A wrap on 2012

It's December now, which means I start looking forward to next year. Let's see how 2012 was.

The year began with a trip to the theater to watch Don 2 for a second and last time. Later award functions, while Shah Rukh hardly won any awards for his previous year's releases; Red Chillies VFX was able to earn their awards for the slick special effects in Ra.One. Even a National Award!! Although I disregard National Awards of India because they are such scumbags but it's alright if they award something related to SRK. In between, Shah Rukh's controversy with Shirish Kunder gained tons of eye balls, mostly being pro-SRK. Then came their patch up which I was thoroughly against of. In between all that, Shah Rukh began shooting with Yash Chopra for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. A few leaked pictures from the sets here and there managed to create a excitement early on. In the first quarter of 2012, things had a bipolar feeling to it, it had happiness, sadness, anger, everything. YRF released a few official stills of Katrina and Shah Rukh which were woooooooooooooooooow!

IPL season came. In midst of that, Shah Rukh got invited to Yale to speak which was a huge deal. I loved hearing him speak there and he sort of gave light to the dark alley I imagined as my future. After a couple of weeks of tension plus a controversy for Shah Rukh where he got into a verbal argument with security guards at a stadium; our team KKR actually won the championship. That was not expected at all. Then rumors came that it was a fixed match and what not. Of course, a team owned by a celebrity can never win without money being involved no? Then in June, Shah Rukh returned back to shooting in London for JTHJ. A few days in, and Shah Rukh turned DJ for BBC Radio. He hosted a few hours long radio show, which I happened to miss. I have an issue, anything I miss; I don't try to catch up on it. Anyway, as we did not know the title of Yash ji's film, many titles such as "London Ishq", "Jai" and some other crappy ones started circulating around the world of internet.YRF also released few official pictures of Anushka and Shah Rukh in this quarter too. Shah Rukh also completed 20 years in the Indian film industry in June!

Oh of course, my trip to Bangladesh also happened. During this trip, I met 3 sweet Shah Rukh Khan Fans, one while I took a break in NYC and two in Bangladesh. Otherwise the amount of hatred I faced for SRK shook my own ground. Yes, at that time, I laid low but did not ever forget Shah Rukh. Whether it's me hunting for SRK magazines and products there or trying to take pictures of SRK billboards and shops signs. Or the maddest according to my family was me picking up a SRK newspaper article from the road because people would step on it and it just didn't go well with my heart. I was very unsuccessful in hoarding SRK stuff for myself. Oh well. But one of the biggest haters among relatives actually gifted me pirated Shah Rukh's movie dvds for my birthday, well that cheered me up! Basically I have a complete movie collection besides a few missing which I did search for but could not find *sob*.

Came August and Shah Rukh left to Kashmir for the last leg of JTHJ shoot. A few stills came out of him in his army avatar with hot stubble which left us girls speechless and craving for more. A teaser was released which I found rather crappy because I just hate teasers. Then started the second rollercoaster ride of 2012. September was when we got to know the title of the film as well as the ever so popular poem AND trailer. The title instantly reminded me of a song from Sholay. Posters came out too and we all started speculating over what the movie is about and how the story might turn out to be. Then songs started coming out, which started the promotional run. The most special event was Yash ji's birthday interview that Shah Rukh did with him which got even more meaningful post an unfortunate incident in October. Yash ji passed away 24 days before the release of JTHJ. Just a few days before that, Shah Rukh had to endure the loss of his makeup man whom he'd view as his father and guidance. A shattered Shah Rukh kept his sadness aside and went on a promotional ride with his two leading ladies from JTHJ. Interviews with nearly all existing news channels in India started coming in and we got to enjoy the sweet chemistry between the three. Each and every interview they did was very memorable. You'd wish you could watch them forever and ever. During all this, a controversy happened which I really didn't bother about but Ajay Devgn managed to wipe all the little respect I had for him instantly.

When JTHJ released, I watched it first day second show with my family and a fellow SRK fan from my area. It really is one of the finest films ever. But what happened was that I was left spellbound. Then I went into a thinking mode. I completely forgot the story of the film but it just lingered inside me. It's difficult to describe how I actually felt. But JTHJ is truly Yash ji's best. He saved the best for the last. JTHJ added weight to the fact that I will never forget him. Then I watched two more times. It is a personal record, because previously, I'd never get to watch a movie more than twice. After watching thrice, I now understood the story, it is actually simple but full of twists. Like I said before, when life itself isn't logical and full of twists, a movie is pretty much a replica of life...besides the music part. But you need music in life too otherwise it's just pitiful.

Anyway, after the movie, Shah Rukh attended the Thinkfest where he spoke at long about his life and shared a few paragraphs from his yet-to-be-released autobiography which is written by himself. It moved me completely. But one thing for sure, I never got the thought that Shah Rukh should move on from the death of his parents. That is kind of rude and shows the loss of compassion one can have. I'd slap the people who actually say that to Shah Rukh. I salute him for becoming the person who he is today. It made my belief stronger that life is indeed a very rocky ride. You need passion to succeed. I am actually very passionate and Shah Rukh made me realize that I’m not a psychopath.

On the communication with Shah Rukh front, he retweeted me once and replied me twice on twitter.
But the biggest shock of 2012 for me was when he actually took my name twice and answered two of my questions at length in November when YRF had held a live chat for Jab Tak Hai Jaan. I said this many times but no one has pronounced my name SO perfectly. I fell in love with my own after that day! 

And now 2012 is done for me. It has been a year of milestones, learning, highs, lows, and so much more. One would not have expected such a commercially cinematic year in spite of just one release from Shah Rukh! Now my eyes look out for 2013, supposedly a really spicy year with Chennai Express marking the return of Deepika and Shah Rukh together once more post Om Shanti Om and Billu. Ciao! And sorry for the lack of blog posts this year.

