It's the same with Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika, Deepika-Ranveer, and now lemme talk about my obsession with Harry Potter..
With the latest movie from one of J.K. Rowling's books released recently, Harry Potter became a subject of discussion at work last week - side track a bit, I love how at work we can burst out into random topic of discussion! We typically sit at a round table and more often than not someone would open a topic (by accident) and the it'll become a roundtable discussion/ forum. Our topics have ranged from religion (so serious, I know!) to Dan Brown's novels & Harry Potter to sometimes less intellectual ones like shitting/ excretion... #peopleiworkwith... Love them anyways! Some of them I've been working with for like 2 years (basically my entire career) okay!
Anyways, back to Harry Potter (I told you my brain just jumps around these days if I try to write!), we were recapping about some of the characters (up to the 8th book/ Cursed Child) and my bosses were impressed how these minor minor facts still stay intact in my not-so-good memory..
"How do you even manage to remember all this??"
"I am re-reading the series, and sometimes I just watch the movies 1-8 for the fun of it"
I am a geek (minimal social life remember? Plus sometimes I don't have time to sit thru 3 hours of Bollywood films).
I just watched Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them and I now have 4 Harry Potter Wikia page opened researching about Grindelwald, the Elder Wand and the Lestrange family. Tomorrow I shall re-read the Fantastic Beasts book to relearn about the creatures in the movie!
While watching the movie, I screamed to Zayana "ITS THE HALLOWS!" and she asked "How did you know it was the Hallow?" .. What else could it be when you see a straight line in a circle within a triangle? (Even if you only saw like half of it..)
I love how the movie had some sense of familiarity that we all know and love from the original Harry Potter series - like the use of some of the well known spells "Alohomora"/ "Accio"/ "Repero", the mention of notable names "Grindelwald"/ "Dumbledore"/ "Lestrange" and the Hallows.
In fact after learning about one of the beasts, I am now convinced that Ariana Dumbledore was an Obscurus and think I have made the connection there about some of the events mentioned in the Deathly Hallows (the book) and this movie..
Why can't Harry Potter be a university subject?!
Also apparently now you can dine at the Great Hall set at the the Harry Potter studios in London!!!
"Hi Malaysia Airlines? One return ticket to London please?"
I grew up reading the Harry Potter series. For as long as I remember, I've always wanted to be in Slytherin (while everyone else I knew wanted to be in Gryffindor #hipsterAisya). Now, was Draco Malfoy/ Tom Felton a big reason why I want to be a Slytherin? HELL YES. Also because Slytherin just seem much cooler than Gryffindors.
When Pottermore came out, I like many other Potter fans got Sorted. To my surprise, I was placed in Gryffindor - which part of me screams bravery?! I can't even watch scary movies and then sleep with the lights on...
Despite what Pottermore said, I still want to be in Slytherin and even bought myself a badge and a scarf when I visited the studios in London a year ago. #Gryffindormurtad
And then I heard that they updated their Sorting Hat system and I decided to get Sorted again..
I AM FINALLY ACCEPTED INTO SLYTHERIN!!!!!
Why its cool to be a Slytherin (taken from Pottermore):
"We play to win, because we care about the honour and traditions of Slytherin."
"We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side."
"But we’re not bad people. We’re like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood."
"We Slytherins look after our own; As far as we’re concerned, once you’ve become a snake, you’re one of ours – one of the elite."
"You know what Salazar Slytherin looked for in his chosen students? The seeds of greatness. You’ve been chosen by this house because you’ve got the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word."
Also I like the mysteriousness that comes along with the Slytherin tittle. It's not always "good" you know with Slytherins. With Gryffindors, you know they're just amazingly awesome people who are brave and noble. They are like a gold trophy, so bright and shiny. Whereas to me, a Slytherin can either be pure evil (i.e Voldemort) or simply misunderstood good people (i.e Snape) - they're like coals you know, they can either just be something that dirties your hand or end up being a diamond.. I feel like I identify with this mysterious/ complicated Slytherin more than being a straight as an arrow Gryffindor.
Songs have the ability to transport you back to an exact "moment". It can be a particular event, or even just a particular phase of your life and how you felt during that phase.
As for me, the only song(s) that does not signifies any particular "moment" of my life would be my collection of Hindi songs - which is more regularly updated than the list of English songs in my iTunes. I think this is partly why I can listen to Hindi songs (or even let a Bollywood movie play) in the background while I'm studying or reading. My brain doesn't need to decipher the lyrics, my heart won't flashback random memories when it plays, I don't have to think about it and can maintain my focus.
But for English songs...
There's a song that would bring me back to an exact moment while I was driving in my car with my girlfriends, there's a song that can also bring me to a different moment in my car where I just drove aimlessly for about 30 minutes just because I wanted to be alone and let my mind be calm.. There's a song that can bring me back to that moment in the parking lot where a funny conversation happened relating to the lyrics of the song.. There are just many moments related to some songs for me and sometimes it's the reason why I don't listen to the songs anymore.
As for now, these are the two songs that would sum up my current "moment":
I am a bag of emotional sappiness right now, because I found this - a letter from Prakash Padukone to her daughter, Deepika:
Dear Deepika & Anisha,
As you stand on the threshold of life’s journey, I want to share with you some lessons that life has taught me.
Decades ago, as a little boy growing up in Bangalore, I started my tryst with badminton. In those days, there were no stadiums and courts where sports people could train. Our badminton court was the wedding hall of the Canara Union Bank near our house, and it was there that I learned everything about the game. Every day, we would wait to see if there was a function in the hall, and if there was none, we would rush there after school to play to our hearts’ content.
Looking back, I realise that the most important thing about my childhood and adolescent years was my refusal to complain about a lot in life. I was thankful for the few hours a week we had the opportunity to hit the shuttle back and forth. In fact, the foundation on which I based my career and my life was the refusal to whinge or whine about anything. And that is what I want to tell you my children, that there is no substitute for perseverance, hardwork, determination and passion for what you choose to do. If you love what you do, nothing else matters — neither awards nor compensation, not even the gratification of seeing your face in newspapers or television. When I won the All England Championship, the prize money in badminton became significant — £3,000 — a huge amount in those days. But that did not distract me from the sheer joy of having been instrumental in putting India on the global map of this game.
