ICE CRISIS: MELTING OF ICE GLACIERS

This was the research essay I submitted for the CIA 1&2 for the course on Contemporary Issues. I got 35/40 for this. 

(I was motivated to take this topic as this event occurred right as we were told to select our topics. I was also keen on this topic as i had picked up the National Geographic Magazine Issue in July and the cover issue was Secret Report: Antarctica which focused on how speed of melting of glaciers in the continent of Antarctica has increased and could result in rise of sea-levels.)

ICE CRISIS: MELTING OF ICE GLACIERS

                                                -Reubyn Coutinho

INTRODUCTION

No place on Earth compares to the vast white wilderness of forces of snow, ice, water and rock. Antarctica is simply stunning. (1) Antarctica is the 5th largest contingent on the planet earth, twice the size of the island of Australia. With an average elevation of 2.5 km, it is the highest continent and with an average temperature of -50 degrees, it is the coldest continent. The continent is 99% ice and is home to 90% of the world’s ice in an area just one and half times the size of the United States of America. It has a two mile thickness of ice on an average. (2)

70% of the planets freshwater is in the continent of Antarctica in the form of ice. Despite this, the continent of Antarctica is classified as a desert region (specifically an arctic desert) due to the fact that it receives less than 6.5 inches of rainfall annually. (3)

Antarctica can be divided into two parts. They are West Antarctica and East Antarctica. The mountain range known as the Transantarctic Mountains divides the desert continent of Antarctica into West and East. (4) East Antarctica is the larger half of the continent. It is considerably larger than West Antarctica. The ice sheet covering East Antarctica has a thickness of five km in some regions. (4)

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) is more stable than the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) as a bulk of the ice sheet rests on bedrock high above current sea level.  (5)

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is mostly grounded below sea level. As most of this Ice Sheet lies below sea level it is a Marine Ice Sheet. West Antarctica is the largest Marine Ice Sheet on Earth. Being a marine Ice Sheet it is capable of rapid change and therefore could be unstable.(23)

Ice is constantly on the move at Antarctica. It moves faster at the Ice Shelves and Glaciers.

The ice shelves are a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface, typically in Antarctica or Greenland.(6) They are akin to floating dams. They act as barriers which prevent inland glaciers and Ice Sheets from slipping into the sea. (7)

Ice Shelves floating in the water

 The ice shelves are already floating in the water, hence they don’t add much to the sea level. But as they weaken and split away to form Ice Bergs, the glaciers behind them retreat as ice rapidly flow into the sea. (8)

Picture a dam, and imagine what happens if they dam breaks or is opened. The commodity beyond just flows.

"Although floating ice shelves have only a modest impact on of sea-level rise, ice from Antarctica's interior can discharge into the ocean when they collapse. Consequently we will see increase in the ice-sheet contribution to global sea-level rise.

Dr Hilmar Gudmundsson, British Antarctic Survey (9)

According to Helen Fricker of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, the ice shelves – are the canary in the coal mine. She adds that when an ice shelf melts sea level doesn’t rise but it’s like a signal that a rise is imminent, as glaciers behind the shelf will accelerate.

A study published in The Cryosphere showed signs of an initial crack in Larsen C in 2010. The crack’s developments were tracked closely over the next few years by scientists. The crack’s growth began speeding up in 2014. NASA’s operation Ice Bridge in late 2016, captured a photo of the rift which now measured 113 km long and 91 m wide. In June the Antarctic Research group Project MIDAS showed that 5 km of ice was all that held the ice shelf to the continent. (13)

The Pine Island Ice Shelf has a thickness of 1,300 feet over most of its area. It has thinned by an average of 150 feet over the last two decades from 1994 to 2012. Pine Island Ice Shelf are shredded by rifts a quarter mile across (16)

This essay will look at the recent event of Larsen Ice Shelf C splitting away, ice shelves of the Amundsen Sea Glaciers, Larsen Ice Shelf A, vulnerable glaciers of East Antarctica.

Secondary data from websites and magazine and newspaper articles will be used in the essay.

MAIN BODY

Floating Ice Shelves of which West Antarctic is the largest, buttress coastal glaciers and the inland ice behind them. As mentioned above, when ice shelves break up to form ice bergs, the glaciers and land ice become a part of the sea much faster.

STABLE

The ocean’s force on an ice shelf and the friction from the bedrock of the continent keeps the glacier in place.

BREAKING APART

Ice Shelves break as warm air and sea water melt it. The glacier’s flow could get lubricated by the melted ice draining to its base.

ACCELERATING LOSS

The glacier loses mass, causing the slopes to grow even steeper. This hastens the flow of glaciers into the ocean.

ERODING FROM THE BOTTOM

Warm Currents pushing under ice shelves are eating away at the Totten Glacier in East Antarctica and the Amuldsen glaciers in West Antarctica. As the Glaciers retreat down these slopes, they may pass a point of no return.

ANCHORED GLACIERS

These glaciers sit in marine basins and are pinned at the grounding line to a seafloor ridge.

RETREATING GLACIERS

Warm currents push back the grounding line, detach the ice and speed it’s flow and retreat.

A large movement of water in one direction is a current. Currents can be temporary or long-lasting; they can be near the surface or in the deep ocean. The largest currents shape the Earth’s global climate patterns (and even local weather conditions) by moving heat around the world. (10)

The Pine Island Ice Shelf is warmed from below by Circumpolar Deep Water, which has resulted in system imbalances, more intense melting, glacier acceleration and drainage basin drawdown. This is the so called “Weak Underbelly” of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which may be prone to collapse. Pine Island Glacier is thinning, and, combined with rapid basal melting of the Amundsen Sea ice shelves, means that there is concern for the future viability of its fringing ice shelves (11)

Strong winds on the East Antarctic generate waves which circle the continent at approximately 700 kmph. These waves are generated 6000 km away from the Marine Ice Sheet of West Antarctica and when they meet the steep underwater structures of this region, they push the warm water under the ice shelves. This helps explain the high melt rate in the region which leads to parts of trillion tonne ice shelves (Larsen C) to partly break away from the continent.

The warm Antarctic Circumpolar Current passes quite close to the continental shelf in this region, providing a source for this warm water.

According to Dr Paul Spence from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, it is the combination of available warm water offshore and its transportation to the shelves that has seen rapid melting of Ice Shelves along West Antarctica for many years. (12)

“That remote winds on the opposite side of Antarctica can cause such a substantial subsurface warming is a worrying aspect of the circulation at the Antarctic margin."

The worrying aspect of circulation at the Antarctic margin is that faraway winds on the opposite side of Antarctica can cause massive subsurface warming.

The changes in the Antarctic coastal winds, particularly along East Antarctica, might themselves be related to climate change. This is because as Earth gets hotter the strong westerly winds associated with storms over the Southern Ocean contract toward the poles and in turn changing the winds near the Antarctic continent. (12)

When the researchers modelled the impacts of these altered winds on Antarctica they found that they could drive warming of up to 1°C of the waters at the depth of floating ice shelves along the Western Antarctica Peninsula.

