Movie Review: Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023)

I watched Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on JioCinema. 

Starring Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is a comedy film. 

I had seen the promos of the film when it was released and expected it to be a lighthearted comedy based around the theme of "divorce". But I did not know that the movie had much more to offer. I found this movie as a lovely take around the theme of survival of marriage in a world plagued by corrupt government agencies. Vicky Kaushal has done an amazing work and establishes himself as a 'natural actor'. And Sara Ali Khan has given her best in another movie worth remembering. Rest of the cast is also very effective. 

With 8/10, I would rate Zara Hatke Zara Bachke as a lovely family entertainer with a good social message. Especially married couples should watch it to get taste of a life untouched in usual movies. 

- Rahul   

  

Curious Case of ICICI Bank Sending New Debit Card Unnecessarily

I got an email from ICICI bank saying my debit card was due for renewal and if I had any change in address, I should update using either net banking or by visiting nearest branch. I happened to recall that my debit card was not that old, and it should not be due for renewal. Hence, I checked my debit card physically and found that its validity lied 4 years ahead in future. Why should the bank send me a new card 4 years in advance? If there was a big technological change (e.g. when chip cards were introduced) or when big regulatory changes happen, it could be justified, but not now. 

I checked my email text and it had mentioned last 4 digits of my debit card and it did not match with my existing card. 

I logged into my net banking and went to debit card tab, and it displayed by debit card and its last 4 digits matched with the number mentioned in the email! It seemed the bank had already updated new card it planned to send with my customer ID. 

Hence, I called up the customer care number. The guy said he would verify and needs a few minutes. As the call went on a while and he put it on hold since it was taking time in his system to fetch data, I thought to re-verify my debit card number in my net-banking, just in case he asks any other info. And this time, I saw that the debit card number had changed and now it displayed my existing card number! 

As predicted, the customer care executive came back online and he said now that he could see that my existing card number was still mapped, and its validity was still remaining so I should ignore the email since the bank won't be sending me a new card.

I was shocked. How could debit card number change in my net-banking record, without someone doing something to update it? 

I thanked him and went back to ignore this episode. But not without a suspicion that most likely the bank was pushing some of its "costlier" debit card to me "forcefully" and since I called customer care and demanded answer, they abandoned their plan. I shall still be watchful if the same happens again in future. And you should too. 

- Rahul 

P.S.: I got a call from bank afterwards and the executive verified my details and upon learning that my existing debit card is Mastercard, he said the reason why the bank had tried to send new debit card was because I had Mastercard while the bank was now issuing Visa. Again, this explanation looked suspicious because as per recent direction from RBI, banks are expected to give choice of card-network to the customers. Hence, ideally, the bank should ask me if I wanted Mastercard/Visa/Rupay card and hence the explanation that the bank was sending me Visa card looked not credible. Also, his acceptance that the bank was sending me a new card was contrary to the initial feedback from customer care executive who denied any such attempt to send new card to me. Hope the governance of the bank is in safe hands and they are not doing some unethical business practices. 

Movie Review: Wonka (2023)

Wonka (2023) is a musical fantasy comedy film. After having watched legendary film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005) where Willy Wonka's character has been immortalized by Johnny Depp in one of the best flicks ever made, I had very high expectations of Wonka (2023).  Also, because the movie was much hyped and marketed across the world. But after watching it, I had mixed feelings.

First of all, the casting of Timothée Chalamet in the role of Willy Wonka was the best thing about this movie and a 'masterstroke'. Timothée has done many other period drama films and already shown his immense talent. Willy Wonka's role came as a cake walk for the super talented actor. 

In Wonka (2023), we are exposed to an imaginary world designed on the pattern of "colonial Europe". The movie shows most of the exploiters as White/European. We also see plenty of characters of African origin and hence the place has become totally of mixed-race which is a design in Hollywood these days. The masters are shown keeping slave-like servants. The characters speak in a comic way, and there is a background score to help too, in trying to make an impression that we are watching a comedy or a children's film and perhaps also hide the depressing exploitation going on in the plot where most people are shown as cheats and thugs. All the businessmen are painted as dishonest capitalists in the movie. 

