Movie Review : The Kid (2000)

This movie was not a recent one as the date counts back to 2000. I got to watch it just last week and IMO it was a great one. Though it is termed as "The Kid" it is not only for the kids. It has reality strewn throughout the movie. It sticks to the tagline "Nobody ever grows up quiet like they imagined". The movie categorizes under the comedy genre and promises a hilarious entertainer. I have missed it all these years and finally caught up with it last week.

Here the movie goes. Russell Morley(Bruce Willis) is a man approaching 40 is a popular Image Consultant who runs after time and money. His frigid attitude towards life is well potrayed by the director, Jon Turteltaub. One night he hears a babble of murmurs in his apartment and comes face to face with a 8-year old kid Rusty(Spencer Breslin). All of a sudden he finds that the kid is Russell himself at a young age. He remembers his name being Rusty during his earlyhoods. He realises that its not a phantasm as he expects it to be. The kid is a naughty kid who scores equally to Bruce Willis. He asks too many questions which are no doubt makes Russell to hate him at the instant. He as a kid had always dreamt of becoming a jet flyer but ended up as an popular Consultant to all celebrities. There are certain dialogues which arise laughter and thought provoking. Like the one the kid says, "How old are you?", "Iam turing 40 within a couple of days", says Bruce. The kid comments, "That...........is...........old". After realising about the happenings Russell gets crazy and yells at the kid, "Look!I dont have time to get crazy". One more is his assistant Janet asks Russell over the phone, "How are you and hows Mini-you?".The strange thing is all the other characters are able to "see" the kid which is not logical. One more dialogue which reserves in memory is when Rusty asks,"What happens between being me and becoming you?" is such a weird one but a good one. The kid finds that Russell does not have a dog, not committed till 40 and is not able to answer questions like "Why does the moon sometimes become orange?". Russell struggles hard to answer only to wear a frown on his face. The kid sighs, "I knew I am growing upto be a loser!".

The latter part of the movie finds Russell yearning towards the good part of life. He even finds himself after 30 years who is played by an "older" looking Bruce Willis who has a family, a dog and a jet. Within a second glance the kid disappears bringing an incentive smile on Bruce who concludes, "Now I know what to do".

Those who have not watched this movie just give it a chance. You are sure to love it. It runs roughly for about 1.5 hours and which is obviously a feel-good movie. Once the movie ends we could feel and remember "the Kid" in us. Good work by the movie team.

[Image Courtesy: Disney Pictures]

Black Tuesday

Today morning, many would have woken after a good night sleep. I had a very good one without knowing what had prevailed in the previous evening in Mumbai. Yes!The City is targeted again for raising communal violence. My heart struck in my throat after reading the news headlines in The Hindu.

[Image Courtesy:The Hindu]

The serial bomb blasts in the city's suburban trains have taken the death toll to 190 and wounded were recorded close to 450. The blasts started after 6.20pm in a suburban train from Churchgate to Borivali. Churchgate being one of the terminals for many suburban trains was targeted during the peak hour as most of the civilians take a halt or change to a different train from that terminus. Mumbai, being the commercial capital of India was targeted by some militant outfits to attract global attention. This Tuesday is a Black Tuesday for the people of Mumbai. There were totally 7 blasts out of which 4 were in the First class compartments which was located in middle to cause a major casualty. Since it was a monsoon day, police had a tough time locating the bodies due to the early darkness of the season. The next blasts were reported from Matunga, Mahim,Bandra, Borivali, Jogeshwari and Mira road.

My deep heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased. I pray to God to give the family members the strength to bear the demise of their dear ones. Whoever involved in this brutal killings are condemned. Their act is trying to disturb the national integrity and weaving seeds of fear of the people of Mumbai. This terror act should be a personal grief for each INDIAN. We all should join hands and keep the militants a major setback by not spreading the communal violence like wild fire. Mumbai has already taken many blasts in its heart for the past couple of decades. Being indians our role is to remain united throughout this rough phase. Our country has to be saved from terrorism. Praying that no more such happenings would occur anywhere in the country following Mumbai.

[Courtesy: The Hindu]

The Home

I was wide awake at 7am. My eyes gazed through my bedroom window to be struck by the pale morning sunrays. Today is Monday. The day has come finally. My heart was beating with guilt each second. Am I doing wrong? or Am I right?. Just then the bedroom door creaked to open. Ramya, my wife entered with coffee. She was bit more happy today than usual and she pretended she was not. She tried hard to bring a gloominess in her face and failed. "Hope you remember what's today?", she asked. I looked her straight into her eyes. Her eyes could not meet mine and drooped down at the floor. "How can I forget? Today we need to send my mother to The Home for the aged". "I think we are running short of time and should start before 8am. Athai(mother-in -law) has just got up and gone for a shower. It is you to get ready soon. I have prepared breakfast specially made for her with all her favourites. Get up dear!".

I smiled to myself. My heart was heavy than usual. I got up. "Can we still reconsider the decision Ramya? She has no one except me. How will she be all alone herself without a moral support?". Ramya's face changed a bit pale. "Vishal! Do you think Iam happy in taking this decision? I know it is hard for you. But she has not changed a bit. You know the turmoil between us. You are busy with your office but I need to stay with her the rest of the day till you get back home. Her words prick me each time and I feel really bad. You have seen my mother and how silent is she in my brother Aravind's place. Not a complaint about her. Why can't your mum be like mine? By any chance I dont want to pick on Athai and that would hurt her. So better she is kept away for some time. She may realise her mistakes and call us again. Then I would be happy to take her back home. The place is not far and just a hour drive. We can visit her anytime we want. Moreover this is just for temporary. We spoke to her last week and she agreed for that and now why do you start it again?". Agreed???? Did my mum agree??Last week when we started this to mum, I could not see her face and was talking with my eyes on the ground. She was forced by Ramya to agree. I was helpless at the situation. My mum was gazing at me whether I would object. But of vain.

