Mallu Discount

We coined this new term yesterday. No offense to all the mallus out there but just couldn't help ourselves. Come stay in the gulf and you'll know what I mean.

Anyways, we (me and Amit) went to watch Ghajini last night. Decent-to-good movie I'd say despite the whole world going gaga over the movie and Aamer's performance. Why I say this is because of the so-called 'Mallu Discount' factor. So what is Mallu Discount?

Mallu Discount is nothing but the South factor. Let me explain. Indian cinema defies logic - all genres inclusive. Even the most realistic of movies seem to make no sense at times. There are exceptions but I am speaking of the vast overwhelming majority. Singing & dancing around trees, fight scenes, romance, acting (read: overacting), larger-than-life characters, item numbers, cleavage & finally climax (no, not that one!) - these are all the essential elements of Indian movies. Put this all together and you have a masala bollywood flick. Multiply this by a factor of 10 and you have a masala 'south' movie (Pot-bellied actors added to the list!). This south factor is what I call 'The Mallu Discount".

So while watching Aamer pull off some absolutely nonsensical stunts last night, I turned to Amit and frustratingly remarked, "Kya horaha hai yeh sab? Kuch bhi kya!" (What's all this? Anything?) And in his typical quick wit he replies, "Chod na yaar. South ki picture ka remake hai. Mallu discount de de!" (Let it be. Remake of a South movie. Give some mallu discount!).

We both burst out laughing. The movie suddenly became more tolerable to the extent that I ended up saying to my bro, who had tickets for the next show, that it was a decent movie. Definitely worth a watch.

Mallu discount helps.