Derecho de Familia (2006)

Argentina in all does not produce so many movies as India do but they do produce movies. In the past I have seen the impressive “Nine Queens” recommended by Monica. She had also recommended “The Family Law” a.k.a “Derecho De Famalia”. It took me some time to get hold of the movie but finally I got it.

Derecho De Famalia (DDF) is a Spanish Argentinean film. Its been a long time since I have seen a slow engrossing film. I have seen many slow boring film but a good slow film which slowly pulls you in to the story is becoming rare

DDF is actually a very simple story about father and son and his son. It in fact does not have any twists and turns. In fact it does not have any drama at all, no big sentimental dialogs and no dramatic background score and yet it still manages to hold on its own. Do not see the film, if you cannot let the movie take over you.

DDF is a story of Ariel Perelman, a lawyer working as a law teacher and also working in the government office. His father, Bernado Perelman is a widower and a very successful lawyer. He has his own way of dealing and communicating with people making him quite successful.Ariel Perelman is married and has a 2 year old son, Gaston.

The story is from Ariel perspective where he tries to be a good son trying to be in his father’s shoes while trying to be a good father to his 2 year old son. The story starts when Ariel describes his family starting from his father, himself and then his wife and son. Ariel falls in love with one of his student and marries her.

Ariel’s office has some construction problem due to which the office is closed and he has to go on a forced holiday. He does not tell his wife that and roams around a bit even offering to take his son to swimming classes with other parents.

Ariel’s father, Bernado ask him to tag along with him to the court and Ariel reluctantly tags along. He accompanies his father to the court meeting people and friends along the way. He observes his father and realizes that something is amiss. He cannot understand the reason for his father’s show of affection. He even forgets his father’s birthday only to be reminded by his father’s friend.

Ariel is a very laid back man who is very unlike his father. He sleeps in his suit and still does not like crease on his shirt. He is uncomfortable working with his father. Even his personal relationship with his father is quite uncomfortable. After his mother’s death, he and his father share a business like relation.

As his father tries to push him in his business, he resists. Even with the time in his hand, he would rather be somewhere else.

DDF is not about characters displaying their emotions but just the realization of the feeling for each other. The movie ends in a very non-dramatic, sober and perfect conclusion.

DDF is directed by Daniel Burman is quite a renowned director in Argentina and the movie is a part of a trilogy all focusing on father-son relationship. He has also written the screenplay and is quite good.

 

Daniel Hendler and Auturo Goetz play the son-father duo with good chemistry. They portray the reluctant father-son trying to reach to each other but never quite making it. Julieta Diaz plays the beautiful wife of Ariel and Eloy Burman is the cute Gaston, the 2 year old son of Ariel

DDF is a good movie if you let the story and the characters do the talking, silently. Do not expect a melodrama. All in all a good movie

Rating: 8/10

 

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Aur Ek Abhimanyu……..- Living Mumbai 19

Mumbai Local trains has a world of its own. A world that runs by the time of the train indicator for everybody associated with it. A world where a minute difference can cause you unmanageable delay. A life line which is cursed by everyone and not many can live without it. We Mumbaikars have a love-hate relationship with Local trains. We know that they are old, dirty and crowded but we are also sure that they are the fastest route to get anywhere in Mumbai, always preferred over the crowded traffic stopping Mumbai roads.

Its no wonder that the trains are mostly crowded. A Non-Mumbaikar will find it difficult to really understand how the system works but a little bit of courage and determination and a little practice and you are a pro.

Sometimes even we Mumbaikar also find it difficult to get in and out of train.

As I made my way to platform number 1 of Andheri to board the 6:32 PM train to Borivali, I knew that I was already late because the train had entered the platform. Getting in the train is a time-bound exercise. Right from the time when the train slows down to the time it starts leaving the station, the time to board and get down is just a matter of seconds.

The first rule of boarding the train is to be standing on the platform when the train enters the platform. The first rule of getting down is being prepared to push and jump even before the train had stopped on the platform. The day you forget these rules, you would be making the extended trip to the next stop whether you like it or not or would be waiting for the next train to chug in.

As I waited for the train to stop, I was already behind 2 rows of people. I knew that getting this local was going to be difficult if not impossible. Before the train stopped, people had already started pouring out of the compartment. Andheri is a main station and there are more than the normal number of people getting down.

