Mary Kom- Film Review

The movie about the lady boxer from Manipur is worth a watch for three reasons-

To learn about the Manipuri way of life, which the support characters have etched out well.

The lovely scenic locations both of Manipur ( I presume) and elsewhere.

The story of a gritty woman, and an angel of a husband who supports her in every way possible.

The subject is interesting, and the story, predictable. The boxing matches are done well, but there are some repetitive shots of both the matches in the ring and the training- five more minutes could have been edited out to make it crisper. The coach has done a good job. There is an attempt to bring out the evils in 'the system' and officials who seem to have infinite powers to do damage to sport.

3.8 on 5. Priyanka has done the title role well. An aside- the plug for Iodex is hilarious!

Romantic Icons of the 70s

There were quite a few romantic heroes/heroines of the 1970s whom I grew up watching on screen. The music added a lot of charm to many of their films. Some of those were-

Rishi Kapoor, often paired with Neetu Singh, who dazzled with his rom-com roles in Rafoo Chakkar, Khel Khel Mein, Amar Akbar Anthony, Bobby (with Dimple Kapadia), Hum Kisise Kam Nahin (with Kajol aka Sunita Kulkarni). Don't know why Shailendra Singh stopped singing for him and Kishore Kumar took over.

Dev Anand, the 'evergreen' romantic, was in his element in Gambler (Dil aaj shayar hai), Johny Mera Naam, Prem Pujari (Pholon ke rang se, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye), and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. His teaming with Hema Malini in Shareef Badmash and Chhupa Rustam worked for both. Tere Mere Sapne with Mumtaz (another cute looker) also was a good film.

Rajesh Khanna, of course, was the king of the 70s with Aradhana, Kati Patang, Aan Milo  Sajna (Accha, to hum chalte hain), Aap Ki Kasam, Mere Jeevan Sathi (O mere dil ke chain), Namak Haram (Nadiya se dariya), Amar Prem, Daag, Prem Nagar (Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chhodega).

Shashi Kapoor was also a good-looking dude and managed to hold his own, though none of his solo films were spectacular. Pyar ka Mausam had some excellent music though (Tum bin jaoon kahaan and Nisultana re, pyar ka mausam aaya).

My Own Ideas of a Referendum

First, let me get my plurals straight. Is the plural of referendum referenda, or referendii, or some something else? Whatever..let's assume it's 'referenda' and proceed. These are the following referenda I can see coming in the near future (not being an astrologer, I can't see too far, you see)..

1. Referendum on whether Kolhapuri cuisine is hotter Saoji cuisine.

2. Referendum on whether the new IIMs should be in a city with a population more than 5 lakhs, and number of businesses in town greater than 5.

3. One on whether humans should colonise Mars or the Moon

4. Referendum on whether Virgin Airlines should do the colonising

5. on Whether the fault lies in our stars, and if so, why there are no starquakes as in 'earthquakes'

6. on whether an airline can be run into the ocean, just like they 'run them into the ground'

7. On whether Candy Crush Saga can be given the status of an Epic

8. On whether Hindi-Chini are bhai bhai again

9. On whether the film industry can survive Salman Khan

10. On whether the Indian cricket team should change its name when they play abroad (MCC and England are sort of precedents for this)

Pics From Outdoors

Indore and Outdoor are both to be enjoyed with equal attention. So it was in a spirit of exploration that we, a band of Indoreans set out last weekend. We managed to take in two major sights, one a religious shrine on the banks of river Narmada (Omkareshwar) and the second, a waterfall called Patalpaani, which has a railway line running opposite itself (like Dudhsagar near Goa, except that this one is below the track level). Some pics of the explorers, mostly colleagues at IIMI. There is this suspension bridge like the one in Rishikesh that you can walk across to reach the temple. Some dhaba food and a terrific shower thumping the roof of it while we ate were other highlights. There was some 'monkey business' at Patalpani too, but we came out unscathed.

Some Academic Learnings

There are life learnings and other learnings. Some may be termed learnings from corporate life (the Scott Adams or Sidin Vadukut types). Others are academic learnings- those we academics learn from our life.

These can be summed up in simple equations, with some English thrown in for ease of understanding the concepts. You get it?

Student's grading of his own effort > Professor's grading of student's effort.

Likewise, the Prof's evaluation of his greatness < Student's evaluation of the same

Correlation between the grade obtained by student and feedback obtained by the prof = High

If there is a tough Prof, chances of student's effort being high = Good (Probability> 0.8)

If there is a 'soft' Prof., chances of this high effort = Low (Probability < 0.2)

If the group assignment involves lots of work, the Work done by a student= Total Work divided by the number of students in the group

Arun Joshi's 'The Apprentice'

This is an unusual book by an author that is relatively unknown. I came to know of him through a friend Vinod Ekbote's blog. Part of the reason is that his books are not easily available. I found this book while browsing at Higginbotham's Bangalore. It does not disappoint.

In one fell swoop, this novel takes in the decay of the Indian 'system' of bribery and insensitive administration, and much more than that. The destruction of our 'souls' as it were- there are references to the Bhagavad Gita but also a confession by the protagonist that he understands only a little from it.

I found it riveting, and unusual. The story is that of a freedom-fighter's son, who grows up directionless, and finds a job only to turn into a corrupt spoke in a bigger wheel. He buys sub-standard equipment for the Indian Army, and that becomes the cause of his best friend's death- he is serving in the Army in the Chinese War. There is penitence and an attempt to seek revenge, both non-formulaic.

The style of writing is one of the best I have come across. Must-read for a serious reader.

Finding Fanny and Myself

The 'finding myself' is one reason for blogging (and reading blogs). And having just crossed 150,000 views of this blog, I am sure there are a few more trying to find themselves. One positive thing about blogs according to me is that they are mostly honest, at least more so than your projected image on a few other social media (as in 'permanently cool' on fb, or 'eminently employable' on LinkedIn).

Anyway, I happened to 'Find Fanny' in our auditorium at the IIM Indore campus last evening. Also went out to see Omkareshwar nearby during the day, taking in Pataalpani waterfall on the way back, with some new colleagues. Pics will follow when official photographers (we management profs have a way with things, you see) send me those.

The movie was a fitting finale to a productive day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Pankaj Kapur is one of our finest actors- I rediscovered this after watching Jaane Bi Do Yaaro again recently, as also Matru Ki Bijli ka Mandola- and here he is in great form. So are Dimple Kapadia, Deepika and Naseeruddin Shah. This is a quirky movie so unless you are somewhat warped, you will not like it. Don't expect syrupy love, larger than life heroics, or Bollywood dance medleys with 250 dancers with violently gyrating body parts.

Some episodes are laugh-out-loud, and some are more subtle. But great fun. Homi Adjania can make films, Saala!