Intrigue and adrenalin

I have been blog morbid for close to three months. Broke my leg in an unusual fall and had to undergo surgery and the mandatory convalescence. Still a couple of more months to go, but thought of publishing what I hadn't started before experiencing the "momentariness" of life.

Of nearly a dozen movies I watched during the period, three stand out for a wide variety of reasons: Fracture, The Bourne Ultimatum, and A Mighty Heart. It is indeed heartening to note that the excessive celluloid exhaust we witness these days does indeed have some gems. Films that are great in ideas, content, drama, narrative structure, style, and perfomances.

Of the lot I mentioned above, Bourne Ultimatium is superb in terms of what action and suspense thrillers can offer. A great plot of espionage, intrigue and action traversing the world, Bourne Ultimatium, is terrific stuff.In this third part of the Bourne trilogy, an android-looking Mat Damon continues his search for his identity through a maze of high-tech gadgetry, ruthless pursuit by his earstwhile masters and superb lines. Take a close look at those razor-sharp cuts, where some frames last less than half a second, the extremely mindful use of hand-helds and steadicams, a huge variety of shots ranging from the distant voyeuristic, crazy zoom-ins to tight close-ups, and those stylish pans. It also has one of the most engaging chases I have ever seen in movies. I wouldnt want to say anytihng more. It is the cocktail of intrigue and adrenalin at its best. I don't read Robert Ludlum and the works of his genre. Perhaps this movie might compel me to take a look at Ludlum, for he is the author of the Bourne trilogy. Among the three Bourne movies, this looks the best.

In terms of style and narrative, Bourne Ultimatum is contiguous with the previous episode of the trilogy, Bourne Supremacy. No marks for guessing. It is the signature of director Paul Greengrass.

The Fracture, on the other hand is sheer drama and perfomance. Anthony Hopkins and a relatively unknow Ryan Gosling serve a fantastic drama, with hardly any outdoor shots. It is high quality drama and a cheeky thriller. Ted (Anthony Hopkins), shoots his wife over an extra-marital relationship and succesfully sets up a legally viable escape plan. Willy Beacham, an extremely succesful young attorney (Ryan Gosling)thinks he has an open-and-shut case with a written confession and circumstantial evidence. But the plans of Ted, who looks like a loveable criminal, work out. He walks out scot-free, but not before an irrepressible Willy, makes a last-minute breakthrough. The performance of Anthony Hopkins is the stealer. It is menacing, vicarious and loveable. The good punch lines, an intelligent plot and measured photography make it a worthwhile movie. "If you look close enough, everybody has a weak spot" - that is the tagline of the movie. And it does make sense. Take a look.

By the way, the director of the movie, Gregory Hoblit ("NYPD Blue" fame)had pioneered the "loose camera" look (the handheld feel), used in movies such as "Bourne Ultimatum".

I will recommend A Mighty Heart for two reasons - the trademark gonzo style of director Michael Winterbottom , reminiscent of his earlier film, The Road to Guantanamo, and the casually elegant performance by the Indian cross-over actor, Ifran Khan. He is arresting and see the contrast in the frames that he shares with Anjolina Jolie. It is about abduction and death of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter, who was investigating stories on Taliban and Al Queda post 9/11. Good fare for students of cinema. I do wonder how he pulled off such a hand-held strategy. Definitely worth your time.

Zodiac: Unusual. Does it Thrill?

When thrillers are confused for loud noises, destruction, wild chases, extra-terrestrial and super-human, here comes David Fincher who gave us Seven, The Fight Club and The Panic Room with his latest offering - Zodiac. You wait to get thrilled, gripped by panic and fear, but nothing happens till the end. You dont realise that you have watched a three hour American movie. Is it an anti-climax?

That is Zodiac for you. A really long movie on a serial killer, who called himself Zodiac, killed people for more than a decade in the Bay area of San Fransisco in the 60s and 70s and sent letters and cryptgrams to police and newspapers. A committed and curious few - two police officers and two journalists - follow the cold trail, day and night, for several years and almost lose their lives to them. As the tagline of the movie says, there is more than one way to lose your life to a killer.

By the time my post appears on the blog, the movie will be out on TV.

London to Brighton: Riveting Raw Success

Cinema is the most fascinating art I can ever think of. A confluence of a all forms of art in time and space, explored through a highly technical medium.

