"Black and White" – Rating ** said the newspaper last Sunday. I did not give much thought to either the title of the movie or the rating that day. But today, when I started thinking, I realize it is not only about colors, God’s creation has always struck a balance – whether it is day and night, Birth and Death, Man and Woman. Did I say woman? That brings me to what I have been thinking about the whole day, nearly one week after the "International Woman’s day". Both men and women are God’s creation. It is a well known fact that they are different, their needs are different, and their roles are different. Where does the problem lie? The problem arises when we as individuals fail to take cognizance of our as well as others’ abilities and limitations. Why do I see so many women’s forum and councils coming up while I hear of men’s council only regarding sports? We all know that March 8th is International Women’s day. How many of us know that the first Saturday of November is International men’s day? Probably very few. What is the need to have an international day for women? When I posed this question to different women the answers I got were – "Because the rest of the 364 days are men’s days" - "We have been oppressed since ages and we need to rise now"-"Men have April 1st and we have March 8th". What were these people trying to communicate? This is precisely what I wanted to find out by attending a Women’s forum meeting devoting 4 hours of my time. If I could learn a lesson or become aware of so called "women-specific" problems, it would be worth it.
I walked in the corridors of a five star hotel searching for the venue of this meeting like I used to search for the train compartment in the last minute during my college days. This search was easier because the decibel levels act as indicators of gatherings of women. So here I am amidst women of age ranging from early twenties to early forties. So it was obvious that women specific problems would be a function of age and I got excited looking at the spectrum I was exposed to. This is how the forum meeting started – "Welcome to the gathering FREE OF MEN" and a wave of giggles traveled through the room. My expectations committed suicide jumping down a valley like Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom. That was shown in slow motion at least; here I could hear a THUD sound. "Is this a Women’s forum or an anti-men forum?" I thought and stopped myself thinking that it is too early to jump to conclusions. 15 minutes into the address that the head of the forum gave I started contemplating – "Am I very different from the other members of the fairer sex? Why am I not able to enjoy the *alleged jokes* or *gossips*?" I heaved a sigh of relief when I was assured that there are >1 people who shared parts of my experience. Is this session for bitching about men or development of women? Why do I see common needs of men and women in the agenda for women forum? Leadership skills need to be enhanced in both men and women. Both need mentoring. Both need to do good financial planning. Both need to have good health. By putting these as women-specific agenda, are we not widening the gap? I see more dissociation in the company than development. Are we not repeating the historical mistake by discriminating now in a different way? But whom do I shoot these questions to? After all I am also among those who do not want to take the risk of antagonizing the majority.
What are we trying to address by calling this meeting and inaugurating a forum? The women specific problems I can think of are –
Women have been assigned the job of managing the household and nurturing kids for ages. Now they are taking up an extra job which is perceived as "job" in the real sense by the world. That does not mean they resign their previous job. A woman will have to continue with the old one, probably she can have an assistant which could be her spouse or mother or the legal mother. Extra load means extra problems.
Strangely, maintaining the household has never been considered as a job because it does not have monetary returns. If it was considered as a significant contribution to run a house, we would never call only CEOs as achievers without House wives anywhere in the run for the title. It is human nature to pamper the ego by achieving great things, receiving rewards and recognition. Women are also human beings which is why they also entered the race in the corporate world. Women are taking this up by choice. Due to the extra load they do face more pressure. Bearing a child is one of the important stages in a woman’s life. She definitely more corporate maternity leave to take good care of her health, she needs more time to devote to the baby as a feeding mother, she needs cooperation from the company to take care of the baby till it is on its own. "
I don’t see this in the agenda though everyone talks about it.
Women are different from men physically, biologically and to an extent psychologically. When God did not create the two equal, it does not make much sense to claim equality too. Rather what each individual should be claiming is Opportunity and Rights Commensurate with abilities. Just because Kalpana Chawla went to Space, all women can’t. For that matter, all men cant too. Each individual has a set of unique abilities, talent and limitations. If an individual is not allowed to achieve up to his/her ability it is unjust irrespective of the gender. So what kind of woman rights are we talking about? It is not that all men or bad or all women are good. Men have their own set of problems to deal with. Let us look at the other side of the coin. Being a woman has its own advantages –
A woman can call it a day anytime; she will not be questioned by many. But do men have that luxury? If a man quits his job, he will be labeled IRRESPONSIBLE and WORTHLESS. "He is supposed to earn for the family". Actually if we look at it, it is an initial condition problem of distribution of load. The cart of home needs two M wheels – Maintenance and Money. Long then, job did not mean resting on a ergonomic chair with only two parts of the body working – Brain and the fingers. It meant roaming in the hot sun, lifting loads of weight and sweating it out more than the current day Gym. Commensurate with the physical strength of men and women it was quite logical then to distribute it that way. The Stereotype has just continued till this day though times seem to be changing pretty evidently.
