SRH Vs MI: A Tim David Dubious Moment In IPL-2022?

Against my wishes as a true lover of the game of cricket, I’ve still preferred to use the word ‘dubious’ in the title of this piece. This is essentially because what happened in the 18^thover in the match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) belied all logic and tenets of professional cricket. Further, this basically business-driven tournament has had its long history of controversies and scandals over the decades. Even now, if you surf the internet over IPL matches, you’ll find a whole lot of sceptics who think most the matches are always stage-managed, primarily through the scourge of the game called spot fixing. Well, their views cannot be correct in general, because we’ve been witnessing fiercely competitive cricket in most of the IPL seasons, and on many occasions this writer has commented about the triumph of cricket over business. Okay, now to that moment that happened last evening at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

 

Mumbai, opting to field first, eventually faced a very imposing target of 194 runs to win thanks basically to SRH captain Kane Williamson’s decision to demote himself in the batting order following his series of failures as an opener and the team’s five losses on the trot, and this tactic paid dividends instantly with Priyam Garg (42 in 26) and Rahul Tripathi (76 in 44) almost took the match away from MI with, for a change, a good contribution by Nicholas Pooran (38 in 22). However, again for a change, MI raced to an opening partnership of 95 runs in the 11^thover and was very much in the game. But then, an inspired bowling by the Indian pace sensation Umran Malik and Washington Sundar jolted them badly, Rohit Sharma narrowly missing what could’ve been his first fifty of the ipl-2022, and MI was finally reduced to needing 67 runs of the last five overs which was near definitive with all recognized batsmen back in the pavilion.

 

And then Tim David who was given only three matches prior to this with insignificant performances happened. He started hitting all around the park from the word go notching up 46 runs in just 18 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes. In that momentous 18^thover David collected 26 runs off the first five balls of Natarajan, suddenly making MI looking at a magnificent victory needing only 19 runs in 13 balls which was immensely achievable considering the standards of the tournament. But unfortunately, in a desperate move to retain the strike David raced to the other end. It was hardly convincing that he failed to notice that the ball never actually went beyond the bowler. To bring it to a horrible disaster, Ramandeep Singh, also started running to the other end instead of taking the most professional and logical step of sacrificing his wicket. And can you believe it? In the 19^th over with a new batsman at the crease the much-discredited veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivered a maiden. Perhaps a never-before incident in IPL history. Ramandeep tried this best in the last over, but SRH went on to win by just 3 runs.

 

Now was this ‘dubious’ or ‘rush of blood’ or ‘unprofessional’ or a combination of all? ‘Rush of blood’ perception is valid to the extent that both of the batsmen involved were rookies—Time David a Singaporean-Australian batting all-rounder who made his debut in T20 cricket only in 2019 for the Singapore National Cricket team playing, so far, only T20 cricket in various leagues and became the first Singapore cricketer to feature in IPL when he was purchased by Chennai in 2021 while Ramandeep Singh, a bowling all-rounder and a Ranji Trophy player, was playing his first IPL. But even then, they’ve been playing in tough competitive cricket and should’ve at least been aware of the professional cricket standards.  Besides, one rookie should not so much doubt the ability of another officially all-rounder rookie to take a single. In all, combined with the stark unprofessionalism, lack of any logic this act verges on the absurd, and therefore, I stick to my word ‘dubious’.

 

Now, what are the ramifications that could follow this action? IPL-2022 is already hit from the business side with the consistent franchise MI set to figure at that bottom and not only that the same team also ousted the commercially more viable franchise CSK; and had MI pulled off the match SRH would also have been out of contention. If Kolkata wins today against Lucknow the former will reach 14 points; if Bangalore loses tomorrow against Gujarat the former will remain on 14; if Delhi loses against Mumbai the former remains on 14 points; and in that scenario the last league between Hyderabad and Punjab is set to be a do-or-die match, if the former wins, they will also be on 14 points. This signifies a five-way locking of 14 points with the net run-rate becoming the decisive factor. So much for keeping the excitement of the tournament on. Of course, other options are immensely possible and one or two of such possibilities could still make the last league match inconsequential. Anyway, we’re going to observe the proceedings of the tournament very closely here onward. Very closely indeed. And we’d like to be proved dreadfully wrong.

