Watched a movie in the theater after a long long time. Probably the last movie I saw in the theater (or rather the multiplex ;-) ) was Harry Potter in July. I blame Engineering and rules about “another female required if i want to watch a movie with my friends” for that.

Well coming to the movie. In one sentence it would be, “everything was as expected..nothing special”. Although the storyline is all-too-filmy, this movie is worth a watch only becasue of the way the director has handled the subject. Although it is not as touching as Parineeta (Pradeep Sarkar’s earlier film), this movie manages to keep you interested and thinking.

So we start the story with two naive sisters, living in Varanasi till fate and evil relatives threaten to make their life living hell. Then the older daughter, who hasn’t even completed her education till SSC decides to take things in her own hands and be the son of the family. She moves to Mumbai, and soon realizes she can’t make it in that evil city. But alas, the situation at home has worsened, and she is told by a hassled mother, that she cannot return unless she has some way of providing money. So the village damsel finds herself taking up the life of a high class escort, one that goes around with only the richest of businessmen. Yashraj productions has managed to put in excuses for the leading cast to visit Italy and Zurich and sing songs there. The later half of the movie deals with the younger sister arriving in Mumbai complete with an MBA, and the struggle that the elder one has to endure to keep “chhoti” from knowing the truth. All ends well as it should in a hindi movie, and the moral of the story is: If you are ever forced to become a prostitute, hope against hope that a guy who is as handsome as Abhishek Bacchan will fall in love with you and accept you in spite of “knowing everything about you”.

Sounds boring, but good direction covers up for the soppy script. But then it does make you think. Yes women have freedom, the are self-reliant. Of course we see so many female CEOs these days. I’m no feminist. But some questions do trouble me. Do women have the respect they deserve? When will women be able to travel in buses and trains without hesitating? Have you heard a girl whistelling at a guy? Or a girl threatening to throw acid on the guy’s face when he refuses to marry her? As I said, I’m no feminist. I have seen many cases of a girl ruining a guy’s entire life without as much as second thought. All coins have two sides, but some facts remain. My generation lays as much importance to the sanctity and purity of women, as did all the generations before me. Maybe the times have changed. Maybe these days it is the boyfriend instead of the husband who does the questioning. But questions are still asked, and they will be asked for a long long time to come.