Jab Harry Met Sejal (2017)

Disclaimer - This post may burn a few hearts.

So, yes, I watched Jab Harry met Sejal - written and directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Anushka Sharma & Shah Rukh Khan and a good supporting cast.

The story goes like this -
A Gujarati Girl, Sejal (Anushka Sharma) goes for a month long Europe Holiday with her family, where she gets engaged but loses the ring at the end of the trip. Looking at Sejal's recklessness her Fiancé gets angry at Sejal as the ring is heirloom. Sejal takes this to her ego and goes back from airport itself to find the ring instead of coming back to India. Obviously, her first and final choice to find the ring is Harry (Shah Rukh Khan) who is her tour guide. After refusing to help initially, Sejal convinces (in a weird way, though) Harry to help her finding the lost ring. A series of funny and romantic incidents make Sejal's traceback journey interesting. At some times, Sejal and Harry pretend to be a real life lovers. In the end, how and where she finds the ring and how the movie ends is better seen on screen.

Its not just about finding the lost ring - its about finding the missing piece of life. and even if its about missing ring, see the way Imtiaz has portrayed it..

I personally believe that there are always two flows in any form of visual art. One is what audience perceive and another, more important is what artist is trying to convey. Imtiaz Ali is totally convinced and firm on his views here too as always! I feel we, as Indian audience, take movies starring superstars very casually and lose out on what exactly the director wants to convey. Story for this specific movie is simple & uncomplicated love story if you see superficially, but there's a strong current of a genuine human tendencies, complex emotions, and cultivated mindsets. Its nice to see Shah Rukh Khan as a normal working professional who can be in anyone's life. I appreciate his efforts to come out of his comfort zone of being in a larger than life role. Anushka is pleasant on screen and does her job perfectly. Side characters are also important and well utilized.

If you've seen Imtiaz Ali's earlier movies, you would have observed a pattern - he always plays with very complex human emotions brilliantly and he can easily make people cry the very next moment they are found laughing. Here also, there are some very typical of Imtiaz painted scenes. When Sejal finds that amazing comfort with Harry, she doesn't hesitate to sleep besides him, cuddled, and audience doesn't find it wrong - how come an engaged girl does like this? - I think all such questions we should leave behind. The director expects the audience to fill some gaps in the story on their own. He expects you to be an intelligent audience and wants you to think beyond what is just shown on screen.

Sejal repeatedly asks Harry - how am I? Don't you find me sexy? Don't you feel like doing something to me - this insecurity of her goes to an extent that she's ready to sign a indemnity bond with Harry that if anything happens between Harry and her, its completely her responsibility and Harry not be blamed. See the undercurrent again - She's not being appraised or appreciated by a man of her ring - her fiancé but craves for words of appreciation from Harry, who finds her cute, sweet and sister type - which she finds insulting because probably its enough of her being sweet girl. Her reaction in the end of the movie when Harry kisses her is fantabulous. By the way, this is first ever on screen kiss from the King of Romance - and Anushka "seals" it beautifully! The women in Indian society have been facing this issue of not being appreciated by their own men, is put forth by the director in a very subtle manner.

May it be arranged marriages or love, the charisma of the relationship can be there forever if taken extra efforts, I strongly feel.

There are some well directed and well thought of scenes in JHMS to make the movie impactful. The scene where Harry saves Sejal from a pub, Sejal fights for Harry in a restaurant against his Ex-girlfriend, are wonderfully portrayed. Sejal strongly makes an impression on Harry and convinces him to go back home, in Frankfurt - as he avoids going there because of his ex-girlfriend. She also attends the marriage of his colleague and when asked about what is the chemistry between her and Harry, she waits for him to answer. He prefers not to open his heart as Sejal is a client afterall and he feels he's a cheap and just a tour guide.

Harry - A person who left his home at very young age, to go to Canada (a lifestyle dream of many people in that region in India) lands up in Europe and works as a tour coordinator. He has some disturbing memories of things back home which make him cry, make him not go back to the concept called as home. A home is a place everyone wants to be at, that's the most comfortable place for us. He struggles there. Big time. Think of a situation where you have a routine nomadic life - and there is a home, but you don't want come back there.

