crooonification

The best Pair!

2008-04-15T01:15:00.007+05:30

Heyaaaa..
Been almost half a decade since I've blogged!
Well life at Client side aint exactly a piece if cake as I initially figured it should be...
Inspite of having 24/7 net access hardly ever get time or am too busted to pen down my ruminations..
well anway coming to the reason behind the title of this post, was browsing thru ibnlive today [Actually check out these indian news websites quite frequently now that I do not have access to the ever bellowing, repetitive, almost balaji telefilmish melodramatic news channels back home].. came upon this amazing section..
Here is how it looked in the outset:

He He some unknown dude called "RajKanth" has been compared with the man whose pairs am sure would get auctioned for a billion dollars.. tough comparison aint it??

Lolzzzz... and some say only techies like us do not know how to present matter in the right perspective!

ps--> Here's a link to the article!

Dharm-The Review

2007-08-29T15:16:00.003+05:30

Whenever I venture out to watch a movie by Pankaj Kapoor I have very high expectations off it. Dharm does not disappoint in any way. In fact far from disappointing it grips you and turns out to be the BEST bollywood product released so far in 2007. It’s the kind of movie that touches you, moves you, probably even makes you drop a tear or two and none of these are forced through melodrama or the standard emotional blackmail ritual that most directors and script writers resort to.

Dharm is a movie about this Hindu high priest Pandit Chaturvedi(Pankaj Kapoor) who is one of the most respected priests of Benares. He lives with his wife (Supriya Pathak) and daughter. One day his daughter brings back an infant home whose mother having asked her to take care of her child never returned. Pandit though unwilling to adopt him and willing to send him to an orphanage finally gives in to his wife and daughter’s undying love for the kid and hesitantly agrees to adopt him.

Slowly and steadily he too grows fond of the child and the kid(named Karthik) become the cynosure of all eyes in the family. One fine morning however their lives are torn apart when biological mother of the kid returns to claim her child. The cause for concern though is that the childs mother is a Muslim. Panditji and her wife are shocked out of their wits and hence he retreats into a shell considering the fact that having not only touched, but also brought up a Muslim infant in his family was the worst possible sin a pious Brahmin could ever commit and tries to cleanse himself. However the shouts and whispers and calls of ‘Babuji’ keep reverberating in his ears.

Dharm smoothly deals with many aspects and blends it all with aplomb to form this brilliant masterpiece. It initially talks about the just, pious, religious and yet caste conscious Brahmin priest who staunchly and almost blindly follows the age old traditions, values and ethics of his religion. It hence talks about the much talked about father-son bonding. Somehow I felt this was depicted in a very subtle and uncharacteristically simple and humane manner. You may actually relate a real life character to this very easily. Especially since it doesn’t involve grey cell crunching monologues professing undying love for one’s son or father. Lastly and most crucially the movie deals with the priest’s realization of his ‘grave’ sin and his attempt to purge himself. Hence it dawns on him that maybe.. just maybe religion is not only following the age old values and scriptures, but it also involves ‘Karma’. If a person is exposed to the evils of the society on the pretext of maintaining religious sanctity, there has definitely been a misinterpretation somewhere. This forms the core of the climax of the movie and it leaves you nothing less than spellbound.

Debutante director Bhavna Talwar and writer Vibha Singh deserve the highest possible applause and recognition for rising above the rest with a film of this stature. Supriya Pathak gives a gem of a performance in her role and Krishh Parekh is lovable in his rendition of Panditji’s son. Mr. Pankaj Kapoor, I have just two words for your genius: “Hats OFF”.

Dharm is a movie that I’ll recommend to each and every one of you. If you miss this, you will have missed if not ‘the best’ at least one of the top three movies of 2007 in terms of critical acclaim. Move over ‘Gandhi my father’ and ‘Chak De’.

My rating: 9.5/10

Plagiaristic Asses!

2007-08-28T17:27:00.000+05:30

Plagiarism has become the bread n butter of many a music director today. In the name of 'inspiration' and 'influence' and many more adjectives tunes and beats are blatantly flicked without even the consent of the original composer.

Such copies have been happening in our music industry right since the days of Bappi Lahiri(reknown for his inspiration from Modern Talking), Rajesh Roshan(loved Rednex a lot!), Viju Shah(an ardent Deep Forest fan) and Anu Malik(Influenced by Los del Rio to the Theme song of Good Bad and Ugly) to name a few.

Pritam Chakraborty .. the new age musical guru is the eptitome of such plagiarisms. The number of songs directly ripped of by him is quite a handsome number and will put even the most infamous so called music directors to shame. I found a really good website where most of his inspirational acts have been categorized and having heard through most of the songs here is a list which are definite copies!
In fact i later realised there is a comprehensive list in wiki itself under Pritam!!

Here is a list of a few songs that sounded like perfect copies!

