Some better war movies worthy of their cause.

War films are just interesting. Not only are they visually stunning they also lend us a perspective into our past that was horrible and mislead. Most audiences have loved this genre and a great deal of people have made such movies in abundance. However, some them have been outstanding and brilliant. I have particularly enjoyed some of them very much. I would put some bits about them here.

APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)

Francis Ford Copolla directed this great war epic. Featuring an ensemble cast of Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall, this is the story of a Vietnam Veteran's journey to murder an astray Army Colonel who now commands an ethnic tribe. The movie is notable for focusing on the psychological impacts of the war rather than a gritty depiction of violence which a staple of major movies of this genre.

SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)

Written by Thomas Keneally and directed by Steven Spielberg, this is a movie that goes beyond a usual commentary on the violence inflicted upon jews by the nazis. It goes further than this to display the Capitalist power regime and the corruption underneath the nazi regime which had gloriously proclaimed itself as the purest race . It tells the story of a German businessman whose sensible acts of business save the lives of many Jews.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

Another Steven Spielberg movie featuring an ensemble cast of Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Vin Diesel. The movie is based on US army's operations in Normandy and their journey to save Francis Ryan, younger brother of three U.S. soldiers who have died in the same war. The movie is notable for its graphic portrayal of war, and for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes scene depicting the butchering of allied soldiers. Also noteworthy is Hanks’ performance.

PLATOON (1986)

Written and Directed by Oliver Stone this Anti-War movie stars Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe. The movie is about the horrors of Vietnam War and how wars should never happen. It was the first War movie that was directed by a Vietnam War Veteran.

FULL METAL JACKET (1987)

Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 British-American war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay by Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford was based on Hasford's novel The Short Timers (1979). Its storyline follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their training, primarily focusing on two privates, Joker and Pyle, who struggle to get through camp under their foul-mouthed drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, and the experiences of two of the platoon's Marines in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by soldiers. The film was released in the United States on June 26, 1987.

FURY (2014)

Fury is a 2014 American war film written and directed by David Ayer, and stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal and Jason Isaacs. The film portrays US tank crews in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War II. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as Belton Y. Cooper's Death Traps, about American armored units in World War II and the high casualty rates suffered by tank crews in Europe.

HACKSAW RIDGE (2016)

Hacksaw Ridge is a 2016 biographical war drama film directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based on the 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector. The film focuses on the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacifist combat medic who was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, refusing to carry or use a firearm or weapons of any kind. Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Okinawa. Andrew Garfield stars as Doss, with Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Vince Vaughn in supporting roles.

DUNKIRK (2017)

Dunkirk is a 2017 war film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. It features an ensemble cast starring Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy, and portrays the Dunkirk evacuation of the Second World War. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film is a co-production between the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and the Netherlands.

Originally written here.

Some lesser works of greater artists.

Mostly films are seen as a source of entertainment. Some of them get a lot of commercial success and are considered Blockbusters. However, I believe that most film-makers as well as movie stars would agree that while they work on a film they have no idea as to how the film would perform once it hit the theatres. It is also true and has been found in abundance that many films that had been worked upon with the greatest dedication and by the best people in the business disappointed the cash counters or were not as impressive in their collections as well as their impact on the audiences. On the other hand, movies that were made in haste or with a constraint on the budget turned out to be big surprises. Not that they were less wonderful in any way, but the expectations were low from them and also perhaps, a reason for low expectations, they did not involve the best people in the business.

I have always felt that some movies are so well ahead of their times that they fail to enthrall audiences at all. Later on, these films go on to become cult movies. A brilliant example here is that of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) which was the last directorial venture of the great film-maker Stanley Kubrick. It is brilliant yet not considered close to his 'usual' hits like A Clockwork Orange (1971) or The Shining (1980). I believe that the movie has created a niche for itself over the years and, well, maybe some years later it might get tagged as a 'Cult Classic'.

