Life Of Ki & Ka

Just watched a brave Bollywood movie. Having read rave reviews and watched the lead actors on debates on man woman relationship and subjugation in Indian marriages ruling social inequalities and blah blah… sort of amused to hear enlightening thoughts from movie makers. I'm not a Bollywood buff partly because I'm not a part of gen next style of movies and partly because it's an expensive affair in a city. So, I wasn't going to blow up my money to watch something banal I would rather watch the IPL action, but drought and moral conscience put me off. So the movie.Just like that.
Well I did finally watch it and came out refreshed with new age fluff lot of boozy romance, sex and some melodrama thrown in for good measure last part works even today, we're masters in the business.
Scene I, love happens at pubs and bars where the couple drink themselves silly till the heroine gets virtually sick. I belong to the generation when romance happened with flowers, countryside, hills or beaches. So this was news to me. After drowning sorrows and loneliness in liquor the couple looked into each other's eyes soulfully, now I guess compatability comes with tipple. Next, before they hit de-addiction center, Scene II Wedding happens.

Basically, the guy in question didn't want to earn himself a living so got next best job by converted himself into a super excellent househusband by getting a super successful rich wife with penthouse, state of art kitchen to boot. Any guy would give his eye or arm to switch places, and get into the spot with a super luxurious lifestyle. Nobody would have minded if he continued his business, until, he kept swearing that all he wanted was to explore the life of a homemaker/ housewife the “life of artist” as he kept saying all through the movie. Now that's enough to give us weepies. God, women simmering over kitchen fires with LPG chullah or stoves whatever, worrying first thing every morning if cabbage or cauliflower would go well with rotis, making note of the Wednesday's super grocery sales for the next big festival, and to feel blessed doing laundry grimy collars and cuffs, explore creativity scrubbing soot off pots and pans and bathroom floor making right choice of Lizol or Phenyl, Harpic or Bleach, Saffola or Dhara, tucking bed covers perfect, planning/packing menu of alu methi or alu fries with cranky kids and crazy in laws, was stretching things too far by any flight of logic. Stop glorifying housewife. Respect is the keyword.
Basically the movie wasn't even exploring marriage, forget love. It was one big hoax. The woman was looking for a reliable housekeeper cum lover. It's about who gets the food to the table without fail every night. Every body today hates to cook, clean do laundry even if theirs because they're too lazy or it's plain menial. So let's not call housewife an artist and get conned in the process.
Homemaking is a job which everyone needs to learn before getting into marriage ; and not marry because you need someone to do the dirty work after you. It's exploitative either ways. An exploitative gender reversal isn't the trick but honest hard work could help. A sustainable relationship needs respect more than love. Because love is a weak emotion, alone to sustain marriage.

 

Love alone independent of every other emotion is very demanding emotion. Respect preceding love makes marriage more structured and balances out the troubles. Love preceding respect is exacting and can actually get demanding and hard upon people. We don't necessarily respect our loves always and that's exactly when trouble brews. Respecting what he/she stands for necessarily will lend dignity to any relationship.

 

Nothing against the movie but methinks they carried the housewifery too long could have cut on sermon and eulogy