Shakuntala Devi

So what is 14525686 * 124762048 = ???????.......the time taken for understanding this equation is proportional to time taken by this brilliant lady to answer it.

“Shakuntala Devi” is an OTT release over Amazon Prime featuring Vidya Balan as the lead actress. The viewers on Amazon have increased since then. The movie is a biography of an Indian lady who was also known as the “HUMAN COMPUTER”. The movie is a perfect blend of laughter and emotion, the comic timing, acting, dialogues and more so the importance of family has been depicted beautifully.

The movie can be summarized into three parts. The first one involves the hardships faced by Shakuntala as a child, the way she recognizes her inner talent and taking up shows school to school to make a livelihood for her family. She drops her formal education at a young age and slowly starts developing hatred for her parents because of her family circumstances.

The second part mainly features her escape to London to pursue her love for mathematics. She takes up stage shows and soon becomes a star. However, she leaves her family behind. She soon gets married and is blessed with a beautiful baby girl. However, love for mathematics takes a toll and her relationship with her husband and daughter gets hampered. The third and the most important part features the turmoil between family. An amazing presentation of mother and daughter bonding and relationship.

Vidya Balan as the lead actress is nothing short of exemplary. Every scene has been mastered beautifully and it shows her versatility with comic timing and aggression at the same time. Saniya Malhotra as her daughter too has played her part to perfection. Rest of the cast and crew too fits smoothly. The direction is seemingly well and situational songs give this movie an edge.

The best part portrayed by this movie is one where you understand that name and fame might make you rich but family love is something which is not something to be compromised upon. The moment Shakuntala realizes her mistake towards her parents it is too late as they are no more. When the same situation arises between her and her daughter the tables take a turn for the worse.

The movie focuses on her journey both professionally and personally. The numbers are shown dancing in front of Shakuntala’s eyes and we as viewers feel the same joy. Certain dialogues like the one which speaks that ‘koi mother kabhi perfect nhi ho skti’ hits you hard about sacrifices made by a mother.

PS – ‘Add your family, subtract your ego, multiply your joy and divide your sorrows – a perfect blend of mathematics equation’.

Even someone who hates maths will love this movie to the core. A good weekend watch and most importantly a complete family entertainer. Do watch this with your family, you will leave with much more love and respect for them once you are through with this movie. 

Read More

The Room on the Roof

 

The Room on the Roof is the story of Rusty, seventeen-year-old Anglo – Indian kid who has lost his parents at an early age. He now lives with his guardians, Mr. Harrison, and his wife, in the European community that borders the outskirts of Dehra (Dehradun). They have no kids of their own, but they have Rusty, who is basically ‘owned’ by Mr. Harrison as he has gradually become a slave to his guardian’s authoritarian command over the family through stiff rules and regulations. In some ways, Mr. Harrison resembles Maharani- the queen of bazaar cows, persistent and intolerant. There are barely any hearty exchanges, emotional connect, or any other occurrence of sweet family moments.

 

“EVERY DAY HE WALKED AIMLESSLY ALONG THE ROAD, OVER THE HILLSIDE, BROODING ON THE FUTURE, OR DREAMING OF SUDDEN AND PERFECT COMPANIONSHIP, ROMANCE AND HEROICS; HARDLY EVER CONSCIOUS OF THE PRESENT.”

 

Such being the situation at home, Rusty has learned to cope by escaping into his mind's imagination and fantasies. This way he is doing well in his own world until one rainy day, while walking home, he is noticed by a local cyclist. The cyclist is interested in this uncommon sight of a European kid(Rusty) walking alone in the streets of Dehra. That guy on the cycle is the friendly and jovial Somi, a Sikh kid, who within a couple of encounters becomes Rusty’s first and ‘best favorite’ friend in Dehra. Somi becomes the starting point of this new unexpected life that awaits Rusty. He leads Rusty into this unexplored world of India and it’s culture, something which Rusty has only wondered in his daydreams.

 

“..EXPLORE, GET LOST, WANDER AFAR; EVEN IF IT WERE ONLY TO FIND NEW PLACES TO DREAM IN. HE THREW HIMSELF ON THE BED AND VISUALIZED THE MORROW…WHERE SHOULD HE GO-INTO THE HILLS AGAIN, INTO THE FOREST? OR SHOULD HE LISTEN TO THE DEVIL IN HIS HEART AND GO INTO THE BAZAAR? TOMORROW HE WOULD KNOW, TOMORROW…..”

