Paan Singh Tomar - Athlete To Dacoit

It had been over 10days since the movie had released, and i had been wanting to watch, but tickets, timing just wasnt working out. A friend and i kept chatting about the movie, we looked at tickets, we discussed with others, until finally one morning we decided "Lets go for the movie tonight" and the friend said he'd drop me home.. 
 

We were off to watch Paan Singh Tomar, one of the lesser known unsung heroes of our country. It is the story of how an Athlete became a dacoit and met his end...

Starring: Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill, Vipin Sharma, Rajendra Gupta, Zakir Hussain,Khan Jahangir Khan and many others...

Paan Singh Tomar (Irrfan Khan) is a village lad who joins the army, and is eager to eat as much as he can.When one day his commanding officer stops him from taking another roti, saying "go join the athletes, they get unlimited food", Paan Singh takes his word and joins the team. He sure can run, endlessly without tiring and once he finishes the race, he heads towards the food cart.. He excels in the Steeplechase race bringing glory to the Indian Army and the country. Infact, at the race, he wears shoes like others, but finds it difficult to run, and takes them off to go on and win the race.. Such sweet heart felt moments!!

There is one scene that stood out, where one of his officers dares him to take a block of ice cream, deliver it at home to his wife without the ice cream melting... And Paan Singh does accomplish the task within no time! :)

He marries, has a child and returns to the army. But when on a visit home, one of his cousins plays dirty and beats up his son mercilessly. The police officers refuse to lodge any sort of complaint against the cousin. To make matters worse, when Paan Singh shows off his medals and service, he is mocked by the police. He gets angry and vows to take revenge, taking matters into his own hands. Things turn ugly, and one day the cousin breaks into his house, kills his mom and is after Paan Singh. He sends his wife and daughter away, and decides to fight the battle, killing his cousin in the process. 

With a group of friends & relatives, he forms a gang, and transforms into the Dacoit of the Chambal valley. The police  hot on his trail of Paan Singh Tomar. He finds it ironic that no one cared about him when he won alll those races and brought glory, but today when he is in hiding, and has become a dacoit the whole world seems to be after him. 

One of the members in his gang brings them to a town to stay at an old man's place when Paan Singh realises he has been trapped by one of his own. The police circle the area leaving them with no escape route. Their drink has been poisoned, leaving them weak and helpless. The battle rages on till finally Paan Singh falls prey to one of the bullets... 

The film kinda grows on you, and we were left talking about what a great person he must have been and how nobody even knows of Paan Singh Tomar today... There were quite a few moments in the movie where our hearts tug for Paan Singh, wishing we could help him and feeling his pain, and agony.... 

The entire movie is narrated by Paan Singh Tomar in an interview to a journalist in a small town....

In the end , just before the credits, a list of all the national players who died penniless or are in a sad state scrolls on the screen, making us realise what we saw was just a drop in the ocean.  

I sure hope more such Paan Singh s are discovered and brought to visiblity by directors like Tigmanshu Dhulia through articles/news clippings [like how he stumbled upon Paan Singh Tomar ]

Rating : 4/5

Direction: 4/5

Acting: Irrfan Khan- 6/5

Lego Imagine!

I grew up playing with Lego, building houses and train trucks, infact still have a few pieces around at home.. So, while browsing through Facebook, I came upon this and knew instantly that it was by none other than LEGO....

The German agency Jung Von Matt has created this cool ad campaign called the ‘Imagine’ . The print advertising campaign plays with your imagination. With such simple pieces, and design, the agency has created quite an ad campaign. 

Only when you spend a few minutes on the ad will you know what am referring to and why am so impressed with Lego... So, go ahead, give it a shot, see if you can guess em all...

Hint: Each of them is a family, a group or a community... ;)

I could guess all but the last one, off i go to stare at the image to see if i can guess that as well :)

Here are the answers

The Simpsons

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltles

 Ernie & Bert

The Smurfs

Asterix & Obelix

South park

Donald Duck 

Lucky Luke

Safe House

Director: Daniel Espinosa
Writer: David Guggenheim
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds and Robert Patrick

After much talk about Safe House movie, i finally went to watch it on Sunday. Well, Safe House is a 2 hour ride that was packed with action but thats about it.. Like many others, i saw the trailer, heard the leading stars names and decided i want to watch it. 

 The story opens with Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) who is a a housekeeper at CIA's Safe House in South Africa. Weston's is clearly frustrated that he has seen no promotion and his boss keeps promising him the clouds and stars, but nothing has changed. He bids adieu to his French girlfriend [who's a student at the local hospital] and assumes his place at the Safe house. Life for him changes with the entry of the fugitive Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington). Frost,a former CIA operative went rogue and was last heard to have sold classified information to the highest bidder and gone off the radar nearly 9years ago. 

