Of Disliking RHTDM, Disagreeing with 3 Idiots, and Loving Modern Family

You know what takes real strength? Showing affection.

The last week I again watched Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein. For some people, it is a cult movie (cult movie definition: a movie that flopped but some will still fight for it). I have never had a fascination with that movie. In fact, I did not like the film at all. The movie is a perfect example of terrible acting. Madhavan and his gang of friends consistently ham and deliver horrible performances. Of course, it was Madhavan's first hindi film, so expectedly, in a first film, an actor tries very hard to be natural but doesn't always work. But as usual I digress. I did not like the film because of bad acting! I have no problems with bad acting per se (after all I loved Sonam in I Hate Luv Storys). Dia Mirza and Saif weren't that bad. I had a problem with its concept. Consider the plot. Maddy falls in love (at first sight) with Reena. Later he finds out that Reena is supposed to meet Rajiv, her childhood friend to whom her parents are considering getting her married. Rajiv is planning to come to town to meet Reena but for some reason doesn't come. Maddy, who is actually spying and stalking Reena, gets to know of Rajeev's plans and impersonates him and meets Reena. He spends five days with her in the city, during which Reena eventually falls in love with Maddy, thinking of him as Rajiv. Of course, the real Rajiv turns up and Reena is shocked and heart broken by Maddy's lies. Rajiv and Maddy, infact, turn out to be old college rivals with a history of confrontation between them. Reena tries to forget Maddy by agreeing to marry Rajiv. Rajiv, just like Aman in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, senses the unhappiness in Reena and asks her whom she really loves. Sensing that Reena is still madly in love with Maddy, he lets go of her. 

My problem is with Maddy's character. What he did was so so wrong!! You are spying on a girl, literally stalking her, and have the guts to impersonate as her friend and spend time with her. And when the girl finds out, you threaten her by going to her office to tell her to fall in love with you! I mean think of it in real life..if you were an single woman living in a city like Delhi, and what if a guy does to you like this!! He could actually be jailed. And look at the guts of Maddy, he and his cohorts go and threaten Rajiv with dire consequences if he marries Reena. I mean, what is Rajiv's fault?!?! That he is Rajiv! Get a life you morons! 

Shruti, Reena's friend, tries to justify Maddy's act by saying to Reena, चाहे ही उसका रास्ता गलत हो, पर वो इंसान गलत नहीं है.. Reena counteracts that जब इंसान ही गलत हो, तोह फिर क्या सही और क्या गलत. उसने मेरे विशवास को तोडा है. He hurt me. 

The fact is Maddy started his relationship with Reena on lies, howsoever madly in love with her he may be. Yes, he even ate chicken by going against his religion just to show his love!!. Still, he was wrong. And instead of being apologetic, he is trying to get her through vengeance. He was a loser. Rajiv was actually the hero but they treated him as a villain. He let go of Reena..it was he understood that Reena will never be happy be with him..he let go of what could have been a perfect life if Maddy had not come into the picture..but alas! as they say, the winner is the one who gets the girl in the end. So so unfair. I hate Maddy :X Talking about stalking, I think Hindi films actually have scant respect for women's rights. Here the hero follows the girl until she says yes to him and this is so normal, that should we surprised that these roadside romeos stalking outside girls' colleges think themselves as 'heroes' and misbehave with them. But it is too naive to blame films for such things! Nevertheless, I loved the music of RHTDM. Zara Zara is so beautifully shot..and awesome lyrics..Dil Ko Tum Se Pyaar Hua :) 

Kho Gaya Main Khayalon Me

Ab Neend Nahin Aankhon Me

Karvate Bas Badalta Hoon

Ab Jaagta Hoon Main Raaton Me

Ab Doori Na Sehni Har Lamha Kehta Hai

Na Jaane Haal Mera Aisa Kyon Rehta Hai

The last week, A sent me an email that I should read this and give my opinion on this.

Rawls argues that even meritocracy-a distributive system that rewards effort-doesn’t go far enough in leveling the playing field because those who are naturally gifted will always get ahead. Furthermore, says Rawls, the naturally gifted can’t claim much credit because their success often depends on factors as arbitrary as birth order. 

I totally agree with this. I was immediately reminded of 3 Idiots. I hated that movie. Yes, I hated that movie. For some people, it is the best piece of cinema, a classic, masterpiece. I respect that opinion. It is subjective. I cannot watch that movie again. The film was preachy and morally sanctimonious as Aamir's films typically are. As Sagarika Ghose, brilliantly puts it "The system is always wrong in Aamir's film." I think that guy is a credit hogger, who steals people's ideas and claims them as his own. He is a LOSER.

