I have been wanting to write about this movie for a long time.

From the day when I was stuffed with 20 other film fanatics to understand the nuances of film making in a film appreciation workshop in Mumbai ..my whole outlook towards film making had changed. After that whenever I saw a film I would relate to -the screenplay/sequence/music / climax / characterisation/the technology . . ..and so on and so forth.

For me if I enjoy a film (or a book) the end is not after the last shot. It's actually the start to understand the director - bios / background / filmography etc etc.

Crash - This is one film which in my mind was almost perfect. From the first screen to the last - it was almost like symphony. How the characters & the incidents mesh in the end. The characters and their background - the subtle explanation of why each of them are the way they are (without getting into a flashback).

The task was difficult especially with so many characters and each of them having their own stories to say.....If u see Salaam Namaste....u can realize what a mess it can become.

I have never read a Japanese author - fiction. I finished "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakai last week and it was riveting to say the least. Initially it was quite difficult to keep a track of the Japanese names ,places etc but after I got into the flow the journey was quite exhilarating. A good description of the book can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafka_on_the_Shore

What I found interesting was probably the cocktail mix of Magic realism (human talking to cats) - some unexplained phenomenon like UFO and fishes falling from the sky. All this sound's quite bizzare....but some how it all fall into place in the 500 pages journey. Although I was slightly disappointed by the last 100 pages. I thought the end dragged a bit.

Anyways I am looking forward to reading at least 2 more of his books - The wind up bird chronicle & Norwegian Wood - both of the supposed to be cult books from the author - Haruki Murakami.