Reflections of Passions

So, it's almost the end of February, close to two months have already passed into the new year (much quicker than I expected) and I thought it's as good as any to take stock and see how I've done with my New Year's Resolutions! To start with, my three resolutions in order of priority were, one, have more awareness. As in just be more aware of my actions, my moods, my words, the food I ate, my body and my system. All in all, to be just more present on a conscious level. The second was to lose weight and the third was to seriously complete at least one of the projects I've been writing. How have I fared? Well on the "awareness" front, I'm genuinely trying. I didn't think I mastered the "Power of Now" in just a few months, but I keep reminding myself to be in the prsent and be more conscious from moment to moment. This of course has its own pitfalls because this "awareness" seems to rear its head at the most inopportune moments! Li...

Notting Hill is very different from the usual romantic comedies you end up watching these days. Sure, it does contain the same elements; smart, witty and literate dialogues combined with some really colourful characters who have been fully written. William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is a small bookstore in Notting Hill that is certainly down on his luck; the store is in the doldrums when Hollywood actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) walks in as she is promoting her new film. The two have a very cute and funny meeting as William's bookstore owner apprehends a shoplifter in the midst of their conversation. There isn't much said or done throughout the film, but there are very slight gestures and enjoyable acting that shares the fact that there are certainly more possibilities left in this newly found relationship. The two meet again at various times and their meetings are everything at once that we need, but in a small package. These meetings are smart, sweet and entirel believable, but ...

In an era when senseless movies made their presence felt, films that reflect the simple joys of life suddenly seem to be extinct. Films that follow the Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee's style of filmmaking are good as extinct. Hence, Khosla Ka Ghosla came like a breath of fresh air. It strikes a chord due to its simplistic and unadulterated entertainment. The emphasis is not on paraphernalia like special effects or opulent sets as much as on content. The prime reason why Khosla Ka Ghosla works is because you come across characters depicted in the film in everyday. The setting amidst a middle class family makes it a slice-of-life episode, the plot (land grabbing) is identifiable and the characters are believable. Khosla Ka Ghosla reiterates the fact that a simple story, well told, has the power to keep you focussed to the screen for the next two hours. The dream of every middle class man is to own a house. Kamal Kishore Khosla (Anupam Kher) is no different. On retirement, h...

Gone are the days... When the school reopened in June, And we settled in our new desks and benches. Gone are the days... When we queued up in the book depot, And got our new books and notes. Gone are the days... When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet, Managed to line up daily for the morning prayers. Gone are the days... We learnt writing with slates and pencils, and, Progressed to fountain pens and ball pens and then Micro tips. Gone are the days... We began drawing with crayons and evolved to Colour pencils and finally sketch pens. Gone are the days... We started calculating first with multiplication tables and then with Clarke's tables and advanced to calculators and computers. Gone are the days... When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals, and returned to the classrooms Drenched in sweat. Gone are the days... When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors, Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds. Gone are the days... When all the colours in the w...

Officially, Harishchandrachi Factory was India's official entry to the Oscars. It failed to make it to the nominations list, but that doesn't detract from the beauty and vibrancy of the Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory (with English subtitles) that creates a whole new matrix for the biopic on Dadasaheb Phalke, the pioneer who brought cinema to India with Raja Harishchandra, the first motion picture made in Mumbai in 1913. Indeed, it must have been an arduous journey that Dundiraj Govind Phalke aka Dadasaheb Phalke underwent before he managed to bring the Williamson to India and shoot Raja Harishchandra, the epic mythology that has become a milestone in movielore. Yet, the toil, the sweat and the tears have been totally dispensed with for a lightness of being that enthuses a film with an incandescence and a sense of crackling wit and humour. The director Paresh Mokashi sets the effervescent tone of the film from the onset when he introduces his protagonist, Dadasaheb Phalke...

Someone is going to come this way one day, I know that. A dear one will come this way is what I always wish for, Even now, it's what I hope for today. Many a time has the season of flowers lost it's way... ... There are no flowers in the mango tree branches... For that alone there should be a season when it blooms. I know there's no one to come yet I wait at the door... Without knowing for whom it is, I wait inside the door expectantly I wait expectantly... A person dear to me will come is what I wish for always... With promises to meet again, He left me... I knew he would not come... But I stand at the main door regularly, waiting for him. A person dear to me will come. At the door like a statue I wait hoping you will come. Unexpectedly, I felt that I heard someone's footsteps. The spring should bring something and remain forever. If it should bring something... At times, I run with hope on to the path with eager eyes... ... Someone who lost his way has come and gone.....