How many times have you as a girl felt relieved or as a guy felt jealous when the Physical training sir gave 2 rounds as punishment to girls and made boys run 10 rounds in school?
How many times have you spent a minute appreciating the variety of choice women have in terms of clothing and accessories? Do the shopping malls have anything more to offer to men other than shirts, T shirts and a pair of trousers? Sadly they had to resort to earrings, chains and pony tails. :(
How often do we talk about the tax exemption or the favors we receive from people from various rungs because of the universal bias towards the eve?
It is just that women have the amazing quality of amplifying the lack more than have. I don’t deny that we have women suffering from dowry deaths, prostitution, and lack of freedom or education in the Indian society. But definitely corporate women forum meetings will not cater to those people.
We will not achieve anything by putting down men or boasting about our strengths. At the end of the day we are going to go back home and have a coffee with a father or a husband. It is wise to understand the composition of the universe and that men and women are like irreplaceable pillars of a building. We as human beings (Does not matter whether it is a man or a woman) should recognize the success rate of working together rather than secluding ourselves and fighting for nebulous rights.
Alas! All I enjoyed was the Vanilla ice cream! :D
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Lessons and some beautiful lines from "Five People You Meet In Heaven"
- "All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it tat time."
- You will start believing this if you read the book during the same time as watching "JAB we MET" just like me. I think something has to end for something else to begin. Even when life ends the life at heaven begins is what is told here.
- "All human lives are well connected. NO story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one another completely like stones beneath a river."
- "Death does not just take someone. It also misses someone else, and in the small distinction between being taken and missed, lives are changed. This is why we are drawn to babies, and to funerals."
- "Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know."
- "No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone."
- Well something prevents me from agreeing to this wholeheartedly.
- "Over the centuries, courage has been confused with picking up arms and cowardice confused with laying them down."
- I totally agree with this. I think real courage is in facing day to day small battles of life without losing heart. Courage is to take up responsibility when you not taking it wont be noticed. Courage is to tell the truth when you know it will harm your reputation. Courage is to make a promise and be committed to it than not making a promise at all.
- "He felt as if a string had just shot from his heart and looped around her shoulders, pulling her close, making her his. He loved her more in that moment than he thought he ever could love anyone."
- I think every person should be lucky to experience that one moment in life.
- "Sacrifice is a part of life and not something to be regretted. Sometimes when you are sacrificing something precious, you are not really losing it. You are just passing it on to someone else."
- "We move through places every day that would never have been if not for the people who came before us."
- Fills me with a sense of gratitude for those who have contributed in small or large ways for where I am today.
- "Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks a person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves."
- "Love, like rain , can nourish from above, drenching couples with a soaking joy. But sometimes, under the angry heat of life, love dries on the surface and must nourish from below, tending to its roots, keeping itself alive."
- "Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, thats all. You cant see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when these senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurure it. You hold it. You dance with it."
- Love is something that makes the lives of human beings alive.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Astrology
Astrology-"the study of the movements and positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars, and the skill of describing the expected effect that these are believed to have on the character and behavior of humans". This is all Cambridge dictionary told me about it.
Being from a biotech background and working as an Analyst in the corporate world, how-much-ever unconnected the two fields may sound, I have no clue how some celestial bodies floating somewhere in the universe can decide how my mom takes the news of me having a boyfriend or my boss deciding my annual rating or for that matter Shahrukh Khan’s "Om shanti Om" being a hit. I was wondering about this sitting in a room in which patches of the walls tried to take a peek at me from behind the innumerable posters and banners that spoke high of astrology, depicted planets as deities and had tables representing the positions of planets which made me recall my practical notebooks of eleventh grade. I was there for a reason. It is not as strong as the previous sentence may sound. It is because my uncle took me there. :) We were treated as VIPs as my uncle is a long time friend of that astrologer who makes money predicting others lives. This gave me the chance to observe a lot of things based on his interaction with his other customers.
Customer No. 1:
A mid-aged man with a hangdog look complains about his daughter- "I sent her to college thinking she will become an engineer, but she has forced me to leave all my dreams about her and plead the parents of that guy who does not even come close to the imagination I had about the groom I would get for her. The problem is she is elder to him and my daughter has "Mangala Dosha". I don’t know how I could even go and ask them about it". Our "solution-for-all" guru says with a wry smile and know-it-all attitude-"Well, that does not look like a problem to me. Date of birth can always be changed and kundali modified to get rid of problems. In fact, why don’t u get the horoscope of the guy. I can tailor your daughter’s horoscope to that."
Wow, that’s cool. Marriage is reduced do a garment business. If we can change everything in the horoscope, why do we need to match them? These questions of mine may never get answered.
