Time and again

There are several Hindi films with a "lost and found family" as the basic plot. One such classic is the 1965 Yash Chopra directed Waqt. The story can be summarized as follows. In the aftermath of a severe earthquake Lala Kedarnath's (Balraj Sahni's) family gets separated. His eldest son Raja finds himself in an orphanage from where he flees after being mistreated by the manager. He grows up to become a thief (Raj Kumar). The second son Ravi gets adopted by a couple who find him on a road, hurt. Under their wings he (Sunil Dutt) goes on to study law. Kedarnath's wife Lakshmi (Achala Sachdev) faces many hardships to raise their youngest son Vijay (Shashi Kapoor). In the meanwhile Lala is sentenced to jail when in his anger he kills Raja's orphanage manager. Years go by and the three brothers cross paths. Seeing a childhood photo of Ravi, Raja recognizes him but does not reveal his identity. When Raja is falsely implicated in a murder case Ravi comes to his defense. Both Vijay and Lala Kedarnath are key witnesses in this trial. After many twists and turns Ravi succeeds in proving Raja's innocence. Wanting to hear the final verdict Lakshmi also comes to the court. In this manner the whole family is brought face to face and gets ultimately reunited. Towards the end Lala Kedarnath says to his wife:

"Lakshmi... aisa maaloom hota hai jaise kuch hua hi nahi. Guzarne se pehle waqt kitna lamba maloom hota hai, kaate nahi kat-ta. Lekin guzarjaane ke baad sadiyan pal ban jaati hain, jaise koi sapna dekha ho."

meaning "Lakshmi... it appears as if nothing has happened. Before time passes by it appears so long, difficult to spend. But after it passes by centuries seem like moments, as if it was a dream we had seen."

As each day ends I tell myself that time is slipping away and gliding by. I am thankful for this as it brings me that much closer to the kind of life I am longing for. But as I am no way near the stage where the mega (centuries) transforms into nano (moments), there is still a lot left to endure. The uncertainity springs all kinds of doubts and when my spirits sway and sag I wonder if there is light at the end of the tunnel. To people who are in a similar boat Emily Dickinson gives the message:

"Time does go on
I tell it gay to those who suffer now
They shall survive
There is a sun
They don't believe it now"
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PS: At what speed has 2011 been going for you so far? You'd rather it moved slower or faster?

We Are Family

We Are Family is one film that I had been wanting to see mainly because it was bringing together Kajol and Kareena Kapoor after a long hiatus. The last time they had shared screen space was in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (K3G) in 2001 in which they had played sisters. So I thought it would be interesting to see how they would fare in a movie where they are vying for the same man's attention. Years ago in Gupt, Bobby Deol had Kajol and Manisha Koirala fighting over him and the expressions of the girls in the song Yeh pyaar kya hai... said it all. Sadly there is no such zing in We Are Family.


The film received commendation for officially acknowledging the original source. But for me this Indian take on the Hollywood movie Stepmom was a let down. Firstly, the writers are not couragous enough to set the story in India. The heart of Stepmom were the two kids. Jena Malone as the teenage daughter warring with her father's new girlfriend and gropping with the reality of her mother's illness was excellent. Liam Aiken when he tells his mother that he will hate Isabel if she wants him to was delightful and sweet. In We Are Family there are three children but not one manages to create ripples in your heart through either acting or plain innocence. Even the leading ladies do not seem to be delivering their best. Neither was I able to sympathize with Kareena Kapoor during her trials when having to take care of the brat pack nor did I shed tears as Kajol suffers through the dreaded disease. For what should have been a three hanky movie, a descrption I had read in a newspaper for K3G, is not able to strike an emotional connect with the audience.

The only point where my eyes watered a little was when I heard Shreya Ghoshal's beautiful rendition of the song Sun le dua. But here too I had a reason to grumble. The song should have had at least one more stanza. The sweetness of Shreya Ghoshal's voice leaves you asking for more. Despite the short length anyone who has had to see a loved one slip by, bit by bit, would still be able to relate to this prayer which they would have repeated a million times. So let me leave you its lyrics:

Film: We Are Family

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Lyrics: Irshat Kamil

Singer: Shreya Ghoshal

Tu jo gayi toh soona hoga yeh jahaan
Pheeki pheeki hogi saari yeh daastan
Tumse judi hai har khushi
Tere bina kya hai yahaan
Chaahein tumhein hum maange tumhe
Sun le dua yeh aasman

Chote chote khwaabon ko aa jodenge
Yeh bhi vaada

Na tumhein ab chodenge
Jeena chaahe phir tere liye
Aaankhein na pherenge
Saansein meri tu le le bhale
Ab na tumhein jaane denge

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PS: Which did you like more - Stepmom or We Are Family?

A story, Udaan and 3 Idiots

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special - Don't ever forget it!”

I was emailed this motivating story by a friend of mine. In a short and simple manner it tells its readers to continue to have faith in themselves and not to forget their self worth whatever the life’s difficulties. This will give you the courage to chase your dreams even amidst strong opposition. Rohan’s character in the film Udaan exemplifies this.

Suspended from a boarding school in Shimla, Rohan (Rajat Barmecha) is sent back home to start living with his father Bhairav (Ronit Roy) in Jamshedpur whom he hasn’t met in eight years. On returning he finds a six year old step brother Arjun (Ayan Boradia), whose existence he wasn’t told about, waiting for him. Their father, a strict authoritarian, compels them to live their lives by his rules. For example, his sons must address him as “Sir” and not Papa. Every morning he makes them get out of bed. While Arjun has to stand at the gate with a stop watch, Rohan has to join him for a 40 minutes jog around the city. On reaching close to home the two have to break into a race in which inevitably Rohan loses however hard he tries.

Rohan wants to study literature and become a writer. He even has a diary whose pages are filled with his stories and poems. But his father is set against it and forces Rohan to work in his factory during the day and study engineering in the afternoon. Despite his father’s unflattering remarks on one of his poems, he continues to write.

