Are Deewano Mujhe Pehchaano...??

What am I or Who am I.. which is the one that matters the most? I often come up with this puzzle of whether the person matter or the identity.. I agree that name and location and social status and all such stuff matters.. but how much does it weigh when there are a zillion other things that define ones personality.. I am a dancer, I am a painter, I am grad school student.. I am the one that has the cheek to go upto the engineering school Dean and say.. "hey.. ur face looks really familiar.. who are you.." hardy har har... but then that's me.. and that is what defines me.. I am an absent minded student who always loses her way back home.. but does it matter what my name is or which street I live in..? And yet people ask.. the first time they meet.. so what is your name..I wish I could say hyderabadi zafrani pulao.. as in Cheeni kum.. but alas I can't..and I am not a famous person that I have to say my name and details everytime I meet someone.. even on the net.. the first thing that a person asks is.. name and then ASL.. area, sex, location.. Grr..

Probably that's the reason why I can't remember the names of people I meet either.. I can talk to a person whom I've known in my school days and yet not remember her name.. I would vividly remember that she was the one who stole my lunch box and gobbled it up.. but I would not remember her name...:) .. Darn what if it were the other way round.. go up and say.. Hey tinku how are u.. and then not find a single thing that u remember.. but I guess that is a rare possibility.. if you can remember the name of the person then u will surely remember the details.. and yet people ask for names and id's.. Whats in the name? I could be sheela, meeta, raani or even asraani.. and in this age of the Internet no one would even know.. you can build an entirely different personal id.. and yet somehow there is much importance given to names ..

Why is it that people feel safer when someone says " hi my name is ....." than someone who says.. whats in the name.. u can call me whatever u want.. why the judgment against such a person? I think it might be that the secrecy of name, age, location might make others think that something is being held back ..may be she's linked with the underground.. may be she's a don.. why can't it just simply be .. may be she does not like her name.. or perhaps she's got too many ex's! whatever be the reason.. if its an informal meeting.. or over the net then i think its not at all necessary that one introduces themselves with names and mundane things like that..

There are so many times when i feel gosh.. I wish I could escape to a place where no one recognizes me.. I wish I could be just me.. or not be me.. be a character out of the loads and barrels of books I have read... alas no one prefers it these days.. not that I blame them.. its not a safe world anymore.. but there are harmless people wanting to have some harmless fun without the necessity of recognition spoiling the scene.. but that's just me.. a whole lot different from the rest of the world..I wish people would stop asking me who I am and rather question me on what i do, what I like, what I think, what I feel is right or wrong..what I am on the whole!

Cheeni Kum...

I'd rather call it Taaza Chai! after Dor, this was the only movie that had the power of conversations.. the essential part of everyones life.. but one hardly ever pays attention to it.. On the face of it its no different a story than any other love story.. except the fact that the groom is older than the bride's father! but it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that just a concept doesn't do good.. u need to build situations and plot around it..

The movie was a whiff of fresh air after all kinds of crap that was doled out last year... not to mention the drama of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.. that made infidelity look almost virtuous.. and Dhoom 2 that was nothing but Hrithik and Hrithik and more Hritik! guys.. give me a plot.. give good diaogues.. give me something to chew on all night .. all day.. not one movie comes up to the standard of Hrishi da's Anand.. every dialogbetween any two individuals is written with so much care and the direction absolutely flawless.. and here we are in a time where even a little wit in the dialogues are like really awaited for with baited breathe.. Its true.. sach mein tasavvur mein kangali ka daur chal raha hai.

Hmm I think I really needed that movie to shake me back to spirit after seeing one episode of Kyunki.. Bah.. no plot, no story.. crap! But enough of ranting.. Cheeni kum was nice..there were scenes that really stood apart.. esp the one with AB proposing to Tabu.. witty one " Shaadi woh price hai jo ek mard pay karta hai sex ke liye, aur Sex who price hai jo ek aurat pay karti hai shaadi ke liye.. shaadi ki yeh gehri philosophy jaan ne ke baad kya tum mujhse shaadi karogi?" Nicely written. Nicely executed..Its no doubt a much much larger than life movie.. complete unbelievable tale.. and it does take talent to underplay it so much.. just deliver the necessary.. and well make it real..

Even in the most emotional scenes with paresh rawal.. Tabu still maintains her dignity.. Paresh says ".. not untill I am alive.." and she says.. "ok when are u gonna die?" when both are dueling over her marriage. And thats quite natural.. and the father knows she's frustrated.. but doesn't mean what she just said.. lots of emotion.. few dialogues and great expressions from Tabu and Paresh! Overall in the movie.. if there was something that was a let down then it was the scene when AB hears that his dear friend died.. and reacts.. seemed a bit stretched.. but hey one or two things are allowed.. and ofcourse the ending wasn't really upto the standard of the rest of the movie.. especially the dialogue that Paresh says "Main bhi Lords chal saktha huin kya?"

