I have been watching Hindi films right from 3rd or 4th standard. It was then the times of Midhun da,Dharmendar and Sathrukhnan! They painted the Bollywood Canvas Blood-Red with the power-yells and revenge-vows. For an 8 year old kid who was addicted to action, there was nothing more he needed in life. I gobbled up every spec of junk they threw at me with such a voracious appetite that by the time I reached 8th -9th I was sick of the whole bunch of them. May be because I was by then in search of something more than action,something that had content and sense, and this is exactly where they all failed me miserably! But still I never gave up hope completely.I still believed them to rise from their own ashes just like the millions of heros they churn out every year who turn up at the very last moment,just enough to save the world and walk away into a vibrant sunset. Yeah I still watched them, though not on a regular basis,but just enough to be able to know what to expect or rather more relevantly, what not to, from a movie right from the moment you hear about the star cast and the rest of the team members. Just like the Controller of the entrance Examination for professional courses in Kerala,I adopted the tried tested and satisfaction guaranteed method of selection by elimination! but then the whole scenario had changed and the game had taken a more deadly stand...We were against each other's throats now, and with even the flimsiest of chances went straight for the jugular! My chances were negligibly pathetic.They were indeed guarding all the doors and holding all the keys, just as Morpheus told me they would be.But I knew enough about what to expect out of the turbulent waters and steer through the mazes of side tracks, just enough to get me where I needed to reach. But oblivious to my knowledge,they still held the trump card! And when I was in the third year in my college,they used it...in the form of KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI and as expected it blew away my resistance as well as my last strand of hope in one pathetic stroke. I watched it and felt it was the worst of the pathetic movies that could be made.The college they depicted in the movie was RiverDale Highschool of Archie comics, with all its extra add-ons patches and service packs. I hated the movie to the core and couldn't wait to get out of the theatre.I was so damn confident that it would flop at the box office. But contrary to my expectations,not only did that stupid movie do well,in fact it became one of the biggest crowd-pullers and money minters of all times.With this I was flabbergasted and began to think seriously about the sanity of my mind and in order to maintain the same I took one of the most significant decisions in my life till date :To quit watching Hindi movies entirely.
For 2 complete years I never even bothered to check the latest releases. Discovered the other modes of entertainments to retransmit my mental frustrations.My days turned Greener and with every step I took I saw myself stepping on grass.Those were more of environmentally conscious days. I unleashed my agonies in the fumes of the greens that had the soothing power and let my mind float away into the oblivion. I became a die hard fan of "the unadulterated, chemically unprocessed, "straight from the garden" herbs. Once after getting konked on grass in one of my friend's room I ended up watching DIL CHAHTA HAI. It so happened that he wanted to watch the movie and I wanted to leave right from the moment I got wind of his intentions. But I had my brains blown out so bad, that even the slightest movements of my hands and legs required the strength and will power of the highest order. So I watched it and surprisingly I liked it.The combined effect of grass and the cool attitude of the movie really got me going. And from then on till date I have watched and admired the following movies:

• Prahaar
• Dil Chahta Hai.
• Ab Tak Chappan.
• B L A C K

Though all of them were really excellent in their own ways, B L A C K is something that really touched my heart. It was an excellent movie, though never did well in the financial circles, it was widely appreciated all around the world in the various film festivals.What I feel is that all hose people who have worked onscreen n otherwise in the project has what it takes to make a good straight from the heart movie. Big B, has given an excellent performance and was entirely at ease,as it always has been expected of him. Rani, whom I hated after KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI has given her best performance till date in this movie. But the best show was done by that unknown cute little girl who had displayed an amazing talent in depicting Rani's childhood years. I don't know who you are kid, but I guess you have every right to tell anybody of your age, what Jim Carrey told the villain in The Mask "U are good kid, really good...But you wont be the best as long as I'm around! "
And I have saved the best for the last. Guess what? Something that has been considered as an integral part of a movie has been completely omitted out in it's making. There aren't any songs in this movie!!! Now that's something!!!The OST is excellent piece of music!
To be able to break free from a predefined prototype and bring out something entirely new is a talent inborn within a very few people. And for the materialization of a long forgotten dream into one of the best movies ever made in our country, Sanjay Leela Bhansali deserves nothing less that an standing ovation!


P.S: Heard the news the other day that PAHELI has overtaken B L A C K in ratings as the movie being sent for the Oscars from India for contesting in the category of the best movie in a foreign language this time.

All I gotta say is "Some people never change!"