like Margaret Thatcher as such. Whatever she is or she was I did not like the way she declared war against Argentina. May be I did not read it right from the movie, blame the director!

What caught was this one line - "I cannot die washing up a tea cup", when Denis proposes her. She says, "I will never be one of those women Denis - who stays silent and pretty on the arm of her husband. Or remote and alone in the kitchen doing the washing up for that matter. One's life must matter. Beyond all the cleaning, cooking and the children, one's life must matter more than that.".

I want to be more than a daughter, a wife, or a mother. Will I be? Have I already past the age where I could be more than all of these? Have I missed that chance already? Would my life matter? I seriously seriously want to write a book someday. One thing I want to do before I die. I want to be something, someone - important. Not just to my family and friends but to the world. Hope me being ambitious does not affect my life in a bad way. Likewise, hope my ambitions do not die off in the mist of family responsibilities. 

I cannot blame this major change in my life  - marriage; for being  skeptical about my dreams. Cause apart from getting a comfortable life and a successful career I have not done anything great or exciting so far in my single life either. Why? Fear of what lies at the end of the road? Fear of moving out of comfort zone? 

Lately, am taking good enough risks. House. Marriage. I learnt dance just cause I love dancing but never thought of performing on stage and coming Monday am performing for the third time in my life ( yeah if you consider those school day dance shows :-P ). May be someday I will have enough courage to publish my own book. Someday!

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

Movie based on the novel that goes by the same name, author - Jonathan Safran Foer. I never read any of his books. This movie got 6.4 rating on IMDB. But I gave it a 7. Read few reviews online before watching the movie. Most of them were negative saying that movie is a cheap trick cashing on 9/11 aftermath. What caught me are the words "in search of a lock for a mysterious key" in the movie synopsis. May be I am a sentimental fool that I like this movie.

It indeed gets sleazy at times. But that is the way I look at emotions. They make you so vulnerable. You are not what you are when these emotions shadow you. Anyways, this is not a movie review, is it? I like the boy and his childhood for believing in things. For his never relenting search. For his love. For his fallacies of not being able to pick up his Dad's last call, and hiding his Dad's last messages from his mother. 

I love the way he uses few metaphors. For example, correlating his denial of not being able to let go his Dad, he says - "If the sun were to explode, you wouldn’t even know about it for 8 minutes. Because that’s how long it takes for light to travel to us. For 8 minutes, the world would still be bright, and it would still feel warm. It was a year since my dad died and I could feel my eight minutes with him were running out".

I think I would have loved the book more than movie. But I watched the movie before reading the book. I gotta order this book.

Life is harsh, mean, and so unfair. Yet, living it is worth. Life is an oxymoron in itself. Yet life must go on! It's been a long long time I have been so philosophical.

The Grownup

It’s times like these, when you don’t know what to believe, that it becomes frustrating. Those times when you can’t tell whose voice you’re hearing. One is the grownup, the mature one. The one who always rationalizes everything. The realistic one who doesn’t care but about themselves, about not getting hurt while hurting others in the process.

The other one would be the child who cares about everyone. The child that is always laughing and giggling. It’s always happy with what it has and is a joy to have in life. Everyone loves that child but they don’t know it. The grownup hides the child away from you, so you don’t act like that child. The grownup wants you to mature, to be realistic, not to take risks so you won’t hurt yourself. But you can’t really enjoy your life without that child.

The child is the only one who knows what you’re really feeling, the only one who can tell you. But it’s hidden away, kept under lock and key. Its voice, drowned out by the grownup trying to sound like it, disappears. The grownup is doing an excellent job feeding you lies for which you do fall and keeping you miserable while convincing you, that you’re just fine, that you are content with your life.

The grownup being your brain and the child your heart

Books, Movies and Life

1Q84

 If I like a book or a movie I want to tell this to the world, I want everyone to feel the same that I felt; awed. But like always, stuff that I like the most is where I fall short of words. I could never get to write a review for the best movies or books that I love. Somehow putting it in words what I felt was a dishonor, as if my words would not do the justice to the author, actor or director. And I also realized that trying to tell someone that so and so book or movie is good has no point. If they are good they speak for themselves.

