Sanjay Leela Bhansali has churned out some of the most unforgettable, disparate and amazing pieces of cinema that we have today. Starting with Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Black to name a few and now Guzaarish. Hats off to this one.
Serious issue. Crisp story. Impeccable direction. Diverse and fresh cast. Flamboyant sets. Grandiose art. Plethora of emotions. Good acting. Hrithik Roshan. Flawless! Everything that makes for a sensible movie in today’s age. No item numbers for promotion’s sake, gaudy costumes, family drama or dance sequences with a crowd of 200 extras. Just plain fine cinema.
One of the things that intrigued me about the movie besides the ones mentioned before has to be the topic dealt with in the movie. Euthanasia or Mercy killing is something we all are aware of today. Our constitution doesn’t allow for this under law and has ruled it as crime. I really wonder what the punishment for contemplating the breach of a law such as this for the victim in this case would be. Death penalty? Ironically, that would serve the purpose, won’t it? Throughout the movie, I was in two minds, thinking had I been in the position of the judge, would I rule the case in favour of or against Ethan Mascarenhas.
Life’s a gamble. True. Sometimes you win, other times you lose. You don’t always get what you want and when you do, that’s not what you want at that point of time. Expect the unexpected! For some, the breath of fresh air early in the morning fills them with hope, happiness and the urge to live. For some, every single breath only kills them further. Think about those unfortunate few for whom life isn’t exactly a bed of roses. There maybe thousands of people around the world with conditions like Ethan as portrayed in the movie. As said “If every person has the right to live, they must also be endowed with the right to not live.” Each individual is responsible for his or her life. We are not liabilities. This shouldn’t be misconstrued as advocating suicide. But the human body has a certain threshold of endurance which when surpassed to an extreme limit leaves you asking for freedom from the predicament. For Ethan, it was freedom from life.
Then again, Life is God’s gift. Our parents, family, friends are all a part of our lives and have their rightful claim on us but the ultimate power rests with the almighty. He gives, he takes away. We have no right to destroy something that’s not our creation. He makes everything happen for a reason. But it’s hard to fathom why misfortunes as with Ethan befall people. What reason could that be? To teach you to live on your own, teach you to appreciate what you have in life which perhaps you wouldn’t have otherwise. Or to completely fetter you for a lifetime such that even breathing feels burdensome. A debatable topic it’ll always remain. Highly subjective. And I’m still reserved about my opinion.
Either ways..God,have Mercy...
God bless.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Two and a half Idiots....
Disclaimer: Sometimes you come across articles so amazingly true,you cant help but love them for the genius they are.The following blog is one I couldn't refrain from sharing although it isn't written by me.(Guest Blog Courtesy: Pramod Kantak).
I respectfully disagree with whoever christened the television “the idiot box”. To me it qualifies as a half idiot. It is a machine after all, with no intelligence of its own, and there’s nothing it can do to alter its natural state of idiocy. I reserve the term idiot for those who have the ability to help their idiocy, but do not exercise it. Which brings me to the other two protagonists of this feature, the two real idiots who sit on either side of the half idiot, namely the television media and the viewers.
Put a dog in a small colony, and he will blend right in and dedicate his loyalties to the place and the people therein. Now, bring in more dogs, give them a bone each, and you will see their priority shifting immediately to marking and protecting their own territory and their bone. If endowed with a brain like humans, each will likely even set out to prove he is the best dog of the lot. All while the bigger and the original cause of guarding the colony is forgotten. The media scenario today is not altogether different. Society’s proverbial watchdog has been reduced to watching out for its own tail and protecting its business profitability.
Marketing is possibly the worst curse to have befallen business acumen. It’s the real villain of modern times, a fatal poison to credibility and purpose. What makes it so dangerous is that unlike most forms of evil, which are in-your-face and characterized by a strong motivation or psyche, marketing doesn’t have a color of its own. Its manner of attacking is ingeniously simple – it will identify a weakness in you, a want or a desire for something, and dish out unending portions of the same in varied forms, spoiling you for choice. Unfortunately, humans do have a tendency to choose those very things that are worst for them.
I feel society today (and here, I am particularly referencing the population that makes for the TRPs) chooses style over substance, libido over love, attitude over empathy, money over matter, indifference over action, dreams over reality – traits that are only too clearly reflected in the progressively degenerate content being churned out on television, and which is lapped up by the audiences. A predictable fallout of marketing over-kill, electronic media, far from being informative, entertaining or even rousing has instead turned into a relentless assault on our senses, so much that it has numbed our intelligence into accepting almost anything.
