Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 18

A musical horror?

Joker: Folie à Deux (Madness shared by two; 2024)
Director: Todd Philips
No matter how much they suck at anything, adults are not supposed to tell children they are wrong. They are supposed to be encouraged, only showered with positive vibes. It is believed to give them self-confidence and stretch them to greater heights beyond their capacity. 
Nobody is graded. Everyone gets a medal for participating. Everyone is a winner, and he is exceptional and made to believe. 
I have news for you. Go into the world and realise that nobody gives two hoots to you. Everybody is in a hurry. Nobody has time to listen and talk to you. Every man is an island.
To make matters worse, the others have no qualms about stepping on or over you to achieve their goals. Losing you is just one step closer to their goals. There is no time to coach or wait for you. It is a man-eat-man world out there.

Living under the hawking eyes of helicopter parenting or even chip-implanted surveillance, these snowflakes find themselves naked, exposed to the cruel elements of humankind. They once thought everyone was laughing with them all. Much to their disappointment, they realise that they were laughed at. They were not the Joker that everyone loved, but the butt of everyone's joke.
The question is when they will realise that reality and how they will handle it.
After the successful run of Joker in 2019, the filmmakers decided to push their luck. Joker (2109) did well as an evil, dysfunctional character from society's low rung, venting his anger in broad daylight in front of TV cameras. The audience felt for the Joker, and the movie garnered much attention and accolades. Riding on Joker's popularity, the scriptwriters must have taken his fans for clowns (or idiots). They roped in Lady Gaga to pair as Harley Queen, Joker's love interest. We get it that both characters were discontented with their parents and turned out dysfunctional. Both of them blame their respective parents for their predicaments. We get it. 
The shared madness between them and the periodic bursting into songs did not go well with fans. There should be something more concrete than occasional glancing between characters, falling in love, songs and soliloquies. 2/5.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Gory historic details or gore fest?

