Slammed Door Speaking

Hey, angry young man. Remember me ? I am the door you just slammed. Do you realise how much you owe me ? Of course you don't. Let me list some of my favours. There are cracks on my body and glass for each time you've crashed me against my frame. Count them and you'll realise how many times I've protected your ears by cutting off the voice you didn't want to hear. There are holes in my hinges for lack of screws, dislodged from the impact of your anger. Could very well have been the hinges of your mind getting loose and letting your sanity hang loose with it.
My handle is loose and would be in your hands next time you pull me with this ferocity. Well, better loosing my handle than you coming off yours.

So I do need some repairs, if you don't mind, to continue providing these services to you. But you do know what would be better, don't you ?
Get yourself repaired and leave me alone. After all, I'm just the physical manifestation of what you do to yourself when you see red, flip your lid off and are wreathing in anger.  And you can do better.

You don't need me to create that bang and tell everyone of your explosive mood. My panels of wood and glass are mere materials to your mental ability to cut off that angry thought. Practice and harden your mental hinges and spare mine from bearing the brunt of your displeasure.
People will pull and push your handle, test your hinges and throw you against your own being and structure. But its only YOU who can allow your screws to loosen up and leave you with a hole in your soul. Your frame and roots will only shake if YOU allow the impact to hit you.

Not sure if you've noticed but I open one way because that's how you devised and fit my hinges. Yours on the other hand, are much more flexible, if you allow them to be. Use them to just go the other way when feelings hit hard and don’t let yourself go bang against your frame.
Avoid the impact and hold on to your panels, both wooden and glass - hard and strong for those ruthless hands but transparent for those who deserve to see through you.

Take it as just another day and just another person testing the strength of your handle and hinges and screws - because you have them.  Maybe they don’t. Do not give them the joy and right to shake the very basis of your existence - your frame and roots.

And just by the way, if you think the creaking door that you slammed is talking to you - there is some damage done already to both of you ;-)

What you might not have noticed in ZNMD

People around me think "living in the moment" was the whole point of Zindagi na milegi dobara. I think that's just one of the obvious points in the movie for all to see and hear. Using stunning looking Katrina as an example to personify this message would have made sure that no man and few women would have missed this message.
I believe the movie deserves more attention than that. If you think ZNMD is just another 3 Idiots category where you enjoy the movie with one broad message, ignoring the depth of characters, my notes are not meant for you. You might as well stop reading now and thanks for reading this far.


For the brave who have continued reading, I think the message of live life now is neatly balanced in the movie through other characters.
There were quite a few subtle messages which are by now trademark Zoya Akhtar. As against Hrithik's character, the story-lines of Farhan and Abhay are more about balancing your past and future in the present rather than about the more western concept of "forget everything and live in the present". Its a shame that the writer had to place Hrithik's character in London as the one living for future and ignoring the present. Generally speaking, life in London and UK tends to be more about the present. You have ample opportunities to live it up every evening (referred to as late afternoon, making the phrase "shaam jawaan hai" seem so obsolete) , weekends and whole of December and more annual vacations per year than in US and India.
 Looking at Hrithik's character I couldn't help but remember another scene from Zoya's last movie (Luck By Chance) where Hrithik playing a superstar, lost in his stardom is almost literally trying to get in touch with his missing childhood by playing with street urchins from one side of his car's window glass. Luxury and loneliness on his side of glass, lively but poor childhood on the other side.

to start with and through most of the movie, Farhan's character in ZNMD is all about enjoying the present with a recently acquired reason to trace a selective part of his past. there is so much that one can read into his conflicting eagerness and reluctance about meeting his father. Only after confronting his biological father (Naseeruddin) does he realise that he's been a victim to his genetic instincts. One got a feeling that he knew where he was wrong, just that he had been ignoring the better judgement of his actions that was within himself  - imbibed in him through the best form of friendship and upbringing.
All this while, like his biological father, he's been 'living in the moment' and shunning responsibility for everything he does. Like his father, he wants to live cocooned in his own world of art (poetry and maybe sketching), meaningless affairs and solitude - not caring for his ageing lonely mother, not exposing his real self to his closest of friends and not really feeling bad about cheating with his friend's girlfriend. Like his father, he's been responsible just for taking care of himself and he does that well enough by balancing his creative writing with commercial writing. And just like Naseer he's aware of the ill effects of his acts of temporary excitement in present and past on the future of those who place their trust and affection in him, but he chooses not to hold himself responsible for it.

It takes him some effort to recognise the scale of responsibility that he has personally witnessed and taken for granted in the warmth and dedication that his step father would have had in his heart to bring up a step son the way he did, particularly in the Indian context. It is left for his friends who had a real or virtual fatherless childhood to point out to him the fact that he never grew up without a father. In fact he might have had a better childhood than the other two.

