Yes! It's been a year. Now that is an achievement of some sorts! For a person who thought he wouldn't last for more than six months in this organisation, he has actually spent a year. And this year has been, to use a chiche, (Oh! I am so fond of cliches!), a 'steep learning curve'!
Yes, it has been a learning curve, albeit a bit different.
Working in a business channel, over the past 365 days I have come into contact with the stock markets almost every single day. Stock Markets are also known as Capital Markets which itself is an interesting name. Apart from the financial connotations of the word Capital, it also denotes a sense of being 'primary', and that states a lot about our stock markets. Yes, they have become the Primary mode of transaction in our country. And with the hullabaloo over the Sensex, this epithet is not unjustified. Every move the Sensex makes, is being followed by hundreds of devotees. So much so that it has spurned atleast 4 exclusive media channels, and this is not taking into account the hourly market updates on numerous general news channels, or the multitude of newspapers. It is this phenomenon that has caught my attention. Call it the Stock syndrome, or anything else ,this is the subject of my interest. This is my learning curve, or should I say a learning hole.
What is the basis of this obsession? Why does the rise and fall of a curve the reason of such emotional responses? Why do news channels go ballistic when the Sensex touches the 21,000 mark, and why do they go into a condolence mode when it crashes a thousand points?
Are there any answers? I doubt there are, but I can offer an explanation. Inspite of waht my learned colleagues might claim, 'trading' is no better than organised betting. Companies worth a crore have been valued at 40 times their asset by the Market. It is mere speculation that drives share prices northwards. And speculation is an integral part of our 'Capital Markets'. The channels with their numerous gurus make their living speculating.
Isn't speculation also a part of betting? How is quoting a target price for a particular stock different from betting on a number for huge returns? It is this inherent characteristic that drives investors crazy and the cause for such emotional outbursts?
And this is what spurns me.
Ever since its inception only 65 lakh 'investors' have ever made a transaction. That number might look big, but in comparison to our 100 crore plus population, it is a measly 0.065%! And we have four dedicated television channels catering to this minuscule number. If you don't find this ridiculous, then there is some cause for concern.
The impassioned response against Capital Gains tax and Commodities transaction tax is/was ludicrous. The CTT intends to propose a tax of Rs. 17 on transactions worth One lakh...Yes, One lakh! The arguments against the imposition state a decline in turnover, and a loss of trade!Is a person making transaction worth a lakh of rupees incapable of paying Rs.17 as tax?
The answer what our channels and their viewers would like to hear is- NO
And this has been my learning hole!
And into this hole I come everyday, praying that old adages come true, and there is indeed some light at the end of the tunnel.
Psychological aberrations seem to be the flavour of the season.After Aamir Khan made a stunning debut as a director, with dyslexia as his subject, Ajay Devgan too, chose Alzheimer's as a case study for his first film (as a director). So did he match up to his more illustrious peer? Yes, he did, but 'U Me aur Hum' is not just about Alzheimer's. It's a study about love, friendship, and companionship. It's about emotions, and the evolution of emotions.
Irrespective of whether this film makes a mark at the box office, or not, 'U Me aur Hum', has broken new grounds within the paradigm of the conventional love story. And this is what makes this film watchable. The first half has all the elements of a typical Masala film. A guy falls in love with a sultry bar waitress, and then the follows the oh-so-familiar wooing game. But this film does not end where most love stories do...And the second half is delightful. Devgan has showed a lot of maturity in the portrayal of the love struck couple. They are so close and yet so far...
Devgan deserves kudos for the use of sound effects. UMH has utilised sound effects womderfully, and I can't recall any film apart from TZP to have used sound so effectively. The scene where Alzheimer's makes its first appearance (Kajol stranded on the street) has that disturbing screeching sound...and my friend just could not bear it...Well, thats the power of Sound effects, and it did exactly what it was meant for...to force the audience to sit up and take notice.
The sensitivity with which the character's are treated, makes this film a treat to watch. You may argue, but what makes me enthusiastic about this film, is that 'filmi' characters are slowly evolving into men and women. The stereotype is slowly giving away for more realistic portrayals. I don't know whether that's desirable or not, but it certainly adds another layer to the text. Ajay's soliloquy deserves a special mention, because rarely in Hindi cinema do we find such elements. Soliloquies have faded away from all forms of cinema, and it's a refeshing change to see one after such a long time. And Kajol's subdued performance is perhaps one of her best.
