Thursday, January 11, 2007

Things I Did that Make Me Cringe Now

Have you ever done something makes you cringe when you think about that now? You know, stuff that makes you go - "I can't believe I actually liked that novel!" or "How could I ever watch that movie 4 times?" No? Well I have few skeletons like that in my closet - things that makes me want to jump off a cliff in shame when I think about them now. Let's talk about a few, but please, please don't judge me... Heh

1) I used to love Yash Chopra Movies. There. I've said it. There was a time when I thought Yash Chopra was the greatest director in Bollywood. I had his filmography memorized. I loved Silsila, Kabhi Kabhi, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr, all of them. I loved the mushy romance, and the white sarees. I thought even Sridevi looked good in Chandni. I loved the songs. Arrrghhh!

I know. The malaise was deep and dangerous. I grew out of that only by the end of my graduation days. Luckily. Now I trash the films like the best of them. Yay!

2) I used to think Shah Rukh was a great actor. This started in school. I know. Simply inexcusable. But what to do? We were all such great fans of Fauji, that we wanted to see him in anything. I watched Circus avidly. I even watched Doosra Kewal. Ah, I bet you don't remember that one. And what about Idiot, based on Doestoevsky? He was there in all of them.

And then, after an expectant lull, came Deewana, his debut film! As he banged his head against the wall (literally) and croaked, "Maa, mujhe Kajal de de maaaaa..", we were transported! What an intense actor! What passion! It took us a while to realize that we would be watching variations of that scene again, and again, and some more, for the next 10 years, interspersed with the other expression, the dimpled smile.

It took Aamir Khan to teach me what acting was.

PS: But I still feel that the only movie in which SRK acted "Aamiresque" was Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, his best till date. Conversely, Aamir acted like SRK in a movie called Mela. Strictly avoid.

3) I used to like Ravi Shastri. This is simply too much, I agree. But in my defense, I was a sensitive child. I used to feel for the guy. He was booed all the time, in every match, in every venue without fail. I used to feel sorry for him. But there was no effect on him at all! Then he captained India in one match, and we won that. A 100% record. How about that? I used to argue that we missed a fine captain, much to the amusement of my uncles and other relatives. My one moment of vindication was the Champion of Champions trophy, where he bowled us to victory and got that dratted car.

As wisdom grew, and adulthood happened, and I got to hear more and more from him on ESPN etc, I realized what a disaster India had averted. I also began to more smpathetic to the wisdom of crowds. To his credit, he does not exhibit any shame at all, either when putting his hand on women's thighs on the Shaz and Waz Show, exhorting batsmen to bat fast (hahaha), defending Sachin Tendulkar come what may, or when trashing Sourav Ganguly come what may. He is, as always, a consistent idiot.

4) I thought baggy pants were cool. How I used to envy the classmate who wore the baggiest trousers while I was wearing straight cuts. Sigh. In retrospect, thank goodness for my granny's rationality, who simply refused to buy me one.

5) I supported VP Singh. This, I am truly, madly, deeply ashamed of. These were school days, when we had suddenly started thinking what with Bofors and all, Rajiv Gandhi was ruining the nation. VP Singh, the clean, uncorrupt crusader was going to be the messiah. We wore VP buttons to school, and when the elections came, I actually cast a false vote (being underage) against the Congress, just to make VP win.

We know what happened later. Mandal, Devi Lal. Unmitigated disaster. That incident shook me up so much that I have never voted again in my life, and has coloured my impressions of politicians irrevocably. Not just me. An entire generation of idealistic youngsters like me have been traumatised by their misguided support for this slimy, populist son of many fathers. VP Singh, you snake. I hope you rot in hell. And I hope you get there soon!!!!

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Someone asked to make blogging regularly my new year resolution. Easier said, and even more easily done - the resolution, I mean. Sticking to it is like giving up smoking - I haven't been very successful in either.

Let's see. I will be in the US for a month starting 15th. Maybe away from the vissicitudes of Bombay life, I will get more time to update my blog. Or am I consoling myself?