Movie--------Song---------------Copied From

Dhoom--------ShikDum------------Turkish singer Tarkan's 'Sikidim'

Chocloate----Halka Halka sa-----Jesse Cook's 'Breeze from Saintes Maries'

Chocloate----Bheega Bheega------December by Abrar ul Haq

Chocloate----Zehreeli Raatein----Jal's 'Aadat'

Garam Masala-Chori Chori---------Dr Zeus/ Balwinder Safri's 'Hai rabba'

Gangster-----Ya Ali--------------Guitara's song, 'Ya Ghali'

Gangster-----Bheegi Bheegi-------Prithibi by Bong Band Mohiner Ghoraguli

Gangster-----Tu hi Meri Shab Hai--Sacral Nirvana by Oliver Shanti n Friends

Gangster-----Lamha Lamha----------Waris Baig's 'Kal shab dekha maine'

Woh Lamhe----Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai--Indonesian Band PeterPan's 'Tak Bisakah'

Woh Lamhe----Tu Jo Nahin Hai------S.B. John sung the same song in an old Pakistani film 'Sawera'

Woh Lamhe----Chal Chale-----------'A World of our own' by The Seekers

Bhagam Bhag--Signal---Trinidadian Soca hit, 'Signal for Lara' by Superblue

Raqueeb------Jaane kaise----------Amr Diab's 2003 track, 'Allem albi'

*Kaise Kahein-Aarzoo Hai-----------Aaj Abar by Bong Band Chandrabindoo

*to be noted he used to be a guitarist in the band Chandrabindoo before going solo as a music director in Bollywood.

There are more but few have been cleverly copied by him so that the resemblance with the original is not that evident to the amateur ear. Of course this only lists those tracks that have not been credited to the original artist by him. Recently after recieving lots of flak from various corners of the music industry he has recently given credit to the original music composers in movies like Aawarapaan.

However my point is if music from pakistan and middle east and God knows where all have to be COPIED why cant the producers simply approach them directly for providing music for the movies. I believe this act should be considered to be a crime and music directors copying music ought to be dragged to court and fined heavily for violation of music copyright..something on the lines that Sony Pictures Entertainment are doing by suing Eros Entertainment and K Sera Sera for copying the script of 'Hitch' in the movie 'Partner'. Hopefully this lawsuit will pave the way for more such lawsuits and hopefully a strict non-ambigous international law about plagiarisms.

Go Goaaaaaaaaaaaa

2007-08-23T12:39:00.000+05:30

What had been projected as the mother of all trips with an expected attendance of up to 18 people, finally boiled down to just 6. taking two full days off in office wasn’t received too well with the gang n people had to back out(How much I hate the corporate policies!!!). anyway… I was on bench (Ha HA!! *wicked grin*) so my leave was never an issue.

The final six looked like this:

Rinky (Ashimaaaaaaa)
Swadhina(Mini B.)
Souvik(Khilli.. souvik it seems!! :P :P)
Avirup(Langto)
Dhruba(dadu….old fuck!)
Me of course :)

Well we started our journey at bangalore central railway station in a passenger train to Hubli. After some interesting sessions of dub charades that included movies like ‘baba’r biyete dadu’r krodh’ and ‘ho jo bo ro lo hajmola’ and a semi-good nights sleep {semi- cause rinki’s bunk supposedly had bed bugs!!} we reached hubli next day at 9. Luckily we got another train leaving at 9:30 from there to Margao!! The train which was supposed to reach at 2pm reached only at 5.. but no one was complaining much since the scenic beauty that we witnessed was breath taking. This train while ambling along the tracks through the mountains goes past “Dudh-Sagar Falls”(literally meaning a sea of milk). It is listed as India's 5th tallest waterfall, and is 227th in the world at 310 m. It is a tiered waterfall. The water plummets hundreds of feet in large volumes during the monsoon season, forming one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in Goa.The view from the train is spectacular and one will actually get half drenched if he stands on the door facing the falls.

Finally from Margao we took a bus to our first destination.. “Palolem Beach” in South Goa. We took one of the local rickety private buses. There is a different old world charm associated with such buses actually.. adds to the charm. South Goa in itself is a much laid back region without any major commercial encroachments. It’s the kind of place that perfect for a lazy getaway from a mundane and busy life in the city. However Palolem did not exactly turn out to be the way it had been projected by my friends who had been there 2-3 years back. Things had changed drastically more for the worse. The beach was pretty dirty with more cows and dogs than people!! August being Off-Season, the beach-shacks are simply taken off the bamboo posts by the owners!! It seems these shacks exist only between September end to march. Man that was another big shock. Nevertheless we took refuge in this dingy and cramped hotel suggestively named ‘Cupid’! After a brief beach bath (at 6:30 pm.. imagine how desperate we were ;-) ) in the fading light, we got ready for our first dinner. Now this was something we were all looking forward to. Being bong’s, there are two things we dig big time.. sea food and booze! I don’t exactly remember what the others had, but I had 2 large Smirnoff, 1 large signature, 1 vodka based cocktail again suggestively named ‘Love Nest’ and at least 2 large glasses of Port Wine. Boy we were smashed to bits after that dinner, but still managed to go to the beach for a light stroll with some stuff. Lighting up on the beach is always a serene experience and will remain so forever and ever. :)

