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?

Time

So, I have been thinking recently as to why most of us are so time-conscious these days? Time is something we, humans, invented yet we have allowed it to overtake us and somehow it is now controlling us rather than the other way around. What after all is so important about time that we gauge everything by it; be it a relationship, the amount of time required to do something and even finding time to spend with someone? It is a concept that is mostly popular in the ‘civilized’ world if you will. There are many countries around the world where time is irrelevant and the concept of wearing a watch or having a clock is unnatural. One may argue that those people are forever late for meetings, appointments, etc but the key to note is that they probably realize that the value of time should be judged by how it is spent not how much is spent. Who I wonder is better off in the long run if you will: the people who let their lives be controlled by time and therefore have no ‘time’ for their families or loved ones or those who continue going about living their lives without letting ‘time’ overrule them?

The Trials of the Workplace (cont’d)

I am having what I described as a ‘bad day’ in my previous post on this topic. I really want to know what people were thinking when they offered a job to a particular nuisance at my job. Normally I try to think of this person as my source of entertainment but it’s not funny anymore. The minor annoyances have now fully blown up to the point that I so want to dish out a piece of my mind. Should I even express my thoughts or should I save them for the day when either one of us leaves this organization? The latter would be the ideal because honestly how do you go about telling someone that you believe they are totally incompetent and saying that he/she has the mentality of a 5 year old will actually be an insult to the child? I suppose I will just add this question to my every growing list of trials one must endure while at work.

Being Sick SUCKS!!!

Not to state an obvious fact but being sick truly sucks. Not only do you feel like crap and have no energy, the medications one takes in hopes of recovering have their share of side-effects. I have been sick for what now seems like forever and most of this time I have felt like I’m truly buzzed. I don’t know if it’s really ‘buzzed’ as I have had no exposure to drugs but it’s what I would describe this feeling of being out of it with the world. One goes through the day simply existing most of the times; not really being impacted by what’s going on around them. I wonder if this separation of the mind from our immediate environment is part of our body’s defensive mechanism to protect ourselves as we are not physically or emotionally capable of dealing with it while being sick.

Russian Stories not meant for Indian Cinema.

I thought I should start writing my reviews of movies on this blog as one of my favorites pass times is to do film analysis. After months of anticipation, I went to see the movie Saawariya last night and let me just tell you that the movie fully lived up to my expectations of being a disappointment. Initially, when the promos were released for this movie about a month or so ago, I was super excited about this. As it is a Sanjay Leela Bansali film, the promos were a visual treat to the eyes. Granted the actors were newcomers in the movie and hence no expectations existed for them, the expectations were still there in terms of the story. Not to mention the little fact, that one of my favorite actors, Salman Khan was in the movie as well but this turned out to be a disappointment as well.

So many things went wrong with this movie; the major being that Russian stories are not meant for Indian Cinema as they are too surreal for us. While those of us who are connoisseurs of Indian cinema enjoy watching make-believe cinema, we also expect some type of realism from the movie. The set designs can be as grandeur and unrealistic as possible and we won’t even make a comment but even we draw the line at seeing the same set for 2+ hours.

This movie also proves that having good actors in a movie will do nothing for its success if the characters of those actors are not developed. For example, let’s take a look at Rani Mukherjee’s character ‘Gulab ji’. She is supposed to be the best of her trade in prostitution, yet one always finds her lurking around the streets by herself. This makes it very hard to swallow, how is she the best in her trade when she is always by herself? Not to mention the fact that there are like 40 + prostitutes in this red light district and one only sees about 4 or 5 men total in that area. How the hell do these women make a living?

Then we have Salman Khan’s character of Imaan. The viewer never gets to know who is Imaan, what he does for a living, why does he leave Sakina, where does he go and why in god’s name is he shown praying namaaz in the rain? Couldn’t he find a place of shelter to pray? Whenever he came on screen, I was distracted with questions/thoughts such as ‘why is he wearing so much eyeliner when she has none? His diamond studs are amazing although a little too big for a guy. He has a gorgeous smile, why wasn’t he given a chance to portray the smile in the movie? The fact that his character is fanatically religious and his mention of the word ‘camp’ made me think he might be a terrorist.’

All of the above combined with the lack of acting /expression by the main lead Sonam Kapoor made for a not worthwhile movie. The girl seriously needs to work on emoting. I also found her laughter to be quite annoying; my companion compared her laughter to that of a witch one sees in Halloween movies and I cannot help but concur.