By the time the train stopped, most of them were already managed to get down on the platform but there were some who were at the end of the line inside the compartment. As the train stopped, those who wanted to get down at Andheri but could not get down in the moving train were trying to get down.

At the same time, people started boarding the train little caring if everybody had come out. The two groups met at the door and then started the struggle to get on the other side. Almost everybody was out except a young man who was fighting his way out. As people tried to get in, he was trying to get out.

As the seconds started ticking both the group were getting desperate. The outside people were shouting “Chalo Andar” (get in) and the young man was shouting “arre utarne do” (let me get out)

I had given up any attempt to get in and was amused watching the struggle. I was laughing while both the group jostled with each other. He was like Abhimanyu trying to get out of the chakravyuha frantically moving his hands around trying to swim against the sea of people desperately trying to get out of train and all the while shouting “Arre utarne do, utarne do”. The people were the enemy desperately trying to get in pushing him inside the train and shouting “Chalo chalo andar”

Finally he pshed and shoved and did manage to get out along with his bag and complete himself and looked back at the crowd. Nobody was looking at him as if he was never a ‘part’ of them. They were still pushing for that every inch of space shouting “Chalo andar”. He walked away quite shaken and I couldn’t hide a sheepish grin trying hard not to laugh.

It not good to laugh at someone’s plight but it was really a funny situation with desperation reaching its zenith. I was just “Samay” watching the fun. The fast Mumbai life does give you a source of amusement provided you are not at the receiving end.

In Hindu mythological story, Mahabharat, Abhimanyu died trying to get out of a army formation (chakravyuha) because he knew getting in but did not know his way out. Today this Abhimanyu found his way out because he knew his way in and could fight his way out.

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Work, Anger and Other Things

The last week has been busy but that is not why I did not write. I have written when I was busy. But not this time. I have something to say if not lot to say but the words refuse to form. I would say its laziness and then nothing, I mean nothing really happens around. Nothing intersting at least.

Work has ben stressful. It does not take long hours but it does sucks out the energy so much that the ideas don’t really get materialized into posts. So there has been a lot of inconsistencies in the frequency of the posts. The number of posts per month has gone down. Nothing new happening in life except the fights at work which are obviously not worth writing here. As I sit everyday before the laptop trying to write that oh-so-brilliant post, I can’t seem to focus on the words. I guess this is what every one calls a writer’s block. But then I am not a writer. Just lazy

Last week the family came to visit Shirdi and I went to Shirdi on the luxury Volvo bus. Long journey’s on public transport really tense me out. I stop drinking water way before the journey. The bus does not makes that many stops. I have been in situation when I had to hold my bladder till it was on the verge of bursting.

It was nice meeting the family after a long time even though it was a very small meet. Another one and half month and I will be completing a year since I came from Amsterdam. A year has passed and I am still in Amsterdam’s hangover. Maybe one day I will be returning back just for the heck of it.

The trip to Shirdi itself was a short one but the route has turned green. Green mountains and green everywhere. The rains have really changed the landscape. I think a trip to the mountains has become a necessity now. I am imagining the wonderful pictures my camera would take.

But then the weekends are spent at home doing nothing. Especially after 5-6 days in office where I am talking for almost 8 hours, the weekends are spent quietly. The days are occupied by office talk and hardly anything happening in life. On the worse side, I am finding myself losing control in office. I do understand that not everything in office goes as per plan and when that doesn’t happen, I find myself shouting. Its a good thing that I sit with my team which does not include any women and we do have a closed room

Like a few weeks back, I had a heated discussion on the phone with a colleague. The situation got so bad that I was using the choicest of cuss words. By the time I finished and looked back, everyone in the room was looking at me and I realized that I had crossed the decency limit. We do cross that limit frequently and its not an unnatural event in the room but that day I did shout a lot.

With so much shouting, its hardly a surprise that I prefer to keep quite when I come home. Atleast I don’t carry the mood home so its still under control but I guess I need to take care of my anger more. On weekend’s I prefer to keep quite rather than discussing office with anyone and neither do I do something interesting in the whole week although I do a lot of routine things. I guess I have to find another passion besides work. Work is getting too routine.

Its true, I do lead a boring life!

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Why?

