English Vinglish

Finally made it to this movie yesterday night along with Lavanya and Veeresh , after a lot of planning and stuff. I am really glad I could make it……. of course not to forget…… with Ravi’s grace ( he took take care of Mahati  ;-) )

English Vinglish is not just another parody on people who don’t know English and don’t know how to manage in the States. It’s a lot more. Its about a “woman” , her individuality and self respect.  Married woman sacrifice a lot of things in life to take care of their family. English Vinglish is a sincere attempt to show all those women how to enjoy life and discover their inner peace and happiness.

Shashi ( Sridevi ) is a home-maker and has 2 kids and  a super busy husband. She is very good at cooking and making laddoos is her hobby , which she translates into a small business. People are very appreciative of her laddoos. But unfortunately , her own family makes fun of her in different ways. Her daughter doesn’t want her to come to the Parent Teacher Meeting just because she can’t talk in English. And her husband always makes fun of her that she is born to make laddoos. The subtle emotions portrayed by Shashi just melt your heart away. Kudos to the story writer and the director.

Moving on… Shashi has her sister’s family settled in New York and her niece is getting married. Situations force Shashi to travel to The United States of America alone. And the rest of the movie is about what she faces there because of not knowing English and how she joins an English class and finds a set of people who love and respect her for what she is.  Her speech in English at the end of the movie is phenomenal.   She looks just fabulous in that red saree……….. so simple and yet elegant…… just like the personality of Shashi J. And what a comeback by Sridevi !! I don’t think I can imagine anybody else in that role J. She looked just awesome in her simple plain cotton sarees.

There are many powerful dialogues which just melt your heart away!!!

“Marriage is between two people who are “equal”. And there will be many situations where one will feel that they are less than the other. But both of them have to help each other , when it happens. And when the other person cannot help you , then you have to help yourself. Self help is the best help “.

 “Agar Mard Khaanaa banaayee , to woh kala hai. Par agar aurat khana banaaye to woh uski jimmedari hai “.

I get really dis-heartened when I see people in my workplace ( client location ) struggling to communicate in English. There are many people  who don’t even make an attempt to talk grammatically correct language. They just manage with the bits and pieces they know. Not knowing English is not anybody’s fault. We are not born with any type of skill. We just develop it. But then , when your job demands it , don’t you think we have to make an attempt to “learn” it properly and make every attempt to succeed??  In the movie , whatever may be the circumstances which lead Shashi to learn English , it is the passion with which she learns it ( proper , grammatically correct English ) that is commendable.