Struggling commuters in Surat now have a new lease of life. Western Railway has taken the step of introducing one more train in the morning in addition to the existing Flying Ranee according to this times of India report.
This is great news for thousands of Surtis who daily spend 10 hours alone traveling from Surat to Mumbai back and forth in order to earn their livelihood. The new train will just take three hours to reach Bandra and give a boost to the heavy economic activities that exist between the two states of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Traveling on commuter trains in India is one hell of a chaotic experience. I have had the experience of traveling in the Flying Ranee on numerous occasions even at a time when it was one of the fastest trains in India next to only the Rajdhani. These commuters on the Surat-Mumbai journey have a culture of their own which includes being loud, obnoxious, stepping on everyone's feet other than their own, pushing everyone in their upper quadrant(right and left), constant chants of chalo aage badho and mostly sister-mother related expletives directed at those people they have tried pushing but are not budging or to those who do not understand the aage badho part. They laugh loudly at every possible joke or a semblance of one including killing a fly that had got attracted to the decaying matter in one of the commuter's ear. On a recent trip, they also sang about 10-15 bhajans in their loudest pitch on the stretch from Valsad to Vapi. They share great camaraderie and once their stop arrives disperse as if they were magnetic with opposite poles.
I recall once I was on the return journey of Mumbai-Surat and the train had just pulled into Mumbai Central. Mom and I got inside the train. As we matched the seat numbers to our tickets a sweaty blue handkerchief came flying like a UFO through the window and landed on the berth just at the moment I figured that the seat was the one assigned to me. I felt so disgusted about it, that I threw it out the window holding it in the tip of my nails. I looked out and just saw the back of a man trying to get into the bogie. Then he suddenly appeared next to us and asked...no actually demanded us to vacate the seat. We showed him our tickets and told him to shove off. So he said that he had put his handkerchief in there and so he had booked his seat.
'What handkerchief?' I asked him 'Huh, where is it. I placed it here ?' He said sticking his nose on the window to see what had happened to his UFO? Shoe sole patterns of all kinds had formed by now on his flattened piece of cloth accessory. Since my mother was there he refrained from using cuss words but made his displeasure known.
'Hanky-throwing is not a civilized way to reserve seats,' my mother told him in English. Whenever my mom gets in a spot of bother she starts to mouth English words.The Surat rickshawallahs who ply their trade in the old city have often been left scratching their heads by the time my mom bargained a rupiah deal.
'See I do this everyday,' the man said 'Let us call the hawaldar,' Mom said. Luckily one happened to be passing in that bogie. Thank God for the semi-periodic checks our Railway police force conducts. Rolling a baton in one hand he understood the situation and took the man to task. 'Jasti badbad something something..is all I could understand.
The commuter man didn't look too happy with an English vocabulary throwing middle-aged woman and a pot-bellied pandu rounding up his day when the poor man must have slogged it out in some dilapidated office building in South Mumbai. For a moment I felt sorry for him. He slowly walked out. I watched him through the window. He picked up his handkerchief which seemed no cleaner than before and walked away to the next bogie to try his luck. A dirtier hanky might fetch him a seat I thought as people would be reluctant to touch it. Hmm..
*ing : Aamir Khan, Boman Irani, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi & Kareena Kapooor Directed by : Rajkumar Hirani
Aal izz Well
Well almost. 3 idiots, the most awaited movie of the year based loosely on Chetan Bhagat's bestseller Five Point Someone is a refreshing entertainer with the heart in the right place but at times this heart pumps laughter wildly while at other times it sputters in emotion like a dirty carburetor which leaves the movie in a state of hyper and hypo tension at various times. Confused...don't worry aal izz well.
The movie starts off with friends and two idiots, Farhan(Madhavan) and Raju(Sharman) on their way to Simla to look for the 3rd idiot and missing friend Rancho(Aamir). On the way they reminisce about their friendship in college and the first half almost entirely takes place on campus of the prestigious engineering institute Imperial College of Engineering. Rancho is an engineering genius who inspires other people to think freely, question conventional norms about grades and studies and asks pertinent questions about the educational system as a whole(ala Ryan in Bhagat's novel). This irks the principal(Viru Sahastrabudhhe aka Virus) but impresses his daughter Pia(Kareena Kapoor). So obviously it leads to innumerable clashes with authority, arguments and the likes. Will Rancho and his friends convince the Fuhrer to end this madness , the mental pressures or will they end up being martyrs in this pursuit of excellence?
The film uptill the halfway point is hilarious with soulful elements interwoven between some hugely uproarious situations. The speech skit is one of the funniest scenes I have seen in recent times. Most situations have been given a lighthearted treatment. But it is the second half that falters badly with some silly back stories, a huge number of coincidences and a heavy suspension of belief.
Madhavan and Sharman have nothing to show in this film as we never find any character buildup for both. Ditto for Kareena. Rajkumar Hirani in his effort to evoke mirth out of every possible situation sacrifices on the core of any good film - character development. Not once I recall the friendship of the three jumping up and gripping me. Also the scenes like Sharman's confrontation with Viru, Madhavan's with his father, Kareena's with her father etc. which really require the audience to shed a tear actually ring quite hollow. We, like the director seem to be confused as similar situations in the first half were reduced to mere caricatures to tickle our funny bone, hence the impact of the real thing is lessened to some extent. As if the director compromised on the drama in order to let in some of the old commercial Bollywood masala.
3 idiots though in essence is pure entertainment. While Madhavan and Sharman are believable in their roles as losers, Kareena does a wonderful job as Aamir's love interest. The Zoobi-Doobi song is excellent and topped off by some creative picturization. California based actor Omi Vaidya delivers huge laughs in his portrayal of Hindi-challenged Chatur Ramalingam. The film ultimately is carried by both Aamir Khan and Boman Irani who get into their characters like never before. Irani's menace and added lisp to dialogues is truly remarkable. Aamir who never really passes off as a 20-something engineering student , makes it up with his mannerisms and incredible acting.
The movie is over-hyped and because of that it falls below expectations but watch it for its unmistakable honesty and its blithe bonhomie. But most importantly, the theater was filled mostly with young people, engineers or techies perhaps and going by the heavy applause the movie received at the end, it was that been-there done-that "I was once in this situation" appeal of the movie that makes it work and allows us to proclaim "Aal izz well".
The talent pool of cricket in India seems to have shifted from Mumbai to Delhi. 5 cricketers namely Viru, Gauti, Kohli, Ishant and Nehra who were in the starting XI for our match against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata call Delhi as their home.
And it was the 2 Delhi Dashers - Gambhir and Kohli who scored magnificent tons to lead India to an easy victory despite chasing a stiff target of 316 in 50 overs. Gambhir remained unbeaten on 150 and India romped home with 2 overs to spare and with that took the 5 match series 3-1.
Hindi Film music has been my love since childhood. So at the end of another year for our Hindi music industry, I have tried to come up with my own choice of the top 20 songs of 2009.
