RAJNEETI: A BLOODY SAGA

A first day show of a Hindi movie was not something I had planned in the city of Salem. While standing at the ticket counter, I remembered the grand old days when watching movies on the first day especially of RGV and Raj Kumar Santoshi was a matter of pride and a way to pay tribute to the makers of those movies.

Prakash Jha is another director who demands that kind of respect. His last few offerings-Gangajal,Apharan were very strong reasons to eagerly look forward to Raajneeti.Surprising this time was the also the fact that this was perhaps the first time when his movie had made so much news long before it hit the screens. I must confess that the hype was totally misplaced and uncalled for. His movies don’t demand unnecessary footage for the topics he chooses for his films. More so, the pre release hype talked about the things, the movie is definitely not about. So, a big disappointment for Katrina fans who had come to see her portray Sonia Gandhi on screen.

Though the titles show Anjum Rajabali and Prakash Jha as the Story and Screenplay writers, the credit for the original story goes undoubtedly to the revered Maharshi Ved Vyas.Very early in the movie, the characters of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, Karna, Bheema, Duryodhana, Arjun and Karna evolve in the movie very distinctly. It does take time for a viewer to recognise each character vividly in the story initially, but it gets clear as the story builds up and the blood-lines of loyalty are drawn.

Prakash Jha depicts a no-hold quest for power in the political arena in this movie. He has this trademark way of showing things in their naked form , as we found out in his older offerings be it Mrityudand,Gangajal and Apharan.A few plots may be a little too far-fetched, but the storyline does appear believable. The first half scores over the second half in the way events unfold and the pace at which they unfold. The second half promised a mouth watering plot when the fact was to be revealed to Ajay Devgan (sorry, Devgn) that he was actually the elder brother of Arjun Rampal and Ranvir Kapoor.But , the highlight turned out to be biggest disappointment of the movie. It completely lacked the passion, the punch and impact. What a waste of an opportunity which could have become a legendary scene in the modern cinema.

I am surprised at the choice of the lady who played the role of the mother of the 3 sons. No offence meant lady, but the question mark is definitely over Prakash Ji.Prakash Ji, when you could have Naseeruddin Shah for gate crashing a rally, for a wet rainy dance a short love making scene, what stopped you from having someone who could do more justice to a pivotal character role? The central story could have remained pretty much the same, had the “karna-factor” not been there too. But, having it and then blowing it is a kind of “post purchase dissonance” in marketing parlance.

Over to performances, this is something which is more or less guaranteed in a Prakash Jha film. This movie was a treat with so many stalwarts sharing the screen together making me wonder at times whom to concentrate at. Arjun Rampal as the aggressive Bheema,Manoj Bajpai as the modern day Duryodhana, Ajay Devgn as the loyal Karna ( a role to die for ),Nana Patekar as the wise Krishna .But if I were to pick one, then the vote goes unambiguously goes to Ranvir Kapoor.What a performance for a novice!! He portrays the role of the focussed Arjun very effortlessly, letting the subtlety of the role take its prominence. The gradual transformation from a Ph.D student in British Arts to a cold blooded killer was played really well. Well done young man, for reposing the faith of the Director on you and holding on to your mettle amongst so many seasoned actors.

Contrary to pre-release hype, post-release Katrina would be the last person one would talk about. The entire buzz surrounding her playing Sonia ji fell flat on its face. In fact, the only similarity begins and ends with the fact that both are widely appreciated ladies in India born off Non-Indian set of parents. Katrina does have her moment in the film at the climax where she addresses a huge rally and invokes passionately the loyalty of the supporters for her family and party.

Overall, a good watch which delivers most of what was promised. I am sure it’ll rake in good moolah too. But I left the theatre with a disturbing thought. On one hand there has been a deliberate effort by some movie makers to encourage educated, young, smart Indians to participate actively in national matters through politics, and on the other hand this movie would be strong repulsion to the state of political affairs in the country.

Idlis : Not so Idyllic everywhere.

I’ve been on “the move” across the state for exactly one week now. I visited Madurai,Tanjore,Kumbakonam and am writing this after having spent 2 days in Trichy.I have been missing a lot of things for the last week- the things I had got used to over the last year and which I had assumed to be a part of my life. But apart from all other academic learnings, this rude shock was a real eye opener.

