English Vinglish ~ Simpलe & Fलawलess

(Hindi version)

The bilingual movie English Vinglish (Aangilam Vangilam) by Gauri Shinde & team celebrates the comeback of the yesteryear actress Sridevi.

The movie tells you the story of a typical Indian housewife, who sets out to learn English, not because of mere curiosity, but to overcome the emotional trauma of moral subsidence, to prove to herself, if not everyone, that she is not just born to make Laddu's (as her husband defines her)

The movie has Sridevi excellently portraying the role of Shashi; her husband who counts her as a combination of laddu and lust, thanks to his busy office schedules; her modern daughter, who is ashamed of her own old-fashioned-english illiterate-mother, and her little lovely son.

The movie has its real take-off when Sridevi's character has to leave all alone, to the US, for attending her niece's wedding. From then on, what the audience get to see is a pure amalgam of humor, thrill and sentiments, weaved together perfectly by the director cum writer Gauri Shinde.

No bragging, no artificial embellishments, no overflow of melodrama - the movie is hundred percent realistic, simple, down to earth and convincing. It gives you moments of joy, tears, empathy, frisson, exaltation and may be, introspection. The genre of the movie is family drama, and this, is a movie where one can easily associate himself/herself to. The characters, the pivotal ones and others in the movie are certainly those funny,.familiar and interesting characters we see in our real lives. 

A word must be spared for Mehdi Nebbou, the amazing actor from France, around whom much of the track of the story revolved in the latter half. He is one of those handful of characters, who appear in the movie as Sridevi's english tuition mates. In fact, each and every character who constitute the tution class sessions have been painted out perfectly by the film-maker: there's Mehdi - a french cook, an African introvert, a sleeping spanish woman, a Chinese girl, a Pakistani youngster and then you have a typical South Indian Tamil Brahmin. All of them along with the professor ensure a laugh riot - class humor - both verbal and visual.

Music and background score by Amit Trivedi are an icing on the cake. 

The climax of the movie leaves your eyes wet - well, my eyes were wet and the climax was followed by a standing ovation. The script of the movie reflects the hardwork, intelligence and the expertise of Gauri Shinde, from whom, much more of such movies are hopefully expected. The movie is probably an all-India movie, or even, an all-world movie - whether you are a Tamilian or a Marathi, the movie has all chances of satisfying your taste buds. The dialogues, similar to the one towards the end of the trailer of the movie, (where an Indian tells his foreign colleague 'she will manage in US, like how you manage here without knowing our language) are whole-heartedly welcomed by the audiences, thanks to the pinch of crispy patriotism these dialogues possess. 

Last but not the least, the cameo played by Amitabh Bachchan (Ajith Kumar in Tamil) was worth the wait. It was quite short but there's no denying that it couldn't have been sweeter. You'll relish it, especially if you are a Bachchan admirer.

Overall, the movie is definitely worth your money and time, provided you make sure you like light-hearted, simple, and honest family movies.

Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ / ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★


[One star uncolored - No intentions of giving full quota to any movie! ]

Is being fair being lovely?

There was an incident which deeply affected me. I was going to a college with my friend to take part in a cultural event. On the way, I saw my buddy taking out a fairness cream from his bag and then applying it, all over his face. Though the act was funny, I later found it to be thought-provoking.

 What made him apply the fairness cream? Does he think he is inferior to others just because he is a little dark-complexioned? Is the fairness cream a confidence-booster? We see a large number of advertisements through television, internet and other media, most of which are misleading. The worst category of misleading advertisements comprises of the cosmetic ads- that of fairness creams, powders, beauty talc, beauty soap etc. The common element of all these advertisements, unfortunately, is that all of them possess a bad ideology – an ideology which can be called very dangerous, deadly and venomous. The unhealthy notion they preach is this: they portray a person who is given the tag of a ‘failure’ just because he/she is dark-complexioned. It is further seen in the commercial that the same person undergoes what can be called as a ‘fairness treatment’ and turns into a fair man, and more than that a successful man. It is depicted that success comes with being fair. Success comes along with your color. If cross-examined, the message says unless and until a person is fair-complexioned, or at least pretends to be fair-complexioned, he/she is good for nothing and hence, cannot survive in our current society. It is your ‘color’ which matters, than all other qualities you possess. These advertisements have caused serious mental irritation in me over the last few days. They equate ‘black’ to failure and ‘white’ to success. You turn white, and you get a job or a career-break, a new love affair or anything and everything which you were deprived of earlier.