Film music this year was in great shape with the emergence of some seriously good talent. and that is what made it doubly difficult to choose. Sachin-Jigar enthralled us with their Paki-rockish tunes in Teree Sang. Sharib-Toshi had a few foot-tapping numbers in Jashnn and Jail. Ankur Tewari, an unknown until Aao Wish Karein came along gave us a glimpse of his talent. But the biggest and the most promising of all of them is this chap called Amit Trivedi who followed up his Aamir soundtrack with some remarkable compositions in Dev.D and then the great Iktara from Wake up Sid. There were the veterans like Rahman and Shankar Ehsaan Loy who delivered with Delhi 6 and London Dreams respectively. Pritam, not one to be left behind gave rock hits like All the Best and soothing soulful melodies in Tum Mile and Love Aaj Kal. So who wins this war of the music directors, who came up with the best track of this year? The ranking is based purely on the number of times I put the song on repeat on my stereo. Here they are
Special Mention : I skipped all the songs of the movie Gulaal while watching it but after reading its music review I gave it a try and it is definitely very good especially Yaara Maula.
OSTs of the year
Love Aaj Kal : Pritam
Wake up Sid : S-E-L/Amit Trivedi
Tum Mile : Pritam
Composer(s) of the year
This was a real throw up between S-E-L and Pritam who both had two superhit OSTs each to show for. But for sheer consistency I will have to go with Pritam for having 6/20 songs in the top 20.
After catching 3 idiots this weekend, I can put a list of top 5-10 movies of this year which shouldn't be a difficult task considering there were just 10 hits in this year in what has been a really mediocre year for our Hindi Film industry.
*ing : Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana Directed by : James Cameron
Avatar is "once in a decade film" and technologically light years ahead of its contemporaries. And no it is not because of the story but because of the visually striking images that refuse to leave your mind even after you leave the theater.
A crippling energy crisis on earth has forced the humans to look for newer resources. So they land on Pandora, a distant planet which has a mineral called "Unobtainium". But to mine that, the humans have to coax the local population - the blue skinned Nav'i race to evacuate. the area. In order to communicate with these peace loving natives, human scientists have come up with the AVATAR program where researchers can mind control Nav'i lookalikes that have been genetically cloned. What follows is the divided loyalties that the researchers begin to feel after spending time with the innocent "aliens". Time is running out for convincing them and before long the humans are ready to use brutal force to blow them out of their homes.
James Cameron, the man and the mind behind path breaking movies like Terminator and Titanic delivers once again and how. The details on screen are so lifelike that as soon as the story actually moves to the forest, the viewer is transported to the magical land. of Pandora. It is a visual masterpiece that demands your attention like no other(perhaps only rivaled by LOTR). Words are futile in this case and one has to see it to feel it.
On the flip side, people might feel the story is kind of repetitive and have seen it before. The dialogues are pretty banal at places and some of the characters are just stereotyped cut pieces. Sam Worthington who plays the lead has his moments although his Aussie accent keeps on popping up here and there. Other actors do their job tremendously well but all of them just play second fiddle to the iconic scenery on display.
It also has a lot of underlying messages about human greed, the wrongful US invasion of Iraq and enviromental protection. Overall effect is mesmerizing and one more thing people , do not make the grave mistake of watching this movie in 2-D. Watch it only in 3D for the sake of experiencing one of the best ever cinematic projects in the history of film-making.
Assembled my first ever computer yesterday. Great fun and worked nicely. The new windows 7 is ultra cool. But now I am looking for a monitor. Expensive stuff I tell you..but what can one do? And oh yes I need a keyboard, and a mouse and hmmm...a printer too. And all this because I want to use it for my own home entertainment...If my mom hears this she is gonna kill me
I remember an old joke that went like this :
NASA Space scientists were trying to launch a rocket but the damned thing would not fire even after several attempts. Apna desi scientist then proposed a brilliant idea. He suggested tilting the rocket to 45 degrees and then try again. And voila ! it was successful. On being asked about his sudden brainwave , the desi scientist replied , that he didn’t know but his scooter back home had to be started the same way.
The scooter he was referring to was obviously Bajaj who recently announced that their production line for scooters will close and they would concentrate on motorcycles alone. I don’t know why but the news really did hit me with a huge pang of nostalgia. My Dad had owned a Bajaj Chetak in the late eighties and all through the nineties. And that too after having waited for it for well over two years after placing an order. I have some really fond memories with a mini me standing in front near the odometer riding through the bylanes of Surat. The song for the old Bajaj ad is perhaps one of the most celebrated jingles in Indian advertising history. The “buland Bharat ki buland tasveer” was an absolute masterstroke at a time when India was undergoing economic liberalization. So much so that the word scooter was synonymous with Bajaj just like Xerox with photocopying.
Sadly Bajaj has to close down due to plunging sales which stems from their lack of innovation, a case very similar to another Indian symbol –Premier automobiles. Consumer tastes have also changed over the past decade. Competition from Honda had all but killed them almost a decade ago and a certain loyalty helped them to drag on for this long.
Now they have set their goals to become the top motorcycle manufacturer in India, not an easy task given that Honda is the top dog in this segment as well. But hopefully they will not repeat the same mistakes they made with the scooter and go “distinctly ahead” of competition.
Yesterday the first snow of the season announced itself subtly. Before I could reach home and click something it was over and sunny days were here again. All I got was a Honda Civic ice cream. Blackcurrant with a bit of Vanilla.
Yup it is true, India finally is the numero uno Test team in the world on the ICC rankings. This dream was achieved after 18 months of hard work and nailed after thrashing the visiting Lankans at the Brabourne stadium by an innings. The most satisfying aspect was Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar being part of this momentous occasion. They are the three remaining from the Fab Four and how I wish Saurav Ganguly was there with them to celebrate, the man who started this rejuvenation and instilled in our listless team, the pride to play for India.
Of the Gen X , Viru and Gauti have, what it takes to become the greatest opening pair in the history of the game and with tremendous youngsters like Vijay, Yuvi, Rohit, Raina & Kohli waiting in the wings, the future looks very flowery.
And how can one forget Gary Kirsten and the support staff who have kept the team fit and raring to go for every game. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is no fluke captain as some detractors would like to bring up everytime. He is an excellent batsman-keeper, a shrewd captain and really at present the only man who can lead India to even greater heights.
Pity the BCCI is reluctant to organize more tests , hence India's reign at the top might be short-lived, but for the moment let us savor this occasion and bask in the glory.
*ing : Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma Directed by : Ayan Mukherjee
The coming of age premise has always been a favorite ones with filmmakers all around the world right from The Motorcycle Diaries(Argentina) , American History X to our own Dil Chahta Hai. So it was interesting to see another attempt at this now banal topic by casting the latest heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor in the role of a 20 something slacker.