Deepika, at eighteen, when you told us that you wanted to shift to Mumbai for a career in modeling, we felt you were too young and too inexperienced to be alone in a big city and in an industry we knew nothing about. In the end, we decided to let you follow your heart and thought it would be cruel to not give our child the opportunity to go after a dream that she lived and breathed for. If you succeeded, it would make us proud, but even if you didn’t, you would not have any regrets that you did not try.
Deepika, I have learned that you can’t always win in life, that everything you want might not come your way. That events don’t always turn out as you want them to. To win some, you have to lose some. You have to learn to take life’s ups and downs in your stride. The amount of effort that I put in my game never varied from the first day till my retirement. Even during my toughest times, I focused on what I had, instead of dwelling on what I did not. I had the ability to make the best of the worst circumstances and remain steadfast to my goal.
Remember how I constantly tell you both about the importance of making your way up in the world without waiting for your parents to pull strings? I believe it is best for children to work hard to make their dreams come true and to not have things handed to them on a platter. When you are home visiting us, Deepika, you make your own bed, clear the table after meals, and sleep on the floor if there are guests at home. If you occasionally wonder why we refuse to treat you like a star, it is because you are our daughter first and a film star later. The cameras that follow you everywhere and the arc lights will eventually fade and what will remain is the real world.
Strive to generate positivity around you even though you are too new and too small a player to effect a big change. You are in an industry where there’s always going to be big money, but I believe that it is important to try to be the best in whatever you do regardless of the money. The things that really matter in life are relationships, honesty, respect for your parents and elders. Material success is important, not fundamental to happiness and peace of mind. I can’t tell you enough about the rejuvenating power of prayers and a little faith. Spare a few minutes of your day to close your eyes and meditate, to think about God and you will see how much faith in His power will strengthen you. In the end, when your career is behind you, what remains is family, the friends that you have made. Live a life that is healthy and one that will allow you to live with your own conscience. Everything else is transient. And remember, no matter what, we are always going to be there for you.
Lovingly,
Pappa
---
This brings me back to the conversation I had with Zayana,
Me: I could've been a princess!!
Zayana: Aisya, you really think if you were a princess you'd have the same values as you do today? That you parents would still be Amin & Nona and would've brought you up the same way they did?
...
I mean I would like to believe that if I were a princess, Mummy and Daddy would still be my Mummy and Daddy and I'd still be the same girl that I am today with just a different tittle in front of my name.. but Zayana is right, there's no telling that it'll turn out that way..
I am what I am today because of my parents and I have learned a lot from them. I learned to be a strong independent woman from Mummy, to be a good multi-tasker - whether at work or at home, Mummy balances it all. I learn to not always trust people but nevertheless be kind and always assume the best out of people from Daddy and no matter what, there's always a greater power with you - your prayers to God.
There is no telling that what they have thought me will be the same if I was born differently.. Like my life motto, whatever happens, it is the best thing that's going to happen for you - God is always the best planner. And the best I can ever have is having my parents as my parents.
After finally getting updated with the Star Wars movie episodes, I finally can say I've completed my "training". Hehehe.
I am actually quite happy that I watched all the 6 movies before watching the 7th one today because I swear if anybody was watching at the same time as me, I was the girl that went "UUUUUUU its the Millenium Falcon!".. Sorry! And I can now talk Star Wars with Zawir, at one point he jokingly joked that he can't date me cause I don't know Star Wars....
On the way to the movie, I asked him,
Me: So can you date me now since I've watched Star Wars?
Him: No, you still haven't watched Lord of the Rings
Me: Ya Allah.... May God have mercy on my soul!
After the movie I had to rush home as my family just arrived from completing their Umrah (need to get blessings so God have mercy on my soul and I don't have to watch LoTR you see :P I kid!), I got a Quiz Up invitation (something I've not gotten since like my 2nd/3rd year of Uni, while we were still on LDR, which I highly recommend for couples on LDR. It's one of the activities you can do together and makes you feel closer to each other)
#bringitonbuddy
And after 10 questions...
..
.....
.......
.....
...
Ada abang tuh tak puas hati.. :p Hehehe!
Of course I won the second round too *polish nails*
Guess who is finally up to date with the entire Star War episodes?!
ME!
After almost 9 months(?) I finally finished all 6 episodes. Hehe.
I finished the prequel trilogy while I was in Brighton visiting Zoe because of jet-lag. Today, because I've been so busy since Christmas Eve, I decided that this Sunday shall be pyjamas-Sunday (no-pants-Sunday is a bit too "descriptive" in my opinion).. So since I've got time to kill today, I've decided last night (before I slept) that I shall watch Episode 5 (first movie of the original trilogy) and see if I like it before committing to it.
And I actually liked it. Though I am not going to lie that it was a bit slow for my liking, but you know, this movie was made ages before I was even born.. Things were much slower in those days I guess.
It was actually intriguing cause now I know who is Darth Vader and I am so excited to see how he reveals himself to his son and what does he feel when he finally meets his son..
Fun Fact: I first knew about the great Star Wars spoilers thanks to Toy Story Two when (Emperor) Zurg told Buzz (Lightyear) that he was Buzz's father. Before that, Darth Vader who?
Anyways, while I had to run quick errands today, I let Episode 5 and 6 download and once I was done with the errands, I stayed pun in my room til I was done with the other two movies and now I'm here!
AND OMG.... So much feelssssssssss.
Even after the 5th movie I was already feeling sad after Vader finally reveals himself :'( Haih, all this could've been avoided if Obi Wan didn't show up when Padme was coaxing Anakin. One simple misunderstanding and now the family is torn apart for years :'(
#FEELSOVERLOAD
And then Episode 6 ended and I basically teared guys. This supposedly "epic" Bollywood love story (Bajirao Mastani) couldn't even make me feel anything but Star Wars made me cry.
