Movies, Masti and the Mahal

There are moments in everyone’s life when we just want to sit, stare at nothingness and introspect. This is one of those moments for me. I opened my blog after a long time today and realized that it’s been almost a month since I wrote a new entry. So what is it that has been keeping me this busy, that I am unable to do what I have always loved doing? A lot, I think and smile.

Take '12- that's the film society. This is a picture during the latest episode- 4th October 2012.

A month ago, we launched the official film society of our college. We have screenings of films every Thursday followed by discussions. Apart from this, we also started a 20-minute weekly broadcast on the TV sets that have been put up on each floor in my college building. These 20-minute shows are conceptualized, shot, edited and played by us every week and for the first time now I am able to understand the huge pressure that goes in to run a successful TV channel 24x7!

While I am talking about films and tv, how can I miss out on the two major releases of the past month that have made all the news? I happened to be at CP for a shoot, one Sunday afternoon, and Barfi! was on at Regal. No second thoughts and I had a ticket in my hand for the 12.30 show. Considering my love for trains, the only thing I knew about the film before watching it was that it was the story of a deaf and dumb boy in Darjeeling. Ranbir and Priyanka, both of them deserve huge applause for the awesome acting. I mean, how easy is it for a normal person to play the role of a deaf and dumb or autistic child? I did find the storyline a little complicated (just a little) with the many unexpected moments, but I don’t think I would rate the movie anywhere below a 4 on 5.

The other major release, and one which I had been looking up for since over a year, was Heroine. No, I didn’t go to see the film for Kareena’s acting. Probably that’s what made all the difference. I went to see the film for Madhur Bhandarkar’s reality-show syndrome and on finding none of it, I was disappointed. I didn’t waste time in updating my facebook status- “Mr Bhandarkar, I revered you till 3 hours ago.” No, my respect for the director didn’t go down. I was just left wondering why I expected thing ‘A’ from him while he was concentrating on showing me thing ‘B’. The way a person tends to go through ups and downs in life and how even someone as big as a ‘heroine’ is a normal human being at the end of the day- that’s what the film wants to show and Kareena’s acting in this regard is marvelous. But for the standards he has set for himself and what I expected from him, I would rate this Bhandarkar movie, a 2.5-3 on a scale of 5.

That was our first look of the Taj. From the Agra Fort. The only picture that I clicked in the entire trip ;)

Posing in front of the Taj isn't an opportunity anyone misses out on

At the Agra Fort

At Fatehpur Sikri. We suddenly realized that we hadn't clicked any pictures of ourselves! :D

Last Tuesday, with three of my friends, I went on an unplanned day-trip to Agra. It wasn’t completely unplanned, but yeah, considering we thought of it just hours before we set out from home without informing our folks and that too when we all were too low on budget, it turned out to be quite unexpected and adventurous. Setting out from home at 3 AM, travelling in the sleeper class after getting unreserved tickets and then paying bribe to the TTE for seats, overshooting the planned budget by nearly four times- these were just some of the major heart-wrenching moments of the day. Of course, visiting Fatehpur Sikri, the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal within 8 hours, after waiting for so many years, was worth it. And the best part? We shot the entire trip as a travelogue (I was the anchor! :D) and have some great plans for the footage which I don’t think I can reveal at this moment considering it’s covered by embargo. Haha…Not to forget the musketeers who were travelling with me- they just couldn’t stop laughing at moments when I was dead serious…probably that’s what kept the masti spirit alive! ;)

The last thing that comes to my mind right now is J K Rowling's latest novel- The Casual Vacancy. I ordered it online and received it two days back. Although I have signed the book, I haven't yet started reading it, it's going to take me sometime and dedication to do that- not possible under the present work-load for sure...

Just clicked the picture to make it part of the blog entry. The Casual Vacancy by Rowling

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. But what about all play and no work, what does it makes Jack? With so many ECA activities piling up my thoughts, maintaining a proper balance with academics hasn’t been easy. This being my final year at college, and owing to the fact that I topped two semesters, the kind of work expected from me, has increased significantly. However it might be I have been able to maintain this balance till now. It’s just the last two months of regular classes at college and then it would all be over.

Even not writing any entry brings about 1000 visitors to my blog every month. It seems my tagging and Google’s indexing are finally working out in my favour. I just hope, if for nobody else then for myself, I shall be more regular than I am right now with my blog in the coming days. Till then, hasta la vista! :)