The Blue Umbrella

Yesterday I saw the Vishal Bhardwaj directed movie The Blue Umbrella. The film is based on a Ruskin Bond novella (short novel) with the same title.

The story is set in a small village somewhere in the mountains. One day a little girl Biniya is given a beautiful Japanese blue umbrella by a tourist visiting the village in exchange for her necklace. Biniya proudly carries it around everywhere in the village and becomes the center of attraction. She also becomes a target of jealousy as some now want to possess that very umbrella.

Nandkishore Khatri (Pankaj Kapur) owns a tea stall and is always on the look out for collecting unusual things that are not easily available in their small locality. He now has his eyes set on acquiring the blue umbrella. He tries to bribe Biniya into giving her chatri to him but she refuses.

And then Biniya loses her blue umbrella. She suspects Khatri to have been the culprit but is unable to prove it. Some days later Khatri receives a parcel which is a Japanese red umbrella. All the love and attention that was earlier on Biniya is now given to Khatri. He even is invited to be a special guest at a local wrestling competition. As he is making a speech after the match it starts raining heavily. Soon the red colour of the umbrella gets washed away revealing the original blue colour underneath.

The panchayat having discovered Khatri as a thief and a liar decide to punish him by throwing him out of the village. Having been abandoned Khatri's tea stall is now a rundown place surronded only by snow and is a picture of the lonely life he is living. He still goes to the village as that is the only place he knows and can call his own. But he gets sneered there by the villagers and even the children refuse to take any free toffees from him.

Biniya is saddened to see all this and returns the blue umbrella to Khatri saying "yeh meri nahi hai (this is not mine)". With that everything gets set right. The winters obliviates and the sun returns. The tea stall is running to its old glory and Khatri regains his lost position.

The Blue Umbrella is a very simple film but what makes it special is Pankaj Kapur's acting, amazing photography by Sachin K. Krishn and the underlying theme of the story.

We all get easily attracted to all that is beautiful, be it a painting, a dress, a piece of jewellery, antique furniture or even a person. And if we owned one of these then some people would be in awe of us, some would come to praise us while still others would turn green with envy. Don't we all want to get everyone's attention.! We all want to be loved and respected!

How sad it must be then to be abandoned by your near and dear ones. Think of the elderly who are left at old age homes instead of being taken care of in their own homes. Think of the babies who are left some place by their parents who no longer want to take responsibility.

Why me?

This is one question which we end up asking ourselves when facing some very tough situations in life. We question God for putting us through our ordeal.

I'd read in a book that God does not like to get into an argument. He will never answer the question "Why me?" The author went on to say that the right the question is not "Why do bad things happen?" but "What happens to people when bad things happen to them?"

Do they take a turn for worse? Do they lose faith? Or do they rise above all of it?

I've often said (to myself) that when we do not question anything good happening to us, then we should not complain about the bad either. We should think of the darkest of days as challenges thrown at us by life which we should not fear facing head on.

What becomes of us following turbulent times is a reflection of our character and strength.

---------------------------------------------------------------
PS: Read this really nice story It's all in your response put as a post by Vibgyor.

Rules - pyar ka superhit formula

There is something inherently sweet about this movie: Rules - Pyar Ka Superhit Formula that whenever I watch it I can't help but smiling. It could be because I am, putting it mildly, an admirer of Aamir Khan and a succour for romantic comedies which are rare in Hindi filmdom.


The story is very simple.


Radha (Meera Vasudevan), an assistant photographer, is a huge fan of the model Vikram Verma (Milind Soman). One day her agency gets to shoot an ad campaign with Vikram and his girlfriend Maggie (Namrata Barua). Eventhough they are now working together Vikram does not notice Radha. Enters Daadima (Tanuja) who decides to help out her grandaughter by teaching her aakarshan ke paanch niyam (5 rules of attraction).


Rule No. 1: Aadmi ka dhyaan paana ho toh use dhyaan mat do. If you want to catch a man's attention then don't give him any attention.

That day Vikram asks Radha her name.

