PK: Movie Review

Raju Hirani has done 3 movies before PK and by this time I am confident that I would be able to make out even his 100th movie out of a heap of unlabelled DVDs. He has a signature style of movie making and he does a very good job at that. Else, who would have remembered a not so conspicuous person who used to come in small TV Ads and jingles like Fevicol in 90s.

Plot:
PK is an alien who lands in Terminator style near a barren railway track in Rajasthan and he gets robbed off the remote control which was only way for him to get back to his planet. The entire movie is interspersed with his bouts of struggle to get back his remote from humans. Against all odds, Hirani's movie would always delve into an issue which would question status quo and challenge the system. Here in PK he has very smartly pushed in a satire on religion filled with incidental light humor and emotion-filled plot.
Anushka Sharma (Jaggu) is a repoter who helps PK get his remote back. Saurabh Shukla (Tapaswi Ji) is a godman whom PK confronts for his remote with simple yet powerful questions which make people wonder the veracity of the divisive religious faiths we have.

Strengths: Song- Chaar Kadam, Humor, Aamir, Anushka, Raju Hirani, Ranbir's guest entry, Wrong Number wala slogan - I am sure it will go viral

Weaknesses: Story (somehow hackneyed and unrealistic), Bhojpuri (I may be biased but plz don't distort a language so much), Charachter of Parikshit Sahni (father of Anushka. Who whistles at one's daughter's book recital ?? Overacting jerk !), Bomb-Blast was not needed to balance the tone, please and Dilliwaale

Overall: I liked the movie but not as much as I liked Raju's previous 3 movies.
Why ?
Well ... you see ...At one point Anushka's charachter even admits Hirani's intent behind PK, that people love to see something new all the time. Hirani seems to have assumed that the script of the PK would be taken as quite hat-ke but actually PK sounds so much like Akshay and Paresh Rawal starrer "OMG" ! On few occassions I felt irritated actually when I felt like watching OMG-2 !

Having said that - still Hirani saves his day by not overdoing the plot into details and tries to keep the issue-discussion bundled with humor and balances his challenges on one particular religion (i.e. Hinduism) by mixing other religions too. But somehow I felt, why being so defensive and explanatory ? A very controversial question that I wanted to ask Hirani was - why we Hindus (or Indians) feel afraid in making a satire biased while questioning even Islam ? Why we feel it's Ok to question Hinduism ? Just because it's a cultured behaviour to make fun of one's own community as that would not hurt others' sentiments ? Somehow I could feel the defensive as well as lopsided tone in the script.

So - One time watchable only ... and nowhere near MunnaBhai or Rancho ...

Stars: 3*

Chalaa Taani !
Neo.

Karma = Bitch

As they say - Karma is a bitch ! She loves 69 because you get what you give 😜

You would wonder what made me say this ... Well ... recently I realised power of this bitch in its full bloom. 

Some backdrop to give you a perspective - My faith in myself is a strong one. I indeed started shaping myself up somewhere around 57th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing ... Strange ? Hehehe ... Nothing much but I picked up a book by Burke Hedges which talked about some tried and tested tips for success and happiness. One of the points that I remember out of that entire cellulose bundle is that we all are broadly results of our own actions and that taking responsibility of one's own actions and thoughts is a mandatory key to a successful life ...

Since then I started becoming more of what you know me as now and what I will become in future ...

But I was one person who realised power of thoughts, speeches and actions quite early in life ... Lucky me ...

Flash forward - The lightning struck when I was recently reminded that not everyone in this mrityu-lok is blessed with that kind of mind. There are people who love blaming others for their own problems ... I even went on to discover the intricate fabric / matrix of karma around our lives ... Which at times gets interspersed with others' Karma too ...

What people give you is their Karma but the way you respond back, is your Karma. So watch out ...

And thus, come what may, I'm not going to deter from my duties and the due Karma that I have to release in this metaphysical space within the time slot assigned to me out of eternity ... 

I am developing a taste for spiritualism and faith in a person whom I have been ignoring for long ... The God ... 

I can feel its presence in and around me ... Again ... And I feel strange ... It's like everything started coming back to me ... Again ... I even did a few days of research on the life beyond death ... Realised there has been no empirical evidence of a soul moving out of body and taking birth again into some different body in next life ... Scientists term the so-called soul as a manifestation of our very own neurons and some electrical pulses running through them ... and that when people describe the strange light that they saw during near death experiences are actually just hallucinations caused just when their brains were near complete brain death ... So we humans have somehow agreed that we are alone in this whole universe ? That would be an awful waste of space indeed 😜 ... Bullshit !

