The Importance of Doing Nothing !

Our elders have always taught us that we should not sit idle and instead keep ourselves busy. Khali dimaag shaitan ka ghar. This was probably true in the analog age when there were fewer things to do and fewer distractions. 

But time has changed now. In this digital age, there are always so many things to do. I probably want 50 hours in a day and 20 days in a week to catch up on hundred different things I do. I want to catch up on news, read books on my Kindle, write blogs, check WhatsApp, tweet about my day, like/share pictures on Facebook, listen to music, watch latest YouTube virals, watch TV and so on. So, it feels like whenever there is a small pocket of time it should be allotted to one of these activities. Even the schedule of the children these days, is jam-packed. They go to school, then swimming classes, football or cricket practices, dance or piano sessions, play video games, Facebook and twitter and snapchat and Instagram and blah. It probably leads to burn out? Aren't they overdoing things much more than the capacity of the mind and body? 

In all this running around, I just wonder how it feels to do nothing? I mean, how about getting up late one day, not to read the newspapers, not to switch on TV, touch neither your phone nor the laptop. Just sit idle, maybe spend more time with family, have a cup of tea, look outside the window, observe the hustle bustle around, just be lazy. Won't that be so much relaxing? 

Sitting in a cab, why do I immediately open my laptop and keep using the phone? Why don't I just chat with the driver? At dinner time, why do I need to switch on the TV? Can there ever be a quiet dinner? In a meeting room, why do I keep my laptop open and not participate 100% in the discussion? 

I once questioned one of my senior colleague, who used a car for her commute but never drove herself. I asked her what she did while sitting in the car. She told me that she did a lot of thinking while sitting quietly which is equally or more important for her job. 

For me, it was a new concept. I can also think a lot to close all the threads going on in my mind, while switching contexts between work and family. So, on my way to work, I mentally close down on all the personal stuff and put those aside, and slowly reinstate the work related threads such as which bugs to close today, whom to consult for a work related matter and what to respond to the emails in my inbox. Similarly, on the way back I close the open threads and think if I need to purchase groceries or pay bills or call someone. And this is super important especially for someone like me who has difficulty managing multiple threads and has high overhead for switching contexts.

Likewise, I always question Megha about what she does during her hour long commute daily and she said that she did nothing, not even listening to music. How much ever I persuaded her to pick up reading as a habit, but she was never convinced. But I never realized how important and relaxing it can be to just do nothing but just sit and observe your surroundings. Maybe that's why she has a very sharp focus and is blessed to get a sound sleep unlike me who has ten things running into the mind before getting to sleep. 

Lately, I am trying to reduce my habit to read or listen or surf during the commute. And it really makes a difference. It is like the intermission for the mind when it can relax. I hope it calms my anxiety levels and helps in increasing my concentration. What do you think?

Mubarakan

It's fun to write a review after weeks of the release of a movie. I don't worry about including spoilers. Those who care would have already watched it and the rest don't anyway care. Also, I know my writing is not biased by the sudden rush of emotions I was submerged into while coming out of the theater.

Mubarakan was one such accident which happened to me last weekend, which I am still trying to forget. I was left confused whether I should laugh or cry. Whether to feel sorry for the veterans who were part of the phenomenon or feel sorry for myself who spent a precious Saturday evening. 

It felt like a been there, done that kind of experience. The plot is a mix of Bazmee's old movies and Priyadarshan's ensemble outings.

I have never been a fan of Arjun Kapoor, and a double dose became a little too much. It seemed to me that he is the Dhinchaak Pooja of the acting world. None likes him, he is irritating, still he keeps making movies and earn money. The last time I liked him was probably in the AIB roast.

And out of the three girls, I feel really sorry for Neha Sharma. The pretty lass could act a bit, but her half-baked character was completely sidelined with no logical sequences in her scenes. Illeana hams so much and counterbalances the beauty she is. I don't think she can claim anything apart from the Hawa Hawa song in the movie. And, for God's sake why would anyone cast Athiya Shetty. This skinny skeleton seems to be tailor-made for modelling and not for acting. Every time she says Babaji in the movie, it sounds like her dad saying 'Babu Bhaiya' ! 

