Nalini then, Afzal Guru now: Why Kasab may never be hanged!

“Whatever I have done, I have done on earth, and I should be punished here. I do not want to be punished by God. Please punish me by hanging,” - Ajmal Kasab

"You cannot pick, choose and hang. Nowhere does it happen in the world including Pakistan, There are still about 28 mercy petitions pending before Afzhal Guru's can be addressed." - Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily

Kasab may actually beg to be hanged but the 'compassionate' Indian legal and political system wouldn't just let him go down without a 'fair' trial.

Ha ha, as things seem to suggest now, Nalini, the accused No 1 in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination will very soon walk free. Here is the 'punishment' she got for conspiring the assassination.
After getting caught soon after the assassination in 1991, an elaborate investigation ensued. In January 1998 the investigation concludes and the trial court sentenced all the 26 accused, including Nalini to death. But in 1999, the Supreme Court annulled the death sentence on all but 4, including Nalini. The 4 sentenced for death filed for a mercy petition with the president and in 2000, Nalini's death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment because apparently India just couldn't afford another orphan - Nalini delivered a kid while in prison.

That's not all. Even while engaging the hypocrite Indian system, Nalini put her time to better use.

• She spent time to pass Master of Computer Applications (MCA) course and will soon be awarded the degree by IGNOU. We are told she was brilliant at it.
• She was 4 month pregnant when she landed in jail and then delivered her baby while in prison. Her daughter was brought up by her mother-in-law in Sri Lanka. The girl then grew up, sought a student visa to study in India, on the ground that there was danger to her life in Sri Lanka! Following a petition by Nalini, the very broad-minded Madras High Court, concerned for the girl's safety, directed the equally broad-minded, acquiescing Centre to grant entry permit to her daughter, on the grounds that she was an Indian just like her mother!

Phew, may be Rajiv Gandhi, the late Indian prime minister was not Indian enough! The whole process is disgusting, and only shows a weak heart and mind of this nation which allowed other terror acts to follow later on.

Someone who assassinated a former prime minister for the actions he undertook in his position as prime minister, instead of getting punished, gets a new life, complete with highest education of this land for her and her daughter. That is something she wouldn't have even got in the dungeons of LTTE areas in Sri Lanka, where she was indoctrined to carry out the most daring assassination in Indian history. Nalini Sriharan accused #1 in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination is rewarded for what she did. What next, maybe she will stand in an election and just, maybe, enter parliament!

India's 'humanitarianism' is always under test and is ever victorious. Soon after the Nalini's death sentence is commuted, there was another high-profile case.

• Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, was sentenced to death on December 18, 2002 by a trial court.
• This was confirmed by the Delhi High Court and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004.
• The sentence was to be carried out on October 20, 2006 in the Tihar Jail here, but it was stayed after his family filed a mercy petition to the President.

As our esteemed law minister said, Afzal Guru's case will be attended to after the 20 odd petitions preceding his are dealt with. If India finds it hard to hang someone convicted for waging war against state then why the hell is it so nauseatingly harping on Pakistan to bring the 26/11 perpetrators on trial? Its baffling indeed that India thinks that US, Pakistan or any other country would take it seriously when it does not take its own investigating agencies' fruitful investigations seriously and simply cant implement the judgements of its own courts, even in cases involving a direct attack on Parliament and assassination of a former prime minister. It's simply sickening to see P Chidambaram hectoring Pakistan.

Well, with the Nalini's precedent, Afzal Guru may never ever be hanged and may in fact walk free. And maybe, so will Kasab. After all tamasha we have had with Kasab's trial, even considering that he gets death sentence, he will not be hanged anytime soon, going by our honorable minister Moily's logic. Kasab will file an appeal with supreme court, If that doesn't work, he files the dreaded mercy petition with the president, while still munching the biryani (which the court would have allowed on humanitarian grounds). Then he has to wait for his turn after those 28 petitions. That would take years, and when his case finally comes up, the President may show sympathy because he would have by then, supposedly,already undergone mental torture with the death sentence hanging over him. Death sentence would be commuted and maybe after 14 years in prison, he will be out, on humanitarian grounds. Its a pity those 170 odd who died and the 300 plus who were injured in Mumbai attacks aren't considered Humane enough.

All the outrage felt when Rajiv was assassinated fizzled out so much so that Nalini's release is now a non-issue after 18 years of dithering. The same could happen with the Parliament and Mumbai attacks cases. If not Mumbai attacks, what else could wake up this system from this hypocrisy and laziness?

EENADU: Lost in translation

Spoilers ahead. If you have plans to watch 'Eenadu', I would advise you to read this post later after watching the movie.

If someone already saw 'A Wednesday', he or she may hardly find anything interesting in 'Eenadu'. This is a big minus considering that the credits claim a certain Kamal Haasan. Even for those who didn't see 'A Wednesday' there would not be as much thrill here as it were in 'A Wednesday'. Right now, I can think of two reasons.

