The Common Man Speaks

Book review: On The Deathbed by Karthik K B Rao

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To say that the Coronavirus or COVID-19 played havoc in the world in the last two years or so would be an understatement. It made people go through hell and changed the way of life for the entire world.

This was more evident during the second wave of the virus. When the first wave subsided, many of us assumed that the worst was over but that turned out to be false and how. Many healthy individuals literally went through horrid times.

One of those unfortunate ones was author Karthik K B Rao. His book On The Deathbed: My Encounter With The COVID-19 Virus lists down his ordeal after getting infected and his fightback in a narrative form.

Karthik and his wife Sushma got infected with the virus in May 2021. While his wife’s condition wasn’t severe, the same wasn’t the case with Karthik. The virus started affecting him at such a high level that he started facing numerous issues, including low oxygen levels. It was an uphill task to get him admitted in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) of a government hospital.

On The Deathbed book

But that wasn’t the end of the ordeal for Karthik. It was actually the beginning. He had to be shifted to a private hospital in the middle of the night as his condition deteriorated further and there were doubts being raised about his survival.

The aforementioned description of the content might give an idea that On The Deathbed is a sad or, at least, a very serious book. But that is far from the case. While the book does narrate how he went through hell and had to struggle even to carry out the simplest of tasks as answering nature’s calls, it is told in an engaging manner with regular doses of witty and, at times, dark humor.

In fact, after finishing the initial few pages itself, I forgot that On The Deathbed is non-fiction. It actually appears more like those survival genre films like Trapped (2017). Just like the film, we feel for the protagonist here as he goes through a rollercoaster ride of survival. There is a feeling of relief in the end, although we know beforehand that Karthik has survived.

Also read: Book review – The Hidden Hindu

A surprise element is the portion in the end written by his wife Sushma. One realizes that she went through a bigger hell than her husband. Even this aspect is narrated like gripping fiction.

The author is able to achieve the means despite using simple, everyday language that can appeal even to an ordinary layman, just like his earlier book The Mahabharata Code.

The only minus point here is the author addressing the virus as ‘Chinki virus’ once. This could have been avoided as it sounds problematic.

Overall: On The Deathbed: My Encounter With The COVID-19 Virus is a gripping tale of survival of a couple that went through hell during the second wave.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Publishers: Notion Press

Pages: 124

Price: Rs 200

Puneet Issar to play a film director in the period musical play Dhappa

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The last time veteran actor Puneet Issar was seen on stage was in his mythological play Mahabharata: The Epic Tale where he played the iconic character of Duryodhan for which he is known.

He will now be seen in a completely different production titled Dhappa in the role of a foreign-returned filmmaker named Shyam.

Written and directed by Akshay Mishra, the play is produced by him and Sharon Chandra for Aum Theatre Mumbai. Chandra is also one of the actors in the play and she will also be performing an eight-minute kathak dance. She is a trained Kathak dancer from Jaipur Gharana. She is originally from Fiji Islands and has worked in numerous plays.

The play also stars Pavitra Sarkar and Anuradha Athlekar.

Dhappa is based in the film industry of Bombay in the 1950s. Kumar is a struggling actor who could never make it big. He is also infamous in the media for his rude and crass behavior. Even though acting was never his choice, he still tried to keep the flame alive only for his sister Iravati, whose ambition of dance could never be a reality.

Along comes Shyam, a foreign-returned director who is going to film his dream project. Shyam soon becomes a friend and confidant to Kumar. Kumar is overjoyed thinking that maybe he will get a chance to prove his mettle as a successful actor. But Shyam has other plans in mind.

Dhappa Hindi play

Speaking about the play and his casting, Issar said in a statement, “It is an utmost delight working with Akshay Mishra and Aum Theatre Mumbai. My role in Dhappa is something that I have never explored but have always yearned for. I remember asking Akshay why he thought of me for the role as I have always played opposite characters. I always wanted to play a soft-spoken character but never got the opportunity. This young team is very close to me and they are my people. I am excited for everyone to see Dhappa and believe me this magnificent play is here to stay!”

