By:
Anurag
Basu
(HT
Cafe),
IndiaFM
Tuesday,
August
28,
2007
Relationships
are
getting
as
crowded
as
the
city
today.
There's
a
virtual
traffic
jam
of
man-woman
equations
-
some
of
them
like
cars
are
new
and
expensive...
others
are
like
old
models
-
reliable
but
no
longer
workable.
By
now,
life
in
a
Metropolis
has
become
predictable
-
fleeting
friends,
fleeting
loves...
but
if
you
ask
me
the
most
significant
relationship
is
the
one
you
have
with
yourself,
First,
you
have
to
realize
that
the
traffic
will
not
move
in
the
direction
you
want
I
to.
If
you
find
someone
who
loves
what
you
are,
that's
just
fabulous.
Trouble
is
that
love
is
rare.
All
of
us
long
for
the
right
relationship
only
one
in
a
hundred
get
there...
and
at
the
right
time.
Many
of
us
tell
ourselves
that
our
marriages
have
gone
wrong
-
somehow
it's
always
the
other
one's
fault.
We
look
for
soul
mates,
or
office
flings
or
a
good
old
extra-marital
affair.
Knotty
business
Commitment
to
marriage?
Just
forget
it.
Beg,
borrow
or
steal
passion.
Romance
is
good
for
teenagers...
adults
can
blow
their
brains
out
with
furtive
relationships,
drugs,
booze,
sleazy
hotel
rooms
no
bar.
In
my
film
Life
in
a
...
Metro,
Ranjit
(Kay
Kay
Menon)
and
Shikha
(Shilpa
Shetty)
drifted
apart
because
of
stress
at
the
workplace,
lack
of
time
with
each
other
and
sheer
boredom.
But
Shikha
stayed
within
a
boundary
and
repaired
her
marriage.
Some
believe
that
'going
back'
to
an
unfaithful
one
is
'dated'.
I
did
get
criticism
about
the
way
I
had
presented
this
relationship.
From
my
perspective,
I
saw
Shikha
as
the
winner:
She
gave
love...
and
marriage
(in
that
order)
another
chance.
If
you
see
the
characterizations,
Shikha
had
patience,
grit
and
self-pride.
The
man
didn't.
Unrequited
She
liked
Akash
(Shiny
Ahuja)
In
return
Akash
liked
her:
Perhaps
they
were
soul
mates
but
what
about
those
elements
which
go
beyond?
-
togetherness,
children
and
home.
Today,
you
can
find
soul
mates
in
abundance.
They
are
like
cabs...
miss
one
another
one
comes
alone.
I
may
be
crude
but
am
I
wrong?
All
I
want
to
say
is
that
an
affair
is
serious
business.
If
it
is
to
be
permanent,
fine.
It
cannot
be
a
one-night-stand.
Power
of
patience
At
the
end
of
the
day,
literally,
it
is
about
the
threshold
of
tolerance,
patience
and
acceptance.
And
loneliness.
Although
you
are
surrounded
by
hundreds
of
friends
and
acquaintances
at
any
given
time
in
Mumbai,
there
are
times
when
you
feel
marooned...
alone.
Reach
out
to
your
best
friend,
when
you
need
him
or
her
the
most,
and
you'll
be
met
with
an
answering
machine.
It's
all
about
how
much
you
mean
to
your
friend
or
your
colleague
at
that
point
of
time.
Mumbai
should
have
a
neon
sign
at
Chowpatty,
warning
all
of
us,
“Out
of
sight...
out
off
mind
here." Choices
have
to
be
weighed
and
rationalized.
Happiness
is
not
worth
it
at
the
cost
of
wounding
others
for
like.
In
Murder,
Simran
(Mallika
Sherawat)
made
a
wrong
choice
in
her
marriage...
and
then
hurtled
into
another
wrong
relationship.
All
this
in
pursuit
of
love
which
is
finally
beyond
definition.
Role
play
I
wanted
to
portray
Simran
with
empathy.
She
was
a
victim
more
than
an
offender.
Because
that's
the
way
it
is.
No
one
wants
to
admit
that
they
are
not
supremely
happy,
that
they
are
doing
the
right
thing.
I
see
all
around
me
young
people
who
are
embarrassed
About
being
lonely...
who
are
embarrassed
about
being
resource
less.
At
times,
this
culminates
in
violence.
I
wanted
to
devote
an
entire
sequence
to
violence
in
Life
in
a
...
Metro.
I
couldn't,
because
it
would
have
shocked.
Censorship?
Perhaps
it
would
not
have
been
permitted
by
the
censors.
I
wanted
to
underline
the
pervasive
violence
around
us.
In
Gangster,
Daya
(Shiney
Ahuja)
wanted
to
quit
violence...
but
it
clung
to
his
skin.
He
decided
that
he
would
embrace
love,
he
would
shun
violence.
But
violence
did
not
leave
him.
Violence,
my
friend,
is
everywhere...
in
video
games,
in
religion
and
marriage.
Coming
up...
after
Metro
I
hope
to
make
a
film
like
Metro
again.
Probably
a
sequel.
I
feel
like
delving
deeper
into
today's
time
and
life.
What
if
the
happily
married
couple
Debu
(Irrfan
Khan)
and
Shruti
(Konkona
Sen
Sharma),
are
not
'happy'
because
of
same
stress?
Can
Rahul
(Sharman
Joshi)
and
Neha
(Kangna
Ranaut)
come
to
terms
with
their
ambitions?
Can
anyone
stop
being
ambitious?
I
am
not
preaching
but
I
need
to
know
human
behaviour
and
then
make
a
film
about
it.
The
complexities
today
are
scary,
frightful,
exciting.
For
me
that
is
good
cinema
material!
But
in
between
I
might
want
to
make
a
thriller!