How else do you explain the popularity of reality shows, which, apart from being obviously rigged are horrible concoctions of skin show, abrasive language, faked emotions and brand endorsements? Then you have endless meandering soap sagas shot in super slow motion, bringing out every conceivable human fallacy and gloating in the supposed inevitability of it all. I personally feel bad for the numerous participants in the dime-a-dozen talent shows being aired today – here are a bunch of really talented youngsters, reduced to puppets at the hands of the producers of the show, while a host of “expert” judges plumb new depths in buffoonery and who, if anything, inadvertently evoke our sympathy for the mockery on show. And here’s the crowning horror, an indelible blemish in the history of television – the sanctity of the delicate bond of marriage being desecrated in an ill-conceived ‘swayamvar’ on TV. And to think, there are actually takers for this insanity. Shame on you, India!!
Leave aside entertainment. News channels are supposed to be the ears, eyes and the voice of millions. It’s therefore despairingly sad to often see them fall over each other to break news of such insignificance as a celebrity break-up, or watch them pry into and publicize the personal details of certain individuals – deceased or alive. Nauseating as these instances are, they are also an amazing revelation of the levels to which both, our intelligence and our morality, have sunk. It’s hard to believe this is true-blood journalism. Indeed, it’s hard to believe in the sincerity of anything at all, when the media, which wields the torch of freedom in one hand, has the other hand buried in a snake-pit alive with the vested interests of political powers, business magnates, celebrity ranks and the media owners themselves. Media is war and media people mercenaries, simultaneously its victims and perpetrators.
Speaking of war, try and remember the last time some really grave news, or an issue of national consequence and social ramifications caught your attention. How long did you dwell on that news, and why? Was it because it concerned the well-being of someone personally connected to you, or was it purely a humane reaction? More importantly, what did you try and do about it? I suspect an overwhelming majority, including me, would answer the last question in the negative. We would have, as the smart-generation lingo goes, “moved on” with our lives within days of the occurrence fading from the media. Funnily, moving on, today is the equivalent of driving past an accident site with only half your attention on the road ahead because you are too busy checking out the rear-view mirror.
Our society is constituted by an increasing percentage of youth enamored by starry-eyed ambitions of fame, power, luxury and pleasure; the harsh realities afflicting millions other less fortunate mortals be damned. On the other hand, we have a population of elders, who justifiably feel disconnected with the lifestyle and mindset of their succeeding generations, and would do anything to escape into a world still rooted in traditions they can call their own. Combine the above two classes of people together and you pretty much have your television audience base covered. It’s only coincidental they are both, in their own way, running away from reality or have arrived at their own impressions of what is real.
When I was a kid, there used to be such a thing as a circus. It used to be full of entertainers – jokers, ringmasters, gymnasts – people who would do all sorts of things ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, all with the sole objective of drawing you away from your mundane real life and into a magic world where the unthinkable is possible; where everything is swell; where you want to suspend your disbelief for a moment, and believe with open-eyed wonderment that you are witnessing something special. The media and the television, today serve the exact same purpose. You get exactly what you want. You want to be fooled.
- Pramod Kantak
I respectfully disagree with whoever christened the television “the idiot box”. To me it qualifies as a half idiot. It is a machine after all, with no intelligence of its own, and there’s nothing it can do to alter its natural state of idiocy. I reserve the term idiot for those who have the ability to help their idiocy, but do not exercise it. Which brings me to the other two protagonists of this feature, the two real idiots who sit on either side of the half idiot, namely the television media and the viewers.
Put a dog in a small colony, and he will blend right in and dedicate his loyalties to the place and the people therein. Now, bring in more dogs, give them a bone each, and you will see their priority shifting immediately to marking and protecting their own territory and their bone. If endowed with a brain like humans, each will likely even set out to prove he is the best dog of the lot. All while the bigger and the original cause of guarding the colony is forgotten. The media scenario today is not altogether different. Society’s proverbial watchdog has been reduced to watching out for its own tail and protecting its business profitability.
Marketing is possibly the worst curse to have befallen business acumen. It’s the real villain of modern times, a fatal poison to credibility and purpose. What makes it so dangerous is that unlike most forms of evil, which are in-your-face and characterized by a strong motivation or psyche, marketing doesn’t have a color of its own. Its manner of attacking is ingeniously simple – it will identify a weakness in you, a want or a desire for something, and dish out unending portions of the same in varied forms, spoiling you for choice. Unfortunately, humans do have a tendency to choose those very things that are worst for them.
