For the love of Cinema.

When I had nothing exhilarating to do on a not so happening Monday evening, I let my fingers rummage through an old carton stacked with DVDs, rusted and shagged. Out came a few, in dusty masses of dirt, strands of my long curly hair and an ancient stole. It must have been left in abandonment for, well, a really long time, because I couldn’t remember using that stole and the curly strand of hair brought some weird nostalgia of days spent over cursing my hair.


So, I dug in deeper and picked a random plastic case which under the same dispersion of dust, read, ‘Khamoshi – The musical’. It had a poster of Salman Khan and Monisha Koirala, smooching. And despite the presence of Nana Patekar’s too-realistic-to-be-romantic face on the same frame, the poster somehow made up to appear romantic. There was a time when I loved this movie, so dearly. There was a time when I would come home from school and play its music, every evening for an entire month. And then one day, I couldn’t take ‘bahon ki’ or ‘Aaj me ooper’ anymore; so I moved onto other fascinations. Thirteen years later, simply glaring at that picture was still a warmth-inducing feeling. I did not end up watching ‘Khamoshi – The musical’ that evening. Over years, it has slowly glided out of my all time favorites though sometimes during conversations about good Bollywood, I still love to say ‘I love Khamoshi’.

Movies have been quite a staple of a food in my life. In everybody’s life, I suppose. There are some, I love, love and love. On this piece of random blog rambling today, I thought I’ll remember a few of those, in honor of my ‘love, love and love’ for ‘em.

The list is not complete; there's a few more I have adored, loved and love to love. I can't believe I haven't included 'Alaipayuthe', 'Anbe Sivam', 'Jurassic Park', or ' Christmas Carol', perhaps for the lack of words(and space) (and your time) to describe the beauty.

Not sorted in any particular order.

1. Anjali

The first movie to ever leave me struck with wonder of what movies were all about. I came out of the theatre, in tears which warmly remained so for a long time afterward. As an eight year old kid, I didn’t quite understand or pay detailed attention to the beauty involved in this cult Maniratnam-craft. All I knew was that I wanted to go, watch this movie again, smile, rejoice and come out of the theatre yet again in tears which I did, after a week and some hardboiled cries of plea at dad’s knees. With abundance of great cinematography, music, dialogues and the essence of Maniratnam’s portrayal of human emotions, twenty years and probably about several hundreds of movies later, Anjali still stands rich and classic in my list of favorites.



2. Roja

For everything about it. And there is one thing I want to put outside and beyond the word ‘everything’ here– THE MUSIC. With Roja broke out a volcanic eruption of a new era of music. But I had no idea. It was simply customary in our family to watch a Maniratnam movie; so we went. You know, though some Maniratnam movies arguably do not stand completely honest for a ‘family’ watch (with the erotic pudhu vellai mazhai, Roja was strictly outside a PG-consideration), we nevertheless did go. Dad had said he read some rave reviews about the music. I was still humbly naïve then to have asked who the music was by. After the movie, we went straight to an audio shop and did ourselves a favor by investing in the audio cassette that went on to make history in world music. Every household in my neighborhood, Tamilian or not, music lover or not, dutifully added Roja to his/her treasury of music. And every time I watch this movie, there is one thing that slightly gets more handsome than Aravind Swamy and more attractive than Santosh Sivan’s gorgeous landscapes and better than Maniratnam himself – the music that I am still head over heels in love with.



3. Titanic

But, of course!! If there are souls in this world who do not like Titanic, I respectfully think they could be probably psychopathic, blank, selfish or antisocial. Even if you were all that, you would still want to bow to the magnificence hiding behind Cameron’s multi million dollar head. I mean, it’s TITANIC.





4. Dil Chahta Hai

I remember watching this movie on a girl’s night out, at a friend’s place, through silent, wee hours of the night, over casual conversations. Over the first few minutes of the movie, we stopped conversing; only occasionally opening our mouth to let out a chuckle, a mild gasp or a content smile. The silence carried on heavily in my mind long after the movie was over. And I am honest to God when I say this – the next morning when I woke up, I emerged better a person; I wanted to start life all over again, Dil Chahta Hai style. It still helps me resort my thinking when I know I have to break off the pessimism that sometimes clutters up in life and restart. If you are reading this and haven’t seen this movie, I beg you with folded hands to do so. And do so every time life sulks. It’s worth every second.

