No Sick Directed Havoc!

When the controversy over the release of cinematic version of “The Da Vinci Code” was its helm, I was scared. I was keeping my fingers crossed that I get to watch the movie on the big screen because ever since I had read the book (which was over 2 years ago) I, much like millions of others, was terribly curious to watch the action unfold in front of my eyes. Much to my comfort, it was all set to be screened in India (even if some states banned it).

But as soon as the film got released, it got a severe beating from the critics. It was disturbing as I was expecting a magnificient film from Ron Howard, Tom Hanks & Co. Before I got to watching it, I had read enough postive & negative reviews to know that world had been divided into the two halves – one which was in love with the movie & the other sect which loathed it. I decided to watch the movie with an open mind – unperturbed by all the unkind words that had been said about the chemistry of actors, length of the movie, pace et al.

I dunno if it happens with others, but I am a very visual reader; I mentally picture the words I read, to the effect of visualizing the setting, the characters, the action. Specially while reading TDVC, it is only natural that with the kind of detail Dan Brown had put in his book anyone would have created The Louvre, the car escape, Teabing’s chateau, Isaac Newton’s tomb, the cryptx & countless others in their heads as they voraciously turned through the pages.

The best thing about reading a book, as enthralling as TDVC, is that it lets you wield the director’s wand yourself & your perspective etches the words into characters & settings the way you want them. Essentially, a book stimulates the senses to think & imagine, words are only suggestions (like raw vegetables & spices), a lot is left to the mind to interpret & visualise (cook, as an analogy). On the contrary, a movie is like a laid out meal; you can’t do much other than chew what is in offered to you & savour (or disdain, depending on your taste) it.

So coming back to my cinematic experience of TDVC…

As the reels rolled by, I could not help but juxtapose my imagination with Ron Howard’s vision. I enjoyed the movie, not in the same sense as the book; it was as close as it could get to the book but obviously a different experience.

As for the performances, I found them quite adequate; every role was well-defined & (more or less) loyal to the book’s characterisations. I’ve seen very few Hollywood movies, to comment if Tom Hanks lacked the panache from his previous movies & I believe this movie wasn’t really an actor’s movie. Much like the book, the film relies on the pace of events to deliver. The script was minimally tweaked though the essence of the book had been moderated to appease hardliners across the world.

If you have read the book, you are bound to make comparisions & movie will never match up there.

And if you haven’t, most of the events will not fit into context, the problem here being (as I mentioned on a comment on Vin’s blog, which was also this post’s inspiration) that Dan Brown’s work is far too dense to be cinematised in two & a half hours. There were a number of crucial moments in the book which have been depicted as few seconds of flashback. Only people have read the book can understand the plot & sub-plots & appreciate their context in the film.

The movie boasts of amazing cinematography – be it the grim crime spot at Denon Wing of the Louvre or the sylvan environs of Rosslyn Chappel. The closing sequence of the movie when Langdon stands over La Pyramide Inversée outside the Louvre & bows down with the camera moving from the stars above to the inverted pyramid to the tiny pyramid to the “supposedly” Holy Grail (Mary Magdalene’s tomb) was breathtaking!

Maybe, people outside India who are used to watching Hollywood flicks of two hours found it long, but an Indian movie buff like me did not find the movie lengthy or slack in its pace. Ditto for the dialogues which has been another cause for critics’ displeasure, I found them in synch with the flavour of the movie.

I’ve advised all my friends to only watch the movie after they have read the book. I feel the best way to enjoy the movie is by living the book along with the movie – to not compare & supplement the book with what they feel is lacking in the movie.

The best way to judge if you liked a movie is when you don’t realize how long you sat in the movie hall seat, and I’m not talking dozing off but actually, being so involved in the movie that you forget the world for that while. The Da Vinci Code film was just that experience for me.

P.S. For those of you who are wondering what the title above is all about, well go ahead & rearrange the words, it is an anagram!!!

The Da Vinci Code Rocks!

Love – Compromise?

Disclaimer: I'm back to babbling my notions about love. Let me state outright that my feelings are not first-hand, it is observing what I see around. And again, it is more questions than answers.

I have a friend who is so in love, or so his phone inbox tells me; it is filled with countless mushy smses – sent & received. And yet when I probe his feelings, it does not ring true to me.

Yesterday, when I met them together for the first time, I just didn't see the chemistry between them. Infact, the "loved" one later asked me what the likes & dislikes of my friend were. I did not fathom the amplitude of this question, but later when I thought about it, I found it weird that two people could be in love without knowing each other to that level.
Maybe, this is just a case of faking love, but I have seen umpteen people in "love" when you can clearly tell that there is a lot of disconnect between them, when love ought to be a state of effortless compatibility. So is it that people fall in love due to reasons other than love?