There is a small girl of African origin, who says, "the greedy beat the needy every time Mr. Wonka. Guess it's the way of the world." Seems pretty harsh reality thrust down the throats of children watching a magician making chocolate with "liquid sunlight" and "condensed thundercloud". I did not like it. 

It is okay to tell kids about evil people; after all monsters and demons are a constant in children's stories. But it is completely different to show evilness in "everyday people" because that is something which belongs to the adult world. The movie seems like training children into becoming cynics and plotting a society suffering from isolation and broken families. 

The movie shows other chocolate makers bribing a policeman in order to stop Wonka from selling chocolates; teaching children about jealousy, bribery and dishonesty of police. 

Later, in order to gain favor, Wonka tells the associate of the hotel owner that "she loves you", and in a rhyme, tells him to "show her some thigh" which is highly objectionable. I wonder why teaching immorality to young audiences was necessary for the film-makers. 

Somehow everyone in this movie speaks while looking at the other person with eyes wide open "without blinking". It gets very weird after a while. 

There are lots of scenes moving at very slow place and it is almost boring. The movie brings an weird scene where Wonka is milking a giraffe and the scene is shot in the most boring way possible while Wonka talks to the girl (without blinking his eyes, of course). 

The movie is revolving around lives of "orphans" which is supposed to be depressing enough for kids. But the movie makers have tried hard to make it 10 times more depressing by shooting most of the scenes in the dark and confined places. Yes, even the giraffe in the zoo is shown standing inside a "room". 

On the plus side, the movie shows humans "flying", perhaps playing on the kids who love imagining it. A little consolation for an otherwise insane plot. 

After the "flying with balloons" scene, Wonka dances with the girl from African origin, and it is almost romantic; which should have been strictly no-no for a children's movie. All children's stories tell about kings and queens who are married, but it is a different thing altogether to show that a teenage boy and a girl made to dance in a romantic manner without any context or need in the plot. 

Due to its absurd plot and the movie makers not able to decide who their target audience were, and hence mixing children's imagination with commercial greed of the adult world, I would rate Wonka (2023) as 4/10. I would rather wish to have given it a miss. 

- Rahul 

Witnessing A Breakup - Live!

This happened in office. 

I was having lunch in our office food court. There were very few people around when my attention went towards someone having a phone call. There was a boy who was talking to someone over phone in an animated manner. He was speaking using a blue tooth earphone and since his both hands were free, he was making gestures using his hands as if he was speaking to an invisible ghost standing in front of him. He was also a bit restless, since he walked to and fro while he spoke. Now I heard what he was saying. He was calling the person on the other side of the call as "kyun aisa kar rahe ho", "puch rahe ho", etc, meaning, he was using the term "rahe ho". That instantly reminded me that this is how boys speak to girls over phone if people are around them, in order to not reveal the gender of the caller. Ideally, they should say, "rahi ho" instead of "rahe ho", and "rahe ho" is said to a boy, but the pitch of their voice give away that the caller is a girl. Anyways, so I tried to ignore the boy on phone, but his call was going on and on, and hence I once again looked at him. 

The boy was well built, with great biceps; and while he walked, it was clear that he used to go to a gym. It is again a general phenomenon that boys who have girlfriends tend to look after their fitness more; after all they are in a highly competitive environment! 

Till now, it was only my hunch that he was speaking to his girlfriend. After some time, it became clearer. He was asking the caller, "ab kyun bol rahe ho? Pahle kyun nahi socha?" (why did not you think about this earlier; why only now?" Well, well! 

Next, he said, "Main nahi badla na? Nahi sudhra na? Nahi sudhrunga. Tumhe ye pahle bhi pata tha par ab bol rahe ho?" (You are saying I have not changed; I have not changed for the better, right? You knew me earlier also, why only saying this now?") Well, even now, there was no direct clue, while I was 100% sure the caller was his girlfriend. Male friends never try to "change" a man, only women do! 

