Movie Review: Ta Ra Rum Pum

ab bhi ho gham, zyada ya kam,
Muskuraayenge hum, gaayenge hum,
Ta Ra Rum Pum.. Ta Ra Rum Pum.. Ta Ra Rum Pum..

How many times do we come across Bollywood movies which we can proudly take our children to watch? When we don’t have to divert their attention many times because of some objectionable scenes? When children can learn some values of life from movies? Which don’t display lavishness of rich kids and portray families which are always happy and rich? With Tara Rum Pum released, you can watch such a movie after a long time. 

Tara Rum Pum is the story of a car racer (Saif), his wife (Rani) and their two children (Princess and Champ), who get to have a bad patch in their life. But they face being poor with great bonding, support, and a positive spirit. After much struggle, Saif gets his success back. And they all learn several lessons from that.

The role of RV looks natural for Saif. Rani is as usual sound and glowing. I specially liked the acting of the child actors here. Angelina Idnani is so superb in her role of Princess that you shall keep searching for her in the next movies you watch.
 

• Tara Rum Pum is a complete family entertainment. Here are some key learning out of the movie:
• It is a story of how a talented person can fight back to glory, if he remains hopeful and keeps trying.
• It is a story which teaches us two things at the same time importance of having university degrees, and that university degrees are not the only thing that matters.
• It teaches us, how family members should continue supporting each others at the time of adversity. If you keep your head up, any bad phase will pass.
• It teaches us how important it is to keep your spirits positive at the time of lows in our lives. Never give up. Keep trying.
• It teaches us that no job is lowly. Rani had to play pianos in restaurants, but she did it with pride and composure. Saif had to drive a taxi, but he did it for family.
• It teaches us the importance of dreams.
• It teaches us the importance of belief. Rani believed in Saif, she retained her faith and in the last, Saif earned back whatever he had lost.
• It teaches us that we should spend cautiously. While they were rich, Saif used to throw away money. When in bad times, his son had to eat leftovers of others. Children too learn the importance of saving in their piggy banks.
• For children, the movie is a great fun, healthy entertainment and media to learn and grow at the same time.

If you don't believe all this, why don't you go out and check it out at your nearest theatre? And don't forget to take your family, especially the children. Believe me, after a long time, there is a movie worth watching for children.

  

Stats:

Directed by              Siddharth Anand

Produced by             Aditya Chopra,

Yash Chopra

Written by               Habib Faisal

Starring                  Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Victor Banerjee Shruti Seth, Jaaved Jaffrey

Music by                 Vishal-Shekhar

Distributed by          Yash Raj Films

Pvt. Ltd

Release date            27 April 2007 

Cast:

Rani Mukerji              Radhika Shekar Rai Banerjee (Shona)

Saif Ali Khan            Rajveer a.k.a RV

Angelina Idnani         Princess (Priya) 

Ali Haji                    Champ (Ranveer) 

Shruti Seth              Sasha

Jaaved Jaffrey          Harry

Victor Banerjee         Radhika’s Father

Songs:

The music of the film has been conducted by the duo Vishal-Shekhar and lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. The film contains six songs:

1. Ta Ra Rum Pum     - Shaan, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Sneha Suresh and Shravan Suresh

2. Hey Shona           - Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan

3. Nachle Ve            - Sonu Nigam and Somya Raoh

4. Ta Ra Ra Ra Rum Tararumpum – Shreya Ghoshal

5. Ab To Forever      - KK, Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Dadlani

6. Saiyaan               - Vishal Dadlani

Ever tried to get a Migration Certificate?

Have you ever applied for a migration certificate from the university you last attended? Migration certificate certifies that the student XYZ has passed out from the university on ABC date and year, and the university has no objections to his/her taking admissions in another mentioned university.