Review

Diwali came, Jab Tak Hai Jaan released, I watched it, first day second show then I froze. I would like to admit that my brain fell behind in processing what I saw on the big screen. It took me hours to sink in whatever I witnessed. I sat in my car just thinking. While I have always been an advocate of the fact that films are for entertainment purpose, but this film made me think a little. Actually a lot but I'm yet to fully organize my thoughts. I did not realize when time passed, it was that interesting.

I would like to start off with the music. AR Rahman gave music. For the first time, I felt somebody completed Rahman's awesome music. What I mean to say is the visuals and the direction. It was outstanding. Most of the time, a film which has Rahman's music, the music itself will carry the film through. But for a change, a film carried Rahman's music through to the end. It is not a bad thing, I'd call it a balance. A perfect balance.

Now onto performances. Anushka Sharma was brilliant and is my sweetheart of the lot. This girl will go a long way in Bollywood. Katrina Kaif put in a great effort and I'd count the role of Meera as the best of her career so far and hope she will improve further. Shah Rukh Khan, should I dare to say anything? He just proved why he's the top actor in Bollywood with the role of Samar Anand. Enough said.

I will quote myself, this is a old fashioned story translated into modern language. I can never read Shakespeare plays in Old English, always have to read in Modern English which is quite sad because I am a huge fan of Shakespeare plays. Jab Tak Hai Jaan is like that. Which is why you cannot expect a great script here, this generation we're in, we don't use great words daily to express our minds. It's not the script writers' fault, it's more our fault, why don't we talk using better language?

I would like to save my take on logic in films for some other day. For now, I just wish to watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan one more time, two more times...and so on? Let's see.

RIP Yash Chopra

October 21st, 2012 came the news of Yash Chopra passing away. Bollywood lovers broke down to tears, I did too. He was a brilliant director who had the gift of God to present the simplest moments in a grand way in a three hour long cinematic experience.  Jab Tak Hai Jaan was his last directorial which we are yet to see. Alright, to cut this short, let me get to the point. In this post, I want to talk…just read on if you want.

As a kid, I grew up on imitating different actors and singing songs that got stuck in my head. I never understood the meanings or anything till long…well more recently. Whether it’s “Mere pass Maa hai”, “Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein”, “Dekha ek khwab”, “K-K-K-Kiran”, “Mere haathon mein nau”  or “Chak dhoom dhoom”, “Ole ole”, “Hothon pe bas”…anyone with enough sense could say I was a bigger Yash Chopra fan than SRK fan as a child. But you know what? Yash ji never made movies aimed mostly at kids. I don’t know why I would say this but I just thought of it and yet I kinda loved what he did. I never even heard of him until I started watching award shows (first award show I watched was Filmfare 1997). But the image I had of him was of an old guy with the top of his head hairless. 

In 2004, Veer Zaara released. While I was in the mode to get in my senses, I fell in love with the movie. It shook my emotions. When I watched the special features on the VZ DVD set, I still didn’t notice Yash ji. He kept going on unnoticed in my eyes…until Oct 21^st, 2012. I do confess that I made fun of him a lot over the years. And you know, many times, we get used to somebody being alive if that is the correct way to say it. You do not realize the value, the influence until they are gone. Same happened with me. 

I would have never said this to Yash ji if he were alive because it wouldn’t cross my mind and of course it wouldn’t be possible either but I want to say now:

I am sorry Yash ji. I am sorry for never trying to realize what a beautiful blessing you were in my life.  I am sorry for never taking the time to express my gratitude for teaching me about relationships through your movies. You taught me how to be patient; taught me how to love, taught me the fact that life CAN be beautiful. Now that you are gone, I am learning further about honesty and passion...valuing someone who influences your life. You didn’t go alone but you took 20 years of my life along with you. You left me in tears. I am sorry Yash ji for my ignorance. I am sorry. I shall never forget you till my last breath.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

The past few weeks has been all about Shah Rukh's next release, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Two months ago, we got a teaser. Just 3 weeks back, we got the trailer and the title. The whole world went gaga over it, creating new records for an Indian film. Then came a song promo followed by music release and another song promo. It's been fantastic so far. Right?

The music of Jab Tak Hai Jaan has composed by AR Rahman and lyrics penned by Gulzar. Each and every song in the album is different from one another.Today I shall try to review each piece.

Your ears first hear "Challa"...the song is of the mad one. The lyrics indicate a lonely man in love who cries on his own, laughs on his own...belongs to everyone but has no one of his own and he awaits for his lady love. While it would feel like a sad man's story but it has been sang cheerfully by Rabbi Shergill. The promo is no less either, not a sight of sadness. But once you understand the lyrics, it gets you thinking. Purely Punjabi...not the loud Punjabi that most think of.

Mad one sings along with his love in the next song. "Saans", the breath of love. Sang by Shreya Ghoshal and Mohit Chauhan. While I have openly made fun of this song in glory but it is really beautiful. The song has actually deceived me into thinking that I myself have fallen in love. It has a horror kind of tune (like you know, something can go wrong anytime) in the background but it makes you think the two lovers are barely even aware of what the future holds. Then music in between has a pitiful tone...it makes you pity them as well. Of course it made me feel very nostalgic. Reminds me of a typical romantic song of Yash Chopra. The promo covers sweet romantic moments of Shah Rukh and Katrina in the film

"Ishq Shava"! Sang by Raghav Mathur and Shilpa Rao. This dance number is unlike any of the recent dance numbers. Full of beats that make you picture a fantastic dance performance with awesome expressions and attitude by the two characters performing. While I have never been a fan of Raghav (he's really big among the South Asian community in North America) but he sings this song outstandingly. His first playback for a Bollywood film and he couldn't have gotten any better support than from Shilpa. And as we all know, this song is pictured on Shah Rukh and Katrina. Expectations are high, promo shall be revealed soon! It did remind me a bit of "Hawa" from Rockstar. I definitely cannot sit still whenever I listen to this song!