Violets Of March

I wanted to write about this TV show since a long long time...Grey's Anatomy. Yes I am an engineer but I love this medical drama. Since I have been watching this show I at times regret for being and engineer and not a doctor who can save lives. Who is the GOD on earth. I think work on life is the most beautiful thing on work. Well, I  comfort myself thinking that I somehow indirectly am saving life's :-P.

Anyways, the creator of this sitcom, Shonda Rhimes, has done a great job. And the writers are just awesome. So many different lives of these characters and how they are interwoven with their profession...its just awesome. And to add to it they do know how music does magic. They have chosen beautiful songs to go with the scenes. Christina Yang has been my favorite character. And for Season 6 it was Calley Torres. And at times I like Meredeth Grey. And though Derek and Mark are supposed to be the attractions of the show on men's side, I think Owen Hunt is super hot. The show is running its Season 8 and I have never felt bored. I watched all the episodes of all seasons more than twice. What would I do when the show ends someday?
 

Before I Go To Sleep

The Year Of Fog

Wow! I guess I exceeded my expenditures this month already. Spent 2.5k and ordered these books yesterday through FlipKart. And they are here now on my table already :-).

- The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
- Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson
- 1Q84: Books 1, 2 and 3 by Haruki Murakami
- The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

There should be a job which pays you for reading so many books. Boy! I would be a millionaire :-P

Best of current season 8 of Grey's Anatomy -

1. If/ Then Season 8, Episode 13

2. All You Need Is Love Season 8, Episode 14

Oats Upma

Recipe from - http://www.vegetarianrecipes.net/oats-upma/

Mutter Paneer Masala Recipe

Ingredients

Mutter Paneer Masala

1. 2 cups of fresh green peas
2. 1 Cup Paneer 
3. 2 large sized tomatoes 
4. 1 tbl spoon of ginger garlic paste
5. 1 tbl spoon of cashew paste
6. 1 large sized onion
7. 4 green chillies
8. 4 tbl spoon of chilli powder
9. 1 tbl spoon of garam masala
10. salt to taste
11. 1/4 tbl spoon of turmeric powder
12. 1/2 cup of curds
13. oil as needed 
14. Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation

1. Heat oil and fry paneer till they turn golden yellow color.

2. Make tomatoe puree by grinding them in a mixer.

3. Soak cashews in water for 15-20 mins and grind them to paste.

4. Chop onions and green chillies.

5. Heat the oil and fry green chillies and onions. Add turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste and fry for few mins.

6. Add tomatoe puree, curds, cashew paste, garam masala, chilli powder and salt.

7. Add peas and paneer to this and let it saute till the peas are cooked.

8. Add coriander and serve hot.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

How much I hate it when things do not turn the way I expected them to? Seriously I need to take few things lite in my life. Reason for starting a blog post that is titled with one of my favorite cakes, on a negative note...my trail of baking this cake at home did not turn out well. It came out ok, after so many trails and experiments with Micro Wave.

I tried baking using MW twice before. It either became too hard like a biscuit or it was not cooked inside. I googled and then found that baking with MW is not easy and many women had posted same problem. But someday I am going to nail this. I am still trying to analyze what went wrong. Was baking powder less? I added more butter? Or is the MW to be blamed? I will blame the MW cause I could bake excellent cake( of course last time sugar was less) without MW, using Mom's oven and it came out well. Soft, fluffy and tasty( I like it with less sugar).

Anyways am posting this recipe as there is absolutely no problem with the recipe though. It's almost same as the recipe that  I posted for Banana Cake. Here's the recipe.