This could have significant implications for Antarctica's ice shelves and ice sheets. Previous research showing that even small increases in ocean temperatures can substantially increase melt rates around the Peninsula. (12)

LARSEN ICE SHELF C

On 12th July, 2017 a part of Larsen Ice Shelf C broke away from the highly vulnerable Antarctic Peninsula located in Western Antarctica. The Larsen Ice Shelf is made up of a series of smaller Ice Shelves identified by alphabets from A to G. Larsen Ice Shelf C follows Larsen Ice Shelf A which broke away in 1995 and Larsen ice Shelf B which broke away in 2002. The Larsen C Ice Shelf is the fourth largest Ice Shelf in Antarctica and is larger than Larsen Ice Shelves A and B.

The Ice Berg which broke away has been equated to about a quarter of the size of Wales, or four times as big as London (9) twice the size of Luxembourg (14)

After the ice berg, which has been christened as A68, detached and floated away. Dr Anna Hogg, an ESA Research Fellow in the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) from the University of Leeds and Dr Hilmar Gudmundsson, from the British Antarctic Survey have tracked the iceberg A68 - using the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Commission's Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite. (15) The Antarctic report tweeted that the iceberg will be the third largest since satellite tracking began.

The gap between the Larsen Ice Shelf C and the Ice Berg A68 is now 5 km wide and increasing by the minute. (15)

 11 smaller ice bergs have been formed. The largest of these 11 is a 13 km long berg. These bits have broken off from Ice Berg A68 as well as from Larsen ice Shelf C which is still attached to the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet, which can be termed as collateral damage. It measures 200 m thick and its depth below sea level could reach 210 m, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). (13)

This calving left the Larsen C Ice Shelf about 12% smaller in area and at its lowest known extent. (14)

Dr Anna Hogg has gone on to say that it looks like the Larsen C Story may not be over yet as satellite images are showing continued action on the Larsen C Ice Shelf. The cracks are growing towards a feature known as the Bawden Ice Rise. The ice rise provides structural support for the remaining ice shelf. In the event of an Ice Shelf losing contact with the ice rise(it could happen here) due to a large ice berg calving event (A68 has been calved from Larsen C) there can be a massive increase in ice speed, and may even result in further destabilisation. (15). If the entire Larsen C disintegrates, it is estimated to increase sea water levels by 10 cm.

MIDAS had reported on their website that glacial flow in the Antarctic Peninsula had tripled in speed, resulting in high-record flow. According to MIDAS, it’s not man- made climate change, but natural causes are the reason behind the calving. (13)

Ice that Larsen C had lost cannot be entirely blamed on warming air temperatures. Two other factors are linked to the loss of ice. (13)

First is the loss of air in its snow covering, called firn. Tiny pockets of air in the firn act as an insulator for the ice sheet beneath. As the firn melts, it loses this air. The resulting meltwater ponds and the absorption of heat and sunlight drive further melting.(13)

The second factor is the melting of its mass from below. The ice melts as it is exposed to warmer waters of the Weddell Sea from south-east Argentina (the closest continental mass near Antarctica). Like Larsen B before its collapse in 2002, Larsen C is experiencing sinking of the shelf because of the ice loss phenomenon. (13)

Lastly, scientists suggested that as the firn melts, the water fills the surface cracks and acts as a wedge, opening the ice sheets further. (13)

LARSEN  A

Hernan De Angelis, a scientist with the Glaciology Division of the Instituto Antartico Argentino in Buenos Aires and his colleague Pedro Skvarca discovered that when Larsen A Ice Shelf disintegrated in January 1995, the glaciers behind it surged towards the sea. It was this discovery that presented positive evidence that glacial surges are hot on the heels of an ice shelf collapse. Scientists revived a discarded theory that ice shelves act as dams that prevent glaciers from slipping into the sea. (7)

De Angelis and Skvarca found that five of the six major streams of ice that fed into the northern section of the Larsen Ice Shelf dramatically surged towards the sea and then retreated in the years following the 1995 disintegration of the shelf.

Their evidence is in the form of blocks of ice in several locations that are stranded 20 to 40 metres above glacier surfaces. Ice terraces are formed when a glacier suddenly lowers as a result of a surge. De Angelis has said that maps of glaciers in March 2002, have shown a retreat in their surge. This is an indication that glaciers have dumped much of their ice into the seas. (7)

The Pine Island Glacier and the Thwaites Glacier are major causes for concern. They are the most rapidly draining glaciers in West Antarctica.

PINE ISLAND GLACIER

The Pine Island Glacier of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet like the Ice Shelf, has thinned and it’s melting has speeded up in recent years. (17)

In 2015 and 2016, a 225 square mile chunk of the Pine Island Ice Shelf broke away and floated away into the Amundsen Sea. This Ice Shelf acts as a dam to the Pine Island Glacier, one of several large glaciers (along with the Thwaites Glacier, the Pope Glacier and the Smith Glacier) that together drain a large dome of ice called the West Antarctic Ice Sheet into the Amundsen Sea. This Ice Sheet has a thickness of approximately two and a half miles and covers an area twice the size of Texas. It rests atop a series of islands, however most of it is on the floor of a basin 5000 feet below sea level.(8)

In March 1994, a U.S. icebreaker ship called Nathaniel B. Palmer reached the Palm Island Ice Shelf. It was able to spend just 12 hours there before sea ice forced it back. In those 12 hours the crew discovered a current just below the ice shelf. This current was slightly less salty than the sea water around it. Why? This water was freshened by melted ice (Antarctica is home to Freshwater). Beneath this less salty layer of water, at a depth of approximately 2,000 to 5,000 feet warmer seawater was streaming along a sea floor canyon. The sea Floor canyon ran parallel under the ice.(8)

The ice was fresh as it originated as snow falling on West Antarctica.

Stan Jacobs, an oceanographer - Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York, quickly understood what was going on. The warm water was arriving at Antarctica’s Amundsen Sea from the Pacific Ocean more than 200 miles north. As it was heavy with salt it sunk below the lighter melted freshwater of less salt content and followed the floor of the submarine canyon. This submarine canyon sloped down to the glacier. (8)

The warm ocean water was being channelled under the Pine Island Ice Shelf. This water was ultimately finding the grounding line. The warm water was hitting the wall of ice and eroding it. This was producing the stream of melt laden seawater with less salt content. Due to it being cooler and fresher it had less density.

Now that same canyon was channelling warm ocean water under the Pine Island Ice Shelf. Somewhere tens of miles inland, the warm water was finding the “grounding line”: the place where the glacier lifts off the seafloor and becomes a floating ice shelf. Hitting that wall of ice, the warm water was eroding it, producing a steady stream of melt-laden seawater. Because it was cooler and fresher, it was less dense, and so it was rising above the warmer, incoming water and flowing back out to sea just under the shelf.

