SPARTACUS: Blood and Sand

The story begins with an unnamed Thracian's involvement in a unit of Roman auxiliary in a campaign against the Getae (Dacian tribes that occupied the regions south of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria, and north of the Lower Danube, in Romania) under the command of the legatus, Claudius Glaber. In 72-71 BC, Roman general Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus, proconsul of the Roman province of Macedonia, marched against the Getae, who were allies of Rome's enemy, Mithridates VI of Pontus. The Getae frequently raid the Thracians' lands, so the Thracians are persuaded by Glaber to enlist in the Romans' service as auxiliaries. Glaber is persuaded by his wife Ilithyia to seek greater glory, decides to break off attacking the Getae and directly confront the forces of Mithridates in Asia Minor. The Thracian, feeling betrayed, leads a mutiny against Glaber, and returns to find his village destroyed. The Thracian and his wife Sura, are captured by Glaber the next day; the Thracian is condemned to die in the gladiator arena for his crime, while Sura is taken away, condemned to slavery. The Thracian is shipped to Capua in Italy, a center of gladiator training. Against all odds in the arena he slays the four gladiators appointed to execute him and becomes an instant sensation with the crowd. Senator Albinius commutes the punishment from death to slavery. The prisoner's true name unknown, Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of a ludus in Capua, suggests to name him "Spartacus", because he fought like the ferocious Thracian king of that name.

Noting well the Thracian's fierce raw talent and popularity with the masses, Batiatus purchases him for training within the walls of his ludus under the tutelage of Doctore, a former gladiator and fellow slave. He is befriended by Varro, a Roman who sold himself into slavery in order to pay his debts and support his family. He is harassed by more senior gladiators, notably Crixus, an undefeated Gaul, and Barca, a Carthaginian. Spartacus soon learns that Sura was sold to a Syrian slave trader. Batiatus, who has been unable to control Spartacus during his first days of training, promises to find Sura and reunite them in exchange for the promising neophyte's cooperation in the arena.

After many near-fatal ordeals and much further training Spartacus attains the status of a living legend and is named the "Champion of Capua". Batiatus arranges the purchase of Sura, but she is delivered mortally wounded, supposedly having been waylaid by bandits en route. Her murder was secretly ordered by Batiatus to keep Spartacus loyal and focused. Spartacus casts off his heritage as a Thracian and forgets his dream of freedom, becoming content with life as champion.

The turning point comes when Spartacus is set to fight his only friend in the ludus, Varro, in an exhibition match celebrating the coming to manhood of the Capuan magistrate's son, Numerius. Ilithyia, who has hated Spartacus since he embarrassed her husband Glaber by his mutiny, seduces the young man and convinces him to demand death for the loser of the match. Spartacus wins (as expected), and when the young man gives the "thumbs down", Batiatus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the boy's powerful father, forces Spartacus to comply and kill Varro. While suffering from both his wound in this match and his remorse and sorrow over having to kill his friend, Spartacus has fever dreams that lead him to discover that Batiatus arranged Sura's death. Knowing that it is all or nothing when it comes to resistance of his enslavement, he resolves to "kill them all" and lead a revolt against the ruling house he once fought for.

In order to get his revenge, Spartacus enlists the help of Crixus and the rest of the gladiators to defeat the house of Batiatus once and for all. A battle to the death between Crixus and Spartacus is arranged for the Capuan elite at the ludus. Doctore (who Batiatus refers to by his real name, Oenomaus) confronts Batiatus about Barca's death and Ashur's hand in it. Spartacus gains support from Mira who is tasked with opening the gate to the villa from the training area. Crixus resists aiding Spartacus in hopes of reuniting with Naevia. However, after learning he was weakened to ensure Spartacus' victory, at the last moment he joins with Spartacus. Doctore initially stops Spartacus from killing Batiatus. In the ensuing chaos of the gladiators killing the guards and some guests, Crixus persuades Doctore to join him with Spartacus, Illithyia escapes and has her guards seal the door to the ludus from the outside, Doctore, making good on his word, tries to kill Ashur but ends up being eluded, Crixus grievously wounds Batiatus' wife, Lucretia, with a sword stab to her abdomen piercing her womb and killing their unborn child, Aurelia kills Numerius after revealing to him that Varro was her husband, and Spartacus finally kills Batiatus in front of the seriously wounded Lucretia. After the massacre, Spartacus vows to make "Rome tremble".