I am the first to wish you on your birthday
But then, I will never attended your birthday party

I may know all your crushes right from the first to the last crush
But then, I will never be one of them

I know what you like to eat
But then we have never eaten together

I know the first time he asked you
But then I will be there just to see your stupid smile

I know every fight you had with him
And I have seen the tears

You have told me a lot about your friends
But they know nothing about me

You tell me about your fun weekends
And I have seen you only on weekdays

In crisis you knew you could call me
But then you never wondered why I never called you during mine

I think I know your every secret
But you don’t know my one secret that I want you to know

I like to let go the 6:05 PM train for you
But maybe you don’t know that the next one comes 25 minutes later

I know your favorite song
And I will never sing it for you

Today we can talk about everything
Tomorrow I will be just a person you knew in the past

Its hard to explain but not impossible to understand

…. and still she asks me……..Why?

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Ramblings based on a conversation with a friend when she asked me why the girls I knew never fall in love with me. Its not poetry, just rambling

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Those they left behind…..

Serendipity is a 2001 romantic comedy starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. Its about two people who meet one day and go their separate way with the hope that they will meet each other if they are destined to meet. Years later, they are supposed to get married to two different people and then they decide to search for each other one last time. As all feel-good romantic movies, they do meet in the end and you feel happy that true love has found a way. (Sache pyar ki jeet hui hai)

Serendipity is just one of the example. “PS I love you” can be sort of an example. “”Kuch Kuch Hota hai”, “Kabhi Haan, kabhi naa” and “Dil toh Pagal Hai” are the Indian example. There are other movies too. I mean the one where true love finds a way and they live happily ever after.

And in all that feel-good factor, there is a third person who is left stranded at the alter, someone who also loved but then his/her love did not succeed. In “Serendipity”, the hero-heroine finally meet but they don’t show what happens to the people they were supposed to marry. These people are insignificant for the story. After all they are not the main characters of the story. People will be concentrating on the main hero/heroine.

Hardly anybody thinks about them, how they feel, how do they cope with all this. It was like when Phatichar noted in his blog once that in an action movie during a high speed chase on the road we see cars flying around as the hero chases the villain or vice-versa. We are awed at the high-speed action as the hero cuts efficiently through the traffic. The villain hits cars along the way. They fire each other and not every bullet hits its mark. Somewhere along the way, we tend to forget the people in the other cars. People who are not part of the story but just get hit by the hero/villain’s car. As the hero finally grabs the villain, they have left a devastating scene behind.

Remember the old Hindi movies where a speeding car hits a fruit cart or something and the whole cart spills on the crowd. The man on the cart does not have a insurance nor does he know how to feed his family now that his cart is ruined.

But we clap at the victory of good over evil caring for the many who might have been suffered because of the chase. We call them collateral damage.

I agree that it is just a movie and I am making too much of a mountain here.

Hindi movies in the past were actually quite simple. Either it was a love triangle where one of the suitor dies or the one left at the alter is actually the villain who is has to die. Ultimately death solves everything. If not death then the police sorts out everything. In the end, you did not have to worry about the other person as they were already evil.

Now its different. Now they have choices, perfectly, legitimate, good choices and they have to make a choice, the correct one. Ultimately one of them loses who may be a good guy/gal.

So what happens to people who watch the people they love marry off to someone else. While everybody cheers for the hero/heroine, they watch them pretending to be happy, maybe humiliated. Maybe the hero/heroine just took a little too much time to decide and unexpectedly the men/women left behind become losers, just like that.

But then movies are a make-believe world. They are actors and there are stories. Nothing like that ever happens in real life or does it?

I know people who have not been the movie hero/heroine. I have seen people watch helplessly when their ‘love’ married someone else. Whatever the reasons, the one who is left behind are the silent sufferers. Many would argue that it was never meant to be. They are supposed to find the people they truly love some day and today is just not their day. One day they will be the ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’. One day true love will find a way and everybody will be happy again. One day they will be the center of someone’s world. I would like to be optimistic and would like to believe that. Maybe it would! I am not sure and I don’t know

Until that happens, lets say those who are left behind are the collateral damages. 

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Jaane tu… Ya Jaane Na

The good thing about “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na” (JTYJN) is that its not complicated. Its a simple half romantic comedy and half serious comedy film. The first half is funny and the second serious to a large extent.

JTYJN is as the name suggest about ignorance. A tale about two people who are in love and they don’t about it. Its about two people with opposite personalities and opposite do attract and as I said they just don’t know about it.