Razakar:  The Silent Genocide Of Hyderabad  (Telegu, 2024) Director:  Yata Satyanarayana
In her last major speech before her disposition, Sheikh Hasina accused those who opposed her rule in Bangladesh of being Razakars. The opposition took offence to this term and soon widespread mob throughout the land. Of course, it is not that that single incident brought down an elected government but a culmination of joblessness and unjust reservations for a select population group. In the Bengali psyche, Razakar is a pejorative term meaning traitor or Judas. It was first used during the 1971 Pakistan Civil War. The paramilitary group who were against the then-East Pakistani leader, Majibur Rehman, were pro-West Pakistan. After establishing independence in Bangladesh, Razakars were disbanded, and many ran off to Pakistan.
Around the time of Indian independence, turmoil brewed in the princely state of Hyderabad, which had been a province deputed by the Mughals from 1794. The rule of Nizam commenced since. That vast state of Hyderabad covered Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. In total, seven Nizams ruled Hyderabad. Barring the rule of the sixth Nizam, Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan, their rule saw much discontent, oppression and restricted liberty. Even before the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, in 1857, 1000 members of rebelling tribal members were hung unceremoniously on a banyan tree. In the present state of Telangana, there was a kingdom named Gond. Some British soldiers trespassed on their land and destroyed public property. The Gond members killed them. The British retaliated by hanging the leader Ramji Gond and others on a tree immortalised as the 'thousand skull tree'. 
Other hardships the people endured were high taxes, forced conversion and the inability to use their preferred languages. Before this, Telegu, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada were freely spoken. Then came the use of Persian and Urdu. 
When the British decided to pack up and leave, the 562 Indian states could join Pakistan or India or stay alone. Hyderabad initially wanted to be part of Pakistan. Imagine the logistics of having a landlocked independent state with the ideology of the enemy, i.e. Pakistan. The last Nizam gave Jinnah an audience, but his demeanour cheesed off the Nizam. Upon taking his seat, Jinnah sat with one leg crossed against the other and smoked a cigar. That, remarked the offended Nizam, was the end of their discussion. The Nizam vowed to stand alone, promising to develop Hyderabad to Turkistan, the apt replacement for the once splendid Ottoman Empire.
This much is known. India wanted Hyderabad to be part of India after two large chunks of land were given to Pakistan, but states made a deal with India-Pakistan. The Standstill Agreement in November 1947 gave the princely states a year to decide which side to opt for.
What happened within Hyderabad State is debatable. Though many of the gory stories that come out are denied by many journalists and historians, many swear of the atrocities that bordered on genocide that they had to endure. At the end of the day, it is a Muslim-Hindu issue. The deniers insist it was humanly impossible for a ragtag squad of Razakars to create so much damage. They blame the communists who were also trying to put footage into the state. It was a chaotic time. Peasants were rebelling, and landowners wanted to hold onto their lands. 
Hyderabad had a population of 15% Muslims, who ruled the majority Hindus. The ruling class also included Pathans, Arabs, and other foreign administrators. The frugal Nizam was, at that time, the wealthiest man on Earth, with diamonds and other priceless minerals under his thumb. When the Nizam wanted to remain independent, his yeoman, Qasim Razvi, the leader of a quasi-political party, clandestinely recruited radical volunteers to uphold Islam and prevent the fall to the control of the Hindu Rashtra. Razakar is an Arabic word meaning volunteer. 
Meanwhile, with his vast coffers, the Nizam procured surrender German weapons from the victors of WW2. Rifles and automatic guns were flown in via Pakistan with the help of arms dealers. One such person was Frederick Sidney Cotton, who was supposed to transport Qasim Rizvi out of Hyderabad when the Nizam fell, but Cotton left him behind.
 Sadar Patel was the leading man behind the liberation of the people of Hyderabad. 75 years later, the correct nomenclature for this exercise is still debated: whether it was a liberation of the state or the integration of the State into the rest of India. Nehru and Patel tried to dissolve the tension amicably through negotiations. K M Munshi was sent as a negotiator. When all talks failed, and the cry of the people of Hyderabad reached screeching levels, Patel and the Indian Army with the airforce moved into Hyderabad under what was called 'Police Action' in Operation Polo, disobeying the Standstill Agreement. Hyderabad was annexed into the Indian Dominion on 17th September 1948.
Qasim Risvi was charged with sedition and was imprisoned till 1957. He left for Karachi after his release and died a pauper in 1970. The Nizam was not charged but was given a ceremonial post till his date.
This movie created a lot of controversies before its release. The filmmakers were accused of distorting history. The atrocities were magnified, and some of the violence committed by the upper-class Hindus, moneylenders, landowners and communists was assumed to have been done by Razakars. There were half-truths and blatant lies. The Nizam is said to have aided Hindu concerns and temples. It seemed that the Communists did fight against the Razakars, but they were not credited in the movie. Some intellectuals label it as Hindutva propaganda. The Hanging Tree incident is a fight against the British but somehow lumped here as the Nizam's doing. It turned out to be a gore fest with little cinematic value or compelling storytelling.
(P.S. Qasim Razvi's party remains a legitimate political party. From Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MIM, it is now known as All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, AIMIM. It is a formidable opposition party that regularly churns out Islam and Muslim-related issues. After Rizvi, the party's helm was passed to Abdul Wahid Owaisi, the current leader's grandfather.)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Always the second fiddle!

Daddio (2024)
Director & Screenplay: Christy Hall

This movie would not have hit my radar if Qantas had not apologised to its passengers on a flight to Tokyo for a mistaken screening. A glitch in the system made only this movie being screened in all in-flight entertainment for a whole hour. Qantas specifically apologised to the children for the mistake. The apology must have been because it must have been boring as hell for them. And also perhaps because of two ‘unholy’ sexting images of an erect phallus and a full display of a pair of mammary glands in their full glory. 

