Review Delhi 6: Message too subtle

Really wanted the title to be ‘’ Message too subtle, if any!’’, but then I didn’t! The message is in fact so subtle in its delivery that most would miss it.

The movie is about a guy, Roshan who comes from the US to India just to fulfill his dying grand-mothers last wish. The fact that even till the end of the movie, the grand-mother does not die is an altogether different story. So Roshan basically lands in this huge cultural melting pot called ‘Delhi’. A place full of colour and people or rather full of colourful people.

The movie’s biggest weakness is its multitude of characters. The entire first half is just dedicated to introduction of various characters. After the first 10 minutes, I told myself that may be now the movie will pick pace. Ditto after the first 60 minutes, but again, the same result. The end of the first half leaves you with a hollow feeling. Even after a good 70 minutes, you don’t know where the movie is heading, what the message is.

The movie though, is a visual delight, old Delhi looks amazingly beautiful. Rakesysh Mehra again delivers on the visual front, the same way he did with Rang De. But the story leaves a lot to be desired. But the music is truly uplifting. If you thought Rahman’s ‘Jai Ho’ was brilliant, Delhi 6’s music will simply blow your mind away.
Also, there are multiple stories running at the same time: Sonam fighting against her father’s wish to settle for an arrange marriage, the Hindu-Muslim tension over the ‘kaala bandar’, a rich landlord’s wife cheating him and many more. Add to this, the love story between Bittu and Roshan and what you get is a plate-full of confusion.

Even Roshan’s transition from an American to a thoroughbred Delhi ka munda is shabbily handled. The fact that Roshan, born and bought up in America just easily merges into the loud society of Delhi is most baffling. Surpirisngly, his character does not encounter any awkwardness and hence the transition that the director wanted to show, that of an American-Indian finding his true self is not effective.

Please enjoy the song Masakalli thoroughly, not because it is a great song, but because it is one of the rare sequences in the movie worth enjoying. When the movie finally ended, I was left with a highly confused and empty feeling. It was as if I had just seen a marathon episode of a daily soap, whose last scene said ‘’ To be continued…’’

P.S: I may be a bit more disappointed because Rang De Basanti is one of my favourite movies. Hence, expected this one to be even better.

A path will emerge…

I know the path today, but there was a day when I didn’t.
I knew my destination, but not the path, which lead to it.
I kept moving, hoping to find a way and one day, I did!
I was surprised as the path emerged out of nowhere- quite literally.
It came from across seven seas, from a place, which I had only read about in books.
Even my dreams couldn’t have imagined of a distance so enormous, but my belief built a smooth highway over it.
Today, I have almost reached my destination.
I am so close, I can almost smell the air there.
But I forgot how I got there coz I just kept working, praying, hoping and of course believing!
I am almost there, but it’s just taking some time.
But I do know, I will get there.
May be the path is a bit hazy again, but I know what to do.
Work, Pray, Hope and Believe!

Slumdog slams it!

A film about India, shot in India, featuring Indians! How I wish this could be India's official entry for the Oscars, but for its British director, Danny Boyle!

Slumdog Millionaire deserves all the hype surrounding it. From it's very first scene, in which the slum kids outrun our very own pot-bellied cops inspite of them having motorcycles, the movie manages to capture the rawness of slum-life. Not only that, throughout it's duration, the movie has some terrific scenes, some funny, some moving and striking!

In a strange way, the movie manages to make slums look smelly yet full of life, especially in the scene in which Jamaal jumps from the toilet into a pit full of shit and runs across drenched in....you know what, just to get Amitabh's autograph. No movie has ever manged to capture India's dark underbelly in such a beautiful manner. Kudos to the screenplay writer for making the film look more realistic than Indian films.

The whole journey of Jamaal from the slums to the show is brilliantly thought-off. The beauty of the movie is that Anil Kapoor asks questions, not the actor but the film answers it. The narrative keeps shifting from the show to his childhood, adulthood et all, answering all the questions along the way!

The direction is brilliant, the music is good, but the real star of the movie is not Anil Kapoor or A R Rahman, the real star is Jamaal, the little kid. His acting is as good as anyone's I have seen in recent times. His spontaenity and enthusiasm just get to you. He is a real find, a slumdog who I think really has the potential to be a star worth not million but billion bucks. An actor so good, I wouldnt surrpised if many producers are ready to jump in the pit full of shit just to get his dates.

