Antidote for Animal Senses

Wednesday. A lazy fall evening. Curbed my constant procrastination and took that trip to the Indian movie rental store. For lack of better choices, I stared at the movie posters adorning the walls inside the store. I must confess, it’s quite an impressionable effect when poster designers juxtapose a traffic order message like “No Entry” (for a film title) with three busty bollywood "chicks" sucking it up to manifest every inch of their cleavages. So my animal senses reached out to pull the DVD from the racks.

I was about to pay for the DVD rental at the register. This is where sharing your taste of movie genres and befriending your videowallah with a bit of small talk pays off. He reminded me, that he had a copy of this flick I wanted to watch – Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi

CUT TO: Me, gazing at the final scrolling credits of Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi, making a mental note of the names, of even the most trivial talent that made the movie happen. My customary salute reserved for movies that show outstanding technical finesse and production values.

Set in late 60s and late 70s, Hazaron.. is the story of Vikram, Sidharth and Geetha – each of them driven by distinctly different motives and aspirations in life.

Amidst hashish and Hendrix, heavily influenced by Che and Castro’s idealogies, Sidharth faces the rich kid’s angst of starting a socialist revolution in rural Bihar. The revolution is likened to the still ubiquitous naxalite movement in that region. Vikram’s antagonistic views of socialism and his sycophancy tendencies, does not make him the cynosure in the eyes of Geetha. Geetha is drawn towards Sidharth (played with élan by Kay Kay Menon). Chitrangadha Singh plays the role of Geetha and she is quite a find. She plays the character of a UK schooled lass caught between love and passion for Sidharth and subscribing to his revolutionary socialistic ideas. What ensues is a well paced tale of each individual’s struggle and how their lives crisscross in the backdrop of a National emergency and political strife.

Definitely a must watch for original screenplay, music score and tight editing.