As Pine Island Ice Shelf and Pine Island Glacier have a base at the bottom of the ocean due to West Antarctica being a marine ice sheet, they are vulnerable to the gradually warming ocean. In the event of all this ice cracking and drifting away from the continent the warm sea water will cause the grounding line to retreat and the glacier will thin and its melting will speed up. Sea levels would rise by 10 feet which would see coasts around the world get submerged. (8)

 The anchored glaciers will begin retreating, the warm seawater below the shelf will cause the grounding line to retreat and the ice to flow away faster. (18)

In January 2009, the Palmer found that the melt rate had increased by about 50 percent. As the Pine Island Ice Shelf has weakened and the glacier behind it has accelerated, the ice has stretched and thinned for 150 miles inland from the coast. These destabilizing effects spread farther into West Antarctica every year.(8)

THWAITES GLACIER

The Thwaites glacier is worrisome as it could destabilize the entire Marine Ice sheet that is West Antarctica, were it to collapse. This glacier by itself could raise global sea level by about four feet.(8)

Dr Rignot is a glaciologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena, California. He has been a principal investigator on several NASA-funded projects to study the mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets using radar interferometry combined with other methods; the interactions of ice shelves with the ocean; and the dynamic retreat of Patagonian glaciers. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, and the International Glaciological Society. (19)

According to Eric Rignot, these are the fastest melting glaciers on Earth (8)

EAST ANTARCTICA

This is the bigger part of the continent which due to its base and setting on high ground was considered secure.

However despite it being stated in the Introduction that the east is safe, mapping with ice-penetrating radar has revealed a low-lying region cut by glacially carved channels that drop as far as 8,500 feet below sea level. This is perfect for guiding warm ocean water deep into the heart of the ice sheet. The Totten Glacier is the largest coastal outlet in this region.

Melting Antarctica's ice sheets would raise oceans around the world by 200 to 210 feet. (60 to 65 meters)

TOTTEN GLACIER

The Totten Ice Glacier according to Dr Rignot is one Ice Glacier in the East that if it were to collapse would contribute a sea level rise of 13 feet. 13 feet is just a fraction of the rise in sea level that would occur in the event of the Entire East Antarctic Ice Sheet melting. This 13 feet is equivalent to the sea rise that would occur in the event of West Antarctica melting completely.

 “One glacier alone, roughly as much as all of West Antarctica,” says Eric Rignot.

The Totten Ice Glacier is losing two cubic miles of ice per year. In Antarctic terms and in comparison to the ice lost in Western Antarctica on the Antarctic Peninsula and the Amundsen Sea Glaciers, this can be considered a fraction of a loss. Small Potatoes in Antarctic terms.(8)

21 years after Palmer’s voyage to Pine Island an Australian Icebreaker Aurora Australis reached the front to Totten an just like Palmer at Pine Island this icebreaker detected warm water flowing under the ice shelf at a speed of 4.5 cubic miles per day. (8)

Donald Blakenship of the University of Texas has undertaken surveys which have identified two seafloor grooves which are deep enough so as to permit warm water to creep below the Totten Ice Shelf.(the same thing that is happening to the Pine Island Ice Shelf)

The particular type of warm water near Totten Glacier is saltier (therefore denser), so it remains at depth, filling canyons in the seafloor. Seafloor valleys connecting this deep warm water to the coast can especially compromise glaciers, a process previously known to be occurring along the coast of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. (8)

According to a Nature Geoscience paper authored by Jamin Greenbaum and an international team of collaborators in March, 2015.

Warm ocean water has been observed since 1996, below 400 to 500m of cool surface.

Using airborne gravity and magnetics, Greenbaum revealed two deep seafloor valleys that could allow the warm ocean water to reach the base of the glacier’s floating section and drive rapid melt. The discovery likely explains the glacier’s extreme thinning and raises concerns about how it will impact sea level rise. The result is of global importance because the ice flowing through Totten Glacier alone is sufficient to raise global sea level by at least 13 feet. (20)

ANIMALS

"The sea temperature is going up in a way that wasn't predicted and this makes me more worried for the marine animals. The evidence we've got and the models we've been looking at said sea temperature was not likely to change much in the Antarctic. A one degree increase puts us into the region where the animals are pushed to one end of their biological, physiological and ecological capabilities."

-              Lloyd Peck, Marine Biologist, British Antarctic Survey.

The rising temperature of Oceans result in melting and we think that sea levels will rise and low lying regions will be flooded. But they also affect animals of this region. These animals are sensitive to a minimal shift in temperature.

Increase in temperatures and losses of sea ice could spell big problems for krill. Studies show that krill numbers had fallen by 80% since the 1970s. Experts linked its collapse to shrinking sea ice. This endangers the Adelie Penguin which live on the Krill. Krill find food and shelter on the undersides of ice sheets which are retreating thus causing krill population to drop. Penguins are having to expend excessive energy to find food, which makes them less successful at breeding and raising young.

CONCLUSION

Some say that the sea level will rise by 216 feet, some say 189 feet. The bottom line is that ice melting is contributing to a rise in the sea levels. How does that affect us? We will lose our land masses as the sea water will submerge our homes.

Former U.S.President Barack Obama in Before the Flood states that the Pentagon doesn’t label this as an Environmental issue but as a national security issue. This is because people from coastal regions will begin to migrate.

“If they start moving, then you start seeing, um, scarce resources. The subject of competition between populations.”

It is proved that melting is happening faster as the years go by. The melting at Pine Island ice Shelf has increased by 50%. The National Geographic documentary ‘Before the Flood’ states that sailing across the North Pole could be a reality soon. It won’t happen with the South Pole as that is located of the continental mass of East Antarctica.

South America is one of the closest land masses to the vulnerable West Antarctica Ice Sheet. The National Geographic article, ‘What the World Would Look Like if All the Ice Melted,’ says that the Amazon Basin and Paraguay River Basin would be converted into Atlantic inlets. This would wipe out Buenos Aires and coastal part of the country of Uruguay. (24) In North America the entire Atlantic sea board would be submerged. California’s hills would become a cluster of Islands. (24) Closer to home in Mumbai, we saw how much just under 300mm of rain disrupted life. Ice Melting would result in a massive high tide that would flood the city.

A United Nations report published prior to U.N. Environment Assembly estimated that nearly 40 million Indians will be at risk from rising sea levels come the year 2050. People in Mumbai and Kolkata are in risk of maximum exposure to this issue. (26)

This report also listed Guangzhou along with Shanghai from China, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hai Phong, Yangon and Dhaka as those which are projected to have largest population exposure to coastal flooding in 2070. (25)
Redrawing the world’s map may be a necessary option if the ice were to melt. It won’t happen for hundreds of years, but we are the generation that knows about it, we know the challenge and its up to us to answer it. In the words of Leonardo Dicaprio at the United Nations in 2014. “The time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet is now. You can make history or be vilified by it.” (27)

WORKS CITED

1. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/antarctica-1007062/introduction

2. https://www.livescience.com/21677-antarctica-facts.html

3. http://www.whatarethe7continents.com/facts-about-antarctica/

4. https://blogs.nasa.gov/icebridge/2014/11/19/east-and-west-the-geography-of-antarctica/

5. http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/antarctica/east-antarctic-ice-sheet/

6. https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/ice_shelf.html

7. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0306_030306_glaciersurge.html

8. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/antarctica-sea-level-rise-climate-change/

9. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/larsen-c-ice-shelf-iceberg-huge-record-antarctic-climate-change-global-warming-a7873411.html

10. http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-news/currents-waves-and-tides-ocean-motion

11.  http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glaciers-and-climate/ice-ocean-interactions/marine-ice-sheets/

12. http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/strong-winds-in-eastern-antarctica-melting-ice-on-opposite-side-117071800326_1.html

13. https://observer.news/featured/ice-land-need-know-a68-iceberg/

14. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/02/what-happened-next-to-the-giant-larsen-c-iceberg

15. https://phys.org/news/2017-08-larsen-c-iceberg-breakaway.html

16. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/07/antarctica-sea-level-rise-climate-change/

17.  https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004100/a004103/index.html

18. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82392

19. https://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/sealevel_rignot_bio.html

20. http://www.earthexplorer.com/2015/Southern_Surveys_Unravelling_the_mystery_of_East_Antarctica.asp

21. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/11/01/can-we-stop-the-seas-from-rising-yes-but-less-than-you-think/

22. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/08/19/coastal-cities-at-highest-risk-floods

23. http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/antarctica/west-antarctic-ice-sheet/

24. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/09/rising-seas-ice-melt-new-shoreline-maps/

25. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/40-million-Indians-at-risk-from-rising-sea-levels-UN-report/articleshow/52358198.cms

26. http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/india-will-be-in-trouble-if-breakaway-antarctica-iceberg-leads-to-sea-level-rise/story-QbzYQ2PUh98a3vhJqQAZsI.html

27.  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/leonardo-dicaprio-quotes-on-climate-change-environ/

JPO Project

This was my submission for the CIA 2 of the JPO course. I had to analyse Bachi Karkaria's articles over a span of 5 weeks w.r.t. to Public Opinion. I got 19/20 for this.

(Disclaimer: Each person’s opinions are shaped by different triggers and motivations and stereotypes and interests. I do not intend to offend anyone with the content in this project.)

Bachi Karkaria

Bachi Karkaria is an Indian journalist and columnist who is best known for her satirical column called ‘Erratica’ in the Times of India newspaper, in which she has also served as editor.

Bachi Karkaria has a writing style filled with humour and words of English that may not appeal to the average reader who may be content to just quit labouring through the article. However none of the words appear forced or out of place and look as though the columnist is attempting to flaunt her outstanding vocabulary.

Karkaria was the first Indian on the board of the World Editor Forum and is a recipient of the US based Mary Morgan-HEWITT Award for the Lifetime Achievement, and a Jefferson fellow of the East West Centre, Honolulu.

At a promotional event for the launch of her new book ‘In Hot Blood’ Bachi Karkaria said, “When you write, you aren’t looking at who your writing is going to antagonise. Your audience is the truth.”

Public Opinion is views prevalent among the public. The column in some places reinforces it and in other places it attempts to present another point of view so as to take advantage of the volatile nature of Public opinion.

I asked a few journalists as to what does Public Opinion mean in the industry? They told me it’s actually the Editor’s opinion that influences the media aspect of Public Opinion. When I spoke to Bachi Karkaria, she said she meticulously edits her columns to adhere to the word limit so that there are no changes made by the editor.

Derrida argues that public opinion is both cultivated and developed at the same time as being neither totally manufactured nor contrived (it shares the same structure as artifactuality and actuvirtuality) (1)

I see this at multiple places in the columns, where these words of Derrida come true.

1993 and all that (3)

The headline of the column and the subheading is what grabbed my attention as just a few days back, news came that Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem and 3 others had been convicted for their roles in the 1993 Bombay blasts. “FINALLY” is what would be the general reaction. The media reported this as a victory to all the victims of that sad day in March.

They wanted the public to be of the opinion that justice has been delivered and kin of all those affected have some sense of closure. Through her column Erratica, Bachi Karkaria subtly drops the names of the absconding Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon (these names were missing from media reports everywhere, possibly because it doesn’t need space as the audience knows about it or they don’t want some flaws to overshadow something good) to re shape our opinion about the sentencing.

Public Opinion would be that it is finally closure.

“It’s not yet closure”, this line prompts us to think about Dawood and Tiger and re shape the opinion the rest of those who weren’t directly affected. Is it really closure? What closure? Not yet. Maybe only for the courts that finally after almost a quarter of a century Closed the cases of a few of the chief perpetrators.

While a journalist does his or her job they cannot lose sight of objectivity (unless of course they are drunk with nationalistic power, then they are exempt from this). Like every other Bombayite, Bachi Karkaria shares her story as to where she was, that fateful afternoon.

The opinion here is that Bombay is not a place but an emotion that all of us experience in some way and we blend into the city. The readers feel a connect to what is written here. Those who experienced that day, as well as others who have witnessed Bombay burn to the ashes and rise like a phoenix. Those who have experienced the Spirit of Bombay (the floods of 29/8 saw that spirit come back to the fore and many others yesterday after reading this will relate with converting to Bombay)

Damned Celebrity Again (4)

My attention was grabbed by the words celebrity and the sub heading which saw had the word Indrani positioned right beneath the word celebrity.

Bachi Karkaria in this week’s column commences with an attack against the media and its coverage of events. It shapes the Public Opinion against the media. The opening line of the column raises the question as to whether the media would have bothered about the custodial killing on Manjula Shetye (who is that?) had Indrani Mukherjea (we know who this is) not played a stellar role in the ensuing riot.

Public opinion is that media will only be drawn to news if there is a celebrity involved. This article reinforces that stereotyped opinion. There is no satirical element in this column as readers have grown accustomed to seeing in this space every Thursday morning. Would anyone have given two hoots about the killing of an inmate? Yes, maybe for a while, as that’s how modern day media is.

Next attack, prison riots do make for appealing, eyeball grabbing news (very important in today’s era of TRP) not for sympathy, but for the reason of a catfight. The Public is of the opinion that they need media for entertainment and not information. (Republic TV has the highest viewership). This shapes the opinion of the media and they broadcast more eyeball grabbing stuff. 

It would be covered just long enough (2 days) for to the noises to emerge about mean jailors and demands for reform. Then it would stop exciting us (that’s the opinion of media houses). We would form the opinion that ‘ aisa tho chalta rehta hai.’ It’s the media that shaped it like this. But this riot had a big name involved. INDRANI. Despite being a criminal, she is a big deal, hence the riot is a big deal. It’s the name Indrani that has the media maintaining a sustained interest in this past its expiry date. That’s our opinion of celebrities nowadays. Had any other prisoner stood up for the deceased inmate and incited a riot, we wonder what would have happened, no really. Would the media have known that said inmate is being threatened?

While researching for this project even I didn’t know about the deceased inmate and actually googled the words ‘Indrani Prison riot.’

In the last paragraph one final pot shot is taken at the media and the system. The issue that the columnist wants us to contemplate on is why change can only arrive on the back of a celebrity. Why can’t a common inmate deaths be the sole factor behind meaningful change being brought about? Along with the media, it is the fault of the audience as well, we consume what they put out and hence encourage them and their opinion is that we are interested in celebrities. What does it say about us? Indeed, what does it? Do we need the celebrity to bring about change? That stereotype of celebrity is so great that it shapes public opinion in such a way that if a celebrity does something, it must be important, but if a common man does something no one’s going to look at it.