Much of Bhairav’s anger and frustration is vented on his children. One such occasion results in Arjun’s hospitalization. As Bhairav has to go on a business trip he leaves behind Rohan to take care of Arjun. In the absence of their disciplinarian father the two brothers come close. Their happy and peaceful days are short lived. Back from tour when their father comes to know that Rohan has failed his engineering exams, he burns the much treasured diary.

Then one day his father announces that he is going to get married a third time, send his younger son to boarding school and make his elder son quit studies entirely to join his factory full time. Rohan’s Uncle (Ram Kapoor) tries to reason with Bhairav but it leads to an altercation between the two brothers.

Time is moving. A prospective bride is brought home. Arjun’s suitcase is being packed. Rohan’s friends taunt him. He thrashes his father’s car and spends a night in jail. His tolerance threshold crossed, Rohan tells his father he is leaving the house. Rohan runs with Bhairav close on his heels and for once the father loses the race. Knowing that his younger brother needs him, Rohan returns but only to take along with him Arjun before he can be packed away to boarding school. The two brothers walk away hand in hand with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts for a beautiful future which they will carve out on their own.

Udaan’s underlying theme of pursuing your passion instead of the course decided by your parents is the same as that of 3 Idiots. But I feel it is Udaan that really scores over 3 Idiots in every way. It showcases how you don’t need (a) a 40 something Aamir Khan to play an 18 year old, (b) witty dialogues in every situation, (c) caricature characters like Virus and, (d) a great location like Ladakh for making a scene look beautiful, to bring home the message.

It is indeed the absence of the above 4 elements that makes watching Udaan a heart warming experience. The manner in which the bonding between Rohan and Arjun is developed is very endearing. The day to day activites such as when Rohan goes out at night taking without permission his father's car, his deliberately spending a long time in front of the mirror, and Arjun's being made to carry messages up and down the building between Bhairav and Rohan bring in a realism without boring the viewer. Along with Rohan we feel every bit of his sadness at parting ways with his school friends, his angst against his father, his helplessness at not being able to change the circumstances, his happiness when his talent gets recognized by unexpected quarters, his struggle to beat his father in the morning races and his exhilaration at the flight or udaan he takes as he narrowly escapes from his father's clutches and breaks free.

In a line, Udaan is a perfect blend of a good story, right casting, sincere performances, fitting music, engaging editing, and bang on target direction.

On becoming a Tamil movie watcher

In the days when there was only Doordarshan, on every Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons films in regional languages used to be telecast. Being an avid movie lover I would rarely miss these film shows irrespective of the fact that on many an occasion I did not even follow the language. It must be this training because of which I haven't really minded the Tamil films that I have been made to view since last year by someone.

My knowledge has finally extended beyond Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Madhavan. I can now recognize Suriya, Dhanush, Vijay, Simbu, Vikram, Ajith, Nayantara, Tamanna and Anushka Shetty. Months before Khatta Meetha trailers hit the screen I knew who Trisha was thanks to her success in the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. While I'll be seeing many more Tamil films in the years to come, of the ones I have watched so far my favourites are Yavarum Nalam, Kaaka Kaaka, and Chennai 600028.

The Madhavan starrer Yavarum Nalam (meaning Everything is well) was the first Tamil film that I saw on screen. Its plot which is drama based as opposed to dialogue based, made for an easy understanding leaving the requirement of translation irrelevant.

The story is that a family moves into an apartment 13B. Soon the womenfolk get hooked on to a television serial by the name Yavarum Nalam. One day Madhavan realizes that the serial is a lot like their own lives. Soon he starts seeing even more similarities. Whatever happens to the characters happens to his family members as well. When an episode shows his wife undergoing a miscarriage, Madhavan decides to unearth the mystery. The events that then unfold keep you to your seats edge. Like the hero you are filled with disbelief that he will kill his own family as the soap opera predicts. At no point are you able to guess who is behind it all.

Yaavarum Nalam is surely a must watch. For those interested there is also the option of going for its Hindi version by the name 13B.

I had read somewhere that Suriya is like the Aamir Khan of Tamil films. His 2009 release Aadhavan however raised grave doubts in my mind, until I got to see Kaaka Kaaka (meaning To protect).

Its beginning is very intriguing, with police officer Anbuchelvan (Suriya) being shown as lying almost dead on the banks of a river with his thoughts only about saving a girl named Maya. The film then goes into a flashback when Anbu was a part of a specialist group allowed to use any means to wipe out crime. A man of few words, his affection for Maya (Jyotika), a school teacher whom he befriends, is revealed when she meets with an accident. During an encounter Anbu and his group kill a gang leader involved in a kidnapping case whose brother Pandya then decides to take revenge. The members of the special unit find their families and themselves targeted. In the midst of this Anbu and Maya get married and go to Pondicherry. But Pandya and his aides land up there and take away Maya leaving behind a brutally injured Anbu, bringing us back to the point where the story had begun. On recovering he starts his search for Maya and it is revealed who had given away the vital information to Pandya about his whereabouts in Pondicherry. In what I thought was a shocker ending, during his face-off with Anbu, Pandya stabs Maya who dies. An angry Anbu tracks down Pandya and finally kills him. The film shows that after this Anbu resumes his duties as a police officer and his old lonely life.

What I liked about Kaaka Kaaka was its tight script. The sweet love story between Anbu and Maya does not hinder the pace of the movie. Presentation wise it has a slick look. The performances are restrained and not over the top. Suriya plays the tough guy-silent lover combination perfectly. Not surprising then that this film relegated the actor to stardom.

In complete contrast to the above two films is Chennai 600028. Its one of those comic capers which actually make you laugh. The story is simple. It is about two warring cricket teams: Rockers and Sharks. The starting point of the film is the Radio Mirchi Cup Final which the Sharks end up losing. From there on the movie is about the events that unfold in the lives of the 11 members of the Shark team during the year until the next finals. Will the Sharks emerge victorious and be able to successfully avenge their previous year's loss? Chennai 600028 has got one of the most unpredictable and hilarious endings I have ever seen. I recommend it to anybody who wants to unwind after a tough day.

