If you have ever been to a cinema in India, there are countless numbers of movies going on. Some in English, some in regional languages. The funniest are the ones which are dubbed from English to Hindi (or any other languages). With the widespread access of cable and satellite TV, now we have dedicated channels showing dubbed movies. So you don’t even have to buy a ticket. For example, we have had Spiderman in Gujarati shown on a regional channel. And the dubbing of these movies is so brilliant/atrocious that it is always fun to watch it in Hindi – if you can just forget the million “lost in translation” moments which come up.

Enough of the back story, now the point of this post. I went to IMDB, I went to Google Translate and I started checking out movies which I would like to see in Hindi. Here are some of the funniest results. Of course there might be thousands more. Feel free to check it out.

• Terminator 2: Judgement Day – टर्मिनेटर 2: प्रलय का दिन
• North by Northwest – उत्तर पश्चिम से उत्तर
• American Beauty – अमेरिकी सौंदर्य
• The Good, the bad and the ugly – अच्छा है, बुरे और कुरूप
• Lord of the rings: Fellowship of the ring – अंगूठियों का मालिक: यह फैलोशिप अँगूठी की (Just like Kahani ghar ghar ki, fellowship angoothi ki)
• Psycho – पागल
• Its a beautiful life – यह जीवन है एक अद्भुत

and my favourite, भेड़ के बच्चे की साधना. Guess which movie this is.

See the entire top 250 list converted to Hindi here.

The importance of the spinning top at the end of the film is a matter of debate. Some people say the spinning top symbolises that Cobb meeting up with his kids is also a dream (he should have waited for the top to fall before assuming that he is in the real world). Others say, it was real as in the end just before the credits, the top starts wobbling (and is thus about to fall). That debate is not the subject of this post.

What I want to point out is the link between Inception and the Matrix.

Was Inception the prequel to the Matrix movies? Why do I think so? Read on.

The major character that links both the movies, is of course Cobb. My theory? Cobb (of Inception) is the Architect (of the Matrix).

Sounds implausible? Not to me.

- Assume that Cobb at the end of the movie is in the real world. United with his family.
- Fast-forward 30 years into the future.
- Cobb has again started designing new worlds. He has now become the Architect.
- Inception is now common knowledge.
- Rogue specialists have mastered the art of inserting ideas into people’s dreams and are now called Agents.
- Enter Neo.
- At some point in the movie, Neo meets the Architect.
- And there lies the link between the two movies.

Sure they may be flaws in the above logic. Would be glad if someone points them out.

For once I won’t ridicule anyone. Reasons, political and otherwise, forbid me to do it and I do not wish to turn this into a sarcastic free-for-all. Some say it is a movie worth going to, because it teaches about the importance of being together in these troubled times. Some say the movie is not worth a review. Is KRK a replacement to SRK? Who know, but all said and done, in the eternal words of Jugad Singh, Aadmi sachha lagta hai. (Wish the placement season would be as simple as this)

My friends say there is no comparison between SRK and KRK. But isn’t that what people said when SRK came into the scene? SRK vs Amitabh? KRK vs SRK? As Einstein put it, its all relative. He has a long way to go and so here’s wishing the fellow all the best in Bollywood. We come in peace.

“At the risk of oversimplifying things…I think it’s helpful to look at the film as an intricately woven metaphor spun from an everyday “snapshot” of what’s going in the world to guarantee American access for oil. The brilliance in the film, for me at least, is in the totality of that snapshot; it captures everything, good bad and indifferent.

The characters aren’t so much driven by themselves, rather they are what they represent. For instance, Christopher Plummer’s character, beyond whoever-the-hell he’s credited as playing, is America. George Clooney’s role, beyond “Bob,” is that of the “intelligence community” in America.

Matt Damon, beyond the energy consultant, is the well-intentioned, market-economy in America. Matt Damon’s wife is everyone who’s just trying to get by and be happy in America. Together, they sort of represent “the people” of America, and their child who dies in the pool is the American G.I., the people’s sons and daughters, caught up in something completely out of their control, yet still paying the ultimate price just for being there.

Everyone’s character, all the way through, even down to the African man who tries in vain to get on the elevator with Damon, Clooney and “the good prince” (can’t remember the actor or his character’s name), represents something else. And it makes film insanely good.

Just that small elevator scene speaks volumes because in that snapshot, you see America’s treatment of the problems in Africa. You’ve got the American business community (Damon) and the American intelligence community (Clooney) all too busy focusing on the Middle East (the Prince) to notice, or care, that Africa is being neglected and left out. It’s just a moment in the film, but so, so powerful.

And that’s really what the whole movie is. Just a big, smart [metaphor] with everyone playing a part.”

Thanks ben_m_hall, wherever you are.