Derailed

Since sixth of this month i.e since my xams have ended, I have been watching two movies on an average per day...i guess u understand how hectic my days r right now. fact is, i have been so very busy with studies for civils exam-socio, psycho, stats, eco, constitution, history, geo -on practically every subject that can affect an administrator's decision making in the course of his administration that i cudn't get much time to devote on my fave hobby...watching movies.

However, I have more than offset the loss in terms of number of movies per year by over-seeing movies this month. I am at home and have turned a sore for mom -though she won't say that but i know -bcoz at the time she watches one of those saas-bahu sops she finds a star movies or hbo or zee studio on the tv. Well, in the midst of this race to see movies, I saw one yesterday that made me sit and think. Thinking is one thing i do less often these days, as evident from the no of blog entries of late (i almost always chronicle my thts). This movie is Derailed. It has a 6.5 out of 10 IMDB rating...however take my words; its worth a watch.

The movie is basically abt a character played by Clive Owen. He has been portrayed here as a boring business executive, perhaps a kind of loser, who doesn't even get kissed by his wife, He stays on in the marriage because of the daughter who has had a kidney failure and the couple are saving money for 7 yrs now for a dialysis machine for her.

In the midst of this boring life, he faces a setback in office that enforces his feeling of being a loser. At this very point, he meets a lady on the train -completely by chance and too good to be true -you know, the way we often dream of but never get to in real life. This lady, played by Jennifer Aniston, is also a business executive and married. Then starts a love affair which has to culminate in a bed in some hotel room blah blah.

Problem is, they get mobbed while on the act in the hotel room. Further, Aniston gets raped by the one who mobs them (Owen lies unconscious in the hotel room all this time). Now, this guy doesn't leave Owen there. He blackmails Owen constantly and the loser that he is, Owen keeps giving money till the guy is convinced he can't milk Owen further. Besides, he doesn't have many options given the fact that any disclosure will derail his marriage and Aniston is against going to the police -she says she had to go for an abortion after the rape, something which will make any man fall in line with a girl's opinion.

The twist comes next. Due to some turn of events, he finds out that he had been conned. Vincent Cassell and Aniston are lovers who like to con married men this way. On top of that, Vincent has hurt Owen psychologically and left him demoralised.

What I love abt the movie comes just then. Owen is simply out of options. He is hurt; knows he has been made a fool; his self-concept has taken a beating because of the dastardly acts of Cassell; the money he had saved for his daughter is gone. He traces out the gang. At this point, he could have hired a detective (in fact a detective was also trailing these guys) to get his money back and push them into prison. But he decides to go for it alone. Why? Perhaps the voters at IMDB didn't get this part...because he wants to get back the lost confidence.

He goes for this cruel and dangerous gang alone and eliminates them quite dexterously. What deserves to be seen is that given proper motivation, a person is capable of doing just about anything that others can. The secret behind success of self-help books is just this. They provide a sense of self confidence and boosts a person's self-image that mostly gets a beating in this 'evil' world where you will find many bullies and critical commentators in every step to exhaust you emotively.

Truth be said friends, success in life doesn't come from money or wealth or popularity. It comes from having a balanced, happy life. Well, ehh! So they all say -the sadist preachers. But they don't say that one can't achieve absolute success in life thanks to the bullies one has to deal with in the course of his life as a social being in human society. More the positive regard one gets, better his personality structure is and happier he is. Alas! Most of the people we are in company with are somewhat critical of us and we, in turn, are critical of them. In this way, we end up harming and hurting each other. Owen struck back -and in a fatal manner -after his ego couldn't take any more of the torture inflicted on it. This reminds us of the good old law of Newton -Every action has an equal and opposite reaction -how true!