Then he came to point, "Ek baar milne ke lie kah raha hun aur tum das bahaane bana rahe ho!" (I am just asking to meet once, and you are making a dozen excuses!" Now, this reminded me of horrifying crime stories from newspapers of killer boyfriends who take revenge on their ex-girlfriends after they stop seeing them by calling to meet "one last time" and then their body is discovered in the bushes near some hill, at a tourist spot. I only hoped this bodybuilder boy was not like that. 

In the end, he even started taking the person's name, calling "Nandini, aaj hi end karte hain" (Nandini, let us breakup today itself).

That's it! 

It was proven that he was calling his girlfriend and asking her to meet one last time, while she was saying she was not interested in taking their friendship forward because of how he was. And the boy was furious at her for she knew how he was and yet why did she remain friends so far? Who knows, may be the girl got a "better deal" (better boyfriend) now, that's why! Or maybe she was getting a "better deal" through "arranged marriage" (money won in 'money Vs muscle' battle). Or maybe she had reached her tolerance level with him, hit a wall and after that she could not convince herself to spend rest of life with him! 

Men are known to be "sore losers" and they can't handle rejections easily. This often results in horrible murders and suicides. If the boy is kind on his 'ex', he is probably not going to be kind on himself, and I suspect a large proportion of road accidents also happen to young men on motorbikes because they are disturbed after their girlfriend broke up with them. 

Hope the guy with big muscles does fine here on and does not become a killer on the run; and hope his girlfriend with a nice name really gets a better option and both of them live happily ever after. And may their paths never cross again. Because who wants to witness another drama over lunch?

- Rahul Tiwary 

Bombae Ad Controversy

If you are on social media, you would be knowing about a controversy which broke out last week. A girl achieved high rank in a state's board exam and her picture was posted in newspapers. She had clearly visible heavy facial hair. Some people started sharing her pictures and started making fun of her facial hair. In such cases, the social media controversies start growing "organically" following a "lifecycle" and it is difficult to stop those. After initial trolling of the girl, a second wave came when another set of people started trolling the people who were trolling the girl! Okay; they deserved it, did not they? But after a few days, another bomb exploded when a brand called "Bombae", gave out a print ad asking the girl to start using their safety razor or other hair removal products; so that people could focus on her "All India Rank", instead of facial hair! Fine. But this ad gave rise to a third wave of trolling where everyone started slamming the company for giving out such an ad. They said that the ad disrespected the girl and women in general. So, a "women's only brand", which made products specifically for women, was really disrespecting women?  

Men and women both were found trolling the company. Men, in such cases are motivated by "virtue signaling". In today's world, there is high pressure on men to be seen respectful towards women and not doing anything which could remotely sound "anti-women". Hence, their motivation to make use of this opportunity to do strong "virtue signaling" was understood. 

But women who spent half day doing "makeup" themselves were seen protecting the rights of a girl to keep "lady moustache". Such women need special kind of praise. If there is so much difference between what they preach and what they practice, are they not misleading young girls? Bombae may or may not have right to take names, but its intention was not wrong. I will explain how. 

Bombae is a women's hair removal brand by Bombay Shaving Company. It specializes in "hair removal razor for women" - exactly what the girl needed. Hence it used the opportunity to increase its brand awareness by giving this ad. 

Check products from Bambae like this: Amazon

At this time, we don't know if Bombae took permission of the girl to use her name. Maybe they did take her permission! But online mobs are running behind them with daggers in hands. What kind of hypocrites we have become? If you love "lady moustache", please ask your wife/daughter to grow it and see their reaction. 

I saw an interview of the same girl and she mentioned that she was used to people making fun of her facial hair and hence she was ignoring all this controversy. I think her mother was interviewed too. While the girl and her family are calm about this, I don't think their acceptance is what is needed in this case. When products are available to remove the facial hair, why not use it? 

