Trishul - the movie

My little daughter was fumbling with the television remote control. She was trying to turn on her favorite channel. As I was cooking in the kitchen I suddenly heard the baritone voice that had often set my heart beat faster. The voice was quite restrained and I could immediately figure out the film. It was “Trishul” – one of my favorite Amitabh Bachan films.
I have seen most of his films in my teens and was heavily impressed by his acting style. Amitabh was a hero whom everybody looked up to and we grew up on a staple diet of his films. Fortunately in those days we didn’t have cable channels and the stars were not over exposed. They retained their aura and enigma and have not become family members. We would wait for days or even months to view an Amitabh Bachan film and the occasions were welcomed by all family members. When I first saw “Trishul” I was overwhelmed by his style of acting which was quite different from the more popular ones.
But this time when I sat down to view it, it was different. I was no more a teenager enamored by Amitabh but a seasoned movie watcher who is quite choosy about her film viewing. But still I was amazed to find how this 1978 movie kept me glued to the television set for over three hours! I wondered was it Amitabh, was it Sanjeecv Kumar or the story itself.
Trishul is a fine example of Indian film with an interesting story line and some fine actors who were in their heyday. The restraint Vijay matched the vibrant Ravi and both Rakhee and Hema carried their roles well. But it is Amitabh who almost governs all the scenes and deserves special mention.
From the very beginning when Amitabh first appears on screen he portrays a character who is confident, knows what to get and how to get and is cool about everything. As I watched the film I felt how he dictates every scene and enjoys absolute authority. Be it with veteran Sanjeev Kumar or flamboyant Sashi Kapoor, it was Amitabh who stole the show with his presence.
The screenplay was superb with very little distraction. Overall “Trishul” is an out and out enjoyable movie which I realized, I can view many more times.

Thank you, Miss Marple

This was happening to me for the last couple of weeks. I felt lost. I lost my zeal for work, I sat listlessly in front of my laptop, unable to concentrate. I could only manage to write one article in a day and that made me feel sorrier for myself. I could not meditate, I could not read books and even blogging also didn’t excite me. I was caught up in a maze of emotions which took me nowhere. Same thoughts kept running in my head and the chattering that took place inside my mind made me feel dizzy. No matter how much I tried I could not get away from those thoughts. They kept visiting me and tortured me day and night.
Each day started on a dismal note and days went on to become weeks and I felt like radar less ship thrown in a vortex of conflicting emotions.
Tuesdays seemed to be carbon copies of Mondays and I could not differentiate one Saturday from another one. All the days seemed to be same- boring with nothing to look forward to.
I tried to boost myself by talking to my friends but it didn’t help. I even downloaded motivational articles from the internet and read a couple of them. They were good but they failed to motivate me.
Yesterday, I was sitting in front of the laptop mustering courage to finish an article. I haplessly looked around to divert my miserable thoughts. Suddenly my eyes fail on a stack of cds on the lower shelf. I picked up a box and found a collection of Poirot and Miss Marple films.
I fished through them and decided to watch “4:50 From Paddington”. I had read the story before but remembered it very vaguely.
I sat down to view it and within minutes was engrossed in the film. I enjoyed it immensely as I always loved reading and viewing Miss Marple. The film kept me engaged for over two hours and the charm of Miss Marple with her common sense and excellent deduction powers entertained me thoroughly.
By the time I finished the film, it was late afternoon. I was late and proceeded to finish my routine work in a lighter mood.
I felt less burdened by my feelings and regained my composure.
Miss Marple did the trick and brought me back to my normal world. Like in the film she saved Crackenthorpe’s from a murderer, she saved me from my own murderous thoughts.
Thank you, Miss Marple, you managed to save me this time!