Unloading my think tank...

Yes I'm talking about Jab We Met. Yes the movie is a typical Bollywood song and dance routine. Yes its a typical boy-meets-girls-goes-apart-only-to-realise-he's-in-love-with-the-girl story. Its all of that and more! Jab We Met is a treat for all the people who love to laugh and be entertained. Hell, you might even find yourself in the character's shoes, though you won't admit it probably.

Geet (Kareena) meets a jilted lover and failed businessman Aditya (Shahid) on a Bhatinda bound train and ends up taking him home, meanwhile making the distraught Aditya laugh, and tear his hear off at the same time. The journey also lights sparks of love for Aditya, though Geet has no idea about it and is ready to run away from home and marry Anshuman (he's some underwear model with no facial expressions). Aditya returns to Bombay. But Anshuman refuses to marry Geet, which sends her emotions spiralling. What follows next is how Aditya gets wind of this, hunts Geet and brings her to be back to her old self.

Simple story? Nothing great about it? There you go wrong. Its a simple story with wonderful moments that make you laugh and wanting to be like Geet. She's spunky, loud and effervesent with her smile. And no one could've played her part as well as Kareena did. She acts great, looks amazing (as usual) and even overacts in all the right places (like in when Manjeet catches her kissing Aditya and her reaction on being caught). She breezes through the film, bringing a fresh air to the story. The film reminds you of things you did in college, burning the photo of your ex and flushing it down the toilet, and actually feeling good about it! Shahid is earnest, but ends up being just alright. Either that, or I like Kareena more between them :D The locations are beautiful, and the mahal like home in Bhatinda looks perfect. The marriage and punjabi household were like deja vu to me :-)

The flaws? Aditya's sudden forgiveness for his mom as is his sudden rise in business post interval.

Apart from that, the songs, the screenplay, locations, dialogues (Main apni favourite hoon) are a real treat! Watch this one again if you already have! And watch out for Kareena!

... and I for I-watch-way-too-many-movies :D

So I saw The Departed on Saturday night. Very good movie. What I liked the most was the emotions in it. Of lies, deceit, hidden truth, psyche of undercover cop and mafia. Holds apt for a mafia-cop drama. And the actors have done a neat job. When I first saw Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, I went, "Ah, this guy can only be good in such romantic, chocolate-laced love movies." Then I happened to watch "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape" and was knocked by his performance in it! He chooses to act in movies like Blood Diamond, The Aviator - smart, very smart. Go Leo!

I also watched V for Vendetta. A little late I agree :D I havent seen it completely; I was watching it last night on my iPod when it ran out of battery. Some 30-40 mins left of it. About the movie - the story is based on a true incident that happened a long time ago in UK. And the movie went on and on and on. Masked terrorist, blows up a building, makes victims fearless of Govt., holds a broadcast station hostage and relays his message of terrorism to the country. Then there is The Chancellor who is (supposedly) evil. A biological experiment on humans gone wrong. Few honest investigation officers and govt officers trying to unmask the terrorist and bring him to book. A young lady whose life the terrorist saves is on the Most Wanted list after she was spotted with him. Too much of it all and it goes on and on. I am not liking it much. Lets see how it goes towards the end. My friends say it is a good movie and I should hold patience till I see it fully. Okay. You win I lose. I'll watch the remaining part tonight.

Sidenote - I am gonna be writing this post all through the day - saving it as draft whenever I need to be away from my desk. This way, I shall write what went in my mind at that moment, rather than waiting for later and then facing a writer's block. Good idea no? :-)

Note After Sidenote - I figured my idea may end up making my post look really long, so...

Very good movie. Its based on the serial (12 of them) blasts that rocked Bombay in March 1993. A horrific friday that everyone would want to forget, a black friday that everyone wished never came.

The story is based on a book by the same name by S. Hussein Zaidi. He took 6 years to write the book, during which time he faced a lot of personal tribulations (because of the subject). I havent read the book; but the movie was really good. It starts from the day the blasts were planned by Tiger Memon. He was the mastermind behind the blasts, gave adequate training to young men he lured. He lured them with words like jihad, holy war, and protection of Muslim community. The movie doesnt point fingers, but it makes you see how the blasts were planned, carried out and the aftermath lives of the people responsible for it (Tiger Memon and his boys).

An interesting thing is that a man caught in connection with Bombay riots (as aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition) had warned the police about the blasts which were to take place in the city in April 1993. Police did not take him seriously, and somehow tiger Memon got a whiff of this man's confession to the Police. Subsequently, he decided to prepone the blasts to March '93.
The 12 blasts rocked the city one after another, and a day before, Tiger Memon fled the country. He promised his associates of rewards after the task was completed, which of course he never gave even a thought to. As the inspector rightly says to one of the blast accused, "dharam ke naam pe chu**** ban raha hai woh [tiger memon]". The movie is then about how the accused are caught and made to confess. Kay Kay Menon plays Rakesh Maria and some Sikh actor plays A S Samra, who was the commisioner of Police then. The main hero of the movie is the guy Badshah Khan (dont know the actor's name) - he realises his mistake and that Tiger Memon only used him and other boys, so eventually turns approver for the case. Its a great, great movie. The way they show how blasts occured in the city really shook me. So many innocent lives gone, so many lives shattered.

How sad that a few religious fanatics think such acts are justified! And what gruesome methods to make their point! Some Hindu fundamentalists thought a Masjid cannot stand next to (and be in place where) Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was and so brought it down in a mad, uncontrolled frenzy. This angered the Muslim community who did the same to Ram Mandir. Clashes happened and riots spilled to various parts of the country. Bombay was one of them - Dec 92, Jan 93 - Mar 93 were riot time. Women, children, elders - of both communities - being killed mercilessly by each other. This triggered Tiger Memon for the blasts, and also that his own shop/business in Mahim was burnt down during the riots. Very, very unforgivable. Groups like VHP, Bajrang Dal should be banned. This is where democracy fails. The government did nothing to stop such groups. No religion is meant for clashes; its for one's own peace, faith and belief. If you cant find it, then stop believing in it. Dharm ke naam pe chu**** mat bano.

Consider this - Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, riots in the country in 92-93, blasts in Bombay in 1993, burning of trains in 2002, burning minorities alive, killing each other in cold blood, blasts in March 2002 in Bombay again, bombing the local trains in Mumbai - its like one after another counter actions taking place. Wont lead anyone anywhere. You cant buy peace and respect for your community (or religion) like this. Like Gandhiji said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." True. Very true.