Rang De Basanti

Many a year ago, there was a small kid who asked his father – “Papa, why do people cry?” – His father replied solemnly, “It is sometimes such a joy to weep – to let tears flow unrestricted – to cry your heart out. It cleanses you – your soul.”

That kid grew up - scared of the system, scared of the politicians, scared of the rowdies and gundas in the neighborhood, scared of not being able to perform well in EAMCET, scared of campus interviews – scared of going up the ladder – scared of marriage of kids of companionship of many many such things.

And one day that kid decided to see Rang De Basanti. In his last thirty years of life, the kid didn’t cry even once in movie halls. Sometimes there were tears in the eyes but those stray incidents did not prepare him for what was in store in Six Degrees Cinema on January 27^th between 11:30am and 2:30pm.

I, the kid, am still dazed by the experience. I am yet to come out of the trans. I am typing all this as soon as I got home so that I would be able to translate into words the incredible experience I have just been through.

Don’t ask me what the storyline is or how the actors performed. That doesn’t matter. Leave all the peripherals aside. When you look at the big picture, in its entirety without dissecting it into unnecessary aspects – Rang De Basanti truly has the capability to influence you – to make you think – think seriously about all of us, the country, the armed forces and the irony of present day India. It is capable of brainwashing you. It is what Swades tried to do but failed. Rang De Basanti, as the Rediff reviewer comments, pulls of the stunt rather remarkably.

Rang De Basanti makes you cry; makes you laugh; makes you think and makes you love your country. I had to fight with all my might to stop the tears from flowing down freely. The girl sitting next to me however was smiling in tears and the guy sitting in the other side had forgotten himself fully and was staring at the screen without even batting an eyelid.

To describe the stunning effect the movie had on the viewers today in Chennai, let me just tell you this. – Seven or eight times during the course of the movie, the entire theatre burst into claps – once or twice people actually rose from seats to laud the effort.

I have never seen such a reception to any movie in my life. Period.

It is pointless to describe the negative points of the movie because in the emotional tsunami generated by the saga – you tend to forget everything and come out a transformed person. There are three or four loopholes or weak spots in the script but I deliberately refrain from discussing them.

Movies like this come once in a decade. I am not sure if this movie would succeed because a significant portion of the movie is in English and there are no commercial elements. However as a fan of good movies, I pray to God that this movie should succeed so that people in the film industry are encouraged to make such movies.

This film is an advertisement of what a good bound script can do. Generalizing this as a Coming of Age movie is doing a great injustice to the writer.

Kudos, Claps and Three Cheers. I hate to give this movie a rating. It is an insult on the movie. Decide yourself.

Monalisa Kumari clicked her SLR twice just to ensure she got the kiss in its pristine beauty. The couple in front of her were blissfully ignorant of the unwarranted intrusion into their public lives. The Alps in the background – slightly aglow because of the setting sun, Monalisa Kumari could not have asked for a better picture.

Once she had the picture perfectly canned, guilt overcame everything. She walked to them and pleasantly called – “Excuse me”

They were startled. The girl blushed. The boy blushed too. Monalisa blushed. And none of them spoke anything.

The boy offered a smile finally. “Hi, I am Prashant. This is Shikha.”

Monalisa presented her Da Vincian smile, “I apologize for spoiling your lovely intimate moment. I am a photographer and your kiss in this setting was really fabulous. I caught it on my camera – It’s gonna be stunning. Black and white and just the yellow glow off the Alps.”

“No No No” Shikha buried her face in her palms.

Prashant looked at Monalisa, slightly embarrassed. “You should have asked us first.”

Monalisa sighed, “Probably! But it will not be natural. And the moment would have gone never to return. If you insist though, I will not publish the photo. Allow me to at least develop the picture and send it to you too.”

They consulted each other in a very low tone. After what seemed like an eternity, the smiling couple waved off Monalisa.

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This is me, Prashant Maharajakumar – the groom whose bride is a wealthy Gulf national’s daughter and an aspiring model, Shikha Deshpande.

