Of Bachchan Junior And Rabindranath Tagore

2007-08-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back.
Yes , I have said this many times before.
But , hey the most important thing is that I'm back.
It's been a long time , hasn't it?
So long , that I actually have to type my blog address to get to my blog and not simply scroll down the list of recently visited blogs.
Well , I don't know about you...but...
Since I'm back , what do I blog about?
Ok , I read Harry Potter. So? Everyone reads Harry Potter once in a while.
Some even like to bash it and some like to praise it.
No , I'm not giving out any links. I trust you can search it out yourself.
Talking of search , wikipedia is better than google.
Google gives out more info , but wiki is fun.
Back to HP , it was good.
Like most , no , all HP books , it was fun while reading it.
But twenty days later , you hardly remember anything enjoyable in it
Oh , disagree with me all you like :o)
But , what is this post all about?

PS - thanks, ragamalika :)

After a long time

2007-06-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

This blog has a new post.
And i love Vikram Seth.

The Blog isn't Dead Yet

2007-05-07T06:26:00.000-07:00

Oh yes , I do have a blog. This url is not yet dead...
And happy married life , Mr.Rai! ;)

English movies and their copies

2007-02-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

My mother and I were watching Collateral on HBO/Star Movies yesterday. And as usual , she was the all- enthusiastic one , while me , fixing my eyes on the T.V wandered about here and there , and came back to the point - which part of the story are we in?
The lack of interest , you can call that.
Anyway , my opinion - Collateral is a boring movie starring an old Tom Cruise and some one else as a taxi driver , i dont know whom...
And half an hour into the movie , my mother suddenly turned to me and asked - "Wasn't there a Hindi movie with the same story?"
Yes , there was. A flop movie called Killer (starring Emraan Hashmi (ugh!) and....yeah Nisha Kothari) was made , on the same plot , one year after the original was released.
No jaw-dropping realisation , that. About 90% of the movies Bollywood (how i hate that name!) churns out are inspired/plagiarised/copied (what's the difference?) , from English/Japanese/Korean , any foriegn movie for that matter.
To name a few -> Krrish - Paycheck , Rang De Basanti - All my Sons , Zinda - Old Boy and the same director's some other movie was inspired by Reservoir Dogs , another Korean movie , Salaam Namaste - Nine Months , Murder - Unfaithful , Dhoom - Ocean's Eleven (see , i did some research ,after all!) and why , even Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu is reported to have been plagiarised from some where else.
And so on.
Then came the question - Why do Hindi movies need to be copied from English movies? Why can't we produce some original movies?
The reason is simple enough - most of the copied movies have exotic locales , awesome star-casts , rocking songs and enough masala to satisfy the multiplex audiences. Atleast most. And the producers , laugh their way to the bank.
It is true that the Hindi movie Industry does steal foreign plots. But it is not true that it does not produce original talents .
For example , Black Friday is releasing this week , and Parzania , the last. How many people would see the movie in the theater , which does not have songs in Switzerland or a special appearance by Shah Rukh Khan? Which has practically non-existent music and starcast , not much to boast of? And true , though Rajeev Masand and Raja Sen may sing praises about them , in reality, very few would really want to spend 120 bucks on a gritty , no-nonsense movie.

And ofcourse , there is always Salaam-e-ishq...

...

2006-12-29T02:01:00.000-08:00

I really dont know what to write , but since i have opened the 'New Post' icon and i am posting after a long long time(My last post was on November 7) , I have to write something now. And yes, for the record , I watched Dhoom 2 and had an amazing time! Abhishek was splendid , Hrithik was ahem , good too (actually...a little better than Abhishek) , and I hate Aishwarya Rai! I hate all those astrologers who predict a marriage for Abhishek and Aishwarya in 2007!(Link1).

And here's the Guru!

And a Happy New Year!

2006-11-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

'Hem. Long time.
Was busy , now having got nothing better to do , i am writing this post.
Currently embarked upon George Eliot's Silas Marner. Started reading only today , somewhere in the third chapter in the first part , i think.
Watched this 'theatrical trailer' of Guru in the Guru website. Saw this Rediff Slideshow on the Guru music launch which wasn't a music launch or whatever. Hm. Abhishek looked good enough , but he should neither have shaved nor have worn a 'head band' which the pesky BT happened to spot and report. Anyway , he looks as cute as ever , though he has put on weight!
Saw the website of Dhoom 2 and its trailer too. Aishwarya honestly looks ugly , Bipasha , sidelined , Uday Chopra (who?) boring , Hrithik Roshan , even more boring and Abhishek , kewl. His stubble looks dyed with Godrej Hair Dye though , he looked better in KANK , but then , one can't have the best of everything!
Did not see Umrao Jaan. Learnt that Abhishek was assigned only a 45 minute role in the movie , and i can't waste the remaining two hours and 15 minutes in watching an overly made up Aishwarya Rai weep , weep and weep , an ugly Suniel Shetty ham and things like that. So decided in the negative and saw all the stills and songs which had Abhishek in it though...
Spent the rest of my time Orkutting and vetti blog searching. And over - Uncyclopedia , a spoof of Wikipedia...! ;)

