Move On: The Great 21st Century Innovation

“Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.” ― Dan Brown, Deception Point

Science has progressed tremendously over the last few decades, the mysteries of universe, origin of life, complexity of time and space, several aspects of death, analysis of life in other planets, constant danger of global warming. Science has transformed our lives in every sense. The world now exists within our palms and in a way has become our reliable alternative route to escape the mundane portion of life. Yet, despite all the advances made in the field of technology to simplify our lives, there is something unique and a multifaceted idea formed in the twenty first century. The idea to “Move On” in life amidst all the prevailing circumstances. This feeling of going ahead in life, leaving back the unfortunate series of events in the past, and pretending that tomorrow, the dawn will pronounce a fresh start to life, an unquestionable conjecture packed with hope that the morning choir of birds will reboot our previously unresponsive, unhappy and melancholic existence, and initiate the same sketch of our existence again with anticipation, that this time it will not crash. Just think about it, this idea to Move on or shall I say more precisely voluntarily or involuntarily adaptation in response to the surrounding environment is perhaps one of the most significant discoveries of this generation. Yes, the core idea have existed back to the time of evolution of mankind, and that human nature, after a certain point is acclimatized to this approach. It does present a great argument to my fictionalized assumption that this idea belongs to the twenty first century, but the way the outlook of Moving On is represented in today’s time is quite popular and not just superficially layered in our normal day to day life but has become an assured choice to restart something and lastly it also appears to be the only path to get rid of the sorrow driven through any possible means, be it heartbroken in love, personal loss, failure and rejections in life, the fear of mediocrity, the lust and pressure to succeed professionally, the exponentially growing competition and many more factors.

Now, I am not going to catalog the virtues and demerits of moving on, I am simply trying to emphasize on the connotation of the idea, which has become so relevant in our lives. It’s like we are lost at an unknown railway station during peak hours among thousands of crowds and we do not have an iota of an idea what to do, and we are told through a computerized female voice to get over to the train named Move On. It will not take you to your desired station, but will guide you to a safe space where you can actually re-plan about your journey. Has commerce and involvement in our work lead us to this point that moving on has attained such a vital importance in our lives, does not matter how reluctant we get to move ahead in life, there is a modulus of elasticity, where the resistance of reluctance is broken, and ultimately we are gravitated into fast paced world.

The idea of moving on also reflects the time we live in, where relationships have evolved in a different way with time, and love holds a lot wider definition. The dynamics of relationships have changed substantially, and moving on constitutes a critical role in holding onto that course of action. There is so less at stake and yet we are forced to one way or another feel the magnitude is incalculable. In a way, the maturity of this astonishingly crafted, weird and wonderful emotion in our present day lives have started to act as a catalyst on how we perceive our relations, because somewhere somehow there is this unfussy solution that is lying in front of us, which can be used through either immersing ourselves into the idea, or letting it grow organically into your thoughts. In Imtiaz Ali’s 2009 film ‘Love Aaj Kal’, Jai Vardhan Singh argues with Veer Singh about being practical, whereas Veer Singh is still confused about the equation of love that has unrolled over time. He then goes ahead and explains to him that there is no shortage of complicated issues to get our minds to ponder over, why make love a part of that list. Obviously, an underlying tone is observed in Jai’s words that hint at the central value that moving on from a person or a relationship holds over this generation.

Have we become too impatient in our lives about our career, relationships, and sensibilities?

The reason I ask this question is that after the occurrence of a certain string of actions in our lives, the basic and most widely used words we might hear in order to make us come out of that silent zone are “Move On” in life. And without any second thoughts, subconsciously we board the train named moving on, and by the time we realize that we are moving on, we constantly tell ourselves “Let it go” to remain focused on the process. So have we become too impatient to actually sit down in silence and ponder over those events that lead to this particular situation? Can’t we just simply think about that event and try and analyze that situation which might throw a light on a flawed characteristic that we possess, to eventually come out as a less flawed person or are we way too self centered to accept any inherent flaw in ourselves?

