Essays

Indian cinema over the ages has developed a flavour of its own. The vibrancy and exuberance of our cinema is unparalleled across the globe. Indian cinema, over the years, has transcended the barriers of language, art and culture, broken all the bonds and crossed all borders to colour the entire world with is emblematic songs, dances, music, melodrama and didacticism- Indian cinema has a bit of everything. It has the capacity to imbibe all the shades and every spice of life within its ambit, It has been mystifying, enthralling, enchanting and entertaining millions since a long long time. Even today, watching cinema is the most popular mode of entertainment and a favourite pastime of people from all sections of society transcending caste, creed, race or religion. In fact, Bollywood after cricket is a sub-religion of the country. From the common man to the intellectual and the elites—all enjoy watching movies in their leisure time with their friends and families. Cinema works as a great unifying factor which brings together the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the young and the old—all under the same roof for the next two or three hours- It entertains without discrimination, thrill and tickles without any differentiation.

I too, like watching movies with my parents and friends in my spare time. Last year, Sahara Motion Pictures initiated a new era in Indian cinema. The long awaited animation movie (or children was released and it ran successfully in theatres all over the country. Not only children but also teenagers, old and young, all flocked the cinema halls in large numbers to watch—Hanuman. I too had been waiting for the movie eagerly. Once the movie was released, my friend's family and mine made plans to watch the movie in our nearest theatre on the ensuing Sunday. We all were extremely excited. In fact my friend and I could hardly wait for the weekend.

On the appointed Sunday, we reached the theatre filled with thrill and excitement  through and through. Predictably, none of us were disappointed alter watching the movie. Since then, it has become one of my favourite movies, The movie is a  fabulous animation of the legend of the faithful friend and follower of Lord Rama  and his greatest accomplice in the battle against Ravana, The movie traces the entire Life-story of Hanuman—right from his birth to the fulfilment oi the aim for  which he was born.

The story begins with sin and wickedness increasing on the earth and all the Gods rushing to Brahma—the Creator for his protection. The movie brilliantly captures the miraculous birth of Hanuman and his innocent childhood pranks to his education from the Sun God. The scene when the little Hanuman wakes up and mistakes the Sun peeping from a mango tree to be a mango and rushes to eat it out of grave hunger is one of my favourites. The way he reaches the Sun and fights Rahu is extremely interesting. Hanuman- -who is the incarnation of Lord Shiva grows up loved and pampered and gradually being trained for his great appointed task. As he grows up, he meets Lord Rama who is also growing up in his palace with his brother';. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Lord Shiva and Hanuman go to meet little Rama disguised as monkey-charmer and monkey. The attire of Hanuman was extremely amusing with his multi-coloured cap, and his extraordinary feats amused all of us extremely. Even the kite scene when little Rama's kite gets lost amidst the clouds and Hanuman disguising as the monkey to capture it, is also my favourite scene, The rest of the movie too is interesting.

One never loses interest throughout the movie. The movie, all through, captivates one's attention thoroughly. The other scenes* which I really liked, are the ones when Hanuman goes to Lanka to search for Sita. The entire sequence of the scenes thereafter is my favourite. I really liked each and every scene—the way Hanuman burns down the entire Lanka to teach Ravana a lesson and the scene later of the famous Kumbhkaran with his legendary sleep and appetite- In short, there is nothing that I don't like about the movie. I enjoyed every bit of it and more so in the company of my friend and my families.

I like the movie not only because it is entertaining but also because it teaches us a lot about our rich and ancient mythology and Hindu religion, it is usually seen that we don't get the opportunity to know about our religion and (he legends in our mythology in normal course of our lives. The movie is didactic and educative for children as it enriches their minds amidst all violence, crimes and sin with pure devout feelings of the honest Hanuman, which he harbours for his Lord Rama. The movie not only enriches and educates the innocent and fertile young minds but also the adults.

The movie was not only liked by my friends but also by our parents which was a proof of how wonderful the movie was, even though an animation caters to the needs of a specific age group and strata of the society. The animation was of best quality, the special effects very graphical and the morals espoused close to our hearts. This makes Hanuman my favourite movie and I hope we get many more such movies to see in the near future which educate as well as entertain the viewers irrespective of their age, caste, culture, religion or race.