The Bounty Hunter - Movie

Watched 'The Bounty Hunter' on HBO or Star movies last night. For a movie with so much hype and a big star cast boasting of Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston, it fell flat. I sat through for a long long time hoping that it would get better sometime but it never did. I gave up towards the end. The movie tried too hard to be funny and never succeeded, not even once. The chemistry between the two was non-existent and the most interesting part of the movie was watching Gerard Butler eat - he eats in a really funny way - chomping, gnashing, crunching whatever is in his mouth in a rather uninhibited manner. Aniston excelled in the few limited faces she makes.

And you think, oh, even these guys muck up big time! I just saw a review site on the net and it gave a rating of 5.1/10.

Invictus - Movie Review

Watched 'Invictus' after a long period of wanting to watch it thanks to Sagar who lent me a video. It was brilliant, full of great insights and wonderfully underplayed moments. 'Invictus' which is latin for Unconquered or Undefeated is based on a book 'Playing the Enemy' by John Carlin. Directed by Clint Eastwood, 'Invictus' is the true story of how Nelson Mandela, soon after his election as the South African President goes about his job of uniting the blacks and whites of South Africa. Knowing how difficult his job is, Mandela decides that sport wold be a great way to unify the country. The World Cup rugby tournament which is to be hosted by South Africa is a year away and Mandela wants the South African team to win, against all odds.

That is not easy because South Africa was not tipped to go beyond the quarter finals and New Zealanad and Australia were far superior. But spurred by his great vision for his nation ("Our nation is hungry for greatness") the amazing Mandela brings great love and forgiveness in building his beloved South Africa ("Brick by brick"). He insists on having Afrikaner bodyguards much to the dislike and suspicion of his black ANC bodyguards ("reconciliation must start now"). And his spirit of forgiveness for the very people who locked him away for 27 years ("forgiveness is the key") is seen as he walks amidst a booing crowd of rugby fans to a solitary fan holding the new South African flag to congratulate him. He insists that the name Springbok is retained as are the colours because that is the identity of the white minority against all popular belief, all advise. "we must walk together if we want to build a new South Africa".

Mandela meets Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and tells him of how excited he is for the Springbok team and how he wants them to win the World Cup. "The entire nation supports you". Egged on by his President to "exceed their own expectations" Pienaar and his men, all white, save one black player Chester, win matches against all odds, beating Australia on the way and New Zealand in a hard fought final. 'I will break my hand, I will break my leg, but I will not let Lomu go past me," says Pienaar to the team as they wonder how to stop Lomu the unstoppable Kiwi before the final. A trip to Robben Island where Mandela spent 27 years of his life in a small cell barely enough for a man to stand with hands outstretched by the team further cements their conviction that they must do it. South Africa won the World Cup against all odds in 1995.

This is what can be achieved when there is a greater cause other than oneself. An institution, a nation, led by men and women of extraordinary vision, of great qualities, of an indefatigable desire to see their nation on top will find the foot soldiers who are willing to lay their lives for such a cause. They will rise above all things petty like colour, caste, creed, region, religion and merge into love. It has been proven time and time again that all things great are achieved only by such passion, belief and commitment. Many times the players will feel that they are risking too much but they day they cannot risk that much for the country, for the society is the day they are no longer fit to be in that position. Invictus is a wonderful tale, subtly told, of how great nations, societies can be built by belief, by conviction and by each one backing one another fully. Morgan Freeman excels as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon looks perfect as the Spingbok captain Francois Pienaar of the South African Rugby team. A definite watch for all those who love movies, sport and human nature.

Anjali - Lessons While Sitting On the Floor

Yesterday I realised that it was more fun talking to Anjali at her level i.e. something around 3 feet or so. So I just sat down on the floor and so did Shobhs and we took our plates and food and started eating like in the olden times, sitting on the floor. Oh, Anjali got super excited with everything coming down to her level and she wanted to serve us and insisted that we eat this or that or have another helping etc. It was a nice experience too and I am planning on doing it on a regular basis now.

