Avatar

I did not get time to write this before but I had to do it. My views on Avatar:

As the credits rolled, I asked the friend sitting next to me about his opinion on the movie. His simple response - ‘I am speechless’. The girls on my other side did not seem to consider leaving seats as one of the viable options as the movie came to an end. My friend asked my view – ‘Not the best cinema but certainly one of the best cinematic experiences ever’. This is the impact of the latest cinematic extravaganza of James Cameron – ‘Avatar’. If you ever wondered ‘Where the hell is James Cameron?’ (I have not seen the documentaries which he made after Titanic) then this movie provides a logical explanation. After all, creating anything new takes time – and here he has created an entire new world.

One of my friends who went to watch the film on my recommendation called me during interval. ‘What’s so special in this film? I do not find anything path breaking.’ – The guy had by mistake taken the ticket of the Hindi version in 2D (I am not suggesting it is not good in Hindi. I have not seen the Hindi version). And though at that point of time he was not able to appreciate the world created by James Cameron, he called me after the movie to express his happiness on watching the movie (He is watching it again this weekend – this time however in 3D). The movie does not boast of a path breaking storyline – it is the same ‘Good vs. Evil’ saga exploited in Hollywood and Bollywood umpteenth times. Yeah it is true – you will not find it much different than a Bollywood story in terms of flow – however the master craftsman (Cameron) paints the canvas with colours never seen before. You will fall in love with the planet ‘Pandora’- a world so beautiful that you wish it to exist in our times. The jungles and its inhabitants – the ‘indigenous’ Na’vi and other animals (magnificent horses, rhinos, dogs, dragons etc. like creatures) are designed with so much detail that you cannot keep your eyes off the screen for one moment. One has to salute the genius of Cameron and his team which dared to expand the limits of alternate reality. When the seeds of the revered trees fell on screen, you can feel them coming to you (in 3D) – it is a feeling you simply cannot describe; it creates a moment where you feel the return of innocence and possibly connect with the nature. And Cameron does not stop here – he gives you floating mountains with waterfalls, fluorescent plants and varied creatures.

And when there is so much ‘Good’ then how can the ‘Evil’ be left behind. As in most of the Hollywood film, this time also the Aliens are the ‘bad guys’ – the only difference is that this time it is the human race which is alien to the beautiful world of Pandora. US marines (Can someone explain to me why US has most tryst with the aliens) have set up their base in Pandora; their mission – to mine a rare mineral ‘unobtainium’ which is the key to solve the energy crisis on planet Earth in 2154 AD. The only problem is that the ‘indigenous’ Na’vis have their village (a large tree) located just on top of the largest pile of ‘unobtainium’. And the human race knows only one mantra – when diplomacy seems to fail then wipe out the problem through the use of force. Thus an army of well trained marines with advanced weapons march to wipe out the colony of bow-arrow wielding Na’vis. One of my friends who had seen the movie earlier than me had pointed out that the movie is a cross between ‘Terminator’ and ‘Jurassic Park’ (Advanced machines taking on dragon flying warriors gives the analogy).

Cameron stresses on the need of connecting with nature and laces the screenplay with many such moments where one feels to bond again with the nature. This is especially true in the background of recently concluded Copenhagen summit. This movie may well do what the world leaders failed to do- sensitize us over the need to reconnect with nature and preserve it. The beauty of nature was perhaps never present in such a breathtaking way before on silver screen (okay 3D screen).

Watch it and if you have access then preferably on a 3D screen. It is an experience which you will not want to miss.