I heard this song on my laptop throughout the Trip I made last week.

Certainly GANDHIGIRI has come of age and the Naysayers of Gandhian Philosophy don’t have anything to say now

NOTE: I still have neutral views about the JAN LOKPAL BILL.But the so called JASBA which I am seeing all over India is Gandhian.People who support the JAN LOKPAL BILL please read this

Guna :   This was the movie how I got introduced to Kamal Haasan when I was 8-9 years of age during my summer vacation in Chennai(we used to spend summer vacations in Tamil Nadu) at my Nanaji’s home.My uncle who was also watching the movie on our VCP was praising about Kamal’s Acting Skills.That’s how I came to know it was Kamal Haasan.Before that I used to be a fan of Amir Khan ,  Amitabh Bachan , Mithun Chakroborty and strangely Shatrughan Sinha too.This movie is about a mentally retarded son of a prostitute somewhere in Andhra Pradesh.He is being used by the drug dealers and smugglers and car breaking due to his key breaking skills.He lives in his own imagination according to which he believes he is an incarnation of Shiva and waits for Goddess Parvati to come in the form of a Girl whom he calls as Abirami.Guna one day sees a beautiful rich girl giving alms to beggars in a temple.He believes she is the Abirami of his life.He kidnaps the girl keeps her as hostage in a remote cave where he expresses his love which is very unique in world cinema.After a while the rescue party (her dad’s colleagues) comes to save the girl only for removing the last hurdle in capturing the vast money from her dad’s empire.They had already killed her dad too.The movie ends with both Guna and the girl dieing while trying to escape from her dad’s corrupt colleagues.Many of us might have seen this movie knowing the actor in the movie is Kamal Haasan but I got introduced to Kamal Haasan with this movie so imagine the impact it would have made on me that too at the age when I was a brat.Following is a song from the movie which I believe is very unique in it’s structure and composition.

The movie is by Khyentse Norbu who is a reincarnate of Lama.This movie is the first take from the perspective of an Himalayan Monk.The script is beautiful and the kernel of the movie are two parallel stories running together.A young government official named Dondup played by Tshewang Dendup is bitten by the American dream and wants to leave his boring village at any cost.He is fascinated by Land of Opportunities and Hot Girls in America.Something very similar to my Onsite Dreams during my career as software enginee which never materialised.He tries to reach the capital Thimpu which happens to be a very arduous journey due to not so connected roadways.He meets few co-travellers on the way whom he dislikes except a girl who is the daughter of paper-maker.The second story (parallel to the traveller,Dondup) is that of a Magician (Tashi) comes in the form of installments from the Monk(a co-traveller with Dondup) who tells the story at places where they stop to rest.The story turns out to be a mirroring Dondup’s attraction towards the paper selling girl.A must watch for movie lovers who love to watch movies on their laptops late night with all lights OFF and strictly no noise and popcorns.

There was one camera shot which I liked in particular in the movie.The one in which Dondup walks down a hill and across the bridge.It is a single shot and the camera moves along with the character almost till the middle of the bridge.Not extraordinary though good to watch.

There was one particular scene in the movie when it gives the chills equivalent to a thrilling horror movie.The scene in which Tashi after giving poison to the old man waits outside for the old man to die.The old man undergoes severe pain but refuses to die as the poison turns ineffective enough to kill him.The old man’s wife comes to Tashi and asks how long it will take in a RED colored GHO and the tone of her little scary.

Dondup the Traveller and his attraction(distraction)

Tashi the Magician and his Attraction(distraction)

The Monk with the Dragon cap - The Story Teller

Apart from that both the stories had different cinematography.Dondup’s (Traveller) story is shot in real-life colors and Tashi’s(Magician’s) part with a little hazy look of a dream sequence and green and brown hue to it.Forgive me for lack of accurate terminologies as I am still a learner.The cinematographer is Alan Kozlowski who is also the cinematographer for some famous Hollywood movies like Independence day and Volcano

StoryTelling Technique The story telling technique employed was STORY WITHIN A STORY which goes three levels deep.For more about this movie click here.

I liked the ending lines in the movie “The Peach Blossom is beautiful but you see it’s only beautiful only because it’s temporary”

My take on the movie , VERY PREDICTABLE ! It had the same effect which I had after watching BRAVEHEART in 2009 after watching GLADIATOR.Agree BRAVEHEART was a cult movie but I watched it very late.In the case of THE UNTOUCHABLES I think most of the movie scenes were predictable except at few places as I have already seen the copy of it in many many many many many and many more many Bollywood movies.

I found one dialogue in particular very much connected rather contrasting to the previous movie screened (i.e. Sideways).

In the previous movie (Sideways) the dialogue that swept me and Miles was

“No, but I do like to think about the life of wine, how it’s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained…what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle it’s going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive—it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks—like your ’61—and begins its steady, inevitable decline. And it tastes so fucking good.“

And in today’s movie the dialogue that kind of hit me was

“If you’re afraid of getting a rotten apple, don’t go to the barrel. Get it off the tree.”

Somewhere , I see a connect between these two lines which I am not able to express with my limited vocabulary, may be my “movie freak” friend, Mr. N.C.Bhuvaneshwaran might be able to express.

I faintly remember the Koothu artists dancing in their highly ornate clothing in front of my Grandpa’s house in my village ,Alakkudi, the place where we used to spend our summer vacation every year.It was probably about Ramayana because the protagonist was blue-clad and was wearing a wooden chappal and having a bow.The whole show was happening at midnight.There was one more thing which I remember, a Monkey-Man , most probably Hanuman climbing a ladder,which the village people were refering as Maram Yerurathu(Climbing tree in Tamil).For some reason the whole event was called as Maram Yerurathu. I doubt if there is any reference or anecdote of the Indian Monkey God climbing a Tree in the Ramayana.I am not sure but it could be a local version(yes Alakkudi version) of Ramayana which is basically a village of Toddy farmers(who are skilled coconut tree climbers).The next time when I came close to Koothu was after 15 years later,when we were in our village during the Kumbabhisekam of central temple ,which was the only occasion left now when Koothu was performed.I was all excited to watch this event which every one was callin Maram Yerurathu.But my Grandpa stricly refused to allow me to watch the event.He said it happens at night and that we have very less well wishers left in the village due to land disputes.I couldn’t see the event but went in the morning (early morning) to receive the prasadam (sweets) from the actors.I missed the Koothu.

The next Koothu would be after 12 years when the next Kumbabhishekam will be done.I seriously doubt that.Following is a short-film on Koothu Artist which got a National Award.

Following is a collection of videos of real Koothu that happened and still happens (rarely though) in villages

Koothu played a crucial role in freedom struggle during the pre-independence era for spreading the message.Following is a tribute to a great folk-art by Actor Dr.Kamal Haasan in the movie Anbe Sivam