Choices - A poem in light of recent events

Choices 

And the bullets wake me again, 

From my dreamless sleep. 

For years they've reached my ears,

But they were drowned by the screams. 

Blood is like a friend I meet everyday.

It glistens in the light, 

Almost happy to see me.

But why is it that I'm not so? 

Instead of the rifle, I want to hold a pen,

Instead of shedding blood, I want to spread my wings. 

But that choice, never rested with me, 

For my fate was sealed the day

I came into a world of such love for hate. 

Tomorrow will come when it is my turn

To hold the instrument of destruction. 

Refuse and I shall also be put to sleep, 

By the same sound that woke me up. 

Belle- Birth, status and slavery

I know, I know, I'm bad at keeping promises. Please don't throw squashed tomatoes yet. I vow to keep my promise this time. As of now, here's a review on a wonderful, inspiring and eye-opening movie based a singularly rare upbringing of a child.

In the year 1761 with the beginning of slavery, came a story of a girl born to a family but destined to be in another. With a black mother and a white father, she tussled between their differences. After her mother's death, her father, Captain Sir John Lindsay of the British Royal Navy, takes her to London announcing her as the sole heir to all his wealth after his death. After explaining the situation to his family in London, and after witnessing much protest from his uncle, William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, it was decided that the girl would be named Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and would stay in the Kenwood House. Dido had a companion as well. Along with her, William Murray was raising another niece of his, Lady Elizabeth Murray who's mother had died and father had remarried.

Together, through the blissful days of childhood, both Dido and Beth became the best of friends. But, there was one thing in the back of Dido's mind. Seeing so many paintings in the manor she understood that a black person was always beneath a white person, yet never had the courage to ask why she was different.

Days moved on and soon the two girls were stepping into the age of being courted. As guests came over to dine and see the two girls, Dido was always unwelcome to have dinner with her family and met them later after dinner. All her enthusiasm dies down when she realises that she too will be judged according to her colour and she won't have any say in the matter.

Time moves on and the plot emerges. Dido's father's death on a ship, suitors and others questioning the existence of a black female in a white aristocratic family and slavery shaken from its roots, the little girl who was taken from the slums to live a life she was born for, finally learns the truth. Colour over blood was the way of things. Does she accept herself as one of their own or does she succumb to her mother's half?

A moving tale set in one of the most controversial yet beautiful times of England, Belle was one movie I felt connected to. Her battle against herself and others regarding the colour of her skin was somewhere I've been. Being a South Indian, I'm kind of on the darker shade of colour. Coming to Delhi, where most people are even fairer than Snow White herself, it was difficult to accept that I will be different. One particular scene in the movie, where Dido is sitting in her room, staring at her reflection does something that hurts more than ever. The way she tries to rub off and claw away her skin just to be accepted in society was one of the saddest scenes of this movie. But, the beauty of the movie is in the transformation of Dido from a girl of the slums to a girl of the aristocracy, questioning every detail of her life and waiting for an answer. It's a history based movie, but I recommend it if you're in for a bit of heavy drama, love and tears.

Sudden realisation, this is my 80th review! It has been a long journey and every moment has been unbelievable. Thank you for going through all my writings and appreciating them. Most of all, thank you for your patience and I really am going to continue blogging for a while. Another big thank you to all those friends who keep reminding me that I'm a blogger and I should post at least one review every week. Here's to the next 80!

A Time to Kill- Power of colour

(Not recommended for below 13)

A small girl coming back from the grocery store is kidnapped by two men. They take her to a nearby field, tie her up and rape her. Once they're done defiling her body, they throw unopened beer cans at her, ripping her flesh right off the bone. They try to hang her by a branch of a tree, but it snaps and breaks. So they dump her in the back of their vehicle and drive to a cliff. They throw her off the cliff and down to the river and she tumbles and falls. Everything innocent, everything childish was taken away from that girl. Justice shall prevail in all cases, but what if the girl is black?

