The movie ‘Soorarai pottru’ came out with one of the best teasers in the recent times. It captures the raw energy for a first generation entrepreneur (Suriya), who refuses to take, no for an answer. This made me curious to read ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey’, by Captain Gopinath, who inspired director Sudha Kongara and writers, to weave a film around some of the incidents from his life. And, the book makes for a terrific read and offers several takeaways in management and leadership.
Just like Joseph Campbell’s journey of mythological hero, Captain Gopinath one fine day leaves his village, joins the army, explores new worlds, comes back with the foils, becomes an entrepreneur and finally embarks on his most important of his dreams. While he chases his dreams and makes them into reality, the world and people around him change for the better.
What is heartening about the book, is the account of an entrepreneur who overcomes the obstacles when he is convinced that he is damn right about it, and how the world (atleast a part of it) conspires to clear the clouds for his flight of dreams.
Stanley Kramer’s ‘It’s a mad mad mad mad world’ is a wild comedy caper. It has ludicrous situations and far-fetched comic stunts. But what’s really amazing about the film are the subtle themes that are showcased. Here are a few examples.
An honest cop who decides to stray after all.
A woman in a unhappy marriage suddenly ‘dreams’ a way out.
Greed of common men when put in uncommon situations
‘W’ marks the spot
Touted as a classic, the movie has inspired many other movies in whole and in parts.
‘Unforgiven’ is one of the best works of Clint Eastwood, for which he even received an Oscar for Best Direction. Clint Eastwood also portrayed the lead character (Will Munny) close to his real age, that of a killing-haunts-you-forever kind of gunslinger, a progression from his usual killing-is-cool-cowboy kind. But the real highlight of the film is the climax, where the fury of the main character is unleashed, where one big act of violence is needed on the part of Will Munny, a final bridge of fire he has to cross, to ride on his road of redemption. Very few movies can speak of this kind of character arc, where the audience get to see the real facet of the character that late in the movie time line. Clint Eastwood pulls off this remarkable feat, aided by a super screenplay from David Webb Peoples and some solid support from terrific co actors like Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman (who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role).
Vaa Vaa
‘Asuran’
plays on similar kind of character arc, but the reveal happens just before intermission
(an absolute treat for Dhanush’s fans). A flashback ensues and the movie ends on
a predictable note. Dhanush plays the character to perfection, and showcases
the amazing transformation from the subdued father to the violent man, and as someone
who gave up violence yet having to use it as a last resort.
While in
Unforgiven, the main protagonist is forced to take up old ways for the sake of
his family and things go awry; in Asuran
it is the circumstances and social milieu that decide the lead character’s
emotional balance or the lack of it. In both cases, when things go out of hand,
the ‘Asuran’ in them is set loose, a bit like ‘The Hulk’.
But when
things go out of hand, it is a close friend’s death that brings out the beast in
Will Munny, and the Asuran is unleashed when his son’s life is in danger.
It is always a pleasure to see the hero showing restraint and the shades coming to fore in bits and pieces (like that of inimitable Amitabh’s Tiger character in ‘Hum’ that also inspired Rajinikanth’s ‘Baasha’), when the situation demands. Both ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Asuran’ give ample scope for such scenes, thus make them must watch films.
