movies galore this weekend ...

this weekend saw release of half a dozen movies. sadly, all are trashy and i am not interested in any of them. will probably just wait for dvd release and watch it a year later; if i remember by then. anyways, let me start by talking about each of them:

kissan: any movie that has sohail khan and arbaaz khan must be totally avoided, is my dictum. they both just cash in on sallu bhai's name and make trash stuff. add to this, director puneet sira who is trying so hard to get rid of the 'issar' surname. the same puneet issar of 'duryodhan' fame in br chopra's mahabharat. this is his 2nd directorial venture, previous one being 'i, proud to be indian'. this movie is a rehash of manoj kumar's 'upkar'. but while upkar was honest and benovelent, this movie isn't anything close to the original. read this

Now the Singh family are Punjabis, but their accent is terrible. The director should have cast actors who were more fluent with the language, or at least, learnt it better. Arbaaz does a terrible job in the film. Jackie makes an visible effort but lands up being too dramatic. Dia and Nauheed are just props, adding some romance to the scenes

the reviewer further says

Kissan is really not worth the trip to the theatres. Don't even watch it if you have nothing to do.

you can read the full review here

another review that trashes the movie has this to say

Because the acting is uniformly uninspired, and the direction mostly flat, and because this film doesn't even have its heart in the right place, I'm going with one out of five for director Puneet Sira's Kissan; watch it at your own risk.

that review can be found here

daddy cool: this movie is copied/inspired by the english comedy film called 'death at a funeral'. another movie from the makers of masti and dhamaal. i did not like either of the two movies, but i did feel that dhamaal was a better effort than masti. i am not sure if this movie will deliver, if reviews are anything to go by. read this

If you do find yourself laughing on a few occasions, it's mostly out of disbelief at just how shockingly bad this film turns out to be. The acting is an assembly line of over-the-top, ham jobs from a cast that is possibly the most ineffective you've ever seen.

that review can be found here

another review that pretty much says the same thing

Things like Prem Chopra shitting in Javed Jaffrey's hands does not qualify as funny. Or when Aftab Shivdasani, dressed in boxer shorts, tells Tulip Joshi that they need to marry because Tulip is pregnant, and everyone listening to the exchange start clapping when they are done.

read the full review here

love khichdi: another dud of a movie by randeep hooda. his choice of movies is aweful, don't know why. this star studded movie boasts of a nice starcast, but fails to ignite any flames.

But the weakest link in this whole enterprise is our leading man, completely miscast in this role. He tries to be funny but falls terribly short. He doesn't even look like the 26-year-old character that he's playing. He looks much older.

the review goes on to say lots of other things, read it here

yeh mera india: the trailer looked quite messy because too many issues were taken up. i did feel that the movie would not be able to do justice with any of them, and reviewers have confirmed by doubts. read this

A message movie that addresses everything that's wrong with our country -- from communal hatred and corruption in the system to the class divide and sexual harassment -- Yeh Mera India bites off way more than it can chew.

starcast is the strength of the movie, but too many characters have been given space and none of the issues have been handled well

Even if there are some credible ideas floating around, director N Chandra struggles to put them forward in an accessible manner, resorting instead to convey them in a bombastic, over-the-top, and ultimately unconvincing style. What's more the solutions offered by the film to deal with the social evils it talks about are too simplistic and idealistic even.

read the full review here

quick-gun murugun: finally, a movie that seems to be the pick of the week. it has received good reviews from all quarters. the only drawback seems to be the fact that a spoof of a character does not withstand the time stretch, it should have been much shorter.

Good spoofs are hard to come by, but director Shashanka Ghosh's Quick Gun Murugun is a rare exception. Based on the iconic Channel [V] character created in the mid-nineties by Ghosh himself and writer Rajesh Devraj, the Tamilian cowboy in bright orange pants has now crossed over to the big screen for a full-length feature.

some more good words for the movie

Packed with clever one-liners, bursting with popular film references, and turning every South Indian cliche on its head, the makers of this film deliver a wildly exaggerated but immensely amusing picture that's well worth your time.

check that review here

another review that raves about the movie

In its outrageous, comic-book treatment, QGM comes rather close to the comedy-action-crime film Kung Fu Hustle directed by Stephen Chow. In its flavour, it is as potent as desi chilli powder and chutney.

read that review here

let me add one final dash to this. aamir khan has also recommended the movie, checkout his blog.

miss venezuela, stefania fernandez, is miss universe 2009

It's been back to back miss universe titles for Venezuela. Last year Diana Mendoza was crowned and this year Stefania Fernandez wore the tiara at Paradise Islands of Bahamas.

Hero Hiralal : A Reality Show Ahead Of Its Time

The advent of cable-tv happened in India in the early 1990’s when foreign channels were beaming in the houses of the privileged upper-middle-class. A decade later came the age of the reality shows with Channel V running a contest to form a girl-band on the lines of Spice Girls; and in 2002 Viva happened.

But much before cable-tv was introduced and much before reality shows made an appearance, came the movie Hero Hiralal. It was the vision of Ketan Mehta that he weaved such a tale which seemed pedestrian to begin with, but ended in a crescendo. It was a reality show of high-voltage drama and very much ahead of its times, when nobdoy had come-up with such a concept.