Rule No. 2: Aadmi ke peeche bhaagna use khud se dur bhagaana hai. Use bhaagne do tumhaare peeche. Running after man makes him run away from you. Let him come after you.

That day Vikram shares a taxi with Radha.


Rule No. 3: Aadmi ke liye hamesha ek raaz ban kar raho. Have a certain mystery about yourself in front of the boy.

That day Vikram dances with Radha in a party and drops her home.

Rule No. 4: Aadmi se hamesha ek baat chupake rakhna ki usme tumhe dard pahuchaane ki taaqat hai. Don't let the man know that he has the capacity to hurt you.

That day Vikram kisses Radha.



Rule No. 5: Agar aadmi se pyaar ka izhaar karwaana ho toh uski bahut tareef karo. If you want to make a man confess his love to you then you should praise him a lot.

That day Vikram says I love you to Radha.


By following these rules Radha gets what she wants afterall. But thats when it strikes her that she had been playing tricks on Vikram all along... that by playing by the rules she did not give him any choice but to love her. She tells him the truth believing that she couldn't be in love with him otherwise she wouldn't have done any of this.


Daadima takes charge for a second time to bring the two together knowing that Radha is being foolish. She remarks "Aakarshan ke toh phir bhi niyam hote hain par pyar ke... koi nahi."


In the climax of the film Radha climbs inside a hot air balloon to take some pictures during the shooting of a music video and it accidentally leaves ground. Our hero jumps to catch hold of the rope hanging from the balloon and climbs up to rescue his lady love!!


The following dialogues however save the ending from becoming melodramatic.




"Radha: Jab main chaudah saal ki thi toh maine ek photo dekha aur mujhe pyaar ho gaya. Woh tumhara photo tha. Jab main badi ho rahi thi pyar mere liye sirf ek khayal tha. Pyar ki kain tasveerein banaa rakhi thi maine apne mann mein... filmon se, romantic kitaabon se, gaano se. Aur har us tasveer ko main pyar samajhti rahi. Laal gulaabo ka ek guldasta, candle light dinner, barsaat mein saath saath bheegna, Valentine's Day pe kisko ek teddy gift karna, safed ghode pe ek rajkumar ka aana, bageeche mein gaane gaana, pyar bhare khat likhna, Bobby mein Rishi Kapoor aur Dimple ka ek kamre mein akele bandh ho jaana...


Lekin ab main jaan gayi hoon woh pyar nahi hai. Pyar woh hai jo...


Vikram: Jo tum mere liye mehsoos karti ho. "



Radha's description of love as 14 year old is so true. It comes very close to what I still associate with romance. So also are the lyrics of the song Kabhi phool dena... which tells what all happens in the name of love.



Kabhi phool dena...

Kabhi phool dena manaane ke liye
Kabhi dur rehba sataane ke liye
Aur kabhi kabhi khamosh baithe
Yunhi baahon ke sahaare
Suraj bujhaana saagar kinare
Phir raaton ko chaand ugaana
Waise pyar ke naam yeh toh yaaron
Sab hua hai
Ab yeh pyar bhi ho jaaye bas
Itni dua hai
Kabhi raahon mein phirte rehna
Bina kahe bas yunhi sunte rehna
Kammo mein uski saanson mein
Jalte hue pighalte rehna
Its only love I want to
Hold on to
And forever let it stay
Its only love that I need
Its only... only love

Janmo ke waade
Har baat pe kasam
Kabhi jaan kehna
Kabhi kehna haan sanam
Aur sau sau baar yeh kehna
Le aayenge hum taare zameen pe
Jo kahoge toh jaan bhi denge
Waise pyar ke naam yeh toh yaaron
Sab hua hai
Ab yeh pyar bhi ho jaaye bas
Itni dua hai
In lamhon ko rokne ki
Woh naakaam koshishein karna
Jo guzre hain saath unko
Phir yaadein banaake rakhna
Its only love I want to
Hold on to
And forever let it stay
Its only love that I need
Its only... only love

Love you... Aamir

Aamir Khan has finally revived his website http://www.aamirkhan.com/ and in what a smashing way!!

