Of KANK, life and such...

This is an extremely long and boring blog (with some spoilers), so if you are not particularly fond of Karan Johar, Hindi movies or well... my blogs.. stop right here and please continue doing whatever you were doing..

I saw 'Silsila' when i was just about wee bit. Since then I think I have seen it just about every time it has played on TV in the different cable channels. When I started buying/collecting DVD's of the movies that I have liked through the times, this one definitely features in the list. I am a great great fan of Yash Chopra and proud to say that I have seen all of his movies starting from 'Waqt' in the 60's. (ahem, not that I saw it in the 60's d'uh! but its from then you see).
So, I have quite a few of his movies in my collection. Silsila in particular has been a movie I have enjoyed immensely (much to my mum's chagrin! Imagine a 15 yr old really liking a movie about extra marital affairs, not quite something for a mum to gloat about :p). It has the most beautiful songs and its such a brilliantly made movie, the understated performance by Jaya and Sanjeev Kumar was such a pleasure to watch. Who can forget Rekha in those halter neck blouses, man she was sexy! My mum tells me that the halter necks were a craze after that and I am not surprised .. AB is AB and I rest my case...

Before you wonder whether this is a blog about Silsila, not really.. But it does start from there and I think its also a movie that inspires KANK. We all know Karan Johar has had all the Yash Chopra movies dissolved in his daily dose of horlicks and given to him even when he was about wee bit..

I have for reasons unknown always always liked the story of silsila even though it was not a movie which rocked the box office or was much talked about (at least not for the right reasons tho', the chemistry between AB and Rekha is palpable and you can almost feel it thru the screen I kid you not!). I think the movie, for the times it was set in, was quite futuristic and the indian sensibilities did not appreciate the fact that:

a. Extra marital affair was glorified enough to make a much hyped movie about it
b. The fact that an indian woman went out of her marriage to indulge in a relationship with another man..

Both the reasons I guess were justified in those times even though it was all BS. Point remains that it is till date the most sensitively made movie about a subject which is always been so controversial.

Since my younger days whenever I used to watch that movie I really empathised with Rekha and AB. I think its also the age which makes you think that love conquers all, no matter what you should fight for your love, you are entititled to love and happiness and blah blah...I am not saying it like a bad thing mind you. But I think that is the reason why I didnt see anything wrong with that story, I still struggle to find loops in it..

I have had heated debates with friends about how there was nothing wrong in the characters to find their true love even if it existed outside of their marriage. Mainly because the marriage itself was a compromise. The premise of the story apart from the whole love bit is about choices in life or the lack of...AB's character had a choice in the movie (if you havent seen the movie, and are interested plz watch it). But he decides to go a certain way and that decision paves the path for the rest of the movie.. There will always be a question of whether you can turn back time, the thought of reversing judgements and the integrity to stand by your decisions.. All these and more make the movie that much more interesting.

Kank unfortunately for me, lacks these basic convictions to begin with. It also starts with a decision made by Rani and the life there onwards. But the gaps are too distracting after you have seen the movie (ahem btw for the record I enjoyed the movie and as always I think Karan Johar has done a good job. I just tend to hash and rehash movies after seeing them :p).
There are 2 basic faults with the movie as far as I can see:

a. The whole Rani and Abhishek's marriage falling apart bit. You really are left wondering why is their marriage falling apart. You can see that a certain chemistry is missing but beyond that there are too many other indications to say otherwise. You see a very loving husband who as far as you can see has done nothing wrong and is not someone you cannot work on. Rani's character herself is shown to be amenable to making things work which does not happen if you have fallen out of love and have nothing to hold you back. The director makes it seem like they have compatibility issues and communication problems but there is not enough indication of that in the movie, so in the end you are like - Ok, I have been told that their marriage is not working so umm. instead of breaking my head over it might as well get over it so that the movie may move on (as it is its 3.5 hrs long!)
b. Whats up with SRK's character being so obnoxious???You almost do not feel any kind of sympathy or empathy for him. There are scenes in which I admit I felt like slappng him right across and asking him to shut up.. (and that given my usual dedication for his movies is saying a lot!). His marriage story again seems quite unfortunate but at least in this case you are being told that his wife has been too busy supporting him and the family. Which is fine and believable.. But honestly according to me, the only reason (tangible reason) you can see which broke his marriage was him. It was really his character which just stopped putting in enough for the marriage. I am almost scared to think if not for that what else could have been the reason.He is really shown to be a terrible dad and a terrible husband. There is a brilliant scene where Priety asks him if a husband is too busy providing for his family why is he not blamed for the lack of involvement and that according to me is pure directional excellence. So... if its really his sullen and insecure attitude that breaks his marriage, there is really no reason why he should find happiness elsewhere. I find that quite a hypocritical loop in the movie..

