INDULGENCES

 I watch movies, tv-shows, sitcoms, web series etc. A lot. This blog is about some of them. I do not claim to have great taste. That is yours to judge. 

When I watched this movie for the first time I was very young. My father had rented the CD. I didn’t understand a thing thanks to elitist Urdu spoken by the characters. Two years ago, I watched it again. And boy did I like it! I loved it. By that time I had developed some interest in shayari and stuff. So I could better understand the Urdu-laden dialogues. In fact for me the dialogues are the best thing about the movie. The lines are so poetic. At one point Salim says, “aql tamasha dekhti rahi aur ishq kadamon ka sahara lekar had se aage badh gya”. I wouldn’t even dare to translate.  Actually the plot of the movie hinges on story about a rebellious prince and his father who is a stickler. The prince is in love with a court- dancer/entertainer. The royal tradition forbids to marry out of the nobility class. The King takes measures to dissuade the prince from dereliction of duty and tradition. The prince on the other hand is ready to abdicate the royal status and privileges so that he could be with his lover. But the king would have none of it. All this culminates into a full fledged rebellion. Our generation, the ‘millenials’ would hold the king in wrong. Salim would be celebrated. But by the end of movie, I think, one can see reason in king’s actions too. And for me that is a huge point. The movie doesn’t conform to classical binary of things. Rather it portrays a never ending debate. It’s a tussle of love and passion versus duty and tradition. One can say that the conflict between individualism and collectivism has been always relevant.  The beautiful dialogues by all the characters add gravitas to the issue.  

As per dictionaries, a ‘white knight’ is someone who comes to rescue or aid of others. The Batman (supposedly protagonist) is mostly active during nights (as are bats). Hence the name ‘The Dark Knight’. That’s just my theory. However, Joker (supposedly the antagonist) attracts more attention and sometimes even, dare I say admiration too. He is also considered to be in the league of greatest of villains. The man is  pure evil. Like other villains he does horrible things. But his motive is quite unique. He doesn’t do what he does out of greed, vendetta or anything of that sort. Rather, the man appears to be a quintessential nihilist. And that’s particularly why he is a devil of a man! His greatest power is ability to change a person’s beliefs and values. He shakes the very faith that human by nature is good and moral. On contrary, he believes that given the right push or put in particular situations humans are capable of inhuman things. The Joker questions the validity of moral principles. The only order, according to him, that is true is absolute chaos! To prove his point he hatches diabolical plans. To what extent he succeeds, you ask? Well, I should spare you the spoilers!

You saw it right. I really am a fan of this movie. Madhuri Dixit is blessed with divine beauty and I am a great admirer of all things beautiful. But she isn’t the only reason why I like this movie. As all of you know it is a story of a very happy big joint rich family. Everyone is so nice to everyone. All family occasions are celebrated like a festival. For more than one and half an hour you keep smiling while watching the movie. Then a very unfortunate thing happens. A greater crisis arises. Divine interruption descends through the family pet dog. Everyone lives happily ever after. How nice! All of you must be smirking at my gullibility and probably saying ‘in reality things are different you idiot!’. Sadly, things really are different. I myself don’t know any happy big joint family till this point of my life. On contrary I’ve been heartbroken to see grown ups, related by blood fighting over even pettiest of  issues. But then fantasy is a great thing, isn’t it? This movie gives a chance to live that fantasy, although vicariously.

Thomas Robert Malthus, an English economist claimed that mankind is doomed to become extinct due to its very own actions.  According to his theory,  we were all supposed to die starving or in some other similar fashion. But we didn’t! However, Climate change is happening. Its effects are more evident than ever. If we don’t correct our course Malthus might haunt in our dreams saying “told you so!”. This movie is premised on similar predicament. Cooper is a NASA pilot. He flies spaceships. He has a daughter (the favourite one) and a son. The planet earth is failing to produce grains. Future on this planet looks bleak. Scientist at NASA have  only one solution. That is to find another planet where life is sustainable. Cooper must fly a mission to another galaxy in this search leaving his daughter. Mind you, this is an intergalactic flight and hence full of uncertainties. The daughter vehemently protests against his father’s plan. Cooper thinks that if he succeeds in finding another planet he would be saving his daughter’s life as well as rest of the mankind. And all this takes place in just about half an hour of the movie. There are so many great things about this movie. Background score for one is epic stuff. It makes you feel the urgency of the situation and high stakes associated to events as they unfold. Special mention must be made of Michael Caine reciting ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’. Goosebumps guaranteed! The movie is of sci-fi genre. But interestingly much of the movie is based on real science that has been researched. So much so that a renowned physicist was significantly involved in the making. Also, the pace of the movie is really good. You won’t be able to understand all the things at one go. Nonetheless it would keep you gripped. The movie keeps teasing you throughout. Most interestingly, the movie presents a very unique explanation of love in language of science. At one point Dr. Brand says “ Love isn’t something we invented. It’s observable, powerful, it has to mean something… Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space.”   

The mundane things that we do everyday aren’t most interesting, are they? This tv-show is about daily happenings in a paper company branch. There is a boss at the branch. He is a character hard to describe. Most of his actions and speech are politically incorrect, socially awkward and outright childish. For the first two seasons you’d hate the man. But don’t be surprised if by the end of show he becomes your favourite. And this would happen not on the account of drastic change in his behaviour. Then there is a salesman who is in love with the receptionist who is already engaged to another employee. This saga of unrequited love is one of a kind. There are other characters too, each with their own quirks.  The show runs for 9 seasons. Naturally, a pretty long span of lives of characters is covered. When the show ends you will feel like you too have lived as many years as the characters on the show did. It will make you feel nostalgic, relieved, pleasantly surprised at how things turn out. Somehow it reassures you that in the long run everything is going to be fine. Most importantly the show helps you find beauty, humour, thrill, warmth, and many more great things that are perceived to be ordinary and mundane.  

P.S. :- your recommendations are always welcome 🙏