Why So Much Hulla-Bulla On Barfi?

... I really do not understand!

Why do we have to go back and analyse the film and then realise that it is copied from other films? Why can't we just enjoy it just as it is?

I watched Anurag Basu's interview yesterday. He openly admitted that the film is a tribute to all the movies that he grew up watching. He also mentioned that there was a note in the beginning of the movie saying so, which he had to remove because of the "Smoking is injurious to health" message that he had to add. Isn't that enough?

More than that, how does it matter if he has copied the scenes from such other movies? Just adding them in the movie in the right manner, at the right point of time in the movie, and with the right timing, direction, and editing is a feat in itself, don't you think?

Several scenes are copied exactly as they are from the other movies. That does not make their importance any less in Barfi. They remain as enjoyable as before. To understand that those scenes from those particular movies could be reused in this movie in the same likeable manner is great. To direct the artists to give excellent timing and beautiful moments in Barfi is awesome. To bring out the same effect, to shoot the scenes from the same angle, all that requires technique, and definitely a great understanding of camera work and filming.

I really do not mind Anurag Basu copying the scenes. In fact, he has used the same theme of those scenes. But used them beautifully in his movie. And what really is wrong in that? All great artists have done that. Shakespeare is a good example of that. Most of his world-famous dramas had their plots or stories picked up from stories from history that were already well-known in those times.

So, if one film-maker does use the world-famous scenes from different movies in his movie, why should it be such a big issue?

If such scenes had been used by the Chopras, Johars, or Khans, would the media raise similar issues? Or would these bigwigs be acquitted just because of their well-known names?

On Watching Agneepath

...the new Agneepath, starring Hrithik Roshan.

It affected me in many different ways. We were around 10-12 minutes late for the movie. We missed the start. But I don't think that mattered much. I have not seen Amitabh Bachchan's movie and so this version was totally new for me.

The first thing that stuck me was the tremendous violence in the movie. It is downright nerve-wracking. I was on the edge of my seat and was not sure I had done the right thing by coming to watch the movie. The movie starts with violence where Vijay's father is murdered by Kancha, the main antagonist. It is an incident that drives the movie. It drives each and every move that Vijay makes. It sets a grim tone to the whole movie. There are almost no light moments; emotional, yes; but lighter moments...I really cannot remember.

Vijay's father, a school master had tried to oppose Kancha's dream of turning the village in a drug center by renting the lands of all villagers. Kancha successfully removes the thorn (Vijay's father) from his way, while the whole village celebrates that they can now freely help Kancha. Kancha lures them that their lands would be used for a salt factory and they would get money out of it. This grim victory is actually the downfall of the villagers. They win the battle of doing away with the schoolmaster and in turn lose the war of having a happy and prosperous village. They literally walk towards their downfall.

When Vijay's father is murdered, his heavily pregnant mother is shown being trampled at the feet of the angry village people. I was hoping that they wouldn't show her bleeding to death, and thank God, they didn't! Eventually, the mother and son escape to the big city and arrive in a basti. The mother goes into labour pains and a daughter is born.

Soon enough, Vijay-a boy of 12 years, witnesses a murder by Rauf Lala, and lies to the police about the murderer. Vijay  also murders the police officer who tries to get him tell the truth. His mother severs all her ties with the son and moves out of his life to lead a life of her own with her daughter. We now see a Vijay that's all grown up handsome and all with a girlfriend, who works as a mafia leader for Rauf Lala. Rauf is not just a drug mafia, but also a human trafficker.

As Hrithik Roshan entered as the older Vijay, I found it very similar to Fiza, a movie directed by Khalid Mohammed. Fiza is the story of how a sister seeks out to find her brother-a troubled boy who goes on to become a terrorist. Vijay in Agneepath too has had a disturbed childhood that has made him a violent mafia leader. I think I made that comparison more because Hrithik Roshan has played the troubled boy in both the movies.

I won't give away the whole story here. But what with songs in between, more murders, mass killings, double dealings, we are finally led to a climax, that's again a replication of what we saw in the beginning.

The once happy and prosperous village that Vijay and Kancha hailed from, has now turned into a barren land. Death, disease, poverty, unhappiness, and distress is what you see and it makes you feel all the more horrified and hollow.

