Some of the Movies that moved our heart

From many years, the most catchy topic among the film writers are the stories involving emotions. There are many international and national or even regional films or movies created which talks of the simple and heart-felt underlying emotions of human being. This clearly clarifies that human beings, though belongs to various regions, speaks different languages, follows different religions and customs, are made up of the same atoms which contains the elements of emotions too. As in the survival of the fittest, its upto our surroundings and environment, that some times turns heart into stone.  Recently I watched some films which spoke of the pure feelings and love deep hidden amongst our hearts, and some of which even has a dark shade to it.

My Girl (Fan Chan in Thai) is a Thai film, which speaks of the innocent and pure love towards your childhood best friend. Jeah and Noi Nah were the best friends and neighbours when they studied in the same school. At the small age, when we loved to grow,  and grow on adventures, Jeah struggles to balance his friendship with Noi Nah, while juggling his priorities with other boys and his adventures.  Just like us, he forgets that time does not wait for him and they move apart. After few years, he hopes to meet her again at her wedding. The Thai small town landscape depicted the typical Indian villages kinda atmostphere and the sissy sassy games, the school classes, and the routine, brings back and flashes your childhood memories where in you can relate to some way or the other. The lyrics of the songs are beautifully poetic, when you understand them, with the help of the sub titles.

Rock On!!! for Life…

“Lucky hote hai woh jinhe zindagi mein doosra mauka miltha hai…“

Yesterday, on the fly, we got tickets for Rock On!!! And it was absolutely rocking. I don’t want to review it. I couldn’t view it as a film. It portrayed characters with some shades of mine, rather you, or everyone.

The film spoke of the rock band, Magik, which did live performances and created wonders. It spoke of the drift in life, in which they are carried away with the compromises of life. I too, rather ,each one of us has created Magik in our yesteryears. I don’t mean live performances or great music. But some magic moments. At various phases in my life. There were KD, Joe and Rob, Tanya and Debbie in many of those whom I met. There was the reminiscent Tea stall in the form of restaurants and other hang outs. There was even Sakshi amongst us, who tried to bring out the real “us”  from inside. And there were the drift aparts too. It has not been 10 years as in the film, but time has taken its toll already, and is dominating. Are we gonna miss the 10 years? Are we really satisfied with the way we live? Are we really happy? Are we being the real? What is it that we are lacking? What if, we don’t get a second chance unlike in the film? Or did we miss the second chance? What if, we are not lucky as Rob in real life?  Do we need to wait for another Sakshi and Devika to sprung up in our lives and take us back once again to recreate Magik? What’s pulling us back to take the initiative???

“..kab woh mera peecha chodenge?..”
“…jab tum unse bhaagna bandh kar dhoge…“

Film review – Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

After being smitten by Aditi song from Sree, I was following up with the trailors of Jaane Tu.. everywhere in TV and in papers. The fancy words of friendship and love and the borders and all always excited me as any other young woman with no exception. The only problem is that it triggers me into the world of dreams and adventure of untravelled paths and pulls me into never-answered pool of life-related questions.

Like all other girls, I could only say “ga ga goo goo” over Imran Khan, as he is such a cute and handsome boy. Genelia too was cute and I am sure, almost all the guys who came to watch it, would be “meow“ing in their dreams that night. The rest of the gang played only side kick roles and you are not gonna remember them, unless they reminded you of some persons or events in your own college life.

The most unexpected part was that the story was so simple. I had thought of some twists and turns, but nothing happened. Within 15 mins of the start of the film I could realize what would be the end. And to top it all, my favourite song of the film was missing in it! But later I realized it was not the problem of the theatres, but that of the final editing itself. I love the voice of Sukhwinder Singh for the amount of pain and emotions he puts in every line of any song. And here, the lyrics of that song was also good.As explained in other reviews of the same by Deep, Sreeram and Ashwin, I could also sense the dragging of some guest appearances. The impracticality of the screenplay or the script especially in the later half, drove away all my excitement from me. It was like the much-hyped book “3 mistakes of my life“, of which some parts you love and some you hate. The film had the theme which resembled the Malayalam film “Niram” by Kamal; the similarity being reminded to me by a friend of mine.

