NO doesn’t always mean NO, ADHM and the strange art of watching films

The nation has taken a popular dialogue – ‘no means no’ - from recently released, very good movie pretty seriously it seems. So much so that people see pink in the new purple 2000 rupee note. Though, I loved this movie, I am afraid of the implications if we start taking a 'no' where we must not or at least try a little more for a yes. Small time business persons like me letting go of potential clients as soon as they say no, parents saying no to their children for their unreasonable but necessary demands and of course a woman saying no to a man – for different reasons like marriage, dating and having children are all the kind of no’s that might turn into yes’s. But definitely that doesn’t mean women should be forced to have sex – so that’s where you learn from the movie. We always learn the wrong things from our movies and always fail to implement the good things, don’t we? I feel the good guys are now scared to approach someone they like, or are too laidback or just not as persuasive as they used to be. (I have researched and interviewed a lot of my friends, women mostly and then decided to write this.)

Now women are scared as men are scared to approach them. Are men scared that they will be “friendzoned”? That brings us to another recently released, very controversial movie - 'Ae dil hai mushkil' by one of my favourite directors – Karan Johar. Yes, friendzoning is a sad though a strikingly real phenomenon that occurs all around the world, I guess twenty every second or maybe more, unlike the natural phenomenon that we hardly get to see like the beautiful November supermoon we saw yesterday. But it’s necessary. According to my research, 95% women feel they are amazing friends and horrible girlfriends. So be happy when you get friendzoned guys! Kyunki pyaar dosti hai :P Tum nahi samjoge. And she really doesn’t want to lose you and hence chooses to put you in that zone, the zone which simply doesn’t exist for a lot of guys.

I had posted about ADHM and all my FBians had a great debate on it. So I got messages inquiring why I didn’t write anything about the movie after watching it. They also wanted to know if I had watched it. I did watch it and loved it. But I don’t like the way it was perceived. Both by Fawad’s fans and hater’s. It’s like the audience got divided amongst haters and fans of this Pakistani actor. Those who hate him didn’t go for the movie and those who love him went for him! What happened to Karan Johar movie maniacs? I was one, until 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' released. I didn’t like that one at all, which released ten years back. I didn’t understand it back then and felt it was dark. However, few months back, I watched KANK again and now I like that movie. And I am back to being a KJo maniac. So yes, give another chance to your favoutire artists. Not by waiting for them to churn out a new masterpiece, but by revisiting their work of art again in a few years, with a different mindset.

And Ranbir Kapoor! He is a treat to sore eyes and heart. He jumps around, gives in everything to the role he is playing and never deters from trying new stuff. Some crazy women in the theatre I went to screamed like hyenas as soon as Fawad Khan made his entry! I guess I need to try very hard and write a lot on this, and (painfully) argue with these women to make them see sense. Yes, I am against Pakistani (and all foreign actors actually) actors coming here to work. They are cast unnecessarily mostly (It’s still OK if the script absolutely demands it) but at the same time I was against banning this movie due to his presence as while it was being made, women were so mad after this Pakistani actor (they still are, don’t know why), and there was no tension on the border, that if I were in KJo’s place, I would have cast him too – not for the very handsome and amazing actor that he is (supposedly) but as a pure marketing gimmick. There is no point in not releasing the movies which have been made already.

Aishwariya Rai looks so beautiful and I am happy she got to play a bold role in her 40’s in this country. Anushka Sharma carries the bald look as boldly, but sadly two women sitting in the same row as ours left the theatre as soon she appeared in her bald avatar! Crazy aren’t we? This sums up the Indian mentality (though these were two different groups of people) – a group of women scream as soon as a Pakistani actor makes his entry on the screen and another two leave the theatre as soon as an Indian female actor boldly enters the screen with a bald head. (ya, ya it could have been done via VFX, not getting into that)

I simply loved Doctor Strange. For the first time I understood all those hidden references that Stan Lee movies are famous for. I have been reading random stuff lately and indulging in these ‘occult-discussions’ which is what helped me enjoy it more. So yes, watching films is a strange art. One needs to be like a strange doctor. You have to rewind, playback, watch again, understand references – by reading and discussing, and even keeping in mind the political scenario and then of course also understand what the director is trying to say without any biases. Most importantly, please watch movies responsibly and don’t love actors (and anyone else) foolishly.