-
vaishali jvpoirot

An Equal Music - Vikram Seth

2006-10-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

When something is difficult or impossible , it is always better to try out something else which has something in common with the first difficult something. Like if watching Abhishek's 'Om Jai Jagdish' is an unearthly (unheavenly too , if you are doubtful) task , then it is better to watch 'Bluffmaster' - afterall , both have Abhishek , but the second was obviously much better :D . But let me cut this self-made philosophical crap and come directly to the point. I dumped Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy after the 900th page , which made an unsuitable read anyway and picked up An Equal Music which is like only 400 pages long. And i am glad i did , it made a better read than the first.

Talking about An Equal Music , i do not understand why people prefer A Suitable Boy to this , which is close to a classic. If it is because it being the longest novel in the world , to hell with Seth! Now after have read AEM , I can safely declare that ASB is not even a patch on the former , yes , yes AEM is much much better!

Now I do not think that Seth is made of Nobel Prize-worthy stuff (No ladies and gentlemen , that is NOT my suggestion (that he has the potential to be a Nobel Laureate) incase you feel like hitting me with an iron rod for suggesting disastrous situations , but of The Illustrated Weekly Of India's ;)) , but An Equal Music does make a good read. It is not one of those books which leave a 'lasting impression' after you read it , but it does , yes it does , entertain you and keep you engaged throughout.

And so , all you out there , who have shelled out a 500 bucks for A Suitable Boy , my humble suggestion would be either to get a refund or otherwise , sell it to the raddiwala and get a copy of An Equal Music instead. No , if you do want to read ASB , do go ahead , but i am not responsible for any brain damages or anything of that sort...

And read this interview for some starters :)

PS - If you think that this post is cranky , then think again. If you still think so , then i have only one thing to say - i fully agree with you :)

Vikram Seth - A suitable boy

2006-10-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

At present , something which is keeping me engrossed , and has successfully managed to banish away all thoughts of Abhishek Bachchan from my mind(although , i did see Bluffmaster and Yuva for a second time some days back) is Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy.

Okay , not only Abhishek thoughts...but that shall do for now :0)

This 1375 paged novel is Vikram Seth's 'magnum opus' novel , which simply means it has surpassed all other novels of his in fame and suppressed the recent 'Two Lives' in terms of popularity.

Do correct me if i am wrong , though.

I have been reading this novel for something like ages (two to three weeks to be a leetle more precise!) , and am still in the 704'th page or something. 12'th chapter , i think.

A point which needs to be stressed upon is that this book is large , voluminous , gigantic...i think i could read both the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha (unabridged versions , mind you) faster , that me crossing the 1000th page of this Seth novel. While that is a very stupid example , the truth is finishing this book without skipping any pages is a Herculean task :)

Anyway , this is a family story , which means that it involves a lot of drama , emotions , poetry and everything required to make a family story a family story. The core story is about a mother's search of a 'good' husband for her daughter (which involves some lectures too , i forgot to add that) , but ofcourse , interwined with plots and subplots , most of them boring , which i hear is a typical Vikram Seth style. Not the boring parts , that was my own opinion , but the plots and sub-plots.

At first (by first i mean the first 200-300 pages) , it is altogether very interesting , but later(400-600 pages) , it becomes dull and lifeless.

Anyway , i am said to be of an extremely biased nature , so i will give this book a chance and read it till the end , yes till the end :-) , and then deliver my verdict!

Until then!

Some Abhishek pics from my Orkut album ;)

Oscars , 9 selected films and Rang De Basanti

2006-09-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Official Oscar Selection is back . After last year's Paheli and the previous Lagaan won huge accolades at the award ceremony and made India oh-so proud , this year's Rang De Basanti is also going to go places.
Apparently , only 9 films were submitted , prominent ones being KANK , Yun Hota to Kya Hota , Lage Raho Munnabhai , Omkara , Corporate and...Krrish (which incidentally , had unintentional references to certain Hollywood movies). Great. If they were to extend this sending-to-the-Oscars ritual this year too , they could have atleast selected Bluffmaster...For record's sake , nothing more.

Anyway , Rediff's Raja Sen doesn't seem to have enough of Oscar talk. "It is surprising to have only 9 films submitted. The FFI invites all producers to send in their films if the makers feel the end-result is Oscar-worthy..." ->Rang De heads to the Oscars!
Cut the crap!