Not that I am complaining. It is a well-made drama that discusses a very mature subject- what either gender expects in a relationship. This conversation occurs during a cab journey from JFK airport to Manhattan between a twice-married cab driver and his passenger, a 30-something confident lady who is a mistress to a married man with kids. That is it. It starts with the lady (Dakota Johnson) entering Sean Penn’s yellow taxi and ends when they reach their destination. It is all conversation and text messages. Now we know why Qantas had to apologise to the kids! - for kids telling their parents, “I am bored!” and parents unable to give them an alternative. Returning from her hometown after a visit to her sister’s, Dakota is travelling to her apartment. A kind of nosey cab driver, Penn, starts to strike up a conversation with Dakota.  

After a few cursory topics, they open up about each other’s private lives. The highlight of their chat is what each other expected or had expected in their lives. Pretty soon both become all so philosophical, especially Penn. At one moment, Dakota was reevaluating her whole imbroglio with a married man and its repercussions. A married man with an affair is in it just for sex. He will never give up his family so that his mistress can have a fairytale-like, happy ending forever and ever. Period. A confident, self-sustaining female may have her dreams and targets in life, but having her lover all to herself will not be successful. She will always have to play second fiddle and the scorned home wrecker. An interesting watch. 4/5.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

When stock pundit be held responsible!

Money Monster (2016) Director: Jody Foster
That it is. There is no shortcut to making that first million. First, one must realise that one's journey to the land of gold and honey may meet impassable obstacles and not reach the intended destination. Or, he may be skewed away from the path and end up in a ditch. Or, he may be swallowed by a beast (or troll under the bridge, if you still believe in fairy tales!)
Wealth is finite. It is a zero-sum game. For one to make a million, somebody else must lose a million. The way advertisers do their thing, prospectors buy the idea that no one is a loser. They entice you into the gravy train, which never runs short of curry!
With the advent of complex algorithms, the unholy union of data scientists and conniving dupe masters never had it better. Speaking in incomprehensible jargon that they do not understand, they create a smokescreen that can cleverly hide their true malfeasances. Their spick appearances and polished social etiquettes belie their demonic intentions beneath their mask.
Even nations are getting involved in this debacle. When fiat money is churned out indiscriminately, even small Governments with altruistic intentions gamble on their children's future when their investments appear robust and are backed by the greenback. 
Have you noticed how financial experts have such short life spans on the airwaves? Like swallows before the summer, they appear in droves when the stock market is doing well. They yak and yak like they have perfected the art of making money out of the market. It is as if they are there for everyone's picking. Overnight, they will be uncontactable when things go south; swallow fly south. This must be why their actions are termed 'flight by night' activity. And the market will swallow everything in one big lump. 
What happens to all those sycophants who promote and sing praises of the moneymaking product as if it is the best thing to happen to mankind since sliced bread? Are these mere messengers? We do not kill the messengers. Or can they be held accountable for what comes out of their mouths? 
These are the questions that go through the mind of the compère and controller of a popular money programme named 'Money Monster' when a disgruntled investor holds the host at gunpoint and straps a bomb vest over him. The investor had lost his inheritance in stocks after taking the programme's advice, hence the frustration. 
As expected, life on the silver screen is more black or white. By the film's end, the cause of the stock prices' fall is pinpointed to fraud by its owner, and instant justice befalls the wrongdoer.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Take control!

CTRL (Hindi, 2024) Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
A toddler looks at a portrait on the wall and automatically swipes his hand, expecting to see another picture. Every child from every crook and nook of the house burrows out the moment the WiFi router is turned off, blurting, in their weary red eyes, “The WiFi is not working!” Never mind that the house is burning!

We have become digitally addicted. Social media is closely linked to this connectivity. So gratifying has this media interaction become that people would rather communicate via their devices than in person. It simply simplifies things. One can do away with the customary curtsies and communicate when necessary and on the go.

The serotonin infusion given by likes and thumbs up has reached such alarming levels that children have been known to have bitten off the hands that fed them. Mothers have been bludgeoned by their children in tantrums.

