Thursday, April 10, 2008

Movie Lessons

We watch so many movies . . . After certain movies, for days we are left thinking about the dialogues, the fabulous acting skills, the locations etc etc. and ofcourse the actors. We are so amazed by the things that are shown. One reason they publicize is ' we relate to the characters '. Recently I learnt that many people find solutions or actions for their life from these films. ' I smoke coz Sharukh does in the movies ', ' I wanted to try out sex coz I was curious after seeing it in the movies ', ' my son got spoiled coz of the idiot box ' these are the best and well known ones I remember.
I somehow find it hard to believe that the spoiling is solely done by that poor non living box. I feel that whatever happens is how that particular person reacts to wat he is watching.
I have seen so many movies and from some of the them I have had inspirations that got me through tough times. I have imbibed lessons that no living person ever told me.
With the list of movies mentioned below I share with you some of what I havc learnt.

1. Bruce Almighty
I was always so confused on how I should be praying and for whom all. I felt praying for myself was too selfish. So I used to pray for world peace and all the other social causes. Then I saw this movie and got my answer.
. . . God asks him to pray, and he prays " feed the hungry, bring peace to the world ". God says I will but is that what you really care for? Then he prays for his girl friend . . . If everyone was to pray for their loved ones. There will always be someone who is praying for you. So your stuff is being taken care off. No need to pray for oneself now, so then time to repay... Praying for the ones whom you really care about and seeing their life filled with happiness is by far means one can find satisfaction for oneself.
2. Evan Almighty
ARK - Act of Random Kindness is what we need to do to keep the spirits of mankind going on. This is what every person who has the will to do something for humanity, should atleast do! Its not about sacrificing life, taking out processions. Just an act of kindness once in a while. If each person made his ARK the world will be such a better place.

After Bruce Almighty though unknowingly my mind searches for the lessons in the movies I see. There has to be something . . . and if there is not then for me that movie is definitely a flop. The tragedy of our desi cinema is we will have to come across such cinemas quite often. So . . . same thing happened after watching 'Om Shanti Om' what do I learn from this one.

3. Om Shanti Om
" अगर तुम कुछ सचे दील से चाहो तो सारी कायानाथ उस तुमसे मीलाने मे जुड जाती हें. " If you desire something truly, wholeheartedly the whole universe will work to bring that to you. This dialog is something beautifully narrated for the famous saying, " Try try till you succeed. " In simple words, if there is anything that you are desperate for, you work hard towards getting it without having anything else in your mind and whatever else exists you try to link them to your goal. I remember the days when I was preparing ' seriously ' for medical entrance. Once I was traveling in the bus, a beggar comes towards my seat, he had Albinism. The moment I saw him my mind works out Albinism - lack of melanin pigment - genetic - recessive alleles. And this used to happen on everything relative my eyes used to catch. Though I didn't get through but that I think that I lost it in between. But I have released similar things in different phases of life and you too will if you give it a thought. Try to think of those childhood moments when you desperately wanted the toy and how you got it.
4. Parzania
God gives us only that much, how much we can bare. And through that he makes us stronger for the next one he is going to give. She looses her son but god gives her the strength to bare it. That grief only makes her stronger for the realization later that she has lost her home, belongings and everything.

On this note I will like to share a small lesson I have learnt in my life. There will always be grieving, to rich or poor, to needy and giver, to a priest or an atheist. If you pray, worship and believe truly in Him and his powers, why is there sorrows in your life? We always hear, ' God made us like Him.' What feeling do you have when someone you love stops giving you the desired attention. You try out things to get their attention. Same way, God loves us and desires certain bit of attention and when you fail in that he has this strange way of getting it. Don't we too have our own strange ways? Once you have realized this you will have a smile :) on your face with every tear drop you shed.

The list can go on and on, so for all crap during debates on the idiot box . . . Its all justified with one saying we have in Malayalam. It goes like this on translation ' the person who has jaundice finds the whole world colored yellow.' There is a better side for everything. And certain things at unexpected times help you out in unusual ways. I am thankful for the people who made television and cinema.

3 comments:

Indu said...

i think... pros and cons of watching the so called idiot box and getting influenced is an open argument...
if one understands smoking is not gud for one's health... despite of regarding any actor as demigod...(who smokes on screen)shuld not make him or her smoke... yeaa... but for dis... one shuld b gud enough to judge wat is gud and not gud for him or her...
and u cant expect all of dem to have dis judging ability... especially the blind and disillusioned youth in their very tender and fragile adolescence...
responsible filmmakers... yeaa.."responsible"...(though v don't have many of dem) shuld find cinema as a medium to convey meaningful messages to the audience...(money churning medium.. thts cinema is 2day.. 2 many of dem)and dis necessarily doesn't mean... da silent, boring type of movies.. mostly shot in dim light..
just 2 make it appear serious...
with all dis said.. i do understand da efforts and pains which is put in... even to make a complete nonsense film...!!!
for many decades.. cinema.. has been da source of inspirations, motivations and a breakthrough to many dreams for millions...
i wish.. just cinema and meaningful cinema r never different...!
and nobody gets a chance to blame one's shortcomings and failures to.. CINEMA..the most amazing and beautiful way of putting many ideas, feelings, expressions and emotions into a couple of hours celluloid framework... which supposedly has da biggest audience ...
well..seeja.. through you and dis post f ur's.. my prayers r going 2 b different from now.. for i never have watched dis film "bruce almighty"...
not like.. i didnt pray for my loved ones.. but.. frm now.. their share in my prayers is gonna increase... :)
thkss to movie lessons and u...

ME and me said...

Thank you dear, It is friends like you and thought that are exchanged amongst us that has evoked many positive subjects in my mind.
And what you said of cinema is true.
And thanks for letting me know that my writing was of some help to you and hence for your beloved ones for whom you shall pray.

mRiDuLa said...

hmmm....there's a lot to think....never tried as an exercise as i watch movies purely for entertainment sake and generally keep my precious brain locked up while watching them, esp. bollywood but there are exceptions like water, swades, page 3, chandini bar. I guess Madhur bhandarkar should be appreciated for his work. And well its purely on an individual as to how he perceives it. These good movies are eye opener but are not much accepted, or to be precise much remembered, by the public. Take for instance, swades which really hit hard on issues like illiteracy and development. May be the movie was famous for its songs and will be most probably shown only on 26 January and 15 august and the rest of the year we dedicate ourselves to s*** movies like krazzy4, one two three and bhool bhulaiya. But this doesn't make me a fan of all movies based on social issues. There was one movie called Mathrubhumi. It is about female infanticide- a touchy issue. Din't like it much coz it just focuses on the problem but has failed to offer any solution.
Any ways, an open discussion is always good to exchange ideas, ponder on issues and learn stuffs which generally are not easily visible to open eyes but only to an open mind.