Siddharth Mehra is the spoilt rich kid with a good heart but eventually and predictably, his lack of ambition leads to a conflict with his father and he moves into the house of his friend Aisha, played by Konkona. Here is where he starts his journey of self-discovery.
The dialogue style is very casual and contemporary which immediately helps to identify with the protagonists. On top of which, the screenplay(also credited to the director) has intermittent moments which one can connect emotionally to. It is very honest and very endearing.
But what works for the movie, in bigger light, it also pulls it down. In between these moments, there seems to be nothing much going on. There is absolutely no development of any kind, and with the exception of Konkona's character , no one seems to have undergone any change. In other words , the Sid we were expecting to wake up, never really gives us that impression that he has changed. The conflicts or difficulties faced by Sid and Aisha with the world and among themselves seem to be easily resolved. e.g a girl just arrives from Kolkata and is immediately a column writer for a trendy magazine....can't swallow that one.
A word about the music - (S-E-L and Amit Trivedi)It is awesome especially the Iktara song. Performance wise, Anupam Kher as Sid's father, Supriya Pathak as his English-challenged mother are superb and come up with seasoned execution. Sid's friends are also fantastic. although they seem to pop up randomly. Konkona Sen Sharma impresses as always and looks charming.
Wake up Sid ultimately though belongs to Ranbir Kapoor who takes gargantuan strides in the acting department, a role he makes his own with some tremendous eye expressions.
The movie despite its slow pacing is refreshing because of its subtle treatment and believable characters. Watch it for Ranbir alone, who forces us to wake up to a new star on the horizon.
Well not quite Indian PM style but I was in Washington DC the past week to catch the tourist attractions I had missed the last time I had been there. This time I went to the International Spy Museum which houses exhibits used by spies from all over the world.
A unique feature of the museum is its controlled entry, where visitors are given 5 minutes to memorize details of one of 16 spy profiles they are to assume (fictitious name, age, place of birth, destination, and so forth) as their "cover" before they are allowed to proceed into the exhibit area. Each "cover" is subtly assigned a mission on the plaque bearing their details, but completion is not required. Later while touring the museum visitors may test themselves at an interactive display on how well they remember the details of their selected spy identity. They may also be stopped occasionally by museum guides acting as "police" and "questioned" about their assumed identity. (Source : Wikipedia)
I was highly impressed by the exhibits and lots of other interactive tools. One of them also involved crawling inside air-conditioning ducts to eavesdrop on conversations happening below. All the gadgets we have seen in James Bond movies actually exist in reality and the most deadly one I thought was the "lipstick pistol".
There was also an entire section dedicated to Cold War espionage with a particular incident narrating, when the Allied forces tried building a tunnel under the Berlin Wall but not knowing that the Russians were well aware of this operation two years in advance due to the presence of a British double agent in the Allied ranks.
For me as a person who has grown up reading espionage thrillers by Ian Fleming and Alistair Maclean, the experience was exhilarating. The CIA which has contributed to the museum's design has been criticized for romanticizing the profession with their interactive rools but then without them it would have been half the fun.
Don't miss this if ever you are visiting the capital of the United States.
*ing : Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger Directed by : Curtis Hanson
Once in a while a movie comes along which is old-fashioned in its treatment but doubly effective and it provides an irresistible treat for cinema lovers like me.
Director Curtis Hanson expertly adapts James Ellroy's novel and Brian Hegeland's screenplay based in the 50's Los Angeles, a city which is rife with corruption and racism. The story centers around three cops who have their own style and means to solve crimes.
Jack Vincennes(Kevin Spacey) is the attention seeker who has made a name by catching celebrities in compromising positions like dope or sexual fetishes. Bud White(Russell Crowe) is a hot headed cop with a soft corner for women. He doesn't wait for answers but pummels them out of criminals.The third is Ed Exley(Guy Pearce), who is a college educated, ethical and out to prove a point officer. Their lives collide when each one finds himself investigating a massacre at a coffee shop that also has a cop in its body count.
At first they jockey for attention but as their inquiries lead them inside an intricate web of police corruption, racist attitudes, prostitution rings and malevolent agendas, they realize that they are safer together on one side.
Every scene of L.A. Confidential carries a brutal realism about it. Right from the tracking of suspects to the brilliant interrogation techniques, the screenplay carries enough narrative twists to hold you on the edge of your seat.
All three actors, Spacey, Crowe and Pearce play their roles to perfection and demands of the script. The other characters are also well sketched like Kim Basinger's role as a call girl (Man is she hot!!)
Art direction is excellent as usual as the locations speak for themselves showing a morally contaminated city. In this age of high tech gadgets, sci-fi thrillers and senseless SFX, L.A confidential delivers a masterpiece of noir cinema that is gritty and disturbing but satisfying as hell.
One year from the horrific attacks and the perpetrators still roam at large. India still remains a soft state, one very much vulnerable to attack.
My friend and one of the followers of this blog, remarked that India is the only country where all people hate each other. The Marathas are fighting with the north indians, the south indians look down upon the northies and vice versa. But despite all this problems, India continues to make progress and the largely young population of the country who fortunately remains above all this regional crap is standing up and making a difference which is a testimony to our socio-cultural and educational set-up.
Everyone of us as Indians should come together, forget our differences and take a moment to pay homage to the great men who put down their lives to bring back peace not only to Mumbai but to the whole nation and Indians all over the world. A great country needs our support.
2012 is another offering from disaster specialist director Roland Emmerich whose credits include Independence Day, Godzilla and the The Day after Tomorrow. So you know, it is leave your brains at home time, ignore character development and just enjoy the noise, the craziness and the mind-blowing CGI.
This time it is world annihilation due to solar flares. The first half of the movie is excellent and has everything that popcorn entertainment has to offer. Cities just falling off due to the movement of fault lines will leave you agape. But it is the second half where the movie starts to get boring and repetitive. And all the cliches that you expect also come hopping out with glee with the conscience stricken Americans saving the world yet again.
No one performance stays in the mind even though the movie runs for almost three hours. Watch the movie just for the spectacle of seeing a plane taking off from a runway crumbling behind it, ships being hit my massive tsunami waves and much more.
And the hero of millions completes 20 years in world cricket. Congrats Sachin on this scintillating achievement. Just the amount of articles that have been written on the guy is overwhelming. I won't waste time writing one more. Catch them at cricinfo by clicking below
India vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test Ahmedabad Q. How does the little master play his first ball of his 3rd decade at the top? A. Get to the pitch of the ball and caress it through the covers.
Good Omen......? Nope,he gets bowled two balls later while playing a poor shot. Gavaskar, praising the man for his form and feet movement , jinxes the Bombay Bomber. Uff :(
Today the world commemorated the Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in memory of those who died in WWI. During those years of war, Indian political leaders had stupidly allowed our citizens to fight for the British in Europe and elsewhere. In all 140,000 men from the British Indian Army served on the Western Front and nearly 700,000 in the Middle East. Casualties of Indian soldiers totaled 47,746 killed and 65,126 wounded during World War I*. And all this show of loyalty to the empire, just because the Congress "expected" the goras to hand them self-governance. What a piece of trash. What were they thinking?