That does not mean that we have to obsessively think about those moments in the past, and unnecessarily cramp our mind with senseless scenarios. No, but rather accepting the situation and relinquishing the artificial denial that we build during the time gap is a far better option. One might argue that no matter what, it is pointless to stray towards the events in the past and to analyze it further; rather it is comparatively less tedious (emotionally) to just move ahead in life. However, doesn’t that represent moving on as simply running away from the real life situation, looking for a safe space where our actions are not be questioned in any sense?

Moving on in its simplest of forms corresponds to an initiative we take internally to get away with a certain form of grief, and programme our minds that there is a better world out there with better people, with which we can end up with better moments in life. It’s like a layer of different emotions, which gradually breaks down over the course of time, be it guilt, regret, sorrow, memories, and all of them amalgamate in some unrecognizable part of our memory center, never to resurface again (unless triggered by similar circumstances). The intuitive optimism is what drives the moving on process, I mean yes, the driving force can also be external such as our friends, or our situations that we have no other alternative but to go ahead in life and involve ourselves in something else. There could also be a situation where there is not enough motivating force to start that process, then as I said before, it grows gradually, slowly reaping in our actions and our thoughts.

Moving on is also symbolized as a form of progression in different context, for the opportunity to look for a personal growth which also highlights its divergence in terms of placing the process under the actual whole milieu. The tough times of competition, the urgency to climb up the ladder of success, the tricky urge to involve oneself in some kind of emotional bonding and yet not actively entrusting it in any way whatsoever. The byproduct in this scenario is always enticing, be it growing out of particular emotions, or growing into a something more elusive, something that is not vulnerable to any sort of emotional triggering

.

Hate it, ignore it, deny it, accept it, thrash the whole argument, but the whole practice of moving on has been accepted by our generation, and yet not fully explored in terms of its actual use, or its consequences. 

Angamaly Diaries: Survival in the Chaos

Director Lijo Jose Pellissery’s “Angamaly Diaries” opens with plenty of mouth-watering images of the region’s exquisite food, as if telling the audience that the pathway to anyone’s heart is through stomach, or hinting us about the unconditional love and fondness that the people of Angamaly have for their food. Amidst the various shots of the streets busy eateries, we feel a thunderous crescendo of brass bands, as if indicating a world of chaos, we are about to enter. The brass bands, which I much later realized was the sound of violence used to enhance or probably dramatize the action sequences in the film. A gay man wearing a butterfly’s printed colorful shirt enters the frame, and act as a catalyst to initiate the tale of Angamaly. 

   

Vincent Pepe, the supposedly principle protagonist introduces himself in two sentences and is instantly likeable, what follows next is just an ordinary routine day on the streets of Angamaly, a fist fight between “Teams” (a term regularly used to define bunch of hooligans of a particular area in the town) and people watching it for few minutes, and getting back to their work. On my initial viewing of the film, I thought the story narrates the journey of Vincent amidst all the chaos and utter madness that surrounds him. It felt more like a coming of age drama for this character, but somehow what stayed with me long after watching the film was the vibe of the city that oozed complete lack of moral preconceived notions in a society, and it came through the virtues of madness, violence, survival, pork meats, gambling dens and alcohol. The film chronicles the journey of Vincent, right from his childhood where he tells us that his name ‘Pepe’ means Joseph, father of Jesus Christ, quite an amusing fact considering the irony in one of the scenes in the film. He is infatuated by a fascinating figure named ‘Babuji’ who leads a local football team, and has a consistent track record of wining either by scoring more goals, or by beating the living hell out of opposition team or the referee who by any means tries to bestow upon yellow or red card to Babuji’s team. Pepe’s respect for Babuji can summoned up from the fact that butchers will not slice up meat for even the chairperson of the municipal corporation but for Babuji and his team, they will. This ordinary act seems a mark of respect and in a way influences Pepe, and sets a benchmark of power and influence.   

