Weekly Movie Watch WMW003
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
A masterful, thought-provoking, pretentious film, with beautifully-chaotic visuals, about the nightmarish, moral madness of the Vietnam War, inspired by the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Considered by many to be the best war movie of all time, with incredible performances, especially that of hawkish Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Duvall) who "loves the smell of napalm in the morning." Sweeping, surreal, still-controversial Vietnam war epic. An Army captain (Sheen) is sent into the Cambodian jungle aboard a patrol boat carrying a young, spaced-out crew. Their mission: to assassinate ("terminate") a Buddha-like Colonel Kurtz (Brando) who has become an insane demi-god and now runs his own fiefdom. The grueling production in the Philippines led to vast budget overruns and physical and emotional breakdowns. Academy Award Nominations: 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor--Robert Duvall, Best Film Editing. Academy Awards: 2, including Best Cinematography, Best Sound.

Below is a short story I wrote. God knows for what I did but since its done I thought I'll publish the damage.

A NEW BEGINNING

Arjun stood on top of the dais and he could feel the sweat breaking on top of his forehead making its way to his eyebrows. This is the 326th time it’s happening. He can't use his handkerchief, it looked as though it fell into a bucket of water. He had asked for fans to be kept on his either side and an old bum intervened 'Oh no, It’ll put off the fire in the alter!’ Fuck him.

Arjun turned to his left only to see Sudha going through the same treatment. Only she was dressed up in silk and gold everywhere neck, hands, fingers, toes, nose, ears. He made an effort to look at her again if he had missed any other place of her body wondering at the same time if she has rings on her navel. Dirty me, he thought. Well not exactly I stopped at the navel, didn't I? He justified. She was pretty with sweat all over and vermilion and sandal and what not on her forehead she still looked pretty. And then it happened without warning. Someone started it by saying 'Getti mellam, getti mellam'. That should be the warning. It was a one second warning. The 'Thavil' blasted. The 'Nadaswaram' started to prove that it's no inferior.

He has heard this music hundreds of time, right from childhood. Why can't they change the music? Make it a little funkier. Eminem? He had wondered before. It doesn't have the slightest effect in any marriage for a very long time. It's just as important at the same time. It's slow in the beginning. If the players are good then it'll be good. Just like foreplay in sex and all of a sudden 'Getti mellam Aka Climax'.

Sitting in front of this crowd of new faces he slowly understood its purpose or at least that's how he felt. The music keeps you on your thoughts that anytime now something will happen that can change your life. But then, he wondered, some third party controlled it. A guy needs to say that 'Getti mellam'. He smiled at himself and his imagination-How would it be if another guy pops in the middle of foreplay and says 'Getti mellam' and he needs to rush for the climax, the moment of truth.

The corner of his eye caught images of people getting ready for the rice-throw-session. One thing he had liked about marriages when he was a kid. When everyone throws the rice towards the bride and groom he had nonchalantly thrown into his mouth. The 'Iyer' jutted the plate, which had a lot of things on it. But now he could see only the scalped coconut and the 'Thali' on top of it. He took it and tied around sudha's neck. Some one offered to help. That’s another similarity in all marriages. There's always a lady who'll stoop down and do something exactly when grooms ties the 'Thali'. I'll tie my own 'thali'. He wanted to shout. But it was his aunt and for all you know she might slap you. So he didn't put up a mutiny. You wanna tie? Go ahead. He remembered that turn, that turn to his left. Slow with thali in his shaking hand. That turn completes a fact. That turn turns a groom and bride to husband and wife for eternity. Cool.

Continued...
He saw his friends sitting in the front row with thumbs-up sign. He wanted to show his middle finger back. He saw his parents smiling at him. They had a sense of satisfaction especially his dad. It was smile that says, "Join the gang". He turned around to look at Mrs. Sudha Arjun. She looked at him and smiled. Sweet smile. It could also be a smile that said "Gotcha". Now can the groom kiss the bride? Everyone was smiling. Like a major task has been completed. He didn’t wanna miss anyone’s expressions. All his male-friends were laughing. They were sharing some joke. Maybe the jokes are on me, he thought.