Raavanan

From the time Mani Ratnam wowed me with Anjali and Roja I have always looked forward to his new releases. Now that he makes films simultaneously in different languages, as opposed to simply dubbing them, they grab headlines all the more. So it has been the case for Raavanan (Tamil), Villain (Telugu), and Raavan (Hindi).

In the midst of housefull signs I luckily managed to see Raavanan. As the title suggests the film is centered around the antagonist and not the protagonist of the Ramayan. The story starts from the Sita haran episode. Veeraiyya or Veera (played by Vikram), considered a terrorist, kidnaps Ragini (Aishwarya Rai), SP Officer Dev Prakash's (Prithviraj) wife. The first shot of Veera jumping into a deep waterfall is breathtaking. He exhibits a fearful imposing presence atop a ship that is deliberately ramming into Ragini's small boat. From there on begins a tough journey for the kidnapper and his victim amidst dense jungles and devastating weather. At the same time Dev starts his search in which he is helped by a forest officer Gnanaprakasam (Karthik), the counterpart of Hanuman. Infact later in the film there is a rip off of the classic part in the Ramayan where Hanuman meets Sita in Ashok Vatika to inform her that Ram is on his way to take her back from Raavan's Lanka. In another borrowed sequence as the husband and wife are returning Dev like Ram questions Raagini's faithfulness, purity. In the film you also find equivalents of Raavan's sister Shrupnakha, here Venilla (Priyamani) and of Vibhishan, here Sakkarai (Munna). However, there are portions in which Raavanan significantly departs from the Ramayan.

Unlike Valmiki's epic you are unable to call the end a victory of good over evil. Veera's black is mixed with white and Dev's white is amply sprinkled with black. There are scores of villagers who revere Veera for his kindness towards them. It is revealed that Ragini's kidnap was an act of avenging the molestation Venilla was subject to by the police following which she committed suicide. The sad tale even brings tears in Ragini's eyes and softens her towards the villain.

In contrast while Dev is a loving husband, there is a madness in his drive to catch the terrorist which even seems to overide his desire to find his wife. Shockingly when Sakkarai comes to surrender, Dev kills him. Dev's doubting Ragini is a deliberate ploy which leads to the eventual gunning down of Veera. Ragini's efforts to save Veera turn useless and bullet-ridden as he falls down a cliff the villain is tranformed into a hero.

The exacting conditions in which most part of the film is shot must have posed a monumental challenge for the actors as well as the technicians. As the end credits rolled I wondered if such physically demanding scenes were a necessity. But then it is these very similarities and differences from the Ramayan which give us something to ponder over, else Raavanan would have been a simple fare.

Julie & Julia and me

A week back I saw the movie Julie & Julia. The film interweaves the somewhat similar lives of Julie Powell (Amy Adams) and Julia Child (Meryl Streep), two women separated by half a century.

Julie Powell lives in Manhattan of 2002. She has a supporting and lovable husband Eric. She has an unsatisfying and a sad job. Her failed attempts at writing books have left her disillusioned. Her one solace is cooking.

Julia Child is the wife of a diplomat who finds herself living in Paris in 1949 because of her husband's posting. With nothing to do she starts taking classes to learn cooking. In doing so she discovers a passion and talent for it. Starting as a student she goes on to co-author a book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The publishing of the book was a journey of quite a few years during which she gets immense support from her husband Paul.

Julie Powell is an admirer of Julia Child. In order to give direction to her life she decides to take up a "project" of cooking all of the 536 recipes of Julia Child's famous book in 365 days. She also starts chronicling her day-to-day experiences of this project in a blog. As the year progresses the blog gains popularity and so does Julie. After a story about it in the New York Times she is contacted by several publishers and agents who are keen on turning her blog into a book. The film ends with Julie succeeding in accomplishing her mission followed by her getting to see the print copy of her first book titled Julie & Julia.

Comparing my behviour in the kitchen to the two lead characters I realized I am more like Julie Powell. There is a scene in the film in which in trying to bone a duck Julie Powell accidently spills the entire contents on the floor. The result is an angry woman venting fire and tears at the same time lying resolutely on the messy floor. It reminded me of one Sunday morning when I acted worse than this.

The story goes that I had begun the day by cleaning every nook and cranny of my kitchen. Having done with that I collected all the necessary ingredients in the mixer for making an onion chutney to have with dosas for breakfast. I made a little puree first and then added some more onions to it. But when this time I twisted the mixer knob it generated such a force that everything came spilling out. I was shell shocked. The chutney had spared nothing. Portions of it had landed on the walls, the slab, the stove, the nearby microwave, the floor, and ofcourse me. It was horrifying seeing what my squeaking clean kitchen had been turned into within 5 seconds. Angrily I cursed the mixer and myself. Mouthing venom and crying like a lunatic I attacked the kitchen with a duster and water raging vengence. I was a riot!

In my defense I am emotional when it comes to cooking. When dishes turn out well and I see my husband eating happily it is like the best compliment ever. But when its not so, it upsets me as if I have failed as the woman of the house in some big way.

I definitely must try to become like Julia Child. Her nature was so mild. She never blew up. Most importantly she was a happy cook. She enjoyed every bit of it whether she was able to flip the contents of the pan properly or not.

From this day forth I resolve to take things lightly in my trysts with cooking. :-)

3 Idiots

Some years back I was browsing through the bookstore Crossword when I noticed a book titled "Five point someone - What not to do at IIT!". I was attracted by the reference to my alma mater and bought it immediately. When I was through with reading the book I somewhat felt disappointed. It didn't make me any happier when I heard that Raju Hirani was going to make a film based on it featuring my favourite actor Aamir Khan.

3 Idiots released close to Christmas. Initially I wasn't in a mood to see it because of my grave doubts. The good reviews and the juntas comments on Aamir Khan's blog however got me curious.

