2d-life;

Nakshatratharattu is a film having a very special place in my life, certainly a movie that deserves a place in my reflections on movies. I was an 11-year-old kid when the movie released and had watched it in the theatre with my family. The movie touched me so much that I was sobbing through a big chunk of the movie. When the movie was over, people around me were all pointing at me and murmuring "that is the sobber". To make matters worse, people in my circles had disliked the movie and thought the movie was anything but touching. Though I shared the feeling that the movie could have been better, I strongly felt there were some beautiful ideas in the movie. Nonetheless, I could not convince anyone. As an effect, I became very self-conscious whenever I watched a movie with others. In my own privacy, I still pour out my heart in tears. To the young me, the movie was about a couple adopting "parents". The pain of the couple as they did not have a family, an...

I recently read this wonderful book "Don't sleep, there are snakes" by Daniel Everett.  It describes the author's life in the Amazon with the Pirahas, their language, and their culture.  Apparently, he once missed the greens and asked for a shipment from his friend.  He was caught in the act of having Salad by one of his Piraha friends.  The Piraha was bewildered that Daniel Everett was eating leaves and enquired if he didn't have any meat.  When Everett said he had, but he loves these leaves the Piraha responded: "Piraha's don't eat leaves.  this is why you don't speak our language well.  We Pirahas speak our language well and we don't eat leaves". Notice the striking similarity with what I had talked about in an earlier post . Everett, being a scientist, was clearly aware that correlation and causation are not the same.  But apparently, the words continued to nag him as if they had something useful in it.  I believe, the respect he h...

I was not impressed by Kumbalangi nights.  I don't mean to say it is a bad film.  It is certainly worth watching.  The cinematography is extraordinary.  Also, it has its moments - nice little dialogues.  But with all that, it is just an average film, or so I feel.  As I had explained in a post before , people expect explanations when you express dislike.  Actually, I wouldn't say I dislike, but I did not like it as much as others - the people I talked to.  And, in this case, I think I understand some of the reasons.  And I will be sharing those reasons with you. What do you feel when you hear someone saying "These impoverished people are so lucky.  Wish I had a skinny body like them"?  Movies like Kumbalangi nights elicit the same emotion in me.  The major problem poor people face is lack of money.  If you make a movie on the poor and completely take money out of the equation, that makes no sense.  Kumbalangi night...

I did not particularly enjoy Kismat (Malayalam), Pariyerum Perumal (Tamil) or C/o Kancherapalayam (Telugu), even though the reviews for these films were generally positive. My immediate response was, "how many films about inter-caste or inter-religious love (and the resulting conflicts) would they make?". My heart was craving for variety. On the other hand, I like Hunter X Hunter because it is so similar to Naruto. I have seen so many other Naruto-like anime and I have enjoyed many of them. Hunter X Hunter just deserves a really special mention. If someone informs me about a new anime similar to Naruto, I will jump on it. My heart keeps craving for more and more of the same thing. How does one address this cognitive dissonance? My own answer is as follows: I do not really care for variety. If I like something, I generally crave for more of the same. The lesser I like a particular theme, the easier I will get bored with it. It is then that I crave for "var...

Greek mythology contains tales of dangerous semi-human enchantresses called Sirens.  They seduce travelling sailors to their island using music and song to shipwreck on the rocky coasts.  Odysseus wanted to listen to the song of Sirens.  Heeding to the advice of Circe, he asks his crew to fill their ears with beeswax(so that they will not hear the song) and tie him to the mast of the ship.  He instructed the sailors that they are to leave him tied even if he orders to do otherwise.  Thus he could hear the song of the siren while escaping the treacherous end at the hands of Sirens.  This idea is called pre-commitment and is a favourite of many self-help gurus. The Tamil movie Deepavali gives an interesting twist to this story -  the hero is not Odysseus but a crew member.  Let me elaborate.  The heroine in this movie suffers from post-traumatic memory loss.  Troubled by the stressful experience of not recognising people she is supposed...

It is not uncommon to hear criticisms of unrealistic feats accomplished by heroes in South Indian films.  People are offended by the disregard to physical laws exhibited in these movies.  More often than not, the victims of these criticisms are Telugu films.  In this post, I attempt to explain, how to make sense of (or how I see) these unrealistic, physics-defying acts.  Hopefully, at least some of you would be able to better appreciate these films after reading this article. Say, for example, we are watching a Superman movie and you see Superman flying.  Does that bother you? If yes, you can stop reading right now.  This article is most probably not for you.  If not, why?  I guess it is because the storyteller has given an "explanation".  Notice that this explanation need not be there in this movie.  Someone watching Superman is expected to know that.  Now, let us come to a South Indian film.  In contrast, it appears...

I recently saw a wonderful video analysis on Naruto.  This article is a tribute and response to that video .  The video especially focusses on Naruto's ability to convince people, which he calls "Talk-no-jutsu".  This is a parody of the way techniques are named in Naruto - Jutsu in Japanese means technique and no is a Japanese proposition.  I was extremely impressed by his analysis and it helped clarify a lot of things to me.  For example, I always hated the uselessness of Naruto in Gaara arc. The extended scenes of Naruto chasing Deidara crying "Gaara o kaese" (return Gaara) were irritating. I still think it is irritating. But, he wonderfully explained how it makes sense in the greater scheme of things.  However, there are parts in it where I have slight disagreements with him.  My major disagreement is with his claim that "Naruto's talk-no-jutsu failed" during the Sasuke retrieval arc.  In this post, I will explain why it should ...