It doesn’t take Pepe too much of time to understand the dynamics of the town, he gets into to building his own team, like a recruitment organization starts enrolling guys who are bold, maverick in their nature, applicants who enjoy their food and know the nuance of eating with precision which brings utmost pleasure gets an upper hand in the process, and lastly people with some special abilities like able to act as a compromise manger. Hence, forms the Palliyangadi Team. The adolescent period of the team remains influenced towards Movies, festivals, Beer and Romance, after a certain point the team ends their virginity to be legitimately known as a Team, a point where they engaged in an altercation, and practice their skills to fight and prove their strength as a team.

To look as another perspective, Angamaly Diaries is sort of a memoir about the tales of a city, highlighting the journey of a particular team out of many. To understand the spirit of the town, there is a scene in the film where a man is explaining the procedure to make a hand grenade to the member of Palliyangadi while hugging a tree, his rationalization to such an awkward position is that while tying the thread across the rocks, if it explodes, only his hands would face injury, that logic explains the mentality, members of the various teams have. There are bizarre instances in the film, which appears so ridiculously funny, yet they form such an important part of the narrative to give us a brief insight into the existing scenario of the town. Breaking dead body’s arms just so that it can fit in the coffin easily, fighting over the issue who gets to eat the last plate of rabbit meat, stealing the wallet of a man going through seizures, Wishing Happy New Year in the month of October, just to appear classy and resounding in their meetings, Stealing a python from a school exhibition and making curry with eat, and happily announcing that it’s considered good to nourish the skin.  

Love, in Angamaly forms an important part of a person’s life, however to know it more deeply, people often are found using analogies of food combinations to retrospect it. The love life of Pepe in the film has certain charm to it, a sort of coolness, be it a girl going to the hospital everyday to give her love interest daily dose of kisses. Love, for Vincent Pepe is important, but he does not make it a primary motive of his life, he knows when to let go and move ahead in his life, and when he least expects it, love come back knocking at his door. There is an exceptionally well executed scene in the film, where Pepe understands the situation and circumstances in his life, and tells a girl to think practical and move on with her life, he leaves the girl who just sits alone looking through the busy streets of Angamaly.

The film’s soundtrack is an integral part of the narrative that the director is trying to indulge us in, the background score, and songs are rustic in nature and are portraying the nature of the town. Songs takes the narrative ahead, and are clear in their intentions of displaying the importance of food in the town whereas he background score including the brass bands edges more towards the violent nature of the town. There is another important aspect that is used couple of times in the film by many characters, it’s called “For Effect”, it can be more broadly described as phenomenon used to sound more authoritative in tone, even if the words said are utterly false, it’s more like a psychological trick to be thrown into the talk to get an upper hand over the person. Just like in Gangster films, the more commanding you sound, the more solid persona you built for yourself. The film’s climax is a single shot and involves a large crowd into a cramped space, despite these obstacles, Director Lijo and Cinematographer Gireesh Gangadharan pulls of an amazing feat and provides us a memorable end to the roller-coaster ride. 

Angamaly Diaries is about the survival in the chaos surrounded in the town, the violence in the film is the byproduct of the circumstances that the characters get absorbed into, which are probably affiliated to the excessive masculine pride associated in the situation. The protagonists as well as the antagonist after a certain time realize that survival is far more important than dominance. The latter facet is used from time to time to make sure people around you do not forget you, while the former feature is the necessity, even in the volatile nature. People in the town love their food, by the end of the day, they want to end the truce and settle the issue with 10ML alcohol and some pork meat.   

Anatomy of Chaos

“I accept chaos; I'm not sure whether it accepts me.”- Bob Dylan

Let’s talk about chaos

Disorder, Disarray, Confusion, Anxiety, Delusions, Turmoil, Mayhem, Disorganization, Pandemonium. How do we simplify chaos into simpler terms for a better understanding of that unrecognizable and constant feeling that we fail to resolve into a resting state?

The reason behind this constant feeling of chaos surrounding our minds could be numerous and a bit difficult to be bracketed into a defined and specific terms, let’s just say our thoughts that continuously trigger reactions from us, and kindle the fluctuating behavior that we express. The things that we are deeply passionate about, and circle our subconscious mind entirely, but when those ideas, thoughts are downright rejected, ignored, or not acknowledged, or if we look through the other side of the picture, when we are unable to clearly demonstrate our feelings into properly structured sentences, this is the point where chaos builds up in our minds.