*please be warned the next paragraphs contain spoilers for those who have no watched Star Wars yet, if any*
It's so unfortunate lah, Anakin was born without a father and was a slave child. Then he lost his mother and he thought his wife betrayed him when he only want to protect her from losing her life during childbirth, and then he basically lost most of his physical body function and has to wear some ugly metal armour with even uglier headgear, on top of all that he thinks he killed his wife and his unborn child (i.e did not know she had twins!)
Then come his children, born without a father or mother and basically stuck in a sand desert. He finally meets a girl who is actually his sister whom she had a crush one when they first met and kissed! Then he found out this entire time the person the entire universe is fighting against is actually his own father, not only that, just moments before he found out, his own father cut off his hand..
Nothing sad to go on about Leia because she basically grew up a princess and well she has all her original limbs, but still, must be sad to remember your own mother as someone who was always sad..
So unfortunate lah these Skywalkers! Haih
But so happy that finally Anakin gets to redeem himself and well, he's all handsome again! Hehe
So I just watched Shah Rukh Khan's latest movie last night, titled Dilwale. And I kid you not when I say this movie has climbed to the Top 5 spot of my favourite Hindi movies of all times!! Not only the message of the story played with me, they took the terms bros before hoes to a whole new level (I've never been a fan of that term actually, but the brotherhood they had in the movie *wipes tears*), but also Kajol-SRK's pairing was amazing!
They've always been my favourite pairing, heck for the longest time I thought they were married to each other when I was a child. And I was introduced to Bollywood movies by their movies (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai)! So it's only natural that I'm a little obsessed with the two of them.. But seriously, their pairing is so effortless *insert heart-eyes emoji*
This movie brings back their pairing after 5 years (last was My Name Is Khan), but my last favourite movie of theirs was Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001). Although, considering that movie plays more on the family theme rather than focusing on Kajol-SRK characters' romance, I have to throwback all the way to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) for my last favourite romance movie of theirs.
17 years!!!!!!!
After 17 years, Dilwale finally dethrones Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as my favourite Kajol-SRK romance movie.
*INSERT MAJOR HEART EYES EMOJI AND HEARTS EMOJIS*
Everybody might know that I am a little obsessed with Deepika Padukone, as my favourite Bollywood heroine. I think she is so beautiful and faaaaaabulous as Zayana & I would say it. But in this Dilwale movie, I was I went "Deepika Padukone who?". Kajol redefined her Bollywood beauty in this movie, and I couldn't help but to jump ship (just for this movie). Every time she appears on the screen she looks fabulousssss!
The entire movie is light-hearted. Although the drama elements in it will make you cry. But I love how they don't just make you bawl because it's sad, the movie also will make you bawl because of "awhhh, so sweet *criesssssss*". It'll make you laugh and it'll definitely make you wish you age like Kajol and your husband/partner has SRK's charisma and charm (doesn't hurt to have SRK's body and dimples too, TEEHEEHEEEE!). I also like how their jokes are not stupid unnecessary jokes, it's just very effortless and you'll have a feel-good-time throughout the entire movie (non of those "When is this gonna endddd" feel that you sometimes get with Hindi movies) and when it finally ends you'll feel super duper good.
Especially if you're a big SRK-Kajol fan. The last line of the movie, it will make you go "AWHHHH!!!!!!".
Zawir is definitely going to have to watch this movie with me (he needs to learn!) and Mummy (who volunteered to be my date for the movie and released Zawir from his bf-duties) said we will need to drag Daddy to watch the movie too.
The movie also has an AWESOME soundtrack! The Kajol-SRK songs are so haunting! Whereas the Kriti-Varun song is very catchy and brings in the youth to the movie.
Of course, there's no doubt that I listened to these songs on repeat last night as I sleep :p
Shah Rukh Khan recently got his honorary doctorate from University of Edinburgh, and I read his entire speech while laying in the hospital bed - you have no idea how bored Zayana was... Take note: The only way to shut me up is to let me have my Shah Rukh Khan dose. That always work.
Anyways, I thought I'd share the speech here - incase you know, it gets deleted or whatever and I can't trace it back:
It is indeed an honour for me to receive this doctorate today. “Humbled” is a word often used by people in my profession. I dislike the hypocritically obsequious connotation of it in these contexts so I’m not going to use it, but I will say that such occasions have a way of putting me right in my place! I get invited to conferences and inaugurations now and then to speak. When I receive the invitations, I also receive my brief. It’s usually about “success” and my “tips” on it (not my toes- those are covered by the “I will never show my toes” clause in my acting contracts. It’s my attempt at gender equality. My co-stars have no nipple clauses; I have a no toes one).
Most people believe Bollywood stars aren’t insightful about anything other than the fateful occurrences that made them stars in the first place! I’ve had the odd divergence from being taken for stupid though; recently I got an email from the International Association of Advertising It read, “Dear Mr. Khan, The advertising community would like you to address them on Globalization and disruptive marketing”. I spent the next 4 hours on Google trying to assimilate the “disruptiveness” of innovating a product to match its market? But it was one of those rare days when even Google can’t help you. A day when you need to leave Google and ask God for deliverance. But I have a film releasing soon, so I didn’t want to waste my quota of favours from God…believe you me, I need a big hit right about now. So I did the next best thing. I made a grand entry on my io hawk and told everybody, that there is nothing I can tell you that you already don’t know. You are such an august group of gathering…blah blah. Instead let me entertain you because you all deserve a break, and before the organizers could interject I started thrusting my pelvic into their faces and broke out into the one and only intellectual thing I know to do… The Lungi Dance. I got away with it without being “humbled” (it helps to be a better dancer than most advertisers ) and what’s more, they seemed to have a good time.
But that was a conference and this is a Doctorate from the prestigious University of Edinburgh. So I’m going to try to sound intelligent and insightful especially for you today. One of the subjects on the list of five I was sent for my speech today was: “Life Lessons” so for what its worth: here goes. Let me start at the very beginning.