But still.. it was good attempt.. after perhaps the first Munna Bhai.. that had a good plot.. but not great dialogs... and got a little too emotional again in the end.. but its good..Come to think of it.. that movie too did not have great sets or crazy numbers of extras dancing away to glory.. it had but a few actors who gave it their best shot.. and it was simple! Simplicity.. someone great said.. was the most difficult thing to achieve...Balki did.. waiting for the next!

Meri Aawaz Suno...

Meri aawaz suno.. listen to my voice.. its the best! thats what every individual thinks now a days.. at least the ones that go on all sorts of reality shows and contests that claim that they will make you the voice of nation an idol that can be looked upon.. etc. etc... but they ppl who are chosen as the best.. are rarely the best.. 'coz the contests are looking for well in one word.. and "all rounder" someone who looks good, who can sing well, who has the attitude and who can impress the crowd with talk and walk! wow! thats a lengthy list.. but who is like that..well thats what I ask.. but ppl who come for the contest.. and mind you every one of them.. thinks and oozes confidence.. but how? I remember after years of practice in on an instrument, I was still nervous to go in front of an audience.. and that is to say that me and the instrument worked like.. clockwork!

Huh but the confidence is certainly deceptive! Ooze confidence but no talent.. the coming up of Sanjaya in the American Idol goes to prove "talent? woh kis khet ki mooli hain".. or for that matter the winning of debojit over vineeth in sa re ga ma pa or winning of sandeep over karunya.. honestly speaking karunya had the talent.. but not the looks.. and Lord knows how many karunyas who are probably dark, short or stubby are working in the background as chorus singers or worse are working as software engineers.. crying out every minute for recognition as a person with one talent.. not many.. not a superman!

Talent searches earlier used to be concentrated on one person achieving something great in one area..TSE exam searched for the ones talented in areas of Math or physics or general knowledge.. not all at once.. and singing competitions looking for singers.. but the reality shows these days look for so many things in one individual.. that the effect is muddy! the person ultimately chosen is so-so at everything.. not great in everything.. he/she can certainly dance, sing, look good, talk the talk and walk the walk.. but only 20 to 50%.. not 100% in everything.. where as a person who is really talented is conveniently ignored giving him a title of an incomplete person! where as he/she is one complete in the true sense.. as there is that 100% in one dimension, in one area.. and he/she excels in it.. the rest are all mere details..

Does that not sound unfair? ignoring the talented to take up a person who is mediocre in all things? Jack of all and master of none? The pathetic part is that all these talent shows are being judged by public votes and its really sad that the general crowd now roots for mediocrity rather than the talent power house.. and they name it the "idol" and expect people to bow down and respect it! Injustice at its peak I say.. u listen to the singers who are selected in indian idol 2 and decide for urself

Ab Nazaare Hum Kya Dekhen..

What would be the best way to spend a Saturday night.. Partying.. going to the Royals game? Alas.. not one of these proved a lucrative enough cause .. and so I browsed and browsed until I came across this "free event" .. and no they were not giving away free food.. Hmm not that cheap.. It was a dance and story performance by a popular troupe choreographed by Doug Varone, who apparently has 38,700 Google search results.. hmm I thought.. might actually prove a good diversion from the mundane bowling and pooling.. and drinking and 'merrying'..not that I do all of that.. but still.. a dance performance seemed far more interesting... And so I call up.. and confirmed my spot in the crowd.. And surprise! got the front row seats.. well not quite..it was in the third from the stage.. but hey.. who's complaining.. as long as I get to see the performance..you know how it is these days with free events can't ensure anything!

And so i spent an hour dressing up.. for all I am worth.. and went to the center.. to treat my eyes to the "Dense Terrain" the latest of their dances. The hall is house full... except for the 7 seven seats beside me. Hmm.. conspiracy theory.. the universe always conspires to take away all good looking guys away from me.. now a days it seems to be conspiring to take away even people sitting beside me :) Oh well that's a different route..

And so it started.. the performance.. a video projected up on the milky white screen.. and lights dimmed out.. and close up image of the mouth of a bearded guy appeared on the screen muttering some mumbo jumbo.. hmm I thought..not a very sightly scene.. but I waited.. with baited breath.. for something to happen.. but nothing did and for a whole 3 minutes that frame was nearly still.. except for the mutterings.. which were quite meaningless.. and I had the strange feeling that its gonna be a loooong free event!

