The incredible Bruce Lee:A tribute to the legendary martial artist.

Martial Arts,the traditional system of Combat practice is widely spread across the world in various places and forms.Believed to have originated in ancient China,about 4000 years ago,during the Xia Dynasty,it has slowly and steadily spread it's wings to various parts of the world,including Europe and Asia.Derived from a Latin word,it generally means "Arts of Mars",where Mars is the Roman god of war.

Various forms of martial arts originating from various places,have slowly become the subject of interest of many people,spread across the globe,both for practicing and research purpose.The dominance of martial arts is also seen in the films and media industry,specially the Hong-Kong and Hollywood movie industries.

If we follow the recent trend,various martial artists and martial arts practitioners,have joined the film industry and are successful in establishing themselves as actors also.Scott Adkins,Jean Claudde Van Damme,Donnie Yen,Wesley Snipes,Yuen Biao,Sammo Hung,Cung Le,Don "The Dragon" Wilson,Mark Dacascos,Dolph Lungdren,Michael Jai White,Jason Statham and Matt Mullins are certain names from this never ending list.Jackie Chan,the famous actor,martial artist and stuntman who originated from Hong-Kong film industry, and made a timely crossover to Hollywood,is at present the highest earning actor in the world.

Female martial arts actresses like Moon Lee,Cynthia Rothrock,Cynthia Khan,Anna Ranoso,Lucy Liu and Tanit Phoenix have also proved their versatility in acting.

In Bollywood also,actors like Akshay Kumar,John Abraham,Hrithik Roshan,Vidyut Jamwal,Sushant Singh Rajput,Pooja Gupta,Neetu Chandra and Isha Koppikar are trained martial artists.

However,in this article,I would not like focus on the aspects of collaboration between Movies and Martial Arts, but would like to throw some light on the man,who was the first to collaborate them.The famous martial artist,who was the first to act in as well as direct movies of martial arts genre,and who was solely responsible for this innovative collaboration is none other than the legendary Bruce Lee.

Born on 27th November,1940,Bruce Lee,was a Chinese American martial Artist,Hong-Kong action film actor,martial arts instructor,philosopher and an occasional film maker.He is the founder of "Jeet Kune Do",a rigorous and hybrid form of martial arts,widely accepted throughout the world.He is widely considered by critics,media and other commentators to be the most influential martial artist of all time as well as a pop culture icon of the 20th Century.Some of his famous movies like Fist Of Fury(1972),Way Of The Dragon (1972),Enter The Dragon(1973) and The Game Of Death(1978) have a classical cult following.He had always portrayed Chinese Nationalism in his films.

Lee's father,Lee Hoi-Chuen was one of the leading film actors of that time.So,Lee grew up in a privileged environment.But in spite of that,Lee was involved in several street fights,which prompted his parents to get him trained in martial arts.Although,the initial beginning was slow,the largest influence that came on his learning of martial arts was the study of Wing-Chun Kung Fu,by the legendary teacher Yip Man.Slowly but steadily,Bruce lee,became very skilled in the art of Wing-Chun. However,he became involved in more and more street fights,which forced his parents to send him to San Francisco,U.S.A.

In March,1961,Lee had enrolled himself in the University Of Washington,where he met his future wife Linda Emery,and they married in 1964.

In 1967,after filming one season of "The Green Hornet",Lee found himself out of work,and opened the Jun Fan Institute Of Gung Fu. After a controversial match with Wong Jack Man,Bruce changed his philosophy on martial arts and founded "Jeet Kune Do",in order to improve his style of fighting and make it more fast and effective.

The details of the fight can be seen in book,entitled as "Showdown in Oakland".The following link may be helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AR0KE1I

Although,the above fight is regarded as the most important fight in lee's life,Bruce lee had also been involved in a large number of other fights.He had defeated three times Hong-Kong inter school boxing champion via Knockout.In one of his fights,he had broken the arm of his opponent,as a result of which police had to be called.He had also defeated a judo expert,in just 11 seconds,with 15 punches and 1 kick.