Customer No. 2:
An old man with lines on his forehead that speak about his unmarried daughter gets in with some pieces of paper out of which all or one may end up in the dustbin in the corner of the room after the astro researcher speaks up. "Sir, I have these options in front of me. Can you tell me which of these is the best match?" Not spending more than 5 seconds on each, he says. "Well, I don’t recommend any of them". That man with the same look on his face after paying 20 Rs.
Is this great astrologer so proficient to make that out in 5 seconds? Probably at his age the visual power itself will bring a delay of 10 seconds. Or may be he can make that out and it is just my limitation to suspect it. But how was he sure that those horoscopes were not tailored artificially for someone else? ;)
Customer No. 3:
This time it is a woman who brings the horoscope of her very successful son who has everything but is not getting married and is 35 years old already. She asks –"My son is 35 and is not married yet. "
What is the whole point? You should be handing over the horoscope and be asking that guy to predict the scenario with marriage and not be letting the whole thing out.
Our astro king brushes it off with a bombastic statement –" How is it possible madam? I see that Shani has become asthadipati and is higher to Budha who has been looking at mangala from 4th house."
Does that make even one iota of sense to a layperson? What is he intending to do here?
" He will have to visit a temple which is beyond the hills and the mountains and do a pooja there. I understand that he will be busy with it. Let me suggest something for your good. It can be done by someone like us. All you will have to do is pay us some 5000 bucks. That’s all. That is nothing compared to your son’s future"
Great. I got my answer.
I thought horoscopes describe the way things take their course. So can that be changed by doing what he said. Will Budha stop looking at Mangala? How will that happen unless you change it and reprint it?
Customer No. 4
A guy of my age is here finally. He wants to know about why he is not successful in his career and is burdened by debt.
Burdened by debt at this age itself?
This lead to the same kind of fuzzy description and the conclusion was to make the guy wear a ruby stone ring on his middle finger. "How much would that cost?" he asks wishing as much as he could that it would not be high. "15000. That is fine. It makes you conquer the sun" comes the answer and I see a total eclipse on the guy’s face.
A guy is burdened by debt and you make him drown a little more by making him spend like this. Is this astro king sure that it helps? Will he pay the debt if it does not help? Ah look at his hand. I could see all the precious stones on the earth dancing on his fingers. Does this guy have no problems in his life now that he has conquered all the planets and stars?
The guy is hesitant to go ahead with it when asked if they could call the jeweler there itself. Of course, commissions are an unsaid part of it. After a lot of –"Go ahead" and "Hmm, I need to think", the astro says with the same know-it-all tone –" Your horoscope tells me you are stubborn and you wont listen"
Then why the hell were they trying to suggest or advise?
The guy leaves the room with nothing changing in his life other than the fact that now his pocket was lighter after those ten 10 Rupee notes left his pocket.
After all this I am left alone for a whole day of pondering on many things I see in life. I do believe that there is a power which is the reason for how different lives take their turns, intersect, diverge and converge. But my reservations are about the claims of understanding that power in totality and making a business out of the claim. If someone could conquer the forces that affect our lives, why are they still working for the 100 bucks that the guy gave? If they knew what to do to earn well, why have they not taken over Azim Premji or Narayan Murthy? Given that I have spent only 24 years on this earth, I don’t know what is the absolute truth and may not come to know even after spending 80 years. But that does not stop me from penning down my views and things that make me put my thinking cap on.
Being from a biotech background and working as an Analyst in the corporate world, how-much-ever unconnected the two fields may sound, I have no clue how some celestial bodies floating somewhere in the universe can decide how my mom takes the news of me having a boyfriend or my boss deciding my annual rating or for that matter Shahrukh Khan’s "Om shanti Om" being a hit. I was wondering about this sitting in a room in which patches of the walls tried to take a peek at me from behind the innumerable posters and banners that spoke high of astrology, depicted planets as deities and had tables representing the positions of planets which made me recall my practical notebooks of eleventh grade. I was there for a reason. It is not as strong as the previous sentence may sound. It is because my uncle took me there. :) We were treated as VIPs as my uncle is a long time friend of that astrologer who makes money predicting others lives. This gave me the chance to observe a lot of things based on his interaction with his other customers.
Customer No. 1:
A mid-aged man with a hangdog look complains about his daughter- "I sent her to college thinking she will become an engineer, but she has forced me to leave all my dreams about her and plead the parents of that guy who does not even come close to the imagination I had about the groom I would get for her. The problem is she is elder to him and my daughter has "Mangala Dosha". I don’t know how I could even go and ask them about it". Our "solution-for-all" guru says with a wry smile and know-it-all attitude-"Well, that does not look like a problem to me. Date of birth can always be changed and kundali modified to get rid of problems. In fact, why don’t u get the horoscope of the guy. I can tailor your daughter’s horoscope to that."
