The 2 words from the title of this post have just a letter to distinguish their spelling, but in meaning have a world of differences. Now why am I suddenly going into the spelling ???? I am not :) Since the time I started the blog I always wanted it to be a channel to share my experiences with a virtual audience and this one too keeps that spirit alive. So what triggered this post ?
Off late I have spent some time analyzing my Reel activities, namely watching movies, TV, or just any form of media. Unlike my childhood days when all we had was Chitrahar on DD or the chance to watch a few "family" movies once in a blue moon, these days the channels and options and numerous. So what makes one pick and choose ?
I realized that all I watch in terms of movies and TV was just a reflection of my dreamy world !!!! Before we go ahead, I am NOT including news & current affairs here. So here I was sitting on a weekday, glued to the TV watching a hindi serial at 9.30 in the night. So glued that I even forgot how hungry I was !!! Now what I was watching is the usual hindi TV serial drama, not the saas bahu types, but a romantic drama between 2 people in love. The sight of the handsome well built guy romancing the beautiful sweet girl gave me goose bumps. I watched them fight, crack jokes, get angry with each other and then spend some romantic moments without even battling an eye lid. The 30 mins episode finally culminated with my hunger ringing an alarm in my brain and I rushed to kitchen to appease my tummy. Once done, I was back on internet, doing what ???? Finding ways to download episodes of the same daily soap !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had never attempted this kind of thing in my life so far. So as a starter my ignorance started to show. Although I have spent quite some time on Youtube watching videos of the missed episodes, it never dawned on me to download them. So here I was trying ways to figure out how to download the videos. I tried my luck with Google search, but no, all I found was online viewing portals, fan pages, discussion forums. I then realized that I am not the only one :) there wre numerous others who idolize these small screen characters as much as I do.
I read discussion posts varying in topics from daily episode analysis to fans commenting on their love for the actors. I even joined a community on Facebook of the serial AND posted a question to the fans on how I could catch hold of the episode videos !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was really the pinnacle of the fan in me :)
So finally I did find a way and spent a good 4 hrs meticulously downloading episodes of the serial. What I learnt ? Few not so surprising things :
1. There has always been some point in a person's life when they have idolized these characters from a movie or a TV soap. I still remember the huge Hrithik Roshan poster in my hostel room.
2. There are times in our lives when we live our dreams or fantasies or wishes through these movies or TV soaps. I still remember dreaming about European country side after watching DDLJ, imagining myself in place of Kate Winslet in Titanic, wanting a similar house like Konkona Sen in Wake Up Sid and the latest, finding a prince charming like the male lead character of my hindi TV serial.
3. Through the movies/ daily soaps. we sometimes live the lives we cannot in our real lives. Things like being the heir of a rich tycoon, going on some international cruise, saving the world in 2012 etc :) The list in endless.
In short our real lives are hugely affected (if not influenced) by our reel life characters. This reel side of our real lives is entertaining, sometimes inspiring and for most times keeps our imagination alive. And this imagination forms the foundation for dreams. Yes, not all dreams arise from the reel but some do. And what is a life without dreams !!!! so dream on.
So the crux of the matter is that there is an influence of reel in our real, the intensity may vary from person to person. And this influence often gives us some unpredictable experiences, I have my share and it adds lots of colors to my life. So lets blend some reel in real and turn into a new shade of color each time. The more the colors the richer the experience !!!!
And as I always say, Life's Like That.......
