Life Of Pi - the movie

On 31st of January last year I had blogged on The Great Expectations by Dickens. I also had dreams and expectations that were not fruitful. I was unable to write twelve reviews for the twelve months of the year. I do nonetheless, relentlessly write in my mind. Unfortunate though, I am seemingly unable to find time to produce them here. Yet, time itself is subjective.

I started writing this during the last month of the past year. How apt, I thought to begin my stories at the beginning of the `watched' year and end it before the Mayan’s prediction of a change. To my regret, I was unable to complete it.
They say, whatever you do on the first day of the New year, you would do for the rest of the days. So believing that, I am here writing this and will undoubtedly post it in my blog before the end of the day.

After my return from Da Nang, I did embark on a travelogue. But before I could end it, it was all swiped away from me, due to my own folly, after which I was distressed and could not carry on writing. I stopped. And at that instant, conceivably in annoyance, I contemplated not writing about my travels again. I am unsure if I will change my mind some day, but currently, the thought still holds.

I completed my review on Martel’s `life of pi’ on the 30th of May 2007, at which time, I was delighted to know that Shyamalan, being born in Pondicherry himself, was considering the movie. I couldn’t have been more pleased to know that.

5 years later, it came to my attention that Ang Lee took up the challenge to form the book into a movie. Lee created the Richard Parker I imagined and felt. That was the most important thing for me.

Bold and energetic, this movie cannot be dismissed because there is too much in it. Perhaps I am biased because I am passionate about Martel’s book as much as I am about Lee. I hope though, that it will not cloud my judgment but should it in anyway, I still hope it would relate easily to others.

I watched it in 3D only because Raja recommended it. It would have been a mistake to settle for anything less. Life of pi, the movie, was wildly delightful, intoxicating and breathtaking. Lee gave me the `algaes’ as I imagined them. Being an agnostic, I still fail to understand the stress on God here, but I believe coexistence and spirituality encircle you throughout the movie.

He remains true to the book. Having just returned from Taiwan, I loved Claudio Miranda and his team, the cinematography was enchanting and I have no doubts, it would run for some nominations. It was an absolute visual masterpiece.

Life of Pi is a magical adventure, and if I may say so, a near impossible one. It is the story of a subtly profound friendship built on an inspiring survival. In my blog I had mentioned that at many times, I imagined myself to be Parker and because of that in the movie, he was perhaps the best thing for me. I was not too fond of Suraj. Kaufman says she depended on her guts while casting Suraj, she felt he was perfect for the scenes. I however, would like to differ in thought.

With a hefty USD 120 million production budget and a subject matter encompassing complex themes like faith, religion, spirituality and different cultures, it is a worrying undertaking. When I read the book I felt that only a `vision fuelled'
Shyamalan could have made this possible. But just when the project was becoming a distant memory after directors like Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuaron, and Jean Pierre shelved or abandoned it, Ang Lee’s zeal finally gave it a conclusion. I couldn’t have been more ecstatic.

One of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, from his first major film, also his thesis, `Fine Line',which won him the best director and best film at the NYU annual film awards, he continued outperforming himself until his last `Sense and Sensibility' before the LOP. I never missed his films whether in Chinese or English, infact, I even visited his birthplace in Pingtung, East of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Popular for his listening skills, spongy absorption, and `the feel’ as opposed to demanding and speaking, he gave the movie a remarkable sense of authenticity when it came to facts that were a part of an entire world of fantasy.

Ang Lee is a genius.

To have insisted in Pondicherry looking like it was in the 60’s, and to have the Indian actors speaking English in the right Indian regional accent, having the kind of music that played on the radio during that era with Piscine reading the comic books at that period during his childhood, was unquestionably incredible.

Lee has a special place in my heart so I am naturally prejudiced, but who wouldn’t be about a man who is so big in success, yet so down to earth, incredibly unassuming and simple, someone who hasn’t allowed fame and wealth to change him, someone who is talented beyond his years and can still remain humble, someone who can readily give orders, yet he chooses to listen to others’ contributions.

To me, he made an unfilmable book available on screen.