You are now to wash down the beats of "Ishq Shava" with "Heer". A solo track sung by Harshdeep Kaur. The song narrates the tale of Sahiban (originally Heer) asking for Mirza. Heer and Ranjha, Mirza and Sahiban are both tragic romances like Romeo and Juliet from Punjab, India. While the song is a bit hard to comprehend due to its Punjabi lyrics like "Challa" but it's sang with a lot of care and love by Harshdeep.

You are back to the present after a classic song like "Heer" with the energetic song, "Jiya Re". The song sang by Neeti Mohan is pictured on Anushka Sharma, whose name in the film is Akira. The song gives you an idea of Akira's character. She is loveable, full of life, she is also the mad one...Challi as in female mad one. All the love you listened to so far in the album gets you alive with this song.

Back to the world of love with "Jab Tak Hai Jaan"...sung by Javed Ali and Shakthisree Gopalan. First of all, it has been a long time wish for me to hear Javed Ali sing for Shah Rukh. I love the man's voice to tid bits. It's a ballad with beautiful happy lyrics. Like a reminder of the love we'll see between Shah Rukh and Katrina perhaps. With the dhols in the background, it sounds very much like a 90's romantic song.

Then you enter into a 2 minute sadness mode with "Saans - Reprise" sang by Shreya Ghoshal. The song makes you think of a surprising reunion of two lovers. Beautifully painful and the first song in the whole album to become my favorite. I have a thing for such songs, whether it's this one or "Tujh Mein Rab" from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi by Shreya. It even made me cry one time...all of a sudden.

"Ishq Dance" is a instrumental which might be a prelude to "Ishq Shava". It's filled with energetic beats which get you bobbling your head or dancing just like "Ishq Shava". Lots of drumming and it has a Jamaican feel to it. A true blue brilliant piece which grows on you!

To end it, we do get the ever so popular "Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Poem". With Shah Rukh's husky voice, the darkness and brightness of the poem describes the nature and actions of both the leading ladies. Excellently written by Aditya Chopra.

Overall, the album is something you would enjoy listening alone. It's like a guilty pleasure in my opinion. It has "A Yash Chopra Romance" written all over it and I am thankful for that. I am not a huge fan of AR Rahman and find his previous albums being more weighed towards his trademark kind of music. Each and every song in this album are sweet. It's not great, over the top but sweet enough to make you want to listen to them more and more. It's hard to decide which is my top favorite because everyday since I heard it, my choice keeps changing. The biggest plus point is that it has no remixes. Remix is not something that everyone does well. And I am someone who prefers the original 99% of the time. Next thing is that the songs tell you quite a lot about the film but of course, it doesn't give away the full film.

Now, I wait eagerly for November 13th to come soon so I can enjoy this film. I need to take a couple of boxes of tissues to the theater. But there is no bigger joy to cry along with the biggest hero of this world, Shah Rukh Khan right?

Shah Rukh's Co-Actors

I have said this countless amounts of time that movies equal to Shah Rukh Khan for me. I never really cared about other movies or the actors in them. This kind of sets up a image for the actors who work with Shah Rukh. Today you will get to read about my own set of titles/descriptions I gave to some actors who have occasionally worked with Shah Rukh throughout the 20 years.

Farida Jalal..."Kabhi Saas Kabhi Maa"
DDLJ, she was Shah Rukh's mother-in-law then mother in KKHH and Duplicate. I may be forgetting a few. I always viewed Farida as Shah Rukh's mother mostly, to be honest. If I ever saw her play a mother to some other actor, I'd actually think that she is angry with Shah Rukh hence she got another son!

Kajol..."My favorite man's real wife"
I am sure that I was never the only idiot kid who thought that Kajol and Shah Rukh were actually in love with each other or were married. My illusion broke in 2001 when I got to know that there is a lady named Gauri who is the actual wife/love of Shah Rukh. I'd see him with Kajol in like so many movies (yes repeated telecasts were each a different movie) because I never watched a full movie until many years later! Heck, I watched Baazigar full the first time in 2004 only.

Aishwarya Rai..."The girl who never got to be together with Shah Rukh"
Mohabbatein, she's a freaking ghost lover of Shah Rukh. Devdas, married off to someone who's nearly her father's age. Shakti the Power, love is a rascal so no dream union either. Hum Tumhare Hai Sanaam, besides a scene, she played a blind character and the irony of her role was that she loved Salman Khan. Josh, well this is it, they couldn't be lovers so Happy Rakshabandhan to each other. Need I say more?

Rani Mukherji..."Completing corner of the love triangle"
The best SRK-Rani movies were love triangles like K3G, KKHH, KANK, and Paheli in my opinion. After starring in movies where she's been the loser, she started playing the center of the triangle role in Paheli and KANK! Chalte Chalte was off the track sort of movie which had a shadow of a love triangle.

Arjun Rampal..."Shah Rukh's dushman of all time"
OSO, KANK, and Ra.One? It's always Arjun vs Shah Rukh! Shah Rukh leads the war as the score is 2-1. Although I doubt Dev even bothered about Jai in KANK. Either they are fighting for love or a kid. Well love comes in all forms, eh?

Preity Zinta..."Shah Rukh's favorite lady to ditch"
In Dil Se, Shah Rukh ditched her and went to die with another lady. In KHNH, Shah Rukh was nice enough to leave her with her best friend then die unlike Dil Se. In Veer Zaara, they finally unite...but 22 years after they fell in love. In KANK, Shah Rukh just turned really mean and ditched her and his kid as well! So unfortunate although I love to see them together.

Deepak Tijori..."The back then Arjun Rampal"
He was the ultimate kabab's unwanted haadi. In Anjaam, Shah Rukh got so tired of him that he just killed him. In KHKN, he was nice enough to let go of his love Aana for his rich yet dumb friend played by Deepak.

