I turned 27 today and had a really nice day throughout. I don't quite remember how I celebrated my previous birthday, but this one was a blast and so, I thought it was worth writing about.
For starters my birthday this year was on a Sunday. Now, how can anybody go wrong with a birthday on Sunday!
The day had an ominous start with me managing to pull myself out of bed at 6.15 am (this ain't easy, I swear) for my horse riding class. The riding session went off reasonably well. I did a few rounds of trotting in the training area all by myself. After class, I fed my horse carrots and then stopped by the berry tree to pick a handful for mom. So far so good.
On the way back, I stopped over at my favourite South Bangalore eatery - "Halli Thindi"- and wolfed down a dosa with coffee and packed idlis for home. Once I got home, my cousin called to wish me and suggested we have a get together in the afternoon. I took the cue and asked a few others to join in and voila, everyone agreed! So at noon, a loud, spirited gang assembled at home for a grand pot luck lunch. Lunch was followed by an extended ragging session, where everyone pulled everyone else's leg till we couldn't laugh any more. Then we cousins, played our mandatory round of cricket in the front yard. That was followed by an extended "chai" session that dragged on and on, till no one had anything left to chat about.
Finally, when the cousins packed off late in the evening, I got a chance to open my orkut page and gmail to read the birthday messages and boy, was I thrilled! Every year, I look forward to this. Reading messages from friends accumulated through the years is an exhilarating feeling. Jogging your memory back to the days when those friendships were cultivated is a pleasant experience. I had messages from my high school gang, graduate school buddies, friends from my first job, classmates at the MBA school, colleagues from work. I replied to each one of them with a broad smile that refuses to go off, even as I type this entry many hours later.
Later at night, at the dinner table, dad narrated a funny anecdote related to my birth (there are loads of them, I created quite a stir before arriving). I believe, what happened was that when I was born, my relatives sent a telegram to dad, who was in Nigeria then. Dad's colleague, Mr. Khan, received the telegram and passed on the news to Mr. Sethi. Mr. Sethi mixed up the sexes and broke the news to dad that he had become father of a baby girl! Everyone in office congregated and congratulated my father on having a girl. Plentiful anecdotal evidence was quoted to suggest how having a demure charming baby girl is so much better than having a rowdy troublesome baby boy. Dad soaked in all the compliments and well-meaning parenting wisdom with gratitude. It was only a couple of days later that he came to know that he had had a boy and not a girl. When the news spread in office, a second round of congratulatory celebrations broke out and the same colleagues came and twisted their stories around to prove how a baby boy might be a nuisance, but is so much more fun to have than a baby girl!
As the day drew to a close, there were more calls, SMSes, emails and orkut scraps than I could handle. It's been a nice day :)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Delhi-6 - Watch it!

I watched Delhi-6 yesterday and liked it very much. It is a nicely made intelligent film with lots of thought provoking content. The movie’s story is set in the Old Delhi area near Chandini Chowk, which carries the pin code 110006 and is hence called Delhi-6. It provides an enticing glimpse into the joys and tensions of living in the Old Delhi neighborhood that is home to middleclass Muslim and Hindu families, who have lived there for generations. The locality is like a microcosm of India, a proud place that chooses to overlook the shortcomings of the present by living in the grandeur of the past. This leaves it with a stagnated moral core that threatens to disintegrate under the slightest hint of strain. The director explores this theme throughout the film without getting preachy.
The movie’s high point is its highly competent ensemble cast lead by veterans like Om Puri, Rishi Kapoor and Waheeda Rahman. The younger lot including Abhishek Bacchan, Sonam Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Atul Kulkarni do a very decent job indeed. For me, the biggest draw was the film’s music by Rahman. I went to the theater to specifically see the song “Masakkali” rendered on the big screen. The maestro has belted out yet another outstanding track that elevates the movie to a different level altogether. The best thing about his music is that it has an organic link with the setting of the story. Delhi 6’s sound has an underlying edgy current reflecting the changing aspirations of the people of an old neighborhood. “Genda Phool” is the best example where Rahman conjures an old-world sound reminiscent of the 60’s and then garnishes it with a dose of electronic sound that provides a youthful tempo for young Roshan and his old granny to groove on. Another treat to watch out for is the interesting use of the 'Ram Leela' stage performance to carry the narrative forward. If nothing else, it is a chance to see a damn neat Ram Leela production on the big screen!