Rantings

2006-09-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hugely Entertaining (for obvious reasons) :

The six and a quarter second appearance of Abhishek Bachchan in a twenty second "Umrao Jaan trailer"

Incomprehensibly Entertaining :

Orkut

Boring :

The Hindu Newspaper , both in Bangalore and Chennai

Mumbo-Jumbo :

Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy - a neverendingly fantastic family saga

The Forum , Bangalore and some entertainment

2006-09-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

In Bangalore , it is almost impossible to travel anywhere. One , the god-forsaken traffic does not allow any more sightseeing than Spice Telecom ads featuring a super-thin Priyanka Chopra and Mitsubishi Lancers , Honda Cities , Tata Indicas and the drivers. Zzzzz...
Anyway , I hardly go out ,one because , i am ultra-lazy and two , there is no great 'tourist' spots around , other than the swanky Shopper's Stops , Globus(es) and Malls of Bathroom Accessories Exported Straight From Paris. Whew! And ofcourse , the temples. No comments.
Anyway , in the past few months i have lived in Bangalore , my only outing has been the stinkingly expensive Forum which is something like half an hour and ten minutes from my house and 'window-shopping worthy'.
The Forum does not even cover half the area of the Spencer Plaza in Chennai , yet it is entertaining , even if you visit it a dozen times like me. The Forum is less crowded than Spencers which allows some space for breathing and hoarding(s) of John Abraham , unshaved wearing Fast Track glasses. A 'drishti' at the entrance for the well-being of the mall.
Anyway , at the basement , there are only shops and restaurants and you wouldn't want to enter them unless you want to spend something like thirty rupees on a cup of Lipton Ice Tea and want to be as naive a shopper/buyer/customer as me.
One speciality of the Forum is that everything you have spotted on the Pondy Bazar street is branded as 'rare' and 'precious' here and sold for a 200 bucks.Ahem.
But my favourite of all the stores here is a particular 'soap-n-shampoo' shop. This store sells soaps which have most magnificent names (Karma Soap , Blue Clouds and White Moon Soap , Honey! I just washed the Kids!! Shampoo , Apple Pie and Red Cherry hair softener and things like that) and even more magnificent prices (50 grams at rupees 80 , 100 grams at rupees 180 , 200 grams at rupees...well, don't ask!). Why such sky-rocketing prices you ask? 'Cause these cosmetics are non-animal tested and have 'natural' ingredients! Yeah , right!
This is not the end of the surprises Forum displays , there are many more. But I , have unfortunately not gone beyond the Land Mark Book Shop (and ofcourse , the designer soap shop ;) ). Perhaps i will , one day , and that will amount to some more rantings and surprise , surprise! discoveries :-)

Reading Desi

2006-08-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

There is one section in the bookshop I can never resist from visiting. It has the most attractive books with shiny book covers , peppered with magazine-review quotes and published by the leading book houses...it ultimately results in pulling out that 100/200 bucks and glowing inside , for no reason what-so-ever. You feel unusually , unexplainably enlightened , happy , satisfied and every possible adjective found in the Oxford Thesaurus related to happiness...ofcourse , all this lasts only upto you have completed 20 pages in the book , then you start searching for those refund vouchers.

The books I am talking about are the desi-authored ones , the books which have made it to international awards and New York Times Reviews. Those books , which have an aura of hype and phoney praise around them , ofcourse , inside is the bitter pill. The book is bad , worse , worst.

No , i am not trying to generalise all Indian books into this all-hype-and-no-substance category. There are very good ones too , but they are so rare , that when you visit the Indian section , you are confronted with Anurag Mathurs , Anita Nairs , Chetan Bhagats and Robin Sharmas.I have been a victim of this many times. From Chetan Bhagat to Amitav Ghosh , my book-collection at home possesses all those tried-and-thrusted books , which stare at me accusingly , and i stare back guiltily.Like in the case of Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide. I picked up the book , and my jaw dropped , the cover page has the most attractive cover design i had seen and plus a mention of how this book won the Hutch Crossword Award had me on. I turned the book around and i was greeted with the most flattering comments , "The most endearing book" , "The most unforgettable book..." , "The best book ever written which haunts your mind even after reading"... Plus , the plot of the book has me on...and the rest is history.Anyway , this specie of a book is about the wildlife in Sunderbans explored by an NRI and a businessman , well , who cares? . The writer Amitav Ghosh unfortunately cannot differentiate between a thesis on Sunderban Beliefs and Dolphins and a good , fun book which makes pleasant reading. Don't read this book , unless ofcourse , you want to become a National Geographic researcher in Irrawady Dolphins :).But the most outrageous book i would have read (no , started) is Anita Nair's "Fasting , Feasting" or something like that. Published by Penguin , it is glamourously packed , has a don't-dare-ignore story line (it is about the story of a Muslim and a Hindu...orsomething like that) , but the book is so bad , that i had to rush out to thenearby medical shop for a Crocin tablet. And for that matter , NEVER attempt reading ANY book by this Nair. And if you do , i am not responsible for unsolicited heart-attacks , headaches , illnesses or anything of that sort :)But , on the contrary , one book i liked was Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-Candy Man (better known as Cracking India).Ofcourse I picked up this book because there was a movie made on this called 1947-Earth , starring Nandita Das and Aamir Khan *sheepish* , but i did enjoy the book. I am not partial to Aamir Khan in this case , afterall , i panned One Night At The Call Centre , even though Abhishek Bachchan is acting in the movie made on this book :)...And thus goes my exploits with Indian books. I have read Anurag Mathur , Eshwar Sundaresan , Jaishree Mishra , Amitav Ghosh , Bapsi Sidhwa , Chetan Bhagat among many. Yeah , most were bad (read - horrific) , but there were some good apples to. Like Arundati Roy...And now i am saddled with a Jaishree Mishra's "Afterwards". Suggested by a friend , i had no choice , but accept it with an aspartame-coated plastic smile. And i will attempt it too. And no eye-brow raisings , if my blog is inactive for a few more week ;)

