Buland Iqbal

Watched Iqbal today.
A beautiful movie by good ol hyderabad Sultan Nagesh Kukkunoor.Shows what a little budget,a brilliant cast and brilliant directorial vision can achieve.The story is of a 18 year old cricket crazy boy in a small Andhra village.He happens to be deaf and mute but still blessed with an infectious enthusiasm of doing things his way and keenly spying on the practice sessions at the neighbouring cricket coaching centre.Inevitably his talent gets spotted,then ditched due to nepotism.He is then nurtered by the village drunk(Naseeruddin Shah) who,as it turns out,was a promising bowler in his youth.This unlikely combination of a self-ruminating alcoholic and a keen wide eyed barefooted and talented ,though lacking kid,manage to take own the cricketing establishment,teach each other about themselves and manage to change perceeptions and outlooks as well.Shreyas Talpade ,playing Iqbal,is a natural actor and one hopes to see him in more such films in the future rather get channelled into propah Bollywood.Naseeruddin Shah is a treat to watch as is Girish Karnad as the uptight and scheming coach.Iqbal's family members comprising his mum,dad and younger sister(a real find!,reminds one of Benaf from Halo) are well-cast.Kukkunoor sidekicks and regulars Vikram Inamdar and Elahe manage to find their way into abbreviated roles int his fim.Kapil Dev is priceless as himself.its a wonderful movie overall,shows the power of self-belief,earnestness,hard work etc.A definite lesson for me! :-)Yes,it is a Shubhash Ghai production.Were it directed by him,in all probability,Iqbal would be singing and regained his hearing by the finale. :)

Went to BCL today.Finally managed to get hold of Orwell's Burma Days as well as a nice history of the London Underground.
Then met up with Dinu at Mocha,C-Gate for a PDS and then retired to Geoffereys for beer.
Target Rich Environments both.But of course,I am off ops :(