It is certainly not important, about how we quantify our thoughts into two compartments of right or wrong, rather how we should perceive them through different scenarios, which would give us a more unambiguous means to rethink, reevaluate and to have a fresh approach on how we perceive ideas, thoughts and feelings. I am assuming life as a deep complex system with reference to the theory in Mathematics to get a brief insight (Self-understanding) into the feeling of chaos.  

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash 

A theory in Mathematics states that Chaos is based on the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly vulnerable to change. Now, the dynamical systems in this context are our individual transcendent thoughts, which literally could be about anything; Love, Books, Movies, Politics, Science, Arts, Poems, Technology, Ambitions, Hopes, Positivity, Spirituality. The sensitivity to change occurs when those thoughts are manipulated by any means possible, and by that, I may assume that the change that is discussed here results into deviation in the core reflection of those thoughts. The change is a direct consequence of the chaos; it changes our perception about those thoughts, we tend to look things through different perspectives, positively or negatively, through hope or through despair, all subjective. Well that is just my fictionalized part presenting, in a different scenario, change resulted due to chaos generally causes the system to undergo butterfly effect.    

The noticeable unpredictability of thoughts in our life, is continuously erratic, you never how which irrational thought would come and pay you a visit; during traffic, at work, at lunch, in a meeting, at gym, at night where you’re vulnerable to the old memories, but it does makes complete sense, the randomness is what makes the feeling of chaos an absolute unquantifiable and impulsive in its nature. There comes a time, when thoughts develops a pattern, a constant loop of repetition, self organization, and ultimately leading to a point where we begin to live with this regular feeling of disorganization. Those set patterns of thoughts is similar to a butterfly flapping its wings in a regular motion, and changing the dynamic of another system. The change in this case is the modification in the sensibility to perceive ideas in its truest aspects without any other boundaries.      

The Chaos theory principally concerns itself with the deterministic systems whose behavior can be predicted, and there is no involvement of randomness in any form whatsoever while developing its future state. In this case, there is totally an opposite condition where we have a comparatively more problematical model, a model of “Human Life”, in which thoughts are always present in the state of randomness, but actions are certainly not, and while developing the future state of life, we function in accordance to the unsystematic pattern of thoughts triggering an action from us. Chaos in life, at any given point of time, leads to ambiguity, because we are not aware of the degree of randomness in our thoughts and until the time, the arbitrariness is associated with our thoughts, it is bound to cause bewilderment, in our actions. Hence, it becomes a tricky argument for us to predict the future of the dynamic system called “Life”.

 Randomness of Thoughts

I try to assume another approach to simplify chaos, by dividing it into two forms; External and Internal, and their collective effect on our actions. So the chaotic system that exist into the world is out of our control, because it involves N number of individuals, Multinational companies, United Nations Headquarter, Share Markets, Highly organized Science Laboratories that every day are inching closer and closer to discover the reason behind our existence, these are the points which control the outer chaos in the world.  The chaos outsourced from external world directly influences our internal belief, and disrupts its system. The internal chaos, on the other hand is a result of a more personal way of life, and is born out of our actions, be it guilt, failure, rejections, regrets and experiences. It develops because of our pretentious assumptions or thoughts of an ideal life or a world. Internal chaos is more about the template that we have assumed to be sort of a reference code of behavioral model existing in the world.

How do we differentiate between these two different worlds, which are interlinked to one another?

I guess, the one which is not on our control should be left as it is, there is no logic taking the external chaos with yourself to the bed, which probably does not even concern you exclusively. Internal chaos is a bit more personal, and tends to point at our Narcissistic tendencies. The inflated sense of self importance leads to a situation where we are our own reference code, and the degree of goodness or badness is measured through a similar point without realizing that it will lead to genuine anxiety, where a similar sensation of the flapping of wings of butterflies is felt, not like the kind you feel when you feel something special for someone, but in a weird way that will eventually lead to a more weird situation in our lives.

