Kachori Croissant

Heard of 'Three Men in a Boat'? To say nothing of the Dog, obviously...Well, this article is not about that. But yes, it definitely talks about two extremely different premises- as different as the first 'Jerome' is from the second 'Jerome' in the eponymous reference I just spilled.  Two different premises: two different men- one short, tiny, nimble, agile; the other tall, strong, bulky, innocent, and having anger issues at times. 'Asterix and Obelix'? 'Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu'? To say nothing of the dog? 'Dogmatix' and 'Rocket'?   The fondest comic characters of our grandparents' and parents' generations have stark resemblance that few can deny. Pran, our very own Indian 'Walt Disney' gave life to Chacha Chaudhary back in 1970- a time when Rene Goscinny's and Albert Uderzo's 'Asterix and Obelix' series had already swept the imagination of kids, young adults and comic lovers across regions and age...

Two directorial debuts that shook the world of film-making out of its mainstream slumber in the two respective countries they were released. Francois Truffaut arrived in 1959 with his 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' in France- popularly known as 'The 400 Blows' worldwide. Vikramaditya Motwane brought to the screen his first feature 'Udaan' in 2010 in India. Both the films are right at the level of 'Holy Grail' classics in France and India respectively when it comes to the theme of 'coming-of-age.'  Motwane's heart wrenching hat tip to Truffaut's elements is what makes Udaan not only a worthy tribute to The 400 Blows but a 21st century re-imagination of the post-war idea of an everyday boyhood struggle. They are film siblings. Each of them extremely unique, yet sharing a similar gene sequence. Their protagonists have uncannily resembling innocence as well as delinquency. They suffer from similar malaise. Alienation, loneliness, confusion, rebelli...