Recently I needed migration certificate from my last attended university, NIT Durgapur. There was fee to be submitted to the cash counter of the adjoined bank, then there was an application form to be filled up, and I needed to attach zerox copies of my degree certificate and university registration certificate. Due to obvious reasons I didn't want to go the institute physically, so I got one presently studying junior to do that on my behalf. I said that I would send the certificates and one authorization letter to him by fax. But the head of academic section, an infamous Prof. from Mechanical Engineering department, said that I needed to show him the original degree and registration certificates. I didn't want to send my original certificates by mail/courier. Also, I didn't have much time left. I talked to him, but he said that was a university rule and he couldn't do anything. I talked to my HOD, who then talked to him, but he won't go back. So, I needed to go to the university myself, with the original degree certificate, in order to get a piece of paper called migration certificate.

I am just wondering, why universities are so strict while issuing migration certificates. I got to know the process followed in Mumbai University. The application form for getting the same is available on their website; any one can download it and fill up the hard copy, attach a DD and send the request by post. There is no need to be physically present, or to verify the original documents. But Mumbai University too is very strict. The application form is of 5 pages. It says it will issue only one migration certificate and if admission is not taken, the same should be returned back.

I am not able to understand why migration certificates should be treated as such an important document. All it says is that the student XYZ has passed out in the year ABC and the university doesn't have any objection to his/her taking admission in another university.

If an institute feeds all its students data in an online database, I think the migration certificate can be generated in a moment online. Anyone who wants to apply, can submit a fee online, through internet banking or credit card, and then fill up the particulars about him/her, like name, father's name, date of birth, etc for verification. Then a certificate can be generated electronically, whose printouts can be taken by the student.

In worst case, it may happen that someone else gets a migration certificate in some other person's name, because we are not verifying the student's authenticity rigorously enough. But how will this benefit the other guy? That migration certificate will be authentic only when submitted with original degree certificate and marks sheets. So where is the risk of forgery?

I am worried because after passing out form a graduate school, most of the people are working. Now when they want to pursue higher studies, they need a migration certificate from the last Uni. For that they need to go all the way to their alma maters, just to show the original degree certificates for verification.. That makes them to take 2-5 days leave, depending on the distance. Add to that the travel costs. Several universities have some different sets of rules, all in order to make life more difficult for us. Is not this another example of palling bureaucracy? 

Missing Dogs from the Streets

Recently there were extensive public debates about whether the BMC should kill the stray dogs or not. There are around 6 lakhs stray dogs in Mumbai, growing at around 2 lakhs every year. There are cases of around 50,000 dog bites every year. BMC spends around Rs 4.25 crore every year to procure Anti Rabies vaccines (ARV). There are several solutions suggested, but the time tasted one is sterilization of female dogs. I don't want to bring this debate to the street. I want to tell a short story. 

My story goes back to the time when I was working in a cement plant near Raipur. Number of stray dogs in the colony had become very large, and some one brought attention of management towards the growing threat to safety. Point was noted in the minutes of weekly coordination meeting. The solution as suggested by the security head was short and simple - kill them by poisoning. Our works manager was a very kind man. He was not ready for this solution. He asked why not dogs could be caught and left away from the place. The security head was asked for arranging this. 

Now, every week, the security head brought a new problem, objecting the scheme of catching the dogs. The sequence was this: 

Week #1: How can we catch the dogs they will bite us. (Solution: inject them to make them unconscious)

Week #2: There are no such injections available in plant dispensary. (Solution: get them from outside)

Week #3: We don't have trained people to catch the dogs. (Solution: Search outside)

Week #4: The dogs will come back after coming in senses. (Solution: Leave them 50 Km away) 

The security head was like testing the patience of the works manager. Every week, he brought some new problem. Works manager would suggest the way out and would ask him to do the job very fast. 

Then I went out for a week. When I returned back, I found this: The security head, informed that there was no supply of the drug used to make the dogs unconscious, and persons and vehicle to catch the dogs were difficult to find. The works manager was fed up and gave in. They poisoned many dogs for several days. After the dogs were finished, equal number of stray dogs from near by villages took exactly the same position where the original ones used to live!

Essay on Cow

Some times our slight neglect results in sealing the fate of a living being.

