Chasing the Blues

It's a stupid, sultry afternoon. I am sitting in the comfort of a fully air-conditioned office. So I shouldn't be complaining, right? Well, I am not exactly complaining, or fault finding or even griping. I am just ruminating...ah that sound so like a cow who is chewing the cud. I just finished eating dahi-bhat (hence the simile is apt) and now I am thinking of how if I was somewhere else (read...not in office) I would spend the afternoon in pleasurable pursuits. And, for me, that is either watching a movie, reading a book or just curling up and snoring away to glory.
I haven't watched a decent movie in ages, or ate decent food in ages (I am exaggerating) and sleeping...yes I get my beauty sleep of 8 hours, but don't mind stretching it to 10-12 hours on a Saturday morning.
But since I am stuck in office this afternoon, I can just visualise...
Movies: I am an avid movie buff, but I have realised that my choice of watching films on an afternoon like this has narrowed down to few favourites and few scenes/clippings. I am honest, I can watch the same movies with the persistence of Duracell batteries. I can go on and on and on. First is Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. It has been a favourite one since my school and college days. I have watched in 20 times already. At one point I watched it at least once a year - a pilgrimage I had to undertake in my vacations. I think I should resume my pilgrimage!
Then there is Jodha-Akabar. I had put off watching that movie for so long. And, one day in a DVD store I just picked it up. Typically, after watching the film completely once, now I stick to the first two parts of DVDs. I watch the first two parts for two reasons. First, the song, Khwaja mere Khwaja. Love it. One reason why I want to go to Turkey is to watch and meet the dervishes. Hrithik Roshan going in trance is magical. Second, the sword fighting scene between Jodha and Akbar is enchanting, especially, when he takes her unaware by showering mogra flowers on her. I found that incredibly romantic.
Another of my favourite movie is Yuva. I watch it from the end...I like the track of Kareena and Vivek Oberoi and the song Anjana-Anjani. It's played out on sea and I like sea and the beaches. Lovely picturisation. Plus, the dialogues are crackling, young and fresh. Of course Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee in the song...kabhi neem, kabhi neem, kabhi shehad, shehad, are nice.
Swades is another favourite. On hearing its ringtone play on someone cellphone, I go back to the movie.
After having watched it completely twice, I now stick to the first two DVDs and then some scenes in the last one. There are a few scenes in the movie which I watch again and again, because I can't have enough of them. The first one is when Shah Rukh Khan enters the village and is led to Kaveri Amma's house by the boy Cheeku. The background score...Ayo re and the boy matching his steps to it, waving and dancing, and the pedestrians, cyclists and women and children peeking out of their homes to watch the big caravan trundling down the small lanes of the village is played out so beautifully. I have stayed in a small village/town, and I really miss the carefree existence and how I had guided several city dwellers to someone's house.
The second scene is when Kaveri Amma, can't seem to recognise or identify whose hands are clasped over her eyes. And, the third one (this is actually towards the beginning) is in the old people's home, where an old woman dusting the cupboard remarks, "Kaveri bahut naseebwali. Usse tabhi koi lene aya tha, aaj bhi koi aya hai. Warna hum budhon ko kon puchta hai." Every time I hear that dialogue I can feel the goosebumps.
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At this moment, I want to watch either of these movies and chase away my blues and boredom.
They are my "comfort movies."

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