Rahul Speaks To Arnab

27th January, 2014.

Venue - Times Now 

On one corner - Arnab Goswami known to kachha chabaaoing politicians for dinner daily (Avijit Mukherjee, Meenakshi Lekhi et al will testify)

On the second corner - Rahul Gandhi

So live blogging a political interview. After all जंगल में चुनाव आने वाले हैं. So blog heading to some political frontiers now. Random thoughts which come into my mind while watching the same

• 1st impression - Rahul Gandhi sounds like a very nervous engineering student trying to remember random theorems and formulae while being grilled by the whole bunch of sadist professors. Also resorting to the same old trick. Answer what you know, need not be the right answer.
• Why is the interview being held in 3rd person? Arnab - "what does Mr. Rahul Gandhi have to say about...." Rahul - "Rahul Gandhi thinks... Rahul Gandhi wants to do...." Highly annoying.
• Arnab is giving him space to speak. I am amused, not surprised. Arnab is trapping him. And he is walking into the well laid trap. In India you don't talk 2002 Gujarat and expect not to be roasted for 1984 Sikh riots.
• Mr. Gandhi can go on and on about his grand mother and father and their sacrifice. But where is his opinion?
• Sorry Mr. Gandhi every riot is a crime. And there is no distinction between any for the brutality and criminality. "Govt. of Gujarat was abetting the riots"- Ok NaMo fans... A-A-K-R-A-M-A-N. 
• "I was not involved in the 1984 riots" - Well thank you for clarifying your innocence. 
• He is sounding worse and worse with every passing minute. DISASTER Alert
• See Mr. Goswami, this is what happens when you let people speak. They provide better entertainment. Brilliantly conducted interview Sir.
• Questions are being asked asked. Answers are being given. But the connection seems to have missing. Reminding me more and more of the grand vivas during the engineering days.
• Arnab defending press. "The press does not rule the country". And Rahul jumping back on his words.
• RTI, RTI, RTI. We passed Lokpal bill. All questions lead to an RTI. Irony Alert - From a representative of the party leading the government faced with Himalayan scale corruption charges.
• Theme of the interview - "We have to change... We have to do...We want to bring in young people..." but where were you for the past ten years? You can't pretend to be opposing the system which you are heading?
• "I still have faith in the prime minister" - WOW, Good to hear that
• "Giving haircuts to the bald". Arnab G changes the metaphor. of course he can do what he wants.
• "Congress is a very powerful organisation... it needs to undergo some transformation" - Frankly I am scared of this power. 
• "I am absolutely against the concept of dynasty" -  Irony killed itself
• I am actually beginning to feel sorry for Rahul Gandhi now. The same pity I feel when I see Suresh Raina trying to face a bouncer.
• RG trying to smile his way out of trouble. Worked for Joe Root, whose "cute" smile prevented Mitchell Johnson from sledging him. [Aside - England still got hammered in the Ashes]
• RG's thoughts - Arnab is asking questions which are out of syllabus
• RG - "Maybe you find me strange". AG - "I don't find you strange" - Hilarious
• How many "one last question" were asked.
• Positives for RG -  Credit him for gutsing it out. Sounds sincere but not the leader who will give me my Civics textbook India.

Final comment. Arnab brilliant but Rahul Gandhi disappointed. Social media rejoicing 

P.S. waiting for more such interviews.

The Newspaper

January 27th. Day after the Republic Day. Also a normal Monday (universally agreed as the worst day of the week). Nothing unusual about the day, except for one little thing missing in the morning. 

There was no newspaper on account of Republic Day holidays.

Not that the newspaper is of much relevance in this day. Most of the days, it is is just skimmed through. The big headlines (which mostly comprise of tales of political drama / rapes / corruption) are what register while flipping through the content between the ads. Many of the supplements are barely even seen. In fact there are days when the paper goes straight to the trash next day without having been opened at all. 

So why do I still have a newspaper subscription? 

Do I take it for the news? I already get my fair share of news through the news websites and twitter (which is an excellent medium for breaking news as well as rumours) and television. In fact I read what I want to and the chances of missing news stories is quite low. So the newspaper's main news reporting function is not what I look for.

Do I take it for the editorial views? Well, given that I normally flip through the pages, the editorial is the last section which I will read through. Also I can get multiple views on the same subject better online.

Do I take it for the event listings? Well, smartphones now have an app for just about everything. Special events, sports telecasts, breaking news items, weather alerts, traffic updates, TV listings. And all of these with alerts and alarms set in. So they do a better job than the newspaper.

So why is the newspaper subscription still active?
Mostly it is out of habit. Since I can remember, a newspaper has been reaching the doorstep almost daily (save for the holidays). And I have been hooked on to the newspaper at quite an early age. My initial introduction was to the comic strips, the sports pages and the black and white pictures. The rest of the paper wasn't seen much. As I grew up the interest range increased. I always read the paper back to front (sports news has always been a big priority). In fact still flip through starting from the sports section. Also looked forward to the more colourful supplements which came on the weekends. Had developed a habit of keeping cuttings of interesting facts, pictures, news items (All of which were discarded during major clearing exercises). Eagerly awaited were the special supplements which came out on occasion. Later on also developed a habit of attempting the daily crossword and moved on sudoku. The newspapers used to be quite thin - around 12 pages. But the time devoted in perusing it was a lot. And the day felt incomplete without having read the newspaper. Also nothing improves one's general awareness and vocabulary better than this daily habit.