One character in the movie that I enjoyed immensily was Zohra Sehgal’s character of Lillipop. She did a phenomenal job and her character was purely a treat to the viewer. Speaking of treats, one cannot help but mention Ranbir Kapoor. He shows potential of becoming a good actor although someone should tell him to lay off of imitating his grand father because I didn’t really care for Raj Kapoor acting that way and thus certainly don’t care to see it repeated.

The best part of the movie was the company I had while watching the movie. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves while making fun of the movie and I guess that’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Birthdays

As children, we all look forward to our birthdays every year with so much anticipation. With the innocence of a child who has not been exposed to the harsh realities of the world, we wonder what gifts we will receive; whether we will really get the gift we have been wanting for so long, will there be cake and a party? The questions and the anxiousness is never ending. With certain birthdays come certain milestone events that make the birthday even more special. For example, most people in the US can not wait for their 16th birthday as they know they will get their license after they turn 16; for girls this milestone birthday holds even more significance. Then comes one’s 18th birthday and with it comes the realization that you are now an adult; never mind the fact that one still has the mentality of a teenager. Then arrives 21st birthday; the day when one has all the rights associated with adulthood including getting legally drunk.

Somewhere after this 21st birthday, we start becoming indifferent towards our birthdays. We no longer look forward to it with anticipation; on the contrary, the excitement of the child eagerly awaiting the day is replaced with a dread. The only thing we have in common with the child of our youth is wondering how we will change after this birthday. As a child, one assumes that turning a year older will give us more maturity and intelligence than our friends who have not yet caught up with us in age. As an adult, we worry how turning another year older will change us. I, for one, was not looking forward to turning 27. There was no logical reasoning for this except that I found 26 to be the perfect age: not too young and not too old. I absolutely dreaded turning 27. I remember that a few days after my 27th birthday, the realization arrived that this is no different than being 26.

How and when do we loose that childhood innocence of looking forward to birthdays and become so indifferent? What causes this extreme change in us? Is it because we realize that birthdays are nothing but another day in the year? All of this makes me wonder who is better off: the child who perceives the world with a rosy glow of innocence or us adults who perceive the world with a cautious attitude? Is growing up worth the indifference we adapt towards the simple pleasures of life? I hope not because everyone should look forward to their birthdays with the anticipation of a child where birthdays equal cake and presents. Wouldn’t life be grand if we all approached it like this?

A mystery - The workings of the human mind

I thought I should discuss what has to be one of the oldest mysteries known to mankind: the workings of the human mind. In particular, I have been pondering why we react to certain situations as we do and the different factors (chemical, environmental) that are responsible for our reactions.

One simple explanation is: The human brain is a complex circuitary of neurons that are responsible for inducing the release of certain chemicals that send signals to different parts of our brains thus making us react. However, this does not provide us the complete picture as our environment has a lot of impact on our reactions as well. For example, one reacts differently to a bad news received at a social gathering then one would if the said news was received at home.

While all this makes sense, there is another factor that is also a big contributor to our reactions and at times seems to overshadow the rest: EMOTIONS. While one could argue that emotions are also part of the chemical factor, I disagree and believe this should be its own independent factor. I firmly believe that when one's emotions are engaged, the reaction is not always predictable. For example, if a stranger breaks your favorite heirloom one is naturally upset but if the said heirloom is broken by a loved one the reaction is much more intense because the loved one knows the sentimental value associated with the heirloom.

What totally throws me off is why one reacts strongly to little things that are insignificant but is totally blase about the so called 'major things' and take them in good stride. This particular reaction doesn't fit any of the above categories so I'm at a loss as to how to describe it. Is this reaction normal for most individuals and what causes it? Is this part of a defensive mechanism that we humans have built in us for self preservation?

Rethinking of AIDS policies

I came across this article and reading it has disturbed me greatly:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21571977/

The article talks about using the funds allocated to AIDS relief in preventative methods rather than on research to find a cure. While I agree that prevention of HIV virus is very important, we should not forget all those who suffer from it or the very fact that no prevention is 100% guaranteed.

I just cannot get myself to believe that people are seriously considering giving up on this. Granted we have not found a cure yet but that doesn't mean that there is no cure. Science and scientists give humanity a hope at a chance to overcome diseases and other natural catastrophes. How can we give up hope? After all, what is humanity without hope???