Three

Three


Some lucky two know certainly what bonds them.
Two hearts won’t even need words between them.
But three is a treacherous crowd.


Ignored, third may sit in between or on the sides.
The two play games in his head.
His head, so cynical of the wordless that divides.


“Scheming for goodies…their gang conspires in whispers!
Can't stay here.Can't run.
They are two and I'm one.”


- Nikhilesh

I request you to read the poem above fully before even looking below.












The making of “Three”
A moment in Slumdog Millionaire inspired the poem, “Three”.


Jamal let latika in without salim’s approval. Brothers lost their mother in riots and now Latika forms bonds of friendship with Jamal.

The moment slipped me by because all I kept thinking of was Latika, making circles in rainy mud. And the moment that hardly lasted showed the birth of a way of thinking that guided Salim's actions. I kept looking at the snapshot I took from the movie. I kept looking and let feelings flood and wrote what came out. First I thought I would write a descriptive something, like I did earlier for Yeh Rishta.
I thought I could write a poem.

Three lines per stanza came all by themselves. I was more focused on the sentiment of alienation. When for the first time I consciously assessed what I had written I found four stanzas of three lines each, none rhymed. Only one stanza, the first one, had a slight possibility of two rhyming lines. I saw three lines in the stanzas and I had a eureka moment. I compressed emotions and changed words more than jillion times to fit constraints and rhymes. It’s the same what Carly Fiorina says in
this lecture which is funny because she’s a “businesswoman”. But I was very happy with the idea, almost giddy. And I realized how I can represent the same emotions in far less words, conform to self imposed constraints or rules. (I wonder if I can write Haiku) I felt the urge of keeping the rhyming two of the same length, which I still think is an unnecessary far stretch of the original idea but I still managed it. I was apprehensive if I was compromising on the delivery of the original message. I did lose it, but then I brought it back by changing words.
On a different one I think Salim is the best kept secret of the Slumdog hoopla. A jealous Muslim boy keeps the lovebirds apart. In the end he gives in, sacrifices his life so that they can meet. In current scenario this is a pertinent message.


Cotton Swabs


I wass returning from the movie theatre after watching slumdog(to listen to ARR with good sound) and i was sitting in autorickshaw at the signal. Now such situations attract me or i attract them - a street urchin asks me to buy cotton ear cleaning swabs. I shook my head to refuse. In the afternoon heat of Bangalore she put her forehead on my knees. Normally I would be repulsed but this time around I was blank. Would it make sense to you or help in any way if I said that she was in despair, and she was almost fearless in connecting with me by doing what she did? You would say "It’s just you, nike, you saw the movie and got senti." But I bought the pack for 10 bucks.

Yuppdate

Last week I was at Aicha's place..... who is like elder sister to me. I am appreciating how we have become greater support to each other. But sometimes I am scared that she is totally different and difficult. And very much cynical. .... anyway we were watching TV and she asks me what is so great about Asin. As with Aicha many times before, she says she is just trying to understand what guys like and how they think. And I gave her a quick answer. Now I guess it can make for a blog entry.

Even if I have seen Asin only in Ghajini, I thought she was fabulous. At first sight I thought long hair - check, big eyes - check. OK rest of the features I am afraid it gets a bit risque to mention but check for those too. I was watching her interview and I appreciate how she rolls her eyes every now and then. The best thing is she isnt trying. The way most women on TV try too hard to be sexy / cute / glamorous; she isnt doing that. Vey much like Heath Ledger, he just WAS The Joker. He wasnt trying to project particular features of the character like cruelty etc. (May the The Joker have the last laugh, the oscar i mean) But I digress... Next she was funny. Essential that she makes fun of herself - half the movie she was funny. One particular scene she is jumping her ass off in front of Amir (go figure which that one is). It speaks very much of a girl's confidence that she can pull off being absolutely un-sexy and stupid on screen. Which is the reason why all three girls in FRIENDS win on all fronts. Lisa Kudrow being the best for me. I have a bit of a lower opinion for Jennifer Aniston, she seems too pumped up to be the glamour icon. Its almost like she killed the funny goofy, a little fat Rachel Green.
Its funny how women like Aishwarya rai and kareena fall flat when it comes to public life. Many others too i think they rehearse being in public eye and entering a beauty pageant like they are preparing for an exam. When it comes to extempore they show their real blunderous self.
I like these :








