Rated 10 on 10

MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY TO MY MOST BEAUTIFUL SISTER WHO CELEBRATES HER BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! Normally birthday wishes occupy the post-scripts in my blog but for the person, who might be the only one who has read all my blogs and continues to read each and every one of them the day they are updated - sis, without you Writer's World might not have survived. Thank You! Here is a little story with a special dedication to you.

"It's the Best", "Never seen anything like it", "DUDE! You are an idiot for not seeing it yet!", "You shouldn't be living in this world for not watching the movie!", "That movie.... that is the meaning of true love. You CANNOT miss it man!"

ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! Ughh.... Do any of you know that feeling? Of being the only person who hasn't seen a movie and that happens to be the best movie ever!? Have you been through that trauma where literally everyone - no exceptions, no ifs or buts, no conditions at all - Everyone gives the movie a 10 on 10 rating! And you haven't seen it yet.

And what's worse, I am an out and out movie buff! I am the kind of guy who makes it a point to catch every movie, and that too on the date of release itself. I am the kind of guy who enjoys any kind of cinema irrespective of the amount of masala smothered over it or the level of dehydration it has suffered under the excuse of "Art". Notwithstanding all the sarcasm, I enjoy and appreciate and love all the movies, even the ones hated by all. Yes, hated by all! I come out of the theatre, emerging from a crowd which is almost suicidal for having been through the kind of agony the film had to offer and still walk around with a smile - There is no "bad movie" in my dictionary. And now this movie comes out... Which is LOVED by all, loved my meters and measures that drive me nuts and I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET!

And what's worser? It is a love story. Alright, why this little piece of information makes me excited is another story - a little flashback. There is this girl in class.... whom I really like... and.... don't get irritated guys, there are certain things that even a writer struggles to say. Anyways, I really like her and want to propose. But ofcourse, the worstest disaster struck me. She put her arms around me, pecked my cheek and said, "I love you so much. You are like a big brother to me!" I got BRO-ZONED!

Yes, you are right. It is officially the worst thing that can happen to a guy, much ahead of polio, cancer and even AIDS. Jokes apart (a crude one - sorry), I really really like her and I feel that the romantic content of this movie can change her mind. *What an idea sirji!?*

Alas! God and his cruel jokes! Why o why? Why is the world so mean? What ‘mean’ you ask? Day 1 - Booked the ticket. But mom wanted me to go to the temple with her and it was a command I couldn't disobey. Day 2 - Booked the ticket. Minutes before college disbursed, our professor announces the last date of project submission and arghhh.... Movie Concelled. Day 3 - Booked the ticket. Her mom wants her to go to the temple and apparently it was a command she couldn't disobey. The saga continued till day 11! You feel angry reading this blog? Imagine the plight of the writer who had to LIVE this!

Now all this might seem bad, cruel, unjust, unfortunate and all that. But when it comes to The Destiny tournament, do you know what the most atrocious rule of the game is - Good luck strikes only when you hit rock bottom! Only when you have exhausted every swear word in and out of the dictionary does college declare a strike and my love "happens" meet a generous friend who gives her two tickets to this movie. I mean seriously God, you could have saved yourself from so many curses had my love met her friend a couple of days back. And you would have saved me from all this guilt! Sometimes I wonder who even made God in charge of everything?

Yeah, yeah, I am not complaining. Moving on... 

After 60 days I walk into the air-conditioned comfort of Escape, staring at the big screen playing up-coming trailers which freeze me instantaneously. I hold her hand and watch the trailer a couple of times till she pulls me into the theatre. I make a small detour and pull her towards the... what do you call it? The food section or whatever... and gape at over-priced french fries, over-prices soft-drinks, over-priced icecreams and over priced water and order one of each. She says, "No need of all that!" but I insist. Our first date after-all.

Gutka Suresh does his job (For those of you who don’t know Gutka Suresh, he is that guy who appears in a No-Smoking ad before every movie), the lights are turned off, the AC is soothing, her hand is next to me and the screen turns on the magic. There is music, an intro-scene followed by the credits that is accompanied by the same music – enthralling. The entire theatre is glued to the screen, watching with unwavering eyes, capturing every micro-second with such rapt attention that it makes me wonder – with half this concentration in class you can so easily clear CA.

*Umph* I hear a groan behind me. *Ugh*Ugh* I hear a very peculiar sound, it kind of sounds like laughter but there was something odd about the noise. I swear at the unknown source of the weird noise and focus on the movie. The male and female protagonists had just been introduced, the story was moving at an increasing pace, totally gripping. I held on to the seats, anxious about every next scene, hilarious comedy, heart-breaking tragedy, all of it had been wrapped up into such a fine mixture, so delicate in its composure that it pierces into your heart like the thinnest of knives and leaves a scar which one can carry forever. The movie didn’t have an interval (for a change), the heroine were just about to – “Arghhh!!!” Bloody Blundaleomite, I heard that voice again. I is it creating disturbance at such a crucial moment. My necks snaps backward showing a face flushed with and see a boy sitting with a girl… talking to each other… in signs.

For a moment my eyes flicker between the screen and the couple. I notice the hero dive into a building that’s on fire to save the girl stuck in the 17^th floor and I look at the young man narrating the story to his deaf friend. As the hero burnt himself, the deaf girl cried in shock, and as the girl in the movie screamed for her man, the deaf girl bore a glow in her face. And her friend tirelessly narrated each and every word uttered, each and every sound that came out of the movie. I tap my friend's hand and show her the ‘side-track of the movie’.

“The hero is waiting for his lover’s call. He is mumbling something under his breath, cursing his girlfriend for not calling her until finally he hears a ring in the phone. He pounces at the cell to pick it up, only to find that he was shortlisted for a very exciting post-paid offer from customer care”, the boy explains a scene in the movie to his friend. And the girl reacts…. Priceless! My friend and I watch the scene in awe. Not on the screen, but the one being narrated by the boy. The reactions of the girl who cannot hear anything what’s happening in the theatre, who is oblivious to everything but the signs shown by her friend, and the joy she derives from watching a movie through his hands… let me just tell you, the joy I derived out of watching her reactions was simply out of this world.

“They are many a times. Life – so much more fun around us that on the screen!” My friend tells me and leans on my shoulder. The movie gets over, everybody gets up to applaud the cinema and my head is still turned around looking at the young couple. I see the young girl, so childish in her cheers, and her boy-friend, so mature in his efforts. They hold hands and walk out of the theatre.

Love