At various points of time, i have been actively involved with Orkut(first biggish social site and showed me just how addictive all of this could be), then FB (which’s just the Caucasian cousin of Orkut and so more popular and respected) and now twitter(very impersonal, you just talk about celebrities and pretend to be in a newsroom, or try act cool or funny). Blog was one place where i could write a lot of things without giving a fuck about so many people seeing and reacting to it, like facebook. Now this is an innate human psyche i think, to not want to get judged all the time. I don’t like people who judge you all the time, giving their ‘Likes’ as a token of appreciation.

Twitter is a different world altogether. I don’t know about others but i liked to keep my new twitter handle safe from real life friends, lest it should become another FB. I could talk to so many strangers and cry or laugh at stupidest of things. Of course they’d judge me too and give an RT for appreciation but it didn’t matter to me cus they’d be judging just a bot on their computer screen, and not me in flesh and bone. But then this specific reason became the undoing of all that i thought was good about twitter. After a point, it became too impersonal and that most of the others were just pretending to be cool to get popular(may be they were cool, i never knew) didn’t help.

The blog is like a movie’s background music which is unceasing, unlike the songs which are loud and fun but don’t last long(read FB and twitter). But this sudden aversion to writing personal blog posts stems from my view of ‘what’s the point’ . I concede that i’m asking ‘whats the point’ too frequently these days, but then futileness is an ideology and like all ideologies it won’t go if i tell it to.

But then why am i writing this post too? What’s the point?

In fact, what’s the point of anything in life?

8. Rakta Charitra-1 : I have been an RGV admirer forever because his movies are about passion, style and raw energy as opposed to say calculated risks of YashRaj Films. I loved this movie for its pulsating anger as well as Bukka Reddy.

7. Kites : I don’t know about the critics, this one was not that bad. In fact, i could whole heartedly appreciate the nuances of love between the protagonists. Yes i expected more and yes i was disappointed but at least it had a story, compared to Dabanggfuckery.

5. Rajneeti : I remember the last time before this movie i could really feel power radiating out of characters was when i read Godfather, the book. Rajneeti was strong, fearless and tightly scripted. I loved it and i think it deserved better at award functions this year. Though we know better what to expect.

4. Band Baaja Baraat : Considering the fact that love stories have been done to death with in all genres and types of entertainment formats, it was heartening to actually relate with the story of BBB. Great music and awesome performances were just the sidekicks, best part were dialogues. The scenes 10 minutes around interval on both sides were pretty mind-blowing.

3. My Name Is Khan : It’s quite possible that my affection towards MNIK stems from the my hero-worship of SRK, so i better not dissect this movie. I remember having gone to all cinemas of the town alone to see if the screening started, twice over. MNIK was special, howsoever foolish this sentence may seem. Oh by the way the music still weaves magic.

2. Guzaarish : Everybody uses the words Guzaarish and poetry in the same sentence. I don’t want to ruin the fact that how true that sentence is just for exercising my semantic prowess by using a new metaphor. Like poetry, a lot of feelings were left to be interpreted. Like poetry, there were layers to the story. Like poetry, not many could appreciate it. I am still besotted with Ash’s performance. It was a different level of movie making because it was gentle, restrained, divine and legendary.

1. Udaan : Sometimes movies should not be evaluated in terms of how much entertainment they provided. ‘Impact’ may be the other parameter. Udaan had such a marvellous impact on me that i was reminded of RDB ex wrote its lines on walls in room. Anyway, as a movie it was brilliantly structured and nicely acted. I loved the music.

Notable omissions from the list : Dabangg : Lazily shot, lousy writing and a bald heroine. Salman charisma doesn’t work for me. Music can do only so much to feature in my Fav movies list.

Tere Bin Laden – it was too low key. Other than the concept, the gags were hollow and repetitive

Golmaal3 : You slap i laugh. You slip i laugh. Band karo yaaar.

Tees Maar Khan : don’t even get me started.

Robot : i consider it a foreign movie altogether.

Darling aankhon se aankhein chaar karne do
Roko na roko na mujhko pyaar karne do
Darling aankhon se aankhein chaar karne do
Roko na roko na mujhko pyaar karne do
Bekaif hai bahara, bechain jaane yaara
Bulbulon ko intezaar karne do
Darling aankhon se aankhein chaar karne do

Darling, sorry tujhe Sunday ke din, zehmat hui
Darling, milna tera fazle khuda, rehmat hui
Darling, sorry tujhe aate hue, sehmat hui
Darling, milna tera fazle khuda, rehmat hui, rehmat hui

Hey darling, public mein sansani ek baar karne do
Darling aankhon se aankhein chaar karne do
Roko na roko na mujhko pyaar karne do

2. Paulo Coelho type quotes ki dukaan : there’s a general perception that if once in a while you write very philosophical heavy-duty quotes, you will come across as really sophisticated convent-educated person. While some of them actually ( in non-facebook non-virtual REAL life) are as boring as to philosophize, most of the facebook Coelho’s are nothing but offshoots of google’s amazing ability to search for quotes befitting every relation, occasion, non-occasion, etc. To such guys who on every third day post an update like “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting” I have just one advice – please don’t. Or better still, just update “i’m feeling so sophisticated right now“. At least that’ll save us the free ka gyan.

