Holi Matrimony

Some thoughts about Holi and matrimony.

Both are colourful, especially the clothes bought/coloured and the language used in marital fights (the martial arts).

Both are confusing. Which day is Holi, exactly, for instance? And who is to cook in the married household, for instance.

Holi gives you excuses for chhed-chhad. Or used to, before various laws were enacted to take better care of women. Now, one less excuse to be inebriated with ''manly" power, I guess.

Just when you thought all the Holi songs had been written, there comes another. I think Ranbir and Deepika starred in one recently. On marriage, there are only jokes. Bollywood (happy) songs are all pre-marriage. What is the significance of that?

Marriage is supposed to provide security. And it promotes GDP growth. How? Married couples need a house, a car, a fridge, a washing machine, a cooking gas, restaurants, work to pay all the bills,...

So all you need to do to increase GDP growth to Chinese levels and beyond...you guessed it. Promote holy matrimony.

Film Review- Chennai Express

Having seen Bol Bachchan, I knew what to expect..kind of. Like David Dhawan before him, Rohit Shetty seems to have a brand of humour mixed with action, of his own. It works, mostly. Leave your brains behind, and it's fun.

A Don whose lovely daughter runs away from an unwanted marriage, and is abducted by his goons (and her cousins!) to be brought back to his 'territory' sounds corny enough, but in the days of khap panchayats and honour killings, it is believable. Trouble is, our hero gets embroiled in it, and despite many attempts to get away, he remains embroiled. Until he falls in love, that is.

There is a lot of humour, and though it's not as sparkling as some other films old and new, it's probably the best one can expect in today's age. The LOL days (Angoor, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Padosan, Bombay to Goa, Chashme Baddoor) are long gone, I presume. But Shah Rukh, whose last few films I had boycotted for obvious reasons, does a pretty decent job of this courage-lacking character for the most part. Deepika actually steals the show, and looks great in her South Indian avatar. Satyaraj, the Tamil villain, acts his part well as her dad.

Dudhsagar falls, Goa, ( I presume) where the train stops for the goons and their catch to get off, looks spectacular. The village where the lead pair take shelter later on also looks beautiful. The action is a bit hackneyed, but provides a change of pace.

All in all, not a bad way to spend 2 hours plus. The pace is pretty decent. Songs are OK.