Pansingh Tomar- Sweet and sour!

I was taken aback when my friend suggested that we watch a new Hindi movie titled Pansingh Tomar!!   I thought the title was weird  but decided to watch at least to judge the quality of the home theatre sound!  I got fully engrossed in the movie immediately after the first few minutes and appreciated the bold efforts of the director who made this movie from certain gathered real life stories of an era that existed about 40 years back! The Director Dhulia cleverly mixes sports and army to talk about his favourite subject revolving around Decoits and the so called terror that comes with them. All these ended when the dreaded  duo of Makhan singh and Chidda operating and spreading panic in the ravines of Chambal surrendered to the Sarvodaya Leader Late Jayapakash Narayan along with some 500 odd associates following social reforms announced by the Government.  The movie is all about the  sweet and sour story of a young  village lad from the ravines of chambal ! The sweet part is the child like behaviour of Pansingh whose main ambition is to eat well and live a normal life with his wife aptly played by Mahie Gill  and the sour part is the way our government treats persons of name and fame who bring laurels to our country in various fields only to be left alone to fend for themselves in desperation towards the later part of the life when they age!

This is a story of an athlete who brings encomiums to the nation by remaining unbeaten for 7 years in the national level Steele chase competition  only to turn and become a dacoit due to family feuds as he does not get justice from the administration.  The not so famous athlete becomes notoriously famous the moment he wields the gun and starts his revenge.

Irrfan, the innocent looking young lad from the dreaded Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh lives the character tossed at him and reconfirms his acting abilities in  Bollywood.  Irrfan joins the army to make his livelihood and also to eat his full stomach which he has been deprived of!  He is noticed by his seniors for   his easy, untiring run that prompts the seniors in the army to coax him to join the sports wing where there were no restrictions on food and eating!  Pansingh is attracted to this offer and accepts his posting as a sports person where he again excels in long drawn races.  He is sent abroad to participate in International sports meet and brings laurels to the country.  The way Pansingh removes his sports shoes while running on the track and runs barefooted evokes laughter and  tears speaking  volumes of the state of affairs that the sports persons faced due to lack of basic facilities and sports infra structure in the past.

Pansingh leaves the army only to look after the agriculture fields owned by his family.  His land is grabbed by his uncle and his harvest set on fire.  The dejected gentle person approaches the village police  to lodge a complaint but is not heard due to bias and nepotism.  The proud army man displays his medals won at the International games meet to the police inspector who grabs the medal and throws it on the floor which brings in lots of sadness and dejection.  Adding fuel to the fire, the cop asks Pansingh as to why the foreign woman athletes wear such scant clothes?  Pansingh Tomar gets deeply hurt and angry at the same time and remarks"Desh ke liye hum falthu bhage kya"? The change of personality from a gentleman to that of a dreaded dacoit is easily executed by Irrfan who goes all out to avenge all those who cheated his family including the cop who refuses to file his complaint earlier. 

As usual, there is an informer who helps the police to spread a net to catch Pansingh.  Pansingh is shot but not captured.  There was pride in his death!

Ultimately, the audience is left wondering as to why our government does not recognise the talents of the country who bring admiration and appreciation for the country and leaves them high and dry once they stop their activities that brought them to prominence!

The story starts with Pansingh Tomar, the dreaded Dacoit  giving interview to a journalist who is death scared to meet him and ask questions about his past.  The interviewer justifies his role by delivering an unmatched skill of acting which seems natural.  Irrfan, as usual is at home doing the notorious role with such ease as he did for his "vodafone" advertisement!!  The youngsters watching Irrfan run on tracks will surely be inspired.

 The recent rising of Naxalism and Maoism can be rightly attributed to the Government apathy and disregard shown to the natives belonging to these belt of Adivasis who, in frustration take to gun culture, kidnapping and ransom as is happening in the current scenario. These people prefer to be called "Rebels" and not Dacoits or Terrorists as branded by the Central government! The system turns an ordinary fun loving man into a Dacoit?  The entire outlook needs to be changed and the government must realise this for steady progress?

