Bharat Bandh

Performing an appropriate chance pe dance, I left for Pune the moment I came to know that there is a possibility that Monday will be a holiday. Promptly ignoring the reason for the holiday, namely the Bharat Bandh, I built wonderful castles in the air about eating out, watching I hate luv storys etc. Needless to say, dil ke armaan aasuo mein beh gaye. While I simply made plans to catch up with friends and relatives, I started wondering about this so called for-the-common-man-movement. 

A poll on some crappy (but I presume reliable) news channel showed that 40% viewers believed that the bandh was for their good, whereas 60% felt that it had no bearing on their lives. The papers are full of rising inflation and rising prices of essential commodities. Everyday a question is posed to the government about their inaction regarding this burden on the common man. The opposition has run from pillar to post, ensuring that the people get to know about inflation and the supposedly indifferent government. From moving cut motions against price rise of fuel, to the latest bandh, from the look of it, we seem to have a very reliable opposition working in our interest. However, is moving a cut motion the right method to agitate against price rise? Don't even get me started on the bandh..

Obviously, I'm most upset because I didn't get to watch I hate luv storys. Apart from that though, the bandh brought normal life to a complete standstill. Though the government took efforts to ensure that it didn't, it pretty much did. Thank God, hospitals were working properly. When such incidents occur, you usually find the common man cowering at home, and mawalis ready to pounce out on the streets, destroy public property and slap people around. The whole atmosphere is tense, tv channels keep showing damage and destruction in a repeated loop, further forcing us to get scared and sit at home. The loss to the public coffers due to bandh on trade should be considered an insult to us as now there is less money to perform work for the good of the public. So, what was the point of all this? Apart from political mileage, save little. 

As a solution, I hope the day comes when any goonda mawali thinks 10 times before destroying public property. An intelligent opposition has twin tasks. One is to challenge the government when it gets too sure of itself. The other is to engage the government in dialogue to skillfully solve any crisis. It's never enough to just do one of the two. For political gain, the opposition can ensure that  the media  gives it due credit for good suggestions for improvement of the situation. I believe this would be a win-win situation for all...

An open letter to Shahid Kapoor

Dear Mr Shahid Kapoor,

I just saw your movie "Chance pe Dance". The title misleadingly suggests that it's a movie about dance and I had visions of Bollywood version of  "Step up" or "Stomp the Yard". Then I realized that emphasis was on the word "Chance" and not on "Dance". Although the story of a struggling actor trying to make it big did touch my heart, the choreography in this movie was highly disappointing. You have danced better in movies that had absolutely nothing to do with dance. I wonder why your guru Shiamak didn't choreograph for this movie? Ken Ghosh couldn't afford "the great dancing legend"? I'm sure he would have done a much better job than Ganesh Acharya. 

My pain point is, if you had to show an actor "who can dance", why not ensure that stunning choreography is a part of the movie? Shahid dear, if you had spent half as much time practising and improvising on your dance moves, as much as you did building those Popeye muscles, this movie might have been a hit. It seems all you did in the movie was "back straight, little attitude, ho jaayega". Nahi hota boss, itane se dance se nahi hota! If you couldn't do stunts, you could have asked a body double to enthuse us with some awesome dance moves. Apart from that, the poor children whom you spent half your movie training, were made to dance in slow motion. Where is the justice in that!

Will you also please tell Mr. Ken Ghosh that if he wanted to make a movie on a struggling actor, the promos shouldn't have showed dance as the main theme. Apart from that also inform Mr Ganesh Acharya that he did a terrible job of choreography. Or was it your muscle-building-blindness that restricted him? Oh and why didn't you just sell your car to pay rent for a few months? Is it better to live in a car than a house? I'm sure many guys wish that when they say "I love you" to the girl they wish to patao, the girl would sharmao just the way Genelia did when you said "I love you" to her for no rhyme or reason. Terrible terrible letdown I must say.

I end this letter with a fervent prayer that Bollywood makes some sensible movies based on dance. Naach gaana is our USP and we are not making any use of it! Oh and Shahid, better luck next time...

Regards,

Dance-enthusiast