JishnuGopanbr

        The Body of the Christ in the tomb. This painting by Hans Holbein the Younger will prompt any devout believer to question their faith and any non-believer to believe in absolute miracles. The absolute miracle may not be believing in fairies, but it lies in the deeper understanding of the extent to which human nature can go to have faith in miracles. The Dead body of Christ in the tomb would have been a lot worse to have witnessed in person than what Hans Holbein had depicted. The gaunt figure with its ribs exposed and the wounds green and molten must have been a sight that was tormenting. Yet, the people who witnessed it believed that the Body of Christ had indeed been resurrected. After seeing this painting, a non-believer who tries to see beyond rationalism and the material world will wonder or question the condition of human nature to believe in something so profound and yet unexplainable without sounding illogical, and that too for generations. This u...

There is a new voice emerging from the South Indian literature space that needs to be listened to. Like the rain, in his debut novel ' Chronicle of an hour and a half', Shaharu Nusaiba Kannanari relentlessly pours out a story with conviction of a heavy rainfall that makes anyone to stop dead on their tracks. His narration is solid, his prose flows with such poignance that it creates extraordinary visual images that last long after reading it. The philosophy that he carries through his characters shatters the conventional storytelling. 'Chronicle of an hour and half ' is a must read; Shahuru's voice demands to be heard.

  Dude is unconventional; this movie deals with subjects that may offend the larger audience. But here is the highlight: it's not a ‘cuckhold movie’ or any other derogatory term could not be tagged to this movie. After its initial release, this movie got bashed left and right for portraying a love triangle most unconventionally; this initial response made me reluctant to go watch it. But after its OTT release, I thought I could give it a try, and not going to lie, I enjoyed every bit of this movie. Although the first 10 minutes of the movie were too chaotic for me to handle, and with the unpleasant mix of oorum blood song, the chaos was unbearable. I almost went to switch it off, as there was a predetermined opinion about this movie that exists within me from all the online responses. But I am very much glad that I watched it, and I loved it. I loved it, but.. Dude is not a great movie; it has its own flaws for a movie from a debutant director. This is the kind of movie that we...

  TVK (Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam) and its leader Vijay’s political career can be distinguished as before and after ‘The Karur Incident’. The developments after the dreadful incident in Karur, where 41 civilians had been suffocated to death in a stampede, will either sow the seeds for a new leader or witness yet another failure of an actor turned politician. Whereas the chance of the latter happening is more prominent, considering the magnitude of the incident, it is still possible to say that Vijay can make a positive political career out of all this. For that to happen, the political decisions of the TVK leader should be more critical. It is also important to note that if Vijay makes all the decisions that lead him to become the future leader, then the leader we get might not be such a charismatic one, but rather a hypocritical leader. And Vijay had already taken the steps to be one such leader. In the video he posted two days after the tragic incident, Vijay failed to take respon...

“In the yellow street lights, to the cool breeze of a full moon night, a flower floated towards us. Nila grasped it in between her fingers, offered it to me, and asked, ‘Its name is Frangipanni, whenever you see this, will you think of me?” Thus wrote Kaber Vasuki in his song ‘Frangipanni’, about a girl named Nila. She is a beacon of hope that sheds light on the souls lost in life's chaos. She isn’t so pure as it might seem, or is there any human being that has ever been devoid of any impurities? But her presence was soothing for those who had the grace of knowing her. Nila is someone who giggles when the night’s cold breeze wafts the thick smell of Jasmine flowers along with it; she is someone who packs her bag and leaves for Calcutta because, why not? She is someone whom you will wish to know, to have that shed of light to reach upon you, when described by such a songwriter as Kaber Vasuki. That is why, when her death flows in like a poem in this song, I felt my heart yearning ...

  Incendies (2010) is a French movie directed by Denis Villeneuve. The opening scene of the film is by far the most unnerving I have ever watched. It begins with a wide-angle shot of a large landscape and gradually zooms in on the inside of a shattered building. Inside, there were a few children whose hair was being trimmed by some adults. As one of the kids’ hair was being cut, the camera focused on him. And that kid gives a cold stare down, looking right at us through the camera. That stare was so unnerving for me as it was trying to say a lot of things. That stare was filled with sadness, helplessness, and pure anger. The stare was so diabolical that it looked straight at my soul and said, “You take your life for granted, and I am angry at you for that.” This 3-minute opening of Incendies is a movie of its own. A kid with lots of questions and confusion on what is happening, a kid who was born in a world filled with hatred and horror. And the anger that he feels is something t...