Talking scenes that one arrogantly creates within the confines of a frame.

What else do I say to express my excitement and sense of cinematic fulfillment of whatching "London to Brighton"? It is not about money (a reported budget of less than a million dollars), it's not about spectacles (largely simple indoors and a bit of outdoors)and it's not even about a wide range of lenses or fancy equipment (shot in 16 mm).

"London to Brighton" is an edge of the seat suspense thriller that takes off from the word go, not through flash cuts or crane shots, but through the sheer honesty of story telling and superlative performances. A bad looking and badly bruised hooker and a 12-year old girl are on the run from some frightening situation. We don't know what or who they are running away from. As the movie unfolds, we see the rest of the plot and we move towards the edge of the seat in anxiety, fear and anticipation for the worst. I wouldn't want to say anything more lest I should reveal the essence of the film.

This film is about the confidence of a debut director, about outstanding performances, and meticulously etched characters. As the lead characters,Lorraine Stanley and Georgia Groome (by the way, who are they and where did they come from?) have delivered stunning performances and are really worth to be looked out for. Georgia Groome, at her tender age, is a dynamite on screen. Take a look at the rehearsal clip of Georgia in the special features of the DVD. She is amazing talent.

For British director Paul Andrew Williams, apparenlty, this is a modified version of his 2001 short titled "Royalty". I am already avaricious to see more from him. If anybody has any more information on him, please share in this space. Same for Lorraine and Greorgia too.

This is what the BBC has said about the movie: At last - after years in the Mockney doldrums, the British crime flick gets a double-barrelled shot in the arm. London To Brighton is a brutal and brilliantly assured debut from writer/director Paul Andrew Williams. And he's not the only new name to watch - there are terrific turns from unknowns Lorraine Stanley and Georgia Groome, respectively playing a hooker and a teenage runaway in flight from some very unsavoury characters. World-beatingly grim, it'll put you through the wringer, but you won't regret the journey.

Dont this miss this amazing sleeper.Take a look at this trailer:

 

Sri Lankan coast. The onset of south west monsoon

 

The old world charm of Cambodia. On display is one of the traditional skills that survived the Pol Pot purge.

(Free for non-commercial use with appropriate credit. Download a higher resolution verion by clicking on the photo. If used, please notify me)

 

The Synchronised gaze of a billion eyes and ears: A Beijing rooftop.

(Free for non-commercial use with appropriate credit. Download a higher resolution verion by clicking on the photo. If used, please notify me)

Ever noticed the brilliance of a flame? Take a close look. Amazing range of luminosity, colour, light and shades. An impossible stroke of a brush soaked in fire. A kerosene lamp on the cost of the Pacific ocean in Samoa.

(Free for non-commercial use with appropriate credit. Download a higher resolution verion by clicking on the photo. If used, please notify me)

 

Often, I feel nature is the best study of light and states of matter. When we have the liberty of playing with its image, we see the nature mirroring our emotions. The Mekong I saw in Pnom Penh on a rainy afternoon in June was heavy with silence. Or perhpas, I thought Mekong looked more meaningful as an introspective expanse of water and still surroundings.

(Free for non-commercial use with appropriate credit. Download a higher resolution verion by clicking on the photo. If used, please notify me)

Profoundly "Provoked"

Towards the end of my college days, Jag Mohan Mundhra was a familar name: a "Hollywood" director of Indian origin, who ran an assembly line to produce B-grade "erotic thrillers". It did surprise me, when I learned that he was a graduate from one of the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), the lab for India's restless technology talent.

Today, on the same day when Michael Moore's "Sicko" was being premiered at Cannes, I watched another Jag Mohan Mundhra movie: "Provoked", featuring former Miss Universe and Indian actress Aiswarya Rai and Naveen Andrews, a favourite of Non Resident Indian directors. Looking at "Provoked" and the his 20-odd old films, I wonder if Mundhra was perfecting his art of cinema by making those erotic teasers. This one is superb. A very elegant film with an extremely sensitive and unpretentious narrative.

"Provoked" is the real-life story of an Indian Punjabi woman, Kiranjith Ahluwalia, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the UK for burning her husband to death. Setting her husband on fire was a desperate attempt for her to escape from an extremely abusive marriage of 10 years.

