Saturday, November 26, 2005

What's your movie like?

Today I was missing a friend rather badly.

And when I miss my friends, I listen to their favourite songs on loop. Even if I don't like the songs myself. It makes me feel close to them.

So I played this song from the movie 'Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin':

Tu pyaar hai kisi aur ka
Tujhe chahta koi aur hai
Tu pasand hai kisi aur ki
Tujhe maangta koi aur hai

Loosely translated:

"You are someone else's love
Someone else wants you.
You're someone else's choice
Someone else asks for you."

After I had heard the song like ten times, I remembered its picturisation. It's a party scene. Aamir Khan is singing this song of lost love for Pooja Bhatt who's dancing in the arms of some random guy. And I started thinking of them one by one.

About what the movie means to each of the three characters in the song.


Aamir Khan - "This story is about me. I am the leading man. I am in love with this girl Pooja. I am trying to fight off random guy and win my lady love."

Pooja Bhatt - "This story is about me. I am the leading lady. I am in love with this guy Aamir. I am marrying random guy but I don't want to. I want to marry Aamir."

Random guy - "This story is about me. I am the leading man. I am in love with this girl Pooja. Random guy Aamir Khan is trying to take my lady love away from me."

That set me thinking.

Each of our lives is a movie. We write it ourselves, we set the direction, we pick the lighting, costumes, songs. We choose the characters we want in our movies, we choose how much screen time we want to give these characters. Along the way, we may even change the screenplay, and realise the potential of some of the actors and give them better roles. We may even 'kill off' some characters whom we don't want in the movie of our life. Some of them may magically come back into our movie if we want. Sometimes we even look around at other movies, and get inspiration from award-winning movie-makers, and turn the course of our own movies. The shooting of this movie goes on forever, and changes at every step.

But the most important thing that does not change is that each movie-maker picks himself/herself to play the lead in his/her movie. No matter what the genre is, no matter what the story is, no matter how the movie begins and ends, we are the focal points around which our movies revolve. Sometimes it may not seem so, but in the end, it is always about us.

There may be random guys in our story like the one in the song above. Spot boys. Extras. Make-up artists. And because we play the lead, they are insignificant. See that spot boy over that? He's there somewhere in your movie. He doesn't make much of a difference, and his work can be done by any of the millions of other spot boys you have. Random guy actually.

However, in his story, the spot boy is probably you. Or you could be the extra. Or the junior make-up artist. Basically, you are 'the random guy'. Because he chose you to be so. And there's nothing you can do about it, you can't ask for the lead role.

It's his movie, you see.

Sometimes, our movies overlap, the characters overlap. They cross paths, but they are all playing different roles in each of the movies at the same time. Playing the leading guy in their own, and playing the random guy in others'.

So that kinda balances everything out, doesn't it? You can make your movie as great as you want, and pick the best to play the roles you want them to play, but your role in others' movies is confined to what they want you to play.

But the best part is -- no matter what the box-office results say, no matter how heartless the critics are, no matter how bad the reviews are, no matter how much you think your movie sucks, someone somewhere, is watching it.



53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Am I the first one??

Sayesha said...

Yes, you are indeed :)

Now, if only I knew who you are... :)

Anonymous said...

I am the one who visits Sayeshaz everyday hoping to find more than one post per day. I am just another netizen who is hoping that his blog will see the light of the day. It is all so tough - all these HTML tags. But I am sure I will get over it. Will let you know when I finally publish my blog.

Sayesha said...

Hi Anonymous,

Thanks for choosing Sayeshaz to hang out at! :) Hope to see your blog soon. Don't worry about the html stuff, I suck at it too! :P If blogging had anything at all to do with programming, I wouldn't be a blogger! :D

Why don't you get a blogger account and try it out first. Blogspot makes everything so easy that all you need to be a blogger is thoughts and the desire to pen them down. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Thanx Sash. But what are doing here on a saturday night?? You are supposed to hang out with your friends.

Sayesha said...

Naah, staying in today to work on my travelogue. Will step out tomorrow :)

What are you doing indoors? Other than MSNing with me on my blog?? :P

Anonymous said...