But there was humor (would you call it rather situational-comedy kind?), there was freshness (there are so many new faces, and of which many are not so bad ones) and there was the energy, and not to forget the songs and the superb background music. I would rate it for 7/10 as its a good flick, if you want to time pass at home, watching it for over a 40 rs DVD with snacks at reachable distance from you.

And as expected, it has triggered again the thoughts in me, rather the partly answered question: Boys and girls can never remain just close or best friends forever. Is it??? What do you say???

Book Review – Arranged Marriage

“Arranged Marriage” by Chitra Banerjee is a small collection of short stories. Its been long I read short stories, and I even wondered for a sec whether I did a mistake by buying the book. But I was not that much dissatisfied. Maybe its because of the similar emotions I am dwindling in. Or maybe I could understand what they mean when they bring out the moral ” Perfect life is an illusion”. Now that doesn’t mean anything personal about me, but it somewhere resonates in the mind that its part of the bitter truth.

There are stories dealing with dreams and hopes of a bride to the hidden pains and troubles of marriage amidst the unexplainable bond of happiness or the silent comfort and dependency attached to it. I thought it would contain some reflections of a newly wedded couple and their thoughts, but the book grew beyond the small things to reflect upon the big picture. It talked about the live in relationships, pregnancy and abortion and related feelings, the depth of decision making at various stages in life, including that of a adoption, or the delicacies of hiding infidelity and disdain in absolute blankness. What touched me was the bare blankness attached to every character leaving them raw (or ripe?) enough to bare life with half-closed eyes.

The 350 bucks was too expensive for the collection. But nevertheless, it was a good read and had simple vocabulary enough to keep you bound. It can disturb your mood swings, so I would never recommend to read it unless you are in a state of what-the-hell with the world or are in practical terms with life.

I would rate it at 6.5/10.

Book Review – 3 mistakes of my life

Just finished reading the “3 mistakes of my life” by Chetan Bhegat. I had read reviews of Ashwin and many others, and had not much hopes on it. But now I dont feel it as worse as his second book. And the author has always the style of hooking readers till the end, with a superb prologue.

The story plot at times and at many many places may sound very unrealistic. But its a fiction book. Unless you provide the fictionary part it becomes non-fiction. So I discard the irrelevant script of abroad trip and other impractical scenarios.

The twists and turns,the portrayal of the major issues of Gujarat and also India was good. I have seen the riots, the fights over religion in news and also in another film, Kazcha, based on the same and it had always let me down. On top of it, the tint of politics just added to the distaste.

There were instances I loved the subtle humor. The theme of love story didn’t interested me, though the love story did looked cute initially. The struggle of Govind to live, the disappointments, the resurrection after the unsuccessful dreams, and the cinematic climax were the only good points.

Overall I could rate it at around 6/10. Have you read this book? What is the rating???

The Seeker

Ways to Achieve success; Power of now; Law of Attraction;

Spiritual enlightening books. How do they motivate us? Do they?

I have been reading quite a few ones, like Alchemist, Tuesdays with Morrie, Fish, and some ways to achieve success etc. Most of them carry a single message and keep repeating it through every sequences/scenarios.

People are mostly composed of oscillating thoughts comprised of their dreams and practicality. They do have so many options of living life, the various established (un)realistical myths of right and wrong. The difficult part is to choose to follow. We do accept or hear various views, keeping apart our opinions and views in backend. We sometimes criticize or are empathetic to them, with profound established view point to various matters. There are matters of heart, relationships, money, ambitions, studies, love, family, and many others and innumerous diverse scenarios as much as a writer can be deeply immersed in.

