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Currant mystery
15 years ago
Tuesday, May 29
Mistaken identity
It pains to read stuff like this. Reading all this I wonder why the Nazi association continues to be so strong.
Having grown up in a normal Indian Hindu family, associating the swastik with something negative is so difficult. It is one of the basic symbols of everything mangal. A primary rangoli design, so easy and meaningful. I remembers hundreds of instances where my mom would have said, "don't bother with an elaborate design now, even a swastik is enough." All those advertisements for real estate, insurance, paints, banking, tourism... deriving maximum mileage from the meaning that the swastik conveys.
The swastik has so much more life and history other than the brief infatuation by the Nazis. I really hope this misuse ends!
Having grown up in a normal Indian Hindu family, associating the swastik with something negative is so difficult. It is one of the basic symbols of everything mangal. A primary rangoli design, so easy and meaningful. I remembers hundreds of instances where my mom would have said, "don't bother with an elaborate design now, even a swastik is enough." All those advertisements for real estate, insurance, paints, banking, tourism... deriving maximum mileage from the meaning that the swastik conveys.
The swastik has so much more life and history other than the brief infatuation by the Nazis. I really hope this misuse ends!
Friday, May 25
Sigh!
Till a few days back I was almost chocking with ideas to write about. But there was hardly any time. And now, I have all the time in the world, and there's vacuum!
Monday, May 21
Just another disappointment
And while we are at making illogical films, I have a few questions about TaRaRumPum.
1. What were they thinking when they styled Rani Mukherjee in the first half?
2. Who in the world gets away speeding on NYC lanes at that!!! speed, without getting killed, or even a ticket!?!
3. How much does an F1 champion, reigning king earn? Just enough to go bankrupt in a year!?
4. What was Rani doing while Saif was recuperating? A zero bank balance!!!
5. Why did Rani (intellectual as her father claims she is) not complete her degree?
6. If Saif is spending away money, what is she as his wife, the miserly-rich-kid-future-planner doing?
7. Why are kids in films always so stupid?
If anyone can answer these reasonably well, I might actually say that the film is OK.
1. What were they thinking when they styled Rani Mukherjee in the first half?
2. Who in the world gets away speeding on NYC lanes at that!!! speed, without getting killed, or even a ticket!?!
3. How much does an F1 champion, reigning king earn? Just enough to go bankrupt in a year!?
4. What was Rani doing while Saif was recuperating? A zero bank balance!!!
5. Why did Rani (intellectual as her father claims she is) not complete her degree?
6. If Saif is spending away money, what is she as his wife, the miserly-rich-kid-future-planner doing?
7. Why are kids in films always so stupid?
If anyone can answer these reasonably well, I might actually say that the film is OK.
28 weeks later
Pretty much as per tradition, I went out for a movie to celebrate semester end. With a friend from India down here for a while, it was intended to be even more exciting. I was intending to see Spidy 3, but as he had seen it already, we went in for '28 Weeks Later.' And for the first time in my life I left a theater half way through the film.
The film in short, is disgusting. There is nothing but a lot of blood, screaming, loud music, and stupid irrational behavior. The film shows a part of Britain infected with a 'rage virus' that makes people go around mad with rage, killing each other in some of the most gruesome ways possible. The film begins with a few people in a darkened house, hiding from the infected people. But somehow the infected manage to get into the house, and then a rampage, after which the kind of lead guy escapes. Then you have Britain being quarantined, and NATO forces coming in and doing the disaster management/reconstruction and rehabilitation. After that people are gradually brought back in small numbers. 28 weeks later, a couple of kids of that escaped man arrive. They find out their mother is dead, and so steal away to their old home beyond the restricted area, to get her picture. They manage to break through the security, which is elaborate with cameras, men atop buildings with guns, helicopters, barbed wires et al. They actually find a two-wheeler with petrol in it that can run! And they do reach home and there they find their mother! Alive even after being attacked and infected! How she survived for 28 weeks is a mystery. Thankfully they are caught and taken to the restricted area, the mother tested, and quarantined. But the father, has access cards for the building and manages to reach his wife. And then like a grown up man who's seen the 'rage', been luckily saved from the out-to-lynch-crowd, knows that the virus transmits through blood and saliva, readily kisses his wife!!! At this point for the first time at a film here, I actually heard a disappointed unanimous "come-on-man" from the audience. For me the director had lost it at that point.
After that as you would expect he gets the virus and runs around killing people, first his wife of course, as gruesomely as possible. I don't know much ahead because we left. I was totally disgusted, and nauseous. Unless you can stand goriness and blood, and enjoy irrational behavior just for the sake of inducing more goriness, go ahead and watch the film. Its made for you.
The film in short, is disgusting. There is nothing but a lot of blood, screaming, loud music, and stupid irrational behavior. The film shows a part of Britain infected with a 'rage virus' that makes people go around mad with rage, killing each other in some of the most gruesome ways possible. The film begins with a few people in a darkened house, hiding from the infected people. But somehow the infected manage to get into the house, and then a rampage, after which the kind of lead guy escapes. Then you have Britain being quarantined, and NATO forces coming in and doing the disaster management/reconstruction and rehabilitation. After that people are gradually brought back in small numbers. 28 weeks later, a couple of kids of that escaped man arrive. They find out their mother is dead, and so steal away to their old home beyond the restricted area, to get her picture. They manage to break through the security, which is elaborate with cameras, men atop buildings with guns, helicopters, barbed wires et al. They actually find a two-wheeler with petrol in it that can run! And they do reach home and there they find their mother! Alive even after being attacked and infected! How she survived for 28 weeks is a mystery. Thankfully they are caught and taken to the restricted area, the mother tested, and quarantined. But the father, has access cards for the building and manages to reach his wife. And then like a grown up man who's seen the 'rage', been luckily saved from the out-to-lynch-crowd, knows that the virus transmits through blood and saliva, readily kisses his wife!!! At this point for the first time at a film here, I actually heard a disappointed unanimous "come-on-man" from the audience. For me the director had lost it at that point.
After that as you would expect he gets the virus and runs around killing people, first his wife of course, as gruesomely as possible. I don't know much ahead because we left. I was totally disgusted, and nauseous. Unless you can stand goriness and blood, and enjoy irrational behavior just for the sake of inducing more goriness, go ahead and watch the film. Its made for you.
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