However, there is also a situation where we can link the internal chaos surrounding us to the one described through Mathematical theories. An initial step is in which a preserve set of emotions, are vulnerable to changes, ability of those set of emotions to evolve with time and space, and lastly to perceive actions generated through those emotions in a wide spectrum. 

In totality, it all comes down to our perspective about the way we identify our thoughts, Chaos will always be there through desire to achieve maximum, lust to expand our status, the aspiration of reaching at the top; Chaos will always surround us, sometimes we would recognize it, sometimes we will realize it much later. The more effort we make to filter the randomness of our thoughts in a specific pattern, the less distracting the chaos will be for us. Maybe I am over thinking, as I usually do about constantly trying to write and potray the feeling of chaos in to words; all the comparison to the theoretical virtues of the chaotic system is a bit complex way to understand, and also highly inaccurate, because sometimes you just cannot assume certain entities to be something else without taking into account the true nature of the medium.

Chaos is unstable, so are our thoughts. Chaos is unpredictable, and so is life.   

Insomniac Diaries: The Oscillating 2017

“Ain’t no Shame in holding onto grief, as long as you make room for other things too”

 Bubbles, The Wire

It has been a tough year; professionally and personally. Many dreams on which I dedicated important years of my life got shattered (Needless to say, they are just delayed, I will accomplish them someday), and life is a total mess on the personal front. 2017 started with the diagnosis of mild anxiety disorder and chronic insomnia by a qualified Psychiatrist, and by the end of it, I can confirm I haven’t really worked my way out of those stages, but I have been working on it throughout the year; weight loss, sleep hygiene, listening to calm music before sleeping, and only when all the methods fail, I feel like going to the one who has been my constant companion this year; Alprazolam. 

I made some tough/bad choices this year, well actually this year has been full of bad decisions, and have come to the conclusion that I just wasn’t at right place at the right time with the right frame of mind. However, it is not an excuse that I am using as a false hollow shield to hide my failure with, Yes, I was an utter failure this year, perhaps I have been for a longer time but this year made me become aware of it. How did I become aware of that, because I was turning bitter, I guess failure and rejections at crucial junctions of your life does that to you, it turns you into a bitter person. Now it is upto me that how I proceed with all the bitterness filled in me. Failure and rejections are very subjective, and difficult to classify unanimously; a failure for you might not necessarily be the felt from the same point of view by someone else. The stakes are different; the yardstick for the measurement of the extent of failure varies. However, the drama unfolds in almost in the same scenario. The emotions get restricted with times; the mind is in constant search of anonymous solace, the unsolicited reminiscence uninterruptedly surrounding us, the usual practice where we end up analyzing the failure to its core. 

I have lost a lot this year, important people in my life, mentally and physically as well. I have seen both scenarios, timely and untimely death of loved ones. On one end, I saw someone accepting death against a rare form of cancer, and just simply waiting for the misery to end. I never experienced something like that, seeing someone anxiously waiting for death to knock on the door. On the other end, saw a premature death of a close friend, you are planning for life, living in poignant moments, and suddenly death strikes, and it is all over, just like that within a snap of a finger. The thousands of memories generated into those millions of neurons end in a moment. I just could not sleep after that, I had nightmares, that is something I will never be able to able to get out of, and my grandmother repeatedly tells me that we never make peace in our heart with the loss of someone important, we live with it, hold onto the moments of happiness, and move on with the grief. She tells me that we humans are processed that way, we move on. I heard this beautiful line in a TV series “Ain’t no Shame in holding onto grief, as long as you make room for other things too”.   

Saw some great films, that long stayed with me, the characters constantly raised questions about my perspective on a lot of things, read a lot of books, fiction, non-fiction, personal memoirs, saw some great TV shows. I will try to highlight some of those moments which i filled along with grief:

Meri Pyari Bindu is without any doubt remains a charming film for me; it gave a new perspective of love, Bubla Roy’s notion of love left a long lasting impact. My memorable moment in the film remains Bubla's monologue expressing what Bindu meant for him, comparing her to the sad words of Gulzar, Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive, more heartbreaking than the last ten minutes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, Geeta Dutt’s voice and many more of extraordinary figures.

