A little cheese, please?

I saw Ishaqzaade the previous weekend. Contrary to the comic strip exploits that ripped apart the insides of the movie, I quite liked it. Yes, I did. It did have a wayward storyline, but it managed to keep me waiting for what happened next. Although I did know, that the hero and heroine die in the end, I wanted to see how that would come about. Simply, the back drop of the movie is a political scenario where a Hindu boy (of a Hindu political family, Of COURSE!)  marries a Muslim girl (of the Muslim Political family, again, of course) to offend the Muslim voters! It starts off mostly in the name of vote winning. But it takes a twisted turn when the boy’s mother is killed at the hands of the party leader, the boy’s grandfather, when she suggests that the Muslim girl should be saved from the wolves her father has sent after her. Thus follows, a lot of running, hiding, random shooting at decrepit walls in Uttar Pradesh, then hiding in a brothel, and some more running, shooting and then killing each other. Sounds pretty much insane, but I liked it. Here’s why…

I like cheesy stuff. Not all the time. But I like it. It’s fascinating to think that there is a story line that’s got its shoes on and is chasing fantasies, wooden houses in the countryside, the ideal place where lines don’t exist and everyone is happy for everyone around them. The chase for a perfect fantasy: that’s what excites me. It makes me feel happy. That there could be a goal which involves looking for Utopia (and maybe dying in the process; read: Ishaqzaade) gives me a high. For a brief moment of time, I can tell the cynics “Hah! You saw that! Get a life.”

I also saw Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya! and Kismet Konnection on the same aforesaid weekend. Yes, it was the ultimate cheesy weekend where I sunk into my couch in front of the TV. Here, I’d like to stop a minute and take time to appreciate the slowly dying TV. I think nothing can beat playing trash on TV and lying in front of it with chips and a remote on a lazy day. If there is heaven, then there it is! (Just don’t ask me to answer the door when the doorbell rings.) So, back to the point. I like those two movies as well. Time passed in its flair with the minutes being consumed by good-natured thoughts. I mean, imagine; in Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya! a guy loves this girl so much that he is willing to endure anything and everything her strict brother throws at him or throws him into. Who does that anymore? Who? And it’s not like the sh*t that Sajid Khan comes up with in the name of films. PKTDK does have a good-looking Salman Khan in normal clothes that boys would wear, and a screenplay that doesn’t behave like an octopus on skates. So, it’s bearable, has a cute love story, has a happy ending, and is bang on when it comes to the possibility of it happening in reality (2%, okay none) and in a fairy tale (99%). Kismet Konnection has an even more unbelievable story, so I won’t get into it. But it was fun. Specially when Shahid lovingly looks at Vidya. And when they sing Bakhuda Tumhi Ho together. So, yeah, it was pretty much an exciting weekend. I felt so good that I sent my cynic friend a message saying I was out of his clutches, and unbinding made me feel free.

Currently, I am reading The Devil Wears Prada. I just hope to stretch the boundaries of feeling-good a little more before I can get back to the capitalistic c**p in Atlas Shrugged. By now, I have established why I wrote this post in the first place. Sometimes, it’s good to have a little feel-good drama in life. In the form of movies, books, or even real life-situations. When a hero beats a villain to pulp and thus good triumphs over evil, a light shines through from the sky and makes everything brighter. When a boy lovingly looks at his girl, the red on her cheeks is borrowed by the neighborhood roses and even they smile. Occasional winning, a little hugging, some sprinkled stars on the sky, and the thought there is still a world that rises above the clouds and into the heavens is all that we sometimes need. It is reassurance that even though we’re bursting at the seams, all could still be well with the world.

P.S: This post is one week late and was lying in my drafts. I saw Paan Singh Tomar this weekend and it is extremely good. Extremely. Do catch it.