Well, it is the veterans who make the movie watchable. Ratna Pathak Shah and Pawan Malhotra are perfect as estranged siblings with their ego bigger than the height of the Big Ben. Mr Bazmee could have given meatier dialogues to them than those given to the junior Kapoor. However, it is the senior Kapoor who carries the movie on his shoulders pretty much alone. At time, he creates a fool out of himself. However, he is still watchable. 

In the end, it seemed like a family reunion when Sanjay Kapoor joins as the ghost brother, with the 'angels' parading in the background reminding me of Taher Shah. 

The movie had its moments and at times it induced intentional and unintentional laughs. The music is average rated - peppy but forgettable. Probably a better casting of the lead, maybe Varun Dhavan, would have made it more enjoyable. I would rate it with two and half stars.

Work or Play?

There is always a lot of fuss about work life balance. People keep complaining that their work sucks everything out of them and they don't have a life outside work. I have a random thought for them, what if the work was liberating. Can there be moments in life when you just want to work and nothing else. Maybe because, it is a familiar territory. You know, what is expected from you. You (probably) know, which piece of the code has a bug and needs to be fixed. You know, whom to catch to seek help when you are stuck.

On the other hand, the same might not be true about the beyond-work stuff. The expectations can be sky-rocketing and you constantly fear of not meeting those. You don't exactly known where the problem is and how to fix it. The most difficult part if that you don't know who can help.

Well, in this perspective, the work is actually an easier part of the life than the non-work part. It is less depressing and more liberating. And this is very counter-intuitive for most people who don't like their work. One of my colleague strongly believes that by nature work has to be boring. Com'on, nobody will pay you to enjoy and have fun!

Disclaimer: I did not write this in pressure or in an inebriated state. These are my personal views and you obviously have full right to differ.

Story, Camera … no Action?

It is a best time for the Hindi film industry. What was once a factory churning out formula based mediocre products during the 90s, now seems to change for the better. Thanks to the young generation of story writers who have started thinking beyond the routine mainstream. There are more adaptations of real events (Airlift, Rustom and Talvar) and biographies (Aligarh, MSDhoni and Neerja). Also, more unconventional subjects are chosen for making movies (English Vinglish, Hunterr and NH10). This is a welcome change. Credit should also be given to the actors who like to experiments and live different kind of onscreen characters. Examples include Vidya Balan (Kahaani), Shahid Kapoor (Udta Punjaab), Swara Bhaskar (Nil Battey Sannata), Rajkummar Rao (Shahid), Deepika Padukone (Piku), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Badlapur), Randeep Hooda (Sarbjeet), Irrfan Khan (Lunchbox) and the list goes on. 

Still, there are so many damp squids! Why did all my senses became so gareeb after watching Raees. OK Jaanu was not even OK. Baar baar dekho was such a waste that no one should have ek baar dekho. Humari Adhuri Kahani was so boring that I cannot even write a poora blog about it. Nobody bought the calendar of the Calendar Girls. Shaandaar was expected to have dhuaandhar business but could not. No one remembers when did Roy come and fizzled out, but everyone just remember Chittiya Kalaiyan. No one wanted to play the Love Games. And I wish, Main aur Charles would have never met each other.

So, what is missing are talented directors who can execute on wonderful story-lines and extract the maximum out the gifted actors. Well, not anyone can be a good director. While a Tigmanshu Dhulia can churn out a winner in the form of Paan Singh Tomar; Mohit Moond could only make a mediocre Manjhi. Amol Gupte gave Taare Zameen Par, however Jayant Gilatar gave a completely forgettable Chalk N Duster. Neeraj Pandey made a winner in M S Dhoni, but Tony D'Souza could only give a second-rate Azhar. Why are there so much limited talent of the level of Rajkumar Hirani, Neeraj Pandey, Zoya Akhtar or Gauri Shinde. 

The movie, Noor releases this week which is an adaptation of a bestseller. Sonakshi Sinha plays the central character. I believe she could give a very convincing portrayal to the role of a journalist. However, we need someone like Vikramaditya Motwane to extract the best out of her. Remember Pakhi from Lootera?. Wil Sunhil Sippy be able to do the magic? Or will Noor become another Akira which promised a lot, but could not make a mark. We will know very soon. Till then, please stay tuned and let me know what you think !