Meri Pyari Bindu

Arjun Reddy an iconic character with his flaws and imperfections manages to grab our attention and makes his point about love crystal clear. The film will surely gain cult status in the coming years. The film, which almost feels like a documentary on this fascinating protagonist, always keeps you engage. The scene where Arjun is feeling the heat of his raging hormones, and yet  does not get a chance to fulfill it, he then grabs a handful of ice and puts it into his jeans to calm himself. In another scene, he compares his state of mood swings to a women going through PMS, and makes a point that one should take care of him rather than telling him that it is all in the fate. I wrote a post on Arjun Reddy, Please do read The Journey of Suffering with Arjun Reddy 

Angamaly Diaries, a stylish gangster film with moments of utter chaos, madness, barbarism, delicious food, screeching of pigs below knife, business of pork meat. In a scene, a man wraps his hands around a tree while tying a bomb, with a hypothesis that even if the bomb explodes, his hands would face the casualty, leaving his face and body relatively safe. The film is raw and rustic in its nature, and so is the outstanding soundtrack, which forms an important part of the film. The film features an 11-minute long take climax, which became its highlight, but apart from that climax, the pre-interval long chase is equally adrenaline driven.  

Angamaly Diaries

Newton, I have been to the rural parts of Chattisgarh, I have seen the blankness that resides in the mind of the people. They do not give a damn about democracy or any ideology, for them the quest for survival is the important agenda.  The difference in opinions and ideology between Newton Kumar and Aatma Singh is what made this film interesting. The scene where Sanjay Mishra tells the rookie election officer, Newton that “one should not be arrogant about their honesty, it is expected from them and it should make you feel lighter, not burdened” is my favorite moment in the film.

Vikram Vedha, the template of Baital Pachisi styled into a neo-nor action thriller with an honest and equally dangerous police officer going against a ruthless gangster.  The entry scene of Vedha in the film reminded me why I fell in love with movies. If you have ever heard, read or watched the stories of Baital Pachisi, you’ll realize the film does follow every trait from the folktale, but in a contemporary fashion. Be highly attentive while watching this film, you do not want to miss anything, because the devil lies in the details. The film is oozing with intelligence, and puts you in a dilemma while questioning the morality of a good person versus bad person.

Vikram Vedha

The Wire, I never thought I will watch anything better than Breaking Bad, but I was wrong, I watched The Wire, which aired on HBO from 2002 to 2008 and consisted of 5 seasons. The story is set in a city of Baltimore, the post 9/11 era in the United States where we understand how the impact of drug on various important elements in the society, from the streets of Baltimore, to the docks, from the schools to local newspaper, each entity is equally impacted and embedded. It is not a dramatic show; it forms its roots in organizing realism as well as empathy. The Show is about the flawed American war against the drugs, and the makers go up, front, and tells you how flawed the American Society and its politics are. In season 1 of the show, there is a communication going on between two cops, when one of them tells the other we are up against the war on drugs, to which the other cop replies, it’s not a war on drugs, because war’s end. The show has one of the coolest anti-hero in the form of Omar Little, who also happens to be President Obama’s favorite TV character.   

Books, I have read considerably less in 2017, but this year I discovered some classics, and great books. Haruki Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood” remains a personal favorite. Murakami’s writing is simply therapeutic and spells magic through his words. I also read Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”, which I liked and was slightly disturbed by certain scenarios in the book; maybe I am just too immature to understand his books, which are full of symbolism at its deepest layer possible. Gulzar Saab’s “DO LOG” turned out to be yet another remarkable work from the legendary artist.  Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird: Some instructions on Writing and Life” was the book that I wanted to read for a long time, and finally I did got a chance to read it, it was funny, to the point, and does gives out some important words that one should follow in life. Bill Hayes’s “Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me” was extremely personal and leaves you smiling with a hint of sadness. It talks about grief in a very different manner. Reading has been an important part of my life, and for the time being it takes me away from the grim reality of life. I am looking to explore more genres, more authors, translated works, novels in Hindi, Punjabi Literature. 

