Love, Sex aur Dhoka - The Review

I was excited about the release of this movie for the longest time. Not a single known actor, and most importantly, the movie was shot in digital format - Security cameras, spy cams, digital video cameras - the whole shkabang. Finally, taking full advantage of the Vodafone Tuesday offer, I dragged my mum along to see the movie with me (no one else was available!)

I'm glad I took mum along with me, because anybody else would have been an irritant. She dozed off within 15 minutes of the movie, and I was caught in attention by every move the genius Dibakar Banerjee was making.

Love, Sex aur Dhoka challenges mainstream Bollywood movies, and their portryal of love. Dibakar has divided the movie into three parts, each part dedicated to love, sex and dhoka respectively, though all three parts have elements of each. All three stories and characters are interwoven with each other.

WARNING: Super Spoiler Alert. If you haven't seen the movie, don't read any further! Skip this section completely!

The first section is an out and out challenge to Bollywood's notion of love, how everything works out for the hero and heroine, against all odds. The young aspiring movie director who falls hopelessly in love with the daughter of a rich businessman, sounds cliched, doesn't it? The young man is a huge follower of the Yash Raj school of filmmaking, and his diploma movie 'Mehendi tere naam ki', is a tribute to 'Adi' Chopra. He falls in love with the lead actress so much so, that he even begins calling her Simran. So far, everything seems like the perfect Bollywood plot, even the leads begin to think so. Dibakar has juxtaposed real life versus the cotton candy Bollywood life wonderfully in the first section. However the love story ended, Dibakar simply left it on the audience to interpret and choose what life they'd like to live.

The second story is, I think, the best combination of all three parts - love, sex, aur dhoka. A broke 'MBA', a store clerk, and things that go bump in the night. What I took away from this section was that in such times, who do you trust? The person you love? Does he/she really love you? Can you let yourself go completely? Do things truly work out in the end? This part had some of the most risque dialogues and 'bold' scenes.

The third is all about 'dhoka'. A jaded dancer wants to take revenge against the Punjabi pop star Loki Local (the best performance in the movie!) who used her in exchange for an appearance in his music videos, which he never goes through with. Fate brings together the dancer and an equally jaded 'sting operation expert'. Together they plan a sting operation against the pop star. What happens next? Find out!

SPOILERS END

The movie is gritty, gripping, and brutal at times. There isn't a boring moment in the movie, it engages you from the beginning to the end. In terms of movie-making, it is truly revolutionary. It has some of the best dialogues and superb music. Dibakar has created some very memorable characters, and in my book, they are going down alongside heavyweights like Hanz Landa, Michael Corleone and Darth Vader!

It is unfortunate that Dibakar is a director from Bollywood. This movie will not be sent for Oscar consideration, nor will it receive the Filmfare for the Best Movie. He will of course be given a Critics award for his efforts, while Shah Rukh Khan laughs his way to glory and wins best of show. Sigh.

So here's 4/5 for Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex aur Dhoka. Watch it for pure cinematic excellence!

Sachin Tendulkar

R.I.P

My dadaji (grandfather) passed away peacefully on 11th February, 2010. We had several names for him - Grandy, Gramps, Grampa, Biscuit Baba (he loved biscuits!), and of course, dadaji.

To say his life was a struggle would be an understatement. He had seen hardships right through his childhood. But he fought through every struggle and achieved everything that he possibly could. He was the quintessential self-made man.

Dadaji had few hobbies, and the one that topped the list was research. He would spend entire days writing in his journals about his new finds and discoveries. He would rip apart relevant newspaper articles and stick them on to his journal, even before anyone else got the opportunity to have a read. He would read and write with such joy - it was something he was so passionate about. Of course then, we found this hobby a waste of time and energy, and most importantly, we weren't getting our paper to read. We would tell him to stop so many times, but he never gave up.

The second thing he was most passionate about was cricket. He loved everything about cricket. He would discuss players, scores, even stadiums at length with anyone who'd ask. When he got sick and bed ridden, he would tune his portable radio to the live cricket commentary. He would still cheer and curse whenever India performed favorably or not.

