Best review of a movie

Delhi Belly

I'm a big WWE (formerly WWF) fan; a lot of factors contribute in making the show 'the longest running prime time show' - maybe in the entire history of television. It's like a never-ending film with constantly evolving storylines and characters played by the wrestlers. A storyline, much like the movies, would consist of a wrestler playing a good guy, called 'babyface' going head to head with the villain or the 'heel' in wrestling terminology.

WWE has had many classic heels such as 'The Undertaker' or 'Shawn Michaels' or even 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. What worked for all these characters was that they had a lot of 'Heat' with the audience; people would pay to boo them, to see them getting beat up. All of these wrestlers are either current or future Hall of Famers.

But there were a lot of other wrestlers/heels in particular who started off very well but disappeared shortly. These were the wrestlers who initially got some heat going with audience but failed to sustain that 'heat' for a long time. They were the ones who - in wrestling terms again - used 'cheap heat' to get instant fame and were subsequently forgotten. But what is 'cheap heat'?

'Cheap heat' is what you get by directly abusing the audience with heavy duty cuss words. The audience does hate the wrestler because he's using the most 'extreme' foul language against them (grabbing instant attention) but forget about him soon because that's all he's got. No substance, no originality, only momentary 'cheap heat'.

Delhi Belly is a classic example of 'cheap heat' being exploited to the maximum. The only difference is unlike WWE's failed wrestlers who needed to sustain themselves over a period of time, the film only needs to work for you once, and in most of the cases it will, excepting some - like mine.

It is the laziest, most cunning (remember I used this word) screenplay in a long time. A while back I asked filmmaker Anurag Kashyap about using 'cuss' words in his films. He said, "That's the way we talk in real life. Why not in films?" It was an interview for his film 'Gulaal'. I was blown away by the film and I completely agreed with him.

But while I consider 'Gulaal' to be a genuinely written script, I've got a big problem with the writer of Delhi Belly. It is somewhat of an exploitation film at best. Something tells me the writer had two choices:

1. The plot which, without any doubt, is an intensely watchable one. It uses original/witty dialogues according to the situations and hope it works for the audience.

2. Given the same plot, go for a sure-shot, less satisfying screenplay, which you know will work for most.

It kills me that the team went for option 2 compared to option 1 simply because it required more effort.

Remember I used the word 'cunning'. Let me explain.

To get three guys to play 'hip Delhiites' who talk like actual living beings is one thing but to use that as a disguise to let your characters hold a prostitute's breast while talking to her, or constant reference (and shots) of ass cheeks to using every 'maa-behen' gaali you've ever heard in 'Hinglish' (as the ticket reads) is another. They've done anything to get your attention. It's like what Mahesh Bhatt said in a TV chat show, "I am a prostitute selling myself, rest is up to you."

And let's not use the 'oh, we talk like this in real life' notion here. Nothing in the film has been written to show 'reality'. Everything has being written very slyly to get that cheap thrill going amongst the audience.

Again I do have to admit that it works like a charm - for most. I am not offended by the film. I am just so disappointed. Here's hoping this film won't trigger a series of future films with immense 'cheap heat'.

Then again something tells me it will. Bollywood!

Are you getting bored?

Recently I met a friend of my friend who had come to meet her in her holidays. The visit was fun for us and her too. But at some point of time you feel that the person sitting in front of you is getting bored. Though it was the case with my friend itself, it happens many a times that we are just bored however lively the environment may be.

I think psychologically this can be expresses as a thought or a loop of thoughts coming in a person's head, which he/she outrightly wants to reject, either because the thought has a flaw, or simply because repetitive regeneration of the thought has a double psychological effect of giving a thought of 'regressiveness'. As man (and woman) being social, is also progressive continuously, the repetitive thoughts may simply be rejected as being bored.

But as a human being, you may never want to be bored. Its an alarm system from the mind to tell you that you are not being progressive. But is it that if you are not bored you are progressing? That may not be the case. Progress can happen vertically and horizontally. Horizontal progress is knowing more things / indulging in more things of the similar attitude / nature so as to bring an element of newness. Believe me, its not the kind of progress that is sustainable. Since we cannot continue to explore newer and newer environment(s) everytime (as it consumes resourses) its not sustainable. Plus, you must have access to the newer environments. This is where the concept of newness comes in.

Newness can be defined as the environment that the viewer / experiencer has never experienced before. Nor it can be experienced in the environment in which the subject mind lives. Hence to have the experience, we have to go to the newer environment. This travel can be physical or psychological. Some people claim that they never get bored doing a particular thing, say watching a TV, playing a guitar. But these experiencers may not realize that during these activities they have psychologically travelled. The TV watchers may be engrossed in the TV so much so that they may feel themselves as a part of the scene in the TV. They forget that they are sitting in the same room with the same static TV set. Guitar players may feel engrossed in music.The idea of newness has one more dimension to it. It can be transferred from one person to another. That is what is called fashion. Doing this 'in fashion', a person may never be bored. As this reflects a sense of pride in the experiencer and fills up his ego to leave no room for 'boriyat'.

