If you can get over the ludicrousness of a distinguished mathematician whose God is Albert Einstein and who at the end of the film gets the ‘Isaac Newton Award’ for excellence in his field, masquerading as a seedy gambler (in a lungi, if you please!) then Teen Patti is a surprisingly skilful and audaciously complex piece of tautly-scripted and brilliantly executed drama on the seemingly exclusive worlds of academics and avarice and the deep-rooted link between financial ambitions and moral compromises.

Monetary indulgence is a theme done to ‘debt’. Writer-director Leena Yadav revealing stealthy skill utterly free of gender influences gives the theme a dizzying but pinned-down spin. She speeds confidently across out-of-control lives on a college campus (not quite the insouciant IIT campus in 3 Idiots , but chalega) with the confident vision of raconteur who spins a seemingly indecipherable web of deceit intrigue and crime that was probably destined to hurl into in uncontrollable cosmic and cinematic chaos.

Miraculously Yadav’s yarn preserves its pencil -sharp edge of intrigue and wit right to the end. The story of the eccentric math-magician’s adventures in blunder-land takes the narrative from underground addas to high-class casinos where Prof Venkat Subramaniam his junior colleague Madhavan (clenched and compelling in his part-guru part-shishya avatar) and four students convert the Professor’s newly-discovered mathematical theory into hard cash on gambling tables. Goodbye, Prof. Chips!

The onion-peel plot reveals layer after layer of subterfuge and conspiracy until we come to the core idea. Greed, we are told, does have a place in the faculty of the intellect as long as the craving for the good things in life doesn’t outdistance the ethical boundaries of a life committed to bettering society through education.

The story unravels through an extended dialogue in Cambridge between Prof Subramanian and a British maths professor Perci Trachtenberg played by Bachchan Sir and Sir Ben. Just watching the two distinguished baritones exchange notes on academia, life and their overlapping quirks , is a pleasure that makes for full paisa-vasool viewing.

Alas, one of the baritones belonging to Ben Kingsley speaks in Boman Irani’s voice. And that too in Hindi! Why are the two professors huddled together in Cambridge speaking to each other in a language that suggests no tenability except a practical desire to make itself intelligible to Indian audiences in the non-metropolitan centres?

It’s s futile endeavour in linguistic transference considering the fact that this is not a film for the audience that enjoyed De Dana Dan or Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Teen Patti targets its cerebral entertainment quotient at an audience that is willing to expand, and not suspend its disbelief. The proceedings charted by the intricate plot take the characters belonging to three generations through a smoky hazy compromised kingdom of the devil and the damned.

There’s a touch of Faustian wickedness in the way the old professor, his subordinate colleague and their four brightest students embrace hedonism. The parameters of what ‘is’ and what ’should be’ are almost blurred beyond redemption. The film gets its moral colour and texture from the technicians who seem to know the exact shades needed.

The death of one of the students (debutant Siddharth Kher, who has the most complex part among the youngsters) signals the redemptive overture in the plot. Siddharth’s ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ act with his girlfriend (Shradha Kapoor) is indicative of the places that youngsters want to visit in their fantasies. The nightmare is just a hop away from the dream.

From the mathematical and magical to the murky and immoral, writer and director Leena Yadav exercises supreme control over the goings-on. At any given moment the narrative is susceptible to collapse like a house of cards. Yadav’s grip over her characters’ dithering conscience is perfectly matched by the brightly though starkly-lit interiors. Aseem Bajaj’s camera-work is exquisite in delicate shades. The camera knows where it has to go and slips in quietly to capture a world that has lost its plot.

The songs and dances in pleasure-seeking places are edited with an eye for elegant economy. No space is left for humbug to spill over. This director means business.

Many sequences such as the one where Madhavan says goodbye to his screen girlfriend Raima Sen (when will filmmakers stop under-using this beautiful actress?) are shot to suggest the edginess of a world that could topple over any time.

Presiding over this world of infinite infamy is Mr Bachchan. He portrays the ill-understood proclivities of the academic genius with a profound absence of brouhaha. Even as the world outside falls apart Mr Bachchan creates an unspoilt inner world for his character.

As for the ‘Ben’ buyale mehmaan, the British actor’s clipped tone is gone. What remains is half a performance. Good enough.

Madhavan pitches in a bravura act, lots of furtive guilty nervous close-ups indicating a moral breach that could destroy the character any moment. The 4 newcomers are pleasant enough in the spaces provided for them. But given how well each of their characters is written none of them goes beyond the requirements in the script.

