Innovation dear pa!

Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest has not been more relevant to any era of human existence than the current age. An era that has population exploding and competition omnipresent. One should always outsmart/out-think the competitor in order to attain success and excellence. One example from the literary world is the famous statement ''Elementary, dear Watson!'' -This statement by Sherlock Holmes which has now become a cult, and we see humans using it in the day to day activities at workplace, when a comrade has difficulty in understanding concepts, ideas or interpreting results. Now, this three word phrase has more than this that meets the eye. This quote is the supposed explanation that Holmes gave to his assistant, Dr. Watson, when explaining deductions he had made and it never appears in the books, but only in movies and the reach is unprecedented. This is innovation. Holmes says "Elementary" in 'The Crooked Man', and "It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I assure you" in 'The Cardboard Box'. But neither leaves an impression like ''Elementary, Dear Watson!''. Even though Holmes says 'Elementary', he actually visualizes crime scenes, clues obtained and innovates on the basic premises and solves cases. It is the innovation in story narration and approach that makes Holmes a classic.
 Innovation is a 99% complete word. 10% is made of 'in'stigate, 25% of 'nov'elty and rest 64% is made of cre'ation'. Walter Lippman once said ''When all think alike, then no one is thinking." Innovation is that word which one can associate not only with geniuses, but even a layman because all it takes is a spark. A moment of brilliance and the will to think out of the box. There is nothing wrong at all in experimenting within the boundaries of creative freedom. Albert Einstein is the greatest mascot for innovation after Newton. It is not because of their discoveries/inventions that has made them get a permanent seat in the hall of great minds, but the ability to think unlike the ordinary. Dennis Ritchie is the man behind C language program. He died a week after Steve Jobs' demise. How many of us remember Dennis Ritchie? Except the few, for who computer programming languages is a source of bread and butter, none. It is simply because of the impact created by Jobs in each of our lives. His products were not confined only to the skilled and erudite. The quintessential ambassador for converting ideas into reality. He made technology reach far and wide.
One does not need to be an artist or be involved in an entertainment domain to experience or understand innovation and creativity. This trait is just like discipline or any other innate quality. It is up to the person to stay alert and tap that potential to think out of the box. A person's innovative tendencies tend to be smothered by over analysis and obsessions for perfection. One has to enjoy the innovation process but perfecting a creative idea usually takes more than just coming up with one. A vision and the adroitness to foresee helps a long way in fulfilling the creative endeavors.  
 People do not realize how creative they are. We are much more creative than we think ourselves to be. God is the ultimate creator and he designed us in his version of an image - as creators. Still majority of us get caught in a humdrum monotonous work cycle routine that doesn't foment our imagination.  We don't need to settle for a dime a dozen mindset that benumbs us and dumbs us down. We need to break free and be ready to rise above the rest.

  

Rockstar- Almost perfect musical-Biopic.

Ranbir Kapoor as Jordan in Rockstar has to be one of the most amazing performances in recent times. For a non-musical person, his portrayal as the rebellious, soul-searching Rockstar deserves an ovation.

This is one movie, which is subtle in expressing and profound in emotions. Emotions doesn't restrict to the overworking of the lacrimal duct but actually is a feeling restrained to the heart and mind. 

Emotions are genuine and more deep when the ability to convey it becomes a painful task. Rockstar is a landmark film in terms of the editing and the complexities of characters. It is not a flawless movie, but is close to being one. Imtiaz Ali has got to be one of the most gifted story tellers of our generation. He doesn't believe in traditions nor mainstream category of film  making. He takes the road less traveled with elan. 

Rockstar is a movie that has the guts and Imtiaz leaves no stone unturned to depict what he perceived. It takes enormous audacity to adhere to such a structure of story telling. At no point does the movie switch course to the usual Indian formulaic means where God mends all evils; where justice prevails; where all is happy and goes accordingly like a dream. Magic happens here too. Heer's (Nargis Fakhri) mother sums it up magnificently to the doctor - '' We think we know life, but we do not. Miracles have happened in life. '' Heer is your new age lass- capricious, wanting that last bit of fun before marriage; doesn't realize the consequences immediately; she is confused between what the mind desires and what she has in reality. When we think that it is going to be another usual Hindi film, Ali packs a punch when he beautifully shows Heer's state of coma, nearing death. Heer's sister Mandy was the one who calls Jordan to tell him about the condition that Heer was suffering from Bone Marrow Aplesia, and she doesn't think twice to accuse Jordan being responsible for her death. In actuality, the love was her disease. She was afflicted even before Jordan met her in Prague. She decides to go visit the shrink because of her sickness. The mental sickness, transforms into a physical one, when they make love. This was is shown with Mandy shouting Jordan is the disease. Harsh reality blatantly shown.Welcome to the real world.