Next day morning we took another bus to our next destination... “Benaulim Beach” again in South Goa. I had heard about this place from another friend of mine who was already staying there! We reached there around 1:30pm and immediately went for a bath!! Benaulim turned out to be a major revelation. The beach was perfect! It was clean with smooth fine sand and a very tumultuous sea with strong under currents. Not many people around..so we had almost the entire beach to ourselves. We had a major ball bathing there. Even managed to make a sand-castle! We however faced a small hitch whilst making the castle; half-way while digging through it a small white crab wriggled out from no where and refused to budge from the castle. Sigh, the brave warriors that we were, we gave up our plans of finishing the sand castle and headed back to the hotel.

There a brutal shock was awaiting us at the hotel. No food is served after 3pm!!! Well we were all immensely hungry.. and had no option but to book a car and go out in search of food! We reached ‘Colva beach’ for a super late lunch at 5pm. We entered this place called ‘Kentuckee’ right next to the beach. It was the wisest decision in the entire trip probably!! The food at this place was out of the world! We ordered all possible combinations of sea-food! Prawns in peri-peri sauce, Butter garlic Crab, Shark in Rivado sauce, King fish Masala Fry and of course Port Wine to wash it down! I suggest all of you to try out this place if you are a sea-food fanatic! It was getting dark and the only driver in our group (Dhruba) had slight fever. So we decided to go back to the hotel. That night was again obviously spent in a half drunk, half stoned revelry!

In between our 'super busy schedule' of swimming, bathing and boozing we decided to dedicate one full day to sight-seeing. Hence next morning we booked a “Qualis” for a tour of North-Goa and Old-Goa. The driver was a localite named Marshall who made us listen to soft typical romantic Goan music peppered with lyrics of the like:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet.. but not as sweet as you!!!!!!

We later realized the reason when for the rest of the day he was seen chatting, blushing and laughing incessantly on his cell. :)
Our first stop was the ‘Basilica of Bom Jesus’ also called St. Francis cathedral. I guess it can intimidate anyone simply with its size, architectural grandeur and of course the presence of the body of St. Francis Xavier kept in well decorated casket. Its a photographers paradise for sure. Another thing worth a watch there is the art gallery with some eye catching paintings and photographs.
Next in line was the “Aguada Fort”. The fort was constructed in 1612 to guard against the Dutch and the Marathas. It is the largest and best-preserved Portuguese bastion in Goa. It overlooks the Mandovi river and sitting on the walls observing the beauty all around is very peaceful.
This was followed by the much awaited “Dil Chahta Hai” Fort aka “Chapora Fort”. This overlooks in the south over Vagator, north across the Chapora river to Pernem and of course, far out to the Arabian Sea in the West. The view is splendid as usual(As in by then the boundaries between good, better, best had dissolved in me after having been to so many good places in such short notice).
After another hearty lunch we set out to check out the Beaches of North Goa, which are strategically placed one after another.. Vagator, Anjuna, Baga and Calangute. The first two turned out to be rocky beaches with not much opportunity for tourists to bathe. Baga was a super dirty, extremely commercialized beach. However I got a temporary tattoo done here, a silly looking on my left arm! Mini also got a nice butterfly tatoo done. Calangute beach was where we finally decided to tale refuge for the night. We stayed in Colonia De-Braganza resorts which was about 5-10 mins walk from the beach. This is one of the best places I have ever stayed in. It was basically a resort having studio apartments with proper drawing rooms, bed rooms complete with a fridge and TV and even a common swimming pool. All this for 600 bucks a room for 3!! That’s when we finally realized what difference off-season goa rates can make to your trip budget!!

During our stay in North Goa we had initially planned to visit Tito’s, the famous disc. However we realized that most of us were hard pressed for cash! The excessive sea-food and booze had taken its toll. :D Well unfortunately we had to skip that plan and resorted to making full use of the swimming pool, fridge(late night port wine) and Calangute beach (to light up of course!).

The following morning was our last day in Goa. We went for our last bath in the beach. Much to our dismay we were shooed off the beach by the life-guards who claimed that it was not a good time to bathe owing to strong currents!! Crestfallen we returned to out resort and fooled around in the swimming pool for as long as we could. We left Calangute at around 3:30 for Vasco from where we had our return train at 9 in the night. Our plan was to visit the places in and around Vasco before taking the train. However besides the Mormugao harbor the internationally famous natural port, there was not much too see there. We actually had nothing much to do for the last 2 hours there! However I had some shopping to do and that I very much did. I bought 2 bottles of port wine, 1 bottle of cashew feni and another of chocolate liquor to take some goa ‘spirit’ home. He he. :) I noticed an interesting thing in Vasco that I have not seen anywhere else.. 2 wheeler taxis! In a taxi stand, there were scores of Bajaj splendor’s colored black and yellow with drivers ready to take you anywhere in Vasco for a fixed fare!