"Can we have some water?” he asked some helper assuming that she'll need it too. She nudged and said, "I was about to ask". Odd those were the first words that we spoke as hubbie and wife. They brought two bottles of juice. Anything will do for thirst. He looked at his wife and said "Cheers". She smiled and 'Clink'. "Cheers" she said.

He saw too kinds of people in the crowd, the one that was rushing towards them and the one that was rushing towards the dining hall. Hungry Morons, he thought. There was an enormous queue at both places, which is when he wondered. "Appa, what’s the crowd?” He was making circles with his finger in the air to complete the statement as 'what' meant 'how much' in this context. His dad asked someone else and that someone else turned someone else underscore 2 and made arjun wonder if his question will come back to him. Surprisingly his dad bent down and said, as though it was a secret plot to exterminate the whole crowd, "1400". Fuckin' shit. 1400 people out of which a half is forming a queue which meant he's not gonna have his lunch for the next 2 to 3 hours. His wife nudged him. Sorry 'they' are not going to have 'their' lunch, he corrected. Did she know that? Has she already started to read my mind? God I'm losing my mind. She had nudged to introduce a baldy. Nice head he wanted to say.

"My uncle" she said sweetly. "Maternal or Paternal?" he asked as if he cared. "Mom's brother" came the reply. The baldy uncle, he had decided to call him that way, was carrying a huge box wrapped up in pink gift paper. He turned left and right not knowing what to do. Place it here lord. He reached out his hands. Baldy smiled and moved his chin towards Sudha. He wanted both of us to receive it. We fulfilled his request. The fucking thing was heavy. Maybe it was a week's grocery, he thought.

Soon everyone flocked and looked at us like zoo animals. There were two video cameras, one from his side and the other from Sudha's. The focus light was blinding. Whenever they switched it off he will put up a 32 point smile because he wasn't able to see the people standing in front of him. They kept coming. The people whom he knew made stale jokes and "All the bests" and "Congrats". Arjun maintained a steady fake smile and realized that his wife had a genuine smile for these people as they came with boxes wrapped in ridiculously-colored gift papers and small yellow colored envelopes that had money in it. The girl was enjoying this. People he didn't know were ok. They had an equally stupid smile. Pinch, Pinch. By the end of the exhausting 2 hours they just fell like a lump of potatoes. He was no longer hungry and there were 116 bald men that he shook his hands with.

Continued...
Strangely none of his friends came up. Nor did they go to the dining hall. They patiently waited till the whole crowd disappeared. Then they came. All grossly animated. Satya, Arjun's best friend came up, shook his hands and said "Congrats". Then he shook her hands and said "All the best". "What's that supposed to mean, assole?" Arjun whispered to Satya. "Fuck you" he replied back. Arjun shut his mouth up. His dad came up and said "Lunch?" Yeah whatever.

Arjun ate like a pig. Didn't know what all he ate. He just ate. Whenever the cameramen, who by now have become a pain in the ass, came, he tried to strike some strange topic with Sudha and made it look like some intellectual discussion on the video. The time was already four. There was only 200-0dd people left out of which 20% was his friends. Satya was sitting next to him along with his wife. She had a strange way of eating. She made a lot of circles with her fingers on the plantain leaf and finally took the food up. It looked like those metal claws used in constructions. Didn't know what it does and when it's satisfied by nothing, it goes up. "How's the food?" someone asked. "Good" he replied. It was actually good whatever it was.

Arjun noticed that by now his shirt, drenched in sweat, had blotches of red, yellow and black. Satya was the only other person in his friends group who was wearing a white shirt. Satya is an executive working in an MNC Bank. Arjun knew Satya right from his school days. He had fought with his parents and teachers to put him in the same section. All these years he’s never fought with him. There were a few bone of contentions but never actually fought. Arjun smiled within. He was famous for picking up a fight in school.

