Michael - Movie

Watched 'Michael' and was most impressed by young Jaafar Jackson who is Michael Jackson's nephew, son of Jermaine Jackson. But this is less about the movie and more about my association with MJ as we knew him and not Michael.

Sometime in the mid 1980's when we were just out of school and were listening to western music, came this Grammy Award night which was telecast on Indian TV. Not live but a recorded thing and we saw it. Happened that it was one of the greatest years for Western music ever with hits like 'Beat it', 'All Night Long', 'Every Breath You Take' etc. The videos, MJ, everything was different in so many ways. MJ comes on with a new sound, completely different, and we heard 'Beat It' like it was from another world. I first heard 'Beat It' in MLJ's car when Vidyuth played it on their snazzy cassette player and I was blown. I immediately shared the news with my other music pal Mr Naresh Raghavan who had by then secured an LP of 'Thriller'. So it was on a weekday afternoon, after classes, that me and Naresh went to his house and listened to 'Thriller' over and over again. Later Naresh would perform to it in his college festival which is a brave thing to do looking back.

Then MJ kept coming with other albums but after 'Thriller' I actually went back and bought 'Off the Wall' at Sangeet Sagar and somehow liked it more than I liked 'Thriller'. And then all the other albums after that - 'Bad', 'History' and stuff which marked years of our growth past college, into work, and so on and so forth. I remember my brother Ram telling me how MJ would not stop crying when he sang 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You..' and then Sagar introducing me to a Two Cellos version of 'Smooth Criminal'.

I never imagined anyone could actually get close to even one move of his because he was electric but watching Jaafar Jackson nail them one by one, not miss a beat, a move, an expression, was surreal. It was like he says in the film 'channeling' Michael. The way he spoke, the kindness in his voice, the softness in his eyes, the clarity of thought, suddenly reconnected to the MJ we knew as a superstar, and now as a human. He says 'they are my friends' when they speak of animals and when they speak of fans 'they are my family'. His love for humans, for the sick, the children, for music and for giving the best, his search for something beyond excellence 'the best ever' and the way he designed his music videos, his songs, hims persona, is a crazy. That said, while Jaafar did a magnificent job young Juliano Krue Valdi who played young MJ was equally magnificent. The tight close ups offer no chance to escape and Jaafar and Juliano stayed true to the part, bringing all the love, vulnerability and honesty that MJ had -your eyes have to be exactly that. Something about his desire for excellence beyond his times 'of all time' and the humility with which he wore that crown reminds one of the Level 5 Leadership. Something that leaders of the world today can do well to emulate.

Perhaps it is the timing that's right - in a world full of fakeness, lies and dishonesty - here comes a silver lining. He was true to whatever he believed in and stayed that way. Looking back at his interviews, a couple which popped up, its in sync. Much to learn and be from good ol MJ. We never truly understood him except that we knew he was great and crazy enough to bring the coolest music videos, the most heart stopping steps and presentations. We never knew of his work, his life. Thanks to the movie and Jaafar, we now know he was way ahead of his times...and they were good times....so he was way, way, way ahead of the present times.

Can watch it again and again. Perhaps with my old pals Naresh and Vidyuth!