Psychologies

I am particularly fond of a Q/A section in Tehelka by the
same name. In this post I'll try to answer the questions
asked in the latest issue of Tehelka(31st May) for myself.

Q1) What do you miss most about childhood ?
A1) Relaxed and easy paced life, not worrying much about
things other than studies. Simple thinking with less
responsibilities and less facades. Back then I had more time
and less things to do, these days its just the opposite.
Also, I was physically more active then.

Q2) What makes you glad that you're at this age.
A2) I can take all sorts of decisions for myself. I am
financially independent and understand things at
a much deeper level then what I could even imagine during
my childhood. Also, that I understand myself better.

Q3) What kind of people repel you?
A3) People who crib too much about things without really
making any efforts to change things. People who exploit
the weak and less fortunate. Most politicians and lastly
those who are extremely materialistic.

Q4) What is the biggest dilemma you have faced?
A4) Biggest dilemma that I've faced and still continue
to face would be "what would be the perfect way to lead the second
innings of my life and how to go about it"

Q5) So what do you think of marriage now?
A5) Firstly not everyone is supposed to get married and
secondly I feel those who decide to get married should
be mentally prepared to give what it takes to make it a
success. Its much much difficult than it sounds.

Q6) So would you prefer a live-in relationship to marriage?
A6) Hmmm.. No, I don't think so.

Q7) What would you change about yourself?
A7) I'd like to be in control of myself a bit more both emotionally
and spiritually. Also, be a better time manager.

Q8) What do you think of the Indian youth?
A8) Indian youth is going through a phase of self-discovery and
exposure to a bit too many things in very less time and
this era of "Instant Gratification" is taking its toll too. I feel
they need to think a bit about the things that they don't think
at all about to make better sense of things around.

Q9) What about the man-woman divide?
A9) It's unfortunate that there still exists this divide in
many parts of the country but I hope with time and efforts
that are going in this direction things will be better in
future.

Q10) So you think women are less empowered?
A10) If I look around then I don't think so but yes in general
I feel they are. While I feel they should be more empowered
at the same time I hope they don't loose touch their real/true
self on the path to empowerment and post it.

Q11) What would you never change about yourself?
A11) *thinking*........
Giving some quality time to myself and those close to me.
The habit of thinking a lot and without bounds. My observant
nature and ability to not loose cool in most situations and
lastly being able to act irresponsibly and kiddish whenever the
situation permits me.

I'd like to tag the following to answer the above mentioned
questions .

Faded_Glory, Kaa, Smriti,
Sanjukta

7 Din, Ladki IN..

This post intends to share experiences of a friend with
some girl over the last week and shouldn't be taken too
seriously.

It all started about two weeks back @CCD when this 25 years
old friend of mine decided its high time that he's
single(not to suggest that he was single all this while)
and he should get a girl in his life.

So since this friend is more offline person than online
(unlike ME) he took one of the few/common ways of
approaching a new girl i.e by taking a couple of phone
numbers from another friend and started smsing them.
Though I don't have the details I presume something of
this sort must've happened

1st SMS --> some random kinda cute, friendship wala forward
1st reply --> who r u ? do i knw u ?
2nd SMS --> hmm..I am xyz, I kinda know you though you
don't blah-blah
2nd reply --> how did you get my number ?
3rd SMS --> from here starts the 20-20 of lies, flattery,
exaggeration, flirting and God knows what.

So luckily this friend was able to clear(easily) the screening
round as the girl in question gave her a call back after a
few smses but to ensure she doesn't look easy in anyway she
insisted on knowing how the guy got her number which to anyone
whose familiar with this game knows is often a superficial
concern which still needs to be replied however vaguely in
order for the talks to proceed.

"Well I'll tell you how I got your number but not now,maybe
when we meet up for lunch" .Yes this and trust me I've seen
it work quite often. In most cases successfully evading this
question for the first two conversations is the best answer
because after that when both people are in the process of
knowing each other it doesn't really matter.

Day 2 and 3 sees them talking a couple of times once in morning
and again in the evenings.

