Sunday, March 20, 2011

Fast bowling all rounders

If Indian cricket team is lacking in something it is an all rounder who can bowl fast or at least fast medium or medium fast. All the other big teams in the world cup have such an all rounder. Some have two. For Australia there is Shane Watson. Jack Kallis for South Africa, Abdul Razzaq for Pakistan, Angelo Mathews for Sri Lanka, Andrew Russell and Kieron Pollard for West Indies, Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara for England and Scott Styris and Jacob Oram for New Zealand.

India has batsmen who can bowl spin like Yuvraj, Yousuf Pathan, Suresh Raina. Virender Sehwag hasn’t bowled in this world cup because of injury. They are at best part-time bowlers and not genuine all rounders in the strict sense. For India after the exit of Kapil Dev, Irfan Pathan was the only who could fit into that role. Saurav Ganguly was too much of a batsman than a bowler and that too of military medium pace.

A real fast bowling all rounder should be at least 60 % bowler and 40 % batsmen. The likes of Shane Watson and Jack Kallis are more batsmen all rounders. But captains rely on them to complete the quota of ten overs. If you look at the great all rounders of the past like Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee and Ian Botham, they are all fast bowling all rounders not just in ODIs but in tests too. At times their batting did shine more than their bowling. But they were essentially bowlers who could bat well. They had better bowling averages than batting averages.

In India’s case, the so called all rounders are batsmen but are called by the captain to bowl when the conditions suit them or when other bowlers are giving too many runs. Irfan started as a good swing bowler. But he lost pace and ability to swing probably due to a faulty action while his batting improved considerably. But he was in the team primarily as a bowler. When wickets dried up he lost his place in the team. I’m hoping that he will make a comeback.

In ODIs such an all rounder gives plenty of options to the captain of the team as he can be the fifth specialist bowler who can lend solidity to batting in the lower order. Indian team in this world cup has played matches so far with four specialist bowlers and seven batsmen and has been struggling to get the combination right. The other teams don’t face this problem as they have a fast bowling all rounder. Of course some teams face a dearth of a good spinner but that is another matter.

Even if India wins the world cup, I think to maintain its supremacy as a top ODI team a fast bowling all rounder is essential as the batsmen acting as part-time spinners may not be that effective in the pitches outside the sub-continent. When Australia reigned as a champion team for around ten years since late nineties, it had Steve Waugh and Andrew Symonds playing this role efficiently.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

In praise of saree

Draping a saree is an art by itself. The five to six metre piece of cloth needs to be worn skillfully or it could end up revealing more than what it conceals. Certain women look good in sarees and certain don’t. It is as simple as that

Do all tall women look good in saree? Height is certainly an advantage but shorties too can look equally elegant in a saree. It all boils down to how you wear and carry it, whether you are tall or short doesn’t matter.

Today, young women keep it for special occasions. Most office goers shun saree and opt for the ubiquitous churidhar kameez for the sake of convenience. They can’t be blamed because saree doesn’t give the freedom that churidhar does while traveling in a bus or riding a two wheeler. Generally, churidhar kameez is considered a safe bet as it covers the body and hides love handles as well!

There is another reason for evading saree. Just walking along the road wrapped in one can be tricky. If careless, this wonderful piece of garment can offer an open invitation for oglers and eve-teasers. But to those keen on flaunting their body covertly there is nothing to beat saree. It has given saree a dubious reputation in films. For songs shot in rain, the actress inevitably has to wear transparent sarees to get the seductive look. A clinging wet saree will melt hero’s heart faster than ice. Yes, there are a few saree aficionados who consider it safer and surprisingly feel exposed in churidhars !

I plan to focus on the celebration of saree. Since there are lots of celebrities, right from Indira Gandhi to my former colleague Leela Menon, who can make saree look like the best dress designed for women, I’ll limit the write-up to actors who stand out in the crowd in a saree.