Guess it is this life-long habit which I still cling on to. Even though now I just glance through the newspaper rather than reading it, and attempting those puzzles is way out of thought, something still seems amiss when the newspaper offices go on leave.

And I guess that feeling of absence vented itself out in this post.

MovieNotes: Rush

Movie: Rush

*ing: Chris Hemsworth (a.k.a Thor), Daniel Bruhl (a.k.a German soldier from Ingloriuous Basterds)

Director: Ron Howard

Language: English with smattering of German & Italian

Genre: Sports, Biographic

Preamble

2013 catch-up continues. An F1 fan should have caught this in the theatres but didn't.

Basic Premise

Movie follows the lives of F1 drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt as they compete for the 1976 Formula 1 Drivers' World Championships.

Movie Notes

• Speed thrills.
• The contrast in the attitudes of the two drivers has been depicted quite well without overtly stereotyping either. Hunt - playboy, carefree, fast driving. Lauda - calculating, weighing the risks, analyzing the rewards, prioritizing and focused on the overall reward. Both crazy in their own ways.
• However the movie is overtly focused on the drivers and the screen time for actual racing is quite low which is a disappointment.
• The 70s era was quite different. Safety wasn't an important consideration for anyone it seems. Also don't think the lifestyles maintained by the Hunt and company could be even permitted by today's authorities. Guess, Hunt's line summed up the overall attitude - "The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel".
• True champions are driven by their desires and targets.
• Liked the end montage showing the real Niki Lauda talking about his great rival. 
• ImportantQuestion - How does Thor fit into an F1 car?

Rating - 8/10. A good film but the recommended film on Formula 1 (or any sports) is "Senna" 

Previously on MovieNotes: Fukrey

MovieNotes: Fukrey

Movie: Fukrey

*ing: Richa Chaddha, Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal, Manjot Singh, Vishakha Singh, Priya Anand

Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba

Genre: Comedy, Youth

Language: Hindi

Preamble:

Playing catch-up on the films which should have been watched but couldn't due to varied reasons.

Basic Premise

Attempts to get-rich-soon landing the lead protagonists in trouble. 

MovieNotes:

• Its an unknown cast. Some members having done bit pieces in other films. Some others have been spotted in some commercials. Yet as you watch, the movie grows on you. Proving once again that an interesting storyline with memorable characters backed up by good acting will become a hit.
• Don't think there have been so many characters so much interested in getting to a particular college in any story (for varied reasons) of course.
• Choocha has to be the most memorable character in recent times. Though Bholi Punjaban and Panditji give him a close run
• "Yes... Choocha specking" - the most memorable line.
• There is a dreamer (our very own Choocha) and there is a dream interpreter who interprets them to pick a lottery number. An outlandish plot and yet the makers pull it off. And they manage to reference Inception as well.
• Plenty of scope to have sequels. 
• Songs have a very high catchy quotient. Special mention - Ambarsariya.
• Dialogues and locations are the kind which normal people can relate to. Another key point working in favour of the movie.

Rating: 8/10. Totally enjoyable

Previously on MovieNotes: Fast & Furious 6

MovieNotes: Fast & Furious 6

Movie: Fast & Furious 6 

*ing: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez and many more

Director: Justin Lim

Language: English 

Genre: Action

Basic Premise

6th movie in a franchise (although 5th in the chronological order) which began as street car racing and has now evolved into road heists with fast cars playing a major part. 

A government agent takes the help of a gang of "good-hearted" criminals, who have outwitted him previously, to counter the evil designs of a bigger villain.

MovieNotes:

• Tokyo Drift is widely accepted as the worst film of the franchise, yet it is the one which is tying up many loose ends.
• Query - Did the filmmakers (of Tokyo Drift) really think they would be able to add in that twist to the accident scene from Tokyo Drift and make it a major plot continuity point?
• Motto of the movie - Family come first. In fact even the likes of Suraj Barjatya and Karan Johar won't be able to emphasize on family bonds the way Dominic Toretto does.
• The credits song - We Own It (by Wiz Khalifa & 2 Chainz) is really catchy and gets stuck in the brain even though the lyrics aren't clear.
• The action scenes are outrageous yet you want to believe them to be true. e.g. a tank exploding out of a truck. They also do not focus on blood and gore.
• The movie works at frenetic pace. The key players move across continents in no time. 
• The epilogue scene makes things more interesting. I am looking forward to Fast and Furious 7, though Paul Walker's untimely death has added some more twists to the story.

And finally, Rest In Peace Paul Walker. There is just too much irony in there. The man shown most committed to family in the movies dies in a car accident. The franchisee and its fans will miss you.

Rating: 7/10 - High on adrenaline. Rest do not really matter.

Previously on MovieNotes: The Lunchbox