Movie Review: 'Virus'

After the late night show yesterday, I had an unusual urge to pen my thoughts on 'Virus', a recently released Malayalam movie. Directed by Aashique Abu, it tells the story of how a group of dedicated professionals succeeded in containing a dangerous contagion. Nipah virus remains relevant with a recent stray incident of infection reported in Kerala, a year after its original mushrooming.

The movie provides a complete cinematic experience with a subject that many would consider at best suitable for a documentary. The movie portrays the sensitive topic with a sense of quiet positivity. The mood is enthralling, the flow invisible, and the passion undoubted. The events are chained flawlessly to avoid any drag, at the same time losing none of the emotions. A lot of credit to the impeccable screenplay and direction. The grill to watch some of the bloody and pukey scenes at the hospital is more than worthwhile as one gets reminded of the thankless routines of the medical fraternity. The music carrying the message of inevitability adds to the masterpiece.

No words about the movie would be complete without a mention of some seamless acting by an ensemble of seasoned performers. To give a context, I was watching an old cult movie 'Manichithrathazhu' earlier in the day and noticed that the camera seldom captures in close the expressions of pain on the character Nakulan's face (for a reason). In stark contrast, the camera dives into every bit of the life and emotion on the character Vishnu's (stunningly played by Asif Ali) face in 'Virus'. Among the others, Parvathy and Soubin strike the most, not to say that the others are left behind.

'Virus' is a must watch.

Mumbai Train Blast and the Car Seat Conundrum

I recently read something about the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. It took me to a few sweet and sour memories on my not so short stint in Mumbai. One of them, in fact, intertwined with the Mumbai blasts is still fresh in mind. We were four friends taking a taxi from the Lower Parel office to respective homes. The traffic then was probably worse than now. I was sitting by the left window at the back with S* sitting in the middle. S* has been dilly-dallying on taking a train instead of going through the traffic turmoil. When we reached Mahim, he made up his mind to get off. And for some reason, I, generally an accommodative soul, declined, half-jokingly, to give way for him to get off. S* sportingly stayed on, and the traffic torture continued.

Around the same time when S* wanted to get down at Mahim and take a train, blood spewing explosions took place at the station. The next day, he reminded me of how I refused to give way, disregarding his wish to go to Mahim station.

Among the muddle of superstitions of lucklessness and self-condemnatory thoughts of being a carrier of misfortunes, the memory stands out.

Book Review: 'Philosophy for Busy People' by Alain Stephen

Alain Stephen's book, true to the title, is a real quick read. The book is a summary of the salient philosophies that have evolved over the years. It is divided based on themes. It highlights contributions of the most prominent philosophers to each theme. The writing has a formal tone and does not delve into the depths of each philosophical arguments.

I felt the book has an academic bend to it. Maybe the author meant to write an academic thesis spanning the subject. The book failed to deliver the messages in its entirety, specifically as it ignored the story or anecdotes that bring life to the philosophical arguments. In particular, the coverage on politics and language seemed superficial. I would expect a typical reader of this book to be busy to the extent that he may not have much of a background in philosophy. From that perspective, the ideas presented in these two chapters failed to register.

The author does a much better job at some of the other themes such as ethics, science and love. Here too, at times the writing is bereft of emotions, but the author effectively communicates the ideas, possibly as they are more palatable compared to those related to politics. What I liked the most about the book is the appendix in which the various 'isms' of philosophy are defined in less abstract terms, forming a layman's reference.