After years of eluding the CIA, Frost walks straight into the Consulate one morning and there begins the twist in the tale. Heavily armed CIA men take him to the Safe House, but there is a breach and the place is raided, with Weston escaping with Frost on toe. Weston, being duty conscious decides to look for another Safe house to take Frost to, during the course of which he battles quite a bit for Frost's safety. The dialogues between Frost and Weston as they are weaving through the narrow lanes of South Africa are worth a watch. How Frost judges and assess Weston, talks to him about the filth within CIA and so on.... The scene in the stadium where Frost flips and makes it look like Weston was kidnapping so he could escape is quite ingenious. Quite a bit of blood is shed, and fights rage on through the movie. As much as it is to watch the action, it kinda strays away from the main plot and the audience is left wondering "where the hell are they going with this"

It was a thrill to watch Weston, a rookie fight, all the time keeping his eyes on Frost. But it was sad to see the same old pattern of the big guns in the CIA being involved in the sham, and out to get their own, to save their asses.  Denzel with his suave character, quite demeanor steals the show as well. He fits well in the role of Frost.  The movie is all about the slogan "no one is safe", it should also be "trust no one". 

Safe House is a one time watch if you a die hard Denzel or Reynolds fan and enjoy non stop action. When the movie ended and credits rolled, all i can say is "so, what else is new?" Looks like Hollywood story tellers are fast running out of plots, and story lines. The movie had me thinking of Mission Impossible, Bourne Identity series and every other cop-criminal based movie that had ever been made across the world. The ending of the movie left a bad taste in my mouth, couldnt the director have come up with something bit more original? Why did he have to rip off the end from MI4 to the T ? sad....  And well, i am glad they dint go and make this movie in 3D.. would have been painful to watch,albeit for the fight and chase sequences.

My Rating: 2.5/5

The Oscars 2012

They walked the red carpet

They wore designer clothes

and designer shoes

They cheered, they smiled and they thanked..

Well, the Oscars 2012 was no less a grand affair than what i saw in 2011 or the year before... 

Some of the winners were deserving

While some others i felt "hmm, really?"

But there was one movie that stood out among them all... That is the point of this post..

For those who love animation

For those who live breath eat sleep Books

This is the movie they must watch..

This is a movie that truly deserves...

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011) written by William Joyce..

Enjoy the movie....

Here is William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg wins the Best Animated Short Film 2012 Oscar Award

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

My  review of Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows shall follow, but for now want to leave you with this awesome quote from the movie-

Mounaguru

Directed by Santha Kumar and produced by M. K. Thamizharasu, this movie is quite offbeat amongst the run of the mill, romance, villain strewn movies churned out by the Tamil Film Industry... 

I was sceptical when i heard it starred Arulnithi, but with names such as John Vijay, Iniya, and Uma Riyaz Khan, and a few good reviews from friends, i told myself it will be worth a watch!

Last night, marched into PVR and got set to watch this "Crime thriller" as many had labelled it... From the beginning to the end, the movie was well chalked out and i was quite impressed with Arulnidhi's acting....

it is the story of a college student Karunakaran[Arulnidhi] who is a good student, but gets into trouble often. Due to this, his mom moves bag and baggage to Chennai where her Older son gets admission for Karunakaran at Aruldoss college, with accomodation in the hostel. His wife's sister Aarthi [Iniya] is living with them and so their apartment is quite crowded. What starts off as initial teething trouble soon becomes a nightmare and Karunakaran is caught up in a scam for no fault of his.

4 policemen - Assistant Commissioner Marimuthu (John Vijay), Inspector Rajendran (Madhu), Sub-Inspector Selvam (Balakrishnan) and junior policeman Perumalsamy (Krishnamurthy) are crooks down to the T. when they stumble upon a car crash, they open the boot to discover a bag filled with money, decide to loot it, and even go to the extent of killing the driver who is still alive...

From there on, begins a snowball effect, to hide their actions, they keep passing the blame onto others. One lady the AC has sexual connections with records his actions in her bedroom in an attempt to blackmail him and get rid of him. But this proves fatal for her, and she ends up losing the camera and her life.

Amidst all this drama, love blossoms between Karunakaran and Aarthi... but that is known only to his mom.. One day, during the holidays when Karuna returns to the hostel [ he is alone as others have gone off home], he finds a bag outside his room, pours out its contents and while wondering whose bag it is, is caught by the 4 crooked cops.. They were infact waiting to see who the student was who had called and blackmailed them about the murder and money... 