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SPARTACUS: Gods of the Arena

 

The mini-series features the bloody history of the House of Batiatus and the city of Capua before the arrival of Spartacus. Quintus Lentulus Batiatus becomes a lanista (manager) when he takes over his father's ludus of gladiators. He has ambitions of stepping out of his father's shadow by seeking recognition for his own name and achieving greatness for his house. By his side stands his beautiful wife Lucretia who will help her husband achieve his goal no matter what the cost. Batiatus puts all his fortunes on the man who will gain him fame and glory, his best gladiator, the Celt, Gannicus; a skilled warrior who wields his swords in the arena as if it were his last day alive. However, there are those who oppose Batiatus and his future champion(s) of Capua, plotting against him only to fail. Purchased as an undisciplined and disheveled recruit in the first episode, the Gaul Crixus endures mockery and threats of death to become the greatest gladiator in the house after Gannicus. As Batiatus fends off repeated attempts by his professional rival Tullius to obtain Gannicus, his relationships with his father Titus and friend Solonius begin to suffer the strain of Quintus' relentless ambition. Former champion gladiator Oenomaus reluctantly retires from combat to become Doctore, while Syrian recruits Ashur and Dagan become fierce enemies as Ashur tries to prove himself worthy of being a gladiator. Veteran gladiators Barca and Gannicus accept the rising star of Crixus but fear that their own careers will suffer, as the machinations of Batiatus and Lucretia to court Capua's elite end in tragedy for several members of the household. Against all of this, the city's splendid new arena nears completion and with it the opening games that will make men into gods.

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Ghajini (Indian Movie)

The film opens with Sunita (Jiah Khan), a medical student, and her friends working on a project about the human brain. She wants to investigate the curious case of Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), a (former) notable city businessman, who is reported to have anterograde amnesia. Her professor denies access to Sanjay's records as it is currently under criminal investigation. Sunita, nonetheless, decides to investigate the matter herself.

Sanjay is introduced as he brutally murders a man. He takes a Polaroid picture of the man, and write on it "done". It is revealed that Sanjay has anterograde amnesia where he loses his memory every 15 minutes. Sanjay uses a system of photographs, notes, and tattoos on his body to recover his memory after each cycle. It is revealed that Sanjay is ultimately out to avenge the death of his sweetheart Kalpana (Asin Thottumkal), and that he is systematically killing the people who were responsible for it. His main target is "Ghajini" (Pradeep Rawat), a notable social personality in the city.

Police Inspector Arjun Yadav, on the case of the serial murders, tracks Sanjay down to his flat and attacks and disables him. Yadav finds two diaries where Sanjay has chronicled the events of 2005 and 2006. The film flashes back to 2005 as Yadav reads the diary. Sanjay Singhania is shown as the owner of the Air Voice mobile telephone company. In the course of his business, Sanjay sends his men to meet Kalpana, a struggling model, about putting up a billboard above her apartment. The owner of Kalpana's advertising firm misinterprets this as a romantic advance, and in view of a possible lucrative Air Voice ad campaign and other benefits, encourages Kalpana to accept the overture. Kalpana thinks of this as an innocent prank that may fetch her better modeling work, and decides to play out the charade as Sanjay's girlfriend.

When Yadav is about to read the 2006 diary, Sanjay attacks him and ties him up. He tracks down Ghajini to a college function where Ghajini is the guest of honor. Sanjay took pictures of Ghajini and decides to kill him. He meets Sunita at the function who, after some conversation, decides to befriend him. Later that evening, Sanjay mistakenly attacks and kills one of Ghajini's goons in the parking lot. Ghajini is perplexed and fails to recollect the incident. However he decides to find and kill his enemies one by one, but Sanjay is not among them.

In the meantime, Sunita visits Sanjay's flat and finds Yadav, beaten and bound. Sunita finds the two diaries and frees Yadav. She also finds that Ghajini is Sanjay's target. Yadav tells her that Sanjay is a known serial murderer. Sanjay arrives suddenly; he remembers neither of them and chases them out. Yadav is eventually hit by a bus, while Sunita barely escapes, going into a boutique. Believing Ghajini is in danger, she informs him that Sanjay is after him. Ghajini arrives at Sanjay's flat to kill him. He destroys all the photographs, notes and scratches off Sanjay's tattoos. Satisfied that he has neutralized Sanjay by wiping out any trace that connects back to him, Ghajini leaves.

Meanwhile, back in her dorm, Sunita reads the diaries. The film flashes fast to 2005 then back to 2006. It is revealed that Kalpana had accepted Sanjay's proposal. This diary ends abruptly. Sunita investigates further, and discovers that Kalpana was traveling to Goa for a modeling assignment by train when she came upon 25 innocent young girls being trafficked to Goa. She saves the girls who name Ghajini as the ringleader of the racket. Ghajini kills two girls, who recognized him, and goes in search of Kalpana. His goons break into her apartment and wait for her to return. Sanjay arrives there to meet Kalpana. Her last word to him was "Ghajini". The goons attack Kalpana. Sanjay intervenes but Ghajini hits him over the head with an iron rod. Sanjay's last vision was to witness Ghajini brutally murder Kalpana with the iron rod.