We finally bid adieu to goa with a heavy heart. The return trip was pretty eventless. We played some poker which dadu managed to lose each and every friggin time! To add to his woes he had to act out movies like “Cinderella” and “Rumplestinskin”. The next time will try to visit goa sometime during the peak season. That’s gonna be a totally different experience all together am sure. Personally speaking I loved South Goa the most. It was not as crowded or commercialized which worked for me. For anyone visiting goa the next time do try to visit Benaulim Beach. It’s still a pretty undiscovered beach. The beauty and peaceful environment might just surprise you.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

2007-06-06T16:50:00.000+05:30

When I usually sit down to watch a rented DVD having credits of critic awards received at various film festivals, they usually turn out to be way too good for my FQ[Film Quotient] and go wayyyy tangential over my skull… or turn out to be too topic specific (some movie that’s so dependant on a particular event/happening that understanding the movie requires some amount of context---Ex. The Good German) for me.

However this movie turned out to be very different from what I had expected it to be. It's a biographical fillm, directed by first time director Dito Montiel about his life and experiences in Astoria, New York. This film turned out to be a brilliant piece of drama asking incisive questions about life, success and relationships. The movie continuously oscillates between 1985 and 2005 [the adolescent years and the mature years of adulthood] and the moments are brilliantly captured and very well portrayed.

The movie hits off with Dito coming back home to Astoria after almost 15 long years due to his father’s ill health and it opens the floodgates of the memories of his youth. Dito was part of a gang in his youth who basically had no work. They indulged in booze, drugs and hooliganism. Slowly and steadily they start getting into trouble. Two of them get killed, 1 goes to jail for accidentally killing a member of the opponent gang, 1 goes majorly into drugs etc. However, Dito manages to leave this behind and goes to California to make a career and life of his own. He pens down a novel named “A Guide to Recognizing your Saints” where he believes that in spite of wasting himself and indulging in all kinds of wrong doings, he has come so far in life and established himself only because there were “Invisible Saints” who guided him towards a better life..towards his destiny.. to being a responsible citizen.

However, once he comes back he realizes that his decision to leave his hometown, his parents and friends behind might not have been the wisest decision after all. His dad had vehemently opposed his leaving Astoria citing that Antonio (the head of their gang, and a favourite of his dad) would set things right. Dito had been a late child to his parents, and he was doted upon by his parents. His dad especially was very emotionally attached to him and could’nt even imagine Dito leaving him to stay anywhere else at any cost. [That one may term as a very myopic approach to life… but what the hell… who isn’t possessive about their kids.. especially if he/she is the only one]. Once Dito left, his dad had consciously distanced himself from him and refused to even talk to him over the years. He realizes that although he had made a life for himself, in the contrary he had symbolically destroyed the lives of his parents by deserting them during the phase of their lives when they yearned for the support and love of Dito. As Dito comes to terms with the ghosts of his past, he must find a way to rebuild a relationship with his ailing but distant father, who never forgave him for leaving.

The film has brilliant performances by Shia LaBeouf as Dito and Channing Tatum as Antonio. Dianne Wiest as Flori [Dito’s Mom] does a superb job too, especially when she talks to Dito when he comes back and explains how pained they’ve been, and how she has waited for him to knock on their door for each and everyday of the previous 15 years.

Overall a must watch, specifically for people having a liking for serious drama and a panache for genuine film-making.

Aerosmith Rocks Bangalore!

2007-06-05T15:14:00.000+05:30

Aersomith Rocked Saturday night BIG BIG time!!
I went with a few friends. I reached there pretty much in time by BST[Bengali Standard Time] (Read: 7:30pm :) ).
In the queue I literally bumped into Loy Mendonsa!!! After braving the long serpentine queue, luckily for me I had still reached pretty much in time as the band started off around 8:30 with surprisingly no opening band gig.
Anyways, the atmosphere there was pretty much resembled that of a picnic [As in I was right at the end of the crowd, standing a few feet behind the entire crowd.].. people were busy sipping coke.. eating corn and egg/chic rolls.. and even biriyani :) :).
However once the show started, it was pure mazzzzikk!! Inspite of standing so far back, i could distinctly feel the pulse of the show. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were outstanding. They actually got away without playing hits like Crazy and Dude [Looks like a lady] and no one even bothered! Their rendition of Dream On and What it takes were brilliant to say the least!
A classic from Joe Perry: "We had always wanted to play in India, which is fabulous not for the roaming elephants or the painting stuff that people put on their hands. We appreciate you for all the good reasons, and that is Kama Sutra! That book is all about messing up and so is this next number".
A hillarious incident happened in the concert. I had finished off all my fags and was wondering if someone would lend me some.. Then I noticed this dude who was roaming around with an unlit cigarette looking here n there.. obviously looking for a light. I coyly took a book of matches out of mah jeans.. and lo the guy came over asking for a light. I replied... " 'course.. can u can have a light, can i have a cigarette??!!" :) :) The guy was too amused to hear that.. and started laughing like mad.. and passed on one. While passing on the fag he said.."dude.. ur one Son of a B****" ;-) :-P
LOlzzzz!! :)
Anyways my job was done.. the rest of the concert went smooth.. and I left for home with a major Aero-HangOver.
Cheers!