Wow, that’s cool. Marriage is reduced do a garment business. If we can change everything in the horoscope, why do we need to match them? These questions of mine may never get answered.
Customer No. 2:
An old man with lines on his forehead that speak about his unmarried daughter gets in with some pieces of paper out of which all or one may end up in the dustbin in the corner of the room after the astro researcher speaks up. "Sir, I have these options in front of me. Can you tell me which of these is the best match?" Not spending more than 5 seconds on each, he says. "Well, I don’t recommend any of them". That man with the same look on his face after paying 20 Rs.
Is this great astrologer so proficient to make that out in 5 seconds? Probably at his age the visual power itself will bring a delay of 10 seconds. Or may be he can make that out and it is just my limitation to suspect it. But how was he sure that those horoscopes were not tailored artificially for someone else? ;)
Customer No. 3:
This time it is a woman who brings the horoscope of her very successful son who has everything but is not getting married and is 35 years old already. She asks –"My son is 35 and is not married yet. "
What is the whole point? You should be handing over the horoscope and be asking that guy to predict the scenario with marriage and not be letting the whole thing out.
Our astro king brushes it off with a bombastic statement –" How is it possible madam? I see that Shani has become asthadipati and is higher to Budha who has been looking at mangala from 4th house."
Does that make even one iota of sense to a layperson? What is he intending to do here?
" He will have to visit a temple which is beyond the hills and the mountains and do a pooja there. I understand that he will be busy with it. Let me suggest something for your good. It can be done by someone like us. All you will have to do is pay us some 5000 bucks. That’s all. That is nothing compared to your son’s future"
Great. I got my answer.
I thought horoscopes describe the way things take their course. So can that be changed by doing what he said. Will Budha stop looking at Mangala? How will that happen unless you change it and reprint it?
Customer No. 4
A guy of my age is here finally. He wants to know about why he is not successful in his career and is burdened by debt.
Burdened by debt at this age itself?
This lead to the same kind of fuzzy description and the conclusion was to make the guy wear a ruby stone ring on his middle finger. "How much would that cost?" he asks wishing as much as he could that it would not be high. "15000. That is fine. It makes you conquer the sun" comes the answer and I see a total eclipse on the guy’s face.
A guy is burdened by debt and you make him drown a little more by making him spend like this. Is this astro king sure that it helps? Will he pay the debt if it does not help? Ah look at his hand. I could see all the precious stones on the earth dancing on his fingers. Does this guy have no problems in his life now that he has conquered all the planets and stars?
The guy is hesitant to go ahead with it when asked if they could call the jeweler there itself. Of course, commissions are an unsaid part of it. After a lot of –"Go ahead" and "Hmm, I need to think", the astro says with the same know-it-all tone –" Your horoscope tells me you are stubborn and you wont listen"
Then why the hell were they trying to suggest or advise?
The guy leaves the room with nothing changing in his life other than the fact that now his pocket was lighter after those ten 10 Rupee notes left his pocket.
After all this I am left alone for a whole day of pondering on many things I see in life. I do believe that there is a power which is the reason for how different lives take their turns, intersect, diverge and converge. But my reservations are about the claims of understanding that power in totality and making a business out of the claim. If someone could conquer the forces that affect our lives, why are they still working for the 100 bucks that the guy gave? If they knew what to do to earn well, why have they not taken over Azim Premji or Narayan Murthy? Given that I have spent only 24 years on this earth, I don’t know what is the absolute truth and may not come to know even after spending 80 years. But that does not stop me from penning down my views and things that make me put my thinking cap on.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Om Shanti Om
Audience always look forward for the diwali festive releases which enter the theatres with a boom after spending astronomic amount of money on publicity and hype through various streams, so much that the courtesy list for the media partners and the list of actors in the movie match in number. October month saw promotional efforts of Saanwariya and Om Shanti Om reverberating throughout the country. This is an attempt to make sure that no matter how long the movies stay in the theatres, distributors can recover every penny they invest within the first few days. This is possible as far as we have the curious bollywood audience who reach the theatres every year forgetting all the anticlimactic claims of the past. Being one among them, I need to pen down my views on "Om Shanti Om" – the diwali release of 2007 J
Om Shanti Om!!! Is it a movie on spirituality? When did this paradigm shift happen in Farah Khan when her previous movie had every commercial aspect you could think of! If you exclaimed this way, there is no need for it; we are not new to naming movies after the names of the protagonists, are we? As far as Farah Khan’s spiritual inclination goes, she still sticks to bollywood masala commercial movies but with a difference. Now what is the difference? She has been successful in making a commercial film which encompasses almost every possible aspect that we have seen in our bollywood movies over the last three decades while making a spoof of it.