As part of this performance, Issar will also be seen giving a monologue titled Patthar Ke Pankh, which was written decades ago by his father Mr Suresh Issar, a noted director and producer.

On how the play came into being, Mishra said, “These two years, I resorted to re-watching some old movies and I was still mesmerized. Movies from the 1950s and 60s are never a one-time watch. The dances, music, costumes, and sets were so endearing. One always looks up to these veterans who have worked tirelessly and given us such invaluable gems. We are forever indebted to their work which gives us a glimpse of a beautiful era gone by. I wanted to recreate some of that time through a play. And Dhappa was born!”

He added, “But it was not an easy feat. I researched a lot on the types of thumris that were played during that era and endeavored to write thumris that resonated with my audience. I was inspired by the thumris sung by Shamshad Begum, Begum Akhtar, Siddheshwari Devi, and many more and tried to recreate a little sprinkle of that golden era that these maestros ruled in. I can’t wait for the audience to hear these beautiful pieces of music.”

Mishra has also written the lyrics for the play, including the thumris. He is famous for his experimental play Nangi Aawazein, based on a short story by Saadat Hasan Manto.

The play will feature live singing from singers, Radha Srivastava, Amit Ranjan Srivastava and Ajit Kumar Srivastava.

Dhappa will be premiered on 18 June at Bandra’s St. Andrews Auditorium at 7 pm.

Why Kaluwitharana’s stint in ’96 World Cup is overrated

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Note: The aim of this article is not to insult or badmouth Romesh Kaluwitharana. This is just an attempt to present some facts and statistics that are generally overlooked when it comes to the 1996 World Cup

The 1996 World Cup turned out to be memorable because an underdog team like Sri Lanka not only emerged victorious but played like true champions throughout. Aravinda De Silva became the hero for them in the final against Sri Lanka at Lahore where he scored an unbeaten 107 and picked up 3 wickets.

But a large amount of credit has been given to Sri Lanka’s openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. Both the batters were given the license to go after the bowling right from the word go and score as many runs as possible during the field restrictions (15 overs).

Both were known to revolutionize the role of opening batters. They started opening the batting in the series in Australia just before the 1996 World Cup and it worked during that tour.

Romesh Kaluwitharana
Romesh Kaluwitharana

Till today, Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana are known as the destructive opening pair of the 96 cup. I have read numerous articles saying the same and heard commentators over the years glorifying both of them as dangerous batters of that series.

However, that is far from true. There is no doubt that Jayasuriya had a great world cup both with the bat and the ball and was rightly adjudged the man of the series. But to say that Kaluwitharana was also a success story in that series doesn’t sound logical.

While this might sound harsh, that isn’t my intention here. Just have a look at his scores in the whole series:

v/s Zimbabwe: 0

v/s India: 26

v/s Kenya: 33

v/s England: 8

v/s India: 0

v/s Australia: 6   

ESPNCricinfo in an article says “he [Kaluwitharana] was an integral figure in Sri Lanka’s astonishing World Cup victory that winter.” But his aforementioned performances tell a completely different story. He played 6 innings in that series and his total number of runs amount to just 73! His average comes down to just 12.16.

When you say that a batter had a good world cup, one would expect at least one score of 50 from him. If not this, there should be at least few scores in the 30s and 40s as that would have helped the team get a good opening partnership. But Kaluwitharana scored in double figures just twice.

He gave a good start to Sri Lanka in just two matches and one of them was against an associate team that was playing international cricket for the first time. On top of that, he had two golden ducks. He failed to score in all the three matches in the knockout stage where his total remained just 14 runs.

How can he be considered a ‘integral figure’ in Sri Lanka’s victory? You can’t be considered an important contributor to the team if you don’t contribute.  

Kaluwitharana’s overall career was surely much better than this. He was a good partner for Jayasuriya before and after the 1996 World Cup. But to say he was a part of a destructive opening pair in the 96 cup would be more than an overstatement.

Also read:

One of Wasim Akram’s biggest achievements is forgotten

Why south films are dominating? Is Bollywood on the decline?