This is where the film's subtlety and depth of this character deserves to be admired. He's just shown contemplating and spending time with himself, without any dramatics. Just like any introvert would do. He then takes responsibility for his actions with a couple of long due heart felt apologies and takes his latest affair seriously. Just as a person of his intellect would do.  His desire to go public with his personal poems is another symbol of striking a new balance - his own private, thoughtful, brooding self  to be responsible for his public life and livelihood. Unlike Naseer, who is happy to keep his best work for accolades and creative satisfaction only. The character here delivers the message lost on many - live your life but not at the cost of others' happiness. Fun can not be at the cost of responsibility.

Abhay Deol's storyline and character appears as a bit of a let down in terms of time dedicated to it. He is the more balanced of the three - knows that commitments are to be taken seriously and yet likes to indulge in pranks with a bit of discomfort to others. He is cautious but open to adventures. Despite that, he is stuck with a more difficult tightrope challenge than the others. His situation, how so ever far fetched, does not have a simple right or wrong answer. He too, needs to look within himself and ask if what’s wrong for himself can be right for others ?
To a large extent I think the scale of this situation is  exaggerated to get him a  conflict to resolve. Given the clear headed nature of this character, he need not have let the situation come to this in the first place. Even if it did, he does appear honest and strong enough to be able to talk it out with his fiancee’ without his friends having to lecture him.

I waited a long while to get the DVD of this movie and in the end, it was worth it. Its a 5.1 surround sound version which allowed my home theatre to shine through. I got to enjoy Hrithik’s heart beat effects when he goes diving, the misplaced-but-somehow-makes-sense Saare Jahan se achcha music playing in the background when they go sky diving and all the other great sound effects.

As you might have guessed, I like sensible movies but I like it better when there is some sense to be made out of a movie. Despite the senseless Salman starring fare, Bolloywood thrives on with ZNMD.

How PM is fighting for Democracy and you aren't

Phase 1

Anna - i am against corruption. I want a law against it

PM - we have been trying to pass that law for last 3-4 decades. I am respected as an honest person and politician by congress and other parties alike. My coalition government is the biggest thing affected by corruption but I love corruption that's why I would not support you for this new law.

Result - likely end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen.



Phase 2

Anna - I'm a citizen of India with a million others supporting me. My version of the law makes more sense to me and my educated followers. You should just accept this and table it to the parliament.

PM - I'm the elected representative of 1 billion Indians. We don't know how much your supporters know about this law and what the rest of them in majority think about it. But I'm happy to accept your law as it makes sense to you.

Result - likely end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen.



Phase 3

Anna - you didn't agree with my suggestions but can we talk about it ?

PM - No



Result - likely end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen





Phase 4

Anna - we talked about it with you and other politicians. We still have a different opinion of the law on how corruption should be dealt with and I now have the support of more educated civil society tweeting and face booking (with likely multiple ids). That's why you should accept my version of law



PM - sure, I'd be happy to. You didn't get the support from opposition parties. My legal advisers don't think your ideas make sense. The major media editors don't support you. The people supporting you are not experts on law and are going by some word of mouth understanding of your proposition. The parliament is the only legal body authorized to make laws in India. But no worries, give me your too idealistic version and I'll ask everyone who thinks otherwise to just accept it.



Result - likely end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen.



Phase 5



Anna - I am a Gandhian and more honest than all of the ministers put together. I and all of my followers are not corrupt like you and therefore you should just listen to us and accept whatever we say.

PM - You are so correct. All of your followers are so pure at heart and honest. They aren't representatives of the corporates that engaged in any scams - CWG, Telecom, Adarsh building - was all just minsters making money out of thin air - no private contractors or industrialists involved. None of these have ever paid or accepted bribes or donations for schools, driving licenses etc, never pirated movies or software. They all deserve an honest government like themselves. The fact that they either did not vote at all or voted in the wrong people is not their fault.

You Mr Anna are more honest than me , although I'm the one trying to run ministries and country whereas you aren't really that much in the middle of things. The less said about Ms Kiran Bedi the better - she's never actually completed any of her terms in any of her job profiles is not her fault.

We'll take this at face value and accept your suggestions as you mentioned Gandhiji.



Result - likely end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen.





Phase 6



Anna - you didn't accept my suggestion. I'll fast until death like Gandhi ji to get you to agree



PM / Delhi Police - since you said Gandhiji, we are OK for you to do it.

It doesn't matter that he didn't do it against a democratically elected government and his cause was easily understood by everyone. Given huge numbers and differences in opinions, there might be a law and order situation for everyone, might involve mob violence etc. You are trying to blackmail the government and might set a precedent for others to do the same. We know from experience that how so ever stupid a demand like that Ramdev fellow, once you start on a fast we are the ones perceived as wrong whatever we may do . But that's all right. Just do it.



Result - likely chaos, week government and new fast-unto-death threats everyday leading to end of democracy. That's why it didn't happen… yet