Boys will be boys, however fast their toys!

 

Ford Vs Ferrari - movie review  

Director - James Mangold
Cast - Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Cationa Balfe, Tracy Letts

A couple of years ago, back when we used to go to office, one of our leaders had mentioned about this movie and how it had left an impression. I have been meaning to watch this movie since then but never got an opportunity until recently. Too bad I couldn't watch it on the big screen.

Directed by James Mangold, and given spectacular horsepower by dual male leads Christian Bale and Matt Damon, “Ford v Ferrari” is a period sports drama, that not only appeals to the "need for speed" population, but also lends a sensitive human touch to this true story. 

The story unfolds with Damon's (Shelby's) voice over about what it feels like to hit 7,000 RPM with a car, that gives an insight into why some people race - its not just a passion but a calling. Shelby is an ex-racing star turned car engineer & designer owing to health issues. He finds his soulmate in Bale (Miles), who is a feisty and formidable car mechanic as well as an expert behind the wheel.

My take on the story is that its about the MALE ego and revenge :) It recounts a business deal gone wrong and the reaction of a stubborn, egotistical automotive titan who is determined to get his pound of flesh. Henry Ford II (Hank the Deuce) is worried about the sales of Ford in 1963. To boost the sales, Lee Iacocca proposes a bold marketing strategy– to win one of the most prestigious car races in the world – 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ford needed a sports car in his portfolio and since there was no plan to build one, he decided to acquire Ferrari that was a legend in that space. 

However, Enzo Ferrari took objection to one of the clauses in the contract and withdrew at the last moment. He insulted Ford to his representatives and added fuel to the fire by selling a majority stake in Ferrari to fellow Italian automaker Fiat. This enraged Ford to an extent where he decided to build a sports car that would humiliate Ferrari where it mattered the most - the Le Mans race. The seeds for the legendary GT40 car were sowed.

That's where Carroll Shelby, one of the only American drivers to ever win at Le Mans, is entrusted with the design of the winning car. Together with a second world war veteran, British talented but volatile driver, Ken Miles, he reinvents the GT40 and works through all the bugs. These are two stubborn, headstrong individuals who inadvertently become strong allies and forge a lasting friendship. But they are ultimately only cogs in the vicious wheel of corporate rivalry. 

Ford didn’t just defeat Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966, it humiliated the Italian stallions. While Ferrari didn’t even have a car that completed the race, GT40 Mk. II’s captured first, second and third places.The finish wasn’t without controversy. Late in the race, Miles was well ahead of the competition, on his way to ending Ferrari’s dominance at Le Mans and becoming the only driver to win the world’s three biggest endurance race—the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans—in the same year.

Ford’s PR guru Leo Beebe wanted to celebrate the win with a picture of the trio crossing the finish line together. So, he had Shelby order Miles to slow down and let the other GT40 teams catch up. After crossing the line, Miles was informed that he did not win the race. His teammate Bruce McLaren did. McLaren started several cars behind Miles. Anyway, the mutinous Miles did turn into a team player and learned that it comes with a cost.

Some of the better scenes of the movie go to Miles' wife - Mollie (Caitriona Balfe) and their son. Despite his unpredictable temperament, he is a family man and devoted to them. Though she doesn’t have a heap of screen time, Balfe is forceful in all she does. Annoyed with Miles, Mollie guns their station wagon at such a furious clip that even he, seated beside her, begs her to slow down. And Balfe is there again, in the movie’s best scene—no cars, no crowds, simply a sunny day in suburbia. Shelby and Miles are slugging it out on a patch of grass across the street. Mollie emerges, takes one look, and, instead of rushing over to stop them, fetches herself a garden chair and calmly settles down with a copy of Better Living to watch the bout unfold. Auto racing in the mid-sixties was a male dominated world but Balfe manages to leave a mark nevertheless.  

The more dangerous fight is reserved for the track—for many tracks, from Willow Springs, an hour or so north of Los Angeles, to Daytona, and thus, climactically, to the course at Le Mans. The racing sequences are so authentically mounted that you can almost smell the burning rubber as the squealing tyres pierce your soul. The movie is 2.5 hours long, could have been shorter, but its a great watch!

My husband's take was its a movie about answering your calling, whereas mine was, boys will be boys :)

Samrat & Co. - movie review

I watched this movie without reading the reviews beforehand - which was good because its not as bad as they make it sound :)

Samrat Tilakdhari (STD) is a brilliant detective (heavily inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes) who is a bit jaded on not receiving any meaty cases off late. Like Holmes, he takes to heavy caffeine intake, smoking and street fighting, when not meaningfully occupied. His 'company' consists of his bumbling right-hand Chakradhar (CD) and his housekeeper/cook. Both are again inspired by Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson in the original work. 