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The last six months, ever since theatres re-opened all across India at the end of last year, have seen some major box office hits in India. The top three of them have been from the south Indian film industry. These include the likes of Pushpa: The Rise, RRR and KGF Chapter 2.

Interestingly, apart from their original languages, these films they have also done phenomenally well in its Hindi dubbed versions in the Hindi belts of India – regions where predominantly Hindi films work.

They have also outperformed quite a few big-ticket Hindi films that were expected to do well. This is forcing a lot of people to ask the question as to why south films are working big time in the Hindi markets these days, especially on social media.

Going by the films that have succeeded, the answer to the question is simple. These films are finding massive audience base because these are entertaining films. Over here, entertaining means absolute mass entertainers.

These are films where a popular hero (or heroes) with a good amount of fan following plays a rough and tough character who can beat the hell out of the bad guys, gets to mouth some heroic dialogues and shake a leg on fast dance numbers. Pushpa, RRR and KGF fall in these categories of films and were decent content-wise too. Hence they have achieved massive success all over the country.

This is also giving rise to the question whether Bollywood or Hindi film industry is on the decline. It is being said on numerous occasions that south industry is all set to dominate and put behind the Hindi industry. I read a lot enthusiastic comments on social media daily where someone or the other states that Bollywood is slowly getting finished or is sinking.

RRR KGF

I personally feel these are baseless statements. One needs to understand that there has been a change in the way audience consumes films in the post-pandemic era. People are visiting theatres in large numbers only for massy commercial films that provide larger-than-life entertainment.

That’s the reason why the aforementioned south films have done so well. And that is also the reason why Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi became a runaway hit and that too at a time when there was uncertainty at the box office. After all, it was the first big Hindi film to release post-pandemic and the producers themselves weren’t sure how it would perform. But it had non-stop entertainment and this was enough for the cash registers to start ringing.

The same can be said about the success of Gangubai Kathiawadi. It might be a film about the life of a sex worker but it was narrated by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in a larger-than-life and entertaining manner. It was also helped by the presence of superstar Alia Bhatt who showed as much confidence and swag as any hero in a hero-centric massy film.

The Kashmir Files is an exception as it’s not a typical Bollywood movie. It created massive interest for people of a particular political ideology who felt it’s their duty to watch this film in theatres. This doesn’t mean that those with a different political view didn’t see the film.

On the other hand, films like Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Badhaai Do and Jersey have failed despite getting positive reviews and word-of-mouth. This is because they were sensible, content-oriented films and not the larger-than-life masala entertainers.

Hence, as per the change in audience consumption, they didn’t do well in theatres. People are preferring to watch such type of films on OTT [over-the-top] platforms. Now, a film worth watching in theatre has to be a big-screen experience. A major proof of this change is that even someone like Ayushmann Khurrana, who was considered a bankable star before the pandemic, couldn’t help the cause of Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.

Of course, Satyameva Jayate 2 was also aimed as a massy entertainer but the film got rejected because of its terrible content. The film at least needs to be decent to be successful. Because of the same reason, the Hindi version of Radhe Shyam sank despite the presence of the Baahubali actor Prabhas. The same was the cast with Vijay’s Beast. So it’s not at all big south films are doing well in Hindi.

There’s no denying that the quality of Hindi films in recent times hasn’t been up-to-the-mark or at high standards. The industry has been criticized for its obsession with remaking successful south Indian movies over and over again.

But this certainly doesn’t mean that Bollywood is sinking or is on the decline. It’s just that only commercial films with big stars and decent content are doing well right now because of the change in audience’s manner of consumption.

The big commercial films lined up for release from here onwards are expected to do well if the content is decent enough. Can’t say the same about films that are thought-provoking and not aimed at the masses as these films are now considered worthy only for OTT.

This will go on at least till the near future. After that, things may or may not change.

Also read:

Can we stop giving unreal reasons for 83’s box office failure?