I am tempted to believe that sometimes one just decides to get into a relation out of pressure. It could simply be peer pressure; the need to please others around & gain acceptability or it could arise out of a self-need to fight loneliness. Whatever be the case, it does seem to be compromise at the core of it all.

So are we justified to bite into a half-baked loaf just because we haven't been offered a scrumptious piece of cake? Is love akin to a primeval need like food or sex which needs to be fulfilled even if at the cost of "lowering the bar"?

Nightmare!

I usually don't dream & when I do, I don't remember it very well… But this morning, I woke up to a nightmare without the stereotypical horror or gore element in it, but enough to scare me really bad…

I was getting engaged!

I vaguely remember the setting as the usual Punjabi ring ceremony, with tonnes of relatives descending to be part of my engagement… Only I didn't know the girl I was supposed to be engaged to!!!

 Yes, I hadn't seen her before, I had not talked to her before!!! She was a complete stranger to me!!! I couldn't believe this was happening & yet I was part of all this…

As I was pushed to occupy the pedestal, I saw her for the first time… There was an instant feeling of repulsion, she wasn't the kind of girl I had pictured to be my life partner… But I was helpless, I couldn't reverse this, when things had gone this far! The incessant flashes of photographers made me more antsy & even the beaming faces of my parents wasn't reassuring enough…

Now as I exchanged glances with this girl, she smiled & whispered to me, "I like you." This was too much for me to handle… I just wished this would somehow end… As we moved for the ring-exchanging ceremony, I couldn't help but take my parents to a side to talk to them…

I don't recall much of what I blubbered at that instant, but my howls (in the dream) was enough to wake me up & bring me back to real life… I had never felt happier resting alone on the dirty pillow on the rickety-rackety thing I call my bed…

After long…

It took an old pal from Hyderabad to come to Delhi for me to have my first METRO "ride"…

Last evening, when my friend from Hyderabad, P landed in Delhi for a single day trip, I joined him & A for a rush-rush trip to Delhi… It was his first trip to the National Capital & he really wanted to see India Gate & other Dilli attractions… I guess it always takes such an enthusiastic "tourist" for us "localites" to see our own city… I've been in NOIDA for near about a year now & still I haven't had much of a chance to go around Delhi; blame it on my laziness or whatever!

So after office, we drove to Delhi in A's car with my digicam in tow (it again took the tourist's zest to get my rusting camera back to action)… I have seen the India Gate during my childhood; I have memories of us picnic-ing with our Delhi relatives here on a winter afternoon many many years ago… But last night, I got to see this historical monument illuminated – its beauty heightened by the beaming lights… We took the customary shots of India Gate posing next to it, in the background followed by a kulfi…

Now A had this desire to eat out at one of those Chandni Chowk old eathouses… We weren't well-versed with the ways but still decided to give it a shot… On our way, we found a METRO station & all three of us decided it was time for a METRO ride… It was already past 9:30 pm & we were told METRO runs only till 10 pm… We still decided to atleast go & take a look at the METRO station…

I had heard enough about the world class standards of Delhi METRO, but I was still awestruck when we descended into the Central Secretariat Metro station… Truly it was a shining picture of India's progress & I was instantly reminded of those international swanky airports… DMRC deserves kudos for such a delightful service for the common man…

We were excited & decided to get complete the METRO feel in the limited time we had by getting onboard the METRO to get down at the next station & return from there… As we held onto handgrips of the right-on-time train, I couldn't help but notice the spick-n-span carriages… I just hoped that we keep the METRO trains & stations clean & not let it become a junkyard like other Indian railway stations…

The responsibilty of maintaining METRO as a world class service is not just DMRC's, everyone using it has a duty to let it shine for generations ahead…

We couldn't make it to Chandni Chowk for dinner, so we decided to head to Comesum (NIzamuddin Station) for a late night dinner… As usual, the place was crowded & the food yummy… I really like the variety these guys have to offer…

On returning home, it felt like a weekend – an eventful one after long!

The story so far…

Hmmm… Errr… Ummm… Been there, done that & doing it again…

Even I since I abandoned my previous blog, I've been pushed to start blogging again… Not that I am a great writer or anything, but I do have some immensely kind blog pals who want to see back in "action"…

So what will this blog be about? I guess… nothing different… same old rants… same old nothings… same old everythings…  (that is, if I happen to stick to it) … As I did mention on a blog forum sometime back, all this while (which lasted around 2 years) I have had the urge to write, but somehow my short attention span never got me a concrete blog post… And when I did decided to revive my old blog, it decided to not let me in…

Now on the advice of a dear fellow blogger, here I am on wordpress (the new in-thing in blogging?) starting off silently to see how long I'm going to be at it…