During my childhood days in school, we were frequently asked to write essays on "cow". We always began with the sentence "cow is a domestic animal". We were asked to write sometimes 10 sentences and some times 15. How to do that? We used to increase the sentence count like this: A cow has four legs. A cow has two ears. A cow has one tail. A cow has two horns. A cow has one mouth too. Did you laugh? But I didn't stop there. We prepare sweets from cow's milk. We prepare curd from cow's milk. We prepare butter from cow's milk. We prepare ice-creams from cow's milk too. I would go on like this until the required number of sentence count was over. 

This was my original one. Now some years back, I witnessed one of my cousin brothers write an essay on cow. He had lately caught fancy with the phrase by the grace of God, and loved to use it everywhere. He writes: By the grace of God, cow is a domestic animal. Cows give us milk by the grace of God. We prepare sweets from her milk by the grace of God. His teacher just crossed his essay in red ink, by the grace of God. 

Now this was on lighter side. Now I narrate something more serious. 

The day goes back to 2005 when I was posted in a plant near Raipur. It was a fine Sunday morning and I was going towards society's shops for a hair cut. I found that it had rained heavily last night and branches of trees were lying here and there; indicating a storm also. While passing in front of the guest house, I noticed something in the drain by the side of the road. The drains were open and very deep, mainly carrying waste water. To my surprise, there was one young cow lying there, her legs up and head down, stuck in the narrow walls of the drain. Was she alive? I saw her neck was twisted, but her nostrils were out of water. Water flowing through her faced disturbance because of her body, and formed a small waterfall as it passed. Her four legs were out in the air, while most of remaining body was immersed in water. She was tightly fixed in the drain, and didn't move. There were some flies moving around her body. I could sense she was dead; but who knows? I wanted to help her, at least to ascertain if she were alive or dead. But I didn't like touching it. 

I reached the shopping centre. To my relief, I met one officer who was in the administration department. I narrated him the scene and he said that he would call someone to take her out. Half an hour later, while I returned back, she was exactly in the same position. I met one other personnel from administration; he said he would do something. It being a Sunday, there was no one in the colony maintenance office. I called the security personnel at the plant gate; they said it being Sunday, fewer staffs were present, but they would try to help. 

Around 12:30, I went for lunch in the guesthouse. Her body was unmoved. After lunch, I told the guesthouse waiters about her and asked for help. One waiter, Baratu, went with me to see her and said that there is little chance that she would be alive. Then he called the security gate and informed them that a calf had fallen into drain and was alive. I appreciated his practical approach. As he told them that the calf was alive, there was a good chance that they would come.

I was feeling helpless. What if the calf was alive and dying? No body had come to her rescue since morning. 

Next morning, her body was still there. I felt really bad. I knew then for sure that even if she was alive on Sunday, by this time she would have certainly died.

On Tuesday, I called the colony maintenance office and enquired about the cow. I was informed that they took her out, dead, on Monday afternoon. 

I felt very guilty. I was almost sure that she was dead when I found her first. But what if she was alive then? We took her out only after one and half day. There was no chance she could survive so long lying in that position. Through out that period, I only tried to help her through others. Why didn't I pull her out myself? It would have cost me maximum dirty hands and dirty cloths, but I could have saved a life. I still carry the guilt of that day. 

#Movie Review: 300: History or Controversy

The movie 300 has been much debated and accused against since its release on March 8, 2007. It has been alleged that it shows the Persian culture in wrong light and promotes the western supremacy. This article was inspired by ongoing controversy and debates on the issue and is a result of some internet searches with an attempt to reach a conclusion. It includes some citations along with my personal opinion.

About 300

300 (film) is a 2007 film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller and is a fictional account of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The film is directed by Zack Snyder with Frank Miller attached as an executive producer and consultant.

Is 300 Historically Correct?

The Film’s Director Zack Snyder stated in an MTV interview that “The events are 90 percent accurate. It’s just in the visualization that it’s crazy…. I’ve shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it’s amazing. They can’t believe it’s as accurate as it is.” He continues that the film is “an opera, not a documentary. That’s what I say when people say it’s historically inaccurate”.