The movie released in 1988 and I saw it a couple of years later in DD. The movie starts in a typical boy-meets-girl format. We are introduced to Naseeruddin Shah as Hiralal who drives an auto in Hyderabad. He is a big film buff and that’s how gets the title Hero. His friend Mohan Gokhale plays a movie-poster-painter and one of the landmark dialogs of the movie was ‘phata poster, nikla hero’.

A film troupe arrives in Hyderabad to shoot a movie and Roopa, played by Sanjana Kapoor in her debut movie, is the lead actress of the movie. Hero falls head over heels for her, he takes her round the city in his auto. Kiran Kumar plays the lead opposite Roopa in the movie that’s being made, and Hero keeps landing up during the shooting. He whisks her away and they spend a lot of time together, exploring the city in his auto. Roopa is just being friendly but Hero mistakes her overtures for love.

The movie shooting is complete and the entire cast moves back to Bombay. Hero, in his desperate bid to announce his love to Roopa, reaches Bombay. When Roopa dispels all his notions and feelings of love, Hero decides that life is not worth living and he wishes to end his life.

That’s when Sitara Devi, a publicity agent, enters his life. She does not want Hero to end his nondescript life in such anonymous fashion. She wishes to make his death a mega-event, to announce to the world about the pain and subsequent death of a lover and thereby make him a love-martyr. She turns, what would have been an incident [his suicide], into an event.

Huge hoardings are drawn-up all over the city, declaring this reality show as a must-watch. Lots of publicity is done and people queue-up to buy the tickets. There is media frenzy and reporters scamper to Roopa and and Sitara Devi for exclusive interviews. People on the streets start discussing this event and Roopa starts questioning herself whether she loves Hero or not; and what she can do to stop him from sacrificing his life.

Meanwhile Roopa is being closely guarded so she does not escape to meet Hero. Kiran Kumar and Rohini Hattangadi, playing Roopa’s mom, keep a vigil on her. The talk of the town is Hero and his game-of-death, the tickets are all sold out. People are for the first time going to witness a volunteered death in broad-daylight amidst public eye, and all for love. Hero’s unrequited love has brought him so close to death.

The day of the event has finally arrived. People and media throng the venue and Hero is tied in a glass tank and water starts filling into the tank. Roopa flees from her home, and helping her cause is Amitabh Bachchan, in a special guest appearance who drives Roopa to the venue of the event. Can Roopa stop Hero from giving away his life? Will she stop Hero by declaring her love to him so he has a good enough reason to live for? Will Sitara Devi let someone disrupt the show? Will love triumph?

Naseeruddin Shah was marvellous in the movie, he displayed great restraint. Sanjana Kapoor in a debut performance was good as well. Rohini Hattangadi as Roopa’s mom was just about ok. But Ketan had kept the most important role for his to-be wife Deepa Sahi who played Sitara Devi with lot of strength and vigor. She brought the shrewdness and wile into the character, she was fantastic. And of course, Ketan Mehta as a film-maker, excelled in his artistic vision.

The movie’s unique concept of exploiting people’s emotions for commercial gains is much like the reality shows of today; where behind-the-scene activities, emotional outbursts, minor squabbles and disappointments, impoverished backgrounds are highlighted for higher TRPs. Every incident is micro-managed to gain maximum publicity. Curiosity is generated and the public is made to wait for days together for the events to unfold. The media/event-managers are desensitized and they neither care for the trauma and desperation of the participant nor for the consequences of such unethical event management, much like Sitara Devi in the movie.

In 1988 we had one Hero Hiralal, but in 2009 we have hundreds of Hero Hiralals on every show in every channel. What was a figment of Ketan Mehta’s imagination is now unfolding in every drawing-room with people glued to their couches waiting for their Hero Hiralals to appear on-screen. Phata poster, nikla Hero!

This post was first published on PFC

bharatiya 'jinnah' party

first it was lk advani and now jaswant singh. and while lk advani was saved, jaswant was forcibly partitioned from bjp. what an irony!

lk advani was spared when he eulogised jinnah and called him secular, only because he was the raison d'etre of bjp. but jaswant singh has neither strong ties with any senior party leaders, nor the backing and background; he was unceremoniously dumped.

its not the expulsion that has to be questioned, but the manner in which it was done. a senior party member like jaswant singh was informed over a phone call of his removalfrom party posts. how embarassing is that! for a man who served the part for 30 yrs and was one of the founding members of the party, this was totally uncalled for. he deserved a personal visit and needed to be personally told about the gravity of the situation.

what's more surprising is that, congress should have been the party which should trash the book and denounce the research. the book is more a criticism of cong and its handling of partition than jinnah. but bjp has the habit of axing its own feet. so, not only did they dislodge jaswant singh, the book has been banned in gujarat.

sorry 'onir' bhai

sorry onir bhai, i did not enjoy your movie at all and not just because it was bad; it was too contrived. howcome the same situational coincidences are criticised in big banner movies but here we are supposed to take it as real world cinema. e.g. the lovemaking scene of sharman and chitrangada in the store, taking a walk through the forest area, going for the jazz club restaurant etc.

sorry onir bhai, the cliche of scientist [and students doing phD] being forgetful was carried forward. it neither helped in building the movie nor the character of sharman. it was probably meant for comic relief, but it just did not happen. contrived again. and really bad that the image of scientist was given a minor dent.