Every one of us has some or the other emotional block and we need to come up with a solution for good. This movie also speaks about speaking out one's emotions about the special person in our life and that too at right time. Life hardly gives us second chances and one needs to be an opportunist to grab the things at right time when it is in front of us.

There have been rounds of debates on Shah Rukh Khan's age and his choice of movies. I don't find this act of his strange, rather the Hero has become a subtle actor here. The scenes where he has shown the emotional turmoil within is worth watching and appreciating.

Overall performance of the actors is excellent. Music could have been better, though, songs are written beautifully. Picturesque locations and edited well, so overall impact comes as expected.

I would have loved to see their after marriage life for some time, though.

My rating - 4.0 on 5.
Direction - 4.5/5
Acting - 4.5/5
Music - 3.0/5
Dialogue -4.0/5

Recommendation - Go for a non glam SRK and Anushka + A good direction by Imtiaz.

एक गाव

एक छान गाव होतं.

एका मोठ्या शहराच्या हद्दीला लागूनच हे आपलं गाव. भरपूर झाडी, नदीकिनारी, शेती वगैरे असलेलं.. त्या गावातली लोकं अत्यंत सुखासमाधानाने राहायची, पंचक्रोशीत कोणाचेही कोणाशी तंटे नाहीत, भांडणं नाहीत..
त्या गावाची माहिती एका प्रधानाला कळली. प्रधान गावाच्या भेटीला आला, सामान्य वेशात, कोणालाही कळणार नाही असा. त्यानं शेतजमीन बघितली, काही नमुने गोळा केले आणि तज्ज्ञांना दाखवायला म्हणून घेऊन गेला.
जाता चहाला थांबला असताना त्याला एका गावकऱ्यानी विचारलं, "कुठुनसा आलास बा?"
"मी? शेजारच्या शहरातून!" प्रधान उत्तरला.
"काय काम काढलं हिकडं गावात?" गावकरी.
"तुमच्या शेतीबद्दल बरंच ऐकलंय, एक दोन चार बिघा जमीन घ्यावी म्हणतो" प्रधान.
"चांगलीच आहे जमीन, पण इकायला कोणी काढलीय?" गावकरी.
"पैसे देईन ना भरपूर!" प्रधान
गावकाऱ्याला काय बोलू कळलंच नाही. पैसे समोर आल्यावर काय करायचं त्या पैशांचं? पोरं सुखानी राहतायत. कुटुंबाला व्यवस्थित खायला मिळतंय. मग कशाला हवेत अजून पैसे, असा त्याचा माफक प्रश्न.
"चला येतो" प्रधान म्हणाला, आणि निघाला.
"हां, या परत!" गावकरी स्वतःच्याच तंद्रीत म्हणाला
"यावंच लागेल" प्रधान मिश्किल हसत हसत निघून गेला
गावकाऱ्याला पडलेला प्रश्न अजून सुटेच ना! पैसे मिळाल्यावर करायचं काय? असो, वेळ आली की बघू, असं म्हणत त्यांनी चहा संपवला आणि आपल्या घराकडे निघाला.
घरी आला, बायकोला किस्सा सांगितला, बायको म्हणाली "तुम्ही ना मुलुखाचे वेंधळे, सांगायचं की, आमची थोडी जमीन घ्या विकत तुम्ही, आणि त्या बदल्यात पैसे घ्या"
गावकरी म्हणाला, "पण त्या पैशांचं करायचं काय?"
बायको म्हणाली, "बँकेत टाकायचे, व्याजावर, खूप मिळतं म्हणे तिकडे शहरात!" "पण आपली गरज आहे तितके पैसे मिळतात आपल्याला, वर उरतात सुद्धा थोडे. जमीन वगैरे मी काही विकणार नाही."
हा विषय त्या घरात तिथेच थांबला, बायको बिचारी चरफडत राहिली.

त्या रात्री त्या गावकाऱ्याला झोप लागली नाही. तोच प्रश्न त्याच्या डोक्यात घोळत राहिला, "पैशांचं करायचं काय?"

दिवसामागून दिवस गेले, पावसाळा गेला, मग अचानक राजानी गावात दवंडी पिटवली, राजाचा दरबार भरणार आहे गावात.
"आपल्या गावात राजा येणार? किती छान!" गाव एखाद्या नुकत्याच वयात आलेल्या मुलीसारखं सजलं. गावाला सजवण्यात आपला गावकरी पण आघाडीवर होता!