I have searched the internet and found that most of the events covered in the movie are historically accurate.

Battle of Thermopylae

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states (shown as Spartans in the movie) fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persians for three days in one of history’s most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war. The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian Empire’s navy destroyed and Xerxes I was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it the expansion of the Persian Empire into Europe.

The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is often used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain to maximize an army’s potential, and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. The sacrifice of the Spartans has captured the minds of many throughout the ages and has given birth to many cultural references as a result.

The geopolitical origins of the battle actually predate Xerxes I, as it was his father, Darius the Great, who initially sent heralds to all Greek cities offering blandishments if they would submit to Persian authority. Many of the 700 Greek states submitted, including the Argives, the sworn enemies of Sparta.

Herodotus – father of history

Herodotus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC ca.425 BC) and is regarded as the “father of history”. He is almost exclusively known for writing The Histories, a collection of ‘inquiries’ into the origins of the Persian invasions of Greece which occurred in 490 and 480/79 BC especially since he includes a narrative account of that period, which would otherwise be poorly documented. On going through what Herodotus has written, I have come to understand the turns of events as shown in the movie 300.

1. Persians attached the Spartans: The Persians at that time were not as peaceful race as we all think. Xerxes I, king of Persia, had been preparing for years to continue the Greco-Persian Wars started by his father Darius. In 481 BC, after four years of preparation, the Persian army and navy arrived in Asia Minor. Herodotus who wrote the first history of this war, gave the size of Xerxes’s army as total 2,641,610. This is the account for the land armies present at Thermopylae. Regarding the total number of forces Xerxes I assembled to invade Greece (land army, fleet crew, etc.), this number is nearly doubled in order to account for support troops and thus Herodotus reports that the total Persian force numbered 5,283,220 men, a figure which is regarded as erroneous by modern estimations.

2. Why to sacrifice the 300 Spartans: The legend of Thermopylae as told by Herodotus is that Sparta consulted the Oracle at Delphibefore setting out to meet the Persian army. Oracle’s warning was that either Sparta would be conquered and left in ruins or one of her two hereditary kings, descendant of Hercules, must sacrifice his life to defend her. That is why Leonidas took charge of his personal fighting unit, the 300 Spartans, and headed to Thermopylae. Doesn’t this fact tell us about how much the Spartans loved their home land? All the 300 Spartans knew that they would die, but they fought till death with bravery that they were not sure world would come to know one day. Not a single Spartan fled or betrayed. If only our Hindu soldiers were as united along with their bravery, then India would not be ruled over by Muslim invaders for 1000 years and then by then British for another 100 years.

3. Not inhuman fighters: Herodotus writes that Leonidas was idolized by his men. He was convinced that he was going to certain death and his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so selected only men who had fathered sons who were old enough to take over the family responsibilities. Doesn’t this show that the Spartans were not as barbaric as we think them to be?

4. The last scene: The last scene shows the Persian king Xerxes-I order the hill surrounded and the Persians rain down arrows until the last Greek was dead. Modern archaeologists have found evidence of the final arrow shower. So the film even uses a historical fact to build its climax. There is no fiction.

5. Was Persian king as barbaric as shown: Historian Herodotus writes that when the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes I, in a rage at the loss of so many of his soldiers, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified. This was very uncommon for the Persians; they had the habit of treating enemies that fought bravely against them with great honor. However, Xerxes I was known for his rage, as when he had the Hellespont whipped because it would not obey him.

Conclusion:

Representation of Spartans: Spartans have been represented in the movie as freedom loving, military oriented race, who love to die for their soil. They are as brave as any men could ever be. And even the women, as represented by the queen played an important role of preparing for the final battle.

Representation of Persians:  Persians have been represented as bloodthirsty invaders. They keep slaves and are inhuman in many ways. It is true that 300 has shown the Persians king Xerxes I in a wrong light. It has shown him as androgynous, which has no historical proof.

The historical facts and figures give the movie a particular vantage. Though based on historical grounds, it has represented the Persians of that time in a manner which hurts many a people and could have been played down.