Monday 24 November 2014

The Timeless Appeal of Shawshank Redemption

This Facebook image of full-salt-no-pepper Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman together and the realisation that the cult movie they starred - Shawshank Redemption - was going to celebrate 20th anniversary left me astonished. Let me admit I was one of those who watched the movie only a couple of years ago using a USB, though the movie was released in an era when terms like internet were known only to the geeky class.
 

The film had a low profile release, at least in India, as it got overshadowed by the fading hype of Jurassic Park and at the Oscars Shawshank Redemption got eclipsed by the likes of Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, which ensured that this movie drew a blank, despite seven nominations. I vaguely remember it being screened in some theatres and it soon faded away without much ado. The title itself sounded very intriguing and with words like 'redemption' thrown in it sounded more like a morality play.
 

Moreover the main actor Tim Robbins was quite an unknown commodity and so was Frank Darabont, who was making his debut as director. Though Morgan Freeman did ring a bell, having acted in successful movies such as Robinhood The Prince of Thieves and Unforgiven, he was not a household name like say Eddie Murphy.
 

So for me the movie got lost somewhere in the back of my mind until a couple of years ago when I came across a friend who had downloaded the movie in his computer. Using a USB I copied it to my system and began watching it. Within 15-20 minutes I realised that I was not watching some run of the mill stuff but a classic.

Tim Robbins plays a high street banker who lands in prison due to quirk of fate and learns to cope with life behind bars. While Freeman plays the long time jailbird, who keeps getting denied parole. The two develop a rare bond of friendship and later Robbins carries out a riveting escape from the prison. After a slow start the movie grows upon you. It does not have any science fiction special effects or slickly edited fight sequences or any gizmos - just plain straight forward story telling, often with voice over by Freeman in his  deep baritone, with a good eye for detail.  
 

By the time I had finished watching the riveting 142-minute long movie I realised it was one of the best films I had seen in my life and rued why I didn't see it on a 70 mm screen earlier. 

Also Read: Bangalore Beat

Monday 10 November 2014

Charge of The Selfie Brigade



Narcissism used to be a private affair (very mirror centric) or had a very limited reach until the troika of internet, smartphone and social media came along. Now if you go to a restaurant, pizza joint or take a stroll in a park, a beach you will come across someone taking selfies or a video on his or her longish smartphone or tab, all vital fodder for social networking sites, who in turn seem to rule our lives. Meanwhile 'selfie' has mutated to terms like 'groupfie' and 'belfie', but the strong underpinnings of narcissism remain.

The tyranny of film rolls had restricted photography for special occasions like marriage or a visit to a tourist spot. But memory chips changed the rules of the game as it eliminated the frequent need to shop for film rolls. So all you need is flip the view on your phone, put the best smile forward, position your thumb over the button and click. Whether it is a new dress, a tattoo, shoes or newly-acquired six pack ... everything is kosher for camera and it follows you like a shadow. It has also caught the fancy of our netas.

Even those who are sick or had met with accidents post their pictures in full medical regalia of fracture cast and bandages to evoke a flurry of 'likes' and 'get well soon' messages. In short it has now supplanted diary, minus  its privacy, in recording one's life in kilo, mega and terra bytes with tools like Photoshop to create a picture perfect world. The more intrepid ones even go for cosmetic surgery to enhance their looks.

One notable fallout is that it has become cool to attend school/college alumni meeting and it no longer evokes thin attendance it used to. Earlier only 'teachers' pets' and those living close to the institution cared to attend and it used to happen only in upscale public schools or high profile colleges. But now it has trickled down even to schools and colleges with pedestrian pedigree.

During their student days they may have loathed attending classes and writing copious notes, but now they try to squeeze in their portly frames on those ancient school benches to be 'framed' for posterity. Some even make peace with teachers with whom they never saw eye to eye during student days - all for the sake of Facebook or Instagram.

For many the obsession with online life has now eclipsed the offline ones. Even the day-to-day mood swings depend upon comments their posts and selfies draw on Facebook or Instagram. Cyber bullying has become more potent as online reputations have become more important than the offline ones. And so is flattery with the most common remark being, "Oh you look the same, not changed a wee bit", which make lie detectors gasp in disbelief.

Picture courtesy: Reddit (George Harrison selfie)
Also Read: Bangalore Beat