Aaja Nachle - Comeback of the dancing diva of Bollywood

Madhuri Dixit is BACK and what an interesting mode has she chosen to come back with. Let me first just say that she looks absolutely GORGEOUS!!! No one ever doubted her dancing or acting skills so I won’t even discuss them.

The concept of the movie Aaja Nachle is very unique. It focuses on the world of theatre and how Madhuri’s character brings together a group of misfits and pulls of a successful production of ‘Laila Majnu – the Musical’. Infact, the best part of the movie is Madhuri’s performance on the title song ‘Aaja Nachle’ and the play that is shown in the climax of the movie. Focusing the story of the play on Laila Majnu was a very nice touch as it most likely introduced this pair to today’s generation.

When discussing Aaja Nachle, one must simply discuss the surprise package of the film – Konkona Sen. She is an absolute treat to watch and suited the role of ‘Anokhi’ perfectly. Kunal Kapoor was thoroughly wasted in the movie in my opinion but he did fit the role of ‘Majnu’ quite nicely so maybe that’s why he was chosen for this role. Akshaye Khanna does justice to his small role in the movie; I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of a romantic angle between him and Madhuri.

By no means is this movie a masterpiece; very few rarily are. This movie has more than its share of flaws but in my excitement to watch Madhuri's movie, I managed to overlook them. As with all Indian movies, I encourage the viewers to give their brains a break by simply sitting back and enjoying.

2007 - Year in Retrospect

As 2007 is winding down, I thought to reflect upon all that has taken place this year. Some things have been inconsequential while others have had a profound impact on my life. This year has been quite significant for me both personally and professionally. On a professional level, I made a career change earlier in the year which for the most part has been a good move on my part and I have also obtained certifications that have made me recall what I didn’t like about my college days (Hint: STUDYING).

On a personal level, I believe I have grown quite a lot over this last year. Partially, this is due to the people I have met this year whom in turn have variably altered the equation of my life forever. It has been quite enlightening to experience this shift in the equation and watching my own emotional growth almost as an outsider. It’s quite amazing how we can separate ourselves from the things that are going on in our lives and simply observe them as a third person. Too bad we don’t take this approach more often therefore not losing subjectivity in our lives but that’s neither here nor there at the moment and we will save that topic for another post.

I have also reconnected with friends that I had lost contact with over time. This has made me realize that some friendships do not change with time.

Overall, I would say that this has been a GREAT year for me. While it’s true that it could have been even better, one must take into account the little fact that it could have been a lot worse. All I can say now is that lets hope 2008 brings with it more joy and strengthening of the bonds that we have formed/maintained thus far in our lives.

Introspections during the move

As I am preparing to move to the new house, I have been going through my belongings and finding things that I didn’t even know I possessed. The hardest part thus far has been going through and identifying things that I no longer have any use for. For example, I recently went through my collection of audio tapes that I had accumulated throughout my adolescent years. I no longer even listen to these tapes as I don’t have a tape player in my car or in my room yet I have held on to these tapes as a cherished possession. As I was going through them, I realized that there were some tapes that I probably have never listened to nor ever will yet I have been reluctant to throw them away. After deliberating for about an hour, I did manage to clean out this collection to only keep the ones that I liked at this point in time. This might seem an insignificant thing yet it was very tough to do; more so than sorting out clothes that one never wears.
Another example is a pen holder wooden plate that I made in ‘shop class’ while in middle school. The pen holder is broken yet I cherish this possession as a medal of sort because I recall the time I spent carving and smoothing the wood to make this. The fact that this is the only object that I have ever made with my hands and will most likely not do so ever again may have something to do with it.
This has made me question the tendency of holding on to objects that we no longer need or use. Is this merely a form of ‘nesting’ that we share with other animals or is it more because we associate memories and feelings with these objects?