Chuski - Freedom at Midnight!

A common, after dinner plan, during the summer months, for people of Delhi is to have a cold and refreshing 'chuski' at India Gate.
Chuski is a lump of ice on a stick with flavoured syrup poured on top.


At India Gate every night, especially during the summer months, the air comes alive with the calls of chuski salesmen trying to attract customers.
The whole process of buying a chuski is very straight forward. Go pay (approx. 35/- per chuski as of June 2010) and get a token. Exchange token for the chuski.
The various flavours of syrup include:
- Kala Khatta (very famous flavour)
- Meetha (sweet)
- Khatta Meetha (sweet and sour)

You can get more syrup if you run out.

It was very good to see the people of India enjoying the warm weather and cold ice at the same spot where more than 60 years ago India gained its independence in the middle of the night.
It was good fun to see the place brimming with energy and life inspite of it being a weekday. Maybe it was the warm weather or something else that drives people to converge in the center of the city. Take a look around and you will find all kinds of people from all walks of life. Kids, teenagers, young couples, shouting policemen (trying to clear the VIP area of parked cars - after taking bribes), entire families stepping out of their brand new SUVs.

All in all being there are the middle of the night made me realise the power of India and the energy of its people. It is not a city which believes in switching off at 10pm!

Chuski Area:

Raajneeti - How to copy a classic and how to make babies..

The movie is a straight through adaptation of the Mahabharata. That said I found Shyam Benegal's Kalyug to be a better adaptation.

It has some stellar acting by the masters (Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgn) leading to certain very powerful scenes (I am not talking about the steamy sex scenes which have been chopped off by the censor board). Overall the movie is a mix of brilliant and B-grade moments. Just that the brilliant moments are really 'brilliant' making this movie worth watching.

But as usual our movie makers keep forgetting the two cardinal rules of film making:

1) Use an interesting concept don't abuse it! Just because the idea is good doesn't mean it needs to be used over and over again.

2) Some questions are good! Not all threads in the story need to be tied up neatly before the movies end. Just make sure the questions are logical and not the resultant of bad editing or story.

The concept of Mahabharata has been used over and over again till the movies becomes predictable, especially for people who have seen the TV series.
In trying to weave a complex tapestry of a story they end up with a lot of knotted threads.
The movie should have been shorter and the editing definitely could have been better.
For example
- just before the interval we find that Prithvi (Arjun Rampal) has been released from the prison. Now that would have been a good point for the intermission. But no.. we see another short scene where the party leader in hospital throws throws Pritvi out of the party.
- out of nowhere Katrina Kaif suddenly finds a load of loving for Arjun Rampal. So from putting blanket over a sleeping Arjun Rampal, Katrina makes the leap to full blown sex with him in the span of a few scenes. I don't think even a Ferrari can do a 0-100kmph that fast!

There are also some really funny dialogs lifted right out of the Mahabharata TV series ('tum mere jeshth putra ho').

This is one of those movies which you can neither recommend nor ask people to stay away.
My advice: wait for the DVD or at least wait for the public interest to die, instead of sitting through it in a housefull theatre.

The Economics of Iced Tea...

Location: Select City Walk, New Delhi

I had gone to Select City Walk (Saket) to do some shopping.
Since I love iced tea I thought I would treat myself to one from Barista. I went in and ordered the drink at the till. The guy replied '105 rupees sir'. My mouth dried up when I heard the cost!

Since I was on vacation I decided to shell out the money. But I went and stood near their counter as I wanted to observe what magical process they use to make a Rs. 105iced tea.

Well the process was dead easy:
- Take a cheap plastic 'glass'.
- Squeeze a bit of lemon juice from a plastic bottle.
- Squeeze a bit of sugar syrup from a plastic bottle.
- Fill the glass ALL the way up with ice (yeah! ice is cheap and takes up a lot of room!).
- Add some black tea.

I can bet the whole thing didn't cost Barista more than 10 rupees.

What I did end up paying for was the staff which didn't serve me all that much, the cool furniture which I didn't sit on, the air-conditioning which I did not take any advantage off and some board games which I had no one to play with! Oh and let us not forget: the Barista logo on that cheap plastic glass.