Day 4 and 5 sees the evening talks stretch to night, and its
obvious that once you start talking to someone late in the night
the game changes which changes with it the content of talks
which sooner or later will come down to SEX.

What I particularly found surprising was the fact that when it
started off the girl was in commanding position. I have to go
now, I am busy lets talk later etc etc and in just 5 days the
positions have been swapped. I vividly remember day before
yesterday the guy had to literally plead to keep the phone down
in order to have his dinner, she agreed only after the guy
promised to call her after exactly 15 minutes.

But what I saw yesternight was toh amazing. The guy was supposed
to call at night but forgot so the girl called up 1ish but the
guy was too tired to talk so requested if he could sleep NO came
in the reply. I was incidentally spending my night at his place
and had a really hard time waking him up after every 2 minutes
of lull while still on phone and surprisingly every time he woke
up a bit to resume the conversation with a characteristic "hmmm"
the girl was there(probably talking). Finally the guy woke up,
munched something and moved to another room and came back after
an hour smiling looking more tired but satisfied.

The Hot-Crazy Scale !!

One of my favorite scenes from "How I Met Your Mother".

I totally buy this funda and feel its common place.




So what do you think ?

3rd Habitat Film Festival

IHC's film club is organizing 3rd Habitat Film Festival.

The festival spans across 12 days(till 18th May 08) and will include lots of
regional films and a retrospective on "Sudhir Mishra" of
"Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi" fame.

Two films will be screened in the evenings on weekedays
and four films will be screened on the weekends.

you can checkout the schedule here
http://www.habitatfilmclub.com/filmcalendar.asp

Entry is supposedly free and tickets are available at the venue itself.
You can also expect some celebrities there.

See you at IHC

Shaurya

Rahul Bose & Kay Kay Menon together and I was easily convinced
that Shaurya deserves a watch in theaters despite being told that
its Copied(or nicely put Inspired) from "A Few Good Men".

Ten Minutes or at max 15 minutes into the film I began feeling
out of place and started looking everywhere but the screen. Then
I was reminded of what I had read on Twitter "2nd half is good",
this gave me the patience and strength to wait for the second
half without thinking/caring too much about the first which took
its own sweet time, shabby acting and some supposedly heavy
dialogues.

Minissha Lambha whom from the begining of film I found cute alas
couldn't garner another compliment. Jaaved Jaaferi too didn't
strike any chord with his performance. Some nice landscape shots,
a couple totally uncalled for songs and some weak drama later the
film begins. Film that I wish had started some 100 mins or so back.

Filled with loopholes, weak script and screenplay Shaurya reduced
some great actors and a great film to nothingness(add almost as a
consolation). Wondering why weren't KK's dialogues for most of his
role even half as good as those towards the end.Wondering was
Rahul in the film just to fulfill his childhood dream to don the
uniform and walk the corridors in it ? What made the director
think that Mini can deliver serious dialogues n look worthy of
some seriousness?

Though I feel a situation like this is a rare possibility in the
forces I'll still give some marks to the story and some marks to
the closing scene as well, without which it would have been
impossible for Shaurya to score a 2.5/5.

The way to a Stripper's Heart

http://justinesane.com/?p=103

Awesome Quote

“When we're incomplete, we're always searching for somebody to complete us. When, after a few years or a few months of a relationship, we find that we're still unfulfilled, we blame our partners and take up with somebody more promising. This can go on and on--series polygamy--until we admit that while a partner can add sweet dimensions to our lives, we, each of us, are responsible for our own fulfillment. Nobody else can provide it for us, and to believe otherwise is to delude ourselves dangerously and to program for eventual failure every relationship we enter.”

Tom Ribbins

Awesome One Liners

I'm a simple man with complex tastes - Calvin
Is it a right to remain ignorant? - Calvin
I'm just very selective about the reality I choose to accept - Calvin

logic in emotions

Feelings are not supposed to be logical.
Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions
-David Borenstein

Awesome quote and great thought behind it....

