Journey of a thousand miles...

Book Review: First Day First Show - Writings From The Bollywood Trenches

2011-12-11T04:48:00.001-08:00

Anupama Chopra's new book 'First Day First Show' is a collection of her works for various publications for over past two decades. I say 'works' and not 'writings' because it even includes transcripts of her weekly show 'Picture This' on NDTV 24x7.

Anupama Chopra
(image courtesy AnupamaChopra.com)

Chopra is a seasoned writer. Her book "King of Bollywood:Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema" was published by Warner Books featured on the editor’s choice list of The New York Times’ Sunday Book Review. Her first book, "Sholay: the Making of a Classic", published by Penguin India in 2000 won the prestigious National Award (given by the President of India) for the best book on Cinema.

'First Day First Show' (or FDFS) is chronologically arranged and divided in two parts: 1993-1999 and 2000-2010. While the latter has got more variety in terms of content and publications its the former section that makes the book an endearing look in the celluloid world.

Almost all the articles in first segment were written for and originally published in India Today magazine in the said years which also happen to be my growing-up years and hence the memories they rekindle are precious! Till 2001 when I left home for college, we had a subscription of India Today at home and in absence of satellite TV (though Zee TV was launched in 1992 and DD Metro in late 2003, we didn't have cable connection at home) Chopra's columns about cinema became my only source of information about entertainment industry. So when a book talks about 'Chitralok' and 'Superhit Muqabla' it reminds of the simple joys that were then.

Till 1995, when Outlook magazine was launched, India Today was the only English news weekly on stands and whereas vernacular magazines indulged in only yellow journalism (The who-is-seeing-whom sort) when it came to Bollywood, it was India Today which covered cinema in a much more professional manner, and Chopra was at the forefront of this change.

So you will find article-cum-reviews of movies like 'Aankhein', 'Khalnayak', 'Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin' or 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' and profiles of stars like Shahrukh Khan (after 'Darr'), Govinda (who was at the pinnacle of success after his 'No. 1' films) or Amitabh Bachchan (after his return vehicle 'Mrityudaata' bombed).

But the finesse of Chopra as a film journalist shines through her reports on topics like changing economics and scale of the films, the trends being set and followed, the fear psyhosis among filmdom after murder of Gulshan Kumar, the poor selection of films in IFFI or even increasing usage of mobile phones among the urban elite!

One of the joys of reading these reports is the benefit of retrospection! You read about 'Koyla' boasting a different story line ('mute boy falling in love with a rich girl') and realize how it was all more of the same. You read about 'Kartoos', a big budget entertainer featuring Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff and remember what a colossal flop it was.

The latter half (2000-2010) consists of similar mix of reports, star profiles and (mostly) reviews (few from 'India Today', mostly from 'Picture This'). Towards end of the decade Chopra went global and most of her reports are for New York Times, Vogue and Los Angeles Times. The style of writing and subjects are more international and focus is less on Bollywood. One of the reports,written for the New York Times, covers the mass hysteia caused by Amitabh Bachchan's ill health, which made country skip more than just a beat, from a very detached perspective. Yet another report is about movie industry of Bhutan!

The writing is undoubtedly higher class but the effect that first part has, is just not there.

Not her fault because then this decade was so different from the previous! Satellite TV had invaded our homes and as if 24-hr movie/music/news channels were not enough 24-hr celebrity/lifestyle channels were pushing more and more Bollywood in our homes. The thin veil of inaccessibility that was between our stars and us was gone and that's why none of the profiles give that insight in any personality, hardly any reports give any new information that was unknown. And Chopra herself talks passionately about this and many more dangers of impending Paparazzi-culture in 'Intimate Strangers' written for Vogue.

If this is not enough to persuade you to pick the book, extracts from Chopra's books about Sholay, 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaaenge' and Shahrukh Khan are part of the book in form of Prologue, Interlude and Epilogue respectively!

All in all, it's a nice book if you want to go on a journey down the memory lane with the rockstar of Indian film journalism!

Kyun Har Bhajan Zaroori Hota Hai!

2011-11-19T22:35:00.001-08:00

So yesterday Harbhajan Singh (I will call him Harbhajan, not Bhajji because a) I can't imagine him as a fried snack and b) I don't feel the need to be so personal as to call him with his pet name.) made his appearance on Master Chef.

Totally commendable move, considering he has started early looking for alternative options rather than trying his hand doing 'Annarth' films and then in news channel shows like Vinod Kambli.

But whatever Cricinfo says I still think there is a lot left for Harbhajan to do. In the Indian cricket team that is.

1) He can be taken to Australia just to rile Aussies. Even though there is no Symonds there are still eleven men in Baggy Greens to be called names which sound like some Indian abuses. (Since I am no expert on abuses I suggest you consult some Ghaziabadi for some examples.)

2) Who said he can't bowl? He can. OK he can't spin the ball. But he can bowl a full over without being called for No Ball. That gives captain Dhoni a bowler who can be used to change the bowling ends of his usual wicket-taking bowlers! Doesn't that give a totally new meaning to word 'utility player'?

3) He has got a century right? Play him as a batsman. We did that in England, didn't we? So what's wrong with Australia? Why should we snatch this divine pleasure from our beaten-black-and-blue-for-being-black-and-wearing-blue Indian brethren (and sisteren?) living in Oz land?

4) Play him as captain. Didn't he lead Mumbai Indians to win in Champions League? May be that will improve his bowling too. See what it did to Darren Sammy. In Delhi test he was leading wicket taker in both innings. And didn't Mike Brearly play for England just because he was captain?

5) Remember that saying: Spare the rod and spoil the child. Harbhajan can be kept in team to ensure that these new guys like Ashwin or Ojha and older guys like Srisanth are kept firmly in check. Afterall Harbhajan can land a hand on other people's cheeks. Ask Sri.

These are just five but I am sure you know a few more reasons for Harbhajan to appear on cricket field. I just hope he himself knows a few!

Lucknow Metro: Don't mind if it is needed or not!

2011-10-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

There was a 'Bhoomi Poojan' ceremony of a new upcoming township with 'modern amenities like club house, restaurant, gym' and 'just 15 minutes from proposed Metro station'.

Well I won't blame you if you didn't know about Metro rail being proposed in Lucknow. Like every middle class Indian once aspired to own a Maruti 800, every state capital aspires to have a Metro of its own and believes it has really good reasons to have one. Lucknow is one of them. Kochi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kanpur are few others.

I don't know the reasons they are pushing to pass Lucknow Metro as an inevitable mean to solve Lucknow's traffic problems but whatever and however flimsy they are, I know they are not going to be challenged. Even though more than half of the city's road remain encroached, causing massive traffic snarls and traffic police appears only at few VIP junctions and no alternatives are suggested to this massively expensive option, Lucknowites are made to believe that Metro is their only savior.

Unlike Delhi or Bangalore or Hyderabad where there have been debates over viability and necessity of Metro and how the construction will affect the city's heritage and existing transportation mechanisms and commuting patterns, there is going to be no voice asking questioning anything that is going to be fed to press (that is under the thumb of the Government anyway!).

I don't blame the people. Any announcement that is 'perceived' to be related to 'development' is lapped up by people who are hungry to see any kind of development. So much that even if it means massive amount of money that is going to be swindled (and which is perhaps the only reason for some of these projects!) or cause damage to environment is accepted without any murmur. Any protest, if ever, takes place only if the development is hurting their own interests in any manner.