sorry onir bhai, but the comical moments in the movie were unnecssarily done and were tasteless. some funny lines from boman irani were nice, but at moments even they were uncalled for; again contrived. sounded like the one-liners were prepared first and so a situation had to be created to use them. the worse sequence was that on the eve of the wedding when sanjay throws a party and they suddenly get a phone call from US saying that stock market crashed; phew ! the begging bowl sequence was so inappropriate. sanjay had earlier mentioned that his partner does get such nightmares, but its depiction was crass given the situation.

sorry onir bhai, the ridiculous ending of the movie was laughable and i rolled and laughed and rolled and laughed... a similar ending in a movie like 'dillagi'[sunny and bobby deol] or any other big banner movie would have caused a brouhaha among critics going hammer and tong against the directors; but here we are supposed to consume it in the name of neo-realistic cinema. wait for 11 years for mom to pass away because there was a 'maa kasam'; oh my god ! maa kasam was out of fashion long time ago. how did anybody think of such an impractical ending to a movie thats supposed to be from a forward-thinking director. and wats left in a marriage when they are living-in, breeding kids, and doing almost everything what a couple does; and all they are divided is by some silly social obligation; they could as well have foregone the marriage.

sorry onir bhai, the confusion of not knowing the difference between crush, infatuation, momentary pleasure, and love has again been carried forward in this movie. howcome bollywood directors still get confused between these forms of amorous behavioral pattern. only if we can separate momentary pleasure[lust] from love, we can progress. chitrangada and sanjay suri are supposed to be in a relationship for 5yrs; and time & again sanjay says that he has been trying his hardest to make a good life so that they can have a good future. but instead of believing in his dream, she starts fantasizing about somebody else. thats totally fine, its a frustration and can have its own consequences like looking for physical love. a one-night stand and then an apology/remorse would have been better. but why equate that physical need with love ?? thats just not justified. KANK suffered from the same problem.

sorry onir bhai, i am not looking forward to your next movie. i gave this movie a chance although i disliked bas ek pal. but no more waiting for your next venture.

sorry onir bhai, for being over-apologetic. but at least i am being sincere in my apologies unlike sharman joshi in the movie.

sorry onir bhai ...

srk : i'm a celebrity, get me out of here

It was not a dense jungle out there but an airport, Newark. And the task was neither to have a public bath nor eat roaches nor catch squids and put them in jars. The task was to answer a few security related questions and to prove one's credentials. Just being a bollywood star is not a recognition, what with rapists like Shiney Ahuja lurking around and druggists like Fardeen Khan roaming free and of course deer hunters like Salman Khan who not just hunts black-bucks but makes black bucks with movies like Chori Chori Chupke Chupke which was totally funded by underworld and add the trampling of poor street-sleepers under his Mitsubishi Landcruiser. So, in such a case if SRK is asked to prove his credentials and some relative/friend's name and number who can vouch for him, then what's wrong with that. And add to this the thumb rule of not being allowed to make any calls, what's wrong with that?

Hundreds and thousands of people have to undergo such security-based questioning, then why should SRK be spared. Is he not a common man for USA. Kamal Hassan was questioned, so was Mammooty and APJ Kalam. Its all done with a clean intention of security measure.

Now comes the tricky question. SRK has been frisked earlier too, he must've waited for his baggage even before this travel. So, why is he raising a hue and cry this time? Is he milking the issue to his advantage? He does not need publicity, he is a megastar. Then why is he going on and on. Kamal Hassan, APJ Kalam and others haven't revisited their experience or retold it.

This incident comes close on the heels of Emraan Hashmi claiming that he was not given housing because of his religious background. Later it was clarified that the owner was not interested in selling the proprety since his son has decided to settle in Mumbai. A case was then filed against Emraan Hashmi for reverse-discrimination.

Coming back to SRK, he wanted special treatment at the airport. But what for? Hasn't he seen Sarfarosh where an ambassador of art and culture turns out to be the culprit. Moreover, when will we Indians get out of the habit of tu jaanta nahi mere baap ko or tu jaanta hai mai kaun hoon?

Instead of crying foul we should make our security measures stringent. We should frisk any outsider/foreigner and then garland them; be it Bill Clinton or Brad Pitt.

As for SRK, he was let off free; but obviously. And he is making a big deal of it. It has already generated publicty and created a buzz for his new movie My Name Is Khan where he plays an autistic man who is harrassed by the security keepers of US only because his name is Khan ... xyz Khan

preventive steps for h1n1

i received the following info through an email, so i thought of sharing it with everybody. here goes:

Most N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3µ, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1µ. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net.

Tamiflu does not kill but prevents H1N1 from further proliferation till the virus limits itself in about 1-2 weeks (its natural cycle). H1N1, like other Influenza A viruses, only infects the upper respiratory tract and proliferates (only) there. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/ throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps - not fully highlighted in most official communications - can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1.  Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2.  "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3.  Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4.  Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5.  Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6.  Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

All these are simple ways to prevent, within means of most households, and certainly much less painful than to wait in long queues outside public hospitals.

swine flu awareness : h1n1 helplines in bangalore

Latest update: Bangalore death toll becomes 5 and all-India death toll figure is at 27

Here's a list of hospitals who treats H1N1 flu in Bangalore; Make it handy to help others.