A pity. Because the film quite often transcends the written word to go into the realm of the abstract where the existential joys of mathematics meets more earthly pleasures. Surprisingly ingenious and resonant, Teen Patti is not so much about the cards that are dealt on the table as the one that destiny doles out in places where the human eye and desire cannot reach.

Teen Patti re-defines the male-adventure genre by letting a woman director tell us what it is like to lose one’s sense of propriety in pursuit of happiness. The gender is not the point here.

ISLAMABAD: The 132nd birth anniversary of poet philosopher Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal was celebrated on Monday across the country with national zeal, fervor and enthusiasm.

Various Cultural, educational and literary organizations organized different programmes across the country to mark the day in a befitting manner and pay homage to the great poet who envisioned the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of subcontinent. The newspapers published special edition and electronic channels aired special programmes to highlight role and service of Dr Allama Iqbal for Muslims of sub continent and getting separate homeland.

The main event held at Mazar E Iqbal in Lahore where a change of guard ceremony was held in a befitting manner and a smartly turned Pak Navy contingent assumed duties.

Marching to the tunes played by the Pakistan Navy band, the Naval contingent took positions at the four corners of the mazar while simultaneously, Rangers were ceremoniously moved out by their Officer Incharge.

The ceremonial guard mounting followed by floral wreath laying at the mazar of Allama Iqbal by Commodore Syed Hasan Mustafa SI(M), Commander North, on behalf of the Chief of the Naval Staff, officers and men of the Pakistan Navy .

The ceremony was witnessed by a large number of senior civil officials, school children and general public who thronged the mazar to pay homage to the great philosopher and poet of the east on the eve of his birth anniversary.

Various literary, social and religious organisations also laid floral wreaths at the mazar while Iqbal Day functions were held at a number of places.

Iqbal Academy Pakistan organized Iqbal Day function at Aiwan e Iqbal Complex which was presided over by Dr Javed Iqbal. While Dr Israr Ahmad, Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik, Iftikhar Arif, Zaid Hamid and others addressed on the occasion.

Paying rich tribute to Allama Iqbal, speakers at seminar on “Iqbal Concept of Welfare State” here said that Dr. Iqbal based his thoughts on the Holy Quran and promoted humanity in his interpretations.

They said he aroused the Muslim from disillusionment and reminded them about their future.

Speaking on the occasion, Kokub Khawja, a senior Lawyer said that the vision of Allama Iqbal and his thoughts were instrumental in awakening the Muslims from deep slumber which was coupled with the sustained efforts of Quaid Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that led to the birth of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

“In fact, Allama Iqbal taught courage to the Muslims of the present era, and called upon the Muslims to pursue the knowledge in accordance with the Islamic culture”, he said.

He termed Allama Iqbal the most versified with philosophical thoughts in Persian language.

Hamayun Iqbal Shami, a bureaucrat and philanthropist said on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the great poet that this is an apt opportunity for the World’s Muslims to realize the poet’s ideals and thoughts which are the glory and grandeur of the Islamic world.

“He neither promoted the Western image of Islam nor was in favour of Talibanization, rather he had painted the real picture of Islam through the concepts taken from the Holy Quran”, he said.

Dr. Sajid Khakwani, the educationist said that our educational system lacks the philosophy of Allama Iqbal regarding promotion of welfare state. “Sorrowfully, our educational system does not have practical concept of life which is widely seen in the teaching of Allama Iqbal”.

He said that we should reorganize our system, particularly by taking help from Iqbalyat.
The Embassy of Pakistan in Seoul also celebrated birth anniversary of renowned poet, thinker and philosopher, Allama Iqbal.

The event was organized for the first time in South Korea in a befitting manner.
Prominent Korean scholars including Professor Min, Hee Sik of Gandhara Civilization, Professor Sung, Kwon Won of Korea Pakistan Friendship Association, Professor Lee, Seng IK and Professor Changnam Suh delivered the key note on the scholarly vision of literary giant, Allama Iqbal.

Allama Iqbal was born in Sialkot, the eldest of five siblings. Iqbal’s father Shaikh Nur Muhammad was a prosperous tailor, well known for his devotion to Islam, and the family raised their children with deep religious grounding.

Iqbal was educated initially by tutors in languages and writing, history, poetry and religion. His potential as a poet and writer was recognized by one of his tutors, Sayyid Mir Hassan.

He became proficient in several languages and the skill of writing prose and poetry, and graduated in 1892.

Following a custom, at the age of 15 Iqbal’s family arranged for him to be married to Karim Bibi, the daughter of an affluent Gujrati physician.

