Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, 2011

First things first:  Spain is a beautiful country, and we’d all love to go gallivanting in its many beautiful locales.  But for three weeks?  Give me a break– who can do that?!  I’d be lucky to get away for one week, but then I’m not Bollywood royalty of course– the kind that conveys the idea that taking off to Spain to engage in a pre-wedding stag party is the most normal thing to do.

Well, that little piece of unreality notwithstanding, I would say that this is a movie to be certainly seen for the splendor of the sights of Spain– shot spectacularly from every ariel and ground view in the most sublime of soft lighting that makes you want to reach out and touch the screen with the hope that the glow and aura of the scene and the people might perhaps rub off on your finger… Well, all that aside, this is most definitely a movie to be seen for the landscape as much as it is worthy of viewing for all the pretty faces– the three strapping young men rippling with testosterone, as well as the comely Katrina, and the newcomer girl with the bob and the big smile.

And now that we’ve established the dazzling visuals of the movie, perhaps a word or two about the story itself.  The theme is as old as the hills:  seize the day, live in the moment, toss your cares away if only for a day (or three weeks).  And in the bargain, perhaps you will find yourself.  Unless you are clueless about the fact that you were looking for yourself in the first place.  Like the soon-to-be-married young man who didn’t know that he was unsettled about getting married to begin with– until his two buddies inform him of that little fact.  And then, he begins to wonder, and the rest as they say, is history.  Because before you know it, fears have been examined and conquered, new relationships forged, exciting new persepctives adopted, and the past has been carefully undone just in the nick of time.  All in the name of love.  And life.

The running with the bulls in Pampalona has to be one of the most revitalizing life-experiences, and I can see how that would vaccum out all cobwebs from the far recesses of your mind and breathe fresh air into the windows of one’s soul.  Still, I do believe I’d pass on that.  The Tomatino fesitval also looks extremely cathartic, but again, I’d be ridden with guilt to engage in such an exercise when I know what the alternative with the tomatoes can be, i.e., gallons of chutney and gotsu and every imaginable and delectable tomato-based gravy.  As for the sky-diving, it sure does make for a grand story– one for the files and the grandkids– but this too, I would unreservedly pass on.  The only one excercise that I would readily engage in would be the deep-sea diving– yes, I would happily don a wetsuit and goggles, and go down to ogle at the bright coral and fish, and come up with a renewed vision for what life on dry-land truly ought to be like.  Which is apparently the effect that was had upon Hritik Roshan, the busy stock-trader by profession who was on the verge of giving up on love and all things beautiful.

Well, the bottom line is this:  lovely timepass, this movie is, but no great life lessons to ponder on, beyond the obvious, of course.  And what might those obvious lessons be, you say?  Well, they’re common sense 101:  Think before you speak, not after you propose (I really think he handled that very poorly); put your family first, even if there’s no blood-connection, because blood ain’t always thicker than water; and finally, invest yoursef wholeheartedly in the one you love, otherwise it won’t be long before you suffer serious losses in love.

Oh yes, the songs were all highly entertaining, and as for Mr. Naseeruddin Shah, he’s certainly doing a good job of portraying the older father-like figure quite well.