Creating Controversies and Grabbing Opportunities

2006-08-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

The cola controversy is in the fizz again , with reports of more carcinogenic and other harmful substances , and ofcourse the infamous pesticides. More fuel is being added , in the form of a certain Sunita Narain (who silenced the hapless Vikram Chandra in The Big Fight (ndtv) and was (almost) silenced by Barkha Dutt in We The People). Anyway , her points are pretty good and it is worth watching her bash up some certain protesters. Later , more news came in , as the Don pair , Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra refused to stop advertising for Pepsi/Coco cola and justified their stance with a whole lot of silly reasons (after all , the water and apples here are contaminated no?) , and...hamara hero , Abhishek Bacchan refused to advertise for colas. Colas lost a consumer in me two years back , and this further strengthens it :))

Anyway , Amul is using this controversy to the maximum extent. Ads. , now to reinforce the concept of drinking buttermilk over soft drinks (Amul Masti Dahi) have started on , and are going on pretty fine. And ofcourse , the Amul posters...

Saw these on Kanakpura Road yesterday , and now , on the Amul website . Well , i never was a great fan of Amul Masti Dahi , drank it only when nothing else was available , but after this , perhaps i would attempt at it again. Not entirely for the dahi ( i never liked buttermilk very much) , but for the innovative marketing strategy. And ofcourse , since my choices are quite limited today.

Updated...

2006-08-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

Updated to Google Blogger Beta , and now , a new look.
Still undecided whether i like it or not
Anyway , this will do for some days atleast.
Any ideas?