Though she was sentenced for life, subsequent appeal, made possible by a women's rights group in the UK and intense public support,led to her freedom in about three years. In the early in 1990s, when she was freed from jail, Kiranjit acquired the status of a celebrity and a mascot for women's rights. She subsequently published her memoirs titled "Provoked", which the film is based on.

The film is well-scripted and superbly executed. Excellent performances, including by the extras, clean visuals, interpretative camera angles and straightforward narrative style makes it a perfect study for a good film. From a grammatical point of view, photography, situations and the excellent use of voice overs and voice overlaps in editing stand out, even while retaining a sober air.

This film is a tribute to millions of women who suffer in silence and who are conveniently overlooked by the majority and systems that are meant to protect them. It is a mirror held to ourselves. It raises questions about the dispempowering role of "culture" that pushes women in our parts of the world into vicious cyles of violence. It also makes a point on the lax and slipshod ways of justice delivery mechanisms in the West when it concerns people of colour.

It is one of the memorable movies I have seen this year. Without demoagogues or academic pretentions, it makes an extremely powerful impact on gender equality and women's empowerment. For instance, the protagonist tells her lawyer, who cautions her that she might end up in the prison for life: "For the first time I feel safe." It is also in the jail, that Kiranjeet learns about life and empowers herself with the help of her cellmate and other jailmates. Mundhra doesn't amplify these points, but states them convincingly. And that also makes the strapline of the movie really meaningful: "In prison, she found her freedom."

I would highly recommend that this film may be used as an advocacy tool on gender equality. I would also highly recommend this film to the lovers of good cinema.

One more reason to back this film is the performance by Aiswarya Rai. Desite her designer jail clothes (crumbled Linen by Indian designer Neeta Lulla is too much for jail costume)and signs of cosmetic lavishness that is not consistent with her jail conditions, Aiswarya Rai has delivered a impressive performance. The manic appearance of Naveen Andrews makes him a natural fit in the role of an abusive, alcoholic Indian husband.

You can read the news report on the real Kiranjith here. You may also like to take a look at the campaign by the women's group, Southhall Black Sisters, that freed Kiranjith.

Veyyil at Cannes

I was blog-morbid for a month till I could post yet again today. I didnt have the luxury of time on hand. I am back this weekend, a long weekend, thanks to Good Friday.

The thought for the weekend is one of happiness. A recent down-to-earth, but brilliantly executed Tamil film called "veyyil", which I have listed as one of my favourites, has won an entry into the Cannes Film festival due next month. Of course it is not in the competitition section where my fellow country-man Shaji.N.Karun had been featured three times, but in the "cinemas of the World".

The young director, Vasanthabalan, will indeed be proud to be showcased with the
best of the contemporary world Cinema. He is bright and has a tremendous sense of cinema. Let's wait for more from him.



By the way, the producer of this movie is the block-buster guy, Shankar, who directs only multimillion extravaganza in Tamil. Interesting that a part of the megabucks he makes dressing up ageing Tamil superstars goes into interesting cinema. They are interesting because they are not slow-paced bores like the ones made by the beard-herd in the neighbouring state of Kerala, but engaging cinema. Serious cinema, that is eminently watchable.

Indian cinema is definitely going through a very interesting phase. Cinema is one medium that tells us that there are several Indias within India.

A profitable infection called sharing

An abominal trait of the hierarchy-bound is their arrogant conviction that any "knowledge other than mine" is subordinate and inferior. First I thought it was a just an aberration, then I started noticing it with some kind of predictability. It is tiring, reprehensible and silly, but true.

The relief comes from the same world around me. The world that is riding on sheer intelligence, merit, knowledge and innovation. This world gave us digital cinema, blogs, Google, Torrents, Skype, Youtube, Roberto Rodriguez,Arundhati Roy, Alexandro Innaritu and countless innovators that make living exciting despite all the travails associated with it.

Skype was a revelation. About 130 million users and at least eight million online any time, still connecting voices with crystal clear clarity across the world. "Skype" became the alternative word for speaking on Internet and broadband became a means to skype. Not many know that it came from Scandinavia though the public relations and deals were driven from the front ends in New York and London. Shopping for future powerhouses, e-Bay bought it for US $ 2.6 billion.

