AIRLIFT....lifts your spirits up

A gripping, taut and realistic recreation of a true event makes Airlift a cut above in the thriller genre. The massive air evacuation undertaken by the Indian government in 1990 to bring back approximately 1,70,000 of its citizens stranded in Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion was a story waiting to be told. The director, Raja Menon has done it quite capably through Akshay Kumar, our new age Manoj Kumar (minus his jingoism), vis-a-vis his recent spate of patriotic movies told stylishly in a mainstream cinematic context. 

Akshay is spot on as Ranjit Katiyal, the hard core businessman who is forced to remember his roots in times of crisis. Initially planning to flee Kuwait with his family, he is compelled to rise above his self-centeredness and help his fellow citizens after witnessing how helpless ordinary people are in the face of the tyranny unleashed upon them by Saddam Hussein.
His persistence, doggedness and resources help him set up a temporary camp and give shelter to a motley group of Indians, carrying along their distinctive problems and idiosyncrasies. Nimrat Kaur as Akshay's trophy wife complements his strength of character with her own when the occasion demands. She is a welcome change from the usual bimbettes routinely seen in Akshay's movies.

The narrative has a dark, sinister feel to it; the havoc created by war and a rogue nation creates palpable terror and an innate sympathy for the victims regardless of their nationality. The waiflike Kuwaiti lady hidden in the camp by her Indian maid is symbolic of this. Notable performances are by Kumud Misra as the dedicated Indian bureaucrat who facilitates the evacuation process by cutting through red tapes and dithering politicians. The talented Inaamulhaq portraying the shrewd, crafty Iraqi major evokes more guffaws than fear, majorly due to his quaint accent. A minor flaw in an otherwise riveting tale of a man's perseverance against all odds.

The movie does stray towards repetitive sequences at times and is low on entertainment quotient but then stark reality is seldom entertaining. However, after all the hard work that goes towards building it up, the climax in itself is a tad underwhelming. The accelerated homecoming process makes one feel relieved that the long drawn ordeal is over for the fellow Indians, but a bit shortchanged that the actual 'airlift' manoeuvres are swept in the air. 

Minor irritants apart, the movie is an ideal republic day flavour meant to be savoured by those looking for soaring stories of patriotism in times when the word 'Indian' and all that it encompasses is being redefined. 

SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION

This is the age of trolls, memes, controversies and parodies. 
As I sit reminiscing and reflecting upon the past few years, what strikes instantly is the gross invasion of an individual's privacy by digital gadgets. My life isn't mine anymore, free to live as I wish. It's bombarded by messages, beeps and notifications at ungodly hours and unmentionable places and time. The urge to check every single source of digital enlightenment belies common sense and borders on insanity and derangement.

 Facebook is fast becoming our alter ego and intent on making even strangers shake each other's hands. What started on an initial premise of reconnecting and sustaining social relationships has far bigger implications now on an individual's life. Its steadily attempting to become our guide, astrologer, clairvoyant, messiah etc.. Telling us the meanings of our name, our personal relationships' success meter, our future, our hidden desires, fears, even our death dates. Now seriously!! Even if most of us undertake such frivolity at face value, it takes the cake at the absurdity.
 The casual check-ins have become the norm, full-fledged family albums weighing down under the scores of likes and automated applauding responses from the viewing audience has become mandatory for some. Personal gratification no longer seems to be the primary motive behind any activity. Public display of one's lifestyle has become the order of the day. Even people who prefer to live their lives privately and quietly can't resist peeping into the badass and bindaas lifestyle of the other half. 

Over-the-top selfie craze is the 21st century's biggest affliction ; self destructive, insidious, and incurable. The preeners pout gloatingly, the fawning viewers clap gushingly while the cynics snort disparagingly. But none can match the intense indulgence of the ever spiralling selfie addiction. That you might well be posing for the last time given the risks sometimes undertaken for that perfect shot, is a question that never poses itself well enough to be answered. Therein lies the tragic pit of human vanity.

Twitter consists of belligerent folks with overactive oestrogen levels and dormant grey cells because they shoot their mouth at the slightest pretext, more to catch eyeballs and elicit aggressive reactions than for any genuine feel for the topic in hand. Instagram and photo editors produce picture perfect portraits; glossy, unreal and fake but still garnering record breaking likes. Whatsapp is the little devil solely responsible for bringing long lost acquaintances and forgotten friends together but driving immediate families apart as they are too busy with online chatting to have any spare time for heart to heart talks with family members at home. Personal intimacies are being destroyed systematically by the social media, claim the detractors. Sensationalism rules the roost while sensitivity sleeps like a log. 

This digital onslaught on an individual's life is complete and absolute. Any personal preference to be a passive spectator and watch the circus from afar is scoffed at and one is pulled deep into the vortex of silliness and superficiality.
Hopefully in future, the novelty will wane off and the good old virtues of privacy and containment will come into action to balance this blatant in-your-face style of living. Till then the only choice left is to grin and bear and enjoy the show. Spectacular as it is, at times.

Review of novel...'The bestseller she wrote' by Ravi Subramanian

Romance is arguably the most popular genre to write a book in. Add a second potent angle, betrayal and/or revenge and you have a sureshot recipe for success.

The novel,' The bestseller she wrote',  taps the romance in a hip, contemporary setting between a married, successful banker who is also a popular author and his young, stunning and cunning protégé. Their relationship graph is developed on predictable lines. The protagonist Aditya is projected as a hotshot professional and a devoted family man who falls for the guiles of a young ambitious female Shreya without much ado. For an apparently smart man, Aditya appears dumb in his dealings with Shreya who always gets the last word. 

The author also fails to focus on any real conflict in Aditya's mind about going ahead in an adulterous relationship with a much younger woman despite happily married. He is too eager to form an extra-marital alliance with an overtly shrewd girl. Well, pretty is what pretty does. She betrays him without batting an eye. Feeling guilty and remorseful, Aditya begs for forgiveness from his wife who after a little dilly-dally takes him back like an 'Adarsh bhartiya nari'. Infact, stereotypical characters abound this novel which makes for a candyfloss timepass read but does little in uplifting it towards an engaging thriller. The twists and turns are conviniently contrived to push the story forward. 

 What if Shreya was a genuinely sweet girl really in love with Aditya? What would Aditya have done; who would he have chosen ultimately? Making the other woman appear scheming and manipulative is such an obviously easy way to chicken out of developing a complex emotional interplay between the 3 protagonists. Aditya's wife, Maya and best friend, Sanjay are mere caricatures with foreseeable actions and reactions. Even the backstabbing angle given to Sanjay seems forced as an afterthought. 

In the end, this novel maynot go down in the literary circles as the bestseller that Ravi Subramaniam wrote but definitely as a likeable, caramel-coated popcorn romance providing instant gratification. But does it leave a lingering taste? Read and decide.