Based on the bestselling book by man booker prize 2002 winner, Yann Martel, Life of Pi, the movie, tells a story of struggle and survival through seemingly insurmountable odds. Fighting against fate, and participating where the heart is reluctant, the shipwrecked inhabitants of the life boat do extraordinary, unexpected and even heroic deeds to survive. In survival, however, one performs shameful and cannibalistic actions on realization of the possibility of extinction.

An outstanding 3D epic adventure film, so alive with brilliant colours, powerful imagery, and impressive cinematography, one forgives anything, even if it appears unreal. Pi who creates a fearful intimacy with a startlingly realistic Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, spends turbulent months at sea, after Orange juice, the peaceful Orang Utan and the wounded zebra is killed by the ferocious hyena. Driven by both spectacle and substance, along with the fantasy island of meerkats and algaes, the amazing technology and special effects is so magical and mystical, it totally drowns you in its world.

Although Lee brings in the three religions as beautifully as Martel does, he leaves out an important scene towards the end, which is perhaps a wise decision since the movie would have been seen as provocative. Simply said, we choose to believe in what we need to, in order to adjust to our own absurd circumstance of our questioned existence.

Storytelling can be viewed as a lot of things. Like I mentioned in my Martel blog earlier, here too, the whole movie is about Pi’s magical adventure. Only the last few minutes he recasts his account and tells us an entirely different story devoid of animals. Do we choose to believe the reality or do we rather dwell in the adventure? Does the real content of the story matter or do we struggle to reason between the two?

In conclusion, for me, it is never easy coming across someone I can greatly admire. An auteur director, Ang Lee, to me is a master of cinema. He manifests earthly delights like no other.

As for the movie, life of pi is an elegant film that will present us various emotions, with a dash of faith to believe in. An almost near impossible feat of transforming from a book, the film does wonders to the soul. Not to be missed, the whole magic can only be felt on 3D big screen. Here's wishing all happy watching and a very happy and magical year.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

2012 is a gripping year for me. For the many predictions nearing apocalypse which I am hopeful of a formation into reality, and in combating that, 2012 being the year of the black water dragon, which contains earth, water and wood makes it a year of mystery and apprehension at the same time.

Being a believer of the natural destruction of the present world in cause of the arrogant and selfish nature of humans, i also like to float in my own elements and enjoy the freedom and success of the fire horse, who is about the luckiest person this year.

A new year always marks a new beginning, new targets, new hopes, and new dreams for most people. While everyone was busy making resolutions, I just wanted to do one thing. Write.

For the twelve months of obscurity, I wanted certainty and assurance in regularizing my views into my blog. My aim is twelve reviews for the twelve months at least. Being in the present situation, with ma ill, hospital appointments, work pending, travel plans, big company targets, family responsibilities, team building, friends gatherings, putul’s guitar, kumon and taekwando classes and my other hundred and one things to do, it would be an almost impossible task to achieve. But then, often a determined mind makes us do the unfeasible. And should the 21st of December prove the Mayans right, I would be satisfied knowing I did my best.

January 2012 finally sees me completing Spiegelman’s ` MausI’. I wanted to write about it but I thought I should complete the second part to give the review full justice. I also did a quick read on Archer’s, `Shall we tell the President?’ and Grisham’s, `An innocent man’. An attempt was made on Dame Antonia Susan Duffy Byatt’s, `Possession – a romance’ but it reminded me of 3 decades ago when I first picked up The mayor of Casterbridge. I couldn’t digest Hardy’s first page, let alone the rest. It was the same with A S Byatt. So I abandoned it for this time and decided for simpler versions of the classics, Great Expectations and The Count of Monte Cristo.

A bildungsroman, Charles Dicken’s `Great Expectations’ needs reviewing. Having read it at a time when i had not even started constructing sentences of my own, it definitely has a deep connection to my soul, the second time around. Brilliantly written and literally challenging, Dicken’s book is about a young orphaned boy called Phillip (Pip). He lives with his sister and brother in law, a blacksmith called Joe. Dickens creates a humble and honest character in Joe, a person you would like to like but who will not be a prize amongst the powerful and the wealthy.