The year that was

2007-01-04T16:00:00.000+05:30

Well, the year 2007 just commenced, and through the last year I have seen scores of movies [Lost count quite some time back]. I take this opportunity to share my thoughts about 3 bollywood products which shaped the face of Bolly cinema’s 2006.

3. Tom Dick and Harry

Well… well.. well… what happens when 3 immensely talented actors who fail to cope up with the expectations of their respective directors having all their senses intact are deprived of 1 sense per head??!!
Rent the dvd of this movie if you have not seen this to find out!
This movie [groggily inspired by the likes of Masti and Kya kool hain hum] falls under the “Leave your brains back at home” genre of films and after having watched this you will probably realize that :

Brains are the one and only medium which can get you “up and ahead in life”. [Having/Not having a few senses don’t ever matter]
Soooper-brainy, witty and intelligent anecdotes and fighting skills [Provided aplenty by the tenacious trio] are all that you need to win pretty damsels like Celina.{Ohh LA LA}.
In case nothing works, you can always back on the nasal crooner[read. HIMESSSSSSSS]. A few surreal lines like “Dil mein macha di tune dhoom” should be more than sufficient to attain nirvana.

All in all another Must-See from the mega-hit production of Deepak Tijori who has been churning in one hit after another year after year. After having explored fascinatingly varied and novel topics like call-boys [OOPS!] , sexually driven murder mystery [Fareb], Mr Tijori tries his hand at this highly un-explored genre [raunchy comedy] and as always excels to the E.

2. Teesri Aankh [THE HIDDEN CAMERA]

There are pro’s and con’s to everything as they say. If technological advancements and scientific break through’s have made life more comfortable, there are people like Harry Baweja who will use these technologies as the topics for their movies to challenge the comforts in our lives!!!!

As the ever so corny angreji catchline of the movie suggests, this movie is about hidden camera’s. Now make a wild guess what this camera shoots….???
But obvious, Himesh [The chamiya] enjoying a bubble bath and crooning away to glory… “tanhaiyaaaan.. aaaaaaa.. tan haiiiiiiiiiii yaaaaaaaannnnnn”.
Actually this is a cult movie that researches the reason behind the loneliness that people generally feel when they tend to cover the dandruff on their scalp with a cap and suffer from nose-o-song(ia) mania.
So the hero of our movie Mukesh Rishi, sets up hidden cameras in all the loo’s that chamiya bathes in. He minutely observes his actions, takes down copious notes and is on course to preparing a thesis that shall rock the basic roots of science, philosophy, religion, morality and Surooorology.
However, Mr villain {sunny paji) has other ideas. He is the middle class bred, traditionally valued khaki clad cop who believes that the public notions about certain aspects should not be messed with. Hence to prevent the blasphemous findings of Rishi that might inspire the bubbling youth of the country to don denim caps, bend their necks 45 degress to the horizontal axes and go crooooning “OOOOOOOOOOOOOO” in the shower room’s, sunny paji embarks on a mission to stop the man.
What follows is a roller-coaster ride through from the chawls of Mumbai to the under-world of London. After having single-handedly mauled half of the London cops and the entire gang of Rishi, sunny paji manages to get his hands on the thesis and chamiya as well. Wanna know what happens next???
Rent the DVD. This is a must see.
Harry Baweja does an excellent job as usual. He also ropes in Neha Dhupia for a small comic role. Neha has stated that “I did Teesri Aankh because of Harry Baweja.”
http://indiafm.com/features/2006/05/19/1219/index.html
Wow… wish I was in Harry’s shoes.

1. Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

“Gali gali main shor hai.. dil ne manga more hai… KANK ne aj release kiya…. Dhoom dhamaka macha diya!”

Well this was the general feeling when KANK was released and wooo-hoooo.. did this movie live up to it’s expectations or what!
This movie deals with the pains that cricketers have to go through when they lose their place in the playing 11 and then the playing squad and finally even their zone squad.
The story goes something like this:
Once upon a time there was a cricketer [SRK] who was captain of the Indian team and was a match-winner [Always tended to score the winning runs with a huge 6]. He had a perfectly happy and gay relationship with his deputy [played by Small B] and they were taking their national team to new heights. But kabooooom!!! Inclusion of foreign coach [Played by Sexy Sam] and things suddenly started to go awry. Sam loved small B and wanted him all to himself. He didn’t like SRK getting up close and personal with him [lets call him SB]. He had noticed that every time his team got a wicket, SRK had invented a new method of getting to SB… the great team huddle. Each time SRK would put his arms around the waists of SB and slowly work his fingers up as long as the cameras in the stadium were busy shooting the departing batsman. Hence he sets up a plan with the higher authorities and got SRK out of the team…. and the the squad.
Now Sam had SB all to himself. He curbed all possibilities that SB had created to introduce some heterogeneous love in his life. Whenever SB was linked to any female, Sam went ahead and did things in public which ensured that SB had no further chance [Read.. Kissing Rani in the dark (Black); Lewd dance sequnces with Ash(BnB)]
However, soon he realizes that he has “Lund-engivitis”. A deadly disease that is seen in males due to overflow of seminal fluids without external aid. On his death-bed he realizes what a fool he’s been and he call’s SB and delivers the most priceless dialogue of the movie:

“"Mohabbat aur maut - donon bin bulaye mehmaan hote hain...”
However it’s too late for senti and he withers away into oblivion automatically causing SRK to be ushered back into the national side. The “Milan” of SRK and SB has been very aesthetically and beautifully immortalized in the camera lenses by the director with the song in the background going… “Kabhi Alvidaaaa na Kehnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa”.
This will bring tears to the eyes of even the most “patthar dil insaaan”!
Hence the the protagonists of the movie play together happily ever after and win laurels for their national team.
Please don’t rent a DVD of this movie and abuse it…. Go to the local Music-World store and BUY IT! This excellent once in a decade movie ought to be in the showcase of every movie lover. Period.

[Disclaimer: Any resemblance to any person living/dead or non-living is purely intended.]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

2007-01-02T13:17:00.000+05:30

Saw this movie named "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" yest...

It is one helluva movie about drugs and contraband. In fact, it can be read as a savage elegy on the utopian expectations of the 1960s drug culture.This film is so bizarre you might just want to put down the bong and get high from this movie (after all, the movie contains every single known drug known to man since 1544).
Quote Unquote:

We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. But the only thing that worried me was the ether. There is nothing more irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we would be getting into that rotten stuff sooner or later.

This film is the ultimate encyclopedia about various types of drugs like Cocaine, Ether, Mescaline, Grass, Acid and the list goes on and on!!

Basically a film about two guys.. Johnny Depp [Raoul Duke],an oddball journalist and his Samoan Attorney Benecio Del Toro[Dr Gonzo]. The movie also has special app's by Tobey Maguire[A HitchHiker] and Cameron Diaz[A Blond T.V. Reporter].

As they travel to las vegas on a series of psychedelic escapades, they keep doing all kinds of drugs, they hallucinate and imagine things and situations one cant even think of visualising in his worst nightmares or the best dreams!!
Well it's one of those movie's that you should watch if and only if:
1. You like serious Cult movies
2. You are a Johnny Depp addict
3. You prefer movies having subtle dark underlying humor.[Absolutely in contrast to Jim Carrey genre of humor]

But all in all I believe this is one strange, vicious, funny, dramatic masterpiece.
One parting quote from this Roller-Coaster:

Gonzo: [After cocaine blows away in the wind] Did you see what GOD just did to us man!
Duke: God didn't do that, you did! You're a fucking narcotics agent, I knew it. That was our cocaine you fucking pig, scum [swats at him with fly swatter] Pig, swine, whore!
Gonzo: [Pointing gun at Duke] Careful. There are plenty of buzzards out here, they'll pick your bones dry in no time.
Duke: You whore...
Gonzo: (holding up some acid) He he heeee, here's your half of the Sunshine Acid, EAT IT!
Duke: Yeah, all right sure. How long do I have?
Gonzo: As your attorney I advise you to drive at top speed and it'll be a Goddamn miracle if we get there before you turn into some kind of wild animal. Are you ready for that? Checking into a Las Vegas hotel under a phoney name with the intent to commit capital fraud on a head full of acid? I certainly hope so...

Cheerio!!

[Ps: Doing Drugs is absolutely illegal.. and I in no way support the consumption of drugs. Once u see this movie, you'll realize the far-reaching ill-effects of doing any kind of illegal drug]

I raise a toast to De-Tox ing our society :)

sir-cute?

2006-12-14T16:17:00.000+05:30

I wonder why my physics prof in college pronounced circuit as "sir-cute"!!!!!
She was a lady. Imagine...
de first time she said this, i actually thought she thinks one of her male colleagues is kinda cute!!
LOL!! :)

Bong Sentiments....

2006-12-12T19:21:00.000+05:30

Got this as a forward..
Felt it was worth a post..

He is the man who everyone loves to hate. Or the man who people adore completely.

Very rare in the history would you find someone who is loathed and loved with as much intensity. Most of the times, either the love or the hate, overweighs the others. Like, in the case of Hitler - more people hate him than the number of people who love him. Or Mahatma Gandhi - Hitler's complete antithesis.

Well, our man is certainly an exception. He has traveled up and down; right and left and a lot other galactic ages in human emotion. Saurav Ganguly made his international debut against Australia in India's tour of Australia in 1992. He was abhorred in his maiden visit to Down Under. And for what?