Another point to be noted is the about the time. All this happens in today’s world. We are in the second decade of the twenty-first century where people tend to believe that discrimination on the lines of color, caste, creed and class have taken a back seat in the society. They feel the mental and social evils have reduced with the advancement of time and the modernization of human thoughts. But these advertisements and the message they convey bring light to the reality – the bitter truth. The discrimination and the mental illness of superiority still exist like a cancer within us. What is worse is, those people who are free of this illness also get used to watching these advertisements which in turn makes them prone to be reflecting these in their actions.

Advertisements have this quality of stimulating wants in people’s minds even if a meager percentage of the want wasn't present before. They can stimulate artificial wants which in reality is an unnecessary want. This particular quality which advertisements possess adds fuel to the already burning fire. The most unfortunate aspect is the failure of the common public in realizing the threats these advertisements brandish. The ‘wrong conviction’ these advertisements pass on, is like a cancerous bug multiplying and spreading across, invisibly. This bug has its final destination, and that destination is the degradation of mankind. Color and class have always been the root cause for all the social-evils and consequent bloodsheds. Indian movies have this decade-long tradition of ‘white’ women paired with men both dark and fair alike. But rarely can someone notice a fair hero paired with a dark heroine.

 Virtual untouchability still prevails in our nation. The nightmarish social evils have not vanished. They have just taken different forms and are still omnipresent. They are intangible. We, with the left-over qualities that make us human beings, have to start curbing them – curbing them from within our minds first, and then from the society finally. 

An Imaginary Interview with Mahendra Singh Dhoni ~ 10 Questions : 10 Answers

This is a completely imaginary work, which I penned a couple of weeks back. Since the time I became a Dhoni follower, I personally had to face many questions from his critics, which I answered with pleasure. I have had 'n' number of debates, discussions and hot moots, face to face as well as on the online platforms, almost of all of which were healthy.

Here, when I indite this, I presume myself to be in the interviewer's seat and I would be asking all the questions, which I had to face from my fellow-critics till date. And sitting opposite to me, I presume to be a virtual Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who would be answering these questions, like the way you wanted him to answer.

Let our creative juices flow in visualizing such a scenario and virtually relish the interview :)

The interview starts !

Q: You’ve been one of the most successful captains ever in the game. While some glorify you as a great captain, some give you the label of just being the captain of a great Indian team. Some say Indian team rose to glory because of a great MSD but others say MSD rose to glory because of a great Indian team. What’s your say on this?

A: Public can never be homogenous. Mixture of people implies mixture of opinions. All cannot think the same way. Therefore, differences of opinions are prone to occur. To me, both the schools of thinking are not conflicting. They are just complementary. Cricket is not like lawn tennis! Cricket is a team game. A single person cannot play for all the eleven players of a team. Match-winners evolve for just one game. A single person cannot bring glory to the team unless he is equally complemented by the others in the team. I am proud enough to say that I have got a great team. I’m lucky enough to be the captain of a team with each player having an outstanding potential. So, both the statements are partially true and inter-dependent.

Q: I think you need a bit more clarification on the question. Let us take for example, when Sourav Ganguly was the Indian captain, Indian cricket was in shatters. Neither did we have foundation, nor pillars. He started from the first step of building up a team. There was only Sachin and a couple of other in form batsman. Statistics say cricketers like Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag etc evolved under Ganguly. So when you became the captain, you had to start only from where Ganguly left. You had finished products in your side. Didn’t that make your job a lot easier?