The film deserves credits and appreciation from the appropriate authorities including tax concessions.

Agni V test fired successfully today and it has the capacity to travel 5000 kms and hit a target- it is a strong message to China that India too has the capabilities of hitting back militarily, if attacked?  Now, the situation is that India never went to a war after 1971 with Pakistan.  The Kargil war is rumoured to be doctored to favour a few and there is a belief that it was a war that never was!!

I am sitting in Chennai, capital of Tamilnadu in India reeling under severe power shortage with power cuts that is happening like a relay race across the city that  lasts for 2 hours making life difficult for any business or office to run! The common man is frustrated and feels let down in the state and is in no mood to appreciate the success of the launch of Agni V. Today's newspapers report that China is not paying any importance to this feat achieved by India and has dismissed threat to their country through Agni V missile which is capable of carrying more than a ton of nuclear war head?  Probably they very well understand the military dynamics that operate in India  given the current state of Defence affairs and the shortage of ammunition and spares that are required to keep the equipments ready to meet the challenges of war!  By taking care of the political class, China may stay  assured that even if the Missile is fired,it may not cross the boundaries of India itself!!??

The evening news flashed abduction of a collector  in the state of Chattisgarh in central India by the Maoists who are creating havoc for the government which is in despair trying to figure out ways to tackle this internal menace which poses a big time challenge to the government and the Home Ministry.  The rise of Naxalism or Maoism is due to neglect and lack of economic development and providing employment to the youth of the states despite having got independence in 1947 itself?  The central government is all out to develop only the capital in  New Delhi and does not think about the other states in the country and has been neglecting since  the past 65 years of independence!

The bank rates for loans have become cheaper while the prices of  essential commodities that are consumed daily by people are hitting the roof making it difficult for people to live?  At this juncture, firing and testing Agni V missile seems to be a waste of resources and money which could be used in a  better way to bring up the living standards of people.
Agni(fire) is not in the missile but in the hearts of common people who are finding it difficult to even smile at least once in a week!!

Diktat from Mamata's party- Trinamul congress

                                                               

It's shocking to see from today's newspapers about the diktat issued by the ruling government party in W Bengal to its workers not to have any social alliance with the CPM who were ruling W Bengal for over 3 decades.  The instructions include not to speak or have any verbal talk with the people affiliated to CPM and to crown it all they have instructed that the TMC workers should not marry anyone from the CPM cadres or their families!! This is nothing but stupid and Mamata Banerjee seems to have lost her way to tackle problems both politically and officially?  This kind of diktat will lead to formation of yet another class in the society when India is struggling hard to get rid of caste and creed?  The TMC government may announce concessions to those belonging to its cadre and even recruit only those who toe their lines and command for appointment in all government positions? This shows the greed that this lady CM in Mamata Banerjee has to make her party a cult in the history of west Bengal and to inscribe her name to be remembered for generations to come in History!  It is not understood as to what her educated aides like Dr Amit Mitra, the Finance Minister in her government is doing about this and is he ever trying to advise the CM about the realities of life?  Dr Mitra has been the Secretary general of the FICCI(Federation of Indian chamber of commerce and industries) and is very much alive to the happenings of this country and the need for giving a good governance for economic development!  Power and ego has gone deep into the head of the lady Chief Minister who is also unable to digest cartoons drawn to poke her by cartoonists for the faults of her government.  Her arrogance is more explained by the way she is boycotting special meetings convened by the centre to evolve strategies relating to National security act.

Congress on their part, in order to throw CPM out of business, supported Didi Mamata who has turned a rebel against her own masters!! Politics is greater than cinema entertainment in India??