For the topping

1. Tinned pineapple slices
2. 1/4 cup of sugar ( I used white sugar, but brown sugar is recommended)
3. Butter (as needed, I used 6 tbl spoons of butter )

For the Cake Batter

1. All purpose flour ( maida) - 2 cups
2. 3 eggs
3. 3/4 cup of sugar ( You can make it 1 cup or 1.25 if you like the cake to be too sweet)
4. 3/4 cup of butter
5. 1 tbl spoon of baking soda

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

6. 1 tbl spoon of baking powder
7. 1 tbl spoon of lemon juice
8. 2-3 tbl spoon of milk

Preperation

1. Mix all the ingredients for the batter in  a mixer. You could add essence or color to this if you wish.
2. For the topping mix butter and sugar and heat it on medium flame till it starts bubbling.
3. Grease the baking bowl( for MW you NEED to use baking bowls eg. Borosil) and pour the sugar syrup.
4. Place the pineapple slices.
5. Pour the batter into the bowl.
6. I used Auto Cook Menu A-12( Onida Convection MW ). Or you could bake it using Bake/ Keep Warm settings at 150 C for 30-40 mins. You can stop the MW anytime and see if the cake is baked.
7. Turn the baked cake upside down, add cherrys as shown in the image.

The Art Of Narrating

Have I not mentioned already on this blog, that my dream is to write a book? May be not. I am a true Sagittarius...secretive :D. Anyways, I have been reading so many books since my 5th grade??? Yet I did not concentrate on the narrating style of any of the authors I read. I was impressed by their choice of words or the way they could make the reader identify themselves with one of the characters. Narration is an art in itself.

I could write pages about myself or about someone or something. But I don't think I can narrate a story. I don't think I can write how a conversation between two people would be. This needs thinking like two different people. All am good at is thinking like a person...to be more honest, thinking like me or someone like me. That makes me a bad author I guess.

Case 1 - Narrating as I: In first person

Well I might be good at this. But then again, the character will have close resemblance to me. I am so self-centered and self-absorbed which is the worst quality of a writer I believe. I should start writing short fictional stories. Seriously. May be a good idea is to pick someone from the life around me, observe that person, think like that person and talk like that person. Do writers really do all this? Would not they loose their own identity over a period of time if they start thinking like others? Anyway, this must be the easiest form of narration if the character does not divulge too much from your own character?!!

Case 2 - Narrating as Her/ Him: In Second person

As long as you can understand someone, this should be easy. I really should try. Try telling a story as the other person does. From her/ his view.

Case 3 - Narrating as Multiple characters: Other form of case 1, but as different characters

This is the most difficult. To be in different minds. I like Jodi Picoult's novels in this regard. Her novels are split into chapters, each chapter narrated by different characters in the book. And its amazing how she describes those characters and their worlds. Each having tangential views. How does she do that?

Case 4 - Narrating as non-human beings...say dogs:

Well I read few novels where the narrators are non-humans. For eg., a dog. This is way too fictional and is far from reality. And I must suck at it. I have trouble accepting other human beings, forget about accepting a non-human and try to talk like it.

So well, there is my Problem Definition :D. Project Narration. Starting tomorrow, I should make efforts to talk, think and write like someone else. Let me see who that first character is going to be!

Stuffed Aloo-Methi Paratha

Ingredients:

Aloo-Methi Stuffing

For Parathas
Wheat flour
Oil
 
For the stuffing
Boiled potatoes                             - 3
Fenugreek (Methi) leaves                - 1 set
Green Chillies, finely chopped           - 2
Chopped Onion                              - 1
Chilly powder                                - 1/4  teaspoon
Coriander leaves , finely choppes     - 1/2 set
Turmeric powder                           - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Preparation
1. Prepare the paratha dough and keep it aside for 20-30 mins.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Add green chillies and onion. Add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder to this and let it fry for 5 mins.
3. Add methi leaves chilli powder and let ti saute for 2 mins.
4. Mash the boiled potatoes, add the above mixture to this. You can add garama masala powder ( 1/2 teaspoon) if you wish. Add coriander leaves and salt per your taste.

Stuffed Aloo-Methi Paratha

5. Make lemon sized balls with the dough.
6. Roll these balls to a small sized chapathi. Make sure that the edges are thinner than the center. Place a small ball of the stuffing in the center. Bring the edges to the center to cover the stuffing.
7. Roll this to make a paratha.
8. Heat a pan and fry the paratha with oil at medium heat.

TRUST - A Movie Review

Trust, movie by David Schwimmer. Yes all time top ten  TV Series FRIENDS actor, fondly known as Ross Geller. He is the director of this film and he has done a great job. I knew he is talented actor and he proved it as a director as well.