How to accept yourself to follow and choose the selected path is quite easy, once you have selected the factors. They keep juggling inorder to form a balance in life, but there would be some ethics based on which we select the path. To frame the ethics, both material and immaterial ones, is of utmost importance rather than selecting the path or goals. Don’t you think so?

For example, everyone loves their family and their self. They are one of the top priorities along with money. Being selfish is humane, but it need not be purely opposite of selfless.

I don’t deny the definitions, and the established rules of life, they may have some experience – biased reasoning which is high above our understanding. But until we are able to interpret the course of life fully enough to understand its depth, we do can, rather we do alter its basic definitions. That’s just a phase of life when we question and find their answers. The phase when we start framing the ethics. Does that mean, we need to get all the answers to our questions to frame our ethics and thereby select the path to live? Need not be, and I am sure we won’t be getting the answers, we do get, but unsatisfactory. Its just that this is the phase we need to mould more, to create a more happy life. But then why no books available pertaining to this point?
Or is it that I missed some of them?

Book Review – Tuesdays with Morrie!!!

I just finished “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Alboom. The book is all about conversations between a student and a Coach, who is about to succumb to ALS disease. You can find instant similarity with the student, Mitch, if you are questioning the meaning of life. They talk about death, money, love, marriage, aging, emotions, family and friends, forgiveness and their essence in our lives. The Coach, Morrie Shwartz, is a teacher in sociology, and his interpretations of human relations and needs is very much true. It also talks abstractly about souls and life after death, and speaks along the borders of life and death.

Every human being is in search of love, and craves for attention. People are different, and hence all need not accept it publicly, the universal truth. We keep expecting more, and end up immersed in material needs like money, things, places, houses, cars, etc. As Morrie says, there is a clear line of distinction in what we need and what we want. But only when we realize that its our last day, we get to the essentials. Relationships and love only survive till our end. His famous aphorism was “Love each other or perish“. True indeed, thats the only one which can give you internal satisfaction, rather than the immaterial ones, which have an expiry date. “Death kills life, not the relationships“.

This book has similarities in ideas referenced by other books like “The Present” or the “LOA”(law of attraction). There are good days and bad days, and there would be times, when we cannot live our life fully as we expected. But we just need to live through the emotion, to experience it fully, and then move on to experience other emotions of life. Its easy to move on, once you grasped the idea of forgiveness. But how many of us do that in our day-to-day life? Maybe thats where people become unique. Every one has their own way of living life and thinking ways.

I would rate the book an 8.5/10 for its excellent message and impact on me. The marks lost in the descriptions of ALS disease, which lefts the strong realization of life in us, that everything is impermanent. But nevertheless, this book has brightened my mood, and I am sure, it can affect you too.

Happy reading.

Book review – The Alchemist

“Hi my beloved heart, are you listening?“

If ever you wondering whether I have gone nuts, no, I haven’t. I am just following what “The Alchemist” preaches. The book, written by Paul Coelho puts forward the quote “Follow your dreams”. I got the book for just Rs. 195 in exchange for gift vouchers I had with me. I had heard about this book long ago, but I was not into following the dreams that time. Rather I thought its about self-inspirational and motivational theme, the genre which I felt I ‘d never need. But having no other option than to get myself busy with some thing or the other, I starting reading about the alchemist and travelled along with The Boy in his journey.

There are several good quotes in the book, which are thought provoking and which provides the insight into the reality. Till the middle of the book, the quote which lingers around is the one which rhymes like, “When you work towards achieving your dreams, the entire universe conspires to help you to succeed”.For a second, I thought how the universe has helped me in achieving my dreams, when all I see is shattered dreams. Then again I tried to justify whether, what has happened is it what I dreamt of. I still don’t have an answer. Or maybe I am reluctant to accept the fact?