Anjali, pleased with her handiwork

But apart from the meal it was Anjali's enthusiasm that made it all so much more fun. The fact that things were down at her eye level got her very excited and I realised how important it is to do that more often. And with more people. Secondly her excitement at us doing something new was infectious. I mean we can do so many things that we do differently right? That is what makes life more interesting. I mean look at me, sitting and blogging away like I climbed the Everest when all I did was sit on the floor and eat my dinner. There is something about doing things differently that makes you want to share. Also helps your creativity I guess and also helps you to stay alive. Another thing I noticed was the kind of responsibility that Anjali took when she saw us sitting at her plane. It was almost like she took charge when things got down to her level. As if 'I know you guys are not used to this but let me help you out'.

I'd like to see what she does when she eats with us, sitting on the floor today.

Lunch With Anjan

Anjan, as we call our old friend Anjaneyulu, invited me for a much-looked -forward-to lunch yesterday. It is one place where one gets to meet so many people one wants to meet - several of them your own friends that you want to meet, but don't get to meet because you are too busy. (These days we are all too busy to even meet ourselves.) There are all kinds of people - from old college chums from the Engineering college, businessmen, lawyers, writers, directors, heads of companies and so on. It is a mixed group but one that is chosen well.

Anjan and I went to the Osmania College of Engineering at the same time - 1984-88. He did his Electronics or ECE as they called it and was a complete nerd, a jholawala, with his bag, a kurta, an intellectual if there was one, as he busily went about attending several cultural and literary festivals in the town and country. He was a brain no doubt and that in itself put him in a league that we did not belong. We, the guys from Civil Engineering, were then at the bottom of the pecking order and were normally not considered elite in any sense. To top it all, me and my group of friends were notorious for our inclinations to spend more time at sports grounds, for all things unacademic, for hanging out at the canteen when we should have been in classrooms and you can see how far removed our worlds were. Anjan was also famously known as 'Engine Oil' then - I know not for what reason, but I know he brought many accolades for the college by participating in and organising cultural and literary competitions in a big way.

Though our interactions during college days were civil and polite, I remember, there were not many, owing to our completely different proclivities. He was someone who, we all assumed, would join the research teams of some big IT major or NASA or something and end up with a nice, cushy job abroad, who'd come back with his millions someday and start a Chair in some elite college or something. I lost touch with everyone after college and only occasionally heard about what others were up to. Sometime I heard that Anjan was one of those who had cleared the Civil Services and joined the IPS. Soon after we heard of the good work he did in the badlands of Rayalaseema, putting down and controlling crime with a tough hand. Since I heard much from completely unbiased sources, I knew that though he seemed to be following a course that might offend a few, he was doing something that would make a difference. Many officers would occupy their chair, do nothing, preserve themselves and come away, doing nothing to improve the situation. But Anjan, they said, would do something, even if it meant going out of the way, even if it meant putting himself in the line of the fire, and do something at the risk of being brought down. There was a big reputation now, of a tough officer, to this gentle, soft and almost painfully diffident ECE student that I knew.

When I first launched my book 'The Men Within', four years ago, I had decided to call almost all the people I knew since it was a big thing for me. VK, or VP (Vijay Kumar, or Vice Prez,, the fun loving promoter of Indus School, who was also in ECE and was the most famous face of ECE in those days) told me that Anjan was posted in Hyderabad and I could invite him as well. I called him and he picked up the phone almost instantly with a "Seetharamanjaneyulu here". He placed me almost instantly despite the two decade gap, was happy to know that I had written and published a book, said he would try and make it for the launch. But it was short notice and he could not make it and that was that. Or so I thought.

Anjan made it a point to read the book. He got it from one of the bookstores. He then called me up and congratulated me on writing it. He called me over to his office and we discussed the book over lunch. Now, discussing my books is my favourite pastime and to do so with someone who read it thoroughly was fascinating. More so in the Police Office. Anjan took me across and introduced me to his superior who he said, had also read the book and enjoyed it, being a former cricketer himself. We had a fine time and I left after a nice lunch. And so we got back in touch and have remained so since.