I feel society today (and here, I am particularly referencing the population that makes for the TRPs) chooses style over substance, libido over love, attitude over empathy, money over matter, indifference over action, dreams over reality – traits that are only too clearly reflected in the progressively degenerate content being churned out on television, and which is lapped up by the audiences. A predictable fallout of marketing over-kill, electronic media, far from being informative, entertaining or even rousing has instead turned into a relentless assault on our senses, so much that it has numbed our intelligence into accepting almost anything.
How else do you explain the popularity of reality shows, which, apart from being obviously rigged are horrible concoctions of skin show, abrasive language, faked emotions and brand endorsements? Then you have endless meandering soap sagas shot in super slow motion, bringing out every conceivable human fallacy and gloating in the supposed inevitability of it all. I personally feel bad for the numerous participants in the dime-a-dozen talent shows being aired today – here are a bunch of really talented youngsters, reduced to puppets at the hands of the producers of the show, while a host of “expert” judges plumb new depths in buffoonery and who, if anything, inadvertently evoke our sympathy for the mockery on show. And here’s the crowning horror, an indelible blemish in the history of television – the sanctity of the delicate bond of marriage being desecrated in an ill-conceived ‘swayamvar’ on TV. And to think, there are actually takers for this insanity. Shame on you, India!!
Leave aside entertainment. News channels are supposed to be the ears, eyes and the voice of millions. It’s therefore despairingly sad to often see them fall over each other to break news of such insignificance as a celebrity break-up, or watch them pry into and publicize the personal details of certain individuals – deceased or alive. Nauseating as these instances are, they are also an amazing revelation of the levels to which both, our intelligence and our morality, have sunk. It’s hard to believe this is true-blood journalism. Indeed, it’s hard to believe in the sincerity of anything at all, when the media, which wields the torch of freedom in one hand, has the other hand buried in a snake-pit alive with the vested interests of political powers, business magnates, celebrity ranks and the media owners themselves. Media is war and media people mercenaries, simultaneously its victims and perpetrators.
Speaking of war, try and remember the last time some really grave news, or an issue of national consequence and social ramifications caught your attention. How long did you dwell on that news, and why? Was it because it concerned the well-being of someone personally connected to you, or was it purely a humane reaction? More importantly, what did you try and do about it? I suspect an overwhelming majority, including me, would answer the last question in the negative. We would have, as the smart-generation lingo goes, “moved on” with our lives within days of the occurrence fading from the media. Funnily, moving on, today is the equivalent of driving past an accident site with only half your attention on the road ahead because you are too busy checking out the rear-view mirror.
Our society is constituted by an increasing percentage of youth enamored by starry-eyed ambitions of fame, power, luxury and pleasure; the harsh realities afflicting millions other less fortunate mortals be damned. On the other hand, we have a population of elders, who justifiably feel disconnected with the lifestyle and mindset of their succeeding generations, and would do anything to escape into a world still rooted in traditions they can call their own. Combine the above two classes of people together and you pretty much have your television audience base covered. It’s only coincidental they are both, in their own way, running away from reality or have arrived at their own impressions of what is real.
When I was a kid, there used to be such a thing as a circus. It used to be full of entertainers – jokers, ringmasters, gymnasts – people who would do all sorts of things ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, all with the sole objective of drawing you away from your mundane real life and into a magic world where the unthinkable is possible; where everything is swell; where you want to suspend your disbelief for a moment, and believe with open-eyed wonderment that you are witnessing something special. The media and the television, today serve the exact same purpose. You get exactly what you want. You want to be fooled.
- Pramod Kantak
Friday, August 20, 2010
I....
I… I wake up. I sleep. I dream. I pray. I’m happy. I eat. I drink. I walk. I sprint. I run. I stop. I like. I care. I love. I trust. I respect. I pray. I smile. I cry. I laugh. I listen. I speak. I understand. Sometimes I don’t. I don’t give up. I decide. I hold on.I continue. I hope. I wish. I’m disappointed. I learn. I fall. I’m hurt. I realize. I smile. I shop. I party. I enjoy. I dance. I work. I party harder. I study. I Ideate. I idolize. I meditate. I read. I’m at peace. I sing. I’m on a high. I argue. I listen. I accept. I justify. I explain. I travel. I observe. I sympathize. Sometimes I don’t. I dislike. I hate. I forget. Sometimes I don’t. I smile. I find peace. I forgive. Sometimes I don’t. I’m human. I feel. I care. Sometimes I should not. Still I do. I’m scared. I think. Sometimes I don’t. I’m honest. I’m true. I know. I pray. I’m strong. I’m confident. I’m blissful. I live…I dream! I wake up...