Photographed by Google!

In 2008 I posted a few pictures of the Google car taking pictures for the 'street view' feature.
Yesterday I checked the street view (on Google Maps) for the area where I had photographed the car and I was surprised to find my picture taken by the Google car!

Here is me walking down the road as the Google car takes my pic:

Going for the CHERRY...

I saw the above ad for a mobile phone in Times Of India (14/04/10). I am sure it breaks quite a few intellectual property laws. ;)
I wonder what blackBERRY have to say about this?

All that aside it just shows how easy it is to buy a 'smartphone' in India!

;)

Hence Proved ;)

ABC: u see gals dont have sense
-

XYZ: whatever ABC
I am fed up of hearing this for the past 7 years
u truely need to come up with something better
-

ABC: well facts do become boring after a while
-

XYZ: grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
-

ABC: i mean would you get excited if someone told you that the earth is round
-

XYZ: who cares man
if earth is round
-

ABC: hahahah seeee
-

The Blind Side (2009)

The Blind Side
After watching this movie there was just one thought in my head:
Why are all the Oscar winning movies so amazing and why are all the Filmfare Award winning movies so random and stupid?
One thing is quite clear, the Oscars do not care about how much money a movie makes. It is a shame the same cannot be said about the largest film industry in the world (Bollywood).
The Blind Side is a beautiful movie. Very well directed and very smooth. Even though it deals with some heavy issues it makes sure to give a balanced view. The movie is based on actual events and all the characters shown in the movie are real.
Won't reveal more about the movie. Will just say go and watch it. Amazing performance by Sandra Bullock, she deserved the Oscar for this.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD)

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD) (2010)
You will love this movie.
This is a very different breed of movie coming out of the Bollywood stables. The reason for that is that LSD written and directed by Dibakar Banerjee (DB) who is known for movies with very different concepts (e.g. 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' and 'Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye').
I won't spoil the story by dissecting the movie and will just say WATCH IT!
With this movie DB has opened up a new area for Bollywood to explore. Oh and whoever says that this movie is based on 'DPS RKP mms episode' is stupid.
;)

Shutter Island - a psychological thriller done right

Shutter Island (2010)
The movie is an excellent psychological thriller directed by Martin Scorcese (who also directed 'The Departed'). Amazing movie, amazing atmosphere and amazing actors (mainly Leonardo di Caprio) makes this movie... well amazing. Make sure you catch this on the big screen. If you can't for some reason and end up watching it at home then make sure you switch off the mobile because this is a one sitting movie.
One word of warning though: this movie will only draw you in if you are bit patient. During certain parts (especially in the first half) the movie can get a bit slow. But sure enough your patience will be rewarded in the second half of the movie.
The people who made Karthik Calling Karthik should have read the book 'Shutter Island' is based on before starting. It would have taught them how to create an atmosphere and that IT IS ALL RIGHT TO LEAVE THE AUDIENCE WITH QUESTIONS! In fact it encourages the audience to watch the movie again.
Or maybe they should have just gone ahead and asked Martin Scorcese to direct the movie.
;)

Kathik Calling Karthik - beware of your telephone instrument!

This was one movie where my expectations were low to start with (mainly because I managed to guess the central plot after the first scene) but increased after the first 30 minutes or so.
Mainstream Hindi movies have this nasty habit of wanting to answer all questions and leave nothing to the imagination even if that requires them to kill an interesting story.
This movie suffers from the same problem. By the time the movie was about 80% complete there were so many questions floating around I KNEW that they would need something to quickly wrap up the movie. In fact that is exactly what happened.
One did not expect such a tame ending where the movie wraps up in about 20 mins (time it if you want!).
The only message of the movie is 'make sure you are aware of all the features of your telephone'.
;)

Rann (2010) - A real fairy tale...

The movie is good even though the plot is a simple one of good guys win and bad guys loose. Excellent acting by some big names and crisp implementation of the above mentioned simple plot mixed with some good camera work (fisheye lens and floating cams - hallmark of Ramu) and posh locations makes Rann a nice, entertaining movie.

