A review of 'Life of Pi'

 Yann Martel‘s Life of Pi was a book I gave a miss after reading several pages with interest. It was not because it was not appealing or intriguing enough but because I was about to get married and I really had other things in mind. Couple of years ago I found out that Life of Pi is one of the highest selling Booker prize winners (around 10 million copies.) Intrigued, I read up on Yann Martel. From the interviews he had given, I found how he had stood dejected after an unnoticed first book, after which he visited India and while over here, the story for Life of Pi just came to him as a flash. It was an inspiring story, the kind of stories I generally relish.

It was even more exciting when the master director Ang Lee decided to retell Life of Pi. Ang Lee is said to have replied to a TV interviewer who asked how he found his films that “I don't find my films, my films find me.  Life of Pi found me.  Three of Lee’s films make have made it into my all-time favourite list. Sense and Sensibility (that amazing Jane Austen novel brought to life so masterfully with incredible background score and piano pieces), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (the music and the visuals will make you fall into a state of meditation), Brokeback Mountain (very few have told love stories better than this). 

Life of Pi is a story within a story within a story. It is the story of Pi Patel, who is left floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after his ship sank. He is in this beautiful, almost mythical, white lifeboat in the movie in which he has a tiger, a hyena, an orang-utan and a zebra for company. It is an exceptional story and I would rather not give out anything more. At the outset we are told that it is a story which will make you believe in God. There is something in it for everyone. For the atheist, there is a story which the rational mind can tell, for a believer there are plenty of instances of the miraculous. If you are a new age enthusiast, you would find it replete with symbolism. If you are an animal lover, the magnificent frames of Richard Parker the royal Bengal tiger would be something you would find hard to forget. And the radiant beauty of nature itself is like in no other movie and it is for everyone to relish.  This movie uses 3D better than any other, even better than Avatar. And like in all Ang Lee movies, the music lingering in the background mesmerises you and transports you to another dimension.

The grown up Pi Patel is played by Irfan Khan who is as good as ever.  Debutante Suraj Sharma playing the younger Pi is exceptional. Tabu is as beautiful as ever. She seems to get better with each movie and the rare sensitivity of her face is a treat to watch even after all these years. A poetic shot of her with flowers on her hair watching the festival lights remains etched in my mind. Adil Hussain as Pi’s father is also brilliant.

So the verdict in short is that Life of Pi is truly a ‘bright and beautiful’ film and a must watch for any movie lover.