Aamir is flaunting it too now. At least he doesn’t remind you of dying-lizard SRK looked like with his six-packs. Ghajini, a remake of Tamil Ghajini which in turn is the copy of Memento would be hitting the screen in the last week of December. The first look was out couple of weeks back and didn’t everyone just praise his bloated look. I found the pictures repealing. No way it passed for an ultra hot few claimed it to be. And then the promos came. Thank god, he looked better than the stills. However I am annoyed with ‘Oh!, Look at me, I am so perfect’ attitude of his. Alright, you are good, you have a knack of getting into all aspects of film-making (many call that ‘interfering’), you sweat and burn yourself out, and you do whatever you do with conviction but for heaven’s sake do not shove that on our face. We want to watch a good movie. Yes, indeed you presented us with many such gems, but how can you forget you have done Mela, Mann, Raja Hindustani too and there are many more.

We are not interested in knowing how deep you go into a project to make it work. We all know what transpired between you and Amol Gupte; the poor guy had to walk out of TZP as director so that you can soothe your ego. I do not have any vendetta against you. I like your work, I like seeing you act but all I expect is a little humility; in accepting that Ghajini is a copy of cult film Memento and accessibility; not only when you have a movie up your neck to promote, be it your or nephew’s. I feel you are no more the same Aamir after Lagaan. Of course you gave many hits after that but Aamir of pre-Lagaan days was some one else.

Btw, the current song from the movie reminds me of your Fanna look, those drapes, those close-ups are just that. So much for perfection.

So, tomorrow Dostana is getting released along with Dasvidaniya. I am watching Dostana in the morning and Dasvidaniya later in the night. Oh, I am tired of Priyanka Chopra. Dostana would be her sixth release this year; Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi would see her in a cameo and not to forget her countless advertisements on TV. Apart from fashion, she sucked in all the movies. Dostana will have her Chamku star Bobby Deol paired (supposedly) against her and trust me they make for an awful couple on screen. For that matter I do not see her making a great pair with any one particular actor. She gelled with Abhishek and Hrithik in Bluffmaster and Krrish respectively but those were one off incidence.

This would be after so long that all the three Khans will have their respective releases in the same year and in same month. Now, that Salman’s Yuvvraaj is postponed to December, the alternate weeks in December would see Yuvvraaj, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Ghajini hitting the screens. Ghajini would be a hit for sure but I am not so sure of other two. I feel Subhash Ghai has lost it after Taal. Yaadein, Kisna, Black & White; all failed miserably and people are expecting a lot from Yuvvraaj. Rab Ne.. is Aditya Chopra’s third movie as director after DDLJ and Mohabbatein. Rab Ne.. is that of an underdog who rises like a phoenix and wins his wife’s heart and mind. If the screenplay and editing is taut, the movie should work for sure.

Let’s hope for a good year end. I am eagerly waiting for Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye.

I end with the tag Vimmuuu had asked me to do some eons ago. I am supposed to put up my snap which should be taken 10 or more years ago. Haha, I have truck loads of hard copies of my snaps but I am too lazy to scan and put it up so I am just going with one which I managed to fish out from somewhere. The photo was taken when I was in Second Class (KV Gurgaon). I am the first person from left in the second row. And yes, my twin bro is somewhere there too in the photo. Vimmuuu, I will keep digging for more and will put up as and when I get them.

Music:

Sneha Khanwalkar nailed it this time. The lady who gave not-at-all impressive music for RGV’s Go last year has done a commendable job with the compositions of upcoming movie, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye(OLLO). Dibakar Khosla ka Ghosla Banerjee is all set with his second movie (looks promising if I go by the promos). Title song is already a chartbuster a la KKG’s Chak-De-Phatte but the two other songs which hold your attention are Superchor and Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari. Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari has a touch of Rajasthani folk. This is the one I am particularly hooked to since couple of days. This is the kind of song either will make you a slave of it or would repel you and you won’t hear it again. If later be the case, please give it a shot again and listen. The song in high-flying words is superlative, awesome, and mind-blowing. And beware of few raised eyebrows whilst you listen to it. Trust me there would be few people who would say, ‘what the heck are you listening to?’ The song is such.

‘Superchor’ is a Punjabi number which can be termed rap as well. But, it’s unlike those high-pitched, loud; ear shattering ones which aam-junta usually associates the Punjabi songs with (remember Bhootni Ke). Sample this:

‘Jugni Rehti Sheeshe Paar’
‘Odi Kothi Sector Chaar’


‘Jugni Kehdi English Bol’
‘Hello How You Do You Bol’


Lyrics are penned by director himself along with Amitosh Nagpal and Mange Ram and few words here and there are difficult to understand but the music is so damn impressive that you can hardly call that a flaw.