Mallya 080 22277979

Manipal 080 25023512

St.Martha's 080 22275081

Malliage Medical Centre 080 22203333

St.John's 080 22065000

Amedkar Hospital 080 25476496

Vydehi Hospital 080 28413385

M.S.Ramaiah 080 23608888

City Hospital, Rajajinagar 080 23131777

Pristine Hospital 080 41354444

Mahabhodi Malligae Hospital 080 26565678

Victoria Hospital, Kalasipalayam, KR Market, Phone : 26703294

Lakeside Hospital, Meanee Avenue, Near Ulsoor lake, Phone 25366725


Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, Near Kidwai Cancer Hospital. Phone : 26632634


Check here for more details: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/qa.htm

hungry kya ???

kaminey : movie review and first feelers

this is one movie i have been waiting for and its finally gonna release tomorrow. looking forward to seeing shahid after a long time and vishal's direction is the talk of the town. the songs have already created a buzz and now the movie. i am quite sure the movie will be a 'dhan-te-nan' stuff. the first review is out and the movie seems to be excellent. here are the first feelers

Once in a particularly blue moon, comes a film that makes you wolf-whistle. One that then ties you to the edge of your seat and forcibly pins you there and pounces on you, eventually leaving you sitting in the dark, drained and grinning and more satisfied than a film has any business leaving you.

the reviewer is extremely happy with the movie, its theme and the presentation. check this

Yet before getting into the breakneck chaos, it is this unapologetic figure-it-out stance that we must initially applaud. Too often are our caper films and thrillers compromised by oversimplification and spoonfeeding, by filmmakers believing audiences need things spelt out and giving them bite-sized flashbacks to easily digest each twist. No more, says Bhardwaj, throwing us a delicious jigsaw and letting things fall into place in their own sweet time.

i would love to put more excerpts, but its better u read the review here
another reviewer starts off his review with these words

When was the last time you came out of a film wishing you could go back in and watch it again immediately so the excitement in your stomach stays longer?

he goes on to praise the movie and the genre that it falls in

It's an unpredictable crime drama that combines violence and dark humor in a manner that's reminiscent of the films of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and the Coen Brothers. And yet Kaminey is so original and inventive in the manner in which it takes Bollywood's favorite formula - twin brothers - and turns it on its head.

last of my excerpts

The real strength of Kaminey is its writing. The non-linear screenplay is filled with unfamiliar twists and confusing turns that are likely to baffle you along the way; yet they're all neatly tied up and culminate in a thrilling climax which is violent and comical in equal parts.

read the entire review by clicking here

do watch the movie, i am sure it will be fenfational, fuperb, fexy and fatak.

living on hope ...

Donkey A: My owner beats me a Lot.

Donkey B: Why don't you run away ?

Donkey A: I wanted to.... but my future is really bright here...

Donkey B: How do you say that?

Donkey A: Whenever my owner's beautiful daughter commits a mistake, my owner warns her by saying, "I'll marry you with a donkey if you repeat any mistake!"
That's why I'm still here........

Moral: Keeping hopes may not improve your future, but it will certainly reduce the pain of today !!!

giselle monteiro : harleen kaur of 'love aaj kal'

This brazilian beauty captured the imagination of cine-goers as the demure 'harleen kaur'. Seeing her in the movie, nobody would ever believe that she is not indian. Her simplicity was her USP. She had some of the best scenes in the movie, like sipping black-tea; the expression on her face was fabulous. She emoted well, of course the 'adaa' was missing because that is a little difficult to adapt. Anyways, loved her in the movie.

IT Guys, Please Excuse!

Off-late I have been hearing about a lot of lay-offs and lots of IT professionals losing their jobs. In fact, the other day I received an email-forward which had a screen-shot of some girl’s profile in a matrimonial website. Her preference had this strange condition – IT guys, please excuse.

So, the downturn and recession has hit the matrimonial market too. Girls are no longer feeling secure enough about her guy having an IT job. These were the same people chasing IT guys because of their pay-packet and onsite offers to US and UK. An economic recession and IT guys have become the new untouchables. Money has become so big a matter, that no other virtue is considered. In fact, the IT guys in cities like Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad are asked by prospective in-laws if they were on bench.

This new and strange phenomenon reminded me of an old song from the movie Vidhata, directed by Subhash Ghai. The song was vulgar for those times, and a big hush-hush. When I watched this movie on video, 20 years back, I had to fast-forward the song. The song was a tale of 7 friends who discussed the cons of marrying guys of varied professions.

saat saheliya khadi khadi
fariyaad sunaye ghadi ghadi

The first profession that they talk about is that of a doctor. This is one of the most popular professions and usually never spoken about condescendingly.

ek saheli ka
miya tha doctor
……….
raat bhar muaa sone na de
injection lagaye ghadi ghadi

The crude lyrics point to the perception of how doctors love to poke an injection for just about anything, of course here the injection is suggestive for something else.

Next comes the rugged profession of driving. City driving has become quite a nuisance and honking is one of the ways of finding our way out through the dense traffic.

ek sahlei ka
miya tha driver
……….
raat bhar muaa sone na de
pho pho bajaye ghadi ghadi

The lyrics here again point to the excessive pushing at the horns, thereby producing a loud noise which can keep your partner on bed and co-passengers on road, totally awake.

Tailoring was always a popular summer-time course, but as a profession … well in times of recession, any job is good enough.

ek saheli ka
miya tha darzi
……….
raat bhar muaa sone na de
sooyi chubhaaye ghadi ghadi

We have another reference to the poking phenomenon here, just as the injection. And again, this is the cause for getting rejected as well.