5. Ratatouille


For the magic, movies can make us experience!!For the beauty of colors ! For the love of animations we all grew up on ! For the lusciousness of the sexy Italian food ! For the beauty of Remy !For the love of the genius called PIXAR ! For the love of cinema !







*

Any particular word to describe this ???

     
                 You know, just as you think you have eventually made it to slowly bounce out of the phase of your life that was smitten by doubts and fears and questions , there surely comes another point, virtually looking like a gasp of fresh breath but ruthlessly restoring the same doubts, fears and the same itchy questions, into your soul.

Great people leap through it, to greater heights, to better places in life where they would later preach about how determined they stuck through to win over the bloody hiccups (basically, I’m guessing , it’s the same cloud of fears and doubts and questions).


But what about the not-so-great people? What about people like me, who life likes to dabble with, quite generously? What happens in stories like mine?

I’m talking about this book I wrote which I went wandering in the streets of publishing world with, seeking people who might just want to take a look at what the shit I am gabbling away about. Who cares? The world is fast becoming faster and slow heads like me - I mean, how fast do I have to run?

Well, ‘The Reading’ at the writers club this weekend went okay, literally. Because all I could manage, within the realms of my limited capability was to READ and sell – here’s the freakiest part – ONE copy of ‘Sugar Spring Tales’. I mean, ONE !!?? Out of a whole bunch of people who nodded away ?? And I had these fantasies of….

….well, anyways, let me not get deeper. Life is bloody strange.

Later back home, as I couch-ed my aching soul under a blanket, with a huge red bowl of microwaved popcorn on a particularly somber Saturday evening, making up to watch ‘How to lose a guy in ten days’, one of my old-town buddies pops up on the phone, saying, as-a-matter-of-factly, ‘Look, I ordered your book and all that, but if it is gonna end up being anything like your soppy blog, I’m gonna have you refund.’

How soppier could life get?

“I’m just kidding. Let’s hope your book is unlike you.” She chuckles.

But, like Julie Powell, in her book says, ‘Can we NOT look at the brighter side, for once, please?’

Will be reading ..

..and hopefully signing at the Chesterfield Writer's club this saturday (Jul - 17th).

If I pick myself up to the point of holding a sale record of five copies that day, I would come back home to a toast !!!

In other news, a few good souls did actually order my book online. How can I tell you that I'm trying my best to remain humble on my ass while the spirits are soaring up in the sky !!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !!!

Sugar Spring Tales

is now available on Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Spring-Tales-Sandhya-Renu/dp/1451537204/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278472345&sr=1-1

Also, on createspace -
https://www.createspace.com/3438540

Please, please, please - buy a copy - You won't be utterly dissapointed - I promise !!

Are you listening ?
Anyone ????

Life – a dream down !

It feels crazy, sort of emotionally destabilizing ! In the past twenty eight years, six months and twenty seven days, if there has been something that I was unbelievably sure of, it is this simple dream that I dreamt, over and over, night after night, so many times. And today, as I am writing this, that dream is quietly sitting next to me, folded into 160 pages, covered in an angel white glossy wrapper, titled ‘Sugar Spring Tales’. I don’t exactly know what is going through my mind. As I said, it’s kind of weird. But this experience of a year of writing and living with that dream has been liberating, heart-wise.

SO – that is that ! But after tones of hopelessly optimistic calls to various book stores, libraries and book fests around my new town, I came to terms with the fact that nobody damn wants to buy it. I will hang on though – her highness pride is something I have decided to let other times have of.

The book will be available on Amazon from next week for $5.99.
As for this moment, it is sitting for owners on

https://www.createspace.com/3438540

So buy it, if you feel like it. Please.
It only finds meaning at the reader's hands.

Would make a big deal of difference to my life - real big !

Meantime, I shall wander around the streets of hopeville, to find that gracious soul who would, for a change, smile, when I tell him, "I am a freaking new author. Could this lame soul please have a little room amidst these millions of books written by masters and geniuses ?"

If life is beautiful enough for that to happen, I will let you know.

At the very last, Thanks to you for reading this, for reading some of the most horrendous but true ramblings I made you read ! And Thanks if I have succesfully sowed in you, a feeling to just damn buy it.