Desicritics Author: Pratyush Khaitan

Mumbai - The Core of India

Pratyush Khaitan — Thu, 4 Mar 2010 22:52:01 EST

I am in Mumbai for a business trip and though I am a frequent visitor, I notice a change. It is a religious exuberance by a few like I have never seen before. There are saffrons and symbolisms of religion every where to be seen. It is a perfect setting for me to be staying in a hotel opposite recently renamed Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus from the old Grand name VT or Victoria Terminus.

At first, I feel alarmed. Why are these people showing off their religions so vibrantly, so intrudingly as a procession stops the traffic on my way to the hotel from the city. I am agitated, alarmed at the situation we face ourselves.

Then, when I think over it, I find that this really is the core of India. In India, every one has a right to express himself or herself, whether right or wrong and no one can stop you from doing that. That's what freedom is. That's what democracy is.

It is the same democracy which allowed Bapu to fast and churn a nation and more. It is the same fast which allows a Shiv Sanik to talk about partitioning Mumbai from India. In India, they can both co-exist.

India is a great, great nation and more strength will come to it as time goes on because of India's strength of absorbing the rebellious in the liberal.

PS - This is not a movie post but if you get a chance, watch Mumbai Meri Jaan which captures the spirit of Mumbai and essentially India very aptly.

Movie Review: Karthik Calling Karthik

Pratyush Khaitan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:06:31 EST

Just about 15-20 people turned up for Karthik Calling Karthik. The multiplex I go to (Inox Swabhumi) has small crowds but this was sparse by even their standards. Every one is still catching up with My Name Is Khan or Three Idiots.

The movie itself was a bit of a disappointment though I didn't expect much. I looked forward to seeing Deepika Padukone in the unorthodox and brave style she usually portrays and Farhan Akhtar in his logical usual because I enjoy both these roles. Deepika was excellent in Love Aaj Kal and Farhan Akhtar was good in Luck By Chance. As much as I love Farhan Akhtar (I placed two of his films in Bollywood decade top 10), I think his acting is good without being close to great. And that's fine, you can't be great at every thing.

Coming to the movie. It had a pleasant first half and an excellent start to the second half. The grip and tension could not be maintained though. It felt like a slow drama evolving in front of you instead of a thriller like it should have been (in the same pace of Johny Gaddar). There was never a moment of pure brilliance or a shot taken which really enthralled you.

The songs except Lehrake Bhalkake were all ok tunes and even though I don't care much about songs, I expected more here. Ram Kapoor of Rakhi Ka Swayamwar fame was good in his role of Farhan Akhtar's boss. The mystery behind the movie was not very complex and I figured it out partially very early into the film. I am watching Teen Patti next and I expect it to be the better bet of the two this weekend.

6/10

Movie Review: Road To Sangam - Best Gandhi Film I have seen

Pratyush Khaitan — Thu, 4 Feb 2010 18:56:05 EST

*this review contains no spoilers*

I went to watch Road to Sangam only knowing that it was a film with a connection with Gandhi and had won some awards. What transpired on the screen in the next 135 minutes changed my perception of Gandhi and changed me as a person. I am someone who did not regard Gandhi in the high esteem a lot of people regard him in. He, to me, was some one who was adamant and threatened the nation with his blackmails which were carried out promptly by his followers. What I did not understand was that it was the power of Gandhi's thoughts which made people act the way they did. It had reason, it had logic.

Coming to the film. We are given a rationale and the film makes a strong case for it. You almost start believing in the thinking behind it. Then, there is a slow process of change which is so slow and gradual. It is not some thing which happens right away or through a flash bulb of genius. It is realization in process. The way the change is shown is convincing enough for some one to believe in the Gandhian principle.

The film has many layers to it. It is a film which asks 'what defines Karma'. It is a film about holding upright the faith Gandhi showed in the muslims of India. It is a film about how a person be it a muslim or a person of any religion (or even an agnostic or atheist for that matter) should behave. That's the bigger picture.

Then the film touches on tough subjects like partition and the role of an Indian Muslim. Many layers and subjects touched, all given due space.

Paresh Rawal is excellent in the role of a man who works based on logic and is principled at the same time. I can't think of a better actor to carry out the role. The part of a Muslim from the state of Uttar Pradesh, perfect with the local accent, who has his own little mannerisms and characteristics is played perfectly. The facial expressions are not exaggerated. The lines are spoken with a calm balance about them, exactly how the character would say it.