A:  Ganguly is indeed a great captain. There’s no denying the fact that many of our players evolved during his reign as a captain. But I did not start from where Ganguly left it. If my memory and the stats is right, I started from where Rahul Dravid left. I started from where Anil Kumble left. My first assignment as a captain was the inaugural ICC Twenty 20 World Cup back in 2007. If I remember right, it was also a time where Indian cricket was in complete turmoil. We had performed pretty poorly at the 50-over format World Cup in West Indies the same year, and when it came to the Twenty 20 World Cup, I lead a team without Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman and many more big names. Ours was a much inexperienced squad with some new names like Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan etc. Robin Uthappa, Sreesanth, Joginder Sharma etc were all young bloods. Just like how Bhajji, Yuvi and Viru evolved during Ganguly’s time, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin evolved during this period. Every captain can give you his list of players like this. Indian cricket under myself and Ganguly are two entirely different phenomena which cannot be compared. It is tough to make comparisons. We only see the negative side of everything. Indian cricket had a good time under Ganguly. If you believe Indian cricket is having a good time under me, let us all be happy about it.

Q: Analysts and cricket experts point out that Indian cricket has seen the best and the worst form in recent times. We won the World Cup last year and the same team India lost 8 overseas test matches consecutively. Your comments?

A: It is a law of nature that a good thing has to be followed by a bad thing which in turn, gets followed by a good thing and so on. If there is a high, there ought to be a low. Please don’t think that I am holding science as an excuse to our poor performance in Test matches, but I was reasoning out some facts. Bad times will come. At the end of the day, it is all about overcoming the bad times. That is when you stand the test of time. The conditions were tough for us in England and Australia. We had players who were totally unaccustomed to the conditions there. At the same time, we had legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who had a lifetime experience playing abroad. Unfortunately, all of us failed equally which meant there was something wrong. Taking nothing away from the opposition, we still could have played our game better. There were a lot of areas where things did not go upto the level of our expectations.  Cricket is an interesting game. Some things may seem ironic. But then, where is the beauty of the game without these little ironies and surprises?

Q: Isn’t the main reason behind the team’s failure, especially that of the batting department, the above-the-limit exposure to the Twenty 20 format? Aren’t the players after being involved in so many of the shorter-version games, especially in the Indian Premier League, finding it tough to adapt to the change in formats? We saw a lot of batsmen getting out due to lack of impatience, attempting risky shots. Do you support this argument? Don’t you think the proportion of each format in the International schedule of each player change?

A: We indeed have played a lot of twenty-twenty games, especially in the IPL. But I do not know how much of blame is to be put on the IPL and other T20 tournaments for our failure. VVS Laxman is someone who was not involved in any twenty20 game. At the same time, the only batsman who made merry was the young Virat Kohli who even scored a very good century in Australia is someone who has played more number of twenty 20 games than anybody else. So, I do not think playing twenty -twenty game has a deep impact on other formats. The main reason for our failure, when I word it, is the unfamiliar circumstances. We could see how difficult Indian batsmen get to the short-pitched deliveries. Probably the next time we go there, we might perform better. To substantiate my views, you can take the India-England series we played here in India just after our overseas series. What we suffered in their soil, they suffered here in our soil. So, it is up to adapting to the situations. It is a common phenomenon in the cricketing arena.

Q: How far has the new generation Indian cricket gone, with the likes of Dravid and Laxman retiring and Sachin to retire soon?

A: Dravid and Laxman were playing only in the Test format in the last few years. If you are asking about the Test format, we are satisfied with the current state of affairs as of now. Laxman’s retirement announcement came just before the beginning of the New Zealand series. There could not have been a greater blow for the team than this. But Pujara was called as a last minute replacement and he scored a match-winning century in the first test match. We could also whitewash the series. Look, one thing which every cricket follower needs to understand is that, cricket will move on regardless of anything.  There was an under 19 Virat Kohli and now, we have an Unmukht Chand. Unmukt replaces a 2008 Virat Kohli and Virat has now replaced a 2008 Rahul Dravid. I am not comparing Virat with Rahul. It is still early to make comparisons. But still, replacements will come. After all, India is a country with n number of cricketers. By saying this, I am also sure, that in near future, even Mahendra Singh Dhoni will find a replacement, hopefully, a better replacement. Indian cricket followers have this common blind belief that Indian cricket will find its end when the big ones retire. It is a wrong conviction. They think so because, over the years, they have been so used to seeing Indian elevens with the big ones. This has made them incapable to think of a team without the senior players. But the strange truth is, cricket will move on, in the same fashion, even after their time. It will be the same even after my time, even after Kohli’s time.