Vidya Balan comes to the mind first. Here is someone who takes pride in donning one when saree is given the least sartorial preference in Bollywood. Saree with the combination of long sleeved blouses gives her killer looks something which other women crave for in variety of glam clothes. She played Amitabh Bacchan’s mother in Paa. But she pulled it off wearing lovely sarees that amplified her improving acting skills

The picture of Zarina Wahab in a saree is forever entrenched in the mind of Malayalis. After the runaway hit Madanotsavam in which she appeared mostly in western clothes, people were thrilled to see her in a simple Kerala saree crooning the melodious `naadha nee varum’ in Chaamaram. A North Indian, she looked every inch a Malayali in the film. Again in the movie Paalangal, she looked equally splendid in saree.

Sumalatha, who played the heroine of Mammootty and Mohanlal in several films, has a body which lends itself to wearing a saree. Her height is a plus point. Saree brings out her beauty in the song `Poomaname’ from Nirakkoottu

Shobana never looked more beautiful than when she was in saree. Saree began to look good on her in the late eighties as she began to mature as an actress. In the nineties she was the best advertisement for saree. One can’t imagine Ganga in any other dress but saree in Manichitrathazhu. Any other dress won’t have the same effect. Ok, in the crucial scene she came in dancer’s attire. But that was for a short time. In the Hindi version Vidya Balan was the right choice for Shobana as she is another stunner in saree.

Going further back to Seventies, saree nearly slipped out of fashion. Bell bottoms were the rage. Saree was the rule and not the exception before this period. Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi and Neetu Singh, Mumtaz etc ushered in a craze for fashionable wear. But saree held its own, thanks to heroines in serious films. I should say that Sharmila was quite graceful in a saree especially in Bengali films. Hema Malini did wear saree to a good effect in some movies. But being a natural beauty she looked riveting in any other dress like Aishwarya Rai or Madhuri Dikshit.

But the same cannot be said for cat-eyed Rakhee. I can’t visualize this Bengali beauty in any other dress. She was a typical example of saree suiting a short person. Just have a look at her in films Blackmail, Trishul, Kabhi Kabhi, Muqaddar Ka Sikander and Jurmana. The song `Sawan ke jhoole pade’ in Jurmana has her ample pallu billowing in the breeze to the words `aanchal na chode pawan.’. Another not-so-popular actress Vidya Sinha was gorgeous in saree despite her pleasantly plump body. Anybody who has seen the movie Rajnigandha will vouch for that.

Cut to new millennium and you have the glamorous Sushmita Sen in a saree sweeping a hapless Sharukh Khan off the feet in Main Hoon Na. So ravishing she looked that the viewers did not mind the fact that the saree didn’t cover all the parts of her six-foot frame.

When I discussed this topic with my friends they told me not to forget the doe-eyed south Indian beauty Bhanupriya. Saree adds to her dusky charms. Bhanupriya in saree made watching Azhakiya Ravanan a memorable experience. Like Bhanupriya, eyes are the first thing you notice in Madhavi. The allure of her eyes topped by a prominent bindi together with the simple and chic sarees she wore had a devastating effect on the Malayali viewers in the eighties. This was before she became popular as Unniyarcha of Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha. She projected a dignified persona totally different from her swimsuit-clad sultry siren image in Tamil films.

Sneha has taken saree to greater heights. She looks elegance personified in a saree. I’ve seen her appear in many Tamil song scenes in a saree. No wonder the heroes are floored! Talking of dark beauties one can’t ignore Nandita Das. Saree enhances her appeal. How quietly sensual was she in a saree in 1947 Earth.

Among the present lot of Malayali heroines Samvritha Sunil alone stands out in saree. Her height obviously helps to make her lovely in a saree. I’ve also felt that saree suited Samyukta Varma more than other dresses.

My fervent hope is that saree doesn’t run out of fashion in the invasion of new dresses over the years. For saree does make many Indian women more beautiful.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Unknown melam fan

In the sea of wildly flaying limbs, I see his arms. There he is in the jostling crowd enjoying the paandi melam at Maradu temple festival. His arms are up in the air, active as usual, setting the tone for the melam rhythms. A languid smile lights up his thin mustachioed face as he stands there soaking up every nuance of the beats.

This piece is dedicated to an unknown man who I keep seeing at temple festivals. Wherever there is percussion–dominated temple ensemble or melam, in local parlance, in Ernakulam town and suburbs, he is invariably there.