राजा आला! त्यानी विचारलं, "तुमच्यापैकी किती जण शेजारच्या सुंदर शहरात जाऊन आला आहात?"
काही तुरळक हात वर आले
"बरं, तुमच्यापैकी किती जण तिथे राहून आला आहात?"
कोणाचाच हात वर आला नाही, लोकांना कळतंच नव्हतं की राजाला नक्की काय म्हणायचं आहे.
राजा म्हणाला, "बरं, तुम्ही शहरात गेला नाहीत म्हणून काय झालं, शहर तुमच्याकडे येऊ शकतं ना!" गावकरी अजून बुचकळ्यात.
"आज आम्ही एक निर्णय घेतला आहे, तुमच्या शेतजमिनीपैकी प्रत्येकानी थोडी थोडी जमीन राज्याला दान करायची, दान कशाला, राज्य ती जमीन पैसे देऊन कागदोपत्री व्यवहार करून विकत घेईल, तुम्हाला त्याचे भरपूर पैसे मिळतील"
आपला गावकरी राजा बोलता बोलताच मध्ये उठला, उभा राहिला, आणि त्यानी राजाला सवाल केला, "पण या पैशाचं करायचं काय?" प्रधान लगबगीने त्याच्याकडे आला, "सांगतो", आणि त्याला बाजूला घेऊन गेला.
मग राजानी सगळ्या गावाला, गावकऱ्यांना शहराचे फायदे सांगायला सुरुवात केली.
"भरपूर पाणी, वीज, पक्के रस्ते".. वगैरे वगैरे..
"हे शहर झालं की बाहेरची, विदेशातली लोकं इथे राहायला येतील, त्यांच्यामुळे तुमच्या धंद्याला, मालाला अजून उठाव मिळेल".. वगैरे वगैरे..
"तुम्हाला शेती सोडून देता येईल, तुमच्या पोरं बाळांना शेती करायची नसेल तर त्यांना सुद्धा काही वेगळे उद्योग करता येतील, त्यासाठी मी कर्ज देईन" वगैरे वगैरे..
गावातली तरूण जनता या शब्दगणिक भुलत चालली होती, नागोबाच्या पुंगीवर डुलत चालली होती.

काळ लोटला, लोक बदलले, त्या गावाचं शहर होतंय!
भरपूर पाणी, वीज, पक्के रस्ते.. बाहेरची, विदेशातली लोकं, धंद्याला, मालाला अजून उठाव, पोराबाळांचे वेगळे उद्योग, हे सगळं होता होता त्या गावचं गावपणच हरवतंय, मोठ्या मोठ्या गाड्या रस्त्यावरून फिरू लागल्या, पण त्या गाड्या वेगात जाताना रस्ता कसा ओलांडायचा हेच या गावकऱ्यांना कळत नाहीये. आपला माल कसा विकायचा आणि आपल्याला अजून अजून पैसेच कसे मिळतील याच्या मागे सगळेच पाळतायत

पण त्या गावकाऱ्याला पडलेल्या प्रश्नाचं उत्तर मात्र अजून कोणालाच सापडलं नाही, "या पैशांचं करायचं काय?"

ता. क. - या कथेचा हिंजवडीशी संबंध जाणवला तर तो योगायोग समजावा!

Pairing!!

This is a general observation and I severely felt to write something on this!!
It may happen that many may relate this to their own lives or even mine.. :P
But I believe that's the beauty of Panorama!! ;)

Perhaps every relationship is doomed to monotony after a while. Or perhaps some people are just wired a different way. They are cursed to yearn for love and romance even when they've had it. They have the bottomless cup that never fills even if you keep pouring world's finest wines into it.

Drunks should not be paired with sober people. Sober people want more out of life. Drunks just want one thing - one more glass of gin, one more shot of whiskey. They want the same thing over and over again. Just one more. And sober people are not willing to keep a cellar full of just that. And yet all drunkards are cursed to ask the sobers to fill their cup, and it never really works. They won't love them back. You just have to find peace with it. Relish in the memory of the sweet taste of heaven, spend your remaining days yearning for the magnificent beauty of the first sighting of the damned wine. Find time to love and hate and love again, and never truly feel satisfied.

her rain!