I guess the girl will start using something eventually. Everyone does! But once she starts, how will people who wanted her to keep all that facial hair and "sue" the company who asked her to shave it, face her? Will they start another, fourth round of trolling, slamming her for falling in the hands of "patriarchal, capitalist propaganda"? Are not the people who wanted her to keep the facial hair in the same league as those who wanted to remove it - just on the opposite side of the fence? 

Teenage is a sensitive phase of life when we all witness changes in our body. Eventually everyone understands what is what, and deals with things in a manner best suited. When boys start getting facial hair, they keep it for some time too, scared of shaving. Eventually, one fine day, they start shaving. What is big deal, if the girl does that too? Are not companies like Bombae who are making products specifically for women based on their specialized needs, actually empowering women? I think they do. Then why do such companies deserve our hate and suing? 

- Rahul 

Movie Review: Barbie (2023)

The problem with radical feminism is that it projects men as "enemies" of women. And its second-best trait is that it teaches women to be "self-centered", even at the cost of breaking up anything that comes in its way. Could a movie in the name of "Barbie" be made without ideals of radical "feminism" in it? Certainly, for some time in future. Because "Barbie" of 2023 brings the same old rhetoric just colored in lots of pink. 

The first thing that comes to mind after looking at the cast of the movie is their age. Age is a polite way to put it, but it is the "baggy eyes". Or "tyres" around the eyes of Margot Robbie. Just look below: 

Just so that you don't misunderstand me, I have been a fan of Margot Robbie and last time I saw her in "Once upon a time in Hollywood" playing Sharon Tate in the most epic manner possible. In her roles, she always brings grace and positivity, and we always need more of her. 

At the same time, it is really interesting to notice how men and women age at a different pace. Because Margot Robbie is just 33 but looks 53 while Ryan Gosling is 43 and looks 35. At least in this movie. 

The movie starts in a confusing scenario where everyone was calling everyone else "Barbie". It went on like this and its weirdness did not wear off for long. Only later, the need to see Barbies in hoards stopped, as the "Steriotypical Barbie" moved to the real world. Ken, moved there with her too; because what would boys do in life if not chase girls? 

I guess the makers of this film knew that kids would also go to watch this movie (it has 12A rating). Then I felt that all the references to all the evil byproducts of modernity, including mental illnesses, feminism, patriarchy and "fascism" were highly objectionable. In an epic scene in this movie which I loved, a small girl calls Barbie "fascist"! 

The funniest part of this movie was when Ken shouted, "Men still rule the world!" and goes on to search books about how he could use patriarchy to "rule the world". He then goes back to Barbie land and establishes "Ken's land". It was hilarious and ironically, this part by Ken was the most enjoyable part of the movie. Ryan Gosling says, "Mojo Dojo Casa House" and it was so funny. 

One of the most boring part of the movie is when "Mattel" (the company which makes Barbie) starts using the screentime to give us a historical account of the types of Barbies and Kens which were made and later stopped. This was not supposed to be a "biopic" I guess! The other major boring part competing with Mattel is the part played by America Ferrera gives a very long lecture about how it is "difficult to be a woman". Come on, you are making one of the biggest blockbuster movies ever made, and here you are lecturing us on something which everyone always knows!  

In the end, Barbie land is saved, and Ken's land is dismantled in most ridiculous manner possible - the Kens forgot that it was the voting date! (men forget dates). And once Kens return to the venue, a "Black Barbie" uses a cussword (Mo*) against them (though the term is offensive to mothers, perhaps it works differently in the gospels of radical feminism). Well, all the kids who came to watch this movie certainly learnt something new. 

Now, how could men (Kens) deal with an abusive Black woman (Barbie)? The movie shows Ken "running away crying". Well, well, well. What did we expect? 

