Death and Violence
Posted by Guhan | Filed under thoughts
The end of 2009 saw the passing of one of Kannada movie’s favorite stars, Vishnuvaradhan. A close friend of mine, Vijay (Twitter Vijay) has brilliantly expressed the sentiments of a true fan of his blog post. Having been one of the most versatile, talented, stylish and popular actors in the Kannada film industry, he also acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films also.
Vishnuvardhan was born in Mysore and he also breathed his last in Mysore. His body was shifted to National College grounds for the people to pay their last respects. The final cremation was done in Abhimaan Studio located on Mysore Road. The actor was given a grand state funeral attended by his family members, film personalities political leaders and thousands of his fans.
Earlier, another popular kannada film actor and an icon in Karnataka, Dr. RajKumar passed away. Dr. Raj was titled “Natasarvabhouma” meaning “emperor of acting” or lovingly called Annavaru meaning Elder brother.
It sure was a loss to the film fraternity but the other thing common in their deaths was the riots and mob violence that followed. It is just sad that despite both of these legends being well known for their peace loving nature and respect for calm, their so called fans choose to show their grief through mindless violence and damage to property. It is hard to comprehend the rationale behind such acts. News channels covering the events showed mobs in thousands throwing stones, laughing and having a stupidly good time. Dr. Raj’s death had precipitated a city-wide reaction. Following the news of his death, there was major unrest in the city of Bangalore. The then Chief Minister, H.D.Kumaraswamy, later claimed that the violence was instigated by vested political interests. And as always the opposition blamed it on lack of timely arrangements by responsible organizations. Even an unofficial bandh was announced. More than 100 vehicles were burnt and many people killed in mob attacks and police firing.
The last rites for both of them was marred by large scale violence and protests by unruly mobs. Family members pleaded in vain in both occasions. It was very sad to see how Dr. Raj’s sons literally begging for the mobs to calm down. Vishnuvardhan’s wife kept saying how much Vishnu loved peace and would have wished to have a quiet non violent passing. But all this fell on deaf years on both occasions.
For many, I think its just a reason to vent their frustrations. Mob mentality takes over and one stupid act cascades into a full scale riot, loss of property and closing of business. Hapless police trying to control the crowds are targeted. There is absolutely no reason for the riots, its almost assumed that nothing will function in any such event. Every one in the city stay home in fear of violence. Family fear the return of their loved ones. Such state of fear for one persons death is not justified and is the sad reality we all have been forced to tolerate. Icons are remembered for their charm, mass appeal and personality. But circumstances forces us to relate violence and discomfort to the passing of such icons. May their soul rest in peace.
“Life is a game, cricket is serious”
Posted by Guhan | Filed under Sport
“Life is a game, cricket is serious”, eloquently quoted by a good friend of mine, Venugopal. It pretty much sums up how cricket crazy we are. A good cricket match can bring any busy city to a stand still.
I am actually writing this post while watching the India vs Srilanka 4th ODI. I am a huge cricket fan ( pun intended ) and have had a fair share of cricket in my life. The excitement and interest for the game remains the same, whether it was professional league cricket or the fast paced Corporate cricket.
I tried to think about why cricket is such a craze in India and how the game comes naturally to many here. Many times all you need is some thing that looks like a ball and a long enough plank that is used like a bat, Gully cricket it is called. But what is it that is so exciting about a wooden plank whacking a small sphere.
In my mind its the bully in all of us that draws us to the game, the feeling that you can spank a weak little thing with a stick or hurl a projectile as fast as you can at someone in front of you. Its the bully in us that forms a mob of 11 people all hell bent on sending someone away from a marked territory. Its a place where well disguised taunts and provocation is greeted with loud applause. Sport is generally a let out for built up energy and aggression, cricket is no exception. Its also a great leveler, no matter who you are and what you do, when are on the cricket ground, bully or be bullied is the single rule everyone swears by. Even watching a cricket match either in a stadium or on TV is like watching a good play or action movie. It has something in it for everyone, the emotions of a player dismissed, ecstasy of snapping a good catch, evil pleasures at injuring a player, sense of achievement on reaching a century, intricate plans, intelligent strategies, well groomed heroes, patriotism, flashy equipment and lush green well maintained grass :-)
A cricket lover will never say the rules and format of the game is complex. But I realized how complex it actually is when I tried to explain the game to a friend from the United States, the land of Baseball. A person who knows cricket and baseball will argue that both the games are similar in some ways, but my attempt at explaining cricket actually made me realize otherwise. People new to the cricket concept find it hard to digest the fact that a single cricket game can stretch for 5 whole days and still have no result at times. It gets funnier when you try to explain that the same game can also be played for one whole day or even for 4 hours during day time or night. The discussions about the game can be really funny and will usually end with the “Non Lover” completely confused :-)
A new ‘Avatar’ for movie going experience ?
Posted by Guhan | Filed under movies
I managed to see the paid preview show of James Cameron’s much talked about, much hyped mega budget movie ‘Avatar’ and I was not Disappointed. As the protagonist says when he tries out his ‘Avatar’, “This is great!”, I had the exact same excitement. The movie is a visual treat. 3D movie experience has been given a whole new meaning. Most of the 3D or 4D movies I have seen the illusion being used to scare the audience. For the first time, I have seen a movie which has used technology to take the audience on a journey through fantastic landscapes and immense scale of an imaginary land.
But more I think about it, the movie is a bit too long and the story isnt special like ‘Terminator’ or the ‘Matrix’ movies.
I was glad it moved away from the cliche “Aliens attack helpless humans” SciFi formula. It the year 2154 when Humans are the more powerful and arrogant race, looking to plunder a peace loving world.
The movie is a technical breakthrough. It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message complete with a Pig headed Military head (no prizes for guessing !! ).
All the hype about the new language is lost in the visuals of the movie. As a matter of fact, the length of the movie and mediocre story line is also completely covered up by the sheer magnitude and brilliance of story telling and movie wizardry. Gamers will relate to the visuals and would like being in control of a character in Pandora.
“Avatar” stretches the bounds of the cinematic imagination. It shows us something we’ve never seen before: an entire alien world, a new and complex ecosystem rendered in three dimensions with dazzling fluidity and detail.
I am going to watch it again for sure, and I am definitely a fan of ‘Avatar’