Whatever I have learnt of life has been at the movies. Actually the first few films that I did in my career and their titles very nearly have formulated all that I believe one should pass on as Life lessons to students of a prestigious institutions like yours.
One of the first movies of my career was a movie called Deewana.
I fall in love with a widow, who I meet literally by accident in which I very nearly kill her mother in law. I marry her. Not the mother in law but the widow. The widow is not keen on the marriage because she still loves her late husband but she marries me anyway. My rich, mean father disapproves of this union and does what a mean rich father does…tries to kill the widow. I am naturally disgusted by his behavior and after a long two page stand off with him, I leave the house for good. Then for some reason apart from the fact that I ride my motorcycle without holding the handlebar I have an accident. Seeing me so forlorn and sad in the hospital bed my ex widow wife falls in love with me. There is something about sick men that always attracts women to them. The sicker the better. Then again by a chance of fate I rescue a stranger at night from a bunch of goons, and guess what?? He turns out to be the original husband of my ex widow wife, who hadn’t died inspite of his inheritance hungry uncle’s best efforts. Evil uncle then kidnaps me and my ex widow now not so ex present day wife to get hold of his nephew. I escape his clutches and come back with my wife’s undead husband to rescue her. By now she is strapped to a bomb and after a liberal round of fist fighting kicking and screaming the evil uncle is blown to smithereens by the very same bomb that he had strapped on status confused lady of the film. But not before the sacrificial ex-husband has done a kamikaze, unstrapping his ex-wife and set the bomb off killing himself in the bargain. All obstacles removed, our hero lives happily ever after with his beloved wife.
I’m not sure why the movie was called Deewana (which in Hindi means madness of a particularly nice/romantic kind) but I have a feeling it had something to do with the guy who came up with the plot!! So, here’s my first life lesson, inspired by the movie title Deewana: Madness (of the particularly nice/romantic kind) is an absolute prerequisite to a happy and successful life. Don’t ever treat your little insanities as if they are aberrations that ought to be hidden from the rest of the world. Acknowledge them and use them to define your own way of living the only life you have. All the most beautiful people in the world, the most creative, the ones who led revolutions, who discovered and invented things, did so because they embraced their own idiosyncrasies. There’s no such thing as ‘normal’. That’s just another word for lifeless.
Soon after I acted in Deewana, I became the hapless hero of a movie called Chamatkar. This movie had a more believable plot line. I get cheated off all my money by my best friend slash, conman and find myself asleep in a cemetery only to be awakened by the ghost of a murdered mobster. A ghost that only I can see and nobody else. I am very perceptive that way. Anyway the mobster ghost helps me get a job as a teacher through his ghostly good offices. I fall in love with his daughter from a wife that has passed on after being duped by his flunky. Together, the ghost and I organize a cricket match, yes I was doing that even before I owned a cricket team, and avenge the various misdeeds done to us by bashing up the flunky and the conman, forgive them and let each other descend into the respective abodes where we belong. He goes back to the grave and I go away with the babe. Now ‘Chamatkar’, means miracle: right and straightforward without any nuances. So, my next lesson is the following: If you ever find yourself cheated of all your money and sleeping on a grave, do not fear, a miracle is near, either that or a ghost. All you have to do is fall asleep! In other words, no matter how bad it gets, life IS the miracle you are searching for. There is no other one around the corner. Develop the faith in it to let it take its own course, make all the effort you can to abide by its beauty and it will not let you down. Use every resource you have been given, your mental faculties, the ability of your heart to love and feel for those around you, your health and good fortune: all of the thousands of gifts life has given you to their maximum potential. Honour your life. Honour each gift and each moment by not laying it to waste. There is no real measure of success in this world except the ability to make good of life’s endowments to you. Sometimes life’s gifts arrive wrapped in all the wrong damned wrapping too, at which point we have to learn to do two things with them: recognize them for what they are and gamble on our fear that they might be disasters.
This brings me to my third life lesson inspired by two movies in which I played the anti-hero: Darr and Baazigar. Twenty years ago, in the Indian movie industry, roles were very clearly defined. They provided the security of your stardom in a sense. If you’d been successful playing an “angry young man”, you’d pretty much be angry and young for the rest of your career. If you’d been a police inspector in three movies, odds were, you’d be one in the next 33 too. This applied to female stars as well: wives were wives, seductresses-seductresses, mother in laws- mother in laws, and so on. Few actors would have willingly switched from romantic heroes to obsessively violent lovers. I took the leap…not because I was particularly brave, but because (a very dear director friend of mine sat me down and told me I was ugly. And being ugly necessarily meant I do bad guy roles. I wasn’t the romantic hero types, he said, actually he used the words, that my face was not chocolaty enough, whatever that meant). So, I started to eat a lot of chocolate and while waiting for it to take effect, I jumped into bad guy roles. Darr means fear in Hindi and everyone always tells you that you ought to be brave so I’m not going to bore you with that idea.
Instead let me tell you this: Being brave means being shit scared all the way to the party but getting there and doing the Funky Chicken in front of all your teenage kid’s friends anyway. Let me just add on behalf of all the fathers of the world who have embarrassed their children by doing this…it takes a lot of bravery resolve and grit to do this. So do it. Don’t let your fears become boxes that enclose you. Open them out, feel them and turn them into the greatest courage you are capable of. I promise you, nothing will go wrong. But if you live by your fears, everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong and you wont even have done the Funky Chicken.
While we’re on what everyone tells you to be, let me also say that all the planning in the world, won’t take you where you want to get to. It’s fine not to know what you want to be twenty years from now. Most of those who had it all figured out became bankers anyway.
Oh this will appear on YouTube right? There goes my next big loan for the film from my friendly neighbourhood bank.