For once I thought a movie managed to beat the book that inspired it. It had lots of witty dialogues, smart situations, and a decent emotional content. I enjoyed 3 Idiots. But I did not love it. Unlike the two Munnabhais and Taare Zameen Par it just did not leave me moved. Perhaps the film was too entertaining. I understand the need for telling a message in an engaging and lighthearted fashion. But everything does not have to be turned into a joke like the struggles which Raju's (Sharman Joshi) family faces in lieu of supporting his engineering degree. This is a story of many a students coming to study at IITs or for that matter at medical schools. For me it is not a laughing matter. The funny means by which the other two idiots Rancho (Aamir Khan) and Farhan (Madhavan) help Raju recover from his suicide attempt takes away from the seriousness of the situation that had lead him to take the drastic step.

Further, I thought that the teaching community had been unjustly represented only through the characters of the Dean (Boman Irani) and other professors who insult and make fun of the three lead characters all the time. There are three cases of suicide in it. The race for coming first and the grueling learning system adopted by the engineering college which are responsible for two of these deaths is never really shown.

Except for Rancho and Farhan no one seems to have pursuits beyond studies. You just have to attend one of the several competitions in the areas of dramatics, music and art or the events in the yearly IIT festivals to know this is not true. Innovative ideas are not exactly squashed either. In IIT Bombay's famous Robotics festival you can see innumerable displays of cutting edge designs developed by students coming from all over India to participate. It is now commonplace even in colleges to invite well established figures to deliver keynote lectures at special occasions to inspire the youth to use their talent.

I do agree when the film says that one must pursue what you are passionate about. Some in audience have wrongly come out thinking that it says don't be a doctor or an engineer. Instead it drives home the point that by all means take up that profession but only as long as your heart is in it and not just because it has been mapped by your parents for you from the time you were born. My point however is that you might not really know after class 12th what you want to be. You might need those years in college in order to discover yourself and your passions. Like it is for Farhan to come to a conclusion that he should afterall pursue photography. Of course he knows it would also require him to work hard and struggle but at least it would be for something he loves.

To give 3 Idiots its due it does tell us an important message which could have got lost in all the frolic and entertainment. In Baba Ranchod Das Chanchad's words don't chase success, chase excellence. If you do the latter then success will automatically follow. But if your goal is simply earning big bucks then at some point you may end up taking a wrong route to it. I loved what Aamir Khan said in an interview I caught on tv. Instead of asking our children how many marks they scored in tests or did they come first or second in exams we should ask them did they help their friends, did they do something nice or did they bring a smile on someone's face during the day. Then automatically the focus will shift from the running madly in a race to becoming well rounded individuals with caring hearts.

Love aaj kal

Having loved Jab We Met, I had been wanting to see its director Imtiaz Ali's next film Love Aaj Kal. My wish was granted only recently. Very simply the movie compares love in today's times (aaj kal) with the way it was in yesteryears through two story lines running in parallel.

Rishi Kapoor's dialogue illustrates this difference very well. He remarks that when he fell in love he started working so that he could unite with his girl while now work has become the reason for couples breaking up, a course which Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone take in the film. Neither believes their relationship would survive the distance brought about by a change in jobs and so in a very normal conversation they decide to part ways amicably minus any tears. They continue to remain "friends". They meet secretly and pay more attention to each other than the new special persons of their respective lives. It has to take Deepika to get married to Rahul Khanna to realize that she is still in love with Saif Ali Khan! However, she shies away from telling him the truth because she finds out that this time he has landed a dream job which will take him elsewhere. So once again the two lovers find themselves separately pining. Many months pass before they finally unite to give the film the traditional happy ending.

One of the reasons Love Aaj Kal doesn't work for me is because the initial love story between the two protagonists is never built up. The magic or chemistry which is responsible for bringing them together is never explored. The dating period is shown in such a fast forward manner that there seems to be no depth in the couple's relationship and it is difficult for me as an audience to understand what is so great about the two that they are still hung up on each other even after splitting up. Moments before getting married to Rahul Khanna, Deepika meets Saif Ali Khan. Yet the two of them refuse to recognize the importance of the moment and do not even then acknowledge that things were never over between them.

The film depicts a rather sorry picture of the present youth which I do not agree with. Indeed today all women are not satisfied with only taking care of home. Men too are becoming increasingly supportive of their girl friends' or wives' career goals. Both are willing to go that extra mile for each other. Unlike the lead pair, they do not simply give up without even trying. I know of couples who have handled such situations well. Not that its easy. It requires a great deal of patience, faith, and love. But they'd rather be together even if from afar than not all. Sadly the film instead depicts its hero-heroine representing our generation, first as so practical in life that they are devoid of any emotion even when breaking up and later on as two confused people who are incapable of deciphering their own feelings.

Inherent goodness

A film that had that left me speechless was Deepa Mehta's 1947-Earth starring Aamir Khan, Nandita Das and Rahul Khanna. The story is set in Lahore at the time of India-Pakistan partition. It chronicles this phase of our history through a group of simple people who meet regularly in a park. How the lives and characters of these people change in the aftermath of the partition forms the crux of the film.

In the film they have shown using both explicit and implicit means the horrendous acts that took place in those troubled times. The scene in which a train carrying dead bodies arrives at a station was spine chilling. In another one the little girl Lenny baby pulls apart her doll to discover the end a man lynched by a crowd of nearly a hundred must have faced. The climax of the film where the icecandywallah Dilnaawaz sweet talks his way to find out the whereabouts of Shanta from Lenny baby and then betrays her trust by giving away the secret to an angry mob left me speechless. All these acts gave truth to the dialogue spoken by Dilnaawaz in the film

Hum sab mein ek jaanwar hai. Bas bahar nikalne ki deri hai. (meaning ... There's an animal in all of us. It only needs time to come out in the open.)

I on the contrary believe that there is an inherent goodness in all of us. It might not be visible all the time but it is there. We all have our favourites for whom we always feel protective and hence try and act as shield for them. But there are also times when help comes from unexpected quarters. I have seen people going out of the way to support those they might not share a special bond with. Its a pleasant surprise to find instances where people who on the face appeared as being bindaas (carefree) to me have actually turned out to be the reason behind a change.

I guess just like the bad, the good also needs a push.