One other recurring thought that I always have is that some movies just like cult hits are not there in the popular culture as much as their other counterparts. For example, if one were inquisitive enough to inquire into the war movies which Steven Spielberg has made over his entire career, one would usually get recommended a Saving Private Ryan (1998) or a Schindler's List (1993). But a warm and brilliant movie of the same genre was also directed by Spielberg that was called Bridge of Spies (2015). A special thing about such movies is the change in perspective that these movies bring about. They are informative, entertaining as well as low-key. 

Often I doubt whether the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is perhaps the best way to go about getting movie recommendations. Or a movie critic like Roger Ebert could be given such a huge responsibility as to deciding whether a movie is fit to be viewed or not. Well !

Here are some movies that I found great, entertaining as well as informative. However, the love of audiences as well as critics has not been as eloquent for them as it has been for the other works of the same people involved in creating them. 

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015)

I have to admit that I reckoned the movie to be a typical world war thriller at the first instance. But as I reluctantly moved with the movie I found it totally amazing. The plot of the movie along with some superb cinematography makes the movie stand out amongst all the acclaimed world war movies.

It is basically about an American Tax Lawyer who takes up the case of an accused Soviet spy for the sake of providing him defence in the case to uphold the American values of Justice. He makes progress by getting him off the electric chair (death sentence) by getting a term of life imprisonment for him. He receives a lot of flak and even his family’s security gets threatened since the public gets angry. All for being dedicated to his job, however dishonourable it might have seemed. He finally succeeds in exchanging his client for an American spy.

It changed my entire thought process regarding the limits of dedication which one can stretch beyond any paltry lines of popular acclaim and wealth. The character upholds the highest virtues of professional ethics and loyalty to justice despite suffering initial dents on his personal and professional life.

SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)

Steven Spielberg made this black and white movie out of a Booker prize winning novel. This film is about a German industrialist who saves the lives of some thousand jews during the holocaust after witnessing their persecution in concentration camps. He does so by employing them in his factories.

It changed my perspective on the impact of the efforts of a single person. A single person who was able to save thousands of jewish lives actually saved several future jewish generations! The part being most commendable is the fact that the person himself was a native German.

THE BIG SHORT (2015)

This epic film is actually a string of stories of some people involved in making money from the Global Sub Prime Mortgage Crisis of 2008 that started in the US and spread throughout the world in varying amounts.

This changed my perspective on globalization and capitalism. As can be found in the movie, we see how greedy bankers sold sub prime mortgage bonds by repackaging them into seemingly safer CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligation) taking advantage of the real estate bubble and their deeds brought the entire financial community to a standstill. Supporting such practices were the trusted rating agencies which mislead the society by rating such bonds highly.

A FEW GOOD MEN (1992)

A legal thriller with Tom Cruise as the leading man in his good old days is a treat to watch. That too a movie based on something sensational like what happens behind those closed military doors.

This movie is about a reluctant lawyer (Cruise) taking up a case for the court-martial of two U.S. marines charged with the murder of a fellow marine. Apparently the deceased marine transgressed some norms for which he was ‘disciplined’ by the two accused marines on the orders of their Colonel. The act leads to some unforeseen consequences leading to the death of the marine.

The movie is a rare glance at the legal complexities involved in a court martial. It offers an insight into the workings of an entirely opaque system held in the highest esteem.

THE INSIDER(1999)

It is one of the two movies of Michael Mann which I find very cool and timeless. The other one is Heat (1995).

It is a docu-drama centered around the billion dollar tobacco industry. It is about a former executive of a tobacco major who is trying to let off some steam regarding the alteration of the chemical composition of tobacco products by his company, enhancing them to an extent where they might get addictive. Russell Crowe gives a very commendable performance here. I loved him in Gladiator (2000) too.

It brings to light issues such as malpractices in the processing industry, deliberate usage of contents to increase tobacco use (read abuse), failure of judicial and regulatory authorities to curb such practices and also the involvement of money so huge that the settlement of the issue highlighted in the movie was to the tune of some 60 billion US Dollars.

