Life's Onward Journey...

Coming soon....within the next 22 hrs... :)

I realized that of late I have been writing just about movies. Been a long time since I wrote something else.  I have rambled about this 3 years back. At that time I was in a relationship with my room. I remember how I felt at that point of time. It was a phase. I was driven to the confines of my room because I didn't like the company of people.  Today, things are different. I do like people. :) However, by spending so much time with myself in the last 3 years, I have learnt that for me the search for the most compatible companion begins and ends at the same person. That is myself (this is not intended to sound narcissistic).  I realize that I have become somebody who is a cross between Monica Geller and Sheldon Cooper- A control freak who does not like anything in her room/place to be misplaced by even half a centimetre. One who has a favourite spot to sit down, such that everything is most accessible, including the chair being placed at a perfect angle to the television. I

Aamir Khan at the premiere of  'Dhobhi Ghat' at Toronto International Film Festival

Last year I had sworn that no matter what, I would never again inflict torture upon myself by watching any 'Khan-brothers Production'. But, after hearing about this one from my friends back home I decided to go for it. In a nutshell, I don't regret it. :) 'Dabangg' takes you in that long lost era of Karans, Arjuns, Rams and Lakhans.  I am not claiming that those movies were of great cinematic value, but they do have something- a little bit of nostalgia attached to them. A regular sight of heroes in pink tees, heroines in little-black-dresses, dancing away to glory after having tequila shots in posh clubs seems to have bored the audiences a little. 'Dabangg' comes as a welcome change in today's times. The story is set in a small town somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. Chulbul Pandey is a cop who proudly calls himself Robinhood Pandey aka messiah of the poor. We don't see much of Robinhood-ing happening in the movie except once or twice. Most of the

It is so much easier to write a bad review for a lousy film. Peepli Live left me speechless in the end. I was laughing all through it. But towards the end the tragedy hit me. Surprisingly the audience seemed very sensible.  I guess only those who were really interested and curious to know about Natha and the misfortune that struck his family came to the theatres in spite of the city having increasing numbers of swine flu cases. Peepli Live is the story of a farmer who is compelled to end his life to claim the remuneration from the government to repay the loans and save his piece of land. The way the idea of suicide is planted in his head and the way he becomes the silent spectator of the whole political and media generated hullabaloo is the primary story. The secondary plots comprise of an Amma mouthing choicest gaalis to her Bahu , Natha's wife, the bond between the brothers Budhiya and Natha, the story of a   local correspondent of Peepli who wants to make it big in the

A story-less fashion parade. And what a waste of Abhay Deol. However, I must stay that all the actors specially Sonam Kapoor were very stylishly presented (except one or two hair-dos). The movie is a pretty collage of trendy dresses, flowers and accessories. It would have been better if 'Aisha' was a coffee table book instead of a movie. Really. The story could have been wrapped up in less than 90 mins. There was no need of a Dhruv or Aarti (or Anita...i don't remember) to add to the length of the movie. Sonam Kapoor is capable of showing only two expressions, :) and :(. And  juggles between these two throughout. In all scenes when she is with her friends she is like :) and whenever Abhay Deol, her major critic, is in the vicinity she goes :(. And this keeps on happening till the end. At the end of the movie we know who Aisha is but we don't know why she is the way she is. The audience doesn't get access to the head of this character on which the whole movie i

Remember this ? I am back in the land where Ashoka embraced Buddhism after killing thousands. I am not sure whether I will embrace Buddhism but i might end up killing a thousands. Not people, but bugs. The first time I took bath, marked the end of life of a cockroach and a couple of ants and spiders. This year I am more prepared. :) The room in which I am staying is adjacent to the one stayed in last year. So, I get to use the same bathroom. It made me feel at home. I even found the remains of the agarbattis I had lit last year. Who else would light agarbattis in bathroom? The moment I got down the train on sunday morning, I was shocked by the grand welcome provided by two of my friends here. Within 30 seconds of touching the grounds, a coconut was cracked at my feet and then there were garlands... (I swear that happened!). And it left me speechless and embarrassed. Very sweet of them. The city looks the same. Just that this time I am not feeling lost here. I know where to

Life is what lies between these two songs.