What pleased me most was the effort he took in getting a copy and reading it critically and taking the trouble to let me know that he appreciated a good job. Now, I know a lot of my friends who are cricketers who have not read the book till date, many others who have and liked it but never told me that they appreciated it. It makes things a lot different when someone reacts because after all all creative work is to elicit a reaction - favourable or unfavourable. And this is where Anjan is brilliant to me because he participates in the process - when he, like so many of his peers and stature, need not.

He saw 'Ashta Chamma' and once again invited Ram the producer, Mohan the Director and Suresh along with me for another fine lunch at his office. Once again with a fine critique of the movie, the process, the business and mostly much needed appreciation. This indicates the way he is - he will go out of the way if he feels the cause is justified. He does not wait for public or popular approval. He kept track of what we were doing and once a year, invited us to a get together of many friends. I never know that he was such a social guy but his networking and his desire to know and meet different people was phenomenal.But in all those melees he keeps his literary and cultural side to him alive by watching movies and reading books in spite of his busy schedule.

For the launch of my second book 'If You Love Someone...' last year he promised to come and he did, well in time, and stayed almost the entire duration of the function. One of my friends who does road contracts came to that function and asked who he was. I told him. He asked me if Anjan had served in Kurnool. I said yes. And then he told me how Anjan had helped them out when they were being troubled by some extortionists. After the issue was settled the company asked Anjan what they could do. "He only asked us to help out in the construction of some police constables house construction work if we could,' said my friend who is a forthright chap himself. "We gladly gave them bags of cement. He never asked anything for himself." I remembered Anjan showing me an sms in one of our meetings - "people will ask favors of you only as long as you are in a position to do favours for them." He believed in helping out to the extent he could - and that was something I could sense. I never asked him any favour but I hear from others that  he is someone who goes out of his way to help. Obviously he would, as someone who believes in that sms. I personally prefer someone like that who does not mind taking that bit of a risk, to explore to someone who sits pretty and does nothing. Plenty of them about as well. I don't think it helps anyone.It is important, I feel, to participate.

"I will write a book," he told me yesterday. "Not fiction though. Not autobiographical also. Something that would interest anyone but more so, students of Political Science." I found the gist interesting. I always found it funny that here I am writing books and our gentle cultural secretary was the tough cop. But I am glad he decided to write the book he means to because I am sure that it is a process that he will enjoy immensely. It is a side to him that he will enjoy revisiting. I can visualise the jholawala intellectual, sitting by himself at the canteen, poring over his manuscript. Looking forward to read that book of yours Anjan, and to many more meetings on our little successes - which we must celebrate with equal fervour as our failures. Because if there is one thing I have learnt, it is that there is no shame in a failure when the effort behind it was wholesome and honest.

Government High School, Ameerpet - Response to GHS

There is a Government High School close to the Ameerpet Playground. For many years since my school days, say 1982 onwards, I have been going to the Ameerpet playground for practice, fitness and sometimes to coach young kids in summers. I never noticed this school until this year though. It sits in the corner, a prime place on the Dharam Karam Road.

Government High School, Ameerpet, view from Dharam Karam Road, near Foodworld

Ever since I decided to do motivational sessions for free in schools I had set my sights on this school. In fact I noted it down as one of the things to do in one of my recent lists. I never got down to doing that what with one thing or another and many times I felt guilty as I passed it. So, the other day, on the 25th January, 2011, when I was passing this GHS I suddenly thought that it would be even better for the kids to watch the movie than attend a lecture by me which would probably say the same things and not half as convincingly. I stopped the car and walked in, met the acting Principal for the day Ms. Geeta, and told her that if the kids wanted to watch the movie 'Golconda High School', I would, at my personal cost, send them to watch it at Satyam. She instantly agreed. 100 children went that same evening from the 9th and 10th class, to Satyam theatre which is walking distance, that very evening and watched GHS along with some 15 teachers. I spoke to Ms. Geeta, a couple o f days later. She said that everyone was inspired by it, especially the students. What's more, the Principal got motivated to get them a set of bats and balls to play in the afternoons. All this in 3 days!

