The Critique

Dir: Andrew and Jon Erwin Starring: Sean Austin, Nic Bishop, Caleb Castille Dur: 2 hrs 3 mins Genre: Sports Biography Rating: 8/10 We’ve seen quite a number of films that depict in varying degrees of severity the racial discrimination that was rampant in the United States until a few years ago. But I don’t recall ever seeing a film that focused on the role Christianity played in the fight for equality. Woodlawn is brilliant in its depiction of the true story of how the Christian faith brought about a marvelous change in the lives of hundreds of people living in and around Birmingham, U.S.A, which had a notorious reputation for being the centre of the most violence and destruction resulting from racial tension. The film tells the story of Christ through the game of American football. We witness the miraculous transformation of an entire team in a matter of an hour and the subsequent effects of their conversion. Although it zones in on the manager and one black pl...

Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind , London: Vintage Books, 2014, ISBN 9780099590088, pp. 498, £ 8.99 Dr. Yuval Harari published this bestseller originally in Hebrew in 2011. The book turned out to be such a grand success that it was quickly translated into over 30 languages and awarded the Polonsky Prize for Creativity and Originality in the Humanistic Disciplines. Dr Yuval has a PhD in History from the University of Oxford and currently lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I was interested in this book because it was rated as a bestseller for quite a long time. I was curious to know what made it so popular. Honestly, I didn’t find it groundbreaking although I did enjoy reading it. Dr Yuval has a very free flowing and gripping style of writing that glitters with his tongue-in-cheek allusions, comparisons and reflections. It is evident that he takes the historical approach in writing this book but uses a good deal of biology, archaeology and...

Dir: Miransha Naik Dur: 1 hr 32 mins Genre: Drama PG: Quite a few bad words. Violence and hints at sexual intimacy. Rating: 2/10 Juze has been making quite a bit of news ever since its release. It has featured at a number of international film events and has even won quite a few awards. All this is good, except that I couldn’t see the greatness of the film. To put it simply, Juze for me was an amateur drama which left quite some food for thought. Coming through the hands of a first-time director, the film is pretty good and quite watchable; enjoyable, that is a whole different story. The manner of telling the story may not appeal to most, I didn’t fancy it, but that ought not to take anything away from the issues touched upon in the film. The film touches on a series of issues connected with the life of a migrant in Goa. Even though these people have lived here for most or all of their lives they aren’t accepted and are exploited at every opportunity. I would...

Dir: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Starring: Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh Dur: 2 hrs 23 mins Genre: Drama – Romance Rating: 2/10 Padmaavat failed to live upto the hype that surrounded it. Of course the craze wasn’t so much about the film per se as much as about the sentiments of certain groups who felt hurt by its content. The film is loosely based on an epic poem entitled ‘Padmavat’, written by Malik Muhammad Jayasi in the 16 th century. The curious thing is that Rani Padmaavati who is the titular character of the poem and the film is a fictitious character with no historical reference made to her except for the poem. According to the text, she is Rajput princess of royal lineage who was well-known for her beauty. So much so that she attracted the unwanted attention of Sultan Alauddin Khilji, a Muslim warrior-king who laid siege on her kingdom. The whole controversy is basically rooted on religious fundamentalism, besides there were a few feminist vo...

Francis   de Tuem’s 6 th tiatr, Konnak Patieupachem? was adverstised as ‘housefull’ days before the show’s release, hinting at the overwhelming interest of people in his shows. He is well-known for his political satire and courage to address pressing issues in a straightforward manner. The show released in Goa about a month back and has performed numerous shows in Goa and the Gulf. The story was simple but the political dimension was forced into it. It seemed like three separate and distinct shows were going on simultaneously. While the main show was alternated by an unrelated comedy sequence, the main show itself seemed to have two parts, the social and the political. The two were merged together in an uneven fix that left a lot to be desired. The acting was far from a professional standard. The songs and music however were a real hit. The lyrics were beautiful and the creativity of presentation were really worth it. The musicians did a fine job although I was surprised...