In The Mirror

                                BOOK REVIEW : I 'm Heartless - a Real Confession

Confessions are always intriguing. And, when it comes in a paperback with a bold-lettered title of “I am Heartless” – it is sure to grab attention. Moreover, the graphic cover design and an attractive intro at the back-cover of the book are provoking enough to give it a try.

There is an eerie feeling about the very term “confession”. It comes with a heavy baggage of expectation of witnessing some dark allies of human behavior or emotions – a sly wish of peeping at one’s nasty secret. Added to that, George Clooney in his “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)” gave another dimension altogether with voyeurism. And, the debutant author chose to trod this rare path – much away from mushy campus romances.

I 'm Heartless By Vinit K. Bansal

The plot here revolves around Viren – the protagonist. In “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, Chuck Barris(the main character of the movie) was torn between the woman who loved him and the woman of his fantasy. In the very first few pages, precisely after the prologue, the author has introduced us to Pari, the girl of Viren’s ultimate fantasy. And, the fantasy got shape in his post-grad days in form of Rashi. And, now began the age-long mockery of “very-good-friends” by Rashi and hapless effort of Viren. And then, there is realization and an attempt of self imposed seclusion. Enter Manasi, the good old friend and the life began once again. Same old filmy melodrama?  Naah !! It’s only the half! The author made an attempt to explore the extremities of being a loser. The protagonist is a tragic hero who realizes his loss when it is already lost. The last chapter justifies the tagline “A Real Confession”. It ogles out the dark emotions and portrays the curvature of human psyche in a state of ultimate repentance and frustration. It painfully personifies the grey shades of human emotions – a conflict of sadness, contempt, regret, shame and guilt.

Vinit K Bansal has done a decent job in his debut novel. The character sketching of Viren is excellent and deserves accolade. The constant eccentricity of the egoistic character is captured in a fantastic way. In the first few chapters, when the character was building up, the author gave a glimpse of the campus life through a few subplots. The characters as Max, Sunny are very real and you will definitely bump upon them on a single campus visit. But the two main subplots revolving around Freddy and Max are too weak and half-baked. A bit more tightening of the sub-plots could have helped the characterization itself and supported the plot on the whole.And, unintended pregnancy is unnecessarily tabooed all-over. Even, the character of Rashi(read Pari) faded suddenly. How can the author who has the potential to create Viren with all dedication can be so abrupt in creating his Pari. 

The book definitely stands out of the crowd of Indian fictions that revolves mostly around candid college romance. And, Viren definitely stands out as a character – a loser in love.

The character reminded me of a Bengali master story-teller Mr. Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. He in one of his novels wrote at the end note as “Please, spare a single drop of tear for him”. The “him” here refers to as a character that created history in Indian cinema – Devdas. Be it through Dilip Kumar,Shah Rukh Khan or Abhay Deol, Devdas was successful in justifying the end note of his creator.

Perhaps, Vinit could have quoted the same line here at the end.

The Baton gets exchanged.................

Dil Chahta Hai & Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

It was a rainy day. The atmosphere was not ready for such a mind- boggling experience. Neither was our soul. All of us flocked to the nearby screens. Three queer faces were peeking out of posters. The I-have-seen-it-all Akash, the mom-i-am-so-confused Samir and Mr. cool-as-a-cucumber Sid. We, who had, braved the rain and gone gone to watch the big guns of Bollyworld, were taken by surprise. It wasn't them-  but the onscreen the trio who got the better of us. It was the other bunch of men who caught us by our nape-like a mother –cat holds her kittens and safely transfers them to a cozy, warm place – the debutant director, the music composers, the lyricist, the whole team took us to an old place, cozy and full of warmth. A place we had always known. A place we had always known. A place where we find our closest of friends. Friendship.

Years ago, when I was in school, I used to find an open sky in front of the radio. The walls of the idiot-box used to be claustrophobic to me. That was the time when I had heard on air that “parents introduce us to the world but friends who stay with us throughout the rest of the journey”. That rainy day made me realize the true essence of friendship. The first scene where the other two bursts into Sid’s house late night imagining an emergency to the scene where the three part ways – the roller – coaster to the ride has always been a treat to watch.