Power cut in Tamilnadu

I was busy talking to a person some matters of importance and abruptly the cordless telephone goes dead!  I know it is 10.00 am in the morning and the power supply to our area is cut by the Tamilnadu Electricity Board.  The electricity board employees take huge pleasure and credit in making sure that the power is cut off at the correct designated time without fail day after day for the past couple of months!  I do not see this kind of enthusiasm in their attitude to resume the power after the disruption and it is invariably delayed by a few minutes on many occasions.
My home has a power cut between 8 am and 10 am and there is nothing that I can do at this time since it is boiling hot outside.  I wait for the power to resume after which i can wipe my sweat and get ready for the office.  I reach my office and attend to matters of importance and before I can realise and it is 12 noon and time for power cut in T Nagar, the area where my office is situated.  It is hot outside for me to venture anywhere even to meet up my friends or contacts.  By the time the power comes, it is already 2 pm and half the day is lost without much gains or contribution?  This is the state of affairs in Chennai and only those offices which have generator back up carries their operations.  The cost of power generated through diesel works out to Rs 17 per unit consumed which is roughly 3 times the cost supplied by the Electricity board!  Even the MNCs in Chennai have started utilising the power cut hours for lunch and recreation for their staff.  Those who are unable to provide back up are finding it extremely difficult to operate in the city and migrating their business to the neighbouring states.
The announcements made in today's newspapers that T nadu is going to get abundant power through Thermal power plants that will be commissioned shortly seems to be a big hoax played by the government on the people just to assuage their anger caused on account of increase in power tariff combined with power cuts ranging from 2 hours in Chennai and up to 8 hours in the districts throughout the state!  It is hard to imagine as to how the business can survive and how will the FDIs will be attracted to the state.  If only the government had taken proper measures not to stall the Koodankulam plant that was supposed to be operations in December 2011 itself, the present situation could have been avoided and the government under the present Chief Minister would have won accolades from everyone across the state.
Hope the government takes remedial steps soon so that the Detroit of India does not rename itself as Somalia of India??  To understand the problems faced by the ordinary man, the Chief minister should also be subjected to the same environment and surroundings to understand the plight?

IPL-5 Opening Extravaganza

The IPL season 5 opening at Chennai last evening did not come up to expectations and was a damp affair without any thrills.  The Television advertisements were such a big hype that I was sitting before the idiot box like an idiot from 6.30PM onwards expecting a grand gala opening like never before? Finally, the show started @8PM in the usual Bollywood Fimfare awards function style.

  The very first interview that the anchor could hardly manage was with the Macho man of the Bollywood Salman Khan who was so much disinterested to appear before the camera and also exhibited his open and plain  ignorance and aversion to the game of cricket.  He also said that he remembers only half a dozen names that involved cricket and made the anchor look like a stupid fool and made her appear as if it was she who was bent upon the interview and the star had nothing to do with the game. His casual dancing ways suggested his disinterest in the program as well.  It seems huge sums of money were paid to get these stars into Chennai to perform.

  Piggy Chops tried her best to make the CSK team laugh and dance to her tunes but failed miserably making her remark not to go for a dancing date with girl friends!!  The audience present at the venue  challenged the comperes and performers to make them laugh and were sitting stiff. The only lighter point was when Raina told his preference for Kareena in comparison with Priyanka and went on to add that Kareena was grounded and not floating in the air!!!! The only artiste who sincerely dedicated herself to entertainment was Kareena Kapoor who performed her best and took away laurels!

Added to the dullness of the evening was a bad or poor quality of Audio that was muffled when it came through the T V sets.  Probably the Audio managers did not give a direct line out to the T V channels resulting in broadcast of poor audio quality of the program.  Set Max being a professional channel should have ensured  proper relay of audio which could have made an impact of the program.