The book also speaks of love as part of the Soul of the world. Most of the religions and their practices speaks of spreading love and to love thyself and others. But I have not liked the way, the love story evolves in the book. The normal boy meets girl-love at first sight-kinda scenarios I can never accept, and I can never believe in it. But I do accept the quote it says, “listen to your heart as it speaks the truth”.

There are many more instances in the book, which makes us reminds of the old wise sayings of our elders. About life, about following our dreams, about reality, about the difficulties to face, about the omens we see, and especially, about relying on our heart and self. The strange thing is this book, as far to me, never portrayed about the emotional conflict and the social aspect we need to follow in the life.

There are many reviews online about this book, which speaks on and on about the inspiring quotes and how the book made an impression on them and all. This review provides some of the quotes provided in the book, while the wikipedia enlists the whole story in the form of summary.

Rating: 8/10

Lessons from management books

These days, I am interested in management books, which provides more insight into living life more beautifully. I came across many books, some of them which I read, some which I skipped, and some which are halfway. Of all, I liked the most till now, “The Present” by Dr.Spencer Johnson. The current one I have started with is the “Power of Subconscious mind” (will post the review soon once I finish it). There was also another book I recently bought from a book fair, called “FISH for life“.

In almost all books, I feel the first and foremost point advised is to enjoy the present.Make it fun or serious or with full concentration. But whatever it is, enjoy the time each and every moment. You can enjoy it by choosing what to do each moment, whether to help out or be helpful, or do something productive with utmost concentration etc. This somewhat relates to ‘follow your heart’ policy, or rather the subconscious mind (you can also call it intuition I guess). But how does the intuition thoughts get developed? “The Present” book says it all deals with the past.

Decision-making or having certain views rather called as attitude is developed from prior experience or the learned knowledge. Its this attitude or these decisions which makes your present more beautiful. You can find this saying everywhere : ‘learn from the past’. Indeed, every moment, we live comprises of the moments we lived on in the past, and it hits you like anything, creating an emotional turmoil. But its up to us, to choose how to live the current moment. You can brood over thinking over the past and get moody or dull, or you can remind yourself to move forward and work towards the future.

Attitudes can be for the moment you live or for the entire life. Just enjoying the present life will soon make you bored if there are no goals. Now, this goals can be either achieving your dreams, or some tasks you feel you should be completed in near future. This planning for future is not mentioned much in FISH book. Even in any interview, you can find yourself answering the questions of short-term goals and long-term goals. But how do we achieve them? They say you can make a realistic flexible plan to attain your goals. Does that mean some kind of compromise, by the word realistic? I guess it does. But if we were such a master minds to create a plan and follow them shouldn’t we be Gods? I guess that’s where the past experience and knowledge comes into matter.

“The Present” is very simple and does not drag at all. Its a just 100+ pages book which can be finished of within a hour or two by avid readers. For me, it was a simple inspirational book to read in my train journey en route home..

Book Review – The Marriage by Timeri Murrari.

A simple book. I felt it like a film. This story takes place in England. There are two parallel tracks, one is about the love story of Leela and Roger and the other is the problems faced by Leela’s father, Tekchand in the factory he works for. Both tracks are described beautifully and independently by the author. And towards the end, it has a grasping twist which lasts an strong impression in your heart for a while…

I liked the book for the detailed description of the author in simple words of the pain felt by residents living outside India. The small small simple things about India and its land and the traditional living, for which its famous for. The book is written long back I guess, and I can see the reflections of the old traditions and customs of the times of the farmers and landlords. The difficulties in earning for your family doing small jobs abroad and all..

The book also portrays the feelings and emotions of a young girl. A growing woman in her initial stage, struggling with the traditional values and also with her dreams and wishes. Though the place is different, I guess it could be felt by any girl living with the family far from their village home town, say, even in any metro city.

To say as flaws, I did not find any, except that the work trouble may not be liked the present generation, who does not think of the simple village life, but instead prefers to settle abroad…Hence altogether, i would give 8/10 for this sweet novel.