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Let me leave you with this cartoon strip in which Garfield is trying to be on his best behaviour. :)

Blame game

A few weeks back I saw the film Gandhi My Father which follows the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) and his eldest son Harilal Gandhi (Akshaye Khanna). Initially Harilal makes every effort to fulfill his father's wishes. He joins him in South Africa leaving his pregnant wife behind. He is the first volunteer who accepts all the charges leveled against him in court and decides to spend time in jail instead of agreeing to pay a fine. On returning Harilal continues to work for his father. But when despite that Gandhi ji sends twice someone else on scholarship to London for studying law, a lifelong dream of Harilal's, he feels let down. Disgruntled and unwilling to follow his father's footsteps the son decides to go a separate way.

Harilal's life goes through a series of troughs and ridges with the downs lasting much longer. Whenever things seem to be going well the tide suddenly changes. He is unable to his live up to his earlier reputation of Chota Gandhi. Even his wife who initially stands behind him later on leaves Harilal as he takes to drinking and other bad habits. Over the years Harilal is involved in cases of embezzlement in the place he was working and duping innocent people using his father's name. Gandhi ji finally legally disassociates himself from any of Harilal's future activities. While advising a victim to lodge a police complaint against Harilal, Gandhi ji questions sadly that as a father he has done a lot for his son but how long can he go on saving him from his misadventures.

The film ends with showing that Harilal starts living like a vagabond and dies in a hospital a destitute, with no family member near him to hold his hands, a few months after Gandhi ji's assassination.

Who is to blame for Harilal's sorry state? Initially the father seems responsible for the son's disillusionment. Gandhi ji's philosophy that there are more important things to learn in life than getting an education keeps his son away from becoming a barrister. But when Harilal is allowed to lead life his own way, he fails to acquire the degree. He gets involved in wrong doings sometimes by pure naivety. Surely, the onus cannot be put on his father on these occasions.

In the film Baghban when the parents (Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini) are separated at the hands of their children and are even horribly mistreated by them, the mother questions whether somewhere she was responsible for her children turning out this way. Her husband disagrees and says that each person is accountable for his/her own acts.

I therefore appreciate Geet's (Kareena Kapoor) philosophy in Jab We Met. She admits that life is her favorite game and whatever decisions she takes are her own so that later on she doesn't regret missing out on something. Geet acknowledges at the same time that even if she falls in trouble for her actions it will be because of the choices that she made and not somebody else.

In our lives too we take many decisions. Those particularly related to career and marriage knowingly and unknowingly get influenced by our family's thoughts. But even if its the former case, I believe that ultimately we should ourselves shoulder the responsibility of the decision made and its consequences thereafter. We should stop saying all the time that "I did this for my parents, siblings, wife/husband or children."

Whatever the reason the choice is always ours. So grin and bear.

Saat chya aat gharaat

I saw a Marathi movie called Saat Chya Aat Gharaat a while ago and was surprised by its thought provoking story.

The film begins by giving us a view of the following different types of "today's" households:
(1) A joint family where the grandmother takes care of the house and kids while the parents are absorbed in their careers.
(2) A family of two where the activist mother does not like being called Aai by her daughter, preferring instead to be on first name basis with her.
(3) A middle class family having children who are unhappy not having the liberty to spend as much as other rich kids.
(4) Then there are these three boys staying as paying guests sharing a flat together.
(5) And finally there are two girls who are living in a hostel away from their homes.

The lives of all these college going boys and girls is spent bunking classes, boozing, smoking, doing aerobics, watching movies, dancing in the pubs and coming home late at nights. They are a mixed bunch coming from different backgrounds and environments. If there is one thing common between them then its that they form today's modern younger generation.

Their lives take a turn when all of them decide to celebrate Valentine's Day together. One of the couple's wanting to spend some time alone leave the party to get cozy in a location that is devoid of any population. But their actions are caught by a policeman. He sends off the boy to get his I-card from his room as proof of identification. Taking advantage of the situation while the boy is gone, the policeman rapes the girl.

A number of questions are then raised in the film. The first and foremost being why did the girl and boy have to go to that deserted place? Besides the man who committed the crime, are the boy and girl also somewhere responsible for what happened? What are the duties of a Local Guardian? What is the stand the college should take in this matter? How supportive should the friends be?

The movie paints a somewhat sad picture. The college authorities feel that they cannot allow the girl to mingle with her fellow students and suspend her from attending classes. The hostel wants the girl to vacate her room so that she cannot be a bad influence on others. Parents of her roomate force her friend to move in to a different room. While most of her friends are sympathetic towards the victim's problems, one of them questions the compassion since the girl though raped wasn't a virgin before the incident!

During her time of greatest need the girl's boyfriend leaves her. Initially its out of guilt that the boy is not prepapred to meet or talk to her. He also realizes that now he obviously wouldn't be able to marry her. His negative though frank statement is met with strong disapproval from his friends. But he poses the same question to them asking what if they were in his place, they are unwilling to give an answer. Its at this point when one of the central characters in the film begins to wonder if we youngsters are fit to call ourselves "modern".

The title of the film comes from the parents, following the incident, becoming concerned about their children being out on the streets till late hours and asking them to come back home by seven.

Number one

The one song that always comes on my lips when I think of romance is Pehla nasha pehla khumaar... from the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Like in this song so in many hindi films the stress is invariably on the word pehla (first).

Pehle pyar ka pehla gham... (Papa Kehte Hain) talks about the first hurt experienced in first love. Can we ever forget the pehle pyar ki pehli chitthi that the heroine Bhagyashree sent off a pigeon to deliver to Salman Khan in Maine Pyar Kiya? There is an old song Aaj unse pehli mulakaat hogi... which Rakesh Roshan sings in anticipation of his first meeting with Hema Malini, his prospective bride. In Sirf Tum the heroine Priya Gill complains that she doesn't know what to do since its the first time she is in love. She sings Pehli pehli baar mohabbat ki hai kuch na samajh mein aaye main kya karoon... in the beautiful backdrop of Nainital.