I am sure we have all suffered because of a dancing neighbour who would put on the music at odd hours and start their practise.

ek saheli ka
miya tha dancer
……….
raat bhar muaa sone na de
ta ta thaiyya karawe ghadi ghadi

This is akin to dancing to somebody’s tune or dancing at the snap of a finger. But seriously speaking, dancing on bed can be injurious as we are prone to twisting a muscle or spraining ourself.

Something else thats injurious to health is drinking. But drinking is a socially relevant necessary evil, else you can’t have a decent party.

ek saheli ka
miya sharabi
……….
raat bhar maka sone na de
bottle dikhaya ghadi ghadi

Showing a bottle time and again, don’t know what crude sense to make out of it. But a drunk partner should be totally avoided, they may just pass-out while you are still interested in the act.

Delivering mails, how lucrative is that? But, at one point of time being a postman used to be a sought after job.

ek saheli ka miya
miya tha daakiya
……….
raat bhar maka sowan na de
thappo lagaye ghadi ghadi ghadi

Stamping someone all over, that must be some fun. But yet, that’s not what some girls look forward to.

I didn’t know hailing from Kolhapur could be such a bad thing.

ek saheli ka
miya kolhapuri
………
raat bhar malaa sone na de
chappal dikhaye ghadi ghadi

Yeah, being a Kolhapuri should not be correlated to excessive use of slippers. And still, we have someone complaining about being shown the slipper, probably a case of domestic abuse and/or wife beating.

The lives of IT guys can be marred by involvement in activities of more than one of the professions mentioned above. What if the IT guy happened to be a Kolhapuri, he should be avoided. What if the IT guy drives to work everyday and ends up with carpal tunnel syndrome because of inordinate honking, he should definitely be avoided. What if the IT guy gets drunk in a project party and returns home totally deflated, do not consider such a person. So, where does that leave the IT guys?

If the above song were to be written now, they would surely have included the IT related professionals as well. Its quite a grim situation, the IT guy is in danger of losing his job on account of slowdown and he could be rejected by prospective brides on account of his profession. We probably have to wait for the next IT boom, because this is as bad as IT gets.

This post was first published on PFC

writing a story ...

couple of weeks back a friend of mine, who is an ad director, called me up to discuss a movie plot. he actually had a set idea, a couple of characters in mind and a few plot scenes which included a brief of the climax. he was just doing a round of snap poll, calling up his friends, to know if the idea has potential. and to ask if i could suggest a few more plot points etc

i liked the idea, so i decided that i would take those characters and write a story on it. but its so difficult to be original. after every sentence i just kept getting ideas from movies that i had seen and books that i had read. now, i do not want to lift any piece; i dont even want to be remotely inspired by works of others. thats where all my effort is going into, trying my best to avoid getting "inspired".

wrote a couple of paras and have the basic structure in mind. lets see how long it takes me to live with this idea and then transfer that into some good writing, still working on it ...

movie review : agyaat

ramgopal varma's latest movie arouses no interest in me at all. i feel that he has lost the touch, somehow. i haven't enjoyed any of his movies in the last 5 years. i did like the odd sarkar, but that was more due to the star factor of coming together of bachchans under one umbrella etc.

anyways, as expected this movie too falls under the same bracket of 'plz avoid' and 'save time, save money'. it will soon be telecast on tv, for sure.

nevertheless, lemme dish out a fe of the choicest words that critics have used, to describe this movie

Ram Gopal Varma's thriller is seriously, decidedly, indisputably funny -- in the ridiculous dialogues recycled by the characters (seems the writers ran out of words), in the forced, schmaltzy romantic interludes, and even the way almost all the characters in this ensemble cast are hurriedly bumped off or turn suicidal so that the lead pair can carry on with their lives.

if the above quote was not enough read this

You want to know what a reputed director does in his spare time with his spare group of lackeys and technicians. Well, he goes to a jungle and makes his characters play Ringa-Ringa-Roses around the same spot, dunks them in water and bumps them off. The more irrelevant you are, the earlier you die.

i could go on placing more sinppets, but i would rather recommend u to read the review yourself. click here to read the entire review.

there is yet another review which is a little more considerate towards the movie. check this out

Agyaat is neither The Blair Witch Project nor Cloverfield which may be obvious inspirations but were different because of the real-time, documentary feel that both films had. Agyaat reminds you more of the early seasons of the hit TV series Lost, where even the audience has no clue what it is exactly that is attacking the characters.

here are some more reassuring words that the movie is quite bearable

It's not great cinema, it isn't intended to be; Agyaat is an event picture which delivers a few good thrills. With a tighter first-half and a slicker pace and minus those two redundant item songs, this might have been a more compelling ride.

read the full review by clicking here.

i shall skip this movie, and maybe not even watch it on dvd or tv premiere. just waiting for rgv's rann

don't become irreplaceable ...

I was chatting with a colleague yesterday, and he mentioned that he was stuck in a rut. He has been doing the same damn thing for more than 4 yrs now. His client has not changed since he joined, and his current project has been going on for more than 2 yrs. He has been in the project since inception, and now he has become whole 'n' soul of the project. Developers have come and gone, and he has just watched it happen while being on the same seat. He is not stagnating as such because new responsibilities have been given to him, but he is just bugged of being there all the time.

