Soak No More

'SOAK NO MORE', shouted the young and wise, Hari. All the remaining seven donkeys shouted back with him.

'A long time ago there was a salt merchant. He used to get very irritated with his lazy donkey. One day while doing his usual work of carrying loads of salt on his back the lazy donkey fell down in a stream. The salt on his back dissolved, thus the load was gone and the donkey walked out joyfully, devising a  wicked plan for many such journeys to come. The lazy donkey continued to do so many times and he would walk back happily. The merchant although unsuspecting at first, understood this act and decided to teach the lazy donkey a lesson.'

Dharampur was flourishing day by day since the Independence, it was the year 1950. Since the British had left the country there was a lot of scope for the Indians to develop and prosper. One such villager was Shyamlal, a merchant in Dharampur. He bought and sold almost everything that he could get in his hands and make profit. Automobiles had yet to make their way in the lives of the Indians of that era so mostly people depended on animals. But this is not a story of Shyamlal or Dharampur, nor has it got anything to do with the Indians or British, it is the story of the DONKEYS.

'The salt merchant one day fed up with the cunning nature and the laziness of his lazy donkey thought of putting an end to this act. He packed the same quantity of load but this time it was of 'cotton' and not salt as usual on the back of the donkey. Today instead of sending his usual servant to accompany the donkey he decided to go himself. The stupid donkey didn't realize what was stored in for him' 

Shyamlal owned eleven donkeys for transportation of goods from his storehouses/godowns to the markets. Out of the eleven there were three cruel donkeys - Santhu, Biju and Lala. These three donkeys were the strongest and the cunning of the eleven owned by Shyamlal. They used their power and cunning tactics to oppress the other donkeys. They never worked hard in fact they didn't work at all. It was the other donkeys who suffered but they could do nothing since they were scared of these three.

'As the stream approached the donkey knew what he had to do. A cunning smile appeared on his face. He didn't care if it was his merchant and not the usual servant who was accompanying him. He staged his jump in the stream as if it was an accident but the merchant knew better.'

Hari, was a young and clever donkey. He was very idealistic and kind. He had a crave for learning. Watching humans he had understood that the only way to progress and improve life was to get educated. Babu, son of Shyamlal sometimes took Hari to school and used to tie Hari outside the school, it was good enough for Hari because he could hear the voice of the teacher teaching inside, thus Hari was the only donkey to get educated. Hari also learned that the three donkeys - Santhu, Bijju and Lala who said that they were from England were lying and also that India had got independence three years back. So now even if Santhu and the other two were from England there was no need to be afraid of them because if India was free then so were the INDIAN DONKEYS !!

'The moment the donkey jumped in, he realized what trouble he had put himself in, the cotton on his back just 'SOAKED' in more water and grew heavier. So it was difficult for him to walk, the merchant witnessing this, came down and starting hitting the donkey to walk ahead, continuing the journey with the increased load on his back. Thus the lazy donkey learned his lesson.'

One day the Babu's teacher was telling the students the story of 'The Salt Merchant And His Lazy Donkey', Hari was within the distance to hear it. He at once understood what needed to be done. But he wanted the story to end differently in his case.
The day Hari awaited finally occurred, Shyamlal had bought a new big godown and wanted to shift some stuff in it. As usual the three cruel donkeys declared that it would be the other donkeys who would carry out all the heavy things but Hari had something better in his mind. he divided the load in such a way that the eight donkeys had to carry five times more then the three cruel donkeys which pleased Santhu, Biju and Lala. But Hari made sure that those three donkeys carried nothing else on their back except 'cotton'.
On the day of moving too, he convinced everyone that it would be wiser to take the road from the bridge across the river. After the three donkeys left, he called in other donkeys and told them about his plan. After telling them what was in his mind, he shouted, 'SOAK NO MORE, we have soaked enough because of them, its their turn to be soaked now.' Everyone agreed.
'SOAK NO MORE', shouted the young and wise, Hari. All the remaining seven donkeys shouted back with him.

