Taking the plunge ... Day 1

I have always been scared of commitments. I have always been excited about them , but they are scary. But then, they say -- do what you are afraid of. So that's what I am here for. I am here to make a commitment. From today, everyday for one month, I am going to write a post here. Phew!! Scary! I don't even know what am I going to write. But all I know is that I need to do this. I needed to do something big, to promise something almost impossible, to get myself started or rather restarted.

Here goes nothing!

I almost never write movie reviews. I am not going to write one even now. What follows though are my thoughts that were racing through my head while I watched NH10. First things first. All the actors are fantastic. Anuskha Sharma is really really good. If you want to see how good the actor is, look at their eyes. Anushka Sharma's eyes in the movie spoke when she mouthed no dialogues. There is one scene in the movie where she sits in the ladies room to smoke. Meera, the character she plays, is already under stress. She scans the door of the washroom and sees profanity written on the doors of the washroom -- a fact very common in India. She stares at the words with a look that says , "When will this ever stop!". It is not anger, it is not on your face , roll your eyes irritation. It is just a disappointed angry look. It is amazing.

Neil Bhoopalam plays Anushka's husband and although the actor was amazing but sorry the character was a jerk! No seriously! He is the reason they get into trouble and basically the reason the movie happens. Now when I shared the same thought with my husband, here is what he had to say , "Ab kahani kahin se toh aage badhani padegi na" (They have to move the story from somewhere!) Yes but no. I believe they could have given a much better reason for the story to move ahead. The way the story panned out, it more seemed like the protagonists' doing. It felt more like, "Well! It was their fault!" Now before people jump their guns , here is the reason why I say so .

(Major spoilers ahead!! It is not a suspense story and probably one can gauge the whole movie through the promos. So there is nothing to spoil but I am going to reveal a major scene of the story. If you have not seen the movie and don't want to know what is it, I suggest you stop reading now. However, if you don't care or if you have seen the movie, go ahead. There ! You have been warned!)

The trouble begins when our protagonists see a woman being dragged by a couple of men. Arjun (Neil) is the only man who stands up to these goons. That is very brave and I love brave men. Now these men do not want any one's involvement and they shoo away Arjun. Arjun tries to argue with them again. Darshan Kumar, the head of the gang, then punches Arjun and goes away. This is what pisses off Arjun. Not that he failed in saving a woman being dragged on a bright day in full view of everyone -- he is pissed off because he was punched. It hurts his ego. (I know this for sure because he confirms this in a dialogue later too) He goes behind them with a licensed gun and soon realizes that they are too dangerous. So he chickens out! This then triggers a chain of events and then happens whatever is supposed to happen.

Do you see the trouble here? Of course the situation presented was extremely risky. What does one do when one sees a situation like this? Personally, I know I will hide a girl in my house running away from goons if I know I will not be found out. But will I butt in a sensitive matter like the one in the movie? I am not sure! Because like many onlookers I am a pathetic citizen who fails in front of a group of insensitive men who do not think twice before killing someone. But Meera and Arjun get into trouble because his freaking ego was punched. He retaliates in anger and not out of righteousness. In a place like Delhi/Gurgaon , one usually knows better.

Now that we have this out of the way, let us focus on the good points again. One -- NH10 shows a real believable world. well, almost. NH10 is a story of a real India. People who decorate their godrej almirah with stickers, working girls who face snarky comments in office, a couple who chit chat about "nothing really" but still do. I loved the realness of NH10. Exactly the reason why a bollywoodish twist dampened my spirits again. What are the odds of Anushka ending up at the goon's place looking for help? Reason? Because Bollywood.

Thankfully the songs were in background and the end? Oh the end! I loved the end. It drags you to the edge of your seat and forces you to stare at the screen with your mouth open. It makes you want to throw away all the fear you have in your minds. It makes you want to be brave.

Conclusively, NH10 did not make it to my list of "wow" movies. But someday, when I am in a mood to see good performances, I will re-watch it.