A Marriage Contract

There was an article in the newspapers today about Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes re-negotiating their marriage contract, as their present contract expires this month on their 3rd wedding anniversary.

Katie Holmes is apparently demanding an extra $500,000 for supporting Scientology, Tom Cruise's adopted religion, an increase in her annual clothing allowance from $750,000 to $2 million, and a role in the next ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie.

She's believed to have received $3 million bonus from Tom Cruise when she gave birth to Suri, and he’s ready to pay her up to $5.5 million to get pregnant again, with a $2 million bonus if she conceives by 2011. However, Katie wants at least $11 million if she gives birth & $5.5 million if she tries and fails.

Is your reaction to this piece of Hollywood news the same as mine was? For all my liberal thinking & Western bent of mind, I found this extremely bizarre. Hilarious, yes, but also bizarre. For that matter, I find even pre-nuptials to be quite bizarre. How can one treat marriage as a contract?

Agreed, my attitude towards marriages is a little different from that of most Indians. For me, marriages aren’t “sacred”, a “holy” union or anything like that. Rather, I think marriage is something very intimate….something you should go in for only when you feel you’ve reached a level in your love for the other person where you can put them before yourself – though by this, I don’t mean you should be a martyr.

You should have kids when you want to & not because you’re getting paid to do it. Similarly, you should support a religion you believe in, not something you’re being paid to support. Imagine getting paid or asking for money to have a child! How ridiculous is that??

Are these people really so out of touch with reality? Or are they just being practical, making sure they have enough resources for when they find themselves single again, given the divorce rates in their country?

What's your view on this?

Coming Full Circle

I have a new job. Well, it’s not exactly new, as in I’ve worked in the same organization before, doing the same drill, though I was "lower down the food chain” as they say in corporate lingo. So yes, the work profile is different, as are the expectations from me but the heart and soul of the organization are the same.

I work in a very niche industry – market research – or “consumer insights” as they call it these days. I started off my career with traditionally the best in the business (according to me...you could argue that, I wouldn’t). After four years of learning the ropes, I decided it was time to move on to another organization, to see what else lay outside the “consumer insights” behemoth I was part of. I’m glad I experimented, for it made me realize the place I was at earlier is really the best place to be – in terms of the value they give to clients, the work culture, organizational philosophy & work life balance.

The experiment also made me realize how important it is to be in sync with the values your organization embodies and propagates. They might be doing brilliant work but unless you identify with what they stand for & believe in, it’s going to be an empty, dissatisfying journey.

On that note, can we have the ‘Welcome Back’ e-mail please? :)

*****

It’s been a while since I posted. Yeah, yeah...6 days is quite a long time for me to stay away from this blog. The absence can be explained by visiting parents, birthday celebrations in the family, the first few unsettled days into the new job etc. Now I’m back and getting used to my personal laptop once again, having relegated it to being a back-up while I was lugging around my work laptop (it had a data card for internet access which was so very convenient, where as my personal laptop has a broadband which restricted my mobility).

*****

I absolutely adored him. I do, and will always remember him best as Johnny Castle – the man who Dirty Danced like a dream, sang ‘I’ve Had The Time of My Life’ to his girl, and defined sensual love for millions of teenage girls like me.

I felt really sad when I found out he has cancer, which was a few months ago, and worse to hear of his demise. I don’t think anyone could have played Johnny Castle quite like him. Haven't seen Ghost but it's definitely on my agenda.

This tribute comes a rather belatedly due to the reasons mentioned above but Patrick Swayze, thanks for giving us the weakness-in-the-knees-inducing Johnny Castle. You will be missed. RIP.

PS: My favorite songs from ‘Dirty Dancing’ are ‘I’ve had the time of my life’ (romantic), ‘Hungry eyes’ (lustful) & ‘Hey Baby’ (playful), though I luuuuurrrrve ‘em all. Which ones are your favorites?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Hmmm…Where do I begin? Irrespective of how good or bad the Potter movies are, I have to watch them simply because I’m a Potter-maniac.

To be fair to the movies, none of them have been bad on absolute terms but I think this one was relatively better than the other ones, in terms of doing justice to the book it is adapted from and its execution - probably because this movie didn’t require special effects at the same scale as the earlier movies, focusing instead on the budding romance between Harry & Ginny, and Hermione pining for Ron.

A good director can get the emotional bit right but when you're trying to aggrandize a movie in terms of its scale, there is a good chance you might lose the plot.

