review - Hunger Games

Gen Next, tujhe Salaam! Hunger Games’ is based on a young adult novel, written by Suzanne Collinse, where humans kill fellow humans, in a battle for survival & one emerges the victor, in a televised reality show – all for the sake of TRP’s!!! Maan gaye, young ustaads! If only my weak ‘ole heart would stop going dhak dhak! (outta sheer fear & not Madhuri Dixit ishtyle)

Flashback to simpler times, when my friends complained about how they were clueless about what made their kids click & moi, with a stout heart, filled with determination, valiantly tried to keep up. The honeymoon at first, with Enid Blyton, Babysitters club, Richmal Crompton, Jaqueline Wilson, Louise Rension … lulled me into a sense of false security; when Beti S discovered the classics – the fabulous world of Tolstoy, Dickens, Austen, Fitzgerald, Orwell … I smugly high-fived myself & thought, yep “you’ve done it!
And then came “Twilight” – omg, creepy pale humans/vampires, some with fangs, instead of teeth, who look like teenagers, but are all 100+, they love, but may bite their girlfriends ….. I was a broken spirit! Unlike the Harry Potter series, which my daughter& I fought over to read first, “Twilight” mocked my efforts at ‘keeping up with the youngsters’! Sanely skipping the books, the hubby & I bravely attempted watching the first movie, only to be reduced to laughter & horror; we were officially forbidden to watch any of the films henceforth, by our firm, uncompromising daughter! That was the first blow!
Like a thick-skinned rubber ball, I bounced back with “hum honge kaamyab” enthusiasm, until a speed breaker, in the form of “Hunger Games”, happened; I mean, reality shows, in a human kill human contest, where young things meant to study, go to college, have fun & party, are plunged into a harsh, stark, man-made jungle, with brutal obstacles & cruel intentions ….
The scary truth about “Hunger Games” is, that it lures you into a state of belief; that all this carnage & bloody violence among youngsters, watched by a sadistic society, with no compunctions or conscience, is alright & the new normal!There are rumors afloat that an animated version is on its way - help!!!

Worse still, once the strong, sturdy & stunning Jennifer Lawrence, portraying Katniss Everdeen, wins you over, despite my queasiness, I started rooting for her, like the vicious audience in the movie; I recall with shame, that I cheered as she killed her competitors; AND you realize you are watching a very decently made movie, with a credible cast, led by the very promising Ms Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson as her male counterpart in the game, with whom a romance is created, to boost TRP’s, Miley Cyrus’s brooding, slightly dumb looking boyfriend, Liam Hemsforth & a host of senior artistes, totally unrecognizable under their grotesque, futuristic make up & styling – the talented Mr. Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson as the drunk mentor, with a heart of gold, Lenny Kravitz & Donald Sutherland, to name a few.

“Hunger Games”, the movie, thumbs-up!

“Hunger Games” as a teen cult sensation, chilling & a menacing glimpse into the mind-set of a future generation!

“Gap’ ‘aint just the name of a store, it’s that yawning divide, that separates generations & I embrace it. “Ours is not to reason why ….” Gen Next, may your tribe increase & “may the odds be ever in your favor!’