Imagine Me & You

Sunday. J and H went to the monkey park in Apeldoorn. Monkey watching is one hell of a fun. It is like looking into the mirror. I was on production support. I cannot travel far away from The Hague. Well, not that I would have gone if I were not on support. I am too lazy to look places, even if it a monkey park :P

Sunday morning. There was no morning for me. Slept through it.

Sunday afternoon. Had ice cream and ice cream alone for lunch. Found out that I like Vanilla and hate strawberry.

Sunday evening. Movie time! Went to Pathe to watch Imagine Me & You.

Why?
1. This movie is screened in Pathe for over a month. One month, to Pathe’s standard, is a light year.
2. Imagine Me & You? Syntactically fishy, isn’t it? Shouldn’t it be Imagine You & Me?
3. I have watched all the other movies screened in Pathe except Imagine Me & You and Take the Lead. Looked at the genre. I prefer Comedy to Music Drama.

Again I was almost alone in the cinema hall. Just one more person was in the hall - a weird girl who was laughing aloud all through the movie. Realized that watching a comedy with a laughing stranger is indeed scary.

I think it is a wonderful movie. Movie starts with Rachel’s wedding with her long time best friend Heck. Heck’s best man is Ned, a big time stud. Luce is the florist for the marriage. Minutes before marriage, Rachel and Luce glance each other for the first time. Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography – something sparks. Ned develops interest towards Luce. She flatly avoids him. Heck tries to match Luce up with Ned. Luce says she is gay. That doesn’t discourage Ned. He continues his attempts. Rachel and Luce’s paths keep crossing. Rachel starts doubting that what should not happen may happen. She is confused like hell and torn between the two. On one side is Heck, a sweetheart in all sense. On the other is Luce, whom she could not resist. Rachel declares to Luce that she cannot let Heck suffer though she loves her. Heck senses that something is wrong. He comes to know that his wife is interested in somebody else. He confides it in Ned. Ned understands that it is Luce. He warns Luce. Luce decides that she moving away would solve the problem. Heck decides to play the gentleman. He says the he wants Rachel to be happy and encourages her to follow Luce if she is her happiness. Rachel rushes behind Luce. They unite dramatically.

Ufff… I never thought that I would ever like a gay movie. I didn’t watch Brokeback Mountain just for this reason. I watched Imagine Me & You without knowing that it is a gay movie. Well, gay movie or straight movie, Imagine Me & You is a good movie. A well made movie. I liked it a lot. This doesn’t mean that I would watch Brokeback Mountain. I like watching movies that ends as – ‘and they lived happily ever after’. I avoid tragic movies.

There are lots of characters and scenes in this movie that are beautifully filmed:
* Rachel’s little sister who is never short of questions (like, does penguins have knee?)
* Rachel’s weird dad
* The eccentric customer at Luce’s flower shop. He frantically searches for a single flower, ponders over various options and finally settles for a cactus
* The scene with Heck and Rachel’s sister at rooftop after Heck suggests Rachel to follow her real love. Rachel’s little sister promises Heck the she would marry him after 10 years if he was still unhappy then
* One with Rachel’s mom and dad towards the end of the movie. Rachel’s dad confesses that he was lowly compared to her and she deserved a much better husband. Rachel’s mom replies that he had always been enough for her
* The other with Luce and Rachel at the stadium, where they verbally abuse a player
* One with Luce and Heck at flower shop. Heck asks Luce if Rachel had mentioned about any shortcoming or defect or problem in him. Luce says he should Rachel about it. Heck says, “I can’t. What if there is?”
A wholesome memorable movie.

The movie has the title song – “Imagine Me and You”. I googled and found that it is the song “Happy Together”. The tune is wonderful and familiar. Very familiar... Was it a Hindi or Tamil movie song? Somebody went naughty and picked somebody else’s tune...

If this movie is made in Hindi… let me guess…

Karan Johar would direct it (Obvious, isn’t it?).
Karan Johar would name it "Kuch Hum Sochen, Tum Kuch Aur Soche"

Rachel – Preity Zinta? Starting as the who sacrifices her fiancée, then graduating as mother determined to have her illegitimate child, prostitute willing to be a surrogate mother, girl who falls in love with a stud after her engagement, RJ in a live-in relation… Is married women turning gay the next step of evolution??

Luce – Sushmita Sen. This would be dynamite. She could bring dignity to the role without ending up as a marriage-breaking vamp or womanising woman.

Heck – Shah Rukh Khan. Naturally, this character would be fleshed out for the King Khan. Though Salman is expert in playing guy who loses his girl to perfection, Shah Rukh would have a blast with his teary eyed, I-am-so-cute-and-sweet-to-be-dumped expression in the scenes with Rachel’s sister at rooftop and with Luce in the flower shop.

Ned – Without any doubt, our Salman Khan. Who else could play the role of the stud who can get any girl in the world except the one whom he desires.

Rachel’s dad – Anupam Kher, the standard eccentric dad.

Pathe screens Phir Hera Pheri this Sunday. Yippeeee…