A new study has pointed out that re-reading books or re-watching movies that we connect with emotionally, refreshes us and reaffirms our sense of self identity. Mumbai celebrities like theatre director Raell Padamsee and others seem to know a thing or two about this habit. Says Raell, “One movie that I’ve kept watching ever since I saw it years ago is The Story of Adele H, which is based on a real life account of Victor Hugo’s daughter whose unrequited love for a military officer led her to the point of mental illness. Isabelle Adjani, who played the lead, portrayed the character of a woman consumed by love masterfully. There are scenes in the film that I can’t forget. History of the World-I with Mel Brooks is something I can keep watching because it’s so rip-roaringly funny.”
Raell totally agrees that the experience of revisiting these films that she loves, refreshes her. “Not only do the films teach me a thing or two from the theatrical point of view, but everytime I return to them — sometimes after a gap of several years — I have a new perspective on them. Because in the intervening years, I have myself grown and evolved as a person, I look at them differently every time. For any introspective person, this is an extremely useful habit because doing it helps reveal to oneself just how much one has learnt during the journey of one’s life.”
Singer Shibani Kashyap’s fave movie and one that she has seen innumerable times is Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan, which stars Rekha in the title role. “Everything about the movie is monumental to say the least — the direction, the music and, needless to say, the peerless acting by Rekha who plays a courtesan.” Shibani opines that the movie, which is a tragic tale, sells its melancholy. “There is one particular scene that is truly unforgettable — when Umrao as a woman of the world and a famous courtesan returns to her family home only to be rejected by her mother and brother.” Shibani says that when she was a girl she won an award for singing the song Dil cheez kya hai from the movie at a public function, which only served to reaffirm her belief in the entire project.
Anchor and television personality Teejay Sidhu has a book that she returns to time and again — Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss. “It is a book that filled me with hope the first time I read it. I loved it so much that I marked passages in it and I keep returning to those passages every time life gets me down,” says Teejay. The spiritually-oriented lady who admits to being a compulsive reader often finishing off books in one continuous session, says, “This is a book that gives me the larger picture on life and brings a balance to my being. Every time I’m fussing and nitpicking about life too much, I need to go back to it to realise there is something bigger and more grand about my life than just its daily realities and
stresses.”
