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Saturday, August 25, 2012

Thoughts on "Ek Tha Tiger"


The moment that Tadatada tune started playing, A man in an perfectly ‘Reid & Tailor’ brand tailored black suit turns on his feet and points his gun towards the dissolving blackness.
“The name’s Bond, James Bond.”
Enough with the nautanki. I am Sure Tiger will definitely made him want to forget everything.
Once again, Being Human This Time, I will Seriously Make a Request To Mr. Bond that :
Here is Some Conversation held between us..
4u.johny : “There is this movie you need to see. Ek Tha Tiger. Or in English, Once upon a time there was a tiger.”
Mr. Bond : ‘What? You sent me a distress signal on the ultra-secret spy covert channel just so that I catch a nature conservation film. You Know I am on a Mission Since ages, And you call me here, for this?”
Mr. Bond feels like an idiot. Because he had fallen for the same trick last month, as Bruce Wayne (Batman) in ‘The dark Knight Rises’ almost challenged his TRP..
4u.johny : “I have something you should see. It’s about some extra tricks or lesson you should learn for your next target.
Making a quick get-away, he arrived at the drop-off spot to find me with a video. And what had that turned out to be? A Hindi movie called “Highlighting Caption’ “This Eid”….!!
Mr. Bond was about to leave but there was something about me, a kind of icy stillness, that bounded him to stay.
“No Mr. Bond. This is not a movie about animal conservation. As a matter of fact, the hero here cares as much for wild animals as you care for Blofeld S.P.E.C.T.R.E  RING 18 K.”
Mr. Bond : “And who is this hero we are talking about?”
4u.johny : “Bhai is the name by which his devotees call him. He hates black bucks more than Baba Ramdev. And when it comes to people on the road side (footpath in our language), he lives and let die.”
Mr. Bond : “And why, 4u.johny, should I care about this Bhai, this Ek Tha Tiger?”
4u.johny : “Because Mr. Bond, this Bhai plays Tiger, a secret agent, of such great power that he can finish us off, For good. The crisis this time isn’t about stolen submarines. It is about our existence.
Mr. Bond sits into the leather couch and turns towards the monitor. The video seems to be paused.
Mr. Bond : “Well I can see you have already begun without me. What’s happened so far? And is that man on screen…’
4u.johny : “Yes. That’s Bhai. Salman. Tiger. RAW agent. More alpha than Uranium 92-238. What Ra.One needs a superhero suit for, he can do shirtless. Stops a speeding Metro. Play around with high tension wires without any tension.”
Mr. Bond is unimpressed. After all, he is the man who got On top from the bottom. The world is not enough.
I realized that 007 is having trouble getting his mind around the awesomeness of Tiger. Not yet a Bhai-head, he smiles to himself. He will see the light, Soon.
I Illustrated Further, “Okay let’s say the Professor Kidwai have stolen plans for a secret missile to be used against the British. Time is of great importance. You have been asked to keep a nuclear scientist under surveillance, a nuclear scientist who is needed to arm the bomb. What would you do?”
Mr. Bond : Why are you asking me these things 4u.johny? I am being Serving this name since ages. You know as well as anyone what committments are.”
“Guess what Tiger does ?Given a mission to keep an eye on a scientist, who looks suspiciously like that history-traveller from “Bharat Ek Khoj”, he climbs pipes, sleeps on the bench, goes out on dates, dances with backup dancers. In short everything except keeping the principal under watch. Why does he do this? So that he can fall in love with the scientist’s beautiful secretary.”
Mr. Bond : “Well 4u.johny, I still don’t see what’s so strange about that. For decades, I have fired my heat-seeking missiles into the enemy’s soft spots, all in the service of nation. This is but yet another weapon. A pleasurable one, I do accept.”
“But you see Mr. bond. That’s where things are different. Here, with the fate of the country on the line, Tiger does not go in for the quick approach being taught in spy school. No, he takes the girl to a park, watches swans and stars showers and then asks her dead father, up there among the stars, for her hand.”
Mr. Bond gives the dirty look. “Oh my Goodness that is just so pathetic.”
I continued, “So obviously the girl Tiger falls for is an ISI agent.”
Mr. Bond knows where this is going “He shoots her. Don’t tell me he shoots her before they mingle their passion. That would be, to use a Shakespearean term, absolute KLPD. ”
I then Replied “No he does not shoot her. With his gun shaking, Tiger asks the pretty ISI agent, Was that what I saw in your eyes love?”
With a shake of his head, Bond reaches for his martini “Maybe the same reason why the Indians keep Kasab alive for so long. For the love they see in his eyes.”
“You know what Tiger drinks?” I ask.
“Considering what a kadoo he appears to be, let me guess. Imperial Blue or Goa?
“No. Milk…” That too from a doodh-wala. I replied!
Mr. Bond seems shaken as well as stirred.
Mr. Bond asks “But what is Bhai’s problem? The Indian and the Pakistani could just have gotten married and settled down in Dubai. Like Shoaib Malik and Ms Thunderball..”
“Evidently not. Which is why they escape to Cuba and lie low by dancing about on the streets and fighting in front of security cameras.”
“You seem to have finished the entire movie already Mr. Johnny. Why you called me then?”
“Oh this is my second-time. The reason I called you was that this is a direct challenge to you, Mr. Bond.
 “Me? The James Bond.
A RAW spy, Tiger? The Bhai?
Well I am Bond, James Bond. I have been played by Connery, Niven, Moore, Lazenby, Dalton, Brosnan, Craig…it’s my character that is important not the actor who plays it.”
“Aha. That is it. Bhai stands for exactly the opposite. As he has proven time and time again, it is the actor that is supreme and not the character. Bhai can play the front right tyre of an Mc Laren F1 if he wants to and it will still rake in 100 crores in 3 days. Story, logic, script, everything is redundant. You can get your privates almost burnt by a laser ray. No one cares that much. But as soon as Bhai stand in front of the camera, strikes a stud pose, the Money and the Honey will all pour in. Only For him.”
Mr. Bond : “So what should I do to this Bhai? Do you expect me to fight?”
“No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die. In shame, there is no quantum of solace.”
                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                           Being a Human!! :-)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Birthday Post!!