Never in human history have people been scrutinised so minutely as in Instagram and Facebook posts. Filters and enhancement techniques have turned people into porcelain mannequins that they are not, appearing unblemished with infantile innocence.

To complicate this unstoppable monster comes deepfakes and artificial intelligence that highlight the natural stupidity of humans. Lured by fame and that one-minute spot under the spotlight, they are willing to lose all decency and privacy. What we need to realise is that it comes with a price. We become open books for devious conglomerates to own us, monetise us, commoditise us and wrap us up around their fingers.
Under the cloak of anonymity, humans, too, become emboldened to blurt out things with no filter that we would not otherwise do in person. We threaten, bully, haunt, and act like a mob would. We clamour in excitement when someone falls from grace. It becomes our next teatime or Twitter conversation. For some, the stress of this fall is too much for their simple minds to handle and find an easy exit.

This movie, a new format for an Indian film, shows the evil that new computer tech companies can and will do to spy on people and manipulate them for their own monetary gains. It is a fresh movie with a fresh face that blends well into the world of influencing and internet stars. It highlights the narcissistic nature of the current generation and how ever ready they are to pose and come out with a picture perfect at the drop of a coin.

The lesson is that we are doomed. We cannot live without digital connectivity, but at the same time, we have signed off on ourselves and our liberty to the big companies who call the shots now. They have infiltrated every fibre of our modern lives. They have become the modern-day imperialists with big gunboats and canons, too mighty for peasant natives to fight with spears and blowpipes.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Khalistan government in exile?

At the time of writing, two Air India flights had to make emergency landings after receiving bomb threats. Of late, emails have been coming out from the US of threats of bomb blasts in Air India flights. Many geopolitical observers propose that these disturbances are closely related to the killing of two Khalistani supporters/militants in Canada recently. It is alleged that their killings were masterminded by Indian intelligence, orders of which were coming directly from the Modi Government, and executed by Indian gangs.

For the uninitiated, there is a big Sikh diaspora in Canada. After the traumatic tearing up of the State of Punjab during Partition in 1947, Indian Punjab became one of the most prosperous States, becoming one of the biggest contributors to the Indian coffers.

Then came Bhindrawale of the Akali Dal Party, who stored arms in the Golden Temple. Operation Blue Star happened then. The ‘desecration’ of the temple by the Indian Army snowballed into the assassination of Indian PM Ieeriendra Gandhi and the Sikh extremists demanding an independent state for Sikhs, Khalistan. Many of the extremists who went on an armed offensive escaped to Canada when the long arms of Indian law caught up with them. They clandestinely continued their subversive activities from Canadian shores, adapting nicely to their newfound landscape of liberty, personal freedom and the strength of the Canadian dollar.

Around the same time, Pakistan began exporting its terrorist activities. A weak Indian Punjab would make easy prey for Pakistan to walk over and spread their dominance, or so they thought. They provided easy access to drugs and moral support for separatism.

Over the years, the radical Sikhs in Canada have started playing a pivotal role in Canadian politics. As Justin Treadeau’s party loses support, Jasmeet and his National Democratic Party, which has a large Sikh following, are to hold Justin’s Liberal Party by the jugular. It just may be vote bank politics.

Trouble has been slowly brewing over the years between India and Canada. On the Indian side, Canada was accused of taking sides on Indian domestic issues, like the Farmers’ Protest. India looks at the Khalistani movement as a separatist group that Canada seems to protect, accusing it of harbouring terrorists, just like Pakistan. Canada feels it just doing what a sovereign country would do, protect its own citizens. So as it is, both parties are beginning to call back their respective embassies and refuse the issuance of visas.

