Bumbleday

On a lazy Sunday morning, so trademark you could almost see the ® on it... I'm startlingly awakened from a profound slumber by Deeps... It has occurred so often, I always experience a sense of deja-vu when my phone trings rudely. In between a heightened state of grogginess and a longing desire to fall back asleep (meanwhile muttering obscenities), I try to be as coherent as my protesting brain would allow. I mouthe an equivalent of a 'hello' and get back a shrill 'Avz! Were you sleeping?'. 'No,' I desperately want to say, 'At 8 am on a Sunday morning, I am playing cricket for India at Wankhede and boy-oh-boy, ain't I hitting some mean sixes!' But sarcasm is not what you begin with on a sunny Sunday, so I say 'Yeah... whats the plan yaar?' 'Movie' she says. 'Rock On... 10 am show.. Cinemax yaar... subah ko tickets milegi'. I was pretty excited bout this flick too, so I agreed nonetheless. Dragging my lazybones off my bed, I suddenly enter into autopilot mode. Its like those things they inject you with, and you instantly have this energy bursting in you. Zoom! goes my bedspread, neatly folded... whoosh! goes me brushing my teeth, splash! goes my 15-minute bath and zippp! goes my outfit on. Mom is at her Sunday best - yelling at me for not informing her sooner, preparing yummy breakfast at the speed of Wonderwoman (she is one!) and attending dudhwaalas, paperwaalas, kachrawaalas, watchmanwaalas and the like in the meantime... I wonder if she's got 10 invisible hands and legs to assist her in her daily drudgery. Anyway, my breakfast done, I scoot outta my abode into the sunny world outside! Suddenly I feel refreshed and feel a new enthusiasm in me. Going out does that to me.

Our plan-schedules are always tight, something like trying to fit into a size-26 jeans when you're in fact a size-28 (happened with me once, and though I managed to get them on... jeepers! It was excruciating to get out of them!). I hurriedly hail a rickshaw while on the phone with Shikhz who's to meet me at 9.15 am. Our show's at 10 am BTW, and we need to board a 9.29 am train. What happens next isn't a great shake, as Deeps is horribly late as usual. We miss the train and to our exasperation, there're no trains for the next 15-20 mins. In between some teeth-clenching and occasional giggles at our own silliness, we (finally!) decide at 9.50 am that we should take a rickshaw to our destination. We walk half-a kilometer to get one, and goad the driver to display his speedy best. But alas! All traffic lights had conspired to turn red at us today. We reach the station, cross to the east dodging spit, muck and what-not... we board another rickshaw.... time: 10 am... we know we're gonna miss atleast the first 15 mins. This rickshaw-guy was a real jerk... he persuades us to travel 4 in his rickshaw!! What if the cops nab us? And me being the skinniest of all, was forced to sit on Deeps' lap (I know how this sounds... I felt extremely stupid too) and suddenly, a 5 minute distance seems like an eternity..

But all said and done.. the movie more than made up for all the clumsiness that was the order of the day (and after a long time, a Bollywood movie catches my fancy). Fabulous performances by all actors, special mention goes to Arjun Rampal.... gosh! I've never seen any man look as sexy as he did with the loooong hair! Kudos man! And Farhan too... your unconventional voice did wonders to some very silly lyrics. And Prachi, darling... you look like an angel. Truly, you guys rock!

Knightly Encounters

Its been 2 weeks since I've watched this movie... but frankly, it still resonates in my mind. Quite a riveting film by Chris Nolan! I won't go and deconstruct the movie... many with keener eyes than mine have already done that, so I'll stick to my favorite scenes:

1. The Pencil trick: This is one scene that everyone thought was marvelous. The ingenuity of it coupled with the execution was fantastic.... no one expected Heath to bang the thug's head on the table like that... the entire audience went 'oooooooooh' when that scene unfolded!!

2. The Truck chase: This one was a winner for me! With Heath in the truck goading Batman (on the Batpod) to ram into the truck, the will-he-will-he-not suspense & the ensuing truck flip thereafter, evicted applause from the audience (I kid you not, plus these were not some Apsara hooters...)

3. The Hospital scene: Noteworthy was the scene where Heath comes doddering out of the hospital & is upset that it didn't blow up completely and manically fidgets with some buttons on his remote. When it does blow up, he gives a start, as if he was not expecting it. Brilliant execution again!

There were many more moments in the movie that were magical. All in all, it wasn't the perfectest of movies (as it dragged a bit in some scenes) , but an entertaining one nonetheless. Hats off to Ledger for a fine performance (plus the grubby, I-don't-care-'bout-my-appearance look....I think he pulled it off quite well) that will be remembered for a long time to come.

And who can forget these quotes:

Alfred: Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

And ....the *gem* of all quotes, I love this one:

Batman: Why do you want to kill me?
The Joker: I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, you... you complete me.