There are many a songs that have paid tribute to love at first sight. Like in the duet Raja ko rani se pyar... (Akele Hum Akele Tum) Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala admit pehli nazar mein pehla pyar ho gaya. In the movie Run that I saw a few days back, Abhishek Bachchan professes merrily Pehli nazar mein dil diwana ho gaya, yeh toh dhadka aur kisika ho gaya... after seeing the first glimpse of Bhumika Chawla.

Then we have films with names like Pehla Nasha, Pehla Pehla Pyar, Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar and even First Love Letter. All of these to my knowledge sank at the box office.

There are many dialogues too that talk about various firsts. Often lovers can be found to proclaim "ki tumhi mera pehla aur aakhri pyar ho", that you are my first and last love. Post interval Kal Ho Na Ho begins by showing how hearts of various characters are breaking. Thats when Preity Zinta acknowledges "Apna pehla pyar bhulana aasaan nahi hai... its not that easy." In Hum Apke Hain Kaun, Salman Khan confesses to Madhuri Dixit "Aaj pehli baar koi ladki hamari gaadi ki front seat mein baithi hai." bringing out the significance of the simple act of giving her a lift in his car. These days Anil Kapoor can be caught declaring in trailers of the movie Tashan "Afterall first impression is the last impression."

My personal favourite however is a scene from the not so famous film Dil Maange More in which when actress Tulip Khanna patches up with her ex-boyfriend reasoning "Aakhir woh mera pehla pyar hai.", a heartbroken Shahid Kapoor retaliates in a timid voice "Pyar koi race nahi hai jisme pehla, doosra, teesra hota hai. Pyar sirf pyar hota hai."

Taare Zameen Par and a chat

There is a scene in the film Taare Zameen Par in which it is diwali and everyone except Ishaan is celebrating. Some kids tease him saying that since he is being sent to boarding school he must be feeling very scared. Ishaan is in tears and its evident that it really is so. But to prove the boys wrong he picks up a cracker and lights it in his hand and shouts "Mujhe darr nahi lagta!".

The reason because of which this scene stayed with me was because it reminded me of a chat I had with a friend a long time ago. We were discussing how almost all of us have two different faces. One which cries when hurt and another by which we project ourselves as cool and strong however difficult the situation.

Whenever our second face takes charge we are able to refrain from confessing to anyone how unprepared and inadequate we may be feeling at that moment to solve our problems. Despite our misgivings we are willing to bear the albatross alone as we do not wish to take any help which we believe would be a sign of weakness. But there are instances when we do break down and end up giving others a peek into our true emotions. My friend said that this happens because we are unable to keep the two faces separate.

Is it really possible to keep the two sides independent of each other? Wouldn't one of them always dominate us?

What would happen if we could master this art? Would it give us an edge over others? Would we still be real or become artificial?

Fun tag

I found this really fun tag on someone's blog I came across accidentally. All you have do is shuffle your songs on collection of songs using say Windows Media Player or your ipod and use the fist 19 songs from that list as answers to the questions below. The result for me was a blend of the truth, the hilarious and the nonsensical as you will find out from "My take" on each of the answers. :-)

Check out what I got.

1. What would best describe your personality?

Kuch toh hua hai... (from Kal Ho Na Ho)

My take: Kuch toh (hua) hai... meaning there is something about me

2. What do you like in a guy/ girl?

Nagada nagada baja... (from Jab We Met)

My take: His nagada bajaata hua heart.

3. How do you feel today?

Gali mein aaj chand nikla... (Zakhm)

My take: I am feeling like the moon.

4. What is your life’s purpose?

O paalanhaare... tumre bin hamra kaunhu naahi... (from Lagaan)

My take: To land myself in trouble and then take refuge in the One above. :D

5. What’s your motto?

Kiska rasta dekhe ae dil ae saudaai (from Namak Haraam)

My take: I am always looking for something or someone. ;-)

6. What do your friends think of you?

Kholo kholo darwaaze (from Taare Zameen Par)

My take: I am like an open door... anyone can enter my heart. :D

7. What do you think about very often?

Heartbeat... (from Never Say Goodbye)

My take: apne dhadakte hue dil ke baare mein. ;-)

8. What is 2+2?

Sajna ji waari waari (from Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.)

My take: 2 + 2 = my family = tu hi toh mera sansar hai.

9. What do you think of your best friend?

Ansoo samajh ke kyon mujhe aankh se tumne gira diya (from Chaaya)

My take: That I don't have a take on this!

10. What do you think of the person you like?

Seene mein dil (from Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman)

My take: Like the heart in my chest!?!

11. What is your life story?

Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara... (from Talat Mahmood Song Collections)

My take: I am a heart filled with dreams.

12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Kuch toh log kahenge... (from Amar Prem)

My take: Someone who is talked about. Badnaam honge toh kya naam na hoga? Hehehe

13. What do your parents think of you?

Dil hai tumhara (from Dil Hai Tumhara)

My take: Dil hai hamara!

14. What will you dance to at your wedding?

Aa bhi jaa ae subah aa bhi ja... (from Sur)

My take: In anticipation of the dawn of the new day of my new life this song would be a perfect fit.

15. What will they play at your funeral?

Yeh ishq haaye baithe bithaye jannat dikhaye... (from Jab We Met)

My take: Love is surely going to take me places. For example, heaven. :p

16. What is your hobby?

Zara zara behkta hai... (fom Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein)

My take: That's a hobby I should get rid off.

17. What is your biggest secret?

Mere haath mein tera haath ho... (from Fanaa)

My take: My secret is out!!!

18. What do you think of your friends?

Zindagi ka safar... (from Safar)

My take: Read it as "zindagi ka suffer". hehehehe

19. What should you post this as?

Salaam-e-ishq... (from Salaam-e-ishq)

I would like to tag vibgyor, everything evolutionary and insatiable in the hope that they'll try this out. :)

Taare Zameen Par

Taare Zameen Par (TZP) was one film that I was looking forward to see, it being the directorial debut of my favourite actor Aamir Khan. I finally got a chance to watch TZP on Sunday. It turned out to be a really wonderful treat.