Secondly, Delhi is the ultimate role model for Lucknow and any thing that Delhi has, seems to be a must-have for Lucknowites! Even if Lucknow is just a fraction of Delhi in terms of population and area, they must have a Metro.

Also the fact that there is hardly any interface which promotes dialogue and partnership among people and Government over the issues that concern the city, is a major reason that no discussion or debate ever takes place.

So whenever Lucknow Metro materializes and at whatever costs, both tangible and intangible in terms of cost to heritage and environment, no one will mind it.

Friendship Day? Really?

2011-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

So how did you 'celebrate' this 'Friendship Day'?

Mine was a pretty standard fare: got a few forwarded SMSs with flowery messages about friends and friendships, saw some tweets and FB statuses with 'Happy Friendship Day' (some even tried now-so-yawnworthy 'Fraandship' too) and that was it. Hope you did hang out with your friends and I don't mean the group web chat on Google+.

I have become 'wiser' (read 'cynical') with wishing people: Every new year I write 'Happy New Year' to x number of people and then get reply from x/6 number of people. So this time I decided to just reply to people who cared to send me those flowery 'Friendship Day' messages with a not-so-flowery 'Happy Friendship Day to you :)'.

I didn't feel guilty about my cynicism. I justified that by thinking of being brutally honest about my friendships. May be it is the scars I got from the people I called 'friends'. May be I should have moved on by now, may be I have. May be I need to do more about it. May be I have become choosy about the people I want to be friends with. I don't think I have understood and accepted the Facebook culture of friendship. May be I am still old-fashioned and my thoughts/values about friendship are stuck to same old ones. May be I am a jerk!

I know this post presents me as a full on psycho but I really don't care. At the end of the day I am just glad to have talked to some of the friends I value. But for such friends who needs a special 'friendship day'!

What happened to Imagine TV?

2011-07-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

After watching first episode Imagine TV's new reality show 'Gazab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaniyan' (which seemed a rehashed version of its own earlier show 'Rakhee Ka Insaaf' which was infact an Indianised version of 'Judge Amy' on CBS-TV) I felt a tinge of sadness.

Now I understand that after watching a show starring Rakhee

Sawant (who must be now majority share holder or senior office bearer in Imagine TV, if regularity or importance of her shows are any indicators) you can feel anything but sadness. But I felt sad for

the channel. It's like seeing your favorite and once bright student in class getting ruined.

Imagine TV was once my favorite. When launched as NDTV Imagine with much fanfare and Karan Johar as an associate (which meant Karan used to host a show) the channel's line up was so different from its contemporaries and competitors that it was a study in contrast from other newly launched 9X. While 9X had same kind of saas-bahu serials that were running on other leading GECs Star Plus, Zee and Sony, Imagine had a refreshing mix of programs.

The soaps (few of which were women-oriented) had a completely different and fresh feel to them courtesy, a mature treatment and urban setting which ensured that the channel didn't look like yet another GEC clone. And then there were reality shows most notable of which was Farhan

Akhtar's 'Oye It's Friday'. High on production values and higher on entertainment quotient OIF was the crown prince of Imagine's lineu

p. But the show which brought maximum TRP to the channel was a new version of 'Ramayan'! Produced by Sagar Entertainment which kept the style of the show EXACTLY similar to the original series, success of 'Ramayan' surprised everyone. It showed that the channel management was ready to balance between new and old ideas and have a healthy mix of both.

But it seemed the soaps were ahead of their times because it was still the age of 'Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki' and 'Kyunki..'. Sony had not reformed itself and though clearly ahead of 9X and Real (which hardly was a blip on the GEC radar) Imagine's successes were limited. And with big bang-big budget arrival of Colors even the leader was threatened.

Imagine's shows too began to follow the 'market trend'. If rural setting was in fashion, then we had a village. If social issues were the trend, we had a bunch of those. If middle class was in vogue, then we had a middle class belle. "If you can't beat them, join them" was the mantra. While surfing apart from channel logo, there was nothing in Imagine's programming which would differentiate it from any other GEC.

And then somewhere down the line 'Rakhee Ka Swayamvar' happened! This was both good and bad for the channel. Good because it gave tremendous TRP. Headlines Today (a laggard in English News Channels) topped the tables that week just because they gave the finale of the show massive coverage!!

Bad because it started a trend of bad reality shows on the channel. 'Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka' was another annual atrocity and then last year we had a lame 'Zor Ka Jhatka' (Indianised version of 'Total Wipeout') which even SRK couldn't salvage.

Imagine CEO Sameer Nair had said in an interview once that they want to settle as a competitive 4th or easy 5th (meaning just after Star,Zee, Colors and Sony and well ahead of others) but latest reports say that even Star One and SAB TV beat his channel comprehensively.

And I guess now their hopes are pinned on loudmouth Rakhee who is back on Imagine in a show ('Gazab Desh..) whose PR was focussing around her demands for a particular type of underwear! How low can you stoop...Imagine!

Frying the 'Bheja' of Audience!

2011-06-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

’Bheja Fry’ was a shameless ripoff of French film ’Le Dinner de Cons’ and in the ’finest’ trends of Bollywood no credits were given to the original. The film went on to do well and as it usually happens director got infected with ’Blockbusteritis’, an infectious disease that makes directors think that since they are so good that they could make a small budget, no-star movie a hit their next movie will have bigger budget, fancier (and larger) star cast, an overseas shooting location and a surefire superhit tag automatically. The only thing to take a back seat is the writing as it happens!

What director Sagar Ballary forgot is that the simplicity of the narrative was what made his protagonist endearing and the humor crackling. The confrontation between him and Mr Smarty pants was the crux of the movie. No more!

But since ’Bheja Fry 2’ was supposed to be a bigger budget movie, we have boatloads of characters, needless subplots to give all these people something to do, a cruise and an island for the setting and a few item numbers (mercilessly not included in the movie or else I would have killed myself!) which as you would have guessed by now, leaves very less time for the aforementioned ’crux’, the confrontation.

The point that this movie could have been better if the director would have been true to the original premise is proven by the fact that the only laughable parts in the entire movie are between KK and his onscreen nemesis Vinay Pathak who are both marooned on an island. The remaining film (and that is a very large part) is spent in establishing the characters and trying veryy hard to make you laugh. This includes Bharat Bhushan (Pathak) and his Malyali colleague Shekharan (Suresh Menon) exchanging innovative expletives to denounce each other’s region!

Vinay Pathak should take a long break because it is getting difficult to separate one of his performance from others. He seemed to continue right from where he left in ’Chalo Dilli’. A simple, talkative, common man having a penchant for singing and annoying habits but with a heart of gold! Similarly KK should do a few roles where he is not doing some evil including being a lecherous man salivating for the heroine. Minisha Lamba who plays Miss Goody Two Shoes is decent but such roles don’t add anything to her kitty. Amol Gupte who plays an eccentric photographer takes the cake in hamming and his character was too much for me to suffer.

At the end of ’Bheja Fry 2’ Bhushan forgives the man who tried to bump him off, I wish I had such a generous attitude towards the makers of this movie!

'Rang Rasiya' should have been called 'Nach Baliye'!?

2011-06-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

(This post is my review of a dance-cum-painting show 'Rang Rasiya' presented by 'Echo..!! India' at LaMakaan, Hyderabad on Sunday 11th June.)