Anyway, more on why I dislike Aamir Khan later. As I was saying about 3 Idiots, I think for me, the true winner in the movie was Chatur. As Rawls states that if you take into account only merit, then naturally gifted people have a distinct advantage over others who work only on hard work. Chatur was not born intelligent, but it was through his sheer handwork that he reached the top. Rancho, on the other hand, was a naturally gifted chap. He didn't study at all..used to be thrown out of classes but still managed to top the charts. So, how can you compare Rancho with Chatur? The film tries to portray that only naturally gifted people should pursue science. But what about others? A person who is not so intelligent, can't he do hard work to reach the top? I mean look at Chatur, that guy had the confidence and the panache to read a speech in a language, that he has never spoken, in front of the entire auditorium!! Importantly, agreed that Farhan (Madhavan), wanted to be a wildlife photographer, but the film did not portray what Raju (Sherman Joshi) wanted to be in life. He did not have an option because he was poor. He had to study engineering although he was not naturally gifted, he used to fail, but why did the movie not try to tell Raju to leave engineering? All these things that people say to leave your job and do something can only be done if you are rich! And people say to you to follow your heart. But I am sure not even half the people really know what they want to do in life. But for me, Chatur was actually the winner instead of Rancho! And if I simply hate this song, "Saari umar hum..mar mar ke ji liye, ek pal to ab humein jeene do jeene do". Who has stopped you from living your life? There will be thousands of poeple who will be glad to study in colleges you are studying! Anyway enough of my ranting against 3 Idiots. I still have one of the articles that exactly shared my view point. Here are some excerpts from it.

I almost rose up on my seat to acknowledge the bravery of the scriptwriters when Virus starts explaining the income levels. I was thinking, ok now it gets interesting because that’s exactly the point. To have the kind of confidence and devil may care attitude that Ryan, sorry Rancho is supposed to have, you have to be a rich brat in real life, who doesn’t have to worry about finding a job as soon as you get out. I had many such students in my own class, who could afford to question the system, some of them very bright and original thinkers like Rancho. But then the film killed the point again and again in the film.

First they killed it, when Rancho started topping the class again and again. He then became a superhero at that moment, not a normal human being anymore. The fact is, no matter, how brilliant a mind you got, how original thinker you are, you still had to slog to get grades. Granted, you could still top a subject or two. There were some subjects such as Machine Drawing that you either get or you don’t, no matter what your IQ level is. But topping every subject, without any effort, while you are having fun drinking alcohol on the rooftop? I am sorry but that just doesn’t happen. No, I am not saying that you have to be Chatur to top the class. The reality is, the people who top the class are all very smart students, way different from Chatur, but they also have to slog harder than everyone else. I can say that, because I was a good student and slogged my ass off, still couldn’t top the class. Those who did, slogged harder than me and were brighter than me. It was never only one thing; you had to have both- IQ and the ability to work hard. If the message was, you should not follow grades, but gain and apply knowledge, and develop a broader set of skills that are needed in the real world, then it got killed by showing Rancho getting the best of the grades, all the time.

My other issue with the plot was about following your heart. It’s easier said than done. Have you ever wondered what you knew and how aware of yourself you were at the age when you entered college? Did you have any clue what you wanted to do or what you liked to do at that age? I certainly didn’t and know that 95% of my class didn’t either. We probably had some idea about what would be cool but was that something we would love doing, we had no clue. In fact, there are very few people who are lucky enough to know what they want to do in life and even fewer who figure that out so early in their lives. To me, they are clearly Gods’ children. Even in the field of Sports or Show business which are full of stories of people who just followed their dreams, there are very few people like Sachin Tendulkar who knew at an early age what they wanted to do in life. Remember that dialog in the film Iqbal, where Naseer explains to the parents of Shreyas’s character, what a special thing it is to know what you want to do in life. That’s so true. I am in my late thirties and I still don’t know what makes me happy and what would have been an ideal thing or profession for me.

Read the complete article here. I agree with each and every point the author makes.

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=416598433102 

The quote in the beginning:
You know what takes real strength? Showing affection.

This awesome quote is from Modern Family. I just watched an amazing episode of it and still thinking about. Season 2 Episode 2. Here is some context for it. Cam and Mitchell are two gay guys living together. Mitchell is very uncomfortable to show his love for Cam in public, so he avoids all PDA but Cam does not like this. He wants to feel loved and says that to Mitchell. Mitchell responds saying he's the one who stands up for the relationship, making speeches on airplanes or talking to his dad when he calls Cam a "friend." "That's different-that's confrontation," Cam says. "You know what takes real strength? Affection."

Awesome? ain't it. It takes real guts to show your affection in public. As @Notebook tweeted yesterday, A lot of guys are nice to girls when it's just them, but it takes a man to be nice to a girl when around all his friends. 

And continuing about Modern Family, that episode was so awesome..I love Gloria. She said that sometimes, people need something else-kisses, hugs! As I wrote in this post about Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, everyone needs a hug ya..who doesn't? Haina?

She says: 

In Colombia, we kiss for everything, because a kiss can mean so many different things. It can be the start of something new, it can be how we say 'this is the person that I love', it can be romantic, it can also be worth waiting for.

And then Jay kissed his son for the first time since he was 12. Cam and Mitchell kissed. And Alex decided to wait to kiss her boyfriend for a perfect moment. It was handled so gracefully without any cheesy moments. No wonder, Modern Family has grabbed so many Emmys.

That's a father kissing the son BTW :)

I just watched Honey Moon Travels Pvt Ltd again. I love that movie :) I also want to do that salsa dance  that Abhay and Minissha do in pyaar ki kahani suno :(

Dialogue of the Day:

"Baal kaale nahi rahe to kya hua, dil abhi bhi kaala hai."- Nahid, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.