This piece aims to sway Public Opinion that celebrities belong on a pedestal.

WHAT’S IN A RENAME? (5)

What’s in a name? Is what is stuck in our heads. That quote, by playwright William Shakespeare has seen a prefix added to its last word. Would Dadar feel less congested were it to be re-named Chaityabhumi?

Yeh Sarkar acha station nahi banayega par naam badalne mein sab paisa karch karega. That’s the general Public Opinion at the moment.

In a column in Mumbai, when we talk about rename one would immediately think about the Renaming spree proposed in the city. Evocative names were replaced, yet it is the evocative names that are still used in conversation. VT was given a sex change 2 decades ago and yet even now we say VT, and not CST, but that was not enough, we added Maharaj to it. It’s not just CS(M)T though, imagine that your train has left Matunga road and you hear, “ next station Chaityabhumi” ,  or you leave Churchgate and the next 2 stations are Gamdevi and Girgaon. You would wonder what it is, but whilst booking your tickets you would just by force of habit say Charni road (not Giragaon) right? And the chances are that the guy at the counter would actually get that.

This column reinforces the public opinion that namicide squanders public funds. New sign, new stationery and a new name in our train announcements every morning that snaps us from our reverie. Is that needed?

The column lists out the Shivaji statue in the sea as well. On ‘The Debate’ last night a panellist yelled out that they can’t build roads and want to build a staue in the sea. Wouldn’t that have gone a long way in influencing the opinion of a large number of people?

 The citizens of Mumbai hope that the new coastal road to be named after we-know-who and hope they will remember all the titles they wish to include or else come 2037 we may have to call the coastal road something else. That’s fine, as we’ll always know it by is evocative name, but we will be saddled by yet another cess for suffixes. True Bach Karkaria sarcasm here.

Public Opinion is that the party in power changing will result in such things stopping. The column says that no problem, the new party will appropriate this icon, keep all their supporters and win over the old supporters as well (public opinion is volatile)

In the next sentence it is hinted that the taxpayer would rather their money was spent on changing the battered state of roads rather than just renaming roads. She makes a connect with the disgruntled average citizen by sharing and re inforcing the opinion that one is insane if they think logic or citizens dictate civic decisions.

TEARY OF RELATIVITY (6)

It has always been told to us that our headline must be catchy so as to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to know more. We are playing with Kangaroo words here in  ThEORY (TEARY) of Relativity. 

On an episode of Koffee with Karan, Kangana Ranaut labelled Karan Johar as the “flagbearer of nepotism.” What Kangana speaks of isn’t unheard of or unseen. Public Opinion is that star’s kids seem to just whizz into Bollywood and get cast in a film, deliver a box office dud, get cast in another film, another dud, you get the cycle right? This continues until they deliver a hit (they are bound to deliver one eventually) Question- why do they get cast. Public Opinion on the basis of media and stereotypes- Nepotism. Bachi Karkaria calls Kangana the ‘elected queen.’(Sentiment shared by many) In Game of Thrones we see how people rally behind someone they consider ‘their choice.’ Public Opinion would be that Kangana is right, as she is one rare case that has found a foothold in the industry, without Nepotism.

The second half of the column is intricately constructed around words that contain the syllables of the new ‘N’ word, N-E-P-O-T-I-S-M. In this paragraph, despite the columnist taking a visible effort to construct words from the syllables forming nepotism, none of the words seem out of place. The N-E-P-O-T-I-S-M paragraph paints a picture of Kangana as someone who isn’t going to toe the line, someone who didn’t take lame shots at the opponent and as someone, who has a spine.

After an actor with no sugar daddy who is not from the Bollywood KHANdaan makes it big, we get to hear of their struggles and then we see the beneficiaries of Nepotism (ek flop? Koi nahi, dusra mauka). Who would the public (that struggles) empathise with? After all we support the ones we relate to and Public Opinion would be in favour of Kangana and anti-Nepotists.

At the IIFA Awards 2017, Karan Johar, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan made a joke on Kangana with a snide reference to a song from a Karan Johar film which has the name Kangana in it. They wanted to sway the Public Opinion as though they were admitting to nepotism.

Now the people who didn’t watch that episode of Koffee with Karan were now aware that Kangana branded Karan as “flagbearer of Nepotism.” More people watch the IIFA Awards, and the ‘joke’ over there is what inspired this column.

The song by the legendary Bee Gees goes like this,.

“ I started a joke, which started the whole world crying But I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no.”

The joke was on them and Kangana took a 2-0 lead in what started out as a reply to a question. Oh no indeed. In the aftermath, the trio did apologise, but the damage was done. Public Opinion in support of Kangana increased and Bachi’s Column further solidified the ‘Kangana has a spine view’.

Morning Cuppa  (7)

A majority of the country would not give a damn about the activities in Darjeeling. Why should we care? I am in a journalism class and I don’t care (even though I am forced to) Bachi Karkaria makes me care about this though. This column showed me that there are methods to sway public opinion. Attendance and marks aren’t really powerful to sway opinion.

Yet still this is the column that will connect with the readers the most as it deals with the most electrifying legal stimulant i.e. tea.(we have a selfish reason to care about what happens all the way in the east) Now we do need to give a damn about what is happening there right? You may say no, as you don’t consume tea. Wrong! You live in India and you need to understand one thing. Tea is the fuel of the body, opinion about the beverage is so powerful that without it people don’t fully shake of the drowsiness (nope not even a cold shower would help them here) This piece works for me as now as if people around me don't get their morning cup of tea, they will be mindfucked. I actually want to know more about what is happening in Darjeeling as here I’m not bogged down by details, but I have an interest so as to want to get bogged down by the details.

This column gives readers the bare minimum of information (the strike by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and cessation of sale of Darjeeling tea due to shortage) needed to have context with the real world and the column. The last 2 lines are a sarcastic dig at all the pretenders that will emerge to substitute chai, but no “atrocious concoction” will be able to replace the original(Public Opinion is that nothing can replace our chai) The columnist makes another connection to her readers with the subtlety of a sledgehammer with the words ,” of all legal stimulants, tea takes the cake, and I will go any lengths for my Darjeeling.” Won’t we all go any lengths for that morning cup of freshly brewn tea? Won’t we? I know people who would.

Bachi Karkaria is a columnist not of a specific genre, she writes on anything and everything. Her columns generally provide us with some background on the issue and the she seemingly takes the side of the Janta and reinforces their Public Opinion.

This column deals with a multitude of events, events that I never bothered about. Some of the events dealt with were within my experience. I chose the columnist as I heard that she’s the curator of the Times Litfest, I started reading the column for this project, I started following news apart from sports and entertainment. Safe to say as I have experienced the ‘Spirit of Bombay’ on 29/8 when social media was flooded with posts of people opening up their homes. I have seen the struggle of Nawazuddin Siddique to make it big in the industry whereas trash like Tiger Shroff goes on getting cast in films.