Despite all the rhetoric and pink, the most beautiful scene and dialogue of the movie is when Ken says, "I just don't know what I am without you". For a moment it seemed that even the most ridiculous scriptwriters get flashes of heart in between. But immediately, Barbie lectures Ken in order to prepare him to be "Ken without Barbie" (the ultimate heights of radical feminism) and then Ken repeatedly says, "Ken is me!", "Ken is me!" Why did not the world end before this movie was released?  

If it matters, the movie also generously promotes "fur" which is height of weirdness. 

The movie certainly tries hard to give us a mix of experience of Cartoon channel, Disneyland and fancy-dress competition combined.  

And in one scene, all men are "tickling" each other. Welcome to the world's most weird lost opportunity ever. 

By the end of the movie, Barbie is searching for an identity. And she ends up wishing to be a human. The long chat she has with the inventor of Barbie (btw, the inventor was a woman, not a Patriarchal man), is the most boring part of the movie as well as most boring part of my recent life. 

Due to the lack of priorities, lack of imagination and a plot which gets completely lost by the half-time, the movie of this name should be remade for the sake of Hollywood's worth. 

Making a "Barbie" movie was such a huge opportunity, and it is disappointing that the movie makers used it just to lecture the world on feminism and patriarchy. 

- Rahul  

Movie Review: Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

The best and the worst thing about this movie is its title. At its best, it is catchy and generates curiosity in viewers. But after watching it, we realize that it is just a regular "Cinderella" theme movie with everything "Western" replaced by "Chinese". To be honest, the title of the film should have been "Crazy Rich Chinese" since there is nothing else "Asian" in this movie. 

It is important to know that the movie is based on a novel of the same title, published in year 2013.

The plot is very simple, a regular girl and a super-rich boy fall in love and once the boy takes her to meet his family, she is subjected to humiliation and manipulation. By the end, she gives up and returns, but then, in a twist, the boy's family allows him to pursue her; and hence the movie ends in a typical "boy gets the girl" fashion. It is easy to see that the unequal marriage's survival is still questionable in the long term, but the film industry wants to keep viewers in a "fairy tale" world where stories end after a boy and girl marry, and now they do not even write "and they lived happily ever after" since we all know how convenient it sounds. 

The movie heavily relies on the acting and charisma of actor Henry Golding. Henry was born to a British father and Malaysian mother. The actress Constance Wu gets the most limelight in the movie though and does her job well but there is nothing extraordinary in her performance. There are several side characters in their small side stories, but everything in this movie looks like "stolen" from other movies made on Cinderella type marriage theme. 

As a final verdict, watching this movie is like watching a medley of two dozen other movies on similar theme. If one loves China, then it is a definitely a must-watch; because in the end, its glorification is the only takeaway from this movie. 

- Rahul 

Movie Review: Oppenheimer (2023)

When this movie came out last year, I assumed it would be boring; after all, how interesting can life of a scientist be? I know lives of artists were interesting enough, but what can a movie of 3 hours on the life of a scientist offer us? J. Robert Oppenheimer was not an Einstein, or a Niels Bohr and I never read about him in school days. Hence, I dropped the idea of watching it and I recently watched it on JioCinema. 

One interesting thing to know is that the movie is made based on the book "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The book had won the year 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. This explains the movie's tilt towards a particular episode in the life of the scientist: "security clearance hearing", to make it more interesting for the viewers. But I did not like the hearings during most part of the movie and it offered some good insights only at the end. The story about nuclear bomb's development was much more interesting and it would have been better if the movie makers covered the nuclear program part apart from giving some insights on other parts of life, like his childhood, parents, of the old age. It is supposed to be a "biopic" after all. 

The star cast of the movie is mind-blowing. It is like a dream to have a collection of so many actors and actresses I liked, and all have been included to make this movie.  

I have been a great fan of Cillian Murphy, and he has done a good job in this movie. After all, he got an Academy Award for Best Actor for this film. But I noticed that he has become almost skeleton like thin, and I am not sure if he became like this for this rule since the real J. Robert Oppenheimer was thin but not 'this thin'.