1) Hold your breath, Kamal Hasan is miscast! It is his passion that drove this project but sadly he is not fit for a 'common man' role, that a low-profile Naseeruddin Shah played in the original, 'A Wednesday', (which i commented on at http://theargumentativeindian.blogspot.com/2008/09/wednesday-what-makeover.html) . I cant resist a comparison here. When the movie starts, Naseer triggers a guessing game for the audience about his actions, motives and yes, even his religion. His fluency in Urdu while talking to the terrorist over phone could have made the audience speculate about his association with terrorists and his own religion. It was pure mind play. Kamal Hasan's own beard and his occasional referring 'Commissinersaab' does not substitute that. Kamal's liberal use of English does not help the character either. That made his character more of a learned man not a common man. In fact, Eenadu leaves the subtlety about his religion and tries to directly inject that idea into audience through a few dialogues but even that didn't work.

2) The second main drawback: Inexplicably, the common man character has been diluted. Naseer, despite the whole meticulously operated operation, sounds exasperated, frustrated at times in his negotiations with the commissioner. His 'daily chore' conversation with his wife on phone was wonderful. Towards the end, he goes on to call himself stupid and clearly says "We are resilient by force, not by choice". He explains how he has his own small daily battles to feed himself and his family and how he was forced to embark on this mission due to governments' apathy and indifference. He was a regular common man who became a reluctant soldier. On the other hand, here, Kamal looks very much cool, in ease and is almost like a professional killer. He is almost like a regular hero character, that is of course until he picks up the groceries in the end. And Of course this is Kamal the legend and maybe its difficult to believe he is just playing an ordinary guy! There is a lack of much needed vulnerability. The result is that this robs us the thrill 'A Wednesday' gave. While that was shaped as thriller, the whole premise of common man's combat forms the core. Eenadu not just loses on the thrill but also on the common man core by changing Kamal's characterization. The fact that the character does not have scope for any real 'acting' apart from these subtlety makes this dilution in characterization all the more disappointing for Kamal's fans.

Among other things, Venkatesh's character too pales in comparison to Anupam Kher's in the original. Here, he is much younger and so that thoughtfulness is missing in his character. The result is that the famous dialogues between Kher and Shah in the second half didn't quite take off here as there is no intensity.The casting of 'A Wednesday' was perfect and the low profile actors helped create the realistic picture. Here, even the new folks like the guy who played Gautam Reddy couldn't deliver.

There has been lots of changes in the script to change the context and add Hyderabad flavour. That worked well though. Eenadu comes in context of Hyderabad blasts. However, the dialogues are not as good as they should have been. This dented the local flavour in a way despite the efforts in the script and did not allow the movie to get hard-hitting. Kamal brings one moment towards the climax that stays with us long after we leave the movie hall. That's the high point, and maybe the only one.

While I never watch a remake, I went ahead with this because I liked what Kamal did to Govind Nihalani's 'Droh Kaal' with his own 'Drohi'. I even liked 'Hey Ram'. So I had a feeling Kamal gets brainy with good content and I wanted to see if he elevates the content of 'A Wednesday'. But sadly that didn't happen. Kamal, for now, is humbled by Neeraj Pandey. For those who missed out Neeraj's offering though, this could be a decent watch.

BAANAM: This arrow has no gamyam

If the point of making a movie is to avoid the beaten track and do something hatke, the makers of Baanam succeeds. However, if you wish to see a movie to get entertained, or to get an insight or feel a high, Baanam is not for you. Baanam has the flavour and is aesthetic but is a directionless (pointless) enterprise. And despite the raw rural/town feel in it, this is no Gamyam.

Baanam is a classy movie with short dialogues (from the same guy, Nagaraju Gandham, who written for Gamyam), meaningful visuals. You may not be any wiser about Police system after watching the movie for 2 hours but can make out about Chaitanya Dantuluri, the writer-director of this movie. A fleeting glimpse of 'Fountainhead' in couple of scenes and a chapter wise breakdown of the movies shows the influences. But sadly those influences doesn't elevate the content. Script and Screenplay are weak. What the hero set out for and what he achieved is unclear. A clear storyline and lack of conviction sinks the movie.

Nara Rohit walks his way to the closing credits, literally. All we get to see is he robotically walking and mouthing the dialogues dispassionately. His failure is to be credited to the director for the poor character sketch. Rohit's acting is made to look wooden and his body language awkward because the director apparently believed all IPS aspirants stand stiff all the time, almost never laugh and manages to fall in love and propose without ever feeling any butterflies in the stomach. Rohit is taught these aspirants are superhumans and he tries to be one and ends up a casualty. Rohit has to wait for the next opportunity to show any talent he has.

The background score is wonderful aided by crisp editing and apt camerawork. Ranadhir who plays the villain makes his mark and he is someone we can all watch out for. The shot-making is fantastic in the movie and with the right script, the director Chaitanya Dantuluri will hit the bull's eye. Sadly, for now, this Baanam has no target and nothing to hit or miss.