Idle musings

Homes have now been reduced to places where we return to at night,to get a night's sleep and ,sometimes,to grab breakfast before heading out another day of work.Be it a nuclear family or a spinster,people today,living in their solitary apartments,are missing out on the joys offered by the togetherness of a joint family.

Bajirao Mastani was truly a feast to the eyes.Sanjay Leela Bhansali once again proves his mettle for creating splendid sets,right from the palaces to the warfront,in this historical romance flick.All the three lead actors have eliminated all traces of their selves from their respective characters.I just loved the costumes.Though Deepika,in her ravishing avatar as Mastani,demanded our attention as she set about woing Peshwa Bajirao,Priyanka Chopra too delivers a strong performance as the demure Kashibai,the first wife of the Peshwa,played by Ranveer Singh. Kashi remains ever loyal to her king throughout the time he blindly humiliated her and the rest of his family,by pursuing the insistent Mastani,who readily left Bundelkhand to court the Peshwa,in Pune. Of the songs,'Deewani Mastani' has been my favourite since I first listened to it.'Mohe Rang Do Laal',though,really enchanted me with the mughal feel.

Dec 14,2015 Over the course of the past few days,I have been fortunate enough to watch three great films - 'Secret Window', 'Flypaper' and 'The Illusionist'-all of entirely different plots,though equally entertaining and intriguing.

The other day,I saw a middle-aged woman crossing an intersection.Dressed in a colourful, albeit worn saree,she held several bundles of  christmas hats in her arms.I felt a pang of sadness for the woman- she must be a mother too,and a wife,and she was doing her bit to earn for her family.Yet,she was not so fortunate as to be able to celebrate Yuletide in the ways we middle-class are so used to.Surely,we must all spare a thought,if not lend a helping hand, for people like them,in this season of giving.                                                                      -  - -  - - -  - - - It's Christmas and yet,the horn of ambulances racing to save lives pierce the morning air.So tragic that on a day like this,when families should unite and make merry,people lie dying,at the mercy of God, i...

Tamasha.I didn't know what to feel after watching this film.Though the first half left me wondering if i was going insane,the second was a wholly different matter.It showcased Ranbir Kapoor,the brilliant actor.In fact,the scene where Ved narrates the story of 'Hero'(impersonating himself, of course)to his family, and his dad finally understands, left me teary-eyed.His growing up years and his becoming a storyteller of his own have been portrayed extremely well.Ranbir really gets into the skin of his character- portraying the inner struggle between who he is and whom society expects him to be.This might sound crazy,but I was reminded of Emerson's ideas of non-conformity. This is Ved's story of fighting conformity;Deepika steps in as the one person who recognises,falls in love with and later,helps Ved embrace his differences with society.She looks stunning,as usual,and lends life to Tara. Imitiaz Ali has done a fabulous work of taking a not-so-new storyline and pre...