Newton...!

Borrowing it’s style from the DNA of Black Comedy on the lines of ‘Silent Wedding’ that makes you poignant before you finish the laugh on a seemingly funny sequence, ‘Newton’ hits all the right notes and delivers the message through its logical conclusion while maintaining the sarcasm unfolding in the incidences that look extremely common place at times and surreal otherwise depending upon viewer’s frame of mind. Original Isaac Newton, the otherwise well-known scientist for his theory of gravity and action-reaction, is being explained as the pioneer of equality by an Election Duty Controller to our Newton who has re-named himself to get rid of the ridicule he faced for being Nutan Kumar. Our Newton, casually biting into an apple in his first scene of the film, makes it clear where and how this ‘Election Duty’ will take us through the Jungles of Chhattisgarh.

Amit Masurkar, a Mumbai boy and an Engineering drop-out, had taken all the efforts to make his bold and honest statement on this severely amputated and awfully manipulated system of democracy aka voting for elections, looks absolutely effortless. The underlying principle of the 106 minutes movie is – it’s difficult to be honest in the system that is rotten inside out and moreover, it could be fatal being arrogant about your honesty. Amit has managed to do a job that is world-class (no wonder the movie is nominated for Oscars!) as the movie reminds the viewer of all such movies around the globe that do not fear to take a stand against the system they are part of… Kudos to Amit… with or without Oscar!

Movie is Director’s media, indeed, but a strong story-line with a disquieting message needs equally strong actors who could actually live up to the characters they are portraying. Rajkumar Rao is one of the finest actors of the date who easily secures a place in the league of Irfan and Nawazuddin. With his breathtaking performances in Kai Po Che, CityLights, Aligarh and a small but significant appearance in Queen, he already made it clear what he had in store and where he is heading… Newton is not just another feather in his cap but a jeweled Crown that he deserves well. Pankaj Tripathi taking a second seat just behind the protagonist, makes it sure that his impeccable quality leaves marks on the overall impression so deep that he could not be forgotten. After ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, it could have been difficult to imagine a sober School Headmaster in a role of a stubborn Commanding Officer, but this surprisingly isn’t the case, all credits to Pankaj Tripathi for his unpredictable style of playing with characters and perfectly picking their peculiar behaviors.

Raghuveer Yadav and Sanjay Mishra have nothing much to do but with their natural ease that belongs to theater and experience of years both deliver exactly what is required of them. The last but not the least is Anjali Patil, an intense young actress who has a long way to go, seems extremely promising with her effortless appearance as an educated Tribal Girl and reminds the viewer of Smita Patil in Jait Re Jait and Chakra. All in all, with this out-to-out political satire (as it is acclaimed by critics) Amit has made a tremendous effort with a sarcastically stark and bold comment on the dictatorship at every nook and corner camouflaged in the overrated democratic system that is already started losing people’s confidence in it. With actors that are class apart, locations and cinematography that is unbelievably natural yet absolutely engaging and editing that is undoubtedly flawless, Newton is the Indian Movie of this year and let us keep our fingers crossed till the Oscar night.

Another young and fearless Director Neeraj Pandey made some powerful comments on the system in ‘A Wednesday’ (2008), ‘Special 26’ (2013) and ‘Baby’ (2015). Baby the most recent and most candid movie offering ultimate solution to terrorism across the border had a sequence where fictional secret agent Ajay (Akshay Kumar) gets up, closes the door of the cabin and delivers a tight slap to the PA of Defense Minister in response to PA’s loose comment about Soldiers dying on duty as ‘Log to marenge hi, unka to kam hai…’ (People will keep dying, it is their job...). It’s not only Soldiers who die on duty, there are people dying every day for duty, on roads, in queues, on stations and in hospitals… without any fault of theirs. Neeraj and Amit have this tool called Cinematic Liberty where they can slap these cheap shameless chair-warmers and the duo is putting it to good use.

When a nation has National Media that is lubricated and Social Media that is fabricated, for a Democracy to respire we need more youngsters like these two to come forward, take up a subject of public interest and educate the people through edutainment, for that is the only way India prefers to learn…!

Way to go…

Injustice...!

After years of filmy courtroom ‘dramas’, lately Indian cinema got some real courtroom ‘actions’ that were as convincing as reassuring; Jolly LLB II topping the list. Apart from excellent performances by Akshay Kumar and Annu Kapoor, the film concludes on a positive note and the Verdict Speech by Justice Tripathy - Saurabh Shukla at peak of his performance - ends it on a high note. In this speech the Honorable Judge mentions a fact that in spite of the pathetic condition of the courtrooms and deficient number of Judges vis-à-vis the pending cases, all Indian citizens have unwavering confidence in the Judicial system compared to Administrative and Legislative systems for, in smallest of the dispute and deceit, we hear a common expression… “I will see you in the court!”

