Be Kind Rewind

Last Saturday went to see Be Kind Rewind on my husband’s insistence, who must see any and every Jack Black movie. Well, I loved Jack Black (remember School of Rock) till I saw Nacho Libre which put me off him for life. With a lot of reluctance and trepidation I agreed to watch the film. It tries to deal with too many issues and ended up doing justice to none.
The film starts off real slow and feels like all the characters have been picked from different areas and strung together. It begins to get real tedious trying to watch Danny Glover trying to keep afloat an old VHS shop in time of the DVD era, Jack Black trying to sabotage a power plan which he believes is taking over their minds and voila the movie picks. A magnetized Jack Black manages to erase the entire VHS collection and they start shooting their version of the films. They call it SWEEDE-loved it!
Some real cool work here. Wish they had done some more of it; they just glossed over the rest. The film has its moments like when Danny Glover walks is doing his research on what makes the DVD parlors click and makes one of the key points as ‘No real knowledge required’. Absolutely phenomenal!
There are some force fits like the raid from the IPR division of the studios so it could lead to the making of the Fats Waller movie. I thought that’s one bit they could have done without. The film ends a little to abruptly-just didn’t know what to make of it.
How was it? A strictly decent flick which has it moments but falls short of being a classic it could have been.

Multiplex Madness

Read this interesting bit on Multiplexes offering freebies to consumers. Multiplexes are offering people a slew of offers to come & get themselves entertained. From discounted tickets to holidays at South Africa and Disneyland everything is on offer for watching a movie. Just wanted to actually try and understand the reason for this sudden promotional boom. One possible reason for this could be that majority of releases happen during school vacations and most blockbusters are lined up for release to name a few, Krissh, Da Vinci Code, Fanna,Superman etc etc. With the increase in number of multiplexes and the software (movies) remaining the same there is intense competition across Multiplexes to fill up the maximum number of seats. Since, this would not just affect their profitability or ROI but also impact their ability to procure movies at effective prices in future. One possible differentiating factor would be the range of discounts, offers, freebies, or the most relevant offers. Relevance of offers could be the key to capturing people attention and that could explain the merging trend of co-branded cards, women specific cards.So what happens when Multiplexes of Movie releases? You have live screening of the soccer world cup, cricket world cup, film festivals, privilege cards, special screenings and the works.Maybe soon enough you Multiplexes would offer Babysitting services, so you have no reason to not watch a movie....

Finally the word on the Big Q is out and all the protests in the world did not hold any water. So, I tried to think and think really hard why was I so angry. I am not anti-reservation, I certainly belive that everyone has the right to education and an equal oppurtunity. But I fail to understand how could granting reservation at institutions of higher learning amount to equality- you are granting favors to one section and not to the other, that by itself is inequality.Currently there is reservation at primary and secondary level of education which ensures and equal oppurtunity to all right at the base. There has been no study or research conducted to know or understand wether reservations at that level have benefited the truly deserving or needy. There is absolutely no tracking mechanism for it. Why is it then that we believe that reservations at institutions of higher learning will help or reservations in jobs in the private sector will help. Has reservation in government institutions helped in efficient running of the machinery- I wouldnt think so. People are complacent in the knowledege that special treatment would be accorded irrespective of their efficiency levels. On the other hand a lot of good guys belonging to the so called reserved category may not like to divulge it because their perception in the eyes of people would undergo a drastic change. Soon you will have women demanding reservations, what happens to women upliftment remember they are also for the weak section of the society and the minorities- that's a lot of reservations we are talking about. If the governments manadate is to provide access to knowledege then reservations at higher levels of educations is by no way the means. If we are to make the leap to the 21st century then our 19th century mindsets have to change. Even, Dr.Ambedkar had advocated revervations only for 10 years. Why cant the government look at different ways to provide equal oppurtunities to all.You could possibly have a rule wherein you can choose to avail of the reservation only once in your life. You could have scholarships or sponsorships for the deserving students. The only way you can let an individual grow is not by providing him crutches but by providing a helping hand.We need to let go of populists measures and take a tough stance if want to survive the competition in the global market.

Finally the word on the Big Q is out and all the protests in the world did not hold any water. So, I tried to think and think really hard why was I so angry. I am not anti-reservation, I certainly belive that everyone has the right to education and an equal oppurtunity. But I fail to understand how could granting reservation at institutions of higher learning amount to equality- you are granting favors to one section and not to the other, that by itself is inequality.Currently there is reservation at primary and secondary level of education which ensures and equal oppurtunity to all right at the base. There has been no study or research conducted to know or understand wether reservations at that level have benefited the truly deserving or needy. There is absolutely no tracking mechanism for it. Why is it then that we believe that reservations at institutions of higher learning will help or reservations in jobs in the private sector will help. Has reservation in government institutions helped in efficient running of the machinery- I wouldnt think so. People are complacent in the knowledege that special treatment would be accorded irrespective of their efficiency levels. On the other hand a lot of good guys belonging to the so called reserved category may not like to divulge it because their perception in the eyes of people would undergo a drastic change. Soon you will have women demanding reservations, what happens to women upliftment remember they are also for the weak section of the society and the minorities- that's a lot of reservations we are talking about. If the governments manadate is to provide access to knowledege then reservations at higher levels of educations is by no way the means. If we are to make the leap to the 21st century then our 19th century mindsets have to change. Even, Dr.Ambedkar had advocated revervations only for 10 years. Why cant the government look at different ways to provide equal oppurtunities to all.You could possibly have a rule wherein you can choose to avail of the reservation only once in your life. You could have scholarships or sponsorships for the deserving students. The only way you can let an individual grow is not by providing him crutches but by providing a helping hand.We need to let go of populists measures and take a tough stance if want to survive the competition in the global market.

I have been following the Aarushi & the Grover murder case closely and realized that these are not the first of its kind, we have had Nithari, double murder in Punjab, Kaushimbi Layek and I am sure so much more.
Crime from the streets seems to have spilled into our home. Its not a domain of gangsters, politicians and the poor (which it was supposed to be), its now creeping into middle class homes, so called white-collared workers.
Both the Aarushi & Grover murder case have some similarities in them, let me try and clarify that.
-Little or no value for relationships
- Pride, jealously, anger
- Lack of control
- Not too sure if I can call it lack of remorse or should I say indifference to the act.

Are we getting intolerant as a people? Are we getting so self-centered that nothing beyond us matters? I won’t call it the corruption of value systems or erosion of the moral fabric- not too sure what they stand for. I think each family is unique and has its own value system, I also believe that every family is dysfunctional to some extent-but they have a formula which probably helps them get through life. I wish I could term these cases as aberrations but the frequency at which they are taking place don’t make them seem like aberrations.
We are focusing on the reasons instead of the cause. Technological advancements have shrunk the world, we have more means to communicate but we now talk and don’t communicate. We have moved from nuclear families to isolated families. There is so much loneliness surrounding us. Best friends today are computer games, websites and chat-rooms, no more family get together, granddad stories, playing with cousins. Parents in a rush rewarding kids with whatever they want, making kids intolerant to failure, wanting quick success. It’s a crazy topsy- turvy world out there.
When I read about Aarushi or Neeraj Grover I see two kids who have everything but lonely in life no one to share their worries and fears with. Maybe Hemraj was the quintessential Ramu Kaka of Hindi films for Aarushi. But one thing I am sure of is that maybe its time we went back to our roots, to our families.