“My wife and I are booking online tickets for this afternoon show of Badrinath ki Dulhania. Would you two be interested?” came a call the other day from our family friend. “Yes, we are,” I said without a blink and without consulting Aunty. Chhadi jawani budde nu, or Buddi Godi Lal Lagaam, my Punjabi friends in Delhi would say if they happen to read this.
But I would subscribe to the view of a senior friend, Mr Radhakrishnan, my previous apartment complex co-resident. For him age is just a number. At 84, he runs for thirty minutes daily - at 4.30 in the morning when the rest of humanity is enjoying their last lap of sleep. Like Beauty Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder, he insists, age is very much a matter of the mind.
Anyway, back to the plan, off we set out with barely an hour notice. Fortunately my friend has all the routes at his finger tips, and knew which one will save us a traffic signal or two. And his speed? Well, at one point I was almost about to ask him if he was associated with Formula One race. But checked myself lest it prompted him to press the accelerator with renewed gusto. A little ahead of time in Garuda Mall, we celebrated it with cappuccino, just short of raising a toast to my friend for zigzagging his way blowing the horn no more than the usual number of times required to counter such a forenoon traffic.
The movie was enjoyable, had entertainment value and, the bottom line, paisa vasool. Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, both with filmy genes, played their roles with gay abandon. The story goes like this…..Sorry, I am not supposed to share this, isn’t it, just in case there are still some who to take a call at the last minute before it is off the screen. It was fast-paced more so in the first half and was full of turns and twists. And of course, the joy of watching it in a theatre with a bucketful of popcorns by the side and with king-size coca cola to wash it down (a la the West), had its own charm. Yes, my friend’s son knows too well his parents are too committed to home foods to touch outside stuff even with a ten-foot pole. So he had ordered these on online, to be collected from the theatre counter through the mobile QR code, at Interval. Moral: Don’t underestimate the younger generation. They are one up.
As always, one clubs such visits with some more activity, just to make a day of it. So on way back we stopped at the Metro Department stores, where my friends are registered shoppers - and for us, a maiden visit. It reminded us of Costco or Sam’s Club in the States. We bought from left, right and centre as though they were being offered for free. And most of them for the deep store - things that we may not need for another four months. Back home, we were driven by the inevitable tendency - to compare prices with Food World, Mariamart, Royalmart or the new D’Mart, our present neighbors in law. But alas, we never retain bills.
What movie next, Uncle? Well, Bahubali 2 is slated for the day after tomorrow, isn’t it? With the TV channels themselves engaged in curtain-raiser interviews with the team, the teaser and hype are no less engaging. Added to that the producers have adopted a unique marketing strategy. Many movie halls are running Part 1 all over again just to brush up your memory, and prepare you to pick the thread from where you left. Also, some television channels are showing its dubbed version. I watched the one in Malayalam two days ago, and am all fully geared to see the conclusive part. I am more keen to know why Kattappa, the subservient and devoted guy took to the dastardly act of killing his Master in the et tu Brute style. Or, what prompted Rajamouli, the ace director, to ask him to do so.
V V Sundaram
Maple 3195
26 April 2017
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