Was applying online for a college. Just messed up my CAT last week. Anyway, I know it's not the end of my world. I can always try next year. Better luck next time, Your Excellency.

Sayesha said...

Oh okie. Good luck then! :)

Anonymous said...

Nandri [That's Thank You in Tamil]. Me signing off. Bye.

Sayesha said...

Bu ke qi [That's "You're welcome" in Mandarin].

Good night! :)

L said...

So this makes me first non-anonymous..!! Wohaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..!!(Hurray in a equatorial Congo dialect )

This was I think too much introspection into the movie..!! Do u have any friends whom u actually explain such topics ..!! I mean just guessing how do ppl take it on say "A cup of tea"..!!

Yup and everyone is a hero in his story.. Everyone thinks he is a knight or the princess..!!
Hence I love villians..!! They are brave, they are adventurous, they get footage, they are remembered(smtimes more than hero)..
After all ppl lose sleep over fear more than over love..!! hai na..??

Priya said...

i want to be light boy.. err girl :).. wateva!!
i love flashing lights on other ppl ... esp wen it glares into their face.. ;)
oh no i cant see!!

..p..

. : A : . said...

Ah yes, everyone's life is a movie. Great thoughts and introspection.

Rays Of Sun said...

Wow DTMN is one of my fav movies...Love the characters in there:)Meree life bhi cinema hai,,,heroine hai, side heroine hai, villian bhi hai, there are songs too, but hero nahi:D

Ravi said...

Aah that song was one of my favourites too.

I agree each one of us is directing our own movie. People like it if their own movie is watched. So it is good to watch others movies from time to time.

I think that means each of us has our own different perception of what is happenning. It pays to view things from others perspective.

cubicle said...

Thanks for stopping by my non updated blog!

I'll try to be less lazy!

Hi back to you! :)

Pujya said...

arre meri life to 'fullto' cinema hai..ghar se bhagna hai, mummy ka gussa hona hai, unko patana hai, aate-daal-ka-bhav pata lagna hai..phir struggle hai..villian,side hero, heroine, naach-gana, remix bhi, heroine bhi hai..aur hero bhi hai ...:d

Anonymous said...

I love that song from Dil hai ki maanta nahin...

Very nicely written...Leading role in our own movie, spot boy in someone else's!! How true that is...

As always, you're the best in analogy...

p.s: I'd say sayesha's blog plays a significant role in many movies(lives)...It definitely plays in mine...

tcr_79 said...

Liked the post...

I wonder whether life inspires movies or movies inspire life :)

I guess they both happen

Sayesha said...

#Non-anonymous L,
Equatorial Congo dialect it seems! Hahaha! So I presume you're the villain in many people's movies then? ;)

Yeah, sometimes even I feel that I delve into too much introspection. Can't discuss all this over cuppa tea with every friend I have, except one. Poor thing has no choice but to listen! Haha! :P

#Priya,
Oye light-weight champion, do your work properly! Ok, who hired such inefficient light-girls?? Someone ask her to stop drooling over the hero and hold the lights properly! :D

. : A : .,
Thanks! :)

#Viks,
Hahahaha! Still at that, eh? The funniest thing is that I don't think he has any idea what you guys have been planning! :P Remember to be gentle, okay?

Now I feel like singing a song from the movie Laila Majnu:
Koi paththar se na maare mere deewane ko...

Hahahaha! :D

#ROS,
I love the movie too!
Teri life mein hero nahin hai it seems! Oye mera muh mat khulwa public mein... if I start taking names (err... I mean nicknames!) na... :P

#Ravi,
It's true, we're watching a lot of movies other than our own, a lot of times. And sometimes we get inspiration from other movies too, and we change the direction of our own movies.

#Cubicle,
Hey hey! Hope you've been doing good! :)

#Aethyr,
Teri movie mein remix songs hain?? Hey ram, yeh le waapas apni complimentary movie ticket, Sayesha ko nahin chaiye! :P

#Soumya,
WOW, that's a huge compliment! Now I am slightly embarrassed. Thanks! :P


#TCR_79,
Thanks! :)
Yeah, I guess both inspire each other.