Why I did not like Begum Jaan

When a Vidya Balan movie hits the silver screen, the expectations are sky-rocketing. One cannot help but long for the acting powerhouse who has countless awards into her kitty including a national award and 4 back-to-back Filmfares. The kind of career choices she has made is truly remarkable. The list comprises of a variety of roles including a possessed woman (Bhool Bhulaiya), an independent woman taking care of a special son (Paa), a married woman seeking vengeance with shades of grey (Ishqiya), an actress with an unapologetic sexual appeal (The Dirty Picture) and a pregnant woman searching for her husband with a secret mission of her own (Kahaani). 

You know the audience are eagerly waiting for a movie, when a national award winner director (Srijit Mukherji) casts Vidya Balan to reprise a role earlier immortalize by the superbly talented Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta. The icing on the cake was the association of the fantastic actors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Rajit Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi and Rajesh Sharma with the project.

(spoilers ahead)

Half an hour into the movie and I knew that I had bought the tickets for something different, something I was not looking forward to. I felt cheated. I found a fantastic plot, a stellar starcast let down completely by a poor script and dialogues. It is indeed a tough job to create a drama woven around social issues and make justice to the subject. But a director with the caliber of pulling off a national award winner Jaatishwar could have done it with a remarkable finesse, but this time he could not.

I did not like Begum Jaan, because throwing off one-liners again and again cannot make up for good dialogues. It gets boring after a while. And Mr. Kausar Munir (dialogues) you lost me there.

I did not like Begum Jaan, because an important issue of the politics behind the partition of India is utterly trivialized. I believe, it formed the crux of the storyline, yet not given a fair treatment. And Mr. Mukherji (screenplay) you lost me there.

I did not like Begum Jaan, because the director tries to pack too many subplots and references into a single narrative. Maybe, I was expecting a classic like Mandi, but could only get a potpourri of half-finished stories. And Mr Mukherji (direction) you again lost me there. 

I did not like Begum Jaan, because it does not help to show a frame with half-cut faces of the officers (Ashish Vidyarthi and Rajit Kapoor) time and again, probably with a intention of depicting the concept of partition. Too much of repetition loses the charm of the trick. Mr. Gopi Bhagat (Camera) you lost me there. 

I did not like Begum Jaan, because a talented musician who has given numerous renditions including Refugee failed to impress here. A line up of ace singers such as Asha Bhosle, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Kavita Seth, Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal too failed to make a mark. Mr. Anu Malik (music) you lost me there. I thought you still have it in you when you recently gave a winner in Moh Moh Ke Dhage, but I have my doubts now.

I did not like Begum Jaan, because most of the starcast is wasted here completely, with a few exceptions. Balan aces in an powerful role of a brothel-madam, but has not been given good dialogues and the script does not do justice to the powerful actress she is. Ashish Vidhyarthi and Rajit Kapoor, as the Govt officials, feel helpless enacting their half-baked characters. Rajesh Sharma is wasted as a corrupt police officer. Pitobash Tripathy, as the pimp Surjeet, could have been given a more meaty role. Ila Arun is reduced to just a story telling grandma. Was an actor of the caliber of Naseeruddin Shah needed to play the Rajaji with fading control and power? I don’t know. 

Maybe I am being too ruthless while writing this scathing piece. Maybe I am, but I cannot help it, because it was a Vidya Balan project and I had huge expectations from it. However, the movie had a few hidden gems such as Gauahar Khan, the only one who stands out among the nine girls. Watch her character Rubina, in the scene with Surjeet (Tripathy) where she convinces him that her heart belongs to him, even though the body gets sold every night. It's time, the actress was given good roles to let her prove her acting prowess. Another surprise element is Chunky Pandey, who is completely unrecognizable in a role of a merciless supari killer Kabir. He does such a fab job that you actually detest him from your core. It's better if he does away with the roles such as Akhiri Pasta and focuses on more meaningful ones. 

Overall, the movie had its moments which the audience will take away with them after leaving the theater. Alas! There are not too many of those. Balan could have better not broken her rule of not working in a remake. Or maybe Mukherji could have not thought of weaving too many elements. I would like to give a generous 2 and half stars for Begum Jaan. You can probably save money spent on theater tickets and instead wait for the DVD to be out or it to be streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime or on national television.

