V : Very Good Questions #AtoZChallenge2020

A behavioral scientist, Elizabeth Weingarten, recently published an article titled - 20 questions to ask instead of "How are you doing right now?" 

She goes on to say that when the pandemic started it was a useful question at first, an assumption-free signal of care. But when you keep asking this question on default mode, the responses become almost scripted and reflexive. Also when you keep asking the same question again and again you lose out on a chance of building deeper connections. It is a beautiful article which then goes on to list 20 questions which go beyond "How are you doing right now?"

Though I must also say, that in a totally different context, I had dabbled with this subject myself two years back. You can click here to read that post as well.

For today's post, I am going to answer the questions listed by Elizabeth, for myself. May be this exercise will help me get in touch with my inner self and help you understand me much better. So here we go.

Eleven questions for making a true connection

1. How are you taking care of yourself today?

Answer: Not something earth shattering, but during this lockdown, I have reduced my diet a bit and have been drinking less and also ensuring some physical activity whenever I get time off from my work. 

2. What part of your shelter-in-place residence have you come to appreciate the most?

Answer: Our terrace and balcony. I mean these are the only open spaces we have access to right now. I envy people who have gardens. 

3. What surprising thing have you been stocking up on (that isn't toiler paper)?

Answer: Surprisingly nothing. We are not panic buying. Though we have to always keep enough cookies in stock for our son. Also I wish I had stocked up some liquor before the lockdown started. Now I have to ration it judiciously. 

4. What's a story - from a book, a movie, an article, a conversation - that you've been gripped by recently? Why did it capture you?

Answer: I recently finished Jaya by Devdutt Patanaik. It is a retelling of Mahabharata. It had some fascinating stories. A total escape from these dreary times. 

5. What habit have you started, or broken, during the quarantine?

Answer: Nothing much. But I think I am watching lesser TV on weekdays. And I am spending relatively more time with my son. Now whether these are habits or the situation is forcing these acts, time will tell. 

6. Which specific place in your neighborhood are you most looking forward to visiting one this is all over?

Answer: Obviously, a cinema hall and the neighborhood bar. 

7. What is the easiest part about the quarantine?

Answer: There is no commute to office. But I must say 'Work From Home' is something I have come to dislike as it means that one has to be connected for more hours. 

8. What are some things you have realized that you don't really need?

Answer: So many shoes!

9. What is something you own that feels useful?

Answer: Internet connection, microwave and books

10. What is your COVID-19 nickname/alter-ego?

Answer: No one has kept a nickname for me but I think my alter-ego should be Iron-Man. Because, I keep tinkering with stuff. May be this is not an honest answer. So my dear reader, why don't you give me a nickname in the comments section. Moderation is on. So be nice please! 

11. What problem - either yours, or something more global - do you wish you could solve?

Answer: Fake news & people who think 'Work From Home' is a holiday. 

Nine questions for taking things a step further

12. What's something that you miss that surprises you? What's something that you don't miss that surprises you?

Answer: I miss office and its more regular working hours. I am not missing watching films, in a cinema hall. Surprising, because I am a movie buff, who can watch back to back movies on a big screen, every weekend. May be that is also because nothing is getting released anyway so I am not having FOMO.

13. Which member of your family / friend group have you been thinking about the most during this time? Why?

Answer: My parents. They stay far from me. But I always had this comfort in my mind that we can visit each other, whenever we want. Now I realize how we take things for granted. Something as simple as flights. 

14. What's the most generous act you've seen recently?

Answer: I really appreciate the work, doctors and nurses have been doing. And people who are ensuring delivery of essentials. I know some people who are feeding the hungry. That makes me feel the goodness all around. 

15. What's the last thing you experienced that made you laugh, or cry?

Answer: My son always makes me feel happy and makes us laugh. Last night, we played hopscotch on our terrace. Me and my wife. For a brief time, we went back to our childhood. 

16. What times of the day or the week are hardest?

Answer: Every night when I lie down, I am more anxious these days. When I am engaged in work, I feel okay though. Also Sunday evenings are gloomy. Because you may believe it or not, I still get the Monday Blues. 

17. What's giving you hope right now?

Answer: That I am not alone in this. My family is with me. And the fact that I still have a job. 

18. What's the best thing that happened to you today?

Answer: Few people gave nice comments on the blogpost I wrote yesterday. 

19. How do you want this experience to change you? How do you think it will?

Answer: I don't know if it will. But I want that it helps me make more brave choices in life.  

20. What do you hope we all learn or take away from this experience?

Answer: I hope that we all learn that joy is in smaller things and let us hope we all slow down a bit and reflect on the purpose of our lives.

I urge all of you to do the following:

1. Read the original article written by Elizabeth by clicking here

2. Read my post on a similar subject but written in a different context

3. Give me a nickname (refer to Q10) in the comments section

4. Answer few of the above questions, if you feel like, in comments section and let me know more about you. 

See you all on Monday, with my letter W post. God Speed! 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here. 