We have witnessed the exaggerated flow of a mother’s love described using all kinds of similes and heart rendering dialogues in every alternate Hindi movie –"Ma ka dil aisa hi hota hai" . Seems like we heard it in many King Khan movies recently too – Kuch Kuch hota hai, Kal ho na ho to name just two :D We may bend down our head in boredom unable to bear tear-jerking Mommy dialogues in any other movie but here we enjoy watching it when the scene is made to convey that it is boring to continue the same. Kiron Kher – the only elder supporting actress in the movie has carried the role well by making the audience laugh with her role of overacting filmi ma of Om Prakash Makhija. Did I say Makhija? Sounds unconventional and is intended to. It has been tactfully used to convey the nepotism favoring Kumars, Khannas and kapoors in the 70s where Bachan had to struggle to make his mark. It is tough to come across a movie which can include so many different aspects spanning 30 years of film industry. Whether it is the foul play of the hungry ones for power, money and fame or the aspirations of the struggling artists dreaming of becoming superstars or loopholes in the way movies are shot and projected or the path to stardom which is a bed of roses for star sons and daughters born with a silver spoon in their mouth; they have been portrayed very well with the required subtlety and impact.
It will not be an exaggeration if I say this is an excellent movie for the shrewd ones who can catch the implications and don’t get enraged when their favorite stars are at the gun point. Hardly any star has been spared from lampoon. Manoj kumar hiding his face in style, Salman Khan wearing a cap with "friend" and saying dialogues about rules of friendship , Hrithik Roshan flying as a superhero and jumping into a valley with his Dhoom lady love, Barechested disco of !!!hmmm!!! lost the count of heroes salman being the first one to come to mind, Stylish Rajanikanth’s action defying laws of Physics, King Khan himself for repeating romantic Rahul roles and in spite of that asking– "Rahul, Naam to suna hoga" –Why not ,when we have seen him as Rahul n times. Some common behavior in the film industry is captured in a comical way very much within the domain of the script. Gorgeous ladies of silver screen making clichéd remarks about their relationship with their on screen partners, men brushing aside rumors of homosexual behavior again finding shelter in friendship, Award functions where neck and neck nominees try to cover the pricked bubble with a smile, Taking pride as action heroes imitating action scenes from the other side of the Pacific Ocean to mention a few. It is surprising how a movie made as a comedy pulling the legs of the film industry has got the support of the whole industry coming on screen in this movie.
Coming to the performances in the movie, Shahrukh has delivered a good one except for some scenes where he overacts trying to play the cool dude of 2007. His effort to build the six pack shows on his face that looks leaner and longer now. However, his effort at 42 has to be appreciated. Deepika Padukone , an entrant to bollywood looks gorgeous in the 70s costumes. The effort taken to make her look like the Dream Girl of the 70s Hema Malini has paid off. In the scenes where she shares the 70 mm screen with Shahrukh Khan , she has the ability to make the audience face dilemma as to where to focus their eye balls on. Considering that this is her first movie, she has been good in carrying off the role well. But definitely she could have been better. But audience enchanted by her beauty will hardly notice that. Shreyas Talpade and Shahrukh look like buddies, that probably has come out as a result of the comfort they shared off screen too. Shreyas has done a good job as the tapori confidence booster of Om Prakash Makhija. Arjun Rampal fits well into the role of stylish, tall, dark and handsome producer of the 70s with grey shades.
The music of the film is good and has caught on with young people especially due to endless plug that has not spared even the advertisements for Shoppers stop. Dard e disco would not have made sense if you had watched Shahrukh dancing to the beats with sad lyrics without the previous scene in the movie. It is again pointed at item songs in the movies now a days that don’t fit anywhere in the story but are made just to act as a crowd-puller. Concept of Panchabhoot - Earth,Sky,Air,Water and fire has been incorporated in this song again which we last saw in Nayak-The hero. Main agar kahoon is melodious romantic song that will probably stay in the list of songs you will listen to while driving after the craze for Dard e disco comes down. This movie will go into record for bringing together 35+stars in the same movie. Guest appearances have become the element of surprise and fashion now days through which the film industry tries to prove existent or non-existent cordial relationships. And in case someone refuses to appear in a guest role, it makes news as a fight between the crew of the movie and the invitee for the guest appearance. It happened even with OSO when Amir Khan refused to be a part of OSO’s title song where 31 stars come together. This song of course is one of the most awaited songs in the movie. It is very much in the story and is not out of place where the stars are brought in just for the sake of it. Graphic technology used in the song Dhoom Tana must be really appreciated where Deepika gets to Dance with stars of the golden era.