For the innovators, it could have been the end or the beginning. Perhaps the beginning of a lifelong party that can last generations. But the 30-something innovators started off yet again and are almost ready with their new online wonder - Joost. It is TV on the Net. Not streaming, not youtube, but real TV on the Net. I am not too sure how best they look, but the previews look convincing. Based on technologies that gain from online sharing, Joost promises to convert our computers to anytime, anywhere TV. More people get online, the better becomes the quality - something that turns the directly proporational relationship between dwindling bandwidth and increasing users on its head.

There are several channels listed, some of them available only in the US and some in selected regions, but others in all parts of the world. Let's wait.

Why am I getting excited? Because I have signed up to be a beta user, which Joost had opened a while ago. Recently I received an email from them saying that I can soon get Joost. I am waiting while spreading the word. In a world of rights-violative and profit-driven patents, sharing has always been my mantra. Sharing was fun, sharing was exhilarating and sharing was decent. Now I realise, sharing gives more than goodwill returns too.

Whose tower of Babel?

Watching a bunch of movies around the Osacr flurry can be a bit taxing, but films such as "Babel" and "The Departed" do excite one about the interesting possibilities of cinema as a medium. A medium that encompasses every conceivable artistic possibility. Let me take a look at "Babel" first.

Being aware of the fact that "Babel" is part of the trilogy that the Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu started with "Amores Perros," the non-linear style and grammar of the film was predictable. Still, it packed tremendous amount of cinematic punch. I was amazed by the intricately woven layers - both in terms of the content and form. Do we miss human performance in this grammatically amusing cienmatic marvel? Not at all. All the actors, including most of the amateurs, did fabulously well. Though it received quite a number of nominations, there were justified speculations that Alejandro might not be succesful because of the repetition of narrative style.

I might sound stupid if I say that the story is about a minor, innocent shooting incident in the inaccessible hills of Morocco, its trans-national links and the related socio-political and cultural contexts. In fact that is the one line story one can narrate. However, it can be deconstructed and viewed from as many perspectives as one might want to. I, for instance, watched it from the perspective of the war against terror, in which real people are forgotten and how paranoia and excessively speculative reponses and conspiracy theories place citizens' rights below the State's priorities. How simple solutions skip the minds of the powers-that-be and how everything related to a Muslim state and a gun assumes stupidly complicated proportions. I wouldn't want to let out more on that because that will kill the possibilities of watching this great movie.

To me, the movie is also about the connectedness of the world and how the poor and politically powerless in this world pays for this connectedness. It is also about the failure of established systems and how the people and things that you truly despise in your life comes to your rescue. It is about the servile existence of majority of people to a simple minority of the powerful and the rich; about the fallacies of nationhood, good deeds and so on. In fact, I can go on and on looking at the different layers. The engineering precision with which he packs the layers of events against time and geography is simply brilliant. We have seen this before, but this one is impeccable.

Alejandro, who stunned us with "21 Grams" three years ago, literally overwhelms us with his cerebral creativity and cinematic competence. The use of silence, static shots and close ups, excellent use of the lenses (look out for the scenes of abandonment and helplessness of on the US-Mexican border) the artistically calibrated length of shots and the deft mix of fidgety and steady shots make the movie extremely interesting.

Among the performances, I was particularly impressed by the Mexican actress Adrianna Barraza. She literally lives the disempowerment that countless Mexican illegal immigrants experience in the US. Do watch out for her. She is a veteran. An equally interesting performance is that of Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi, another powerhouse to watch out for. Cate Blanchet and Brad Pitt, the lead performers, do justice to their roles.

Babel also signifies a new quality in film writing. Guillermo Arriga, who has written Alejandro's earlier works, redefines the art of screenplay writing. It is itense, intelleigent and has a very high literary quality. In about 140 minutes, if a film can take one through the creative stress of an interesting work of fiction, its worth a watch and a difficult piece to write.

By the way, Alejandro was a DJ in Mexico before he studied cinema. Is it a give away on his style. Anyway, he was not the one who started it. The most complicated of them all was "Memento" which demonstrated structural engineering in films followed by Gus Van Sant's "Elephant", which won two top honours at 2003 Cannes festival.