Rajeev Khandelwal has taken up the challenge of creating a parallel of Robert Downey Jr. or Benedict Cumberbatch in Bollywood quite sportingly. He has copied some of their mannerisms, even pulled off the combination of intelligence and agility well. The camerawork, direction and cinematography borrows heavily from their films too. Its truly a "Holmage" to the legendary detective! If only they had not succumbed to the inevitable hindi film romantic angle and needless songs. Rajshri productions too has dared to branch out into the thriller genre (from syrupy family dramas) in an attempt to create a lucrative series - but judging from the boxoffice failure of this film, it may not be on the cards anymore.

A lovely and loaded heiress from Shimla arrives at Rajeev's doorstep and enrolls his services to investigate her family mansion's dying garden, her father's suddenly deteriorating health and some mysterious happenings. All of them are being attributed to a dead person's spirit hovering over the mansion but Samrat obviously does not buy into that and agrees to take on the case. The action begins when bodies start dropping with the old man dying first. There is even an attempt on Samrat's life but the heiress gets embroiled unwittingly which gives rise to an action-packed rescue scene. The characters are drawn well and contribute to the plot's complexity - three threads running independently have tangled it and Rajeev has to unravel it to get to the bottom of the mystery. 

All in all, its a good watch if one does not try to compare Rajeev with Cumberbatch or Downey Jr. Bollywood is not well known for delving into whodunits as a genre as its tough to serve with the usual masala for our audience - there is bound to be some dilution. Also, except for Rajeev, the other characters do not hold up their own in the movie though they are quite good at what they are supposed to be doing - most of them are not known to public. Rajeev has certainly done his homework well but somehow fails to leave a personal stamp on the character.

Achanak - hindi movie review

Achanak (1973)

Genre: Thriller 

Director: Gulzar

Cast: Vinod Khanna, Om Shivpuri, Lily Chakraborty, Farida Jalal, Asrani, Iftekar

Story: Khwaja Ahmed Abbas

Written by: Gulzar

Music: Vasant Desai

Box office status: Hit

I've acted out this movie name in dumbcharades mutliple times over the years but never actually got around to watching it. Finally got the opportunity yesterday. It was chosen due to its genre being "Thriller" and we were expecting a juicy murder mystery - also the fact that it was directed by Gulzar, intrigued us.

It, however, turned out to be a totally different ballgame altogether, yet entertaining. Both the director (Gulzar), and main lead (Vinod Khanna), were a pleasant surprise. Its definitely the best performance by Khanna and he looks great too! Inspired by the true life story of Kawas Nanavati, a naval commander, who killed his wife’s lover Prem Ahuja, Gulzar pegged the narrative on a story by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas where the protagonist kills his philandering wife too. Gulzar delved into the layers of the human psyche and came up with a riveting moral battle between judiciary and medical science. Mounted like a thriller, the 90-minute song-less narrative goes back and forth in time as the director keeps you hungry for more.

Though the identity of the killer is no secret, the plot has a couple of moral dilemmas that have been handled sensitively (Gulzar's forte). Vinod Khanna goes against his popular image and makes an entry on a stretcher. Shot through the chest, the doctor(Om Shivpuri) has given up on him but Khanna survives multiple operations. The flashback tells us about his army background and how he used his training to kill the two most important people in his life. Instead of showing the act of killing, Gulzar smartly cuts to training sessions where Khanna learnt the tricks to neutralise the enemy.The soldier has won medals for his stint in the army and is even shown telling his wife in a flashback that his medal reminds him of the people he has killed. Yet, he does what he has been trained to do when he eliminates his enemies in personal life by killing them. That's the first moral dilemma - is war justified? Khanna is expected to underplay and he does it without turning into a cardboard.

Om Shivpuri as the cigarette smoking doctor Chaudhary takes the quandary to another level. He and his team (Farida Jalal and Asrani) save Khanna only to be sent back to the gallows. It says something about the criminal justice system which waits for the guilty to be healthy to be punished. Gulzar doesn’t come up with any clear cut answers. But the ambiguity is not boring as he opens a debate that continues to rankle. And the moral impasse does come in the way of the pace of the thriller best exemplified by the sequence where dogs chase a bare-foot, and bare-chested, Khanna.