HER (2013)

The movie is basically carried on his shoulders by the brilliant Joaquin Phoenix, perhaps one of the most underrated actors of all time alongside Robert Duvall. I found him at his glowing best in The Master (2012) and Gladiator (2000).

The story revolves around a lonely letter writer, going through a divorce, who finds solace and company in an operating system designed to interact with people by gradually evolving as the interaction between the system and the human grows. What happens next and so forth is worth a watch.

The film throws light on the changing nature of human relationships and how we as humans are dealing with issues like seclusion and loneliness. The impact of technology on dealing with these issues is both drastic as well as dangerous.

JFK (1991)

This less popular but an extremely definitive movie by Oliver Stone is centered around the events and circumstances of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  Seen from the perspective a New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, it only offers glances at various angles to the assassination . The perpetrators of the assassination are yet to be discovered and the case got closed due to lack of any definitive evidence. Some people were found to have a hand in the event but that was it.

It is revealed in the movie that there could a conspiracy by the Arms Industry and the U.S. armed forces to kill Kennedy since he was a supporter of lesser military interference in other countries like Vietnam. This could have been detrimental to the position of both the actors involved in the conspiracy. A lot needs to be learned regarding the power battle that U.S. and its associates have waged for more than half a century now.

TAXI DRIVER (1976)

I have to admit that I am a little biased towards this movie. I keep talking about it in every movie discussion that I undertake and also in everything I write. I guess a part of it comes from the De Niro worship (Robert De Niro : Actor, Taxi Driver) and some of it comes from the magnificence of the film itself .

The movie centers around a young taxi driver who is an ex U.S. Marine back from the Vietnam War. He likes to drive around for long hours at night and seems disappointed and frustrated with the state of things in the city. This leads to some drastic consequences.

The movie helps develop a perspective, though not a very definitive one, on the issues which soldiers and military men involved in long wars like Vietnam face. Issues like loneliness, difficulty in adjusting to the societal norms, frustration and psychological disorders are some of them.

CITIZEN FOUR (2014)

To be very honest I am a not a big fan of documentary films for the reason that they are boring. Basically a series of interviews clubbed together under the garb of a film! But not this one. A real and gruesome account by Edward Snowden, an ex N.S.A. (National Security Agency , U.S.) employee, about the N.S.A. spying scandal. It is brilliant and horrifying at the same time.

It just brings to the fore the horrible as well as illegitimate spying of the agency on the vulnerable private lives of billions of individuals in the name of cyber counter intelligence: something that emerged in the aftermath of the 2001 World Trade Centre Terrorist Attacks.

Governments do need to put effective checks on the overreach of the intelligence and security agencies which have, many times in the past, gone extremely overboard in meeting their mandates.

P.S. I am limited in my perspective since anyone can only tell from his limited knowledge, which keeps growing and evolving as time passes. I will try and update this post if I find something worthwhile.

Originally written here.

Film Trivia.

I loved collecting trivia at school and college. And Film trivia was something I always looked up to. A certain sense of realism got into me after graduating from college. Though I still adore films, perhaps my sense of inquisitiveness regarding trivia has faded.

Here is a little collection of trivia I found over the years.

1. This series of picture messages appeared in the magazine Variety over a period of many years. They have a connection. Guess what ( You might figure out if you can read out the blurred text. Sorry for the quality). 

When George Lucas’ “Star Wars” eclipsed Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” as the all time box office leader back in 1977, Spielberg took out a full page ad in Variety to congratulate his old pal. Once Spielberg’s “ET: The Extra Terrestrial” reclaimed the box office title in 1982, Lucas returned the favour by taking out an Ad in the same magazine Variety. Lucas kept the tradition alive by taking out a full page Ad when, in 1998, James Cameron’s “Titanic” sunk the re-issue of “Star Wars” to become the top Box-Office movie of all times.

2. Once the director of a famous movie was driving his car when he noticed the movement of a glass of water on his dashboard due to the sound emanating from his speakers. He immediately went back to his studio to incorporate that effect into his movie.