She spent the better part of the night listening to the rain tapping on the window right above her head. She listened as it hit different places of her home - how it sounded on the roof, on the porch, on the ground, at the window. Soon the pipes from the roof were full and started draining. It sounded like a water fall nearby.

Rain is not a single sound but an orchestra full of melodies. It demands attention. You are suddenly not where you were before, floating slowly with the tunes. It makes one want to believe for a moment that we are all dreamers, waiting to completely get away from reality.

She opened the window a bit at some point in the night and let the breeze and some drops fall on her pillow, and her face. She could smell the fall - the wet soil, the wet trees, and the cold air.

She played some blues at 3 in the morning. It was her favorite song. She smiled. The rain stopped. The breeze picked up. The clouds roared. Then the rain began again. She heard the train howling in the distance.

She fell asleep as the morning light started to hit the rain drops. She woke up to a wet, cold pillow and the curtains flying everywhere.

Something wonderful happens to the whole place when it rains...
She woke up smiling.

he wants..

He wants to insist on taking her back to a simpler life...

A life where you turned the radio on in the morning and not the iPad, life where you brewed coffee and stuck around long enough to feel its aroma spread through the house, where you take a moment to feel the weight of the warm blanket on you, and appreciate the soft sheets and the hard pillows. Open the window and smell the trees - not the flowers but the trees. Name every creature, alive or inanimate, because they all deserve some identity.

He wants to make sure that she takes naps especially when her brain was in overdrive. 

He wants her  to spend no less than an hour at the bookstore even if she has no intention of buying anything. 

He wants to show her how to keep her face close to the cup and blow on the hot tea so she can feel the heavenly warmth on her face. 

They want to practice, and continue to practice patience - they should started small - waiting for the water to get warm, patiently watching the YouTube video to load, waiting for the coffee to cool down enough so it doesn't burn the tongue, slowing down at the yellow light instead of speeding up, keeping the phone away for a few minutes and laying down to stare at the ceiling. 

He wants to insist on "giving" - be it to her, to a friend, or to someone in need. 'coz he needs to be a better person to make her happier! and to make the lives simpler!

He wants to show her the joys of being sung a lullaby as she drifts off to sleep, and the importance of sleeping - to shut it out, to let it go, to allow your body to be at peace even if only for half an hour.

He wants her to control her anger, to let someone else win for a change. 

Over the years, he wants her realize that everyone is a flawed person. 

The realization should not make anyone sad or angry. It makes us humble. 

He wants her to realize that people make mistakes - that she has made mistakes, even he has made blunders and the world hasn't come to an end. 

The world doesn't come to an end for anyone. He wants succeed in making her a better person, a simpler person, a happier person, and make her life full of nice things!

He wants their life uncluttered by things - mind free - all the junk is cleaned out. He wants them to live in moment that live out the things they buy and the things they get worked up about. He wants to make her feel like a little girl learning it all over again. 

and ultimately he wants her to know she has so much space and so much peace inside her..

wait..

Moonlight becomes you..
I'm thrilled at the sight..
And we could get so romantic tonight..
You're all dressed up to go dreaming.

Sinatra sang in her ears as she sat on one of the benches in a park nearby.. She has yet to find her favorite bench. But she is working on it. (But she has been telling herself that for years now). Ideally she won't be sitting here alone. She would be sharing this beautiful view of the water and the even more beautiful city beyond the water with him. She carries a splitter in her purse nowadays - that little piece of wire that lets you connect two different headphone sets to the same outlet. She carries it around in case she ever gets to reenact a scene from Begin Again. She probably won't.

She has been carrying a sickness in her heart for so many years. Every now and then she realizes that and she wants to cry. But no tears come out. It's just sort of a sick sadness. Sad sickness. This life can't be so short. These nights can't be so long.

Perhaps some day she will put her act together and find a favorite bench, and walk long enough with him to call it an actual walk. For now, its just Mr. Sinatra and her - as we have been for many years.

What a night to go dreaming.

This is a work of fiction.

Friday Nothings

I walked in the apartment at 1:24pm on a Friday. I didn't remember the last time I saw my apartment with the sunlight on a weekday. But not that Friday. That Friday was a start of a vacation. I had absolutely nothing to do for the next three days. I could finally just sit there and read a book that I had been meaning to for so long, or drink lots of coffee or spend all my days at a bookstore or go get lost somewhere in the mountains, or I could have just continued to lie on the couch and do absolutely nothing.

