That Girl in Yellow Boots

"Who's that girl in yellow boots ? "
"Oh I don't care much. But I like her boots."




Well ,  : P Okay. Watched That Girl in Yellow Boots yesterday. The first thing I noticed about the movie was that it was written by Anurag kashyap and Kalki Koechlin in collaboration. Did you notice it too ? And last thing which struck me was- a question , which I ask you now - does it not remind you of Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov?

A nice movie. Just nice if you see it after Gulaal. Nice and different. As the TOI review tells the plot , you can read it below :

Story: Ruth ( Kalki Koechlin), an illegal immigrant in Mumbai, refuses to return to England unless she finds her father, an Indian who abandoned the family when she was a kid. She works in a massage parlour for her upkeep and tries her best to fend off the local goons who want to take advantage of her situation. With a drug addict as a boyfriend, life doesn't seem too much of comfort, except for the presence of the avuncular Naseeruddin Shah, one of her regular customers. Does Ruth manage to find her father? More importantly, does he turn out to be the ideal dad she had always dreamed of....  (TOI)


What I saw in the movie : - a girl and many sick minds who are possessive about her. Now I am almost on the verge of disclosing the climax. Ahh.. no I won't spoil it. But here is something - Ruth is smart, brilliant and shiny British girl who has a boy friend , who is possessive about her and Naseeruddin Shah who seems like the only genuine person around Ruth also shows his possessiveness at one point , though he covers it with the words - I care about her. 

But what with the Yellow Boots? Why she is shown wearing them all through the movie? And why she is shown as holding them in her hands at the end? Will talk about them later. :)

There is one theme Possessiveness that goes through the movie but it has many facets. And at some points it almost overlaps with Obsessiveness.

All I can say in the end is - I tried to pick up Lolita several times but couldn't go through it , thank you Anurag, though with so many limitations of cinema, you provided us with a better Indian flick of Lolita than what the real Lolita could provide.

And yes, loved her Yellow boots :P

Love, Peace & Happiness : What more can you want? By Rituraj Verma

I knew what does insanity mean long before I had read Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I knew from where it stems, how it grows and unfolds slowly into the dim light of your own head. When I picked up Rituraj Verma's bright-covered book, "Love, Peace & Happiness : What more can you want?" , I didn't know how to read it? No, I am serious. I have read dozen of books this year already, but I didn't know how to read this particular , since it provided alternative endings to the stories which one can read on web-links given at the end of each story. I was not even sure I would like the beginning. But I liked it. I liked the beginning of the book. The foreword by Smriti Verma, the author's wife. And I knew then I would like the book as well. 

Let's not talk about each story the book presents, for you would come to know yourself when you read them. Since there are many stories in the book and many characters who freely move in and out or make a fleeting appearance in other stories, at the end there may be things rather than the characters, you remember. As the author claims that you might relate yourself to at least one of the characters from the book, well, I would say, it is not necessary that you do so. But you might relate yourself to one Feeling at least. The book is grand basil of feelings put up together,mixed well,stirred well, tasting both sour-sweet at the same time  which definitely leaves a mark somewhere on your mind. 

It is rather weird, but looking at the book, all I remember is a word : Penance. It comes from the story - " The Practitioner of Austerity",  I may not feel akin to the protagonist Aparna, but I feel related to the dark word -  Penance. 

From the very first story of the book, one realizes, things are falling apart. Can one blame the sight of the rare Brahma Lotus at the height of the great Mountain? Or as one progresses, one frowns at the speed life is running. Is the Metro City to blame? But then didn't one choose to live in the same city that he blamed? So is it always a matter of choice? What happens when the choice is between your own desire and your duty? is the answer, duty and penance? is it necessary? Who is not a penitent in the falling-apart world? When we don't have any answer for our present miserable condition, we still have a ready-made answer - the penance.   

Like a pinch of salt that makes the food tastier, a bit of supernatural, fantastical and poetical element enriched these stories of common people. These are in fact common people, made uncommon by their very common emotions and actions. When I finished the book and put it on the table, the title glared back at me, it was rather the sub-title that struck me -" what more can you want?"  I had an instant answer. Insanity. Only...only after you have lost some of your senses, you will realize that Nothing matters. And if nothing matters, you can choose anything, you can choose to love, to live with peace and to enjoy happiness. Just Anything !