Amitabh Bachan who was in the hospital till last week sprang a surprise by reciting a poem in Hindi for the Tamil Audience who could not understand what he was speaking and left him wondering what went wrong?  Money makes the mare go and how perfect it suits the Super Star who walked in straight from the hospital bed seeing the glitter of money that was being offered!! Speaking chaste Hindi and reciting a poem is the last thing a Chennaite would expect after paying for the ticket! Most of the people would not have understood the essence of the poetry that Amitabh was reciting.
Salman Khan danced with a group of dancers casually without any involvement and projected a sight as if IPL got the better side of it only by his presence!!  He should not have accepted the offer if he was so much dis-inclined towards cricket and the game! Much relief came at the end when Katy Perry with her beautiful looks and figure danced into the hearts of many present at the venue and throughout the world.  The abrupt ending of the show after one number from Katy Perry left many disappointed and sad.  Wonder if people could see more of her dancing numbers at the venue?  Bollinger of CSK was blessed when Katy asked him how to hold the bat and he rightly demonstrated the same that enthralled the audience all around and left many IPL players trying to draw her attention to teach her something else in cricket?!



The IPL 5 inaugural ceremony did not evoke the spirits connected with the game and probably this is going to be the reflection of what is going to come in the next 50 days of the carnival?? The fire works that supplements the glitter was very average and was far from spectacular?
In the extra innings, as usual, Sidhu was over powering and did not allow anyone else to speak.  Harsha Bogle got clean bowled when Sidhu in his opening comment remarked about his false hair and the bald patch behind the head that dampened his spirits and enthusiasm that was meant for the opening ceremony? Sidhu being a seasoned senior commentator and anchor should not dart personal remarks on fellow mates with whom he might be sharing the space for the next 50 days for the sake of pleasantness??
Probably someone who attended the ceremony could speak if the audio and the program was worth the money and time spent?

Koodankulam power for Tamilnadu only

J Jayalalitha recently demanded that the power generated from the Koodankulam Nuclear power plant be made available exclusively for Tamilnadu.  She seems to be justified in making such a demand in the current political scenario where all the Indian states are bent upon keeping all the natural resources only for their states and refuse to share with their neighbours despite court rulings or at least on humanitarian grounds?  The Cauvery water issue stands unresolved and erupts whenever there is an election or an issue to divert the attention of the people from the real burning issues affecting day to day life. The neighbouring states of Andhra, Karnataka and Kerala are all up in arms and trying their best to prevent the natural River water from flowing into Tamilnadu citing some stupid reason every time when the legitimate supply of water is demanded by  Tamilnadu.

Kerala recently threatened to build a new dam in Iduki stating vague reasons and increase the height of the Dam so that the precious water does not trickle into the Neighbouring state of Tamilnadu.  The political class even encouraged a movie based on this issue which created a furore and riots in both the states in favour and against only to give that extra mileage to the political parties that took advantage of the situation. The irony is that the subject matter is cooling itself without affecting the day to day life in both the states even without finding a solution to it? The charisma of Indian politics can be easily seen in such incidents which spring up suddenly out of no where and lie in rest after the purpose of politics is met with!

Under these circumstances, the Tamilnadu chief minister demanding that the power produced from the Koodankulam Nuclear power plant be made available only to Tamilnadu seems to be a right move in the right direction, though it may sound selfish? These days, when the state is reeling under severe shortage of power with centre supplying only a tenth of what is demanded, it is justified that the state retains all the power for themselves.  After all the people of Tamilnadu are the ones who have generously agreed to have the nuclear plant stationed in the state despite fears of disaster happening in the event of earth quakes or Tsunami.  The people of the state must be rewarded rightly and more so in the light of neighbouring states refusing to share water.  How can we call ourselves as Indians and belonging to one country when we are deprived of natural resources in the name of politics?  Suitable amends to the constitution should be made and the President should try and concentrate on these subjects rather than touring foreign countries at a huge cost without bringing in any results in favour of the country!  If States are allowed to act selfish to serve their ends and needs, India will disintegrate soon and a time will come when Visa may be required to travel to Delhi or Mumbai or even Bangalore??  Hope the central government does something for the sake of country and its honour??