I’ll end my post by quoting George Jung from ‘Blow’ “But I force a smile, knowing that my ambition will exceed my talent”……

Premam: of Butterflies, Flowers and Love

“Butterflies are mentally mental, so is Love” 

A friend told me recently that I have developed a deep fondness towards stories which revolves around the darker side of human emotions, she suggested that I should watch some of Amole Palekar’s films to appraise the importance of simple moments in life, she then strongly suggested me that I should watch this Malayam film called “Premam”, and simply relocate myself in the world of simple stories.

I watched the film with zero expectations, and what started as a medium to transfer my fondness over darker subjects into simpler ones resulted in a greater emotion; joy. A joy of watching a simple story unfolds in its true origin without any unnecessary attempt to attain any cinematic brilliance, without any characters projecting melodrama at every second stage of life.   

Premam is a coming of age musical drama. The story circles around the life of its principle protagonist, George David, and his quest to find true love. The film is set in the interiors of Kerala. The story narrates three different stages in George’s life; his carefree pursuit of love (atleast that is what he makes us believe), experiencing love and its contiguous emotions, and lastly, identifying to wait for the right moment and the right person to be in love with. The film starts with some interesting acknowledgments, right from God, Sun, Time, Love, Directors, Writers, The complete actor Mohanlal, Mega Star Mamootty, Superstar Rajnikanth, Universal Star Kamal Hassan, Family, Friends, Foes, ex girlfriends. There is nothing extraordinary in the film, which we have not seen before, but Alphonse Puthren, the director of the film engages us with the simplicity of its protagonist and the narrative style of the film along with a smart use of the milieu.

In the first stage of the story, early 2000’s, we are introduced to a young George David, who attempts to convey his feelings to Mary via a handwritten letter. The Chelpark inkbottle is indicative of the time and the atmosphere of the film, the details are precisely presented when George even mentions the date, place and pin code of the city on the upper right side of a blank page. Isn’t it amusing to see such details in an attempted love letter?  George is accompanied by his two friends, Shambu and Koya in his quest to flatter Mary. George lives in a bubble of illusion, an illusion of love that he is desperately in search of, and can only be fulfilled by Mary’s affectionate smile. The romantic song sequence is a subtle hint about the kind of daydreaming George is upto. George’s representation of love is colorful; the kind in which one search for breeze in a December morning, the kind in which one looks for flowers wafting through a flowering tree. George and his friends who often hangout at a common café ordering vetiver flavored lemon water and then pulls up all the tricks up their sleeves; calling Mary via phone booths, roaming around Mary’s house in search of getting a moment where he can spot her for a split second. At one point, George even thinks of sharing her feelings for Mary by delivering a dialogue from the complete actor Mohanlal starrer 1987’s cult film “Thoovanathumbikal”, but his friends dismiss the idea since he recites a dialogue from the other Mohanlal starrer “Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal”. To George’s bad luck, his bubble of illusion burst, by the hands of Mary, when she tells him that he is seeing someone else by the name of George. Devastation surrounds George’s life, the colorful love fades away into monochrome shades, flowers no longer exhibit fragrance, memories of Mary’s smile constantly haunts George, while his friends are busy in the backdrop either smoking or drinking lemon water. There comes a point where all three friends sat and introspects their dismal performance in the academic, and decides to reform their lives.   