The pace of the movie is neither fast, nor slow. It has it's own rhythm and flows rather than moves. The cinematography is excellent with aspects of small town India (the city Allahabad in this case) shown. There are panoramic views and then there is attention to detail. A man making aloo tikki is shown for instance to capture the flavour of the chaat which is so popular in small town India.

Coming to Gandhi films, I have seen quite a few. Gandhi was a great biographical sketch. Gandhi My Father shows the flaws of Gandhi - the father of his son. Lage Raho Munnabhai which was so popular tries to explain the Gandhi way of thinking and does a fair job of it. It has the bollywood masala mixed in it, was perfectly marketed and was a huge success. Gandhigiri became a trend. Sardar, again starring Paresh Rawal (as Sardar Patel), paints Gandhi as a principled, yet stubborn man whose will might have cost India There are umpteenth movies which are presented as documentaries on Gandhi, most of which are holistic. No movie portrays Gandhism, like Road To Sangam does. At least none I have seen.

The show I went for was almost canceled as only one other person showed up at the ticket counter. In the end, just five of us came to watch the movie which they did screen thankfully. One engineer who had studied from Allahabad itself remarked that Gandhism is dead as no one turned up for this movie. I remarked that Munnabhai was a huge success. So it is a marketing flaw and lack of funds which meant audiences didn't come to watch this film. There is another aspect to it. It isn't a masala flick like many other bollywood flicks or like Munnabhai. It is not boring in any way, mind.

I give the movie a perfect 10/10. Don't think it could have been made better.

I just hope more people see it. So go see it and spread the word!

Movie Review: Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo

Pratyush Khaitan — Tue, 2 Jun 2009 20:38:19 EDT

Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo is a 1974 Bengali film by the acclaimed director Ritwik Ghatak. It is an excellent movie on the political situation in Bangladesh, Bengal and India on a whole to an extent at the time. Bangladesh had just become independent in 1971 and the movie was screened for the first time in 1974 - it has a female character who is called 'Bangladesh's soul'. Ghatak (named Nilakantha) plays the central character in the movie of a drunkard intellectual whose wife has no option but to leave him. Nilakantha goes in a journey to reach his wife.

During the journey, Nilakantha has experiences meeting new people and expressing his ideologies and thoughts on the world at large. He meets naxalites, Bengal's youth itself, with whom he has an intriguing conversation. Nilakantha disapproves of the youth's ideology, says that it is dying every where in the world and that it has no future. The youth doesn't take to Nilakantha's argument and terms him a decadent old drunkard.

The whole movie is a joyful tapestry of images. We see brilliant cultural dances and a cultural dancer muse on the decaying form of the art for instance. Ghatak, as the protagonist, is brilliant in his acting of an alcoholic man who has no one to listen to his ideologies any more and no one to turn to as his wife has left his side. He says every thing is burning, the universe is burning several times in the movie press on his view in short.

It is the second best Ghatak movie I have seen after Badi Theke Paliye. I am yet to see Ghatak's masterpiece Meghe Dhaka Tara. Jukti, Takko Aar Gappo gets a solid 8/10.

Movie Review: Spiderman 3 - Dark Promise Unfulfilled

Pratyush Khaitan — Fri, 4 May 2007 00:39:57 EDT

I had gone for a premiere show yesterday. The story is very dark which is a great thing. I loved the graphics, the villains and the character depth people had in the movie. What I didn't like was the trying to please every one, be it the kids or the romance lovers or the audience which likes movies a bit lighter - an aspect that comes into play with many bigger budget films.

So you had kids scenes which weren't needed and looked very cheesy given the dark plot of the movie. Then, while the romance angle was a key aspect in the plot and adds depth to the movie, it was handled horribly. There were trillions of cheesy scenes related to the romance angle, so much so that some people walked out of the theatre even before the ending credits started rolling in.

The Venom moniker is used differently in the movie compared to the comics. In the comics, Venom has a life of it's own; in the movie, it brings out dark inner desires out in the open and makes characters more aggressive. This subtle change provided great scope for exploring a darker angle in the movie. Inner tribulations of Spiderman could have been emphasized upon. Instead, we see Peter Parker in a couple of egotistical comic scenes which, while funny, are a light diversion rather than a big addition.