But having said all that, I have to say that I did enjoy the movie a lot, every melodramatic minute of it.. I am a complete sucker for Karan Johar movies and I will always be.. Despite that fact that the movie is long and melodramatic (those are the trademarks really), you have to give credit to Karan Johar for attempting a movie like this. A spinoff of Silsila in a modern age setting must have been a daunting task.. He is really a sensitive director who I think brings out certain nuances about human relationships and women which is not very common in the usual male dominated bollywood.

The performances are superb as usual (yes, SRK hams a lot but you hafta get over it by now!). Abhishek is underused I think. I personally have a soft spot for him and I hate to see him not being given an author backed role. He is capable of soo much more. But he does shine through some of the emotional scenes and honestly its his character which is really the ace in the whole movie..
AB is a surprise package in the movie as a casanova.. I am still struggling to get over it and its a little difficult you have to believe me. He does his best to portray that flamboyance but I think its 3 decades of living and feeding on a certain image which makes it very difficult to chew this avtaar of his. But kudos to him and the director to even venture in this direction..
Preity has very little to do in the movie except to look good and maybe its for the better, its a relief to see her not so hyperactive on the screen.
Rani is good, that girl has talent for sure, we have all seen it and I think we all agree to that so like in the case of AB, I don't think I need to elaborate.
Kiron Kher looks very cute :) She is becoming the modern day screen mom now.. I was really secretly wishing something would cook up between her character and AB's. In the middle of the movie I also wondered why Karan Johar could not get Rekha to play that role! It would really have been soo coool!!

There were a few scenes that stand out in my memory really:
a. The one I mentioned previously where Preity defends her busy life by comparing it to being the bread winner of the family. It stand out because it really shows the hypocratic mentality where men (ok people!) do not hesitate to point fingers at women the moment they get any busy with their professional lives.
b. The scene where Kiron Kher asks Preity whether she can stay with her after the divorce. That was such a minscule scene but I think one which really brings out a lot about the modern sensibilities. The beautiful part is the dialogue where she says - My son did not ask me before stepping out of this marriage and you did not ask me before throwing him out of the house....Its such a subtle indication of the modern age where youngsters no longer indulge in family discussions to decide matters of life or decisions pertaining to families. Times have changed....
c. Scene towards the end where AB comes to meet Rani to invite her for the wedding. Gosh I really had a lump in my throat during that scene..
d. The dinner table scene where everybody discusses boundaries in a relationship. It was a glimpse of what a great scene it could have been. A potent scene that could have really made a difference if explored properly with some intelligent dialogues. Instead it shows us a glimmer of how it could have been with just about 2-3 dialogues but nevertheless I think quite interesting.
e. Ah, my fav really, that 10 seeconds of Kajol on screen. Man motherhood really agrees with her! She looks stunning (I never thought I will say this about Kajol of all people!). She looks ravishing in a pink sari, absolutely in shape and the smile which really makes you miss her presence in the movie..

All in all a good movie to watch, it definitely does justice to what I expected from it despite whatever glitches.. The songs are awesome and in particular Mitwa is really great! I am not sure if the sound track is as popular as B&B but Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have definitely given a good score to back the movie..

All said and done, I really wonder whether even now I stand by the story of Silsila or not.. And somehow it causes a conflict in my sensibilities now that I am married myself.. I don't think a marriage is to be taken lightly. I am conventional, vot to do.. I truly believe that it is something which is of more permanence than anything else in your life so you better not have any doubts about it. If you do, take some time, think about it and only if you are really sure should you get into something like it.

I see people around me and I see them split into 2 categories, ones who are fast losing faith in the institution of marriage and ones who think its like a piece of footwear, you try to see if its fits you (if it doesnt try another one!). Both of which scare me because they are both extremes. Also unknown to them they are interrelated.. Its really the lack of understanding of what a marriage is and the commitment involved, which causes people to swing in either direction..

I sincerely hope and plead that if you are not convinced about marriage as an institution or do not understand it well enough, maybe just maybe its not for you. Which again is not a bad thing. Its better not to get married for the heck of it than to ruin it after you have gotten in..

The sad thing is that we are now caught between what we think we are entitled to and what we work hard at getting. Marriage as an institution in India will not really work out if we think we can always get out of it if we are not happy or not getting what we deserve. Which is also why we always look up to our parents and other family members to emote their marriage. Stable marriages in a family makes a lot of difference in the ideologies of the children. If you were brought up believing that its something we get into for social reasons or worse, that we can get out of it if we are not getting what we want, we would really be floundering to make anything work..

The pursuit of happiness is not wrong, the search for eternal love is not wrong, what is wrong is the misguided and inflated ideology with which people seem to be entering into marriage..