Of faith and festivals

2006-08-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Independence Day , everyone knows that.
Today is also Gokulashtami/Janmashtami , some people know that.
The rest are debating whether it is today or tomorrow.
Those who believe that it is today , are celebrating it today.
And those who believe it is tomorrow , celebrate it tomorrow.
Much Ado About Nothing.
PS - If you are highly religious , stop reading here...
But , that statement does not mean that i am an atheist , as most geniuses would assume.
Anyway , we are celebrating it today.
The same old stuff , sweets and snacks dripping in oil , fried.
The same old pooja
The same old everything...
And the meaning is lost
Does it really matter , if the festival is today or tomorrow?
Or does the number of items made really matter?
It is all a question of faith , you have the faith , good , you don't , good.
I have nothing against these festivals and i like to think myself as a chammatthu hindu ponnu , so i won't complain.
But , i would celebrate these festivals for a different reason , i will celebrate it , for that invisible faith and not for the pooja , sweets...
Again , i am not an atheist , you are mistaken , if you think i am one
But it is true that i value my country more than my religion.
And that faith , is the love for my country and my country's customs
I don't care much for the Hindu , Christian , Muslim , Sikh label , but i do very much for the 'Indian' label.
And i will definitely put my religion (and caste for that matter) as 'Indian'.

~~~

2006-07-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

"Where's the party tonight - it's on down the road , where's the party tonight - on the Dance floor"...

You can't miss this song if you tune into Mtv , Channel V and Zoom (in that exact order) these days. By Jatin-Lalit (or is it Shankar -Ehsaan Loy? ) , you will definitely not miss the sight of 'chota B' grooving to the Hinglish lyrics along with a really old looking Preity Zinta. The movie , by the way , is Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.
Now , i am not going to spend the remaining white (or yellow in my blog) space , grumbling how Johar managed to get a really horrible red/orange/none of these , coloured blazer/rain coat for Abhishek to wear and never focussed on his face for a proper five seconds , but the fact that Karan Johar and Hindi songs have changed.
Karan Johar doing a movie on an extramarital affair is an already exhausted topic and i won't go over it all over again (if you are really interested , then read Shobaa De's article in one of the issues of the Week). I do not really care about the subject of this Johar-Khan venture , but i am impressed by the way it has been brought out , the trailers , song picturisation is totally unlike a Karan Joharventure. I never really enjoyed Kal Ho Na Ho , despite its pretty endearing music , and thought it was pretty lame , but there is a marked change in this movie. It does attract , i'll admit it , and i'll definitely try to watch it , even though there is a possibility of the it-is-all-about-loving-you-family saga repeating again!

Another thing is the music. It sure is attractive especially the above (Where's the Party Tonight?) and Mitwa . Haven't heard all the songs , but the ones so far are great and a much-needed diversion from the usual Himesh Reshammiya churn-outs.
Talking of Himesh Reshammiya (or Himesh Reshammiyan as Zee Muzic wishes to honour him) , he invades not only all the music channels today but also in NDTV where he proclaims to the totally-inept-and-catching-for-breath reporter of how God helped him in his musical venture (*smirk*) and helped him in holding on to his job (*SMIRK*). And if you are not satisfied with this , tune into Zee channel where the IIFA awards are played to death and where Himesh screams about how Amitabh Bachchan and God helped him in his success pathway . I did not know how Bachchan helped him , and Himesh would have done better to mention Salman Khan , but i know this for sure that both Amitabh and Abhishek were smirking when he said that. So much for Himesh!
Anyway his 'standard of music' is detoriating these days. Aksar , Aashiq Banaya Aapne and even the recent Dil Diya Hai is good , but the shortest cut to the graveyard is by listening to Aap Ka Suroor and Ahista Ahista. And i am fully confident about the powers of the latter.

'The God of Small Things' - Arundhati Roy

2006-07-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah , i have finally finished Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. Actually no , i finished it the night i posted about me being in the 13th chapter , but lethargy prevented me from writing about it immediately than a week later...It is always better to be late than to never do it.
Anyway , i read this book for no other reason than this book won the Booker Prize and i currently possess this freaky habit of reading all the 'in-news' books (DVC , HOMGKGWAGAL , Angels and Demons , Bangalored...). And as i expected , this book is not exactly wonderful or even the best written book , even though it won prizes and Roy a million dollars. It is just simply OK. OK , nothing more , nothing less.
This is a book which is literally a 'tourist guide of Kerala' as one reviewer described it at MouthShut. Roy utilises all the opportunites to describe Ayemenem , Kerala's climate , caste system , Marxist ideas , Keralite Christianity (hope that makes sense!) , divorce.......and does a pretty good job of it too , but other than these , there is nothing really to this book. It is interesting if you are interested in how Kerala and Keralites are , but story or substance wise , it fails to make a point.
Essentially this is about two egg-twins Esthappen and Rahel ( It is rumoured that Rahel's character was inspired by Roy's life , but she vehemently opposed this idea) . Their mom is a divorcee who lives with her parents , and the story revolves around them and their cousin Sophie. This is not the accurate summary of the story , but the whole book is rather a string of incidents , it becomes difficult to summarise all of them.
Roy is definitely apart from the class of Shoba De and the like. The narration is a little difficult to get used to , but it does hold interest to some extent. And Roy is perhaps a kind of writer who believes more in the narration and language , than the content. Which is interesting at times , but here it becomes monotonous and boring.