If at all there exists a creation which can be described as multi layered, it is this. Music is shown as the out flow of emotions. His inner thoughts woven cleverly in the songs. In fact, the songs move the story forward and helps one understand the gamut of feelings the protagonists endure. The scene when he confesses/ tells Heer that he sets with her the best, with Kun Faya Kun at the backdrop has got to be one of the most excellent scenes in recent times. Heer who was totally unwell all along, gradually improves. But it is the mind that is affected and not her body. She doesn't realize that she misses him; she was depressed because of him and needed psychiatric counseling not because of any ailment, but she missed him (again shown when she cancels the appointment without hesitation and embarks on another trip with him in Prague).

Rockstar is by far the perfect movie when it comes to creating a musical biopic where the lyrics and music play an integral part, woven masterfully into the screenplay that contains scenes in Documentary and real picture mode. Haawa Haawa song just creates that poetic parallelism to the state which existed between Jordan and Heer. Kun Faaya Kun, a song which is the turning point in Janardhan's life, that takes him through a process of self realization and makes him understand that it is with God he finds inner peace with ( exactly when he sings Maulaaa...aa..looking up at the sky and the roof of the Dargah ) Jordan thought he had a perfect life, but he did not. It took a dangerous turn when he wanted to make it big with music. 

''Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’.
doesn’t make sense any more.''

The entire movie is Jordan's journey to that place ( the field again shown as the place where they exchange that first kiss. The kiss which changes everything..) Rockstar is all about breaking that moral code, which remains widely a relative term. The episode where she runs from Jordan's place afterspending it intimately only to stop at the middle of the bridge, with her marriage on one side of the bridge and Jordan on the other, she waits and lets Jordan come next to her.  This is symbolic representation at its very best. 

Shammi Kapoor (Shehanai legend in the movie) says to the Head at Platinum music, ''He is a different beast. He won't stay in your cage''. Shammi Kapoor rightly identifies Jordan when the latter sings '' Mujpe Karam Sarkaar tera..... mujh se hi riha'' which translates into - It should be (God's) generosity upon me, should you free from myself. I want to discover myself now; Pray free me from myself . Jordan defines the present and true state of life. It is neither white nor black. It is grey. He has the nerve to tell Shammi Kapoor he does not understand classical music; he creates his own music- metamorphosing the fact that he prefers to go by codes he has set himself in life. He can not sing to another person's tune. Jordan comes up with albums that totally reflect his state of life at that juncture. Sheher- when he is new, pop star-born, adhering to the routine way of life; Negative- the phase where he is put behind bars for trespassing to reach out what he believes is his (Heer) and his entire search starts. He begins questioning everything. Sets out to ask for where are the innocent birds of the forest, which was brought down to build a city. He gives a damn about fans and fame. Doesn't think twice to rise the middle finger. He does not bother to run in between shows to meet Heer, and at the same time does not realize it is Heer which is his destiny; the place where he finds God. 

Jordan admits he never took anything that was structured (classical ). The beauty of the whole characterization is that he never understood why he behaves that way. He doesn't realize the wrongness in singing to women working as you-know-what. He craves for freedom from fame, and the inner worms that are eating him. The metamorphosis is shown via his music- which was serene and simple like ''Jo Bhi Mein'' at the beginning to a transformation where, his music becomes more Hard-rock/ metal and rash as in '' Sadda Haq'' and '' Naadan Parindey''. A moment shown in ''Naadan Parindey'' where the guitar burns, before his eyes and water falls next to the guitar in flames- was sheer brilliance. When Jordan goes to meet Heer for a last time at the hospital; she is very well depicted as a vegetable but during Nadaan Parindey and before he feels her soul, there is a shot which features Nargis breathing and her frontal moving. These nuances and moments make the film what it is- Stunning.

A film that is bittersweet right from start, a rarity in Indian films where the soul of the film is kept intact throughout should not meander to an anti climax of sorts, and that is where Rockstar scores huge. No guy has gone to such heights to talk about relationships with such dexterity and uses different platforms to explain the same. Imtiaz Ali keeps the core of Janardhan alive at the same time he unwinds his layers which are distraught and painful. Music is his identity, but it is his adroitness that connects him. One has to live and experience Jordan; his angst and demons. 