The same night after Ramya slept, I creeped to my mum's bedroom and sat by her feet to apologise. I tried to weep silently as possible cautioning never to wake her up. What if she has not slept? Yes! She was wide awake. She got up and sat beside me. I tried to look at her face but my tears found no barrier and my shoulders started shaking. However my mum's face was calm and she put her arm over me and smiled at me. This was really more unbearable. She patted me and said, "Dont worry! Everthing is for good. I know how you feel. Dont cry. Anyway The Home is not far off. You have promised me to visit me each weekend. That is enough for me. Iam not angry on Ramya. She is a young girl. Dont show hatred to her because of this. That would be a favor for your mother. Now get back and catch some sleep". My head started aching and somehow got back and hit my bed.

"Have you finished taking bath? It is getting late. Are you sleeping inside the bathroom"-Ramya. I came out and had my breakfast with mum for the last time. I know this would probably be the last time as I know Ramya's intentions of not having my mum back. This is not a temperory plan. I knew it. No one spoke anything over the dining table. Ramya was serving my mum very happily as she treats a guest. My anger rose but had to remain quiet. As usual I was not able to utter a word and see mum's face.

I started loading mum's luggages in the car's boot. My mum came out and heaved a heavy breath of sigh. She got in the car. Ramya sat in the front along the driver seat. I locked our home and started the car. After passing a few streets the car hit the Highway and the car sped towards North. Ramya turned back slowly, "Athai!We will visit you often and all necessary luxuries are made for you in The Home. You wont feel lonely as there are many people out there and you will feel a happy and calm environment". My mum calmly in turn, "Thank you very much Ramya" said that with an incentive smile. This pricked me more. That smile had heaps of meanings. Ramya did not know what to speak next and turned back. After a hour of travel we finally reached The Home. It was a beautiful place and a large building with just the ground floor. The garden was maintained beautifully and I could see some old people relaxing in the benches. They all rose up from their seats with curiosity to find their new inmate. We parked the car in the parking lot behind and carried all the luggages to the reception. Mum and Ramya followed me. The Receptionist smiled and greeted us and took the details and asked us to wait in the waiting room. Mum and myself moved slowly towards the waiting hall following my wife. Suddenly Ramya stopped, her eyes fixed on something. I was wondering what was that. I followed her eye trail and my heart almost stopped.

There sitting in the corner waiting room was Aravind, Ramya's brother, his wife Archana and their beloved mother. Aravind was speechless when he saw us all. My mum sat behind Ramya's mum who started to sob on my mum's shoulders. Aravind looked at Ramya who was still in a state of shock, "Ramya!Mum and Archana are not in good terms. I felt a little bit change would favor both and came to leave mum here for a few days. Just Temporarily!!!!

The End.
A Short Story.

[I know that many would feel the story as an very very old issue. But can anyone swear that the in-laws problems have ended completely?. Moreover the story being old wine in new bottle/(may be old bottle too). But this is almost a true incident and names involved are changed on purpose]

Orkut

I was introduced to this wonderful community a couple of months back. And truly amazing how many old friends I have lost touch for years were back in touch. I could realise that I was topping up my friends list day by day and was able to retain all their contacts through Orkut. Iam very much thankful for my friends who introduced it to me. But at the same time its a time consuming sweet poison. I hope my friends go with my stand. I almost lost a day on Orkut when introduced to me within a couple of days. My joy knew no bounds as I found friends whom I thought would never meet again my life. Slowly Orkut has become a part of my internet life along with emails, blogs, chat, movie reviews. I even found in a recent blog that the person who started this, Orkut Büyükkökten is a Turkish engineer working in Google is to become the richest person in the world by 2009 due to the bucks he earns for each person getting introduced and so on. But that is an amazing fact soon to become true in 2009. India is in third on the list on the number of users next to Brazil and US which is second(true!!!). I hope to find some more "lost" friends soon and push many into it. As the saying in Tamil goes, "Yaam Petra Inbam Peruga Ivvayagam"(meaning: the joy I received should be shared throughout the world).

Hello Everyone!!!
Welcome to my blog. I was yearning to start a blog for long and was pondering over which issue should i focus upon. I always had a passion for cinemas. Wait! Did i say cinemas??? hmmm I was right. I loved them on the technical grounds like the angles in cameras used and the type film rolls involved. One of passions I had was on photography in films. I would rather give a higher rating to the director of photography than the casting crew. One such legend I wondered the most was P.C Sreeram. I saw his recent interview in Vikatan. Man! he has an other side too. A person who loves to be silent and his films make the speaking. I wondered how come a calm guy like him went on to pull the box office with his Kuruthipunal. Music always plays a vital role in movies and producing a movie without a song is really a daring act. What else does he need when he had a stalwart working with him in the movie called Kamal Haasan. P.C's work in Alaipayudhe is still appreciated for the colours he painted in the movie. I had to watch the movie a couple of times especially the songs for his creative works and only then I dealt with the story. I did not realise that my first blog is turning to be a movie review!! I wanted to initiate something interesting and found my passion for fine arts very interesting. Thank you for spending time in pouring over my first post. Lets keep rocking!!!