A dramatic story webbed with remarkable characters who can change the direction of your thoughts as easily as you can create them. We assume too much and things turn unexpectedly.

Pip meets Magwitch, an encounter with a supposedly deadly convict who escapes and is in hiding. Reluctantly and in fear, he helps Magwitch. Years later, the same convict is the benefactor who makes him an educated `gentleman’. Dickens does not portray Pip as a hero. Despite the weakness shown in his character during the time he was being educated (when he feels ashamed of the company of Joe), we are still made to like him for what he is, perhaps we see the underlying goodness in him.

Miss Havisham is a wealthy old spinster who is still wearing her wedding gown and living in a gloomy dirty house out of a broken heart for being left at the altar on her wedding day. She has adopted Estella, a beautiful young lady who is taught to avenge her by breaking the hearts of young men who fall for her. Eccentric and bitter, she continues to enjoy watching people wait on her to obtain her wealth.

Pip is invited by Havisham to entertain her and while he is there, he falls in love with Estella. She rebukes him, insults and humiliates him, but he continues to love her. In order to win her heart, he accepts the mysterious offer from a stranger (Magwitch) to become a `gentleman’.

Dickens' development of timeless themes of love,fear, loneliness, revenge, the social system, humiliation and honour is all incorporated in the great expectations.

When Pip’s sister is injured and needs taking care of, Biddy, a sweet, sensible, honest young woman walks in to take care of her. We see a possibility of Pip and Biddy getting together as we prefer the wise and humble Biddy over the arrogant Estella. However, when Mrs Joe dies, and Pip comes back to ask for Biddy’s hand in marriage, he is told that she will marry Joe instead.

Pip’s constant desire of a more comfortable lifestyle and infatuation with beauty has only portrayed him as a superficial character. Yet, he does the right thing in the end as he grows in compassion and gratitude.

Good versus evil, wealth and corruption, responsibilities, guilt and redemption, love and rejection, snobbery, manipulation, secrecy, gratitude, ambition, obsession, class structure and social rules, religious attitudes, legal system, prisons and reforms, deceit and honesty, …Dickens had it all in this book.

Dickens brings out a low self esteemed Pip, who at first does not stand up for himself, and then later is introduced to a fantasy world at Havisham’s where he is mesmerized with Estella’s beauty. The high life becomes his quest and he disregards honest friendship and down to earth simplicity.

At the end, he loses love in Biddy and also in Estella. He also loses fortunes and the wealthy impressions he wanted. However, I think at the end, with his development of wisdom, he does accomplish great expectations.

Today is the last day of January, and I have accomplished writing this review. There is still need of reviewing The Count of Monte Cristo, which is a book that kept me turning pages till I reached the end. For now, let Archer and Grisham rest too. February will see me travelling to Cochin, and I am to complete MausII too.

The dragon year has started with a blast, and I received the best news ever, Cyriaco has bought me a kindle!!!

Revolution 2020 - Chetan Bhagat

I have this uncanny ability to like every book I read, every movie I watch and every place I visit. My November visit to Delhi brought me back three books, Papa gave me Chetan Bhagat’s Revolution 2020, and Pamuk’s Snow, while Raja gave me William Bissell’s Making India Work.

R2020 was an effortless read. Having books like My name is red by Pamuk and The book thief by Zusak as my favourites, R2020 neither pampered nor challenged my literary senses, and I have no authority to critique the politics and corruption that comes with it. However, this being my first Bhagat book, and having none else to compare with, it made me smile.

A love triangle involving Gopal, Aarti and Raghav in the holy ghats of Varanasi.

A predictable plot of love, ambition, desperation and disappointment, along with a sight into the corrupt education system and dishonest dealings with inherent corruption in the government, splashed with the a few who want to revolutionize the situation, money being just a necessary exchange, with determination and passion being everything else, it still is enjoyable reading. Albeit, simple and expected, nothing extraordinary but still enjoyable.

Many people write because they have a flair, much knowledge and want to share their story with the rest who both read and comment, many write as a career and to earn an income, many write in want of praise.