The second way of progress is vertical progress, where the human being invents new dimensions or new ways of doing the same thing. A sense of newness is persistent around for the same things being done. This is the real way of progress as per me. As this represents the maturity of the person who grow with time.

So which one is better? Am I suggesting that one should pursue vertical growth (inner growth) rather than horizontal growth (external growth)? Not at all, knowing your environment and experimenting things will give a materialistic experience and that adds to the human life value too. But what enhances it the most is, how deep you go into it. That is where the crux of human progress lies.

Thats all I could bore you :)

Is the democracy in India worth it?

I wont lie and the truth is that I am fed up of the India - China story and the steps India has to take to improve over China. What China means for me is discipline, and what India means is indiscipline. There is no other perspective of it.

China has practiced communism and thus made its fortune, while France followed democracy and made its fortune. Today there exists protests in both the countries. So would one say that there is no dissent among the people in democratic countries? We say that China has denied many people of their basic rights, haven't these rights being granted in democratic countries but power taken away from people to exercise it? Many cases of 'snatching' of basic human rights have occurred in India and the cases have been 'handled' by the Police.

Looking at the brighter side of communism, I sincerely feel that the discipline that China has followed, has brought the country to order and made it take decisions that are very quick and effective. I could just dream of the day when Mr. Chidambaram or Mr. Manmohan Singh would be as powerful as Hu Jintao in China. Progress of the country lies not in the way of governing but it lies in the person who governs the country. If it is a corrupt government as that of all the political parties till date in India, which play all levels of dirty politics, no matter how much we make statements about the democracy, the growth of the country will never be upto its potential.

In the light of above comments, I feel that India needs a Hu Jintao to transform it. As it is said in India,

'Laton ke bhoot baton se nahin mante'

Jai Hind

The pursuit of happiness

The last post stated that there is more to come... and the prediction has come true, the college happening again with the freshers welcome party 'Sayujya' for Fall 10 and 'Garba' nights... the we could see the lively part of the college once again.

Well organized functions give delight to the one who attends them. To enjoy such a delight (and of course we were more than satisfied at the arrangements, thanks to the cultural commitee) i had chosen to be a part of the audience this time.

As soon as i hear of Garba, a wave of joy, excitement, creativity runs down my spine. I try to search extreme happiness through such small events, when everyone forgets any ill happenings (as happened in class, not to be stated here) and the tension of future (the trimester 2 result!!!). That short span of time, particularly the Garba, is the most enjoyable time. I like the common dancing more than the stage performances, as there is no race to prove oneself. The only objective is to derive pleasure out of pure dance, by dancing with freinds. The more spiritual objective is to dance in front of the Godess, for her. The spirit of being a part of the crowd and being nothing special exists. So there is no place for ego. At the same point of time, each and every player of the group dance is important, as the group dance cannot be without the group members. That is why I like Garba, as it is always performed in groups. Thus Ego and the Superego, as the psychologists call them, as both balanced and pure pleasure is derived out of it.

I see Garba, and such events which require group efforts, as a path to attain a balance in life - emotional and spiritual. It can make you realize what you are. It can end your quest, or at least quench it a bit. It can put you on a road to pursuit of happiness... as there is no happiness but just the pursuit of it... the more you get, the more you want. I pray to the Godess to give mankind the permission to host such events more than once a year.

The end of the beginning...but there is more to come

Journey to PROTON Business School started on 15th Feb 2010, with a jingle of positiveness in mind.... the jingle continues but the induction program which filled in our minds this jingle came to an end this weekend, 13th of March 2010.

While some protons describe induction program as a personality transforming experience, while some call it a life transforming one, i call it metamorphosing experience. The immense level of knowledge and varied experiences that the induction program has given has enriched life beyond explanation.

The first and the most important experience was Global MDP sessions and the Expert Guest Lecture Series. These sessions are truly enriching as they expose us to the external industry.. though we may seem raw to be exposed, the meat doesn't cook till it is exposed to the heat. With gaining knowledge from the industry experts, the most important knowledge that we got was the way of thinking to be applied while working in the industry... this experience is irreplaceable.

The next transforming experience was the sessions from Sandeep Manudhane Sir for the economist, first we thought of these sessions as discussion forums for the current affairs.. but it was not about knowing the current affairs, it was about 'connecting dots' as Sandeep Sir calls them, it was about understanding the effects of world affairs on our lives, it was about forming a perspective about the world, comprehending the world; also looking into the language perspective.

Diverting from the serious mood... the sessions that no one is going to forget - unarguably - are the management games - the skit forming exercise and the outbound training being the best of them.. am i right fellow protons (2010)? Well some may also count on the Rupal mam's sessions for logical questions and Tareen Mehta sir's sessions with the rope game and the stepping on the numbers game. Hats off to the course design team for these special moments..i loved the knowledge with fun moments.

Special Moments--

TI mall -



Moments from the Outbound training:

Finally, we are ready to rock in the PROTON...