 

Somi brings a sudden change in Rusty’s life by introducing him to meet new people, participating in worldly frolics, encountering some loving and amusing relationships, few unsought romances, following an amusing and winding path, filled with a series of events, all of which come together and help free Rusty from the bounds of his own people and lead him to the vast open-world full of possibilities that lay before him.

 

“HE WANTED THIS TO GO ON FOREVER, THIS DAY OF FEVERISH EMOTION, THIS LIFE IN ANOTHER WORLD. HE DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE THE FOREST; IT WAS SAFE, ITS EARTH SOOTHED HIM, GATHERED HIM IN, SO THAT THE PAIN OF HIS BODY BECAME A PLEASURE.”

 

There is one big major cliched twist that has a significant impact on Rusty and other related characters which also changes the flow of the story. Even though the event becomes predictable as you progress through the story, it does not feel that dull and superficial either, but its harshness is surely gut-wrenching. This incident leads Rusty to a brief yet pervasive period of depression.

 

“THEY WALKED BACK THROUGH THE DAPPLED SUNLIGHT, SWINGING THEIR CLASPED HANDS LIKE TWO CHILDREN WHO HAD ONLY JUST DISCOVERED LOVE.”

 

Ruskin Bond has, through such flair and skill, easily sketched the readily absorptive nature of the teenage mind, the wanderlust bug that it is prone to catch, and the weight and resilience of emotions that it passes through.

“AT NIGHT HE SLEPT BROKENLY, THINKING AND WORRYING ABOUT THE FUTURE. AND QUESTIONS WOULD COME TO HIM, DISTURBING QUESTIONS ABOUT LOVING AND LEAVING AND LIVING AND DYING, QUESTIONS THAT CROWDED HIS SLEEP.”

Rusty is everybody. Everyone has been that kid, the one seeking out his own identity, one looking for a purpose, for something to call his own, even when one may or may not have had all the family and comforts they can ever imagine. What Rusty shares with us is an emotional roller coaster, a transitional yet significantly influential part of life that all of us go through. And through Rusty, the author speaks with that part of you.

 

“WE DON’T KNOW WHY WE LIVE. IT IS NO USE TRYING TO KNOW. BUT WE HAVE TO LIVE. BECAUSE WE REALLY WANT TO. AND AS LONG AS WE WANT TO, WE HAVE GOT TO FIND SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR AND EVEN DIE FOR IT.”

 

Through his charming writing, Ruskin Bond ensured that the reader lives and breathes each moment with Rusty, be it in the crowded and disorderly bazaar, the hot and steamy chat shop, the colored streets of the town during Holi, or the remote and dense forests, the myriad rivers, the vast mountains, the big maidans. Each scene is handled well and the book is supplied with many other beautiful sights and places in and around Dehradun. Being of British- origin, Ruskin Bond balances so well between those two stances. A suave British narrative blended with such pure and astute Indian-ness, that you will be left asking for more of such a fine literary delicacy.

 

“YOU ARE AFRAID TO DIE WITHOUT HAVING DONE SOMETHING. YOU ARE AFRAID TO DIE… BUT YOU HAVE HARDLY BEGUN TO LIVE.”

 

And, finally, the best of all is that the journey does not end there, instead, it begins at the end of “The Room on the Roof.” It continues in the form of a sequel to this book titled “Vagrants in the Valley”.

 

Read More

Dil Bechara

“Dil Bechara” movie based on the novel by John Green which was also adopted into a movie by name ‘The Fault in our Stars’. Most of the people are watching and remembering this movie just because it is last known movie in which our beloved Sushant Singh Rajput has made his onscreen presence. But the movie itself is pure class and takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride.

 

The movie is told from the point of view of Kizzie Basu (played by Sanjana Sanghvi) who is struggling with thyroid cancer and has very few friends to boast off. The actual fun begins when we see Manny (played by Sushant Singh Rajput) dancing to the tune of title song. The moves leave you in awe and the song itself is master piece composed by our very own A.R.Rahman. The whole song was done in a single take and damn Sushant is amazing.

