A Subdued Christmas!

Christmas is over! I can't believe it came and went. The day I was looking forward to, the day I cherished, the day I wanted to be happy more than ever. But this Christmas was sad one, indeed a very sad one. No, not because Ghajini released (guess it is a part of the whole), or the terror attack, or anything of that sort. I will come to that. But because of a combination of factors that make me feel, sort of, well, kind of disoriented.

Well, Ghajini for instance. Let me get it over with. There was this team of giggly and over-excited reporters on Star TV interviewing Aamir about Ghajini and they were going on about the hair cut and other things. Truly sickened me. Seems the hair had to be trimmed everyday. Those crude lines had to be shaved, at the right spot, "what if the barber decided to draw another line?" a reporter joked facetiously; and they went on and on about the stunts, how Aamir was injured and the shooting had to be stopped for a week (yeah!); and how he had to exercise everyday to get that eight pack (what's that? Never heard of it, a little exaggeration is okay, but don't go overboard because a star is around); and how the music was scored and picturised; and how it was marketed and sponsored with Aamir wearing some bloody suitlength (forget which, oh, never mind) over half sleeves and a tie; how Aamir did this and that, etc., etc., ad nauseum....

I sat through all this thinking they would discuss: the story, the plot, the characters, the direction. Nothing. They spoke nothing of the story except that it was a remake of a Tamil film. The rushes of the Tamil film looked much better than the Hindi ones. So Hindi and Tamil films can be conjoined in some incestuous relationship and not progress beyond the borders? Is that the idea? God help us on Christmas day. I don't know if I will see Ghajini but the interview left a bad taste in my mouth. One of the interviewers was the guy who asked Salman, "Salman, as an actor, what do you think of Shahrukh's body?" Get the irony? No, he isn't asking "as an actor what do you think of Shahrukh's acting," he is way off the mark, as everyone in the film industry is, I guess.

Another thing that made my Christmas less than enjoyable happened yesterday. Last Saturday I was in Manisha's office and she remarked how somebody had stolen the LED projector from the conference room. I clucked my tongue and raised my eyebrows. Yesterday, four days later, an unidentified morning visitor decamped with two laptops from my office. We had close circuit television 24-hours and all that, but when we played the footage, the light was too dim, the robber wore a mask, and he had done a neat job. In short: he couldn't be identified, though some said he was tall, he was dark, he was this and he was that. It had me totally confused, I mean, their theories and Sherlockian "Elementary, my dear Watson" deductions. The bad men are always one step ahead of us, aren't they? To be robbed leaves one humiliated, just like a terror act leaves us, well, petrified.

So the Christmas spirit is down, a subdued Christmas was had by yours truly, this blogger.