PS: Life can be summed up by the daily things that the ‘I’ within us does. It’s not about feeling self obsessed, narcissist or an egotist… but sometimes it’s really I and I alone that matters the most.
PS: Life can be summed up by the daily things that the ‘I’ within us does. It’s not about feeling self obsessed, narcissist or an egotist… but sometimes it’s really I and I alone that matters the most.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
More than just a movie...
Peepli [Live]..I Watched the movie, more out of curiosity. The title sounded a little ‘hatke’ than the other mediocre ones. And must say..what a movie! Aamir khan productions…had to be a masterpiece..nothing short of perfection. Amazing backdrop- the tiny village of Peepli. Earthy,rustic,real. Stellar performances by some newbies and some forgotten faces in bollywood (read: Raghubir Yadav).
More than being just a movie, it teaches us something. It explains us in a very humorous manner how often we are so interested in the most unimportant things in life when there are bigger things happening in the background. The theme of the movie very subtly portrays the plight Indian farmers face today by following the story of a particular ‘Nattha’, of how the country is pulling itself into adversity in a way while the politicians and the filthy rich still believe in pretending that 'All izz Well'. Ironic. People who’v been slogging their ass off don’t get their dues while a controversy on any trivial issue related to perhaps a filmstar, stirs up the nation! Media frenzy…how these people have the knack to drive you crazy. Making a mountain out of a molehill..that’s their forte. Hell yeah! You come out of the theatre, smiling, rather laughing. Knowing you are a part of the same system and wouldn’t act any differently or go out of your way to make a difference. Laughing at your own plight. Irony!
Moral of the story: Sometimes its hard to face reality. Like they say- we often overlook diamonds while we are busy collecting stones. Open your eyes and focus on the bigger picture! This one’s a must watch..if not for 2 odd hours of entertainment, an eye opener sure it is. My review : *****/5.
Like I mentioned before, this movie taught me something. So have several others. I jotted down the first few names that came to my mind. Its what I call the crux of the movies… Here goes:
Finding Nemo: You don’t really know your limits until unless they are put to test.
Inception: Some people live in a dream world, others face reality and then there are those who turn one into another.
Aisha: The world is full of arrogant, interfering and good for nothing people. Period. Deal with it. They all learn their lesson someday.
PS: Aisha’s style quo totally rocks though :P
KungFu Panda: In order to accomplish something in life, all u have to do first… is BELIEVE that u can.
Fashion: Beauty is only skin deep. Fame doesn’t last forever. Its very important to keep your feet on the ground in today’s world.
Spiderman: Life always gives us choices, no matter what. The most difficult part is that you have to Decide what to choose!
Ghulam: It’s better to fight for something than live for nothing.
SAW : There are violently creative people in this world!
Bruce Almighty: Reinstates my faith in God. Be assured that He has our back even when no one else does!
and finally...
Kkrish: There is no such thing as superheroes. Resemblance of any person living or dead if ever is purely a figment of your imagination.Go see a doctor! :P
Monday, August 16, 2010
Unfogging the mind...
The human mind is a treasure full of puzzles
The deeper you explore..the more you are lost
Its not about losing but finding yourself in the process
Which makes life worth of everything possible that it cost...
Forgive and forget, need not be as easy as it sounds
Coz deep within your heart reside the wounds of hurt
Its about letting yourself free from the grudges of memory
Only then can we find contentment in the heart...
Be giving, never expect back
For no two people are the same
Coz expectations often bring disappointments
Its not others but its you who is to blame...
Life keeps teaching us lessons everyday
Its for you to decide which ones to take
Sometimes right and sometimes wrong
'You are made of the decisions you make'!
The deeper you explore..the more you are lost
Its not about losing but finding yourself in the process
Which makes life worth of everything possible that it cost...
Forgive and forget, need not be as easy as it sounds
Coz deep within your heart reside the wounds of hurt
Its about letting yourself free from the grudges of memory
Only then can we find contentment in the heart...
Be giving, never expect back
For no two people are the same
Coz expectations often bring disappointments
Its not others but its you who is to blame...
Life keeps teaching us lessons everyday
Its for you to decide which ones to take
Sometimes right and sometimes wrong
'You are made of the decisions you make'!
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