Rumors said that he refused to carry water bottles and shoes for Md. Azharuddin (then Captain) and was thus dropped like a hot pan - and was immediately branded by the ever-news-hungry Indian junta and media as " not-a-team-player."

Four years later, following a good domestic record, he was recalled into the national side for a Test series against England in England. He made his Test debut at Lords under equally bizarre conditions. Navjyot Singh Sidhu, now fighting a legal battle, fought with Md. Azharuddin (then Captain) and left the team in a hurry. Ganguly fitted into his shoes and how!!

He scored a century in that match and repeated the feat in the match, which followed. Ganguly became only the third cricketer ever to score a century on debut at Lord's, after Harry Graham and John Hampshire. He was retained for the One-day team and he went on become a regular in both forms of the game.

And since then, there was no stopping Ganguly.

There were lean patches in his career but his achievements really overshadow his bad patches. Despite his hot and cold streaks Sourav Ganguly is only the third Indian Test match batsman to maintain a career average that never dipped below 40 runs per innings for his entire Test career. The other two who achieved this feat are Sunil Gavaskar and Md. Azharuddin.Ganguly also shares with G.R. Viswanath of India the record for scoring at least 10 or more centuries and his team either winning or drawing each and every match in which he scored a century.

His statistics, including Tests and One-Dayers (as they stand on 7th December, 2006) - Almost 370 international matches, more than 15,000 runs, a batting average of almost 41 in both the versions, 34 centuries, 85 half-centuries, a top score of 183 and 173 in ODIs and Tests respectively, almost 120 wickets, two 5-wicket hauls and more than 150 catches!!

He had captained the side for almost 5 years. He led India in a record 49 Test Matches, winning 21 of those, including 12 of them outside India. All three figures are records for Indian Test captains. He also led India to her first series wins in both Tests and ODIs in Pakistan, a feat that had eluded India for over 50 years. Ganguly also led India to more Test wins (11) outside India between 2000 and 2005 than all Indian captains had done between 1980 and and 2000.

Like every coin has head and tail, Ganguly's career was not as smooth and clean as it sounds till now. Ganguly is a temperamental player and has often attracted controversy. He has attracted the wrath of match referrees quite a few times, the most severe of which was a ban for 6 matches by ICC match referee Clive Lloyd. And then there were lots more. Coming in late for the toss to swirling his T-shirt atop the Lord's gallery - he had thrown "attitude" at lots of issues. Things ultimately went out of hand when he was shown the door, both as a captain and from the team, after he embroiled himself into another controversy with coach Greg Chappell.

As soon as he was axed, there were huge protests and rallies for him on Kolkata streets, Delhi's democratic den and Mumbai and Bangalore's parties. The nation had found another debate - another pin-up boy has been "politicized". The nation burnt with passion and frenzy - some aggressive negativism and some belligerent positivism. Ganguly had become the "scape-goat".

And for 10 months he was scanned and re-scanned and re-re-scanned. Every move of his was noticed and made into a story - even if he said a simple hello to the CM, he was "said to be joining politics". He was considered disillusioned and non-zealous.

But never did Saurav lose heart. He skipped a few matches - which by any logical sense was definite to happen, recuperating from a loss - losing his Captaincy and his place in the team came as a double blow. And then, he started wielding his bat once again. In the Challenger Series, he did not shine but did not come a cropper too. His performance was mediocre and he knew that he had to rise above the mediocrity to get back the place that was taken away from him, quite undeservingly. He decided to toil harder than before.

And then, the match against Punjab happened.

When he reached the three-figure mark, there were no wild celebrations, none of the theatrics so often coupled with him. Just a look towards the sky and a thump in the air, as Ashish Nehra, who had tried courageously to deny him the century, rushed to his former captain, a man who backed him through all thick and thin, and congratulated him, as the rest of the North team followed suit.

Outside the dressing room, national selectors Venkatpathy Raju and Ranjib Biswal stood up and commended, flashing the thumbs up sign - a sign that ascertained his return.

The implication of the moment was an easy one. With Yuvraj Singh not available and the Indian batting floundering match after match, Ganguly, vastly experienced, had staked his claim for a recall. Ganguly had just taken a giant stride to retrieve his lost domain. During the tea break, both selectors came down the stairs to welcome Ganguly to the dressing room with open arms. It was hard not to imagine that they might have been welcoming him back to the Indian team.

As always, his inclusion is again a unique one. His supporters are happy... and his detractors are happy too!!

The logic?

His supporters feel that their beloved "dada" is back!! He will score; he will amass runs; he will take wickets and catches; win matches for India and will Captain India to win the World Cup - a dream which we had so nice weaved a couple of years back but unfortunately, was rudely broken by the Giants of Cricket.

His detractors, on the other hand, feel that he has been included in the team at a time when the whole team is under-performing. They just can not face the music when it comes to hard pitches - and Ganguly would be the soft duck - in any case, he succumbs to short-pitched deliveries and in deadly pitches like these - he would sure die quite ingloriously.

