Greg Chappell lost a golden opportunity to regain some credibility. Firstly, his decision to “not seek an extension” should have come immediately following India’s disgraceful exit from the World Cup. Even at this late stage, he does not take responsibility, but instead says that he is leaving for “personal and family reasons”. There are rumors in the press that he has been finding fault with everyone but himself, supposedly resulting in a revolt by many of the senior players. It almost sounds like the pressure on him from all sides was just too much to handle, that he finally caved in. There is no doubt that he did make a contribution to Indian cricket. It does appear though that he is far too inflexible, particularly to fit into the Indian system. This decision of his does appear like a preemptive strike before the BCCI meeting this week. In any case, its time for Indian cricket to make a fresh start.
Month: April 2007
Movie Review: The Departed
Title: The Departed
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Leornado Di Caprio, Matt Damon
Jack Nicholson plays a mobster. Di Caprio is a cop who infiltrates the mafia. Matt Damon on the other hand is a rising star cop who is connected to Jack Nicholson (how believable is that?). The movie is set in south Boston. A standard cat and mouse fare which I must admit keeps you on the edge of your seats. Besides, the acting is excellent given the top star cast. In short, its an excellent “masala” film — entertaining and fast-paced. It ends with a spate of murders/shootings. Can’t think of better way to end a film of this kind I suppose. What I find hard to believe is that the movie won an Oscar for being the best motion picture of the year! Its a pity that the Oscars could not find better films this past year.
Martin Scorsese’s direction was commendable and probably deserved the Oscar ( I haven’t seen the other films), though his earlier film Aviator was a much better film overall. If you are in the mood for a thriller this one won’t dissappoint you for sure.
Movie Review: Dhoom 2
Title: Dhoom 2
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachhan, Ash, Bipasha
Riding on the huge success of the first Dhoom, the movie makers tried a variation with a slightly different cast — Hrithik for John Abraham, Bipasaha for Esha Doel, and Aishwarya for a slight twist in the plot. The concept is the same. Cop chasing a cool dude big time thief. This time around the thief operates at an international level giving the movie makers plenty of scope to show beaches set in foreign countries. Hrithik has Ash for company. The stars in the film perennially move around scantily clad in slow motion or at high speed in jerky motion. Uday Chopra manages to continues to irritate in this sequel. The songs are weak especially when compared to the first Dhoom film. In short the overall slickness and fast pace of the original Dhoom was clearly missing.
What is most surprising is that Hrithik Roshan won the best actor Filmfare award for this film! Apart from constantly exposing his chest and displaying his colored stylized hair he had little to do by way of acting. The rest of the cast just ambles along taking turns to wear skimpy clothes.
Subhash Chandra – India’s Kerry Packer
The Zee TV folks have jumped into try and accomplish what BCCI has failed to do — unearth India’s cricketing talent. Its a great move provided the Zee folks can make peace with the BCCI and not be seen as a threat to BCCI. On the other hand, it is one more step in the direction of complete commercialisation of the game of cricket.
There is so much money in the game of cricket today in India that this move is not in the least bit surprising. The BCCI is the richest Cricket Board, the sponsors are always lining up to throw money, bulk of the revenue from World Cricket comes from India, yet India can’t make it to the top 8 in World Cricket! For an aspiring super power, this is a perfect slap in the face. A classic example of inability to deliver despite all the available resources.
Enter Subhash Chandra and his Zee brand with the Indian Cricket League. A bold step to emulate what Kerry Packer and Channel 9 did to World Cricket in the late 70s. The next several months should be interesting. Perhaps the aftermath of the World Cup defeat might soon be brushed aside in light of Zee’s new and evolving India Cricket League.
Pakora Korner 