But this film too has it's own share of flaws,the first being the editing. It could have been much tighter. The sub-plots (involving the side characters) are not treated with the same seriousness, and have been reduced to mere lampoons. The first half is tacky and full of cheap humuor (Men are like mice, always looking for a hole), but then even the finest of all directors also make mistakes, and this perhaps reinstates that the Director too, is a human being, fallible...just like 'U Me OR Hum'
बस कुछ अधूरे ख्वाब हैं
कुछ आधे लम्हें
कुछ अनकहे से जवाब भी हैं
जो पुकारते है तुम्हें
कुछ भूली हुई यादें हैं
कुछ अनलिखे से ख़त
एक आधी सी बोतल में
कैद है एक गुज़रा हुआ व़क्त
कुछ अधूरे गीत हैं
और एक अनसुनी सी धुन
तुम्हारे संग बिताएं हुए पल बिखरे हैं
और बिखरा हूं मैं भी
i am like dust ...
blown by the wind...
misunderstood..
loved yet hated ..
despised yet wanted...
from a shadow i emerge...
only to disappear in the darkness..
of the Sun..
walking the last mile...
yet its just the beginning
of a journey of thousand miles
and perhaps, as few smiles...i put on the garb of a saint
smear myself with holy paint....
just to escape those thousand eyes...
looking blindly ...
i know they cant see anything ...
neither can they hear..
(they are deaf too)
but am too afraid too scream ...
in case that awakens them from their slumber...
but ...
but...
its harder...
than you think...
its not a pretty pink .....
neither its blue...
or black
or orange...
its a murky colorless red
but slowly the color fades..
and leaves behind a stain...
to remind you of the pain...
and perhaps the joys too....
sometimes I cry...
atleast I try ...
but tears elude me...
and the smile sneers...
and so do my peers..
perhaps its destiny ...
or its THE opportunity....
that i have let go ...
that i had held onto...
only to let it slip...
'cause the harder u try to squeeze...
the faster it vanishes...
like sand...
like water...
on a trepid stretch of land....
someday...
sometime...
the wind will blow...
and grains of sand would glow...
in the embers...
and then....an amber....
i would be there...
Do fast cuts and faster cars make a movie pacy? If the director duo Abbas-Mastan are to be believed, they do. In this MTV age, the attention span of the average audience has reduced dramatically, and so, the song sequences started looking like the videos that they show on television. Probably, this is the first time the entire film has been shot like a Music Video. The eclectic camera movements along with faster cuts, and an erratic storyline,leaves your head spinning! Yes, this movie should have been named Vertigo!!!
In this tale of modern day Ram and Bharat, the script goes totally awry. With innumerable twists and turns, the movie seems like one big maze! Find your way out, if you can!!! To be honest, the twists, in the beginning, do add to the excitement (Well, I got excited seeing Katrina, what if she can't act!) But in an attempt to keep the audience hooked, the Directors have gone overboard. Chota Bhai, Akshaye wants to bump off Bada Bhai, Saif, to get a hundred million in insurance...Wow! such an 'original' storyline!After a murder attempt goes awry, chota Bhai decides to take matters into his own hand, and tries to pull off the biggest heist in the history of Cinema. But after 'racing' through the 'twisted' script, the shady Ram triumphs over shadier Bharat! And in the process, the brothers must have blown up more than five million on swanky cars, booze, bribes and not to mention their medical bills/pills! So much so for a Million!
The characters in this movie are uni-dimensional, Saif is no better than a card-board cutout of his 'Provogue' campaign, and Akshaye Khanna seems just a shadow of his brilliant self ('Sid' in DCH was the show-stealer for me. Bipasha is good, but has been better elsewhere, and yes Katrina...what can one say about her! She looks stunning but somebody please tell her that an actor also needs to act! I think Anil Kapoor is not being 'chooosy' about his roles, otherwise how did he he land up in this re-cycled trash.(*Somehow the movie reminds me of re-cycled trash...Re-cycled trash looks good, but is useless) With Anil's entry in the second half, the film makes yet another turn from the body to the bawdy. Lewd puns on Bananas do leave a very bitter after-taste. And Sameera seems to have resigned to her fate, as a cleavage showing mannequin.
So, is there anything good about Race? Yes, the cars! This film is a virtual car catalogue!Almost every label is on show...from Merc to Mazda! A wet dream for the car crazy! So if you love Cars and Katrina....go ahead and watch this!!!