70s settings and costumes are really good and for sometime you will forget that the movie is a 2007 diwali release. The film goes in a recursive fashion where Farah Khan is making "Om Shanti Om" in which Mukhesh Mehra (Arjun rampal) is making "Om Shanti Om" in which the character Ramesh is making "Om Shanti Om" and so on. J The movie catches your interest because of the humour almost till the end. It would have been better if some specific scenes were not shown many times in the movie just to convey that somebody is thinking about it. The scenes are well connected for which the editor must be praised. The climax of the movie was not so believable for the 2007 moviegoers. But the message was well transmitted through one of the dialogues that Deepika says in the movie -" When you can believe hero jumping from a tall building and landing on his feet, when you can believe a hero sole-handedly fighting 20 villians, you can very well believe the concept of reincarnation or the climax of the movie. The climax also changes the traditional theory laid by our own hindi movies that reincarnated souls get into bodies having same physical appearance. It might have been a cost saving strategy to avoid paying another actor or actress. Here Sandy is not Shanti and where is Shanti is left for you to explore!
It is a good thing about Farah Khan to introduce the whole crew of the movie at the end which she did in her previous film too. Otherwise probably some people who work hard for the success of the movie never get to show their face to the audience.
To conclude, it is a good entertainer and you will get the worth for your money. It is relaxing to laugh for 2 hours 45 minutes in a 3 hour movie. The more number of times you watch the movie, the more will be the number of subtle implications that you will catch. The movie is different and creative. Kudos to the crew of Om Shanti Om.
Om Shanti Om!!! Is it a movie on spirituality? When did this paradigm shift happen in Farah Khan when her previous movie had every commercial aspect you could think of! If you exclaimed this way, there is no need for it; we are not new to naming movies after the names of the protagonists, are we? As far as Farah Khan’s spiritual inclination goes, she still sticks to bollywood masala commercial movies but with a difference. Now what is the difference? She has been successful in making a commercial film which encompasses almost every possible aspect that we have seen in our bollywood movies over the last three decades while making a spoof of it.
We have witnessed the exaggerated flow of a mother’s love described using all kinds of similes and heart rendering dialogues in every alternate Hindi movie –"Ma ka dil aisa hi hota hai" . Seems like we heard it in many King Khan movies recently too – Kuch Kuch hota hai, Kal ho na ho to name just two :D We may bend down our head in boredom unable to bear tear-jerking Mommy dialogues in any other movie but here we enjoy watching it when the scene is made to convey that it is boring to continue the same. Kiron Kher – the only elder supporting actress in the movie has carried the role well by making the audience laugh with her role of overacting filmi ma of Om Prakash Makhija. Did I say Makhija? Sounds unconventional and is intended to. It has been tactfully used to convey the nepotism favoring Kumars, Khannas and kapoors in the 70s where Bachan had to struggle to make his mark. It is tough to come across a movie which can include so many different aspects spanning 30 years of film industry. Whether it is the foul play of the hungry ones for power, money and fame or the aspirations of the struggling artists dreaming of becoming superstars or loopholes in the way movies are shot and projected or the path to stardom which is a bed of roses for star sons and daughters born with a silver spoon in their mouth; they have been portrayed very well with the required subtlety and impact.
It will not be an exaggeration if I say this is an excellent movie for the shrewd ones who can catch the implications and don’t get enraged when their favorite stars are at the gun point. Hardly any star has been spared from lampoon. Manoj kumar hiding his face in style, Salman Khan wearing a cap with "friend" and saying dialogues about rules of friendship , Hrithik Roshan flying as a superhero and jumping into a valley with his Dhoom lady love, Barechested disco of !!!hmmm!!! lost the count of heroes salman being the first one to come to mind, Stylish Rajanikanth’s action defying laws of Physics, King Khan himself for repeating romantic Rahul roles and in spite of that asking– "Rahul, Naam to suna hoga" –Why not ,when we have seen him as Rahul n times. Some common behavior in the film industry is captured in a comical way very much within the domain of the script. Gorgeous ladies of silver screen making clichéd remarks about their relationship with their on screen partners, men brushing aside rumors of homosexual behavior again finding shelter in friendship, Award functions where neck and neck nominees try to cover the pricked bubble with a smile, Taking pride as action heroes imitating action scenes from the other side of the Pacific Ocean to mention a few. It is surprising how a movie made as a comedy pulling the legs of the film industry has got the support of the whole industry coming on screen in this movie.
