Ever caught a certain Shah Rukh Khan delivering a dialogue which goes like: Meri movie mein aapke dialogues? Mazaa nahin aata. (Words in italics: Your dialogues in my movies? Doesn’t feel good.)
Well, if you must know, this is a much-needed initiative by one of the leading telecom companies of India to prohibit the use of cellphones in a movie theatre.
This couple of minutes' ad is an attempt to counter the frustrating irritation and disgust caused by the sudden outburst of a path-breaking invention, we call the cellphone! It is an attempt to avail a pleasurable and gratifying cinematic experience for a normal moviegoer like me.
But alas! Even SRK couldn’t work his magic this time around, so hell-bent are people these days on using the cellphone inside the movie theatre!!
I went to watch INCEPTION the other day at a nearby theatre. I purposely opted for a late-night show ‘coz the crowd’s relatively less for a late-night show on a weekday and INCEPTION is the kind of movie which requires your undivided attention, throughout. One missed moment or dialogue, and you would have to sit through the remaining part of the movie wondering what the hell is happening and why!! This is also the reason why I didn’t even ask anyone for company. I wanted to enjoy a quality movie without any sort of disturbance or diversion, whatsoever.
But, you see, there’s also something called ‘luck’, which was clearly not on my side that day. I had taken an aisle seat so that atleast one of my ears is spared from torture if I had to sit next to some chatterbox. But, as luck would have it, I was destined to be doomed that day. As I was getting comfortable in my seat, there’s this young couple who came and sat next to me. I immediately prayed to God to kindly keep the couple quiet but He obviously didn’t oblige my prayer. I guess God had went to bed by then (it was late night, you see).
After some 45-minutes or so into the movie (when I was trying hard to grasp the on-goings of the movie), I was startled by the unusually high-pitched ring tone of a cellphone. I was just about to curse when I realised that it’s the girl sitting next to me. She immediately answered the phone and I thanked God for that as I didn’t have to bear the horrifyingly irritating ring tone for long. But I guess I thanked Him way too soon ‘coz the worst was yet to come!
I looked at my watch. It was 12 midnight and guess what, it’s the girl’s birthday that day. Wow!! Calls started pouring-in in a frenzy and the people on the other end of the line seem to be way happier than the birthday girl herself as they were literally yelling on the phone. Let alone the constant ‘Thank you, thank you so much!’ by the girl, I can even hear what the person at the other end is saying over the phone. And trust me, I’m NOT exaggerating at all.
After some 20-minutes of frantic calls (which had already screwed my hopes of watching a trouble-free movie), another show started in the theatre. Or should I say the seat next to me? The couple started coochie-cooing with each other. Are you kidding me? I mean you go to a theatre to watch a serious movie like INCEPTION and all you do is watch a couple performing some cheap ‘whatever’ stuff right next to you! Come on guys, give me a break and go get yourself a room.
I cleared my throat in a relatively louder manner to make them realise that there are other people sitting along with them and that they are NOT the only creatures inside that dark room known as the movie-theatre. They got the hint and stopped their ‘activity’; but not for long. Soon after they started ‘yelling’ sweet nothings into each other’s ears, which lasted till the end of the movie, along with the occasional but never-ending beep of her cellphone, making it a completely nightmarish experience for me.
If you, too, had a similar experience while watching a movie, share it with me. Guess, we’ll have lot to talk (read curse) about ;-)
Rarely does a movie come along which bothers to infiltrate the human psyche like the way Inception did. Having been fortunate enough to witness the realms of a dream getting shattered away, I can't stop craving about this master-class called Inception.
I mean, come on, having an idea is one thing but to execute it into a 3-hour film is a completely different ball-game altogether. Inception not only manages to jostle the far ends of the human brain but also compels us to sit back, take notice and admire the sheer genius of one Mr Christopher Nolan.
What a man, and a director, and a writer, and a producer (what not?), Chris Nolan is. With a highly enviable list of movies behind him, he has once again come up with a film which defies the normal mind. What else can you expect from a man who has given the world films like The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige and Batman Begins? With his latest venture, Inception, Chris has managed to take that elusive 'leap of faith' and catapulted the art of film-making to a different level.
To be honest, the first 15-20 minutes of the movie went over my head (I'm sure a million others would also agree with me on this). I was struggling to get in terms of the movie for the initial part, thanks largely to the young couple sitting next to me who were 'yelling' sweet nothings into each-other's ears. But, then, as the movie slowly begins to unfold itself, I could not help but fall back comfortably on the many layers of dreams, so masterfully crafted by Nolan.
The very concept of Inception is unique, and repulsive to the mind. When I first heard what the movie is all about, I was like, "WTF!! How can it be possible? Or rather, IS IT possible?" For those who have been unfortunate enough to not have the chance to watch Inception yet, it is a movie which deals with the subconscious state of the mind – a state when the mind is most vulnerable and can be used as a potent weapon.
Dom Cobb (brilliantly played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a master at stealing ideas from a person's mind by hurling him into a web of dreams. This is his profession, one which has made him an international fugitive, and one which he has got fed-up of as it keeps him away from his kids. Rescue comes in the form of a wealthy Japanese client, Mr Saito, who offers him a final chance at redemption. But, for that, he must do the unthinkable – Inception. He will have to plant an idea into Saito's biggest rival's mind instead of extracting one. How he goes about executing the toughest job of his life till date forms the rest of the story.
Leonardo DiCaprio has yet again proved that he's one of the very best that Hollywood has to offer. He's supremely talented, devastatingly handsome, sufficiently bankable and gets into the very skin of the character that he portrays. What more can a director, or a producer, asks for? Many people argue that he was pretty uptight and grim like he was in his previous movie, Shutter Island. Agreed, but that is what the role demanded him to be, isn't it? It’s NOT his fault.
Marion Cotillard, who portrays the character, or should I say projection, of Mal in the movie, was as refreshing and brilliant as ever. Her dreamy eyes (sigh!) and unsettling facial expressions brings in the much needed emotional touch to the story in an otherwise intense movie which shuffles between dreams and reality as frequently as we, probably, breathe.
The other actors also played their characters with sufficient élan. Ellen Page, as the young architect Ariadne, justified her role, and so did Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as Arthur, Cobb's partner-in-crime. A special mention of the 'totems' is a must here as they are the only means which prevent you from getting lost in a galaxy of multi-layered dreams and megalomaniac visuals.
Inception could have done slightly better with its pace but, all in all, a brilliant thriller which provokes your thinking hormones and forces you to concentrate even during the silent scenes. You simply cannot afford to miss even a single second of the movie or else you'd be asking exactly the same question as a clueless Ariadne asks in one of the sequences, "Excuse me, can anyone tell me whose dream are we in?"
As I walk out of the theatre after 2 & ½ hours of intense concentration, only one question lingers in my mind – what would be Christopher Nolan's next movie about? The answer is pretty simple – Keep Guessing!! Right, Chris?