Movie Bachchan Paandey: The Comedy Of Horrors!

An out and out formulaic Bollywood movie ‘Bachchan Paandey’ has been theatrically released all over India on 18^th March 2022 and then Amazon Prime Video started streaming it from 15^th April. The movie’s release has been pending since December 2020 due to various reasons including the pandemic. ‘Bachchan Paandey’ is produced Sajid Nadiadwala of the famed filmmaking house of the Nadiadwala that is celebrating 70 years of filmmaking and is directed   by Farhad Samji. The film is reportedly a remake of the Tamil movie ‘Jigarthanda’ (2014) and also supposedly inspired by the South Korean flick ‘A Dirty Carnival’ (2006). The hero or the antihero or the protagonist or the antagonist, whatever you may decipher after watching the movie, of the movie is the immensely popular action-comedy hero Akshay Kumar with the female lead played by the new generation heroine Kriti Sanon. Popular comedian and character actor Arshad Warsi also plays a key role and Jacqueline Fernandez does a cameo.

 

The details of the genre shown about the movie include ‘comedy’, ‘action’ and ‘suspense’ which is rather confusing for the discerning viewers. At the very outset Bachchan Paandey played by Akshay Kumar is shown as the one-eyed brutal killer-goon-villain-or-whatever burning a journalist alive while in the process making facial distortions and caricatures of the most horridly scary kind. The casting of the superstar in this role is thus revealing. Viewers of the normal kind just cannot empathize with a menacing villain, but with Akshay playing it the expectations are set alive and kicking; because, viewers would very naturally expect a ‘justifying’ story behind as to why he is such a monster, and better late than never, the director does deliver a background story of love and betrayal that however turns out to be full of cliches and utter predictability.

 

I just cannot keep my mind away from the ‘genre’ complexities. Thinking it can probably fit in as a black comedy, I did some research by Google search and found that black comedy takes a lighter view of very serious subjects with doses of black or satiric or cynical humor. Unfortunately, we fail to find humor of any of those in the movie, unless gruesome maniacal caricatures and the ‘hero’ and his equally fitting goon-mates going often on a spree of killings while singing and dancing are considered to be humorous in India. So, I put in further efforts and discovered that the movie can somewhat fit in as black comedy of the ‘grotesque’ genre.

 

I also found a quote of Sigmund Freud in a Wikipedia page that says: Sigmond Freud in his essay on Humor (Der Humor) in 1927 puts forth the following theory of black comedy: "The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure." Perhaps this somewhat describes the character played by Akshay Kumar.

 

The poster of the film used here is also misleading, in the sense that the heroine Myra played by Kriti Sanon is not at all a gun-toting one, she is only a rebuffed budding film director who, looking for commercially viable subjects, finally sets her mind on Bachchan Paandey for a biopic. Helped, although reluctantly, her friend Vishu Kant Mhatre played by Arshad Warsi she lands in Paandey’s fiefdom of Baagwa where the law enforcers, somewhat realistic in the context of India, are impotent and unabashed slaves of Paandey.

 

Anyway, through a supposedly humorous and often ridiculous proceedings Myra finally succeeds in starting a film where Bachchan becomes the reel-hero too. However, she makes a comedy movie by capturing some off-script scenes through a hidden camera, contrary to the expectations of Bachchan and his goons that the movie would highlight Paandey’s lifetime principle of ‘fear is the key’. We are shown only bits of Myra’s film in the premiere show and are astounded by the responses of the viewers. Their LOLs and amusement would beat the great all-time comedy hits like ‘Padosan’ (1968), ‘Golmaal’ (1979) and ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ (1983). We are at a total loss as to understand why.

 

The background score and the songs in their die-hard efforts to enliven the ‘comic’ affairs are the most jarring part of the movie and they force you go fast forward if you’re watching on the streaming platforms. Of course, cinematography and other technical details are as per the Bollywood standards. As for the humor or black humor or the lack of it the immensely talented Pankaj Tripathi playing a weird kind of an acting coach makes the sincerest efforts in his limited role to ignite some laughter. Although Myra’s comedy film is supposed to have brought about a change of heart in Paandey, he kills again in brutal abandon his political Guru played by Mohan Agashe. The movie is watchable only for Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi and Kriti Sanon. Of course, if you’re an Akshay fan you’re sure to shriek shrill and cheer his ‘change of heart’ at the very end.