 

Not convinced .. Me .. You mini me's scientists ...

We are indeed manifestations of someone else sitting somewhere else doing something else ... Had that energy been so vulnerable to let us know all tools and concepts to decipher its own existence, we humans would have been impatient enough to have stained that citadel too ... Something's are better kept secret ... And then something's are better when told ... That Karma is a bitch ... Hence Proved. Now FO !

Love.

Chala Taani !

Neo 😜

Haider : Movie Review

Gulon mein rang bhare ...

Baad-e-naubahar chale ...

Chale bhi aao ...

Ke Gulshan ka Karobaar Chale ... 

Haider has a soul ... Somewhere Menhdi Hasan and Faiz would be smiling along with Shakespeare.

Cast: Shahid (Haider), Tabu (Ghazala), Kay Kay (Khurram), Shraddha (Arshiya), Irrfan (Roohdaar), Narendra Jha (Dr. Hilaal).

Plot: Set in 1995 Kashmir, this "Hamlet" inspired movie is about revenge of Haider, whose father went missing after a BSF raid on their home. Haider's mom, Ghazala, happens to be his uncle Khurram's secret desire. Arshiya is the lady love of Haider. The movie in fact starts when Haider's father Dr. Hilaal Meer gets caught with a terrorist inside his home and goes missing (BSF is shown in negative/neutral light in this movie, so chill). Haider arrives home in Kashmir from his college in Aligarh, finds his home burnt and that his mom and uncle are not so sad about it all.  He starts searching for his missing father alone meandering through the mazes of indifferent system of state administration, police and BSF. In cometh Roohdaar a former ISI agent and current Jihadi who claims that he was with Haider's father till his last moment  and that his father was caught due to a deceitful trigger pulled by  his uncle Khurram. Rooh also claims that Ghazala was an accomplice in Khurram's plan.  The plot thickens. Haider cries "revenge".

The movie moves into a bit of long drawn twists till the time you reach climax. Not sharing the entire plot so as to maintain reader's curiosity.

Highs: You feel the emotional crescendo rising at 

1. Bulbul-e-Bismil song and awesome dance by Shahid,

2. "Mike Check" act of Haider, 

3. the graveyard song, 

4. when you hear Dr. Hilaal singing Menhdi Hasan's "karobar chale" in BSF captivity and 

5. when Ghazala takes everyone in audience to climax of movie just by pulling one string.

Lows: None whatsoever. I was glued to screen and could never feel even a single low.

Strengths: Script, Dialogues, Cast, Kashmir, Music, Lyrics, Acting ... What else do you need ?

After long time we have seen such a masterpiece on screen created. Thanks to the script from VB and Basharrat Peer.

Shahid, Tabu, Kay Kay steal the show with their power packed roles as well as flawless acting. 2 thumbs up to the dialogues especially to the one which Roohdaar replies to Dr. Hilaal when he was asked as to wether Roohdaar is a Shia or a Sunni. Signature of VB, Music is just awesome with soulful lyrics from Gulzaar and Faiz Sahab. The movie claims that how seamless the shoot went when credits start rolling ... what could have been a better place to shoot a movie than Kashmir. 

Weaknesses: Arshiya's fate, Long drawn twists at times ...

Overall: Haider is not something that you think of. In my knowledge this is the most balanced yet bold flick about the political issue known as Kashmir. It doesn't bend itself towards or away from any side. The "mike check" act by Haider is actually the punch / rhetoric in face of everyone in political brass as to what is solution of Kashmir ? Many of us Indians won't be able to relate to what's shown because for us normal Indians, days and nights are relatively predictable and peaceful. Before anything, we are humans. Vishal Bhardwaj has deep dived into details of the issue and has been very bold in expressing it with his heart. This movie should rather be made tax free and should also contest for Oscars. 

Watch it for Kashmir and the best till date from VB. Kids and faint heated should avoid as there are some gory scenes.

My Ratings: 4.5*

"We would run through those streets again - II"

Heer
====
Still wondering as to what happened to her life ? For the world, she is happy, smug and contented. But inside, deep inside, is she sure of what she is concluding about her life ?
She misses Rancho, but not always. She has moved on. She is firm on that. No one can deter her thoughts now.
Rancho was a mistake. Gross one ...
=======================
Rancho
======
Still wondering as to what happened to his life ? For the world, he is happy, smug and contented. But inside, deep inside, is he sure of what he is concluding about his life ?
He misses Heer, always. Has he moved on? He is unable to be firm on that. Thoughts ? Don't ask .....
Heer was the most beautiful thing ever happened to Rancho ...

But Rancho should move on ...