Indeed the common man has deep faith in and respect for the judicial system as the last resort when it comes to any kind of injustice. No matter how long the ‘case’ goes on with ‘Tareekh Pe Tareekh’, no appellant looses hope as he or she believes wholeheartedly that ‘Bhagwanke Ghar Der Hai, Andher Nahi…’ In God’s Command there could be Delay but not Denial – to justice! This faith of millions puts the onus on the Judiciary and raises its responsibility to a great level. Why all this becomes note-worthy and suddenly relevant today is the past month that witnessed 3 historical Judgments by the Honorable Supreme Court of India, a matter of proud for every Indian indeed!

The Supreme Court struck down the validity of instant Triple Talaq setting it aside by terming it unconstitutional on 22 Aug 2017. On 24 Aug 2017 SC declared that the Right to Privacy is now a Fundamental Right and is protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. 28 Aug 2017 saw justice being made to the victims in a 15 year old case against the self-proclaimed Baba Ram Rahim Singh Insan, Chief of Dera Sachha Sauda, when the accused was sent to jail for 20 long years. There were stories of his ‘supporters’ causing harm to the public property and disturbing the law and order in the vicinity. His supporters were so great in numbers that their sheer number explained system’s espousal of him, and many more such Babas, in world’s largest Democratic country!

Although these reassuring and positive judgments by the Supreme Court is a welcome change showing the real strength, power and position of the Judiciary against all other systems – certainly a thing to celebrate – what is more essential is to read between the lines of those judgments. While all three rulings underline the dignity of a human being living in an Independent Nation of the world; they also make a comment on the submissive character of those who surrender to the system and become soft-targets and vulnerable victims for their oppressor(s). This conspiracy and unethical alliance of forces that want to govern the masses needs to be understood and questioned from time to time to keep the system in check. Government, Corporations, Institutions, Organizations, Religious and other Establishments, Cults and Sects or any other governing system based on some value system (supposedly!) for that matter, must facilitate the living of its ‘subjects’ and should not make it subjects the means of its own facilitation! The Mother Monkey in the Isapniti story was a Monkey and we have evolved from that stage long ago.

But for this, questions should be asked to and clarifications should be demanded from the Administrators of the system, keeping in mind that they are just the facilitators of the system built for the people and not the rulers of the people. Asking questions, particularly demanding and disquieting, is a difficult and dangerous job… sometimes even life threatening. But as they say, ‘Honesty is a very expensive gift; don’t expect it from cheap people…’ Being honest is hard, difficult and expensive, but then it’s always your choice… Do you want to feed the wolves or protect the dear(s)!

Whenever you make up your mind and ready to go, you are most welcome to join… Way to go!

Happy Teacher’s Day!

Why do we celebrate Teacher’s Day on 5th of Sept? Because it’s Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s Birthday! Apart from being a Statesman and Philosopher, what’s so special about this First Vice President and Second President of Independent India? Well, read on and you might just get the hint! If you don't, you will need many more teachers to learn lessons of ‘Being Human’… 

“It is wrong to think that man is in the grip of determinism either of Karma or biology or environment. He is endowed with the power of choice. He can rebel and protest against unjust social order. The ethical basis of democracy is faith in the significance of man. The human person is not a mere wave on the ocean of history which fancies that it pushes the flood while it is carried on by it ... Man can cause new currents to surge up in history. It is from history that we learn nothing. Will man learn lessons from history and live with responsibility towards future?

The saga of scientific progress is spectacular and breath-taking. But morally the world has not registered an inch of progress since the birth of man. Man’s greed and selfishness increased in proportion to his material advancement. Consequently there is no guarantee that he will make a right choice and make the world safe for future. This should not be deemed as pessimism and that the world is steadily heading towards a certain doom. One bright thing about man, which ought to be borne ever in mind, is that he is different from nature and hence utterly unpredictable. No external force or necessity can ever drive him to the wall. He is essentially free, living in a dark cozy cell. He is the king of infinite time and space. His potentialities are unlimited. He can transcend his own limitations if only he wills…"

The end-product of evolution, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan, is a morally evolved society shaped evenly by freedom and responsibility. He calls it Brahmaloka. It is his equivalent of Gandhi’s Ramarajya. His ideal man is a holy man; a saint, not a genius or a man of power. His ideal man reshapes human institutions with freedom coupled with responsibility with compassion which embraces all. He does not work merely for his own salvation; he accepts to uplift the entire society around him. Thus he works for Sarvamukti – liberation of the community as a whole. He transcends his own limitations. Hence, he is unique and uninvolved.

“History”, says Radhakrishnan, “is a matter of unique individuals involved in unique events. It is those, who stand outside history that make history.” Dr. S. Radhakrishnan thought of an ordered society in which equality, liberty and fraternity are a really realized reality, a society, a haven of freedom, dreamed of by Rabindranath Tagore in his famous lyric beginning “Where the mind is without fear…!”

Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. Radhakrishnan believed that "Teachers should be the best minds in the country...".

Now believing that Teacher is someone who Enlightens, Inspires and Elevates you, the choice couldn't have been better, I guess...!

Way to go...