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Saturday, August 26, 2023

The Reader [2008] Directed by Stephen Daldry

It has been ages since I wrote something, especially about cinema. Writing about cinema is not something I do mechanically, It's always the experience of feeling it within you. The overwhelming emotional high you feel while the credits roll over... It makes you so happy and restless that it forces you to put those feelings into words.... Going through one such high now... Such a beautiful experience this great piece of cinema/art has given me... and I can remember having similar experiences while watching other great classic films like Cinema Paradiso, Sympathy of Mr Vengeance, Oldboy, Once upon a time in America, The English Patient, The Notebook... to name a few.


I knew about this film, about it's reputation and it was there in my "to watch" list for quite a long time. I didn't have a clue about what it was about and I chose to randomly watch it today. I normally don't research too much about a movie before watching it. I feel one should not know too much about what you are going to experience as it will diminish the overall effect and the spell a great film can cast on you. Yes, with some genres in cinema you will get to know about the themes or content which you cannot escape. But there are these movies like I have listed above, which I feel one should watch without knowing anything about them... I have done so and trust me... That's the best way... to be pushed off a cliff, not knowing what will happen, but you trust and surrender to the art form and I swear, these films will take you on a journey. A journey you will never ever forget in your life... and I end these notes of love by wishing the same warmth, the same confusion, the same anguish, and the same magic I felt... to you... THE READER.


Watch it.

Pradeep kumar




Once you have seen the film, come back to read more about my thoughts on this film... coming soon.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

The Blissful Existence Of Ignorance. (Short Story by PLPK)

A beautiful morning, cowdunghead wakes up from his sleep. He sits up on his bed. Even before opening his eyes his hands starts trembling and he slowly moves his hand towards his heart, he felt a sense of euphoric charge all through his body and he starts singing the national anthem.

After the song is over he sits down on his bed and starts crying. He cries for an hour, screaming and yelling as much as he can. He cries for his army, the brave soldiers who were on the border fighting for the nation. Slowly he stops crying. He gets ready to go for his morning walk. He reaches the beach and begins his yoga moves. He opens a water bottle and drinks his daily dose of gomutra. He finishes his routine and starts to walk back home. 

As he crosses the road thinking about the wonderful existence of his life, a dump truck carrying loads of garbage hits him. He is thrown up in the air. He falls to the ground. He lies on the road bleeding. A crowd gathers around. At a distance, the police are looking the other way waiting for politicians to pass by. A couple starts to scream seeing his bloodied face and body. They scream for exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Then they abruptly stop screaming and start to sing songs of prayer. They thank God that they are safe and they are not on the road like the unfortunate guy who may die. Tears start rolling down their cheeks. They quickly turn away and run off singing the prayer songs. A bunch of kids gather around and start clapping. They point at the guy lying down and start laughing. 

One of the kid yells "Why is this stupid fellow lying on the road acting like he had an accident?" 

Our dear cowdunghead looks right to left desperately looking for someone to help him. Tears flow from his eyes. He is in pain. He raises his hands to see blood all over his hands. He screams. A part of the crowd starts to laugh. They point their fingers at him and make funny noises. 

A group of people standing mute all this while suddenly start to scream. They look angry; they start to discuss how he was careless while crossing the road. Another guy points at the dump truck and yells that it should be burned. A small fight breaks out. The people move away screaming and yelling and the fight turns into a riot. 

Two guys pass by carrying a 100 inch flat screen OLED TV. The TV has the latest state of the art technology which consumes extremely low power and has 5 years of warranty. It has 4 HDMI ports and 2 USB ports. It has inbuilt smart technology so you can stream any online content easily. Sharu Khan, amitaab buachan, akshae kmar, rojinikant, Sochin Tondulka and many other celebrities have used and vouched for this television and its quality. The two guys carrying the TV stop and look at the crowd. They get curious and move into the crowd. Our cowdunghead looks confused to see a large screen TV in front of him. Someone turns on the TV. The image appears and cowdunghead is shocked. His eyes widen and he gasps for breath as he sees himself lying on the road covered in blood. A voice screams through the television "WHY IS NO ONE HELPING HIM?"

The voice keeps asking some questions as cowdunghead's senses start to fade. Someone from the crowd changes the channel. Cowdunghead's ears suddenly shatter with the sound of another voice screaming from the TV. He sees his favorite News Anchor on TV shouting and barking with a bunch of others. On one corner of the TV he sees his own face. He can't understand what they are screaming about but somehow he is happy to see his idol. He is happy that his idol is speaking about him. The barking continues.

He turns to his side as someone lifts his hands. A guy sits down beside him; he starts to talk to him in a caring and mellow voice.

"I know you are in pain, I know you are suffering, I can totally understand that you are going to die. I'm going to sing a song for you and I'm going to tell your story to the world."

A famous actor rushes to the scene, he starts to cry. He sits beside him, he just stares at him for a long time. He calls someone on his phone and starts to explain the situation and the character he is going to play next. He says he is going to win an award for this next role. He rushes off.

As our dear cowdunghead spurts out more blood, the crowd starts to chant. Smokers take out their matches and lighters. A guy brings some candles and everyone starts to light up. Someone else brings a truck full of flowers. They start spreading the flowers around cowdunghead as he withers in pain. Slowly the mood turns to celebration. Everyone starts dancing around him, the mood is positive. 

The crowd screams "We will get through this pain, we are stronger, we are united, we love our nation, we love our army, we love our God, we love ourselves, our positivism in these trying times will cure all our worries" they scream at cowdunghead.

As cowdunghead lies there looking at all the chaos around him, he knows he is going to die, he feels numb. He goes into a shivering frenzy, the crowd goes mad celebrating the grand event. He pulls all the strength he has, one final push, one final effort his mind tells him to do. He raises his hand up in the air and screams 

"HAIL SUPREME LEADER ALADEEN"

He dies.

The End.


P. S.  Don't be a psychopath without empathy, feel sad for Cowdunghead. 

Please donate here: #IDOCARE (www.iactuallydontgiveafck.udumbfck.com) 

If you don't give me your money, 

I sincerely hope, wish and pray this happens to you.


Please let me know if this is offensive ☺️☺️☺️ 😉