What the Bleep should we know ?

Who are we ?
Where do we come from ?
Why are we here ?

These are the classic questions that have perplexed the thinkers
since time immemorial.Not just the thinkers almost everyone has
(or will) come across these questions, while some choose to skip
them in no time, some ponder over them for most of their lives.

"Asking yourself these deeper questions opens up new ways of
being in the world.
It brings in a breath of fresh air.
It makes life more joyful.
The real trick to life is not to be in the known ...
but be in the mystery."

In case you are wondering what's going on here lemme give you
some context, I happened to watch no wait I made myself watch
this documentary titled "What the Bleep do we know?" that was
gifted to me long back by a film maker friend of mine.
This is probably the only film after "Waking Life" reviewed
here that got me to sit back and think.
This post is a non-critical take on the documentary
and tries to highlight what we can take home.

The film takes us through a journey of Quantum Mechanics,
Consciousness, Reality, God, Emotions, Time Travel and more.
WTBDWK would easily be one of the most controversial piece of
cinema I've seen. What follows are the things that clicked with
me.

"Why do we keep re-creating the same reality?
Why do we keep having the same relationships?
Why do we keep getting the same jobs...
over and over again?
In this infinite sea of potentials that exist around us...
how come we keep re-creating the same realities?"

The question that comes next to our mind is
"Are we affecting the world of reality that we see?"

I totally buy that "we are", its our thoughts and
actions that will make our(and to some extent others)
realities/future and that the external world mirrors the
internal.By believing in this you feel in much more
control.

Another interesting question is
"Who is in the driver's seat when we control
our emotions or we respond to our emotions?"

How it basically works is that our brain is
made up of tiny nerve cells called "neurons" which branch
out and connect to other "neurons" forming what's called a
"neural net" and each place where they connect is incubated
into a thought or a memory.The brain works on the law of
"Associative Memory" and all our thoughts, feelings and
ideas are constructed and interconnected in these neural
nets. Every concept is a result of various smaller ideas,
say "Love" would be a result of combination of different
feelings for you and a combination of different
feelings for someone else depending on your experiences
both internal and external over the years.This model
keeps on changing with time according to our experiences
and as aptly put
"Any information that we process, any information
that we take in from the environment...
is always colored by the experiences that we've had..."

Those who feel they've become "Mechanized" there's more.
acc to WTBDWK?
Nerve cells that fire together wire together

"If we practice something over and over,
those nerve cells have a long-term relationship."
Also
"nerve cells that don't fire together no longer wire
together thus losing their long-term relationshiup."

So every time we interrupt and think those nerve
cells that are connected to each other start breaking
the long-term relationship.

When we start interrupting and observing not by
stimulus and response and that automatic reaction
but by observing the effects it takes then we are no
longer the body-mind conscious emotional person
that's responding to its environment as if it is
automatic.

on Right & Wrong
On the notion that some people have about right or
wrong like If I do this I will get punished by God
If I do that I will get rewarded..Instead of
viewing things this way the doc suggests another
approach of viewing things in the light of

things that you do and they'll evolve you.
and other things that will not evolve you.

In the wake of all that there is and how li'l we know
I'd conclude by quoting this extension of Descartes's
"I am much more than I think I am."

Links:
1) Creating Your Own Reality
2) Script
3) Hackery/Quackery in Scientific American
4) What the (Bleep) Were They Thinking?
5) What the bleep are they on about?

Favourite Quotes:
1)
But you know, it's, uh--
it's like positive thinking.
It's a wonderful idea,positive thinking...
but what it usually means is that I have
a little smear of positive thinking...
covering a whole mass of negative thinking.

2)
Isn't it amazing that we have options and potentials
that exist...but we're unaware of them?

Is it possible that we're so conditioned to our daily
lives...so conditioned to the way we create our lives...
that we buy the idea that we have no control at all?

3)
For the average person in the world who lives life...
and considers their life boring or uninspiring...
It's because they're so hypnotized
by their environment..they've made no attempt...
to gain knowledge and information
that will inspire them.