Dil Chahta Hai

My house had a pond years ago. Every day, I used to come back from school sit by the bank, just allowing every bit of the serenity seep into my blood. DCH and a nth review of the entire movie still gives the same smile, to that same angle, my lips curl in that same position, to that same angle, my eyes emote to that same pain, my breaths still paint the same paintings – every time, I click the “Play” button, I feel that same serenity. Feeling that I used to feel sitting at the pond bank. Such was the impact of the euphoric milieu that was born out of the trio.

DCH on 24^th July, 2011 completed its journey of a decade. A journey that has been a cult,  almost symbolic to the journey that the three embarked upon till the last scene. Awards, kudos, celebrations, cult status, stardom for the director. All-time high for the music directors. Another feather in the cap of the lyricist. A dizzying cinematography. A freshly –minted script.  

And, also the other side of the moon. The mythical fan-following. The Goa shooting spot revisited. The umpteen copies of that shadow-dance sequence. The fake fish-eating photo. The fun. The all-I-have-is- you-guys feeling.

The trio, over all these years, have swept away every friend who has seen this ode to friendship called DCH. And, while DCH gives to such a height and structure, I relived my DCH moments too.

DCH showed us how every frame can be precious in a man’s life. Months after Akash and gang had passed out of college, Akash could still see three of them sitting at the college stairs, giving away to their hearts’s content. We had ours too. We four.

Cycle rides to eternity, laughing away to glory, snatching less-fortunate one’s tiffin, fooling away forever- our list was long enough. Cycle was a catalyst to love, lust, pain, glory. Friendship found a new horizon, newer dimension.

Last bench catastrophes were cool. Calling one by his/ her father’s / mother’s name became a cool menace. Hanging out together was no longer a non-sense. The sudden, unplanned trip, out of the blues bike rides, cheap thrills, bunking, out-of-budget expenses, et al.

  And, the legacy continues. Till date. 10 years and still continuing. People still swear on DCH. The dialogues are still mint-fresh. And boys still dread a Priya-like girlfriend. Girls still die for those dreamy eyes of Sid. And resembles all that DCH is made of.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 

But times change. Years pass. Buddies grow stronger, sharper too. (I have alittle doubt regarding the smarter  part though.) Anyways, DCH too had to grow up. And, what better way than to pass the baton to ZNMD?

What did you say? The word ‘baton’? Yes… you heard right… cause life is a relay race… every action has a consequence … every bit of our schedule gives rise to a chain reaction. Somewhere in life, school paves the way for college. Somewhere in nature, the seed grows into a tree. Somewhere in love, the words carry the seeds for the future.

And, in between all these cacophony called life, the baton gets exchanged. DCH gives ZNMD a gentle yet careful message. You can almost see the predecessor’s shadow. But, that’s it. ZNMD showcases how every ‘Bwoy’ in the team has grown up. Even that old man.

The first whiff of adolescence or feet-firmly-on-the-ground hits the nose when Imraan – Arjun – Kabir battle it out among themselves regarding Arjun’s ex-lover, Sonali. But, unlike DCH, they don’t cancel their trip midway nor break friendship, rather they move on. And, if that is the signal of intent, it gets confirmed at the end when we get to see Kabir ends up single, and at the end when Imraan and Nuria are still cool about being just a pair; unlike DCH where Sid meets this new girl on the beach and the round table dinner sequence, as if the film couldn't have ended with him single.

Also, the music director trio, they have achieved a whole new curve, the old man has come up with some absolute fantastic lines, the cinematographers look delicious frame-by-frame, and the director still has her head between her shoulders.

And, how I saw my bwoys grow up to a different height altogether. Some migrated to different latitudes and longitudes altogether. But the heart beat has remained the same. The pulse still races in the same fashion. The missed calls, SMSs, pokes convey the same message – my bwoys are still very close.

The madness in the heart, the Bedouin nature in the blood, the nomadic spirit yet a strong desire to get settled, we four have made quite a long journey in life.

And while we have traveled long, while we have far and out, we have found a Sid, an Akash, a Samir among us.

And inside us, we know, its a decade that has passed in realizing so.

(This post is an entry to the Reel-Life Bloggers contest organized by www.wogma.com and www.reviewgang.com )