All of 91 years later, we still show our weakness in taking strong steps and continue to bow down to corruption, communalism and terrorism. Let us not forget the valor shown by our soldiers in war who have sacrificed so much dear to them so that we can enjoy what is dear to us. Let us mark the moment..
Next stop Bangalore/Bengaluru to meet Deepika Padukone. Ok ok alright...but close enough since I was meeting a schoolmate of hers. :)
Had heard a lot about the steady improvements of airports in India. After being impressed by the Mumbai Domestic Terminal, I expected the same for the Bengaluru Airport as well. And it did not disappoint. Spacious, airy terminals, self-check in counters, uncomplicated design for departure gates and clear announcements. On the outside too, was a revelation with pretty landscaping, organized cab areas and bus lanes. BMTC operates air-conditioned Volvo buses into the city and we hopped onto one of them to make our way along the six-lane highway to the city-center.
One of the major complaints has been the lack of alternative means of transport. Being the IT hub, the expansion and opening of a new airport was done in order to facilitate more passengers due to the increasing business and it didn’t make any sense being stuck in traffic for many hours to reach your meeting place. A high-speed rail link ideally should have been built simultaneously along with the airport. It is being done now and remains to be seen how quickly it can be completed.
Anyway it is easy to be critical. But we have to give credit where it is due. Because airports in India sucked big time and the posters of "Incredible India" plastered on seedy walls never alleviated the discomfort that any tourist was going through. All in all, it was pretty good and this was just phase 1. With a 4000 acre area to play with, I think this airport can go places.
I was in India for the past two weeks and the first sign that I had truly arrived arrived just a few minutes after we left the SVP Airport Ahmedabad - the Chai stall.
Among the great many differences between the American and Indian culture especially among college students , the biggest one is the "cutting" or cafe culture. Coffee or tea is sipped in a more closed or controlled setting in the States while the cart culture still largely caters to the Indian lifestyle. The photo on the left is of a tea stall in Ahmedabad, I clicked in the wee hours of the morning, just after I landed.
Before the days of CCD and Barista, there was(and still is) the roadside tea shop that were present at prime locations outside colleges. These tea stalls doubled up as the nukkad, provision store for tea, paan, cigarette, and quick snacks. This was the place for endless banter or to vent feelings about anything under the sun be it that screwed up test, the crazy professor, the latest babe in college, or some career advice. The ambience was the road and the traffic while the seats were one's own bike. The service was quick and friendly. And all this for a price way below at what one would pay at swanky malls or chic cafes.
Some of the stalls have even gone beyond their usual status and become the favorite hangout places of thousands like the famous Rituraj Maska Bun near the Gujarat University campus. The cafe culture might have swept India but it is time to give the street tea vendors their due respect for their great service to millions of budding engineers, managers and slackers (me..me..me).
India's most loved writer , Chetan Bhagat released his fourth offering 2 States , the story of my Marriage last month. Although I was terribly disappointed by his previous book - 3 mistakes, I am still a fan of his work. His new book as he claims is a fictionalized version of his own struggle to get married to the girl of his choice.
Krish and Ananya are 2 classmates in love at IIM-A but Krish is Punjabi and Ananya is a Tamilian. So obviously there is opposition to their marriage. But instead of taking the easy route of eloping, they decide to play turns in convincing each other's family and that's what the entire book is about.
The parameters for the north vs south clash are set up very early in the book and right at the beginning it moves with breakneck pace. But it settles down into a sweet although predictable family comedy with cultural differences emerging at the top of the jest pile.
About Chetan's characters, they seem to have grown mature. It is the first time since Five point Someone, you feel that you know something more about the narrator rather than half-baked characterizations in his previous two works. There are a lot of nostalgic well placed references to FPS as well. Minor characters too get good scope to display their displeasure at the proceedings. On the other hand though, some of his story lines do seem just mere extensions of his previous characters. Bad boss, newspaper savvy characters, south indian tendency to be bookworms etc. to name a few. Also the message he wants to get through about moving over our cultural differences and embracing people from all over India has been passed on a million times before without much progress. (Although that isn't Chetan's fault, firstly the north-south dilemma has been done to death. An east west , a Gujju-Bengali angle could have been an interesting premise). It begs the reason as to why to look for partners from a different clan when you know there is going to be confrontation.
All said and done, CB does a better job this time. The subtle observations and the clever one-liners are all there in this book, and slightly more depth in his writing makes it an enjoyable read. Ofcourse it is very bollywoodish in nature, and can be finished in one sitting as is the case with all his books. His critics will remain but one should review his book more from a humorist point of view rather than a literary one.
Yesterday I watched Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar play one of his best ever innings in an ODI. It was all the more remarkable since it came in a chase of a mammoth 350 and against the numero uno team in the world. Unfortunately the other nincompoops in the team could not provide a fitting end to the match as India lost the match by a mere 3 runs in a thrilling encounter. It was once again like the 90s where the Master single handedly lead the team to an almost impossible victory. Take a bow Little Master, even after 20 years in international cricket , you still continue to astonish us with your strokeplay.
And with this post I have reached number 50 and that is saying something for a person who had hoped to maintain a diary since 2003. But now this not too personal blog has given me that chance although it started out strictly for memory maintenance. Along the way though, one's personality does come to light. I have had a chance to read other blogs which has given me a new perspective on many things. I mostly write about music and entertainment and one my passions - travelling. Things like these keep me going. I have become a lot more perceptive not to mention a trifle sarcastic. But the everyday grind of life with the ups and downs needs some sort of exhaust. I hope this blog will continue to morph into something perhaps more useful or opinionated on topics that continue to disturb me or the society at large.
Oh yes this post comes from India which imo is the most unpredictable country in the world. I have come here after 2 years and enjoying every moment of it since I am catching up with old friends and pesky relatives. I could have uploaded some pics but the ghastly slow internet speeds don't allow me to do so. Will try to put together details once I get back to the US. Cheers..
Ah here is my first restaurant review which perhaps is not of much help as the only people who read my blog are a bullimic, Hitler loving German, a lazy jobless Mumbaikar who basically eats anything that moves, so reviews don't really matter and a 34 year old techie who could write the most complex of code but is completely befuddled by the jargon of his young daughter so prefers to talk to cats instead :). Perhaps the clinching point is they all live in India. I love food and anything to do with it although my tastes are restricted to all things vegetarian. Ok review for today is
Veggie Heaven
I had heard a lot about this outlet and one day finally decided to try one myself along with my Chinese neighbor. There are three branches of this restaurant - Denville, Montclair and Teaneck. Choosing the closest one in Montclair, we entered the place with a little apprehension. The decor was minimal and very Chinese in nature. Browsing through the menu, was a joke because although the restaurant was named Veggie Heaven, all dishes had pork, chicken and beef in them. Obviously that is why it is famous here in NJ, it is simulated meat. So we ordered - Shark Fin Soup, Sweet and Sour Pork chops and curried Chicken.