Overall , an OK book , but not exactly a timepass one , it does take some amount of patience to read it completely!
The God of Small Things - 5/10
---
---
---
Where is the next book?

2006-07-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

1. http://www.abhishekbachchan.org

2. http://www.abhishekonline.net/

Two Abhishek Bachchan fansites I came up with while doing some vetti browsing. Yeah , the abhi pictures are really- so- cute , but the whole idea...hmph!
And what is this rumour (?) about Abhishek getting married to Aishwarya Rai? Ithu Romba over thaan!

Reading Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. In the 13th chapter or something. Quite a boring book , not too well written. Anyway , I will give it a chance! Who knows , the book might become better towards the end!

Tonight I am watching Bluffmaster!! Star Gold , 9 PM! Ofcourse , i have already seen it , but it is a rare treat to see it again! :)))))

And by the way , do read this - Sagarikha Ghose's blog and this review on Corporate by Rajeev masand . Pretty interesting , they are...

~untitled~

2006-07-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon , bad weather in Bangalore(can you imagine that it actually rains here during the afternoons?) and four victimised books in front of me. Finished reading all four , all by Indian authors and all , strictly mediocre. Tragic reality - good-looking writers , but badly written books. Yet another example to show how not to read a book by the face of writer!
Anyway , the first book is Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat (not bad-looking) , 'The monk who had sold his Ferrari' by Robin Sharma (quite good looking!) , The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur (Have not seen Mathur , not yet) and a new book - Bangalored by Eshwar Suderasan (Don't ask me how he looks!).
One thing is common in all (or most) these terrible 'masterpieces' (courtesy - Time , Outlook , Hindustan Times). All these writers try to infuse humour in the books (Robin Sharma not included , the only humourous part is how i stupidly , actually bought this book for 200 bucks) , especially Anurag Mathur. Humour , my foot. If Mr.Mathur thinks that how he (or how his protoganist) manages to make a fool of himself in the US is actually funny (which i think is the bottom line of this book) , then , better luck next time.
'Inscrutable Americans' is perhaps a little like 'Catcher in the Rye'. Both protoganists explore a place with disastrous results...(yawn) . I am not a fan of CITR , but it was definitely better than IA.
CITR - 4.25 / 10 , IA - 3.25/10

The Monk who sold his Ferrari is another disaster. Robin is totally convinced that the readers are too gullible to accept any crap (huts made of rose petals and women wearing only pink sarees). This guy should learn the art of perfect -reel -uttufying-with-religion-and-sentiments-creeping-in.
TMWSHF - 2/10

Bangalored by Eshwar Sundaresan. Totally 'unreadable'. Makes books like DVC seem like materpieces (no comments if you really thought it was one!). Extremely boring and full of 'he thinks so' and 'she thinks so' , this is not definitely worth reading , unless you want to die of boredom after reading it (you will , unless you are as strong as me :) )
Bangalored - 1 / 10

By the way , this is what the International Herald Tribune ( no links ) had to say about the Inscrutable Americans

"Anurag Mathur...is the toast of India's capital...(His) tale of a subcontinental bumpkin at sea in the American heartland has struck a chord with Indian intellectuals..."

Subcontinental bumpkin alright , but 'toast of India's capital' and 'Indian intellectuals'? As Holden Caulfield would say - strictly for the dumbos.

Bollywood stuff

2006-06-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

1.Saw the KANK trailer. Shah Rukh is unimpressive with the same facial expression as in Chalte Chalte , K3G and the like. Besides , he looks old too.
The background setting (foreign location again , following the Krrish method) is pretty well done , not bad.
Both the heroines are good-looking. Rani tries to 'act' good , but Priety does not even attempt , but that's ok.
Obviously , the best looking and emoting is Abhishek Bachchan ( and he was precisely the reason why i watched this trailer over 3 times). That beard has not left ( and that's good!) and the way he cries...oh my god , he is handsome!!
Overall , not bad , quite interesting trailer and evokes some interest to watch this movie. Might watch it for the Abhishek scenes. And if Shah Rukh Khan gets more footage in the movie , i am going to boycott Don and Happy New Year!

__________________________________________________________________

2. Watched Fanaa. Great movie , Greater songs. Aamir Khan is not exactly youthful , but he does look quite good and acts well. Kajol is ravishing , simply ravishing. And now she's come back , hope she does not act with Khan again!
___________________________________________________________________

3.Krrish trailer and the songs are simply dumb. I mean 'Koi Tumsa Nahin' is quite good , but the picturisation of all the songs are too bad. Hrithik jumps around as if he has been electrified , and Priyanka wears these horrible red sarees and an even more horrible big toothed smile. And Krrish is a little too kiddish ( atleast the trailers ) , so it is definitely struck off from my list.

___________________________________________________________________

4. I WANT TO SEE REFUGEE! Everytime , this movie comes on any channel , either my T.V bonks , or i am called somewhere else or the electricity goes off. This is totally unfair!

___________________________________________________________________

5. Saw Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. No comments.

Being a left-hander...

2006-06-17T01:08:00.000-07:00

ADVANTAGES :

There are many advantages being one. One , you don't need to scrape carrots or anything of that kind. You do not need to sit and help lil kids in cutting cardboard and paper , as anyway , you end up messing the whole job. You can always evade all these very easily. You don't need to use a computer , because handling the mouse with the right hand is a tough job , believe me. But that is practically impossible , so bear the brunt while you are at it :)
(Really , why can't these IT guys invent a mouse for lefthanders ?) .