I did a movie once called Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, in which I was the victim of a lover’s confusions and my next lesson is precisely that. It’s ok to be confused. Confusion is the route to all the clarity in the world. Don’t worry about it too much and don’t ever take yourself seriously enough to be so clear about your own ideas that you stop respecting other people’s. Our values are our values, they don’t make us any better than anyone else, at best they make us different. Always try to see the other person’s truth because like every movie has a story, every human being has one too and you have no right to imagine that yours is better than anyone else’s. You can leave that silliness to my esteemed colleagues and me!!
And if you thought the last two stories I told you were crazy, here’s another one in the reckoning for the Oscars for weirdest screenplay: Guddu.
Guddu was my name in a movie about loving and giving in which basically, I have an accident (yes another one) but this time instead of almost wiping out my future mother-in-law, I wipe out my girlfriend’s eyes. Many convoluted sub-plots including a life threatening brain tumour, a legal battle for the right to donate organs and a fast unto death, my lawyer father, my religious mother and I are battling over which one of us will donate our eyes to my blind girlfriend. In the end, I recover miraculously and my mother dies donating her eyes to my girlfriend and we all live happily ever after.
Life lesson number four rears its head: Give of yourself to others. And while you’re at it, make sure you realise that you aren’t doing anyone any favours by being kind. It’s all just to make you feel that sneaky little twinge that comes from being utterly pleased with yourself. After all, the one that gets the most benefit out of any act of kindness or charity that you do will always be you. I don’t say this, as many see it, in a trans active or karmic way. Its not an “I do good, I get benefit” equation with some white bearded figure taking notes from the heavens above. It’s a simple truth. An act of goodness becomes worthless when you assign a brownie point to yourself for it, no matter how subtly you allow yourself to do so. As benevolent as your gesture might be; someone else could have made it too. Regardless of how rich, successful and famous you become, don’t ever underestimate the grace that other people bestow upon you just by being the recipients of your kindnesses. You might be able to buy your friend a Rolls for his/her birthday but its no substitute for a patient hearing of your sulky rants on a bad hair day.
Sometimes things just happen, as encapsulated in another movie title of mine: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and you know what? They don’t always add up (that would be ‘One Two Ka four’ as the list of titles continues). So my fifth lesson is this: when life hits you with all the force of its resplendent rage, the Rolls isn’t going to give you comfort. A friend’s grace will, and if you can’t find resolution as easily as you would like to, don’t panic. Everything evolves as you go along, Chalte Chalte as we say in Hindi (and yes, that was another movie I did but no more mad plots for God’s sake!!) Even disasters eventually resolve themselves. Give life the space to move at its own pace, pushing it ahead only by way of being kind to yourself when you are hurting or in despair. You don’t always have to figure things out or find an explanation for the circumstances you are in. It’s more prudent to accept that sometimes there just isn’t one. “Ram Jaane” (God knows), as we say in Hindi and as a priest responded to my orphan-child character when i asked him, what my name was, in a movie of the same appellation. The boy plodded through three entire hours of film referring to himself by that fatalistic phrase and why not? Who says that what we call ourselves is any definition of who we really are?
And that’s lesson number six for you: All the names you give yourself, or those that others call you, are just labels. You are not defined by them no matter how flattering or uncomplimentary they are. What defines you is your heart. Ask The Artist Formerly Known As Prince!! And learn a thing or two from him, if you don’t believe this insanely sexy Indian Superstar standing in front of you. And I say this out of experience because if I was to go by what all I am called on Social Media I would be an old desperate manipulative has been star who swings both ways while making crap movies, and these are just the good mentions.
If you aren’t charged up about doing something, if you don’t have what in Hindi we call the “Josh”, the fire in your belly for it, then don’t do it. It’s a waste of your time and more importantly, of those who pin their hopes on your endeavours too. Redefine yourself if you have to but do it on your own terms and just get on with it. In fact, like my character in the movie My Name is Khan, don’t forget where you came from and who you really are. It ought to be the compass by which you navigate through life’s vicissitudes. The North that keeps you oriented despite a series of misfortunes or a shower of privilege.
One of the biggest hits I made was an unexpected one and for once the plot was neither meandering nor barking mad. I was the coach of a beleaguered women’s hockey team that went on to overcome its struggles and win a world championship. Its title was Chak De, an inspirational martial cry that Sikh soldiers used while lifting logs in order to make bridges across rivers on their campaigns against their enemies. It implies the will to get up and get on with it, which brings me to life lesson number seven: whatever it is that is pulling you back, its not going away unless you stand up and start forging your own path with all your might in the opposite direction.Stop whining and start moving, so to speak. Sadness and happiness have the same quality of transience. Life is a balanced exchange of one with the other.
And this is lesson number eight: Don’t attach yourself to either (sadness/happiness), they’re both going to change with the same certitude. Take them with the ephemeral spirit of their impermanence and manage them with a healthy dose of good humour. Laugh at yourself when you are despairing, shed a tear or two when one of my movie plots makes you hysterical with laughter (we did actually consider Guddu donating a single eye to his blind girlfriend and both of them waltzing into the sunset eye patch to eye patch).
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was the title of an Indian style family drama in which I was one of many heroes and it means just that: to be happy sometimes, and sad others, is the very beauty of a life lived in full measure. Why fail yourself by desiring one emotion and detesting the other?
You know, I’ve acted in over 50 full length movies, if I took you through a journey of each title, we’d be sitting here forever and you’d all end up fast asleep (this wonderful venue being most un-cemetery like notwithstanding) so I’ll wrap up with my last two lessons.
Live from the heart. Dil Se. Love. Love people, love the world around you, love animals and birds, and big cities and mountains, love dreams, love life, love your work, your friends and your enemies even if you feel least like it. Most importantly, my friends; love yourselves. Embrace all that this life has in store for you, let your heart be as deep as the deepest ocean and as wide as the farthest horizon. Know that it is limitless. Love is not an excuse to grab or to hold or to own or to barter. It is the only excuse you will ever have to call yourself special. And if someone you love lets you down, don’t fault yourself for not trusting him, fault yourself for not trusting your love enough to forgive his/her trespasses.