Q: The Twenty-20 World cup is approaching. Subcontinent conditions and team’s current form – how much of hope can be assigned on the team’s shoulders?

A: Yes, we do have a good chance of winning the cup, but the competition is tough. Talented youngsters are coming up in each and every team. You cannot rule out even Afghanistan’s team. Twenty 20 is such a game. But going into the tournament with current form, yes, we do have a strong chance of playing well. Personally, I give more weightage to performance than results. Win or loss, at the end of the day, we have to make sure that we gave our hundred percent.

Q: Another curious aspect of this World Cup is the return of Yuvraj Singh. How do you see that, making a comeback in a tournament as big as the World Cup?

A: Well, Yuvi is a fighter. He comes back to the side, which means he has fought and won. Fighting a dangerous disease needs strong will and determination. We all know about him. He has a never say die attitude. World cup or a small series, he knows what it is all about and he won’t happier to return at any other point of time. From the team’s point of view, this is the time when we need Yuvi the most. Personally, everybody is ecstatic about his return. He is a great asset not only on the field, but off the field too. He gives a better shape to the entire group. Also, we have another Singh tiger returning in Bhajji. It is a delight to have him back at this stage.

Q: You have got the tag of an elegant gentleman. You are a missing face in those usual late night parties. You keep things to the basic level. You are someone who got married quickly, quick when compared to others. You’re a family man. Are these the main reason you stay away from many rumors? Is this the kind of lifestyle the younger generation, especially the cricketers have to adopt?

A: Everybody has their own likes and dislikes. I am such because I like to be so. You say I have got the tag of an elegant gentleman. I am happy about it. It shows that whatever I have done, the things you mentioned, have not gone the wrong way. But it does not entail that others should follow it. They can live their lives the way they want. Attending late night parties, hanging out with friends – all this can be done, nothing wrong about it as long as you make sure you give your best, your hundred percent to the main thing you do, that is, your game called cricket. When it comes to staying away from rumors, yes, they might be helping you in some way. The less you are involved in a risk, the less dangerous things get. But in this modern world, there are even people who love to be rumors. So, it is a strange world and one has to choose the lifestyle one wants to. This is something to be followed off the field. On field, Dhoni is Dhoni, Viru is Viru, Yuvi is Yuvi, Zaheer is Zaheer.

Q: You are someone who does things differently. In the twenty over world cup finals, you gave the last over to Joginder Sharma. In the fifty over world cup final, you replaced an in-form Ashwin with an out of form Sreesanth. But everything has worked out quite well for you. There’s a quote saying winners do not do different things, they do things differently. You have yourself quoted this on the same context in a popular advertisement. What makes you take these decisions? Intelligence? Luck? Courage? Or is it a mixture of everything? If I give the tag ‘lucky’ to you, how will you take it? We have seen matches where the top order batsmen build up the innings during a chase and then finally you come and finish it off. You’ve got the luck to build pillars many a times on the basement someone else has built. Your thoughts on this?

A: Interesting question. If you consider just coming in and finishing off the match something that great, then I would accept that I am lucky because I know I have done it on an n number of occasions. But the area where I tend to disagree is the same. I do not think finishing off a match is all that great. If it was some other player batting in place of me, the same thing would have happen. The credit always goes to the man who has built the basement, not the pillar. The case of top order batsmen doing the job and me taking the credit is interesting. It is interesting because, the men who in your terms have built the basement could have built the pillars too. But they could not. They build the basements and then they get out. Unless a batsman gets out, the next batsman cannot walk in. Thus, I get to walk in and then it becomes my job to steer the team home. 

Doing things differently – is something winners do. But the real fun comes when you analyze some situations carefully. You quoted Joginder Sharma and Sreesanth because at both instances, my decisions have not done any harm. The team has won both the matches. But if the same match was lost by an extra no-ball or something, this question would not have even arisen. We have this behaviour called selective absorption. I can point out many similar games where I have gone with a little different approach which ultimately never worked out. Both happen, success and failure both come at their own nice intervals. Some people notice something; others may notice the opposite of it. So, it is ultimately up to you to judge your successes and failures.