But perhaps , the best thing of being a lefthander is to know that Abhishek Bachchan is also one :))))))))

DISADVANTAGES :

Situation no. 1 : A 19'th-century-one-and-only-temple-in-the-whole-of-India. There , I am supposed to light this so-called clay lamp . For obvious reasons , I pour the oil with my left hand and light the wick with my left hand and hold it in my left hand. I am about to keep that down , but there is this 150 year old toothless thatha who walks up to you and starts barking. I frown at him , for the simple reason that i would burn my right hand if i do so. This extremely irritating thatha does not understand the situation and i am helpless , so there is some relative who comes to my rescue. Not that i am totally keen in doing the whole process , but it would be better , if people don't stare at me like a rare specimen , found only in South Africa. Guys , get a life!
Situation no. 2 : There is this madisar maami who comes home and sits for hours together. At the end , I am supposed to hand over the kumkum box as per Hindu customs. Fine , but when i do so , a deadly silence descends and this maami looks as though i have slapped her. The reason - i am offering it in my left hand. Big deal , what does it really matter? Like why should it matter to the shopkeeper if i give the money in my lefthand? If you don't want the money , don't take it , i care a damn about that , but don't you dare give me that frown!

Situation no.2 - This 40-something , on hearing that you are a lefthander , remarks
" oh , leftie!!!". Now why all this leftie , sweetie stuff?? It might be a compliment , but i don't think so. You don't call a right-handed person , a rightie , do you?
And so on...

Disclaimer - Just letting of some steam , so spelling and grammatrical mistakes might have creeped into this post...

2 months old and Selective Reading of the "Wrong Books"...

2006-06-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Yes , i know that the title is dumb , but this is the best one i can come up with. Talk of lack of imagination!
Anyway , first - I am (i mean my blog) is turning 2 months old , 2 days from now. I'll tell you why i am celebrating over this nonsensical issue - It is indeed a big strain (read - torture) to log on the internet , sit in front of a blank screen and not know what to write , where to start and so on. Yes , i tried filling up my post with pictures to avoid too much of written content , but my smart computer was smarter than i am , and promptly disabled the 'upload picture' tool. Hmph.

But , at the end , it is all too satisfying and i had a good time too , so *drumrolls* *applause* *cheers*!...
Okay , after sufficient background music , i will come to what i wanted to talk about , ditching the 'Abhishek Bachchan' factor for the moment...
"Why we read the best sellers and ignore the classics ( atleast most of us )".
Perhaps we would attribute the reason to the never ending number of pages , the hellish words and the totally boring situations and tragedies. Well , these factors are responsible to some extent , but there cane be other reasons too and here is mine...

In the beginning , a 4-5-6 year old starts reading , the Grimm Brothers ones , fairy tales and the inevitably good witch-bad witch stuff. Yes , these are preferred by both parents and kids alike as 1. They are readily available in multicolour editions ( for the kids) and affordable prices.( for the parents)
2. They are good starters , as they capture the attention of the kids , atleast the pictures do.
3. A little exaggerated reason - You can't expect a tot to read the GK book after some time.

And so , the child is all happy till he/she comes to class 2 or class 3 . Here , the 'Beauty and the Beast' is exhausted by most , and since the kid cannot read Charles Dickens or Rudyard Kipling , not yet , the next choice would be Enid Blyton. Which is preferred by both parents and children and is well known , courtesy Pogo channel's Make way for Noddy and things like that.
So , happily the tot starts with perhaps , Noddy , goes to Amelia Jane , short stories of Enid blyton , Famous Fives and the school stuff (St.Clare's etc.).
And here is the turning point. The kid is in class 4 or 5 , reads Enid Blyton at home and at school is introduced to an outrageous concept of non-detailed reading , where an abridged book is read by the whole class together , like a History lesson. The teacher who reads the book , may / may not like it , and is anyway bored to explain the story to class 4 , and the book (and the writer) is not recieved quite warmly by the class. To add to the offenses is the 'back answer questions' , 'diary entries' and letters to write to the character of the book.
This might not sound like a horrible idea , and many of you might think that this is a way to 'improve the reading and writing habits' of the student. But how many of you would like it , if a 40 something teacher (english teachers- no offence!) reads out passages from the Da Vinci Code , just after lunch , and you are supposed to 'underline important points' to answer questions like "Should Silas be pardoned?" or "Write a short note on the Holy Grail not exceeding 200 words" or "Write a letter to Sophie Neveu congratulating her success in the mission" and so on.
You certainly would not like that , even if it is the Da Vinci Code. So what happens? The book is dreaded , thanks to the edu. system.
Now , the important point. Both Ashok Ganguly and the English teacher do not approve of popular books and select the classics , easy way out. So naturally , we start hating the classics , the kind of books targeted during the English period.
So what do we do? Or what do we seek solace in? . As Kumar would say , the obvious successors to Enid Blyton would be the best sellers (Ps - This is a reference , neither a quote , nor plagiarism).
Enid Blyton , followed by Nancy Drew , Agatha Christie , Sidney Sheldon , Dan Brown and Michael Crichton...and the readers end up as reviewers of popular books in Times of India and New York Times.
This might not be completely acceptable , but honestly , the 'non detail' reading and 'book jacket' writing must be wiped out. People can form their own tastes without the English teacher...

PS - Once again , no offences to English teachers. There are good ones too in the system , and yes , i have had great experiences too in the english period ;)
No offences to the reader , and you are free to blast me in the comments box...( this is especially to ragamalika ;) )