The concept sounded awesome on paper (or rather on my phone screen) which said 'Dance meets painting'. The build up was promising, 'Ghanan Ghanan extended' from 'Lagaan' reinforcing what I had in mind about the show.

The concept was novel. 4 painters doing their paintings while dancers perform on stage. It was in support of an NGO named 'Alambana'. That's very good. The anchor talked about colors and associated emotions and it started in a dignified manner with a 2 minute silence for M.F Husain (It was hardly 30 seconds!)

The first performance was a sufi dance performance on Jodha Akbar's 'Khwaja mere khwaja'. Associated color: white. Fine.

What happened next and continued till last performance was pure disappointment. The dance performances which you see on the myriad TV dance reality shows. One of these 'contemporary' dances even had some acrobatics included! One after the other umpteen Bollywood numbers followed and the dancers flaunted their art with anchor talking randomly about colors which were conspicuous only by their absence. The performance with 'romance' theme (associated color: pink) had dancers in black,white and grey dresses while purple themed performance had the dancer in Gold and Black dress! The songs ended abruptly and a few times the music stopped during the performances. There was not a semblance of any attempt at trying to establish a coherence between colors and performances.

There were lot of loud cheers and applause but almost all the cheers came from the presenter group members. I spent more time in trying to check out the paintings than watching the dances!

The performances were fine but the entire concept of having Bollywood dance numbers accompanying the painters was disgusting. It would have been so much more if the dance and music was soulful, more Indian and aimed at arousing emotions rather than claps! I can't say much about paintings though because I am not an art expert, however atleast one of the paintings remained incomplete, while another seemed overdone. The same seemed to be the case of the show. While the thought process that went on conceptualization seemed half baked, the presentation ceremony went on and on, with a producer's speech that would have made one feel of witnessing a Broadway production!

The last performances ended with dancers splashing dry colors (much to amusement of first benchers) on stage and on each other. The colors finally brought to life a drab show devoid of colors. It ended well, but it definitely wasn't at all well.

(In the pic: painter Sri Murugan doing his painting based on one of the performances)

Dear Bollywood, mind your language (and accent!)

2011-05-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

The first thing that impressed me in 'Shor In The City' was the immaculate American accent of Abhay (played by Sendhil Ramamurthy). Ofcourse Sendhil being an American actor helps but the point is that his accent brought to life the NRI character he was playing. Compare that to the American NRI that Abhishek Bachchan played in 'Delhi 6'! Abhishek's accent was limited to rolling his 'R's and that too for about first 5 minutes.

Another standout example from the same film is that of 'Sawan Murthy', a young cricketer who belongs to AP but is in Mumbai from past several years. He speaks fluent Hindi but still has got that tinge of unmistakable Telugu accent.

Talking of contrast. In Ashutosh Gowariker's 'Swades' the poor farmer who (whose home Mohan visits) speaks not only extremely pure but even poetic Hindi, strikes extremely jarring note in otherwise spotless movie. Even his most perfect film to-date 'Lagaan' was sort of inaccurate on this front with characters in 'central India' speaking Awadhi dialogues but it went on fine with the setting of the story and nobody complained. Similarly in RGV's 'Jungle' even though the forest was based somewhere in South India, the bandits spoke in Haryanvi(!) but it was passable.

The importance of correct language and accent can not be overstated but due to some unfathomable reason our mainstream movie makers prefer to take us, the viewers, in a world where people speak chaste Hindi and are completely unaffected by their surroundings and the people living in those surroundings. Wherever they may be.

So in 'Patiala House' even though Bau Ji's whole family has lived and grown up in Britain, they still speak that Punjabi mixed Hindi which Karan Johar made trendy in his NRI films. And in Priyadarshan's shameful remake (if they gave due credits)/ripoff(if they didn't!) of 'Children Of Heaven', 'Bumm Bumm Bole' the setting was definitely a place where they don't speak that good Hindi. (But to be fair in Priyadarshan's asylum of movie making language is perhaps last thing to worry about!)

Can you imagine how depleted would 'Peepli Live' be if Nattha and his village folks, specially Amma ji, didn't talk in that characteristic western U.P. accent, or if the Deccan accent is taken out of the dialogues from 'Well Done Abba'? Or the Himachali taken out of 'The Blue Umbrella'?

Perhaps in mainstream Bollywood, such things as correct pronunciation and proper dialect are somethings not to be fussed about much. Perhaps they still think that public to hero ko 'dekhne' aati hai!

The broken roads of HITEC City!

2011-05-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

The HITEC City area in Hyderabad once used to be the sole hub of IT industry in the city with the presence of best knows corporates in one of the various IT parks in this area. While many other areas like Gachibowli have gained prominence in the recent years with biggies setting up their own campuses in the area, HITEC City still rules in the minds of people.

However on one hand we have the swanky looking glass and aluminium buildings which make the area look really hitech and on the

other hand is the complete Govt. apathy which has ensured the roads of this area are worse than many slum areas!

And if the roads are good enough to rattle your bones the speedbreakers are good enough to break down your vehicles.

There are several foreign honchos who visit companies everyday. On one hand they witness the efficiency of the private companies and on the other they witness the pathetic state of infrastructure outside. Hope the authorities will wake up and see that they spend some of the money they generate from HITEC City on its welfare too!

Crickwitty! Witty tweets on cricket.

2011-04-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since Pitch-Invasion.in started #crickwit contest I have put my witty cap on and the result has not been too bad (atleast I think so!) since I was declared crickwitter of the day on two days. Here are some of the tweets hashtagged with #crickwit.

Tell me if you like them!

Punjab team openers consume too much power. One is an AC (Gilchrist) and other is a PC (valthaty)!

30 Apr (KKR vs KXIP)

Now I understand why Queen didn't invite anybody from Punjab team to #RoyalWedding. Afterall they are "King's Eleven"!

30 Apr (KKR vs KXIP)

Did Abhimanyu Mithun learn Disco steps when he was in the womb.

29 Apr (PW vs RCB)

How did Yuvi convince Subrat Roy to take Ryder? He said 'O ji, Jesse jaisi koi nahin'

29 Apr (PW vs RCB)

Now bookies can do spot fixing on things like 'will Deepika kiss Malya today or not' or 'how long the hug will be'!

29 Apr (PW vs RCB)

How much ever slow he may be playing, Pollard is the 'Asha ki Kieron' for Mumbai!

29 Apr (MI vs RR)

Anjali Tendulkar to Warne: pLiz don't hurl(y) any advice towards my husband!

29 Apr (MI vs RR)

If Mumbai lose today will everyone make fun of them saying 'Shane, Shane'

29 Apr (MI vs RR)

The fairplay award should go to Mumbai only. Afterall there is so much 'Sach' in Tendulkar!

29 Apr (MI vs RR)

At a time when Rajasthan Royals should have been trending, British Royals are! #RoyalWedding

29 Apr (MI vs RR)

Both KKR and DD do Brrrr, while their game makes their fans do grrr.

28 Apr (KKR vs DD)

KKR took Morgan hoping for More Gain but he is doing Merely Gone!

28 Apr (KKR vs DD)

Morne Morkel's form has been enough to get him called Mourn(e) Morkel!

28 Apr (KKR vs DD)

What is similarity between Manoj Tiwari,cricketer and Manoj Tiwari the Bhojpuri Singer? Kya yaar, same name hai aur kya!

