'Being Human' : A Tribute to Salman Khan

I have practically lived on movies. They have always been part of my staple diet since gaining consciousness. I see all kinds of movies, but since the last few years, I prefer watching ‘sensible’ cinema, especially Bollywood films. And when sensible cinema is uttered, there is only one name which comes to our mind immediately, viz. Aamir Khan. I have been an ardent Aamir Khan fan for two reasons.. Very First, his talent and  second  him as a person..

I have never been a Salman Khan fan. I find him too stiff to be an actor. Acting as well as dancing seems to be an arduous task for our desi ‘mini hulk’ (As he is just 5’9”). I remember watching the 1999 Filmfare awards where he was honoured with a Best Supporting Actor award for ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Manoj Bajpai was amongst the nominees for his immortal portrayal of ‘Bhiku Mhatre’ in the cult film ‘Satya’. During Salman Khan’s acceptance speech he mentioned that Manoj Bajpai can win another award, but for him it will be very tough in the future. This showed that Salman Khan was aware of his shortcoming in the acting department. The only film to be an exception where he genuinely performed well and received critical acclaim was Tere Naam. (Salman Khan made me cry in this film. Usually when he cries on screen, I tend to laugh). Nevertheless, his act on ‘Mujhse shaadi karogi’ was acceptable..

Today I saw First Trailor of ‘Body Guard’ and Salman Khan has earned a zealous fan in me!

After watching his Dabanng and Ready I realized the Salman Khan aura. Why he has so many fans? Because he is what he is! That’s all I could think of.

His imperfect ‘Bhaiyya’ act, his poor dialogue delivery, his super stiff dance, his Rajnikanth inspired Ray Ban exploits, all made me jump out of the seat and clap for him. His imperfections were appearing so perfect for Chulbul ‘Robinhood’ Pandey! Throughout the films my eyes were fixed on him. Yes, even during traditional looking beauty Sonakshi Sinha shared screen space with our Salman Khan.

I have never felt anything like this before! But these News channels made me think about this.  Salman is looking forward to doing south remakes now. Salman’s upcoming KICK has some serious WTF moments, But it will also entertain a certain section of people.
I know I cannot change the opinion of masala movie fans. These movies strongly entertain..

But, When I watch an Aamir Khan film, I’m watching a Rancho, or a Bhuvan or a Nikumbh. But during Dabanng or Ready it was SALMAN KHAN throughout!

Maybe it’s his imperfection. Maybe it’s his style. Maybe it’s his characteristic.

Now I know what it is to be a Salman Khan fan. Cheers to our Sallu bhai!

P.S.: The script for a prequel as well as a sequel to Dabanng is ready. I really hope both of them are made. I can’t wait to see Pandey-ji once again in action. Kamaal kartein hain Pandey ji.

Drinking and its Aftereffects!!

The first thing in the human personality that dissolves in alcohol is dignity. When the wine goes in, strange things come out..(May be)

But, let me make it clear to all who thinks that m I drunk or not?

Nah!! I’m Alright, only two pegs down!!

Have you ever woken up with so huge a hangover you can not hear anything past the loud drumming of your head? Have you ever woken up remember nothing of the previous night but the bottles of beer/wine on your hands? Has your head hurt so badly trying to think of all the things you did last night? Have you ever shrieked in horror listening to all the things you said when you were drunk?

It is always crazy what you say when you are drunk, isn't it? Drinking - It does things to people. It starts with an innocent enough single drink. You say' It is alright, it is just a single drink,' but somehow you never realy end up not having a bottle throughout the whole night. It is alright at first but once the number starts increasing, there is realy no holding you back. You heartbeat starts accelerating, you can hear your blood pumping in your ears and everything around you becomes huge and somehow magnified. You go into this crazy mode saying all the inappropriate things, doing all the things you know you shouldn't and just being crazy. You know you are not suppose to say it but you end up saying it anyway. You know you are not suppose to do it but you end up doing it anyway. It is not that you don't know it’s a bad idea doing things you know you will regret, it is just that although you try you can't help but do it. Furthermore once a drunkard (piyakad) mind takes hold of somethings you can never realy make one forget.  

Drinking also gives you courage.You say things that you wished you had said when you weren't drunk - someone hurt you, you say it. Some one gave horrible comments about you, you confront her about it. Someone did something horribly bad, you give your opinion to that too! If you are happy, you become crazy with happiness, if you are sad, you are inconsolably sad and if you are angry there is no controlling your rage. Furthermore the problem with drinks it, once you are a bit tipsy you just want to have more, more and more.

You never realy know it but somehow you end up asking all the inappropriate questions, doing all the improper things and having the time of your life. But to be fair, it is not the night you should be scared of, it is the morning after the night that you should actually dread. The awkwardness that people treat you with the next morning because you said something you shouldn't have, the amused gloating expression that other people carry when they see you, the delight they take in telling you about your crazy night escapade. And more often than not, the people who doesn't talk to you because you told them exactly what you felt the night before and it got too much to handle for them. That is what you should worry about, not the drinks. That is what is scary about getting drunk, not the crazy night but its consequences.

Sometimes you have to hear the most hindi pictures irritating dialogues like ‘Aa gaya Sharabi…dekho kaise jhoomta hua aa raha hain’..’baap to tha hi sharabi, ab beta bhi ban gaya hain’, bata de kutte ab jua kab khelna seekh raha hain’? Yeah…these are the dialogues which I used to hear when It all started with me. My father used to take my side… Son, how do you get Hangover with only one or two beer…Y don’t you try wine next?.. My Mother used to stare at me angrily!!

Someone once told me that he is able to produce the best of his work when he is not sober. He said it takes hold of his creativity and makes him write whatever comes into his mind and gives him the best of results. I thought I could try the same tonight. So this is me writing this piece when I am as he would call it 'out' trying to bring out my creativity as he so insist drinking does. But to be truthful, I don't think it does because I would not want to call this the best of my writing. I would want to think I have much more to contribute than this and that I will get so much more better at writing than this - that this is nothing compared to what I would want to be able to write. 

But hey, even with drinks I could still type without errors and write a whole piece, so that i can tell you the difference between a grape and an elephant?

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day.