Why rip, mix and play? coz Alejandro met Derrida

Nearly two decades ago, a writer-friend introduced me to Jacquez Derrida, the Algerian-French philosopher and the proponent of deconstruction (of course not the man, but his work). I remember, deconstruction was the centre of post modern intellectual discourse those days and soiled photocopies of Derrida made the rounds in the smoke-filled coffee houses and university campuses in India.

Ragged youth who betted on a new linguistic, literary and art culture, as well as polished urban fringe intellectuals dropped Derrida, post-modernism and deconstruction at the drop of a hat. Curiosity and the need to stay contemporary compelled me to read a bit of post modernism as well. I read a bit of Derrida, Roland Barthes and semiotics and tried to apply them in some things I was doing. I also read post-modern literary pieces including some from my native language, Malayalam. My reading led to a lot confusion and lot of clarity as well. I was overwhelmed by the intellecutal intensity of some of these Western philosophers and was excited about a new way of analytical reading of just about everything - written words, art, cinema, paintings and anything that has meaning.

As Harvard scholar Barbara Johnson (1981), wrote, deconstruction is a specific kind of analytical "reading": “Deconstruction is in fact much closer to the original meaning of the word 'analysis' itself, which etymologically means "to undo" — a virtual synonym for "to de-construct." ... If anything is destroyed in a deconstructive reading, it is not the text, but the claim to unequivocal domination of one mode of signifying over another. A deconstructive reading is a reading which analyzes the specificity of a text's critical difference from itself. (verbatim from Wikepedia)

During the last 17 years of my professional life, I have heard this term used mostly out of context and without meaning, particularly by the urban gender and development specialists. Deconstruction as an english world. Not too sure if they really knew that there was an extremely thought-provoking discourse behind the word. Anyway that is not the main issue here.

Why do I write about deconstruction now? Because, it is the most relevant concept to describe the present world. A world, where success comes from how best one does what I described above: rip, mix and play. By being non-linear.

It's a non-linear world. Here logic does not travel in a straight line and the meaning does not belong to the creator, but the reader. Here vertical does not meet only the horizontal, but the vertical itself or, the vertical becomes the horizontal. During the post-modern, deconstruction discourse days I did understand that one could read a book in several different ways conjuring up a dozen different perceptions and meanings. My abstract painter friend, Achutan Kudallur told me that one does not explain an abstract painting to one's audience. It is up to you. You create your meaning. You rip, mix and play. In the current world, it is the order. If one does not follow that order, one is out of sync with the present world.

The first line of citizens in the world seem to belong to that world - both in terms of creation and consumption. A periodical like the "Wired", hugely succesful business models such as "Google" and "iTunes", public content behemoths such as "wikipedia", Internet TV streamers such as Joost and film-makers such as Alejandro González Iñárritu. Extremely high quality intellect and absolute intolerance to mediocrity seems to be the underlying principle of this new world order.

Reading things in context, reading different meanings in different situations, creating one's own out of somebody else's creation, packing a million light years in a three minute music video, leaving broadcast-freedom to a million private homes, creating movies that can be read in multiple layers, installing art in several dimensions and different media - the world is in a deconstruction mode. And I call this rip, mix and play world.

Of course, there were people who heralded this world order ahead of their times: Derrida perhaps saw this coming; Merce Cunningham perhaps was bored of linear style of dancing and noted Malayalam writer Anand perhaps thought of applying principles of engineering to his work.

And what do we do with the fossilised, incompetent old minds? The will cut and paste before they are edged out by sheer intellectual enterprises.

Hollywood's picnic in Africa continues

After quite a wait, I could finally get to watch one of my favourite actors, Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin, the earstwhile dictator of Uganda, in "The Last King of Scotland". I was really curious about the title: what is the connection between Uganada and Scotland and that too a "King" from "Scotland"?

In this movie, Forest Whitaker is brilliant and is true to the tagline: charming, magnetic, murderous. His arresting performance, replete with subtle nuances in mannersims, idiosyncrasies and the intelligent use of his hulking frame to recreate a real character, who has been featured on celluloid many times earlier, is the highlight of this straightforward film. The story is about Idi Amin's notorious regime in Uganda in the 70s, woven around the strange relationship between him and his Scottish physician Nicholas Garrigan, played by James McAvoy, the young Scottish actor whom we saw last in the "Chronicles of Narnia". James had done a brilliant job too bringing to screen a heady mix of boyish exuberance, sexual adventure (he ends up having sex with one of the wives of Idi Amin), compassion and the fear of a dreaded despot. The only other known face in this film is X-filer Gillian Anderson, who plays the insignifcant role of a fellow doctor. For a change, she looks haggard and fragile.