Set in Mississippi, during the cold period of rigorous apartheid, an African-American girl, Tonya Hailey is brutally raped. The two men are arrested and presented before court soon after the crime. Carl Hailey, the father of the victim, seeks help from Jake Brigance and gets to know that the two white men who clearly needed to be sent to the gas chambers would most probably walk free. The case ends as the jury decides the two men were not guilty. As the two of them are being taken back in handcuffs, Carl opens fire at the two, killing them and unintentionally wounding a police officer. Carl is immediately arrested for murder.

So, he talks to Jake and convinces him to be his lawyer and the case begins. But not everyone is happy that a white man is representing a black person in court. The Ku Klux Klan, a group of white extremists, start threatening Jake and attempt to burn his house down. Out of fear, he sends his wife and daughter away till the case is closed.

Jake, facing off one of the greatest and most brutal district attorneys, now has to try and win this case to save a man's life. With threats coming in day after day and people getting killed over this, it is now up to him and his team to get through it and set an innocent man free. Will he succeed? Will the power of colour overrule the power of justice?

Powerful and moving, this movie is one of the best courtroom dramas I have ever come across. Adapted from John Grisham's novel of the same name, it's an intense movie with one of the most controversial topics, a white man defending a black man in a courtroom. Cast of this movie is filled with all Oscar winners like Matthew McConaughy and Sandra Bullock and everyone's performance is brilliant. How much does a black man pay to find justice? It's all in the movie.

Eight Below- For the dog-lovers and otherwise

If you've ever owned a dog before, you can understand the mental distress a person goes through if they ever leave their dog all alone. Dogs, they are so selfless, so loyal and so loving and that's what makes it so hard for us to let go of them. Well, things weren't easy for Jerry Shepard as well.

Our story starts in the icy lands of Antarctica where Jerry works as a guide for National Science Foundation. He has his own team of Husky dogs who help him with the dog sled and for a long time he had lots of fun, despite the endless days of bitter cold, with his eight dogs who loved him more than the world. All was fine until Dr. Davis McLaren comes to the base demanding to be taken to Mt. Melbourne to find a meteorite that had come from Mercury. With winter closing in on a fast rate, Jerry thinks it's not wise to go through a treacherous path but is told otherwise by his boss. So, reluctant as he is, Jerry buckles up for the ride and gets his dogs ready.

After a few days of moving on the sled, Jerry notices that one of the dogs is bruised. As he goes to patch him up, the doctor tries getting a signal on his radio but ends up sliding under ice and falling into a frozen lake. Panic seeps through him and he desperately tries to stay above water while Maya, one of the best sled dogs, slowly and carefully goes to him and helps him out of the water. Both Jerry and the doctor fight hard against frostbite and hypothermia as the dogs battle against the cold winds of winter and get them back to base.

Medical help is recieved immediately but the two of them need to be sent to the states for further treatment. With the storm of winter setting in, it would be impossible to get through to Antarctica for the next few months. So the captain decides to use whatever aircrafts he has to send people out as soon as possible. But not all get the option of leaving.

Our eight dogs are to be left behind. With sparing space for people there was no way the captain was going to allow a separate flight just for a few dogs. Yet, Jerry was told that his dogs would come to him within a few days. But sadly, as he left, hearing the faint howls and barks of his beloved little babies who had been chained to the snow, he knew there was no way anyone would be allowed to fly into Antarctica to get them.

Once he returns to mainland, he tries his best and goes from person to person, clinging on to desperation and hope to see his dogs again. While the dogs face the cold all alone, with no food or water, Jerry on the other hand unfalteringly tries his best to find a way to get those dogs back home. Will he succeed or will it be too late? As the raging battle between man and nature begins, both to get eight dogs, who would come out as the victor?

A movie that truly touches your soul, eight below is probably one of the best 'true-story' inspired movie. For me, being a dog owner, the best parts were all the scenes with the dogs. With a parallel story about how the dogs cope without Jerry, the scenes are sometimes funny with a tinge of sadness and a whole lot of pain from your side as you end up hating humans for being such "dogs". Anyway, this is one movie I would have loved even if I didn't like dogs. It's that good. So dog lover or not, this one will get you teary-eyed.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes- Evolution or revolution?