When Sachin, the bowler, bailed out India in THRILLING situations

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Sachin Tendulkar is considered the legend of the game and the best batsman to have played the game. But those who have grown up alongside his career would know that he was an underrated and underused bowler.

Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar has had a number of successes with the ball, including two 5-wicket and 4-wicket hauls. He picked up 154 ODI wickets and 46 test wickets in his long career. But apart from being the highest wicket-taker in these matches, he also rolled his arm over for just an over or even a ball in situations that were purely nail-biting in few ODIs; where the match could have gone anywhere but for his calm and calculative bowling.

These are those moments:

Hero Cup: India vs South Africa (1993):

This was a must-win match for both teams as it was the semi-final. The winner was set to play either West Indies or Sri Lanka in the final. The match, as Ravi Shastri would say, went right down to the wire. India batted first and were all out exactly at 50 overs for just 195. South Africa never got going and struggled during the chase.  

In the end, South Africa needed 6 off 6 balls with 8 wickets down. During this time, skipper Mohammad Azharuddin gave the ball to Tendulkar. After getting Fanie de Villiers runout of the first ball, he literally made Allan Donald dance on his tunes by not allowing him to take any run on the next three balls. McMillain, the set batsmen, stood frustrated at the other end.

Donald finally got a single on the fifth ball and McMillain needed to score a boundary off the last ball. He was unable to connect well and just managed to take a single. India won by two wickets.

Titan Cup: India vs Australia (1996):

Tendulkar had a phenomenal record against Australia with the bat. But he has also made life tough for the Aussies with the ball. He had a 5-wicket and 4-wicket hall each against them in 1998. But he also had a small but major achievement with the ball against Australia in the unofficial semi-final of the Titan Cup in 1996 in Chandigarh. The winner of this match was to play South Africa in the final.

This situation was similar to the one in the Hero Cup semi-final. India scored 289 for 6 batting first with skipper Azharuddin again top-scoring with 89. This match also turned out to be a thriller with Australia needing 6 runs of the final over. Sachin was the captain on this occasion. He decided to bowl the last over himself. Again, he hadn’t bowled in the entire innings.

Tendulkar bowled a length ball to Brad Hogg who looked good in that innings. He tried to play the sweep but got hit on the pads and there was an appeal for LBW. McGrath, at the other end, took the run but Hogg was busy watching the ball. Hence, it was too late for him to reach the other end as keeper Nayan Mongia succeeded in a direct hit. India won by 5 runs.

Benson & Hedges World Series: India vs West Indies (1991)

This is one of the most underrated heroics of Tendulkar with the ball. It was the first match of the Benson & Hedges World Series between India and West Indies and it ended in a tie. Tendulkar had a major role to play in it.

In this low-scoring match at Perth, India were bundled out for just 126. In reply, West Indies kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which ensured that India was always in the game. This was the match where Javagal Srinath got Keith Arthurton bowled in the famous way after squaring him up.

When West Indies were reduced to 113 for 9, it looked like India would win from there on. But a gutsy last wicket stand between Anderson Cummins and Patrick Patterson got them on par with India’s score of 126.

This was the first time that captain Azharuddin threw the ball to Tendulkar in such a tense situation. And like the two aforementioned incidents, he hadn’t bowled in the entire inning. He gave away five runs in the first five balls of the over. But on the last ball, he got Cummins caught at second slip by Azharuddin in a spectacular manner.

We all know how Tendulkar kept a calm head despite crores of people scrutinizing him while having high hopes from him when he is batting. But the aforementioned incidents show that he also had the nerve as a bowler in situations where even the best of bowlers would feel the pressure.

Also read:

Sachin Tendulkar’s 8 best bowling performances

Political ideologies & caste have divided audiences of Hindi & Marathi cinema  

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Cinema, like other art forms, is celebrated in India. In fact, this has been the most popular medium of art since time immemorial in various languages. It is considered to be a medium that is enjoyed by people in groups of large numbers. In other words, it has united people of India over the decades; be it of different languages or regions.

But in the recent past, there has been an increasing division among the film audiences in terms of political ideologies and caste.

