Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke, Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte

Bump me, wake me up at 6 am to run 8 kms in the name of footer or make me read my poems, I would still say that Rab Ne is better than Ghajini, Sajini or Rajini. I came for the tickets 2 hours earlier but looking at the queue long enough to connect Tapti and Sharav, it was only pragmatic to look for someone with a lungi-chhaap hanky on collar in a 'black' corner. Inflation has surprisingly reached Patna too and gone are the days when the 10 rupee tickets were sold for 30 in black. We had to shell out three hundred bucks for the three of us.

As the three brothers clad in winter-wear from a discount store of Levi's stood in the queue for entry into the theatre, all of a sudden, we caught the attention of a hundred men present over there who were looking at us as if we were the latest addition to the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyaan, Bailley Road, Patna 800014. Only when a few hot chics arrived in a white Ambassador and a green Gypsy did they look in the same direction as we did. As the doors of the theatre opened for entry, implementing some strange algorithm, the crowd effortlessly carried me inside the theatre on a zigzag path. There was a mirror at the corner where I went to discover the new hairstyle developed during this exercise. My hand dived inside my jacket to get the comb from the shirt's pocket, when one of the babes who had descended from the Gypsy came beside me to get her looks right. She dropped her purse which the gentleman did pick for her and just when a new film story was about to be written, the movie began. She hurried inside to occupy seat with her friends and I too got my rightful place to sit after displacing some pay-for-1st-row-sit-on-last-row activists.

The movie began haule haule with a geek character every parent and teacher loves to see in every child, quite similar to what a typical IITian is before IIT happens. There was an instant flashback in my mind of how IIT corrupted me, how someone who had not even said saala despite being born and brought up in Bihar was made to shout innovative gaalis during footer matches, how the poet of patriotic genre was made to write the only non-veg poem of his life and named after that just to ensure that he recites it to every other perverted senior in the campus, how a 100% attendance report card got converted into a 74.99 one, how a career-focussed sadhu became a pervert, how someone who used to wake up at 5 am and perform yoga started sleeping at 5 am after an overdose of LAN-beautiful-LAN, and how a daily-bathing-oil-on-hair-clean-the-room Apoorva became Landu. All parents and teachers can clap for the fact that in this movie, the geek is a hero. Similar to what happens at IIT, machogiri happens to the geek and an always serious looking guy acts funny and cracks jokes just to please the girl. Again, only 94.7% similarity. The 5.3% account for the dressing sense of the macho-geek which beats all the sincere and creative attempts of an IITian at dressing up like an idiot.

Teen go cheers (Bihari for three cheers) for the Punjab Power sponsored I Love You which would make any girl go ga-ga over it after which everyone starts suffering from the Rab eye. When one catches Rab eye, one starts finding Rab in every other human being, which is fine considering the theory of omnipresence of God as long as one doesn't upset one's sexual orientation. For the record, the movie is oriented straight and there's no gay-chara being offered. Given the fact that around me was the most country crowd in the country (Ashok theatre at Patna) whistling in sinusoidal amplitudes and throwing chappals on the screen, the experience was nothing short of a My Fair Lady ride at Appu Ghar. There were two junctures in the movie when my macho-giri yielded and tears almost drowned the emotional eyes. If only it wasn't dark, my brothers would have ridiculed me to hell.

The movie ended with a senti dance performance and the outstanding acting of SRK just made the day. As usual, there was a sudden chaos everywhere the moment it was over and getting out became a daunting task. Perhaps a suitable analogy would be Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras where getting in is quite easier than getting out without being screwed. Again, just to emphasize, SRK's acting was 10 on 10 and Taani Partner was a refreshing delight. A movie in which you cry and can relate to, a movie in which your favourite actor has shown his acting worth, a movie with a small town music in your hometown, a movie after which you have the best paani-poori and batata-puri of the city, surely, is one to remember. Even now, my lips spontaneously start singing 'Tujhme rab dikhta hai yaara main kya karun...' whenever I meet people close to heart like my BTP Prof. Another reason to remember the movie is the moment when Kajol danced with SRK when one doesn't know why but still one's happy to see the best on-screen couple performing.

Chachu was asked by NDTV to give his feedback about the movie as he came out of a theatre in Mumbai. Instant reply - Hum hain raahi pyaar ke, phir milenge chalte chalte. No wonder, he was aired.

2 comments:

Abhinav said...

Movie tickets have become costly in Ranchi too , between a good post .

Apoorva Chandra said...

Yup. Still, they are way cheaper than those in Pune, Delhi or Mumbai.