The last time I saw dadaji, I told him he was a great man. I told him I love him and I will continue to love him forever. I told him to get well soon. I wanted to see him back on his feet again. I wanted to see him reading and cutting holes through newspapers again. I wanted to see him cheering every time Sachin Tendulkar hit a six. I wanted him to tell me his stories again. I wanted to hear him cough loudly every time he brushed his teeth. I wanted to hear the shuffle of his feet when he walked. I wanted to see him tune his radio again. I wanted him to be around.

And then, on 11th February, 2010, he left the world. He left me. And he took a part of me with him.

And then, on 24th February, 2010, Sachin Tendulkar made history by becoming the first cricketer to score 200 runs in a One Dayer. While India cheered for Sachin's achievement, I cried because dadaji wasn't here to see him do that. He would have cheered wildly, and then have told us for days about what he had done.

I talk to myself a lot, and I always hear a voice talking back to me. Yesterday, I spoke to myself again - "Dadaji, you missed Sachin's 200"

A reply came back to me, but a voice I had not heard before - "You don't think they have televisions in heaven?"

I smiled a little, while tears streamed down again.

Don't Panic

..I'm still alive homies, just in case you were worried.

OR, if you thought I was gone for good, and you heaved a sigh of relief, then tough luck bitches!!!

I just took some time off to put things into perspective, plus I was in Delhi for two months, interning with this lifestyle magazine. But I'm back now. With new ideas, hopefully. Here's hoping my brain gets bombarded with new ideas about stuff to write, because without that, I am nothing!

Hope you've all been good little children, and missed me like you should have.

xoxox. Gossip girl! ;)

I'd say it's kind of funny!

If there's one thing in my life that I have learned, it's that no matter how close you are to a person, he or she will use you. They will ring you out, juice you dry, till they have taken every opportunity to use you. Let me give you some examples.

There are some people you have never spoken to (and thanked your lucky stars) since school, and 5 years later, they add you on facebook. You 'peh' and 'meh' and add them, and for months, you will have no conversations, even on facebook.

Then one fine day, these long lost friends will ping you on the facebook chat, and have a conversation like this:

Friend: Hey!
Me: Oh Hi! (Why's he talking to me?)
F: Remember me?
M: Of course I do! (How can I forget those days when you bullied me to death!?)
F: Long time, huh?
M: Yeah.... (I wish it were longer)
F: So, what you doing these days?
M: Working at XYZ (*yawn*)
F: Oh cool!!! It's located at ABC, right?
M: Yeah... (ok where's this going?)
F: Do you know if there are any openings for an (insert educational field here) graduate?
M: Nope (I KNEW it!! Why else would he talk to me?)
F: Can you find out? Also, can you find out the pay package for a fresher?
M: I wouldn't know (EFF YOU!)

And then there are those, who are kind of friends, but only talk to you if they have some work to be done. They begin conversations with some formality, which soon leads to me having to do some work for them.

Friend: Hey beautiful!
Me: Hey gorgeous!!
F: How are you?
M: I'm good, you?
F: I'm fine yaar..how's life?
M: All good! You tell me?
F: Sab changa hai!
M: Chalo good.
F: So, what's your take on pink nail polish?
M: What?!!!
F: Yeah! I'm doing this article on pink nail polish....just wanted your opinion..
M: Uhh...ok..well..I think pink nail polish is (15 minutes of typing)
F: Cool, thanks. Chall I'm busy now, talk to you later.
M: Ok. (GRRRRRRRRRRRR :x)

Then there are the blatant ones, who don't even do the formality, and get right down to business.

Friend: Hey
Me: Hi
F: Have some work.
M: What?
F: Can you upload that video of yours on my blog?
M: Oh HELL no.
F: Why?
M: First off all, you didn't even ask me how I'm doing. Secondly, I don't want to.
F: Ok. Bye.
M: Bye.

The point is, if you let anyone use you, they WILL use you. I have a hard time saying 'No' to people, I guess it's the spirit of helping people out in me. Maybe I should try using others now..You...do me a favor, will ya? Comment on this post!

(P.S. I mean no offense to ANYONE in this post. Just sharing some anecdotes I'm sure most people go through!)