Encounters with Reality

                It happens that we choose we do certain things because of FOMO. That is how I ended up watching All We Imagine As Light (AWIAL). And somewhere in the first half, I realized that I should not have been movie hall to watch this move. I could have waited for it to appear on OTT or even other chance encounter. I liked the movie. I like the detailing of reality in the art form. But may be because of age, I seek an escape through the stories that I interact with, a shock to my senses, an intellectual or moral puzzle that stays with me. AWIAL contains nothing of this sort. It is a story of temporary closures, shown beautifully and marketed even more successfully. Image from internet                It has its own moments of magic, a part where we must choose to believe whether a certain character is indeed what it seems to be. The movie turns there and one of the leadin...

 Netflix has delivered a punch in ‘Guns and Gulaabs’. As many of noted, it drags a bit, which lowers the fun somewhat. But still, it is a thrilling ride, of taut storyline which has unbelievable but perfectly anticipated coincidences. More importantly, it unleashes the violence, right in the style of acclaimed directors who tell such violent tales yet manages to keep the humour alive. It is a difficult mixture, violence with humour, and perhaps it should be forbidden considering the how easily people are coming to blows, bullets, and killings. Barring the end, where everyone knows how to drive a truck, the story manages the internal consistency of the plot well. Like a true profit maximiser, certain interesting threads are kept dangling, to provide material for the next season if finance demands so. If not, it is a tale well told, over and out. Apart from being a heady mixture of humour and violence, there are some aspects of ‘GG’ (Guns and Gulaabs) which made me like it more. ...

 Black Mirror is the poison I look forward to consuming. The ideas of humanity in the increased scope of technology are sometimes so well-portrayed that the mark of philosophical deadlock stays on one’s mind for long. With these expectations, I was bit disappointed with the first two episodes of the latest season (released in June 2023). First one was fine, though utterly predictable for those with long association with series. The second one is not even a Blank Mirror episode. By just being a psychological thriller, it doesn’t even the fit to the theme Black Mirror has explored. Finally, it hit home with the third one. There it is, a question, who we are, staring in our face as the story unfolds. The episode reminded me of a cynical imagination I have nursed for long. While commuting in suburban local trains of Mumbai, I have always wondered about it when I have felt crushed right at the start of the day by a giant wave of increasingly homogenous human existence. What if two...

  'Darlings' is a dark comedy worth your time. It might be even more worth if you have a part that enjoys philosophical churning about human behaviour.  Against the run of play, Darlings turns somewhat preachy at a very critical moment in the movie. Perhaps there was no other way to go about. The critical moment gives us an intriguing question: Will we be permanently haunted by our conscience if we choose to commit an evil act consciously and when committing such an act is against our nature? By evil act, we can assume an act that leads to physical, very likely a bodily harm to others. The argument goes as follows - sooner or later your conscience will make you aware of the evil act you have committed. And once we are aware, we cannot be at peace. And then the utilitarian implication follows- if you do not want to lose your peace, do not commit evil.  In some sense, the argument is demeaning. It asks us not to be evil because that is better than being an evil. If somehow,...

 Somewhat famous Netflix series ‘Ozark’ has come to an end. Right from the start, Ozark has been hailed as next in the line from ‘Breaking Bad’. Ozark does not come close to the cold-blooded excellence of ‘Breaking Bad’, but it managed to create a world of its own, mostly due to impactful portrayal of Wendy Byrde. The end was quite classic, where Wendy has dialogues which capture the essence of her and Marty’s actions and of the theme of the series.             What captivates us in series like ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Ozark’ (and spin-off likes ‘Better Call Soul’) is supposed descent into the cesspool of immorality of the characters, the way they break into world of being bad. The way central character makes apparently ‘wrong’ choices, starting with justified ends like self-survival or helping the family, but eventually realizes the power that such wrong choices can confer and then takes that path to the end story has. The story ...

For last 100 days, I am living in the shadow of epidemic. What exactly is this shadow? Part of this shadow, a small part, is death. For my age, the threat of death is not large. The great part of the shadow is possible agony of being helpless if I or my dear ones must access the health facilities. From what neighborhood WhatsApp and Social media gossip is, the hospital bed is new elite consumption. It is only one’s access to influence that can fetch a Covid-19 patient in my town a hospital bed in my town. Patients are being admitted to hospitals in other towns, sometimes 60 or more km away. Relatives often have to frantically call hospital after hospital, seek any outlet for help, all the while worrying about prospect of the patient. Possibility of this experience is the great part of the shadow. The remaining part is the boredom induced by being stuck at home.             Plague is not really a great metaphor for Covid-19. Covid-...