A Week Without “Appa”

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Quiet. How I'd like it to be sometimes. I went to the temple almost every day. I didn't have anyone asking me, “Appa, are we done?” I could just cement myself there, without hurry, for a few hours. I could recite the Rudram without somebody tugging at my sleeve. And yet, every now and then, I would think that it would have been nice to have the kids there too. I didn't have to worry about picking up Akhil or Sahana from somewhere. I didn't get messages from my wife asking me to make a pit stop at the Indian store or Costco. I didn't have to look at the clock and suddenly remember that someone had basketball or tennis. It was as though life had come to a standstill. And I liked it. In the middle of a normal workday, I could be in an important meeting when Akhil would come charging into the room. “Appa, please approve.” For a brief second, I wouldn't even understand what he was asking. Then I would realize that I had absentmi...
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Munich...Gripping reality


When Spielberg makes a movie, it creates headlines. But this one was different. Two weeks prior to the release of Munich, Spielberg revealed about such a movie and the reasons are obvious. The movie is about the aftermaths of Black September that hit the 1972 Olympics at Munich where 11 Israeli athletes were brutally murdered after the Palestinians attacked the Olympics village. A sensationally picturised movie of the Israeli intelligence wing, the Mossad, reactivating its assasination wing to eliminate the creators of Black September forms the theme of the year's best movie undoubtedly.

I have no clue of the actors who form the part of this movie. But, almost every unknown name seemed to fit in the role with ease. There are eleven people who plotted the 1972 disaster and there are nine of them whom the Mossad end up eliminating leaving the other two in perpetual fear. The story is about how the people selected for this mission end up killing the plotters and the traumatic experience, each of them undergoes.

Steven Spielberg has taken a neutral stand in this classic. He beautifully has potrayed the ill effects of terrorism, and though the vengeance operation has been carried out, he says that nothing can be done to reduce terrorism. Though people who have plotted the brutality are being killed, new ones are filling the voids in almost the same pace, which ultimately would lead to perpetual killing. The main protagonist of the movie who leads this low key but high profile operation essays the role to perfection as an Israeli agent. His and the team's traumatic experience of the operation is depicted in a way that only Spielberg can do justice. At the end of the day, he loses his entire team in the operation. The story does not end there. The post operations trauma that he suffers is truly a heart wrenching sight. He becomes a victim of his own suspicion and bitterness.

The film not only deals with the Israeli hit back but also what is lost in the entire operation. As I walked out of the theater, I was filled with a sense of uneasiness that gripped me of the terrorism that plagues the society and happiness of having watched another high quality movie from the stable of Steven Spielberg.

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