Its about Jay Rathore or Rats, a very non-violent person who talks his way out of difficult situation. His friend Aditi or Meouw is quite the opposite. Ready to fight with anyone for what she think is right. Both are quite a couple. Their parents and friends expect them to get married and they don’t. Instead they go and try finding a spouse for each other.

The second half is when they realize that the people they find are almost jerks and they love each other.

JTYJN is about two confused people who don’t know what they want in life (aren’t we all?). Its not much of a story because we can guess the end at the start. When Aditi finds someone, we already know that he will be a jerk. Yet, in the days of terrorism, the director planned a climax in the airport. The way Jay reaches inside the airport, he wouldn’t be alive. Really! He just cannot reach immigration running like that.

But then it is a love story and cinematic liberty allows the filmmakers to take that much freedom. Ignoring all these minor problem, its still a very entertaining movie and it has its moment. Abbas Tyrewala’s has written and directed JTYJN and his experience as a good writer sees through the film with some good one-liners.

What the writer lacked in story, he wrote in characters. He has written very likeable characters and that is the biggest strength of the movie. Not just the central character of Jay and Aditi but all the supporting cast are well written. They are remembered in their small roles too. The main character’s friends are not just props.

Three roles make an impact in the movie excluding Jay and Aditi. Ratna pathak Shah who plays Jay’s mother, Prateik Babbar who play Amit, Aditi’s brother. He plays the sober, sad brother who lives according to his own rules and who cares for Aditi in his own special way. Lastly Sugandha Garg who plays Shaleen, Aditi and Jay’s friend. Her eyes say a lot than words.

Some good music by A R Rehman makes it all the more alluring. Most of the song do not obstruct the movie and goes with the flow.

Jay played by Imran Khan makes an impressive debut. He is cool and totally gels with Genelia D’Souza who plays Aditi in the movie. Its the chemistry that makes the movie work. They do look like good friends who have been together since a long time.

In addition cameo’s by Nasserudin Shah is quite hilarious. Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan also make a cameo that somehow appears cliched but works wonder for the movie. 

And finally a big applause for Abbas Tyrewala for making an impressive debut. He is the writer and the director and he handles both quite efficiently. Looking at his past writing assignment, he atleast makes watchable films.

Overall JTYJN is good in most parts. The second half becomes a little heavy ending in an hurried climax but still quite an entertaining film.

Rating: 8/10

 

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103

Saturday, Dahisar, East.

Sandeep and me came out after watching “Jaane Tu….Ya Jaane Naa” As we walked toward the main road trying to get a vada pao or something to eat, we came to the restaurant. Just next to the restaurant was the BEST bus stop. As we walked past the bus stop we noticed an old man lying on the ground. It seems that he was drunk but we were not sure. He could have been sick too. Many people walked past by him as he lay on the floor. They looked back but were reluctant to help.

Yes! Mumbai can be heartless many times.

Sandeep and I stood there discussing if he was drunk or sick or in trouble. I remembered the number written on many Police Van and Police station about a helpline for children, senior citizen and women.

I was in no position to help the man for whatever reason and I was not sure if I could call the helpline for such a matter. I don’t know how they would take the call. Finally after encouragement from Sandeep, I called up 103. This helpline is for informing about crime and abuse against Children, Senior citizen and women.

You can give information in Hindi and Marathi. You can provide any information about a crime or abuse or anything that you think the Police ought to know or just want to help. You are not required to give any information about yourself so don’t worry about being hounded by Police or visit the police station to give a detailed report of what happened. Be clear while informing them and give correct address. Give them landmarks near the incident so that they can send someone to help immediately.

Just 10 minutes after we had made the call, a mobile Police van arrived at the location. We had made a mistake in giving them the exact address and I called back to give them the correct address. The Police attended the man. He was indeed quite drunk and seeing the police he promised to go home. But he was so drunk that he slept again on the footpath. The police made arrangement to give him lemon juice or tea from a nearby hotel. A stranger among the crowd came to pay for the tea.

Yes! Mumbai does have a heart many times.

By the time we had left, the Police were still trying to make the man stand.

It was heartening to know that the Mumbai Police reacted immediately and attended the call.

If you are in Mumbai and see any abuse against women, Senior citizen and children, be an alert citizen and please call up;

103

You can help someone in distress and get them help even if you are not in a position to help. 

And Yes! Hats off to Mumbai Police for their prompt response!

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