| |
|
Truth is stranger than fiction!
|
|
 |
|
This
might not be the regular Behindwoods column, but
it has not been a regular week either. The movies
have kept us interested; we have had quite a bit
of variety. Everyone is very forthcoming with
their appreciation of Madharasapattinam while
it has almost become fashionable to go gaga over
Inception. Almost every third person one comes
across wants to know or has an opinion on the
movie. It might not be a huge Hollywood blockbuster,
but never in the recent past has a Hollywood movie
got so much into the psyche of the local Chennai
audience so much, not even Harry Potter (the franchise
which seems to be dying a slow death in spite
of the book’s eternal popularity). But,
it is not for any of these reasons that this week
has been unusual. We have wonderful writers, directors
and actors who give us interesting, inspiring
and unpredictable movies every year. But, time
and again, we come across something in the news
or daily life that trounces all works of fiction
in terms of novelty, unpredictability and bizarreness.
This week has had such instances too where incidents
in |
|
real
life, for which scripts are not written, have turned
out to be far more interesting and nail biting than
any work of fiction that one has come across. All of
you might have seen many movies, especially Hollywood
flicks that have sports themes. We must admit that we
have all immensely enjoyed the intense last minute finishes
that have been scripted into these moves, even while
knowing for sure that it is the protagonist who is going
to win in the end. But, all this carefully planned,
well set up and scripted drama paled in front of the
dramatic moments that unfolded during the first India-SL
test last week.
There is no way even the best script writer could
have thought of such a finish. Muthiah Muralidharan
needed eight wickets to get to 800. This was his last
chance to get to the peak that no one had touched
before. One and a half days washed away by rain meant
that the peak looked like a distant dream. But, inspiration
can come from strange places and God knows where Muralidharan
found it from this time. Five wickets in the first
innings and three in the second. What’s so special
about that? The way it all finished. The last ball
of his career, the last wicket to fall in the test
match and that was wicket no.800. No one would have
thought that the ending to a glorious career could
be this perfect, almost like a fairytale. Not even
the emotional finish of Lagaan, inspirational finish
of Iqbal or whacky ending of The Longest Yard can
mach the picture perfect curtain that fell on Muthiah
Muralidharan’s career. Even the mother of all
anti-climaxes seems to have happened in real sport,
Bradman’s final innings (which has been remembered
many times this week), bettering cinema which has
reveled in celebrating the fallen hero.
Well, sports ha taken the cake for unexpected and
fairytale endings. But, what about out of the ordinary
bizarre happenings and characters (Night Shyamalan’s
films are being deliberately left out of the purview
of this discussion). We have had movies that have
showcased bizarre and unusual incidents, something
that has left even the main protagonist temporarily
nonplussed. Tamil cinema too has had its share of
bizarre on screen moments and ideas, e.g. Union government
deciding to issues stamps carrying the face of a civilian
(Thamizhan), Pakistani terrorists speaking in Tamil
(various Vijayakanth flms) etc. But, something that
came to pass this week surpasses all cinematic notions
of bizarreness. It started with the news that a special
edition of Sachin Tendulkar’s biography was
going to carry his blood on its first page. The publisher
went ahead and said that the first page would be a
mixture of pulp and the great man’s blood. Even
while many Sachin fans were trying to stomach this
‘hard to digest’ fact, out came the man
himself stating that all this had been taking place
behind his back while he was busy focusing on the
test match (which we incidentally lost).
You can’t script life. Coincidence and providence
are perhaps more powerful than any script writer’s
brain which is why the age old saying evolved ‘Truth
is stranger than fiction’. Indeed!
And, talking about fairy tale endings. Yesterday,
one of my friends and die-hard Sachin fan quipped
that the best ending to his career would be the final
of the 2011 World Cup. The final hurrah with the cup
in hand! Now, that would be the best script ever.
Respond
to 
Behindwoods is not responsible for
the views of columnists.
|
|
|