So, that’s the music I am currently listening in to. A lot better than Tandoori Nights and Tu Saala Kaam Se Gaya of recent times.

Also good are these:

Muskura from Dasvidaniya sung by Sonu Nigam. I rate Sonu a lot higher than any other singer of last decade. I was disappointed with his Makhna from the movie Heroes. But with Muskura he made it up. Another singer whom I put high up there is Mohit Chauhan (of Silk Route). Mohit who has Khoon Chala, Guncha Koi, Tum Se Hi to his credit is back with two beautiful ones this year. Kuchh Khaas from Fashion and Aankhon hi aankhon me from EMI. Sukhwinder sings once again for SRK after last year’s Dard-E-Disco, a song that had constipated written all over it, be it Sukhwinder’s voice or SRK’s dance. This year he sings Haule Haule for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, a pretty decent number.


Books:

Coming to books, I finished four of them (that I had got in the beginning of this year) in last two months. Local and Vertigo (recommended by Smita) are by Indian authors; Jaideep Varma and Ashok Banker respectively. Both have backdrop of Mumbai and both are told from point of view of young man. Protagonist in Local works in ad-agency and describes the Local trains of Mumbai as his home while that of Vertigo is caught between an alcoholic mother, demanding girlfriend, and not-so-good-paying job. Both the books are very readable. Btw, Jaideep Varma has now turned director with Hulla which was released in September this year.

Third book was Orhan Pamuk’s My Name Is Red, a story of multi-layered plot told from various POVs like the murderer, the dead, the dog, the satan, the red (color) and high chances reader will get confused and irritated to the point of leaving it in midst. However, it is a great piece and almost faultless. The last in the list of finished ones is Memoirs of my Melancholy Whores written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book is 100-odd pages that can be finished at one go of 2 hours or so. I had heard of Marquez and his Love in the time of Cholera is on my to-read list for over three years now and I haven’t bought it yet. Nonetheless when a friend strongly recommended MMMW, I bought the book and enjoyed reading the story of a journalist who decides to sleep with a young virgin girl on his ninetieth birthday; on the pretext of treating himself and eventually falls in love with the young virgin girl who was set up for him by his old friend; a lady who ran a brothel. The book is rich in literature and now I am eager to read his other books.

I have picked booker winner The White Tiger now and if not extremely enjoyable so far (as I have read just 50 pages), the book is at least readable considering the other booker winner (2006) ‘The Inheritance of Loss’ never saw the daylight after I packed it in a carton which consists of ‘started-reading-left-and-will-never-read-again’ books. TIOL was remarkably a gloomy book from the first page.

Movies:

Fashion was a decent watch but Madhur is now getting repetitive. Half the reels of fashion are influenced by his previous works. His next one Jail sounds interesting but I wonder what he will showcase. Sodomy? Probably. Golmaal Returns was an awfully sad movie. Quantum of Solace put me to sleep and so did Righteous Kill. I was expecting a lot from Righteous Kill especially. Nevertheless after watching it I decided to pick 3 random movies each of De Niro and Pacino from their young days. Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and Raging Bull it was for De Niro; Dog Day Afternoon, Donnie Brasco and Scent of a Woman it was for Pacino. I love watching these movies again and again. Paul Newman’s Hud was another one which I caught in between. Hud is a great movie laced with one of the finest dialogues ever written.

World Cinema:

Irreversible (French) is a thriller/mystery that lasts over a night. The story is told in a reverse order. The movie has lot of violence, gore and sexual assaults. It can be disturbing for few. Rating – 4 Stars

400 Blows (French) is a powerful story of a young boy at the threshold of becoming an adolescent. The boy is neglected by all and is seen as troublemaker. Starting from trivial crimes to eventually getting into stealing things he finds himself arrested. He is sent to juvenile detention but soon sent to work camp. The film deals with sensitive issue of adolescent criminals and how they are dealt. Rating – 4 Stars

Grimm (Dutch) is a story of two adults; brother-sister duo who are left on their own in the forest by their father. The pair goes to Spain to their Uncle who now turns out is dead. They meet a Surgeon who falls for the sister, takes them to his mansion and marries the sister. Their lives turn upside down when they get to know the Surgeon in actual steals the Kidneys when brother one day wakes up to find himself in a dessert while Sister is confided in a cellar. Rating – 3 Stars

Happy Together (Mandarin) is a Hong Kong movie about two gay men who go to Argentina for work. One of them (Ho) is promiscuous and leaves the other (Lai) as he cannot keep a monogamous relation. Once when beaten up Ho returns only to find Lai is not so approachable intimately. Ho begs to Lai to give him another chance. Lai agrees and they are back together as couple. Once stable, Ho goes his usual promiscuous way and leaves Lai again. Rating – 4 Stars

Flashback…….