This movie is recommended for many teenagers who are so caught up with Internet chatting. I would say this movie is not only for a teenager but every girl who has been tricked and fooled. Whose trust has been abused. For every girl who trusts, believes in people thinking that the world is a better place. Who has been emotionally and/ or physically abused.

Annie is 14 yrs old. She is not a stupid foolish girl. She is smart, confident and courageous. She is good at what she does. It is shown many a times in the movie that she loves volleyball and that she is a star player, who is treated dependable by her coach. Yet like any other girl, she  has to face the crude reality of life. She is assaulted and exploited sexually by a stranger on the Internet.  For only sin that she committed. Yes sin of trusting. A guy she meets online in a chat room tricks her with manipulative talk and involves her in sex. She is raped. Yes even though it happens with her consent it is treated as a rape when Annie herself realizes that he used her to have sex with her.

This film talks about trust. Inevitability of not being able to protect your loved ones. The agony that parents go through when they have failed in keeping their children safe and protected. The angst, rage that a Father goes through against the one who has hurt his little  girl. About how to deal with the child who is hurt.  And most importantly about how to stop whining over what is not in our control and how to be there to pick our loved ones when they fall.

It takes a while for Annie to realize that she has been tricked. Eventually she accepts it and tries to cope with life, though she knows that her life has changed for ever and it is never going to be the same again. Facing her friends her college, her family members who are sympathetic to her which only makes it hard for her to forget what has happened to her.

My favorite scene is towards the end when Annie's father played by Clive Owen, break down saying that he has failed in protecting his child. He is constantly obsessed with finding the  accused, tracing him. He imagines/ dreams of killing him. He even starts chatting on chat rooms as a young girl to trace this guy. Film captures all these emotions so beautifully. Clive Owen has done justice to his role as a protective father. Great performance by Liana Liberato( Annie ) and him.

This film does not offer justice to the damaged life's/ family. This does not give the vengeance that is deserved by the victims. It actually ends with a scene where in the pedophile is shown as a happily married, having and kid, yeah being a father himself. That's life. That is merciless world.

Pros: Direction by David Schwimmer, Performances by Clive Owen and Liana Liberato.
Cons: None I could think of

Learning

Hiragana

 

I was fascinated by french sometime back. Today, it is Japanese. I have a colleague at work ( Business Analyst - Shin Ohkura ), who is Japanese. I am very impressed by his working style. That added to the Anime( Japanese) movies that am watching lately got me interested in Japanese Culture. I have ordered few classic Japanese novels ( translated to English) which are yet to arrive.

Learning the language itself stems from watching this movie - "5 Centimeters Per Second". Such a brilliant movie. So poetical. So real. Reading English subtitles I wanted to know what those mean in Japanese. In the native language. So I started learning Japanese. I wanted to pursue this as a serious avocation. I tried to contact few schools in Bangalore. But to no avail.

So I started learning it online. I have finished learning Hiragana, Katakana Alphabet. I easily can write a spoken word in Japanese using these Alphabet. I can also read a word that is written with this alphabet. Yet to learn Kanji which seems difficult at this moment. I felt the same looking at Hiragana 2 days back.

Katakana

 

Learning is something I enjoy very much. I love to learn new things. Just that it has to catch my interest. Not sure if this exercise of learning Japanese is also going to go down the hill like French. Hope not.

I was searching for desktop or online tools to practice more of what I learnt. Then I landed on this site LiveMocha.com. They link you with another person who knows the language that you are learning so that you both can converse and know the culture/ language.

So while I was browsing this website I see a pop up. A chat window from a total stranger on this site. It seems he is an Indian living in UAE and who is seeking friends. Friends on a language learning website? I am amazed at how guys try calculate your age by asking indirect questions :-P. Like, when did you complete your studies. Their rough estimate of graduation is 21 years. So if you say 2008 today, then you are 24 now. This guy asks me since when I am in Bangalore. And he was surprised or rather disappointed to know that am in Bangalore since 5 yrs. Not sure what his calculations told him. But his immediate next question was if I am married. I enjoy bashing these strangers online when they ask me such questions. How desperate men are! But well, I had registered with my original name and I was afraid to bash him ruthlessly. So I politely denied his so-called friendship request and escaped from this site.

