Seasonal Spirit

Sprits high, nigh uncatchable…
Christmas, most say.
Humbug, some declare.

Who cares?
Rum’s gone.

Merry Christmas, folks!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I recently watched “The Perks of being a Wallflower”. Though I don’t usually watch movie adaptations, without first reading the books, I know I can’t read every book that was adapted into a movie. So I decided to shed my useless ego and watch the movie.

First, I liked Emma Watson’s look in the movie. Free spirited, smiling girl. With short hair.

But the movie was more than pretty faces.

From sexual abuse, to introversion and deaths, the story speaks of stuff that any teenager can easily relate to.

And yes, bad relationship decisions too.

Thing is, a lot of movies nowadays, cover all these topics. But, this wasn’t just another story.

The protagonist, Charlie, is an introvert. The story begins with him writing a journal entry about his fears for the following day, his first day of high school.

Personally, I could relate to this character unlike, any movie I’ve seen before. (And yes, I’m selective when it comes to movies) An introvert, he makes his action plan for the next day, but as all plans go, he was flunked.

That’s when I felt like shouting, “That is so me.”

At the end of his first day, Charlie is left with one friend. Which, his English teacher thinks, is good for starters.

“If my English teacher is the only friend I make today, that’ll be sorta depressing.”

Then come his friends. Patrick and Sam. Step-siblings. And seniors.

Those two, reflect simplicity. Their love for old songs, and the way Sam enjoys tunnel rides, all of that will bring a smile on to your lips. If it didn’t, well you need to loosen up a bit.

All seems fine, until Charlie realizes his feelings for Sam (Sam’s a girl (FYI)). Yet again, he does something realistic, he ignores it. He wants Sam to be happy, but he also knows that she has chosen the wrong person.

The English teacher Mr Anderson is a perfect embodiment of a great teacher. He lends Charlie books to read, and does give away some brilliant relationship advice,

“Because we accept the love we think we deserve.”

We, as an audience, are constantly surprised at the depth of the characters. Patrick, shows that he is capable of some deep thoughts as well.

“Why can’t we save anybody?”

This is probably one of the most relatable quotes of the movie. We’d have all had the same thought at one point of time. I know I did.

And though it might sound trivial, the situation is not.

This movie is full of wonderful dialogues. Even though I can’t tolerate romance, I’m wondering if I should read that book, only for the dialogues.

“You see; you understand, you’re a wallflower” – Patrick

They were that good.

“It’s all about you… and a little bit about me too”

Julian Assange and Benedict Cumberbatch keep popping up inside my head every now and then.

Of course, I’m talking about ‘The Fifth Estate’ the 2013 movie based on WikiLeaks’ and Julian’s rise of fame on the internet.

To be honest, when WikiLeaks began to rise to the peaks leaking highly confidential information that seriously jeopardized the US government (See? The effect still hasn’t gone off!) I was genuinely interested. Just like so many others. Then, like most people, the matter faded away. Last I heard of Julian Assange, he was arrested and there were protests worldwide demanding his release.

Fast forward a three years. I grew up, (What a pity!) and a couple of months earlier I began to be crazily interested in BBC’s Sherlock TV series. I watched all three seasons in a hurry. When I was looking for more, I found ‘The Fifth Estate.’

It brought back so many old memories. I did some digging. Went back to the website after ages, and came across an article that said something about a “letter.” From Julian Assange to Benedict Cumberbatch.

I so wanted to read that letter. It was on the WikiLeaks website. Unedited, as always.

Long letter short: Julian wasn’t happy about the movie idea. He said the script was based on two books, which told the untruth. He tried to convince Benedict to step away from the project.

I must say, there was so much conviction in that letter that I was surprised that Benedict didn’t walk away.

So that was the reason, I knew I should watch the movie. The movie that, despite Julian claiming said all lies about him and his employees at WikiLeaks, came out and — I guess — ran successful.

After Sherlock, I became a Benedict fan. I watched the movie, partly for him. And I wasn’t disappointed. Great acting, not to mention the dialogues.

I’d say the movie was quite posed neutrally, in such a way that in the end, you neither hate nor like Assange. But the final few scenes did show him a little negatively.

A Journey Within… on the Highway

I think we made a huge mistake going for the movie. It made me ache in places I didn’t know I had. “A journey within” was the caption. I should have expected it.It was a really deep journey. Particularly the last 45 minutes, with a deep message — a social one (obviously!) but told in a subtly pricking way.

The locations were amazing. The music — needless to say, a A.R. Rahman musical. But there was something else — something that made me feel like I’m missing out on something in life. Obvious, you might think. Because it is. I am missing the liveliness of Nature. And watching Alia Bhatt reminded me a bit of a nomad’s life. Perhaps it was the icy mountains that added to the coldness that the movie ended with.

Later, when I was back home trying hard to not visualize the scenes in front of my eyes, something quite unexpected happened. Every programme on tv, and everything I spoke of with my room mates, reminded me of the movie. I simply couldn’t get it out of my mind. Even now, as I’m typing out this piece, first thing in the morning, I am listening to the songs. It seems like I can’t get over it, like trying to give up after multiple attempts at an unrequited love interest.

The greatest thing about the movie was that it was a love story, but not a love story too. It’s not one that we’re used to in Indian cinema. I know we’ve heard that comment too many times to know better than to believe it, but really, for me, this was so different.

Here’s what I found out: everyone who watches that movie can find themselves relating to the characters at least once. And I don’t just mean the girls.

From what I could deduce from my fellow audience in the theatre, almost all of them had that glum feeling of being stuck in reality, and not being able to make that one journey within, the journey that could change our lives.

Even I, who can’t understand a word of Hindi, was moved by the movie. This movie will reach heights. It might not make a blockbuster hit, and make it rain dollars, but it will touch the people. And that’s what makes “Highway” a successful journey.

Tuesdays with Morrie

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they think they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

A long time ago, I just happened to come across a movie titled, ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’. The title seemed interesting and so I decided to watch it. I should say I was not disappointed at all. The entire movie was filled with such serenity that simple words cannot express.

When I learned that the movie was adopted from a book, I made it my priority to read that book. After a long time I finished reading the book on a train journey. It left me with an inner peace that I find difficult to discern.

About the book – it’s based on a true incident in the author’s life. It’s about the author, Mitch Albom, who, after hearing about his favourite professor’s fatal illness, visits his professor sixteen years after his graduation.

After the first visit, Mitch is convinced that he wants to visit the dying professor every week. Being Tuesday people – as his professor called it – Mitch visits his professor Morrie, every Tuesday with a handful of food parcels.

Each Tuesday, Mitch learns something new about living a meaningful life. Morrie speaks of his love for living. He helps Mitch understand the purpose of life and wants his words to educate more people who need a loving voice of comfort. Morrie is one who does not give in to the society that chases happiness without realizing that it could be found within. He has built himself a sub-society where no one is inferior and everyone is on the lookout for the other. Morrie and Mitch talk about everything that seems to torment the present generation and Morrie always has something valuable to offer.

The author has done a great job of describing Morrie’s decreasing health condition. The style in which the author has narrated the story touches every heart. You can’t help but appreciate Morrie and wish you had had a teacher like that. That’s where Mitch Albom succeeds.