The movie was Jurassic Park ( 1993 ). The person was Steven Spielberg. The effect being talked about was the ripples caused in a glass of water upon the entry of the dinosaur T-Rex . That effect was actually created by connecting the string of a guitar to the dashboard over which the glass was placed. And then the guitar was played. Thus, an iconic effect was born.

Watch it here.

3. Taxi Driver (1976) formed part of the delusional fantasy of John Hinckley Jr. that triggered his attempted assasination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Hinckley stated that his actions were an attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster, on whom Hinckley was fixated, by mimicking Travis's mohawked appearance at the Palantine rally. His attorney concluded his defense by playing the movie for the jury.

4. It's well known that Robert De Niro auditioned for a number of roles in The Godfather, alongside fellow "failures" Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman. You can see him auditioning for the role of Sonny on YouTube.

5. On March 5, 1973, Marlon Brando declined the Academy Award for Best Actor for his gut-wrenching performance as Vito Corleone in "The Godfather (1972)" - for a very unexpected reason. On the eve of the 45th Academy Awards, Brando announced that he would boycott the ceremony and send Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. A little-known actress, she was then-president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee.

On the evening of March 5, when Liv Ullman and Roger Moore read out the name of the Best Actor award recipient, their gaze fell on a woman in Apache dress, whose long, dark hair bobbed against her shoulders as she climbed the stairs.

Moore extended the award to Littlefeather, who waved it away with an open palm. She set a letter down on the podium, introduced herself, and said : "I'm representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you ... that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry -"

Watch the complete scene here

6. There is a sound effect called the Wilhelm Scream that has been used in over 200 movies and TV shows since 1951. Listen to it here.

7. The charcoal drawing of Kate Winselet in James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) was actually drawn by James Cameron.

8. Alfred Hitchcock has made a stunning 39 cameo appearances in his 52 major movies like appearing in photographs, crossing a building etc. This is a scene from 1963 movie 'The Birds'. But so did Subhash Ghai in almost all of his famous movies.

9. Lata Mangeshkar's song ‘Ae Malik Tere Bande Hum’ from ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957) which was an original composition by Vasant Desai, was adapted by a Pakistani school as the school anthem. 

10. ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) was a trilingual – with all scenes shot thrice in Hindi, Tamil and English. When the Tamil one flopped miserably, the English language one was aborted.

11. Aamir Khan's ‘Lagaan (2001)’ had the maximum number of British actors ever to be cast in a single movie in the history of Bollywood cinema.

Originally written here.

Things we are doing wrong collectively.

Undeserved attention, rewards, adulation to P.V. Sindhu

1. I need not talk about her achievements in sports. They are illustrious and phenomenal. But I fail to understand that what on this earth qualifies her for the post of Deputy Collector for which many poor, rich, disabled, backward etc students burn their midnight oil for ?

Source

Maybe the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Shri Chandrababu Naidu thinks she has a badminton shot ready to tackle all of it.

Pity ! And I thought that I was the only one who thinks that these students were stupid to just toil for years first preparing for the exam and then in the Training Institute.

Anyway her attendance in the Collector’s office would be much like that of Lord Tendulkar’s in Rajya Sabha.

I wonder why Tendulkar and Sindhu took up these jobs knowing well that they won’t be able to do justice to them. They should be aware that their salaries and allowances come from the valuable money of tax payers. They should have also known that some very deserving candidates in their place could have done much better jobs. Anyway they had had lucrative careers.

But who doesn’t want a free ride in India ? Hats off Tendulkar and Sindhu !

Well Played !

I don’t blame Shri Chandrababu Naidu for offering her a lot of money (I will talk about this later) and that post to her.

After all in the next elections he would have something to claim.

“ Please vote for us. If you do, we will ensure that nothing good becomes of the common man. But yes we will continue to seek acclaim by offering important government posts to useless people who have no idea how to go about them, just like us.”

It is unbelievable that the leaders of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh even went to the extent of fighting over the fact that whether Sindhu belonged to Telangana or Andhra Pradesh.

Such “Honourable Buffoons”.

