Flimsy Films - Bhootnath Returns

To begin with, it’s a delight to watch Big B on screen. His persona and charisma is still worth watching. The set of Bhootworld looks like a play setting but nice. The movie does start on a comic note. Kids not getting scared of a ghost is somehow supposed to be funny. Since most of the story is leaked during promotion, we kind of know the drift already. The problem occurs when you try to look for what you expected from the film - a fun ghost film with a kid. Just like the last film. But the movie takes a completely different turn this time.

The film does make a compelling case for voting. i’ll give it that. But then it ceases to be the sequel but just has the same characters telling a very different story. The film, very early on, loses its comic tone and gets serious and idealistic about voting and defeating criminal candidates. It just ends up being a dreamy Bollywood film, like Nayak, where you are expected to get carried away with the characters and indulge in fantasy - how India can change if people turned back from their election-day holiday trips and went voting, if they rejected bribes and did not give in to intimidation and voted for the right candidate. But the bhoot himself contesting elections seems to have taken it a bit too far. i was wondering how would the ghost run a govt if it he won. And the plot of the film will not let him lose!

What would have probably kept the original theme and comedy of the film alive was to have the supernatural power help out a good candidate win. The same thing could be shown in a lighter manner by making the bhoot become instrumental in getting people to do what is right. And convey it even by taking some potshots at the wrong candidate. It could still be a fun, adventurous roller coaster as Parth and Bhootnath play pranks as they go about showing the country what could be done instead of what the people are doing right now.

i wasn’t very happy with the way this one turned out to be. If you haven’t watched it yet, you haven’t missed much.

Elections 2014

i am no political commentator. And i don't know which party will really bring about the change that people have been waiting for. But i am so sick about the whole ruckus about the low voter turnout on twitter and elsewhere that i have to add my two bits to this shit.

Lets accept that the voter turnout has been abysmal in some metro cities. To me, even 50% plus is not upto the mark. Do people really not want to vote or did something else happen here? i think there’s a mix of various factors that’s led to this.

The first thing to be blamed is lack of intelligence in choosing the poll dates. What do you expect people to do when you schedule polls just a day before Good Friday? (as in Bangalore) Or on a Thursday when taking the next day off magically turns into an extended weekend? (as in Mumbai). People work really hard and it’s so difficult to care for the future of the country when you can have a little break now! So the choice of polling dates did nothing to help voter turnout.

People not turning up definitely shows a lack of motivation. Polling begins at 7am. So even if people want to take off they can always vote the first thing in the  morning and carry on with their plans. If you really believe your vote can bring change, there is nothing that can stop you from exercising your right. This shows no one really believes in the change story. Deep down we know nothing will really make a difference!

Another technical reason why thousands couldn't vote was the missing names in the voter list. Who is to blame for people who wanted to vote but couldn’t? Do we subtract that from the total voting percentage? Shouldn’t these things have been checked before hand to ensure that people don’t miss out because of something like?

Despite, all the “please vote” campaigns, it’s been quite a few years since any party got a majority mandate. The country has suffered due to coalition govts putting their needs ahead of the people’s and the ruling party trying to keep their supporters intact to prevent their govt from falling. So the circus of politics will not change under ideal 100% voting because the unanimity doesn’t emerge in the poll results.

Finally, times have moved ahead and everything’s gone online. Everyone has a smartphone. People spend hours on social networking sites. Offices have lost boundaries. You can buy vegetables online. Then why not consider an online voting system to keep up with the demands of changing times. It doesn’t matter to people who did not care to vote. But it could make a huge difference to the voting percentage of the country. 

I am just glad that Mumbai is done with the business of voting and we can go back to normal conversations from tomorrow.