Only it ain't the one we all dreamed of. I mean, C'mon. We've all grown up rooting for our favourite blonde in the whole wide world, Betty to one day win over Archie with her eternal goodness and make him look beyond the money and ooh-laa-laa of Veronica.

As per the news release from Archie Comics Publications though, that ain't gonna happen. After 6 decades of entertaining us, Archie will finally be settling down. And well... the title says it all, doesn't it ?

Sure, they were THE AMERICAN stereotypes. Sure, it's probably been a decade since any of us has picked up an Archie comic, what with Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Monica taking over. But can you deny you don't feel something when you hear that 'Archie is finally gonna marry Veronica' ? That after watching this depiction of American culture pass hands from generation to generation, we've finally reached this stage where it feels like we're hearing that a childhood classmate's getting married and a flood of pleasant memories wooshes past you ? 

It's funny how people from all over the world. across 150 countries. have voiced their opinions on how attached they feel to these characters... actually, it ain't funny. It's in fact heartening to see that, atleast for a moment in time, people can be united in sharing joy, surprise and supporting each other's opinions irrespective of caste, creed, country, God etc etc. It's heartening to have people remember that point in their childhood when they were hiding an Archie digest in their textbook and smiling everytime Jughead made an ass of Reggie or Mr Lodge pulled one over Archie. Back when life was still all 'fun and games.' Remember those times ?

As for me, maybe I've read too many Jeffrey Deaver novels or seen too many 'underdog wins the day' movies, but I'm still rooting for Betty to not end up with the stigma of being the eternal doormat . C'mon. Juggie !! Knock some sense into him before it's too late.  

What about you guys ? What do you think of Archie marrying Veronica ? 

We voted for change, for a safer government, for a better India blah blah blah... right ?

Turn to any news channel today on the eve of election results and what do you see - the two big guys, the palm and the lotus and wooing all their sworn enemies and the sworn enemies are just waiting for the results to decide whom they'll support. In short, there never was an agenda for any party, was there ? 

You have Shiv Sena telling they'll only support BJP, but if they lose, then they'll support Sharad Pawar as PM since he's Marathi Manoos ( a very valid reason, no doubt !! ). The fat lady, Jayalalaitha, promises to sing her tune only after seeing which way the election goes. Minutes earlier, the news came that BJP is wooing Mayawati - the same Mayawati who went hammer and tongs on Varun Gandhi. The Congress will support anyone as long as it's not BJP/Shiv Sena - their words, not mine.

To sum up, if I had voted for change, it was inconsequential since the people I voted for went and joined the people I hated, changing their stance AFTER ALL THE PEOPLE OF INDIA had finished voting for them.

No agenda, no morals... no change. So tell me, as many say, I have no right to blame any party since I didn't vote.   I'm ok with that. 

But how annoying does it feel to vote for change and realise you've ended up voting for the same government you didn't want to see come to the centre because the people you voted for gave up their ideology for a cushioned seat ? 

P.S. This post was written by a realist, not a pessimist.

The heroine and the hero's mother are tied up, strapped to some colourful time bombs. The villain and his gang of goons are all laughing ridiculously, even though technically they're close enough to get blasted if the time bomb explodes. Not to worry however as the warehouse door gets smashed as our hero enters jumping/in a horse/in a jeep. He and his gang of 3 college friends, one servant and one father ( and horse, if applicable ) fight the 35 goons, with the servant defeating his opponents using comical tactics. After beating the crap out of 34.5 goons, the focus turns on the heroine and suddenly the villain remembers he has a remote control for the time bomb as well. But our hero's too quick for him, beating the crap out of him till the police arrive. They arrest the villain. Just as the time bomb is removed and the couple hug, the villain steals the head officer's gun and turns towards the hero. Luckily his bullet hits the diving geriatric father and before he can shoot a second round, the hero takes a gun and kills the villain. Of course, the shot to the old dad is harmless and with the dead body lying there, the couple, the servant, dad and 3 best friends form a line and tell a cheap joke looking directly into the camera. THE END.

There. I'm sorry everyone but I've just told you the ending of 80 % of all Bollywood movies.( 95 %, if this were still the 90's. ) Sure, there maybe variations ( Daddy dies of the bullet wound, there maybe a NRI babe who's been chasing the hero but in the end decides to let the other girl keep him, gives up mini skirts and spends the rest of her life wearing white sarees ), but this was the standard formula, wasn't it ? And that's where we always got stuck. We never knew how to end movies... and the fact is that a good ending always tugs at your heart or mind, depending on what it aims to achieve.

So what were the best movie endings ever ? Here's my list of some movies that raised the bar simply because of a tremendous ending.Please note, there are movie spoilers here revealing the endings, so be warned before you continue reading.

Category I : The "Oh my God !! No way !!" ending.

Excluded : All teenage slasher/gore movies wherein in the last scene the dead villain suddenly comes is seen hidden in the cupboard/under the bed/ in my shorts. So that means no Scream/I know what you did last summer/Urban Legends/Final destination. Because we expected that !!

Consolation prizes : Too many to choose. So I had to leave out quite a few from the final 5 list. Still here are some movies worth the ticket just for the twist in the tail.
* Seven : "What's in the box ?" he asks. I remember this movie more than a decade after I last saw it for the tremendous ending between Brad Pitt as a cop who has no idea what's in the parcel and a very very calm murderous Kevin Spacey.
* The Usual Suspects : Watch it for Kevin Spacey. Avoid the Hindi version - Chocolate.
* Fight Club : Same director as Seven. You feel there's a twist coming up, but you ain't expecting what happens in the end.

* Primal Fear : This is more out of respect to the book really. But still, Edward Norton playing a choir boy with split personality accused of murder and on trial with only a pompous lawyer ( Richard Gere ) to save his ass from the gallows makes for compelling viewing. But somebody's gotta secreeeeeeet....

5.a Memento : You have a guy telling the story backwards. He loses his memory every 15 minutes and we're seeing it from the ending when he's killed someone to the beginning in short 5 minute bursts. It should have been a terribly annoying "creative concept" movie. But the ending when you realise you've been wrong about our hero all along changes the whole way you look at the movie and makes this a classic.