We met in an airplane, chatted on the net – fought over a cup of coffee and kissed in front the Father twenty two minutes ago.

By the powers vested in me by God, I now pronounce you man and wife.

By far the sweetest line I have ever heard – put an effective full stop to my life as a bachelor and let Shikha into my life.

Me, Shikha and my life.

It just can’t get better than this.

Some advantages of having a wealthy father in law – We are flying to Switzerland for our honeymoon – The Alps are calling – calling me; calling Shikha; calling both of us – at the same time – together.

I still can’t believe that. Me and Shikha – We will spoken together – within the same sentence, our names together – joined mostly by “And”. People will refer to us collectively – Prashant and Shikha or Shikha aur Prashant.

We are Shikha Prashant and Prashant Maharajakumar – And this is our story.

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“Nice picture” Almond Raj commented – munching a couple of roasted Almonds.

Monalisa nodded. “I can’t use it though. Don’t have the permission. I am just gonna send this to Shikha and Prashant.”

Almond Raj took one long look at the photograph. “Seriously, publish this photo saying the guy is Tom Cruise and the girl, Katie Holmes. People will buy it. I can’t see any facial features. How does it matter to Shikha and Prashant?”

She shook her head, “Unfortunately Raj, promises have to be kept.”

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I am the Shikha, Prashant has so far talked about. His every word is true though we did not fight over a cup of coffee. It was Hot Chocolate. I still remember the day – we hated each other; we fought bitterly; we fell in love; we accepted each other.

I do!

The best decision I’ve made till date. We are together now and no one can separate us. In fact every one is happy with us. My parents, his siblings, my cat, his dog, our relatives – They all accepted us. Us being together.

We are one. Inseparable. We’re going to love Switzerland – It is fun unlimited. Just the two of us – snow clad mountains – rivers frozen – golden rays of sun – petty fights – I love Prashant. I just do. Hence I did.

This is Shikha Prashant, signing off – And welcome to our breathtakingly beautiful but small world.

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Monalisa Kumari unfortunately forgot all about the photo and it relegated itself to the deepest corner of the bottom chest of drawers.

Two years later, she decided to sell off her chest of drawers. That was when she unearthed the photos.

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I stared at the picture. Monalisa has kept her word though it has been over two years. The envelope has the loveliest photo I have ever seen along with the negatives.

Why is life this way? I thought we could be a lovely couple. Shikha and Prashant – one of a kind – happy and content with what we have or don’t have.

What went wrong? Where is that spark? I still love her. I do. There is no romance left in this marriage. We have just been fighting – letting ego come between us and separate us.

And here we are finally. Divorce papers here and our kiss there!

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Monalisa parked her Swift between two imposing Ambassadors and cursed all Indian drivers before she got out of the car. She traveled nearly four hundred kilometers to be here. To meet Prashant and Shikha – drink Chai as per their invitation in Switzerland – and to apologize profusely for the unwarranted delay.

The servant maid answered the door. “They are not here.” She told Monalisa.

“OK. Where are they?” She was disappointed.

“Prashant sir is in Bangalore. Shikha madam in Hyderabad.” The maid replied.

When Monalisa got back to her car, her head was spinning. Prashant and Shikha not living together? Could this be really happening?

She drove out from the apartment complex and weighed her options. She could drive back to Bangalore to meet Prashant. Or she could leave the car there and go to Hyderabad to meet Shikha.

Or she could just watch a movie in Satyam Multiplex, visit another friend and get on with her life.

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I can feel tears rolling off my cheeks. Everything is blurred. I don’t know why Monalisa is standing in front of me now. And I recognized her the moment I opened the door.

The photo in my hand – I don’t know what to do. Should I look at how beautiful life had once been? Should I simply tear it off and be done with it?

No I can’t do that. I can’t damage the picture. It is us. The two of us. It is the only proof that Prashant and Shikha had something magical going between them. Look at us! Oblivious of the surroundings. Just enjoying each other.

Thank you Monalisa, Thank you very much. It is just that the photo arrived just at an inopportune moment. I don’t know what to do. I can’t believe my life is screwed.