Coming to the performances in the movie, Shahrukh has delivered a good one except for some scenes where he overacts trying to play the cool dude of 2007. His effort to build the six pack shows on his face that looks leaner and longer now. However, his effort at 42 has to be appreciated. Deepika Padukone , an entrant to bollywood looks gorgeous in the 70s costumes. The effort taken to make her look like the Dream Girl of the 70s Hema Malini has paid off. In the scenes where she shares the 70 mm screen with Shahrukh Khan , she has the ability to make the audience face dilemma as to where to focus their eye balls on. Considering that this is her first movie, she has been good in carrying off the role well. But definitely she could have been better. But audience enchanted by her beauty will hardly notice that. Shreyas Talpade and Shahrukh look like buddies, that probably has come out as a result of the comfort they shared off screen too. Shreyas has done a good job as the tapori confidence booster of Om Prakash Makhija. Arjun Rampal fits well into the role of stylish, tall, dark and handsome producer of the 70s with grey shades.
The music of the film is good and has caught on with young people especially due to endless plug that has not spared even the advertisements for Shoppers stop. Dard e disco would not have made sense if you had watched Shahrukh dancing to the beats with sad lyrics without the previous scene in the movie. It is again pointed at item songs in the movies now a days that don’t fit anywhere in the story but are made just to act as a crowd-puller. Concept of Panchabhoot - Earth,Sky,Air,Water and fire has been incorporated in this song again which we last saw in Nayak-The hero. Main agar kahoon is melodious romantic song that will probably stay in the list of songs you will listen to while driving after the craze for Dard e disco comes down. This movie will go into record for bringing together 35+stars in the same movie. Guest appearances have become the element of surprise and fashion now days through which the film industry tries to prove existent or non-existent cordial relationships. And in case someone refuses to appear in a guest role, it makes news as a fight between the crew of the movie and the invitee for the guest appearance. It happened even with OSO when Amir Khan refused to be a part of OSO’s title song where 31 stars come together. This song of course is one of the most awaited songs in the movie. It is very much in the story and is not out of place where the stars are brought in just for the sake of it. Graphic technology used in the song Dhoom Tana must be really appreciated where Deepika gets to Dance with stars of the golden era.
70s settings and costumes are really good and for sometime you will forget that the movie is a 2007 diwali release. The film goes in a recursive fashion where Farah Khan is making "Om Shanti Om" in which Mukhesh Mehra (Arjun rampal) is making "Om Shanti Om" in which the character Ramesh is making "Om Shanti Om" and so on. J The movie catches your interest because of the humour almost till the end. It would have been better if some specific scenes were not shown many times in the movie just to convey that somebody is thinking about it. The scenes are well connected for which the editor must be praised. The climax of the movie was not so believable for the 2007 moviegoers. But the message was well transmitted through one of the dialogues that Deepika says in the movie -" When you can believe hero jumping from a tall building and landing on his feet, when you can believe a hero sole-handedly fighting 20 villians, you can very well believe the concept of reincarnation or the climax of the movie. The climax also changes the traditional theory laid by our own hindi movies that reincarnated souls get into bodies having same physical appearance. It might have been a cost saving strategy to avoid paying another actor or actress. Here Sandy is not Shanti and where is Shanti is left for you to explore!
It is a good thing about Farah Khan to introduce the whole crew of the movie at the end which she did in her previous film too. Otherwise probably some people who work hard for the success of the movie never get to show their face to the audience.
To conclude, it is a good entertainer and you will get the worth for your money. It is relaxing to laugh for 2 hours 45 minutes in a 3 hour movie. The more number of times you watch the movie, the more will be the number of subtle implications that you will catch. The movie is different and creative. Kudos to the crew of Om Shanti Om.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Happiness in Life
Every person has a value and belief system which he or she follows. That is what is responsible for the way one behaves, thinks, responds and lives life. It is nice to pen down the philosophy I wish to follow in life.
Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans. Life is to live , to be happy. Being happy is the continuous and ultimate objective of life based on which we optimise our situations. There is no want in life as such. Decide to be happy and ur belief and confidence that you can be happy will make it a fact. Dont let anything to affect you in life. Be untouched by any external influence like a lotus leaf in a pond and maintain the internal state of happines. It is independent of what you have and what u dont have...who is there with u and who is not....what worked in ur favour and what did not....Happiness is just a mental state unaffected by all these factors. All that matters is that unshakeable decision to be happy whatever happens in life. The day you associate happiness with people close to u...with ur possessions and ur environment u r dependent on them. U may love people, care for them but ur happiness is independent of it. Everything in life is a bonus because u did not have anything when u came. When u look at everything good that happens in ur life as a bonus u wont go to a negative state when it is taken away from u...Accept what life gives u and be contented with it. Believe that whatever happens happens for the good. If not anything it has given u an experience. Enjoy the moments for the experience they give and dont brood over their absence. U can be happy irrespective of the occurences in ur life. Life is always lived above x axis because we started only from zero. People come and go, successes and failures are bound to occur but nothing in life should affect you. Life is never unfair to anyone. Nothing is under ur control. There is one supreme power which is making all the people play their roles and watching one nice show. Anything can happen the very next moment and so dont lose even a single opportunity to make urselves more happy. There is nothing wrong in beng happy. Ultimately what u should fear is only ur conscience.