Slumdog, the movie is brilliant but it is Jamaal, a real-life slum-kid who makes the movie what it is. Hence, 'Slumdog slams it! 'Full stop

P.S: We will miss the Oscar again!

Is good always ahead of the bad???

We paid with 178 lives to realize the fact that no more can our policemen protect us with Lathi's. Our policemen are still trying to learn how to tap multiple mobile phones, while the terrorists are already using satellite phones. Why does bad always need to spit in our face for us to realize that times are changing. Only when a plane crashed into a building did we realise that important buildings need to protected from air attacks. Only when they came by sea, did we start taking coastal security seriously. Suddenly we are guarding the sea, as well the airspace. But bad, meaning the terrorists will next find another ingenious way to hurt us.

All of the above makes me think, is bad always ahead of the good? What is victory after losing hundreds of lives and orphaning thousands of families. We are trying to equip our police with AK-47's while next time the terrorists will come with better machine guns. Is good always ahead of the bad? May be, good does not weaponise itself until bad strikes, If thats true, lets anticipate the bad, lets prepare for it . Let's be good, but lets think like BAD. Lets guess where all are we weak, which can be the probable targets. Lets not just be the good, lets be the best! Is good always ahead of the bad??? Hopefully, not again, never again!

Noise gives rise to one Voice!

Its been more than a month since the horrific attacks. For once, from a varied mass of rich, poor, corrupt, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh individuals, a WE has emerged. A WE, which was made possible only because the attack created panic, chaos, pandemonium -basically a lot of noise from which a VOICE has emerged. Its funny but for something good to happen, a LOT of bad is always neccesary. This voice is the voice of the stupid, scared and angry comman man. May be this time, we can change India. But after 30 odd days, we should ask ourselves, is the noise lessening, is the voice fading? I hope not, but it really is.

NO VOTE. NO DIFFERENCE!

Last few days I have seen a flurry of emails, communities and SMS'es which talk about using 49-0, an option through which we can cast a ' No-vote'. These emails state that if a certain percentage of people dont vote, the election will be cancelled. This is completly untrue, please read 3rd Dec's DNA main supplement, page no 8. It clearly states that a person can cast a No-Vote, but in no circumstances will the election ever be cancelled. So, this option basically doesnt make any sense. It would be great if all of you spread this messgae around that those emails, SMS'es are false.

Assuming that they were true, what would we really achieve by getting a election cancelled. Here is a list of things, which we can achieve by casting a No-Vote

1) Wastage of public money for getting one election cancelled and arranging for another one.
2) Stressing out our security forces as their duty hours double during elections.
3) Endangering our security as the police would be more busy with the elections.

We as commoners only matter to a politician when he knows that we, I and YOU are going to vote. When he knows that I and YOU are goign to vote, our problems become his problems, our grievances become his, our issues become his, at least for the time being. But the moment politicians know that YOU are not going to vote, YOU dont matter to them anymore. Hence, your problems arent their problems, your issues arent their issues anymore and hence OUR security isnt their CONCERN anymore. Hence, NO VOTE. NO DIFFERENCE.

Thoughts

Here are a few of my thoughts on the terrorist attack which rattled Mumbai....

You cant fight AK-56 rifles with lathi’s. Empower the police.

Terrorists are trained to kill, so they kill.
Politicians are there to protect us, but they don’t. So, who is the bigger enemy?

Just 10 terrorists killed 183 people and injured 294. Should we say more?

350 commandos protect Mayawati. 150 commandos protect Sonia Gandhi. Who protects us?????

We love our soldiers, but we want to see them alive.

Take my salary but PLEASE buy bullet-proof jackets for our police and save them.

We know who they are, where they came from, who financed them…..what are we waiting for? A nuclear attack??

We saved the parliament, we saved the Taj. Enough of saving, lets talk about prevention not cure.

Strength: Soldiers
Weakness: Politicians
Opportunity: Ourselves
Threat: Terrorism, everywhere!

There are many thougts, many emotions, but just not enough words to express my gratitude to all those bravehearts who risked their lives to save the lives of people they didnt even know. Brave Commandos, I dont think my words can do any justice to your courage. But to do my own small thing, I SALUTE YOU!!