Do you agree with Karan Johar's nepotistic way ?

Ever since Kangana Ranaut appeared on the Koffe with Karan show and accused him as the flag bearer of Nepotism and how he does not let the outsiders enter the industry, a question on nepotism is invariably asked in every celebrity interview. It has become the new buzz word of the B-town. Everyone and his uncles are giving opinion about the subject, either favoring or opposing it. Celebrity kids are asked if they had it easy while entering the industry. Most of them deny except a few who dare to accept the truth like Vivaan Shah did in his recent interview. 

The Most spoken argument is that maybe it helps grab the first project but one has to prove oneself and there is no shortcut to success. For example, there are many Uday Chopras, Jackky Bhagnanis, Fardeen Khans, Esha Deols and Harman Bawejas who were launched several times by their fathers/uncles but could not go further. Maybe they did not have it in them. On the contrary, there are others on the likes of Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Kajol who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. The question is, had they not have the privileges which offered them an easy access, would they have reached this far? There are thousands of equally deserving candidates on the streets of Mumbai who could have achieved great heights but did not get that single chance. They either keep struggling, go to the TV route or simply give up. 

If I think hard, I find that all professions are infused with the shades of Nepotism. Mukesh Ambani gets to inherit the Reliance empire, Sonia Gandhi gets to lead Congress etc. The examples are numerous. All the family run business fall into the same category. Some of such examples are evident, but others may not be.

I think it comes very naturally to a human being to take care of the interest of his acquaintances, thus he favors the family and friends before considering others who may be equally, may not be more, deserving. Well, in the tech related workplaces, we see less of this phenomenon directly because the selections are mostly driven by merit. However, isn't referral scheme a mild form of nepotism? Technically yes, because you refer your friends for an open position to get him an interview call, which would have taken him a long time otherwise. If it does not strike a chord, you must have heard about jack lagaana for any work related to government organisations. It may be for clearing a job interview, getting a tender passed or any other work where you are desperate to get Aashirwad from a influential person to either remove a roadblock or expedite things.

The question still persists if nepotism is bad and should be stopped, But how do you change a basic human habit? Or ... do you want to change it at all?

Naam Shabana

Ever since I heard the news about a prequel to Baby, I was curious. Moreover, what made it sound even more interesting is that Neeraj Pandey chose the 10 minute fight sequence involving Taapsee Pannu to tell the story of the girl who later became the feisty fighter Shabana Khan. My expectations were high, as were the ones from several movie-goers.

The film started with the leading lady Shabana (Pannu) showing her marshal art moves. We get to see a no-nonsense butt-kicking protagonist and her 'driver' friend who had more than a soft corner for her. The story took a sudden turn after a night of tragic events, which made Shabana to take the path of becoming a secret agent. 

After a fantastic backdrop, I was expecting some tough training sequences similar to that from recent Dangal movie followed by some high-octane thrills and actions on the lines of Baby. Not that I was disappointed completely, yet I felt that things were getting done in a hurry. I know, it's not fair, but is inevitable, to compare the movie to Baby. Naam Shabana lacked the intensity and sincerity of the latter. Maybe, the bar was too high, as usually happens with the sequels. Did I mention, Kahaani 2? Well I did not, but you may not be wrong to think about that one.

As per the star cast goes, the movie is completely owned by the leading lady: Taapsee Pannu. This is again after Pink, when she proves herself. She can really act, much evident from the dinner date scene, where she conveys a lot just from her eyes. Then, there is THE superstar Akshay Kumar, who even with just a cameo, infuses the screen with sheer energy whenever he appears. But did he need to every time pull the girl, literally, out of a dangerous situation? I am not sure! A conflicting point of view in a movie establishing girl-power. Rest of the cast does the job well. 

A more of Manoj Vajpayee would have been better. Southern star, Prithviraj is wasted in the role of the antagonist. He nevertheless does look menacing while killing people by choking them to death. 

A two and half for the movie and another half just for Tapsee Pannu and her action scenes; a total of 3 stars. It could have been better, but still one of the good movies releasing these days! Go for it without high expectations and you will enjoy.