The other close friends were Arvind, Srikanth and Karthik. All of them were present today and none of the bums were married. Srikanth, their college junior and the freakiest of the three was sporting a T that says, “All men are not fools. Some stay bachelors”. Arjun called Srikanth “What the fuck is this?” clutching his T.

“Well…it’s a singular display of a plural opinion”. He said.

“Balls!” Arjun came a little closer “Numero Uno, It’s a stale publicity stunt to get some chicks’ attention. Two, it’s definitely not your idea”

“Three, Up yours. I hate people knowing me so well. I’m supposed to be a lawyer da!” Srikanth protested with eyes bulging out and hands spread.

“Be ashamed and stay ashamed, besides there’s no lawyer in the world who won’t wear an underwear. Have you ever thought about this? Cross-examining in a full-packed court and for some unknown reason your pants slips down. You’d stand there with your 3-Incher and a Batman coat”. Arvind gave a deafening laugh that would have killed all the nearby wildlife. “I want to have a smoke” he added while the echo of his laughter was still ricocheting the walls of the mandapam.

“That wasn’t funny, Arvind!” Satya said. Arjun couldn’t believe that statement. He remembered the number of times they had pulled Srikanth’s leg.

Nitya, she was better known as noodle after she got her hair permed which later became noods, said “Me too! I too wanna smoke” She was wearing a nice blue salwar. According to Arjun she was the only good-looking girl in his whole gang. Nitya is a journalist and also a hothead. She was extremely moody. She would be having the time of her life and all of a sudden some trivial issue will trigger her temper. They say that if you were the cause of her temper and she slaps you consider yourself lucky. Arjun looked at his hands and he saw her nail marks all over. According to the gang, she listens to him and only him, even if it takes a few scratches and bites. He’s the one. He’s heard this line somewhere before. Some movie. He’s the one.

She walked towards him and enquired a question that he had answered a million times before “Do I look fat?” Arjun wanted to say that if she thinks she’s fat then probably she is. Why do you ask? I won’t answer that. “Arjun?” she screamed. “No” came the reply.

Karthik, the IIM guy from the gang and the nicest of the lot (not always). He wasn’t like that before. Arjun thought that if there were a Nobel Prize for the contribution to the art of showing off, he would be definitely in the list of contenders. The kind of show-off ‘s include factitious stuff like not returning compliments, never thank anyone etc., basically anything that makes him look like an important guy. During engineering he used to borrow stuff from people and keep it for the heck of it. When they asked he’d return them as though he is doing them a favor. Arjun always felt that Karthik would eventually turn out to be a pimp. He’s working in big advertising firm as a creative director. Now he looked at Arjun and said “You didn’t introduce her to us da?” He’s changed a lot.

Arjun suddenly got the feeling that for a few minutes he had forgotten that it was his marriage and now he’s gotta wife! She was talking to a bunch of guys and girls. He turned to Karthik and said “Machi, first things first. Where can we get a fag?”

Satya started digging into his pocket and finally got a 20’s pack of Wills out. “Ok?” Arjun nodded and the rest of them started surrounding Satya. Satya’s wife, Malini pulled out Nitya. “NOODS?”

That started a few quick protests and noods lost. And she kicked Satya. That probably was a indirect way of saying ‘Why the fuck did he marry a pain like Malini.’

“Noods, relax” Arjun told her. He gave her a cigarette. She refused and said, “I actually didn’t want to smoke. I wanted to piss her off”. She giggled. “You’ve become a super bitch di. You’re never gonna change?” Arjun asked with a smile. “If you had married me, maybe, who knows” she said. “Don’t tempt” Arjun said “I’m just ‘beginning’ something totally new. Totally”