I simply adored the expressions of kids that were caught on camera while their Principal was giving a speech in the morning assembly. I loved the scene where Ishaan's mother notices all his wounds while the neighbourhood Aunty was complaining about his misbehaviour. I could feel Ishaan's anger, pain and loneliness at having been sent off to boarding school as punishment. I cried along with him as the song Ma... played in the background. While the art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh's entry brought a smile on my face. How he slowly but surely manages to bring about a change in the attitudes of other school teachers, softens Ishaan's parents' hearts and also helps Ishaan realize his true potential forms the second half of the film.

The beauty of the film lies in its simplicity and naturalness. This wouldn't have been possible without the new kid on the block Darsheel Safary's wonderful portrayal of Ishaan; the refreshing story spun by Amole Gupte, the writer and creative director of TZP; the tight editing of Deepa Bhatia which never let the film slip away; lovely expressions of all the children captured by the photographer Setu and beautiful lines penned by the lyricist Prasoon Joshi. The two songs that touched my heart are Maa... main kabhi and Taare zameen par.... (Click on the links to read the Hindi lyrics and their English translations.)

A big round of applause also goes to Aamir Khan for his acting as the caring teacher and for his outstanding job as a director. I am sure his contemporaries and peers must be left exasperated. Here they are sweating out building 6 pack abs, getting 31 stars to appear in a song and spending crores for publicizing their films, while all Aamir Khan needs to create history is an 8 year old boy.

Aamir Khan succeeds in keeping everything about the film real which is why the audiences have connected so well with it. Though TZP is the story of a dyslexic child, people have on their own understood that the difficulties which Ishaan faces in school are encountered by many children. TZP tells us without how its time we stop breeding children as if they are race horses. It makes us realize that all we need to give kids is love and care to show them how special they are.

Taare Zameen Par is truly in Aamir Khan's own words a film dedicated "to children, and childhood."

Jab We Met

Watching the latest Shahid Kapur-Kareena Kapoor movie Jab We Met has prompted me to write this post. The film story is that the hero-heroine meet on a train. Aditya Kashyap (Shahid) is escaping from his troubles. Geet (Kareena) is on her way home. They get off the train at one station and end up missing it. There after begins a journey which the two take together all the way from Ratlam to Bhatinda and then to Manali. At Manali they part ways. Geet stays on to meet her boyfriend with whom she wants to get married while Aditya returns to Mumbai to begin life with a new found vigour. Do they meet again? Do they fall in love? That's for you to see.

The concept of Jab We Met is not new. There have been quite a few before where the lead pair embark on the journey and as it ends they fall in love.

A classic example is Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahi. Pooja (Pooja Bhatt) has run away from home. Raghu Jaitley (Aamir Khan) is a reporter for whom she is a khabar (news). A misunderstanding occurs in the end and Pooja decides to marry Deepak. Her father (Anupam Kher) reveals her the truth while taking her to the mandap. Pooja pushes Deepak aside while taking the pheras and runs away for a second time to meet Raghu in the same bus where they'd come across each other first.

In Pyar Toh Hona Hi Tha, Ajay Devgan decides to help Kajol to get snatch her lover back from the arms of another woman. In this process however they end up falling in love. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Vanraj (Ajay Devgan) takes on a journey with his wife Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) so that he can unite her with Sameer (Salman Khan), the man she was in love with before marriage. But when that moment arrives Nandini tells Sameer "pyar karna maine tumse seekha lekin pyar nibhana maine apne pati se seekha hai". With that she returns to join her husband.

Even though all these stories sound similar what sets them apart and makes them endearing and entertaining is the odyssey each couple takes. Its like the lines of the song Shahid Kapur sings "manzil se behtar lagne lage hain yeh raaste" (these roads look better than the final destination).

Nothing as interesting (read meeting Shahid Kapur) has happened to me on any of my journeys. I do remember however my first sojourn by train with a friend and no parental guidance in the holidays following 2nd Year of BSc. We were going to Pune from Delhi in order to work on a summer project. There was this really talkative Uncle-Aunty. In the middle of the night they were joined by their daughter who was even more talkative. They went on chatting keeping us awake till it was nearly morning. When sleep left our eyes completely these people decided to doze off. It was very bugging. I hadn't said anything earlier because I had thought they were going to get down sometime in between and that's why they were behaving the way did. That clearly wasn't the case. So later on when they got up I had a nice fight with the daughter who didn't even have a ticket and had been occupying our seats. Angry she went to the topmost berth and fell asleep and didn't come down until we reached Pune!! The other thing that I remember is me getting off at one of the intervening stations and buying some cold drinks. My friend and I saved a part of it and only when we set our foot in the guest house room did we drink it while raising a toast to an uncomfortable journey which we were not sure would come to an end.

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.

Spin-a-yarn

"There is always a story behind a picture."

says Julia Ormond who plays a photographer in the movie Sabrina, to Harrison Ford.

In my final year at school as Director Publications I had organized a week long literary event called Born Free to celebrate 50 years of Indian Independence. The competitions of the literary week were such that students from class sixth to class twelfth could participate in them. We had a book reading competition, an Enid Blyton quiz, a poetry writing competition, an essay writing competition and my personal favourite of the lot the Spin-a-yarn contest. In the latter we gave contestants chits to pick and each chit corresponded to a particular photo. Depending up on what the photo told them they had to spin a yarn, that is, write a story.

One of the photos was of hundreds of mice surrounding a bowl of milk. It was a coincidence that this picture came the way of a good friend of mine participating in the competition. I had thought that my friend's effort was one of the best stories but to my disappointment the judges felt differently.

I have to admit that while it may seem that the inspiration behind Spin-a-yarn was Julia Ormond's dialogue the suggestion to hold such a competition was actually given by my elder sister. My sister who was then doing her graduation used to tell me about the various festivals stretched over days going on in not just her college but also through out Delhi University. This got me excited enough to organize Born Free in school.

The Literary Week turned out to be a huge success and we even managed to get a monetary grant allotted from our Principal to give books as prizes to all the winners!!


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In the movie Sabrina, Julia Ormond while urging Harrison Ford to take photographs of the scenic beauty around them says "There is always a story behind a picture."