You never know what the future will bring, whether there will be a tomorrow or not. I died at a shockingly young age in a movie called Kal Ho Na Ho which means exactly that. And I wasn’t even a smoker!!! I never let my two older children watch it to the end, we even filmed a whole alternate ending especially for them. But now they have grown up and like all of you, will soon be embarking on a wondrous journey of their own. Instead of trying to protect them from life, the wiser and older version of me grabs every chance to tell them: live as hard as you can in this very moment. Live now. Live today. You may not see it with your youthful eyes, but NOW is as much time as you will ever get. Because tomorrow we will all be dead. And just in case there is no cycle of rebirth etc…why take a chance. I don’t want to end this on a cynical note by reminding you about the reality of death. I want to let you all know that how important your today…your now is. Study hard. Work hard. Play harder. Don’t be bound by rules…don’t hurt anybody and never ever live somebody else’s dream.
Remember however many times you go wrong, no matter how many times you fail, despair, feel like this world is against you….in the words of Bob Marley…at the end everything is gonna be alright. And in my words: “Hindi filmon ki tarah life mein bhi, anth mein sab kuch theek ho jaata hai. Aur agar na ho, toh woh anth nahi hai…picture abhi baaki hai mere doston.” ("Just like in Hindi filsm, in life, everything will be alright at the end, and if it's not alright, it is not the end") Take it as the only truth you need to know. Take it and believe it because the most unlikely to make it in Bollywoood is telling you this…the most romantic hero who doesn’t look anything like chocolate or taste like it.
“Now” all you bored professors out there in the first row, come on up: lets do the Lungi Dance!!!
-end of speech-
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I swear, this man speaks to my soul! :') Watch his full speech here:
I'm saving this speech for a rainy day. You know, when I feel like I need him to talk to my soul again.
Also this man turns 50 today!
Damn, I sure do hope my future husband & father to my future children look as good as that when he's 50..I just have one issue with this cover, couldn't they take Gauri Khan on the cover instead?! Gauri is just as hot as that VS Model -_____-' #onewifewoman #getyourhandsoffhim!
For as long as I can remember, I have always been listening to music really loudly. Mummy & Kookie would always yell (cause that's the only way to get thru the loud music..) to me to lower down the volume. Despite her countless reminder from them about how bad it is for my ears to be listening to such loud music, I never really bother, I'd still listen to music as loud as possible, even while studying (it was a gift, I know)
When I started studying abroad I lost my "gift" and I can no longer focus while reading and listening to music at the same time. However I can't not listen to music while studying either. So bye bye earphones and hi playing music on the laptop :(
Now that I'm working I can't possibly play music on my laptop (because really, my clients & colleagues will not be interested to listening to Hindi movies..), so back to earphones! Btw, a day in the office w/o earphones is torturous. But I no longer play music as loud as I use to, because well, FOCUS!
One day while I was browsing YouTube during my downtime (lots of free time remember?), I discovered the Whisper Challenge. And it looked so fun! So Min & I decided to play it one day and it was really fun!!!
All those year abusing my ear drums paid off! I think I am excellent at lip reading.
And I would like to say, if Yasmin didnt say "last time ookay!" to me, I'd figure out she said fruits not food -.- CHEATER purposely enfored time limit on me suddenly (my fault also for not thinking about enforcing the limit back on her.. Told you she's extra competitive)
Do you guys tell your boyfriend to watch an episode of your favourite TV show so that he'll get a "hint"? :p
Well, unfortunately for me, 9/10 times of the time Zawir hardly listens to me. So instead of telling him to watch the TV show, I'll just say directly what I want him to pick up..
Me: Sayangggggggg, Derek just died! And before he died he was telling Mer how much he loves her and their family and how he's completely happy with his family life, and he doesn't need anything more and how he wants more kids.. And then he dieeeeeddddddd!
Zawir: Uhuh, yeah okay
......
Me: My eyes are so puffy now.. Derek is so sweet...
Zawir: Okay
... *Idiot guy happily typing away finishing his 1001 assignments and ignoring me*
Me: YOU HAVE TO LOVE ME LIKE HOW DEREK LOVES MER!
Zawir: That's a TV show sayang, it doesn't happen in real life
Pfft please, if my mother can say that to me and not burst my bubble, this guy doesn't stand a chance!
Me: I don't care, it's not an unrealistic thing to expect. If you'd watch the episode then you'd get what I mean!
This happened like a month ago guys.. (I think Derek Shepherd died about a month ago?)
Now that Zawir is done with his Uni and just waiting for his graduation, he literally has nothing to do guess which TV show he decided to watch?!
Yeahp, you guessed it!
But instead of watching the episode I told him to watch he chose to watch from Season 1.
He's like up to Season 4 now (seriously, too free this guy!) and suddenly at work I got a message:
"S04E17, the last part. Okay?"
And I'm like "Wtf is season 4 episode 17....."
Awwww schucks!
Me: I watched the scene! So sweet!
Zawir: Yeahp! You have to make me a candle house!
...... TOTALLY BACKFIRED GUYS!
p/s: He's still has not watch the episode I was talking about! -.-
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay before I continue, please skip this post if you're a HUGE fan of The Little Mermaid (the movie or the Princess herself). We all have that one Disney princess that we all have an affection/admiration for so yeah, if Ariel is yours, move along guys and I apologise in advance.
Continuing..
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH! Okay, so clearly you can tell that Ariel is not my favourite Disney princess, actually I probably wouldn't show my daughter this movie until she's like 18 when she can make up her own mind of what's right and wrong. She'll grow up with Mulan and Mushu.. And I just found this video, and it correctly explains why I do not like Ariel.
Of course as a kid I grew up thinking Ariel is the prettiest Princess (re-watched most Disney classics and I think Belle really lives up to her name) and among my top favourite (It was Mulan, Ariel, Jasmine now it's Mulan, Elsa, Belle, Jasmine, everybody else besides Ariel and Anna :p) but after re-watching it at the age where you're no longer distracted by her pretty red hair (Okay, she still has the best hair and Mulan actually has the worst but she cut her own hair to save her family okay! HONOUR!) and her showing mid-riff and sea shells as bra no longer phase you, Ariel seriously is nothing more than a brat.
