The Pursuit Of HappYness

It was April 2000. I was bored at home. My sixth semester exams were about to begin and study holidays was generally the time i gained an easy 5 kg weight. That particular study holidays was special because Maniratnam's "Alaipayuthey" was about to be released. I tried my best to gather as many people as possible to go watch the movie on the first week of release. Since not all of my friends were as "casual" as I used to be about preparing for the exams, i had to be content with the number of people i got in the end...and the number was an emphatic zero! Yes, i went to watch the movie all alone at Udhayam, a few days after the release. As it turned out, it was the first time ever that I watched a movie in a theater, accompanied by none. I'd have thought that it'd be the last time too, but alas...
I've started getting used to five and a half days work weeks of late. I goto work on Saturdays as early as is possible and work for about 4-6 hours, thanks to an impending project deadline. So, it was natural that i ran out of things to do over a 3-day weekend! Sunday went off without a problem in cooking pongal, watching football(American) and sleeping. Monday was a bit of a struggle...but again watched more football, slept and cooked during the night. Today was unbearable. Woke up at around 9am and it was a big struggle passing those four hours between 10 am and 2pm. Felt happy to know that a friend of mine was going through the same torture(and learnt a few minutes ago that another friend almost went crazy too).
So, what did i decide to do? Yes...to go watch Will Smith in "The Pursuit of HappYness" at the UltraStar Poway 10 theater, all alone. Took a long walk to the nearest Starbucks before that and got myself a WMFrap, since the show was only at 4:30pm. Then drove to the theater and got myself seated in one of the last row seats. One good thing about matinees is the ticket price. It's usually two or three dollars less than what it is for evening shows. Convincing myself that the decision is not all that bad, i waited for the movie to begin.
I expected the movie to be very good. Sadly, it did not meet my expectations. The screenplay was very weak. The story was straightforward and it did not help matters. Will Smith has done a good job as a man who goes through a lot of hardships in life and still not losing humor and hope, which is very very important. The message is good and that probably makes the movie a "can watch once".
Over six years ago, I went to watch "Alaipayuthey" with atleast twice the amount of expectations with which i went to watch "TPOH" today and the movie gave me double of what i expected. "TPOH" was not even half as good. I was swept off emotionally inside Udhayam, but was left dissatisfied inside UltraStar.
It wouldn't be totally inappropriate to say that I went in Pursuit of Happiness to the theater today and returned with empty hands..and you'll be excused for not believing your best friend tell you that they saw me inside Ultrastar two days from today, sitting all alone inside one of the movie halls.

Dhoom-2

Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Producer: Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra
Staring: Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu

Show Times:
Thursday the 28th December at 7.30 pm at

Theater Information
Ultrastar Poway Creekside Plaza 10, 13475 Poway Road, Poway , CA 92064