     

The Cassette forwards to 2005, the year when “Rajamanikyam” starring the mega star Mamootty released (the directorial debut of producer Anwar Rasheed), George, Shambu and Koya are now college students. The age where adrenaline drives through veins and arteries, muscles itching to stretch out, testosterone-fueled fistfights are common sights. It is the time of full beards, veshtis, cigarettes and alcohol where we see our three friends engage in a fight around mud, and come out winner, walking away with an aura of a world champion boxer. Starts another chapter of love in the life of George when he meets Malar, he is unabashedly smitten by her. The story gets acclimatized into the typical college romance, long walks through corridors, people appearing in slow motions, planning and searching for innovative ideas in the canteen, bunking lectures, eyes searching for the sight of the right person. George seemingly gets Malar to feel the same for himself, and love blossoms. There are hilarious incidents, which gives hints towards the notion of people in love failing to put forward their logical abilities, watch out for the MAVA scene. The simplicity of this stage lies in a shot where the camera follows a plate of Seer Fry accompanied by lemon and onion slices, it is of no major importance, but rather an indicative of the milieu the story is set in.  The dance sequence at the annual college functions gives a feel as if we are watching a superstar’s performance at a single theater. 

Coming to the crux theme of the second phase in George’s life, the magnetic Malar wins hearts with her smile, charm, straightforwardness. She becomes a constant source of happiness in George’s life and vice versa, the two shares a transcendent equation, the monsoons are the prime witnesses of their bond. There are breathtakingly beautiful frames of colors in which George and Malar paints their romance. Malar is synonymous to rains in George’s life, there is split second of shot, that represents Malar’s magnificent smile enclosed with a thundering black cloud, that small moment tells us the beauty of their relation. However, tragedy once again strikes George, where he wished he could relive in those glorious moments of love. Another stage, another story, another phase of moving on in life, but this time, he does not introspect about his life, rather gets his heart broken under unfortunate circumstances. George’s breakdown scene is easily one of the most touching scenes I have seen in recent years, it fondly reminded me of the iconic climax of 1983 released the Universal Star Kamal Hassan starrer “Sadma”, may be now we can guess the acknowledgements at the starting of the film.

We move forward to 2014, the rowdy George has now become an owner of a café, he is in his thirties, and tries to focus more on work rather anything else. The world for George is a different place now; it is only restricted to Café Agape filled with Cupcakes, exotic Pastries, soft breads, fresh coffee beans and attractive red velvet cakes. Destiny in collaboration with life gives George another chance to strike at the game of love; he meets Celine at his café, and shapes an affinity for her. George has evolved with time; he has actually matured in his idea of romance and life. He is not running after love, or acting madly/passionately in love, he is too tired pull off those tricks now, he looks for the bigger picture, longevity with someone. He is Crestfallen for a moment when he learns that Celine is already engaged to Roney (Played by the director Alphonse Puthren), who in turn happens to be a cocaine addict, which gives George a chance to bring back the rowdy version of himself back into existence and sort things out.

The three women; Mary (Anupama Parameswaran), Malar (Sai Pallavi) and Celine (Madonna Sebastian) act as catalyst in George David’s transformation from 2000 to 2014. They bring out a certain trait in George, which individually helps him grow stronger in life, each passing stage we see a different George with a common feature that he is searching for love. If Mary was the early morning breeze George was in search for, Malar becomes the pleasant smell of earth during rains in his life and Celine becomes the much-wanted sunshine he needs in life. However, it is the Magnetic Malar, which brings out the best moments in film.

There is a constant use of butterflies in the film, right from the first stage to the third, and we are told from a heavenly female voice “God unified the flowers which cannot move without butterflies, for you, flowers which can move, he bestowed to all of you butterflies as the emotion of LOVE”. I guess it is a fantasy scenario, which tries to link the role of butterflies with love. I guess that all the shots of colorful butterflies represent the anxiety associated with love (butterflies in the stomach). The kind of feeling, which is difficult to explain to someone else, but regularly persist in our senses. It might the amalgamation of all the chemical and hormonal process resulting in subtle hints to our body that we are acquiring this feeling called Love, and it is as if we see its visual representation in the form of colorful butterflies.        

The nature of any coming of age drama relies solely on the transformation of its central characters, how they mature in life in accordance with the kind of choices they make in life, letting go of certain feelings at certain times in life. Accepting failure/rejection and growing out of it. Premam is full of clichés but that does not make this film ordinary, it is the simplicity of characters and the world in which they reside is what makes them special.

The innocent George David ends up giving us joy with his quest to find love.