Somewhere I read this interesting quote that life should be lived backwards… get death out of the way and start regressing in age :). Well, I just found out that this was said by a George Carlin and am sharing the quote here –
Hindus with our deep rooted belief in reincarnation, should know that this is precisely what’s happening… we just don’t realise it.
In an interesting coincidence, we watched two movies in the George Carlin sequence 🙂 – a few weeks ago we watched Mukti Bhawan, a film about dying and a couple of days back we watched The Life List which is all about living.
Both the movies are immensely watchable. We watched Mukti Bhawan because we got a chance to listen to the amazing Mr. Adil Hussain, at the Bodhipath Film Festival on March 11th. He mentioned about this movie and we immediately came back home and watched it. Its an amazingly well made movie.
The director Shubhashish Bhutiani needs a special call out. He was just 25 when he directed Adil Hussain in this movie …. a topic like death and to have the maturity to deal with it at a young age ! So glad to see youngsters like Shubhashish take on mature themes and do a great job of it.
Mukti Bhawan – A Review
Rajiv’s (Adil Hussain) father Daya is 77 and he feels the end is near. He wants to go to Varanasi and breathe his last at Mukti Bhawan because his father had done that. Rajiv tries to dissuade his father saying he can’t get time off from his office, but Daya is adamant. He says he will go there whether Rajiv accompanies him or not. In fact he says, just drop me off there and come back.
Rajiv manages to get a few days off from office and he takes his father to Mukti Bhawan. The movie just becomes a classic at this point – the irreverence and just the nonchalance with which the “grim” topic of death is dealt with is really refreshing. When Rajiv brings Daya to the reception of Mukti Bhawan, he is told that the booking can be for just two weeks. If Daya doesn’t pass away within those three days then they will be thrown out !!
Daya meets some of the other guests at Mukti Bhawan. A lady has lived there for nearly twenty years and then we find out, rather Rajiv finds out that they let you live there by just changing your name on the register. A hat tip to Hinduism’s core belief in the life and death cycle, we are reborn again and again – with different names, in a different family and with different circumstances.
There is a side story about how father and son don’t see eye to eye on most things but love each other dearly. Daya finally realises that he never allowed Rajiv to become a “great” poet… but ensured he became an accountant. In his last days Daya urges Rajiv to let his daughter get married to a man of her choice and to allow her to study and work as she wants.
The movie is also about Varanasi, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city … with proof dating back to about 7000 years, but am sure if we dig further, the years will be more. Varanasi or Kashi is the place most Hindus would like to die in because of our fundamental belief that dying here will give us “Moksha” or liberation from the life and death cycle. So the movie is aptly named “Mukti Bhawan”. Wikipedia wrongly calls it Hotel Salvation … Hindus don’t look for Salvation, we look for Moksha. Two very different things !
Do watch Mukti Bhawan. It’s a brilliant movie and Adil Hussain is fantastic as Rajiv, the stressed out son of Daya.
A couple of days back we noticed that Netflix had added “The Life List” to the movies list. We thought it seems like a fun movie, so decided to watch it. Well, it was not just fun, it was quite nice for a “Hollywood” movie and a break from the violence, drugs and America-is-the-greatest-country theme.
The Life List – A Review
This movie is about living one’s life to the fullest and taking things in your stride. The main protagonist is a young lady named Alex (Short for Alexandra) who works in her mother’s company selling cosmetics.
The mother’s cancer relapses and she passes away. When the will is read, Alex realises that she has not inherited anything except a DVD and a list that she made as a 13 year old. She is told that she will inherit something if she completes all the things she had listed within a year. Initially she is disappointed, but as she tries to tick off each of the items on the to-do list, she also learns about relationships and personal growth.
The movie also shows how close knit families can be a huge support as one navigates through life. The DVD’s are a nice touch. Using technology the mother reaches out to her favourite child and continues to guide from beyond the grave. Well no surprises there, parents never truly leave… I can still feel dad’s presence whenever I feel I need some advise or just knowing that I have his support.
As Alex searches for her biological father and finally meets him, we also understand that while biology does play a role in our birth, it doesn’t necessarily make a man a father. Alex learns that valuable lesson :).
The movie also tells us why we need to stick to our hobbies and interests as we grow older because they help us unwind and enjoy something just for the sake of enjoying it.
This movie is light hearted but delivers some important lessons to live your life to the fullest. I wouldn’t put too much weight behind the four rules that decide whether you are truly in love with someone…. good rules, but not a complete list. It’s almost impossible to make a “list” of conditions to decide who you live your life with. It’s a big decision and each one takes it differently.
We really liked this movie and it’s a clean rom-com. It can be watched with family, friends and kids.
Enjoy watching these movies and do share your thoughts !