Zinda Tha mein...

With an experience that was unique in its own way,I was walking the way back home. "The last three hours were well spent", i contemplated. I was a different man three hours ago, and now my mindset has been altered. I had grown wiser, a new man who is beyond guilt. I began recounting that particular experience of mine. My mind began to see spirals in black and white just the way it happens in movies and i switched into the flashback mode.

I was making my way to the theatre eagerly anticiapting a two houur thriller. The movie board outside the theatre proudly displayed ZINDA and a shiver of anticipation ran through me. I went to buy tickets for me and my friends. The only pinch i felt was due to the fact that i was sponsoring the movie that day. Done with the tickets, we made our way through the crowd (aroung 20 people) and sat comfy in a central location.Guys, thats the advantage when you have little crowd at halls.You have the pleasure of choosing your location.

Choosing the location is an art in itself, as professional movie freaks will tell you. It has many multi faceted tricks like choosing a seat beneath the fan, at the corners so that your view is not blocked, and at the centre so that the acoustic effects are good. Thankfully i was spared of all these acts of skill by my friends. Once perched comfortably in our thrones, we waited for the documentary to end. Next was the turn of colorful models posing themselves for costumes which they otherwise would not even consider touching. Once that was done the movie started off.

The initial sequence of the movie shows Sanjay as a Software Engineer. Guys i had a tuf time swallowing that part, i hope you will be atleast able to tolerate it. My personal opinion is that he should have stuck to something similar to "munna". Well now that u have taken in that part, I shall proceed further. Sanjay(S) has a wonderful wife in celina(c) who makes a very short entry/exit into the movie. The initial rummages with S, C and their friend who has a soft corner for C is quite tolerable. Suddenly the story moves deep into the plot when S suddenly vanishes while he was involved in painting a pier.

Then comes the twists and turns where S is held captive in a room with nothing but for an idiot box as company. Well dumbfounded ?? so was Mr. S. He was given food (yummy Hotdogs !!) through a peephole at the bottom, through which he could see nothing but the legs of the supplier of food. Unable to bear with isolation,he keeps counting the years with marks made out on his arms(typical hero stuff). He keeps himself updated with the happenings of the outside world through the TV. He decides to avenge his captor and so decides to learn martial arts. And how does he do that ??? Bingo !!! by watching movies in the idiot box. Well i hope u can swallow that part too ,but i aint too sure.....


Now if u ve accepted that,(guys u dont have this facility when u r watching the movie)lets get further. Suddenly one fine day,after 14 years,Mr.S finds out that he is bundled out in a suitcase and left atop a tower in the city.(Compare 14 years with the vanvas of Lord Rama)The author does give a mythical touch to the movie here.The story now transcends into the second part where S traces out his villain. And how he does that is another mystery. But MR.S is no ordinary guy. He can smell his food around and spot the cook who made the hotdogs which he had been consuming during his period of captivity. Guess the cook is real good and useless all the same to remain at the same hotel for 14 years. Well Mr. S does this with the aid of a Desi taxi driver (the second lady love for Mr.S).

The method of identification of the cook is pretty awesome. Mr.S manages to recognize the shoes of the cook and thereby recognizes him. I tried my level best to find out the makers of that shoe which can last 14 long years of regular ruf n tuf use. Guys, in case you manage to find it please pass the info on to me. So now coming on to the movie, Mr.S spots the villain, who is MR.J. There ends the first half of the movie, showing the handsome face of Mr.J.

The second part was almost as interesting as the first (if at all u find that interesting). The hero expresses his heroism by a coupl of "teeth pulling" stunts and placid action.The explanation for the captivity of Mr.S is lacking in reality and depth of thought. The playwright could have wrought out something more believable. Then goes the usual stuff of justifying the villains action, hero turning soft towards the villain after he saved his daughter,and finally making Mr. J a good fella afterall.

Guess hindi movies are far from the being different, they invariably have the theme " And so they live happily ever after......". This one too ends in a similar note. For those who ask me, if any movie is different, plz see final destination, Troy, Gladiator, titanic and so on....

That movie really provided the damping force to that day. But i was wiser from my experience that one cannot expect real thriller based on sound logic, esp in Bollywood.

"Faanush banke log jiske hifazat kare, woh film kaise na chale, jise roshan John kare"