It’s the time of year when vacation, parties, celebrations, and many such activities take precedence. This is also the time of year when almost 30% of all the movies get released. Here in Bangalore its winter already and the evenings are enjoyable and nights call out for a warm squeeze from the lover. This is the best time to write as the creativity and imagination are at its best. But, the sad thing is I am suffering from all possible blocks. I do not feel like writing, I gave up on reading after having started 4 books, I do not feel like socializing and least partying after last Saturday’s heaviness. There is no lover to squeeze the coldness out and the final nail is I am not watching any movies. A movie a day person in me, a movie a day person like me who would any time prefer a good movie over the best possible fuck available is shying away and yes from both.

I called few friends to check if it’s just me. Affirmative responses made me call for a Sunday night brunch with these three SOS friends I got. A high class super-fucking rich and reasonably handsome guy of 26. I call him Ridgeet. He was skeptical after our high drama scene at the recent outing wherein I refused to lend him my spare boots. The asshole always forgot to bring something or the other on our bike trips. It wasn’t tough to convince him though as I agreed to lend him my latest DVDs. The other two godforsaken loonies are actually a couple. I had to check with Ridgeet first of their relationship status before calling on them as in last one year they broke-up and patched up more than Ridgeet had sex in his whole 7 years of active sex life. Thank god I fare better than Ridgeet at least in this case else the guy is always a mark ahead of me. So, these two loonies turned up too. Call them boy-loony and girl-loony.

Dressed in our best, we assembled at this newly opened suburb lounge suggested of course by the girl-loony. So there we were eating food which was priced exorbitantly.

“So, what’s up guys? Long time, eh?” I started as others did not show much interest in starting the conversation. Ridgeet was busy checking out the others, while the other two loonies were busy checking out each other; literally. Ridgeet looked at me, gave a firm look as he answered, “Yeah, well, fine. What’s with Ya?” and tuned away to continue his checking out.

This was not working. I had to say something else. So I slightly turned and faced the two loonies and asked them, “You guys going good? All well in relationship?” The girl loony picked up a slice of fish finger, popped it in her mouth and spoke, “We like each other. The sex is great. But I do not think either of us wants to be exclusive about sex. I mean, I like fish finger but I can not eat this daily. You see what I mean. It’s like the same daal-roti story being told over and over again. Many, I mean almost all aren’t vocal about it, but we both decided to give it a go.” I nodded my head, “You mean you guys want to go in for an open relation.” They both were quiet for sometime. “Only for two weeks” the boy-loony finally opened his mouth.

Ridgeet turned towards us, who wouldn’t get interested by now. He offered his two cents, “I guess that’s perfect. Go for it both of you. Open relations are the ultimate expression of truth, honesty and loyalty.”

I made incoherent question mark noises. “How is it truthful, loyal or honest to sleep with people when you are in love with somebody? I mean I ain’t saying this is wrong but when you are in love, a relation it’s wrong. Ok, if you want to sleep with another person, break off with the current and then go and sleep with other; not whilst claiming to be in love with the current.”

Boy-loony opened his mouth to say something but Ridgeet interrupted him, “Oh, look who is talking of it? Mister got lucky than any of us always and he talks like a puritan.”

I gasped and said, “I ain’t talking like a puritan and I ain’t preaching. I just want to understand how you can claim to be in love with someone and still go screw someone else. I had never been in love of late so you cannot count my endeavors.”

Ridgeet had to have a last say so he continued, "No, seriously. Think over it. We are not meant to be monogamous. We might love one person but we always fantasize over so many others. We always cruise. A pair of breasts, a nice ass, a huge bulge and no matter how good our intentions are, we secretly picture ourselves with them and go home and screw partners. Every relationship that ends because ‘one of the partners slept with somebody else’ always has the tag line attached with it: ‘Honey, it was just sex. Nothing more.’ I think it is high time we made ‘just sex’ a part of our relationship. That way we will all be as fucked as we want to be and less fucked in our heads." Ridgeet had apparently given this a whole lot of thought. The last time he had so passionately defended something was when we had questioned him dating three women at the same time – one for the conversation, one for what she did to him, and one for what he could do to her.

This happened two weeks ago. After that I had a small vacation in Goa. I am back. I am still suffering from few blocks as I overcame the movie-watching one and have watched some 10 good ones in last one week. I somehow managed to write this piece and I am still thinking about open relationships.

Continued…….