I write because it fills my soul. Much has happened between the last penned blog to this, and though I would want to write everyday for the rest of my life…I also want to read as much, travel as much and watch the directors transform ideas into watchable narratives. However, there is just that much time.

Soon after I completed Bhagat's book, I decided to send him a mail, and start blogging again, but before i had the chance to do that, I picked up Bissell's book and the moment I read his first sentence, `an overheard conversation in a small bookshop in dehra dun galvanized me to write this book', I took a pen and a paper and started writing. So, thanks to them both for feeding my soul once again.

As a frequent visitor to India, I find the antagonism of the people towards corrupt politicians deep yet unchallenged. Above that, the public practice corruption amongst themselves, from the tiniest package delivered to the job application scenario. The truth is, the elite and those who hold assets of monetary value, with power and position are the ones who can help change the system, but why would they do so, since they are the ones who gain the most from the status quo. The poor neither have rights nor voices to speak. They are too busy surviving to even bother about the meaning of revolution. There will be no revolution in year 2020 or after that if there is no addressing the basic problems.

So is it a wonder, that Gopal, Chetan’s protagonist, chooses corruption as an aid to achieving success and wealth over a life of struggle due to the failure of meeting the standards of the education criteria or not having rich parents to pass on monetary assets of value? Would someone in his position not secure the opportunity of doubling money over an agricultural land he possesses which is valueless, and take the help of politicians who use power and corruption to turn the land into a worthy asset? Do we really perceive that as an unfair? Is it really wrong that someone who has struggled in his life should find a way to success not through his own misdeeds but through corrupt politicians?

We seek the help for sustainable economic growth and opportunity and we let someone else take the blame for it. Can we suspend judgement on ourselves but continue to aggressively blame the governance? Yet who is chosen to the governance and if the people have the voting rights, where is the alteration? Why is there talk of revolution and genuine change for decades? With huge shopping malls at every corner, foreign intervention and knowledge, with export and import of intellectuals, goods and services, why is there no clear route to the solutions of the problem? Is the problem, the governance and the corrupt politicians or is it us? If it is the government, then why are we consenting to it?

Like i had mentioned earlier, I have no authority to address the political system or ruling government of another country. Therefore let it be apparent that I don’t impudently question anyone in particular. Sometimes I genuinely ask for ambiguity to be removed from my own thoughts.

I mentioned that R2020 was an enjoyable read. It was. But I was relating to didon about how I would have wanted the book to be more about revolution (because of the title) than the focus on the love triangle and self indulgence..and she said, maybe Bhagat intended it that way so that we see the dash of revolution and in that find its importance.

So in conclusion, from someone who is new to Bhagat…and has no comparisons to make…if it is your first book, you would undoubtedly enjoy his simple flow. And if you have read his other books, don’t leave out this one, because like didon said, he intended something with it, and so just flow along and enjoy the undemanding pressures of its interpretation.

half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie

regrettably due to certain emergencies, my bike test is cancelled for tomorrow. hopefully i will be able to take it next thursday, the 5th of november. i am disheartened by this. i think i have almost perfected the bridge and was hoping to come back home with a pass. sigh!!!

when i travelled to chennai in february this year, i visited a cottonite, an ex classmate, someone i am so happy to be connected with again..sheila. on her shelf rested this book called half of a yellow sun. we spoke of books and she suggested this one in particular, speaking of its excellence.

the first nigerian i have read was chinua achebe, however i have never read an african female writer before this, so i had decided that on my way back home i would pick up adichie. from chennai i took a flight to delhi, where i met up with someone i have admired ever since our first contact, someone i have learnt a world of knowledge from, raja. we walked into this bookstore where he asked me if i wanted a book and i said yeah adichie. so chimamanda ngozi adichie's half of a yellow sun was a gift from him.

to sheila and raja, thank you.

adichie was 29 when she wrote this book. to possess that kind of skill and maturity in one's writing at this age is a total incredulity. i don't know if i was captivated immediately and i am not sure if i was really delighting with everything she wrote, but one cannot fail to notice how brilliantly she had crafted the characters, narrated the war through them, twined together each event and allowed us to embrace them with all their faults and contradictions.