Amitabh Bachchan..."Secret Enemy"
In Mohabbatein, all throughout the movie, Raj and Narayan Shankar fight a love-hatred war where Raj triumphs! In Paheli, he's the one who gets the human Kishan to win, making the ghost lose by blackmailing. In KANK, well doh, he's Rishi's father but advices Maya at the end to leave Rishi and indirectly tells her to go to Dev. In Bhootnath, Shah Rukh touches upon Bhootnath's main reason of anger, Bhootnath's son! In K3G, Amitabh ji just throws Rahul out for 10 years but still there is union.

Well, that's all I got to say. I don't thank you for reading, not even sorry about it! :P

The SRK Day

Today Shah Rukh completes 20 years in the Hindi Film Industry. 20 years of success, hard work, fame, love, hatred, bitterness, criticism, sweat, blood, tears, hugs, salaams, concerts, movies, songs, scenes, shows, laughter, bloopers, ups, downs, humiliation, awkwardness, controversies and so much more.

He was never keen to do movies. But still he went ahead and did movies so he could financially support his family. By the time he debuted, he became an orphan. Later, he married Gauri. He didn't have anything but the confidence to own the city of Mumbai. Today he rules the world. Shah Rukh slipped into our hearts and eyes to become a vital part of our daily lives.

He starred in many blockbusters of Bollywood. Shah Rukh is basically the engine of a vehicle called Bollywood. Without him, the vehicle will never run the same. He gracefully took the baton from Amitabh Bachchan and has been conquering the world over with each and every new release of his.

Shah Rukh is an schizophrenic kind of a man. He competes with himself. No need to give a damn to anyone the media tags as a threat to Shah Rukh's title of King Khan. Basically, he has enough experience in movies to  kick anyone's tush.

Anyway, I wish Shah Rukh all the very best for the upcoming decade....I take one decade at a time. He has my unlimited and unconditional love and prayers forever. My relationship with him is at a point where I consider him my own...not like before. Before, now I feel I kinda took him as a poster figure and loved him that way. But the kind of love I have for him now is like, more realistic? Cannot comment. But it's a whole new sort of feeling which I do not like to speak about to anyone.

And on this occasion, may I remind you all that I will also turn 20 and this blog will be celebrating its 1st anniversary early next month? It's pure celebration time...for me :P

Have a awesome SRK day! Pray for him every time you bow down to Allah, every time you light a diya in front of Bhagwan, every time you light a candle in front of God, just pray for him. And love him always and forever.

Clash of Opinions Take Two

Here we go again! There is hullabaloo going on again in the SRK fandom!  This time, it's for the new project partly confirmed by Shah Rukh himself, Happy New Year by Farah Khan. Most of you must have gone, "Yay! Another SRK movie", "Awesome! OSO and MHN were great masala movies and were such BIG HITS" or "WTF? The other day they fought, today a movie?"

My reaction was similar to the third one while being split between the first two at the beginning. I get excited for all new SRK movies and considering the fact that OSO and MHN were superb movies, I'd have gotten very excited but then I reminisced the slapgate of Janurary 31st, 2012. Fabulous time! Shah Rukh had slapped Shirish Kundar, Farah's husband. After that, Farah said quite a bit of crap about Shah Rukh which totally removed the little remaining adoration I had for Farah. After that, I am not even ashamed to say but I hate Farah and her guts.

Somebody had guessed that the media would create news of Shah Rukh and Farah doing a movie after they patch up. I laughed it off saying Shah Rukh wouldn't do her movie since he may forgive people but he doesn't forget. But rumors started coming in of Shah Rukh "immediately agreeing" to do Happy New Year, a movie he denied for years. Even then I did not believe it. Later news came in that Shah Rukh is busy with other projects so HNY will have to be on the hold for a few years. I was soooooooooo happy that the media would finally shut up!!

A few days back, came the word straight from the horse's mouth, a.k.a Shah Rukh himself confirmed that he will be doing HNY but no one else is confirmed for other roles. My faith is shaken up quite a bit. Most people are giving examples of OSO and MHN to me, saying they were hits and I don't have to worry if HNY goes on to become similar. I have been least concerned about Farah's last movie, TMK. What I hate is that why did Shah Rukh agree to do a film with the lady who humiliated him so much? I will let go of Shirish too because he's not part of HNY (I hope). This is a question of self respect. I never thought in my whole life that I would go against a project of Shah Rukh's. But the fact is if I am not happy with something, I cannot at all be happy about it.

Imagine if Shah Rukh and Salman patched up and they agreed to do a movie together. Would you support it? I understand that SRK-Farah and SRK-Salman are two cases poles apart but the fact is that both Farah and Salman are the volunteered victims of my hatred. They hurt Shah Rukh which means they hurt me as well.

But I am still positive that Happy New Year won't happen. If I let superstitions kick in then see? It has been in writing mode for so long and the movie was supposed to happen before Om Shanti Om but problems. I hope without any damage to Shah Rukh's bank account, the movie still gets delayed or does not happen at all. I have never missed a Shah Rukh Khan movie and it will hurt me a lot emotionally to miss out on any of his releases. I can wait months/years for his movies but if Happy New Year is made, I cannot watch it.

The rest is up to you. If you would still like to celebrate HNY with Farah and Shah Rukh, I respect your decision but I thought I'd write this in order to present the idea why selected few are against HNY.

The top 10 SRK Performances

A long time back, I had wrote a post on how people considered Don 2 performance of Shah Rukh's, best after Chak! De India performance. Then I was supposed to reveal my list of top 10 SRK performances. Well here we are.

Arun of One 2 ka 4
Shah Rukh as a police officer without the police uniform! Anyway, performance wise Arun holds a rank number on my list because he is a bit of an angry idiot. Ready to encounter anyone and not caring about the possible consequences of losing his job. Later in the movie, he sheds his careless hot tempered image to become a more responsible and caring Arun. It is one of those performances of Shah Rukh which looks like a pile of shit at the beginning then Shah Rukh builds a neat character by the end of the 3 hours.