Q: Any final words to your fans, especially going into the world cup?

A: Yes. They are the backbone for us. The crowd support is the real driving force for a team. It is quite evident when we play home matches. Even when we played in countries like England and South Africa, the Indian supporters residing there, came to the ground to watch the match, creating a home-like atmosphere for us. All I have to tell everyone of them is, to keep supporting us. Not just supporting, keep motivating, criticizing, monitoring and appreciating whenever whatever is needed to be done. We, not just in the upcoming world cup, but also in all future aspects, make a vow to try and give our hundred percent so that regardless of the result, we can hold our heads high!

~ Interview Ends - Suggestions are welcome !

When Husbandry Turns Animal :-

Marriage is considered to be one of the most sacrosanct and inviolable institutions, especially in a heritage-fertile country like India. Outstripping exposure to the Western culture and the twenty first century notion of ‘living together’ have little affected the stereotypic organization and rituals. In English, the term marriage means a legal and formal union of couples, but the Indian term for marriage ‘kalyan’ means prosperity and auspice. Marriage is equated to prosperity and auspice. The perfect idea of a married relationship hails even from the roots of the most ancient scriptures and myths of the country. But, a valid question to be raised is to how much extent has the system of marriage remained undecomposed.

Newspapers, both national and vernacular, are deluged with hordes of multi-dimensional marital issues. There have been numerous cases where the husband has transposed into an ogre. This is completely ironic to title ‘Patidev’ given to Indian husbands which consider husbands equal to Gods. The nation is witnessing a misfortunate tantrum of glorified gods becoming unscrupulous fiends. This means that the wife, who already has been given the position of a ‘worshipper’ by the stereotypical standards, goes further down the hierarchical line to becoming a quarry.

Gender equality and dissents against gender discrimination are not the offspring of today. They were moot themes from time immemorial. But the extent of curtailment and stifling is rising to its acme is a recent phenomenon. These are the days where marriage turns into a state of thralldom, matrimonial columns turn into stock markets, wedlocks become woodlocks - these are the days where husbandry turns animal.

On 18^th July 2011, the newspapers were circulating the nation like blood with a ‘one-of-its kind’ news. It was about something which a normal person could imagine to have happened nowhere save a vampire movie. It was about a husband from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, who drank his wife’s blood. The news revealed that this Patidev has made it a routine to suck blood out of his wife’s body daily to drink, and this was happening taciturnly for three long years. The reason rendered by him for this barbarous act was that drinking the blood made him stronger. Mahesh Ahirwar threatened to kill his wife if she ever had plans to reveal it to the outer world.

If the above given instance was a rare one, there happen to be a plurality of issues concerning women, the married women in our country. One such phenomenon is marital rape. Marital Rape refers to unwanted intercourse by a man with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent. Bringing statistics into play, it is estimated that every six hours, a young married woman is burnt or beaten to death, or driven to suicide from emotional abuse by her husband. A rapist for a woman is someone who takes away her security, dignity, self-worth and equality more than anything else. Going by these parameters, marital rape becomes worse than a regular rape. Marital rape is the uttermost form of rape. Still, in our country, the marital rapists walk free. The majority of the cases are swamped within the boundaries of the households. The instance of a wife turning a puppet gets followed by numerous instances of the wife remaining a puppet. Not surprisingly, thus, married women were never the subject of rape laws. Laws bestowed an absolute immunity on the husband in respect of his wife, solely on the basis of the marital relation. The revolution started with women activists in America raising their voices in the 1970s for elimination of marital rape exemption clause and extension of guarantee of equal protection to women. In the Indian context, the State and the law-enforcement bodies display a form of passivity.

When rape is considered an offense, marital rape is legal in our country. Doesn’t this also mean marriage is a license to be legally illegal forever? Earlier, the common phenomenon which existed was ‘rape and marry’. You rape a girl first and to avoid turbulences in future, you make things legal by marrying the girl you raped, just like the act of laundering black money. Now things get on the reverse gear where the mantra has become ‘marry and then rape’. 

