My first short!

Well, they say, there is first time for everything.

Me and my friend (another crazy movie fanatic.. his name starts with O, guess guess..) were on-board a flight to India and decided to write a short as fast as we can. Although, he wrote an amazing one, mine was mehh..well, I will let you decide.

Our story is set on busy Mumbai streets that we all miss. It is about two individuals, who have their own problems and have nothing to do with each other. What happens next? Do they meet? Well, read on....

Life changed for Ganesh last year.

He was a mill worker, with wife and two kids. Wife never complained about anything. But, he knew, his earnings were just not enough. Mill was on the verge of shutting down. Kids were sent back from school as he could not pay fees. All the avenues of borrowing money were closed and he had nowhere to go. If there was anything, it was his confidence that he will get through these though times and rise up again. It was nothing new to him, he has done it before.

This confidence in himself, with which he could face any challenge, was shattered recently.

Soaked in sweat, breathing heavily, he kept walking. He held the bag close to his chest. He was waiting for this day for the whole one year. Now, there was some hope to recover. Skin pale, sagging, he was weaker than ever before. Once a while, he stopped to breathe. Images of children were flashing before him. “kuch khatam nahi hua abhi. Muze mere bachchon ko padhana hai, bada banana hai..jo muze nahin mila who unko milna chahiye. Main dilaunga unhe!”, he kept telling himself.

---

Life wasn't too different for Babu.

The day used to start and end on footpath. He was born there, it was his home. A small-time pickpocket, he used to get 10-12 rupees a day. “Maangke kuch nahi milta, chinna padta hai. Logon ke pass paani jaisa paisa hai. Ek do boonde girgayi toh kya hooa. Kisika khoon toh nahi kar raha hoo..”, Babu believed. He just didn’t see anything wrong in it. Earning money the honest way was too long of process. He had seen his family die trying the honest ways for years. He didn't believe in it anymore.

His life revolved around bunch of so called Bhai’s who used to dream of high rolling cars and big houses. In his dreams, life was going to change when he catches a big fish one day.

“Aaj koi bada haath maarna padega. ” he thought. Through the smoke his Bidi, he spotted a man holding a briefcase to his chest and walking fast. “Milgaya..lagta hai bahot maal hai bag main.”. He chucked the Bidi and ran towards him.

---

Babu snatched the bag from Ganesh and ran for his life. He did not look back. He didn’t care to check if someone was following him. The best thing to do was get out of there as soon as possible. After a few minutes, his curiosity for the bag forced him to stop at a recluse corner. It felt like a safe place.

“Bahot paisa nahito jhewar, kya hoga ismain? ”, Babu thought. After struggling for a bit, he managed to break it open. It was the moment he was waiting for.

“Saala fatela naseeb!”, he cursed the god and threw the bag away. There was no money or jewelry in the bag. The stuff in the plastic bag spread on the floor. There were injections and medicines and some papers. Just out of curiosity, Babu skimmed through those papers. It was a letter from Government of India.

“Mr.Ganesh, aapki darkhast manjoor hui hai. Appko Healthy-India fund for Poor Programme (HIFPP). Ki tarafse yeh dawaiyaan bheji jaa rahi hai.”

“Nahi yaar, saala public pakadke maaregi. Paagal mat ban. Aur waisebhi kahan dhoondhenga usko?”, a quick thought of returning the bag to the old man ran through Babu’s mind. The guilt of stealing from a poor guy and that too his medicines, was something that he didn’t want to live with.

“Jo bhi hoga dekha jaayega”, he decided to himself and went back to the same footpath in the hopes that he might just find that old man there. What he found was a crowd surrounding somebody.

“Arey margaya lagta hai? Pata nahi kahan kahan se chale aate hai. Daaru pi hogi aur kya?” One of the crowd members said. Babu made his way through the crowd.

It was Ganesh, the old man!! Babu felt the pressure on his shoulders.

“Agar yeh mar gaya hai toh, jail, torture, life toh khatam Babu! Satakle yahan se.” That’s all Babu could think of. He was just about run away, and somebody yelled.

“Arey bhaisahab, haath do. Saanse chal rahi hai. Jaldise inhe hospital le chalet hai”.