This has been seen the most with Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files. No, this article isn’t about whether the film is good or bad. What’s noteworthy here is that people are divided in two sides of the fence when it comes to this film.  

Agreeing to disagree is something that doesn’t happen much on social media. Those who haven’t liked the film or are critical of it, be it film reviewers or general public, are hated and abhorred by those who have loved it. I agree there have been reviews and views that appear biased against the movie.

However, even if someone genuinely doesn’t like that film, he or she is considered to be insensitive towards the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. They just don’t take into account that a person can dislike a film for its craft and other filmmaking aspects like screenplay, dialogues and direction. Not liking The Kashmir Files doesn’t mean one doesn’t care or sympathize with the Kashmiri Pandits.

The Kashmir Files

Similarly, if a person genuinely likes that film, he is considered to be from the Right Wing.

Hence, now Hindi films are looked upon as ‘ours’ and ‘theirs.’ Films that are critical of the rivals of the ruling party or the ones that have references to Ramayana or Mahabharata are considered Right Wing movies. On the other hand, those critical of the ruling party and the ones that feature the Khans or the ‘nepo gang’ (as they are called) are considered belonging to the ‘other’ side.  

Unfortunately, the curse of division has entered among the Marathi cinema audience too. Here it’s not based upon political ideology but caste. Yes, we are seeing caste-based divisions even in 2022. In fact, it is seen the most this year.

For people like us, films like Jhund (it is a Hindi film but it’s aimed mostly at Maharashtra) and Me Vasantrao are great films. However, because of the caste identity of the protagonists in both the films and its makers, they are labeled as films for the ‘lower castes’ and ‘higher castes’ respectively.

Hence, if a person from the ‘higher caste’ doesn’t like Jhund, he is considered to be anti-‘lower caste.’ On the other hand, if a person from the ‘lower caste’ doesn’t like Me Vasantrao, he is accused of being anti-‘higher caste.’ In both scenarios, if that person happens to be a film critic, he or she is trolled and bashed online. We have now reached a stage where the caste of the critic is taken into consideration before taking his or her views seriously.

Over the last 1-2 months, I have come across plenty of comments and long opinions on social media on the division between Marathi films on the basis of ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’. This segregation had started mildly few years ago but it has reached dangerous levels this year.     

This division among Hindi and Marathi audience couldn’t have come at a worse time. This is the era of pan-India films. South is leading the way with movies like Baahubali (1 and 2), KGF Chapter 1, Pushpa, RRR and KGF Chapter 2. These films are dubbed in Hindi and they do tremendously well all over India.

Being an admirer of both Hindi and Marathi cinema, I would want films in these two languages to do well pan-India too by getting them dubbed in various south languages or through any other way.

But looking at such a staunch division among the primary audiences of films of both the industries itself, this appears like a dream right now.

Also read:

Can we stop giving unreal reasons for 83 box office failure?

Meet the 49-year-old test cricket debutant

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The biopic on former IPL (Indian Premier League) and Ranji Trophy player Pravin Tambe released this week titled Kaun Pravin Tambe? The special part about his story is that he made his IPL debut at the age of 41.

During this time, it would be interesting to know someone who made his debut at the age as advanced as 49 and that too at the international level. England’s James Southerton holds that record by making his test debut for England at that age. He remains the oldest test debutant in the history of test cricket.

Born on 16 November 1827 in Sussex, England, Southerton played as a batsman initially in the 1850s both for Sussex and Hampshire. During those days, it was allowed for one player to play for more than one county in one season. He later played for Surrey as well.

But in 1865, Southerton realized his great potential as a slow left-arm spin bowler. It was an era where there were mostly only fast or pace bowlers. This fact along with his ability to spin ball both ways and that too in an intelligent manner made him a headache for the batsmen.

James Southerton
James Southerton [Photo source: InShorts]

Southerton picked up loads of wickets at the first-class level. In 1868 while playing for Surrey and Sussex he became the leading wicket-taker with 151 wickets. Two seasons later, he became the first bowler to pick up 200 wickets in a season. He was a leading bowler from 1871 to 1875.

