Movies:- John Wick, Jack Reacher & The Equalizer

                                In this post, i am attempting to give reviews of five movies . As all the five are based on identical themes, so, it defeats the purpose of writing reviews for each one of them separately, besides this way, it wasn't taxing on my mind too. Starting with John Wick film franchise, it is an action thriller series, where a retired hitman grieving the loss of his wife, is forced to come out of retirement to neutralize bunch of different sets of bad guys in both movies. Here, the violent scenes are superbly shot, there isn't much in the story to scratch one's head. There is a portrayal of elegance, luxury and unhindered violence that grips viewers imagination. Keanu Reeves was exceptionally good in both the series, in fact after watching the second part,i got impatient and frantically searched for the first. A sleek and stylish action thriller, John Wick is an action movie series, brilliantly executed that it never becomes numbing and boring and a must watch for action genre viewers.

========================================================================

                         Jack Reacher series also belongs to the action thriller category. There wasn't much in the screenplay, apart from the violent stunts performed by Tom Cruise that too  have now, become too repetitive and unfortunately uninspiring . This movie series, lack in everything from story to chemistry leaving a dry mediocre action flick. This is the third movie in continuity where Tom Cruise disappoints me, the earlier being "The Mummy" which gives an impression that Tom should work on himself as he now resembles a pale shadow of his earlier self .  I am a his big admirer and is anxiously waiting for his upcoming movie "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" to be released this week and would appreciate if he recovers .

========================================================================

                        The Equalizer is the poor cousin of the above two action series i mentioned.  McCall (Denzel Washington) a retired army personal  comes out of his self-imposed retirement to punish bad guys for justice. The story was forgettable, the action scenes unrealistic and acting skills of some are questionable. This movie is ridiculously boring and a pain to watch. You can avoid your misery by not watching this blot on action genre movie.

Loneliness

                           Man is a social animal who normally strive for secure social environment to thrive. Right from the early times, man has survived in social groupings, from nomadic times (hunting) there after when started living a sedentary life. So, it isn't unusual that people are scared to be alone and there are numerous ways adapted by society to wane it. From our childhood we are programmed to find company. Friends in school to looking out for perfect partner during our young age is all considered and a well established normal process to search for a companion.

                      So is loneliness a disease that we all are obnoxiously possessive about? Even though our urge to be in company is innate or maybe inculcated from birth yet it would be silly to believe we don't feel lonely even in the best of the circumstances and in the company of our loved ones. Some of us always had solitary life by choice or fate depending on individual's perception. What and whether an individual feels lonely is also important, you could have people around you throughout the day or even be in a lifelong marriage, and still experience a deep, pervasive loneliness while a person may not feel lonely even when there is no one by his side.

                                Some of the finest works in arts, literature, science were performed by people who weren't exactly in the company of others. So why do we fight against loneliness? As mentioned before, it's considered prudent to find a right friend in childhood, then marriage and there too after a while, we become bored of each other and find salvation in kids. Fully aware the kids would grow up and eventually move out thus, again we are left alone. So is it true that like death, loneliness is our constant companion and grips us, the moment our determined or undiminished struggle against it gets weakened.

                             Isn't it worth to make peace with oneself and embrace life in its full colour with different shades, without fretting about the consequences. Enjoy the time you have alone. Schedule solitude. Literally. Mark off time in your day planner or calendar for spending alone with yourself. Any time that you can spend alone with yourself to reboot, meditate, focus, relax, create, produce, and/or think deeply is better than no time.

Movie Beirut

                              The first part of movie starts in 1972 Beirut, Mason Skiles (Jon Hamm) a U.S. diplomat, hosting a cocktail party along with his wife Nadia (Leila Bekhti) oblivious of the impending disaster in their lives . They have no children of their own, as yet, but treat 13-year-old orphan refugee Karim as “part of the family.” Karim projected himself as a Palestinian refugee with no family, the story starts and revolves around Karim and Mason, as the movie progresses it unfolds mystery about Karim. This period denotes the tinder box situation of 70's , when Lebanon was standing at the anvil of civil war, while Israel fresh from its victories was itching to go after PLO in Lebanon.