I wonder where were they and their stashes of cash when Sindhu’s coach Pulela Gopichand had to mortgage his house to be able to finance a training academy for Badminton.

2. Rewards for winning the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics

₹5 crore (US$780,000), and a land grant  from the Government of  Telangana.

₹30 lakh (US$47,000) from the Indian Olympic Association.

₹1.01 lakh (US$1,600) from Salman Khan, for qualifying as an Olympic participant.

₹3 crore (US$470,000), a Group A cadre job(Deputy Collector of Andhra Pradesh) and 1000 square yd land grant from the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

₹2 crore (US$310,000) from the Government of Delhi.

₹75 lakh (US$120,000) from her employer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, with promotion from assistant to deputy sports manager.

₹50 lakh (US$78,000) from the Government of Haryana.

₹50 lakh (US$78,000) from the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

₹50 lakh (US$78,000) from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

₹50 lakh (US$78,000) from Badminton Association of India.

₹50 lakh (US$78,000) from NRI businessman, Mukkattu Sebastian.

₹5 lakh (US$7,800) from All India Football Federation.

BMW car from the Hyderabad District Badminton Association and as well as Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Miniature badminton racquet memento with gold and diamond from Kirtilals.

Source

I wonder why such hefty amounts of money have been showered on a sportsperson whose only achievements have been winning some medals at international level.

I am sure that playing and winning matches at international level require the highest levels of sportsmanship and talent. Sindhu has worked very hard.

But so does a labourer who works all day and is still not able to meet his ends.

In a country as poor and underdeveloped as India how can we afford to waste so much money just to glorify the leaders who award them ?

And mind the fact that these awards are in excess of the legitimate Remuneration, Allowances, National Awards and so on.

And apart from platonic returns that Sindhu brings in by winning matches what service is she doing for the nation or for that matter any sportsperson in India ?

The sad truth is that they contribute nothing majorly. The sponsors that they bring in pay a hefty fees to the government but God knows where that revenue goes. And that is also true about only Cricket. The kind of money that is involved has led to widespread corruption in BCCI and to scams like that of Commonwealth Games 2010.

3. One thing which is very sad is the dismal performance of India in every sport except Cricket. Just look at the performance in Olympics. It would be better that we do not send in any team there at all. Because we won’t win medals anyway. A major cause for this is the lack of infrastructure to train athletes.

An interesting observation in this regard is that the lack of training infrastructure is not due to the lack of money. This is so because the kind of monetary rewards Sindhu received after winning the Silver Medal are enough to fund some quality infrastructure to train athletes at the national level.

But Politicians don’t care. Why would they ?

Sadly even Sindhu does not care. Despite having a platform to speak up and bringing this issue to light, Sindhu decides to take the rewards, a free bureaucratic Job and keep mum.

Why should she worry ?

Perhaps I expect too much from her. Before asking her I should pay heed to the fact that even I have done nothing for the welfare of the nation. Even I have taken free rides when I got the chance.

I am not a National Icon.

But so is P.V. Sindhu.

She is a mere Badminton Player.

But we do have a National Icon.

Kailash Satyarthi

1. I am very sure that all those stupid Tendulkar fans who went berserk when Maria Sharapova denied knowing him do not even now Kailash Satyarthi. Although his contribution for this nation’s welfare is much greater than any sportsperson let alone Tendulkar, even the most sane people of India came to know about him only when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2. He is the person that India needs but does not deserve at all. It is a shame that his efforts were recognized by foreign enclaves like the Nobel Prize Foundation but his own country failed to recognize him.

Well, they were busy awarding Amitabh Bachchan the stupidest award only presented in countries like India : “Star of the Millenium”. Either this or may be they were making John Travolta dance to the tunes of “Lungi Dance” at IIFA awards.

3. Satyarthi is involved with a major movement called “Bachpan Bachao Aandolan” credited with saving the lives of almost 83,000 children from bonded labour.

4. I am very sure that he might never get awarded the Bharat Ratna which he deserves more than anyone else around. Because I am very sure that Bonded Labour is not as glamorous as Cricket or Film or Music.