Another view of GHS

I was thrilled to hear this and asked her is it was possible to get some reactions from these kids - maybe a line or two and she said she would ask them to write. And when I went to pick them I found that they had not written a line or two, they all wrote about a page to two! In wonderful Telugu, clear in thought, mature and wonderful responses to what the movie meant to them. I will translate a few responses but they were almost all on the same lines. What they liked in the movie, what they did not, how impacted them, a congratulatory message, a plea to forgive any mistakes. In lovely Telugu, well written, margins drawn, bullet points made, sub headings given. Ahh, childhood!

Geeta madam and some of her wards

 I met a few of them when I went to pick up the responses and they were so happy and effusive that it was wonderful to see the twinkle in their eyes. And it does not escape one's notice that they are also from families that are financially backward. Their clothes, shoes (some do not have any footwear) screamed of their lack. Their coarse skins as they shook my hand hiding and protecting their innocence. Many sitting on the floor. But the smiles, their happiness were as genuine and heartwarming as any. If anyone needs an affirmation that they are not less than anyone, that they can dream big and do what anyone else can, these kids do. And from their responses I think they pretty much got it. I have also signed in to do a lecture with them sometime this week.
Going by their response, I do hope that more children from the Government High Schools are shown this movie. As we know a lot of privileged schools have  taken their children to watch this movie. Hopefully more kids from the Government High Schools get to watch it too.

GHS boys and me

I found the Principal and the staff very committed to the cause of their students. They took the decision to send the children in minutes unlike most other schools which took days and weeks - knowing that the kids would benefit from the experience. They asked me if I could speak to the children and motivate them. They asked me to motivate their new PD as well. They asked me if I could get more eminent speakers to their school as well. They asked me if I would also donate something to the school in their drive to raise money (they want to raise Rs. 3 lakh) and improve the school. I said, I would do everything that I could, in whichever way I can. We fixed up this week for a lecture to begin with. I am looking forward to that especially after reading some of the responses, excerpts of which are shown below, translated from Telugu to English (best I could).

Responses from the children of the Government High School, Ameerpet on watching Golconda High School (translated from Telugu):

1)      1) Ever since I saw Golconda High School I realized that even I must have a goal. And that I should and will achieve my goal at any cost. –A. Bharathi, 10^th class

2)       

2)   2) After watching Golconda High School I realized that we could also excel in our studies and make our parents proud of us. - M. Ramya, 10^th class

3)       

      3) After watching Golconda High School I have decided that I will not only pass in all subjects but I will come first. I will also come first in games. – V. Vijayadurga, 10^th class

4)       

      4) Please make more movies like GHS which are useful for students. – R. Archana, 10^th class

Responses from the students, 32 of them, from which these excerpts are taken

5)       

      5) The people who made this movie (Golconda High School) are good people. Because whenever any friend asks me to come to play, my father says - ‘Stop playing all the time, study’. If my father sees this movie he might allow me to play once in a while. After this movie, our teachers also gave us a bat and a ball and gave us permission to play for one hour every afternoon. – Chandrasekhar, 9^th class

6)        

     6) I never expected that anyone would make a movie like this in these times. Thank you for making this movie. I liked the message that it’s not just academics, sports are equally important. I also felt, after watching this movie, that nothing is impossible for anyone. – P. Bhagyalaxmi, 10^th class

7)     

          7)  After watching GHS I have written down all the mistakes I made in a match and made sure that I did not repeat them again in the next match. I also have the confidence now that however strong the opposition, I can beat them. – Mohd. Riazuddin, 10^th class

8)       

      8) These days no one is making movies for children. I am happy you made a movie like Golconda High School for the first time. - K. Vishali, 10^th class

9)       

      9) By the end of the movie, the parents of the children understand their children’s dreams and hopes and encourage them to follow the path. if we want more parents to encourage their children on the path of their dreams and hopes, you must make more such movies. – P. Renuka, 10^th class

      

      10)   As long as our teachers support us in our studies and in our games and sports, we children can achieve anything. – Murali, 9^th class

Golconda High School - Review in Wow Hyderabad

This is a review of GHS by S. Sridhar in Wow Hyderabad's February 2011 edition.