4)
If I change my mind, will I change my choices?
If I change my choices, will my life change?
Why can't I change? What am I addicted to?
What will I lose that I'm chemically attached to...
and what person, place, thing, time or event...
that I'm chemically attached to
that I don't want to lose...
because I may have to experience
the chemical withdrawal from that?
Hence the human drama.

5)
We have to formulate what we want...
and be so concentrated on it
and so focused on it and have so much
of our awareness of it that we lose track
of ourselves. We lose track of time.
We lose track of our identity.
And the moment we become so involved
in that experience that we lose track of
ourselves, we lose track of time...
that picture is the only picture that's real.
And everybody's had that experience...
when they've made up their mind
that they've wanted something.

6)
We've been conditioned to believe that the
external world is more real than the internal
world. This new model of science says just the
opposite--
It says what's happening within us
will create what's happening outside of us.

Desperate Relationships !!!

Came across this phrase while listening to a talk show on Meow..
I know it's a all women radio station but then what the heck ?
Ever since I heard this phrase I couldn't stop thinking about it..

Desperate Relationships or DR's ....It kinda reminds of Desperate
Housewives but its no where related to that or my previous
post with a similar title..

The way I see, DR's is a class of relationships which can be
characterized by some basic/common traits. A DR stands for a
relationship in which someone enters to either cater to a strong
unfulfilled emotional(or physical) need or to run away from some
grim realities of one's life.

A careful look around yourself will reveal that this is not as
uncommon as it sounds..The causes and symptoms may vary but
sadly the outcomes are almost all the same. A potential symptom
for a DR is when deep down the people involved
(at least one of them) knows that this won't last long. It's not
uncommon to find someone who just got out of a serious
relationship get into another (apparently) serious one in almost
no time or to find someone whose already in a relationship trying
to get into another one for some unmet wants/needs..

These wants and needs could arise due to various reasons ranging
from facing phases of extreme loneliness in their lives to the
unsaid social/peer pressures of being single for quite a while.
Think about it.. Don't you know someone who got into a wrong
relationship just because she couldn't handle all sorts of pressures
(emotional, social etc) of being in mid/late 20's and single ?
or someone who got into a sinking relationship because almost all
of his school and college( or maybe work) friends were in
some sort of relationship ?

A relationship that begins in such circumstances is bound to hit
the rocks sooner or later and what's sad is that it takes down along
with it the people involved in it, particularly the emotionally
sensitive one or the who got into it without enough consideration..
Thus causing a further downfall which can potentially lead to
disastrous psychological consequences particularly when someone
has already been through a lot in their life.

Saying all that I think it would be wise for people who've been
through a tough time in their previous relationships to give
themselves enough time and thought before boarding this ship
otherwise ................................

Trivia:
1) Another term for a DR could be Comfort Relationship, a relationship
which might give a sense of comfort to the involved people in the short
run but won't last long.

Soulmates - tracing fire behind all the smoke

It's not often that you get mails like this




in your inbox and as it happened I had just watched the episode
of HIMYM where Ted uses a service "Love Solutions" to search
his soulmate. Yes, SOULMATE

For a word whose quick search in Google fetches about 5,42,000
results, it hardly needs an introduction. However for records
Soul mate : a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes
or beliefs -- Merriam Websters
Soulmate is a term sometimes used to designate someone with
whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, friendship, love,
intimacy, sexuality, and/or compatibility -- Wikipedia

My first references to this word probably go back to some novel
by Paulo Cohelo I read in my early twenties and like most I too
was fascinated(to say the least) by the idea of having a soulmate
somewhere out there who would be all that I could ask for or more.
The more I thought about it then, the more rosy it seemed and the
more rosy it seemed the more I thought\fantasized about it.

People's perceptions about the word SoulMate are as varied as
people themselves. While someone may see soulmates as people
who are made for each other, someone sees soulmates as soul
companions who have spent previous lifetimes together and if you
thought that's all there is check out Soul Sister/Brother,
Karmic Soulmates, Twin Soulmates and more....