 

Manny is a lively personality who believes in living life to the fullest despite the inevitable circumstances facing death. The chemistry between Manny and Kizzie is superb and you admire the way two banter and how that turns into love. The little moments of flirting, romance and selfless care dramatically folds you and you are left in tears by the end. You admire the way Manny does everything to fulfill one dream of Kizzie despite all the odds. That’s what life is all about – what difference you can make in others life. The short span of happiness soon turns into sorrow as both are found struggling to stay alive with cancer.

 

Sushant as Manny is a performance you will remember for a long long time. Dialogues, acting and powerful dance moves all compliment his lovely smile. Would have been great if he could hear all the praise he is getting and the difference he has made with his short but fruitful career on this Bollywood world.

 

Sanjana Sanghvi compliments well and she surely has a great future ahead. A perfect blend of beauty with acting. Sahil Vaid as Manny’s friend is great and equally comical. Saif Ali Khan has played a small yet a role which gives a valuable lesson. Mukhesh Chhabra has been sublime with his direction and casting – Sushant being the proof. The songs are damn good and each song has a different persona and charm with ‘Dil Bechara’ title track and ‘Main Tumhara’ being the best. The dialogues are one of the best you have come through in recent times.

 

The movie is of short duration and the emotional impact is a lot to take. Few scenes are worth remembering like the ones where Manny is listening to his own Eulogy. The movie if released in theatres would have created havoc. The movie is sure to leave you in tears and the fact that Sushant is no more with us impacts you more. A star was lost too soon.

 

The movie is streaming free on Hotstar and a great gesture by them to make it available to everyone in memory of Sushant Singh Rajput. Grab you popcorn and tissues as well, because this one is sure to touch your heart and soul like no other movie.

 

"Perhaps, the difference between what is miserable, and that, which is spectacular, lies in the leap of faith"- Sushant Singh Rajput

Read More

The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King

“The Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King” is the third and final part of the trilogy. The movie was released in 2003 back to back after first and second part. After the immense success of the franchise, there were high expectations for the movie to end on a high note and it indeed satisfied the viewers. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, the movie continues from where it left in the prequel with all characters playing their part in destroying the ring which holds the key to power.  

 

Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mount Doom in Mordor team up with Gollum. The rift between them widens and tensions arise as they part their ways only to meet again in a much different situation. The ring indeed is full of deceit attacking everyone who has hunger for power. You feel pity for what the ring has done to Gollum but also praise the fact that Sam and Frodo stick to each other. Friendship is rather a powerful weapon which we see through the movie as Sam and Frodo help each other throughout. Other side of the story, you find Aragorn, who finally accepts his fate as the King rather than being a Ranger.

 

If the battle at Helm’s Deep excited you, just wait and watch for this one. The fight, the monsters, the effect, words of wisdom, courage everything exceeds our expectations. The part is full of darkness and but surely ends in a different way. Sam and Frodo fight against each other because of Gollum, the ring hanging in balance. Sam is seen in agony with the ring taking a toll on him. The fight of all the free men in Middle Earth against the dark evil is one of the most satisfying displays of action sequences.

 

Peter Jackson makes a noteworthy exit for the trilogy.  No doubt it deserved every bit of 11 Academy Awards it received including the Best Movie. The acting as described in my earlier review of first part is superlative. The direction, music, cinematography, location for shoot - everything is just perfect.

 

(If you haven’t gone through the review of previous two parts, go through our blog)

 

The movie moves ahead and reaches a bitter sweet conclusion! A noteworthy mention to the CGI effects used and a new technology motion capture work. Another IMDB classic and if you have survived the earlier two parts this is a must watch. An age old classic with great story, better direction and the best execution makes this a treat for every fantasy lover.

 

The movie is again 3 hours long, but once you set in motion, the movie ends like a whisker. Available on Netflix as well as Hotstar, just go ahead and don’t miss this acquaintance of the fantasy realm of LOTR. This is icing of the fantasy cake.

 

This first part focused on the ring and the character of Sauron, the deceit and his hunger for power while the second part brings other characters in development and also defines power on the good side. The final part ends the evil but not without sacrifice. A lot has already been spoken and number don’t lie so the positive reviews of this trilogy makes this a must watch. A worthy end to the series and one of those movies that beats its prequels in every aspect.

Follow us on Instagram and Quora for timely updates...!!!

Read More