Interestingly, the threat to blow up Air India flights did happen once before and led to the biggest aviation mishap before the Twin Towers 9/11 disaster. In 1985, on 23rd June an Air India plane flight #182, christened Kanishka after a great king of the Kushan Dynasty of ancient, India, exploded mid-air off the coast of Ireland as it was flying from Toronto to London en route to New Delhi, killing instantaneously 307 passengers and 23 crew members. There were 268 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian origin, going home for summer vacation and 24 were Indians. This plane blast was the biggest Canadian aviation disaster. Murphy’s Law was in full force here. A Royal Commission which was convened determined that a series of errors happened. The government of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS) all failed to protect their citizens. Even though the authorities were scrutinising the terrorist group Khalsa Babar and police informants had forewarned them of a planned Air India bomb blast, all that for embroiled in bureaucracy. 
Even though there was heightened alert about the possible bombing on an Air India flight, Toronto's baggage X-ray facilities malfunctioned and the staff bungled up with manual scrutiny for bombs.

In fact, on the faithful day, two unattended baggage with bomb devices were registered to travel (without their passengers who did not board the vessel for obvious reasons) from Vancouver to Toronto on Canadian Pacific Airlines. From Toronto, one baggage was supposed to leave for Narita and finally to India via Air India plane. Because of confusion in correcting for daylight saving measurement, the bomb exploded prematurely in Narita killing two baggage handlers. The other bomb exploded before reaching London Heathrow, perhaps the intended target because the flight was delayed by an hour. 
There is an eerie coincidence between the 1985 threat of Air India bombing and the loss of sovereignty over what the radicals perceive as the greater Punjab. If in 1984 the Golden Temple was allegedly trampled, then would they view Haryana's loss to BJP in the state elections as a further dent to their ambition to realise the dream of Khalistan?
In 1981, Indira Gandhi requested Pierre Trudeau for the extradition of some Khalistani terrorists wanted for crimes in India, which was turned down. Now in 2024, history seems to be repeating itself. Many Khalistani gangsters are wanted in India and they find safe haven in Canada.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

To Be or Not to Be…

A teacher lost all her life savings, around RM 200,000, to spammers. Over 400 children were rescued from orphanages in two states from sexual predators in Malaysia. Stories like these are not ground-breaking anymore but happen on a daily basis. The worrying trend of late is that these are no isolated incidents perpetrated by individual wackos with ill intents. It is, in fact, a well-organised, well-lubricating establishment with vast tentacles lurking all over the globe. 

https://borderlessjournal.com/2024/10/14/to-be-or-not-to-be-3/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Breaking the yoke of ignorance!

Benzaiten, Japanese equivalent
to the diety Saraswati.Saraswati Pooja used to be a vital feature in our household in childhood. The highlight of the whole event was placing our textbooks and getting the blessings of Goddess Saraswati. Thinking we would perform better in studies with Her blessings was naive. Amma did not fail to gently remind us that praying would not make us pass exams. We needed to put in the hours and concentration. There was no substitute for education; it was our key to happiness.
Every Saraswati Pooja reminds me of my childhood of respecting books and learned individuals, irrespective of their teaching styles or content. Then I questioned myself: Can smut be given the same recognition if presented in book form? With all the ill effects that come out of the web but nullified by all the good things it spreads, does it still qualify as a learning tool?

I soon realised that the spirit of Saraswati is the zest of reinforcing to immerse oneself into the ocean of knowledge. It is also a reminder that we are the privileged few whose journey through education is a given right. It is a prompt for us to appreciate those who reached greater despite the odds against them to acquire knowledge.
Ruby Bridges, 6, attending Elementary
School in 1960, accompanied by
US Marshals.

Offhand, I remember the people of my mother’s generation whose parents thought a child’s job was to take over the lead of feeding the family as soon as their bodies transitioned into adulthood, which can be as early as 14 for a girl and 16 for a male. My mother’s desire to continue studies and fly high was clipped prematurely after her primary Tamil school studies, and my uncle had to literally stay away from his family to earn to finance his upper secondary school studies.
Salutations also go to the first lady doctor and the first lawyer in countries where education for females was considered dangerous, tilting the patriarchal-matriarchal societal balance. They went against the grain and gripe of their communities to succeed. A family with an educated female will end illiteracy in that family.