By just looking at his arms you can gauge the changes in the rhythms. The melam proceeds at a leisurely pace and it seems a piece of cake for an avid melam devotee like him to judge the shift in the cadence.

His arm measures the rhythms and in between he extends it to signal the change in the tempo when all the instruments- chenda, elathalam, kombu and kuzhal join in unison. The slow and fast tempo alternates as the beats gather pace. In about two hours (sometimes it takes longer) the intervals between the ebb and flow of the orchestra disappears by which time the beating of chendas (drums) will reach a deafening high.

All this while he never loses focus and stands rooted to the spot in front of parasol-bearing caparisoned elephants lazily flapping their massive ears. His arms never get tired. If his right arm flags, the left one takes over.

As the pace of the melam quickens, so does his expressions. The smile is replaced by an ecstatic grin. Both his arms now come into play. His whole body sways slightly in tandem with the undulating beats. As the frenzied rhythms swell, he waves his arms and lets out a cry of joy inaudible in the thunderous reverberations of vigorous beating of chendas by over 100 performers and the roar of the cheering crowd. You have to make out the signs of mild shout from the puckering of his lips. I feel that the mela pramani,the chief drummer controlling the show,who in this case is none other than Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, picks up the cue for change in the cadence from this man's arms as he always stands face-to-face with the drummers.

The melam reaches a crescendo and then comes to a close. As the musicians pack up, he dissolves into the crowd as unobtrusively as he comes. I think of meeting him after the melams, but he has never given me a chance.

Whenever I go to listen to a temple melam, be it a panchaari, pandi or panchavaadyam, my eyes keep searching for this man’s face. It is probably easier to spot his arms as they will be precisely counting the rhythms. It is always a delight to watch him as he enlivens even a lull during a melam.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Boxing Flicks

The Fighter is a movie that received seven Oscar nominations this year including that for best picture and best director. It won two for best supporting actor and actress. What is so special about the movie? It’s a boxing drama about Irish boxer Micky Ward who is trained by his brother on a parole from jail. Mark Wahlberg dons the role of Micky Ward while Christian Bale of `Batman’ fame, who bagged an oscar, appears as his brother.

It’s just another example of Hollywood’s continuing obsession about movies with boxing as motif. Perhaps along with baseball, boxing may be the sports predominantly represented in the flicks churned out by Hollywood.

Interestingly, most of these films have been on the life of a particular boxer or inspired by his exploits in the boxing ring. Perhaps the best one was critically acclaimed Raging Bull, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring Robert Deniro as middle weight boxer Jaka La Motta The film was brutally frank in depicting the boxer’s life

Sylvestor Stallone’s Rocky series took boxing to those uninitiated in the sport. The success of Rocky spawned not just one or two but five sequels, the latest one Rocky Balboa coming as recent as couple of years ago In the case of Rocky, Stallone was inspired by Chuck Wepner, an unfancied boxer who survived a 15 round fight with the great Mohammed Ali at his prime in the seventies.

Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby about a woman boxer fetched Hillary Swank a best actress Oscar few years ago. In 2008, there was Phantom Punch with Ving Rhames appearing as heavyweight boxer Sonny Liston who died allegedly from a drug overdose. Many stars have played the part of boxers in films.The Cindrella Man in 2005 had Russel Crowe as pugilist James L Braddock. Black superstar Will Smith came as Mohammed Ali in the Michael Mann directred Ali. It featured Ali’s epic fight with George Foreman in Zaire touted as Rumble in the Jungle. Daniel Day Lewis portrayed a boxer in The Boxer.

This fixation for boxing themes is not something that developed in the past couple of decades. Swashbuckling Errol Flynn played the part of real life boxing pioneer James J Corbett way back in 1942 in the movie Gentleman Jim. In 1949 the boxing movie Champion made a star out of Kirk Douglas. In the fifties Paul Newman successfully essayed the role of middle weight boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me. It was the first major film of this handsome actor with sparkling blue eyes. In the seventies, you had John Huston’s Fat City on the life of two boxers Jeff Bridges and Stacy Keach at two different points in their life. Another notable boxing movie was The Great White Hope in 1970. It had James Earl Jones depicting the black heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson.

Considering the passion for the sport in the US, I think Hollywood companies will continue to bet their money on films on boxing