Don/Vijay of Don/Don 2
Time for a role reversal. Shah Rukh as Don in both part 1 and 2. Don is really an amazing guy. Honestly, Don wasn't present much in part 1 which was mainly about Vijay. But if you watched it carefully then you would be able to see Don in Vijay. But Don 2 was purely about Don himself. He truly is a grand criminal who made other kinds of robberies look petty in front of what he did! And performance wise, Don is WOW. Such performances makes you want to applaud Shah Rukh's versatility.The anger, wittiness, deceiving ability, unmatched shrewdness...words fall short to describe what a genius role it is and the way Shah Rukh pulled it off.

Dev of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
This performance of Shah Rukh's was truly unexpected and really great. Dev was an angry and frustrated guy with a rude sense of humor. Then he falls in love but he still holds on to his characteristics of what he was before. This was a new kind of "romantic" role Shah Rukh played. Every character he portrayed before KANK, he is shown to be sweet, wicked, evil, careless, etc. But later he sort of lets go of those personality traits. In KANK, it was different, he held onto his negative traits. How I see the role of Dev is it's a mixture of a protagonist and an antagonist. Of course it was out of Shah Rukh's comfort zone but I view Dev as the ticket to Kabir, G.One, Rizwan, etc.

Rizwan of My Name Is Khan
How can I not have Rizwan in my top 10? Like how? It's impossible. Anyway, as I have said before, that I find Rizwan's character very special. The simple man with beyond simple beliefs that are too naive for the twisted world we live in. Shah Rukh as Rizwan was really outstanding. He worked hard to step in Rizwan's shoes. It was a physical challenge for Shah Rukh rather than morally challenging. But he pulled off Rizwan extremely well. An actor who is able to make the audience copy his emotions and reactions in real time, had to get the audience to really feel for Rizwan because Rizwan was limited when it came to expressions. But this time, we got along with Rizwan perhaps more than we did with the poster boys Rahul and Raj of their respective films...who are really just fantasies. Rizwan made us remember the basics of life which are buried in our everyday affairs.


Four performances are enough for a lazy Sunday! I will reveal the rest and the numbers some other day. Take care people, have a good day.

A Dilemma

Love. Shah Rukh Khan. That is it. Shah Rukh Khan somehow equals to love. For fans, that is how it is. Fans after all only love and respect SRK. They never criticize him. They applaud him. But then there are some fans who dare to criticize him. Then they get tagged as Shah Rukh Khan haters. But are they really hating SRK? Let's think...

Majority of SRK critical fans want him to do roles that are eccentric. He needs to get rid of the trademark mannerisms. Stop working with Karan Johar and such directors. They sound concerned about Shah Rukh's #1 spot. Other fans who make up the majority say no, he is still #1, they'll watch all movies SRK makes, no matter how they are. Now, are we sure that if Shah Rukh continues to romance girls half his age will continue to make him #1? Then what's the difference between him and Salman? Salman also does commercial movies, he never even attempted to do anything different. But I agree, Shah Rukh did attempt different roles. But it is just not enough I guess. I mention his age because age is definitely a factor when it comes to the film line. Especially in India. Somehow, toward male actors, audience are lenient than towards female actors aged beyond 30. Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman, Sanjay, etc. are lucky that the audience still watches their movies. Had they been females, they would have retired ages back.

Anyway, coming back to critical fans, I will agree that Shah Rukh should work with more different directors. We need him in more critical-ac-claimable movies like Chak De! India and My Name Is Khan. He has to step aside from the commercial aspect of entertainment. Directors have to push him out of his comfort zone. However, I don't agree with him not working with Karan Johar because I believe Karan is the first director who pushed the envelope with Shah Rukh in My Name Is Khan and in some sense, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna as well. I can expect another MNIK caliber movie from Karan with Shah Rukh as the main lead. Karan is one director who goes to the next level always with each and every one of his movies that he directs.

Shah Rukh is at an age when we, the fans, will applaud him for starring in a movie with a leading lady half his age but others won't. And it is a fact that we fans are outnumbered by the "others". If we want SRK to get more fans in the upcoming time period, it is in his best interest to star in movies that not only sets a different trend but also pleases a minority or majority. He tried to please a majority with Ra.One but failed to do so because he, himself focused on wrapping the movie in a never before seen coating and left the inside to his team who failed him. Yes, now I have to say it that Ra.One lacked in terms of scripting and other ways. But technically it was a perfect movie, thanks to its world class VFX. It had a too simple script which seemed more dependent on proverbs and quotes rather than original dialogues.

Shah Rukh has to go back to his roots, as the actor who proved to the world that yes, the main lead of a film can be an anti-hero too. I am not saying he should do more anti-hero roles which is not bad either, considering how much people liked him in his last release, Don 2. But what I am saying is he needs to do different roles. Of course he does a variety of roles, none of his past roles are the same but the tag is the same, "Romantic Hero". He has to get rid of that tag. I want him to get the tag of a "Versatile Hero". He has to do more Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (has a loose romantic track), Swades (same), Chak De! India (no romantic track at all), One 2 Ka 4 (again a loose romantic track). Money is not everything now. As his own dialogue goes, "Kabhi kabhi kuch jeetne ke liya kuch haar na parta hai aur haar ke jeetne wale ko baazigar kehte hain." We need our Baazigar Khan back! Swades and Dil Se were examples of how Shah Rukh was a baazigar, they bombed at the box office in India but won hearts instead.

I know, I contradicted myself. But I cannot ignore the fact that I cannot be selfish and take away from Shah Rukh's potentiality by never ever suggesting him to do this and that or criticizing him. Over the past few weeks, I have come to understood that truly, critics are one's biggest lovers. A person who tells you about your flaws is not your hater but he/she just wants you to do better. Bigger is not always better. I am sure Shah Rukh knows that and I don't have to tell him that.

At the end of the day, it is not me, who Shah Rukh will listen to, he will continue doing what he wants to. He hates criticism that are given in bad tone but I am not using a bad tone nor do I intend to. I, being one of his neutral fans, want him to do better and yet want him to do movies which give him pleasure. He has to balance between pleasure and differentiability, meaning he has to find fun and excitement beyond his comfort zone.