Another social evil, which has been a curse for the Indian society over centuries of time, is the system of dowry. Dowry is a clear example where women are treated like stocks. They are ascertained financial value and ‘selling price’ as per their caste, color, creed, family background etc. The dowry system gives a picture of a father ‘selling’ his daughter to a third person. The roots of this system can be traced back to a time where the bride’s parents used to give money and jewellery to the bride at the time of the wedding, not out of compulsion but out of sheer joy. It also had the rationality that their daughter’s afterlife should be financially well-off. Later on, this ‘habit’ was transformed into a system, which meant the parents of even a financially backward state, had to drudge for meeting the requirements of his daughter’s wedding. Sadly, the dowry system still prevails in our nation, especially in the rural areas. Tradition becomes a permanent burden.

Dowry is another system by which, the worth of a woman is measured by her mere financial strength and nothing else. This is also such a social wickedness with makes women devoid of self-worth, dignity and her agility. Her qualities which really make her what she is, are buried under stacks of currency notes.

Government introduced the Dowry Prohibition Act on 1st July 1961. Later on, many amendments were added to the Act in order to keep a strict eye on this kind of cruelty. According to the Act anyone taking or giving dowry can be sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years and a fine of Rs 15,000 or the value of dowry if that is more. When a strict rule is prevailing in the country then why women are still facing the problem? It’s really shocking to record the statistics of dowry in the country that shows a steady rise. Rather than subsiding, it is continuously increasing with more and more women getting burnt to ashes. Researches have dictated that about 9, 5000 women in India are stabbed to death over the dowry issue. The statistics are more in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh but sadly the largest IT sector of the country Bangalore has also recorded an alarming rise. 

The evil has spread its tentacles across the country. Women are trying hard to save their lives with the support of legal amendments, media support, serious activism, and heightened awareness. Despite of all these protest why India is still holding the stigma of dowry? Why not women can be completely relieved from this pain and burden? 

Ours is a country which is extremely affected by various kinds of pollutions – air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, noise pollution. But above all these pollutions, our nation is most affected by the mental pollution and the moral pollution of its people. The obstinacy shown in not accepting your counterparts, let that be on the lines of language, culture, caste, creed, color, class or gender, is what has to be curbed immediately. Unless the mental revolution bechances every single person on an individual level, curbing it in the social scenario as a whole will remain a Utopian ideal. It needs a plenitude of commitment and social understanding. Let us hope for a better future. 

Unmukt Chand ~ St.Stephens ~ Who promotes who?

A young India led by Virat Kohli made Indians proud when they won the under-19 world cup in Malaysia back in 2008. Recently, we witnessed history getting repeated when Unmukt Chand's Indian team won the same world cup this year in Australia. When Virat Kohli won it in the continent, Unmkut's achievement was superior because they won it in the unfamiliar, tough conditions of the Aussies. More importantly, Unmukt stood up to the need of the team, rose to the occasion and played a match-winning knock past century in the stiff final encounter against the hosts.

But all the rejoice and all the moments of superbia faded when Unmukt Chand was detained from college for poor attendance. St.Stephens, the prestigious institution Unmukt was doing his course at, insisted that the primary focus of anybody should be on his academics.

Unmukt's attendance was as low as 8%. But all the reasons St.Stephens college put forth backfired when the college's decision led to severe outburst across the nation. Finally we read in the newspaper that the Union Sports Minister interfered in the issue and as a result of various continuous incidents, Unmukt was finally promoted.

This is what we saw and heard from the media. Looking at the same thing from a different angle will be really interesting.

Unmukt wins the world cup for India. Unmukt was internationally famous but how many of us knew that he was a student of St.Stephens?

Unmukt obviously spent his time towards cricket than academics. Winning the world cup was the best reward for his commitment as well as the best proof that the classes he missed was worth it. But still Stephens wants to detain him. In simple terms, Stephens wants to make it clear that they are a college which gives utmost importance to academics. How many of us were bewildered by their act?

In the much-expected climax, St.Stephens promotes Unmukt. St.Stephens and their management become heroes. A definite good deed they have done, haven't they?