The darker scenes were shot superbly and the plot provided immense
potential for this to become a great movie. This is distinct from Spiderman I and II where the plots weren't as dark. A bit more focus towards the darker side would have added a lot to the movie.

Scrap the Duleep Trophy

Pratyush Khaitan — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:09:05 EDT

Among the steps the BCCI announced to improve Indian cricket were many related to domestic cricket. Sidharth Monga dissects these initiatives. I share the view with Monga that the Duleep Trophy should be scrapped. He writes:

The Duleep Trophy, supposed to be the highest-level first-class tournament, is robbed of gloss because of its timing. An inter-zone tournament should have the best performing players of the season participating but, by being staged at the the season's start, the selections are based on the previous season's numbers. Also, the Duleep Trophy was the step between the Ranji Trophy and international cricket, and was a prize of sorts for doing well in the Ranji; instead of diluting the identity and character of the Duleep Trophy it's better to scrap it and make the Ranji season a bit less cramped.

There are quite a few other problems with the Duleep Trophy.

Players in Duleep Trophy teams are very different each year. It means that the team system and the benefits these systems bring do not come into play in a Duleep Trophy team. For instance, if we take the North Zone team assembling to play a game versus the East Zone, the Delhi players in the North team will hang out with their Delhi buddies, the Punab guys with their Punjab team mates, so on and so forth.

You come to play. Game finishes. You go back to your states. The sole goal of individuals is to notch up big scores or take truckload of wickets so that they can impresse the selectors. Aspects like team spirit, playing as one unit and developing together over the years are lost.

It also clogs up the calendar and eats up into the Ranji Trophy season. England faces a similar problem of too many and indistinguishabledomestic tournaments.

Matthew Engel speaks about them in the 2007 Wisden Almanack editorial:

The current set-up is not merely the worst that has yet been invented, but possibly the worst that could be imagined: the Championship interspersed with three one-day competitions, turgidly organised and distinguishable from each other only by the length of the matches. The destruction of the once-beautiful knockout cup should be used as a case study of blithering administrative idiocy. In Washington, politicians get impeached for less...

...Sport needs above all a narrative, a straightforward storyline that the public can grasp. Ashes cricket has it - and how. The World Cup will probably get one. So do all successful sporting events. Going along for the spectacle of a Twenty20 may be one thing; but the county cricket enthusiast is vanishing - turned off by the hopeless mish-mash.

Why should we, in India, need millions of tournaments? Duleep Trophy, zonal one dayers, Ranji Trophy and Ranji one dayers - the list never ends. Have a tight 10 team top division and lower divisions with a promotion/relegation system, one each for first class and one day cricket, and that should be enough. The Irani Trophy match has tradition and is a nice curtain raiser to the domestic season and so keep it but that should be it.

Australian first class teams play 10 first class games in their domestic competition each year. It provides tough, hard fought contests which benefit the players and builds up a story which people can follow. Ensure that the games are scheduled in such a way that international players can play at least play in half of the domestic matches (BCCI has indicated it will ensure players play more domestic matches in the future) if not more.

Years ago, we scrapped the Quadrangular/Pentangular. Now, it is time to scrap the Duleep (and stuff like zonal one dayers) and take a step forward.

RIP Bob Woolmer

Pratyush Khaitan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:15:44 EDT

Bob Woolmer's death has come as a huge shock. As a keen follower of South African cricket in the 90s, I had the opportunity to see how brilliant Woolmer's cricketing mind was. Cricket is a game which has plenty of room for strategy and innovations if some one is creative. Cricket suited Woolmer perfectly in this regard. He brought innovations and thought about the game with a modern perspective for which he was widely regarded as the best coach in the world.

As a coach he had success with Warwickshire county club and then reached great heights with South Africa. Australia has been the best cricket team in the world for what now seems an eternity. However, for a period in the 90s - 1996-99, South Africa had the best one day side in the world. No small credit for that goes to Bob Woolmer. Woolmer always had that new point of view no one could have thought about and it was evident every where - whether it was team strategies, field placements or team compositions.

All rounders and lower order batsmen started getting a new meaning in international cricket. South African lower order batting would have guys like Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje. Even Pat Symcox made runs and was contributing to the team apart from his bowling. I remember a match versus Australia where Woolmer opened with Lance Klusener and brought Pat Symcox in at number 3. Klusener made 92 and Symcox made 26. South Africa ended up with 301 and won comfortably in the end. That's just one match which shows how brilliant Woolmer was.