"In an era of story-starved hits in Tollywood, this is a refreshing film combining cricket, human nature and a commentary on today's educational system. A school Principal is pressurised to sell the school cricket ground for some badly needed real estate gains, but things change for the school and the students when an ex-student promises to help his alma mater win a cricket championship.


How good is it?
The script is based on a well written novel The Men Within by Harimohan Paruvu (a seasoned Ranji cricketer). The narration is gripping and the performances are fresh and convincing. Without sounding didactic, the movie makes a few points on our educational system in crisp scenes, packs a few good songs and achieves a magical climax in just 13 reels! It's a miracle for Tollywood and a refreshing experiment that will be talked about for a long time. (Sumanth couldn't have hoped for a better movie to resurrect his sagging career.) Immensely watchable - go with your buddies."


I agree with almost everything Sridhar says. The only bit where I have a problem is where he calls me a seasoned Ranji cricketer. I only played seven games for Hyderabad - too short to be seasoned - but I take great pride that I played a few games and was in the squad of 18 that won the Ranji Trophy for Hyderabad in 1986-87. But coming to the movie, for the nth time, Mohana Krishna Indraganti, take a bow - "It's a miracle for Tollywood and a refreshing experiment that will be talked about for a long time."

Article in the Indian Express - February 6, 2011

The following article appeared in my Sunday column 'Un Intended' in the New Indian Express.

Bring Back Black Money 

Harimohan Paruvu

I have been ecstatic ever since I heard that they are bringing back all our black money from Switzerland. Apart from planning our retirement, we must not forget the heroic efforts of all the visionary people who thoughtfully saved up money over all these years (since 1947 apparently) so the rest of us lazies could use it on a rainy day. Tomorrow, when our black money returns, we can all sit back, enjoy it and live happily ever after. Thanks to these great souls our entire nation will be drenched in prosperity.

One of the greatest things about this wonderful bunch of altruists is that they do not want their names to be made public. This is the true sign of greatness; that you do great deeds but take no credit for it. But though we may not ever know their names, we must put on record what they have done for our society, our country.

Firstly they took the trouble of accumulating as much as Rs. 70 lakh crore since 1947. When the average Joe has not been able to save even a few thousands, these great men have accumulated such a staggering amount – all for us! Secondly, they saved this money against all temptation to enjoy this wealth themselves. They displayed an iron will, resisted all temptation and quietly towed it to Switzerland so we could benefit later.  Thirdly, they took the trouble to keep this operation quiet for all these years so we would not go and bring it back for every small crisis like rising onion prices or something like that. And then, they waited until the Swiss declared India as No.1. (Apparently we top the list of moneys stashed in Swiss banks with some $1500 billion while the next four countries together have only some $ 1100 billion haha). Today, if we get this humongous amount of money back (how they will get it back is a mystery to me – trains, trucks?), we will rise from being a measly developing nation to being one of the top 5 nations in the world. All credit for our rise goes entirely to these visionary savers!

Their selfless behavior, strategic vision, sense of responsibility, team spirit, leadership and such stellar qualities must be made public so future generations know about them. But since we may never ever know who these noble men are, the least we can all do is to say a collective thank you. One of the ways would be to erect a memorial. I suggest a large statue of a lone man carrying a huge bag of cash and heading off in the direction of the Swiss Banks in every village. Another way of recognizing their contribution would be by giving awards (bigger than awards that everyone is getting these days) to empty seats like they did for the Nobel Prize, because what they have done is huge. Imagine how much they would have toiled to build a parallel economy that makes us strong enough to be in the top 5 overnight. Undoubtedly this is the greatest achievement by a group of people for our country and no reward is too great for them. I demand that a significant chunk of the black money that is returning (after my cheque is given to me), be earmarked for these memorials and rewards. The only thing I want to know is this – how did they paint so much money black, and which paint company supplied so much black paint to them! If we know that, we can use the same paint to paint the memorial black as well.