That's when I told him: dude, you have become irreplaceable and that's the problem.

When someone becomes irreplaceable, the dependency on them increases and it soon seems like nothing can be done without them. The only positive I see is that, it's a project related matter; sooner or later they will find someone and start-off with KT's and a smooth transition of responsibilities from one shoulder to another shoulder will happen too.

But what if it's a real-life crisis? What if someone becomes irreplaceable in someone else's life?? How do we handle such situations??? We cannot just shift the burden from one shoulder to another, we cannot have a KT for a relationship because it's not a logical issue, it's a psychological issue; nothing to do with the brain and everything to do with the heart.

There are no easy answers, but I am not looking for it anyways. All I can say is, please don't get overly-dependant on anybody; and please oh! please ... don't become irreplaceable.

something to think about ...

I received this piece as an email. It got to me thinking and so I felt I should share it with everybody. Here it goes:

If we miniaturize the world population [population of the Earth] to a small town with 100 people and keep the proportions, it will look like this -
57 Asians 21 Europeans 14 Americans (northern and southern) 8 Africans
52 women 48 men
70 coloured-skins 30 caucasians
6 people would own 59% of the whole world wealth and all of them will be from the United States of America
80 would have bad living conditions
70 will be uneducated
50 will be underfed
1 would die
2 would be born
1 will have a computer
1 (only one) will have higher education

Isn't this shocking !!!

Kaun Banega Mera Pati

Every young woman dreams of a perfect marriage. There is a right time in your life to get married, to become a wife and mother. I am a cultured Indian woman with good values and I have reached a stage where I need a companion with whom I can share my love, joy, sorrow and success with. For me that time has arrived. However I want to solemnize my marriage in the presence of all my fans who have been supportive throughout — Rakhi Sawant

No, this post is not on Rakhi Sawant. In fact, I wanted to write this from quite sometime but her new reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamvar pushed me into writing it without further delay. I was just twiddling my thumb and wondering about all those actresses who are still single and what’s going on in their mind/heart. While we see that the guys entering the industry are mostly committed/married, the girls are still out there looking/thinking/choosing etc.

When Aamir Khan, SRK, Sunil Shetty etc entered the industry, they were married already. Then guys like Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan etc also tied the know. In fact, right now except Salman from yester-years and Ranbir Kapoor from current generation are the only eligible bachelors. But just see this list of actresses and their ages mentioned [social faux pas, we can mention their weight but not their age] and you may wonder too, what are they waiting for!

Manisha Koirala – 38 yrs – Having made her debut in Saudagar, she had a great start to her career. But somewhere down the line she lost her way. She was briefly seen in Company, Lajja etc; but her last best work was a decade ago in Dil Se. She dated quite a few guys, but recently it has been reported that she is engaged to Christpin Conroy, the Australian ambassador to Nepal.

Nandana Sen – 41 yrs – D/o Amartya Sen – She made a late debut in movie industry and no one knows where he career is going. Firstly, I was shocked to know that she is in her early 40’s; I thought she was in mid 30’s. So, there you have it; 40+ and still single.

Tabu – 38 yrs – Her career had a late start, thanks to Prem getting delayed by 5 years. This child-artist who had acted alongside Dev Anand had to wait really long for her film debut. She finally made her mark with movies like Chandni Bar, Maqbool, Chini Kum etc. Yes, the chini is still kum in her life.

Urmila Matondkar – 35 yrs – Another child artist, first seen in Shashi Kapoor’s Kalyug and then in Masoom; she had a great time in the industry. With movies like Rangeela, Judaai, Kaun, Indian etc she had a nice run in BO; sh also earned critical acclaim for Pinjar and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Mara. But off-late looks like her career is ending the same way it started, spate of flops.

Lisa Ray – 37 yrs – She never belonged here, although she did rise to fame with Afreen video and movies like Kasoor, Bollywood Hollywood and Water. Wonder who her supermodel hubby is gonna be!



Preity Zinta – 34 yrs – She is one brave woman, coming from army background and not back-tarcking on her statements in court, she has lived the life she has wanted to. She was really good in whatever she did, even IPL. She is in a long relationship with  Ness Wadia and she has never hidden that, hats off to her. But, we all are waiting for the official ceremony.

Nagma – 34 yrs – She tried her luck in Hindi movies, when it did not work out well she went down-South and created waves with Kadhalan, Love Birds etc. But she too lost her way, joined Art Of Living; she is still somewhere learning to live, living to learn.

Sushmita Sen – 33 yrs – One of the most out-spoken actresses and she started the trend of not hiding anything and being open to the world, whether it was the relationships she had with married men or the adoption of a girl-child whom she named Rene, meaning ressurrection. Wish she finds a nice guy and ressurrects her life.

Shilpa Shetty – 33 yrs – I have already written about here, click here. All I can say is that, its not over till the official ceremony is performed.

Rani Mukherjee – 31 yrs – She was a winner all the way, starting with KKHH. She did some fabulous work in Black, Saathiya etc, but now she is struggling with her last few movies not doing well. She also had to come clean on Adi Chopra when people/media suspected that she secretly married him. Hope she finds someone the way her cousin Kajol did, and settle down.



The list is quite long and it will get boring if I start listing out everybody. But I do think that there is a right time for everybody when they have to make a call. Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Meenakshi Shehsadri etc have done it in the past; retire gracefully or at least retreat and take some time off for themselves and concentrate on personal life. By the way, I am not getting judgemental or overly concerned about it. It was just a thought, so please do take it the right way.