I did. I did. He did. And the court undoes it.

Why is this happening? Where are you Prashant? Why have you left me behind?

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Almond Raj clapped and contributed his two cents to the deafening roar from the audience. The CEO of Livid Moments, a magazine dedicated to photography, walked away from the dais.

Monalisa adjusted the mike. “Thanks everyone. I dedicate this award to the guy and the girl who unfortunately could not make it to this meeting. I am sorry I cannot disclose the identity of them.”

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Prashant gave her an envelope.

“Do you want to go there again?” She asked Prashant not opening the envelope – still looking at the picture. He didn’t say anything.

“Let us visit Alps again” She begged him.

He didn’t reply.

“What is in the envelope?” She asked him.

He wouldn’t reply.

She opened it. Swiss Air First Class – Zurich – The coming weekend.

“Prashant, you dog! Thank you.. Thank you very much.” She hugged him.

“Happy Anniversary Shikha” he kissed her.

And they both stared at the picture.

“I feel guilty.” Shikha told him, “We should have let Monalisa publish this piece of beauty. Our features anyway are not discernible.”

“As long as our names are not mentioned, I think I am OK with the idea.” Prashant agreed.

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That’s it. The story is finished. What more do you want from this?

I love her. She loves me. Whatever be the differences of opinion we had had, we decided to start afresh – Give our marriage a chance. We could have done this earlier… but it was the photo which changed our perspective – the way we looked at life – or the way we ignored each other. The photo presented an opportunity – a rare moment of clarity – and in that moment, we realized that we were still in love – that we could still be together – that the spark was not lost.

This is our story – our celebration of being together. I, Prashant Maharajakumar and my wife Shikha Prashant – signing off now. Alps are waiting!

He climbed the parapet wall and looked down.

Eighty feet separated him from the hard ground, a tiled one at that. He looked up. Millions of stars - all eagerly waiting to catch some action. Just 80 feet separated them from him.

Eighty feet.

He had crossed many hurdles, traveled many miles and reached that parapet wall. Eighty more feet and he would be history.

He blinked. He didn’t suffer from depression. He was not short tempered. He believed that death by no means could solve anything.

Yet he stood there on the wall – ready to begin the last journey of his life; the last mile of his quest. The Green Mile indeed.

There was a thunder preceded by a blinding lightning.

He saw God.

And there was a question from Him.

I don’t know what to do God!

God persisted.

I can’t live. If I live, she will die.

Another flash of lightning. He saw his lifeless body on the tiled floor of his apartment complex. The image blurred. Next he saw her on the top of the apartment complex – standing on the parapet wall.

If I live, she will die. She will be murdered.

Then he knew. If he died, she would live but she would end her life. If he didn’t jump off the wall, she would be murdered. Either way it was the end of the road for her. His action would have no effect on the outcome.

He looked at God, eyes moist.

I can’t live without her. If I live, she will die and I will end my life as well because I can’t think of a life without her.

God smiled.

He saw a ripple ripping apart the space time continuum. He saw himself laughing merrily with her – white hair and no teeth.

It is clear God! Either way we will both die. What you are showing me is not real. I don’t know who they are. I don’t know why they want me to kill myself. All I know is that she is with them. And they are merciless. If they can cut the finger of the most beautiful girl in the world and send it as a proof that “she is still alive”, I am sure they would not hesitate to terminate her in the most painful manner.

God replied with silence.

He knew at once what he had to do. He had to gift her, the ability to choose her death. If she wanted to die, she could – as she wanted – according to her protocol. He would not let someone else kill her.

On the other hand, if she wanted to live – to ensure that her man’s sacrifice was not trivialized – He would wait for her up there. He would know he had made the right choice.

The cloud disappeared. His mind was clear and focused. He saw that the last eighty feet of his journey as defined in the protocol did not scare him.

He nodded at God.

God smiled again.

The lightning struck – And persisted – He saw an opening – A way. He walked into the Great Light not waiting for his sweetheart to join him.