let he who is without sin, cast the first stone...

The recent Racial Attacks on Indian students in Australia have been making headlines for almost a month now. And reports of fresh attacks just keep coming in every week.
The outrage of Indians close to the attacks and here at home has been predictable and understandable. Diplomatic ties between India and the land down under are being tested as Protesters are marching in both countries. The situation is obviously one which has caused much grief to the Australian authorities.

But before we get into any more details,let us pause for a minute and ask ourselves, Is racial abuse prevalent only in the western world? India has its own share of racist or at least discriminatory acts of violence. The most prominent one being the immolation of the Australian Graham Stewart Steins, and his two sons by an irate mob in Orissa. The Christian Missionary along with his children was burnt alive in the night while sleeping in his station wagon.

Such acts of discrimination have not been limited to foreigners. In the Indian province of Rajasthan, between the years 1999 and 2002, crimes against Dalits average at about 5024 a year, with 46 killings and 138 cases of rape. Incidents of the lower caste populous being tormented and victimised by the upper caste "elite" are so common that they have stopped becoming newsworthy.
Can we truly point fingers at a another when we ourselves are incapable of demonstrating anti-discriminatory behavior?

What makes the recent attacks so significant as to overshadow our own violent past? Economic conditions are worsening globally. Recession has caused many companies in the west are being forced to execute layoff procedures and find cheaper alternatives. India has been one of the prime destinations for outsourcing jobs at very low costs. Indians are therefore perceived by many victims of the aforementioned layoffs as the cause of their financial disparity.

This article is in no way intended to be an argument to defend the actions of those Australians who committed the attacks against our fellow Indians. Rather a call for introspection and action. Justice is required for those who have been wronged by racists, outside our nation and also within.

Terminator Salvation

The Terminator is back! But this time it's not our beloved Governor from California and neither has the protagonist travelled back in time to save the day.
In fact this is the first Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger and that is set during the post apocalyptic future in the Terminator universe.

The talented Christian Bale (American Psycho, Batman Begins, The Prestige) plays the savior of humanity and future leader of the human rebellion, John Connor. Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village, Lady in the Water, Spiderman 3) is our dear boy John's pregnant wife. Anton Yetchin is John Connor's to be right hand man, Kyle Reese. The terminator, if that is in fact the correct term to be used, for this movie is Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington (Hart's War, Dirty Deeds, Fink!).
The story is to be set in a future that has been altered somewhat due to the events that take place during the previous two movies (Terminator2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines). This altered future would provide the new owners of the franchise, The Halcyon Company, to lay groundwork for a fresh new trilogy. Director Mcg's vision of the Terminator series might be interesting considering his previous movies (Charlie’s Angels movies, We are Marshall).

The movie released in the United States on May 21st 2009, and in other regions in the early weeks of June. Although the flick received mixed reviews and has been thrashed by many viewers, the box office collections seem to suggest otherwise. With a worldwide collection of over $200 million and only completed three weeks at the cinemas, the movie is bound to cash in more moolah. And with two more sequels planned in the next 3-4 years, the Terminator can definitely say, "I'll be Back!"

Angels & Demons

The professor of religious iconology and symbology, Dr. Robert Langdon is back to save the day! And this time around the stakes are higher as he tries to stop the unscrupulous Illuminati from destroying The Vatican.

Based on the book by Dan Brown, "Angels & Demons" is a sequel to the 2006 film "The Davinci Code", also adapted from Brown's book of the same name. However the narrative of this story is a prequel to the latter.

Academy award winning Director, Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon ), who directed the 2006 prequel, once again gets behind the camera to bring the book to the silver screen. Also returning, is the critically acclaimed star who portrayed the character in the previous movie, Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, Castaway, Sleepless In Seattle). Joining the big names in this movie are Ewan McGregor (A Life Less Ordinary, Moulin Rouge, The Island) and Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer (Vantage Point,Munich).

Although the movie has altered many plot elements and characters from the book, the celluloid treatment remains quite faithful to the original book. Viewers will enjoy the movie for it's take on the controversial debate of science versus religion in true Dan Brown style. However critics have panned Howard for being repetitive in his choice of material. Tom Hanks sports a better look in this movie as compared to the last one and seems more comfortable with the character than before. Although McGregor might just steal the show with his performance!

Despite mixed reviews by viewers and critics alike the movie has managed to claim the top spot at Box Offices across the globe in it's opening weekend. Grossing over $261 million worldwide, on a budget of $150 million, the movie has definitely proven to be a box-office success!

Wonder if producers might consider turning other literary works of Brown into block-buster movies!