Red Chillies Entertainment - Truly Entertaining...

Red Chillies Entertainment is Shah Rukh's home production. To stay safe, Gauri signs the checks for all kinds of payments. Earlier Shah Rukh had a production called Dreamz Unlimited.

From Dreamz Unlimited, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Asoka and Chalte Chalte were produced.

From Red Chillies Entertainment, lots! :D

Although the company (RCE) has been around for long, I must say...they need to improve more. It's one company that requires more professional and helpful people. I know I sound a bit rude perhaps but RCE has a bunch of brainless idiotic employees. I speak from experience with them.

I won't get into details about my experience. But I did have a little interaction with them last year. They are just pitiful. Of course the issue I had called up about didn't get solved, I think they didn't understand what I wanted in the first place, although I spoke English and not my terrible Hindi. I was mad at them but later I laughed so much at them. It was rather hilarious.

They not only produce fun movies but also have a fun staff...bade mazaaki hai ji (they are very joking people). On a serious note, here's a open request for RCE to hire me and some of my friends! Here's my resume:

 I am not Indian, nor am I even my original country's citizen, all I know is that I will work hard, will never beg to meet SRK, I won't even take salary if I am given to live in Mannat...no, that's too much. I mean, I will even work for Rs. 20,000 a month and do everything in my capacity to make RCE one of the best film productions in India by all means. And I promise not to act like a typical fan-girl in front of my boss(es).

Look, many people grew up using say...Colgate and love that toothpaste a lot. Then they get a job at Colgate, you can expect me to behave the same if you hire me. I grew up seeing and loving SRK but that doesn't mean I'll faint in front of him, ask him to show me his six-pack abs or any other hideous act. I will work diligently. Because I care for the corporation of Red Chillies Entertainment.

Skills? I can write, I am creative, (read my blog, website(s), twitter) lead, work with well-mannered people. I can cook too...in case RCE has parties. I love organizing stuff, from files to parties. I can even act. I can do everything when it comes RCE because I love this company like my baby and I can become anything for it.

Experience? None, except for a volunteering thing I did. Have personal experiences of money-handling and handling external affairs. I have the experience of being an SRK fan for 20 years now. I learned from Shah Rukh's success and applied them to my life. Same with his failures.

Now RCE people: HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME HIRE ME you whores and bastards of bitches!

His Name Is Shah Rukh Khan..

Shah Rukh Khan. The name that automatically raises eyebrows. But it does so much more to me...let me take you on a short tour about this name and my problems with it.

A couple of years back, I was at a shop. I was just browsing stuff when somebody behind me called out "Shah Rukh!"..."WHERE?! WHAT?!", going in my head. Then I turned around...saw a little boy. Then when I got home, I was cursing his mom, why on earth did she choose THIS name? Because I truly believe, there is only ONE Shah Rukh which is the one we all adore. I wish Shah Rukh would copyright his name...

Whenever somebody mentions his name behind me or in front of me, I swear, my heart races at a speed of 5,000 kilometers per hour or something. Online, it's different because I mainly interact with fellow SRK fans. Face to face, you will never hear me say "Shah Rukh". I am THAT shy when it comes to him. I address him as "King" at home. That is so much better and makes me feel good and helps address what I want to say about him since my family knows. Otherwise if I talk with people who don't know about this problem of mine then I will just refer to Shah Rukh as "Him". No SRK, no Shah, no Shah Rukh.

But then there comes certain instances when I have no choice but to utter his name. For example..well ONLY example is when I'm at a video shop or calling up a video/music shop. Will give example of his last two releases. I called up about a dozen shops, all around Sacramento area asking if they got Ra.One/Don 2 music CD. Unfortunately, as much knowledge as I keep about Bollywood, shopkeepers don't...well how would they? If they are so busy in selling things from 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM on average? As for me, I have nothing to do all day long, have no life besides researching SRK. That was sarcastic by the way. Anyway, take Ra.One, there is Raavan too since the pronunciation is 99.9% the same. So pretty often it would get mixed up and...I'd have to yell out IT'S A SHAH RUKH KHAN'S MOVIE!!!! Then Don 2, actually no shopkeeper had any idea about Don 2. Not to sound like I am bragging, but I had to instill some knowledge in them about Don 2. You are most welcome to conclude that I live in an area of dead brains.

Another example is when talking to relatives. Fact is many of my relatives are rather jealous of Shah Rukh. One said he's old, another is a Aamir Khan fan (of course SRK is BAAADDD), many find watching Bollywood movies very down market. Phew. Nice relatives I got there, right? Thankfully my family are hardcore fans of SRK! Anyway, coming back to talking about SRK with relatives, I have dodged every possible scenario of uttering Mr. Khan's name. I got lucky ji.

So these are my experiences of Shah Rukh Khan. I like how I manipulate people when discussing SRK by rarely or never having to utter his name because I am shy, I am shy, I am shy and I am bloody damn shy.

Well, you all have a good day ahead, thank you for taking time to read my posts and this is not the end of my blog...lots more to come, if my heart supports my brain to convert feelings into words.

The Favorite Scenes (Emotional)

Yeah I know it's not March yet and I'm writing again. Well what to do? I'm moody!

This post is about some of my favorite scenes from Shah Rukh's movies that are rather emotional.

Scene 1: From My Name Is Khan, Mandira's proposal on the hill.
When Rizwan bets with Mandira that he'd find one place in San Francisco which Mandira has never seen and if he succeeds, Mandira would have to marry him. After a lot of hard work and numerous tries, Rizwan finds the most beautiful place which Mandira has never seen. Earlier we saw that Rizwan would keep asking Mandira to marry him and after seeing that beautiful place, an compelled and surprised Mandira, proposes herself to Rizwan. Rizwan blushes and giggles. Hehe, why I like this scene so much is because of Rizwan's giggle. Well, that's not the full reason. The whole part of the movie actually taught me that when you love something/someone, it's not easy to get it/him/her. You have to work hard. It's not about impressing the person you love. Rizwan didn't find that place in order to impress Mandira but to win her heart and make her his forever.