Are we really the most intelligent species? Or can another species ever surpass us? Apes, our ancestors from whom we've evolved have very similar traits like us. Maybe, with the right exposure, could there come an era when they rule over us?

Ten years after the deadly virus of ALZ-113 was seen in the world, the disease of Simian Flu has every human fighting for life. Quarantine zones are set up all over the world, civil unrest and martial law and taking over all countries and economic conditions are going down. Just as all this is happening in the world, parallelly a group of apes who were originally exposed to the virus are now genetically intelligent and are building their own civilisation.

Caesar leads the group of apes in the Muir woods of California. Having no contact with the outside world, they believe that the humans have long gone. One day, as Caesar's son, Blue Eyes and his friend Ash are getting back home after a hunt, they come face to face with a human, Carver. He was one of the survivors of the epidemic and was living in the human colony in California with many others who are gentically immune like him. Shocked and panicky, Carver shoots Ash. Caesar and the other apes come to the crime scene as the other humans from Carver's party also assemble. Malcolm tries talking to Caesar who just demands then to leave. The human party, feeling absolutely bewildered at the sight of seeing an ape talk, leave.

After getting back to the colony, Malcolm tries to convince Dreyfus, the head of the colony to let him talk to Caesar and negotiate. They sorely needed power and their only answer was to get this power from a dam in the Muir woods. Malcolm thought that if Caesar had let them live, he wasn't just an ape and could be negotiated with. So the next day, Malcolm sets out with Carver, Alexander his son and Ellie to talk to the apes. He reaches the place and successfully gets Caesar's permission to show him the dam. After much thought, Caesar agrees on one condition that they get all the humans' guns. Agreeing to the terms, the team gets to work.

Although everything is going as it should, trouble stirs up when Koba, a fellow ape is not happy with Caesar's decision of helping the humans. So, he does a little sleuthing and finds out about the stockpile of arms and ammunition in the human camp. He comes back to reveal this discovery but instead starts calling Caesar a traitor and accuses him of loving  humans more than his own kind. The two get into a fight which never gets sorted out. Desperately searching for a way to end this, Koba steals guns from the camp and kills Caesar, only to blame it on the humans who had been working there.

Complete catastrophe strikes as the apes decide to follow Koba to war, completely ignoring the idea of peace that Caesar wanted. Will they be able to defeat humans, the species evolutionarily higher than them or will this war between man and ape end with a reverse of evolution?

Set in the perfect gloomy place of California where it rains all the time, this movie gets its added effects just with the location. The unbelievable morphing of apes throughout the movie is commendable. All the fights and chases with the climax leave you at the edge of your seat. For me, the ending was a real pincher as it leaves you with a small cliff hanger waiting for more. So, if you're in for a bit of action and sci-fi, this is the movie you want to see.

Big Hero 6- Birthday review

I turned seventeen yesterday! Now both sixteen and eighteen have some sort of value, but not seventeen. (Harry Potter related) After wracking my brains for a while I remembered that Hogwarts releases the underage restriction of doing magic outside school when the wizard or witch turns seventeen! And call this coincidence or whatever, but my parents gifted me a time-turner. So far so good. Yesterday I finally got the chance to watch Big Hero 6. So I decided to write a review on it, a birthday review.

Set in the fictional city of San Fransokyo in Japan, Hiro, our protagonist is one of the youngest bot fighter in the history of bot fighting. After his parents' death he and his his brother lived with their aunt Cass. Since then, Hiro was always into making robots and fighting them. His brother, Tadashi was studying at the Robotics  Centre in the city's university and wanted Hiro to join as well rather than waste his talent in bot fighting. So he takes him to his lab where Hiro sees people making amazing, revolutionary ideas come to life. He's mesmerised by all of it. Tadashi introduces him to his four friends. Later he sees what his brother had been working on. Baymax, a medical robot (or as Hiro describes it "a fat nurse") this bot was programmed to start up when it senses the word "ouch". It can perform scans in seconds, give all your hormone levels and give you instant relief from pain. It was made to save millions of lives. 