28 Apr (KKR vs DD)

God forbid if India doesn't do well under new coach, he will be called 'Deccan' Fletcher!

27 Apr (KTK vs DC)

PW has taken players to match their horseman logo: A (Horse)Ryder,Prince (Yuvraaj) and even Robin(hood)!

27 Apr (PW vs CSK)

Pune Warriors have horse in their logo, but the team has become a one horse cart (or a one warrior army!)

27 Apr (PW vs CSK)

Chennai gets so much sun that they should be completely immune to harmful effects of 'Yuvi' rays!

27 Apr (PW vs CSK)

Since CSK has no maidens to support them like RR/RCB/KTK their bowlers have to bowl maidens to keep morale hight!

27 Apr (PW vs CSK)

New #IndiaCoach is quite old. I hope players don't call him Duncan Stretcher! #Fletcher

27 Apr

So should the players organize a party for the new coach since he is Duncan 'Fresher' #Fletcher #IndiaCoach

27 Apr

If 'Game' rhymes with lame, it's not just coincidence!

2011-04-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you remember the posters of 'Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya', the second film of Abhishek Bachchan which actually was supposed to be his debut film (that honor(?) went to J.P. Dutta's 'Refugee'). Since the director A. Muthu was an unknown entity in North the posters emphasized the name (and stature) of Vashu Bhagnani, who was bankrolling Govinda's golden year No.1 movies.

I was sane enough in 2000 not to fall for Bhagnani's charade because I was not a fan of his kind of cinema and skipped TJCG, but this time I fell for the producer of Junior Bachchan's latest flick. 'Game' is produced by Excel Entertainment, Farhan Akhtar's production house and though their last film 'Karthick Calling Karthick' is remembered only for making "Murali Karthik stumped by Dinesh Karthick" kind of jokes I still had faith that Akhtar's name stands for sensible and entertaining cinema.

Otherwise why should you watch a movie which has 1) a director whose only claim to fame till now is that he happens to be the director of Amir Khan's 'Delhi Belly' (apart from the fact that he is a hotshot ad film maker), 2) got not more than 2 stars in every single review, 3) doesn't a single hummable song and worst of all, 4) has Kangna Ranaut playing a police officer!

The good things first because we will run through them quite fast. The film is slick and not 'Sanjay Gupta slick' which means enough leather that will require every single cow on the planet to be slaughtered and lots of slow motions shot in sepia. The cinematography of KV Thyagarajan which makes both the locales and ladies look absolutely gorgeous is great. (On second thoughts, you can't go much wrong with Ranaut and Sarah Jane Dias, can you?)

The story by Althea Delmas Kaushal (and that's one person, thank you) is supposedly based on Agatha Christy's 'And There Were None'. And this adaptation has so many loopholes that if Christy would be alive today she would have committed suicide than get her name associated with such a film.

One problem of stylish films is that in order to add the gloss, the makers overlook small details, which come as jarring. So Ms. Ranaut plays Sia Agnihotri a 'Chief Investigation Officer' from something called 'International Vigilance Squad' and comes at a murder scene wearing a shoulder holster and an ID-card like IT employees! A foot chase sequence (exceedingly well shot in Istanbul) so bizarre in its motive that I couldn't understand head or tail of it! (Why would you follow a man in such a way that he finds out you are following him?)

The surveillance mechanism of the International Vigilance Squad is so good that a phone call made to Andheri Police Station immediately finds its way to its officers travelling to Mumbai, but is so bad that a man under scrutiny flies across continents without them being any wiser.

A character who is supposedly 'deep undercover' blows his cover and joins Ms Agnihotri in investigation without batting an eyelid and worrying about his existing operations (about which we are not told anything anyways!)

A man sneaks in the house of a Thai PM candidate, undetected without any apparent external help and bugs his room and phone and then in the apartment of a top Hindi movie star and beats him black and blue (actually pulpy red!) It is these leaps of faith that the film demands and I can not supply. See if you can.

The film tries to establish its characters early in the first half as billionaire Kabir Malhotra invites 4 Indians from different cities (with a letter which has just their names on envelope, no addresses needed you see!) to his island in Greece and holds 3 of them responsible for his abandoned daughter's death (umm.. sir can I ask a question: why did you leave her in first place? Shut up and sit down, no questions) while anointing the 4th as his second daughter. The morning later he is killed. Pretty good mystery you would say. Pretty bad on screen if you dare to watch! The second half goes completely berserk with useless subplot and useless twist. And if you thought the mystery is engrossing you are wrong. You can guess the killer quite early but the motive remains the mystery.

Boman Irani, that fine actor, is reduced to hamming as aforementioned short tempered Thai PM candidate. Jimmy Shergil playing Vikram Kapoor the star, is his usual pitiful soul with blood on his hands (pun intended) while Shahana Goswami plays Tisha, a crime reporter in London (who has got 3 cases of drunken driving in a month and managed to keep her channel oblivious of it).

It was supposed to be Abhishek Bachchan's film but due to colossal disaster named 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se' Eros decided to give equal weightage to other actors in the publicity. And in my opinion the casting director got this role of Neil Menon, an Istanbul based casino owner/drug smuggler perfectly cast but Bachchan is saddled with quite lame dialogues and uninspired writing.

And writing is below par in every form, dialogues by Farhan Akhtar and lyrics by papa Akhtar included! Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy make you want to give them a 'De Ghuma Ke' with completely disappointing score.

There is a scene where Bachchan's character says 'I need some fresh air'. Trust me, he echoed my sentiments!

The Greatest Dilemma!

2011-03-03T23:27:00.001-08:00

... is what to order at the restaurant!

A tale of two tales. Dhobi Ghat and 127 Hours

2011-01-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

Last week I watched two movies which evoked extreme reactions from movie goers: 'Dhobi Ghat' and '127 Hours', specially the former.

'Dhobi Ghaat' is a commercial success no doubt but Kiran Rao's maiden directorial venture is not your regular commercial film and with an abstract story line that tries to string the characters very loosely, it wasn't difficult to understand why people were restless. However being restless is one thing and being jackass is another. My whole experience of watching the movie was ruined by people chattering loudly about how lame the film is and laughing where I couldn't even spot the joke. Like a scene where classical music is playing in painter Arun's house. I mean WTF? Since when classical music has become a joke to be laughed at loud? And if you are so annoyed by a film, for God's sake get the hell out of the hall and let those who want to watch it in peace, do so.

It is a film where you have to go with an open mind and give the film a chance to work its charm on you. Prateik Babbar is enthrallingly fresh Monica Dogra get's lion's share of screen time and she is defintely good. However I liked the way the fourth story and character of Muslim girl (played by Kriti Malhotra) has been presented. As a fact this girl is not even a live character in the movie but she has been brought to life by her diaries and though her story doesn't have much of an impact on the course of the plot, it is very engaging and heart wrenching.

Yes, the film is a drag at certain points but then the amazing background score by Oscar winner Gustavo Santolalla is enough to enjoy even those parts.

Second film '127 Hours' didn't have to face such bad reactions however many people considered

it to be slow and dragging. My question to these people is: what the hell did you expect in a story of a man stuck for 5 days in a crevice? I am sure if it was a Bollywood/Tollywood/Kollywood film helmed by some masala director, there would have been plenty of flashbacks where hero's entire life would have been shown to us. A couple of romantic songs and if producer demanded, even an item number!