I liked this one. :) Going to the theater with lowered expectations has become routine now. And after disappointments such as Kites, Raavan, and Rajneeti (second half) I am trying to adjust an even lower expectation level. But I think I would have liked I hate love storys even otherwise. It's a sweet movie which will appeal to all the young college going crowd and a few older ones who are still young (and stupid) at heart (guess who? :-)). I am not saying it is an intelligent movie with out of the world performances. It was just 'sweet', if you know what I am talking about. The movie is about 'love' as depicted in various 'love stories' and the effect it has on the working of all those human minds which dwell on them. Some of these minds end up concocting their own real life stories (which in reality do not exist). A couple of these minds concoct their love stories, and happen to stumble upon their respective Rajs and Simrans , who also have the s

I have not seen a better first half than that of ' Rajneeti ' in ages. The movie till the intermission showed a lot of promise and raised the expectations from the second half. But in the second half the story-writer/director ran out of ideas and started killing the characters just to pave the way for the most suitable future chief minister of the state. I think it would have been better if ' Rajneeti ' was based on underworld because the killings (in the name of gang-war) would have fitted well with the story. None of the characters (including the aspiring CMs and party workers) showed any concern for the state or the country, while throughout the movie ' Vande Mataram ' played in the background. The main story of the movie is borrowed from Mario Puzo's Godfather and the Mahabharata. There are also some minor resemblances to the life of the Gandhis (Rajiv, Sanjay, Soniya) and the movie 'Viraasat' (or the original 'Thevar Magan'). The wors

In  the last one month when almost everybody around me fell sick, took antibiotics and recovered  I was genuinely feeling left out. I told my friends too, "Why not me?" This is not normal. Every time any new virus-on-prowl catches me first and then gets passed on to anybody else. It has been like this since forever. But, better late than never. It has struck me, finally. That tells me that my system is working fine. :) Come on cells, attack the invader, don't let it escape. I can feel the action with the swollen tonsils and pyrexia. You all have rested for almost a year. Don't be lazy now. Get going. I need you.

" When can I submit my answer sheet ?" I asked the invigilator in the examination hall. First he gave me a look as if saying " I can see on your stupid face that you don't know anything and will never qualify this exam ". Finally after a pause he said " Not before 11:00 hrs, madam ". It was just 10:25 and that meant I had to wait for full 35 mins. I decided to flip through the question paper and recheck all the answers I had marked. Then I looked at the watch and it said 10:45. The thought ran through my mind "Oh my God! How will I get the tickets?" I was in Aligarh on that day, which was 21st or 22nd June 2001, the release date of 'Lagaan'. The reason for my being in Aligarh was the All India Entrance Examination for M.Sc. (Biotechnology). Giving company to me was my poor brother who was sitting somewhere in the University campus while I was answering and re-answering the question paper. I had full confidence that no matter how we

Even before watching ' Kites ' I had thought of this title for my blog post. I am happy I didn't have to think of a new title after the end credits started rolling. The question which kept coming back to my head every 5-10 mins was "WHY???" Spoilers Ahead! An Indian man making money by all wrong means in Las Vegas with dreams of hitting the jackpot someday. His prayers are answered when the daughter of a millionaire (or a billionaire) falls for him and he pretends to reciprocate. Only till he finds 'love' in the fiance of his girl-friend's brother (It's complicated!!!). And why do they still call it 'love'??? Anyway... they had no other choice but to elope. And there begins a long chase in train, cars, trucks, lorries, motorbike, and even a hot-air balloon. At the end of this whole chase half of the policemen of the Las Vegas Police Department and the Indo-Mexican couple is dead. And then comes the part which always irritates me....

Lakh mana le duniya, saath na ye chhootega Aa ke mere haathon mein, haath na ye chhootega

...But I can't help falling in love with you Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you. Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you. Like a river flows, surely to the sea, Darling so it goes, somethings are meant to be. Take my hand, take my whole life too, For I can't help falling in love with you.

