Sunday 17 April 2011

Lights, Camera, Action

This post is about a movie !  It takes some gall for a blogger who knows zilch about movies and doesn't see them, to do a post on something his readers are masters of. But that's the beauty of this medium - you can fearlessly propound  on things you don't have a clue about.

I am told actors are key to movies ! This one stars a legend as a hero. Across continents, this man is reputed to be with the midas touch - anything he touches turns into gold. There are assorted villains, but the beauty of the movie is that you often don't know who the real villain is. There is a faceless foreign government, who everybody loves to bash these days (not America - in movies, America is all mom and apple pie). The only slight trouble is that there isn't a very pretty heroine. There is a lady actress who comes roaring to defend the hero , but alas, she will not set Zeno's heart go flutter flutter and her role casts her as a Minister. She does manage to be exotic though, speaking in French.

The song and dance sequences are a bit metaphorical. There is a lot of song and dance made, but there isn't actual singing and dancing - if you know what I mean. I am told that song and dance sequences are strictly the preserve of Indian movies and this being a foreign movie, its absence is apparently pardonable.

Being a foreign movie, it has to have a story , I believe. I am reliably informed that such a condition is not an absolute necessity for an Indian movie. Anyway this one has a great story full of twists and turns. Enter the successful hero, who is already a legend. He has vanquished villains as far away as Japan, until even the Japanese have embraced him as one of their own. He now makes a bold plan to revolutionalise the world with a great invention.

Now come the villains. A foreign government, known to copy everything, is trying to steal his invention. Three of his associates are apparently tempted by spies from this government to sell their secret. They are caught, and executed melodramatically, even though they loudly protest their innocence. Cut to the heroine. She comes riding on her white steed, sabre rattling to this foreign government. She wishes to slay the dragon to save her hero. The foreign government scares her off threatening dire consequences if she rode any further. She retreats after a memorable dialogue sequence about economic warfare.

The hero now has some doubts if he has acted heroically. After all the three were honourable men. Could they have let him down like that ?? He starts to have self doubts. He retreats back with that constipated look on his face (a look made popular by those who act in Indian TV soaps). Then it is established that the three might not have been guilty after all. It looks like it might be curtains up for the hero. But then his two trusted aides fall on their sword and sacrifice themselves for the hero. The hero is saved after all. The movie ends rather abruptly - surely the producer has left enough hints that there is to be a sequel.

I felt the movie direction left a little to be desired. An expert such as Gils would have done a better job of it. Cinematography could also have been improved if they had hired RamMmm.  Still it's a good movie to watch on a lazy Sunday.

The movie is called Renault. You can read a better version of the movie plot here.

18 comments:

RamNarayanS said...

Ha Ha Ha. Saar, you have great screenwriting and storyboarding skills, You could be made director/chief technical analyst of that movie. :-) :-)

Also sir, I expect a piece from you on another news item which seemed to indicate that India's growth rate may have overtaken China's silently etc etc.

gils said...

thala neenga decent version of TR :D :D :D

Appu said...

One day or other, I am gonna kidnap you[ with the permission of your family members] and tie you to a chair and make you watch all movies for a week or month!
@Gils Hope you will lend me an helping hand!

Will this qualify to be a Sunday post?

Ramesh said...

@RamMmm - I bow to the might of gils !!

Not yet Not yet. Maybe in 10 years we'll have a higher growth rate, but not yet.

@Gils - Thalaivare - TR yaaru thalaivare

@Zeno - In the company of guru gils and guru zeno that will be a privilege !!

Vishal said...

Now what was that? You writing about a movie! Cut, cut, cut!!! Until I opened the link, I thought it was a Sunday post.

You almost had me rolling on the floor when I read the title. It proves two things - your scripts can sell in Hollywood and you can write review of movies (Bollywood movies also if Zeno succeeds in kidnapping you).

P.S. - Please do copyright this million dollar script. :)

Ramesh said...

@Vishal , The problem about writing reviews of movies, is that you have to see them !!!

raghavendra kotla said...

Hi Ramesh, your recent posts are turning to be O.Henry’s (William Sydney Porter) short stories. They are interesting, witty, with a twist in the ending :-)

Sandhya Sriram said...

whoa whoa whoa

amazing!!! simply amazing!!!
A beautiful business post packaged as a sunday variant and a really wonderful sunday treat!!

You are like Kamalhassan of dasavataram (pl do watch this movie with GILS).

a new avatar this sunday - O Henry + R K Lakshman (your narration is as descriptive as a picture) packaged into one...

Wow - what treat to all of us.

Ramesh said...

@Kotla - I have fainted with pleasure. Being mentioned in the same sentence as O Henry .....

@Sandhya - You are truly every blog writer's dream reader.Xie xie.

Deepa said...

I am simply going to go with Raghavendra! :)

But the post truly shows your passion for your subject. What is movies to gilsu and zeno, is business to you! If you can pack the same amount of excitement (if not more) in your subject, I think I'd rather read/ hear from you, than anyone else when it comes to business.

Ramesh said...

@Deepa - Awwww. You are so kind.

Anonymous said...

Your presentation is more interesting the plot! Good one.
Did you actually watch the movie ?

Anonymous said...

I say this could be the most interestingly twisted tale after Jeoffery Archer's - A twist in the tale!

Cinema pakkardillai - idhu kadai - If you really dont - pl dont watch them- make them. You'll give them all a run for the money.
Have you ever considered teaching? you'll make business studies the most interesting subject.

Ravi Rajagopalan said...

The French practice a kind of crony capitalism that relies on an old boy network of enarques, civil servants and thirty-somethings that end up running most things. It has big advantages - a high flyer gets challenging assignments in government and industry quite early, and helps build confidence in his abilities. On the other hand, it suffers from a close proximity to government, and all the paranoia that governments sometime suffer from. The Renault case is a classic one in that regard.

Reflections said...

Hahahaaaaahaaa....I was searching my mind all along which movie this was and when u spk abt Japan I thot it cd be a Rajnikanth one;-D......thts how much I know;-P
Have to agree with hemarao here...
"Your presentation is more interesting than the plot!";-D

Keep 'em coming!!!!

Ramesh said...

@hema - Thank you.

@anon - Hey thanks. Me a movie maker ??? Wow !!! Yes love to teach and do it in small bits and pieces.

@Ravi - Yes of course. And probably same in every walk of French life - not just business !

@Reflections - I won't insult your intelligence by asking who's Rajnikanth !!!! Thanks as always for being so kind.

Anonymous said...

Too soon after "Apple of my Eye" for me to have bitten again. Didn't know for sure what it was, but figured it was something like the Renault story which I will have to look more into now.

Not a movie fan? Good ones are few and far between nowadays, but oh so worth it! Last Train Home was a fascinating documentary I watched last week. Highly recommended.

Ramesh said...

@Hopfrog - In a movie mad country like India, I am a total oddity. Will pick up your recommendation though - you and Mark have a real way with movies and books.

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