Lost, but at the same place…

Simply started writing this one, and for some reason the mind spoke in verse rather than the usual prose. Don't know how it's turned out, but here goes :-)

I’m stuck in time

Desperately searching for some rhythm and rhyme

Or is it randomness that I seek?

I can’t seem to make up my mind

Looking out the window, my dreams floating on faraway feathers

Into imagined worlds and even into the reality of others

I want, nay need, to be someplace else

But where?, ask my walking boots, sitting comfortably on the shelf

I don’t know the answer, don’t know if I’ll ever know

Do you know? Have you that knowledge that eludes me so?

I’m lost, but how can that be?

I’ve been at the same place for an eternity

Maybe I should just wait for those feathers to fall

They carry my hopes and dreams after all

My thoughts seem to make the same old rounds

Encapsulated by walls all around

I don’t even know how many walls there are, so bare

Solids cover my eyes…the utter greyness, brownness…

Bah! I really don’t care

I just need to know…is that window a mirage or is it for real?

It tortures me, teases me, mocks me

Shows me a world of possibilities, of things unknown

So delicious in their unfamiliarity

My senses can almost touch them, but alas, my hands cannot

My soul can almost feel them, but my body cannot

I am so lost, but I am here

I know my coordinates, even those of my unshed tears

The whispers in my mind grow louder each day

I’m not kidding, when I say these shouts are palpable

I’d climb over that teasing window, if only my restless limbs were stable

I need to get out, need to break free

Of these shackles with which my own mind binds me

Can someone hear my silent but deafening cry?

It comes out each time I sigh.

Advani on a Hollywood gossip site... Why?

I was just randomly going through some websites and i stumbled upon this Hollywood gossip website (www.perezhilton.com) by this guy who calls himself Perez Hilton. It's an out and out West-centric website, which would have a decent number of followers (in the West), so I was justifiably stumped when I scrolled down to find amchi L.K. Advani's face flashing in astrip ad for his website. If you don't believe me I've pasted a screen shot of the ad here.
As for the various conclusions and meanings that one might draw from this, I leave up to anyone who would care to visit it. Off the top of my head, here are three most obvious ones:
1. Advani + the malacious Papparazzi
2. Advani + amid other ads of lingerie, suicide mission and house hunting (searching for solid ground Mr Advani?)
3. Advani + gossip (we all know and love this one)
Do write in and let me know of any such other unusual ad placements or any other association that might justify the placement of this ad here. :-)

Why Aamir’s got it right

I saw Ghajini last night, and I’d seen Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi a couple of weeks back. And hence, this piece—one of the many that compare the two Khan clans in which the Indian film industry seems to be divided.

I’ve always been more of a Shah Rukh fan than Aamir. It’s not like I hated Aamir or anything, but just that I’d gravitate towards watching more SRK movies, and even appreciating them. Never saw Sarfarosh in its entirety, haven’t seen Andaaz Apna Apna the whole way, and I guess I missed out on another couple of them over the years. On the other hand, I have seen almost of all of SRK’s movies. I stood by him, finding little tidbits of very good acting when everyone around was writing him off and heading towards other heroes, more often than not, the other would be Aamir.

And now, after all these years… I am truly leaning towards doing the same. Not because I think the SRK-brand of acting has turned bad…but because the SRK brand is just not moving forward. It seems to be suspended in this vacuum status quo where he’s this perpetual loverboy alternately in college and a middle-aged man who wants to be “macho”.

It’s just that I believe that at least Aamir is trying to do different things. Challenge himself and the audience with new storylines, scripts, characters. Tare Zameen Pe easily holds the spot of one of those rare iconic movies of the 21^st century to come out of Bollywood. Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti and even Aamir’s character in Ghajini (his acting was the only thing that saved the movie, though) are all testaments of his willingness to experiment with different things. He knows he’s got his fan base in place, so instead of just basking in their adulation, he’s trying to take things up by several notches.
This is in stark contrast to Shah Rukh, whose last couple of movies have been Om Shanti Om, Don, Heyy Baby, Main Hoon Na, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and, of course, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Admittedly, the role of Surinder Sahni was very cute and well played, but his counterpart Raj Kapoor was equally, if not more, obnoxious. Billu Barber, SRK’s next movie, doesn’t raise my hopes on it being very experimental either. But it’s not that he hasn’t done many different movies. I mean, I love Devdas and Chak De! but those weren’t exactly great risk-takers were they.

I know SRK has always said that whatever he does, he does to entertain people and make money, but I do believe that he should have some faith in his fans and take some risks, do some experiments. I find it hard to imagine that as a creative person, he is actually satisfied doing similar roles and doesn’t want to do anything new. (Making fun of oneself in movies, again…repeatedly, can’t be counted as new.)

I don’t want to compare, but… Aamir’s doing it, and doing it well. Why don’t you give it a shot. I for one would love to see some more facets to your acting personality, considering I already love the ones that exist.