10pm and Satyam is overflowing with people. One of the best things of being in a metro like Chennai is that its still such a small place - you end up running into so many people you know !

Finding Neverland is Sir James Matthew Barrie's (1860-1937) story, tweaked here and there, but if you ignore the facts, the movie is memorable. Johnny Depp's performance convinced me that the roles he enacts are tailor-made for him. Barrie's portrayed antics are hilarious. The best part - he's not even labelled eccentric, although his social standing recieves a thorough beating. Its difficult to imagine such 44-year olds. And its plain simple - he just gets along with children like nobody else. And yes, its being with the orphaned kids, the Llewelyn-Davies brothers, that inspired Peter Pan.

Freddie Highmore made my heart go out to the young Peter Llewelyn-Davies (the actual inspiration for Peter Pan) - If J.M. Barrie never grew up, the young Peter was perhaps never a child. Peter's pain on missing his father (and later his mother), is fantastically expressed in the movie. This kid's performance is so stellar that in the scenes where Depp and Freddie are together, I could feel myself sitting still with my neck outstretched, not wanting to miss a thing.

I really respected the Llewelyn-Davies' brothers concern for their mother's worsening health. That's when you know those children aren't mere kids. There's a scene in the movie when the eldest son, George discusses his mother's health with Barrie. And Barrie remarks in his Scottish accent - "Magnificent. The boy is gone. In the last 30 seconds... you became a grown-up."

Barrie is there for the kids and their mother Sylvia, throughout. In the movie, they accidentally meet in the Park, and slowly, a bond develops. And as the movie progresses, you realize, that this Gentleman is there, and will always be, to support and bring joy to a family, yet to recover from a horrible loss. That's what makes it so memorable. Being there, for someone. No strings attached.