"Meet Ariel, a half naked 15 year old and a confirmed hoarder" AHAHAHAHA!
"Ariel traded away her voice for a pair of legs and a 72 hours time frame to french a stranger" who's of course she's in love with "because he's.... hot (?..?)" AHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Stupid girl
"If by love you mean acting like a clueless mute brat so an older guy will make out with you" Hooooow is this character someone's favourite princess?! #totallyjudging
Yesterday (25th of June) marked 22 years of Shah Rukh Khan being a movie star. Yesterday also was a week (7 days) til my 22nd birthday. 2 & 7 are my favourite numbers (for obvious reasons, duh).. But you see the connection?
You see why I love Shah Rukh Khan?! It's in the starsssssssss :p He started his movie career in 1992, I was born in 1992. Letahdaaaaa!
Okay I'm going crazy, but here's to 22 years of Shah Rukh's movie involvement and to many more!
Also part of #mybirthdaywishlist is to have a collection of all my favourite Shah Rukh Khan movies in DVD (I have a CD collection, to change CDs 3 times for a single movie is too tiresome and not to mention too potong.. I mean, tengah tengah emotional scene *poop* time to change the CD -.-) form.
Karan Arjun
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Pardes
Dil To Pagal Hai
Duplicate
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Baadshah
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
Josh
Mohabbatein
Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham
Kah Ho Na Ho
Main Hoon Na
Veer-Zaara
Don
Om Shanti Om
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
My Name Is Khan
Don 2
Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Chennai Express
Striked movies mark that I already have the DVDs.
The 22nd movie (Happy New Year) is a pending release, but I expect that'll be a favourite of mine too (it has Deepika Padukone in it too! HELLO! My favouuuurite actress currently). So you see, 22, again! :D
My Ram-Leela DVD arrived on Valentine's Day (no surprise on how I spent Valentine's Day). A night before that I found the movie online.. So yeah, I had two days of watching Ram-Leela back to back. Funny how I mentioned I'll never watch the movie again.. But I stuck to what I say before, I paused the movie at their last kiss & for all I care they live happily ever after :)
But anyways, lemmefan-girl about Ram & Leela now.
See, I never told you guys about the story right? Okay, I'll try to make it short. (spoiler alert!)
The story takes place in a village in Gujarat, where the Rajadi & Sanera have been enemies for more than 500 years. There was a line in the movie, that goes; "There are only three curse words for Rajadis; '1. Sanera, 2. Sanera, 3. Sanera'". So anyways, Ram was sent away from the village because he accidentally murdered a Sanera as a child, after 12 years he returns to the village and he is against all these gun handling, shootings and the rivalry. The other side of the village, lives Leela, daughter of the Sanera leader, Baa. Leela is spontaneous, bubbly and lively and couldn't give two hoot about the Rajadi and Sanera war. They first met at Leela's house when Ram decided to crash the party during Holi. However Leela was about to be engaged to some NRI from London, Karsan. Leela not wanting to marry Karsan decides to run away with Ram. The day they were supposed to elope, Ram & his brother, Meghji along with Leela's brother, Kanji got into a fight in a market. Their innocent shooting game ended up killing Ram's brother (by Leela's brother) and Leela's brother (by Ram). (May I just say, whose bright idea was it to drink alcohol AND have an aiming game involving guns? Seriously guys?! -___-). Despite Ram killing her own brother, Leela still agrees to runaway with Ram. However, on their wedding night, Ram's asshole friends decided to take Ram out and got him drunk and took his phone and messaged Leela's family their location. Ram passed out only to be woken up next morning to Leela screaming as she was taken away by her family. Ram was taken home by his (again, assholes) friends and celebrated as the new Rajadi's Don as to the Rajadi, Ram has humiliated the Saneras so bad (by killing their only male heir & "playing" their female heir) and avenged the Rajadis.
Leela however refused to believe that Ram betrayed her and sent her sister-in-law, Rasila to send a message to Ram. Rasila went to Ram's store expecting to see Ram, however she almost got raped by Ram's friends (Ram wasn't even in the store). Leela's mother found out and sent her people to assault Ram's sister-in-law, Kesar. Ram (not knowing the first part of what happened to Rasila) went to Leela's house to meet Baa and told her "enough is enough, this whole pride against pride, an eye for an eye. I'm standing in front of you right now, unarmed, kill me if that can help you bring your son back. & One last thing, we Rajadis care & protect our women with our lives. If you Sanera don't believe me, try building a relationship with us Rajadis". Leela's mother felt challenged by this & masked a compromise meeting with Ram as a mean to kill him. Instead, she got shot by her own man, Bhavani, who is tired of taking orders from her.
While Baa is recovering, Leela is left to fill in her mother's seat. In a meeting to compromise with the Rajadi, Leela decided that they will no longer deal in any way with each other & Ram obliged and they signed a peace treaty. However, Bhavani decided to take matters into his own hands and tricked Leela into signing an order to kill all Rajadis. Leela found out about this too late & thought Ram had died. She ran to her room wanting to kill herself but Ram was already in her room standing behind her with his gun. Downstairs, Kesar came to meet Baa offering Baa her soon, Goli, the last Rajadi male heir, "You've successfully wiped off all Rajadis from Ranjaar (the village's name). Here is my son, the last Rajadi heir. Kill him as well, then there will be no more love, no more war". Baa, who is now nicer (oh I forgot to mentioned, she cut Leela's wedding ring finger because Leela refused to take off her wedding ring from Ram.. Psychotic mother right there!) decided to end the war with Rajadi & when Bhavani refused to let Baa carry out her wish, Baa killed Bhavani (WOOHOOOOO!!!).
Ram & Leela, not knowing what happened downstairs with Baa, decided to commit suicide to end the war. "Your life belongs to me, and mine belongs to you. You decide, either we die in each other's arms or we die in the enemy's hands?". They had their one last kiss and then the movie ended right there (no I lie, there's a little bit more, but I'm in denial).
