MADE IN HEAVEN-2...

MIH season 2 has upped the ante from the last season. It’s grander, harder-hitting, and reeks of all things lush and plush.

MIH 1 was intrinsically raw and earthy, aiming to establish the base for the very real, flawed principal characters of 2 wedding planners and their team, giving the viewers a peek into their background stories, the reasons, and the explanations.  The second season lets them bloom and shine and the new additions to the star cast, esp. Mona Singh enhance the flow of the narrative.

Each episode focuses on a wedding and addresses a relevant contemporary issue (obsession with fair skin, caste prejudice, polygamy, domestic violence, etc.) The entire wedding planning team’s personal lives’ complications are interwoven beautifully with the main theme.

MIH 2 is enriched with high production quality, haute couture, the glossy, slightly wayward, unconventional lifestyle of the rich and their myriad issues, while also scrutinizing sans any judgment, the prevailing social dogmas, the biases and the hypocrisy.

The main star cast of the previous season outperforms each other. In Shobhita’s carefully cultivated persona of a well-groomed lady (Tara),  we see a social climber striking it rich with the top industrialist scion, Jim Sarbh (owning his role with aplomb.) She reveals her vulnerability and inner conflicts as well as her sharp claws.

Arjun Mathur as Karan represents the repressed gay community hiding in a closet for fear of filial and social censure. Legal acceptance has made little progress as the general mindset remains archaic treating LGBT as a freak lot. Case in point is the new addition to the cast, a real-life transgender who is ostracised unapologetically by the majority.

The voiceover at the end of each episode by the MIH photographer Kabir is deep and reflective, unraveling the myth of an emotion called love and a ceremony called marriage. 

MIH takes ingenious digs at the high society with their Pandora’s box full of skeletons, simultaneously reflecting upon the aspirational middle and lower middle-class India, the so-called 'wannabees' who envy and despise the elites in equal measure. 

Sound complicated? Well, that’s MIH for you.

Kudos to the magic of accomplished directors to pull off complex relationships, many of which may still raise eyeballs in middle-class society. There’s substance in style, soul in gloss, and bleak reality lurking beneath the ‘oh so beautiful’ exterior of MIH. It’s funny, it’s thought-provoking, it touches you at some base level, and challenges your sensibilities to mull over the cruel world we are living in! A world where anything different from our established and understood code of conduct is viewed as ‘deviant,’

Any cons, if I get down to dissect an otherwise compelling web series, are the excesses in styling, in set designs, in the ostentatious veneer, in graphically depicting gay sex, in the frequent use of the f… word without so much as batting an eyelid. (How it’s being normalised in all OTT content!) I wish the titans of show biz realise that being understated is an art too, and, at times, subtlety works just as fine!

Eye candy it may be but there’s enough bite in the shiny, multi-layered world of MIH and its characters to make it binge-watch worthy! 

ROCKY AUR RANI KI PREM KAHANI~ mediocrity in a fancy garb!

A potpourri of every conceivable hot topic and a concerted effort to tick all the right boxes by tackling contentious issues like patriarchy, misogyny, body shaming, racism, elitism, cultural differences, and whatnot, Karan Johar went overboard with Rocky aur Rani. The essence is lost and the tutoring & preaching at regular intervals aren’t impactful at all.

Realism has never been his forte and over-the-top blingy sets, thousands of dancers in designer clothes gyrating to forgettable songs make for stunning visuals. Some redeeming features, a few laughs, a hummable melody, and veterans’ presence make for a decent viewing at best. Certainly not the entertainer of the year it's touted to be.

 Something was amiss and the flick didn't catch my fancy despite me being a hard-core Bollywood masala movie fan. 

Could it be that I was suffering from the Oppenheimer hangover? 🤔

From sublime to ridiculous, the journey was definitely arduous.

The Legend of Kishore Kumar

The Legend

Of

Kishore Kumar

He lit up the rainbow of hindi cinema with a voice so close to the divine creation, there was no raga of life left untouched by the warmth of its soul-stirring embrace. 

So eclectic in its outreach, Kishore Kumar’s repertoire was life itself performing in a theatre we all sat spellbound – celebrating all that we love, or mourning the loss of love and perhaps, even the loss of our innocence in that treacherous cesspool of life’s betrayals. 

There was always a song from Kishore Kumar to capture the essence of life in its myriad shades.

When melancholic, Kishore Kumar easily slipped into the deeper pathos – woh sham kutch ajeeb thi, without losing the dignity of the man suddenly imperiled by the pain of disorientation. When ecstatic, he was so full of effervescent charm laced with the racy young leap of desire for romantic love – yeh sham mastani, madhosh kiye jaaye.

His chutzpah came with a modulation of voice differently textured within the same metre – ek chatur naar, badi hoshiyaar, almost designed to serve as a delicious tease to strip a moment, layer by layer, for the bare truth to appear without affectations.

Remembrance.

Kishore Kumar.

