Sunday, April 19, 2009

Coota


I love movies. My current favourite is "Do you or don't you know" (that's what the subtitle reads). Mealtimes are incomplete without this movie.

My favourite character in the movie is the nice looking girl who goes about indiscriminately "What's this'ing" anyone within earshot... Those who have seen this movie would know what I'm talking about. And those who haven't. Go watch it RIGHT NOW!!!!

Dad says "What's this" is a sadistic game this girl plays to entertain herself and torture the rest. If it were left to my Dad he would have no hesitation in clipping her one over the earhole and sending her straight to bed!

Me, I love her "What's this'es". Yes it is kinda silly, but then so am I. My favourite "What's this" moment is when she points out to a good old Bajaj scooter and sweetly "what's this'es" her boyfriend. Before the exasperated lad has a chance of replying back with a well-deserved piece of his mind, I look at my parents with a confident smile and shout "COOTA COOTA, mom itsa COOTA". That's the high point of the movie for me right there! I never fail to shout out a thumping "COOTA" every single time I watch that scene!

So next time anyone asks you "What's this?", shout out loudlyyyyy "COOTA"!!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Susan Boyle

Who doesn't love a good underdog, I certainly do. The world's full of them. I wonder what it is about them that's so fascinating..

David setup a pretty good example when he decided to flex his non existent muscles against Goliath and actually won. You see Goliath was having an off day. We all have off days now and again. But G chose the wrong day to nod off on the job. Look what happened to him! He ended up being the most celebrated failure in folklore. In the current economic climate, the D & G (not Dolce & Gabbana) story only serves as a constant reminder to minimize off days to weekends only ;).

Hindi movies from the 1970's though have long epitomised, idolized, even pedestalised them. From Inspector Vijay in Zanjeer, to Billa no 786 in Coolie, to the delightful Choti Si Baat, where Amol Palekar played the underdog lover who learns the hard way how to fend off his hopefully-to-be-girlfriend from an unwanted, smart alec "friend".

More recently, and certainly more pertinently, with IPL 2 just around the block, Rajasthan Royals splendid performance in the last IPL has only reinforced my belief in them.

Each one of us at some point of time has gone through an underdog experience. The first time I played football with older kids I scored an own goal. It wasn't my fault really. I had been given to understand that I have to hit between those 2 stones. Turned out the stones in question were my team's goal post.

At a philosophical level, an underdog holds a mirror to my face, asking me to get rid of my innermost insecurities and to get on with life.. Hmm, maybe...

Whetever the other reasons, an underdog never fails to provide a fascinating story to the paying public. Which bring me to the real reason I have been carping about underdogs. Bow wow.

Susan Boyle is an unemployed Scotswoman (or is it Scotslady?) who, at 47 years, is one of the older contestants on "Britain's Got Talent". Her performance moved me enough to force me to come out of my bloggers block/ writers hiatus/ watchamacalit after 8 long months and dedicate a post to her.

I couldn't stop watching her performance again and again and again. You can do the same here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY.

A high-five for this underdog. Slumdog, you can take a walk!!