Now coming to the specifics of the story, the movie begins with Roshan agreeing to take his grand mom back to India where she yearns to spend her last few living years. When the grandmother and grandson duo land in Delhi, the first scenes that great them are that of news channels flashing the story about a “Monkey-Man” who has terrorized the residents of Old Delhi. Roshan goes through the typical bewilderment that foreigners go through when they are introduced to the sights and sounds of a teeming Indian metropolis. One can’t help smiling when the bemused Roshan stares with disbelief when he’s woken up by the snort of tangawala’s horse as he sits at the window of a swanky car. At first, our protagonist is overwhelmed by the overflowing warmth that the Old Delhi neighborhood doles out to make him feel at home. As the film progresses, he starts spotting the quirks and fissures that the social fabric carries. This is where the filmmaker’s eye for detail is praiseworthy. He spins R K Narayan type character sketches like that of feuding brothers living in the same house with a mud wall partition; the Mohammedan jalebiwala who is an ardent devotee of Hanuman; the mean moneylender Lalaji with the young bride he bought for Rs. 25,000; the slimy local photographer who owes everybody money and finally elopes with the Lala’s wife. These and the many more vignettes that are brought to life during the first half, make for a sumptuous a la carte that keeps you happily engaged till the serious bit unfolds in the second half.
In the second half the politics of communalizations comes takes centerstage when the “Monkey-Man” menace takes a nasty turn and a local god man suggests that the “Monkey-Man” must be a Muslim, since attacks always happen in Hindu areas. The local Hindu party’s politician seizes the opportunity and promises to teach the Muslim community a lesson. All hell breaks loose and the cloak of bonhomie that enveloped the neighbourhood tears apart bringing to the fore the deep-rooted distrust between the Hindu and Muslim communities. Friendly neighbors turn to deadly foes overnight as trishuls and sickles are brandished in the air. How Roshan tries to defuse the situation forms the climax that pans out nicely, tying together all the loose ends.
The lone weak link of the movie is the purported romance between Roshan and Sonam Kapoor’s character, Bittu. Bittu’s characterization as the quintessential middle class girl trying to break free from her preordained future as a subservient wife to a groom chosen by her parents by participating in the “Indian Idol” contest is spot on. But, what fails to fly is the sudden love that Roshan and Bittu feel for each other towards the end of the movie. However, to me, this is a minor flaw that one can live with. Obviously, the director and scriptwriter must’ve been too preoccupied with the larger theme of the story and missed out fleshing this part in greater detail. Given the impact they’ve made with the rest of the film, I'm fine with letting this slip pass. All in all, as one critic said, this movie is a good follow up to Rang De Basanti. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra has made another movie that I wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of times. Cheers.
Subtext: It is quite strange. Two groups of friends that I spoke to after watching Delhi-6, absolutely hated the movie. There seems to be a pattern to this. This group of friends also disliked another favourite of mine, 'Jane Tu Ya Jane Na', but loved 'Ghajini', which I didn't quite like. It appears that there is a section of movie goers that likes linear story telling of the kind that happens in movies like Ghajini where there is a clearly dilineated hero and villian and everyone in between. There are no shades of grey, just pure black and white. You don't have to spend too much time pondering about subtexts, the story is plain and clear, just sit back and enjoy the scenery. The other type of movie goer likes non-linear narratives that meander around collecting small subplots to tie them together in a larger framework that unravels as you sit back and view the movie in its entirety. These are the sort of movies that keep popping insights in your head days, weeks and months after you've watched them. The sort that I like writing about.
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