It is also believed that the legendary WG Grace also found it difficult to face Southerton’s bowling.

The following year, Southerton made history when he grabbed a place in England’s side that toured Australia in 1876 under the captaincy of James Lillywhite. He was 49 years and 119 days old when he played the first test of the series on 15 March 1877.

This was no ordinary test. It was the first ever test match in the history of the game. Hence, Southerton had two records on his name. Apart from being the oldest test debutant, he also got a chance to play the first ever international game of cricket.

It was a two-match series that went into unlimited days; it wasn’t confined to five days. And in those days, one over contained just 4 balls, instead of 6.

The England team of 1876. Southerton is seated second from the left [Photo source: Wikipedia]

Strangely, Southerton bowled in just two of the four innings in the series – in the first innings of the first match and the second innings of the second one. He picked up 3 for 61 on the first occasion and 4 for 46 in the second. It wasn’t that he was also selected for his batting abilities because he batted at number 11 in all four innings.

How someone who started off as a batsmen went onto bat at number 11 can also be an interesting story. He did score a couple of 50s at the first-class level.

This was the only test series Southerton played and understandably so considering his age. He last played at the county level cricket in 1879 before he announced retirement. Sadly, just 10 months after his retirement, he passed away on 16 June 1880 due to a pleurisy attack at the age of 52.

Of course, when Southerton made his test debut at 49, he wasn’t known as the oldest debutant because it was the very first match in the history of test cricket. But today, even after more than 145 years, he still retains that record.

And it looks like this is one record that won’t be broken.

Also read:

How rain helped Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup

RRR review: SS Rajamouli provides an artistically crafted masala entertainer

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Not many films receive the kind of enormous appreciation and humongous box office success like Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017) did. The movie made filmmaker SS Rajamouli a celebrated name across India. Such adulation is generally received only for star actors.

No doubt Rajamouli would have cherished such success. However, not many would have preferred to be in his shoes considering the huge expectations from his next. But despite such pressure and scrutiny, Rajamouli has not only made a film on a similar scale and even a higher budget but has also succeeding in hitting the bullseye yet again.

With RRR (Roudram Ranam Radhiram), he has given a masala entertainer worth celebrating.

RRR is fictional story featuring the real-life freedom fighters Alluri Seetarama Raju and Komaram Bheem. In the film, they are known as Ram (Ram Charan) and Bheem (Jr NTR). The story starts when a British family forcibly takes away a tribal girl with them after they are impressed with her singing and painting skills, despite her parents pleading and begging. Bheem, who hails from the same tribal community, is sent to Delhi to rescue the girl.

On the other hand, Ram (Ram Charan) works as a loyal cop in the British force. He is given the task of hunting down Bheem. They come across each other under unusual circumstances and become thick friends. Ram doesn’t reveal that he works for the British while Bheem also hides his identity. Bheem gets a shock when Ram betrays the friendship and arrests him for rebellion against the British government.

RRR
Ram Charan and Jr NTR in RRR

Three action sequences alone in the film are enough for your visit to the theatres – When Ram and Bheem meet for the first time, the long action sequence before the interval and the climatic war.

However, RRR provides much more than these paisa vasool moments. The story of the little girl, Ram and Bheem’s camaraderie, reunion and the climax are narrated through a screenplay that is fast as well as smooth by writer K Vijayendra Prasad (Rajamouli’s father).

On top of that, Rajamouli, as per his habit, has presented even the simplest of scenes as a visual treat; full of grandeur and style. His handling goes few notches higher while dealing with the aforementioned action sequences. The filmmaker has shown yet again that even a mass-pleasing masala entertainer can be presented in an artistic way.

He did the same in both Baahubali films and the result was such that even those who generally don’t prefer masala movies appreciated the films. Don’t be surprised if the same happens with RRR.

The technical aspects (cinematography, editing and background score) also play a major role in the film achieving high marks. There wasn’t much buzz about the music before the film’s release, at least for the Hindi version. But RRR’s songs suit the narrative and are pleasing to the ears too. The track ‘Nacho Nacho’ and the situation when it comes provides an electrifying effect.