Many people suggested that Woolmer shouldn't coach Pakistan but he followed his beliefs. Not that long ago, the team was progressing exceedingly well. Woolmer was creating depth in the batting and bringing in more options for the team in bowling. Woolmer always had a vision with a team and specific players were backed if it was believed that they could do a job which would add to the over all team strength of the team. So Shahid Afridi was brought back when no one gave him much of a chance. There were many other interesting things done in Pakistan cricket in that phase where they were looking good - things like Shoaib Akhtar being disciplined and then brought back which could extract the best output out of him. In his short time with Pakistan, Woolmer managed to create an attachment in the hearts of the common Pakistan cricket fan just like he had done in South Africa.

In 1999, Woolmer couldn't win the world cup with South Africa. Pakistan in 2007 was to be Woolmer's redemption. Sadly, Pakistan cricket went from one low to another in the past months culminating with the exit of Akhtar and Asif from the world cup. Without the bowling spearheads, there was little chance of Pakistan winning the world cup.

First as a player, then as a coach, Woolmer served cricket and added a lot to the game. RIP.

French Open: Last Four Preview

Pratyush Khaitan — Wed, 7 Jun 2006 12:56:18 EDT

The French Open is my favourite grand slam ahead of Wimbledon - the battles fascinate me more than the quick matches we see on grass. This year though, the football and NBA has meant I haven't been able to talk much on the French Open.

On the women's side, the stories so far have seen Hingis outsed by Clijsters - showing she has a lot of work still left to do in her tryst with destiny. The biggest story has been Nicole Vaidisova though. Is she the next big thing in women's tennis? Defeating Amelie Mauresmo and then striding over Venus Williams is no mean thing. The last four sees Vaidisova face the real test when she faces Svetlana Kuznetsova - the in form player at the moment and likely to go through to the finals. The other semi has another Belgian battle between Clijsters and Henine-Hardenne. It is a match for which no one seems to have any clue about who will advance - the ingredient which makes Clijsters-Henine encounters exciting prospects.

The big action is happening in the men's side though. The top 4 seeds have all reached the semis. When you consider the history of players from no where reaching the last 4 - be it Michael Change, Thomas Muster or Gustavo Kuerten, it is amazing to have the four best players on paper coming to the party. More importantly, Nadal and Federer look all set for the show down of the clay court season. Before that, Federer has to defeat a challending David Nalbandian, one of the best clay court players in his own right.

Nadal faces an easier challenge against Croat Ivan Ljubičić. Ljubičić has overcome Julien Benneteau, the first local hero to reach the last eight since Sebastian Grosjean in 2001. Can the out of the norm Ljubičić cause Nadal trouble? Maybe, though I seriously doubt the Nadal winning streak will be halted in the semis. There is the greater possibility of Nalbandian playing the spoil sport and depriving us of the match we have been waiting for from the moment the clay court season started. Nalbandian fans aside, every one will be hoping that does not happen.

The clay court detractors should start watching now and experience for themselves why clay court tennis is enrossing like nothing else in tennis. If you cannot watch and still want to have fun, you can always listen to the live commentary at the official French Open site. The guys there are hilarious. For example, at the break between games, one of the commentators started singing the fool on the hill by The Beatles. On a serious note, when was the last time in men's tennis two players battled like Federer and Nadal have this clay court season?

We have seen the Graf-Seles finals where it was certain the two would face each other in the tournaments they were taking part in. In phases, we have seen Agassi-Sampras beat the competition. When have two players faced each other final after final in the tournament they took part in over a season or specifically a clay court season? Who knows what the future will hold for these two. Regardless, it has been a memorable season and the next few days promise much more.

Champions League Final Preview: The Night of Love for Football Fans

Pratyush Khaitan — Wed, 17 May 2006 01:51:27 EDT

It is here then! The match which promises so much. The match every one - particularly the Barcelona and Arsenal fans have been waiting for.

