Teri meri kahani – It’s Everyone's Story – Movie Review

To me it was really strange to not to hear any buzz about Kunal Kohli’s, Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer, new release “Teri Meri Kahani”. How can anyone forget “Hum Tum”? The same director created a magic! Anyways, after almost a week of the movie’s release I got a chance to watch “Teri Meri Kahani”. I, actually, watched the movie out of curiosity of why it was/is not much talked about!

The movie is about two characters, Shahid Kapoor as (Javed, Fovind and Krish) and Priyanka chopra as (Aradhna, Rukhsaar and Radha) who meet in 3 different eras 1910, 1960 and 2012. This movie is all about eternal love which at times we call the “connection”. I will not spoil the fun by disclosing the complete synopsis of the movie in short it is for those who have ever fallen in love. From the start to the end the movie looks interesting, lovely and sweet.

Shahid Kapoor excels in all three roles which he has performed in this movie. I will like to mention one thing that in all the 3 roles he portrayed the character of a 3 different guys in same age brackets yet all the characters are so diversified, ditto for Priyanka Chopra. Undoubtedly both actors are the finest performers of this age.

All the songs of this movie are amazing. Those songs which stand out are “Allah Janay”, “Hum se Pyar Karlay tu” and “Jab se mere dilko”. For love stories music plays the role of a spinal cord and this movie is blessed with one strong backbone.

Kunal Kohli has delivered his honest attempt and throughout the movie am sure audiences will have smiles on their faces. All the eras are perfectly shot.

The era of 1910’s is the highlight of the movie, script, performance and emotions wise. The era of 1960’s will surprise most of the critical audiences with the detailing. The way trams were shown, their speed, colors, attires, fashion and even the way people used to communicate. The depiction of 2012 is really close to day to day life.

This movie is highly recommended for those who have ever loved someone with all their hearts. I will also highly recommend this flick for those who enjoy and want to see a well made movie.

If you are married watch it! It will rejoice old times. If you are in a relation, watch it, it will strengthen your relation and if you are finding true love! It will help you in understanding one!

7/10

Pakistani Media is Infected!

Pakistan has great potential as well as talent. But what lacks in Pakistan is the sense of ownership and feeling of pride in our own things. Whether they are our garments, food or media we have the best of everything but still we prefer to get influenced by foreign stuff. Here foreign is anything outside our homeland’s boundary. There was a time when PTV was the only channel that used to be telecasted in Pakistan. Then there was STN (NTN) in early 90’s that started its transmission. Simultaneously PTV 2 was launched. PTV being the head and pioneer of the Pakistani TV channels produced some remarkable dramas and programs catering to every single niche of the society. STN / NTN also showcased some amazing series and serials and the most important thing was that it introduced Pakistani movies to the viewers, as a kid I can still remember the excitement of watching Pakistani movies every alternate day. I personally got acquainted with the talents of Nadeem, Mohd. Ali, Shahid, Waheed Murad, Babra, Jawed Shaikh and Munawwer Zareef etc through that particular channel, and I thank that, literally. 

People used to make fun of PTV2 back in those days for showing “how to create and design a TRACTOR” but the fact is, PTV2 acted as a beacon for those who really wanted to study and acquire the knowledge. The AIOU (Allama Iqbal Open University) Programs have made the lives of numerous people. PTV on the other hand showed some exceptional dramas, comedy shows, musical programs and quiz shows etc that helped Pakistanis evolve as a better and much sensible nation that is why when initially STAR PLUS and much earlier Zee TV was introduced to them they instantly objected on the scripts, made fun of multiple close-ups in different angles accompanied by loud music. The only popular program in those days was “close up Antakshri” presented by Annu kapoor and Pallawi Joshi. Whereas rest of the programs were not appreciated content wise. They only used to have glamour but not quality content.
Now let us talk about today’s TV channels. They are countless, every tom, dick and harry is opening up a new channel and then extending it with unusual names. We have now language based, region based, city based, cast based and even some district based channels but can we remember any drama or program the way we still recall our fond memories related to “Jaangloos”, “Saat Seerhian”, “Kaliyaan”, “Music Channel Charts”, “Agent X”, “Samunder”, “andhera Ujala”, “50/50”, “All Series of Studio 2, 2.5, Ponay Teen”, “Chand Grahan”, Landa Bazar” and “Kollege Jeanse”? The list is endless.