the ease with which she uses the language to describe and convey cynicism, racism, infidelities, desires, inconsistencies and starvation is a mark of admiration, that which very few authors can achieve at this young age.

olanna and kainene, the twin sisters who are like chalk and cheese, seem to be the main characters in this book and also the 13 year old boy ugwu, who works for odenigbo. dissimilar twin sisters portray a vehicle for parallel and different lives, providing basis of similarities and metaphors of contrasts. even though odenigbo and richard, the partners to the twins seem to be important people, much is left out about their work and ideas. i personally feel that odenigbo is endowed with knowledge that is never explored. and richard, a radical never seems to be offering any opinion, which is pretty strange. perhaps adichie meant them to exist as a background to bring forth and express the characters of the twins.

half a yellow sun talks of the civil war that broke out in nigeria during the late 60's.. the narration of the war-torn nigeria includes famine, poverty, starvation, food camps, refugee camps and other stark realities of any war. historically, shortly after gaining their independence from britain, several parts of nigeria were left competing for political and central control rights. nigerians began to massacre their northern igbo people who dominated most of the country's civil services. as a result the igbo people formed their own independent biafra which eventually led to a three year civil war in nigeria. biafra was forced to surrender but not before enduring violence, famine, and death of millions.

adichie starts with the peaceful period before the war, the beginning 60's introducing the main characters and then she alternates the sections of the book with the war, taking the characters through it, redrawing their identities and describing vivid scenes of the war's brutality. as their lives intersect, they have to question their own response to the unfolding events. destruction spreads like wild fire. during this fight against their oppressors, olanna becomes a volunteer imparting education to the famished biafran children. she explains to them their flag's symbol, the colour red is for the blood of their brethren massacred in the north, black for mourning them, green for the prosperity that biafra will achieve, and half of a yellow sun for their glorious future.

half of a yellow sun won the 2007 orange prize for fiction in britain and was a finalist for the national book critics circle award. this extraordinary novel is about love and war, loyalty and infidelity, truth and a desperate optimism amidst all the crisis. it is about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiance and it offers us the truth about class and race, about the way in which love can complicate all these things. it is an insightful journey to post independent nigeria, and to understand human emotions through love and despair, hope and truth. adichie excellently indulges in her imagination and blends it with history to provide us an engaging tale that keeps us reflecting long after we have finished the book.

happenings

somehow the mind gets restive when i dont indulge in writing. feels like a remedial drug and i can breathe in peace after absorbing myself in it. the mind is always bursting but one doesnt get time to sit and expand on those thoughts.

been a long gap. much has ensued. today's newspapers say that 2012 cannot be the end of the world, well, that is just one opinion. someways i wish it would be what the mayan calendar indicates. maybe there is too much arrogance and maybe we deserve an apocalyptic world..and maybe, just maybe the indigo children will make a difference.

the new budget has imposed taxes on every credit card a person owns..that would mean increased charity since i have seven. it is time to cut down to one, or two conceivably.everything happens for a valid reason, good or bad. sigh!!

the fan gave way today...everything is aging like me. i still managed to display on and fasten it with cellotapes and make it work. amazing how creative the mind gets facing the end of the road.

the washing machine is producing a huge clamour...so loud that we ourselves got a scare. with halloween around the corner, we can perchance celebrate it this way. mum says it is time we purchase a new one but i say, we will get used to the racket. let it completely collapse, only then i will decide. lol.

over the weekend, i also had a childhood relationship go bad. strange how sensitive people can be, and even more arrogant. do we blame ourselves for relationships that go sour? it does take two to tango but when you want to meet someone half way, and he doesnt, are you doing your part of the dance?

it has been raining. the rain is beautiful..have always been in love with it, but not when i am on the bike. it kills. both time and effort.

i sit for my bike test this thursday, the 29th. i still worry about the bridge. i hope i can make it above seven seconds. i have postponed it too long, its time i face those dreadful officers.

there are some friends you could have for more than 15 years who dont seem to know you no matter how close, and there are some who you have just met, who will give their lives for you...pretty bizarre that time doesnt really play a role in friendship.

