A New Beginning.

Another short. This idea was lingering in mind for a while. There seems to be a connection between my writing and traveling on a plane. Again, this was written while I was on my way back from Chicago this weekend. I would let you guys read without any introduction to the characters this time.

----

Exhausted and weary, he poured a good portion of bourbon in the glass and leaned back on the chair. Took a sip and loosened his tie.

"I might not need to wear this again!".

For the first time in his life, he felt truly relaxed. Sun was setting outside bringing golden rays through the window and spreading them across the room.

"Beautiful..why did I never notice this before?".

59 years, 24x7, all he did is work. Today, it was all over. Mark retired today.

Another sip. He glanced at photos on wall. Sons graduation, first job party. Daughters marriage, grandsons at thanksgiving dinner table. All looked happy and content. Michelle, his wife, smiling at him.

"Ohh, I miss you so much Michelle....".

Unknowingly, his fingers rolled over the ring in his hand and he felt her warm touch. Michelle left him 15 years before in an accident that Mark magically survived.

"You broke the promise. We were in it together. It was for both of us, why only you? I could not save you, I am sorry Michelle."

Tears rolled down as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt empty, sad, aimless.

"I am useless now. Who needs me?, Nobody! What do I do now?".

"When you feel sad, don't know what to do, look around. You will find answers. They are around you, waiting to be found....", Michelle used to say, and he used look around and make fun of her.

"I don't see them Michelle..."

As he looked around again, he noticed something. Sun was falling on his old drawing book, pencils, brushes, dried out colors. It's been years he drew anything. A forgotten hobby. He locked his eyes on the board for few minutes, suddenly got up and cleaned the dust on the book. Flipped to new page and kept staring at it.

"A new page, a clean slate, just like me. No emptiness...but a blank canvas, I can draw anything I want....It's my turn to live for myself, for my hobbies. Not an end but a new beginning. Michelle was right!".

Rejuvenated, wiping his tears, laughing loudly, he picked up a pencil and started drawing. Retired, but not so much tired anymore, a new Mark, a great artist was born.

----

Rat vs. Cat

Up until last night, Ratatouille was the unbeatably the best animation movie in my mind.

But last night that changed. While I anxiously awaited for the movie to begin, excitedly chomping on my popcorn and trying to hold on the ever uncomfortable and big 3D glasses, it struck me I had absolutely no idea what I was expecting from Puss-In-Boots.

Animated movies is not my favorite genre. I hadn't even watched the trailer but I vividly remembered the cool, Spanish cat from Shrek made alive by the sexy voice of Antonio Banderas and there was no way I was missing a movie where he is the protagonist.


What a movie it was! I really don't remember the last time a movie with an animal protagonist that made me laugh, bite my nails in tense situations and made me want to give the hero a hug.

There were a couple of reasons why I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of a cat, all fancily dressed up and swaggering about.

1. Animals talking is one more leap of faith we take when we go to watch such movies. However, the movie has preserved some very essential traits of the cat. The Casanova, the outlaw, debonair cat, enters into a bar and calls for a drink of milk, leaps around like an ordinary cat when he sees a patch of light trying to catch it, knows how to be cute when needed to get work done from a human and many more moments like these which preserves his innocence and identity of being a cat.

2. The whole story is built around characters who we all know. I don't want to reveal who they are but the references and insinuations to incidents in the life of those characters, adds a whole new layer to the story. It is like going to watch a biographical movie of Amitabh Bachan and then seeing Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai,Jaya Bahaduri and Rekha as characters!!

3. The dance sequences are incredible, making the audience at least tap their feet.

4. The story is fast paced, giving the audience no time to get bored. Plot is simple. The 3 main characters have a back story, which is introduced as the movie progresses. The part of the movie which leads to the climax has revelations which (at least to me) were not predictable and seemed to leave no loop holes.

5. There are nuances in the movie which stay with you forever. The widening of Puss' eyes whenever he wants to look cute, another random cat whose reaction to everything is "Ooohh", the internal struggle of one of the main characters between vendetta and being a good person, the bonding between the 2 main characters, are the ones that I recollect even now.


The only part of the movie that I probably did not like was the fast wrap up of the climax with not much depth to it. Also, it was very unclear what happens to the side characters involved.

But the rest of the movie had already won me over including the credits to come. Hence, it was easy for me to overlook the only bit that I did not like.

Age no bar, sex no bar, mood no bar - when one watches this movie, one would have been entertained and will leave with a smile!

Poll Results - Nov 2011

These are results of the polls appearing on this blog.

Which amongst these Aamir Khan Films did you like the most?

1. Sarfarosh -- 58%
2. Ghulam -- 25%

3. Taare Zameen Par -- 16%


I thought TZP will take this one, I guess people have not forgotten Sarfarosh :)

Which among these is Jaideep Sahini's Best script?

1. Rocket Singh -- 13%
2. Chak De India -- 13%
3. Khosla ka Ghosla -- 66%
4. Company -- 13%

Clear Winner! KKG really had some of the best moments in Hindi Cinema in the past decade. But Sahni has an amazing list here, I enjoyed all of them.