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Friday, April 04, 2014

Lunchbox and other such pretension!

I invest my time to watch a movie. The director and the wine glass holding-art show going-Tchaikovsky talking people call it art. I, on the other hand am the front bencher. The one that whistles as soon as Rajni comes into frame or screams in glee to see Sallu's shirt rip away from him. I never try to cross the border. There is a strong line and I do not see myself standing across the room. I like simple things, easy to understand things. My brain likes to see a problem, solve it, and move on to the next. I cannot linger at one point trying to figure out what all a single blob on a canvas represents. Maybe that is why I am an architect and not an artist.

Once in a while, we all tend to slip. It is important to understand that these slips can be fatal. Like the time I slipped and saw Dobhi Ghat. If I have to come up with the ending myself then I will write my own story, thank you. Or if you do not know how to end a movie, leaving it open ended makes it sound arty...

The most recent transgression was "Lunch Box." Critically acclaimed and all the deal, it had Irffan Khan, Nawazuddin. What could go wrong? Well what could? The story. Yes, that is what went wrong. This was "You've Got Mail" in a friggin' lunch dabba. That's what it was. "Kadhal Kottai," in Hindi in a tiffin box or the irreplaceable Beladingala Baale which will always remain as my favorite Kannada Movie.

All these great legendary movies, yes, that is what they are because they had an ending, were done so richly. There was never a claim to great acting prowess or tones of age on the coloring of the movie to prove genius, they all had a story that was being told or retold in a simple way. No one wanted to claim rights to the wine glass holding-art show going-Tchaikovsky talking people. They just wanted to be a movie, a story, an expression of love. The movie was bigger than the stars. There was no pretension. That is the point. The lack of pretension made these other movies more watchable than "Lunch Box."

So, if you have time to spare, I will watch some no-brain-needed-to-enjoy movie like a Sallu starrer than this one. Waste of time, and in the end you are left hungry and missing the childhood where amma packed your yummy dabbas to school.

Love
An irate ART

PS: It is not a terrible movie but it just made me super disappointed. I did not like the way it ended because I am a romantic at heart (oops spoiler alert). These are my opinion only and nope, they cannot be changed.

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