Babu helped getting Ganesh in the taxi. He quietly put the briefcase next to Ganesh. “Thank you bhai-sahab…aapne bachaliya..”, somebody held his hand as he was about to walk away. It was Ganesh.

“Maine aapko nahi, aapne muze bachaya bhaisaab!”, Babu wanted to say. Emotionless, he just looked at Ganesh but couldn’t say a word. Tears rolled down his eyes as he walked away.........

'Red State' (2011)

'Red State', listed in the 'horror' genre of most websites is more of a thriller and a what a bad ass one it is.

I was really intrigued by its title and its poster and then more so by this trailer(link below). I thought its just another horror-teen-slasher flick, but because of my new born love for horror films and the political nature of its title I watched it. (Streaming on Netflix)

Trailer:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq9PyqX6HQ8

The pace of the movie is fast, the 120 minutes felt like 90 or so and its got some true "edge of the seat" sequences. Its by no means an Oscar winner (which is not always a bad thing) and does not particularly have a character arc but I do not think it ever tried to achieve those things. Its a thrill ride helped along with some great performances by Melissa Leo and Michael Parks. Look out for a beautifully shot monologue which goes on forever building intensity and establishing the sickness of the antagonists.

I do not want to give out any details of the story except that its about an extremist catholic family church which collides with the real world one night.

Don't read the story, don't read any reviews, just go watch it.

P.S.:- Its written & directed by Kevin Smith, yes the one who made 'Clerks' and all the other comedies. He calls it his first "grown up" film :)

P.P.S.:- "I fucking love this movie!!!" --Quentin Tarantino about 'Red State'

Take a stand

Why did movies like Andaz apna apna, muskurahat, main azaad hoon, dil se, pinjar .... not perform well on box office? Thats the question everyone has. Everyone rightfully blames the audience for it and forget that they are a part of it. When we like a movie, we wait for others to ask a review; and our review is generally defensive "Dekh bahi, buri nahi hai .... one time watch toh hai..... story badhiya hai ...... mixed reviews hai ...."
Why is it that if the audience decides our opinions?
Do we really think that people will make opinions about us based on the opinions we give about the movies?
I recently watched Rockstar in a multiplex .... The reaction of audience wasn't good. Many people posted their facebook status as "Tera haq, tu hi rakh, teri movie WTF" and it got many likes, many laughs, few courageous souls defended and got laughed at too ... And then the people who dared to like the movie, posted reviews like "Amazing camerawork .... great songs .... Mohit chauhan and Rahman , what a combo...."
Why is it so difficult for us to really take a stand against the crowd? Which director in the history of bollywood has given the summary of the movie in the 1st 5 mins .... laid the right expectations and successfully portrayed it in the best possible manner....

We make statements "Hollywood is so much better, bollywood can never reach that level"
Here's a director that tries to match that level with a movie of Walk the line genre and as audience, we pull him down. The least we could do is appreciate the efforts and encourage such movies.


As audience, we blame SRK .... he is so stereotyped ..... Ham actor ....
But what did we do after watching Swades, Dil se, Chak de India ..... Few popular critics killed these movie with a not so good review and we were scared to voice an opinion ..... If we didn't take a stand then, we don't really have the right to criticize SRK for his bad selection of roles.

Anupam Kher, I believe is a legend. I often compare him with Robin Williams. Nobody can argue about their versatility. But as audience, we appreciated them in their comic roles; we expect them to be funny in any role. Have we forgotten Saraansh, Daddy, or Dr. Dang in Karma? I was so glad to see him back in a serious role in Wednesday. But am still waiting to see him back in more such roles.
I at times think about these people (actors, directors) ....

A three times national award winner Mithun does mass movies, specialist character actors like Prakash Raj and Nassar are shown as comic actors in bollywood, Paresh rawal gets immediate recognition in comic roles but we ignore his presence in movies like Paa.
As multiplex audience, we have, in small way discouraged these people from giving us good movies.
Then i think about Anurag Kashyap, Kamal Haasan, RGV , Aamir..... These are the people who are not bothered by commercial success. They have, and will continue to give good movies for selective audience ... Thats what makes me respect such people.

Let us all as movie lovers take a stand, be it against the crowd, if we really like a movie.
Bollywood will grow, if we grow up.