The finale where he stares, half way through the performance, at the opening of the platform and sees Heer's image approaching him completes his search. It concludes his process of being free- The Nadaan Parindey- only problem is that he is completely alone and alienated. He began his transformation, shunning out people from his life. In the end, he sees the lighted entrance with Heer.  He is left with her memory and a deep abyss. He doesn't realize that he is searching for something that is long gone. He is a victim of fame and is caught under the spotlight where there is no escape from.  He can only think of that field in between what is right and what is wrong; the world sans fame, sans contracts, sans Heer's disease, sans her problems. A world that contains only them.

Kola Veri and the ''Poetic justice''

Language is an ever evolving phenomena like humans and the recent developments have been quite bold and unpredictable. There always existed a general perspective among different people speaking different languages about trends and balance in terms of content and usage. Tamil has seen a quantum leap in this regard with the arrival of Madras Tamil and now Tanglish (Tamil+English). That brings us to a question- Why This Kolaveri?!
For starters, there is a website called www.kolaveri.com and wikipedia, despite Jimmy Wales open plea to the users to donate 100/200 rupees for the sustenance of the online encyclopedia, the organization has launched it's Wiki page for Kolaveri. Secondly, it is Kolaveri (and not Colaveri or Cole Avery)- already part of Samosapedia and is sure to make a grand entry into the Tamil-Urban dictionary; not to forget the omnipresent Weight-u, How-u, Scotch-u etc. Possibility of a Tanglish dictionary launch by Lifco? I am betting my money on it. Reason is simple. With a whacky tune, intelligently placed interregnums between the vocals filled with innovative instruments makes it enjoyable. But the song spreading like an epidemic from Usulampatti to Utah makes many people wonder what made this such a rage.
There exists this stereotyping of Telugu language where the vernacular ignorance makes one say- ''add a 'lu' to the end of every word!'' Now, Tanglish is not far behind. The only difference is add a ''u'' to words and voila! you have it. That's exactly what has made Poet (sorry! Poet-u) Dhanush a phenomenon. The heavy inflow of these bizarre words - which sound cool when part of a conversation- can rather start a bad trend and we may lose the identity which defines us. After a couple of songs in 'Mayakkam Enna' with outrageous lyric use, now we are amidst 'Why this Kolaveri di''. Apparently, this phrase translates into 'why this murderous rage, girl?' No browny points for guessing that this song is about the girl who is cruel, and breaks the guy's heart. (Dhanush gets this situation in almost all his films!) We have had the same scenario subtly penned as '' Vaarthai thavari vittai kannama, maarbu thudikkudhadi '' in yester-year cinema. This one example portrays the richness of the Tamil language. I am not against the Gen-Y songs at all. It is refreshing to hear. I laugh it out when listening, thanks to the raw lyrics. On the other hand, one wonders what could possibly be the motivation behind the use of such colloquial words. This can very well be foreseen as an easy way of making a song reach the core masses and making it a hit in the process. Soon intricate parameters of a song like soul, poetry may see the closet. These tanglish morphemes may emerge to be uber-cool, but surely ain't going to improve the pulchritude of the language nor the knowledge about/quality of the words.
One always gets the feel that this promotional song, brimming with features that is directly targeted at the youth had winner written all over it. It is aimed at the masculine gender, by using demotic verses that make females look like heartless creations. (Yes! It is referring only to the character in the film and not otherwise yaada yaada..) The reason why even though MSD has won more matches for India with his brains and bat, Sachin is still revered because of the classic nature he brings to the game. Cricket now is enjoyable thanks to Dhoni's dynamics and Sachin's authentic style. Similarly, a balance is required in music. Time has evolved. We have had Kannadasan, Vaali etc. making way for Kaarkis and Muthukumars. Kaarki and Dhanush belong to the same generation, but have redefined lyric writing in opposite polarities. While the former rightly being seen as a 'lyric engineer' (Irumbile oru Idhayam, Kuviyamilla Kaatchi pezhai) Dhanush is slowly turning to be an antithesis. One hopes Dhanush sticks to acting, which he is so good at and showcases his poetry skill at much lesser frequencies. Judging the rest of the album to be akin to this number is premature and as a Tamil film music patron hope there is versatility and a balance between contemporary music and classical music is maintained.