Paan Singh Tomar - Flawless Performance

"The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon." - Fred Lebow

Cut the damned wind, bring rythm to the breathing, sharp pain run through the legs, every stride reminds of the distance to be covered, and the passion pushing you towards the finish line and then it happened, I finished my first ever International Mararthon in 2004 followed by six more later.


Am I lucky? or am I Lucky? Both the passions of my life offered together at the same time and it was an awesome threesome session for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Me, Marathon and Movies.

Even flawless has flaw in it, but not Irrfan Khan's performance as Paan Singh Tomar, A farmer turned an Indian Army soldier turned seven times National champion in steeplechase turned notorious dacoit. Irrfan is perfect as an Indian Army soldier, long distance athlete and as the dreaded dacoit. The transformation from an athlete (who created records and broke his own records in Indian and International Games) to a dacoit in rusty look just blows your mind. His expressions are priceless as his eyes does most of the acting. You will not be able to take your eyes off him as Irrfan gets into the character.



Some of the scenes leave a lasting impression. One of the best scenes is when Irrfan does a steeplechase alongwith horses. And the movement of his fingers everytime he runs reminding that the athlete is still alive in him.


Irrfan has raised the bar to an all time high. Will Farhan Akhtar be able to meet the standards as Milkha Singh is a thing to watch out for. Tigmanshu Dhulia and Irrfan complement each other with the Director narrating the story with great control and the talented genius portraying the various shades of the unsung Indian sports hero. Mahie Gill as Irrfan's wife does justice to her role. Exquisite narration of the story with a neat blend of drama, humour and tragedy has also earned a place and praises for the movie in British Film Institute London Film Festival.

The regional dialect with some of the superb lines fit the rusty look of the Chambal valley.. Watch Irrfan deliver these lines with great comfort.At the end of the movie you will be left wanting more from this talented genius. Wish we get to see more from this gifted actor.


Abhi bina waqat barbaad kiye, Paan Singh Tomar dekhne chalo, kaho hau

 

Midnight in Paris - Makes your day

Il n’y a que deux endroits au monde où l’on puisse vivre heureux:  chez soi et à Paris.

(There are only two places in the world where we can live happy:  at home and in Paris.)

                                                                                         -  Ernest Hemingway


The 76 year old magician is back with his most successful commercial movie of his career. Woody Allen is a treasure in the world of movies. He is an accomplished Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Comedian, Musician, and Playwright (how many do you know who is all of these?)

Owen Wilson as Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter who comes on a trip to Paris with his gorgeous fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. While strolling alone in the city, an antique vehicle rolls up and its occupants urge him to join them. He travels back in time with them to a party where he encounters F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter – and falls in love with Pablo Picasso's mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard). As he moves back and forth in time, the comic timing of Woody Allen's sophisticated witty storyline is fun to watch.




The grandeur of Paris, accomplished artists of the yore are captured with finesse. Woody Allen handles the story with great control to find a logical end to the fantasy in this Rom-Com. A well deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Watch the talented Woody Allen narrate a light hearted Oscar nominated romcom Midnight in Paris which will make your day.

Hugo - Magic of movies

For the love of movies, Hugo is a tribute to the makers of early cinema and for their pure creativity. 


Martin Scorsese moving away from his usual gangster flicks creates magic on screen with a simple story of a kid (Hugo) who lives in Paris raliway station winding all the clocks at the station. Hugo has to repair a remarkable automation and a next level to cinema special effects in post world war 1 era with the help of its creator Ben Kingsley

If you thought Martin Scorsese can only do magic on screen with gangster flicks, think again. If you have patience to watch a movie for 2 hours you are in for a visual treat with an extravaganza of colours and special effects in 3D. Watch it for the love of movies and you will know why they won 5 Oscars this year in technical category.

Moneyball - Statistics aint everything

En Vazhi Thani Vazhi

                         - SUPERSTAR Rajni

Leaders tread the unwalken while, followers follow the beaten path. The cut throat business of the national game of America called Baseball, where players are sold and bought at the wink of eye between teams (I see this happeing in IPL very soon). 

In Moneyball, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, 44 year old general manager of the underfunded Oakland Athletics team(also called A's). Jonah Hill, an economist from Yale(who has never played baseball), comes with an idea of creating a team of individuals who have a proven track as per his STATISTICAL ANALYSIS but other teams think otherwise about these players. Watching the movie was more like a deja vu with my superboss, an American return, and his crazy idea of increasing business only by statistical methods and manual intervention a clear no-no .....God bless America for this crazy idea and God save my company.....

The players are bought at cheap rates and they go on to win a straight 20 games creating an American League record with their uncenventional team and method of buying the team. But in the end remember that they never won the final game (Just what I fear whats gonna happen to my company and will be more than happy if proven wrong)


Watch Brad Pitt in his Oscar nominated role and Jonah Hill do justice to their roles in this biographical sports drama.