Saturday, December 27, 2008

Tough Decision 2

In case you are wondering why there's a "2" in the title of this one, it's because I did a post on a similar theme a little while back.

This evening, after the Indian Idol gig was over, my mom felt like watching Devdas on another channel. Now this is a movie I liked when I watched it the first time, enough to willingly go out with friends to watch it a second time, but, you know, things change, and so does my taste in movies, and now I find it quite sickening. There are a bunch of other movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge which are in the same league.

Coming back from the digression, I did sit down with my mom for the fifteen minutes or so that it took me to finish my dinner. I watched the part where Paro is just about to get married, and her baaraat has arrived at her doorstep, and Devdas comes to her room to tell her not to go ahead with it, to marry him instead. At that time, she refuses him, basically because he had not been strong enough to stand by her when she had needed him to do so, and he'd come to her at a time when her family's pride was at stake. It was a matter of principle, rather than of deciding whom to marry based on whom she actually loved, had always loved.

So I was just thinking about what I would do if I were ever faced with a situation of this sort. Now I fully realize that there is a world of a difference between hypothetically analyzing the situation and actually being faced with it, but here's what I think.

Marriage is not like something you would need to deal with on the job, or something a High Court Judge might need to deal with. A decision to marry should not be based primarily on principles.

Yes, Devdas was cowardly at the time when he was required to stand up for himself and for Paro and for the relationship they shared. But it must obviously have taken a lot of courage for him to admit that he was wrong, and to profess his love to Paro, albeit on her wedding night. Better late than never, I always say. And she was never really happy with her married life, was she? And he was never really happy after she left her. So what was the whole point of sticking to principles?

On a lighter note, you know, I'm more of a rebellious type, more of a Trisha from Pyaar Ke Side Effects, who would actually compensate for a cowardly man's cowardliness. If doesn't really know how to make a girl run away with him, this girl will make him run away with her!

8 comments:

actinium said...

IMHO, ven Paro didn't accept Devdas' "proposal" while a whole bunch of relatives n to-be relatives were waiting 4 her to arrive, she did d rite thing...though i do believe in the "better late than never" philosophy, i think it has its own limits; like it shouldn't come in the way of pride of those u hold dear. in this case, I'm sure had it been Paro herself hu had been humiliated by Kaushaliya, she vudn't hav minded a bit b4 running vid Devdas dat very moment...bt here, it ws her mom's pride which made her do vat she did, n say ("...mai bhi thakuriyin ban kar itraungi...")

abhgupta said...

you find DDLJ a tad sickening... ??

abhgupta said...

true... "Now I fully realize that there is a world of a difference between hypothetically analyzing the situation and actually being faced with it..."

hence.. u knw what i mean...

Bhavya said...

I find all of Shah Rukh's movies, with Chak De! India being, possibly, the only exception, a little sickening. And yes, I got what you meant to say here.

abhgupta said...

Come on.. how can you possibly not like DDLJ.. forget shah rukh khan.. forget kajol.. forget the god damn actors.. Doesn't the story just appeal to you? The fresh, light-hearted approach to an age-old problem, the sheer (if I may use the word) cuteness & sweetness of the way these two people fall in love and pine for each other. The way our girl is willing to fulfill her father's wish & the way our dude sweeps in and takes her away. I just love it. The entire sequence in Europe, the amazing small side-stories that prosper, the mini-romance between SRK and Mandira, the discomfort between SRK & Amresh Puri, the loving loving mom in Farida Jalal, the sweet si, pyaari si younger sister, and that heck of a dad, Anupam Kher. Aww, don't like the movie for SRK. Like it fr the masterpiece that it is.

Bhavya said...

Nopes, the story line is just not strong enough to hold up everything on its own and the presentation isn't good enough. Maybe it was good in its own time, in the day and age in which it was made, but it doesn't appeal to me any more

abhgupta said...

Hmm.. If you say so. But I would think otherwise. Anyways, this is definitely quite surprising for me. Thinking that you, of all people, the one who likes the silliest of all movies, the Queen of mushy -land (and I don't mean our neighbor, general mushy), do not like DDLJ. But.. peace...!!

Bhavya said...

I like mushy movies, but only those of a certain kind. More the Richard Gere and Hugh Grant type, and sometimes the Ajay Devgan and Aamir Khan type, but hardly ever the Yash Raj/Karan Johar brigade