Sayesha said...

#Chints,
Thanks! :)
You do have a point that perhaps someone else is directing our movie, but I believe that we do have a very large amount of control in our hands, and the power to steer our lives in a direction different from 'what is intended'. But of course, in the end, what happens, happens. And we can't find out if it happened because of our steering or because it was intended. :)

Rays Of Sun said...

//if I start taking names (err... I mean nicknames!) na... :P//

Hahhaha..I challenge you to that babe;)

Priya said...

main light girl job resign karne waali hu...
heroine chance ke liye ;)

..p..

p.s - i know my hindi sucks.. so stop laughing!!!!

..p..

Anonymous said...

>>However, in his story, the spot boy is probably you.

:-(

:-) Very true Sayesha.

aditi said...

who decides if the movie is a Hit or a Flop ??

virdi said...

well sometime we choose whom we want in a movie (read life) and then we give them different roles (friends, good friends, best friends)

:-) what an analogy... you wrote a senti post...

and please this is not yahoo msgr... you and anonymopus are doing chatter chatter here... :-P

V..

Princessse said...

Another brilliant analogy Sayesha! It's so true. We are the ones who determine at the end of the day what role particular people are to play in our lives, and accordingly, those people are also able to determine whether they want to play *those* roles in our life. You put it so aptly though, whilst we can always be the 'lead' in our own life, we can never 'demand' that we be the lead role in someone else's life!

Beautiful. Really got me thinking.

Pujya said...

haila..!! mera ticket wapas kiya kya? kya re..dekho na..bahut kuch hai..remix ke time aankh band karne ka..na.
hey btw on remix..have u seen this new song...." aane wala aayega". i dont know its by whom..but the
babe in the video is just a kilo less then tun-tun. Man!! she is so voluptuous..she could defeat any sumo..

MeAwinner said...

Cool..
analogy-queen ! Awesome analogy.
our life is like a moovie,for having the best moovie, we need to direct it right,we can be inspired by seeing other's moovie too.But we have to be responsible what we are inspired by & how we want to show in our moovie.
Cool ne!
Cheers !
Maneesha

Sayesha said...

#ROS,
Haha! Aaj bach gayi, baby! ;)
I adore you too much to sabo you publicly! :)

#Priya,
Oye heroine, your hindi is better than my tamil! All I know in tamil is "po da" and "po di" and "ni pichkaran madiri!" and "aapdiya?" and "saapaad"! :D

#Harshi,
Kya karein, aise hi hai! :)

#Aditi,
Ah, very interesting question! Hmmm... I guess just like a movie's success depends on a lot of factors, such as who the stars are, how the songs do, who the director is, how skinny the heroine is, how hunky the hero is, etc. etc., the movies of our lives also depend on a lot of factors. But I do believe that we can make hits out of our movies. :)

#Virdi,
Oye hoye, aaj pehli Virdi ke bache ke baap ne serious comment kiya hai! Special round of drinks for everyone at Sayeshaz! Order whatever you want! It's all on the house! :D

#Princesse,
Thanks! :)

#Aethyr,
Hahahahahah! Remixes dekhegi, bahut pachhtayegi! :D

#Maneesha,
Thanks, girl! :)

MeAwinner said...

Sayesha,
I need some piece of advice from all blogge friends.
Please drop-in and advice me on my blog.

Thanks for allowing me to ask for such favour
Maneesha

Anonymous said...

//What's your movie like?

Main aisa hi hoon (with main aisa kyun hoon number thrown in)!

Tinku

Anonymous said...

You are a genius :)

Sayesha said...

#Mani,
I have replied to your post. Will share my thoughts tonight after I get back. Till then, you take care, girl! :)

#Tinku,
Really? I thought it would be something like Albert Tinku ko gussa kyun aata hai! :D

#Rajesh,
Wow, thanks! :)

Anonymous said...

Another similarity between movies and life is that sometimes, you just don't get the financing!

You see, there's this part in my movie where I become a Ferrari driver and bamboo Schumi at every race. But no one is willing to give me the money to get a seat at Ferrari and then some more to Schumi to lose to me! So I stick to doing all this on a computer... :D

virdi said...

