Of Movies, Musings and Mixed Feelings

After a long time I watched 2 movies back to back--- Raat gayi, Baat Gayi? and 3 idiots… now am feeling compelled to write about them. It’s not a film review…I am not qualified to be a film critic (although as my friend Varun says, being a film critic is now the “in” thing, everybody with a blog is one!). I just want to write whether I got my money’s worth in those 6 hours that I spent in the theatre munching popcorn.
Everybody has some expectations when they go for a movie… my expectation is to be entertained by the audio visuals playing on the screen –be it through comedy, action, drama, romance, etc… as long as I feel that I didn’t waste my time, as long as I wish that I was rather doing something else, I wouldn’t dish a movie.
No No, I am not dishing either of the movies… both were good … I didn’t feel like I was wasting my time. Although one was a slice of life peppered with some smart observations and witty repartees, the other was larger than life with great locations. I remember Rajkumar Hirani’s munnabhai series and how I’d loved them and I was equally impressed with this one… he manages to take the simplest, everyday theme (loved the argument of the pen is space… many students do ask that including me) and turn it into a magnum opus with ease (barring the recent credit controversies). That’s what I call telling a story is (compared to a recent blockbuster that I saw that had everyone raving about which was to me only a techfest with all fancy special effects and nothing more).
However, I am a little concerned why the other movie Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi only had 6 other people in the theatre as compared to all the idiots who crammed up the entire auditorium for the other one. RGBG was also a story well told, however I guess, it was a niche idea…appealing only to those who lead such lives, there was nothing aspirational about any of the characters…nobody would have liked to be the suave and successful Rahul Kapoor (Rajat Kapoor), the wimpy, sleazy, cute Amit (Vinay Pathak), the discreet Saxsena (Dillip Tahil) juxtaposed with their respective wives housewife seeking her identity Mitali (Iravati Harshe), dealing with wayward husband Nandita (Anu Menon) or the resigned trying to fit in Jolly (Navneet Nishaan) or the catalyst amongst them all the mysterious, sexy, seductive Sophiya/Archana (Neha Dhupia). Although deep down, many would have identified themselves with atleast one of the characters, few would want to be known as one.
Both the stories were told using past and present tense, both the movies had good actors who did justice to the characters they were portraying, however one is successful and the other is not. And the only reason that I find is that where one holds up a mirror and shows the reality as it is, the other wraps up the mirror in layers of hope. Where both end with a positive and hopeful note, one does it subtlety the other with fanfare.
And that is the difference Mr. Bhagat, whereas your book was witty, cynical and concentrated on the lives of the protagonists; the movie was funny, hopeful and sent a message to all through the protagonist. Although, I don’t know if justifies the makers/producers of the movie to dole out credits at the beginning or at the end, it is purely their call, since IT IS their product.
However, two things which made me feel a bit cheated were the Sanskrit shloks about farting and the drive from Delhi to Leh…just for the fact that the very same shloks were popular during my salad days (I would have liked to see some new forms) and the drive to Manali to Leh is 20 hours backbreaking journey and having done that recently was a bit upset with the ease with which the 2 idiots found the 3 rd one without any altitude sickness!
The mixed feelings are completely not related to the movies or musings on the same… they are about my own self…which is so selfish that it would rather enjoy watching the movie instead of going back home to be in time for a bro, who is tired after a long vigil at the hospital to nurse a ten year olds battle against cancer. Is that the power that Mr. Hirani wove over me and millions of other audiences to get the cash registers on fire or is it my dysfunctional life that finds solace in celluloid than in real life?

How I got Leh'ed

In a nutshell...It all happened one drunken night...alcohol is one of the greatest stimulants of the creative juices... and coupled with the fact that my project was ending, me and my equally notorious 'out of work' friend decided to make this trip.
So with bags packed for about a month we left our cozy homes and unpaid bills and landed up in Delhi with nothing more than eager anticipation to get Leh'ed, the tickets and bookings be damned.
Apart from the obvious turn-on of the arduous trip through majestic peaks and succulent valleys, capturing the same on camera was a major thrill.... maybe we would get angles that no one has managed so far!
The preparation was not anything to write home about... it was the usual game ... but reaching the first base was the clincher... once you have reached the first base then making a touchdown is not a big deal (I mean how difficult can it get?)
Well the first leg was easy but then it was all uphill (literally) with at least 5 passes to cross…and boy was the ride rough and smooth in bursts…just when you thought that you had conquered one peak, then rose another majestic one… the whole journey was one overwhelming experience… you didn’t know where to look …you were surrounded by such beauty….certainly God was taking his time when he was creating this one!
Before starting on this ride, like a proverbial expert, I had thought I would finish it off in one day with a few hours to spare…but even before halfway through it I was tired… I was tired of the overwhelming feeling …tired of being so inadequate in front of such majestic beauty… tired of anticipating the climax. I was not sure if I wanted to continue… I wanted out… I chickened… I was not sure anymore if I wanted to be Leh’ed ;)
But then once in, you cannot opt out… it’s a one way ticket… so I geared myself and shrunk deep down in my jacket...peeping out once in a while to see if it was really there or I was hallucinating.
As soon as darkness fell, the ride became even bumpier… God’s sense of humour! And to make matters worse, we lost our way in those undulating trails and kept going around in circles. By the time we reached anywhere closer to touchdown, we were battered, bruised, exhausted, looked like something that the cat had dragged but our spirits were high… we were more than excited to get a first glimpse of what we had heard was one of the greatest. The high it gave me on was almost enough to make me breathless on that snowy night… or it could actually be the low oxygen content in that thin mountain air.
Well, what can I say, the first time was not good enough for me … the build-up makes it inaccessible. You would want it to respond to you, but like all first timers, I fumbled my way through it… the pressure just makes it stressfull…that and coupled with a brain freeze, closed road signs and snow all over.
Untill next time, and I will make sure that it is the season of love and not some harebrained wild goose chase up sinewy mountainous track. And yes, will take care of the brain freeze next time. So I will be Leh’ed nice and proper in the old fashioned way, eh…what.

Leaving on a Jet Plane….Dont Know when I will be Back Again!

Well…not exactly leaving on a jet plane… but what the heck the rest of it is true… I am going to LEH-LADDAK….finally……..YAAAY!!!!!!!!

Just two friends who have no work (one by choice, the other by laziness) no money (no work no money), no plan (we believe in figuring out stuff on the way---naah, we are just lazy).

So the woolens are packed, the resolute steady…coz everything else is awry…. No bookings, no tickets, no backup plan, no knight in shining armour to rescue 2 distressed damsels (may happen), no angel to guide two adventurous city girls through the dark cold lonely desert!

Well…we both have different motives on going on this trip… and that has made me think why do people travel? Why do they pack their lives in 2 suitcases and hang a camera on their necks and go to places far far away and then call home and tell their family that they miss them? Why do people travel…so that they can click pictures, put them on facebook so that the whole world can see them??

Is it to get away from the mundane life … is it to explore that adventurous side of them, is it to see the beauty of another terrain-the culture, the food…to explore oneself …to find answers to life’s mysteries?

Well… I will only know after I have made that trip… maybe I will clear my head… maybe I will find answers to what I am looking for…but I am sure to have memories that make this trip special… stories to tell everyone.. and pictures that capture these moments (of course I will upload them!)…so Julley!