Before the readers come to a conclusion that the following write up will be an emotional outburst, let me make it very clear that I do not have any intention to do that. In fact, it is about one of the things I had never imagined I’d ever miss in life. Yes, it is “Tifany’s”.Every IIT-Madras student has a love – hate relationship with Tifany’s i.e. everyone loves to hate it. For its catering service from dawn to past midnight, it should have been accorded the status of a “historically important site”. But thanks to his management (or the lack of it), the management students learn important lessons on “what not to do in a business”. I mean, to see the customers as a “necessary inconvenience” is a crime in service industry. Well, this is what our wise teachers emphasise upon, all Marketing Gurus would vouch for and common logic supports. But somehow, this eating joint has been thriving defying all these fundae. I recall a famous quote on this context : “ Either someone has goofed up or someone is corrupt”. Chances of goofing up time and again can be safely ruled out, so that leaves us with the second option.

But, Tifany bashing is my favourite time pass in campus. This is not the reason I am troubling my fingers on the keyboard now.Over the last week, I realised that Tifany makes “idlis”

better than many established food chains in the cities I visited. In fact, I’ve seen so many versions ( the bad ones) of the idlis that I wonder if this is the staple “tiffin” in TN. Many of them had strange shapes; I have seen as many shapes of “idlis” as the different shapes of “Shivalingas” in different temples. Some of them appeared like balls of steam boiled fermented dough.And mind you, this was not a one off incident I am exaggerating about. I was being served such idlis at breakfast day after day till I decided to order some other riskier breakfast options.

Tifany’s despite all its management issues, still serve good idlis at Rs.7 per plate with 3 varieties of chutneys and a bowl full of sambar.Next time I eat them in Tifany’s, I’ll be “thankful” for a change.



PS: I had one of the best idlis the very next morning I wrote this. I do not mind acknowledging this but I still do not want to “eat my earlier words” because they are as much a reality as these “soft as cotton balls” idlis.

Kumbakonam: A memorable Sojourn

Kumbakonam , a temple city in Tamil Nadu , I realised could be a base camp for any temple enthusiast.Tiruvarur,Chidambaram,Tanjore,Velankanni,Nagapatnam,Trichy,Karaikal are all located less than a 100 kms from this city, which itself boasts of many beautiful and mythologically significant temples.


The name of the city finds its roots in the Hindu Mythology. Lord Brahma, fearing the catastrophic effects of the “pralay” (deluge) at the end of Dwaparyuga approaches Lord Siva to do something to save the “prithvi” (earth).With blessings of Lord Siva, Lord Brahma floats a Kumbha carrying Amudha (Amrut), religious grass, sacred thread and evolution seeds. This kumbha travels southwards from Mount Kailash along with the flood water and in the course leaves behind the articles of the Kumbha at different places. Lord Siva then takes the form of a hunter and breaks open the Kumbha with an arrow at the place which is present day Kumbakonam. Lord Siva, in his incarnation as the hunter, makes a “sivalinga” out of the wet sand where the water from the Kumbha had fallen. Thus, the city got its name from this incident of the “Kumbha”.The sivalinga is special in the sense that it was made by the “mahadev” himself and is located in the “Kumbheshwar” temple. The sivalinga is also different in the sense that it is not made of granite and it appears a little tapered at the top. No abhishekam is performed on the linga by liquids lest it’ll lose its shape. There are 2 more Siva temples namely Kashi Vishwanath temple adjacent to a lake and the Nageshwar temple.

Then there are temples of Lord Vishnu: Sarangapani (God in the “ananta shayanam” position) and Chakrapani (God in the “Sudarshan Chakra” form).Excellent temples with breathtaking architecture is something which can be said about all these temples. There is a Ramaswamy temple in which the complete Ramayana is depicted in 3 rows of some 210 odd paintings on the walls surrounding the sanctum santorum.

A little distance from Kumbakonam is Tirunageshwaram which is famous for temple of the much revered and often feared “Rahu”.A milk abhishekam is done to Rahu every hour for which there is always a beeline of devotees. The same temple also has a temple of Devi Uma ( Parvati) with Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi.Going ahead on the same route, we see another beautiful temple of “Upaliappan”( Lord Vishnu).A few kilometres from Kumbakonam is the temple of Lord Karthikeyan ( Swami Malai) which I could not cover this time.

How can I forget Raju, the auto driver who took me around all these temples in less than 4 hours? I got his contact through my uncle who is a seasoned temple visitor and has extensive contacts with guest houses, auto-taxi drivers in all the major temple cities of India. I never imagined that this trip planned at such a short notice will be so satisfying. There are certainly some forces at work. May the forces be with me.