This article is about, ‘Karthik calling Karthik'(2010) Hindi movie. Starting with the title credits; it rolled like ‘The Matrix’ movie title credits, with phone numbers changing to names. It had some good music by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy. Plot: A person is suffering from schizophrenia, hallucinations, and multiple personality disorder. If the movie is allowed to roll continuously from start to finish, possibly one might miss noticing a few things. While Karthik enquires at the telephone exchange, the person at the exchange answered that there was no one who had called him in the early morning 5 AM. But when his psychiatrist and his girlfriend were there at 5AM, as they didn’t believe a person from future could call everyday at 5AM and change life, they really received the calls. Did the phone have any spirit in it, as might have been portrayed in some supernatural thrillers(Andhagaram-Netflix)? Or how else could that be possible? If it is imagination, it would not have been present while they were there. So, either someone from his office is playing a prank on him, by knowing his secrets, or he is doing these actions and forgetting them. These are diseases of the mind. In the final scene, his girlfriend has a book with a hand about schizophrenia in which the middle finger tries to raise and say hi. It is a symbolism for saying f*ck and it might be just like Stanley Kubrick kept in his movie, ‘Shining’, the door number, where the number refers to the fake moon launch shot by him for the American Government, as per one theory. So, movies might have some colour-encoded information. It might be like a dream. Why is the name Karthik kept? Karthik is a common word used in the Tamil film industry for any new hero. Why? It might be like plenty of other things in the world, like common word for women who are been loved, Simran, Laila etc. How does the calling happen, when he is in a room, everyone hears a voice on the other side, yet no call is recorded in the telephone exchange? That suspense could be broken down as a hidden feature in the phone, for reminder. There is no ghost in the phone. I had used a number in the telephone, wherein if it is called, I get a call in my phone, without any voice, a blank call, for which I will be charged in the telephone bill. Something like that, but a reminder.
Apart from these, the next question that comes is, how do diseases of the mind come from? Are they real? If we allow a chance for one mental disease to be real, there will be plenty of others. Perhaps chemicals might act on the body and may result in certain hallucinations and other states, which might be unexplainable. My ego, if it is not challenged, might take one stance, but when challenged might take another stance. I might feel, I am right, but the entire world might say, you have committed a mistake, possibly a sin. It is not impossible for you to change; please change for the welfare of others, but I might not relent. How long does it take for a person to change? What about the forgotten memories? What is the mind? If we are living in a dream world, constructed reality, with computers and other electronics being like toys and keeping us occupied? Or should alien theory be applied to computers? How long will electronics last? Are we created by Gods for a purpose with a small wick or light to enlighten the world, but wherein some of us might transgress and become paradoxical dolls, thereby getting the wrath of gods and others, by being ridiculed like a barbie or satan or fallen angel among many terms? The title of the movie aptly signifies the climax, and he was sedated for the rest of his term. All the confidence that he boasted of to the world turned to diffidence and mental illness due to some mental flaws. Everyone might have this hidden somewhere in their psyche, and as Edward Titchener, a psychiatrist, says, “The best a person can know about psychology is within oneself by observing and writing down.” But how long? How many different aspects of thinking will a person allow within himself? It is said by some in Christianity that evil has created this Maya or illusion in the world, and doubt is the weapon of satan. If we don’t consider that, but try to find the hidden aspects of the psyche, then we might face existential crisis or be paradoxical dolls, in spite of being provided with all the necessary things required for living, listed out in something like Maslow’s hierarchy. Is ontological proof or transcendence for the proof of god’s existence needed in the hierarchy for social living? What could be accomplished by being enlightened? Opinions might vary and new truths might emerge. But will it be appreciated or needed for society, which might have progressed significantly? Hitler banned non-patriotic movies; should extreme steps be taken by the government, whether it is real or something like unseen Big Brother, in order to help and govern its people? Do leaders like Modi Trump fit into these leadership stereotypes? Or are all these reflections of the void, when in reality there is nothing? No one calling? Karthik making up the noises to fill up the void? I was wrongly under the impression that Modi was responsible for alcohol prohibition in Gujarat, but it turns out Moraji Desai and Mahatma Gandhi(his birthplace) were responsible. In Munnabhai series, Mahatma Gandhi makes a plea for incorporating principles rather than statues in the country, is that possible?