Isn't that nice? To have absolutely nothing to do for a little while? It is a rare blessing in the kind of life I lead and perhaps you do too. I was quite happy. But only for that Friday. That half a day of beautiful nothingness. The rest of the time, one thing or another came up as it always does. So many errands needed to be run, bills needed to be paid, people needed to be seen, family needed help, and before I knew it I was sucked back into everything else, and that empty space was filled again with all sorts of tasks, except anything meaningful.

I wonder if we ever really get to do what we really want to do in life. When does happiness last for more than half a day. When, if ever, do we truly get to live..

Eclipsed

It's been four years since he last spoke to her. Four years.
That's how long it takes to graduate from college.
That's how long it takes for February 29 to come back around, and that's how long it takes for us to experience a total solar eclipse.

He'd like to think that it has been four years because they have just lost touch, like it happens when people grow old, move away and become busy with their careers. He'd like to think that she has moved far away, to a sunny state, for a job or may be even a Masters. He'd like to think that she is so terribly busy with the long hours and the beaches and the hikes she loved so much that she has no time to pick up the phone and call him. He'd like to think that she is really happy. That she has found a man who adores her, she has already moved in with him in an artist's studio apartment with white brick walls, and spectacular views of the city. He'd like to think that she has made new friends, and she goes out every weekend, gets drunk and then spends the Sundays hungover, so obviously she's been unable to call him over the weekends.

He'd even like to think that she is really angry with him. Perhaps over a silly little thing he did back in the day. Or perhaps because he really hurt her. Because he is an awful, terrible human being whom she completely despises. He'd like to think that she refuses to speak to him again. He can live with that.

He'd like to think that she is not dead. She is pissed off, busy, far away, happy, angry, moved-on, does-not-care-for-me-anymore, but not dead.

In the memory of adorable angel (1986-2006)
- scribed on 11th July 2010

Love time!

While writing this I already have hit the sack but feeling insomniac.
Just a few thoughts about the Valentine's Day..

The last time I checked, this was supposed to be a day to celebrate love. Not a day that would make us feel lonely, and sad, and sometimes just desperate. We all feel lost sometimes but it almost seems like this day is now designed to make us feel more lost. If romantic love has entered your life, that's wonderful. Try to take out some time today and acknowledge it. If love has not swept you off your feet yet, it will come to you when it is ready. You can't find love, love will have to find you, and it will. Your only job is to make sure you let it in when it does find you. Its when you are not expecting it that it will hit you hardest — and isn't that what makes life so tragically wonderful?

Until then, trust that the universe knows what it is doing and focus on making yourself better for when love does come knocking at your door or bumping into you around the corner of a coffee shop. You must learn to be patient.

Just remember today that you are not alone, unless you choose to be, and deep down inside you, you already know that.

Sound Sleep...

Everyone of us has an idea about how our life partner should be.. but its not easy to find right person at the right time. Its not actually about right or wrong.. they are just relative phenomena. Let's say.. its all about finding a perfect match!

He was the most unlikely of companions. She didn't think she would have anything in common with someone who loves to be with himself. She didn't think that she would like a thick beard on a man's face either. It hides the face and she always liked looking. Neither did she want too tall. But there he was. Five feet eleven and supporting a thick french beard, not to mention loved being with himself.

She'd hoped that it would happen. That they would meet again. That she'd finally be able to have all the conversations with him that she only had in her mind. She had imagined the meeting a few different ways. Perhaps she'll be visibly excited, smiling, beaming with joy, shy, quiet, hesitating to make eye contact. None of that mattered now that he was here. Sitting right next to her on that beige sofa in his living room. He was looking at her quietly.

Suddenly, she felt sleepy. Of all the scenarios she had played out in her head for this moment, feeling sleepy was not one of them. She tried not to yawn. She leaned towards him, as if she was about to kiss him. But she didn't. She leaned further into him so that he had to lean back and lie down - she on top of him. When she put her head on his chest, she felt a familiar scent, but she couldn't make much of it. She was too sleepy for that. She closed her eyes while her fingers played with his fingers.

The way she slept, with her face softened and arms wrapped around his shoulders, was beautiful. She hadn't slept like that in a long time.