Rashmi's Space

I have always been a sucker for stories. Stories in all forms – books, movies, even songs – hold a fascination for me like none other. I don’t know whether this habit was the result of growing up in a family of readers and movie buffs, but it definitely helped being surrounded by people who knew to appreciate a good story. Needless to say, being married to a man who doesn’t read fiction and considers movies as something to help wind down at the end of a hectic day, took some getting used to, no, a lot of getting used to.  I remember spending countless hours watching movies when I was a child or sometimes just watching songs on Rangoli or Chayageet or Chitrahaar on Doordarshan. Each of these songs, especially the ones from the movies I hadn’t seen, led me to ask my parents about the movie and if we could watch it. My Dad was of the opinion that the Bollywood movies of his time (the ‘70s and before and some from the early part of the ‘80s) were and always will be the best!...

Okay, I am old enough to know that all that happens in movies is not real; but what can I say, for someone who was introduced to the Star TV Network at an impressionable age (ah! the joys of growing up in the 90’s in India); I believe it is okay to pine for some of the things that I have seen time and again in Hollywood movies. Wondering what I am talking about? Here goes – 1)                   Backyards and treehouses We have all seen the sprawling homes in Hollywood movies, with backyards that have a pool and at least one tree with a tree house and sometimes even a hammock! (Yeah, what bliss!) Even the modest homes are shown to have backyards with at least a strip of green and the quintessential tree with a tyre hanging from it. Even if some homes don’t have pools, there is enough space in most homes to have an inflatable pool for kids to play or at least to have some garden furniture to ...

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) , one of the most iconic movies of Bollywood completes a whopping 1000 weeks at the box office today! Kudos to the team that made this amazingly simple and sweet movie that taught us so much at so many different levels, not to mention the fond memories and the cult dialogues it gave us! In his congratulatory tweet, Shekhar Kapur said "Congratulations 2 Adi Chopra n whole team. Film defined a generation. Wish they still made films like this. From the heart. "  I agree with him a hundred percent.  DDLJ  was a heartfelt movie - made from the heart and meant to touch hearts. I also agree with him that the film defined an entire generation. A generation that is so different from the present one that sleeps and awakes to the pings of notifications on their smart phone.