Sunita, now aware of the shocking truth, finds Sanjay in the hospital and tells him the truth. He flies into a rage and he told her to lead him to Ghajini. Arriving at Ghajini's lair in downtown Mumbai, Sanjay confronts all of Ghajini's henchmen and with superior strength, manages to disable. Finding Ghajini himself, Sanjay fights Ghajini hand-to-hand. However, Ghajini realizes that he is no match for Sanjay's strength, so the two engage in a chase until Sanjay's memory loss strikes again. Ghajini turns around and stabs him. He begins to taunt the stabbed Sanjay with the grisly tale of how he murdered Kalpana, when Sanjay, with a sudden burst of last minute strength, overpowers Ghajini. Sanjay kills Ghajini in the same way as Ghajini had killed Kalpana.

The film ends with Sanjay, still experiencing amnesia, volunteering at an orphanage. Sunita gives him a gift which is the cement slab on which Kalpana and Sanjay impressioned their first footprints when the couple moved into a new apartment to remind him of his fond association with Kalpana.

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3 Idiots (Indian Movie)

Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad "Rancho" (Aamir Khan) are three engineering students who share a room in a hostel at the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE). Farhan is studying engineering to pursue his father's wishes over his own wish — to become a wildlife photographer. Raju is studying to raise his family's fortunes while Rancho, driven by his passion for machines and devices, studies for the joy of it. However, due to this different approach Rancho incurs the wrath of the dean of the college, Professor Viru "Virus" Shahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani). Virus labels Rancho and his friends as "idiots" and attempts to break up Rancho's friendship with Farhan and Raju. In contrast, Virus' favorite student, Chatur "Silencer" Ramalingam, (Omi Vaidya) believes in mindless memorizing over understanding, in order to reach his goals of corporate and social status. Meanwhile, Rancho falls in love with Virus' medical student daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor) when he, Raju and Farhan crash her sister's wedding banquet in order to get a free meal, in the process further infuriating Virus.

Things further escalate when the three friends, who are already drunk, break into Virus' house at night to allow Rancho to propose Pia, and then urinate on a door inside the compound before running away. The next day, Virus threatens to rusticate Raju unless he squeals on Rancho. Not wanting to betray his friend or let down his family, Raju attempts suicide, jumping out of the third floor window and ending up paralysed. Following his recovery, Raju discards his fear of the future and takes a frank approach in an interview for a corporate job, while Farhan decides to pursue his love of photography with a Dutch photographer. The two friends succeed in their goals, further infuriating Virus and causing him to come up with a plan that will jeopardize Raju's job. Pia is appalled a this and decides to help Rancho and Farhan by providing them with the keys to her father's office. However, Virus catches them and expels them on the spot. Pia angrily confronts him, revealing that his son, Pia's brother, committed suicide when he could not get into ICE, like Virus demanded, despite not even wanting to be an engineer. At the same time, Pia's pregnant older sister Mona (Mona Singh) goes into labour. A heavy storm cuts all power and floods the streets, making it impossible for the ambulance to reach Mona, and Pia is stuck at her hospital, where she had fleed. Over phone and webcam, she instructs Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room via VOIP. After the baby is apparently stillborn, Rancho resuscitates the baby by leading the students in saying "All is well." Virus reconciles with Rancho and his friends, and allows the two to stay for their final exams.

Their story is framed as intermittent flashbacks from the present day, ten years after Chatur bet to become more successful than Rancho. Having lost contact with Rancho, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into seclusion, after five years, Raju and Farhan begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Chatur, now a wealthy and successful businessman, who joins them, brazenly confident that he has surpassed Rancho and also looking to seal a deal with a famous scientist and prospective business associate named Phunsukh Wangdu. When they find Rancho's house in Shimla, they find a completely different Rancho (Jaaved Jaffrey). From him they come to know that their friend was a destitute servant boy "Chhote" who loved learning, while he, the real Rancho, disliked study. After seeing the boy's intelligence, the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Rancho's place instead of labouring. In return, the real Rancho would pocket the qualifications and after graduating, the servant boy will cease all contact. The real Rancho reveals that Chhote is now a school-teacher in Ladakh. At the same time, they find out that without Rancho, Pia decided to marry the same price-obsessed banker that Rancho initially talked her into dumping, and they go to rescue her from the wedding.

Raju and Farhan find Pia and arrive in Rancho’s school. Pia and the fake Rancho rekindle their love, while Chatur mocks Rancho for becoming a school teacher. He asks Rancho to sign on a "Declaration of Defeat" document. When Rancho's friends ask for his real name is, he reveals that he is actually Phunsukh Wangdu himself. Chatur finds out about this and is horrified; he accepts his defeat and pleads his case with Phunsukh to establish the business relationship he was after.

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