As perpetually engaged working mother of two, I occasionally whine that I don’t have time for myself but on a regular day before the realisation sinks in I am usually absorbed and mentally exhausted to my daily chores that I hardly get a chance to indulge myself further on this thought.
This week for three days I didn’t have any substantial lined up duty or adult company at home, this created a sort of personal emotional commotion. Now what? In the day time work consumed my day followed by evening play time with toddler at home along. On the second day, I decided to self-indulge with some adult company after work and decided to go for movie with a friend. A sensible adult conversation in a day which doesn’t involve work.
I called up a friend who is film maker herself so she was up for any new movie.
Without much thinking we decided to watch “Meri Pyari Bindu”, because I found these trailers very interesting.
Having reached an age where priorities of my personal life align a lot around my responsibility, my children, my personal goals and constant strive to challenge myself to reach that next goal or to the last missed milestone, I have constantly found myself not been able to relate to lot of women around me who aren’t asking right questions to themselves. Walking on the conventional path is not bad, but are you accepting whatever comes on your way and call it a destiny or find your way around from what is laid down? I believe these simple choices shape you. This movie further made me doubtful about myself, if I will ever know coming generation girls and what motivates them to make choices they are making.
Coming back to the movie, peppy, energetic, with a tinge of bangoli humour and today’s age romance by very edgy, gullible yet relatable actor and actress. Ayushmann Khurrana is a guy next door that you want to fall in love with and Parineeti Chopra works hard to make her mark with refreshing style and mischievous personality.
The real star power of the movie is “old hindi songs”. For me romancing life and memories around old songs never goes out of fashion. This one fact binds the story for me, Aaiye Meharbaan … a classic Madhubala and Ashok Kumar song from Howrah Bridge sung by Asha Bhosle is just simple magic. This just one song can be reincarnated time and again still I believe it will never be close to original classic but Parineeti’s honest attempt and chirpiness adds own charm. “Mere Sapno Ki Rani“ sung by Kishore Kumar or “Lag Jaa Gale” by Lata Mangeshkar, and few more like Rafi, RD, Bappida are always there in evergreen personal playlist songs. Storytelling and narration has just been intensified by weaving these classics in movie. Tagging these songs to situations and drawing a memory lane for characters to walk down now and again is real charm of the movie.
Now comes the main part, “story”. This is an actual challenge how do you make the guy next door fall for the girl next door. Make the hero very humble, simple, sweet and the girl chirpy, loud, larger than life. Then who is the villain in their story? Surprisingly the girl herself because she doesn’t know in any point in her life that what does she want from her life. First time running away to punish her father (but not thinking about the guy), second time to marry a boyfriend (by this time the hero is not there in her life with any priority at all) and third time she enters in his life (again only to disrupt his ongoing relationship and makes her place because she is the childhood sweetheart). He lets her break into his life, recklessly or rather I can say selfishly demanding all attention to herself and her aspirations. She places herself in the centre of his life. For a while this goes smooth because there is chemistry, camaraderie, fun and excitement of start of any relationship. Only when the relationship requires her to stand tall accept her professional failure and move ahead she chooses to run away again, selfishly for the so call tryst to find herself again.
Off the topic of this movie, lately I don’t understand most of the 20s kids coming to work at my firm initially with the determination to conquer the world, reduced down to immediate boredom, quench to non-inspiring version of themselves, looking for next big adventure far away. Where, I haven’t seen anyone person excelling in their quest. Only in few months found lost, running behind the mirage of either big city or big opportunity, which actually never knocks but I believe it has to be created. Why is it difficult to stand where you are and growing tall? rather they choose to run behind unknown grounds.
A mystery of unknown brings temporary romance, but can hardly make a stable round.
Back to movie, she says….
I don’t know what do I want in life, and I don’t see myself as part of your story. Surprisingly this comes after happily singing, dancing, living and making out with each other. This statement is not just from movie. But having seen so many actual cases of couple fall out these days we know today’s relationships are no longer broken by parents, religion or dubious evil eyed villain.
All old school villainous characters are well replaced by misplaced personal priority, aspirations of our generation. As they say movies are reflection of our time and generation around. This movie very well reflect today’s 20 -30 something state of mind.
What baffles me is ‘the end’, all said and done even I challenge a lot of old school with my version of modern thinking but in context of this movie when she left the hero I assumed she would have achieved some higher ground to satisfy her personal chase. Spoiler was to find her immediately married of to some unknown guy and having a child immediately. (precisely what she said she didn’t see herself doing in some 2bhk at Dadar with hero but immediately did that with some unknown Mr. Nair after dumping the guy she hung around, had fun, slept, lived, got engaged in front of parents, who stood by her thick and thin since age of 5)
This makes me question what is love actually? What a girl wants, is that one secret admirer, one who can’t move mountain but moves his world upside down for you. Leaving a familiar ground to find exciting unknown to attain a happiness which will be very temporary. Happiness doesn’t have constant factor. Holding your own ground and flying high to find new sky is different than constantly changing the ground itself.
But this movie made me ask a question, what does today’s girls actually want ?