Next, I have seen Slumdog so many times (I procured the pirated copy) that I have now grown to find it not as good as I thought the first time around, a little bit. But no, I have also grown to realise that its a matter of perspective. Its enjoyable on many levels. It sure is old wine in new bottle. But the bottle is the backdrop of Mumbai which needs recognition. It rides of so many features, excitement of the gameshow, "bizarre plausibility" of events that enable him to answer the questions, the music, the romance and great cinematography. In the process we come to see the cruel truths of life of slums.
As jobs are being lost in the IT industry, "survival" is in perspective. Humans will survive their environment. The two slumdogs survived their environment, with nobody to take care, they survived, by whatever means. The director Danny Boyle used a great phrase - "lust for life" of these slumdogs. With nothing to lose at 18, Jamal wont give up love of his life, he has had enough experience of getting by, getting food to survive one way or the other is not an issue at all. But unlike others he stood up to fight for love, i dont think there was any other stimulus in his life. The ones who play the game to get more than just survival from life are the ones who achieve.
I know A.R. Rahman will win oscars, one for the original score and other for the song "O Saya" (Original music written for motion picture). Its true ARR has done better work before, but its funny how confluence in life brings laurels only at a particular point. Not before, not after. It had to be the confluence of movie, director, availability of resources this year that his work has reached oscars.
My personal favourite is the vocal by Susanne called "Search for Latika" or Latika's theme. It brought tears to my eyes every time it played, just not the last two times I saw the movie (which is why i say that now the effect of the movie is waning on me). That brings us to the issue of marketing. A comment I read says that slumdog is the perfect example of how an OK film is made into excellent using marketing. I say films like slumdog deserve and require terrific marketing. Emotion is a dicey affair. Judging the film is difficult because it banks heavily on romance, music, drama etc. Some might be touched some feel its too touchy feely crap. Some might be touched by the ending some might not. So its difficult to judge if its good or not. Its human. So all the movie makers can do is get it seen by as many as possible and hope it touches those who are touched (by the romance etc). Most critics too have given excellent reviews to slumdog.
My short story can sit on an HTML page and nobody will read it unless i get it published , do some marketing etc. Similarly blogger like gaurav sabnis recommends salaam bombay to viewers who would like a taste of real mumbai but this is a very small effort which doesnt do much good to salaam bombay; even if its an excellent work it needs a trumpet.

O saya is great too. I love how the percussion rises. Its not just that the percussion is great its how it evolves in the first 20 seconds of the song, like a monster rising.

Update

I had something unpleasant for a meal, bread and butter, to be precise on thursday. As it turned out, when I reached home in Goa, my Mom tells me that the butter was pretty old in its standing. So thats the reason why I was shivering with cold on the footsteps of Yeshwanthpur railway station on friday night. I had to wait for two hours in the chockablock railway station as I had reached early. As rural as a city railway station can seem, I felt like a loser, my head was getting hammered from the inside, my eyes were aching and I finished a bottle of water hoping water is the best thing I can do to get rid of the fever inducing stuff in my belly.

In the train as I was curling up and ignoring my shivers, I overheard young gujrati chaps. Their gujrati sentences were ending in machcha and da. Funnily so. Which reminded me of an incident in namma bengaluru. In the only Darshini style hotel near my apartment in sultanpalya, a rajasthani woman holding a kid on her waist was talking to another woman in pure Marwadi near the counter. Then she turns around and places the order for idlis and dosas in pure Kannada.

Only in India.

Ok now Im proud of Slumdog Millionaire. I watched it and felt like watching again and again. Beautiful movie. Thats because it switches from romance to irony; sentiment to the lack of it; very fast, before you get a breather. I LOVE THIS MOVIE!! So many things....... its really a nice movie, it contains so many foul words that have never been uttered in hindi cinema but were integral part of every day of my college life :). Its colorful, vibrant, sad, innocent and spirited. But at one point I did get a feeling like things are getting repeated. that was near the second half. But it was a great experience. Good thinking to keep the song and dance sequence in the end, those who like it can enjoy, the others who liked the movie till then can leave the hall, they would still feel good. I love it when movies talk about small pleasures and deep wisdom of life.

Tarsem has made another movie!!

I read a post by Jai Arjun Singh....... and midway my eyes stretched wiiide, Tarsem Singh has made a movie named "The Fall".
In 2000 I watched The Cell and was mesmerized. I found out all that I could about Tarsem Singh. And kept a tab on his next release. Only to be disappointed in the next few years.
I oughtta watch the fall!!!

Tarsem Singh is gifted. Review of the cell deserves a completely different and detailed post. But I would like to mention that I thought Jennifer Lopez was mostly bimbo - ish sexy and a bit over the top, but in the cell she is "Beautiful". Thanks to Tarsem. The colours, the curls, winds and textures of The Cell (all pleasant, unpleasant and the unspeakable) have never appeared again on the movie screen.



Whats in store in The Fall?
There is a taj mahal above a butterfly in the movie poster of The fall. When will this film release in India? :(