Aamir Khan is going to show the very first preview of his directorial debut Tare Zameen Par on his website. He is going to continue blogging with all the original posts and comments being shifted to aamirkhan.com. The most exciting news is the feature of a 24x7 live chat room where he'll drop in somtimes by announcing earlier and on other occasions as a surprise. In his personal chat he'll invite some chosen few to chat with him one on one until he decides to stop.

Amazing right!!

As always Aamir Khan's ideas are original and I love him for that.

I am copying his latest and also the last post on the Lagaan Blog here for everyone to know what my favourite actor is upto. :)

"Goodbye. Last post.

Well folks, all good things must come to an end and it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that this is my last post on this blog. I want you all to know how much I have enjoyed interacting with you’ll and will terribly miss this very intimate space that I shared with you. I know that along with me many of you have also gotten used to this space and have got used to hanging out here. Friendships have been formed here and new acquaintances made. Ideas exchanged and comfort zones created. Not to mention squabbles. Unfortunately all of this will have to end now. The reason guys, is that henceforth I will simply not have either the time or the bandwidth to continue with this blog.

Before I get all emotional let me say a quick goodbye and make my exit, as this is tough for me.

Alvida.

Love.

Aamir.

Gotcha!!!
This blog is coming to an end folks and I wont have the time and bandwidth
because THE PARTY IS SHIFTING TO http://www.aamirkhan.com/

I can’t see your faces right now but I’d give my right arm to be able to.
Sorry guys I couldn’t resist it. Ok let me get serious now.

Over the last few weeks apart from working on the post production of TZP, I
have been working on activating my own web site http://www.aamirkhan.com/ , which is
why I have not been very regular on my blog. Currently I am launching my site
with only two features, one is my blog which will continue as before, and the
second is a chat. This is probably the first of its kind (I think) and it was
developed on specific requirements given by me. This will be a 24/7 live chat.
Anyone wanting to be part of it can just jump in. Whenever I plan to come on
live on to the chat I will give you’ll prior notice…, or I might not. Which
means, that if I have 10 mts free I can log on, and if I see an interesting chat
taking place then I can just join in. Also this chat will have two rooms. One is
the general chat room where everyone will be and the other is my personal room.
So I can pick anyone from the general chat room into my personal room to have a
one on one. Every one can watch us chat while they continue in the general room
but you can’t come in. You come in only if I click on one of you, and leave when
I want to invite someone else. Got It? Well once you see it on the site you’ll
get the picture. Importantly if I chat from a computer which has a camera then
you’ll see me live as I type. I hope this puts an end to speculations about
whether its really “me”.

Also, to view my site you don’t have to register, but to post a comment on
the blog or to take part in the chat you do have to.

Ok now for some time lines.

1. This blog i.e. lagaandvd.com will cease to function on the 9th Oct at
precisely 11:59pm Indian Standard Time. All the posts on this blog will carry
forward into the archives of aamirkhan.com, so you can still access all the
earlier posts and comments.

2. www.aamirkhan.com will be operational from 10th Oct at 12:01am Indian
Standard Time. And hopefully my first post on http://www.aamirkhan.com/ will be up
then.

3. On 10th Oct at 9pm Indian Standard Time I will come on for my first live
chat with y’all. I will remain live for precisely one hour 9pm to 10pm. So make
sure you have registered before that.

4. On 11th Oct I will reveal to y’all the first images of TAARE ZAMEEN PAR.
This will be through a curtain raiser that will be on the site http://www.taarezameenpar.com/ .
Remember I had promised that y’all will be the first to see anything of the
film. Well here it is. This curtain raiser breaks world wide in theatres on 12th
Oct, but you can see it on the 11th at http://www.taarezameenpar.com/

5. On 12th Oct the curtain raiser breaks in theatres world wide and I would
really like it if y’all could catch it on the BIG screen, 5.1 Dolby surround
sound and all.

6. On 13th Oct I will once again come on live from 8pm to 9pm IST. By now
I’ll be dying with anxiety to hear what you’ll think of the curtain raiser.

