When we watched Arjun Reddy with our mothers, and mine said that I was somewhat like him 27 years ago, I took it as a helluva compliment. Since she had subtly validated, I also thought it was okay to slap those we passionately love once in a while. Because that is apparently a right which I didn’t use (shame on me). I never got to slap my husband (thank god) because I never loved him as much as I love myself. So it came down to slapping myself, which I knew would hurt, so I never did.
Then came this brilliant idea that I’d actually have my friend’s cleaning lady come around to help with mine so I can chase them menacingly around the house and out. After all, Arjun Reddy did it. I can too. It is okay to hurt ourselves, others in self-loathing, vaguely harrowing pity by calling it love or passion or obsession or lust-like affection or whatever godforsaken term is used these days.
At about the time when Bollywood cinema is breaking barriers with Good Newwz or Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (oh…they also make some of the kind I’m talking), they were preceded by Kabir Singh. It was a jubilation in my heart that it was a super hit too. Please forgive me for my vague confessions. I loved the movie in both languages. I have absolutely no creative grudge against the makers. I admire their courage, effort and attention to detail.
It hit me really hard when I watched World Famous Lover while cribbing to the fact that I had to fold 4 piles of clothes. I don’t regret folding clothes at all. It was another reminder that it is okay to hurt people we love, to lash out at them while wastefully, purposelessly pretending to lead a creative life in the name of sacrifice and a concoction of other emotions that literally killed me and I never knew they existed. And in the end, it is okay to go begging for them to come back after depriving them of their good life that they deserved in the first place. It is love, isn’t it.
If you’ve come this far, it means that you like what I write and respect my opinion in more ways than you may convey. If you really love your families or are ridiculously passionate about your spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends or whoever, it is time we all to start making sensible decisions. We live in an era where neurons are fast depleting due to rat-races, stress, peer-pressure…we don’t need another dimension. And even now, if you aren’t sure about what exactly I’m trying to convey, I’m sorry you are brain-dead.
(I never thought I’d need to explain my sarcasm, but it is not okay to bully, slap or emotionally abuse those we love – if someone believes they can, that’s not love at all. Movies are meant for commercial value and it is upon us to let them influence us or not. Consider this a celebratory prelude for Thappad.)
QUOTIDIAN BLESSING 