Previous Challenges : Letter V

2017: VCR and Video Tapes

2018: VCR and Video Tapes Part II

2019: Viewers and Voice-overs in Hindi Films / Bollywood

V : Viewers and Voice-overs in Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Most commercial Indian film-makers had always believed that the Indian audiences must leave their brains back at home to really enjoy their films. They actually wanted to convey that their films are about senseless entertainment. As Indian viewers got exposed to the content across the world, they were not willing to accept mediocre work anymore. So big film-makers of 80s and 90s who couldn't reinvent themselves became redundant. Subhash Ghai is the name that comes to mind almost instantly. He had made really successful films in his heydays. But as viewers' tastes changed, he couldn't learn the new grammar and tonality of film-making. On the other hand, Yash Chopra tried to keep up with a younger India and thus remained relevant. Though his later works weren't as powerful as his earlier films, he still managed to attract youngsters.

"Keep your brains at home" maxim is so well entrenched in our film-makers' minds that they don't trust the intelligence of audiences to understand things and thus they feel the need to spell out everything in their films. Of course it is not true for everyone. But this cliche is still dominant. Voice-over by a narrator in a film is a great technique to spell out everything for the audiences. It is necessary sometimes, when things happening on screen are too overwhelming or the material is too thick. Like in the Netflix series Narcos. The two cliches which are associated with voice-overs in India are:

• If you want to lend gravitas to a film, use voice-over (like the God's voice)
• There is no one better than Amitabh Bachchan to do this voice-over

There is nothing wrong in it. But then it is a cliche and thus even at times when it doesn't work people stick to it. Viewers changed! Voice-over didn't! 

I think when it comes to period films like Lagaan or Manikarnika, his voice-over is pitch perfect. Listen to his voice-over in Manikarnika and get mesmerized. 

But seemingly Bachchan has done voice-overs even for films like Hello Brother and Ra.One. There was nothing in those films to be really explained. They were senseless and they weren't even entertaining. 

P.S. - In bad connectivity area today, so couldn't upload several other videos which I wanted to. Please bear. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter V: VCR and Video Tapes - A post about two films I shouldn't have watched as a child. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter V: VCR and Video Tapes Part II - A post about three films that I watched on VCR several times. Click here to read.

V : VCR and Video Tapes Part II #AtoZchallenge

Flashback

Just like all good film franchises, this post is a sequel to my last year's post on the same subject. Films are close to my heart, so I don't mind repeating this topic. In last year's post I talked about the times, when cable TV was yet to make in-roads in India. I also ranted about embarrassing wedding videos and wrote about two film tapes - Bhavani Junction and Do Anjaane - which were lying at our home and I watched them multiple times. As a pre-teen, I shouldn't have watched these highly graphic films at all.

Fast Forward

Bereft of multiple sources of entertainment in small towns, VCR (Video Cassette Recorder and Player) was like manna from heaven. Days passed slowly in small towns, before the advent of satellite TV and the all powerful internet. I remember three films from those days, which I must have watched umpteen times, not only because they were entertaining, but also because they allowed a restless kid to escape the insipid hot afternoons; and mostly because these video tapes were lying at home. The jury is still out on whether a child should have been allowed to watch films like these. I don't think at that time the concepts like child-friendly content or parental control had taken root in India. I think I have grown up fine, though some of my close friends might have a different opinion. 

1. Yaadon Ki Baaraat  (Procession of Memories) - I love watching this film even now, but for different reasons. Now I watch it for its timeless music, its perfect execution of 'lost and found formula', which Hindi films of yore had done to death and of course because of Zeenat Aman. (For the uninitiated Lost and Found formula means, where siblings would get separated in childhood because of multiple reasons and the narrative will propel forward to bring them together, while the separated siblings do several other things on the way.) This film is a revenge saga as well, with one of the coolest villains of Hindi Films played by Ajit - Shakaal, getting undone by his mismatched shoe sizes. 

As a child, I watched this film because of a particular scene, where a couple steals food from two wealthy obese men while they are skinny dipping in a lake. I used to find it hilarious. Now I find that scene stupid and totally unnecessary in the screenplay. (Hindi films used to be of 3 hours then, with economy in narration not a worry.) I also used to watch the film again and again, because of its cool action - airplanes, trains, a railway track climax and a villain's den that had automated doors.

 Film's Poster - Yaadon Ki Baaraat

Zeenat Aman in 'Chura Liya' song

2. Mera Gaon Mera Desh (My Village My Country) - I definitely shouldn't have watched this film as a child. At core it is a highly violent film and glorifies villainy. But I watched it many times then, maybe because I was enamored by strong and cool villains. Vinod Khanna, played Jabbar Singh with such flair. The film was about a dacoit who tormented villagers and how an outsider Ajit, a petty thief himself, played by Dharmendra, takes him on. 