What kind of story would my photograph tell? It would depend on a number of things. Like...

Is it a baby pic or a grown up one?
Whether I was simply posing or was caught doing some action?
Am I standing alone or am I part of a group?
Whether alone or amidst a crowd, am I looking happy or crying or frowning?
How are the other people seeming to interact?
What is the backdrop of the picture? A room, a stage or some beautiful landscape? Or was the photo taken during a celeberation?

The answers to these questions will help reveal my story though only in part. A collection of photos would give away a lot more. Even with the thousand words spoken by each photo, the compilation may still fail to tell the entire tale of my life. But whether a partial or complete account is disclosed what kind it shapes into lies up to us.

Very simply be good if that is what what you want your photos to say.

Ratatouille: change is nature

Yesterday evening I saw the movie Ratatouille (pronounced Rat-a-2-ee). I found it to be more than just a fun film. It taught me a great lesson through the story of Remy.

Remy is a rat - a rat with a gift. By simply smelling a dish he can tell what all ingredients went into making it. When rats are supposed to steal food for surviving he dreams to be a cook!! In the face of strong disapproval from his father Django, Remy sets out to turn his dream into a reality.

At one point in the film Django presents to Remy a bleak future by showing him a shop displaying dead rats killed by the rat poisons that it sold. But Remy does not waver. The following dialogues are then exchanged between father and son.

Remy: No. Dad, I don't believe it. You're telling me that the future is... can only be... more of this?
Django: This is the way things are. You can't change nature.
Remy: Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.

What we want to become is indeed in our hands. All we've got to do is believe in our potential. We shouldn't let anyone set limitations to our goals. When feeling down we should remember the advice a bird had given to a mouse (in Stuart Little - 2)

"you are as big as you feel."

Lovable rogues

Thats the how I'd describe characters in movies who are always up to some tricks, always getting themselves in trouble, always doing things wrongly and yet eventually getting it right that you just can't help falling in love with them.

Sanjay Dutt's Munnabhai MBBS definitely belongs to this category. He is the Bhai whose job is kidnapping, making men cough up money (that is hafta vasooli in hindi) and breaking people's bones. Not wanting his parents to know the truth he leads the fake life of a doctor whenever they come visiting. Obviously the parents end up very hurt when they learn that Munna is actually a gunda. Yet it is this rogue who ends up saving many lives where real doctors had given up and Munnabhai goes on to become Munnabhai MBBS. He rightfully deserves thousands of jaadu ki jhappis.

Another of my favourites is the character of Sunil played by Shahrukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na. The story of the film is very simple Sunil loves Anna but Chris is also in love with Anna. In order to dissuade Chris from confessing his feelings Sunil ends up telling him false tales about Anna. How she is a flirt. How because of her some boy became mad and was sent to New York. How she was even trying to lay her trap on Sunil. No wonder Anna gives him a tight slap when finds out all this. Sunil ends up telling Father (Naseeruddin Shah) of the church "maine toh aise hi bol diya". In between Sunil fails for third time in his college exams and to save face ends up taking a nakli (false) marksheet to his parents so that they'll allow him to continue his career in music. Unfortunately for him this marksheet has been made by a Don who is his fan and so all the marks are on the higher side. Sample this... a 95% in Economics!! Worse still his parents throw him a surprise party. Feeling terrible Sunil confesses everything then and there. Ofcourse he gets first thrown out of the house but as Father makes people realise ki Sunil ka dil kitna saaf hai (his heart is so pure) everyone forgives him. Towards the end of the film Sunil's marriage is fixed with Anna. He is filled with joy when he happens to chance upon a conversation from which he learns that Anna is still in love with Chris. The next scene takes place in a church where Anna is in the bride's gown and everyone is waiting for Sunil to come. But he is not the groom. He stands there behind Chris putting up a brave face. As the ring falls from Chris's hands and when even after knowing where the ring is Sunil says he hasn't found it your heart just melts.

Another actor who has perfected being a lovable rogue is Aamir Khan. There are two films in which I absolutely adore him. The first one is Dil Chahta Hai. As Akash Khanna he is constantly upto something and a master at troubling people around him. His habit of making fun lands him in a fight with friend Sid. More problems await him as he falls in love with Shalini who is obligated to marry Rohit. A memorable scene from the movie is when Akash is talking to his father on the phone. He is trying to control is tears but his voice gives away. It reminded me of the way I had talked to Daddy over the phone on my first day at IIT Bombay.

The role of Aamir Khan's that I love is Sanjay Lal Sharma, Sanju in short, of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Sanju does everything wrong. He tries to change his exam answer sheet, hides his report card under the bed, picks up fights with boys, lies about being the son of a rich businessman in order to get himself a girlfriend, squanders father's money to buy his girlfriend an expensive gift instead of depositing it in the bank and ends up being the reason behind his elder brother Ratan getting beaten up by his enemies rendering Ratan unfit to participate in the intercollege cycle race. Until the last incident Sanju was without an aim, without a care in the world and considered himself pretty much outside the family. But seeing his brother bleeding on the hospital bed and his father helplessly crying Sanju changes. He becomes responsible. He starts taking care of his father. He decides to take Ratan's place in the cycle race. He goes into the race fully prepared with the goal of beating his arch enemy who was also the winner of the previous two races and because of whom Ratan had come second. Even today when I watch JJWS the final minutes of the competition get me all excited and I just end up applauding as Sanju comes up trumps.

Among the "real" characters that I've come across if there was someone whom I could call a lovable rogue then it will have to be my friend Lalitha. She isn't really a Lallu which her pet name might wrongly suggest. She is always making fun and cooking up stories some times. Once we were planning to see a film at my place and she ended up inviting everyone. When some of the guys took the invitation seriously and from being just two we became some 6 people she realised she'd got me into trouble. We finally ended up having a nice times as the film Chup Chup Ke was pretty funny and we also ordered pizzas for company. Ofcourse she hasn't thankfully reached the extremes of the Sanjus, Akashs, Sunils and Munnabhais of the film world and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't ever happen either. :p