The performers did eventually come.. and voila.. they crawled on the floor like babies.. they jumped up and down.. rather unsymmetrical and sat on chairs.. I picked my brain as much as I could.. to see if I could make any sense.. and then the saga went on and on.. with more people crawling jumping sitting and the in the background the image changing.. the bearded man apparently grew tired of just muttering so he started scribbling.. on walls.. and yes again meaningless stuff.. to the more intellectual people those scribbling may have looked like hmm lets say wavelets.. but to me they were nothing more than black marks on a good nice wall.. and then the artists left the stage..Perplexed.. I sat there.. and then the the performers arranged the chairs as they would be in a classroom.. Ah.. I thought, now finally I see a formation.. a symmetry... some things up.. and what do I see.. well nothing! the person in the video is now lecturing the people sitting on the stage.. I think to to myself.. there's got to be something I am missing in this.. then they all leave the stage except fr two male artists.. and they performed what I would call the jumping homo jelly beans! Arghh.. I was already getting frustrated.. when these two went away and and another two came in.. this time. a woman and a man.. and well they did the same things! hmm.. I thought.. can't they get any more creative? Whats the point?
They went off.. and then came walls! wow! that was something! artists pushed the "walls on wheels" to the center of the stage.. and well there is the bearded guy..."Surprisee!" well not really.. but still he was there.. and well from what I saw coming for the next 15 minutes.. it looked like either he dropped one of his lenses and was searching.. or had completely lost his marbles! And I was losing my patience..

And after that the show ended.. and all clapped..hmm .. what was this? it was not even a dance for Pete's sake! a story my foot! there was none.. what's the point..as these were reeling in my mind..a voice came from behind me.. "There got to be an explanation.. I just don't know what and where" it was an elderly gentleman.."I know!" I exclaimed.. happy that some one else at least thinks like me! Hmm I thought.. a crazed out middle school teacher with students perhaps I thought and I voiced my opinion.. the old gentleman agreed! and I walked out.. thinking.. wow! that was some performance.. with no ballet.. not much symmetry.. no great costumes..(it was there final dance rehearsal before there went out to ticket buying public.. that's why it was free)...no story.. even if there was, there was no point..in telling it.... Rahul of DTPH had better ideas even if it was a sickly sweet love story! overall it was a big flop show! and while I was trying to come out of the room.. a guy beside me said "you know I could have gone to the royals game.. see what you've done.. now I am depressed!" to his wife.. hmm I thought.. we'll looks like I am doing better than that! Hats off to creativity!!! But I have seen and been in better ones!

Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin...

Yesterday I was watching this terribly depressing movie.. Provoked.. which has Ash in it playing the role of the lady who changed the entire outlook towards women and oppression in the world of jury - Kiranjeet Ahluwalia. But the main thing is after seeing a photo where a Dalit woman is being hit with a bamboo stick on the road, the stuff shown in the movie seemed a little pale.. which is probably not fair.. but I tend to think if the beat up his woman on the road, then think of what happens inside. And then as the protagonist says in the movie .. the woman is expected to shut up and take it all for the sake of a false honour in the society. Why us? why should the woman take all that? Why should we swallow our self esteem and pride.. and be like a doormat to the man? Sleep with him.. else be raped..and this is the very person who promises to honour you and love you for not just this but the coming few lives even.. If you think these things don't happen any longer.. and this was an incident that took place oh so long ago in 1989 ..think again.. in fact look again.. there are very few women who are actually happy with marriage.. and most of them are the people who understand each other and not treat each other like objects of play.. be it normal or sadistic.

If its not physical abuse.. in bed or out.. its mental tension.. all over the place.. stifled with thoughts about him, his ego, his approval..its like what Tabu says in Astitva, In being Mrs Aditi Shrikant Pandit.. just the Aditi got lost somewhere... and while there are billions of women identifying themselves with the statement.. there are hardly any men willing to accept it even, let alone get the same feeling..would it not be nice if a man came up and said.. I lost my identity being your husband.. but never..even if they feel that their ego would stop them from uttering a word.

Well having said all that.. I still believe there are decent husbands in this world.. who view their wives as companions and not sex toys.. and there are a lot more who think the world about their wifes.. its the ratio that matter.. this versus that.. and of course the torturers win! You'd be surprised at how many of them are the educated lot who think that their education gives them a right to dictate terms in their spouses life and decisions.. I agree there should be mutual consent.. but then imposing ones ideas and decisions or for that matter even opinions is not a birth right! Hmm.. come to think of it.. its better that one stays single... than lie on the bed with a man who neither thinks not behaves in a civilized way, with move love and affection than ego , arrogance or passion.. and stare in to the ceiling or the revolving fan and think...Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (There is no end to this night)