The LegendOfKishore KumarHe lit up the rainbow of hindi cinema with a voice so close to the divine creation, there was no raga of life left untouched by the warmth of its soul-stirring embrace. So eclectic in its outreach, Kishore Kumar’s repertoire was life itself performing in a theatre we all sat spellbound – celebrating all that we love, or mourning the loss of love and perhaps, even the loss of our innocence in that treacherous cesspool of life’s betrayals. There was always a song from Kishore Kumar to capture the essence of life in its myriad shades.When melancholic, Kishore Kumar easily slipped into the deeper pathos – woh sham kutch ajeeb thi, without losing the dignity of the man suddenly imperiled by the pain of disorientation. When ecstatic, he was so full of effervescent charm laced with the racy young leap of desire for romantic love – yeh sham mastani, madhosh kiye jaaye.His chutzpah came with a modulation of voice differently textured within the same metre – ek chatur naar, badi hoshiyaar, almost designed to serve as a delicious tease to strip a moment, layer by layer, for the bare truth to appear without affectations.More about him later.Yeh jeevan hai.Is jeevan ka.Yahi hai.Yahi Hai.Rang Roop.Kishore Kumar claimed me. I was still so innocent to the ways of the world. I was faltering. So he sang for me, ‘ Ruk jaana nahin, tu kahin har ke’. When I heard everybody admonishing me, he sang, Kutch toh log kahein gay.Still in my early teens. In the spring of my youth. And so much in love with a school friend, Kishore Kumar crooned, Tere jaisa yaar kahan.When i fell in love with a girl for the first time in my life, I heard Kishore Kumar sing to me , Pyar Diwana Hota Hai.Today, as I live, unable to express my love for someone so dear, I hear Kishore Kumar sing to me, Kya Mausam Hai. Chal kahin door nikal jaayein.Remembrance.Kishore Kumar.

CORONA SE DARO NA..(Our casual approach towards Covid pandemic)

The third wave of the dreaded COVID19 is currently sweeping the nation. Numbers are rising exponentially. Restrictions are being imposed, warnings issued and multiple PSAs have been released. Time to stop and take stock of the situation, right?

No Sir! We are Indians ..full of daredevilry, and willing to do a tango or two with the visitor CORONA (third time the shameless virus is dropping in unannounced in our country). It has absolutely no manners ….every time we drive it away, it becomes more brazen…changes its appearance, does a world tour, and comes right back knocking at our doorsteps gleefully.

The first visit filled us with trepidation as we weren’t familiar with the unwelcome stranger. Having heard scary stories of how cruel it can be, we closed our doors, banged our thalies and clapped loudly as if the sounds of the billion-plus cacophony will drive it away. It came anyway. We were prepared with armours and shields and after a bit of initial scare the dirty fellow ran away. We got emboldened and gloated like warriors who had won the war. Much ado about nothing, we scoffed disdainfully!

We got all cool and funny and complacent – mammoth crowds, rallies, kumbh mela, unhindered travel, shaadi-byah – all sans precautions. India smirked at Europe, battling a torrid second wave. Uff, these ‘goras’…they claim to be so advanced but can’t fight an itsy-bitsy virus. Look at us!! We, with abundant sunshine, natural immunity, Ayurveda, magical herbal concoctions, and that yoga- guru Ramdev, winking n blinking at the world’s inability to ward off the evil in the air.

Till the tsunami came and submerged us and made a mockery of our misplaced nonchalance. The catastrophic second wave left a trail of unspeakable devastation.  Within a matter of weeks, the collapsing healthcare exposed our inadequacy, our ill-preparedness and the intensity of the virus we had so erringly underestimated.

Weeks and months of despair gradually gave way to a new normal and one adapted to a different way of living…. social distancing, masks and sanitizers are a staple in every household. A lesson learned harshly, one would say..

The arrival of vaccination gave a sense of security and we fell into the complacency trap yet again. “It can’t happen to me now as it has already happened to me once.” Arguments such as these led to that cool dude feeling again. Till COVID the chameleon arrived again as Omicron – different face yet the same gene – for a world tour after hearing glowing reviews from his Bhai.

We groan exasperatedly! Not again! Grrrr…. This time we will not cower down! We will stand firm and face the invisible foe daringly, come what may! So with a defiant frame of mind, a casual approach, and a resigned acceptance of the persistently errant virus in our lives, the world in general and India in particular marches on to face covid-on-a-hattrick.

The protocols and mandates are in place, the guidelines issued and the to-do lists revised and repeated, ad-nauseum. The implementation, however, is at the mercy of an audacious and cavalier public, with the vast majority brushing away any grave consequences.

Being optimistic is good but throwing caution to the wind is …plainly, STUPID. How about a little conscientious approach, people? How about saving yourself to save others? This ‘AA BAIL MUJHE MAAR’ strategy has never worked, and never will. Hope to see you around …………. enjoying with baal – bachchas and nati-potas in your twilight years.

Till then, stay safe!

ODE TO MOMS

Warm food for everyone,

Cold one for yourself,

Ironed clothes for all,

While the wrinkled ones will do for you,

SELFLESSNESS, thy name is MOTHER.

