Notes from today

I was decidedly against watching Aaja Nach Le. But after reading Baradwaj Rangan say "Aaja Nachle is full of small, lovely moments about this world, about these people ..." I've become more malleable to the idea. More important is the fact that Taran Adarsh hates it saying (rotflmao here) "Sadly, AAJA NACHLE is below the mediocre mark and doesn’t meet the humungous(sic) expectations that you associate with the Yashraj - Madhuri combo." This one kind-of convinces me.

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This one is tied to the above bit - saw "Dil to Pagal Hai" today (or most of it anyway). Was slacking off at home, with my feet hung up, quite literally due something about which you will read in the next bit. Anyway, I'm definitely a child of the mid-90s movie genre. This period starts with Baazigar, blooms with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge - stays on with Dil to Pagal Hai and culminates (sort-of) with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Now you must note that all these are the quintessential movies that will one day typify Shah Rukh Khan's acting career in a phase where he became extremely popular - somewhat like Amitabh's "Angry Young Man" phase, with movies like Deewar and Trishul. Sure, they'll do other stuff - but this forever will remain their "coming of age" so as to speak.

Anyway, "Yashraj-Madhuri" combo reminds me of Dil To Pagal Hai - a movie which I remember liking quite a bit. Thankfully, I've found tell-tale signs that there has been some transformation in my tastes (for good/bad, time will tell). I hated it - the "Dance of Envy" that I once idolized as "something bhari" was nothing more than a contorted attempt at mutual provocation, Shah Rukh Khan is positively obnoxious and the dialogue notoriously kitsch. Immensely eeww!

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What I did today morning was take part in this. Happy to report that it was a major anti-climax, finished it within 30 mins, and actually walked back from Nehru Stadium to Deccan, to build up an appetite to ensure that we could execute our carefully built breakfast plans to their potential. In a way, that too was a major highlight of the morning - the Chiken Cutlet and the Baked Beans at Prem's Restaurant in Koregaon Park. Not bad at all!