The legend has it that this concept/theory of soulmates dates back
to Plato's symposium in which he wrote a mythical story describing
a world where there were men, women and people who were both
men and women (Androgynous), not only this the people then had
four hands, four feet and two faces. Those mighty humans once
attacked Gods and while discussing how to retaliate without loosing
out on the worship offered by the humans Zeus came up with an idea.
He suggested cutting all human beings in half as it would weaken
them and double the number of people making offerings to the Gods.
Thus the humans were split into halves and are ever since seeking
their other halves(twin flame).

Split into halves or not many people were, are and will be on
the search for their soul mates or twin flames
but
Do you believe in soulmates ? Have you found your soulmate?
or you are looking/waiting for your soulmate ?

Id finish this post here, leaving on this note and would be back
with more soon..

Trivia:
1) While writing this I am constantly reminded of a romantic film titled
"Serendipity" which is based on the same premise.
2) It is probably the most time consuming post I've ever written
3) Due to enormous content I intend to split this into multiple posts

Links:

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulmate
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symposium_(Plato)

Enjoy this karoake of the song soulmate

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Someone Like You

An Extremely Special Song for an Extremely Special would be ;)

Khoya Khoya Chand

Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Shiney Ahuja
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
My Rating: 3.5/5

First things first It's good to see a Sudhir Mishra(SM) film
after about two years, his last film I saw was
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi(HKA).Was looking forward to KKC
for quite a while and finally got the chance to watch it in
its second(and probably last or second last) week in cinemas.
I am not too sure if HKA lasted any longer.

The movie is a tribute to the Hindi Cinema of 1950's and portrays
the Film Industry that existed then under various lights.The Good,
The Bad and the Ugly. We all as avid movie buffs to certain
extent know what goes inside the tinsel town so lets not delve
in to details of how this industry works or rather revolves around
the precious few and how favours are given and paid back.

I particularly loved the cinematography of the film, liked the music
and the old cinemaish feel of the film. The first half of the film
was good to the extent that you start wondering why did the movie
get such a thrashing at box office but this sense of wonder doesn't
last by the time u finish half of the regular popcorn you took
during the intermission.I can sympathize with the regular cinema
goers for running out of patience during the second half as I
myself felt a couple of times that movie is kinda dragging.

Needless to say I liked Saurabh, Shiney and Vinay's performances
but the find of the movie was Soha..Impressive bit of acting
there, totally justifying her place in a SM movie. The chemistry
between Shiney and Soha was beautifully and poetically captured
as everything from camera movement and angles to lighting worked
great. You cannot but notice the pretty Soniya Jehan for all her
beauty which shadows almost everything that's going on the
screen(her acting included).

While for HKA it was man yeh banwara for KKC it's
the title song Khoya Khoya Chand sung mellifluously by little known Swanand and Ajay which hums almost
through out the film. The writer/director's take on the
passionate love affair between Nikhat and Zafar was quite
commendable and a few dialogues carefully distributed amongst
Shiney, Soha and Rajat stand out and almost haunt you like this one

"Koi kissi ko dhokha nahi deta, sab halaat hote hain"
and that witty one by Shiney "ya toh apne aap ko dhoka deta
ya aapko toh aap hi sahi".

The Switching between present and past lives of various characters
in the film is also handled nicely. While the movie scores in all
these departments I feel it somehow lost track towards the end and
went kinda wayward. But in more ways than one its still a classic
tribute to the classics.

Links:
1) Wiki
2) Sudhir's blog
3) IMDB

Trivia:
1) All the actors had to learn Urdu for their roles
2) The film was originally titled as Bahut Nikle Mere Armaan
aka Many Of My Wishes Were Fulfilled.
3) Soha's role was initially offered to "Vidya Balan"

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BarCampDelhi3 on 8th Dec @ Noida

Sorry for posting this late..

This is to inform all the nerds and geeks that barcampdelhi3 is being organized this Saturday at Impetus Noida..