Ths post was first published on PFC

quotes : when harry met sally

This movie is one of my all time fave movies. I did not want to write a review of it, too late to write one. So, I thought I would just make a small compilation of quotes from the movie which would capture all the wonderful moments.

Harry: You know you just get to a certain point where you get tired of the whole thing.
Sally: What "whole thing"?
Harry: The whole life-of-a-single-guy thing. You meet someone, you have the safe lunch, you decide you like each other enough to move on to dinner. You go dancing, you do the white-man's over-bite, go back to her place, you have sex and the minute you're finished you know what goes through your mind? How long do I have to lie here and hold her before I can get up and go home. Is thirty seconds enough?
Sally: That's what you're thinking? Is that true?
Harry: Sure! All men think that. How long do you want to be held afterwards? All night, right? See there's your problem, somewhere between thirty seconds and all night is your problem.
Sally: I don't have a problem! Harry: Yeah you do.

*

Jess: I don't understand this relationship.
Harry: What do you mean?
Jess: You enjoy being with her?
Harry: Yeah. Jess: You find her attractive?
Harry: Yeah. Jess: And you're not sleeping with her.
Harry: No. Jess: You're afraid to let yourself be happy.
Harry: Why can't you give me credit for this? This is a big thing for me. I never had a relationship with a woman that didn't involve sex. I feel like I'm growing. ...
Harry: It's very freeing. I can say anything to her.
Jess: Are you saying you can say things to her you can't say to me?
Harry: Nah, it's just different. It's a whole new perspective. I get the woman's point of view on things. She tells me about the men she goes out with and I can talk to her about the women that I see.
Jess: You tell her about other women.
Harry: Yeah. Like the other night. I made love to this woman, and it was so incredible, I took her to a place that wasn't human, she actually meowed.
Jess: You made a woman meow?
Harry: Yeah. That's the point, I can say these things to her. And the great thing is, I don't have to lie because I'm not always thinking about how to get her into bed. I can just be myself.
Jess: You made a woman meow?

*

Harry: I think they have an OK time.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: What do you mean how do I know? I know.
Sally: Because they... Harry: Yes, because they...
Sally: And how do you know that they really...
Harry: What are you saying, that they fake orgasm?
Sally: It's possible.
Harry: Get outta here!
Sally: Why? Most women at one time or another have faked it.
Harry: Well they haven't faked it with me.
Sally: How do you know? Harry: Because I know. Sally: Oh, right, that's right, I forgot, you're a man.
Harry: What is that supposed to mean?
Sally: Nothing. It's just that all men are sure it never happened to them and that most women at one time or another have done it so you do the math.
Harry: You don't think that I could tell the difference?
Sally: No.
Harry: Get outta here. [Sally begins to fake an orgasm]
Harry: Are you OK? [Sally continues very audibly, attracting the attention of nearly every customer in the cafe. Afterwards, she returns to eating her dessert]
Older Woman Customer: [to waiter] I'll have what she's having.

*

Sally: I don't have to take this crap from you.
Harry: If you're so over Joe, why aren't you seeing anyone?
Sally: I see people.
Harry: See people? Have you slept with one person since you broke up with Joe?
Sally: What the hell does that have to do with anything? That will prove I'm over Joe? Because I fuck somebody? Harry, you're gonna have to move back to New Jersey because you've slept with everybody in New York and I don't see that turning Helen into a faint memory for you. Besides, I will make love to somebody when it is making love. Not the way you do it like you're out for revenge or something.
Harry: Are you finished now?
Sally: Yes.
Harry: Can I say something?
Sally: Yes.
Harry: I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

*

Harry: Why can't we get past this? I mean, are we gonna carry this thing around forever?
Sally: Forever? It just happened.
Harry: It happened three weeks ago. You know how a year to a person is like seven years to a dog?
Sally: Yes. Is one of us supposed to be a dog in this scenario?
Harry: Yes.
Sally: Who is the dog?
Harry: You are.
Sally: I am? I am the dog? I am the dog?
Harry: Um-hmm.
Sally: I am the dog. I-I don't see that Harry. If anybody is the dog, you are the dog. You want to act like what happened didn't mean anything.
Harry: I'm not saying it didn't mean anything. I am saying why does it have to mean everything?
Sally: Because it does, and you should know that better than anybody because the minute that it happens, you walk right out the door.
Harry: I didn't walk out.
Sally: No, sprinted is more like it.
Harry: We both agreed it was a mistake.
Sally: The worst mistake I've ever made.
Harry: What do you want from me?
Sally: I don't want anything from you!
Harry: Fine. Fine, but let's just get one thing straight. I did not go over there that night to make love to you, that is not why I went there. But you looked up at me with these big weepy eyes, don't go home night Harry, hold me a little longer Harry. What was I supposed to do?
Sally: What are you saying, you took pity on me?
Harry: No, I was...
Sally: Fuck you

*

Harry: I've been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you.
Sally: What?
Harry: I love you.
Sally: How do you expect me to respond to this?
Harry: How about, you love me too.