At every violent, illegal, unhealthy event in the film, I was more and more engrossed with feelings of futility, hopelessness, dread, and loss.

What also aided these feelings was the tremendous background music given by Ajay-Atul, the Marathi composers, who have done a fantastic job. The tension, the evilness, the futility, the murderous villains, the dark atmosphere is all enhanced by the background score. It increases your heartbeats, it gives you the chills, it makes you all nervous. Salute to the two.

The duo have also provided the music to the songs in the movie. One particular song affected me in a totally different way. The song is "Abhi Mujh Mein Kahin" and shows how Vijay enjoys his time with his sister and girlfriend together. The lyrics are really nice and the song made me cry. The emotions of Vijay meeting his sister after 15 years, and how he had lived each unhappy day to enjoy this one happy day in his life resonated with me and brought out completely different feelings. I don't know why that happened. But I cried remembering my parents, how sometimes I miss them very much, how they miss me, how we are unable to be with each other in our moments of distress and happiness too. I thought how each day I hope to have them with me and meet them. I cannot describe all that I felt as I cried dearly. It was a very, very distressful moment for me. I miss my parents a lot. A lot.

My life has been so very different since my marriage. The song brought it all out. I was quite disturbed for that evening and night. The violence and this song of the movie have made a major impact on me.

Agneepath has really been a different experience for me. Unforgettable!

Typing An Ode

Here's a wonderful article that I read about typewriters: Typewriter lives on in India.

As I read it, I was transported back to my days, not too long ago, when I was learning typing. I was just out of school and my mom wanted me to learn typing. Even then it was considered one of the things that girls ought to know. I had readily signed up for the typing class, not because it was a girl's thing. But because it was something exciting, something new, something that connected me to the outside "office" world.

For so long, typewriters, typewriting, and the typewritten word have been associated with the "official" world. A world that included so many memos, proposals, calculation sheets, orders, accounts, receipts, and bills. It also included legal notices, affidavits, lawyers, laws, and bureaucratic work. It was a representation of governmental procedures, and rules and regulations.

I remember going to the class early morning to start hammering away on the typewriter. It was only then did I realise the importance of the little finger on my left hand that's used to type the "A." And it pained so much! I started with the middle line on the keyboard. A, S, D, E, F, G had to be typed with the left hand using the little finger, ring finger, middle finger, index finger, and index finger again respectively. And then, ',  ;, L, K, J, H had to be typed with the right hand using the little finger, ring finger, middle finger, index finger, and index finger again respectively. It was so damn hard.

Once I had fairly grasped typing the much-harder-than-computer keys, I proceeded to learn the upper and lower lines. Till then all my fingers had gained the power and strength to type all those keys. As I continued individual letters, I was waiting to move on to the next level of typing words, then sentences, paragraphs, followed by those letters, memos, notices, and what not.

I progressed on to type smaller 3-letter, 4-letter words. In between, there were those dreaded how-many-words-can-you-do-per-minute exams. I never fared well in those exams. Perhaps it was the teacher. She looked so sinister, and so old-worldly. So much like those typewriters whose prime time was gone. Or I think it was the machine, it was so old, it took time to print the word on the paper after I had typed it.

Whatever it was, once I had grasped the complete keyboard, I didn't take too many efforts to attend the class regularly. I ended up using my typing knowledge to type less harder keys: the computer keys.

Today we talk about the QWERTY keyboard for mobile phones. But we must remember that it was the typewriter that gave us that keyboard and made life easier for us.

In its own time, the typewriter had its glory. It was a status symbol to have a typewriter. A status symbol to let your neighbours hear you hammering it on those keys, and showing off the immense important work that you were doing. And rightly so. It was one of those machines that made life easier, creating multiple copies of your writing using a carbon paper, providing a standard of fonts, types, and stationery that made your work look so very "official."

Typerwriters have had their claim to fame in Bollywood movies too. Movies of the 1960s and 1970s showed the film heroines as typists for a multi-millionaire, whose spoilt sons would ultimately win the heroines. Or it would be an office romance, where the girl is a typist and the boy working on some post in the office.

One such movie of office romance is Choti Si Baat. It is a wonderful light, heart-warming comedy. The opening credentials are actually shown as being typewritten. The story talks about large financial firms in Mumbai in which the girl and boy work. And as the narrator talks, we can hear the background of hundreds of typists typing away gaily on their machines.