I am sick and tired of the media just covering issues for 2 days and then losing interest. All news channels pounded the BMC with questions on 29/8 and then not a thing was said the next day after the usual noises was made. The BMC knew they just had to weather the storm that was Arnab’s yells. There is no follow up, but, if Sachin Tendulkar had gotten stuck, minsters Goswami and Shivshankar would have been screeching their lungs out.

The conclusion of the rename article is relatable as honestly, when has citizen’s inconvenience ever mattered?

 Darjeeling now will be an area of interest because of how people from this city are conditioned to the beverage. If tea stops it indirectly affects… me.

Lippman in his book Public Opinion, says a newspaper by the handling of particular events a newspaper decides if one is to like or dislike it, to trust it or refuse it.(2)

I like the column and I trust the column. It entertains and informs.

1. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=krbgBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT89&lpg=PT89&dq=derrida+public+opinion&source=bl&ots=U00WN5Z1Rw&sig=_HlyVle2xRcw5JN2vDYE8xh8ktM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjE2IzAtv_VAhVBLo8KHfNPBFQQ6AEILjAB#v=onepage&q=derrida%20public%20opinion&f=false 

2. http://www.collier.sts.vt.edu/5314/lippmannpublicop.pdf

3. https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica/1993-and-all-that-the-death-and-life-of-those-first-bombay-blasts/

4.https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica/damned-celebrity-again-we-need-an-indrani-to-take-note-of-poor-manjulas-jail-killing/

5. https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica/whats-in-a-rename-might-as-well-take-this-mania-to-its-looniest-lengths-f0-9f-98-9c/

6. https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica/teary-of-relativity-how-many-words-and-worlds-can-you-find-in-nepotism-f0-9f-98-9c/

7. https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica/mourning-cuppa-if-its-tea-goes-downhill-can-bracing-darjeeling-be-far-behind-f0-9f-98-9c/

Best Movies to watch on Teacher's Day

(This was my submission for the Internal Assessment for the Feature and Opinion course)

What is a teacher? I asked a teacher as to what they think a teacher is. The reply was, “someone who has lessons planned for the next two weeks, but has no clue about that night’s dinner.”

In 1994, UNESCO proclaimed 5^th October as World Teachers Day. This celebrated a great step for teachers as on 5th October 1966, a special intergovernmental conference in Paris adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers

Countries like Maldives and The Netherlands observe teachers day on 5^th October itself. Countries like India (5^th September) have their own respective teachers days.

The movies have made us laugh and made us cry. They have given us portrayals of teachers that we relate to and love and respect. In today’s day and age we wish we had more teachers like them.

Here are some of the best teacher portrayals in movies. As the efforts of one teacher cannot undermine the efforts of another, the numbers do not determine the ranking.

1. Robin Williams as John Keating (Dead Poets Society)

I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.

             Welton Academy, dubbed “Hellton” by its students has four pillars: Tradition, Honour, Discipline and Excellence. The teachers at Welton follow the first 3 pillars to drive the students towards the fourth pillar. All of them, bar the new teacher-John Keating.

John Keating or O Captain, my Captain (as he wishes to be called) says, “Because I love teaching, I don’t want to be anywhere else.” This shows us an essential quality of a teacher- passion.

John Keating aims to help his students to seize the day and live. It is something that doesn't happen in today's rat race. Teachers like him are a precious commodity.

Mr Keating encourages his students to rip out an entire chapter from a book.

The pages contain an introduction by Dr Pritchard. This introduction seeks to measure poetry based on a graph. According to Keating, measuring poems is similar to armies of academics annihilating the hearts and souls of young ones. Poems can’t be measured. They are filled with passion and are straight from the heart.

In his classes he encourages the students to think for themselves again. Oh how we yearn for such teachers in a world where our original ideas are quashed like bugs, these ideas which if allowed to bloom could change the world or help us be unique. He compares each person’s life as a verse, and how would everyone be unique if they were all the same?

The final scene symbolises wat a teacher can do. A teacher can be the match that lights a fire. The match can be extinguished, but the fire will spread.

 2. Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan (The Miracle Worker)

Anne Sullivan attempts to teach Helen Keller the alphabets for ‘doll.’

‘The Miracle Worker’ is based on Hellen Keller’s autobiography, ‘The Story of My Life’. It chronicles the efforts taken by Anne Sullivan to teach alphabets and their meaning to Hellen Keller.

In ‘The Story of My Life’, Helen Keller writes a tribute to her teacher, Anne Sullivan.

“All the best of me belongs to her – there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened by her loving touch.”

Hellen Keller is a child who has been rendered deaf and blind since an unfortunate illness struck her in her childhood.

She lived in a dark and isolated world. Even Specialists couldn’t help her out.  Captain and Mrs. Keller seemed to have lost all hope, and then arrived Anne Sullivan. This teacher was the final hope for The Kellers who seemed resigned to sending Helen off to an asylum.

Helen in one of her mad rages knocks out her teacher’s tooth and slaps her across the cheek on multiple occasions. Despite this she stays on, she recognises that the student should not be labelled as bad but as challenging.

Anne Sullivan discovers that Helen first needs to be taught discipline, she knows that the girl’s frustrations need to be checked. Sullivan does not take pity on Helen and battles with her physically (bordering on child abuse) and emotionally (separating Helen from her family for 2 weeks) until she finally makes a breakthrough.

3. Aamir Khan as Ram Shankar Nikumbh (Taare Zameen Par)

Every child is special, but that is not understood by all

9 year old Ishaan Avasthi is misunderstood everywhere and is subjected to thrashings, verbal abuse. He gets shipped off to boarding school as his parents think that his mistakes are not mistakes but acts of rebellion. At his new school, things do not change. He retreats further into his shell and his spirit is broken. The 9 year old now has lifeless eyes and attends class like a robot.

When all hope seems lost, there enters a new art teacher (Ram Shankar Nikumbh). This teacher is different from the rest of the teachers as he doesn’t stamp his authority on the class through fear but gets the students to like him through his unconventional methods. As is the norm with Bollywood films, there are no dialogues but a wonderful song sung by the teacher that encourages children to look at things in a different way. Ishaan however has been scarred so badly that he stops painting. Nikumbh doesn’t seem to mind and he tries to befriend the boy. According to Nikumbh, “every child has his own talent.” Nikumbh finds out that Ishaan’s talent lies in art. The teacher then realises what Ishaan’s disorder is and how it can be countered.

Nikumbh brings out the boys potential through art by teaching him alphabets and numbers through art. In a bid to boost Ishaan’s self-confidence, an all school painting competition is organised.

At the end Mr Avasthi is reduced to tears after seeing his son’s transformation wonders how he can thank the teacher. Nikumbh replies nonchalantly with an, “ah c’mon,” as he was just doing his duty as a teacher.

4. Pat Morita as Keisuke Miyagi (The Karate Kid)

"Either you Karate do yes, or Karate do no. You Karate do guess so you get squish, just like grape."

