Idle musings

Thought you were dead But when i can't sleep I sense your claws Creeping up my spine again Memories traipsing in Through the back door Building up a scream In my throat Like the machines Piling the earth Like cruel children Taking mothers for granted. 

It is surreal when you look back on life and realize how even little nothings have added up to shape who you are today - your passions and goals. And it feels unreal how someone whom you considered a good friend slowly drifts away to become a stranger once more. 

Sitting is the new smoking. We've all heard that one. Yet it doesn't jolt the majority of us into physical activity. What about that minority trying to wean themselves off social media, upon realising all the distraction and propaganda it is based on, and the mental illnesses it festers? Apart from having to restrain ourselves (from grabbing our own cellphone) when an adjacent pedestrian happily clicks away on their phone, which is part of any de-addiction process, you become prey to the noise and radiation emitted by devices all around you. And there are inevitably devices all around you. Unless you are one lucky bloke living in the Amazon, or a cowboy in Texas or something of that sort. Just as smoking is more dangerous to the inhaler than the smoker. 

A second adaptation of A Star is Born released this past Friday, following earlier installments in 1937 and 1976. To the Indian audience, the similarity to Aashiqui 2 ( the 2013 flick starring Shraddha and Aditya Roy Kapur) is unmistakable. Those poor souls who cannot take anymore of that, i would suggest you refrain from watching this one. However, what I enjoyed the most was the original soundtrack (particularly "Shallow" and "Always Remember Us This Way") and the amazing performances by Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott. It is Cooper's first directorial venture as well, to his credit. But some abrupt cuts and a predictable turn of events does not make this film climb my recommendations list. If you watch it with an open mind, you might enjoy it.

After watching  Chekka Chivantha Vaanam and 96, I'm in awe of the actor that is Vijay Sethupathi. Until now, I'd failed to watch any of his films through to the end; not even Vikram Vedha, regrettably. While 96 impresses with its cinematography and performances (it also reminded me of Richard Linklator's Before Sunrise ) , Chekka Chivantha Vaanam  is a gangster flick that offers some insight into the psychology of criminal minds. Considering it is a Mani Ratnam directorial, it was not what I expected. But even though this is not my kind of film, it has, to its credit, a bunch of talented actors(including Prakash Raj, Aravind Swamy, Vijay Sethupathi, Arun Vijay, STR, Jyothika, and Aditi Rao Hydari), and sweeping long takes (I especially loved the sunset reflected on the glass-panelled family home when Thyagu barges in, and the final scene when the camera pans out to reveal that vast expanse of rock facing the sea - to me, it signified the insigificance of human life in the ...

Have you watched the 2003 short film Bypass, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Irrfan Khan? If you haven't, please do. But it features violence and brutality, so be warned. The film explicates on the evils of money; how it can drive humanity out of men. There is a poignant scene where blood is seen flowing into a currency note. This close-up effectively sums up the film's theme.