Late night, A glass of mango shake (seriously) by my side. Surfing the net when all of a sudden my gtalk window pops up. There’s a message:


From 4u.johny_at_19: Hi. I know this sounds kind of weird. I am you, when you were 19. I just wanted to see if you are online….had some questions to ask you.
Yeah right. This has got to be a practical joke. A few of my friends—the very few I have know its my 24th birthday on the 3rd of June and this must be their idea of a joke. Very funny.


I type back. 
Yes 4u.johny_at_19, this is 4u.johny_at_24. Nice joke. Now which clown is this?


From 4u.johny_at_19: As I said, 4u.johny_at_24 this is going to sound weird. I am actually “you” 5 years ago. I don’t know how this is happening but somehow we are being able to communicate through chat and I want to ask you basically—-how did I turn out?


Some people take the gag so far that it becomes unfunny. 

4u.johny_at_24: Okay smart guy, I may be a bit drunk but not that sloshed. Buzz off.



4u.johny_at_19: Wait wait. I have proof. I am sending you a picture no-one else is going to have this picture, at least none of your friends. It feels strange saying “yours” because these friends are mine too. Or will be. See this picture. Recognize the guy?
Holy Moly.. That’s me at 19. A drastic change now. How the hell did this guy..?


4u.johny_at_24: Okay I don’t know how you did this. Or what in the name of ‘Hindi Picture’ is happening. But it seems you are me at 1half decade ago. How creepy meeting you again, like this, just when I am going to turn 24. So what do you want to know?


4u.johny_at_19: First up, am I a MBA from Harvard or LSB making 7 figures a year, driving a Honda City and jetting around the world first-class?


4u.johny_at_24: No you are not. Listen to yourself. What expectations hmm (bhen****)!


4u.johny_at_19: Sooo….what am I then? You mean I am not an MBA? Dont joke man. I gotta be an MBA from somewhere.


4u.johny_at_24: No you aren’t an MBA. The only thing your car will have in common with a Honda City is that both of them will have innovative doors, the Honda City is beautiful Sedan, your passenger like car is still that common Hatchback. It’s a Hyundai make model, for your information.


4u.johny_at_19: Cool at least a new car. Ooh wait I forgot. You are in 2012 right?


4u.johny_at_24: Yes I am. Very clever of you to realize.


4u.johny_at_19: So if I am not an MBA what am I ?