Once one starts cross-examining things, many of the hidden agendas become clear. Through this incident, St.Stephens got promoted. They proudly conveyed that winners like Unmukt Chand belong to their college. They also made it a point that academics is what they give their focus on, than any other thing under the sun. Finally, they earned a good-boy image by finally promoting Chand, all of which means if they had promoted Unmukt without any such controversies and second thoughts, all these wouldn't have happened. Now St.Stephens gets extra publicity and goodwill.

Doesn't it look like a well-scripted drama? A give and take policy? I get promoted by promoting you? 

Barfi! ~ Bollywood's Ranbirthmark

The 2012 September release 'Barfi!' directed by Anurag Basu starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D' Cruz clearly limns the difference between reading a story and watching a movie, by incredibly executing an ordinary story into an extraordinary final output.

The film revolves around the life of a deaf and mute, mirthful character Barfi and his way of living.

Proving a point : Ranbir Kapoor 

Barfi has a resplendent blend of entertainment, class and panache. The movie is also an amalgam of stupefying camerawork, top-drawer acting with awe-inspiring direction. 

#Anurag Basu

Anurag Basu has produced a masterpiece in Barfi. His story was nothing more than a ho-hum cliche, but in this occasion, he over-compensates it by his first-class direction. The narration was non-linear - flashing back   flashbacks and cooking out grandeur, weaving them all in a fresh string together, Anurag has proved that he is a hotshot. He made sure he gets his audience glued to the seats, he made a successful 'talaash' (meaning a quest) in unveiling the child from everybody's hearts. He used innocence and light-heartedness as his trump card in penning one of the biggest successes Bollywood has ever seen. Even the regular melodrama-element in the movie was presented in a novel way. 'I just saw #barfi...i have never felt more limited,inferior and talentless...anurag basu is the god of all filmakers...his genius is barfi!!' Karan Johar couldn't have showered more praise on Basu. He can be proud about his evergreen brainchild !

#Ravi Varman

Ravi Varman's camera has provided a touch of elegance to the movie. The Anniyan cameraman produced his career-best finally. It did not happen in Dasavatharam, it did not happen in the Amitabh-Mohanlal starrer big-budget Kandahar and it did not happen in Allu Arjun's Badrinath too. The long wait for a photographer's dream finally blossomed for this God-gifted cinematographer in Barfi. The picturesque locations of Darjeeling was a perfect icing on the cake. Each frame was a painting, if one had to use a metaphor. 

#Priyanka Chopra

The actress proved yet again after Fashion that she is not just about glam and sham. The role of an autistic girl was a safe bet in her hands. She handled the role with so much of subtlety, fluency and lucidity. Priyanka's rise to the occasion may just be an eye-opener for a coterie of actresses in the industry. 'Priyanka Chopra' comes when the credits page is rolled - apart from that, it was all about Jhilmill. She never acted but behaved to situations, which was a treat to watch.

#Ileana

Ileana gets a dream bollywood debut through Barfi. She could not have hoped for a role with more substance into it. The dazzling yet confident looks and vast past experience made her job well-heeled. One also tends to wonder if this was the best character with respect to acting scopes in her illustrious career - the role of an altruistic lover cum confused wife. 

Bold and beautiful : Ileana D' Cruz

#Ranbir Kapoor

Barfi! is the best of Anurag Basu, the best of Ravi Varman, the best of Priyanka and Ileana. But Barfi was a revelation. A revelation of an actor. Ranbir Kapoor does to his character what an actor could possibly have done to a character - cent percent commitment and life. The grandson of Raj Kapoor and son of Rishi Kapoor, Ranbir evinces loyalty to the Kapoor tag to his name. Ranbir, through his performance also brings light to the fact that being a star and being an actor are on two entirely different poles. He promises to be the next big thing in the industry? No, he has already become one. The silently emoting Barfi, has silently taken Ranbir to the peak he deserves to be in. Though the character had striking resemblance of the Charlie Chaplinean style, Ranbir made sure he gives it an unparalleled chassis, a unique outfit. It has to be waited and seen whether this gifted actor can stand the test of time. But time proves, time and again, that there will be a Tom Hanks and there will be a Forrest Gump, and there will be a Ranbir Kapoor - there ought to be a Barfi. Bringing Forrest Gump into the picture, though these two characters have nothing in common, Ranbir offers no less justice to his character than what Tom Hanks offered to Gump.    