Arsenal, in their best years in the recent past (a couple of years ago when they were winning domestic titles) were performing very miserably in Europe. It was a very good team but critics said that it could not be termed great until it won the big ones in Europe. This, the performance so far, is probably a couple of years late. It was totally unexpected that Arsenal would reach the Champions League final in the year it almost finished 5th in the English Premiership - some thing which exemplifies how it has been a crazy ride of emotions for Arsenal fans. The ride isn't over. There is still pondering regarding Henry going to Barcelona (some thing I, as a Barcelona fan am very much over excited about). Regardless of that, the season could be perfect for Arsenal if they do manage to win the Champions League.

There is one problem though - FC Barcelona. Barcelona play their own style of attacking one-touch football which is so difficult to replicate and so wonderful to watch. There is possession. There is passing. There is a lot of brilliance. Add to it, there are a lot of goals - just some of the aspects which make Barcelona the best football side in the world (though Chelsea and English fans might still disagree). Messi might stage a return if he passes the fitness test. That Barca dominated last season without him and have managed to reach the Champions League final despite him not being there for crucial matches shows how the team relies more on team work and less on individual brilliance - despite brilliant Ronaldinho being ever present.

A champions league win would crown the young Rijkaard-era perfectly. It would be almost tragic if Barcelona fail to win the Champions League this time around. It was unbearable when the loss to Chelsea occured last year - it will be much more painful this time around. However, the threat from Arsenal is real. Arsenal has a solid defense and play attacking football very much like Barcelona does. More so, even if they do not dominate possession, a Thierry Henry special can never be ruled out till the last moment when the referee blows his whistle - which means that the match is always on.

Arsenal and Barcelona, both, play beautiful and mostly clean football. Both teams like to go for goals and keep up the attack - which makes the game very exciting and pleasurable to watch. When the two teams play against each other, regardless of who wins, football fans are likely to go home happy. The game is also a chance to watch some of the bigger names in world football ahead of the World Cup in all their glory. Expect at least three goals and some brilliant football. How far Joga Bonito will be applied on the field during the World Cup remains to be seen. A lot of that spirit is likely to be present in a romantic evening in Paris.

Nadal-Federer: Agassi-Sampras II?

Pratyush Khaitan — Tue, 16 May 2006 00:08:34 EDT

Nadal has equalled the record of Vilas.

CNNSI Reports:

Rafael Nadal equalled Guillermo Vilas' record of 53 consecutive claycourt wins when he beat Roger Federer 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 7-6 in the final of the Rome Masters.

Nadal's victory, his fourth in a row over the Swiss world number one, made him the first player to win back-to-back titles in the Italian capital since Thomas Muster of Austria in 1995-96.

Was it one of the best matches ever on clay? Probably. The stakes were high as I mentioned yesterday. I said then:

This one promises to be another cracker.

It sure was! Federer came the closest he has ever come to beating Nadal on clay. That Nadal won was only apt though. It would have been a shame if he would have failed to equal Vilas after such a tremendous run. The setup - facing Federer for the Rome Masters finals against the backdrop of Federer in the midde of a losing streak to Nadal could not have been better scripted.

This is brilliant for tennis too. Now, tennis has a rivarly to match the Agassi-Sampras rivarly of the 90s. Agassi was a little more than 15 months older than Sampras. With a gap of more than 4 years between Nadal and Federer, the age gap is bigger - some thing which makes the rivalry all the more intriguing. The Agassi-Sampras rivalry hardly saw the two players battle it out versus each other at their best. We very much are seeing Nadal and Federer face each other in top form - it would be wrong to judge when was actually their best till both the careers are over.

Their games are perfect contrasts - always a key ingredient for memorable rivalries. While Federer is brilliant on grass, Nadal has so far been unbeatable on clay. This does not mean neither of the two players will be able to battle each other on other surfaces. Federer (as shown in the recent matches versus Nadal for those who didn't know) is one of the better clay court players - something we could never say of Sampras. Nadal, meanwhile, is proficient on hard courts. Though we don't know yet completely how well Nadal will fare on grass, with the talent and the attitude he possesses, it is unlikely that he will be a miserable failure.

Most importantly, these two players are champions in their own right and hate to lose a point, let alone a match. So when different games and fight-till-death attitudes meet, it is bound to produce matches of the highest quality. At the stage of his career where Federer was beating everyone quite easily, the rivalry is a sheer joy for tennis and a trigger which can boost the Federer game even higher. Federer is down 1-2 versus Nadal even on hardcourts. Can Federer match Nadal, particularly on clay? How will Nadal fare on grass?

Riveting questions which are bound to form the foundation of a memorable rivalry.