Half time report

2012 has had a strange start to it as far as movies are concerned. Typically the convention is that very few big banner movies are released in the first half of the year so that they can cash in on the summer box office. With the advent of the IPL it has only helped diminish the few who did release their films during the first half. But this year was different because there were several anticipated big banner films that were released before July and whats more is that they did well in terms of business.

The year started with Abbas-Mustan's Players. An official remake to 'The Italian Job', Players failed to set the box office ringing. It failed to capture the essence of the original and was a scene to scene remake which made it quite an uninteresting watch. The action was uninspiring especially after seeing movies like Don and Ra.one the previous year. Following suit in the remakes brigade was Karan Malhotra's Agneepath. Although some feared that this movie would mar the memories of the old classic, it proved out to be quite the winner. A remolded character sketch of the famous Vijay Deenanath Chauhan only helped the films cause. It made you forget the original and accept it as a new film. Hrithik's performance and the music was the highlight of the movie.

Then came a movie which showed great promise in its promos, Gali Gali Chor hai. But like a bad diwali firework it wiped out even before starting. Akshaye Khanna and Annu Kapoor's valiant effort could not save the poor screenplay. K Jo in a very unlike K Jo fashion came up with another release in the space of 2 weeks, Ek Main aur Ek Tu staring a new jodi of Imran and Kareena. A brisk rom-com which definitely had its moments. The highlight of the movie was Kareena's acting, the super ending and Amit Trivedi's music. Then came the reel to real love story Tere Naal Love ho gaya. Aptly synchronized to release in the month of their wedding, the movie did open to a decent response. But failed to keep momentum due to a mundane script and screenplay.

March was a mixed bag. It started with yet another rom com, London Paris New York. Although it had decent performances and a decent musical score, it failed to make an impact. The character sketches were far too weak and uninvolved in each other in my opinion. Then came Paan Singh Tomar which was a very captivating film. Irfan Khan delivered a brilliant performance. As it was a true story it had a disturbing attribute to it which is why people shied away from it I guess. The film of the year in my opinion was released on 9th March. Kahaani not only boasted of a wonderful script screenplay and direction but also of a stellar performance by Vidya Balan. It definitely has to be one of the finer thrillers to have come out in recent times. March also saw the release of Saif's magnum opus project Agent Vinod. Although it had its moments of brilliance, director Sriram Raghavan failed to recreate the magic of his previous films. Too many twists in the tale brought its downfall in my opinion.

Housefull 2 aptly released on April Fool's weekend. This was a loud comedy that raked in moolah like no tomorrow. Personally I hated this movie, but it turned out to be quite the audience favorite. April also saw the 'chupa rustam of 2012', Vicky Donor. This small budget John Abraham production had a wonderful script and screenplay by Juhi Chaturvedi and was directed by Shoojit Sircar. Impactful performances by Annu Kapoor and Ayushman Khurana only strengthened the movies cause. The star studded Tezz soon followed in the theatres. It boasted of some slick action but failed to keep the audience hooked on and turned out to be not so profitable.

In the month of May, IPL was at its peak. So very few A grade movies tried their luck at the box office. Karisma Kapoor marked her return with Dangerous Ishq. I have not seen the film to comment on it but from the promos it had a very 90s look and feel to it. Then came one of the most anticipated films of 2012, Ishaqzaade. The look was very fresh with new actors. The film was below par in my opinion. I never felt the connect between the lead characters of the movie. Parineeti's acting was the highlight of the movie for me. RGV was back with a star studded venture, Department. The movie was marred with controversies with Sanjay and Ramu badmouthing each other. The movie had bizarre camera angles to say the least which drove away many a spectators. The only shining spot in this flick was Amitabh Bachhan.

The much anticipated Rowdy Rathore released as soon as the IPL was over. By now the song 'chinta ta chita chita' was a rage. Again personally I did not like this movie at all but it is the biggest earner of the year so far. Another of the LYBAH (Leave your brains at home) comedy. The next to release was Shanghai. Supposedly, this was Dibakar Banerjee's best work. But I beg to differ. I found the movie too predictable. Somehow it dod not work for me. Maybe it was the hype around it. Ferrari ki Sawari released as small film since it had no big stars to boast about. But Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and the screenplay stood tall to give this movie its much deserved success. It stuck to telling a simple tale of a simple man and that it where it won the race in my opinion. The week after that was followed by Teri Meri Kahani and Gangs of Wasseypur. Kunal Kohli's Teri Meri Kahani had nothing new to offer. To add to its misery, bad promos and bad writing prevented this movie from using its starcast's full potential.

All in all this has been a very good year so far, with most of the movies doing good at the box office. There has been something to satiate every cine goer's taste and that has been the brilliance of this year.

My personal top 5 of this year are as follows.
1) Kahaani
2) Agneepath
3) Vicky Donor
4) Ferrari Ki Sawari
5) Ek mai aur ek tu

I walk alone...

Like a cliched dialog from a hindi film, a person comes into this world alone and goes from this world all alone. Then why is living alone through the years of our life considered difficult. Perhaps that is because we are inculcated with the idea that man is a social animal right from our school days. Hence we always feel good when we have people around us to share our joys and sorrows. But we tend to forget that school also taught us another fact that man is the most adaptable animal. We have been used to living in groups and in the company of others. So when you do have to live alone, its a little difficult at first but one gets used to it after some time since we adapt. What some people think to be painful loneliness can infact be solitude bliss in disguise.

Solitude and loneliness are two faces of the same coin, as different as head and tails yet part of the same existence. It is up to each person to convert their loneliness into solitude that you will enjoy. Each person has his/her own hobbies that generally take a back seat when we are in a group. Being alone is the perfect time to take a dig at all those things. For me its an opportunity to learn playing the guitar, or sing (as out of tune it might be) and record my songs or work the hell out in the gym. These are things which generally take a backseat when I am in a group and by doing them it makes me happy as I get some me time.

From personal experience I know parents always want their children to settle down so that their children do not have to face this big bad world all alone. But what really is being alone? Why would this loneliness be cured by the so called life partner? Does this mean that all those friends we have dont mean anything? Definitely all of our friends have their own lives on a parallel track and we cant expect them to be with us 24 x 7. But they play a huge part in us not being lonely. Also who is to say that living with another person will cure your loneliness. You could be just as lonely then as a person living alone. Infact the second style of loneliness is worse if you ask me. It would be wonderful to share your life, the ups, the downs and the works with another person. But it is of utmost importance that you should want from within to do so and not just because you dont want to stay alone.

Each person in this world is alone. It is you who has to figure out the wordly problems that you face. You might get help from others but in the end you have to dig within yourself to find a solution. It is when you start to find solutions within yourself you will find happiness. If your happiness depends on being around someone then you will probably end up never being happy as you will always miss something or the other. If you find ways to be happy with yourself then I guess you would end up making the people around you happy as well.

Ofcourse by saying all of this I do not mean that we should lock ourselves in a room and never mingle with other people. Prolonged living alone has its own disadvantages as well which we need to keep in mind and avoid doing as much as possible. The most obvious characteristic is that a person can tend to become self centered without a care for the world. Meeting different people and interacting with them teaches us many things and helps us to discover our character. If you are not a people person then you should try to improve your skills by talking to different people, and more importantly trying to be a good listener. 

In the end, being alone is not as bad as often its put out to be. It has its own perks. Every once in a while it is good to spend some alone time and rejuvinate/ rediscover ourselves to go back in this world a happier person.