Scene 2: From Om Shanti Om, Om Kapoor tells Sandy his story.
After Sandy fails to flawlessly become Shanti, Om gets mad at her and yells at her. Then Pappu advices him to stop getting angry and tell her the whole reason as to why he wants her to become like Shanti. Om tells Sandy the story and adds that nobody would believe in this unbelievable tale of his. Sandy argues that she does believe him. She believes in everything Om does, even if it's onscreen. I like this scene because of the trust Sandy shows in Om. Then it got me thinking about my trust on Shah Rukh. When I watch his movies, I actually believe in the characters he portrays and every action he enacts. One reason I like Shah Rukh as an actor is because he makes the story believable to some extent.

Scene 3: From Veer Zaara, Veer and Zaara meet for the last time before 22 years.
After Zaara's mother tells Veer about the consequences if Zaara doesn't marry Raza, Veer immediately agrees to leave Pakistan and promises to talk with Zaara. When they meet, Veer and Zaara talk about the few moments they spent together. Then to lighten up the moment, Veer jokes with her about how she will be like in the future after having lots of children. They hug and cry, brave up to get separated. I love this scene a lot, it makes me cry to watch it actually. Veer and Zaara didn't know each other for too long yet the love portrayed in this scene makes me feel they have known each other since eons. The portrayal of pain, I could feel it. And I have no experience in love whatsoever.

Scene 4: From Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Taani gets to know the truth of Suri and Raj.
On stage during the last performance, Suri sheds Raj's look and appears as himself to perform with Taani. Taani, shocked, manages to perform with Suri. While dancing with Suri, Taani remembers few of the moments she spent with Raj and Suri. After the performance is over, Suri expects an angry Taani to question him but instead he finds a teary-eyed Taani asking him how could he love her so much when she never reciprocated his love. The reason why I like this scene is because. Yeah, I just like it. Taani's misconception of love meaning giving-and-taking is broken. I LIKE IT. I for one never believed and will never believe that there is something called give love/receive love. That's called selfishness and not love. People say that no point in loving someone who doesn't love you. But if you feel good loving that "non-lover" then why not?

These four scenes are some of the emotional scenes I love and perhaps can watch again and again. I could write about the other scenes too but at the moment, I feel lazy. Another thing I realized about while writing this post is that I have hardly been watching Shah Rukh's older movies. Shall do, when I get more time.

Take care & love to all!

Are my readers alive?

Whoa! It's been a month since my last post, I hope my readers are still alive. I'm sorry but I definitely did not disappear, I got lazy. Anyway, I really don't have any organized topic of SRK to talk about. Read the shit I feed you now and be satisfied my...dear...beautiful readers.

He's been hosting award functions and performing as well. Only award function that did not get Shahrukhified, the reputable (definitely pun intended) Stardust Awards 2012. Anyway, this award season is on a spring break till IIFA in summer I think (as usual no?). This year, I didn't really pay attention to awards in general, just knowing SRK is either hosting or performing was enough to gain my attention.

I have been pretty busy building my SRK photo albums to be honest. Doing it for months but I still can't get enough of the man. After going through nearly 5,000+ photos, I have miserably failed to come up with top 10 favorites. All I can say is that, if Shah Rukh's Grandma had said, each time camera flashes on our face, 5 mins of our lives are gone then I must say, I don't know if it's true as it's said to be but one thing is sure, the fruit of every time a camera flashes on Shah Rukh is a treat for his fans.

In the past few weeks, a lot of things happened. Ra.One released in Taiwan, MNIK in Hong Kong and Don 2 releasing in Germany next week. A thought had struck my mind and about which I tweeted as well. I believe apart from all other actors in Bollywood, only Shah Rukh's movies are worth going for a second phase of release worldwide. In spite of piracy being so viral all around the world, distributors of Shah Rukh's movies believe that it will make money for sure, no matter when it releases. I do have to admit, the cocoon experience of SRK is highly special and best. Distributors are the actual people who know the value of SRK more than any of us do. No matter what trade analysts a.k.a. chameleons say, but SRK is the man of Bollywood.

Then this past Friday, the iconic movie, DDLJ, completed its 850 weeks run in theater. This is one movie which is not valuable by only money but by emotions as well. I have my own share of DDLJ memories but I might as well skip it for now. Also, MNIK's 2nd year anniversary on 12th Feb. In my opinion, MNIK is beyond criticism or just plain words because it is a global masterpiece made in India.

We also had the IPL auction. Our team bought 3 players. I never actually judge the players because I have had 4 seasons of experience, even the biggest names have disappointed me and earned my beautiful words. So whenever it comes to KKR, my motto is waiting and trying to watch. Sometimes even the words of abuses fall short to describe KKR's performance. Like always, I hope I have to use less abuses. KKR, earn my trust, you have my love and support already but try and earn my trust.

Oh yeah! The epic slapgate! How can I forget that? Well I actually did. Conclusion? I still hate Farah and Shirish Khan.

Well that's all from me ON THIS BLOG. My rambling shall continue till my or twitter's last breath!

Hum hain rahi Shah Rukh ke, phir milenge, agle maheene....!

Untitled Ranting

Hello folks, hope 2012 has been treating you fairly well so far. As for me, 2012 so far has been great and emotional. I think for Shah Rukh, it's been the same too....he just started shooting for his upcoming film with Yash Chopra and won some deserving awards which are great but he's been quite emotional...well since last year which has been showing on his face.

It is not a top secret as to why he'd feel emotional. Well I won't get into that but I will speak about some recent things. I have been reading, seeing, listening, sensing, a lot of Shah Rukh Khan the past few weeks. In fact, daily. I never spent so much time behind SRK. Anyway, I have gone back in time and came back to the present. I lived my childhood with him now living my ongoing adulthood with him. He has matured a lot and so have I.