This guy has no fans.

Sad.

Pathetic.

EDIT 1:

1. I would like to point out that I do not believe in name calling to prove my point. I also do not believe in blaming others for not being righteous enough. It is their call just like mine. But I had to take names because that was the only way to prove my point otherwise this would have been a general debate and people would have called me a lunatic. As you all may have noticed I have cited the relevant source whenever I have made a point.

2. As Jahnavi Patel pointed out, I think I should clarify myself here.

My comparison of an athlete to a labourer, though looks very awkward, is justifiable. First, both are citizens of this country. Second, lets not say that any athlete who plays for India makes it proud. Because anyone who does anything being an Indian citizen either makes India proud or disgraced.

I will explain how.

An army soldier fights for the nation at the border and gives away his life fighting for the country. He makes the nation proud. Not awarded 200 million and a deputy collector’s post to his relative.

A labourer works hard all day. Earns his living. Contributes to the GDP. Acts as a backbone to the manufacturing sector. Meagre income. No access to healthcare and education. Still survives. Makes India proud. No 200 million and a Deputy Collector’s post.

A Physicist in India works hard and researches to make inventions and discoveries despite the poor infrastructure as well as poorly paid reserach fellowships. Makes India proud. No 200 million and a deputy collector’s post.

An Economist works on theories related to economic development, poverty alleviation, welfare etc. Helps in real growth of the country. Poor salaries and allowances.  Makes India proud. No 200 million and a deputy collector’s post.

An important point here to note is that I have mentioned ‘Deputy Collector’s post’ liberally throughout. Its usage is arbitrary. I mean what would a Physicist do with a Collector’s job. Here I mean to say that in return for his services he is given employment in a sphere where his expertise does not lie. For example, a Physicist is given the job of the Chief Security Advisor of the country by the government as a favour for his research in a completely different area.

The reason employed behind all these weaknesses of the system.

“India is a poor country, with a population of 1.35 billion.”

Boom comes the sportsman.

Works hard. wins a medal. national awards. land. job. car. 200 million. still counting…

How much reward did Pulela Gopichand receive who mortgaged his house to train sindhu ?

How much reward did Amartya Sen receive when he won the nobel prize for economics?

How much reward did Kailash Satyarthi receive when he won the nobel peace prize ?

A Nobel prize is equal to, if not greater than, an Olympics medal in terms of prestige and honour at “international level”.

A Bharat Ratna for liberating 83,000 children from bonded labour is equally desrved, if not more than, a Bharat Ratna for playing cricket while earning billions.

Do not compare Physicists, Economists  with Sportsmen. It is an insult to some of the noblest professions.

3. Naresh Jilla Do you check the news website when you plan to select the college you have to attend ? Or the hospital where you would take your grandmother to for her arthiritis ? Or which tourist spot you would like to visit next summer ? No. You find out yourself.

Do not blame media for not reporting an issue with greater coverage. What can they do ? When the only information Indians want is “Who is Virat Kohli’s next girlfriend ?”. Sorry Kohli. Had to say that.

4. I do not underestimate the importance of sports and its relative impact on the well being of people. But those 200 million could have helped set up a good Training Academy for athletes. We could have had many winners. There is a lot of talent going wasted due to utter lack of reverence and corruption and irresponsibility.

EDIT 2

1. Here is something good Manjinder Singh Swann has to say:

“In my opinion rather than giving her crores of Rs. government should have invested that money for the next Olympic preparations so that our athletes can perform better. Only few lakhs are enough for these athletes because after winning a medal at an event like Olympics these athletes already grab the attention of big brands which offer them advertisement contracts from which they can earn crores of Rs. 

On one hand some athletes don’t even have money to pay for the air tickets to attend Olympic, or to get a medical fitness certificate, or to prepare for the event, and on the other hand some athletes gets crores of Rs. just for winning Silver medal. 

Who knows if some of the athletes who don’t have money to prepare or who don’t have coach like Pullela can grab us a Gold medal if given a chance ?”

Originally written here.