After witnessing Ram Charan and Jr NTR’s chemistry, it is difficult to judge their performances individually. The two actors excel while displaying emotions and also during the wild action sequences. The writing and direction has given absolutely equal importance to both the characters.

Olivia Morris, as the British girl Jenni, becomes memorable despite the screen time. Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt do well in cameos. The child actress playing Malli impresses in a difficult role. The film doesn’t have much scope to the rest of the supporting cast.

Also read: The Kashmir Files review

Coming to the drawbacks, RRR’s pace dips a bit till sometime in the second half. The film also has the usual flaws when it comes to masala films where the focus is more on entertainment and less on logic.

But these issues don’t bother much after witnessing the exhilarating climax where the character of Ram actually fights while being Lord Ram.

Overall: RRR is an artistically made masala entertainer. The film needs to earn a huge amount at the box office in order to be called a blockbuster. It’s difficult to predict right now whether that will happen but the film surely stands a chance of becoming a hit.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Director: SS Rajamouli

Producers: DVV Entertainment

Writers: KV Vijayendra Prasad and SS Rajamouli

Cast: Ram Charan, Jr NTR, Olivia Morris, Ajay Devgn, Alia Bhatt (the last two in cameos)

When the umpire denied Shane Warne his 1st test century

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The world lost one of the game’s greatest when Shane Warne untimely passed away earlier this month due to a heart-attack at the age of just 52. He was a legendary leg-spinner who continued to astonish with his sheer skills of getting batsmen out, including behind their legs, throughout his career.

Warne picked up a huge number of 708 wickets in test cricket and 293 in one-day internationals. He took a 5-wicket haul as many as 37 times in tests.

But Warne was also handy with the bat. At times, more than handy when the Aussie batting line-up struggled. One such incredible knock of his came against New Zealand in December 2001 in the 3rd and the last test of the series.

The first two tests in Gabba and Hobart turned into draws, so the winner of the 3rd match would have taken away the series.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat. Thanks to the three centuries from Lou Vincent, Stephen Flaming and Nathan Astle, they declared at a large score of 534 for 9. Australia didn’t have a good start and they kept losing wickets. Warne entered the scene when they were in trouble at 192 for 6 and unsure whether they would avoid the follow-on.

Shane Warne

He had a good counter-attacking partnership with Damien Martyn but the latter got out on 60 when the score was 270 for 7. Warne continued playing attacking shots. But when he reached 80 odd, Australia had lost 9 wickets with Jason Gillespie out with the score on 346 for 9.

With Australia’s famous number 11 batsman Glenn McGrath for company, Warne took two 2’s off Shane Bond’s bowling when he was on 94, which took him to 98. He took a single off the last ball of the over and reached 99. Interestingly, Warne had scored an impressive 70 in the previous test at Hobart in the first innings.

Also read: When Geoffrey Boycott had to chew his hat because of Ajay Ratra

New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, who was just in his early 20s back then, bowled to Warne when he was on 99. Maybe in a hurry to reach the three-figure milestone, Warne slogged Vettori on the second ball of the over. It still wasn’t a completely bad shot because mid-on and midwicket fielders were inside the circle.

However, he got a top-edge and the ball went high up in the air. Mark Richardson, fielding at deep square-leg, took a difficult catch. Warne was out on 99! Obviously, he was dejected and so was the enthusiastic crowd at the WACA.

But the story doesn’t end here. Later on, it was found that the ball on which Warne got out on 99 was a no-ball. Vettori had clearly overstepped, which is visible in the picture below. Warne’s disappointment increased further. If the umpire had spotted the no-ball, he would have crossed to the other end and that would have been his 100.

Vettori’s a no-ball

In just September last year, Warne was the guest on the funny cricket show ‘The Professor and Barney’ on Fox Sports where he relived those moments in a humorous way. During the course of the discussion while speaking about the no-ball not given, he said,

“Gimme a 100!”  