But not all the times were typewriters used for love (letters). There were incidences when typewriters were used to obscure the identity of the perpetrators of crimes. Notes of abductions, ransom, murders, unnamed posts, all were typed rather than hand-written. Of course, people from the investigative departments also were specialised to recognise the make of the typewriter, and find out the individual characteristics of each typewriter. The method of obscuring the identity is in fact now easier. You just need to create a fake e-mail address and send out terror e-mails out to the world. Power in the wrong hammering hands!

Typewriters are now replaced with computers. Life moves on. But in between, things do remind us of our glorious past, making us nostalgic, happy, and content.

Salaam to the typerwriters!

Pottermore

For all Harry Potter fans, here's something that J.K. Rowling is coming up...Pottermore. Apparently, it's going to have a lot of reader interaction, and she herself will be sharing a lot of trivia that she has not added in the books. Available on the Pottermore website will be e-books and audio books.

Here's what J.K. Rowling has to say about Pottermore:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYs1d3jAdG0&feature=player_embedded

Don't know if I am excited enough, but it is definitely something worth looking forward to. Till then we have to be satisfied with the HP books and look forward to the second movie part of the 7th book that will be released soon.

Cheerio!

To Dear Papa

Happy Birthday!

It's my dad's birthday today according to the Hindu calendar. Interestingly, no one, not even he himself knows his real birthdate. No one knows neither his birthdate, nor the year. We just know his birthday according to the Hindu calender. It's the last day of the first Hindu month of Chaitra, and this year, it is today.

But we know one thing certainly, and that is that he was born. Because he is.

Today, I wish him many more such wonderful birthdays. I wish him health and happiness. I wish him peace of mind.

On this day, I want to salute the person that he is. His wealth of knowledge, his calm and quiet nature, his adherence to values, his punctuality, his constant and quiet support to what he feels is correct and right, and yet his stubbornness, his at-times whimsical nature, all make him what he is.

He is an English professor primarily. But he is also proficient in Sanskrit and Marathi. He has taught Sanskrit to junior college students. He has taught Marathi to German, American, and Indian students. It's amazing to see him literally play with these languages.

You will notice his mastery over all these languages when you hear him play with words as if juggling knives. He is apt to make you laugh with a few words spoken with a very straight face and a plain tone. His repartee is just unconquerable.

Obviously, if he is angry with you, the way he will show his displeasure is unique too. He'll seldom raise his voice. But what he will say will be such that you won't understand what has hit you until it's too late. And then too, he will have made you speechless. Beware, it could at times be quite nasty and possibly a below-the-belt attack. But you probably earned it.

Very recently, he did the MS-CIT course. His tremendous will power to learn about the world of computers is very admirable. And he passed that exam in flying colours. Hats off to you, Baba!

Moreover, like all men of his age, he is so much aware of his surroundings. He is up-to-date with the latest political happenings. He is also aware of the latest Bollywood gupshup. It's amazing how he finds time to know all that!

But there is one thing that he doesn't like much. He generally doesn't like watching movies. Especially if it is at home. If I make him go for a movie in a theatre, he will do that. But if you ask him to watch a movie at home, he will make some excuses. In fact, he will suggest a good movie that's on TV. He will watch it till the first advertisement break and then quietly slip off to read his books.

Yet, he has a few favourite movies: Sarfarosh, A Wednesday, Hum Aapke Hain Koun! And he never misses a single episode of the daily Marathi soap Agnihotra. He generally never stays up late after 11 in the night, but if he misses watching Agnihotra at prime time, he stays up to watch it at 11 p.m. That's his solidarity for his only favourite serial.

There's one another thing that he is amazing at. Baba loves to search for books on the footpath. He loves visiting the footpath-vendors who sell books; I call them that for a better name. His favourite one is the one who sells books on the Lakdi Pul. He has bought a wonderful collection of Perry Mason books, religious books, P. G. Wodehouse books, and other interesting books from him. And he will buy them at a meagre Rs. 20-30. It's such excitement when he comes home with a new Perry Mason book!

Baba loves listening to classical music. He is a fan of Pt. Vasantarao Deshpande, Pt. Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. But he also appreciates film songs-Hindi and Marathi as well as newer songs that are really worth it. His favourite song from the new generation music is the Kajra Re song. He simply loves it!

