Sunday, December 27, 2009

Why "All izz well" with 3 Idiots?

3 Idiots (3I) is one of the most recent movies around the “common man stack” (closer to the experiences of the common man) from the Vidhu Vinod Chopra – Raj Hirani – Amir Khan stable of movies. They have been credited for some of the most successful hindi movies around these themes (not together as a team though) for Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Munnabhai MBBS (Part 1 and 2), Dil Chahta Hai.

3 Idiots does bring in that association with the common man in today’s Indian middle class where parents strive to put their kids through the best education, though it is well beyond their means. It challenges the convention that though we bow down to society pressures to get into an engineering degree or medical – is it really worth running the rat race, when you don’t know if you are the right rat in the right race?

The movie does make one think about this seriously amidst the experiences of the three protagonists – Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi during their days in an engineering college. If you have been through an engineering or MBA course in India, you definitely would associate with the movie. The storyline of 3I is like a sketch of a huge painting, which is the storyline. As you continue watching the movie – you start filling this sketch with the colors of your experience. Your mind rewinds back to the days when you were ragged in college or those funny moments you had with your friends which may now look silly with the newly acquired “professional maturity” and “inside the box” thinking. This flashback of things in your life, which didn’t come out so far – does hit you real hard when you watch this movie and makes you laugh louder or perhaps cry more than what the storyline or characters can bring out. This is perhaps because you identify some parts of you, your friends,similar circumstances, your family and your professors with each of those characters as the movie winds along and kind of makes you pleasantly relive those long forgotten days.

This movie would be a hit and recoup its investment as it caters to all the classes – the students who are currently studying in colleges in India and between the age group of 18-25 (about 2-3 lakh), those folks who graduated out of their courses between 10-15 years till now (about 20 lakhs), and the last class would be the parents of such kids and bringing out their struggles in putting their kids through school.

The movie may definitely not be one of the best you would have seen in the past few years (Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par, Munnabhai MBBS (Part 1 and 2), Dil Chahta Hai) , but the judgment for this reality is blurred further as you see yourself in the movie in the various experiences portrayed by the characters. So you may end up liking this movie and rave about it citing “All izz well”!

But – when you head back from the cinema hall, back to the confines of your routine after reliving your experiences, it does make you think – “Are you doing the right thing that you can with your skills and abilities? “ “ Is this where you want to be?” “ Would life have been different if you would have pursued your passions?” But can you act upon it now or is it too late? Comments welcome!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Saturday Night in Norway

"On a dark desolate Saturday
Cowebs in my head
Wanna smella fresh air coming through the open window
Up ahead in the distance - saw a shimmering light"

Hell - no shimmering light for now! This is where the similarity between "Hotel California" and "Deepak in Norway" ends!

Its Norway - we have very limited access to sunlight or actual day light.
The clouds haggle over to suck most of the light in the day and the nights are well - at the mercy of the moon and the streetlights.

Weekends are days to be totally socially outcast - a mix of me having grudgingly chosen to take this step and also a flavor of not-many-indian-people-whom-i-know around. Since childhood, i for some reason have not been able to forcefully get myself invited to someone elses's house or purposefully barge into a group. Even if i want to do these things now - show me the people! I will as well continue to be in my cocoon - read my house and go out only for the weekend shopping to buy groceries. Eagerly waiting for my wife to travel here to Norway - so that we could explore a few places around - even in the cold and get ourselves socially active! Till then facebook, orkut, you tube rule my social life!

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Life comes a full circle!

Hi there - haven't written in anything here for sometime now. Well i am through my MBA from one of the top 10 institutes in India, accredited by AMBA and landed the best job on campus per my aspirations in 2008! College life ..rather hostel life was anything but dull and tempo was up through a vibrant batch, challenging environment, exciting opportunities for leadership through placement committee and other initiatives! In 10 months after graduating, i got married and here i am in Oslo, playing the role i dreamt of few years back!
Yawn - well since you are reading this blog, you need to get more and not my history...right?
Well i am into watching some serious stuff these days. Called "art movies" or parallel cinema commonly in India. Have literally been banished and dismissed as insane by my family for this sudden enthusiasm in watching close to 7 movies in 2 weekends - Mandi, Nishant, Bhumika, Katha, Ardh Satya, Manthan, Suraj ka Saatvan Ghoda. I have always wanted to fulfil this desire of mine to watch serious stuff and try to look at this movie from the director, the charachters and actual issues perspective per my limited intellect. It has indeed been an eye opener and the right food for my mind and thought, which was until recently well satiated by an urge to aggressively read books during my journey from work to home and back, in Mumbai India. I read a lot of Jeffrey Archers ( i started loving his style of writing btw), Ken Follets (all time favorites!), John Grisham (the best author per me), Michael Crichton, Arthur Hailley, Arvind Adiga, Gregory David Roberts to name a few. Am i now starting to move towards this new urge to get back to writing serious stuff through this blog? Only time would tell! Till then - Tada!