#Pritam

Pritam tells you through Barfi why the industry needs him and hence, why he is going to stay here for much more time to come. The background music of the movie is brilliant and gives life to each shot taken. The western-based music tracks made the movie splendidly rich. A right choice made by the director.

#Nutshell


Overall, Barfi is an oasis of class in the desert of mainstream movies. It will keep your eyes, cheek-muscles and heart busy simultaneously throughout. It might leave you tear-eyed, but it will leave you contented. Barfi can be best enjoyed in quality theatres and hence it is highly recommended of immediate viewing. Barfis don't happen every day! 

Should we celebrate the Valentine's day?

February 14th. Probably one of the much-awaited days in a year. At least, to some of us. The valentine's day. The last valentine's day, I had to take part in a mock group discussion and not surprisingly, the topic was this - the need to celebrate or not to celebrate the Valentine's day.

They say an atheist belongs to the unluckiest of fellows because they would feel thankful, but have no one to thank! But God is not the only one to express your gratitude to. There are others, here in this world, cent percent proven to be corporeal and tangible to whom we can thank. Basically, that is why we celebrate our Birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day etc. We are felicitous for our existence and the elan we exist.

Scenarios

1 ~ Valentine's day, similarly, is a day to thank our lover(s)! After all, we live for love. We yearn, strive, hanker and pant for love! Love is that feeling which makes us audacious and venturesome. Love is that feeling which makes us altruistic, at least to a meager extent. Why not outlay a day out of three hundred and sixty five and celebrate it!?


2 ~ Another question which comes to our mind is "Since when did Indians start to celebrate Valentine's day?". The answer lies in a simple term - Westernization. We never used to celebrate Valentine's day like we do it now. All these frenzy and hysteria which go on during the modern day V day is quite a recent phenom, with respect to the Indian context. We, especially, our youth, tend to imitate the West, as if they are in a "Go West" campaign, in their dressing, living style, music and why? in almost everything they do.


3 ~ The economic aspects of celebrating V-day. Newspapers and other medias complain that the V-Day has become where the Business-factor has taken over from the Love-factor. Cases where Business Barons use their foxiness to exploit the harum-scarum modern day lovers in their pursuit to make riches have become so plebeian.



Solutions !

1 ~ There is absolutely no issues in showing your gratitude to your loved ones. But a vista to be kept in mind is that, let the gratitude, in whatever form, be diamond necklaces, STD calls, Ice creams or even a small hug, go to the deserving people. More than often, this is seldom happening in reality.

2 ~ Westernization has its own pros but it still remains a sin. Go to the nearest shopping mall, or just go to a modern-day school girls' facebook profile, and you can understand how much the concept of Westernization has ruined us. Imitating the West means ignoring the East, which in turn implies, forgetting our values. Western culture is not to be blamed for it. Blame it on the lunatic youth who follow it.

3 ~ Whenever I sit in front of the Television and watch cricket, the first thing my dad tells is "Dhoni will get crores, Sachin will earn millions and Vinayak will only waste 3 hours". Well, this statement has its own value, but with all due respects, the reason I or anybody for that matter, watch cricket is for entertainment. Nothing is as entertaining as Cricket and Music for me!

Similarly, not celebrating Valentine's day just because some random business tycoons are making huge profit out of it, is mere stupidity. All you need to do is to be alert, be cautious and do not be on cloud nine. Act according to the situations and your limitations.

Presenting your loved ones a diamond necklace, a rose flower etc are not the only way to show your love! The value of your gift does not determine the depth of your love. A mere wish, a phone call, a dairy milk may make your day!

At the end of the day, it all depends on how sincere you are with your relationship, on what basis did you start loving someone and continue to do it and what you expect from your loved ones. We do our routine, habitual, mundane work daily and in this hotfoot of upshots, we never really get time to treasure our relationships. If relationship is what you ultimately need and all the above mentioned mundane stuffs are to ultimately build up your relationships, then why not spend a day and celebrate it !? You have only one life! This second which just went by, will never come back! So, don't hesitate! Let's celebrate!! :)