'A Wednesday' - Comeback of common man
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Two (non-profane) words that an average Indian adult would have heard the most about would be 'Comman man'. The elected ministers talk how they are helping the common man, while the opposition holds rallies and press conference to tell how the common man is getting neglected. The economists roll out the schemes for this very 'common man', while critics oppose very same schemes saying they are against a common man. Yesterday I ran off from my hectic professional life to see the last show of the newly released movie - 'Wednesday' and yes, the theme revolved around 'The common man'.
Bollywood has been rolling out the movies on a common man since big bang, where the image and issues faced by a common man has changed as portrayed in 60s by Balraj Sahni, 70's by Raj Kapoor, 80's by Amitabh Bachhan, 90's by contemporary cinema and theaters, 2000's by likes of Pankaj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher - essentially the artists who have come from theaters. (I may have not counted some prominent names, but essentially this kind of gives a picture to grasp what am referring to). But till date when a character associates him/herself with a common man, the public still clap, they still find that connect emotionally overwhelming. 'Wednesday' is no different.The much so common day to day life setup of the movie without gloss, glamor, villains flying and rolling in air on hitting one jab has resulted in better connect. Leaving a few sound effects, the direction has been commendable, but what steals the show is the dialogue delivery and acting by the two protagonists - Anupam and Naseeruddin. Terrorism is one big topic these days thanks to the bomb blasts series that has started in India. And the aggression that is egressing in an average Indian against 'cockroaches' (as movie calls them) results in a gripping experience. One may wonder how an average 'common man' who looks like a clerk you may find in any public office, or a guy wiping his face on an average day in Mumbai's local trains may decide one day to go against the very crowd he has been walking around with since childhood. A terrorist is no different than any other person, and so is a person who may be following any different religion- where people change is in belief.
We humans have a gift unlike other animals, we can think and when we think we have beliefs and point of views. Some people accept the fact that others can have different point of view while some cant. Then some of the latter want rest to go by what they themselves believe, which when not done makes them turn toxic to the very society they have been part of. We may be social animals, but the animal and social nature are contradictory. They need to be in balance as Yin and Yang of Chinese FengShui, whenever this balance internal to a human changes, we become either too social (whom many will find irritating personalities) or too animal.
You would have been through the people who ask for charity, for money towards social cause or even for some flood relief etc. Its your wish to give, you may not give as you may not feel like giving or you may question if the money will go in right hands. But then there are people who will stop you and pester you to pay. Reason is not that its for social cause, reason is the organizers firmly believe that they are doing a social cause; in plain English I would call it imposition. Similar is the case with religion, its like a kind of a philosophy kept there in open, who so ever wants it will subscribe to it.
But then that's us, humans. We aren't limited to ourselves, we long for what the web of social linkages gives us; so the drama shall go on; and so shall the lives even if that is of a common man whose life goes on to achieve the balance between the Yin (dark/negative) and Yang (bright/positive).
Labels: Experiences, Movie Critics
posted by Jas @ 12:51 PM,
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Where did August go?!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Am back! Its Sep the 14th and last post was on 1st of June! Boy that is a long long time by any yardstick when it comes to blogging. Lets see what all has gone through all this while.
I had to go on a business trip to US for six weeks and that has been quite a hectic tour. It was interesting to see the other facet of ITES industry. Coming from a product company ( I used to work for Adobe prior to graduating in management from FMS) it has been a complicated trip with mixed feelings. One gets to work on implementation side a lot, gets to know the best in class if one is attentive enough and also knows how high end bargaining of resources and their billing hours work. But what one misses is a crucial though process of innovation and building. In product companies, nobody tells you the exact scope of the project as that is where you define the scope. I remember how the features we were building upon used to change often as customer updates and technical possibilities would have us define and redefine the scope. With services it comes to define and redefine what can be dealt out in given funding! But as they say, every face has its own beauty.
When you are in a foreign land, you get introduced to some really fresh traditions and festivals. During my visit to US I got a chance to be part of a 'Baby Shower'; something which I always thought was a all ladies event. For the incognizants, by convention, a baby shower is intended to help parents get items that they need for their baby, such as baby clothes. It is common for the host to provide baby-themed games during the shower. So as a native was telling me in party that how it was celebrated only for first child earlier but now is a more general event, one of our senior System Analyst came with the games. Everyone was to guess the exact size of the expectant mother's waist using a string. Then there was another where we had to guess the exact date of birth of child and the weight. Now hold on, this wasnt going any better for me. Had I flirted in my college life (any of the two!), I could have made a worthy guess, but I couldnt be any closer to cutting the string right as of her waist! So I took it that she was married for two years, must have been on cheese diet (as any other Arizonian), and was due for delivery in another two months so she should be one 'big' lady! Well the female readers would have guessed it by now - my string was way more than her waist. No doubt she did not appreciate it that how fat I thought she was, given the fact that I work as Sr. Business Analyst. (So accurate an analysis!)And not to forget the baby's size, weight and all. I really felt like calling my mom to ask how heavy I was when I was born but then left the idea. I was always told that I was heaviest of the lot that was in hospital in those days and my childhood pics only confirm to my chubbiness in that time. And heck I dont know when will my bread come out of the toaster, how can I tell when a baby will come out! Strange ways life tells you that you still dont know anything!
And the early Sep was spent well in marrige of my best friend who has been more of a brother than a friend. I have never felt so responsible in my life, I had to make sure that all his friends did not feel left out at the function, were catered to well, danced, laughed and aptly farewelled. Marrige, as has been my experience, is the time when your relatives gaguge how valued they are in your life. If you miss them out, you mess yourself in. Anyhow the wedding was good thought I had to miss out on food part due to time constraints, and could come back to Hyderabad with just a box of sweets.
Labels: My Life
posted by Jas @ 8:12 PM,
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