And the absence of all these distractions is what I loved most about '127 Hours'. Danny Boyle has kept the focus solely on the man trapped. The delusions and devils that are in his minds and how he resolves not to loose his hope and will to survive and how he tries to find humor even in his dire condition. My favorite sequence is when he believes that in his entire life, all his actions have been forcing him to this 'crack on the face of earth'. This thought is gut wrenching and coupled with spectacular shot of the crevice in the Grand Canyon it's impact is multiplied many fold.

Amputation scene is gross and I admit that I could not watch it. James Franco is adjective defyingly good and the cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak (the sequences shot at close quarters in the crevice are stunning) is superb. I had been hearing the OST of this film but to understand how impressive it is, you must watch the film. A. R. Rahman's music actually enhances the flavor of scenes. It may not win any awards but I really feel it is better than Slumdog Millionaire's.

One last thing. I think Leonardo di Caprio could have played Aron Ralston as good as James Franco, only Franco looks like carbon copy of Ralston. What do you say?

Breaking News: Lashkar-e-Taiba sues Rahul Gandhi over Wikileaks remarks

2010-12-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

In what is believed to be world's first case of its kind, Pakistan based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba has filed a defamation suit against Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

In a press conference organized at Islamabad's posh convention center LeT spokesperson pointed to the recent cable release by Wikileaks in which Rahul Gandhi said in a 'candid chat' to US ambassador that Hindu extremism is a bigger threat to India than LeT.

The spokesperson said that Mr Gandhi has humiliated LeT by ignoring all the meticulously planned terror activities that LeT conducted in India. He said these terrorist incidents have killed hundreds and caused economic losses worth millions. Not only this, LeT has spent a lot in recruiting and training Pakistani and Indian youth for terrorist activities but Mr Gandhi chose to be unmindful of all those efforts, investments and even cooperation from Pakistani establishment.

The spokesperson said Mr Gandhi's comments have not only deeply hurt LeT cadre's morale but also destroyed carefully cultivated image that LeT has gained across the world over the years. He said it is very disturbing to even think that even after dedicating their entire life to destablizing and threatening India their efforts are not being recognized even in India.

When asked how does LeT want to regain the lost reputation, he said they have vowed to relaunch far more deadlier attacks in India so as to raise themselves in the eyes of 'non-believers' like Mr Gandhi.

Where have our singers gone (Part 1)

2010-12-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

Shweta says new year party at HITEX is drool-worthy. I don't know as I have never been to any new year party ever. But if having Jasbeer Jassi as the lead entertainer is anyone's idea of having a party, leave alone 'drool-worthy', I am not that 'anyone'!

But seeing that once 'oooh-so-familiar' and now 'umm-somewhat-familiar' face of Jassi on the poster I wondered, where have these people gone? All those people who released albums in all possible genres most notably Punjabi pop and ruled the Indian music charts with alarming regularity, have they been relegated to only etc Punjabi?

Back then every one seemed to be a potential pop star. The success of Daler Mehndi lead to attack of clones and soon many sardars with opulent sherwanis and pagdis were crooning Balle Balle! Secular nature of the country struck back and Punjabi pop was not limited to only Sardar jis and people like Shankar Sahni, Jasbir Jassi, Sukhbir and Hans Raj Hans were the new kings of the block. Womenfolk were not to be left behind and after Alisha, Anaida, Anamika, Raageshwari, Rajeshwari and so many made a mark. The novelty factor of Indian Pop was all but over!

Then the remixes happened. Coupled with raunchy videos the remixes dealt a blow to originals. DJs were the new talk of town and instead of 'performers' (who sang as well as were presentable on the stage) the 'item girls' took the center stage. The Rakhi Sawants and Shefali Zariwalas were the hot cakes!

This was the phase when Bollywood was changing and so were the music companies. The corporatization was taking place and the music rights were being sold along with other rights in the bulk deals. I don't know if this was the reason that music companies decided that the money to be made was in the film music. Gradually there were hardly any remixed albums. The remixes became part of the film album only.

People like Shaan, Mohit Chauhan, Anushka, Daler Menhdi, Neeraj Sridhar and many others who had started as pop artists, now were mainstream Bollywood singers.

This was a good phase for Hindi film music.

(Concluded in next part)

That thing called 'Rahul Magic'!

2010-11-28T06:59:00.000-08:00

Since Delhi and Mumbai based TV channels and english newspapers, popularly known as Indian media are busy dissecting the behavior of inmates on Big Boss and elect the winner between 'Munni' and 'Shiela' they come up with terms like 'Rahul Magic' when they have shortage of time to analyse issues like state and center elections. (For north eastern states they don't have ANY time, so they don't even talk about those states!)

After Congress's epic drubbing in Bihar elections the question now being asked is 'Is Rahul magic just a myth?'. Till just a few days ago Rahul Gandhi was being projected as the 'PM-in-waiting' (sorry Mr Advani, you are past the expiry date) because pollsters and political pundits saw victory in Loksabha elections in UP due to this 'Rahul magic'. They coolly chose to ignore that Congress didn't perform half as well in the assembly by-elections.

Those who say that NDTV is on the payroll of Congress, were having a field day as this was NDTV which even put the question: Do you see Rahul Gandhi as PM of India.

I believe using the word 'magic' (or 'effect') is insulting the people's opinion. When UP voted for Rahul Gandhi it was not because it was Rahul Gandhi who was asking for their votes. It was the craving for development which has eluded UP and Rahul Gandhi's promise to deliver on that front. He was the only one talking about development when everyone else was still using casteism as main card. But in Bihar everyone was talking about development. Even Lalu and Paswan were promising that they can deliver. Rahul Gandhi's strategy of promising development while trying to punch holes in Nitish's report card found no takers and understandably so.

Secondly, a major impact of Rahul Gandhi was seen on the UP Congress which seemed rejuvenated. In Bihar that didn't happen. By fielding people like Pappu Yadav and Lovely Anand and without any party cadre on ground, hoping that just because people were flocking to Rahul Gandhi's rallies was like hoping Farah Khan to make a 'Kagaz Ke Phool'!

So there was never anything like 'Rahul Magic', atleast on the electorate. As usual media made instant judgements then and it is making them now. As soon as they told us Rahul Gandhi has charmed us then, they are telling us that charm is wearing off!

But they fail to understand that 'We the people' are not fools!

The Italian Job

2010-10-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

'Donating Computer from Italy' read the subject of the email which was tagged DYPC in my GMail.

DYPC is what we call DonateYourPC.in fondly. DonateYourPC.in is a website that I cofounded and now manage. This site is a place where people who want to donate their old computers or periherals can register their donation offer details and non-profit organizations like NGOs, schools etc who need PCs but can't afford to buy new machines, can request for these donated computers.

We occasionally get donation offers from people in India and a few times even foreign nationals have offered to donate PC (which we had to politely reject!) but most of them were from USA, so 'Italy' was the only surprise part in the subject.

However as I read that email, my initial euphoria evaporated. Read this:

"I recently got a new computer, since the previous (a desktop) no longer worked under any operating system. I checked it in depth and have come to the conclusion that the only unusable components are its motherboard and its graphics card. Of course these add to a monitor and a keyboard, as well as some cables, to spare.

Knowing that India is rapidly becoming a hotbed of innovations in IT, I was struck by the idea to donate it to some needy people in said country, who may very well make a great use of it."

