The Invictus

For some reason, I woke up today remembering these scenes from the movies:

1. Movie: Anand
Scene: Cancer-afflicted Anand (Rajesh Khanna) is standing alone on the portico, by the window and allows himself to feel sad for the first time in the movie. This is just before he breaks into the song "Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye..." So much pathos, so much emotion, without having to shed even a single tear...Brilliant! It's almost like Anand has been putting on a happy facade all the while, and for the first time, he lets the mask slip...albeit when he's all alone by himself, far from the eyes of his near and dear ones....

2. Movie: Door gagan ki chchaon mein
Scene: The picturisation of the song "koi lauta de mujhe, beete hue din"...Magic in Black & White....In my opinion, the best movie Kishore ever did..Again the picturisation of the song "Aa chal ke tujhe", with Kishore and his son walking hand-in-hand across the hills, beyond the clouds...to a distant land....after losing their home and belongings...Freedom and liberation from worldly desires....Beautiful imagery..something Color movies can never ever aspire to capture.

3.Movie: Kuch Kuch Hota Hain
Scene: Anjali (Kajol) is about to get married to Aman (Salman). Anjali, decked in all her bridal splendor, is standing by the window of her room, her eyes betraying the pomp and sparkle of the occassion. When Rahul (Shahrukh) walks in searching for his own daughter, Anjali. And the conversation that follows. No tears, no melodrama. Simple emotions. Simple sadness. Simply beautiful!

4.Movie: Kuch Kuch Hota Hain
Scene: Anjali (Kajol) and the kids are singing "Raghupati raghav" song, while Rahul (Shahrukh) comes running across the rope-bridge searching for his Anjali (daughter)...The end of the song coincides with Rahul calling out loudly to his daughter "Anjali", only to see his "other" Anjali (Kajol) turning around to face him. The next minute or so is pure brilliance in acting...The mixture of confusion, surprise, happiness,nostalgia, self-consciousness, awkwardness...is a sheer delight to watch...Shahrukh and Kajol have never been so good together...I guess Kajol could always bring out the best in Shahrukh, without him having to resort to his usual hamming.

5. Movie: The Truman Show
Scene: The entire second-half of the movie.
Especially, the last scene when Truman (Jim Carrey) overcomes his own putrid terror of the sea, and the elements thrown at him by his "creator", driven singly by his desire to break-out of his cocoon....finally hits the wall - a metaphor for his own limitations, the final frontier separating him from his uncertain but exciting future, one that promises him his freedom...The mixture of uncertainty & a growing feeling of excitement at having finally found his freedom couldn't have better expressed. Jim Carrey truly, truly became my fave after this role. Im still sulking from the fact that he lost out on an Oscar for this performance. A performance of a lifetime.

PS: Isn't it ironical that Jim Carrey was, personally in real-life, trying to break-out of his own cocoon as had been defined earlier by "Ace Ventura", "The Mask" etc, and was trying to seriously become a more versatile actor, a more serious actor....?? I guess, where Truman succeeded, Jim failed.