Movie Review: Chhapaak: Makes you feel the pain! ****

1829th BLOG POST -->>

Thanks to the OTT platforms that we are able to watch movies which we miss in the theatre within two months of its release on our television screens. I had chosen Tanhaji in the same weekend for my watch in theatre due to its 3D version and therefore had to miss out Chhapaak. I, finally, got chance to watch it today on Hotstar and must I say, I am left speechless. I am unable to comprehend anything and feel so weak about the whole situation of acid attack survivors. I can’t relate with those boys who even think of doing this to a girl and ruining their whole life.

The film is very beautifully made by Meghna Gulzar and is full of emotions, love and courage and keeps you glued throughout. There is nothing called thriller or suspense in the movie but has a simple narration as to how difficult it is for a girl to go through the treatment after the attacks then multiple surgeries to get their face back as much as possible which recovers only 5% of it whereas the face always looks burnt which makes it difficult for them to face the society post that. They don’t get job. They don’t get acceptance. People look them with scared looks. Post that, they have to keep visiting court to fight their cases and in the interrogation sessions, they are treated guilty themselves.

The film runs slowly for you to capture each and every expression of the protagonist, feel her pain, live her courage which is displayed through her smile and fight for her recovery along with her. I am glad that the makers haven’t done anything over-the-top to prove their point but kept things subtle. The songs in between of the storyline plays a very great part- and after a very long time- I could find myself listening to songs and relating to the pain of the character. The movie, the lyrics of the songs and the voice of Arijit Singh made me cry so many times during its 2 hours of run time that by the time it was climax, I had already added the movie in the list of movies made with heart without any useless commercialization factor involved.

All the actors have played their parts wonderfully. Vikrant Massey is powerful with Deepika Padukone. He shall be nicely acknowledged with this movie. Madhurjeet Sargi has also played her part as Deepika’s lawyer very competitively. Talking about Deepika Padukone, even with make-over of an acid attack victim, the way she carried expression on her face made you understand all the pain and misery of the character she played. Also, when she is happy, the way she portrays-  even that makes you feel excited about her fightback. Similarly, in the scene when she screams when a Sardarji pours water on her face after the attack made me cry like anything. She makes you feel as if acid has been thrown upon you. Only few actresses can do this powerful act.

I give this movie- Chhapaak 4* out of 5. It shall remain with me forever.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA 

Why do we still talk about Women and Women's Day?

1828th BLOG POST -->>

Every boy has a childhood pic dressed a girl
- All thanks to our creative mothers. Haha!

I am writing this post while watching Women’s T20 Finale match between India and Australia. What better time to write on Women’s Day than this, isn’t it? 😊 To start with, a very Happy Women’s Day to all the women reading this. Personally, I respect women a lot and never felt or feel that they can do any less than Men. Since childhood, I have seen strong girls and women who kept defining path for us as much as boys and Men did/do. Starting with my mother, whom I experienced very closely, I got so inspired with the way she worked to prosper her home, family, husband and son that it helps even today with the way I approach my life, work and habits.

The question is why we keep talking about Women when we feel that they are doing equally good. It is only because talking about our country specifically, there are still majority of men and boys and families who are treating girls and women as 2^nd class and dominating them very badly. I am seeing girls still pleading at their home for studying further to ensure they have bright career. I am seeing girls with wonderful skillsets and mind-boggling Graduation and Past-graduation marksheets sitting at home because their families or in-laws don’t feel like sending the girl to job. I am seeing married women who are doing wonderfully at their workplace or even if they are great homemaker, being subjected to domestic violence day-in and day-out. And all this is happening in the educated class families who are very well aware about what’s right and what’s wrong.

The kind of rape cases, domestic violence, physical assaults and molestation cases we hear every day in the newspapers and in the families staying around us, makes me so angry and stressed out that I feel there should be stringent laws which should be applied on such men on fast-track basis to ensure the awareness is spread as soon as possible. And the problem with all of this is that women have accepted this life for themselves. Some of them are not even fighting. They are okay with all of this and pass this on to their daughters and make them another victim of male-dominated society. Being a male, I just don’t understand why our domination is needed on another gender in any which ways. There are all the tasks that both the genders can perform when it comes to physical and mental possibilities. It is only for reproduction where God has again equally divided the power to both the genders where it is not possible for reproducing without any of the two genders.