The words of Keisuke Miyagi are reminiscent of Master Yoda's words from Star Wars. Do or do not there is no try.

We have to learn to take a stand. By acting confused and being in two minds we will neither be here nor there. Imagine you are walking on the road, you either take left side or right side, if you are unsure and walk in centre you will be hit.

We need 100% belief in our own set goals in order to achieve them.

Mr Miyagi saves Daniel LaRusso from a bunch of bullies (The Cobra Kai). As a trade for getting them to lay off him for a while. Mr Miyagi enters Daniel into a Karate Tournament and also trains him for the same. He has one rule-ask no questions. Mr Miyagi makes Daniel do what seems like household work (waxing the car, scrubbing the floor, painting the fence and the house) with particular hand movements. Just as Daniel is about to quit as he is sick and tired of his “karate lessons” Mr Miyagi explains and demonstrates the importance of those tasks to karate.

We then need to believe in the methods of the teacher. They know what the long term goal is. Mr Miyagi, by making Daniel do what seemed like menial household tasks actually imbibed in him the karate movements as natural actions. This style of teaching is not looked at favourably by the student as they want to know why a particular thing is being taught. However we must realise that the teacher is not stupid and doesn’t have time to waste, they also realise that the student has no time to waste and whatever is being taught is for the students benefit.

Another important lesson given here is “first learn walk then learn fly.” It emphasises the need to learn things step by step.

While these actors and actresses pretend for a living, this pretend is based on true stories. Real life isn’t like a movie where the story ends after one success.

The movies end on a high and we assume that it's over. Real life inspires films but what films don't show is that there is so much more effort that a teacher puts in, sometimes even until their death.

The Miracle worker (the only film in this list based on a true story) didn’t mention anything about what happened after Helen Keller Anne Sullivan made a breakthrough in the climax. After teaching Helen Keller the meaning of alphabets and words, Anne Sullivan stayed with Helen for the next 49 years until her death.

The job of a teacher in real life goes back to square one once the next batch comes in. Their stories don't end like how Mr Miyagi’s story ended with Daniel LaRusso winning the tournament. The Mr Miyagi of real life have another Daniel LaRusso and then another and then another and another and another. They have to approach each and every single student with the same level of passion as the first.

There are some teachers who also try and try, but the outcome isn’t like a fairy tale as seen in the above movies. That doesn’t demean the efforts put in by these teachers.

Though the end result may not be as desirable as shown in the movies, but, the effort put in by every single teacher is what we should see and learn from these movies, which can be seen as tributes to the efforts taken by a teacher.

Honourable mentions: Shahrukh Khan as Raj Malhotra from Mohabattein and as Kabir Khan from Chak De! India, Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill from Rocky, Julie Andrews as Maria Von Trapp from The Sound of Music.

Review of Annabelle: Creation

Annabelle: Creation is the fourth film in The Conjuring film series after The Conjuring, Annabelle and The Conjuring 2. The film is a prequel that focuses on the backstory behind the Annabelle doll.

Following the dud Annabelle of 3 years back and the not as good as the first part Conjuring 2, there weren’t really high standards for this one to meet.

The Mullins are a couple who have suffered a tragic loss of their daughter. Fast forward 12 years, they have opened their home to a few orphan girls and their caretaker Sister Charlotte. The girls have specific instructions to stay away from a particular room. One girl is polio affected and feels lonely and decides to enter that room, she then opens a closet to see the Annabelle doll and lets the evil break free.

WHAT’S GOOD

Annabelle: Creation is the first film where we see the Annabelle doll in action. That doll is creepy enough with it's presence and it's blank stares, but here, it’s moving. (We have more reasons to fear the doll that we have been conditioned to fear)

Horror doesn’t need a good script to survive… what most people remember are the scares (we still remember the Spider walk scene right, when someone says the word Exorcist) and Annabelle: Creation has them in abundance.

Despite it being the same old cliché scares, the director has been able to run a chill down his audiences' spines as……

It’s all about timing in horror films. The jump scares are timed to perfection. They aren’t from out of the blue and leave us wondering as to where did that come from. We are given cliché horror film hints that something is about to happen. There is dead silence for a while. Then as when a character looks into a mirror there is a slight flash in the reflection accompanied with a musical note. The music then picks up, building a sense of anticipation within you. The scare is delivered within time as just when you are about to heave a sigh of relief the demonic entity pops up. The director builds that feel of anxiety within the audience till the last possible second.

The stair lift angle is new and bone chilling.

The tempo of the music during the scary scenes was exceptional. It was playing in my head during the interval (which greedy multiplex owners force into films despite English films not being shot that way)

Talitha Bateman as Janice, is brilliant as the girl who is isolated and has lost hope at the start of the film and as the possessed girl she becomes in the latter half.

Lulu Wilson as Linda has the best and most sensible scene in the movie (and horror films of recent times) as when the doll is tossed into the well it begins pounding the grating. When Sister Charlotte asks her what is it. She delivers the best and most sensible line ever seen in horror films, “Who cares? Run!”

This is the first attempt at universe building in a horror film franchise. All of the Conjuring films have glimpses of the Annabelle doll and this film offers a fleeting glimpse of The Nun (a character seen in The Conjuring 2) in the photograph shown by Sister Charlotte to Mr Mullins. The spirit is shown to be in black, but the hand of the nun who pushes Janice’s wheelchair into the barn is white. (possible Valak appearance. They didn’t show the face)

WHAT’S BAD

The predictability. It’s always the weak one, who becomes the target of the demonic presence. The use of mirrors in horror films, we know that there will be something else reflected. It is used on two occasions in this film and we are literally waiting for the appearance as it is such a common scare in films.

There wasn’t much of dialogue among the characters, for them to observe a slow and gradual change after the demonic entity has taken a human form.

The scares are the same old fashioned ones. Doors slamming as the protagonist tries to get away from the demon, lights flickering, appearances in mirrors, the silences, etc.

It is a successful formula, as why would anyone move away from what is successful. There are no new experiments in this genre.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?

Horror buffs, as in no place I felt like laughing as if it was a joke. Conjuring Universe fans should not avoid this. 

Anyone who wants to get scared and experience a hair raising fear with an impact that will leave your heart pounding. There is no calming presence of Ed and Lorraine Warren in this film.

As a horror film I was expecting to be freaked out from the start, but then I remembered the titling of the film. It always first films in the series that take time to establish the setting (I’ll take the example of superhero films where characters are established in the first half of the first movie and then the second half is where the action starts to pick up) That's exactly what happens here.

Jab Harry Met Sejal

Jab Harry met Sejal is a romantic comedy directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Shahrukh Khan as Harinder Singh Nehra a.k.a. Harry and Anushka Sharma as Sejal Jhaveri. The duo reluctantly team up and set out on a journey retracing their steps across Europe to search for Sejal's missing engagement ring.

When hearing the name Jab Harry Met Sejal, one automatically thinks that this will be a rip off of the similarly titled rom-com classic "When Harry met Sally."