I remember crying watching the first time Ram & Leela meet when I watched the poor rip version of the movie I found online in December. After further analysing the movie the past couple of days, I remember why I cried. Because the first time they meet and the last time they meet, they stood opposite each other in a similar manner.. :"(
The first time.
The last time. (pssst. Look at the moon! Sorry, I just have a fascination with the moon)
And the background music sure didn't help either.. :"(
My favourite part of the movie: Watching their relationship. From the moment they meet, til the moment they decided to elope is my most happy part of the movie. You see how these crazy two lovebirds are so bloody suitable for each other.
See, Ram is a player right. Very smooth, very cheeky. When he met Leela, he thought she was just another innocent pretty girl, he was just messing around with her, and suddenly, she kissed him! A stranger she just met, she kissed him!
Hehe, look at how dumbfounded & disoriented he got after meeting his match, hehehe! :B
The "balcony scene". When Ram sneaked into Leela's house again later that night to meet her. How does he know which room to go to? "I'll just follow where the moon light comes from, because she is the moon herself" :') Loverboy got it bad!
Leela: Ehhh youu? You've come til here?! Are you mad?! If someone sees you, you'll be in big trouble.
Ram: I'm already in big trouble. You've taken my breath away, I need it back.
L: Well you can have it back, afterall, we don't keep anything of a stranger's.
R: Stranger? Me? Have you forgotten how you "coloured" (kiss) this stranger?
L: How can I forget?
----
R: Okay, I'm going to go straight to the point. Don't fall in love with me, I'm a Rajadi, the enemy.
L: The enemy... No wonder our eyes were battling since we met.
R: Wahh! Just as much as you are sexy, you're dangerous too!
L: And just as much as you're dangerous, you're cocky..
R: Idea! Why don't we marry each other, then you won't be a Sanera, I won't be Rajadi. Simple!
L: Well, would you start eating roses if you call it rice?
----
L: Wow, you're quite daring.. Came all the way til here (her bed), am I that beautiful?
R: Yes, you are. I will give up my life for you, take a bullet right here on the chest.
L: O.O You don't have any chest hair!
(By this point in the movie, I'm already wailing for the 100th time.. These two adorable cuties, OHMYGODDDDDDDDD!)
Even after Ram killed her brother, Leela still agreed to run away with him. And she agreed to forgetting the past. She accepted Ram for who he is. Even when Ram was stressed out, she tried making him laugh. Even when Ram yelled at her, she let it go and still made him laugh. My heart.... :") I agree with Ram when he said, "Leela jaisi koi nahi"/"There's no one other like Leela". Ram understood the sacrifice Leela had to make for him, and appreciates her. Ram understood how it must have not been easy for Leela to accept Ram whose hands are responsible for killing her own brother, yet she loves him no less than before. My heart...... :""""")
When Ram found out about Leela's mother cutting Leela's finger through his assholes friends (who made fun of Leela's suffering still), he cut his own finger too. MYYYYY HEAAAARRTTTTT. Why can't anyone else appreciate their looveeeee? Why are your hearts so filled with hate people?!
Even towards the end of the movie these two idiots were still cracking jokes and laughing while crying at the same time.. How can I not cry and laugh at the same time? They're peeeeeerfect for each other.... THEY HAVE TO BE TOGETHERRRRRRRRRR :"(
Like Ram said, there's no other like Leela. I mean, I'd get into a fight with anybody who even the slightest bit rude to my parents or makes fun of my brother. & yet Leela accepts Ram so openly after he killed her brother. Leela was also one tough cookie! My mother cut my finger, I think I die man.. Yet she didn't even hate her mother for it, she still cared for her mother while her mother was recovering after getting shot..
And because of Deepika's amazing performance as the wonderful & amazing Leela, she wont the Best Actress Jury Awards & LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE THE "RAM" AND THE "LEELA" WHEN SHE ACCEPTED HER AWARDS!!!
SHE RAN IN THE WRONG DIRECTION (towards Ranveer/Ram) AND HE POINTED THE OTHER WAY TO HER..... And she was dancing... And she was so confused (partly because she just finished performing on stage). And when he said "You are my favourite"......
OMG. MY HEARTSTRINGS.......! iDieeeeeeeeeeee if these two don't end up together in real lifeeeeee! I love Ranveer Singh, I loveeeeee Deepika Padukone. And she kept looking at himmmm, and he kept looking at herrrrrrrr. And ahhh, just themmmmmmm. Haihhhh :")
"Grapes are green, bananas appear gold, Leela belongs to Ram, as the world has been told"
As Banana & I were happily watching Ram-Leela yesterday in the kitchen, Ash suddenly bursted out in rage asking us to watch this video. And we did, but we couldn't understand what was Ash so angry about (the confusion on our faces was so obvious yet that woman still continued rambling whatever she was rambling about). All we got from the video was "Monchichi #1, Monchichi #2, Monchichi #3, Monchichis!". And damn, that line is catchy & the fact that Ash is so annoyed by it made it even better.
"Oh God... Shouldn't have told you guys about the video.."
Damn right she shouldn't.
If you're like me and you didn't catch on what are Monchichis, well click here. Remember the TV show from your childhood now? (Applicable to only 80s/early 90s kids) We ended up watching half an episode of Monchichi and then we've decided our characters!
This is Kyla a.k.a Monchichi #2 a.k.a Banana.
Meet the adorable Tootoo a.k.a Monchichi #1 a.k.a ME! :D
And the Grumpkins a.k.a Monchichi #3 a.k.a Ashley Wong the Monchichi hater.
Monchichis #2, #3, and #1.
"High up in the trees, live the Monchichis, chichichi, Monchichis, Monchichis!"
Me: Good God. I have a coconut tree on my head
Banana: This actually look like a horse tail..
Ash: Heyyy! This hairstyle makes my hair look thicker!
As Banana & I were happily watching Ram-Leela yesterday in the kitchen, Ash suddenly bursted out in rage asking us to watch 