Women should understand that they can survive the whole life of 70-90 years all by themselves without any male’s support for that matter. There is no means to suffer unbearably. You just can’t live the whole life taking permissions for each and every activity of yours from a man in your life. You should be free of choosing the way men does. For that, you need to make yourself independent, skilful and decision-maker. I still find some young educated working girls around me talking of job as an option for them and lead the rest of their life after few years chilling at home as their husband earns well. If this shall remain to be the mindset, the male shall always find reason to dominate. For equal rights, you shall need to make equal efforts. Just by adding Whatsapp statuses and sharing Facebook Memes on how women are always right and equal and using keywords such as Feminism is not going to serve the purpose.

These days women are running trains, auto-rickshaws, running organizations, heading MNCs, managing teams, writing books, playing Cricket and what not. Be like these women- be a free bird based on the skillsets and power that you have generated by learning and educating yourself rather than just sitting on social media and condemning men for rape. The man shall stop even thinking of looking at you- leave giving you permissions or say, touching you without consent. There shall always some dangerous men around because there is always some weak links in society but overall as an impact, women shall be considered equally. Just stop getting treated as 2^nd class yourself. My mother and her society friends went for 10 days trip to Vaishnodevi and North India all by themselves. They didn’t wait for the men of their family to plan and take them. They did it by themselves post 50 years of age. All of them have taken birth in 1950s and 1960s when there was no chance of girls doing anything by themselves and those girls are today traveling so far from their home in 2020. Just imagine what can the girls between the age group of 10 to 50 years can do.

I am all for women. Every man has a woman in himself otherwise how then does men’s sperm or chromosomes- whatever it is – is the reason behind how the woman’s body decides if the baby shall be a male or female. Hence, everything I have said above to women is by considering myself as a woman in the post and not as a man. I know women can do. I have seen them do. It is just about every girl and woman believing themselves as mentally and physically stronger as men. Don’t think of dominating men but prepare of walking shoulder to shoulder with your independence of thoughts and decisions. That shall be enough for men who don’t consider women stronger to take note of it and change their thought processes. Only you can change your world. Like some of you have already done and are still doing.

My love to all the women – specifically to Indian women as most of them are yet to discover their strength. A very Happy Women’s Day to all of you. Special mention to Indian Women Cricket team who are on verge of losing the World Cup Finale but kudos to them for reaching the Finale. Last year, we, men, couldn’t. Haha!

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA

The Winning Sixer: Leadership Lessons to Master by W. V. Raman (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

1827th BLOG POST -->>

5th Book of 2020!

It doesn’t take time for me to select certain types of books due to the way they are presented. I recently picked up the book named “The Winning Sixer” written by the former Indian cricketer, Mr. W. V. Raman. No, the book is not about MS Dhoni’s final six in the World Cup Finale which gave us our 2^nd World Cup but about the Leadership lessons given by Mr. Cricketer to all class of people. This book is not written in a manner which impresses only the business or top-management class of people but which shall provide inputs to almost everyone- a student, a salesman, a fresher, a new joinee, a manager, a CEO or even a person who is never going to lead any kind of team. Mr. Sachin Tendulkar’s testimonial on the cover page is enough for any reader to trust and pick this book.

This book published by Rupa Publications and published in about 175 pages consists of ten different chapters where each chapter speaks about one aspect of leadership which is then described briefly by the author- who with his experience in playing sport of Cricket and also serving as a Coach- mixes both of them and provides us real life examples to explain his points.

The book is written in Robin Sharma’s style where an individual is asking questions related to the topic of leadership whereas the person in charge is giving all the answers to the same and ensuring it is explained so swiftly that the reader reading it should feel that it is being communicated directly to him/her considering his/her current situation in work or life. The book is narrated in a very interactive manner and gives you various insights. I like Sports and therefore, I enjoyed reading about real examples used by the author of the sport personalities such as Saina Nehwal, P. Gopichand, Sania Mirza, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Jeev Milkha Singh etc.

I liked how author along with giving the traditional way of 5 Cs and 5 Ts and several such pointers on Leadership combined it with great sense of humor that makes you smile and even laugh at times. The chemistry between both the main characters in the book is portrayed wonderfully with the nature of pulling each other’s leg through the conversations. It makes the narration interesting.

The book is very informative. It is a guide to learn and understand the integrities of leadership which shall help you improve your way and style of working- even if you are not working on a leading designation. In case you are a leader, this book is going to serve you nicely.

Talking about the drawbacks- I can only say that this book has nothing new to offer in terms of pointers. If you remove the real-life incidents of sportspersons mentioned in this book, it has nothing for which I can refer you this one.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

WRITING BUDDHA