Iqbal entered the Government College in Lahore where he studied philosophy, English literature and Arabic and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, graduating cum laude. He won a gold medal for topping his examination in philosophy.

While studying for his masters degree, Iqbal came under the wing of Sir Thomas Arnold, a scholar of Islam and modern philosophy at the college.

Arnold exposed the young man to Western culture and ideas, and served as a bridge for Iqbal between the ideas of East and West.

Iqbal was appointed to a readership in Arabic at the Oriental College in Lahore, and he published his first book in Urdu, The Science of Economics in 1903. In 1905 Iqbal published the patriotic song, Tarana e Hind (Song of India).

At Sir Thomas’s encouragement, Iqbal travelled to and spent many years studying in Europe. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College at Cambridge in 1907, while simultaneously studying law at Lincoln’s Inn, from where he qualified as a barrister in 1908.

In Europe, he started writing his poetry in Persian as well. Throughout his life, Iqbal would prefer writing in Persian as he believed it allowed him to fully express philosophical concepts, and it gave him a wider audience. It was while in England that he first participated in politics.

Following the formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906, Iqbal was elected to the executive committee of its British chapter in 1908. Together with two other politicians, Syed Hassan Bilgrami and Syed Ameer Ali, Iqbal sat on the subcommittee which drafted the constitution of the League.

Working under the supervision of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published a thesis titled: The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.

“The story revolves around the character of Neil and his journey from being an underdog to ultimately immerging as the winner of a dance competition with is protagonist Vikram who’s a three years champ by learning YOGA.

His journey is facilitated by Professor Siddhant’s encouragement and his new found love for Mahi. It is a truly inspiring film for viewer of all age group. It also has excellent music, good dance sequences, culminating in breath taking competition and suspense. Also for the first time yoga has been excessively used as a tool of transformation.”

SEOUL: North Korea test-fired five ballistic missiles Saturday, South Korean officials said, in an apparent message of defiance to the United States on the eve of its Independence Day holiday.

They came as Washington seeks support for tough enforcement of United Nations sanctions aimed at shutting down the North’’s nuclear and missile programmes.

Seoul’’s foreign ministry said the first four weapons launched into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) were ballistic missiles, which the North is banned from firing under various Security Council resolutions.

Seoul’’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the latest missile, fired at 2:50 pm (0550 GMT), was of the same type as the first four.

It was the first time in three years that the North fired multiple ballistic missiles. South Korea’’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had a range of between 400 and 500 km (250-312 miles) but declined to say what type they were.

A local news agency said they were either Scuds, or Rodong-1 missiles whose maximum range of 1,300 km had been shortened.

The North on Thursday test-fired four short-range missiles with a range of 120 km into the Sea of Japan.

The latest launches, which started at 8 am, were seen as more provocative since the missiles could potentially reach most of South Korea, and possibly parts of Japan.

“The military, on the basis of a strong joint defence alliance with the United States, is fully prepared to fend off any threats or provocations by the North,” the Joint Chiefs said in a statement.

The foreign ministry said the missiles were fired from a site at Kitdaeryong near the eastern port of Wonsan.

It said the “provocative act… clearly violates” three UN Security Council resolutions, including the latest one on June 12 which toughened weapons-related sanctions on the North in response to its May 25 nuclear test.

In a statement the ministry expressed “deep regret over North Korea’’s continued acts to escalate tensions in Northeast Asia.”

Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul’’s Dongguk University said the launches were clearly timed to coincide with US Independence Day.

“This is a thinly veiled warning to the United States and the international community that it may launch long-range missiles next time,” he said while talking to a French news agency.

“The North is exercising salami tactics, firing short-range missiles on Thursday and launching missiles with longer range today.”

Professor Yang Moo-Jin at Seoul’’s University of North Korean Studies said the North was trying to show it could defend its long-range missile launch site at Musudan-ri further to the north, and “testing the waters” following the UN resolution.

Japan condemned the launches.

“It is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including our country,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said.

Kawamura warned Tokyo would “promptly take appropriate measures” to implement the resolution.

Baek Seung-Joo of the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses said the North test-fires missiles three to four times each year to improve technology and maintain missile exports.

“Today’’s launches were part of a usual military drill but by firing 500 km-range Scuds, the North was clearly displaying its ability to strike back against any international sanctions involving military means,” Baek said.

He said, however, that there is no sign of the North preparing to fire another long-range missile in the near future.