If you are into Web Technologies this is the place to be...

details here..

For those who plan to attend drop a comment

PS: Barcamp is followed by a beer party sponsored by Opera :)

How I Met Your Mother(HIMYM) Quotes

Started Watching this American sitcom off late and am
loving it. It's about a man who shares with his kids how
he found love of his life(their mother) and the events/incidents
that happened all this while.

Nice concept, fresh comedy and good acting.

Here are some of the quotes I liked:

Future Ted: It was like something from an old movie, where the sailor sees the girl across the crowded dance floor, turns to his buddy and says, "See that girl? I'm gonna marry her someday."
Ted: Hey Barney, see that girl?
Barney: Oh yeeeahh, you just KNOW she likes it dirty. Go say 'Hi'.

Barney: There are only two reasons to date a girl you've already dated:breast implants

Robin: How do you do this Ted? How do sit out here all night, in the cold, and still have faith that your pumpkin's going to show up?
Ted: Well, I'm pretty drunk. Look I know the odds are, the love of my life isn't going to magically walk
through that door in a pumpkin costume at 2:43 in the morning.
But it just seems as nice a spot as any to just ...
you know, sit and wait.

Barney: [chuckling] Marshall ran away from a cockroach.
Marshall: It was a mouse!
Barney: Sorry, my bad! You're a man!

Barney: Come on Ted, this is an incredible opportunity, we'll meet our soulmates, nail'em and never call 'em again.
Barney: Ted, these chicks are desperate and hot, that's a perfect cocktail. shake well, then sleep with.

Barney: Ted, your problem is all you do is think, think, think. I'm teaching you how to do, do, do!
Marshall: [giggles] Doo-doo!
Barney: Heh heh, totally!
Ted: So I think a lot! I happen to have a very powerful brain. It can't be helped.
Barney: Oh yes it can. [places a shot in front of Ted]
Marshall: Interesting!

Barney: No no, it's a great idea. That's the whole point of getting drunk; you do things that you'd never do in a million years if you were sober.

Ted:Know what ? I am done being single,
I am not good at it. Look obviously you can't tell a women u just met you love her but it sucks that you can't. I'll tell you something if a women not you just some hypothetical women would bear me through all this I think I'd make a damn good husband, because that's the stuff I'd be good at, stuff like making her laugh,and, being a good father and walking her five hypothetical dogs, being a good kisser
Robin: Everyone thinks they are good kisser.
Ted: Oh I've got references !!
Robin: Good night Ted !!
Ted(shaking hands with her): and I am good hand shaker

Ted: But that's the funny thing about destiny it happens whether you plan it or not..

Home Made Quotes..

I've been a Quotoholic ever since I can remember..
Reading(n quoting) quotes has been a passion and a while back
I started zipping my thoughts/feelings in a line or two in the form
of quotations.

This post intends to serve as an archive for the same.


1) I might not know what I want, but, I know what I don't want
--- On the bike ride to office (15/11/07).
2) Blessed are those who feel no Remorse
--- Scribbled it long time back while regretting some things
that I did in the past (15/03/07).
3) Get life, before life gets you.
--- (20/11/06).


Will post old one's soon..

American Pie 4: Band Camp

Director: Steve Rash
Cast: Eugene levy, Tad Hilgenbrinck, Arielle Kebbel
IMDB Rating: 5/10
My Rating: 3/5

American Pie, for the uninitiated these words might lead to
thoughts about an eatable or something but for anyone whose watched
even a couple of minutes of action from the American Pie Pentalogy
these words would conjure images of Wild Campus Life, Wannabe Teens,
Bikini Clad Babes and Couples in Love or rather Couples Making Love
n that to scores of them.
That's Pie for you......

It was refreshing to watch another Pie after a long while and good
to know that they still make Pie's the way they used to a while back.
I still can't forget the opening scene from the last Pie(3) ;)

The backbone of all films in Pie Pentalogy is the experiences
of a bunch of really wild and whacky guys from a high school who are
ultra high on testosterones. Pie has all sorts of situations
and can easily make you fall on the floor laughing unless you find them
disgusting rather than amusing( which I think can be the case with
some girls).

