Star Gazing

Nope, I am not referring to the ones in the sky, I mean the ones who dazzle our world by their sheer presence. The movie stars ! My affiliation or blind puppy love started when I was a toddler. According to my mom I used to bore all the people unfortunate enough to drop into our place, with renditions of the latest chart busters from All India Radio. Very soon I had some dance steps to go with the audio. When that didnt cut it, I would start reciting all the cliched, heroic dialogues. Ofcourse this did help me develop my mimicry/monoacting acumen. At the age 10, like rest of India, I was madly in love with AB. So much so that I remember watching Namak Halal in Iraq, when some of the buildings around us were getting bombed ! As far as I was concerned that just added to the drama, and I was sure that Big B would come dashing to my rescue. Ofcourse what happened in reality was that I got a sound spanking from my dad, and was rushed to the underground bomb shelter,

You would think, that after a couple of decades I would have somewhat matured in the matters of "screen hero worship" ? Well not really, only my object of affection has shifted- none other than SRK. How could anyone who says - "Senorita, badi badi deshon me....." not be instantly lovable ? But folks - love comes at a price, I was and am still often mocked at by my brother,friends and at times by my kids. But the bonds of love are so strong - that I am able to take all the guffaws in my stride, and enjoy all the tit bits of SRK's life that is thrown at the public.

It's amazing how good movies can transport you into their story and characters, and allow you to shed all your worries, and live your fantasy. Somehow this medium has become very important to me, since it rejuvenates me, leaves me feeling sad/happy, and amazingly takes me away from the chakras of my own mundane life.If books are a man's best friend, I would call movies a man's key to fantasy !!!