A.O.D. (2003)

"But shouldn't we all be happy", asks Anshu. "But why should we be happy! That is not our task in life", replies Sanjeev. The Art Of Dying is a simple story of a young and ambitious guy [Anshu] who reaches a state of emotional disintegration when all that he digs for turns out to be sand. And just when he seems to have lost himself, enters a rank stranger [Sanjeev] in his life. A rank stranger with rank strange ways of life. In the course of two very lively days, Sanjeev warms his way into the heart of Anshu by statements like "The problem with reality is that it doesn't carry background music" and "When choosing between two evils, I always go for the one that I've not tried before". Running by the beach, dancing to music, gulping down coke with pizza, playing chess and a lot of cricket, the two do all that and more, while talking about each other. And before he knows, Anshu has got answers to a whole lot of his distress. Answers like "Do you always want to be right or you want to be happy?" The Art Of Dying is about how two good days with a stranger brings peace to a heart carrying 19 months of turbulence. It's like washing one's face after a hard day's work, as Anshu puts it.