In awe of the Dark Knight

Super heroes to me are the secret desires of every common man. The powers we secretly wished for, the things we wanted to do, the help we wanted to give, the fears we wanted to conquer, the risks we wanted to take!

Their creators are common men who put in everything to make them achieve what we could not; perhaps that is the reason why they are so popular in comics, in television serials and in movies. People want to re-write their stories and we yearn for some more to come.

But, often the creators forget to bring in the reality of life; that life is not always fair, even to the blessed ones. We have often tried to escape this harsh truth and Chris Nolan hits you in the face with this truth alone.
With greatness come hidden truths and hidden tragedies, which we fail to see or we do not want to see. Nolan in his outstanding depiction of the Batman Story depicts this thought to a tee.

The Dark Knight is not your typical super hero movie. X-men had a few deaths and Spiderman-3 tried to tread into the grey areas, even Harry Potter got darker in the later books but they did not hit the viewer hard with such a harsh dose of life’s reality!

I’m not sure the The Dark Knight is for kids viewing. I’m not sure they will appreciate the somber mood which shadows the film throughout. But if you have enjoyed Batman Begins, then you will probably love this one.


Gotham is cursed with endless crimes, desperation and poverty. Gordon, Harvey Kent, Rachael Dawes, Bruce Wayne fighting their own battles to make this a better place. Just when they are succeeding they hit upon Joker. A criminal whose sole aim is to create chaos! He craves no money, he craves no fame; he only craves for chaos and a world without rules.

He is unpredictable, not even the great batman can predict his next move and that is exactly why he supersedes all villains till date! Heath Ledger makes the Joker immortal! This one will live in memory for a long, long time and I doubt if there will be anyone who will surpass this man’s performance. What a tragedy he is no more. Hollywood’s loss is irreparable.

Christian Bale is excellent and so do others excel in their parts. Chris Nolan deals out lavish sets, awesome gizmo gadgets and a terrific intelligent plot. You can hardly make out what’s going to happen next.

He dishes out reality more than fiction and the movie builds in and plays on your worst fears.
It is grim, it’s hard hitting and it leaves you wishing you never want to be in the Batman’s shoes.


Imagine being blamed for the deaths of loved ones, imagine being the target of hatred of the people you have loved, imagine being the cause of the destruction of the city you have always tried to save, imagine being the hunted for the crimes never committed!

Imagine being THE DARK KNIGHT!


P.S: Chris Nolan, Christian Bale & Heath Ledger. Sir, we take a bow!!!

The Wonder Years……..

That is exactly how I would sum up my college years and Jaane Tu Ya….Jaane Na refreshes those memories in the most simplest of ways.
The thing about stories is,, not how interesting stories in themselves are; but how interesting the story-teller tells them. Abbas Tyrewalla excels in this; this time adding up as a director too. MunnaBhai was no fluke and this man has loads of talent!

If you have had a close knit circle of friends you will identify with JTYJN. They say school friends bond for life but college friends probably see you in the worst and best of your times. And in all that chaos, some of them last you a lifetime. Atleast mine have;-)

College time is time of revelation about life, love, relationships & friendships. It is the most interesting and the most confusing phase in one’s life. You sail through it with laughter and sadness, with a smile and a tear, knowing very well the memories will be with you forever. Memories, bitter and sweet, kept locked in one corner of your mind, only to revisit them when you need to smile.
Those crazy bickerings, those inane arguments, the fun-loving picnics, the stupid surprises, those heart-breaking crushes!

JTYJN revives all the above memories. Abbas Tyrewala tells our story and that is the biggest USP of the film. Is everyone telling me the story is about a certain Jai and Aditi? Hell, I think it is a story of us. Some of us were lucky to find love in friendship, some lucky to find friendship in love. Well it might not be entirely our story; but parts of it we all will most definitely identify with.

For the sheer simplicity and freshness of all characters, JTYJN is a must watch. Aditi is a lovable brat; I identify cause of the rebellious streak in her! Jai is the kind of guy I’d hate to take home cause my parents would wonder what went wrong with our daughter; a thought summed up to the tee by Aditi’s brother Amit. Jignesh and Rotlu ought to have existed in your college group and so must’ve Bombs and Shaleen. You would’ve met a Meghna and Sushant as well. The characters are so well etched and that is what makes this film so lovable.

Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah excel and their rapport is to watch out for! But, I’m neither going to write about the characters in detail nor about the script. There are tons of film critics who will do that.

Before I take off, the dialogues come as a fresh of breath air; stating the obvious, is what all this film is about and the following are just a small proof of that:

When Jai says, "Yaar 12 baj gaya"; Bagheera asks him,"Kyun kya hua, Tu Cindrella Hain kya?"

When college is over and Aditi comes to drop Jai; she realises that tomorrow there will be no college and goes crying to Jai’s house. She then says to Jai’s mom, “Aunty pata hi nahi chala college ke 5 saal kahan chale gaye”. Jai’s mom( aka Ratna Pathak Shah) sums up in one line ( a fact vouched by mothers of the world) “Phone pe Beta, phone pe”

So here are my 2 cents, don’t miss this movie if you wish to relive your college days!!


P.S: A special mention to Pratiek Patil (playing the character of Amit). His small cameo does ample of justice to his mother’s genes. Here is a guy to watch our for!