I have never tasted meat(with the exception of chicken) or seafood before so I had no idea what to expect. The soup arrived first and tasted pretty good with wheat gluten making up for the fins of the shark. It was priced at $7 a bowl, a real low price as compared to the real shark fin which could run close to $50 and above.
The pork chops were very tasty. Soymeat was used in place of pork and after I said that the texture of the meat was rubbery my Chinese friend said that this was the way it was supposed to be and it was pretty close to the real thing. He also said that the dish belonged to some Fuijian province in China where they cooked it with special care. I just nodded having no idea what he was saying.
The tastiest dish was definetely the curried chicken which had more than a hint of Indian spices. The meat substitute used here was Yam and the dish was extremely sumptious with the right mix of chillies and spices.
Side dishes included seaweed and dimsum which were OK.
Overall, the restaurant is very good albeit a bit pricey but would surely like to go again to try some meat oops simulated meat delicacies.
Until the next post which will be from "the Motherland", Happy Diwali to all and take very good care of yourselves.
Two days ago was Kishore Kumar’s 22nd death anniversary. Considering, I am quite a big fan of Kishoreda I missed his 80th birth anniversary(.. damn!) . But better late than never.
Right from my childhood, My Dad and I always have debated about who was the better singer and right till this age we have yet to arrive at a consensus. And how can you, they were both great in their own right and could just about sing any kind of song. With his “oozing pathos in every word”: voice, Mohd Rafi was a firm favorite of my Dad’s. Rafi Sahab was indeed the most coveted singer of his time, there was no denying that. He had a softness and serene quality in his voice that few have been able to match, a voice that could soothe a broken heart.
But something was amiss. Maybe it was to do with the kind of films being made in those days that all the hero got to do was to mourn his misfortune or woo his girlfriend through a beautifully written ghazal. For those kinds of songs Mohd Rafi, Talat Mahmood and the likes began sleepwalking through such melancholic melodies inducing feelings of Devdasian proportions.
Then along came Kishoreda. Kishore Kumar for me was the not the quintessential singer. He was an icon, a giant among giants who defied and shattered prevalent norms that singers have to be classically trained artists. He was eccentric(he had names for all the trees in his garden (Janardhan,Raghunandan, Gangaram, Jhatpatjhatpat), blatantly greedy behind money, married four women and extremely idiosyncratic. His good times for the benefit of millions of music lovers coincided with the rise of new age music in India , (RD Burman and the likes) and also with a stronger and angrier hero. And he could transcend into any musical style with ease.
In this scenario, the hero needed a macho playback voice, a firm yet clear expression to vent his feelings be it love, discontentment or philosophy.
Seeing all this, makes it so hard to choose my five favorite Kishoreda songs from the vast array of gems he has rendered. Surprisingly for a man who was the only male playback voice throughout the 70s and most of the 80s, some of the treasures lie in the times when he wasn’t even famous for his singing!! So I have had to set conditions to bring my choices forth. No fun songs included and also which I can recall on the spot. Kishore could effortlessly transform from one genre to another so here are the compositions (in no particular order) that showcase his versatility :
Aa chal ke tujhe Door Gagan ki Chhaon Mein (1964)
A song written, composed and sung by the great man in a movie directed by him. What more can you say about the genius of the man. The song is low on musical accompaniment which does more to amplify the vocals and it works wonders.
Khwab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat Teen Deviyaan (1965)
In his earliest days Kishore da only sang for Dev Anand and music directors of those days also lowered his confidence maintaining that he could only sing for himself and Dev Anand. Coming back to the song, the best part about it is the contrast between the soft voice of the Mukhda and the exuberant yet slightly disgruntled tone of the Antra makes this an all time Kishore favorite.
Ami Chinigochini Tomarey Ogo Bideshini Charulata (1964)
Written by stalwart Rabrindranath tagore and set to music by the great Satyajit Ray, language makes absolutely no difference to this beautiful melody. I have no idea what the lyrics say but Kishoreda’s silky vocals are just mesmeric.
On a side note, it is worth noticing the maestro Satyajit Ray at work , when he chooses to use a handheld and deliberately shakes the camera as the male actor walks towards the woman. Typical of Mr. Ray’s work - less dialogue and more symbolism.
Koi hota jisko apna Mere Apne (1971)
Salil Chowdhury, the magician behind this song never regarded Kishore as anything more than a singer of fun-filled songs. But then by the time this movie got made, Kishore was at the peak of his popularity and Salil didn’t want to stay out of this. The song is notable for the baritone based voice of the genius and difficult chord progressions.
Kuch to log kahenge Amar Prem(1971)
A friend of mine and fellow Kishore fan , once commented that this song could have not been sung by anyone other than Kishore. And how right he is. Semi-classical in nature, Kishore da’s voice is in perfect harmony with the mood created by the lyrics and immediately brings to mind Rajesh Khanna with his cringe-worthy “Pushpa, I hate tears”. Although I like listening to Chingari Koi Bhadke from the same film more often, this song in my opinion deserves more plaudits just for the difficult nature of the song.
Honorable mentions include Rim Jhim Gire Sawan from Manzil(the melody here is so superior) and Phoolon Ke Rang se from Prem Pujari(1970).
There will be only one Kishore Kumar. What a legend, we sorely miss you.
There is a saying that it is better to keep your mouth shut so that people assume you are dumb, than to open it and remove all doubt.
Frankly this could apply to me in many walks of life but an even more special case demands a few words or bandwidth on this blog. From my college acquaintances I know a guy called Mystery whom I happened to visit a few days ago. Now, now people, despite what you might imagine from his name, Mystery is no suave secret agent or someone who woos girls with just a look or dismantling criminals with high tech gadgets. Au contraire he is “something” which hardly fits a description. He is a wimp , a certified whiner. If one were to draw a portrait of him you would start with : a pakoda for a nose, rubbery ears that look like they might have been attached by a substandard glue and cheeks so swollen that sometimes I feel like checking if he has cotton stuffed up his mouth.
He listens to only English songs because he thinks India doesn’t make good music anymore as though he went to music school with Rahman. I doubt he has been to any kind of school. And now that cricket season is here, the game randomly and inevitably creeps into one of our discussions. His bullshitting antennae pop out of his head adding one more to the already loosely hanging parts on his face. India has never been good at the game, he claims having absolutely no idea about our cricket team's recent performances. He is the kind of guy who thinks it is great to support foreign teams like England and Australia just because one of his “30 cousins in between” uncle is residing there so he got to visit England once(admittedly that is good. I don’t get invited to my real aunty’s house also, but let us not go there).
Now smartass thinks I was born yesterday and prefers to shoot out random statistics. Throw everything at the wall and something might stick he thinks. So I decide to see how much of Australia he loves.