3. People who greet on every festival :  First off, i can understand that some people are on facebook to improve their PR; or simply love to wish everyone Diwali, Christmas, Pongal and Makar Sankranti. But just like seeing too much of and too close at Malaika Arora can make you notice the ugly stretch marks on her waist, too many greetings can make people see through your plan of getting social popularity from under the veil of festival greetings. Plus i don’t even know what Gudi Padwa is, leave alone celebrate it, so stop wishing to God that ‘me and my family have a Happy and Prosperous Gudi Padwa” on my wall.

4. Sarcastic, cryptic and secretive status updates : I’ll be most hypocritical to condemn this universal habit of FB users, but i don’t see the logic behind updates like “I hate people who keep on praising themselves“. It’s like shooting in the open and hoping that the bullet would bounce off many surfaces to finally hit your target. Or are you trying to scare off the (un)said person with the sound of your gunshot? Why don’t you just message or call the person? May be update about his reaction later, if all that you care about is status updates.

Plus, updates like “I saw something so amazing just now. Though can’t write about it” are the worst type of cryptic updates. Why not just write “Give me 20 comments and 6 likes, at least” instead?

5. The always sad types : Everybody has problems, but some jerks have found an innovative way to cry while in the middle of a problem – that is to cry on facebook. I once heard on a cheap chat show on B4U: emotional drama sells best, even better than humor. So, there.

6. The always happy types : We don’t care how you found the perfect heaven in your love’s arms today evening, because just last Sunday you had found the perfect paradise in the water-park you went to. Don’t tell me about “Muaaah to mah frnds for today“, i may not return your ‘muaaah‘.

[ ps : the post was done in good humor plus you will find that most of the times i'm hypocritical because i do the above things myself. So please don't send me a hate-message on FB tomorrow if YOUR status update features in the list above. And while if you still want to send it, check the spellings. Kthnxbai. ]

During the next four years, both of them married somebody else and had children. They had lost all contact. Then, out of blue, one contacted the other and the old flame was reignited. They would go on short trips to make love, lying to their respective spouses. They would go atop the same mountain on which they had met.

One of them wanted to make their relationship permanent, but the other wasn’t ready. One of them got divorced, so the other was hoping they could now start living together. But still that was not to be.

Years passed. They would meet occasionally atop the same mountain, erect a tent and live like it was summer 1963. One day, in 1983, one of them got news of the other dying with the last wish being that the ashes be spread all across the mountain.

Like everything else, that was not to be.

The other lived forever remembering the love.

( ps that’s the story of a movie. )

Move aside Paranormal Activity, The Silence of the Lambs is my new favorite in the horror/thriller genre. In fact, it is one of the best movies across all genres i’ve ever seen.  Scene after scene, this movie manages to terrify you. Where so many classics have straightforward plot, this one is sufficiently sophisticated to never let you off the hook.

Hannibal Lecter has all the ammunition to get inside your head and never come out. Don’t watch this at night!!

I’m not in love with anybody.

Other than my immediate family, i don’t care about other people beyond a point.

I simply don’t wish i were on better terms with anybody(who’s i’m not with already) in this world.

I don’t miss anybody too greatly.

I am painfully aware about this – i’m less emotional than majority. I can feel the vibes when a guy loves his girlfriend with all his heart. I don’t feel it strange because i can absolutely understand the feelings. But strangely i haven’t experienced the feeling inside me.

This leads to a less dramatic life.

Not taking anything away from the movie which has a brilliant take on aliens and their habitation, Wikus’s character stands out above the rest vividly. He is someone who keeps on smiling and pretending that everything is alright until tragedy befalls. There’s a very subtle difference between smiling during adversity due to confidence in oneself AND this Wikus’s character, which by the way i’m not at all able to put down in words. So let’s just say he’s peculiar, vulnerable and his condition gets more appalling than ordinary men when faced with the same tragedy.

Lisbeth Salander (from the book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

Everybody who’s read the Millennium trilogy books is in awe of Salander and i’m no exception. She’s golden-hearted, but rude, straightforward, no-nonsense type. She is skinny and flat chested(has a boob job in book2). You can say she’s sexually promiscuous because she has sex with guys twice or half her age . And she’s very intelligent. She has a lot of confidence in her combating skills. May be that’s the reason that we as readers feel protective towards her. I know a girl like her which makes it even more intriguing.

Molly McCleish (female lead in the movie She’s Out of My League)

Hot, sexy, intelligent and confident females is as rare a combination as can be. Such girls know how to seduce the right kind of man but their love life is just one part of them. They’re professionals who hold fort in any situation. They’re into books and movies, have hobbies which they pursue earnestly and are generally very aware of the society. Such girls smile so much. And only sometimes they show signs of having a heart which occasionally breaks.

Everybody likes mountains, but i like them more. Most people get equally excited about holidaying in Goa, Darjeeling or say Jodhpur, but for me two of these three options hold no importance. My hill-fetish is strange because Ambala is somewhat just about 100 km from mountains and 2000 km from nearest sea and the first time i saw sea was in 2007. Yet, no sea-longing at all. I used to look forward to going to Shimla with parents all the time.

I love the hugeness of mountains. The most beautiful mountains are in my mind - generated by Paths of Glory. And also by BBC’s Planet Earth’s Mountains. My trip to Matheran was one of the best ever. Believe it or not, i’ve never seen snow.

ps : i think the word ‘mountain’ is a crude, unpalatable word for describing such a beautiful creation.