MCU's perfect culmination of the Avengers series!: Avengers EndGame.

It has been a long time checking out an epic movie that actually feels epic in theaters.

When I say long, it really felt like a long wait! The last time I felt like this was Avengers Infinity War(April 2018) and before that, it was Padmaavat(early 2018) and the biggest Indian movie of that time and still the highest grossing movie in Indian market: Baahubali: The Conclusion(2017).

But Marvel's Avengers Endgame is completely different in tone and expectations when it arrived: It had massive expectations to reach, massive plots to hide, massive stars' fans to satisfy. In a way, it is the biggest multi starrer in terms of having super stars like Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, leading others.

When it did come out, it wowed everyone, not just the fans of Marvel or the stars, but even others who might have started to follow MCU from 2018, thanks to the other biggie: Avengers Infinity War.

The experience was perfect: The crowd was able to react in a way that directors want them to: They were pin-drop-silent when the plot was moving with all seriousness. They laughed when the funny scenes seamlessly mingled into the storyline. They screamed when the action started. They whistled when the "Marvel Studios" logo came up. In short, they made it their own movie and started experiencing it much in a much closer and intimate way.

The difference between this and Infinity War is this: There was higher emotional connection with the characters now. The plot was perfectly set to show off the dynamics of the characters not just in the present but in the time travel as well. By the time the intermission break came in, everyone were holding to their seats and discussing the plot and many of them avoided going out.

I particularly loved Tony having the chat with his father as well as how Steve Rogers lived his life to the fullest by finally having the date with Peggy in the past, and also the brilliant emotional moment
between Thor and his mother, how she listens to him patiently, and asks him to eat
salads so he could slim down! There were so many moments to list out here.

Of course when they did find out that there were no mid-credit scenes or post-credit scenes, they were disappointed, but still waited till the end, till the red "Marvel Studios" logo and "Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures" came up on the screen! This is what it meant to them: Experience the full movie, including the small details!

Such interest was second to none in all my movie experience. The only instance when the crowd was so excited and interested in watching a movie in theater was for the Indian biggies like: "Baahubali: The conclusion" and "2point0".

Now the debate has started about if it will break Avatar's USD2.7 Billion record or not. But as far as I am concerned, it doesnt matter as it has won the hearts of millions of people!

With love.. Anil

A mountain of expectations gone awry..

We have expectations, however small they may be.
We have dreams, however crazy they may be.
We also have a sense of purpose, however inconsequential it may be.
Well, this is not a poem.
But what we are seemingly losing is an ability to judge ourselves which is right and which is wrong.
Just because some popular personality says something, we
For the past several months, there have been so many events that changed the way we look at the world. The world is no longer something that could be saved by a super-hero like leader. The world is also no longer an entity which takes criticism in a positive way.

Coming to the current scenario in India, there came a big split between the centre and the state.
When Modi and Naidu broke up, it was a big news. But more importantly the media ought to point out the reason why it went that way instead of just making noise.
They ought to make sense when they say "TDP dumps BJP". It is nothing more than half baked news.

There is a long history to the decision taken by the TDP to break its ties with BJP and it is not about blackmailing. Many media channels have even went to the extent to say that due to some of personal demands of Naidu not being met by Modi, Naidu broke off their partnership.

In all this political games, it is the people who were compromised. It is the people who suffered the most. And it is the people who have seen their mountains of expectations go down like a crashing meteorite.

That, is the biggest harm that any leader/s could pose to any society.

The only advice to the media and the political class now is simple. In fact very simple: Dont create unreal expectations and try to fool the people when you know it could not be fulfilled.
The result will be faced by the BJP and to a certain extent even TDP for continuing for so long with the central government despite knowing very well that the promises will not be kept in a straightforward way.



With love.. Anil

Competing with the best!: "Write India"

There is an ongoing writing competition that is going on, which is called "Write India" and this is sponsored and run by Times of India. While some may have reservations to accept this as the best platform to test and hone your writing skills, many have been taking part in this competition for the past few months with the hope that they will get recognized by the top writers of english literature.

It is into its second season and the craze for this competition has been good.

Each month a passage is revealed by the author of the month with certain rules, and list of winners(usually top 10) is announced after 45 days of the contest's last date. Many people await it with wide eyes, checking for their names! The announcement happens quickly over twitter. I have seen many tweeple getting frustrated and some vowing to not write again, but I beg to differ.
Some people I have interacted with have even went to the extent to demean the platform and said that it only favours a select group of people based on their region or other irrelevant things. This made me think.

Writing is something that takes a lot out of someone's life and energy. To think of a good plot, develop that plot into a story, map out the characters and their details, create logical links between the characters, and then write the actual story(or even a short story) means a lot. To write a proper short story(maximum of 3000 words in this case) is much more difficult than writing a large story.

I believe that this is a platform which not only makes us put our best foot forward into the world of writing, but also teaches us how to respect the hard work of others, the judges and how to keep up the spirits in case we don't get selected among the winners. This spirit is most important and needed the most in the long run because as we keep writing, we need to keep a level headed approach towards the result. We need to first ask ourselves: Are we enjoying our work? Are we enjoying the process of writing a story or a book? If yes, then nothing should really dampen the spirit.

Instead of blaming the judges or authors of showing partiality and getting disheartened, why not take heart from the lost chance and try to better next time?
This "Write India" is a rare opportunity where we can compete on a national level directly without going through the regional levels. It is like playing in the ranji trophy directly without playing the state level competitions! You may not succeed initially, but it gives you a lot to learn and look forward to.

That's been my way of writing and I hope most people agree with me.

Wishing all the writers out there all the best!

With love.. Anil

Tears of a Legend

100 million views. The most awaited sequel to the biggest Indian movie. The costliest movie in the history of Indian movie industry. The biggest Indian franchise. A movie coming with the largest release, to be followed with the first VR Live action movie from India.

And there it came. The moment finally came when the promotions took the power that was expected of a big movie, going ahead with full speed.

Once one of the legendary music composers of Indian cinema took to stage and gave a re-rendition of the famous "Yevvadanta yevvadanta.." song, the captain of the ship came up to stage on his request and that was the moment: the moment when I saw the first tear of another legend, caused by the overwhelming emotions created and churned out by the first legend through touching lyrics. I just hoped the tears dont touch the earth so that the earth could remain immune to the immense effect of them! Why?Because those were not ordinary tears: They were the tears which evolved from just a water+salt mix to something so intense, so compressed with ambition that a single drop of that tear would have burnt the earth below! So just wanted the legend to control the flow of that immense pent-up energy so that he could show it in his next non-baahubali project and keep entertaining the society to levels unknown to us!

Citing a few words: "Eyes are not meant for tears and Heart is not meant for fear, Never get upset but always cheer.. Because you are the one who can make people smile for years."

By the way for those still wondering what was this all about, the first legend I talked about is M M Keeravaani(ఎం ఎం కీరవాణి), the second is S S Rajamouli(శ్రీశైల శ్రీ రాజమౌళి), and the event is the pre-release function of the movie "BAAHUBALI: THE CONCLUSION"!.. దండాలయ్యా దండాలయ్యా మా దర్శకుడివి నీవేనయ్యా!

With love.. Anil