He has been confused with what struck his life. At first he thought he was in love. Well, can someone define love for him ?
I don't think so. People have been conditioned that love has to happen the way movies show it.
Why would we press Rancho to accept a definition which doesn't have any firm footing of its own ?

Every sane human has a split personality (don't mistake it with the psychopath's split personality) ...
There's a person A and then there's even a person B inside a human.
Person A is what that person is perceived by outer world - be it his/her family members, friends and even the spouse.
Person A is the nice, social, logical, responsible, lovable, respectable and ambitious picture of that human.

On the other hand, the Person B is what is known to only the innermost core of the human mind. Just at a level in between the subconscious and conscious minds. This person is unsophisticated, unsocal, illogical, irresponsible, despicable for the world and smug on ambitions. In spite of all these vices, this Person B is capable to attract the most beautiful thing on this earth - and that's called as "Unconditional Love" ... Unfortunately, Person B's desires at best, if exposed in society, would hint at blasphemy or perversion ... But that's a definition made by humans who choked their Person Bs to death.

Rancho may have got into this unconditional love with Heer ... That's why his B has not been able to forget Heer ... Heer felt similar rush of emotions too ... But she didn't hope for an unconditional bond ...
Today ... She misses Rancho ... and then very next moment, she moves on. She is firm on that.

Now, Rancho never expects Heer to come back in his life but he still hopes for it ...

=====================================
Heer and Rancho - And their story :-)

Just trying my hand on developing a coherent flow of thoughts ... suggestions welcome ...

Manga Tak !

Neo.

Bounce Back, Kill and Move On

Life is a long duration school. We keep learning every day. If we have to maintain our balance, be it mental or emotional or physical, we need to keep moving on.

I had been sidelined, shunted, deceived, ridiculed and even back-stabbed badly by those whom I gave my blood, sweat and even heart. Too naive you bugger ... take it ... now you better improve ...

There were instances in my past when I literally went near life changing nervous breakdowns ...
Some opportunists even thought of using my situational disadvantage. Rest everyone around me thought I sounded fine. Much because I didn't share my inner struggle as I didn't like unsolicited advice.
But deep inside me - I was demanding for justice ... From whom ? Well, I lost faith in your God long ago ...
I was lost, battered, tired, and disillusioned. I didn't like sharing my stress and would have ended up falling into depression.
At times I have been facing challenges on my limitations too ... I had and have many of them ... But I decided to defy them ... People have tried to put a tag on me ... I firmly believe that if I am humble enough to understand my gaps and if I have a reason good enough for the effort, I can change myself ... And I mean it ...

They say, "Neo bounce-back zordaar maarta hai" ... I don't actually like sulking and acting like a tragedy queen for long ... I have got one life here ... Can't waste it for some losers whom I loved or trusted more than they deserved ...
Also, if Neo needs to mend ways, so be it ... I am "The One" .... The child in me would bounce back without any initiation and that's my mantra ... 1st step is to pick up the right springs to fit beneath my sole and then 2nd step is to prepare for the bounce-back-and-kill-bill ... I just refuse to give-up or keep falling into traps ...

What turned me around on each occassion was always something people would ignore in daily rigmarole of life ...

Now comes the agenda of this post - Remembering my turn-around cues in my blog here now so that in future, I can know now how and where I would get those springs :D

a. Chaailaa kya surat thi vo kya kehte hain ... Vo raat apun do baje tak piyaaaaa ... bhoolna hai bhoolna hai ... agle din mohalle mein --- Aishwarya aayi ;-)
b. If you can get what you want in life just by sheer hard work, then what's stopping you from doing that ? Just go ahead and start hitting the hammer :-)
c. Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies .... ;-)
d. A hard fall means a high bounce... if you're made of the right material ... :D
e. I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom ... (somehow I am a big fan of bouncing back concept ... may be this why I keep falling rock bottom ... Kick , eh ? ;-))

Chalaa Taani !!
Love - Neo.

Music is language of souls : Me trying to interact today :D

I keep falling into this weird quicksand of narcissism ... And the best part is that over passing years I realised that I am not the greatest hero born on this earth ... and then these instances of getting entrapped actually started giving me pain ...

Today I am writing direct from heart .... So beware of making any conclusions :D ... as I have a damn strong brain and will to control my heart ... So what you see here is not my perceived self ... but what I am actually deep within ... as in Inside-Out (there goes Bryan Adams crooning his heart out)

I don't like society. I rather hate it. Why ? Because it has always kept my inner thoughts and wishes at leash ... Abhinav unleashed would be much more unsocial, a near-psychopath, a selfish, a quick-fun-acquiring yet an outwardly-humble guy with a sinister smile ... Devil Incarnate :D

Society has always kept killing something inside me ... this why I started hating the very source of this civilization and rules based living ... your so called fucked up concept of God !

