Why 'Rab ne bana di jodi...' shouldn't disappoint you

The minute I saw the promos of RNBDJ (hate such acronyms!), I wondered What is Shah Rukh doing here? It's strange to see him play a role like Suri and the movie itself is a return to the common man...something we don't even get to see on TV serials today. And that's why, I think , one should not be disappointed with this movie.

Sure, being a Bollywood movie Rab Ne... has it's larger-than-life elements, but the movie doesn't make a show of a middle class India that generally isn't. Based in a small town in Punjab, the movie about Surender Kapoor aka Suri who doesn't look like a dude, is happy with his government job and doesn't have many interests. Suddenly, he finds himself wed to a beautiful, bubbly girl who literally transforms him into somebody else.

Therefore, don't go to this movie expecting a fairytale, predictable romance or an adventure. Just sit back and immerse yourself in a world where aspirations are really not so out of reach and there is happiness in the little things in life.

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Mumbai terror: Why the blame game?

I have been unable to write on the Mumbai terror so far because everything has been so mind-numbing. Somehow, I still can't imagine an India (more so, cosmopolitan Mumbai) where people emerge on the streets wielding AK-47s and firing at people indiscriminately. I can't imagine a heritage 5-star hotel being reduced to a warehouse of dead bodies. It's been very hard for all of us and in terms of psychological damage..this has been no less than India's 9/11.

Now that it's thankfully over, politicians and intelligence agencies have begun their blame game...dirty as their minds are. Offering rehearsed sympathies and blaming the other party is all they are capable of doing. Most disappointing has been our PM who should have consoled the people of India and announced some concrete measures to at least make the people feel safe. But he has let us down...

The intelligence bureau is blaming the NSG and Navy and vice-versa, but people, what's the point? Over 200 lives have been lost and all we need to do now is create an independent cell precisely to deal with such situations, regardless of the governing party. I believe that that the NSG was created for this purpose, but it was too busy guarding politicians' kitty parties to focus on 'trivial matters' like national security. I don't know how we are going to deal with this and how iron-fisted we can afford to get...but we need to ensure that the Mumbai nightmare doesn't happen again.

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