Even if you don't try to read between the lines, you can easily understand that our Italian friend was trying to 'donate' a computer whose motherboard/graphics card were not working. I don't know whether monitor and keyboard were part of the defective lot too! To top it all he tried to dump this piece of hardware shit in the name of helping needy people while trying to flatter us.

It didn't end there. "I would feel guilty if I tried to sell those parts, although I can find no one who is interested in buying them". Wow! So he did try to sell off the junk but could not find anyone and hence the philanthropic streak.

We often read that thousands of tons of electronic waste is sent to developing countries like India from Europe and North America. So I am quite sure that even though I refused his donation offer now, this computer will reach some part of our country on a ship someday for recycling.

(Check out DonateYourPC.in if you want to donate your old computer or would like to volunteer)

Buy Social Causes T-Shirts online at Myntra.com and visit the largest community of Indian Bloggers at BlogAdda.com

MasterChef India: Same bland taste of Reality Shows!

2010-10-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

A housewife from Varanasi proudly proclaims, with suitable sombre music in background, "I was born in a small village. I have no background (wonder what that means!) and I have reached this position. It is a big achievement for me." Well if her achievement was appearing on the TV, my achievement was not losing sanity after watching umpteen claims of 'big achievement' of being on national TV by virtue of participating in a reality show.

Well you can surely call it a case of sour grapes since I have never been even on local TV, forget national, by participating in a reality TV show or without it, which I haven't. (may be because neither have I talent enough to win bouquets nor courage enough to face brickbats)

The point is that MasterChef India (it's not a COPY of MasterChef Australia, it's a licensed Indian version. If you want to know what is a copy, then watch Knock Out, which is a COPY of Phone Booth) is just like any other reality show. There is so much talk of making itihaas and showing junoon and being a soldier in jung ka maidaan that Chhatteesgarh Police can hire the writers of MasterChef India to motivate its embattled jawaans.

Fremantle India was perhaps not sure that the concept would work if the judges were noted chefs and food critics only or maybe this is another must have ingredient of Indian reality shows, a film star, whose role has been played by Akshaye Kumar in this case. His presence is justified by repeatedly telling us that he once worked in a Bangkok restaurant. Come to think of it, Vir Sanghvi may have won Cointreau Award for Best Food Literature Book but is he even one tenth as dishy as Akshaye?

(Wait a second, having a film star as host also means you can spend some airtime with all those "I love you Askshaye" shouts and "aaj meri zindagi kee sabse badi tamanna poori ho gayee" sobs.)

Other two judges are noted (must be among chef community and five star hotel crowd) chefs Ajay Chopra and Kunal Kapoor. I guess the people working on dressing up these gentlemen decided to spice up (pun intended) their looks because I believe Kunal doesn't really wear a blue suit, yes this blue and Ajay doesn't sport that spiky hair coupled with that shiny grey blazer on his way to work every day. And the writers decided that Akshay is not going to be the only one to be delivering the dialogues so Kunal mouthed inanities like 'Har kitchen ka ek hi badmaash hota hai aur is kitchen ka badmaash main hoon.' Now take that SRK.

Comparing with its Australian cousin, everything in MasterChef India is over the top. The background score is loud. Judges, specially the chefs, seem to be trying too hard to look and sound menacing. And as I mentioned earlier the sermons of Lord Akshay are too boring.

Well it's early days for MasterChef India and there are still lot of eggs (and hearts!) to be broken. Let's just hope Star (both the channel and Akshaye) keep the show watchable.

Ayodhya Verdict Exclusive: Mayawati Statue and Park at disputed site

2010-09-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

In what is supposed to dislodge CWG from being the biggest talking point in the country, UP Govt. has brought decades old Ayodhya dispute to an end nobody had ever thought of. UP Govt. has decided to seize the disputed land and use it to build a huge park with statue of Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati.

Giving more details about the proposed Rs. 600 crore project, Chief Secretary Atul Gupta said that this project will quieten the critics who have accused the Govt of concentrating only on 'development' of Lucknow and neglecting other districts. In answer to a question that if this is going to be state policy for dealing with disputed properties from now onwards, he did not rule out the possibility of this, however he said Govt will wait for feedback of this move before finalizing it. (If this goes true we can have another mega Mayawati park in Varanasi where Gyanwapi mosque is disputed.)

As a sidenote Mr. Gupta informed that for building the park, Saryu river would be diverted and about 150 acres of residential area would have to be cleared. The people displaced will then be given jobs in UP's Monument Protection Force. When asked about hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and Muslims he said in UP everyone is supposed to worship the CM and her religious appeal goes beyond individual religions. (To this one journalist quipped that very soon BSP election rallies would resemble Kumbh mela or Eid prayers!)

Opposition parties were as usual divided on this issue. While BSP predictably was jubiliant, SP and BJP were sulking at the prospect of yet another poll debacle. Some leaders were overheard cursing their central leadership for not coming up with this master stroke when their party was in power in the state. This has lead to more infighting in BJP, now about whose statue would have been installed if BJP tried to do this.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said statue of a living person is against Indian ethos. To which BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra laughed and said "look who is talking", apparently taking a dig at party's Italian leadership. However Mr Tiwari was also heard telling his good friend and Congress MP Mr Sulesh Kalmadi that his party will try Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee to bid for the construction of the park.

8 things nobody told you about Pondicherry!

2010-09-20T04:49:00.000-07:00

1) Pondicherry lies just about 150 km (146 km if you take ECR, 161 km if you take NH 45) from Chennai. So it doesn't need a genius to figure out that Pondicherry weather is absolutely same as that of Chennai: hot and very humid!

2) If you thought that Pondicherry is a small fishing town with a laid-back air and lots of French people milling around, sorry you may be in for a surprise. Remember that Pondicherry is capital of a union territory (named Pondicherry and having 4 areas: Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe and Karaikal), so it is by no means a 'small city' and by no more means with a 'laid back air'! Parts of Pondicherry are reminiscent of its French association but they form a very small part of the town. Yes, the streets in this part are named in French but they have their Indian versions as well and autowala won't know either of them! But frankly this part is so small and so well laid out that you can easily roam around onfoot with a map and reach anywhere from anywhere.

3) Autos are costly. Period. The minimum auto fare is Rs. 40. Try shared autos if you can. If you think you can drive your way around you can get two-wheelers on rent. I can't tell you the street name because I forgot to note that.

4) Aurobindo Ashram is NOT a tourist destination. It is what it says, an Ashram. Go only if you know anything about Maharshi Aurobindo and his teachings. And yes, the ashram dining hall serves only the Ashram guests (don't go there expecting to have a sumptuous breakfast!)

5) Auroville is a great place to visit when in Pondicherry. You get many local busses supposedly going to Auroville but will drop you on the road at a point which is about 8 km from the Matrimandir. You will need to take an auto which will charge Rs. 120 (yes for 8 km!). You can roam around in the Matrimandir campus and shop only if you have deep pockets! Auroville products are supposedly handmade and organic and hence cost a bomb.

6) Shopping in rest of Pondicherry is a great experience. Due to low taxes, things like handicrafts, leather goods (HIDESIGN is Pondicherry based brand!) and textiles are fairly cheap. I recommend a shop named 'Splendour' near the secretariat building for handicrafts. Nehru Road and Mission Road are other shopping destinations.

