An act of expecting memories

September 11 isn't just another day. Some historic stuff have taken place on this particular date. Swami Vivekananda delivered his remarkable speech in Chicago (1893), thus introducing the hitherto ignorant West to Hindu philosophy. In 1906, Gandhi wholeheartedly adopted Satyagraha in South Africa making sure non-violence becomes more than just an afterthought. Leaving his experiment incomplete and his baby directionless, Jinnah succumbed to TB today in 1948 as well. Lastly, we all know what happened in New York at the turn of the century and how 9/11 became a proper noun while terrorism, abstract. And tonight, i'm leaving for Ladakh. Got to admit it feels nice to include myself in an illustrious league of extraordinary gentlemen. Long live exaggerations! For the biographer's record, i've been in awe of that place (along with Tibet and Tawang) long before Aamir Khan made it a household name. It's supposed to be scenic—something i'll confirm when i reach there tomorrow—hopefully, that is. Though i'm visiting for work, being there won't be anything less than a wish come true. The only trouble is whether i'll be able to bring myself back home. 

4 Idiots!

Recently I watched a much-anticipated movie that was mired in hype, had my favorite Aamir Khan in it and was helped by a credit-controversy. It would take an Idiot to not know what I’m talking about here!

3 Idiots was in one word what I call “wordless”….not because it was perfect (which it wasn’t!) but for the very same reason Sachin is still the heartthrob of our nation in spite of going on ducks and 90s quite a few times in his career. In that context, 3 Idiots was more than paisa-vasool. 3 Idiots was not only entertaining but even educative, something which Bollywood, in general, has been inept at for most of the time. This movie calls for a change in the way educational system is functioning. It sends a message to our educators to educate us but not at the cost of making a robotic idiots out of the students. It does so not by propaganda or long lectures but through black comedy and strong plot, thanks to Raju Hirani’s exemplary vision and screenplay. After all, this is the guy who made Gandhi cool among GenNext.

The movie was set against a strenuous engineering college (very much similar to Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone) with three students coming from different backgrounds played by Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman. Aamir played a 18 year old boy in this movie, and was excellent too. Madhavan did the narration using different tone for better grip of storyline. Very few actors in Hindi cinema today can smile and cry as genuinely as Sharman does. Not even Aamir can beat him when it comes to crying on screen. The “villainous” Professor part was superbly enacted by Boman Irani. Kareena Kapoor played a small but supportive role and proved that acting drunk is not as easy as being drunk!

But there is one person who needs to be mentioned here. In fact, I feel the name of the movie should have been 4 Idiots. The actor I’m talking about is Omi Vaidya. The name doesn’t ring a bell, isn’t it? That’s because we now know him by the name of “Chatur” who almost stole the show with his comic timing, perfect dialogue delivery and unprecedented accent. He was the only actor in the whole movie who stayed linear with his character, followed closely by Boman Irani.

Omi Vaidya is new to Bollywood but has done work in popular Western TV shows like CSI, The Office. Bones, and Arrested Development. Om “Chatur” Vaidya is more famous now. This fact is accentuated by the 150% rise in his popularity on STARmeter while Hollywood’s highest paid actor, Johnny Depp saw a 16% trough during the same period (courtesy IMDb). Colleges and school kids are repeating his hilarious dialogues and trying to lip-synch his accent. But that doesn’t undermine his acting credibility since Bollywood lacks true comical element since the days of Johnny Lever ebbed. Recently, he won awards for comic role hands down and will surely sweep the floor at coming award nights too.

I’d like to thank Omi Vaidya for this spectacular performance and also would want him to stay in Bollywood and experiment with different roles because Bollywood may be full of stars but is sadly dearth of true actors. Good luck to you, sir.