IFFK 2009: Count Down Begins

The 14th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) will begin on December 11 in Thiruvananthapuram. It is an eight-day affair, where, hopefully, some of the excellent films made in the world during the last two years will be shown along with some of all time classics.

Certain films I saw in last year’s festival are still running successfully in the box office of my memory: Three Monkeys (by Nuri Ceylan), The Photograph (by Nan T. Achnas), and Blindness (by Fernando Meirelles) as well as Ashes And Diamonds (by Andrej Wajda) and The Magician (by Ingmar Bergman).

Strangely, I have not seen a film from a cinema theatre since the last IFFK. Thought of watching some films, such as Oru Pennum Randanum (A Climate for Crime, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan), Slum Dog Millionaire, Pazhassi Raja, and a Tamil film called Nadodikal. Adoor’s film vanished from the theatre by the time I had managed to arrange an appointment with it. Bad reviews from some of my friends encouraged me to abandon the idea of watching the other films mentioned here. Living in a village helps too in avoiding a lot of trash films (even if I miss a rare good one). I can’t imagine being able to do this if I were still living or working in Chennai or Thiruvananthapuram.

So, IFFK has become the only cinematic concubine I have. Hope they will show some good films this year as well and do not screw up my time. After all, I am about to use all my creativity to fabricate excuses for some days’ leave from my office.

SACHIN...an art !

"U can do any sin when Sachin is in the crease,God will not punish u,
bcos even god wil be watching him play !! "

-a famous quote on the maestro

What makes Sachin so special ?
Is it his technical perfection, fine tuned improvisations, perseverence,commitment,humility or is it his never dying passion for the game ?No definitions can define him,no metaphors can compare him...and probably thats how an art should be !

The crowds rise,rivals perspire,and partners are inspired, when this man enters the pitch.The lone warrior who carried the team and the hopes of a million countrymen on his shoulders.The very presence of the little man spreads an aura of faith,confidence and elegance all around.

The records queue up in his footsteps waiting to get broken and rewritten.The high standards set by himself has placed him in an elite class of his own.But he has managed to handle the burden of expectations throughout his stupendous career that has spanned for almost 2 decades now !

Ofcourse there is not even a tint of doubt in his abilities as a batsman but as a finisher he has miserably failed in many an occasion.The latest being his blistering innings of 175(141 balls) in the 5th ODI against the, no longer "mighty", Australians at Hyderabad(5 nov 2009).Only to end up in the losing side, with the team falling just 3 runs short of the target.It was his 45th ODI century.He also passed another milestone in the process-17000 runs in ODI cricket.But it was nothing less than heartbreak for his "worshippers" who were craving for such an innings,to see his valiant effort go in vain.

All through the innings you could see the glimpses of his prime time.May be the last big sparks from the greatest cricketer ever,easing to the twilight of his glorious career!!