But whole of this exercise of trying to learn something new, taking tests, writing down the alphabet which is the first thing I do as soon as I wake up in the morning, a guy hitting on you...makes me feel like a student all over again. I must admit it makes me feel young. Not young in terms of age, but young in terms of lightening up my heavy heart :-(. I love learning. Cause I am good at it. And when I evaluate myself at the end of each learning I feel good. The sense of accomplishment feels great. No wonder I loved being a student. No wonder why I was so happy in my college days.

My Recipe for Banana Cake

My whimsies continue...

I used to hate bananas. Until recently. Reason, my late night meetings which used to end at 12:30 in the midnight or 1 in the morning. After my meetings I used to feel damn hungry. Banana was the only food available at that time for me. So I thought of Banana cake. This has been my favorite since a long time. Since my Oracle days. The best banana cake I have ever eaten is from ICRISAT, Hyderabad.

Though I planned to cook Banana cake over the weekend, I could not wait till the weekend. Well, Friday evening, it IS a weekend. So here's my recipe for Banana cake.


Ingredients:

1. 2 Cups of All-purpose flour ( Maida)
2. 3/4 or 1 Cup of Sugar ( I don't like it if it is too sweet. Otherwise you can use 1 cup of Sugar )
3. 3/4 cup of Butter/ Ghee
4. 2 Egss
5. 2 ripe Bananas
6. 2 tbsp milk
7. 2 tbsp lemon juice
8.1 tbsp Baking Powder
9. 1 tbsp Baking Soda
10. Cinnamon or Ilaichi Powder for taste

Preparation:

 Mix ghee/ butter with Sugar. Add eggs to this and mix thoroughly. You can use a mixer for this purpose. Add milk, lemon juice to this. Add mashed bananas. Add baking powder, baking soda, and flour and stir well.

Once the mix is ready, apply butter to the pan and spread this mix in the pan evenly. Bake this using oven. It takes 45 mins for the cake to bake. So simple isn't it?

Life Full Of Nothing

"The Secret In Their Eyes" is a Spanish movie and how did I end up watching this with subtitles? Well, I do not know how I land on these remarkable movies. Kudos to all the time that is spent on the internet. This movie is so poetic, touching, thought provoking, I only could imagine what emotions  movie could have stirred up, if I had known Spanish language. May be that is why they say language is not a barrier for a perfect art. Performances are brilliant that many a times I did not have to read the subtitles. I could read their eyes and know what they are trying to say!

Basic theme of this movie is passion. Everyone has a passion, that makes them live their life to the full, to the end. Passion is what keeps each of us going on. And this movie is a direct   question in the face, to those who lead their life's without any passion, as invalids. How do people live empty life's?

"A guy can change anything. His face, his home, his family, his girlfriend, his religion,his God. But there's one thing he can't change. He can't change his passion"

Movie starts with Benjamin Esposito, retired from Criminal Court, working on his novel. His novel is a fiction based on his own life, and one murder case that he solved during his tenure, but to which he could not provide justice. Reason? Office politics. And this constantly troubles him all his life. For the purpose of his novel, he revisits the case and tries to trace the murderer and the husband of the deceased. He believes that doing so, will make him be at peace with himself.  Movies goes back and forth in time, with flashbacks of his job at the Court, working with his friend Pablo Sandoval and lady boss Irene.

"How do you live a life full of nothing?"

Irene and Benjamin share the strange relationship of unspoken fondness for each other. In-spite of their mutual likeness, their relationship ends when Irene gets married to a man from her class/ status. He does not express his feelings for her openly, knowing that he can never match her social status. But in the novel he does.

Pablo the alter-ego of Benjamin, an alcoholic, plays a crucial part with the twists in the story. He adds the humor to the movie. This is an important character in the movie and you would know why only after watching the movie.

"If you keep going over the past, you're going to end up with a thousand pasts and no future."

Ricardo Morales, is the widower. He actively follows up on the case, to see that the murderer is punished. His love for his wife is true love. He visit train station everyday hoping that someday he would face the murderer. His pain and suffering is depicted poignantly. He says to Benjamin that killing the murderer is not the punishment, but having him live his entire life in a confined cell, with no hope than to wait for his death, living an empty life, is the best punishment that he deserves. But when the case is closed, he disappears from the city as if he had come to terms with the injustice.

