Malayalam Film Oru Thekkan Thallu Case

 I watched this on Netflix mainly because it stars Padmapriya, a friend and former student. She's done a great job in her role as the wife of a respected guy in a Kerala village, who gets drawn into a long fight with a rival who is jealous and wants more attention/respect from the villagers.

The husband-Biju Menon- also has acted well, though I saw him for the first time- I don't watch that many Malayalam films. So has the girl who plays Vasanthi, the link between the two rivals, and a friend of the wife.

The film is worth a watch, though it may not be a must-watch. The Lighthouse plays a prominent role in the story, making it interesting.

Discovering Indian Culture

I came across, thanks to Padmapriya, a former student and an actor with a conscience (and a National Award to boot), a novel organisation that she joined recently. It is called Sahapedia, on the lines of a wiki, and is about discovering various facets of culture.

It is an open online forum that relates to Indian culture and heritage. This is the link if it interests you, to find out more-  https://www.sahapedia.org/aboutus
Heritage walks are one way they do it, but there are many other dimensions to their activities such as writings, videos etc.

I found the idea very interesting, and hope to engage a little more when possible.

Relaunching the Seminar on Thought Leadership

There was this course that I ran in IMT Nagpur a few years ago. We had around 40 students in it, and I had generated a list of thought leaders (authors, playwrights, inventors, explorers) or ideas that have impacted the world or society in a big way. The students in groups had to research the topic given and tell the class through a presentation how the given person or idea changed the world. There would be  a critique of the presentation from me and a couple of students from the audience, and a Q and A.

I still remember the course vividly, and hope that students do too. I am collaborating with my colleague Shweta Kushal at IIM Indore to relaunch the course here for our 5-year integrated program students. We both hope that we will learn a lot about history, inventions, art, etc. that changed society and our lives, along with our students. Two of my former students, Padmapriya and Jogeswari had also come in to guest lecture in the earlier edition of the course, and added diverse perspectives-one worked with an NGO, and the other was a director of a Golf tours company- Golftripz..

Chef- Film Review

This is the one starring Saif Ali Khan and Padmapriya. My major motivation was to watch the latter in action (she was my student at KIAMS), and I came away impressed. There is a simplicity to the plot (it is not original, but a remake of an English film), that makes it an easy and enjoyable watch.

The parts of Kerala you glimpse in various shots add to the charm. At one level, you could call it a story about Father-son bonding. It is also about a relationship gone sour but one that both partners are dealing with to the best of their ability, putting the son first when they can, while pursuing their own dreams.

The film picks up steam once the food truck/bus comes in, and becomes a kind of road trip which gives some scope to introduce Goa and Raghu Dixit into the script. The song that results is fun ( a lungi song?) and natural.

Having lived in Calicut, I was able to connect to the Labour Union demands and the toddy shop (yes, I have visited one). Must mention Milind Soman, and the actor who acted as the kid. Both were very good. There is situational comedy, and understated acting in general, a welcome change from the over-the-top stuff we get from Bollywood.

Excellence

The thought of Excellence as a way of life strongly came back strongly last week- it does, from time to time. The trigger was a guest lecture I hosted for my course, titled Seminar on Thought Leadership. The guest faculty was Padmapriya, a former student of mine from the 2002 MBA batch of Kirloskar Institute of Management.

She has made a habit of excelling at everything she does. From academics, where she has been among the top of her class, to dance (a diploma in Bharatanatyam), to beauty paegents (Miss Andhra Pradesh at one time), to corporate work (at GE Capital doing high end analytics) and what takes the cake, a movie career with 33 odd leading roles in 6 Indian languages, winning several accolades, including National and Filmfare Awards. Not to mention NGO work designing a program for tribals in coastal Andhra to produce and sell organically grown farm produce. And the last was a part of her Diploma program at National Law School, Bangalore.

Can't help thinking how the world would be if everybody took themselves so seriously in everything they did! Self-belief and focussed work can really take you places. And she is not finished yet. She intends to go on to do a Master's in the U.S. and try her hand at world cinema. I can only wish I had a lot of students like her, so I can bask in all the reflected glory.