On the way while moving, when the donkeys came on the bridge, Hari along with the two other donkeys took positions besides - Santhu, Biju and Lala. At the signal of Hari, the donkeys pushed the trio into the river, the light weight of cotton on their back now suddenly increased. Hari smiled to himself, the river was deep and the donkeys had fallen in the middle of the river, so in a matter of few seconds or maybe a couple of minutes they would be drowned. Santhu, Biju and Lala, looked up and found all other donkeys enjoying at their dying sight, they kept praying for a miracle while muttering to the load of cotton on their backs to SOAK NO MORE please, because the weight of that cotton kept pulling them down in the river and thus caused their death.
Shyamlal was sad because he lost his three donkeys. Three years ago he had been very happy on this day when India got her Independence. But somehow the happiness of opening a new big godown surpassed the sadness of losing those three donkeys.
Hari went back to the other donkeys and said, 'Happy Independence Day.'
The era of soaking had been finished. Now they would have to SOAK NO MORE !!

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This story is my entry for The Surf Excel Matic #SoakNoMore Contest at Indiblogger.

Ronin

Ronin is one of my De Niro favorites. The story is not something new and unique for Hollywood but still it grips the viewers. Car chases usually just turn me off sometimes but this is one movie where I look forward for its chase scenes whenever I see it.

Ronin is truly a Robert De Niro and Jean Reno film but the rest of the cast comprising of Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Jonathan Pyrce do an impressive job. It was directed by John Frankenheimer and screenplay was written by David Mamet, based on the story written by J.D. Zeik.

The story starts with assembling of five special operation veterans -  Spence (Sean Bean), Larry (Skipp Sudduth), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), Vincent (Jean Reno), Sam (Robert De Niro) by a girl Deirdre (Natascha McElhone). Deidre is a member of Provisonal IRA and works for a mysterious employer, Seamus (Jonathan Pyrce).

The team is brought together for a job of stealing a briefcase, whose contents remain unknown throughout the movie. The briefcase is heavily guarded but then Sam and others successfully manage to steal it. What continues ahead is the betrayal of a team member who plans to sell it and keep the profit for himself. Thus Sam and the other remaining team members as well as their employers, Deirdre and Seamus are enraged. Everyone wants the briefcase back and tries hard for it and so the movie goes on ahead.

The efforts of Sam and Vincent on one side, Seamus and Deirdre who have captured the traitor on other, as well as the Russians who want the briefcase are worth watching. Also the real motive and intentions of Sam, makes it a good watch. If not for anything else then it is for the exotic locations and the amazing car chases, that holds the viewers and keeps them glued to the screen.

CHANGE IS GOOD

I have been thinking for a long time about my blogging journey. It started out as a blog where I was confused with what I had to write until the time I finally got some proper direction. I named it out of my love for movies but now I have realized that under the movie title of my blog I have written various other things too which include posts on books, short stories, some other gyaan, etc. At the end it was all about a good story.

Whatever things that I have written or gonna write would always focus on a story - posts on movies, short fictions, fictional biographies or rendezvous. So it would always be about entertainment.

So my friends I am going to change the TITLE of my blog but my BLOG ADDRESS would remain the same. I see the coming Eid as a good day for this change, so my I'll flash out my new title from 20th August, 2012.

Pyaasa : A Timeless Classic

Pyaasa is a 1957 film, directed by Guru Dutt who also produced and starred in it. It was written by Abrar Alvi. It is a movie which can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates good cinema. The film was rated as one of the 100 best films of all time by the Times magazine. Hats off to Guru Dutt on this film. One can see the genius in him who made proper use of camera angles and sets to give out the themes and mood settings very well.

The story is about a fallen poet, Vijay or rather a 'never risen poet' who struggles to achieve a life for himself during the early post Independence period. The poet represents the country on the whole through his conditions.  He is shunned by his brothers who think of him as a jobless, wasted guy who will never achieve anything in life.
           