Finally the judgment is out. The man was proven guilty of murder of more than 50 people on the ill fated night of 26th Nov 2008. That was the least which he deserved. The next morning when I picked up the newspaper from the door step I could not help but notice the subtleties in the picture on the front page. It showed muslim men celebrating the verdict. It seemed to me a deliberate attempt to showcase to the country (and to the world) the patriotism of an average Indian Muslim. I have been wondering about the reasons why this needs to be done. Then, today I stumbled upon this article "Why can't Rahim behave like Ram or Robert?" It speaks out some of my thoughts.

(A quick post for the sake of humanity) I have never seen such a crap in the name of India and Indian wedding before. Stay away from this one if you love yourself. P.S. The only tolerable thing about this movie is Sendhil Ramamurthy .

This post has been caged in the 'drafts' folder forever now. Finally I am letting it free with a compromise that I won't be able to discuss each of these movies in detail. That is because of my laziness and also because I don't remember all that I wanted to write initially. Most of the stuff which I write in my posts reviewing movies are thoughts that come in my head while coming back from the movie theater. I try wording the beginning and the end of the post and the points to highlight in between. It has become a habit now. I did that each of the time I went for a movie in the last one month but those lines died in my head eventually. But since movies are what I eat and drink, I am trying to fish out some of those thoughts (for the betterment of humanity) and posting them in this long-ish post.  Well Done Abba I would not have seen Shyam Benegal's 'Well Done Abba' if I wasn't emotionally blackmailed by a friend last friday. And I am glad I did. It i

The domineering moon masks the faint stars which are very much there. Sometimes it's not the moon, but the thick grey clouds. Still their presence cannot be negated. They are just not visible, but they are shining out there. It takes a clear moonless night to witness their glory. And it takes unshakable trust to feel their presence even when they are hidden from the eyes. And for this kind of trust to form, it takes a few dark and lonely nights.

It finally got over earlier today. The feeling has not sunk in yet. Actually my mind is completely numb after the high level stress it had to deal with. Will write more once I start feeling something.

This is the closest Karan Johar ever came (or will come, may be) to the so-called meaningful cinema. And I think he deserves an applause, specially for not making Kajol (in flowing dupatta or chiffon sari) and Shahrukh Khan (in that signature pose of his) dance to a romantic melody in a dream sequence. I managed to watch the movie in spite of the hullabaloo surrounding its release. Actually I had booked the tickets in advance thinking everything will eventually calm down. Till I reached the theater I wasn't sure whether the show was on or cancelled. The situation was completely under control with the police and media persons surrounding the theater and there was no sign of any hungama. Thank God. I am not an ardent SRK fan (except that I really liked him in Swades and Chak De). In the past few years we saw him giving average performances in Om Shanti Om, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Billu. So, this time too I sat in front of three big screen with almost zero expectation. Now I don't

My last week's astrological forecast said that everything on job-front (and other fronts) will take a U-turn and be perfectly fine sometime very soon. I smiled. Then I read the forecasts for other sun-signs and as expected something or the other matched with almost all of them. I smiled again. :)

Picture courtesy: http://www.crosswindschurch.net/images/footsteps.jpg Is it possible to just take a few steps back and undo the hundred steps I walked thinking it was the right direction...

Feels good to be back. Amongst many other things which were on my "Must do while in Bombay" list , taking a stroll at the sea face came first. I missed doing that so much. Evenings there were spent in having tea at a road-side dhaba along with some pakodas. That used to be my daily getaway from the lab. There was no place where I could just take a walk without million other people staring at my face. In the last many years, a walk at the sea-face (either alone or with a buddy) or a long chat sitting on the rocks has helped me in regaining my sanity on many stressful and frustrating days. I was eagerly waiting to get the same feeling. And I did. The rocks and the waves crashing against them seemed the same. And talking to those friends after more than a year (2 and a half years in case of one) also felt the same. I am happy. Picture courtesy: Pavitra

From welcome hugs to good-bye kisses. From counting days before arrival to counting minutes remaining before departure. In the race between us and time, the latter has always won. It arrives punctually before us, thus shortening the moments between 'arrival' and 'departure'. What stays back are new memories in a new chapter of life, ending at "... to be continued (hopefully) ".