Thought also goes to Ruby Bridges, whose parents had the courage and wisdom to enrol her as the first black girl in an all-white elementary school in Louisiana in 1960. In 1964, Norman Rockwell immortalised the scene of Ruby marching boldly ‘like a soldier’ accompanied by US marshals in a painting. It later became an iconic image of the Civil Rights Movement.

Even though specific religious iconographies have been included in celebrating Saraswati Pooja, its essence is secular. Appreciating the power of education on society does not convert students to give up their cultural beliefs. All faiths encourage their congregations to expand their knowledge and minds to the vast expanse of wisdom. Saraswati Pooja is a mere conduit to this realisation. It is also included as an Ayudha Pooja (Weapons' prayer), as books and knowledge constitute our weapons in our daily lives. It used to be swords and farming utensils. As though emphasising the role of the fairer sex in our society, this pooja is part of Navarathri, the nine-day celebration of female divinity.

So, I do not understand why a non-governmental organisation in Malaysia, Thiravidar Humanitarian Organisation, vehemently opposes the Saraswati Pooja celebrations in Tamil schools. They claim it is a religious activity; as such, it should not be held during teaching hours but to maintain the focus on education. That is precisely the point; celebrations like Saraswati Pooja would ignite true wisdom to separate the wheat from the chaff. This Malaysian NGO is an extension of Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian politics, primarily anti-Hindu. Their current aim in life is to eradicate Sanathana Dharma, just like humanity is trying to crush COVID and Dengue. The Malaysian NGO is parroting their masters across the seas, the same land their ancestors fled for a better life. Dr Joshi graduated in 1886 from the Women's
Medical College in Pennsylvania.
Why were girls in the 19th and 20th centuries prevented from attending school? It could not be something engrained in the Indian society. Many crucial human activity departments are represented by goddesses, not male demigods. If Indian society was indeed patriarchal, why would Goddess Durga represent courage, Laxmi to wealth and Saraswati to be linked to knowledge? As though emphasising the role of the fairer sex in our society, Saraswathi Pooja is part of Navarathri, the nine-day celebration of female divinity. Something must have happened in between. Could it be that the rapacious hunting of invading barbarians into India forced families to tuck their daughters far away from their invaders's lustful eyes? Over generations, they became better at being unseen and unheard, soon occupying second-class status in society. Just a thought!
 © Norman RockwellThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Who amongst us is disposable?

Boat(Tamil; 2024)
Director: Chimbudeven
This film drew little attention as a movie. Although the build-up initially seemed promising, it could have been more exciting.

It is said to be based on Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea', his Nobel Prize and Pulitzer-winning novel, and 'Ten Angry Men', a play written by Reginald Rose, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning movie. 
The storyline follows 'The Old Man and the Sea' because much of it occurs within the confines of a boat. Just as in 'Twelve Angry Men', the occupants of the boat (ten of them) have to make the dreaded decision of who two of them should be sacrificed so that the boat does not capsize.
Set in 1943 to coincide with the time Japanese fighter plans bombed areas around Madras, it tells a political story about India, its independence, British colonial rule, divisions among fellow Indians and many more. 
As they see planes flying over the Madras skies and upon hearing rumours of imminent Japanese bombing, Kumaran, a fisherman who owns the boat, dashes to the sea with his grandmother. Seven others followed them and got on to the boat - a Brahmin man with his daughter, a writer from the Kerala border who actually is a Muslim and probably a communist and a Jinnah sympathiser, a pregnant Telegu lady with her son, a Tamil librarian who is actually an INA operative and Rajasthani moneylender. 
Along the way, they pick up a soldier from a destroyed British patrol boat. 
As they hover away from the coast to escape police, they discover that the boat is overloaded and has a leak. The boatman, Kumaran, an expert here, calls the shots. He suggests that two people have to be offloaded to make it back safely. Who amongst the ten should be thrown off the boat?
The real essence of the film starts after this. The British soldier, with a gun, is cocksure that he cannot be the one to be offloaded. He has to carry the white man's burden to civilise the natives. They have a secret voting. Unanimously, Kumaran and his grandmother, being lower on the caste system, being of the marginal caste, should be disposed of. It is immaterial that they are the experts on getting them to shore. 
The discussion goes on to Brahminical supremacy, the North-South divide, Partition, Gandhism and Bose's INA and even the subdivision of Brahmins between Iyers and Iyengars. Much philosophy is also discussed about allowing all life forms to live. Interspersed in the background through a rickety radio are the philosophical songs belted out by the maestro of the yesteryears, Thiagarajah Bhaghvatar. His song questions human values and things about freedom. Symbolically, the British can be seen instigating the rest to fight against each other. Outside danger lurks in the form of a shark circling the boat.
I found this movie quite entertaining despite giving the feel more of a play instead of a feature film.