Not Much Ado About Taking A Break!

Earlier, commercial breaks were not as intrusive as we could anticipate the time and quantity of their coming perfectly thanks to the limited opportunities available. Doordarshan was the only television channel, entertainment-public service-news all combined, for us to confront them.  We knew that maximum ad time would be for the Sunday evening Hindi feature film and we used to utilize those commercial breaks to entertain ‘silent’ guests, discuss the movie on air and make tea. The virtual breaks that were intrusive even then were the songs of Hindi or Bollywood movies that caught us unawares as always forcing us to take a break and go out of the theater into the lobby.  However, with the advent of cable television and the flood of private entertainment and news channels intruding-annoying-agonizing breaks have become a part and parcel of our existence—you like it or not.

There emerged a rich variety of how the commercial breaks began to be presented to us. Maybe at the innermost part of their hearts the channel executives also understood the fact that commercial breaks were not so welcome things for viewers, and therefore, the underlying similarity amid the variety was the restrain that the break was ‘short’ or ‘very short’. They also understood that they were getting more advertising breaks because the main show was very popular, and so they always said ‘Now we are going to take a short commercial break. Please keep watching (or please do not go anywhere).’ If the host of the show was some legend like Amitabh Bachchan he could very well command ‘We are taking only a very short commercial break, don’t dare going anywhere else!’ Like the high-voltage drama the private entertainment or news channels are used to on a daily basis they tried to convince the viewers that those ‘short’ breaks were absolutely necessary and they had no option but to take those even at the cost of disturbing the main show.

Some other sober channels made it plain and simple or even boring. ‘Now there is a short break, we will be back after a short while.’ ‘Now we will take a short commercial break. Stay tuned.’ ‘Rest of the news (or program) after a short commercial break.’ Or a little brighter, ‘Prime time show will be back after a short commercial break. Lots more to come on the other side. Stay tuned.’ Of course, breaks in the movies or TV serials are not announced and they keep on coming of their own sweet will and timing.

As per the new guidelines on maximum television commercial time per hour the channels have to put the countdown timer on screen for the last two minutes of commercial breaks. This has made the waiting time of viewers a little more predictable as they can now do other things and get ready for the programme the moment the clock shows on the screen. This has also led to some interesting results—particularly in the movie channels. They have started mixing up the breaks taking deliriously-announced two-minute breaks sometimes and the ‘unlimited’ breaks at other time. Some channels also advertise ‘no break’ or ‘single break’ movies too from time to time. However, the viewers often have to pay the price of ‘less or no breaks’ with sudden and unannounced ‘unlimited’ breaks going up to even 10/15 minutes.

Things become easier if you think that you can also take breaks in true and full spirit as with those imposed on you or even otherwise. You must have enjoyed taking a break from one of the most one-sided World Cups where your excitement grew, and grew to fever pitch to finally end with a bitter feeling of let-down and crushing disappointment, if you had been India or South Africa or New Zealand fans. Now with the cricket extravaganza named IPL-8 in full swing you have the additional benefits of enjoying even ‘strategic’ breaks. You also must relished a break from Arvind Kejriwal who after getting an unprecedented mandate from Delhi voters for his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and becoming Chief Minister a second time despite the tag of a ‘runaway CM’ got autocratically inspired and started breaking up his own party.

After all, every living soul is entitled for taking a break. This is a very socialistic and egalitarian phenomenon. No differentiation or discrimination made on the class or creed of the break-taker on exercising his/her most democratic right. As you have witnessed only recently how a so crucially important public figure and a people’s representative went missing on a break taken all of a sudden. Yes, we are talking of the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who decided to exercise his democratic right, went on a break and reappeared after nearly two months and a huntingly committed media failed even to hint at his possible whereabouts. So, there is nothing wrong if this writer too goes on a break now and then. It is also absolutely not necessary to mention any reason or the lack of it for the break. In this abounding world of breaks and starts whenever and wherever you feel like…do….Take A Break!