I didn’t think this movie was spectacular in terms of scale, the sets, visual effects etc. – because it wasn’t. The earlier movies had those on a much grander scale. But I enjoyed this movie. It was dark, funny, and the actors seem to have really come into their own.

I just wish Rowling hadn’t killed Dumbledore in the book. Did she really have to?

Go Watch It!

If you haven’t already that is.

I’m talking about ‘The Hangover’ – the low profile, low budget (?) movie that has taken theatres the world over by storm based mainly on word-of-mouth publicity, much like ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ did 7 years ago!

If I have ever seen a funny movie, 'The Hangover' has gotta be it. The movie is crazily hilarious! It’s about four guys - one of whom is getting married - who spend a crazy night in Vegas to celebrate a bachelor’s party. When they wake up the next morning, they have no recollection of anything that happened last night. They wake up to a room wrecked beyond recognition, a tiger in their bathroom & a baby in their cupboard! And they have lost their friend who is about to get married in a few hours!

They need to find their friend ASAP but with no recollection of what happened the night before, that is just a little bit difficult. They are left with no choice but to retrace their steps. Their journey back into time includes bizarre revelations about each of them, strippers, drug dealers, the Chinese mafia, the works!

The movie is insane. There are a few loopholes – things that are left unexplained – but you don’t question them b/c your sides are aching laughing. It’s a movie you can see over & over again and laugh just as hard every time. It’s Hollywood at its low-brow best but when they do it, they do it so much better than we do!

And oh, may I add that Bradley Cooper is H-O-T. In a very blue-eyed-white-American-boy way but he is smokin’ hot. And Zack Galifianakis (Alan in the movie) – he is fatal.

Angeli et Demoni

Much better than 'The Da Vinci Code' though by the same director, Ron Howard.

The movie takes you on a mad chase across Rome, at break-neck speed. It stays fairly true to the book and chances are that people who haven't read the book will not be able to grasp the movie completely. An example was a friend of mine who went..."It was OK. I didn't like it too much. The story isn't very interesting...something about religion & science." She obviously hasn't read the book!

I loved the arial shots of Rome. Just LOVED them! The shots of St. Peters Square, the Duomo, the Colosseum, the scenes inside the chapels. Makes my desire to visit Italy (and Europe) even stronger. Such history the city has!

Anyway, coming back to the movie...this one was much better directed & edited than 'The Da Vinci Code'. It was crisp & thrilling, ensuring that the audience doesn't lose attention for even a minute.

As far as the acting was concerned, all the main characters stepped on the gas pretty hard. One doesn't need to mention Tom Hanks. Ewan McGregor played the Camerlengo very well. Even the Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer did a good job of being the "exotic element" in the movie. This movie...or the book...was never about Vittoria Vettra anyway.

The hero of the movie was of course, the book. Dan Brown is probably the only author apart from JK Rowling whose imagination I think is truly out of this world. It's not something they could have acquired, it's something they are totally blessed with. It would've taken an insane amount of research on Catholicism, The Illuminati, The Knights Templar etc. to put the story together, no doubt, but a mindblowing imagination to even have thought of something like this

If you haven't watched the movie yet, I highly recommend doing so. But it would be better if you've read the book first. I think I'm going to go back and read the two books all over again. You go race across Rome!!

The (Slum)Dogs of India

Read this online...

Congress counts 8 Oscars as part of UPA `achievements'
24 Feb 2009, 1005 hrs IST, TNN

Keen to be part of the euphoric `Slumdog' bandwagon, Congress has counted the eight Oscars as part of the UPA's `achievements'. The party lost no time in claiming credit for the `Indian triumph' and hinted that good times had come with the UPA government.

In an unmistakable resonance of the previous NDA government's `India Shining' slogan, Congress floated the idea of an `achieving India' and listed among the milestones the Indo-US nuclear deal, Chandrayaan, near 9% growth and the total sweep of the Oscars.

"They represent the finest traditions of our film industry and are an inspiration to all of us," Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said. Her party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi went a few steps ahead and termed Slumdog Millionaire "a film of India, for India, by India" and talked about the "conducive atmosphere with emphasis on good governance contributing to an achieving India".

Sensing a feel-good factor before the elections in the massive success of the film, the party sought a closer association with it. Singhvi raised a toast to the film's music director, A R Rahman, calling him a "wonderful symbol of India" and embodiment of Indian nationalism.

