Favorite Movie Scenes

So im going to be doing lists today because it seems to be the simplest thing to do. You can be inconclusive, evasive and shallow about every new thought and have a lot of new thoughts which generate value for different readers.. It feels perfect for the times.. Look at our soap operas, our cricket (the current quality of players who are “excelling”), our politics (the cabinet reshuffle to “stem” corruption), our news (Arnab Goswami, Barkha Dutt, Shobha De.. aaaarrrgh!!) and, by extension, our lives.
Content makes for an entire series of posts and will be revisited when yours truly is in one of his “media gyan” moods.
For now, let’s concentrate on something which has worked for us over the years – cinema. The list that follows is a list of some of my favorite movie scenes over the years. Warning – I am a sucker for emotional stuff!
So here goes..
1. Hrithik Roshan – Lakshya – 2 scenes actually – one in which he points to Tiger Hill saying that is his Lakshya. And how his entire body shivers with passion when he says it. I’d kill for finding something that would create that sort of desperation inside me – it will define my life.
And the other when he talks to his father and the latter tells him he is proud of him – wonderfully done by Boman Irani – The simplicity and the reality of the scene gets to you! For a son who has disappointed his father for most part of his life, it is a defining moment; for a father who was disappointed that his son never did anything he wanted him to, it was even more so!
2. Daniel Day Lewis – In The Name of the Father – the final scene when he and his family is finally acquitted and he comes out of the court and addresses the crowd. He takes off his jacket, climbs over the barricade and talks to the world as a free man – the body language, the anger, the relief, the dialogue; the rawness of it all – pitch perfect!
3. Aamir Khan – Dil Chahta Hai – When he sees himself with his friends at the Wilson College steps – Nostalgia, camaraderie, friendship – all captured beautifully by a wonderful background score and the younger Aamir’s disappointed expression that the elder Aamir was too egoistic to apologise and win back a dear friend. A simple scene that Shahrukh would have spoilt with an unnecessary smirk, and Salman would have trivialized with a goon-ish body language
4. Johny Quid – Rock n Rolla – The cigarettes speech – beautiful words and beautifully enacted. A special mention for the lighting – it complements the dialogue wonderfully – never noticed the importance of lighting up a scene correctly for creating impact. There is so much depth in the lines. My favorite one – beauty is a beguiling call to death and Im addicted to the sweet pitch of its siren
5. Akshaye Khanna – Dil Chahta Hai (yeah! Again) – When Dimple agrees to him making a painting of hers. He goes to get his stuff from his place. What begins as a walk, turns into a stride and soon into a full-blooded run. Beautifully showing the desperation with which he wanted to paint the subject – such passion is reserved for artists and sportsmen on the screen. In reality, it’s not! Also, love the anticlimax – when she suddenly has to leave and Akshaye is left panting and unsatiated – Freudian I say!
6. Col. Hans Landa – Inglorious Bastards – The first scene at a French farmer’s house. The build-up is breathtaking. The dialogues are casual, almost to a fault. And suddenly it builds to an operatic finish. Quentin Tarantino is the baap of such scenes. 2 other examples of his genius – the hamburger scene in Pulp Fiction and the scene at the black woman’s house in Kill Bill. Col. Hans Landa is the most menacing villain I have seen since Glen McGrath – he completely lulls you into that false shot that you never wanted to play
7. KK – Black Friday – the numerous shower scenes. He doesn’t say a word. The daily torture of convicts to find out more about the blasts – and how the torture is not just theirs but his too. Again, exceptional lighting and background score. Also I think its very important to capture the water droplets from the shower in the right way and track its route through KK’s face and then his slender body – his strong arms and arched back. Brings out the conflict, pain and dilemma lyrically.
8. Will Smith – Pursuit of Happyness – The last scene. The joy of getting a job. This scene cant possibly be acted out.. cant be rehearsed in my humble understanding. You either feel it or you don’t. You can feel it only if you have felt it before or seek it desperately. The exercise of extreme restraint to not break down out of joy in front of the boss.. the running out of the office and down the steps.. the spring in the step and the clapping.. I think there was a song playing in his head.. I think there is a song playing in our heads all the time.. it just becomes louder on such occasions.. and then you dance!
Pls join in and add on. Will keep adding as and when I can.
Meanwhile, The Shrew has just become a consultant. I hate their breed but here’s wishing her all the best on a new beginning. Hope she manages to fleece a lot of businesses of their hard earned money - giving advice on things they know better than she does. More importantly, hope she comes back tired, harrowed and over-worked everyday – in her Pursuit of Happyness!!