Tintin is here !

Went for Tintin movie today. As a child, I was a voracious reader, and read a whole lot of books, on a wide range of  topics. Without doubt, Tintin comics was one of my favourites. The Tintin series had everything one would wish for – comedy, adventure and originality. So yesterday, when I heard that a movie has been released on the Tintin series and that too, from Steven Spielberg, in 3-D, it was too much to resist.

Admittedly, the Secret of the Unicorn is not the best of Tintin's stories. There have been others that I have liked more. In fact, this movie is a mix of three of his titles. The director’s choice may have been dictated by the need to show a lot more action, than what a Tintin story normally has. Whatever the reason, the movie is worth a watch for its outstanding animation and the sheer memories that it will bring back to you – Snowy, Captain Haddock and of course, Thomson & Thompson!

Error in Aarakshan

Following error was observed in Hindi movie 'Aarakshan': 

Deepak (Saif Ali Khan) is in the U.S. to do his Ph.D. from Cornell University. There, he learns that Dr. Prakash Anand (Amitabh Bachchan), Principal of the college in India where he studied and later taught, has resigned. Deepak calls Poorbi (Deepika Padukone) who is his girlfriend and Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter. When Deepika’s phone rings, the caller id on her mobile phone is displayed as +9122…….

Deepak calls from U.S. but the caller id on Poorbi’s phone shows +9122……… which is a Mumbai landline number!

Invictus - a story about the tallest man in Africa

I watched “Invictus” today – an amazing movie about how Nelson Mandela united the people of South Africa and saved the country soon after the dismantling of apartheid in 1995. Reminded me of my visit to South Africa a couple of years ago.

I visited South Africa in 2008. During my visit, I was quite surprised to find, South Africa as an amazing mix of not only the local Afrikaans and migrant British in their N^th generation (who had made South Africa their home), but a very large number of Indian, Chinese, Europeans, and everyone else (all living amicably!), making an extra-ordinary melting pot of different cultures and races that beats our own Nehruvian claim of ‘unity in diversity’ hands down. The city had plush roads, modern cars, industry was booming and the country resembled no different than any other developed ((and developing (!) at the same time!) destination.  I also learnt quite a few things about Madiba (as Mandela is popularly known in that country) and developed tremendous respect for him. To really understand Mandela’s contribution to South Africa, one need to see no further than the neighbouring Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe & his cronies confiscated all the land and businesses from the Whites, drove them out and very soon, the country went to dogs like no other nation has been.

Back to Invictus (which means ‘undefeated’, in Latin) – the movie starts with the question – “he can win an election, but can he run the country?” and uses the backdrop of the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa to show how Mandela unites a highly divided and circumspect population to rally behind the country’s Rugby team and inspire them to glory. The rest is history.

An inspiring movie for all those who think of themselves as leaders, or aspire to be one. 

The tallest man in Africa