Rang De Basanti

Saw Rang de Basanti last friday. Amazing movie, completely worth the effort I put into getting to see it on the first day itself. Some people really have a creative genius in them. The makers of Rang de Basanti all belong up there. People who get in me the strong urge to do something creative, constructive, satisfying, worthwhile.
This was one heck of a movie, a movie which gave me so much to laugh at ponder over, feel about, identify with. Very raely does a movie touch the innermost cords of your heart. This was one. A world of happiness. A world of colors. A world where everyone plays without pretense, cries without fear. DJ, Karan, Aslam and Sukhi lived in such a world. People you would want to be with, be friends with.
It is said that circumstances bring out the best in a person. And so I believe strongly. It could have been just another movie where a friend dies unfairly and his dear ones try to get justice. But then there is something different about Rang de that takes it in a different plane. Is it because you really start liking the character and thinking of them as real people? Or is it the lilting music? I saw an interview of Rakeysh Mehra where he praises the film's music saying that even without any dialogues, the films music simply applied to the scenes would convey the message of the true. Very true. For me both the music and the lovable characters did the trick. When they were dancing in joy, I felt ecstatic, when I saw them hurt, I felt something melt deep inside me. The song Khoon chala and the accompanying scenes, really can make you cry out.
I am not an emotional kind of a guy when it comes to movies. Hence this wasn't a normal reaction. Nevertheless there was something real in there for me which was time and again making me forget that I was watching a movie.
So different were the two halves of the movie. The first half so happy, so carefree, so colorful. The 3nd one, so emotional, so serious that it really forces your mind to cease all activity and be with them in their battle. Yet surprisingly it all seemed to progress all so naturally, blended so well. There I was - a bystander watching DJ down his beers while perched up there precariously, the daredevil bike racing, bantering away to glory in college and around that beautiful fort and then gradually as they warm up to Sue's mission.
What the four of them go through after that was both heart wrenching and joyful at the same time. Heart-wrenching to see the cynical injustice of life and joyful in the face of their full-hearted and cheerful response to the same.
Four ordinary men, in and extra-ordinary situation rise to right the wrongs. Haven't we seen this innumerable times? Even their approach may be considered questionable by some of us, but their conscience was clear, they did what they had to. Their point proven, they are at peace.

A lot of movies

This was a movies week. Saw four movies this week! They included Apaharan, Hanuman, Ek Ajnabee and Zinda. The common thread among all of them was that all of them were different from the typical run of the mill movies, each having a unique story to talk about. Infact none of them had the routine song-n-dance sequences or even a love story for that matter. A refreshing change indeed for movies nowadays.
Did not get a chance to catch up on reading though, plan to do it this upcoming week. Have started Richard Bach's One now. Kind of sequel to bridge across forever. Lets see how it is, but i have a feeling that i will like the bridge more than the one.

Some more reading

Am feeling happy that I am able to spend more time now reading, now that life is not so busy. No India trip to prepare for! What did I read last week? Hmm I read Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery. That was a very interesting book. It said that it is based on fact. Well after reading the book I was really curious about whether such a robbery took place. Searching led me to this website. So it turns out that it was true after all, though many aspects of the robbery have been changed and made much more fantastic. But all in all I would say a surprisingly smart robbery for the time.
Another book that I read was Agatha Christies Appointment with Death. A typical Christie mystery where the suspicions fall on every possible person, with conflicting clues. Though this one was a little bit predictable towards the end, an interesting read overall.
This weekend I spent in San Diego, nice city. This was my 3rd visit and I liked it more every time I went there. Will be uploading pictures soon. The best part is that the ocean is so easily accessible, and there are some really good beaches.

What are the odds?

Yesterday I had dinner at a friends place - Vivek. Now consider this. Out of 5 of us having dinner, what do you think are the odds that one of them shares the same first name, middle name and last name as me? Yes thats true there exists another Neerav Bipinchandra Mehta in this world, same age as me! Thankfully we spell our first names differently. And this isn't all, there was also another person who has the same day, month and year of birth as me! That is Vivek also born on July 12, 1981! As if this wasn't enough to freak anyone out, there was another guy Luv who had the exact same shoes as me! And people talk of coincidences! Can anyone beat this?