Recently (in the last 1.5 – 2 years) I have been asking myself few questions on frequent basis. Are all the channels of Pakistan, except PTV, entitled to call PAKISTANI TV CHANNELS? This question must be strange for many, I can understand that, so I am openly asking a few questions:

1. Do our TV channels show only Pakistani Content?
2. Don’t our channels show case IIFA, STAR, Film Fare and what not Award shows. Not only that, they also telecast the making and “red carpet shows” twice and thrice from same TV channels?  Can anyone remember watching LUX Style awards twice from any channel?
3. Why do we have to sync Indian songs in our dramas, both in title and background score?
4. Why do these channels show Indian movies? And when was the last time they showed Pakistani Movies other than, Khuda Ke liay, Ram Chand Pakistani, Bol or few others?
5. To me it looks like all the channels are promotional agents of either Bollywood or Indian media. Well its harsh, but I have all the reasons and backing to think like that and say this.
6. Most of the people talk about TRPs, don’t morning shows gain TRPs these days? Don’t current affair programs gain TRPs these days? Didn’t “Humsafar” enjoy record breaking TRPs? So please don’t come up with lame excuses of TRPs.

These are just few questions that I usually ask myself. I am just saying them aloud today so that I may get a sensible answer, I repeat “Sensible answer” and not any politically adulterated reason.

I wish Pakistani media can one day proudly use a Tagline, “For Pakistan, by Pakistan and outside Pakistan”.

And does any Indian channel show a single Pakistani program on their channels? Name one!

Are you Jealous of their Fame? (Veena Malik / Sahir Lodhi and Meera's Fame)

If Amitabh Bachchan is known as Star of the millennium or blessed with the title of “SIR” does it mean that Dilip Kumar is inferior to him in acting or performance? It is fame and public’s liking that make one actor or performer a “star” and the other just “good”. Similarly there have been many individuals who are enjoying the blessings of stardom and public’s affection no matter how poor they perform. So at the end of the day it is their fan following that is keeping them placed above others from the lot.

Every person who witnesses Pakistan channels knows about the fame earned by Sahir Lodhi, Meera and Veena. Many individuals have the viewpoint that they don’t deserve the hype whereas TRP shows that they are bestselling stuff over the media (all forms of media). There are rumors about each and every celebrity but the kind of coverage given to their rumors or news is gigantic.

People call Sahir Lodhi as Pakistan’s SRK. Well, that’s how they make his fun, but the fact is no matter what they call him, his viewership and fan following is increasing at an exponential rate. This is the reason why every channel is interested in getting him on board. What difference does it make if 2 individuals have same styles of presenting, talking, portraying, standing, sleeping, eating and #$@#@#*-ing. At the end of the day they are providing entertainment and people love them - unconditionally.

Veena Malik is considered as Pam (Pamela Anderson) of Pakistan, if she is, then whats the problem with those who don’t like her? No matter how much hatred they show for the sensational queen, even then they watch her shows, movies, item numbers or shoots etc. So, what makes them watch her? Curiosity? Love? Or Fandom?

People make fun of Meera’s English, but they don’t appreciate that even then she tries real hard to convey her message. After all, that was the main reason why KungFu Panda was a blockbuster. The movie taught us a message of “never say die” the Duracell motto. So why do we make fun of a person who tries very hard to stay in the showbiz? 