Gulzar has a knack for finding humor in the mundane and his wordplay is legendary. When the colonel father-in-law (Iftekhar) tells Khanna he is not only his sir but also sasur, it comes as a relief amidst tense moments. Letters recorded on tape create an interesting romantic tapestry giving us a sense of the times. The repeated use of “Sun Mere Bandhu Re” (Sujata) as a refrain giving this battle of heart and mind a lyrical expression. That heart is not just a pumping station. Though, Gulzar steered clear of songs, towards the end during in an emotional parting, Khanna and his father-in-law, who, by the way, also wants to save him, salute each other, one could sense the tune of “Koi Hota Jisko Apna Hum Apna Keh Lete”.

“Achanak” as a fairly well made film apart from the disappointing climax. The way the director kept shuttling back and forth between past and present, the boldness of some of the dialogues, the dog chase scene, and the light syrupy scenes between Khanna and Farida Jalal in latter part of the movie, are well ahead of its times. Its definitely a classic and surprisingly was well received by the audience too.

Free rein

With the schools having gone digital since Mar 2020, its been a challenge to ensure that the kids do not go out and mingle with others. Keeping them occupied meaningfully at home has been a challenge for parents. While balancing the household chores, increased work hours, kids' studies, everyone's health, keeping an eye on what the kids are watching / reading is a HUGE task. Many parents have been turning a blind eye leading to gadget addiction, exposure to foul language and titillating stuff.

My 11 year old (she was 10 last year) took to the MS Teams platform of her school pretty well and is quite independent in navigating her way through it. She even downloads the question paper, scans the answer sheets and uploads them by herself now! While school is one way to occupy them, gadgets and digital entertainment has taken their world by storm. Its daunting to monitor what they view on the internet and also on platforms like Netflix etc. They are smart enough to exchange notes and tips with their peer group and I am always focused on not exposing her to content beyond her preteen age. 

With the help of MY peer group, and my own research, I've introduced her to some series (books as well as Netflix) that not only kept HER entertained but piqued our interest too :) I'm also thankful that they have helped her learn certain life skills and made her ponder some dilemmas too. These avenues are a good way to give our kids wings or giving free rein to their sponge-like learning abilities. 

Here are some -

How to train your dragon

Hiccup is a slight, scrawny Viking who lives in Berk, a mountainside village, where his fierce, machismo father - Stoick, is tribal leader. The village has been dealing with a "dragon problem" for a long time. The village teens go to a special training camp to learn how to kill dragons. 

During one dragon attack, Hiccup sneaks out and uses his own specially built weapon against a dragon. He thinks he might have hit it but isn't sure until he comes upon a young black dragon with green eyes in the forest the next day. The dragon is injured, cannot fly away and as scared as him. Hiccup brings some food and much to his surprise, the boy and the beast bond. Now his challenge is to convince the other kids in his dragon-fighting class, especially Astrid, and his father, that everything they thought about the dragons is wrong. 

 

Free rein

This is a horse-centric teen drama which follows 15 year-old Zoe as she ventures with her overprotective mother Maggie, and fashion-obsessed younger sister Rosie, from L.A. to her grandfather’s home in the English countryside. Zoe makes some new friends there, even manages to tame a dangerous horse named Raven (a tad incredible).

Over the course of 10 episodes Zoe and her new friends investigate the mystery of the horse thieves thought to be responsible for Raven’s disappearance. The typical life lessons about hard work, friendship and loyalty abound. One aspect that stands out is that Zoe, the main character, is black. The equestrian world has a diversity problem, and a big part of that problem is fueled by the public perception of what the equestrian world is. 

This show has anything your aching heart could desire: the vibrant British country side, horsey fantasy, bucket load of drama, and attractive British lads! Yes, Free Rein has it all. And it has my kiddo's heart :)

The InBESTigators

The InBESTigators is an Australian series featuring four unlikely friends who form a detective agency to solve mysteries brought to them by town locals. Ezra, a precocious, tech-savvy kid, Maudie, the wickedly smart and socially awkward new girl, Kyle, an immensely likable goof, and dramatic Ava are as different as could be, but each bring unique talents to the team. 

Though not officially an educational show, the pint-sized detectives use the critical thinking skills of observation, analysis, evaluation, and explanation in the course of their investigations. Themes of kindness, teamwork, and responsibility make this a solid pick, which also has a racially diverse cast that often defies gender roles. 

All of the characters are endearing and there is always an explanation at the end as to why certain choices were made. It’s also great to see the children apologize for their mistakes. Yes, there are stereotypes but nothing that a discussion with the children can’t resolve.