Sunday, January 9, 2011

Movie Review - No one killed Jessica

Movie started with Rani Mukherjee laying out the context for the rest of the movie. Well, i found that a little bland and i felt that there was something missing in the recital, as if she was forced to recite the dialogs. The movie then gathered momentum and was a good to watch with some very fine performances by Vidya Balan, Rani mukherjee and the cop (forgot the actor's name).

However rest of the characters and the people who played them were not eye catching, however they offered good support for the film's theme. The court case was a tad irritating - They could have gotten better actors to play the roles of the two lawyers even though they were side roles. The defense lawyer was objecting on things which he should not and keeping mum on things which he should have objected on. It was showed that almost all evidence was presented on the first day of the case in court. However, it was very hard to believe that the case extended in the lower court for years before the lower court judge could rule a verdict. The viewer was left puzzled as to why would that happen, what were the arguments that were presented by Jessica's lawyer which prevented a verdict for years. By the performance and the arguments the lawyer presented on the first day two things were clear - he was dumb and he just did not have anything. So i was wondering what could he possibly do or say in the court for years. Either a proper research was not done or the court shoot was just done in a hurry.

The diminishing hope in Jessica's family was well portrayed. There were glimpses of generational differences in the levels of aggression. The ending was better than the start.

Verdict from a direction point of view - It could have been much better. It was an average direction.
Verdict from an acting point of view - Good performances from Vidya, Rani and the Cop.

My personal thoughts on the subject (side topic):
We all are pretty passive in the way we lead our lives(not without reason). Probably that is the reason why freedom struggle only gained momentum when Baapu brought in the non-violence route and brought in the mass together. People came in support of Jessica for two reasons:
1. The fear to face the situation alone was gone when there was mass participation.
2. There is an anger in all of us, each one of us has been a victim of the governance, power, corruption, harassment. There are few occasions when there is a mass movement which gives an individual an opporunity to vent out his/her anger/frustration with minimum possibility of self damage.
3. There is a fear in all of us to be in the same situation as the victim, but with mass support, an opportunity presents itself and then its doable.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Virtualization of futball world cup tournament

I have been watching world cup football. Being there is so much better than watching it on a 29" monitor at home. Minus the vuvuzela's - the crowd, their passion, their chanting makes you a part of the game and you are the game.

One thought lead to another and eventually I found myself thinking about how could I sitting at home be a part of the same excitement. The initial thought was that the game should be aired in 3-D view. But that still does make me a part of the game.

So here is a thought on improving the experience of any game that you are passionate about.

The game will be aired in 3-D but apart from having a physical stadium and seating arrangements you will have a virtual stadium whose seats will be way more than any physical stadium could hold. It will be open for purchase over the internet. So you will will find people from all over the world who cannot travel to the world cup destination sitting next to you.

It is like extending virtualization games and combining with live streaming. There will be different selection parameters which will allow you to choose a stadium - probably the viewing angle, language of choice for commentary etc.

You can also create your own private stadium where all your friends can virtually join and enjoy.

In all these virtual stadiums following will always be present:

1. Live 3-D rendering/streaming of game feeds
2. Live commentary in their own language
3. A device that they can wear which will capture their movements, the noise that they make, the slogans that they shout. So they can make all the noise, mexican waves and what not. You often find english men singing in unity - which can very well happen in the virtual stadium as well.
4. Virtual flags can be given which you can wave.

Eventually you will have one giant stadium (physical and virtual combined) and a true global participation in an event.