Life of Pi

Movie - Life of Pi

Reel-time – 127 minutes

Genre – Adventure / Drama / Fantasy

Year – 2012

Director – And Lee

Writers – David Magee (screenplay), Yann Martel (novel) 

Go watch Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi”. In 3D. As soon as possible.

In what is an absolute extravaganza for the eyes, the treatment takes an otherwise difficult-to-believe story and turns it into a testament to desperation and bravery in equal measure. All the actors playing the different ages of Piscine Molitor (or “Pi”, as he will tell you) Patel do justice to the character; goes without saying, it’s the actor playing the Pi-stuck-in-the-lifeboat (Suraj Sharma) who delivers the most stellar performance. Irrfan Khan and Tabu are both as good as ever, and so is the actor who plays Pi’s father (NSD-alumni Adil Hussain).

For tiger-lovers, Richard Parker’s magnificence cannot be put into words  - he is fiercely terrifying in some scenes and grudgingly submissive in some others, almost-humanely wistful in a few, majestically enthralling in every.

That said, Ang Lee’s subtle additions to and subtractions from the original script (and by original I mean Yann Martel’s book by the same name) are wonderfully easy on the eye and do nothing but add to the overall viewing experience. The parts of the film shot in India are exquisite, the special effects are mind-blowing (watch out for the scene with the jellyfish and the whale) and I have neither the courage nor the words to even begin to try to describe the brutal beauty of the thunderstorm-at-sea that changes Pi’s life forever.

I had missed out on watching Cameron’s “Avatar” on 3D, but this one did somewhat make up for it. Yes, it’s THAT good. 

The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection

Book - The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection (available in both Hardcover & Paperback editions)

Author – Rene Stauffer

Publisher – New Chapter Press

Cover price – Rs. 1866 (Hardcover) / Rs. 1131 (Paperback)

Nobody expected greatness from Roger Federer—even in Switzerland. When he first appeared on the scene, he was overshadowed by the success of Hingis, who just became a major force in women’s tennis. When he was on his way to becoming the world’s best junior, Hingis, his senior by just 312 days, was already at her zenith. She won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in 1997 and took center stage—especially in Switzerland. Why should one be at all concerned about Federer, a talented junior with an uncertain future, when Switzerland had the current No. 1 ranked woman in the world?

This book chronicles the life and times of (The Great) Roger Federer, taking off right from when he was a little Swiss kid dabbling in tennis & football (& a variety of other ball sports), paying a lot of attention to his formative years (you know, an angry-young-man’s-racquet-smashing days) and finally landing in his glory days (when he became the Champion that he is, with the tennis world lying conquered at his nimble feet).

“One should just be able to play a perfect game.” (- said by a 15-year-old Federer) Playing a perfect game—that’s what motivated him. He didn’t want to just defeat opponents and win trophies, even if he liked the idea of becoming rich and famous or both, as he admitted. For him, instinctively, the journey was the reward and the journey involved hitting and placing balls with his racquet as perfectly as possible. He seemed to be obsessed with this, which would explain why he could become frustrated even after winning points. He didn’t want to dominate his opponent in this rectangle with the net that fascinated him—he wanted to dominate the ball that he both hated and loved.

 Stauffer’s book also contains jems like -

“He has so much potential that it sometimes confuses even himself,” said John McEnroe, himself, a one-time artist with the tennis ball. (towards the end of 2000)

The New York Post meanwhile called out any critics who insisted that Federer’s dominance of the sport could make tennis boring. The tabloid wrote in 2005 that “Roger Federer can win eight of the next 10 Slam finals, reach the semifinals of all the rest, and if Who and When at every tournament becomes inevitable, the How will remain captivating. We will watch it, in mesmerized fatalism.”

The only thing that can perhaps be called a let-downer in this book is that fact that it portrays Federer’s tennis career only till the end of 2006, but then again considering that that is when the book was penned, it’s unrealistic to expect more.

 We however, the till-death-do-us-part fans of the immortal Roger Federer, know that our Champion will always keep us going “How on earth does he do that?” every time he pulls off one of those miraculous stokes of genius that only he can pull off. And make it look ridiculously easy at that.

After all, as the legendary Jimmy Connors said to the BBC in 2006, “[In the modern game], you’re a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist ... or you’re Roger Federer.”

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p.s. Quoting a line that I read in an article somewhere – “All players make errors, but with Federer - & only with Federer – it feels that the fault lies not in the player but in reality..”

Mockingjay

Book – Mockingjay (#3, ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy)

Author – Suzanne Collins
Publisher – Scholastic

 Cover Price – Rs. 295

"I no longer feel any allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despise being one myself. I think that Peeta was onto something about us destroying one another and lettng some decent species take over. Because something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences. You can spin it any way you like. Snow thought the Hunger Games were an efficient means of control. Coin thought the parachutes would expedite the war. But in the end, who does it benefit? No one. The truth is, it benefits no one to live in a world where these things happen."

This paragraph sums up 'The Hunger Games' (and its fallout) so beautifully, that it almost takes your breath away. Essentially, it's not anything new that Collins tells us - this thing that the world is like a venomous snake that has bitten into its own tail and refuses to let go - but the way she goes about in her narration.. Mostly lucid, and almost always sticking to a central theme.

"We learn to keep busy again. Peeta bakes. I hunt. Haymitch drinks until the liquor runs out, and then raises geese until the next train arrives. Fortunately, the geese can take pretty good care of themselves. We’re not alone. A few hundred others return because, whatever has happened, this is our home. With the mines closed, they plow the ashes into the earth and plant food. Machines from the Capitol break ground for a new factory where we will make medicines. Although no one seeds it, the Meadow turns green again." - the peace, or whatever it amounted too, was needed. Really needed. Like air. The way Collins brings it to the characters is well-planned. Perhaps a little obvious, yes, but still well portrayed.

"My children, who don’t know they play on a graveyard." - the war may be over, but the repercussions will always be there and thereabouts.. This line was particularly brilliant, I thought.. Respect.

A fitting end to a masterfully scripted trilogy. Yes, the pace appears to be a little forced at places, but then the first two were so good that Collins was facing very tough competition from herself.. That she did such a commendable job is what really carries the day.

p.s. And it had to be Peeta. "Always.."