Aamir

i just watched Aamir, and after a long time, fell for a movie, not because it was beautifully shot, in picturesque locales, which it wasn't; but because, it has no frills attached to the subject,

no hohum, no giftwrapping, no 'thank you for special appearance'.

just the story, start to end, and just one character, Aamir.

Who for a change is no picture perfect plastic poster boy,

but an average good looking man ( with an amazingly ordinary name for an actor ),

straight out of ekta kaopor, melodramas;

and for a change, this one can not just overact, 

he can act perfectly well too, so much so, that even when he is not delivering a dialogue, 

his eyes, the wrinkles on his forehead, and his breathing do the the talking. Raising a level of empathy,

more basic and actual than when shahrukh sacrifices his true love for his best friend... ( so many times!!! )

the story is crisp, and gripping till the last second, actually, i find it a tad rude to call it 'a story'.

The plot is about a regular guy who comes back from the u.k, to discover his family kidnapped, and is forced to 

do things, he has no clue about, masterminded by this shadowed bald, religious fanatic. ( oh the cliches )

It got me thinking,

about, why religion has become the sole meaning of idenitity for some people, 

where people ask your names just to find out your religion ( its just so rude to ask directly)

the idea, of absurd customs, and rituals, and force feeding has gone beyond suffocation,

and now, it is, for the lack of a better word, asphyxiating all of us.

What is beyond me, is that how, things that were written to incorporate some discipline into our lives have now assumed gargantuan demonic proportions, and have become the pivot our entire existence.

People who have the opportunity to be in an environment, which lends them to think independently also give into the same old institution, because of unequivocal guilt. These rules, and conditional gods, have seeped into our every breath so much, that it is difficult to not be tormented by overwhelming guilt, the moment you do something 'wrong'.

Everyone i know, has very fixed notions of what is right, and what is not.

well what about the rest of us, who can't decide?

what about that small percentage, who prefer to just live, without boundaries of name, cast, religion, and sex?

( p.s- for this reason i just love the idea advert, which shows a senario where people have numbers as idenities, instead of names.)