Before you jump into conclusions, let me clear it. I am talking about his time in the profession of acting and my time in the profession of acting like a human. If the film industry is a playhouse to Shah Rukh then this world is a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) cage for me. We both get hurt, fight, win, lose, etc. But at the end of the day, we both are still alive and going on.

The biggest common thing we have in each other is what I just said above. It's hard to breathe in both professions when everyone around you are so much messed up and selfish. But toying around whatever we come face to face with has been our formula of staying alive and moving on in life. Since the whole world runs on the theory of survival of the fittest, Shah Rukh's industry is no different. In fact, the theory is much more louder and apparent in his industry than any other. Each and every hour, somebody somewhere says that Shah Rukh has lost his #1 place in the industry. His so-called rival, both personal and professional, has taken the #1 spot. When Shah Rukh came in the industry, numbers came with him. Thanks to him, something called box office records was introduced in the film industry. He continued to crush his own records throughout his career so the media did not give a damn. Now other actors have FINALLY understood the game at box office, media and fans are now concerned about SRK losing his spot.

Yes, this is the world we live in. A person adopts a hoard of boys and girls of all ages who were a MESS and becomes their father. He teaches them the ABCD of survival in the industry and the whole fucking world. Then the caretakers (media) of those boys and girls are concerned about the father's fatherhood because two or three of those boys are spotted trying to act like grown up men just like their father. OMG!!! There are too many boys who are trying to act like someone who they are not!

To them, I would like to say one thing, actually many. Firstly, Shah Rukh paved the road on which you are walking. It would have been a bumpy ride for you in the industry, be thankful for SRK. Secondly, learn to respect him rather taking a indirect or direct dig at Shah Rukh. Whether you are younger or older than him, have some respect for the man. Thirdly, if you are Aamir or Salman, "Khan", stop keeping track of your baap's movie box office figures. If you need to keep track of something then it's your bloody fucking BUSINESS. Whether it's going to the store room to check on how many bottles of booze you have left or finding another surrogate mother for another child...just mind your own shit. Lastly, if any of you think that the industry is high school or something and think that starting gossips and rumors will destroy Shah Rukh's image and position...I will say one thing, GROW THE FUCK UP!

OK, I am done ranting and comparing my life with Shah Rukh's. I have nothing else to say. Said enough for today. May Allah grant us all wisdom and strength to Shah Rukh.

Adios!

Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani

First of all, Happy 2012 to everyone. Hope you all have a good year ahead.

I have been thinking a lot about the movie "Phir Bhi Hai Hindustani", released 12 years back on Jan. 21st...the subject of the movie is pretty sensitive. Actually there are more than one subject in this movie.

First subject is presented by Ajay and Rhea. Ajay and Rhea, both journalists working for two rival news channels. In the first half of the movie, there is a sense of competition for fame and money between the two which leaves out the passion for their profession. In the second half, their passion for journalism is present quite a bit. Their passion for true journalism by trying their level best to present the truth of Mohan Joshi who is shown as a terrorist which he is not, is what I am talking about. In between that, no Bollywood movie is hardly complete without a romantic angle so naturally both Ajay and Rhea fall in love with each other and their love continues to blossom throughout the movie. Let's move on to the next subject.

Terrorist. In the movie, I had heard this dialogue where someone asks from which country does terrorist Mohan Joshi belong from. Now the meaning of terrorist doesn't mean a hostile person who goes to another country and wrecks havoc. The meaning of terrorist is one that engages in the act of terrorism. This is a stereotype. I'll go off topic and give example of classifying Muslims as terrorists. Summarizing what most media people say is that Muslims go to other countries (non-Muslim countries) and causes harm to the citizens of those countries. But that's not true. Anyway, I won't get into that matter now. But I will say one thing, a terrorist can belong to his/her own country, state/province, town, locality, neighborhood and do life threatening actions. Coming back to the movie, in a particular scene, Mohan Joshi yells out that he is not a terrorist, he killed that political figure because that man had raped Joshi's daughter for which she committed suicide.

Third subject is news channels being politically biased towards political parties. It can be because of money, new channel owner's liking or any other reason although I can't seem to think of any other reason. I will use USA channels as examples, take Fox News, fully Republican. Take CNN, rather neutral but indirectly siding with Democrats. In the movie, the channels have more than political differences but also personal differences between the owners of their respective channels. Kaka Chowdhry (boss of Ajay) used to work under Mr. Chinoy (boss of Rhea) and having faced humiliation while working under Chinoy, he swore to climb the ladder of Chinoy and overthrow Chinoy's business. Towards the end of the movie, their enmity is shown to be over since their respective political parties also end their enmity. To give a name, it's called being puppets of politicians. There is nothing called self respect in both Chinoy and Chowdhry because they are shown to have sold their soul to their political puppet masters.

Anyway, I find these 3 subjects to be the primary ones in the movie. Of course there is the usual Bollywood masala in it (comedy, dance, romance, etc.). There are flaws in the movie but such movie in the year 2000 was definitely commendable. Of course the movie didn't do good business, didn't receive awards or received to good response from critics. In fact, Shah Rukh himself has said it that Juhi, Aziz Mirza and he cried together seeing how much people bashed the movie. Another factor which played to the movie's doom was Hrithik Roshan's Kaho Na Pyar Hai which had released a week earlier, on Jan. 14th of 2000. A new hero, everyone going gaga over it, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani got over shadowed.

Ask me, the SRK fan, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani was a far better film than Kaho Na Pyar Hai. Ask the idiotic critic in me, still Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani was more believable as a story and more serious than Kaho Na Pyar Hai.

Anyway, I liked Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, if the movie had a little less of masala then this could have been one of Shah Rukh's finest performances but he performed well as the arrogant fame hungry journalist. At the end of the movie, he took the role of a leader to lead a huge crowd of Mohan Joshi's supporters and stop Joshi's hanging.