Sayesha, I always give serious comments...

you don't understand the depth of the words that are written by me...

you don't understand the feelings involved when I write something...

;-)

V..

Raj said...

I like getting the most footage so I try keep others away from me. So i guess mine would be a one actor movie with thousands of extras and few guest appearances.

Archana said...

Very nice analogy! I really liked the part about how we cant dictate what role we want to play in someone else's movie. How true!

Unknown said...

MAN...Are you one hell(or should i say 'heaven') of a thinker or what!...If u want to watch a brilliant movie on criss-crossing lives, check out the Spanish movie(ofcourse, with subtitles), 'Amores Perros'. It's a brilliant movie from an 'award-winning director'! :)

ritzkini said...

sorry..mere liye thoda deep ho gaya..mein toh sirf ek govinda-flick first-bencher hoon...
bindaas no-tension picchar chahiye apne ko,kya ?
:)

Accidental Fame Junkie said...

Cool post! I have this saying that I keep using: You are the hero/heroine of your own story!

Khushi said...

hey,
that was a damn neat post..

Anonymous said...

DHKMN...had the hugest crush on the lead pair! SO wanted them to get married in real life. well, atleast they had a fling. m gratified. amen.

Kiran said...

Were YOUUU the director of "THE TRUE MAN SHOW"(....with a finga on my chin)... You rock girl..!!!

Sounds interesting and mindblowing speculation. Well in my movie, am the lead guy, and I jus see only lead guls around me...Is my movie an err???hehehehe...

Apart from that, I like the movie A beautiful Mind, This protagonist assumes characters and makes 'em a part of his life.What happens if such a person bonds with imaginary chars??...Inquisitive...

PuNeEt said...

wow... luvd this post...

infact I often think the same way...
that world is a big theater and there are so may movies happening...
wherz the person plays the lead role in the movie of his/her life...

the problem is there is no retake... there is no editing after the initial screening...
there is no undu function...
n most of the time no dress rehearsal...

it reminds me of the dialouge from the movie "Main Khiladi Tu Anari" of Akshay Kumar...
Ki humey sirf ek take milta hain aur usmey agar humse koi galti ho jati hain to zindagi ghutne take leti hain
lollzzzzz

Good post yaar
I luvd it

Take care
Cheers

R said...

the last lines... make so much sense!

i think i havent enjoyed any other post on your blog as this one.. cool!!

:)

Sayesha said...

#Viv,
Trust you to come up with something like that! :)

#Virdi,
Oh ho! Yeah, I know how much depth of thoughts is required to say "Sayesha, thrrrrbtttt!" :D

#Raj,
We all like getting the most footage in our movies! :)

#Archana,
Thanks! :)

#Vik H,
Hey, I have heard about that movie! Thanks, will try and get hold of it! :)

#Ritzkini,
Apun ke pikchar mein bhi item song hai tere jaise first bencher ke liye! Aata kya Khandala? :)

#Accidental Fame Junkie,
Thanks! :)

#Khushi,
Thanks, girl! :)

#Fao,
Hahaha! Trust you to have a crush on a pair! :D

#Rik,
Thanks, dude! :) Interesting questions you've raised... You know, I actually had an imaginary character in the movie of my life! He's in hiding now, I think :)

#Puneet,
Thanks! :)

#Rohit,
Hey, thanks! :)

Sahil said...

Interesting theory.

I like how u explained how in each of our lives, WE are the main characted and think everything is about us. And that everyone thinks exactly the same thing. Nicely put.

Sayesha said...

#Sahil,
Thanks, man. Ab aaye ho. Where were you when I had big news to share on the blog? :(

Sahil said...

I was there every step of the way with you. In all your :) and all your :( i'm right there beside you - comment or no comment.

Been out of town for a few days, so didn't have the chance to comment. But you can bet I've been reading everything you wrote :)

Sayesha said...

#Sahil,
:)

The Bhandari's said...

Too good Maam......... will have to come back to ur blog for a good hearty laugh....

Anonymous said...

awesome post