‘So you must have really followed every match of the Ashes’ I said
‘Ashes?’ he makes another funny face, which is a different facial expression from the one which is congenital. ‘No,’ he shakes his head
‘Ashes dude, the urn, the legend , the clash, the bodyline....'
‘Ah, bodyline, no dude I don’t like watching contact sport like Rugby or Football.’
Thanks a lot toadface , you just proved what a moron you are because the Ashes is the most prestigious "cricket series" between “England” and “Australia” from the last 127 years.
Moving on to relationships, he asks me about my ex-flame. I deny the flame ever existed and say that whatever it was it had been extinguished by female ego. And so says he is feeling sad all of a sudden because he remembers his first girlfriend and that's when you know whinathon is just around the corner. So what am I supposed to do, take him in my arms and caress him. First girlfriend eh, what about that , a bit strange considering his sexual orientation veers between men and dogs. So one girl in the past just praised him by saying "Good idea Mystery"(rumored to be, he offering to disappear from the face of this earth) and this turdpile thinks she is his girlfriend. What a loser!
I am not the guy who enjoys taking digs at other people but really guys like Mystery piss me off. I hate them. They are compulsive liars who have an opinion on everything but solution to none. Such bastards should be impaled through their backsides and arranged on shelves for display. Corporal punishment should be meted out to these no-gooders.
Finally, all this discussion took place over a bit of alcohol during which Mystery intermittently claimed that beer is the only drink which can satisfy him while gulping down close to ten cans of beer. This was once again in response to my just taking a small glass of wine.
At the time of writing this blog, Mystery has just filled his 9th bucket of puke, his eyes are perilously hanging from their sockets and sniff sniff…his bed seems to be wet with an ammonia like chemical mixture.
After the disappointment of the dress rehearsal, where we lost our no. 1 ranking, India won the final of the Compaq cup against Sri Lanka by 46 runs at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo. And once again "that" man was at the fore. Sachin Tendulkar who opened with Rahul Dravid, provided a masterclass in batting making a chanceless 138 in 133 balls to set up a huge target. Our bowling and fielding despite being tardy, came through the difficult onslaught by the Lankans. Bhajji's 3rd five wicket haul prevailed in making India win just their4th final in 21 finals appearances this decade. But a jinx was broken nevertheless.
Once again coming back to the Little Master, age does not dull this man and his hunger for runs and victories. In the post match presentation, Arun Lal questioned him that his demeanour was more relaxed nowadays but the man himself refused and said that it is only people who are beginning to perceive him differently.
But how much ever he might deny, there is definitely a consummate and stress-free approach to his batting for the last two years. With the emergence and maturity of players like Yuvraj, Gambhir, Sehwag and captain Dhoni, the Bombay bomber has just not had to think about conserving his wicket at any cost when there are proven match-winners waiting in the wings, a far cry from as recent as 6-7 years ago when he used to carry a million hopes on his shoulders.
Here's to Team India to continue with their excellent performances. They have been very consistent this year. We were the top team for less than 24 hours but the The Champions Trophy which is up next could rectify that.
I came across three sayings yesterday. They were in Gujarati so I thought I'll put up a translated version here in poetry form ofcourse. A literal translation would perhaps have killed the meaning. I hope I have done justice.
'Based on Gujarati sayings about life'
1.
Like a block of Ice
is our life’s nature
The past is water
And so is its future
2.
Questions remain
Perennially unanswered
Some quite rational
But none so absurd
Those who are happy ask
What do we do to create hunger?
Hunger perseveres perpetually in us How do we kill it...
Sad people wonder
3.
Desires remain on your last breath
Surely it is going to be death
Desires have waned but there is a road to tread
Be patient, Moksh lies right ahead
So I was having a Quentin Tarantino overload. I watched Inglourious Basterds in the afternoon and came back home and watched Reservoir Dogs which was released in 1992. So on to the Basterds first.
*ing : Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Directed by : Quentin Tarantino
Inglourious Basterds is about a group of sadistic American Jews who are out to avenge the Holocaust and kill the Nazis brutally. They see their mission to spread fear among the officials of the Third Reich and each enlisted bastard has a duty to scalp a 100 Nazis. Leading the mission is Aldo Raine(Pitt). In a parallel story, Nazis continue their Jew extermination and heading this is Col. Hans Landa(Waltz) who is polite, humourous and menacing at the same time. Melanie Laurent plays a Shoshanna who is a theatre owner and has her own agenda against the Germans.
All the plot lines cross each other at some point. As with all Tarantino movies there is a lot of violence and a huge amount of bloodshed juxtaposed with some comical situation. People get killed at the drop of a hat while the context of disposal might be inherently funny. Now while we know that the Nazi brutality was relentless, and whatever the savage treatment the Jews dish out to the Germans is justified, but after a while the movie's attempts at black comedy fall flat. There is really nothing funny about a man getting rammed in the head by a baseball bat for example.
This is the quintessential Tarantino though, which is seen from the scene in the cellar when the Basterds have a rendezvous with their contact. The dialogues, the drama and the tension is absolutely gripping. Unfortunately such scenes are few and far between. This is because the rest of the scenes have been unnecessarily stretched that make this supposed war movie extremely boring. The movie is atleast forty minutes too long.
If it is slightly watchable, it is because of Christoph Waltz and his mind-blowing performance as the opportunistic Colonel Landa. Also noteworthy is Melanie Laurent who brings real iciness to her character. But they cannot carry this movie alone. Brad Pitt, who is an above average actor anyway, gives perhaps the most pathetic performance of his career and most of the time you can't even understand what he is saying. The rest of the basterds are forgettable since all they have to do is to look mean and kill other people.
Tarantino delivers a real turkey this time which is neither an entertaining spoof, nor a solid war drama. His fictional take on WWII is a senseless collection of violent scenes serving no purpose and no justification. It is a let down from the man who gave us Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and .........
Reservoir Dogs *ing : Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi Directed by : Quentin Tarantino
Now this is a movie ladies and gentlemen. Seven strangers get together for the perfect robbery - sounds vaguely familiar. Ofcourse our own desi version Kaante was inspired from this one.
The movie runs in a non-linear narration about the botched robbery when it is discovered that one of the men is a police informant. So the movie which takes place entirely in a warehouse delves into the past of the men and takes us step by step in discovering the culprit among them
While I cannot rate the performances brilliant but all the actors , Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Steve Buscemi are just cool and do justice to their roles. Perhaps the only complaint one could make is that not all characters were explored fully. But that is a minor quibble as compared to the extremely sharp script and dialogue. Violence is cool and this movie is an instant classic.
There are two Tarantinos here. One, a creative genius who with his taste for delirium dazzles us with his uncharacteristoc cinema while the other is stuck in a moment , flogging a dead horse under the impression that the more blood you draw(aesthetically ofcourse QT style), the more glorious the message. Inglourious basterds is made on a larger scale and budget but Reservoir Dogs is substance with a hell of a lot style. Will the real Tarantino please stand up?