Hiro, all pumped up and inspired, decides to give robotics centre a try. But to get in, he would have to blow away Mr. Callahan, the head of Robotics. After weeks of hard work Hiro makes a new microbot system that is controlled by a cerebral remote. It has the ability to make any thing as long as you can imagine it. Callahan is impressed and Hiro gets into the university. As Tadashi and Hiro go to an old building to talk about Hiro's future, a fire breaks out in the university. Tadashi gets to know that Callahan is still inside and goes to save him. None of them return. 

Tadashi's death leaves Hiro shaken. One day, he finds Baymax and starts getting back on his feet. With the help of Baymax, Hiro learns that there was something wrong with his microbot as it was getting attracted to a strong force. Following it, the two of them reach and old warehouse where they find this masked person controlling millions of microbots. Saving themselves in the nick of time, Hiro realises that someone had stolen his microbots. 

So, he starts transforming Baymax and makes him more agile and fight worthy. With more help from Tadashi's friends, Hiro hopes to get to the bottom of this. What he doesn't know is a shocking turn of events in store for him down this lane. Will he get his bots back? Will he be willing to pay the price of going too far? 

A cute 21st century movie, Big Hero 6 has some of the best animations and characters. Baymax is probably the cutest robot you'll ever find. All the chases and action, the climax, it all builds up perfectly. Another must watch from my side. 

Jab we met- Where the boring meet some the cheerful

You're depressed and suicidal thoughts loom around your mind. You've given up on life and just as you think of spending the last few hours of your life in peace, probably having a senti flashback, a ray of hope (or should I say nuisance) comes your way. Bubbly and energetic like crazy, she makes you realise that such people actually exist in this world and there you are, thinking of killing yourself as the tension and irritation rises.

Aditya Kashyap, son of the late industrialist, gets tired of his life and takes a bold decision of committing suicide. He boards a train and decides to jump off once it picks up speed. As he's sitting in the train, a girl comes along and starts talking to him. She goes on, not realising that she's being a nuisance, giving every small, insignificant detail about her entire existence! Finally, Aditya can't hold it in anymore and shouts at her explaining how he is least bothered about knowing her life. She then quietens down for while, to an extent.

Aditya then decides to get off at some random station and as the train starts to move, the girl runs out to call him and ends up missing her train. She storms back to him and gives a lecture about what his actions have caused. Aditya tries running away from her but she is a force to reckon with. Relentlessly following him, he gives up and promises to get her back home safely.

After walking for a while the girl introduces herself as Geet and unbelievably starts asking questions about his favourite movie, actor and other random questions which leave Aditya bewildered, seeing the sheer energy and excitement contained in this person. They then travel in a bus to Geet's place, Bhatinda and Geet insists Aditya to stay the week.

Soon, the family starts liking Aditya and Geet reveals her one big secret and asks for his advice. She was in love with this man, Anshuman but her family always planned her to get married to Manjeet. Since she refused to handle emotional blackmail, the only solution she saw was to run away and get married!

As reluctant as he is, Aditya is forced to leave on this unexpected journey with unexpected perils and dangers ahead (not to mention the danger he's travelling with!). And so starts their journey to the hills where they reveal more secrets of each other and understand each other more deeply. The question is, will Geet be able to marry Anshuman and get back home? Will Aditya ever be given a chance to get away from her? Answers to these lie in this movie.

A fun, peppy and cheerful movie right from the first frame, Jab we met is what it is because of the amazing acting skills of Kareena Kapoor. How she manages to go on and on for minutes without a pause is mind-boggling! Personally, I feel the humour in the story reaches its peak halfway through the movie and drastically comes down in the other half. Yet it is a very entertaining film with the usual Bollywood masala, maybe just a dash more. A must watch from my side!