Wish every FRIDAY was A WEDNESDAY!!!!

I posted my last blog on a Tuesday with an open ended question. Least did I expect to find an answer to my question "IN" "A Wednesday" )that ain't a grammatical error)that I unravelled on a Thursday (Yesterday) and putting forth that answer to everyone on a Friday (today). Yes I am talking about the movie "A Wednesday". Along with finding an answer to my question, this is also a film that reaffirmed my belief that Naseeruddin Shah is an actor par excellence, the only actor to have understood the finer nuances of this medium of expression and making his character come out real and alive from the silver screen. This is also a film that will allay the doubts of several people who still think we have no actor to match up to the standards of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino (I am not trying to set up a benchmark to rate Indian actors- but simply making a statement reflecting the common sensibility and perception of Bollywood vs. Hollywood hoopla.) Coming back to Naseeruddin Shah- I call him a true genius (A genius is a person of great intelligence who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work, something that has never been seen ) I made an effort to reiterate the Oxford definition of genius coz the term is now being so oft used (read abused) that it has become almost analogous to mediocrity.
Having said that it is only fair that I enlist the names of a few people who I truly consider genius. Albert Einstein undoubtedly (am too small a mortal to even write anything more), Jimmy Hendrix (the greatest guitarist of all times and here I do have someone to corroborate my opinion- the old man from "The pursuit of Happyness"),William Shakespeare (the greatest literary genius), Sir Garfield Sobers (I know the expected name would have been Sir Donald Bradman)- but this name is purely going by my dad's instincts, expertise and knowledge of the game and the fact that he has seen this cricketing legend's live display of his skill on numerous occasions) and finally Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru (I know this name would incite the greatest deal of deliberation). But in my defence- being the first leader of a nascent nation requires the leader to be a great visionary if you want to put the nation at par with all the developed nations and this man was the greatest visionary of all times. IIT, IIM, public sector development, industrialization were all his brainchild. So yes, I have manifold reasons to enlist this leader with a gift of extraordinary vision and astounding leadership to accomplish that vision.
I guess that was quite a detour from the intent of the blog. Coming back to the answer to my question, the film provided is a dialogue from the movie. To quote Naseeruddin Shah "The common man is resilient by force and not my choice". I truly believe that a bubble is waiting to burst and the day of action is fast approaching.
Another novelty demonstrated by the filmmaker was to keep the protagonist-"The awakened common man" unnamed. The basic needs, thoughts, feelings and sensibilities of all of us-we "AAM Junta" is the same and it transcends every possible social/communal divide and hence gauging a common man's motives by his religion is a futile exercise. I guess this essence has been brilliantly captured in the movie when this man addresses himself as a stupid common man and refrains from revealing his name-lest he be judged.
I conclude by saying: Three Cheers to such filmmakers who truly inspire every cine goer and use this medium with a stupendous reach so effectively!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mumbai- Indeed Meri Jaan

Yesterday was a long, frustrating day with the day epitomizing Murphy's law of things going wrong. I ain't usually the kind of person seeking solitude under even the most depressing times, but yesterday was different. But in that process, I ended up watching a truly brilliant movie "Mumbai meri Jaan" a maiden attempt at making Hindi movies by a lesser known director called Nishikant Kamat-bravo to such a courageous attempt..A movie that portrayed the true spirit of Mumbaites (oops Mumbaikars- lest I evoke the wrath of....) But a true Mumbaikar I am. The movie depicts the lives of four different people with strikingly uncanny personalities and from different strata of society, but their lives changed by one common incident- the 11th of July Mumbai train blasts (I hated sensationalizing the blasts by referring to this very unfortunate and tragic incident as 7/11) This is not an attempt to write a review here but an attempt to seek an answer to a question that has been plaguing my mind for long now... and that is "How long are we gonna remain mute spectators to all the misdeeds happening around us and let corruption and money overpower our conscience and the virtue of righteousness. Bordering largely on cynicism my answer to the above question makes me say forever. This question crept into my mind and left a deep impact after watching a brilliantly executed scene in the movie that shows the pathos of a police constable when he is not able to do anything to fight the wrong and is forced to abide by his utmost corrupt superiors' orders. To this his senior constable colleague Paresh Rawal (in yet another powerhouse performance) says- "Yehi hai duniya.. yehi hai asli picture. is picture ko bus apni mann ki kursi par baithkar prekshak (audience) ki tarah dekho, par actor ban ne ki koshish mat karo.maine 35 saalon se yahi kiya hai, tum bhi ab yahi karna seekh lo. Loosely translated-Be oblivious to everything around you. Do not get carried away by emotions. Becoming a stoic you have nothing to loose, but trying to become a hero, you have everything to loose. It makes me wonder..Can we still awaken and wage a war against every ill inflicting our society or is the damage really irreparable????????? Lack of time this day is forcing me to leave this question open-ended, but I do hope to pen down my thoughts on the same soon.
Coming back to the movie, the resilient spirit of Mumbaikars depicted in the film and not just the film-having lived in Mumbai for over 20 years, I have witnessed the humane spirit of Mumbai on numerous occasions and have been overwhelmed by it time and again and this is what makes me say "Mumbai-Indeed meri Jaan"