            One day, Vijay comes to know that his brothers have sold his poems as scrap, this enrages him, he tries to find his poems but it’s all in vain.  Finally one night, he hears a woman singing his tunes, following her he reaches the red light area and asks her about the poems. The woman, Gulabo, a prostitute at first thinks of him as a jerk and throws him out. Later she comes to know he is the same poet whose poems she has, she tries to find him but he is gone.

The story continues forward when a series of events puts him together with his past love but she has married someone else by now. Her husband tries to exploit Vijay by employing him as a servant. Thus it is somehow evident that fate has it all set against Vijay and he will never succeed.

It is through all these events that luck finally smiles on Vijay but in its own twisted way. The story takes an unusual turn. The poet once neglected suddenly becomes wanted. The poems which failed to make any mark earlier are now anthems. It is the death of the artist that creates a life for him.

Miraculously Vijay is alive, away from the world he is in a mental institution. The people who grieved for his death and have made profit out of it don’t want him back. They even refuse to recognize him. Luckily with the help of a friend, he manages his way out and tries to prove his existence. People who earlier refused to recognize him now join him back again out of their greed, these people include his own brothers and friends.

After achieving all that he wanted throughout his life, Vijay still lacks something, now this life seems hollow. When the world which shunned him before is ready to fall at his feet he decides to go away. It’s very ironic; that he strived hard for praise and recognition and now when he has it he doesn’t want it.

            The movie has been written very well, the characters were developed in a proper way. The main highlights were the poems which were included in the appropriate scenes. The lyrics of the songs went well with the situations.

            The dialogues are good; one could easily find the dominance of Urdu words in the films of those times, which added beauty to the dialogues.

 
Overall a good movie. A must watch for all the film buffs and cinema lovers. It’s a ride through the early Post-Independence society of India which tells a lot about the country.

The Boondock Saints

I hope no one has forgotten me by now. Its been a long time since I have posted something. I am so sorry for not being able to read your wonderful blogs and for not being able to provide you with something worth reading.

Here in this post I would be talking about The Boondock Saints. This movie is one of my favorite crime/action thrillers. It follows the story of two Irish brothers, Connor McManus(Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy McManus (Norman Reedus).

The story starts with the two brothers attending Mass at the church and then going off to live their normal life. While they are celebrating at their usual pub, they run into trouble with some people from the Russian Mafia. The brothers try to settle out peacefully but things don't go smooth and the brothers end up thrashing and humiliating those people. The next morning when the Mafia people are back for their revenge, the brothers accidentally kill them in self defense.

FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is assigned to the case. One can clearly see in the film that this man is gifted in detection of crimes. Just by looking at the crime scene he can visualize the crime which must have happened there. By this time, the locals consider the brothers as heroes for killing those bad guys. Just when Smecker is working out on a plan to catch them, the brothers turn themselves in and accept their crime. But Smecker develops a good rapport with the boys and frees them but for their safety and to avoid media he asks them to spend the night in the holding cell.

At that night in the holding cell, the brothers experience an epiphany where they get a calling from God to destroy all wicked persons and prosper the innocents. Thus they manage enough ammunition and other useful things and start out their war against the wicked people. With their unique trademark of putting coins on the eyes of their victims after killing them, as if to pay the toll to cross the River Styx.

In their journey they are joined by a friend who on learning that his boss, a member of a crime family has sold him, vows revenge. And Smecker on the other hand who believes at first that the murders are a result of some mob war, begins to search for the true killers. Also in there is one Il Duce ("The Duke"), a dangerous man, the Mafia brings out to find and kill the brothers.

A good film with a good story and proper execution. The story takes us in completely. Inspite of meeting with poor critical reviews upon release, the film has grossed about $50 million in domestic video and has developed a large cult following over the years.  A sequel named The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day which takes the story forward as well as goes deeper in the mysterious life of their father, whom they meet towards the end of the original movie was released in 2009.