At this point I would like to thank Carlton and his team at hungama.com,
Kalpendu, Nishant, Ninad, Aditya and Manesh who are from the creative team, and
Tarun who is from the tech team. These are the people who were behind the
lagaandvd blog. And thanks to Mandar, Gauri and Kalpendu for developing the chat
which I will be using on ak.com.

I’d like to clarify that within the given time I have not been able to work
in other features yet on ak.com, but I’ll keep adding them as we go along. Also
I’ve had absolutely no time to work on the design front so right now ak.com is
extremely plain and simple, no frills.

So see y'all next on http://www.aamirkhan.com/ "

Ten on ten

Today I completed my 4 month transform package at the gym!! Yipee!!

Summarizing, the first 3 months I was very regular going 6 days a week to Solaris. But after that I got tired. I lost steam. I bunked many times and the days I did force myself to go I didn't follow my weight training and exercise seriously. But I kept on with my dieting and didn't resort to binging on unhealthy foods. The result is that I have succeed in achieving my target of reducing my weight by 10 kgs!!

I am now taking a break from the gym for a month. But I am going to keep up with the disciplined lifestyle that was introduced to me on 6th June, 2007. I am not going to sit idle. I am going to play serious badminton with a friend every morning starting Monday. This will be a welcome change.

I have however decided to join Solaris all over again after this brief period. When I do that I plan to take up a personal trainer who will motivate me when I start slacking. The target will remain the same as the first time... to score another ten on ten.

A tale of two cities

Of all the cities in India that I've been to, the ones that I imagine myself settling in are Delhi and Bangalore. Read on to know why this is so.

I was just 2 months old when I first arrived in Delhi. Its the city where I grew up and which I grew to love. I've now been living in Pune for over three years. This is where my home is. But its when I go to Delhi that I actually feel as if I've come home. Its a strong bond of some 23 years!!

True I used to dislike its summer season. But I equally loved and still love everything that the dilli ki sardi brought... sitting in the garden under the lazy looking sun, the warm razaai which I would just not want to get out of every morning, the cold winds turning me into Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, the fogs so dense you could bearly see the neighbouring house, the waaf (cloud) coming out of my mouth as I'd take a puff from the invisible cigar imagined to be held between my fingers, the half an hour late school timings, the Mummy-made sweaters, the hateful scarf which I would take off the moment I'd get inside a bus, the rains which would inevitably fall on Christmas like showers of blessings and my shivering as a result of refusing to wear anything warm in our Christmas party.

Besides that Pune absolutely pales in front of Delhi. Afterall Dilli ki baat hi kuch aur hai! The moment you step a foot there you get an absolutely different feel.

No wonder wanting to keep my ties with Delhi intact, when I had just joined my lab in NCL I would introduce myself by saying that "I stay in Pune but I am basically from Delhi." Though I no longer use that line whenever someone wants to pull my leg he/she recites my dialogue loud and clear without fail.


With Bangalore it was a completely different story. It was love at first sight. My sister's wedding reception resulted in my first trip there. The morning of the reception Ulka and I explored MG Road and Brigade Road. A day after with a car at our disposal Daddy and I did quite a bit of moving around. I found everything grand be it the IISc Campus, Bangalore Palace, Vidhan Soudha, Forum Mall or Kemp Fort. Short though my visit was I returned to Pune to announce to everyone that I'd found the city I wanted to live happily ever after in.

I have been to the city 3 more times since then. Once on official purposes to attend a summer school for two weeks. They made us work so hard that I was actually happy to head back to Pune. On the other two occasions things were leisurely. Besides Ulka would pamper me at home. Everyday we had to do something different. She always took me to the most coolest places for shopping and I would always come out impressed with every mall and food court we hit. Take my word as I speak from experience Casa Picola serves the yummiest chicken and fish burgers.

One of the things that I have heard people complain about is the heavy traffic in Bangalore. May be if I were to get caught in it everyday I wouldn't like it either. But other than that I don't think there is any grudge that one could hold against it.

What surprises me most is that eventhough I don't know every nook and cranny of Bangalore, I somehow never feel like a stranger there.


Between Delhi and Bangalore I wouldn't be able to make a choice on my own. I am hoping for time to take care of it.