And they lived happily ever after!

Before you start reading this, answer this-

“DO YOU THINK HAPPY ENDINGS ARE OVER RATED?”

Cinderella, Snow white, Rapunzel, The Sleeping Beauty…

We all grew up to fairy tales that were used to make believe in the most popular conclusion of all times, “…And they lived happily ever after.”

Nobody knows what happened to Snow white after she met Prince Charming, did Cinderella gain acceptance from the royal household and the people when she met the Prince of her dreams, nobody knows if the Sleeping Beauty was never again troubled by the Dark Fairy! And back then, these questions never bothered us nor did we think beyond the concept of ‘Happy Endings.’

May be we don’t realize the trivial nature of reality unless we come across its harsh exposures.

While there were no more stories being told, we entered another magical illusion, the cinema. Like most people in this country, movies were the quintessential entertainers, stress busters and escape from reality. So whether it was Basanti and Veeru’s chemistry in Sholay or Raj and Simran’s love story, you grew up knowing, goodness would triumph and the film would end on the note ‘… and they lived happily ever after.’

Yes! We did grow up to believe that. Not just in the love stories but in any story. Be it the battle between the good son (Shashi Kapoor) and the villainous son (Amitabh Bachchan) in Deewar or the Don and his look-alike Vijay in the original DON (1975). Not all, but most films until recently believed in ‘happy endings.’

In spite of all that predictability, we have always rooted for everything to end well. To sum it up in a dialogue, “Humare filmon ki tarah, humarai zindagi mein bhi end tak sab kuch theek ho hee jaata hai. Happies endings. Aur agar theek na ho, toh who di end nahi; picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!” (From Om Shanti Om)

We have always been taught moral stories and all the right values. Like I always say, Indian society highly believes in preaching morals and idealism. All of this in the hope, that whenever in life need be, we shall take the right lessons, stick to our morals and ethics and follow the path of goodness hoping for it to end well. And who knows, had it not been for these stories, we would have easily given up for an easy compromise with the convenient ways!

And well, don’t we do that now? While everybody has been busy debating whether cinema influences society or reflects the ways of society, let’s just say it is a combination of both. Our entertainment reflects our culture and introduces innovations in our way of living.

I earlier referred to the triumph of good over evil, portrayed in DON, I get back to the modern remake and sequel of the film, where it s not about goodness, but about being the smarter one. May be earlier, we didn’t live in an exactly ideal society, but today we have learnt to accept and give in to the ‘Dark side’ too in the name of ‘being practical.’ And yes, it is alright to break relationships that don’t work, unlike the olden days when people strived harder to make relationships work when they didn’t. It is fine today to choose your career over everything else. I say this without sarcasm, but with acceptability. This is how, we have learnt to live. And maybe, this too shall change.

Irony is, that over the time we have developed a misconception, ‘To accept a theory, you have to reject another.’ And guess what! People have just begun to discard the idea of happy endings by terming them to be myths! How cynically hopeless can we be to lose hope even without hoping?

No! Let’s keep the faith alive…

It shall all be fine!

“Happiess Endings with a wide eSmileee”

 J