My favorite part of  this film was when both the hero and heroine get captured by Jabbar Singh and are tied in his den, a nautch girl, performs a song. The song goes like, "Maar Diya Jaaye, Ya Chhod Diya Jaaye", in which the nautch girl is giving the hero a choice between life and death, as Jabbar looks on, and drinking to his heart's fill straight from the bottle. Till the climax, it is the villain who enjoys his life. A great lesson for a child?

 Film's Poster - Mera Gaon Mera Desh

Jabbar Singh with his bottle played by suave Vinod Khanna

3. Ghayal (Wounded) - This is one of my all time favorite Hindi films. Even today, I can watch it and rattle off all its dialogues from memory. It is a powerful film, where the hero takes on a corrupt system. But let me tell you, as a child I shouldn't have watched it. It released when I was 10 years old. I think this one is definitely a PG rated film. (By the way, the two films mentioned above released before I was even born, so I must have watched them on VCR about 10-15 years after they came out. That says a lot about shelf life of their content.) I must have watched Ghayal 40-50 times. And not because its villain was cool. But because I idolized Sunny Deol, who played Ajay Mehra, an amateur boxer turned hardened criminal, out there to avenge his brother's death, with great conviction. Yes, the villain here was not cool like Shakaal and Jabbar Singh, but Balwant Rai, the rich scoundrel, played by Amrish Puri, was more impactful. As a viewer, you would clap with glee when he gets gunned down at the end. 

I must have liked this film because of multiple reasons. One, it had a screenplay like I had never seen before in Hindi films - flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, constantly keeping your interest alive. Second, it had such powerful claptrap dialogues, that even today when you hear them, you get goosebumps. Third, while at heart its story was a revenge drama, just like the above two films, the villain here was a metaphor for everything wrong with our system - politics, police etc. I must have turned cynic after multiple exposures to this film. Fourth, the film was a police procedural as well and the cat and mouse game that ensues, is exciting. Lastly, it had an ensemble cast comprising of some of our best actors at that time. 

Film's Poster- Ghayal

Closing Credits

Is this a surprise, that all the three films I wrote about in this post had someone from Deol family? The first two had Dharmendra in the lead and Ghayal had his son Sunny Deol as the hero. 

I don't regret watching these films as a child.

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My last year's challenge post from letter V was about the impact of Home Videos and VCR on my childhood. Read it here.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.

V : VCR and Video Tapes

Do you remember those heady days of Video Cassette Recorder (and Player) fondly called VCR? 

Do you remember those nights when you would rent few Video Tapes together, hook up the VCR to TV and watch back to back movies?

Do you remember those days, when going to cinema halls was not a good experience and satellite television had not arrived in India?

Well, I remember those days growing up. VCR at home was my early education in watching movies. I fell in love with films since then. I am a total film buff today because of it.

We used to stay in a joint family. There was one color TV and one VCR bought by one of my uncles. Normally, all elders would watch movies in the night. But evenings were when I used to mess with it. Sometimes even late nights, doing movie marathons. And do remember I must have been 9 years to 13 years old in this period. I am sure I will not let my child get access to such things early in life. But with internet so deeply entwined with our lives today, I think I would be fighting a losing battle. 

I don't think anybody had heard about parental control then. I don't think anyone realized in those innocent times, that how films can impact kids' psyche. Even for elders, especially women of the house, VCR was a fun thing, thought to be harmless for everyone. Going to cinema halls was considered bad but VCR was okay. Mostly, we would watch popular Bollywood movies or I would rent animation films from the neighborhood shop. 

Sometimes we used to watch marriage videos of recent marriages or videos of other family functions. And I used to feel embarrassed watching them. They were funny though, with cameraman mixing his random special effects when the aunt from neighborhood had just put food in her mouth. Or his credits slates at the start accompanied with popular Hindi songs. It was fun in a way. Now the wedding videos have become much more professional and, I feel, impersonal too. Though tacky in production, those wedding videos of our elders were more honest. Now I am digressing.

So there were these two video tapes lying at our home. They were not rented but owned. Not many people have seen these films or heard about them.

First one was Bhavani Junction, a revenge drama, wherein a husband is after his wife's rapists and killers. The rape sequence and violence in film was graphic in nature. And I had seen this film before even getting into my teens. Not once, but many times over. As the tape was always at home.

Can you imagine how it would have impacted me? I can't really say today.

Then there was another film called Do Anjaane, which was about infidelity and greed for money, leading to a murder. A kid watching such stuff, multiple times, would turn out to be damaged goods. I think I turned out fine by God's grace.

Satellite television and emergence of multiplexes killed the VCR. The content is so easily available today through on demand video. The entire process of going to a video rental shop and spending time to search for a particular video tape and bring it home, had a sense of adventure about it. If the video was risqué, the thrill was a notch higher. Now can Amazon Prime or Netflix or anything else live up to that!!!