Fear Has A New Address

(No, not coz the festival of colors is here, and you need to watch out for sneaking eyes and peeking hands ready to douse you with rang and gulaal.... Best wishes for Holi, readers!)

Read this anonymous letter I found the other day.

Me frustrated. Me donno what to do. Me think I kill myself. Or I just die. I do no want to live. Nobody like me. Nobody need me. All think me bad person. Me care for people, people do no understand, people fight. Me get angry. Me hurt people. My life no good. Me no trouble no one still people no like me. Me brave and stubborn. Me also blunt and intelligent. So many say me good, me reach success, me capable. But me no happy. Me alone, me sad. I donno fault. How can all world be wrong? No. Me wrong. Me end life. Me got no guts, so me live on.

Interesting, eh? Especially the last line... Do you need guts to kill yourself, or do you need balls to survive?

I guess it’s that split second where you are so depressed and frustrated, that you muster all your valor to sacrifice your life. If that second passes, you’re never gona be able to do it again. So, in a way, death and life – both need courage. (Though of course, if anyone suicidal were to approach me, I’d say that suicide is for cowards, and one ought to live on to fight and overcome challenges.)

Eager to know your thoughts on this, friends and readers. And on the following points, too...

Like why a woman in power is subject to prejudice and contempt for no real reason. Why a divorced/widowed woman is looked down upon by society more critically than a male. Why a female who flirts and sleeps around is called a bitch, while a man doing the same is considered nothing abominable. Why when enjoying sex (which is logically and in reality the privilege of both genders), a woman is expected to be coy and her sole duty in bed is to satisfy her man, regardless of her own pleasures and needs. Why a woman who commits a crime evokes horror, while a man in her shoes gets the “chalta hai” gesture.

WHY??

Society assumes several things about a woman, and expects these assumptions to hold true whatever the case may be. Given the superior education, exposure, lifestyle, family and upbringing. How fair is this?? Who decided it to be this way? Why are we still falling prey to this bias? Is gender equality only a myth? True, the topmost positions in the world in all areas are held by men (and I congratulate them on that), but why cannot we tolerate vices in females, too?!! We’re all human, right?!!!

Time to cool down... So, leme tell you about how I spent my weekend. It was a good Sunday after ages (guess Women’s Day clicked for me!) I shopped for tops and tunics, watched a movie and went hookah-lounging. (My darling Scooty also got serviced, so she all sparkling and happy.)

The film I saw was 13B – Fear Has a New Address (hence the post title) starring R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the movie rated quite high on the spook factor (akin to Raaz 2, and way better than the cataclysmic Phoonk). The storyline falls short of being termed outstanding, but it is thankfully not typical like all those black magic stuff. What happens here is that Maddy’s family moves into an apartment where another close-knit, cheerful family was horrifically murdered. Crazy things start occurring, like the milk curdles each day, the pooja room cannot be furnished, the lift doesn’t work just for apna Maddy whose photographs are always distorted, etc.

A little too repetitive in the beginning, the plot unfolds as a serial starts auto-telecasting itself and the saas-bahu loving women in the family get addicted to it. (Remember Amar somebody who became famous as Mihir Virani in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi...?? He plays the key character in the movie soap. Mighty clever of the casting director!)

To cut a long story short, the dead family members ki aatma is discontented. Though their spirits aren’t bhootiya and scary, they make sure that Maddy understands there is some major gadbad in the house. As their life unfurls on screen, the Maddy family starts experiencing identical incidents – some happy, some tragic. Finally, the hero finds out who bludgeoned the original khandan, and through him, the dead folks avenge the criminal.

I’m tempted to disclose the suspense, but I’m a good girl so I’ll spare you guys. You should go and watch it to get some goosebumps... (And some naughty, sexy yet non-sleazy banter on the Kama Sutra!) My rating – 3/5. Good job, cast and crew! (Good caramel popcorn, Inox!! AND good Jumbo Chicken, Burger King. Slurp slurp...)

A special note on Madhavan... It was wonderful to watch him on screen after ages. I still think of him as RHTDM ka adorable Maddy, or as Subbu in an old serial called Ghar Jamai (used to be aired on Sony, if I recall correctly.) He is very cute and believable as Manu (aka Manohar) in 13B, and he can pass off as endearing what would be jeered if done by someone else (like clinging to the TV and weeping). The rest of the crew doesn’t have too much to do, but the inspector who plays Maddy’s friend also presents fine acting skills.

Oh ya, I also tried the Cadbury Bournville. The TV and print ads were exaggerating exactly how phenomenal this chocolate is. I agree it's good for dark chocolate lovers, but hey! It ain't the heaven the ads promise!! Frankly, I'm disappointed... Not buying you again, buddy... At least not for myself... (and at 95 bucks, not for anyone else either!)

Cheerio!
Princess