Conscience is one good friend which gives u the same answer to a question how many ever years down the line u ask...Listen to ur conscience. Be clear in ur thoughts...There is no problem that is not surmountable. No problem can take away ur happiness from u if u decide to be happy whatever the case may be. Nothing in life is more important than life itself... Everthing about life can be summed up in three words---It goes on. We often start working towards wrong goals...we are always getting prepared to live but never living. Start now...Live a life...be happy... I think everything has been figured out except how to live....Only if u believe that life is worth living ....and it is worth being happy will u create the fact....
Accept people for what they are...Never categorise their qualities into good or bad....Understanding that a quality exists in a person is more than enough to be a good friend to him....At the end of the day in any relationship what matters the most is understanding and trust...Trust that the person will not act against his or her own conscience. Understanding and accepting the person for what is true. Doing such a thing will clear ur mind of all the cribs...all the ill feelings and make u a happier person.....
What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose to be happy. Problems are bound to come because without them life wont be interesting. They are only there to make u stronger and not get bogged down. Ultimately one thing is true, whatever happens life is not going to stop there. We never know what twists and turns are yet to come. If u want god to laugh tell him ur future plans. You can hope for something but never expect something to happen. When u dont have expectations life is a jolly ride becuse everything that comes ur way excites u. U never know what the purpose of an event is unless it happens. So accept whatever comes ur way because u dont know how it is good for u...May be better than what u would have wished for..... The central dogma in life is
Decision---->acceptance-----> Happiness
Life is beautiful in its own way...All it takes is an open mind to observe and enjoy the beauty of life.
Life is what happens to us when we are busy making other plans. Life is to live , to be happy. Being happy is the continuous and ultimate objective of life based on which we optimise our situations. There is no want in life as such. Decide to be happy and ur belief and confidence that you can be happy will make it a fact. Dont let anything to affect you in life. Be untouched by any external influence like a lotus leaf in a pond and maintain the internal state of happines. It is independent of what you have and what u dont have...who is there with u and who is not....what worked in ur favour and what did not....Happiness is just a mental state unaffected by all these factors. All that matters is that unshakeable decision to be happy whatever happens in life. The day you associate happiness with people close to u...with ur possessions and ur environment u r dependent on them. U may love people, care for them but ur happiness is independent of it. Everything in life is a bonus because u did not have anything when u came. When u look at everything good that happens in ur life as a bonus u wont go to a negative state when it is taken away from u...Accept what life gives u and be contented with it. Believe that whatever happens happens for the good. If not anything it has given u an experience. Enjoy the moments for the experience they give and dont brood over their absence. U can be happy irrespective of the occurences in ur life. Life is always lived above x axis because we started only from zero. People come and go, successes and failures are bound to occur but nothing in life should affect you. Life is never unfair to anyone. Nothing is under ur control. There is one supreme power which is making all the people play their roles and watching one nice show. Anything can happen the very next moment and so dont lose even a single opportunity to make urselves more happy. There is nothing wrong in beng happy. Ultimately what u should fear is only ur conscience.
Conscience is one good friend which gives u the same answer to a question how many ever years down the line u ask...Listen to ur conscience. Be clear in ur thoughts...There is no problem that is not surmountable. No problem can take away ur happiness from u if u decide to be happy whatever the case may be. Nothing in life is more important than life itself... Everthing about life can be summed up in three words---It goes on. We often start working towards wrong goals...we are always getting prepared to live but never living. Start now...Live a life...be happy... I think everything has been figured out except how to live....Only if u believe that life is worth living ....and it is worth being happy will u create the fact....
Accept people for what they are...Never categorise their qualities into good or bad....Understanding that a quality exists in a person is more than enough to be a good friend to him....At the end of the day in any relationship what matters the most is understanding and trust...Trust that the person will not act against his or her own conscience. Understanding and accepting the person for what is true. Doing such a thing will clear ur mind of all the cribs...all the ill feelings and make u a happier person.....
What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose to be happy. Problems are bound to come because without them life wont be interesting. They are only there to make u stronger and not get bogged down. Ultimately one thing is true, whatever happens life is not going to stop there. We never know what twists and turns are yet to come. If u want god to laugh tell him ur future plans. You can hope for something but never expect something to happen. When u dont have expectations life is a jolly ride becuse everything that comes ur way excites u. U never know what the purpose of an event is unless it happens. So accept whatever comes ur way because u dont know how it is good for u...May be better than what u would have wished for..... The central dogma in life is
Decision---->acceptance-----> Happiness
Life is beautiful in its own way...All it takes is an open mind to observe and enjoy the beauty of life.
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