when we are down, we oft forget those times when we were happy. some say we can be constantly happy if we choose to be. would i want to choose that? i think it is amazing to experience all feelings...sad, happy, down, up, regret, gratitude, everything...makes you a whole person. so i believe its great to feel down too..life offers many perspectives and as many possibilities..isnt it great that we always have a choice?

opah

i had written a tribute to opah and a little about what i wanted to remember about her. but i had misplaced the document and eventually lost it. sigh!! well, there is a reason for it all and it gives me great pleasure to write about her again.

we had many neighbours before and after opah moved in and out. but we only remember her. i don't quite know how to begin the story of opah and me, opah and us. but this year her life story came to an abrupt end.

latifah sends me a text message at 5am and tells me opah is no more. it brought tears to my eyes almost immediately. she was a dear dear woman. even though it was already time for her to go, i found it difficult to accept her passing. she is dearly missed.

she gave love a new meaning. when i was away at boarding school, i would write to her, think about her and bring her back gifts...only she was worthy of them. i would have my meals with her at her place, she would send food home when i wasn`t around.

she loved us all especially mum. they had a unique relationship, more than that of a mother and a daughter. even when i took ma to visit the already so frail opah during raya last year, that love between them emerged and was witnessed by all of us, her grandchildren, great grandchildren and us. annually hari raya visit to opah's place became a ritual and we never failed to get opah a sarong or something similar to it. her memory faded but she remembered ma. and she was as beautiful as she has always been to me.

after the morning chores, i went for the doa reading. latifah said i could hold her and kiss her but i couldnt let my tears touch her body. my tears kept flowing and i had no control of them...she meant the world to me when i was young and even though her age meant she had to go, i wasnt ready to let her go. i was supposed to visit her this raya.

finally i got a hold of myself. the tears were controlled and i was able to hold her close to my heart. i had to let her go soon after that as the tears were beginning to flow again.

i cannot describe my relationship with her. it isn`t that of a grandmom and a grandchild. it isn`t that of a friend. its that of souls and it simply cannot be described. i write about her in my blog and my journal because if i do manage to have a long life and if i do lose my memory, i would want to read this and know that there was someone like her in my life and that i was privileged to have had her blessings. she will always be missed.

continuation of my 43rd year...

ever since our friendship began, see and chee kiang, two smart young chinese lads, both lecturers of utar and ktar respectively have made it a tradition to give sis and me a treat on our birthdays. so since 29th night was only for family, 30th night was with see and chee kiang.

i wanted thai food. my favourite joint was the one in genting klang opposite stephen's corner so when see asked `where' i said it with sureity...

didon, drish and i drove there first only to find it shut. the next choice was the thai restaurant next to papa roach in sri rampai..we were all so wildly hungry so we speeded there only to find that one closed too. so didon says..maybe we are not meant to have thai...yeah in thailand, they pay homage to the king on tuesdays by wearing yellow and closing their business. however, i refused to settle for anything other than thai...

so we drove to wangsa melawati...and thank the many universes, the restaurant was open. we had a good meal, spicy tom yam with lovely thai veggies and see gave me a book ... the naked tourist by lawrence osborne. according to didon, she chose the book but see grabbed it from her after knowing she was getting it for me. i also received a massager from him...a small shoulder massage which works on batteries. nice little thing.

it did not end there...the next day, i was treated for lunch at abc. my insurance boss, arpita gave us all a treat, shamshul's bday is in july, hardip's in january, kavita's in june.

and yet another book for a gift...the wisdom of the millenium. food was good with mutton/chicken biryani, rotis, chicken and paneer masalas. i knew i would be the only person to receive a gift, so i thought of giving them gifts for their birthdays to come. so i gift wrapped three books with hand-made book marks in them.

i gave the afghan to shamshul, the appeal to hardip and the secret of the secret to arpita. we had good food, good company and good books for that afternoon.

after my return home, see suddenly calls and says we musn't miss the best pan mee in the whole world...hehehe. so we drove to kepong and actually had the greatest and the most unique pan mee...so it was a three day celebration of my 43rd birthday...hmm! didnt i mention earlier that life truly begins after 40?