Today, on his birthday, I wish him lots of love! Love you, Papa!

Be An Idiot!

Warning: If you haven't seen 3 Idiots, and want to watch it, know that this post contains spoilers. Read it at your own risk.

Don't miss the start. Especially the credits and the photography used for that song. It's simply beautiful. You start on the journey rightaway. I don't know if you have travelled to Konkan. But if you have, especially long hours, you will get the exact feeling of travelling on winding roads for long hours when you are watching the credits. That's because you turn as the camera turns, as the car turns. It's simple, and that's why brilliant camera work. The mood sets in. As the story unravels, you are on a journey to find Rancho.

The story goes on about how the three main protagonists meet, become friends, love each other for what they are, and hate each other too. We get to know how they learn new things, study, chill out with friends and make fun of them too. We see how people and situations affect them, how they react to it, and what the consequences are.

I would rather not tell the story here but tell how the film affected me and what I liked in it. The film is a wonderful combination of flashback and present. When you are dealing with the present, you are suddenly thrown back into the past. And when dwelling in the past, you are suddenly pulled back to the present. These jerks are awesome, a wonderful back and forth of circumstances.

Raju's family is shown as if existing from a 1950s-1960s movies, entirely in black and white. That's maintained throughout in the movie. The moment you step in their house, it's all black and white. It's beautiful. On the other hand, Farhan's camera plays an important role. It is almost through Farhan's camera that we see the past. It's his narration that takes the story ahead.

The only love song in the movie is, I have to admit, cute. Really cute. Very nicely done. I loved it. The whole time I was watching that song, I had a smile on my lips. Both Aamir and Kareena look awesome in it, especially when they are dancing against the big white moon.

I am not saying the movie is flawless. It has its melodramatic scenes, exaggerated scenes, and completely unbelievable scenes. But you are led into a suspension of your disbelief. I watched the movie twice and believe me, the pregnancy scene, which is so much exaggerated brought out a completely different reaction from the audience. The first time I watched it, the theatre was silent, completely silent. After the baby was born, there was a kind of sigh of relief. The second time I watched it, once the baby was out and kicking (not literally), there were whistles in the audience. It was amazing to be there at that moment to experience that.

After a long time, I actually heard people going crazy over a hero's or heroine's entry on screen. There were whistles and shouts on Aamir Khan's entries. Superb!

I loved the movie not for the message it spreads. I loved it for the sheer cinematic experience it provides.

I highly recommend this movie for everyone. Not to be missed for worlds!

"Preetam Aan Milo"

Have you seen the movie "Angoor"? It is a hilarious movie based on Shakespeare's drama A Comedy of Errors. In Angoor, there is one scene where Sanjeev Kumar tells Deven Varma to sing the song "Preetam Aan Milo" as a code word.

Do you remember different code words that you use? These could be used in daily life as well as in some special occasions.

I remember when we were kids, our parents had to keep us home alone. Our old home then did not have a double door. So, we had some code words. My dad taught me and my sister that it is called "paravalicha shabda." It used to be any simple word. One day, when we were alone at home, he knocked and we actually asked "Paravalicha shabda kay?" He did answer. And when we allowed him in the house, he told us that we shouldn't ask that question. Just ask "who are you?" or a question that is related to the answer. That was my first introduction to a code word.

Have you come across similar code words? I know of people who use code words while talking. For example, some people are given code names which are used while talking in general public. This gives them freedom to talk whatever they want without letting others know of what they are talking. We had named our manager "kawla" for his extra-stringent management. We could talk about him in front of others and have fun at his expense.

"Gondya ala re" was another such code word used by the brave Chapekar brothers to assassinate Charles Walter Rand. There is an excellent film about these Chapekar brothers and the assassination. If you care to read about it, here it is: 22 June 1897.

Can you remember one of the famous code words that we have always heard about? Let me give you a hint...it's an Arabian tale. Can you recall it now? Here's it: Khul Ja Sim Sim. Very famous words!

And all those underworld code words...khoka, peti, ghoda...all have become well-known because of films. Filmwallahs would know these code words. They are usually in contact with the underworld, or so we hear always.

Anyway, so such are code words...fun with words.