Review - Creed(2015)

Creed is a movie directed by Ryan Coogler. It features Sylvester Stallone(as Rocky Balboa) and Michael Jordan(as Adonis Creed).
  
I may be a little biased here. I am a great fan of Sylvester Stallone. Me and my father still watch reruns of Rambo and Rocky on TV. So, when I came to know that a boxing movie with Rocky Balboa has been released, I made up my mind to watch it. Eventually I did.

Jordan's performance is awe-inspiring. From the moment he leaves his well-paid job after his first match(as in the movie) to getting Stallone as an instructor; his struggle feels close to the heart. He is running laps, doing chin-ups and shadow boxing his way to what he thinks he should become.

Stallone as always steals the show. He has such a big presence on the screen. He unknowingly shadows Jordan(fans of Rocky will agree). When Creed finds Balboa, the latter has left his boxing days behind. With enough persuasion, Creed finally gets Balboa to coach him. One of the finest scenes from the movie is when Jordan and Stallone both hurl punches on speed bags. The boxer inside you jumps up in joy. It is also very much like a father-son film with some moving shots. One is when Creed and his biker friends give their respects to Balboa.

I will not comment much on the story now. The content is short in my opinion. Anyway, the fights and training scenes are beautifully filmed. Those with no boxing experience can follow the action quite easily.

I will give the movie, four out of five stars. How many would you give?

A dive into Indian literature

Overcome by my curiosity, I recently started reading literature originated in India. India is a land of many languages. Sanskrit, Bangla, Hindi, Gujarati and the list goes on. I am not comfortable with any of them. But I thought I should atleast start somewhere.

My childhood was filled with stories from epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Jataka. Naturally, I am inclined to Indian mythology(predominantly Hindu works as of now; will move on to Buddhism, Jainism and other religions if fortune allows me to). I started with Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Sawant. In parallel, I am reading the translated works of the famed Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa. The purpose of this post is to summarize what I have read so far. I will go in chronological order.

The first Hindi novel I ever picked up --- Mrityunjaya(meaning "Conqueror of Death") written by Shivaji Sawant tells the story of Karna. It is a strange title to begin with. Karna from the epic Mahabharata, died in the great battle of Kurukshetra; slain by his own brother. Still the author chose to go with such a title, probably to give respects to a tragic hero. In a way, Karna was among the unluckiest of men. Abandoned by his own mother, cursed by his own guru(teacher), insulted by people because of his seemingly low caste, pushed into the wrong cause by his friend -- he still is remembered for his valor and greatness of character(Indian parents still name their boys as Karan). This book tries to capture the perception of Karna through the eyes of his various contemporaries. Some of them are:- Karna himself, Kunti(Karna's biological mother) and Vrishali(Karna's wife). Overall, the book is poignant and does justice to a complex character.

FACT: Karna's bow, Vijaya was gifted to him by his teacher, Parshurama. The name literally translates to "victory". Vijaya was one of the bows of Lord Shiva himself. Only few men were worthy and capable enough to wield it. Whoever used it in battle became invincible. Arjuna instructed by Krishna, killed Karna when he was weaponless i.e; without Vijaya.

The second work I am reading is Raghuvansam(means "the dynasty of Raghu"). As evident, it tells the story of King Raghu's line, a descendant of Manu(the first man to walk on Earth who originated from Surya, the Sun god). The kings of this dynasty have always formed an integral part of Indian folklore(the likes of Bhagirath, Harischandra and Rama). This work of Kalidasa is a mahakavya(epic poem). In my humble opinion, Kalidasa has showed extraordinary brilliance -- depicting the lives of legendary men in a way that was unknown to me.

FACT: Though his works are of legendary stature among the scholars of Sanskrit, the history of Kalidasa is virtually unknown. He is known to dislike love stories but ironically while writing about romance, surpassed everyone. It is believed that he enjoyed fame during his lifetime and was an ardent follower of Lord Shiva.

The third work I am reading, is again from Kalidasa. It is Kumarsambhavam(means "how the creation of Kumara became possible"). It tells the story of the creation of Karthikeya, the warrior god. It contains description of events after the immolation of Sati up to how Shiva was united with Parvati. Some of the passages are especially noteworthy. Like Shiva self-insulting himself in front of Parvati and his description of the full moon later on. Kalidasa shows why he is known as the greatest among the greatest.

FACT: The greatest works in Sanskrit always revolve around legendary men and women. It seems to me that poets wrote their works for the sole purpose of showing the ideal life. That's kind of cool.

So what's next? I am thinking of starting Meghnada Badh(means "the slaying of Meghnada"). Written in Bangla by Michael Madhusudan Dutta, it was the first ever work in Bangla to be written in the form of western play. Why did I chose it? Because Michael Madhusudan Dutta is a household name in Bengal. Born into Hinduism, he converted to Christianity on seeing the plight of women and lower castes in the orthodox Hindu era. He was continuously ridiculed by his fellow people as an 'Englishman' and was rejected by his own family. He succumbed to his long addiction with alcohol, but not before creating a name for himself.

FACT: Meghnada was the son of Ravana(the villain of Ramayana). He was named so because his birth cry sounded like thunder. Ravana wanted his son to surpass himself. So he instructed every single planet and constellation to align at the particular moment of his son's birth. The planets who are gods themselves, feared Ravana's wrath and agreed to do so. Ultimately, Ravana got a legendary warrior as his son. Meghnada is the only man apart from Parshurama, who is said to wield the greatest three weapons of Hindu trinity -- Brahmandastra from Brahma, Narayanastra(the one with eleven Rudras) from Vishnu and Pashupat from Shiva.

So what lies in the future? Maybe I should learn a lot more Indian languages. I am still to touch any literature from Southern and North-eastern parts of India. Lets see how that changes in the coming years.

Gasland - A review

Gasland is a documentary film created by Josh Fox. It was released on September 15, 2010. He is currently working on another project called The LET GO AND LOVE Tour. The latter is being outsourced on Kickstarter.
 

As a kid, I went to Burnpur (Asansol, West Bengal, India). In a sense, it was a strange place. Dense forests rose to belittle a ten year old boy. Peacocks looked down at me from trees. The place seemed very quiet. But the thing that bewildered me the most was flames emanating from Earth. I was completely awestruck. The only other memory I have from back then is the collection of stories I heard from people. Someone told me that a community hand-pump exploded in his proximity(he lit up a cigarette while walking by). Some told that they took absolute care while lighting anything. Only later my father told me about the existence of underground methane in coal seams.

 I was pretty naive back then. So I didn't ask anyone about other sort of problems(like diseases) they had. My mind just took it as a sort of weird experience and moved on with other easier things.

On some days, life becomes a loop. This movie did it for me. In here we have a story about environmental hazards caused by 'fracking'. Fracking is a process by which natural gas is extracted using hydraulic(liquid water, here) pressure to crack open fissures in rocks. The chemicals used with water contaminate the ground water supply. Of course, the energy companies deny any such claims. The gas also find its way through pipes and fill entire homes with inflammable material.

Josh also explores the hideous ways of energy corporations. As lots of money is involved, humans fall down to any level.

If you have reached this far, I will recommend you to watch it. Some stories deserve a larger audience.
 
I give this movie five out of five stars. What's your take?