From time immemorial it has been the human tendency to blame someone for any kind of misfortune. It is in our genes, our forefathers did it, we do it and according to research, the art became so specialized that they constructed special buildings called parliaments(the British commonwealth) or capitol buildings (America) where professionals could square off against each other. The latest issue to literally “hog” the limelight has been “Swine Flu”. Who should be blamed then, for this gut-wrenching, demotivating and as we know potentially fatal disease? Here are some prospective candidates :
Carnivores : For munching mindlessly on meat that wasn’t passed fit for consumption before finding out that this would be a little hard to digest let alone passing it out of the system.
Herbivores : For starting all this vegetarianism vs meat-eating hullabaloo where the stuck in the middle omnivores got so agitated that they couldn't decide which way to satisfy their appetites and swung too far to the meat eaters side and turned into carnivores and then we know what the carnivores did.
Warner Brothers : They allowed Porky the Pig to garner all the fame a farm animal could have dreamt of but failed to recognize the difference between his dramatized stutter and when he really started stammering thereby missing the first chance to warn the world. All they could say was th...th..th..th..th..thats all folks.
Matchmaking Websites : In order to make money, they were happy to bring together two people even if they were from a different planet, different species or for that matter same sex. In their chicanery they also applied lipstick on a pig and tried to get it hooked up with a chimpanzee. As President Obama sheepishly claimed “"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig” But the chimpanzees being the monkeys they were, couldn’t control their hormones and went ahead with their famous kissing ritual producing disastrous results.
The Chinese : History suggests that the Chinese were the first ones to domesticate the pig turning it from the wild boar(which landed accidentally in their backyard) to the absolutely disgusting “low quality” disease spreading animal we know today. Sounds similar to what the Chinese do with everything which lands in their manufacturing space. They also put it on their calendar. Blame the source.
Islamic countries and “a” Jewish country : They keep on showering hostilities on each other on every imaginable topic but agree on just one thing. Don’t consume pork which has had the effect of belittling the self confidence of the pig who went into severe depression since it was not good enough to be “halaled” or “koshered”
Mosquitoes, Fleas and Lice : And adding to defamation to depression…. if only these organisms weren’t hell bent in showing their superiority for being the major disease carriers, the pig wouldn’t have jumped into this whole mess. “Size does matter,” claimed the bloody swine
Indian Government : As far as India is concerned , the Government washed its hands off shamelessly by giving a “knee-jerk reaction” to the entire situation by showing some insensitivity to the first Pune victim. It was only when the mortality numbers landed in their breakfast tea they acknowledged that the earlier reaction was due to the knee suffering from chronic arthiritis and tried to get things in order. In the end though, it was another case of adding Swine flu to a long list of diseases they have shoddily managed.
Americans : They are calling it the revenge of the Bacon as you can see from the picture. Need I say anything more?
And lastly and perhaps the biggest culprit....
Media: Its centuries long expertise to take advantage of the unsuspecting common man and despite all the complexities of the human body, the media has been unswervingly able to first find and then press that magic button located in the brain – The PANIC button.
Feel free to add anything to this unfunny comedy of errors
The final run indeed. This is it.....I am not going to take part in activities which are hazardous to my astoundingly pathetic health. I did beat my previous time though, by a breathtaking amount of.....yeah hold your breath ladies and gentlemen - 14 .....umm...seconds.
Yes , fourteen seconds between the first and the second race. It wasn't a struggle like last time because this time I ran at a constant speed.
There are no more races thankfully because my penchant for running surpasses my actual ability to do so and that too by a fair margin. I will stick to the gym or continue the extremely exhausting activity of playing video games.
Say hello to a new wave of Indian cinema, with Vishal Bharadwaj creating the Guy ritchieish and the Tarantino like plot set up with a horde of idiosyncratic characters colliding to make one hell of a khichdi mixing a Ram and Shyam story with the shady functions of the Mumbai underworld, police and politics.
Kaminey is the tale of two brothers Guddu(Shahid) and Charlie(Shahid again) who abhor each other. While one of them is an honest but timid NGO worker who has his dreams assiduously charted on the door of his cupboard, the other is a gangster with an ambition of becoming a bookie. Other than having the same face they both have speech defects - one stammers and the other lisps pronouncing S as an F . Guddu impregnates his girlfriend Sweety(Priyanka Chopra) and invites the wrath of local gangster cum politician Bhope(Amol Gupte) who is her brother. Meanwhile, Charlie accidentally stumbles upon a guitar full of cocaine which is worth 10 crores but the drugs belong to some rogue cops. And then they run to save their lives and thats when their lives collide.
What follows is utter mayhem and bloodshed involving North eastern gangsters, African ones, Bengali gunmen, oddball henchmen and some of the most outstanding black humor you might have come across in cinema.
The writing here is the clear winner. The situations and the dialogues in those situations are laced with some amazingly brilliant wit and the director handles them like a seasoned pro. A handheld unit is utilized for all action scenes which does get a bit irritating after a while although it gets the desired effect in the beginning.
Performances wise, Amol Gupte(writer of Taare Zameen Par) as the gangster politician comes out on top. Shahid Kapoor gives us a brilliant rendition in both roles and reminds us that he is more than just a romantic lead. All the other gangsters especially Tenzing Nima and Chandan Roy are first rate. Priyanka Chopra springs a surprise here and rises above her average actress status to deliver a commendable performance as the feisty Marathi girl. The music (both background and songs) is awesome.
Negative points ...hmm.... the back story of why the brothers hate each other is not very convincing. It should either have been longer or stronger. Also there should have been more scenes with Shahid vs Shahid. Even the climax , hilarious as it is , is wound up very quickly and conveniently. But the biggest complaint one could have with this movie and in a good way, is that it is so short. We come out of the hall wanting more.
Beware that the movie will come across as confusing in the beginning but just stay with it to enjoy this tremendous rollercoaster. Kaminey is unpredictable and credit for that goes to Vishal Bharadwaj, the iconoclast, who takes seemingly conventional stories and blends them into this wild concoction that is smart, vivid and absolutely worth watching. Take a bow Vishal Bharadwaj.
Staying with music, I finally played my guitar which was lying orphaned in one corner of my apartment for a long time. After sneezing off all the dust from it, I tried some of the chords I knew. I winced with pain with every move since all the calluses that had developed on my fingers before were now soft once again.
Nevertheless, I carried on and it felt good. It didn't matter that I sounded more cacophonous than the most unpleasant of crows. Moreover I played one of the easier songs "Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si". It was an excellent release of emotions. Hope to learn a few more songs by the end of this month.
At the moment, I can’t get enough of Dooriyaan from Love Aaj Kal. What a mesmerizing and haunting melody and especially after watching the film, the song has just enveloped me with its fantastic lyrics. Two other good songs doing the rounds nowadays are Mohabbat Pehli Baar from Kaminey and Tune Jo Na Kaha from New York. The special thing about the former other than the scintillating music is the lyrics, take for example the poetry below :
Khwaab ke bhoj se.
