I just got home from watching 'Dasvidaniya - The Best Goodbye Ever.' It's a beautiful movie, and if you can, then do watch it. It is the story of a man who lives the most unimaginably sedentary life, and how he loves making lists, and how he makes and fulfills his penultimate list of Things to Do Before I Die. How one man is so inspired by death that he resolves to live life, fall in love, fall out of love, make a family, be famous - all in three months... it's a well-scripted movie with a strong plot. The background score is by Kailasa (Kailash Kher's band), and they produce some very rustic and earthy tunes that go wonderfully with the homeliness of the film. I would compare this score with Vedder's score for Into the Wild - it's very simple, it's very acoustic, it's lyrically rich without forced language, and it's got the feel of being very grounded. Vinay Pathak is effortless as the bumbling protagonist, but I loved the woman who played his mother, she was splendid in her scenes. All in all, a well-packaged, tightly scripted gem that I would definitely recommend. Most definitely.
What the film made me think about is my list of Things to Do Before I Die. I am morbidly afraid of death. Not in the way some people are paranoid and are afraid they are being trailed by mad hitmen and assassins; my fear is more of the kind where I worry about what happens when you die. My dad's father died when I was thirteen, and I remember some people crying with all their might, and I remember some people sitting quietly and contemplating. I remember my dad being stonily impassive through all the proceedings (he's never been the openly emotional kind), I remember seeing him glassily stare as they shaved his moustache, and I remember how the family looked for a suitable photograph that we could frame for the wall. I found the picture they finally used, he was smiling in that photograph, but what was he thinking before he died? Did he know, or was he just thinking of what he was going to do that day and then was interrupted by the Grim Reaper? Does he exist somewhere, spiritually maybe, physically he's just another set of ashes set to sail in the Ganga, does he like the picture we picked out, does he worry about where I'm going to go to college, is he even there?
And what happens when you die? What happens to the world you leave behind? Would you miss me, would you think of me when my favourite song came on the radio, would you delete my e-mails, would you visit this blog, would you wonder of what we could have still been had it not been for death? Would you cry, or would you put your grief in a box and grieve in seclusion, would you grieve at all? Will you remember me?
And here's a little more morbidity. My list of Things to Do Before I Die - (no particular order) (will be updated, keep looking.)
1) Publish a Book.
2) Go to a Snow Patrol and a Pearl Jam and a Damien Rice concert.
3) Throw a party for everyone I know and like, and tell them what I truly think of them.
4) Visit Stropko. (Like for real-real, not webcam or otherwise.)
5) Go to Russia. ( In the winter.)
You can do this tag if you want to, I just thought it would be interesting. (I'm tagging Michael in particular, but again, 'tis optional.)
Listening to -
Disturbia - Rihanna (Surprising, innit? It's not a bad song, and it's rather catchy.)
Tell Me Baby - RHCP
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Textbook Love - Fleet Foxes
And Stropko, it's really not that bad. It's nice when you're running. Nice beat, and I don't even know the words but it's honestly, HONESTLY, not that bad.