Tag: storytelling

Mollywood Times: Can You Really Write Your Own Destiny?

Mollywood Times Image Grab

How many times have we been told to “write our own destiny”? It sounds great in motivational speeches, LinkedIn posts, and social media captions. But I’m someone who has always believed that no matter how hard you try to shape your own future, life doesn’t always turn out the way you imagined. There is another factor that rarely gets enough credit: luck.

Think about it. You can fight against all odds, convince your parents, and marry the love of your life. That’s definitely an example of writing your own destiny. But whether that marriage turns out to be happy and fulfilling depends on many things that are completely outside your control. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a toxic relationship simply cannot be fixed. It’s not always because you didn’t try hard enough. Sometimes, circumstances, timing, or plain luck have different plans.

The same applies to almost every part of life. Whether it’s your career, passion, business, or even a hobby, you can put in your heart and soul and still not get the outcome you hoped for. Success often depends on external factors that you simply cannot control. Effort matters, but so do timing, opportunity, and luck.

That’s exactly why Mollywood Times stood out to me. This Malayalam movie explores a similar idea, showing how life can take unexpected turns despite the choices we make. It’s built around a thought-provoking premise that feels relatable, and I was surprised that it didn’t receive the attention it deserved. In my opinion, it’s one of those underrated Malayalam movies that deserved much more recognition.

Naslen delivers another brilliant performance, and the supporting cast does a great job as well. The film also has a dark sense of humour that really worked for me. It balances serious themes with clever comedy without making either feel forced.

While browsing Reddit after watching the film, I noticed that many viewers believe the story is inspired by real-life events and have been trying to guess the filmmakers involved. That could very well be true, but we’ll never really know what happened behind closed doors.

Overall, Mollywood Times is an engaging Malayalam film that’s well worth watching at least once. It’s currently streaming on JioHotstar.

When People Forget You

A Scenic Nature Photo

Memory is such a weird thing. Some people remember the tiniest details about me from years ago, while others can’t recall spending time with me ever. They have forgotten entire moments. A day out, the day we talked, the laughs we shared.

I mean, how is that even possible? How can people erase entire days?

It also leaves you with a strange sense of self-doubt. Did you not make enough of an impression to be remembered?

A school friend, whom I reconnected with years later, couldn’t remember that we had spoken over the phone before. He was under the impression we had never talked. Another friend couldn’t recollect attending a wedding with me, which was actually the place where we first met. Even today, he acts as though we’ve never met. A few days ago, another friend, this time a woman, said she doesn’t remember going to a movie with me. It wasn’t just a quick outing. The entire day revolved around that one activity, so it was mind-boggling to realize that the memory had completely disappeared from her mind.

And then there are people like my niece, who can remember things from years ago with surprising clarity. Every time she brings up something I had completely forgotten, I’m both amazed and happy.

I guess this just proves that human memory is a fickle thing. It isn’t the perfect record of our lives that we often assume it is. So how can we depend on memory alone to define our current relationships or friendships and the moments that mattered?

Maybe someone, somewhere, did something incredibly kind for you, but you’ve completely forgotten it. Over time, you start believing they were never there for you because the memory no longer exists. You convince yourself there were no meaningful moments together, when in reality, they simply faded away.

Sometimes, forgotten memories say more about how the mind works than they do about the people involved.

It’s kind of scary, isn’t it? How hard do we have to try to hold on to the good memories? To make sure time doesn’t play the villain and quietly erases them for good.

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Photo by Baro