WHAT'S GOOD

The acting of Anushka Sharma. She portrays the chirpy young Gujarati girl and is the reason that the film is watchable in the first half. Shahrukh Khan to some extent is refreshing as he is in a new role as a tour guide and isn't that lover boy that audiences have grown accustomed to seeing over the last 2 decades. The music is lively and upbeat. The frames feature glimpses of what Europe is about with lush green countryside, opera performances, bar culture, prostitution happening on shady streets. As is common with all Bollywood films, there are songs, but background dancers remain absent. I've always wondered how the whole street knows the steps and how do they know to form shapes where the leads are always in centre. The songs have very well edited shots which establish how the characters get acquainted with each other. In the first half they (the songs) don't disconnect with the plot, as there are short grabs of them searching for that ring.

WHAT'S BAD

The film as a whole, is bad.

The locations work like glue does when applied on the cracks on a wall. The effect of the glue was nullified quite soon into the film and cracks appeared. Cracks in the film, the definition of the character, the stereotypical representation of the characters.

 What we ended up getting was two characters unwilling to travel at first, then they travel in concentric circles around Europe. Amsterdam to Prague to Budapest to Frankfurt to Prague to Lisbon to Frankfurt. They help each other out, discover themselves, fight, realise they are incomplete without each other. It’s not that it hasn’t been done before, but it’s the same director who has done it before in Jab We Met and in Tamasha. The glimpses of Europe didn’t mask the lack of charm in the rom com. It also didn’t mask…..

The stereotypical representation of the character Harry. Harry is a Punjabi and has a loud voice. The reason for it is that he had to sing over the sound of the tractors as all Punjabi's are farmers. Seriously? Can't he have a loud voice as a natural trait?

Sejal, though she keeps the film running in the first half, is absolutely annoying with that accent. (Harry is pronounced as Hairy) Her behaviour is not in keeping with the modern woman she calls herself, but that of a toddler trapped in an adult’s body.

 After calling herself a modern woman, she makes it very clear that she is not interested in Harry in any way. In one scene, she asks Harry, "Mere pe try maar rahe ho?" Harry says, "Bilkul nahin." She replies, "Kyun main sexy nahin hoon?"

Why does she seem insulted here? If she has said she isn't interested in Harry in any way?

Why does a modern woman constantly require validation of any sort? (in this case that she’s more layak than any of Harry’s conquests)

During a scene, Harry tells Sejal, “Tum iss se bhi laayak ho.” Upon hearing this, Sejal is overjoyed and asks him repeatedly, “Kya main sachi iss se bhi layak hoon?” Audiences now will go home with the image of a modern woman being one who needs to be repeatedly told that she is more “layak” over the other.

This is a train wreck of a movie. I ended up coming home and watching "When Harry met Sally". A rom-com movie which had the feel of a rom-com. The charm present in that classic was absent in this film. Shahrukh Khan needs to head back to playing age appropriate roles as he did in Raees and Dear Zindagi. If you are an Imtiaz Ali fan after watching his work in Jab We Met, Rockstar, Highway then please avoid this film which after watching you would label as a disaster. If you are a fan of Shahrukh Khan’s 1990s and 2000s persona, avoid this movie.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT

Those who want an hour’s entertainment and then spend the second half just thinking about the next day at work or of unfinished chores.

PAHLAJ NIHALANI SECTION

How can we forget good old Pahlaj Nihalani? This film received attention as “Protector of the audiences” in an attempt to make the film sanskaari raised objection to the words sexual intercourse in the film. It was replaced by Physical interaction (now that can include a handhshake, a slap on the back, etc). Though sexual intercourse was banned, the words "sex" and “copulation” were allowed to be a part of the film!

Applause for the man!

Spiderman: Homecoming

Spiderman: Homecoming is an English language film released by Marvel Studios as part of its extended cinematic universe. The film shows us Spiderman as he learns to use his new powers and  balance his crime fighting as well as his normal schoolboy life. He is shown as erratic. The film answers the question from The Avengers; what happened to all those broken pieces of alien tech lying around the city? As Civil War proved, considering the consequences of these apocalyptic battles is so much more interesting than just moving on to the next city-destroying set piece.

We had a plane crash and Spiderman  avoided large collateral damage as he managed to bring the plane down far away from the city. Quite a contrast to both of 'The Avengers' films which saw whole cities get destroyed.

WHAT'S GOOD?

Like all Marvel films there were elements of subtle humour. Marvel introduced this into superhero films and it became such a staple that DC film, 'Batman vs Superman:Dawn of Justice' was panned for its dark tone.

The new Spiderman costume is brilliant and unlike the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films they actually showed us how Spiderman managed to squeeze into his costume. The addition of 'The Wings' is a good one.

THE WINGS

Like the old Spiderman films, this one didn't waste a half on showing Spiderman get bitten and struggle to comprehend his powers. Frankly speaking, we know Spiderman's backstory.

The sparing use of Iron Man worked for me as this was a Spiderman film. I didn’t want to see Iron Man dominate the screen. His speech to Peter Parker worked brilliantly and his scene is what gets Spiderman thinking and leaves viewers impressed.

The casting was good and Michael Keaton seems to be have hit a purple patch. He delivers yet another powerful performance as 'The Vulture'. His most intense scene was the dad talk he gives to Peter in the car when he learns about Peter's secret.

Tom Holland as Spiderman has the capability of competing with Tobey Maguire for the mantle of 'best Spiderman'. I like the fact that Spiderman is in school and not in college and working freelance. I liked the aunt May casting as in previous films, she seemed more like Peters grandmother rather than an aunt. The damsel in distress element has been eliminated which makes it refreshing. Spiderman fights The Vulture to save the City, not to save someone he loves.

WHAT'S BAD?

Like most 3D movies, the emphasis on the 3D disappears after about ten minutes. Studios need to use the 3D technology for films that actually need it. The 3D makes the screen dark and strains the eyes.

Spiderman's suit seems to be more of an iron man style suit without being made of iron. He gets advice on fastest routes and he has modes like 'instant kill' and 'interrogation'. The boy's suit is more advanced than Captain America's or any of the Avengers suits (with the exception of Iron Man). He can activate different kinds of webs? Like seriously? 

Why keep such a technologically advanced suit? It’s as though he wasn’t bitten and the suits aids him to produce webs and stick to the walls of buildings.

WHO SHOULD WATCH IT?

With Infinity War approaching, every film of the MCEU is forming an important link in the chain. They have constructed it beautifully and hence it cannot be avoided if one wants to watch Infinity War. Also it's Spiderman! Fans have been clamouring for Marvel and not Sony to make a Spiderman film. Marvel have done what Sony failed.

I had read online that Flash Thomson calls Peter Parker as Penis Parker, but Indian cinema halls muted out the word. Even the word ‘porn’ is muted out. Pahlaj Nihalani needs to realise that we are in the 21st century. Also, he needs to realise that he has to just certify films and not censor them. CBFC is Central Board of Film Certification, the word 'Censor' isn't a part of it. Words like 'penis' and 'porn' are not really enough to warrant an 'A' certification.  The man should head off to the Arab countries and certify(oops! Censor) their films. It’ll be cuts galore over there.