Can Benjamin, after 25 years, find peace? Will his relationship with Irene ever blossom, in his novel and in his life? Are all the sacrifices done by him and people around him worthy of life? Does Ricardo get justice? Or the justice is already done? What is the passion that drives each of these four important characters of the story?

It's a classic movie based on love, crime, life. The ending of the movie plays a lot on your mind, and you just keep staring at the screen, contemplating everything that has been narrated so far and all you can do is nothing but marvel at it. It is true that all through the movie you feel disgust towards the murderer for brutal rape and murder of an innocent girl. But by the ending I bet if you do not feel sorry or pity for the murderer in the story.

It is a must watch.

The Hours of Our Lifes

What is Life made of? Meaningless routines? Regrets? Happiness? Quietness? Peace? Movie "The Hours" is based on life's of three women of three different generations. All they have in common is despair. Hopelessness. Desperate need to find a meaning to their life's and hence happiness. Novel "Mrs Dalloway" connects all these three women. One woman an author,  one woman who reads this novel and reflects on her own way of living, one woman who is actually living the novel.

Virginia Wolf is the author of the book "Mrs Dalloway" who is suffering from depression, hallucinations. She has failed twice with her suicide attempts. She is advised by doctors to stay in a serene, quite place Richmond away from London. Which to her is death. She prefers violent jolt of city life to eerie suburbs. She has a loving husband who is constantly threatened by her suicidal tendency. To her sister Nessa, Virginia's life seems perfect and thinks Virginia is very fortunate to live two life's. One that Virginia is leading and the book that she is writing. Virginia believes that there is certainty in death. Death is the only possible escape for her. This reflects so much in her novel where she is trying to kill one of the characters. When her husband questions why someone has to die, she says "Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast"

"You cannot find peace by avoiding life, Leonard."

Laura Brown is a pregnant housewife with a doting husband and a kid. She thinks she has lost her own life in being a wife, a mother. She is very unfulfilled and struggles to cope with a life that is ordained on her. A life without choices. She makes every effort to fit in, yet she is so unhappy and depressed. All this lead to thoughts of killing herself. What happens to her? Does she kill herself? Does she go back to her family and continue to live a life that does not define her? Or does she make a choice after all which she may or may not regret?

"It would be wonderful to say you regretted it. It would be easy. But what does it mean? What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? "

Clarissa Vaughan is the one who is living the novel Mrs Dalloway. A modern-day woman living with her gay partner. Who reassures herself that her life is not trivial by throwing parties and trying to be a good hostess. This is a meaningless routine that she builds to make her otherwise meaningless life worthy. She has an adopted girl child, a good career, a loving partner. But she cannot get over her young love Richard. Richard is an award winning poet, gay, and is suffering from AIDS. Richard and Clarissa share a beautiful relationship. Clarissa regrets her decision of losing her true love, soul-mate, friend Richard. She feels insignificant without Richard.

"Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can't  go on spoiling your life any longer. I don't think two people could have  been happier than we have been"

All of these woman have someone who loves them, who have something to carry on their life's with. But life is not about the hours that we live isn't it? It is not those meaningless hours that you spend on routines, years that you spend on trying to hold on a thing which is not you. Life is not the choices we made or not made. Life is about moments. Right there. Right then.

"I remember one morning getting up at  dawn, there was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling? And  I remember thinking to myself: So, this is the beginning of happiness.  This is where it starts. And of course there will always be more. It  never occurred to me it wasn't the beginning. It was happiness. It was  the moment. Right then."
This movie may not be a perfect drama, may not help you in finding a meaning to life. May not give you a perspective. But it shows life as is and the rest is left to viewer's interpretations. Most of the movie is up for  your own perspective. This is not a sad story either. There are lot of positive messages through out the movie.


"To look life in the face, always,  to look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know  it, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away. Leonard, always  the years between us, always the years. Always the love. Always the  hours."

I love the movie for the direction, and brilliant performances by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julian Moore. Awards that they got for this movie are well deserved.