I don’t want to call it a Desi/Paki or Indi approach but the fact is we can never digest the fame, prominence and charisma of others. May be most of us are insecure and jealous. The very first thing that people blurt out is “whats the big deal in it?” If there was no big deal in that particular thing why couldn’t they perform it and stood out? They have lame excuses to hide their jealousy. 

Bottom line, they sell that’s why they are exaggerated. They sell because people love them and want to see them. The interesting fact is that, you also want to see, hear and witness them, this is the reason why, you can’t miss them when they are tuned in.

Accept the power of fame!

The Friendship Drama – An Indo Pak Reality

I am sure; my readers have made a lot of friends in their entire lives. I am also of the view that my readers exactly understand what friendship is all about, after all, according to philosophers “of all the richest men in the world is one who has the highest number of friends”. But I also believe with the advent of technological advancement, people have now developed friendly relationships with objects and not with the living individuals. These days the best friends, for youth, include PS3, Laptops, Xbox, iPhone and Career etc. Gone were the days when individuals used to be friends with each other. The reason why I am quoting this, somewhat irrelevant thing, is because years ago I heard an opinion and remark on “friendship” from one of my mentors (all my teachers, seniors, juniors and family members are in my mentoring list), that was “A friend is someone with whom you can trust the custodianship of your mother, wife and sister – a friend is someone whom you want to marry your sister”. Trust me; I hardly came across such friends!

So, as per the terminological meaning of “friend”, I have few statements,

a.       Two individuals attached with the feeling of affection and regard,

b.      Individuals that provide support to each other,

c.       Individuals who are not hostile with each other and share sympathy and symphony.

Lately we have seen many acts of friendships, carried out by artistes of Pakistan and India (most strongly and successfully). The revolution started long ago, when Manoj Kumar offered a role to Mohd. Ali and Zeba in his movie “Clerk”, when Talat Hussain acted in an Indian movie that was early 1980’s. Now coming back to recent times, where “Samjhota Express” was seen as the beacon of hope and friendship between the two most powerful nations of the world, undoubtedly. United they ruled the world and divided they ruined their images, one having the biggest slums and poverty of the world whereas the other being still considered as unstable economic and political state of the world. So this is the outcome of division! Just like dividing the key and the lock, without being together they can never be fully utilized. Ever!

The problem is that, there are few of us, who want to be genuinely friends with one another, like me – without a doubt, and there are few who just for the sake of keeping their social status alive agree to this, though they actually do not want a bit to befriended with each other. The friendly attempts in terms of hand-shakes, embraces and paying regards have been initiated by both the countries and there is no point of question in that. But I suppose, believe it or not, we still are confused. We (means both, Indians and Pakistanis) can never accept the defeat of our Cricket Team while playing against each other. We take it as a matter of respect, repute and patriotism. The fact is, we do not have patriotism a bit, we are eager to move to USA or Canada at any given moment and will never plan to visit back to our homeland. Is this patriotism? After living just 5 – 6 months abroad when either of us lands on our motherland, we start to criticize our flights (planes), the traffic system, the people, politics and finally the country. Most commonly heard statement is “this place is not suitable for hardworking/good people – they are all thieves – why are you still living here, leave this country ASAP”.

So the logic of patriotism flows down from flush system here. And why is it only India and Pakistan’s match that causes the traffic jams, sorrows and foul comments after the match, in any one of the countries? Why not we feel the same disrespect and high pitched tension while losing with Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh or England? The reason is, we have a majority of people who are not rational and who are not mentally mature. They can not take a game as a “game”. To them the concept of playing well as a team or player is like an alienated thought!

Finally, I don’t know how to end up this article. The only thing that I want to request to both of the nations is that let us try to be logical and not mentally operated by few “Senas” or “Parties”. I am a strong believer of friendship, with same footings from both the ends. Let the best team win. Lets us get familiar with “Sportsman Spirit” – which we have lost ages ago.

Be blessed!

P.S. I would appreciate if my readers will comment!