Only time will tell who is correct and who is not. Ganguly's gritty knock of 83 against Rest of SA (his first international match after a 10 month layoff) is some proof of the old wine tasting almost the same. His future knocks in SA will decide his fate in the Indian team.

Whether you like him or not, whether he makes it back to the national team with huge scores or not; whether he consistently repeats this performance or not - you just can't help admire that steely determination of his.

My point is simple - Team India needs Ganguly for a different tangent, altogether. Team India does not need Ganguly exclusively for performance per se - whether as a batsman or a Captain. Team India needs its Prince for settling down of the whole team - the team gets an unmentionable ease with him around. With him around, the shoulders are suddenly erect; the stances are sharp and the attitude focused. Team India needs the morale and solace and comfort that they get from Ganguly.

Come on folks, its time we see the spring in their feet, the cracking cover drives from their bats and the Blue huddle in the middle. And off course, let us also see them lift the World Cup again.

Muh illustrious roomie!!

2006-12-11T16:01:00.002+05:30

Many among u guys must have stayed in hostels and must still be sharing rooms with friends’ n all..
The experiences of staying in a hostel is just crazy and amazing… there have been numerous incidents.. many hilarious.. few not so.. but most of em will be etched in my memory for years to come!!
Anyways coming back to the point!!
This is about 1 of my present roomie..
I know him since 4th year though a common friend of mine..
Well once it so happened that.. A relative of his asked him..
"Beta…Different cities have different names.. like say Jaipur is referred to as the Pink city.. and Mysore is called the City of palaces.. so Bangalore must be having a name too right??"
Instantly the reply came.. "RadioCity"!!!! :)
[he he if only the laughing machine of friends fame was there in real life!!]
"Par beta are u sure??!!!?!?" :O
"Of course.. every day they keep repeating this alternate name of Bangalore in the radio.. I’m dead sure.. guess radio must’ve been invented here"!!!
[Ha ha ha ha….. Man.. wat a poor shock that relative of his must’ve got when he later realized that “Radiocity Fm 91” is just a radio channel]!!

BEAT THAT!

My tryst with machine design!

2006-12-11T15:49:00.000+05:30

I've done my engineering in Mechanical Eng from a college in Bangalore.
This incident happened in first year whilst i was trying to learn Engineering Drawing.I guess most u guys will be able to relate wid it...

Engineering Drawing had become sumthin of a nightmare even before i had started off wid it thanks to our seniors who wud mutter stuff like... "Dude...Engg drawing... bettah watch out..!! "
so few of us decided to take drawing classes ( rather tuitons).
This prof was from our own coll... and he had a good reputation... so off we went..
1st day of class... we'r being taught Axes.
so this guy starts off...
class.. write down.. Engineering Draawing... BOXXX it.. VARRY important!
[MAn... the title is dat imp.. ok watever]
next.. date:xx/xx/20xx.. underline... VARRRRRRY important!!
[MAN MAN.. wat de hells happening!!!]
"ok.. so i've drawn two lines intersecting each other on the board called the AXES.
Now tell me.. thin or thick, thin or thick.. tell em i say...
ok vidya can u tell me... thin or thick?!??!
[After a lot of thinking she says .. sir...THICK]
WrONG.. absolutely WRONg!!!
ok soumya.. can ya help me.. i'm helpless!!!!
[YA RIGHT!!!! :x ]
tell me soumya.. thin or thick thin or thick thin or thick!!
[Now this didnt need much guessing... she instantly (and i guess very intellegntly said) sir.. THIN ]
Wrong.. totalllyy WRONG..
it's MEDIUM!!

:) :) :) :)

Bench!!

2006-07-25T11:12:00.000+05:30

Finallllyyy...
i' m a software engineer... and finally my dreams have come true..
i'm on bench from yest!! YAHOOOOOOOOO!!
this is one euphoric feeling i must say.
Utilize ur companies Broadband net connection... the free koffee.. all the amenities.. and actually get handsomely paid for it! :)
My present schedule goes like..
come to office at 9:30
breakfast till 10:30
sutta till 11:00 [period.. shit i 4got to enter my cubicle!]
go to cubicle.. listen to songs n chat on orkut till 12:30
leisurely lunch till 2:00
sutta break till 2:30
YAWNNNNNNNN.... use the Dormitory.. sexy place wid neatly made beds n AC ;-)
a siesta till 4:00
back to "Work" [Dam it.. hate the word work!!]
Full On use of the mesenger till 4:30
sutta break again! till 5:00
go to the book store [ya they have a retail book store in office premises!] Read a nice mag till 5:30
Snooooooooker time!! [i read this somwehere// life's like a snooker table.. very colorful but all balls] Watever!
play till 7:00
and finally the sprint to the bus stand!!
phewwwwww.. wat a busy N strenous day aint it!!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HUZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!