Category Archives: 1-By Laksh

All these articles are from Laksh’s desk

1-By Laksh, Directing Business

Thor: The Dark World

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The first installment of ‘Thor’ that was released in 2011 makes a pretense of a story (around step-son and real son rivalry), aided by spectacles. ‘Thor: The Dark World” comes out of this inhibition and focuses primarily on scale and special effects. And it delivers on these counts.

Each and every aspect of of ‘Thor: The Dark World’, from gigantic scale of the action and the sophistication of the visual effects to the production design and costumes, plays to the IMAX and 3D crowds.  With action shifting between the world of gods to that of homo sapiens, or ‘realms’ as the movie puts it, all the crafts come together well, to deliver a visual spectacle that keeps the audience interested throughout.

Accomplished senior actors like Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo, manage to make their presence felt, with a few scenes thrown in just for that. Tom Hiddleston gets to play a character that has a blend of several archetypes, notably that of the Shapeshifter and the Shadow. He does well. Chris Hemsworth is adequate as he was in the first Thor. Natalie Portman?

In the end, one has to wonder at the ability of Marvel Studios to churn out one blockbuster after other, centered on comics-bred superheroes.

Here is an excerpt from a Forbe’s article on Marvel

It’s hard to think of anything in the history of Hollywood that compares to what Marvel is doing right now. The scope of the company’s film and TV world just expanded with an announcement that Netflix has bought four live-action series and a miniseries to air starting in 2015. That’s on top of a string of films, including The Avengers, which have grossed almost $5 billion at the global box office over the last five years. Marvel’s latest film, Thor: The Dark World, has already earned $110 million overseas and is expected to top the box office in the U.S. when it opens this weekend with $90 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Here is the link to the complete article. Marvel’s Magnificent Money-Making Machine

 

1-By Laksh, ET, Leadership, Movies

‘ENDER’s game’: From a gENius to a LeaDER…

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Enders game is based on eponymous novel by Orson Scott Card, which is set in Earth’s future, where the military prepares for attacks from an alien species. The military recruits and trains child prodigies to thwart a third invasion.

Enders game takes us through the journey of Ender Wiggin, who has to succeed in several difficult games including some in zero gravity, and hone his leadership skills by working with unruly peers, highly competitive fellow teams and mentors who want nothing but best out of him.  But most  important, he has to bear the cross of being a genius and the ostracization that it brings.

Asa Butterfield as Ender delivers a poignant performance, and carries the audience with him in his travails and successes. His evolution from a introverted troubled genius to a leader who finds his mission, is pretty neat.  Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff, who believes in winning is all that matters, and Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham, who almost annihilated the aliens in previous attack, bring the solidity that the movie requires.

The movie scores big time on special effects and a haunting music score (‘Battle room’ and ‘mind game’ are my picks; Steve Jablonsky’s score is available here on iTunes for Rs.120). It succeeds in building and integrating the themes of leadership, military training, war strategy, child prodigies, and most importantly the political/social perspective of  wars.

Understandably, the movie becomes a little heavy towards the end, when Ender ‘thinks’ beyond war and realizes his true mission. But may be that’s what true leaders do. When they conquer, they don’ rest on laurels or get carried away by other’s opinions. They ponder, and seek another mission. King Ashoka?

 

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘Yogi Vemana’: A true classic…

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First time when I saw ‘Yogi Vemana’ I was moved by the scene where the character Vema Reddy picks up an old, shriveled and shivering woman into the temple and nonchalantly wraps her with the silk saree that adorns the Goddess idol.

Subsequently, my father would draw my attention to the climax of the film where the great actor Chittor Nagaiah shows the manner of a realized soul even in his gait! (It would be nothing short of awe, if you compare it with his previous scenes). Just like the legend NTR became the benchmark for Lord Krishna, Nagaiah is the one for the sat-chit-ananda portrayal, if it could ever be portrayed.

I revisit this film often and it amazes me every time with its excellence in all crafts of a film making, even though it was made in the 40s. Like a true classic it stands the test of time. Here are a few flickers about the movie’s brilliance.

Story, Character development and Character portrayal:

  • While the film does have a disclaimer at the beginning that the historical accuracy cannot be claimed, from a cinematic point of view the film is nothing short of a wonder. The story is nicely structured and the characterization of the lead actor well etched and the scenes just flow. As an audience, one travels with the character effortlessly.
  • Agreed, realization can happen in a snap or in a moment. But by lending some cinematic grammar to this uplifting tale and constructing the character graph to bring in the believability, allows the movie to achieve greatness.
  • It is a text book of sorts in scene building, and one will not find even a single scene that does not move the story forward or bring out a new shade in the characters. There are no escape routes employed in the form of unnecessary dialogues or characters.  The script is taut and the movie’s duration is around 2hrs and is a testimony to this fact.
  • It is mentioned in scriptures that one has to conquer the arishadvargas (kama-krodha-lobha-moha-mada-mathsarya) to be on the path of the realization. The legendary combo of writer-director choose to focus on character’s kama ( his blind lust for the woman), moha (his sweeping love for his niece) and lobha (his persistent desire for gold). With these as start points they push the character on to the path of realization, with the necessary plot points. And an actor of caliber of Chittor Nagaiah is provided the right canvass to excel.
  • Right at the beginning of  the film, one gets a feeling that Vema Reddy is a man of strong and swaying emotions but also possess strong will. Chittor Nagaiah does a terrific job to downplay where the scenes are melodramatic that speak for themselves (like the scene where he questions idol worship with a priest), and emote when they are a little subdued (like the scene where he accepts food from a beggar).
  • Without bringing in his might as an actor, he uses the material provided to him by the legend duo (Samudrala-K.V.Reddi) and internalizes the characterization. Otherwise, the journey of the main character from an arishadvarga infested Vema Reddy to a Sat-chit-ananda Yogi Vemana would not have been so believable and heart touching.

Thanks to Youtube, full movie is now available online.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyYHjS086FY

Related links:

Article in ‘The Hindu’