4u.johny_at_24: I am sorry to have to break this bit of news to you dude. But you are a common all type business man still sitting at the world’s boring place ‘The Pannilal Chowk’ and now Bharhut Nagar.


4u.johny_at_19: Haha now you are pulling my leg. You know me better than anyone else and you know I have always wanted to be like Some Ambanis, TATAs or Heeranandanis upstairs with the company car, the YMCA Club membership and the masseur who comes in on Sundays.


4u.johny_at_24: Immature. Of course I forget you are only 19. You see at the age of 24 in the final analysis, way too much like my father. I value my freedom and I am willing to make a financial compromise for it. It was tough coming to terms with this realization but it is true.


And this day didn’t come all of a sudden it was a lesson acquired by walking the path between 2007 and 2012. So straight off the bat, this may be a bit too much for you to understand right now but trust me on this one. May be we did not set out to be a MBA but it’s a rather good place to be. Considering the type of person we are and what we value in life.


4u.johny_at_19: Please don’t mind but you are kind of sounding like Dad (Jo hota hain acche ke liye hota hain). Change of topic: have I traveled the world? Have I been to all the places I wanted to go?

4u.johny_at_24: Well Sorry Dude… No Hard feelings.. No where. 



4u.johny_at_19: Ooh bad. Sounds weired, feels kinda uncomfortable asking someone who is so older than I am….but since you are me after all….do I turn out to be the super-rocking stud I always wanted to be? You know chick-magnet, party animal, like Brazilians without a care in the world. Do you remember how constricted you used to feel at 19 in an all-guys engineering college, growing up in a middle-class sindhi family, wanting to break free. Do you remember, 4u.johny_at_24 ?


4u.johny_at_24: Yes 4u.johny_at_19 I remember. Only too well. I am sorry to have to break it to you—but things didn’t quite turn out that way. Again what you cannot accept right now is that you have your limitations. As a matter of fact, turning 24 is not the stage where you can truly realize the magnitude of all the things you cannot do. We still have couple of years left to live the life well. Its a sobering thought and one which, even though it comes at the cost of heartbreak and much sadness, makes your life that much easier.


4u.johny_at_19: Excuse me but could you repeat that in plain English?


4u.johny_at_24: You have’nt cut a dashing figure in a club, you did not have the cash nor the style. Your time still spent better staying at home, reading a book, doing creative writing…..”


4u.johny_at_19: In other words, no Ecstasy-induced sandwich dance, no bumping and grinding.


4u.johny_at_24: There will be grinding work and a few bumps along the way. And oh a fact: Do you know none of the stars were born same day same year as us? Somebody born that day sure achieved a lot.


4u.johny_at_19: So I let myself go and become fat. Not good. Will I get married? And hows she?


4u.johny_at_24: Yes you shall. To a lovely person who is exactly right for the type of person you will grow up to be. She’s fine, doing good with her crazy smile and you also know dude ‘three things defines her best.’


4u.johny_at_19: Oh ! That’s good…..So summing up, how do you feel now?


4u.johny_at_24: A bit sad. The sadness from knocks sustained, trusts broken and overall lfe cycle. The sadness from knowing the things you can and cannot do. At 19, the world lay before me, I could be anything I wanted to be. I am not so sure anymore.


A bit afraid, More responsibilities, More thinking of others and less about myself. More aware of my own mortality and those others whom I love.
And finally more than a bit glad. Things could really have been much worse.


4u.johny_at_19: Boy you do sound old. I cannot believe I shall grow up to be you. In any case, thanks for all the crap old-timer. I have to go and sleep it’s already 4.00 A.M.

4u.johny_at_24: Wait dude.. Kya karega soke, abhi 4.00 hi to baje hain.



4u.johny_at_19: Get lost….ewwwwww…….Good Night!!


I sit head in hand. Did I dream that all up? Was it the alcohol? Nah!!
Feeling emotional and light-headed, I think of the innocence, hopes and the aspirations of the person I talked to right now. So familiar and yet so strange, so present and yet so lost. Caught in the twilight haze of rational thought and hopeless dreams (Sorry for stealing the lines from 26th april conversation), my hand moves to the keyboard :


To 4u.johny_at_30: Hi. I know this sounds kind of weird. I am you , when you were 24. I just wanted to see if you are online….had some questions to ask you.

BTW… Happy B’day!!