And no offences to the John Grishams and JK Rowlings...

-untitled-

2006-06-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

So far ,the Abhishek Bachchan i have watched are Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai , Om Jai Jagdish , Run , Yuva , Dhoom , Bunty aur Babli , Sarkar , Dus and Bluffmaster.
And last week i saw Naach . On Star Gold. 8:30 show. 3 hour movie (dominated by advertisements). Both my sisters were at home, praising Abhishek (washerman - contributed by my worthy kutti sister and picchaikaran - contributed by my even more worthy elder sister...No comment).
Anyway , the movie was bad. What with an unconvincing storyline , slow screenplay , badly executed climax which was so embarrasing , and dance steps which looked like the performance of trapeze artists in the circus, this movie is a total failure. And an 'I-will-only-wear-a-tube-top-and-mini-skirt' heroine (who is perhaps Rakhi Sawant's sister). To top it all , an unshaven and uncool Riteish Deshmukh who has absolutely no role or scope at all ,even in a guest appearance.

There is no story as such , but to tell it briefly , this is it - wannabe dance choreographer meets wannabe actor , wannabe actor becomes famous and is the heart throb of many (which is no wonder) , while our dance choreographer 'expresses' her misery by ahem , Dancing , in the rain , in a barely-there costume...
Our dance choreographer breaks up with the actor , gets a break and becomes famous through dancing in a music videos (which is extremely ridiculous as the costumes are absolutely horrible and look like what a she - spider man might look like , ofcourse in scanty clothes).
Both of them patch up...and they live happily ever after.
Yes , and this is the revolutionary story.
Performance wise , the best would be Abhishek Bachchan. He is simply handsome and is soo cute! He has acted really well and makes the boring movie interesting...Anything else i can say?!
Antara Mali is average. Good for item numbers , not too good for acting. Another Mallika Sherawat , but Mali does act well in some parts.
The greatest disappointment would be Riteish Deshmukh who keeps that what-am-i-doing-here? expression throughout the movie. A pity.
Next week or so , i think i will see Refugee. Hope that is better than this disaster...and when is Dhoom 2 releasing , by the way?

Hindi channels and 'faltoo' movies

2006-05-31T02:00:00.000-07:00

Being in Bangalore , I revel in the non-CAS system and try to watch as many Hindi channels as possible. My daily diet consists of Channel V , Zee Muzic , Zoom , Star Gold , Sahara One to name a few. And recently I tuned into Mtv , the most hyped channel.
Mtv is certainly different from other channels. One of my favourite programs is ‘Piddhu the Great’ where a Punjabi displays his slapstick comedy throughout the song played at that time. Some time it is stale , but mostly it is good. Yeah , not bad!

The second is ‘Rendezvous with Semi Girebaal’ , a take on Simi Garewal and her chat show. The host VJ Cyrus is perfect for this role and this program is actually good , much better than what I expected!

And the third is a MTV Fully Faltoo Production’s ‘Ghoom’ on ‘Dhoom’. Well timed , Ghoom will release just before Dhoom 2. With Cococola as sponsor , this movie ridicules the original one . Like Abhishek Bachchan becomes Abhishek Bachao (hmph…they actually made fun of Abhishek! ) and John Abraham becomes Kaun Abraham. Nice trailer , not bad version of the song ‘Dhoom Machale’. Ofcourse the best is Himesh Reshammiya’s substitute! :) and click here for more on the movie - http://www.ghoomthemovie.com

The worst program I would have watched would probably be ‘The great Indian laughter Challenge 2’ on Star One (trivia – the tamil version is Kalakka Povadu Yaaru on Star Vijay and Hutch sponsors both) today. Sameera Reddy was a judge , the participants spoke/acted/sang/danced badly and the judges acted uncouthly by laughing out aloud too many times. And Uma Riyaz Khan was better than this Hindi comperer…
Wonder what other Hindi stuff is in store for me!

(PS: Does anyone know any good bookstore in Bangalore? Have moved there , that’s why…)

Of 'risk reading' and pleasant surprises

2006-05-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

I did something quite recently , which i don't do very often. And this is called 'risk reading' , which means just picking up some book , without knowing what the story is all about , who the writer is and all that. Sometimes it is pure fun and sometimes you can have a heart attack by either a) the book is unimaginably bad
b) the unimaginably bad book is written by your favourite author (like how an rgv fan like me was sorely disappointed after seeing 'Naach' , but i will keep that for later).

Anyway , the two books I read were 'The Cricket on the Hearth' and 'Up and down the Dales'.
The first was written by Charles Dickens (which i discovered pleasantly , yes pleasantly,later) and the second book was written by Gervase Phinn or someone like that.
'The cricket on the Hearth'. Part of Charles Dickens so-called 'Christmas' books. Read Christmas Carol , did not particularly enjoy it , 'accidentaly' came across this book and started reading it. Glad that i did. This book is simply wonderful , sweet and perhaps the best of Dickens . Yes , i know , Oliver Twist , Pickwick papers or David Copperfield would be better , but having read all four , 'The Cricket...' is my choice. This is a simple story without much complications and gives a feeling of enjoyment. Though , it may not be a master piece , the sweetness remains with you after reading the book.
The second book , 'Up and down in the Dales' (why do all the books i read have such loong titles?!) by Gervase Phinn a school inspector i think. This is not as good as 'The Cricket on the Hearth' , but still it is a good attempt. Phinn tries to make it highly complicated , the story has no plot or climax or anything , so it almost sounds like a diary entry. Well, this is a book of loose threads (like Phinn inspects a school , spends time with his pregnant wife , acts in a play and gets a baby). It might have been named the 'Adventures of Gervase Phinn' instead...
All things apart , not a bad book.
After being sufficiently encouraged that it is okay to read a book without knowing anything about it , i am going to risk it again , soon. Let's see the outcome...