Category Archives: india
A New Bollywood Treasure: Paan Singh Tomar
Every once in a long while, the usual Bollywood rubbish is interrupted by a treasure. Do you know how long it’s been since I wrote a sentence similar to this one? Exactly.
Without much ado, here’s the official trailer of this treasure. While the trailer does not really do full justice, it does give you a good idea of what the movie is about:
Tight screenplay, editing and direction combined with versatile Irrfan‘s superlative acting skills make this a must-watch.
I will go so far as to say that in this day and age, it’s hard to find a better actor from India than Irrfan Khan. Even with his minor role in Slumdog Millionaire, he made a lasting impact. In The Namesake, he hit it out of the ballpark.
Again in this movie, he demonstrates how he and the main character are integral and entwined – making it difficult to detect the “actor”, Irrfan Khan. Here’s someone who comes across as an unassuming human being (and anything but a Bollywood “star”) but turns into a towering presence as he takes on a meaty (or not so meaty) role. [I can’t wait to see Irrfan in his upcoming movie, Life of Pi, being directed by Ang Lee in which he plays the adult Pi…to be released before Christmas this year].
In this one, his acting is incredibly and finely nuanced such that this movie with its unique story and character turns into a solid showcase for his masterful performance (notwithstanding the cast of solid supporting actors).
It is inspired by the true story of Paan Singh Tomar – who many in India had not heard of prior to this film. An unheralded national sports champion, he only gained fame and notoriety once he was forced to turn into a dangerous dacoit (dacoit: an armed robber, usually part of a band of them, found in various parts of remote Indian hills and valleys).
The movie also exposes and is dedicated to all the unsung sports heroes of India who are barely noticed by their country and her citizens – unless they play cricket. Is there any reason to doubt the lack of focus on sports in this country?
I’ll end as I began…it’s extremely rare to find a masterpiece coming out of Bollywood. Don’t waste this opportunity to enjoy one. Watch it for the story, the direction, the characters, the message…and watch it for the sheer talent of Irrfan.
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Poster Copyright and Source: http://www.utvnet.com/mp_prod_forth.htm
Countdown: One Hundred Surya Namaskars!
The first anniversary of learning yoga is approaching this month; incidentally it is happening soon after the completion of my first year of living in India.
So, my yoga trainer decided (unilaterally!) that before the first year was up that I and my yoga buddy needed to have at least one session where we each did one hundred Surya Namaskars – aiming for a major milestone to celebrate the occasion. But we were not the only ones who were going for the gold. We roped him in to join us on the ‘marathon’ [I know I exaggerate, but that’s what it felt like] session.
Posture # 7 of Surya Namaskar
Today being a Sunday allowed for the extra time needed for this feat. So, it was D-day and what a session this was! With very little warm-up, we started counting down.
Can you imagine how it felt after completing that first Surya Namaskar? Yep, “99 to go”. Whew. 😦
The trick was to pace ourselves and divide the larger goal of one hundred Surya Namaskars into sets of ten each. That made it easier to digest – physically and mentally. We averaged about 7 or 8 minutes per set and gave ourselves “generous” breaks between the sets of about 3 minutes each. Enough for a few sips of water and to wipe the dripping sweat off our red faces.
Postures #3 and # 10 of Surya Namaskar
As you may know, each Surya Namaskar is a set in itself – of 12 asanas or postures.
So that means we did 1200 asanas today!
Can you guess how we all felt after completing the 100th one? Unbelievably exhilarated!
I must say it was tough going though. I had done up to 75 in one go (once) – and that was months ago. Since then, my regular class routine has included only 20 or 30 of them, so this felt (really felt!) like a major mountain to climb.
According to our teacher, in addition to getting all the benefits of Surya Namaskar, we could also assume our body had received the benefits of having done something like:
- 40 crunches,
- 50 squats and
- 150 push-ups.
Wow!
Here’s my personal lesson learned after one year of yoga:
Never, ever underestimate what your body is capable of – no matter how stiff, unused to exercise, dormant or tired it may be…
And the Yoga (if that’s your cuppa tea) bonus:
It works great on energizing your mind too.
Posture #8 of Surya Namaskar
Back to the countdown, here’s some of what I told myself during the grueling session:
1. Just do this one…don’t worry about what’s coming next (and next and next…). You can do it.
2. It’s all in your mind…of course, you can do it.
3. Plus my favorite – If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger. You can do it.
4. Go ahead and visualize…the 80th one, the 90th, the 95th, the 99th, the 100th, and then…then, the bragging rights!
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Thank you. You may applaud now. I think we deserve it, don’t you?. 😉
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P.S. We have one more Sunday before that “first yoga anniversary” and there’s some talk about a repeat feat. But, don’t worry, I will resist hard about writing another post so you won’t have to hear me bragging all over again… 🙂
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 