The acting career of Lee,started with his role as "Kato",in the TV Series "The Green Hornet",alongside actor Van Williams.

                                              

He had also been the fight choreographer for many following films and had played small roles in others. However,not pleased with his roles in United States,he moved back to Hong-Kong,where he got his first break as the lead role in the movie "The Big Boss(1971)".The film was a major box-office success.Then following the success,more successful movies followed,establishing him as one of the most prominent lead actors of Hong-Kong.One of the most famous movie of lee was "Enter The Dragon",which was a major box-office success,breaking all previous records set by him.His last unfinished film was "Game Of Death".

On 26th July,1973,6 days before release of "Enter the Dragon",Bruce Lee died.The death of Bruce Lee is mysterious,and has been termed as "Death By Misadventure".Many theories were later speculated about his death,including a curse on his family,or a murder involving Triads,a Chinese underground crime society.Black Belt magazine concluded his death to be as a result of "The Touch Of Death",which he had received several weeks before his death.

Bruce Lee had always been a fitness enthusiastic and believed in regular practices to attain perfection.The following pictures demonstrate his fitness:

                                    

                                     

He was also a reputed philosopher.Some of his famous quotations are:

1)If you love life,don't waste time,for time is what life is made up of.

2)Mistakes are always forgivable,if one has the courage to admit them.

3)Knowledge will give you power,but character respect.

4)A quick temper will make a fool of you,soon enough.

5)As you think,so shall you become.

Refer to the following link for more:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/bruce_lee.html

Various facts about Bruce lee,are also predominant in various places of the world.The following link may be helpful:

http://www.ewmaa.com/bruceleefacts.html

After the death of Bruce Lee,there evolved a large gap in Hong-Kong film industry,a gap that can never be fulfilled,not even today.Bruce lee was and is the legendary martial artist,who will always be remembered for his valuable contribution to cinema as well as martial arts.He is "Immortal".

For more information on Bruce Lee,the following link may be helpful:

http://www.brucelee.com/

Film review of Aurangzeb.

Stories on gangsters and their ruthless crimes,have been a recently adopted trend for film making in Bollywood. However,the concept of identical twins,separated at birth due to some tragedy, and their difference in behaviour arising out of the different circumstances faced by them, followed by their interchanging due to the story line,that results in comical or thrilling situations and confusions,is a not so common plot used by film makers today.This type of plot predominantly used in 80's and 90's,have become extinct today.

Writer and Director,Atul Sabharwal,has mixed the above two plotting concepts of Indian Cinema in an unequal and somewhat unbalanced blend,into this movie "Aurangzeb",backing them with a large and powerfully assembled cast comprising of Arjun Kapoor,Prithviraj Sukumaran,Rishi Kapoor,Sashaa Agha and Swara Bhaskar in lead roles,along with Deepti Naval,Jackie Shroff,Amrita Singh,Anupam Kher and Sikander Kher in supporting roles.

Released on 17th May,2013,Aurangzeb is a Bollywood action thriller film,which executes the ideology of "Good triumphs over evil".The theatrical trailer was released on 3rd April,2013 and was highly received by the audience.But unlikely,the film could not manage to do the same at cash registers and was a decent,above average hit.Lack of realistic concept,too predictable story line,and a large number of previously predictable straight cut twists could not make the film a worthwhile watch.Although,the first half is decent enough,the film loosens very quickly towards the second half,and the end could easily be guessed.

Now,beginning with the review:

Title - The film has a somewhat little uncanny resemblance to the life and policies of the ruthless Mughal Emperor,Aurangzeb and hence the title "Aurangzeb" has been used in a justified manner.However,here I would like to focus on the title of the movie,stating the fact that the title of this movie is interesting enough to grab the audience's attention,without revealing even a bit of the story line that the movie follows.Hence,the title selected by the director is successfully exhibited.

