Let me recall how many movie reviews I have written , less than ten, maybe less than 5. Though I like to talk about movies and review, I pen down when I feel a deep message left inside, some unsaid pain or a pinch inside. Such a movie happened today ARUVI ! Oh, the blog is only for readers who can take my little raw writing !
You are in a place where you feel the other person assaults you or tries to control you, you feel like slapping. But you control yourself. You handle, you call yourself assertive. You are on the road, you see a man assaulting a woman, you feel like pushing him and rescuing the girl and taking her to a safe place. But, it is public place, you move away, you call it safety. You feel there is a big cheating in a business, you feel like getting into the details, you feel like tearing off the market – yet you keep silence, and avoid it. You tell yourself “take a deep breathe” and you call yourself patience.
Nonsense ! Bull shit ! Whom are we fooling ? But, wait. If every human expresses every emotion raw, then the world would be a mess. There would be no value systems, there would be no discipline in the society. So, we tame ourself. We fine tune our raw emotions to deal things better. We learn how to control anger, how not to do sins, how to stay peaceful, how to keep calm and close your eyes. We also have a family, a vision, a little dream built together, so to protect that precious own world of us, we think of safety, necessity, etc. Hmm.. fair enough.
I still remember an incident , where my dad, mom , myself and a cousin sister went to Pondicherry. There was a state entry tollgate where no one was there, there was a petrol station, beyond the toll gate. Two policemen waved their hands calling us to drive there. Dad drove and took his wallet and asked , “sir how much is the toll amount?”
One police with a cigarette in hand, another with a tobacco mouth, said “5000 rupees”. Dad asked with shock, “Sir, why?”. “You crossed the state without paying the toll”, other police laughed. “But, you were not standing there, and called us inside”, dad can’t believe. Meanwhile, seventh standard me tried getting down from the car. The policemen looks turned towards me and mom dragged me inside. “Don’t talk anything. I have evidence that you entered the state inside and your vehicle is inside the petrol bunk. I will cease you car in our vehicle. Shall we go to court, with your family ? Or pay 5000 rupees”, they told arrogantly. Dad was getting angry, for two seconds, he turned back and looked at us. He wanted our safety more than anything. He pleaded to those police guys, and finally gave Rs 3500 that he had in his wallet and moved ahead. The anger dad had and what he told after getting into the car – I can never forget. With fist tightened, drinking some water, dad said, “I felt like smashing those guys on their face and tearing their body into pieces. But, having two kids and a wife inside the car, the wisest thing for me is to get out of here. “, he regretted for not punching them. “You should have punched them dad, I would have joined you. We could have made them run away, why should we give money unnecessarily?”, I can’t take the fact that my dad pleaded to someone. Dad said, “that is how the world is. We cannot be raw, we cannot react instantly. We have to think what is right for the situation and behave else we would be in trouble”.
I understood the need NOT to be raw and started fine tuning. How true. Each of us have our own experience to be polite, to be kind, to let things go, to ignore. All of us live in such fine tuned life. But, we are too fine tuned that,
- we know that dress doesn’t cost Rs 3000 and the sale is a fraudulent and still we choose to buy for our own reasons.
- We know the little fitness watch doesn’t show the correct steps we walked but still, we are trendy folks, so we use one.
- We know that management has its politics, still we play our side of the game.
- We know that a blazer is not needed for Indian weather, but still we wear one to impress our customers and call it professional attire.
- We know that one person doesn’t need such a big car everyday still we drive to office by car. Oops, from fine tuning the raw, we are getting cooked.
Now, wait. We are just not stopping there. We crib about pollution and traffic. Idiots , then why do we drive everyday in that big fancy car ? We say being Indian. Then why do we follow western dining etiquette for our Tandoori cuisine ? We talk about rich , poor and teach our kids to serve the needy. Uff! Why the hell are we buying dress after dress, cosmetics, decorative items instead of serving the needy ? What the hell ? Whom are we fooling around ? Is our lifestyle fake or the cribbing and advising we do fake ?
I say “WE” angrily, includes me as we also live in such an apptimized life. A slap to us is ARUVI. But, she doesnt advice or slap us. She shoots us. She is raw, she doesn’t have to be cooked. When someone helps her with one biryani, she asks one more for her friend. When a strong guy tries to rape, she doesn’t beat him, she knows she can’t fight but cooperates. When she doesn’t like the questions from a cop, she shows her middle finger and walks away. She is the raw we cannot be, and we don’t want be.
But, what she also is , is an innocent heart, a simple girl, with easy forgiving heart, with a genuine smile, who is nice with everyone, who cries when she wants to and who hugs when she wants to. That beautiful raw side is also adorable. I shall learnt to get your kindness and smile and being nice to people character too.
What this aruvi does to us, is makes us feel, how tamed creatures we are. How adulterated human we are. How inorganic people we are. Tamed by wickedness, adulterated by selfishness and inorganic as we want to play everything safe – Ah now ! I wish we are raw. Now we are getting over cooked with the masalas of brands, products, offers, luxury, comfort, credit cards, mobile apps. We lost the originality.
ARUVI – you are beautiful, you are thought provoking, your innocence and reality touches the audience. A brilliant movie, extremely perfect choice of casting. The heroine – no one else could have suited the character better. Special whistles to the makeup artist, who has brought every stage of the heroine live and acceptable with your magic. Hats off to the team and Arun Prabhu – be proud of yourself buddy.