7) Promenade street is good for roaming around but the adjoining beach (named Serenity or Rocky beach) is not the beach you would like to be at. For that head to Paradise beach, about 8 km from bus stop (where my hotel was!). A 3km boat ride in the Pichavaram backwaters will lead you to Paradise beach which is actually VERY clean and very scenic. Auro beach is another beach where people flock to swim and bathe in the sea.

8) Last but not the least, rather very important, travelling to and from Pondicherry. 'To' part is rather easy. You can get loads of state run buses from CMBT (Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus), Koyembedu and choose to go by ECR or NH45. Both the roads are extremely good and journey is a breeze. Returning is what makes this point so special! From Pondicherry bus stand, the buses going to Chennai are at particular time slots and you need to take a token for a particular bus. And it can be extremely crowded at the bus stand so don't say you weren't warned!

Go and give time a break in Pondicherry!

Seven Step Sisters?

2010-09-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

So if Army gives in to political pressure, the much debated (and rightly criticized) Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) may be lifted from some areas of Kashmir 'where militancy has gone down'. I don't want to go in a debate about AFSPA. On one hand Army claims that it needs such a law to fight militancy and on the other there have been very serious charges of rape and killings against not only Army but some of the para-military forces as well.

I think I can predict how it will pan out. PM and Congress will say

it is sensitive to the people of Kashmir and this is a step in right direction. BJP will criticize Government and say it is appeasing

separatists. Omar Abdullah will thank PM and say 'let us give peace a chance'. PDP will criticize Govt. and say this is a half step and it is not acceptable to people of Kashmir till other demands are met. (I think in PDP's opinion only thing acceptable to Kashmiris is making Mahbooba Mufti the CM). Separatists will say something or the other depending on which faction of Hurriyat they belong to!

But does any one care how will the citizens of India's North Eastern states react to this? For those who don't know, people

across the North Eastern states have been protesting against AFSPA since decades. Mostly the protests have been peaceful. Irom Sharmila who has been protesting since a decade has become a face of protest against this law and so are those Manipuri rape victim women who have protested nude outside Assam Rifles camp.

So shall we now go and tell Irom Sharmila that her 10 years long protest is useless because it was not accompanied by violent and continual stone pelting by her people? Shall we tell those women that their modesty is lesser than their Kashmiri counterparts (and I am not even talking of Shopian where people kept on insisting that two women whose bodies were found in a river, were raped by Army, despite repeated investigations which proved otherwise). Shall we tell the citizens that unless they pelt stones on security forces they won't even be considered seriously even for talks?

I am not against repeal of AFSPA from Kashmir. I am against unequal treatment which always favors Kashmiris.

How much ever they may be pelting stones on police, Kashmiri youth still flocks for Police jobs. They may rebuke PM grandly that they need independence and not education or jobs but how many of them leave an opportunity to get a Govt. job. They may question India's democracy but conveniently forget that their 'leaders' who live in posh colonies of Srinagar are given security by Indian Govt. only and that if they are able to voice their opinion freely it is because of India's democracy only. I am not saying that everything is hunky-dory with Kashmiris but I believe that they behave like the spoilt brat who gets bigger pie of everything as compared to his seedha-sadha sibling.

It's time Central Govt. considers North Eastern states as integral part of India and its people equal citizens of country, apart from when talking to China.

The Dudhsagar Rail-track Trek: In the green paradise

2010-08-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

I had been trying to join this GHAC trek from past many weeks but without any success. It is so popular that it got full even before I could check the meetup notification!!! But finally I got lucky and got seats reserved for Shweta and me.

We boarded Yashwantpur Express from Kachiguda and by the time we woke up, we were in Amaravathi Express. Yes the coach had changed trains, just as wealth changed hands between Kalmadi's stooges!

We were about an hour late when we alighted at Castle Rock. But nobody complained as slight drizzle and misty greens welcomed us. Castle Rock was the last station where there was some population. And for next 24 hours we were not going to get anything edible, and that's why we had our bags loaded with ready to eat stuff like MTR Rice, bread-butter, Thepla, chips, cakes etc. to last for next few meals.

Walking on railway tracks was fun for maybe about half an hour. After that it was trying to find the easy and fast way to walk. Walking on the ballast (the small stones between tracks) was difficult, but walking on the wooden or concrete planks between the tracks was more difficult not only because the soles start aching after some time but also because when you flush in the train you are not thinking about people 'trekking' on the tracks!

But when you have breathtaking surroundings all around you, an unending water supply in form of waterfalls (perfectly potable, just check for small insects) and birds which whistle just like humans you won't complain. To add to the adventure the route is dotted with tunnels which need you to carry dark enough to need torch light and leaky enough to need an umbrella.

We were approaching one such tunnel when we heard a train blow horn. After a few moments there was no sound and after a few moments once again there was a horn. I touched the track and put ear to it, but there was no sign of any train. but Shweta and Anand won't buzz. So I volunteered to go and check in the tunnel and as I proceeded I saw the proverbial lights of approaching train.

In the meantime we had crossed the border and reached Goa!

Karunzol was 7.29 km from Castle Rock and we had our brief lunch comprised of Theplas and MTR Rice. Once again the trek started and now the evening was approaching fast and rain came along. After another 7 km Dudhsagar station appeared but there was no sign of the falls or our camping site. After a very dreary another 1 km,loomed the first sight of Dudhsagar falls! Instant recharge was never so instantaneous! It was about six in the evening and the visibility was poor. We were wet, tired and hungry and were not in the perfect mindframe to enjoy the scenery.

We put up the camps in a small hut (rather a shed!) and after what seemed to be a very long and wet (specially for those who had put up the tent in the verandah of shed. The waterfall seemed to get more aggressive as the night progressed. I could hardly sleep in that cramped tent and got up by 5 as instructed by camp leader. But till 6 it was very dark.

Morning was greeted with much chaos and after a very adventurous wash in a side stream in the fall (we actually climbed up that stream in the fall) we started packing up. Folding up the tents could be accomplished only after reading the instructions amidst war cries that would confuse someone that a wild animal was being tamed!

Shooting near a massive fall like Dudhsagar is always difficult because of strong drizzle created by water falling on rocks. I had first experienced that in Chikmagalore when I visited Abby falls. Those with point and shoot cameras can still manage but with a non-water proof SLR camera you have to be really quick and careful. But I managed take a few quick snaps.

The journey continued to Coolem which was supposed to be 7 km from Dudhsagar. But there proved to be a minor hitch. Coolem was another 8 km from Sonalium, about 4 km from Dudhsagar. So we boarded a train to Coolem, a beautiful town in Goa which had more shops selling liquor than anything else! After a brief but much appreciated hot lunch we took a bus to Londa junction from where we would catch train to Hyderabad.

A special word about the gang. It was as Barney Stinson would say, "Totally awesome".

Travel Summary: To reach Dudhsagar from Hyderabad, take 7603 Kacheguda-Yeshwantpur Express. Get down at Castle Rock station and trek to Dudhsagar. There are no hotels/restaurants in the region so make arrangements for your food/stay (preferably tents). To return you can either trek back to Castle Rock or goto Coolem about 12 km from Dudhsagar. You can also trek 4km to Sonalium and take a train to Coolem. From Coolem you can take bus to Londa and catch 7416 Haripriya Express back to Hyderabad.

If ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ was made today

2010-08-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

(Originally written for and published on PassionForCinema.com on August 5, 2010)

Dharmveer Bharti’s epic novel ‘Gunaahon Ka Devta’ had more than the obvious (psychological!) effects on me: I decided to make a movie titled ‘Seema’ (name of the female protagonist). So I designed a poster for it and played casting director and my friend Vikas did the same and then we compared notes. I don’t remember my list but I remember that my cast had better actors than his and I never let him forget it.

Ravi Baswani’s untimely demise put a lot of focus back on ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’. This movie was released one year after I was born and I remember literally (yes, literally) Rolling On The Floor Laughing (ROTFL in SMS lingo!) when I watched it on TV in mid-90s. Watching the CNN-IBN special on the movie left me a bit nostalgic and geared up to take this as a new project for playing casting director. Once again Vikas was roped in for the challenge and he was game.

We had to select an entirely new cast, with no actor from the original movie. The physical resemblance though not THE most important criterion, is still one of the points to be kept in mind. Also actors should be playing their age. So even though a young actor can be made up 40 year old, it will be great if he/she plays a character that suits his/her age and personality.

Keeping these points in mind here is the cast that we have proposed for “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” if it was made today.

Vinod Chopra: Nasseruddin Shah. Proposed: Irfan Khan (2nd choice: Kay Kay Menon)

Vikas suggested Irfan’s name and I agreed (much to his surprise!). But Irfan is a superb actor and his style of comedy is what I feel is just right for a satirical film like this. But my second choice is KK Menon and more I try to visualize him in different scenes, more I get convinced that he will be as good if not better than Irfan. Tough choice here!

Sudhir Mishra: Ravi Baswani. Proposed: Sharman Joshi

To express the quirkiness that Baswani did with his twitching eyes would be a difficult task for Sharman but both Vikas and I think he will be perfect side kick for Vinod Chopra. Physical resemblance apart Sharman’s comic timing is what I am banking on for this role.

Commissioner D’Mello: Satish Shah. Proposed: Boman Irani

Giving him a role that needs him to act as corpse half the time? I know it’s criminal wastage of talent but then thinking of the other half I can’t really imagine anyone else and that says a lot about Satish Shah’s portrayal of the role! Boman Irani is a great actor and he will truly rock in this role.

Shobha Sen: Bhakti Barve. Proposed: Konkona Sen Sharma

Konkona is a fabulous actor and I believe she will be able to portray the ruthless (and flirty when needed) editor perfectly. Physically too she matches Bhakti Barve to the T.

Ahuja: Om Puri. Proposed: Pawan Malhotra (2nd choice: Manoj Vajpayee/Rajesh Vivek)

This is what I believe is my casting coup! Vikas suggested Manoj Vajpayee and then Rajesh Vivek. But it is not as confusing as it seems due to three names doing the rounds here because I am convinced that Pawan is the perfect fit for this character. It’s a pleasure to watch him on screen and not only is sure to match Om Puri in acting skills but also will in appearance (of those times). Vikas doesn’t agree but I am adamant.

Tarneja: Pankaj Kapoor. Proposed: Manoj Pahwa (2nd choice: Manu Rishi)

Paresh Rawal seems to be obvious choice but I have reservations against his strong Gujarati/Marathi accent which kinda typecasts his style of acting. Manoj Pahwa is a veteran in such roles and this role seems to be tailor made for him. Second choice Manu Rishi was the pleasant surprise in “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!” and though we haven’t seen much of him lately, I believe he will be able to pull off this very important role well.

Tarneja’s secretary Priya: Neena Gupta. Proposed: Neha Dhupia

There were various contenders for the role of this Indian version of dumb blonde secretary. Celina Jetly, Riya Sen, Rimi Sen and most of the new 1-film wonder actresses but I pick Neha Dhupia because she is a better actress among this brigade.

Tarneja’s PA Ashok: Satish Kaushik. Proposed: Vijay Maurya

Satish Kaushik played whining buffoon to a hilt but Vijay Maurya is already getting featured in people’s favorite actors lists! Even though physical resemblance is being somewhat ignored here, I think Maurya will easily pull this one off.

Asst. Municipal Commissioner Srivastav: Deepak Qazir. Proposed: Deepak Dobriyal

Deepak is one of the finest actors around and versatility could be his middle name. I have seen him in ‘Omkara’ and ‘Delhi 6′ and his ability to look his character makes him one of the most dependable actors around. I believe he will better the original performance by his senior namesake.

Assistant Editor Kamdar: Rajesh Puri. Proposed: Rajpal Yadav

Rajpal Yadav is a very competent actor but he is not doing his reputation any good by joining Priyadarshan’s Institute of Shout Acting (yes Priyan has taken loud acting to a whole new level!). But even though Vikas is not very keen on Yadav, I think he will be a good addition to team and his comic timing could be a great asset in the Mahabharat sequence.

This is the cast that I believe will do justice to one of my most favorite films of all times. You are free to disagree and recommend your favorite actors for these roles. What are you waiting for, jump to the comment form now!

2 months - End of abstinence!

2010-07-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

OK it's 2 days more than 2 months since my last post on this blog, and 3 days more than 1 month since I got back to Hyderabad.

Tweeting has been a very major reason blogging has taken backseat. In my pre-Twitter days I used to blog on every issue I felt about. Sometimes it was just a rant, other times it was something that I felt passionate about. It didn't matter how few people read it.

But post-Twitter, when each tweet goes to Facebook and very often generates comments from people the feelings and thoughts get immediate vent and not stored till the blog is written!

But still I often thought and felt guilty about neglecting my blog which was my interface for the world. The 'comeback post' had to be special. Announcing to the world about my changed marital status with a wedding pic and hence getting some jovial comments from friends, maybe fellow bloggers. But that wasn't supposed to happen and so it didn't. The 'comeback post' was never written and it won't be missed too.

These past few weeks have been eventful. Leave aside the whole marriage and honeymoon factor, I believe I got a bit scarred emotionally by people whom I called 'friends'! I had always dreaded a life where all friends would be busy in their lives (read 'already married') and won't have time for me. Well this nightmare mutated itself such that not only those who were married, but also those who are unmarried got busy in their lives and didn't have time for me. Well, this is no cribbing post so we leave this issue right here!

Everyone asks me how is the married life? The best part of being married is that now I don't have to look for company when I want to go for movie or play :)

One thing about my wedding that I wanted to share: The most defining memory of entire proceedings is of a Muslim photographer Zubair (Hussainganj, Lucknow) guiding my family members the rituals in a typical Kayastha wedding!

Fish Treatment for Asthma in Hyderabad 2011

2010-06-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

Finally we got the confirmation. This Year the date falls on 8th June 2011 at 10.30 pm to 9th June 2011 at 10:30 pm.

I am writing this for people who have asked me the dates in advance for getting tickets reserved.

For more details check: http://www.bathinifish.com/home.htm

I had to close comment posting on this post because of too many comments giving their full contact details and asking me questions which I was not sure how to answer! I mean, I have given the official site address and you can find ALL the details there, what more do you want me to tell you! Book your tickets in time and take a train/bus/flight to Hyderabad if you want to come. Book a hotel if you don't have a friend/relative whose place you can stay at.

However I would like to answer one question: what if I have to skip it without completing my 3 year course? Well if you have to skip it, you have to skip. You need to restart your 3 year course again. My aunty had to do that.

If you ask my honest opinion about the efficacy of this treatment, I won't answer. Placebo Effect is an important theme in the field of medicine!