Kap Kapati hui..
Halki Palke teri..
yaad aata hai sab..
tujhe gud gudana..
satana..
yoohin sotey hue..
gaal pey teepna.. meechna..
bewajah besabab
Only one man could be behind this, the great Gulzar. Gotta love this guy.
The other thing to notice here and once again common to both songs is the rise of Mohit Chauhan. This guy is the singing equivalent of a plane cruising at high altitudes since he has proved time and again that he has mastery over the smooth tune. I guess nowadays almost every music director lines up at the former Silk Route lead singer’s place if they require some rossogulla soaked vocals. Way to go Mohit. Certain people call him the Indian Atif Aslam, but not only, Chauhan came well before Atif but also in my opinion the harmonious Himachali is a better singer than the Pakistani crooner. I like Atif as well but Chauhan has got that tranquil flow which even has insomniacs drooling.
Another highlight of 2009 Hindi film music is the music of Jashnn. Nauman Javaid, a Pakistani musician who does all three- writes, composes and sings is behind the soulful music. One of the best tunes of this year called Dard-e-Tanhai is a perfect example of this guy’s talent. The unplugged version is even better with just the lead playing. Also Main Chala from the same album is ample testimony. Definitely give it a listen....
I have heard this famous song a lot but today was probably the first time I saw the video. This was all after my sister called me from Ahmedabad during lunch hour. This is the fifth year running when I haven’t been with her on Raksha Bandhan but she unfailingly sends a rakhee every year.
People often fail to see that one’s sibling is almost always his or her first ever friend. It feels quite nostalgic when I remember those occasions when we fought over so many small things, the last significant (and rather silly since we had a second TV)one being the TV remote when she wanted to watch her beauty show while I was howling over India’s cricket match. And after every such fight, getting smacked by my dad and either being thrown out of the house or locked up in the room with no TV. It was in those moments, we used to find each other, unite together in our common sorrow in contrast to moments earlier when we were baying for each other’s blood. We would promise each other that we would stand for each other if Daddy asked who was responsible. (Obviously this was all forgotten when one's arse was in the firing line of my father's slap-happy hands.)
As we have grown into adults, our relationship has changed considerably. She went off to study in a different city while I got busy with my life. In time she got married but the real shock came when she delivered her first child. That is when I realized my sister was no more the “girl” I knew. She was now a woman with her own family and responsibilities. I felt sad and happy at the same time. Sad because there would now be no one to talk to and share my weird thoughts and happy for her because she was going to start a new life of her own. Ofcourse the compelling reason was I had the whole room to myself now. :)
In the past few years the channels of communication between us have been significantly reduced so it felt special talking to her today. As always the mundane chat was followed by some sort of advice. I have never told her how much I adore her but a time will come for that. I will always cherish this relationship.
*ing : Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor Directed by : Imtiaz Ali
Watching Love Aaj Kal was like driving on the Mumbai roads in the rains. P(l)otholes in between super smooth narration and after a while it gets irritating and you almost predict the next bump.
Let’s get the story out of the way first. Jai(Saif Ali) and Meera(Deepika Padukone) are a modern couple but career pressures force them to split but they break-up amicably(almost an oxy-moron there). No heartbreaks, rona dhona etc. But does love let you get away that easily? That forms the theme of this film. This premise is also narrated to the happy go lucky Jai in a parallel or analogous manner by Veer Singh(Rishi Kapoor), a restaurant owner in London who talks about his affair with a Sikh girl Harleen(Giselle Monteiro) in Delhi many years ago.
The positives : The movie is sprinkled with some really witty dialogues and interesting layered narration techniques. The first one hour of the movie takes it to its peak. Cinematography(awesome bridges) and locales are top notch. The songs are classy even though they are a hindrance sometimes (remember potholes). Dooriyaan stays with you long after you leave the hall.
The negatives : Somehow Jai’s and Meera’s relationship lacks that depth that convinces you that they are really made for each other. The movie just casually touches on the nuances of a relationship and hence fails to bring about that dramatic effect of the lows of separation and long distance relationships. Rishi Kapoor’s tale is fine and sugary uptill the point when all is lost for the love torn Sardar and he uses force to get his love. It was an inappropriate conclusion. That’s when you feel the movie has a heavy Dil chahta hai, DDLJ and Jab We Met(JWM) hangover.
Performance wise, Saif Ali Khan once again comes out on top. His expressions and delivery are perfect for a vulnerable and nervous yuppie, looking for love. Rishi Kapoor as always is first rate. Deepika, great figure, hot body notwithstanding, has a lot to improve in the acting department though. It doesn’t help that her character is sketched badly but in certain scenes that require her to be subtle, she is kind of loud and her face contorted. She is better in the second half but here is a request to the Bangalore Bimbo - Please don’t dance. Giselle Monteiro(yeah i know she is Brazilian but looks amazingly Indian) has nothing to do except look pretty which she does adequately. Rahul Khanna is wasted in an inconsequential role.
Overall, the takes on contemporary love and relationships which are evident in the first half get muddled in the slapdash potpourri of the second half. Somehow writer-director Imtiaz Ali while covering most bases with his script, sacrifices the raw charm of Socha na Tha, JWM and Ahista Ahista(writer only) for commercial masala in Love Aaj Kal.
Don't get me wrong, Love Aaj Kal is an eminently watchable movie for its wittiness and catchy music but the film could have explored more. It could have been better.
P.S. Allow me to digress and also maintain my earlier instructions as to, with whom you should be watching this movie. You can watch it with your uncles, aunties, 1970's ke lovebird parents only(statistics say that maximum elopements took place in that decade), your better halves ( ambidextrous people barred from watching) and long distance bf/gf (the power of communication c'mon). I watched it with a guy friend while the whole theatre was empty. Just the two of us, absolutely no one. And that's when, 10 minutes into the movie (when the breezy romance on screen was getting me high), I got up from my seat and barked the following words at my friend
"Why the f*** are you a guy?"
Leather Jacket time has arrived.
Yup it is true, India finally is the numero uno Test team in the world on the ICC rankings. This dream was achieved after 18 months of hard work and nailed after thrashing the visiting Lankans at the Brabourne stadium by an innings. The most satisfying aspect was Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar being part of this momentous occasion. They are the three remaining from the Fab Four and how I wish Saurav Ganguly was there with them to celebrate, the man who started this rejuvenation and instilled in our listless team, the pride to play for India.
to make our way along the six-lane highway to the city-center. 
I was in India for the past two weeks and the first sign that I had truly arrived arrived just a few minutes after we left the SVP Airport Ahmedabad - the Chai stall.
ight have swept India but it is time to give the street tea vendors their due respect for their great service to millions of budding engineers, managers and slackers (me..me..me).
© Rayvin's sayings
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