*

Sally: I'm sorry, Harry. I know it's New Year's Eve. I know you're feeling lonely, but you just can't show up here, tell me you love me, and expect that to make everything all right. It doesn't work this way.
Harry: Well, how does it work?
Sally: I don't know, but not this way.
Harry: How about this way? I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
Sally: You see? That is just like you, Harry. You say things like that, and you make it impossible for me to hate you, and I hate you, Harry. I really hate you. I hate you.

*

Sally: Harry, you're going to have to try and find a way of not expressing every feeling that you have, every moment that you have them.

*

Harry: Right now everything is great, everyone is happy, everyone is in love and that is wonderful. But you gotta know that sooner or later you're gonna be screaming at each other about who's gonna get this dish. This eight dollar dish will cost you a thousand dollars in phone calls to the legal firm of That's Mine, This Is Yours.
Marie: Harry.
Harry: Please, Jess, Marie. Do me a favor, for your own good, put your name in your books right now before they get mixed up and you won't know whose is whose. 'Cause someday, believe it or not, you'll go 15 rounds over who's gonna get this coffee table. This stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale COFFEE TABLE.
Jess: I thought you liked it?
Harry: I was being nice.

*

Harry: You take someone to the airport, its clearly the beginning of the relationship. That's why I have never taken anyone to the airport at the beginning of a relationship.
Sally: Why?
Harry: Because eventually things move on and you don't take someone to the airport and I never wanted anyone to say to me, How come you never take me to the airport anymore?
Sally: Its amazing. You look like a normal person but actually you are the angel of death.

*

Harry: There are two kinds of women - high maintenance and low maintenance.
Sally: Which one am I?
Harry: You're the worst kind; you're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance
Sally: I don't see that.
Harry: You don't see that? Waiter, I'll begin with a house salad, but I don't want the regular dressing. I'll have the balsamic vinegar and oil, but on the side. And then the salmon with the mustard sauce, but I want the mustard sauce on the side. "On the side" is a very big thing for you.
Sally: Well, I just want it the way I want it.
Harry: I know; high maintenance.

*

Sally: Amanda mentioned you had a dark side.
Harry: That's what drew her to me.
Sally: Your dark side?
Harry: Sure. Why? Don't you have a dark side? I know, you're probably one of those cheerful people who dot their "i's" with little hearts.
Sally: I have just as much of a dark side as the next person.
Harry: Oh, really? When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.

*

Marie: All I'm saying is that somewhere out there is the man you are supposed to marry. And if you don't get him first, somebody else will, and you'll have to spend the rest of your life knowing that somebody else is married to your husband

*

Sally: Well, basically it's the same dream I've been having since I was twelve.
Harry: Which is?
Sally: Okay, there's this guy...
Harry: What does he look like?
Sally: I don't know, he's just sort of faceless.
Harry: Faceless guy, okay.
Sally: He RIPS off my clothes.
Harry: And?
Sally: That's it.
Harry: That's it? Some faceless guy rips off all your clothes, and THAT'S the sex fantasy you've been having since you were twelve?
Sally: Well sometimes I vary it a little.
Harry: Which part?
Sally: What I'm wearing.

*

Sally: He just met her... She's supposed to be his transitional person, she's not supposed to be the ONE. All this time I thought he didn't want to get married. But, the truth is, he didn't want to marry me. He didn't love me.
Harry: If you could take him back now, would you?
Sally: No. But why didn't he want to marry me? What's the matter with me?
Harry: Nothing.
Sally: I'm difficult.
Harry: You're challenging.
Sally: I'm too structured, I'm completely closed off.
Harry: But in a good way.
Sally: No, no, no, I drove him away. AND, I'm gonna be forty.
Harry: When?
Sally: Someday.
Harry: In eight years.
Sally: But it's there. It's just sitting there, like some big dead end. And it's not the same for men. Charlie Chaplin had kids when he was 73.
Harry: Yeah, but he was too old to pick them up.

*

Sally: At least I got the apartment.
Harry: That's what everyone says. But, really, what's so hard about finding an apartment? What you do is look in the obituary section. You see who died, find out where they lived, and tip the doorman. What they could do to make it easier is combine the two. You know, Mr. Kline died yesterday, leaving behind a wife, two children, and a spacious three bedroom apartment with a wood burning fireplace.

*

Harry: We're talking dream date compared to my horror. It started out fine, she's a very nice person, and we're sitting and we're talking at this Ethiopian restaurant that she wanted to go to. And I was making jokes, you know like, "Hey I didn't know that they had food in Ethiopia? This will be a quick meal. I'll order two empty plates and we can leave." Yeah, nothing from her not even a smile.

DJ of 'Rang De Basanti' stuck in IT field

DJ : wohi duniya de jhamele ..... seat aur PC dhoondo.....project paao..... te PM ki ishaaron pe nachte jaao....
tim lak lak te tim lak lak
u know gulabbo...... mennu iss company mei join huye 2 saal ho gaye..... fir bhi i am here only.
Offshore Develpment Centre ke darwajje ke is taraf... hum PM ko nachaate hai.....
to darwajje ki dooji taraf.....PM hum ko nachataa hai...
tim lak lak te tim lak lak

Sue : mai kuchh samjhi nahi

DJ : mennu bas itthe.....bench pe hi rehna hai.....
idhar......bench vaale log mennu jante hain .......bench pe DJ di koi aukaat hai...
baaki developers kehte hain .....DJ mein badi baat hai....project karega DJ
par andar....project mei achhe achhe DJ pis gaye....java code copy-paste karte karte...........