Watch from 1:10 onwards to hear Shane Warne speak about his dismissal on 99

The Kashmir Files review: Creates an impact despite hiccups

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The genocide of Kashmiri Pandits is one of the darkest chapters in Indian history. Yet, not much has been spoken about it over the decades. We have had only two Hindi films made on the issue before this week – Ashoke Pandit’s Sheen (2004) and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Shikara (2020). We now have the third one in the form of filmmaker Vivek Rankan Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files.

How exactly the film plays out will be discussed later. But broadly speaking, it succeeds in its basic aim of making you feel for the incident and the Pandits.

The Kashmir Files narrates two parallel stories. One is based in 1990 when terrorists headlined by Farooq Abdul Bitta (Chinmay Mandlekar) create havoc in the lives of Kashmiri Pandits. They are given an option to convert to Islam, run for their lives or die. One such family is that of Pushkar Nath Pandit (Anupam Kher), his son, daughter-in-law (Bhasha Sumbli) and two grandsons.

The other track is based in today’s times and it revolves around Krishna Pandit (Darshan Kumaar), the grandson of Pushkar. He studies in ANU in Delhi and is a part of a radical group of students who don’t believe the enormity of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and demand a separate Kashmir. The group is captained by their professor Radhika Menon (Pallavi Joshi).

The Kashmir FIles

Pushkar returns to Kashmir after his grandfather’s death to distribute his remains. Once there, he gets to know the seriousness of the Kashmiri Pandit issue and his views about the whole affair go through a change.

The Kashmir Files leaves no stone unturned when it comes to showing the gruesomeness of the whole incident. We see disturbing visuals of people being shot point blank, cut vertically through a wood-cutting machine, a woman forced to consume rice mixed with her murdered husband’s blood, etc. These visuals, obviously, are disturbing but a majority of times they work for bringing to light the horrific crimes against innocents.

Splitting the narrative into two time zones is a smart idea. One does feel a bit confused on few occasions but things fall into place, especially by the time the film ends.

The camerawork and colour grading suit the subject perfectly. This subject doesn’t deserve vibrant visuals of the valley, as is seen from various happy Hindi film songs shot here in the past.

This is the meatiest role Darshan Kumaar has ever got to play and he grabs the opportunity with both hands. He shines the most during his monologue. Chinmay Mandlekar is the best of all, not just when it comes to expressions and body language but also the diction. It’s difficult to believe that just last month we saw the same person play Shivaji Maharaj in the Marathi movie Pawankhind.

Pallavi Joshi, The Kashmir Files
Pallavi Joshi in The Kashmir Files

Pallavi Joshi is excellent as the radical professor. It is a surprise why we don’t see her more often. Mithun Chakraborty, as the helpless IAS officer, succeeds in moving you. Atul Srivastav and Puneet Issar chip in with good support. Bhasha Sumbli is the surprise element.

However, Anupam Kher doesn’t live up to the expectations as he goes in the over-the-top zone on quite a few occasions. This comes as a rude surprise.

The Kashmir Files would have been much more impactful but for few issues. The runtime of 170 minutes is very high. There are a number of periods where the pace slows down and the narrative almost becomes like a docu-drama. The film needed to be much crisper. Although Darshan Kumaar acts well, the way his character keeps changing sides is not convincing and too convenient.

But what hurts the film the most is the more than in-your-face propaganda when it comes to the portrayal of JNU [the censors made them change it to ANU]. The university is vilified as a hub whose only aim is to harm the nation, especially through the character of Pallavi Joshi.

Also read: Gangubai Kathiawadi review

At one point, this aspect becomes so strong that it somewhat reduces the impact created about the sorry tale of Kashmiri Pandits. In other words, this eagerness to paint the entire institute in a particular way affects the very issue the film eagerly wants to raise, although for some time.

Overall: The Kashmir Files creates an impact despite the hiccups. The film is expected to gain surprisingly positive box office collections because of the high amount of buzz. Plus, the film’s budget is only Rs 14 crore.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Director: Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri

Writer: Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri

Producers: Tej Narayan Agarwal, Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri

Runtime: 170 minutes