One thing leads to another, and finally karuna ends up in a mental asylum. Cops and the psychiatrist convince Karuna's family that he has lost his mind.  The twist comes in the form of Pazhaniammal [Uma Riyaz] who is investigating the murder and stumbles upon the truth. And finally, just when they have everyone caught and guilty, she is given orders to let them go as the murder could lead to issues between the 2 states.

karuna then takes matters into his own hands, kills all the cops and then gives in and goes into the mental asylum....

The movie is well paced and quite well scripted. There are no cliched scenes in the crime or the romance, just subtle nuances. But, i did think the end was going to be different... Wonder why the director chose this path!!! ... All in all, its a good watch... And one more grouse i have with movie theaters- We dont need intervals in all movies, especially English, Animated and Such thrillers... it just cuts into the flow of the movie!!

Overall Rating - 4/5

Yes i love cars....

I am one of those who gets a high watching shows on Cars, Gadgets & Gizmos.... Fashion & jewellery could never match up to these!! Cookery- eh,.. maybe!!

So, i sit up late into the night, doodling on my laptop,with one eye looking out of the corner at the TV screen or the clock on the Laptop screen.... I am waiting for TOP GEAR!! I have seen earlier episodes online, thanks to friends, but the TV shows are to die for as well... Each episode is fascinating in its own way, but this one featuring Rowan Atkinson, the man we know as Mr Bean & Johnny English was howlarious.. 

The 2nd episode i enjoyed immensely was at the Icelandic volcano...



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Scammed by Anonymous

 

Book: Scammed

 

Published by Grey Oak/Westland

Pages: 182 pages

When i picked up this book, i read the brief synopsis and wondered what it would be about. But i must tell you, the author had me in for a surprise, as there was quite a bit of twist and turn within the 1st few pages. 

 

The protagonist of Scammed is Hitesh Shah, who is an accountant and quite vexed with his current job. Like every other hard working person, he waits patiently for that glorious moment, when his boss, also a friend Sahil will call him into his office for the appraisal and offer him a promotion. Alas, it is not to be so. he discovers the promotion has gone to another woman in the office, who is much less deserving. Unable to take a decision, and yielding into his boss's offer that 6 months down the road Hitesh will be promoted, he goes on with his day, being miserable. Working on the accounts of a client, he discovers there is quite a bit of muck and underhand jobs going on, added to the fact that the partner assigned for the project Sandra is most of the time missing. 

 

Through the client, he discovers Sandra has been having illicit affairs under the pretense of being ill. Fed up with people around him, Hitesh decides to complete the assignment for Supreme Motors and look for something better. He goes home to a mother who is worried about him and always trying to hook him up with some girl or the other, and a father who is never happy and always looking for a quarrel, disagreement. 

 

Hitesh approaches the client, Venugopal Reddy with the findings of the audit and also with a proposal. Venugopal is quite a sleazy businessman who also has quite a bit of Political connections. This is also when Hitesh reconnects with his School sweetheart Sushma, they go around, go out, he buys her fancy things, and even asks her to marry him. Around this time, Venugopal fires and takes into action all those who had been cheating him, and ropes in Hitesh to launch the Rental car company, which comes as a much deserved break for Hitesh, who goes on to quit his job at Smith & Donald.

Supreme Motors does well, infact the company grows beyond dreams, giving Hitesh a new lease on life. However, like a stack of playing cards, things start falling apart. Complaints pour in from Franchisees, people are talking about abusive drivers, franchisees approved without Hitesh's go ahead and just about everything else one can dream of. Amidst all this, Sushma breaks up with him saying she has a flourishing career ahead of her. 

One morning, Hitesh is woken up and told that one of the members of Supreme Motors Mohan Babu has committed a murder and things are going from bad to worse for the company. Like many Bollywood movies, people run, some disappear, and others are blamed for no fault of theirs. If you have seen/read Pelican Brief, you will know what am talking about. With the help of Payal and another employee, Hitesh goes into hiding, just till things settle down. Angry and upset, he tries to figure out a way to solve the mess that has unfolded. Sushma and Sandra file case on Hitesh saying he abused and sexually harassed them.

With no other option, Hitesh runs from town to town with no one but Payal by his side. He gradually falls in love with her, realises how valuable she has been and goes on to marry her! With the help of the Chief Minister, he clears his name, and brings out all the trash to open, killing the chance that all the crooks had of instigating him and getting away scott free.

The book was quite engaging, i read it in one go and quite enjoyed the pace!! Yes, it did feel filmy, but i must give it to the author for maintaining pace, and keeping it real!!