Trailer - The theatrical trailer of the movie,released on 3rd April,showered introduction on the lead characters of the movie,along with a hint of the possible story line that the movie may follow.The trailer introduced a story line involving a family of cops and a family of criminals,and focused on the conflicts between them.In order to bring the criminals down,the cops capture a member from their team,and send his look alike to take his place.However,things don't go as smooth as expected and tables are turned upon one of the families.The main tag line of the trailer was "Kingship knows no kinship".

The trailer was very well received by audience,and crossed 1million views on Youtube in just three days.

Story Line - The story line of the movie,as mentioned at many places above,is quite predictable and the twists that come are also the same.It starts with a family of corrupted police cops or rather collectors (Rishi Kapoor,Prithviraj and Sikander) in Gurgaon,who in order to bring down a real estate Developer, Yashvardhan (Jackie Shroff),capture his son Ajay(Arjun Kapoor),and send his long lost twin brother Vishal (Arjun kapoor again) to take his place and inform the police about Yashvardhan's whereabouts.The main purpose behind this was to restore the lost glory of an honest and dutiful police officer(Anupam Kher), brother of DCP Ravikant(Rishi Kapoor),and father of ACP Arya(Prithviraj),who had protected Yashvardhan's wife and one son,after faking an encounter of them.But,the greedy DCP Ravikant had something else in mind.However,tables are turned when Vishal decides to be with his father,and stops helping the police.Then what follows is a series of traits,deceptions and double crossing,finally letting good triumph over evil.

Acting - Arjun Kapoor,in the double role of Ajay and Vishal,carries out his task well.In both the roles,as the ruthless hooligan and spoilt brat Ajay,as well as his timid counterpart Vishal,he stands firmly.However,his typical mannerism leads to no difference between them in some scenes,especially his typical laughing scene.He needs certain more polish in expressing his emotions.

Rishi Kapoor,after the role of "Rauf Lala" in Agneeepath,does an excellent job again as the main antagonist.The veteran actor has once again proved that in acting,he is not less than any body.The character of the greedy, witty and clever DCP Ravikant has been accurately executed by him.He will be remembered for some heavy one liners,delivered by him at ease.

Prithviraj Sukumaran,Jackie Shroff and Swara Bhaskar,have also done justice to their roles.

Sashaa Agha,the Pakistani singer and actress,daughter of singer Salma Agha,has not much scope of acting in this movie.Roaming around in skin tight minis,coming out of pools in bikinis,and making love to Arjun Kapoor,is what she has to offer in this movie.She has been able to generate the oomph factor required in the movie,and has executed her as a sex kitten.Probably,this is the purpose for which she had been offered a role in the film and so,in a way,she has done justice to her role.

Anupam Kher,has a very little role in the movie,too little for any kind of determination. Sikander Kher,in the role of ACP Dev,an ally of DCP Ravikant,still needs to learn acting and even delivering dialogues.His acting is the most disastrous performance in the movie.

The rest of the cast is just okay.

Music - The music is composed and directed by Vipin Mishra and Amartya Rahut. The music of the movie could not stand up to it's mark and is not at all positively received by the audience.Only the song "Barbadiyaan",sung by Sashaa Agha and Ram Sampath ,seems to be a little popular,that too mainly because of the ample exposure of Sashaa Agha. However,I personally like the song "Jigra Fakira",sung by Keerthi Sagathia. The music scores 6/10.

Pace - The pace of the movie is slow,which adds to it's predictability.Slow pace along with a predictable plot is the main reason that makes the movie uninteresting to watch,specially towards the end.

Go watch it for Rishi Kapoor's stupendous performance,or if you are a die hard Arjun Kapoor or Prithviraj Sukumaran fan.

If you intend to go for the skin show,rather visit Youtube than visiting theatres.

This movie can be given a miss.

Overall,I rate the movie 5/10.