A playful photograph is inserted into this film.
Shown photographed with Subash Chandra Bose (front)
are L-R: Rajan (Sivaji in 1946 Andha Naal; Senupathy (Kamalhasan
in Indian 1 & 2 ,1996 & 2024); Muthaya (MS Bhaskar in this movie)
All three of INA conspired with the Japanese to bomb Madras.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Like a 'turn-turtled' tortoise?

Kasaba (The Small Town, Turkish; 1997) Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
 When we were young, we were told this and that. We were given the impression that if we followed that proscribed path, everything would be okay. Do not stray away from that, and all will be alright. Nobody told us about the shifting goalposts and the unforeseen variables. Our parents wanted us to be a level better than them. That kind of reinforced upon us that they were an embarrassment. We did not want to be anything else but a mould of them. We strive and strive. Still, in the end, like it or not, we would end up thinking of them, thinking like them and repeating all the things they once told and found nonsensical.
Nature has other plans. A mishap here and a liaison with the wrong company there. It is mindboggling what disastrous effect a dead parent or a disappearing parent has on the children. Even political turmoil or a natural catastrophe may upset the children's path to adulthood. Little things like the company we keep may alter the trajectory of our lives. Little decisions made at the spur of the moment or even much deliberation can have unexpected outcomes. It is what it is, and it is not in the best interest to brood about life that could have been. Instead, we should try to maximise the rut that we are in. 
This slow-moving story lays down just that. It is centred around a family sitting around a fire roasting corn and opening up about their respective lives. They have a problem with the lack of opportunities in the small village. What starts with the children wanting to hear stories snowballs into something big. The elders bemoan the hardship endured in their lives. One of the younger men feels slighted. He is probably having PTSD after serving in the Army. He just cannot get himself back on his feet again. In his youth, he just wanted to get the hell out of his village. Now, it seems he cannot get himself out. Another, despite his high overseas academic qualifications, wastes his time in the village. 
Ironically, everyone wants to go out far and wide to explore the world, but in their silver years, they return to their hometown to spend their remaining and die to be buried among their loved ones.

Even though we fantasise about our childhood as innocent, carefree and stress-free, the reality is far from it. Children can be pretty nasty. The vile that comes out from their mouth can be quite caustic. Not all of their actions can be viewed as adorable and cute. Many are bullies and can be physical with no remorse. To top it up, he will eventually not be punished for their actions. The people receiving their maleficence will just have to pick themselves up and grow some fortitude.
The presentation also includes many eye-catching black-and-white photographs of the Turkish countryside and many interesting still shots. 
Many of us turn out alright, escaping the hardship that befell our parents and the ones before them. Some are not so lucky. They are like the upturned tortoise in the movie. The 'turn turtle' tortoise in this arrested state is a metaphor for being stuck in a situation, struggling but just unable to rescue himself from his predicament.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.