I didn't like when I was rated ... against some people who were directionless ...
I actually liked some fellow human beings as they were really beautiful ... enough so that I would hanker for them ... But then I kept moving on ... even one single hint of indifference from them sent me into a state of reflective indifference ... actually narcissism ... yet again ... And then I started telling myself - They are losers ... They don't kow whom they are missing out ... :D

Rest all people went to take oil ... I am what I am and I will be always me ... !

Then came my academy ... my turning yard ... a long turning on lathe and subsequent metamorphosis ... On 5th October 1999 the entire hostel danced on some random music medley and wished me a happy and long life ... I had never been center of attention for such a large crowd ... that night changed me forever ... I realised the strength in me as a soul ... realized that actually I was the winner at birth itself ... afterall I was the fastest sperm out of millions who wished to fuse the ovum first ... I started loving myself more ... It can actually whack your entire psyche ... It did to mine at least ...

And then the ships and the beauitful oceans ... I fell in love with them the moment I saw them for the first time ... they were just so grand ... like a sublime magnum opus with all possible epic sequences, dialogues and moments ...

But all this while ... I kept my animal instinct intact ... deep somewhere ... though by now buried away from this indurate and (rather) blood-seeking society ... only unleashing it in flashes for my selfish yet humble growth trajectory ... While I moved into a desired state of emotional bonding ... Which initially came across as a covalent one ... which later ... only due to this society - turned into a real ionic one :-) I tend to ignore follies made here (My circus ... my monkeys) ...

By that time, guided solely by worldly desires of fulfillment, I kept running ... only until I realzed my animal started turning impatiently in its own grave when it heard some faint murmur of like-minded souls above the hard lid I had put over it ...

Now ... when I am already engrossed into this mad rat race ... one day ... just like that I asked my animal ... would it plan to come up again ?

It said - "No ... You have been running fine ... You may actually go on to be a winner in this rat race"

"But ... Would that bring me happiness ?"

"Who knows, Abhinav ? ... Would you see your actions in so selfish light ? ... At times ... even this rat race is mis-contrued and mis-represented ... you need to dive deeper ... to see what actually matters to you"

He seemed logical ... and of late - firm ...
And then I realized that ... Come What May ... I won't be able to come out of rat race so easily ... the decision to participate in rat race is actually solely driven by a sense of responsibility ... The responsibility of being a God to someone ... And not the fucking idol and texts and pilgrimages that people push onto fellow humans just to score a long-term-business-actually ...

But I made a pact with him ... I would talk to him ... and try to keep him alive ... if he dies, I would die too ...

So today - Just to soothe my animal ... I planned to make a laundry list of interactions that touches him :D ... I would be back ... ;-)

(Now ... Who am "I"? ... Ha ha ha ha ha ha) ... The self diffused like a thin smoke into air ... and I woke up ... only to find you staring at my blog and trying to make a sense of what kind of man I am ... Well, only suggestion - Don't try ;-)

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUZRSeqzz8
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vcd9PDsdIs
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN5dP3BZALQ
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDJP49awOcg
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS-DkrZBdxA
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGMEx2bEyKM
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRxmgHdpXYA
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGpd1V8YYT0
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqQ6BF50AT4
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjWuOtHGJck
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcKl4LzMzzs
12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBw_JSiNF9c
13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnSNXzTXsF0
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bCAd59yH-o
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YzW1nMB9fk
16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts
17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwtdhWltSIg
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TO48Cnl66w

... Now feeling sleepy (due to another night-out) as well as rejuvenated after such a dose of good music :-)

"We would run through those streets again"

---------
Rancho (with a coffee mug in his hand):
---------
He was on his regular task of mulling over ever-annoying stress buttons of Cash, Budgets and Audits ... All thanks to his career in Banking ... when all of a sudden, he was struck by an inescapable thought (as strong as a lightning I'd say) called "Heer".

And like a small boy watching through his kaleidoscope, he went into his past. He went back into those streets ... those dwelling in a peculiarly random city ... where he used to run around ... to gather some fun ... and may be some fuel for his brain.

Those streets were somehow nature's beckoning to his redemption. How ?
Well, it required a normal Indian to first put himself through a self-hypnosis and then an interview with vampire to understand what he did and how he did that.
Today, again, he wished (rather craved) to be in those streets.
Streets of salvation, streets of freedom, streets of childhood, streets of innocence.
It was like one of those dreams he used to frequently see during his school days wherein he used to encounter a sky akin to aurora in Chennai !!