Pie 4 sees a new bunch of people lead by Matt Stifler younger
brother of the infamous Steve Stifler who tries to fill into
shoes of his elder bro and gets it all wrong.The new cast is what
gives the film a refreshing look but you can see a few commonalities,
spy cams to capture chicks for one.Also there was Jim's Dad(Mr. Levenstein)
who never fails to amuse and there was that Sherman-ator
which I didn't particularly like ..

Other then all the Super Wild stuff, the film has a tinge of
cute romance and also a happy ending.

Go watch it if you wanna have your dose of laughter ...

Trivia:
1) Tad Hilgenbrink really bared it all in the scene where he undresses in front of the girls while playing the trivia game. He didn't inform the girls in advance, who were expecting him to keep his privates covered somehow, so their reaction is quite genuine


Links:
1) IMDB
2) Quotes
3) Wiki


I love the way they kiss :D

Mumbai Salsa

Director: Manoj Tyagi
Cast: Virdas,Indraneil SenGupta,
Dilip Thadeshwar, Raymond Irani, Manjari Fadnis, Amruta Khanvilkar,
Linda Arsenio, Neelam Chauhan
Rating: 2.5/5

As TOI put it aptly it easy to label this one as Metro part two.
After reading just this line and seeing a rating of 3.5
I decided to watch this film instead of another new release
(Jab We Met)and as it turned out, it was a case of choices gone
wrong.

After almost a month of not being able to watch a movie at
theater I went for an morning(early) show of Salsa at a
neighborhood multiplex and here's what I got....

The film starts with a peppy song by Adnan Sami which starts
getting you into that frame of mind where you forget everything,
including the fact that it's just 9:30 in the morning on a Sunday,
but by the time the theme song fades away you inevitably start
falling back to the point from where you started.
Maybe it was just with me and my friend but quite a few people
from the cast looked lookalikes of some bollywood stars.

Vir Das looked like a pre-release version of Imran Hashmi,
Manjari reminded me of Shilpa Shetty while Indraneil from certain
angles looked like Priyanshu..

The feeling of deja-vu doesn't just stop there because
quite some scenes/situations seem to be picked from other
contemporary bollywood films,Metro, Jhankar Beats and Pyar ke
side effects to name a few.Maybe it's just a coincidence
or maybe not....

Most of the themes picked in the film are banal while situations
and their outcomes easily predictable.Over acting by few in quite
a lot sequences and vanilla dialogues take the film farther away
from being an entertainer. It's hard (atleast for me) to find out
how Salsa is different from Metro. Metro had better music for sure.
A couple of monologues and few fairly innovative scenes, dialogues
and songs save Salsa from being an outright flop show.

I particularly liked the scene where Maya gets dumped for the first
time,the one where Shahji compares how the drink a women orders in
a bar tells what's her state of mind, the one where Raj's boss tells
him the time one's personal life gets screwed his/her career begins
to peak up and the closing scene in which the narrator talks about
how some people need someone to find happiness while some find
that happiness in themselves.

Keeping in mind the khufiapanti(Salsa lingo) involved I think

Mumbai Salsa = 0.7*(Metro) + 0.1*(Jhankar beats n PKSE) + 0.2*(Tap Water)

Trivia:
1) In all there were 6 people in that audi, 2 of us, a middle
aged man (who seemed to be there to avoid her wife's Sunday
Morning nagging), a teenager and a couple who were more
interested in doing Seat Salsa.
2) One thing that stuck me was the
Sad but True "Code of Honour" that guys
(not sure about girls) have.
3) As both of us noticed that the background score
was quite mismatched atleast once(when Xen breaks down in front
of Neha).Funny thing is that rather it sounded a tune straight
from a horror flick
4) It's nice to watch a film early in the morning as it leaves you
with most of the day to spare plus the tickets also cost less.

Links:
1)India FM
2) Bollywood Archive
3) On Youtube

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