Unable to wait for the Oscar moment to slip away, the spokesman sought to put the good story in perspective by contrasting it with what he projected as the BJP's disruptive politics. "There are parties drawing us back to the dark ages," he said. Making the reference to the rival BJP clear, Singhvi targeted L K Advani for the "gimmickry of rath yatras and pumping iron before the cameras".

Reminded of the criticism the film had drawn for showcasing India's poverty, Singhvi said such laurels had not gone to every other poor country. "Half the world is poor, there are countries poorer than India; but the film is a celebration of creativity," he said.

I really have no words to describe our politicians except that they're unparalleled in the world.

Unrelated to these claims but on a similar topic, agreed that 'Slumdog...' may not be a great piece of cinema (though I personally liked it quite a bit except for some inconsistencies/loopholes in the script) but we need to see it in the right context - which is the context of global cinema, and Hollywood in particular.

Hollywood isn't used to this kind of cinema. It's probably the first time they've seen a movie based on the slums of a "third world" country. For them, 'Slumdog...' had a novelty factor attached to it. Plus, people in America generally have such a financially secure existence, thoughts & visions of poverty move them. And when it is shown as graphically as it was in 'Slumdog...', well, they give awards.

Coming to those who've been saying 'Slumdog...' isn't the greatest of Rahman's work, and so a big deal should not be made of his win at the Oscars....Again, we need to see Rahman's work in the global context. Rahman has so far worked solely in the Indian film industry. This is the first time he worked on an international platform and his work was appreciated. His earlier movies were not promoted at an international level, nor were they meant for the international market. Had they been international films, who knows, he would've won much earlier!

Though I get the most baffled by people who're going about saying that with 'Slumdog Millionnaire', Indian cinema has arrived, the world is at Bollywood's feet etc. Do they not realize that 'Slumdog...' is in no way representative of Indian cinema? It is a movie based on India, with India as a backdrop, a movie 'on' India & not 'by' India. So what are we exulting for? Indian cinema has not arrived or gone anywhere! The only people who you can say have arrived are Rahman & Resul Pookutty. Had the movie had an Indian director/producer, one could've said Indian cinema is going places. 'Slumdog...' is a Hollywood movie.

And then of course, there is the controversy about the makers of 'Slumdog...' selling India's poverty to the West for their own gains. Well, Arvind Adiga should be accused of the same then? Read 'The White Tiger' and you'll know what I'm talking about. It's also one of the most well written books of recent times.

Coming back to the 'Slumdog...' controversy, Danny Boyle was not making a documentary on India. Neither was he on a 'let's-help-the-children-of-Mumbai-slums' charitable mission. He was making a movie and the purpose of any movie, apart from entertaining, is to make money. What part of that is not understood? In fact, the makers of 'Slumdog...' have made investments in the names of the child actors of the movie (who were taken right out of the slums) which will pay off once the kids turn 18. Something to the tune of 25 lakhs per child. There are so many Indian film makers who make money out of showcasing Indian poverty. Have they ever done something like this?

Heck, have we - the citizens of India - done anything to alleviate the poverty in our country except pretending that it doesn't exist! We live in the high-rises of Colaba, Cuffe Parade & Bandra where property prices are out the roof, with slums in our backyard!! Yet, we cringe when those very slums are shown on screen. Why? Let's face up to reality. Such cruel poverty exists & it exists all around us! But since we choose to pretend it doesn't exist, an outsider needs to come to our country & remind us of it by shoving it in our faces.

So let's not prosecute others unless we are willing to take blame for our own apathy, insensitivity & inaction. Fair enough?

Iski Toh Nikal Padi.....Again

Not bad, huh? Any takers? :)

Iski Toh Nikal Padi

Freida Pinto did not have much screen time in 'Slumdog...'. BUT she got to be on stage with Liam Neeson and has signed Woody Allen's next movie that stars Anthony Hopkins!

Know that many of Allen's actresses have gone on to win the Oscar. Case in point...Mira Sorvino for 'Mighty Aphrodite', Diane Keaton for 'Annie Hall' & Penelope Cruz for 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. Will Freida Pinto be next?

Who knows! Anything's possible!!

What I would like to know is - where did a born-and-brought-up-in-Mumbai girl pick up the kitsch accent from, that was on display at the Oscar red carpet? It was neither English, nor American, nor Indian.

When will us Indians learn to accept ourselves for what we are?