                            The second part of movie, starts a decade later in war ravaged Lebanon of 1980's. As CIA lost one of its spies, Mason was brought back from self imposed retirement and is entrusted the job of rescuing him. The story moves slowly, as this isn't  an adrenaline-pumping spy movie. It captivates audience with interesting story line laced with numerous twists. Beirut is an espionage thriller, which competently narrates a story without being biased or demonizing any faction. Jon Hamm is exceptionally comfortable in his role, at times one forgets that he is acting. Rosamund Pike too did justice to her role and has raised the bar through her acting skill. It's a treat to watch Beirut, although it reminds us of the miserable condition in that part of world where peace and prosperity remains elusive to this day.

Pakistan Elections

                              Elections are on the horizon in Pakistan when politicians gleefully accept jail sentences meted out by kangaroo (Army) courts disguised as civilian. So politicians throng to jails in alleged crimes, while terrorists have opened their shops in political mandi of Pakistan. Bizarre as it may sound, but this is the ideal time for Rawalpindi(Pakistan Army headquarters) to exploit the confusion, as Pervez Musharraf had neutralized Benazir Bhutto earlier, and General Qamar Javed Bajwa got rid off Nawaz and Maryam Sharif altogether smoothly now . So the stage is set for Army to muddle in politics through their stooges and thus we witness entry of Hafiz Saeed and suicide bombers party on one hand and on the other side an Islamist sex maniac Imran Khan. Here I haven’t mentioned, good for nothing Shahbaz Sharif or political joke Bilawal Bhutto , whose only noticeable work was sexual rendezvous with Hina Rabbani .

                          This is the golden opportunity for army as the major players are vanquished, and hence it is unlikely to be wasted by successful business enterprise of Rawalpindi. Not that it is the first time, when political parties and politicians are propped up by army, Nawaz n mandli are themselves product of largesse by General Zia. We can safely say that in Pakistan nothing has changed, history is merely repeating itself even players on the chessboard are same with added dimension of terror outfits also jumping into the fray with covert support from establishment.

                      There isn’t much to be excited about or fearful of these Pakistan new political entrants as the final authority still rests with Army. It wouldn’t be prudent to think these newly emerged parties won’t instigate people on emotive issues of Kashmir, Indus water treaty etc. As for India, the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is a deadweight better be discarded altogether without worrying much about the hollow intimidating outbursts by Pakistan.

                        Since 1960, India entered into a treaty that gave away the Indus system’s largest rivers as gifts to Pakistan in the naive hope of peace which still eludes us. All the generosity shown by India is rebuffed and has not altered hostile attitude of Pakistan towards us. Ironically while drawing the full benefits from the treaty, Pakistan has waged overt or covert aggression almost continuously and is now using the IWT itself as a stick to beat India with, including by contriving water disputes and internationalizing them.

                         IWT itself is a fraud and should be done away with as this treaty is extremely harmful to our interests. While no water treaty in the world is so lopsided as IWT, as India is entitled to just 19% share of the Indus basin water while Pakistan gets a whooping 81% share with the largest three of the six rivers were assigned to Pakistan. While the mismanagement of water resources aren’t deliberated upon in Pakistan, rather onus of water woos are mischievously deflected on India. By creating impediments on hydro power projects and seeking international mediation, Pakistan has displayed its greed and insatiable hunger, which can only be answered by revoking this biased IWT, and thus to catch its bluff.

                       Respective Central governments on their part showed their apathy towards IWT even as resolution had been passed in J&K assembly to abolish this treaty. World bank, the guarantor under guidance and influence of USA has thwarted attempts by India to utilize even legitimate share of water by us in order to please Pakistan. Despite Modi’s declaration that “blood and water cannot flow together” , the incumbent government also didn’t do much to alter the scenario which has resulted in Pakistan getting more than 10 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water yearly.

                    Even deriving maximum benefit out of IWT, Pakistan has time and again accused India of wrongdoings, continued proxy war and created impediments. It would be prudent of India to abrogate IWT, as this treaty has failed to meet its noble objective of ushering in peace. Learning from major powers, its not a crime to revoke International treaties if it undermine country’s interest as USA and China recently showed. In effect, Pakistan is offering India a significant opening to remake the terms of the Indus treaty engagement. This is an opportunity that India should not let go. All it needs is firm political will to renegotiate IWT in changed scenario and in a pragmatic manner.

                   India shouldn’t be hesitant in correcting the mistakes of past without giving much attention to emerging political scene in Pakistan. Pakistani Army( juggler) knows monkeys balancing skills very well and is skilled in taming its domestic pets. Apart from verbal jingoism, which is only going to be more shrill during election season, these pets won’t dare move an inch without approval from Pakistan army which as a true businessmen won’t risk war with India as it would be suicidal for its business interests.