The North has made a series of bellicose moves this year. A long-range rocket launch on April 5 was followed by a nuclear test — the second since 2006 — on May 25.

In the days after its atomic test, Pyongyang fired a total of six short-range missiles, renounced the truce in force on the Korean peninsula for half a century and threatened possible attacks on Seoul.

When the United Nations in June tightened sanctions on its missile and atomic activities, the North vowed to build more nuclear bombs.

US and South Korean officials believe ailing leader Kim Jong-Il, 67, is staging a show of strength to bolster his authority as he tries to put in place a succession plan involving his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea test-fired a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, along with several short- and mid-range missiles, on US Independence Day in 2006. Its latest nuclear test coincided with the US Memorial Day holiday.

LAHORE: Former Amir of Jama’at Islami Mian Tufail Muhammed has been Friday laid to rest in Allama Iqbal Town Kareem Block cemetery.

Earlier, his funeral prayers were offered at JI headquarter Mansoorah. Former JI amir Qazi Hussain Ahmed led the funeral prayer attended by representatives of PPP and PML-N leaders, JI chief Syed Munawar Hassan, Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, naib amir Professor Ghafoor Ahmed and thousands of party workers.

Mian Tufail Muhammad, 95, was passed away Thursday in a local hospital where he was being treated since last couple of week after suffering from brain haemorrhage. He was the second amir of JI who took over reins from party’s founder chief Syed Abul A’ala Maududi.

SEOUL: North Korea fired another short-range missile on Friday and threatened fresh steps to defend itself if world powers impose sanctions for its nuclear test, as tensions persisted on the Korean peninsula.

With US and South Korean troops on high alert at the border, Chinese fishing boats were reported to be leaving the area in the Yellow Sea that was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 between the two Koreas.

The communist North, which has warned it could launch an attack on the South, vowed to respond to any fresh sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

“If the UN Security Council provokes us, our additional self-defence measures will be inevitable,” the North’’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by official media.

“The world will soon witness how our army and people stand up against oppression and despotism by the UNSC and uphold their dignity and independence.”

Tensions have been running high since Kim Jong-Il’’s regime tested a nuclear bomb on Monday for the second time and renounced the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.

The Council has been discussing a response to the North’’s latest nuclear test, expected to be a resolution condemning the move. But it was not yet clear if that would include new sanctions.

“This is quite a complicated discussion,” Britain’’s UN ambassador John Sawers said after the latest round of talks on Thursday. “We need some time.”

South Korea and the United States put their troops on the Korean peninsula on higher alert on Thursday, and Seoul’’s defence ministry said forces were keeping a close watch on the land and sea border with the North.

North Korea test-fired another missile off its east coast Friday, the sixth this week, according to South Korea’’s Yonhap news agency.

There was no immediate confirmation but the agency’’s reports of five launches earlier this week were later confirmed by Pyongyang.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, en route to a regional security meeting in Singapore, accused the North of “very provocative, aggressive” actions.

But Gates said he was unaware of any unusual troop movements in the North, which has around 1.1 million soldiers, compared with 680,000 South Korean and 28,500 US troops south of the border.

“I don”t think there is a need for us to reinforce our military presence in the South. Should the North Koreans do something extremely provocative militarily, then we have the forces to deal with it,” he added.

The North may take further steps following its latest verbal statement, which aims to send a “strong warning” to the Security Council, said Professor Yang Moo-Jin at Seoul’’s University of North Korean Studies.

“The North may put its military on a war footing, test-fire a long-range missile and restart the plutonium reprocessing facilities at Yongbyon,” he told AFP.

The North could also stage a third nuclear test but this would come much later than the other steps, Yang said.

In a possible sign of trouble ahead, Chinese fishing boats were leaving the tense border area in the Yellow Sea, with the number of vessels more than halving on Thursday, South Korea’’s defence ministry said.

“As this could be a signal foreboding a possible provocation by the North, we are watching the situation closely,” ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae said. Despite the stand-off, hundreds of South Korean workers travelled to the North Friday to work at a joint industrial complex, and commercial ships from the North were sailing south of the border, Yonhap news agency reported.

Pyongyang warned Wednesday that it could not guarantee the safety of US or South Korean ships after Seoul said it was joining a US-led international effort to stop the trade in weapons of mass destruction.

After the Security Council censured its April 5 rocket launch and tightened existing sanctions, the North said it was quitting long-running nuclear disarmament talks and would restart its Yongbyon atomic facility.

Many experts believe, however, that the North is not yet able to deliver a nuclear weapon by missile.