Gurgaon Shootout

Akash Yadav, the guy who shot a bully at his school in Gurgaon, is my new hero. Dude, you've done what I couldn't do all my life. I never gathered enough courage to take revenge from the bullies at my school. But people just can't digest the fact that you actually killed him. Everybody fantacises themselves being the hero of a movie and then killing the bad guy, but they don't actually do it. You did. Why?

* You never told your parents that you were being bullied at school. Even if you did, would they care? They would tell you to use Gandhian principles, and not to retaliate. Or probably they would say that it is your fault. "You must've said something to that bully, that is why he's getting even with you. Just go and apologise to him."

* You told your friends, but they too were afraid of that guy. Either he is the super strong macho guy, and has the cutest girl at school as his girlfriend, or he is a 'professional' bully, and has friends in DPS RKP/Modern Barakhamba who are assassins. It's called having a 'back' at schools.

* You try to sort things out with him, one on one. Instead of an agreement, all you get is a bleeding nose and two tight hard slaps, slaps so hard they make your cheeks burn. And all that in front of your classmates/friends. They do nothing to save you. The girls are standing in a corner, either laughing, while staring at you, or feeling pity for you. Even 2 weeks after this happened, the marks from your cheeks haven't gone away, people still stare at you and whisper something when you pass by.

* Your parents even ignore this, thinking that fights are a part of growing up, learning to be a man. They tell you to stay away as much as possible from that guy, and not to get involved. "You go to that place to study, son, not to fight. Concentrate on what is important. Don't do anything that would give him a chance to pick on you."

* A similar incident takes place with one of your other friends, and it's the same bully involved. You talk with that friend, and share your agony. Nobody understands you, and all people who should protect you do is give lectures on morals. You're helpless. That guy, the bully, walks in front of you every day and makes you look like a clown. You're not the hero kinda guy. You can't give witty replies, or use sarcasm properly. Neither do you have a really cool physique. You are alienated.

* There is only one way to end the misery. Eliminate the bastard. Kill him, rip apart each and every tissue of his body, and feed it to wild tigers. Or maybe throw him in a tub of acid, which eats through his skin, muscles, nerves, while he screams in horror, feeling every ounce of pain that he gave to you, multiplied a hundred times. That is the only thing left to do. He won't let you live peacefully. Do it, now.


And this is because of watching TV or playing violent video games? Maybe it is, but do you parents/teachers out there ever try to think what goes on inside our minds? Maybe if you stopped treating kids as lower minded squeak rats, then you'll get what I'm trying to say.

This incident was necessary, to show all he bullies out there, that what the eeny weeny nerds, who they pick on everyday, can do, if intimidated. If you ask me, this was like the killing of the Defence Minister in RDB, which was necessary to bring out a revolution. Bullies are dangerous. Maybe they won't kill somebody, but the damage they can do to the psyche of a child, can be so severe, that the child feels inferior and segregated all his life. Having a tendency to bully other people is a disease, and this is the only cure to it. Terror, their own tool, used on themselves.

No Smoking Uncovered

I watched the movie two times. Like most other people, my first reaction to the movie was - "What?"

But in the second time I realised Anurag Kashyap is on a totally different level than the Indian audience. And this post is dedicated to him.

No Smoking is a mystery, a movie open to interpretations of all sorts. Here I present mine, a very specific one. This is not a review; this is an interpretation of the movie. I assume that you have already seen the movie.

Warning : This article contains tons of spoilers! Do not read if you have not watched the movie. It won't make any sense to you if you haven't watched the movie. And if you watch the movie after reading this, you won't have any fun.

First things first, this movie is not about how smoking can be injurious to health, or why you should quit smoking. It is about lusts in life, how freedom of choice is curbed, and how you pay for your sins. The climax is, in my opinion, pessimistic. This may upset some of the general Indian crowd (used to watch Karan Johar crap).

K's Siberian Dream - Not a dream, actually a vision. K is fed up with life, the only two things he is hanging on to is cigarettes and his own life. He wishes to escape from his current surroundings, so his soul takes him away. But even in such a remote place, K cannot leave his only lust in life - smoking. It signifies his longing, his desire to be free from the nagging and pressures of the society.

The Bathtub - Everybody has a portal for the movement of their ideas, their souls. K's portal is his bathtub. It is his relaxing place, and when he is in his bathtub, he ponders upon his life and usually ends up dreaming. His bathtub serves as a gateway to his soul's escape, and hence the bathtub is present in his dream too, in Siberia.

Baba Bangali - He is the incarnation of God on Earth. By using various unique methods, his only wish is to free people of their lusts, and to purify their souls. He can go to any extent, without any respect for people's personal choice or freedom. He can be seen as God's Big Brother on Earth.

1 Rupee in Cash - It tells us how we tend to neglect small things, and do not pay attention to things which are not of much value. The 1 rupee was a fee to save K's soul, his soul could use the 1 rupee to reach to his body, and escape the punishment. In a way, it is a way of showing that small things can purify your soul of all your sins.

The Carpet - The Carpet is not a tracking device! For heaven's sake! It was just the carpet that cost K 21 lakh rupees. The Prayogshala was masked as Kolkatta Karpets.

Anjali/Annie - Another way of escaping. Anjali is K's wife, in reality (if K is assumed to be real, that is). Anjali is a nagger, another person who wants to curb K's freedom, wants him to quit smoking. She uses all the weapons she can to get him to quit smoking - blackmail, emotional drama, insulting him and hurting his ego. All this makes him imagine Annie, who looks exactly like his wife, but is a sweet and understanding person, and most importantly - She does not want K to quit smoking. K's brain is so stressed out, he doesn't seem to notice that Annie and Anjali have the same face.

Cigarette Shastra - Sent by Baba Bangali, it is a rule book, a Bible or any holy book you want to call it. The most interesting part is the zero minute. It was put there to tempt the people (under the programme) to sin, reinforcing the idea that it is God's creations which force you to sin, and it is God who punishes you for sinning.

Soul Bath - When you have sinned, your soul becomes polluted, so it has to be 'cleaned'. Remember Baba saying, "Aatma hai to shareer ishwar hai, aatma nahi to nashwar hai.....Agar mann kamzor hai to aatma ko jhaad phoonk kar mukt karna padta hai"? This was what he meant. K failed to recognise and rectify his sins, so his soul was separated from his body, to be punished and purified. The bath was to cleanse his soul.


I wouldn't say that the movie was theist, but it definitely fuels the idea of existence of an all powerful being, existence of rules, sinning and punishment, hell.


From Anurag Kashyap's blog -

K’s arrogance is the obvious arrogance, that everyone sees everyday.. he smokes..he breathes nicotine.. he says no one tells me what to do.. i breathe cinema.. and forever everyone has been telling me not to make the kind of cinema i do.. NO SMOKING is a tale of an arrogant man and another who is much more arrogant, who lives in his world, where he controls everything and he thinks he is morally superior to anyexisting Homo sapiens, he is the kind of man who thrives on minorities and underpriveleged, he worships the dictatorian attitude and all he wants from you is to lose your soul and convert….it,s a tale about an arrogant man’s descent into morality.. and the architecture of the moral world is so absurd that it sometimes beats reality.. what happens in the film is a parallel to what happens in the real world..