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.
  

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.

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.

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.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

I still remember that day in my ninth class when there was hype for the release of Kuch kuch hota hai which had generated huge hopes in the audience of being a blockbuster. The fact that it turned out to be one is history now and of course any Karan johar movie now is expected to do the same. One thing you can be sure of finding in a Karan Johar movie is grandeur, lovely locations abroad, amazing costumes, some smiles and tears. This movie also falls into the same category and can be identified to be a Karan johar movie even by a person who does not know that it is one. The differences that you can find in this movie compared to the rest are the absence of a "sagaai " or a "karva chaut" song, a bold subject which is alien to the families that were seen in his earlier movies. It seems like Karan was experimenting to test the acceptance by audience in "kal ho na ho" by touching on issues of homosexuality subtly behind the facade of light comedy.

Gone are the days when the woman in the house was shown as sati savitri. The sense of independence that many women feel and want to feel now is nicely captured in this movie through the character of Rhea ( Preity Zinta ). It is a fresh change to see the heroine of the movie ( Rani Mukherji) listening to her heart and desires rather than having blind devotion to husband like she used to do spending years shedding tears or staying as a widow in the movies of 70s and 80s. The presence of three superstars of course adds more charm to the movie though the Bacchans who are portrayed as the cool dudes in the movie steal the show when pitted against a fussy and irritable character that is played by Shahrukh khan. Kiron kher who is present in almost every superhit movie now a days is given enough footage in the movie as the whole movie revolves only around these six people except for a few friendly appearances by other actors. Talking of such friendly appearances in a Karan Johar’s movie everyone in the audience knows that right from KKHH to KANK the trio of shahrukh, Rani and kajol has to be a part of the movie. Whoever among these does not play a lead role definitely appears in a song. And so did Kajol in a song that rocked the theatre with the Bacchans dancing for Rock n Roll. John Abraham and Arjun rampal have also made guest appearances in the movie which act as respite from the lead roles who are there throughout the movie.

The movie starts off with an introduction of the lead roles in a hyped manner which provides enough opportunity for the audience in the theatres to whistle clap and shout for their favorite actors and actresses. Especially the introduction of Shahrukh Khan goes on for about five minutes before he reveals his face fully. The FIFA Fever has not vanished yet and hence based on the time of release Karan Johar has made use of it to create waves of enthusiasm by introducing Shahrukh khan as the heroic football player. The first half of the movie moves at a good pace with both content and comedy. Abhishek Bacchan and Amitabh Bacchan fill the theatres with giggles through their crispy dialogues and cool attitude in the movie. We have come across Baby B doing that in many movies. But it is interesting to see Big B flirting with the fairer sex over a broad range of age from 20-60. Kiron Kher as usual comes across as a modern mummy with touches of her characteristic comedy. Preity Zinta who represents the independent, successful and career oriented gal has carried her role well though she has not got much of an opportunity to showcase her talents. Rani Mukherji has performed well as usual and Shahrukh khan’s performance also gives a clear picture of Dev Saran. While watching the movie you can’t crib about the performance of the actors and the actresses in the movie. Afterall all of them are well experienced and popular. Yet the feeling that the movie lacks something lingers on.

Though the movie has a storyline that is different from the ones that Johar and Chopras deal with, the screenplay does not live up to that. At certain points in the last few minutes, the pace of the movie lags behind. The background score typical of these movies that play the tune of one of the songs of the movie often makes it slow when the actors walk away from each other or look at each other for the first time. This is because they are shown doing these things in slow motion till the tune of at least two lines of the song plays in the background. The comedy scenes are not spread over the movie like they were in Kuch kuch hota hai or Kal ho na ho to keep the audience entertained. The last part of the movie seems slow and insipid due to lack of energy and enthusiasm. But whatever comedy scenes are present in the movie concentrated in the first half are very good. Especially, scenes of some confusion leading to dialogues with double entendre and attempts of Rani and Shahrukh to rekindle the romance in their lives which end up as fiasco. The character representation in the movie is one of the main points that make the movie less effective. The roles of Rani and Shahrukh seem repetitive and often remind you of roles that they played in Hum tum and Chalte Chalte respectively. Hence the freshness of the characters remains absent. The songs are a good mixture of both melody and energy. "Rock and Roll" as well as "Where’s the part tonight" are two songs that sweep you off your feet in a good DTS theatre. But the positioning of some songs like " Party song " and the title song are untimely with the former not going with the flow of the movie and the latter reducing the speed of the movie almost while nearing climax. The cinematography is commendable which has made every scene fit to be made as a poster. The scenes that show snowfall and dry leaves being carried by the wind remind you of some scenes from kal ho na ho.

The theme of the movie is pretty realistic as the same feelings that are experienced by Maya ( Rani Mukherji) in the movie can be experienced by many women of the married community. It is quite possible that the person to whom you get married may not be the one whom you can call your "soulmate". And what if you actually meet that kind of a person after marriage? That is a very possible thing to happen. How the relationships get strained and life changes is something that needs to be addressed to. But the strength in the topic is not found in the script. First of all there are not an instant in the movie that can make you actually feel that Dev is indeed the soulmate of Maya except for some common likes and dislikes. In fact, there are more instances of Maya being upset with Dev too which may diminish the difference between Rishi and Dev as far as Maya is concerned. Moreover the role description of Dev is not at all attractive which will probably make you question at some instant while watching the movie – "What is her problem in loving such a charming guy like Rishi ( Abhishek Bacchan ) ?" . This is because neither is Rishi portrayed strongly as someone whom Rani cannot be happy with or Dev as someone whom a married woman can get attracted to. It is understandable that Dev had to be shown as a failure which could create problems between him and Rhea. But looking at him limping throughout the movie with a long hair do that does not suit him often makes you crib about his appearance in the movie. To cut short the whole story and say in a few words, the presentation of the love between Maya and Dev is not convincing that makes us overlook the fact that it is extra-marital and wish that they should be together.

Some things that can be appreciated as different in the movie are twists like Rhea and Rishi deserting their respective partners when they learn of their affair; while you will be actually expecting them to forgive them and lead a happy life thereafter like ‘usual’ Hindi movies, Abhishek Bacchan announcing his marriage when you expect him to say "I cant live without you. Come back to me." Sudden death of Amitabh Bacchan and his advice to Maya to leave Rishi also seem unexpected.

Overall this movie can be rated as reasonably good for audience without much expectations of the hyped " Karan Johar Blockbuster" movies. It is a mixture of + and – points and what overtakes what depends on how much you believe in the theme as well as on how much you can relate to the characters in the movie.