The film is well written and has a style that evokes curiosity, emotional engagement and fear. The grammar seemed appropriate: wide angle lenses which the characters dramatically walk into at the right situations; handheld shots for scenes that are tense and fearful, unsteady shots when things really go out of control; intelligent use of sound and cuts that are surgically precise.

The background elements that are elaborately and carefully reconstructed with the detailed properties, costumes and people, are not excessively brought upfront - the subtle nuanced style of context-setting. A huge of amount of painstaking details fill the background so that the settings and situations look authentic.

The film also symobolises the new style of film making: films that have a casual elegance about them and films, though richly detailed, that don't make a fuss about being detailed. One can sense a carefully calibrated colour scheme and good use of DI; unconventional shooting schemes that involve hundreds of people filling the scenes, and a large number of vividly detailed characters. Personally, I felt the shooting style was similar to that of The Constant Gardener, directed my current favourite Fernando Meirelles. This Brazilian director, who surprised the world with his "City of God", has devised a style that moves away from the "start-action-cut" routine and uses minimal paraphernalia so that film-making can unobtrusively move to real settings capturing exciting subtexts and unpredictable texture. Many directors now creatively use the intrigue that a slightly shaky handheld can create (by the way the hand held shots in the Indian movie, "Guru" were painful and pretentious). Remember those shaky action shots in "Bourne Identity"?

The "Last King of Scotland" is also about Africa and how native pride is grossly exploited by megalomaniac, blood thirsty despots.

Africa and Africans are increasingly becoming a mainstream Hollywood theme and the production houses are making money too. In the recent past we saw "Black Hawk...", 'Hotel Rwanda" and "Shotting the Dogs" followed by "Constant Gardener" "Blood Diamond"and "Catch a Fire". Perhaps Africa, its ragged and exotic looks, despots, violence, AK-47s, gore, genocide, poverty-stricken people and a few white characters make a good box office mix.

(Disclaimer: I am not too sure if the story is fictitious or real. The film claims to have been inspired by real characters and real incidents. However, in a report in The Herald Tribune on the premiere of the film in Kampala, I have read that the relationship between Amin and Nicholas is fictitious. Perhaps somebody can clarify)

The tree at the bay in Maluka province, Indonesia felt lonely

For 12 years, I was a low paid news-nomad equipped with an eager mind, a thoughtful heart and an adolescent commitment to social change. As a close colleague told me those days, the newspaper I was working for in Chennai was an unparalleled platform for advocating change and my salary, an incentive for public service. I immensely enjoyed those days of journalism and writing - a great learning experience and a journey that taught me what real India was. It was also a journey in which I met thousands of extremely interesting people from across the world whom I wouldn't have met otherwise. They shaped my perspectives, my life and my knowledge. The language I tried to produce was based on scientific evidence and was soaked in reality.

An early encounter I had in this journey was with an emerging health challenge that was spreading fear and panic: the HIV/AIDS epidemic. That was in 1991, five years since the virus was detected in India. Since then, I have been travelling with the epidemic, both as a journalist and as a human being. A large number of my friends, women and men, are people living with HIV/AIDS. While some of them died, some of them are living valiant lives. I learned the meaning of resilience and triumph of human spirit from them. I still continue my journey with the epidemic, closely observing the pathways of its spread and its impact on people.

Six years ago, I left journalism and joined the international development sector. It was the beginning of a new learning experience. New skills, new acquaintances and exciting new opportunities. However, a few months ago, I realised I had stopped writing and my instincts and skills have begun to atrophy. The question before me was, whether I go back to the print media or create something of my own.

Luckily, I am living in a world of Google, YouTube and iTunes - a world in which the new unavoidable element we ought to consume to be valid and alive is called bandwidth. It is cheap and universal. So here I am, back to writing. This time, I need to call it blogging. As digital guru Nicholas Negroponte says in his seminal work "Being Digital", when there are bits, why do I need atoms?

Photo credit: G. Pramod Kumar, 2006