----------
Heer (somehwere ... as confused as Rancho):
----------
Heer loved Rockstar. She told Rancho on phone that she liked it... She told Rancho, that it reminded her of him.
And Rockstars, as their name suggest, are stars. Far away...so far away that Heer kept getting confused that they were of no use to earth, humans and likewise / obviously, Heer.

But Heer also forgot one fact that even one single star was important for her entire galaxy to sustain the time's test. There was a stellar balance which that star enabled. And this star was not just another star ... Eh ?


------------
We:
------------
Wonder if Heer remembers today as to when and why did she cried for first time in front of her Rockstar. Star asked her. She replied that those were tears of happiness. Well, we can safely assume that the star slipped on those tears and fell in love, right at that very moment.
And the star watches earth ... till today. May be still awestruck by it's first gaze on Heer.
And till today, it hopes that it'll get a chance to run through those streets again ... with Heer.

Memoirs of a Sailor !! This time Russia

Been snowing all the day ... been on the snowy deck for too long ... wish to leave it all and take a break ...

The deck seems so beautiful ... Green and White ! Had it been heavy snow, we won't be seeing green at all ... Fresh epoxy paint we applied all the way while coming to this beautiful port of Novorossyisk ... ladies in steel all around ... the most beautiful ones are near the pier by the breakwater ...

While entering I was in forward station ... still a new recruit ... learning the ropes ... I remember dropping anchor ... the port one ... captain had ordered ... "let go port anchor" ... then after long silence ... I saw a tugboat approaching ... they were shouting something ... were they asking for heaving line ... nope ... cigaarettay commandante ... F U ... take the line up your ass cheeks and pull our ropes you bloody scoundrels ... that's what I heard next ... and then I remember myself running ... running from bits to bollards ... passing on the rope ... turning the winch wheels in the outward direction ... till the time ropes reached the pier ... they put it diligently around the staghorn ... heave ... heave ... and then I heard captain asking everyone to heave all tight and we are "all fast" ... yes we were ... who could be "slow" ... but now with rain water dripping from the edge of my helmet, I felt homesick ... Mummy ... Papa ... I miss you !

I remember cycling in rains when I was a kid ... especially near the giant open granite mine in Bharra Basti near my home in Bokaro ... it was an open pit mine ... they called it a quarry I think ... cycling all the way down like a helix around the periphery of the giant pit used to be sheer fun ... and then there was a green color lake in the crater formed out of the pit ... Atlas cycle ... yup ... this was my cycle ... those were the days ...

And then these are also days ... the way I miss those days of childhood that I spent in cycling around the green forests and overflowing rapid rivers in my small hometown ... must be the same way I'd miss these days that I spend on ships ... amen !! Can't take more of it ... Well ... Why? ... Let's think on that later dude ! ...

Chief calls me on walkie-talkie ... "Cadet, the pumping has stopped. There's a 3 day long strike in the port. We won't be doing any cargo operations for 3 days, all going well. So secure up everything and we stay all fast. Shut the manifold valve. Shut the drop valves too on your way back to CCR." 5 minutes hence I was in CCR.

"Cadet, you should push off now. It's been more than a day you have been awake. Take a break !"

"Sir, can I please go out in the evening sir ? With my mates ? It's been long since I last took a shore leave, Sir !"

"Okay, but what would you do outside ? It's been snowing ! You won't find anything open."

"We will see Sir. I just wish to take a break. Hope that's fine."

"Yes yes. That sounds "determined" ... I dare not stop you ... eh ? ... Go and have fun :-)"

(After 2 hours)

We 2 mates are walking down the gangway, almost running :-)
Few of the best moments onboard are the ones in which you're running out of the ship ... Trust me !
It's like ... you get "grounded" when you leap off the last step of the gangway and land on the wharf :-)

Snowing had got mild and it was the perfect moment for us to move out.
So, basking in complete joy, we headed for the tanker terminal's gate. It might have taken me around 15 mins to come in viewing range of the terminal security personnel who were guarding the gate. Showed our passports and shore passes, I specifically showed a cheshire smile (the one which we Indians tend to enact in front of unassuming white folks) and asked for permission to exit.

"This way please sir !" He stepped on the side and showed me the way to the gate. Woah ! That was fast :-)

My mate's name was Imtiaz Ali. He had been on ship for few less months than me and was almost same age.
And that's why we shared a very good rapport with each other. Fortunately, this was the first shore leave where we were going out together.
We took a cab from terminal's gate and asked him to drop us at the nearest cyber cafe.