May my Pen's soul rest in Peace!!!!!

I am back!!!Almost seems like a reincarnation to me. This powerful weapon named "lethargy" had bumped me off from the blogosphere. I feel like one of the characters from Ekta Kapoor's (I have this intense desire to spell soap with a K)When logic can go for a toss in these serials, Grammer can might as well go for a toss..Ok so coming back a character from Ekta Kapoor's Koaps. My character was bumped off by this villain called lethargy (and for those of you who missed my blog and want to call this villain a few names- its a female villain) Its perfectly logical- all negative characters in the koaps of this czarina of television are females. Ok coming back to my Koap-this villain thot I was gone..but only to be saved by some obscure people (read poverty stricken people from a nomadic clan).With them I lay brain dead for a few days and then miraculously one fine day I wake up alive and kicking.
Why such a huge preface before my blog each time??????Passion for words finds itself to be the scapegoat each time. But this time I shall be honest...this time its prolly to cover up for the lack of content following the preface. I sat down to write something utterly relevant and important but decided to reserve that for my next blog. Since I am writing after a long time, my pen does not seem to be in the highest spirits to make love to paper (Hope that aint a very scandalous stmt). So without subjecting my pen to a lot of misery I intend to keep this blog short (for those rejoicing short in my dictionary has a strikingly different synonym that that found in the Oxford which in due course will be self explanatory. Two distinct changes occured in my life.
For one from being the most profitable member to Netflix, I became not so profitable to them. Ekta Kapoor's scheming villain named lethargy prevented me from posting back DVDs on time resulting in me watching only two movies in two months for 30$. I had opted for the plan which had the feature to watch unlimited movies each month- but the most important pre requisite- post the movies u already have at home! But this time the person who helped me combat this villain was truly a hero- TOM HANKS!!!! One of the two movies I'd rented and that I saw two months after its receipt and a day before posting was Philadelphia for the second time. His sensitive portrayal of the AIDS stricken soul made me fall head over heels for this man and reeling under the Tom Hanks fever, I promptly posted the DVDs and watched a series of Tom Hanks movies and managed to my Netflix plan more economical. Two two other guys who ably assisted Tom Hanks were Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs Kramer) and Will Smith (The pursuit of Happyness...)
But again you win some, you lose some and some would be an understatement here. If Netflix lost a profitable client Cingular gained one and how!!!!!!! I was initially enrolled in a family plan that had the owner of the plan being extremely parsimonious with minutes and words and thus garnering a huge chunk of roll over minutes all used to the advantage of yours truly whose love for words and talk is unparalleled. My bills used to be perfectly restricted to exactly half the basic plan rate plus the add on taxes. But breaking free from the family plan had some unforeseen and tremendous repercussions. Starting a new account meant starting on a clean slate with zero roll over and monthly minutes restricted to 450. And the timing was perfect with my aunt visiting the US and constantly calling me from her landline. Me being extremely prodigal with words have overshot minutes every single month since then. The 17th day of every month has a humongous shock (prolly even unmeasurable on the Richter Scale) in store for me in my inbox- my Cingular Bill!!!) But the impact it leaves on me zilch....But this time I have seriously decided to give some peace to the ears of several people and be more stingy and curtail my bill and stop being a profitable venture to Cingular. Will I succeed??????? my next blog will tell (You gotta agree ts extremely difficult to fight your natural instincts!!!)
I can hear my pen cringe now and even my dictionary growl that agreed short is long in my world but no one wants to dwell in my world and certainly my dictionary does not want to be confined here either. So understanding the pathos of my pen I end my blog here and.....my pen gives up here!!!