More than Cillian Murphy, I loved the role played by Robert Downey Jr. He has totally nailed the role of an old astute politician Lewis Strauss and he is hardly recognizable in his role, and it is so amazing to witness his great art of acting. I read that he got Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor too. 

Emily Blunt is great in her role of Katherine Oppenheimer, the wife of Robert Oppenheimer. 

Matt Damon is surprisingly "average" in the beginning and only by the end of the movie he justifies his huge name and fame. 

It is great to see Alden Ehrenreich in the role of a Senate aide to Lewis Strauss. I remember him from his amazing movie "Rules Don't Apply" (2016) and it was nice to see him again on screen. 

Coming back to my overall feeling after having watched it, I think the movie makers should have shortened it to 2.5 hours, and if they could have found any other backdrop instead of "security clearance hearing", it would have been better. I think as a "biopic" this movie definitely falls short of my expectation because it is about only two particular events from his life. 

- Rahul 

Christopher Lasch's accurate prognosis of modern society

 

Memories: Talking to a Baby Goat

 

During my village-stay, I noticed the bonding between small kids and small goats. Poor families in the village raise goats and often their small children take these baby goats as their playmates. There is an open land near our house which we have left just like that, and villagers bring their goats to graze its grass. Often small kids of age 4-5 accompany their goats and many times they are seen "talking" to their goats! Once I saw a small baby boy who had come to take his goat back to his home, talking to his goat saying, "ghare chala". All this was in the back of my mind since I just observe and do not usually interfere in things people do. 

Recently, one day I heard sound of a goat which appeared like sound of a crying child. I went out of the house to check what was happening and found that there was a baby goat which had fallen legs up and it was crying in a human-like sound! There were other goats nearby but they were obviously not helping. Hence I went near the baby goat and found that the rope with which it was tied to ground, had got entangled in a bush and hence the goat was not able to move. Entangled in the rope, it had fallen in a manner where its head was touching the ground and its four legs were up towards the sky! I bent down and started the arduous task of untangling the rope. 

The rope had got circled around the goat's legs too and hence I had to touch its leg to free it from the rope. I noticed that its leg was not in two piece like human leg, but it had many joints, like it had many knees; and hence it was very flexible. Usually if people tried to get near to the goat, they would run away, but at that time since I was helping the goat, it was looking at me but it was still not reacting as if it understood that I was trying to help it. The rope had entangled a lot and when I started taking long time to free it, the goat once tried to shrug it off, which was counterproductive. At that point, in order to calm down the goat, I spoke to it, asking it to remain calm while I was helping it. I noticed that when I spoke to the goat, the goat immediately became calm, perhaps understanding that I was talking to it. I was touched by this gesture. In a few minutes, the goat was freed from the rope, but it was still lying on the ground and hence I picked it up, holding its belly with both my hands and left it standing on its four feet. I noticed the goat's hairy skin which was soft and fluffy. 

Once I kept the little goat on its four legs, it immediately started grazing grass, as if nothing had happened! I was a bit shocked, but I understood. I checked out the bush in which the rope had entangled, and it was really rubber like unbreakable one, and there was high chance for rope to get entangled with it again, hence I pulled it out of the ground with roots and threw it far away. The baby goat won't face this ordeal again. 

After returning to home and before going to wash my hands, I looked at the goat and it was still calmly eating the grass "as if nothing had happened". I don't know from where the baby goat got that resilient attitude. Anyways, I took a deep breath and moved on too. 

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Mahatma Gandhi Auditorium, Motihari, Bihar

 

Entrance gate, Mahatma Gandhi Auditorium, Motihari, Bihar 

The roadside near the auditorium 

Mahatma Gandhi Auditorium, Motihari, Bihar 

Mahatma Gandhi Auditorium, Motihari, Bihar 

Flowers plantations inside the auditorium campus

- Rahul Tiwary 

Travelogue: Moving Around Places in Motihari - Part II

 Pictures from Motihari, Bihar: 

- Rahul Tiwary 

Bill Gates India Visit Pictures - Feb 2024