Running around the house whole day,

Having no time to stop and breathe,

Rushing to and from office,

Not pausing a minute to ease..

DILIGENCE, thy name is MOTHER.

Cooking,cleaning, washing, driving,

Endless chores and everlasting duties,

Done with a smile and a warm heart,

Seldom complaining, never regretting,

SERVITUDE, thy name is MOTHER.

Absorbing troubles and problems,

Reflecting joy and hope,

Holding the family together,

And binding it into a whole,

STRENGTH, thy name is MOTHER.

You are the Agony Aunt and

You are the Angel Mary,

You are the preacher- teacher, and,

You are the support,

FAITH, thy name is MOTHER.

You are the essence of a family,

You are the soul,

You are the spirit,

And you are the prayer,

DIVINITY, thy name is MOTHER.

DEDICATED TO ALL THE LOVELY, LIVELY AND SPUNKY MOTHERS OF THE WORLD, Who keep their hearth warm and hearts warmer !

The Myth of 'Sanskari Ladki' needs to be busted!

International Women's Day isn't merely about merrily celebrating Success, Power, Beauty, Talents, or Influence. It is a time for reflection and a time to make a positive change.

The Powerful Patriarchy-

Indian society till the 1970s and 1980s was evolving and growing under the heavy umbrella of patriarchy and male chauvinism. The majority of women were housewives ('homemaker' term hadn't been coined till then) and finding an 'acche ghar ka shareef ladka' as a son-in-law was the primary concern of every family with daughters. With marriage being the ultimate goal and trip to destination home 'sasural' being the biggest triumph, nothing else mattered!

Good education, good sanskaar, good knowledge about household affairs, was all that the 'good girls' needed to fit the 'ideal' bahu and ideal wife mould. Once married, they towed the lines and operated within the barriers or rules set up by in-laws and husbands.

Seeking platitudes from elders, being at the beck and call of hubby and kids, running errands, and trying to please everyone all the time took a toll on her and her mental, physical n emotional well-being. Women didn't mind much because they'd seen their mothers lead a similar life and modelling themselves into their mom's mould was indoctrinated since childhood.

The herculean effort to maintain her good wife and bahu image consumed a woman completely till she reached a point where she stopped living for herself and devoted all her time to please others. That's when her self-esteem hit a new low and she resigned to a life of endless compromises and adjustments. To top it all, she was also the favourite punching bag for everyone.

No wonder the lives of women in developing countries have been a series of missed opportunities, suppressed desires and wasted talent. Their degrees burn the shelves, their ambition crucified at the altar of traditions, their individuality crushed to pamper the predominant, prejudiced patriarchal setup! All this in the name of 'hamare sanskaar' (our values).

THE CHANGE...

The rebellion started in 1990's in India with the influx of globalisation and the accompanying changes in lifestyle and mindsets of people. Foreign TV shows depicting women indulging in hitherto male privileges, multiple avenues of career choices, and the gradual dismantling of parental control and reluctance to send daughters out of town for better and higher education, opened an avalanche of opportunities for Indian females.

Girls realised that they can live their lives on their terms. They can call the shots and chart their own destiny. And though marriage still ranks supreme on parents' bucket list, girls have a decisive say in when and who they will choose to marry.

STATUS-QUO REMAINS-

For all the welcome changes and transitions taking place, life after marriage still remains embroiled in the moribund, age-old, irrelevant family diktats. Any expression of dissent to what elders in the family say or command is viewed as insolence and reflects poorly on your upbringing and sanskaar!( That dreaded word again). After all who can argue with 'yeh baal dhoop mein safed nahin kiye hain!'

Similarly, women face discrimination and harassment at workplace from their male counterparts. Their dress sense, their way of functioning, their tussle between prioritising home or office, all is put under radar, to be criticised at will.

I strongly feel there's a dire need to challenge the 'sanskari Ladki' (girl with good moral values) epithet which later transforms into the 'Adarsh Bhartiya nari' tag. This concept is nothing but a myth perpetuated by men since eons and upheld by women as a badge of honour. Millions suffer in the name of ‘sanskaar’ which becomes a means of exploitation of girls by vested interests.

Girls should be imparted practically sustainable values and education to enable them to deploy a good sense of judgment in taking an individual call on issues involving them. Teach them not to tolerate abuse in the name of 'sanskaar'.
The 'paraya dhan' notion needs to be chucked too. The daughter doesn't stop being a daughter after marriage and it's selfish and foolhardy to expect her to renounce her previous familial ties.

In a nutshell, 'good sanskaar' shouldn't imply surrendering one's mind, body and soul, rather they should aid in empowering a woman to feel confident, content and comfortable in her own skin.

Sanskaars shouldn't make you squirm, they should make you smile!

The hallmark of a progressive and matured society is it's level of  acceptance and appreciation of its women as competent, thinking individuals, capable of making their own decisions.

The road ahead us is long,
but, we'll get there!!

#HappyWomen'sDay

#RiseAndShine

#LiveByYourOwnRules