For those who were expecting connections with reality or any kind of realistic coverage of the play between politics and media... they should go watch Page 3. For people expecting to see the industry-politics game being played... they should go watch Corporate. This is nowhere close to a Madhur Bhandarkar movie.

Why? Because Rann does not do justice to the complex and floating reality of this game. Rann starts out in the grey area, connecting with several 'real' events, but soon the black and white squares are clearly visible. You can easily label the good and bad guys unlike in the real world where it is very difficult to do the same in the political arena.

In any kind of big scam, sting operation or scandel no one has the complete information. No one can be painted black or white. Most times media is the one responsible for creating this grey area.

While Rann makes several important points about media and how it is used and abused, it is in no way a ground breaking movie. Still watch it! I guarantee you won't be bored.

:)

My Name is Khan... Rizwan Khan and I am Autistic!

The movie has done four very important things:
1) Introduced autism to the Indian audience.
2) Shown the America outside the glitzy cities.
3) Managed to bring together foreign and Indian actors seamlessly.
4) Shown the future of Indian cinema - collaboration with foreign studios.

This movie is a rough diamond. It has various bits going for it. The fact that it shows life in suburban America as well as in the smaller towns of the American south. Most Bollywood movies restrict themselves to big cities, typically shooting few critical scenes on location and finishing the rest in Mumbai.
Also the interaction between foreign and Indian actors is amazingly seamless. It must be a first for any movie coming out of a main-stream big budget production house. Maybe the reason for that is the fact that majority of the cast is foreign. The 'friends' do not feel pasted on.
Even though I found it hard to feel the much touted chemistry between Kajol and SRK, I could feel some kind of a chemistry between SRK and his neighbours.
Maybe this is the magic of collaborating with 20th Century Fox?

The Muslim and post 9/11 angle is about 3-4 years too late. Certain elements of the movie seem to be inserted for no reason and they do not really add anything to the story line (for e.g. long shots of SRK walking in the middle of nowhere - maybe he was searching for the US President under a rock in the desert?- and the stabbing scene).
The character of Rizwan Khan need not have been autistic. It would have been more of a challenge to show a mentally 'normal' Muslim male trying to do all this. In many parts of the movie being autistic gets him off the hook or gets him additional sympathy. Also as they say a disability or a disadvantage is a sure way of winning the audience.

The result is Mr Rizwan Khan comes out looking like a bad mix of James Bond and Mahatma Gandhi.

All in all worth watching once if you can sit through wave after wave of emotional scenes (trying to get a response from the audience) and long speeches by SRK . If nothing else watch this movie to see where Indian cinema is heading.

Oh and please don't look for 'logic' in the movie... after all this IS a Karan Johar movie and you know what they say about a dog and its tail.

:)

3 Idiots: Down the memory lane without a map or GPS.

Sadly the movie does not have the Amir Khan stamp of a different or trendsetting movie.
In fact, while it may have a lot of college-level humor to attract the masses and some well tested plot elements, it does not live up to the hype that was generated around it.
This movie has been made using a standard recipe and Chef Azahar Machwe is here to teach the very same to you:
The 3-Idiots Curry
Ingredients:
1 Large helping of Munnabhai MBBS
1 Medium helping of Taare Zameen Par
1 Small helping of Dil Chahta Hai
Corporate endorsements - add to taste.

Recipe:
Take a large helping of Munnabhai MBBS (including copy - pasting characters and actors e.g. Boman Irani as a quirky head) and mix it properly with a medium helping of Taare Zameen Par (take a tried and tested concept and extend it a bit).

Then add a small sprinkling of Dil Chahta Hai (to give that 'coming of age' feeling to the movie).

Add corporate endorsements to taste (Reliance, Airtel, Millionaire Stores, Volvo etc. - remember more endorsements better the taste!).

Cook the mixture in the intense heat of a pre-launch media blitz till it is surrounded by lots of 'hype'.

Serve with a splash of cheap pan shop humour and a dash of spice (Kareena Kapoor).

Before eating:
Remove all the hype from the dish and DIG IN.. oh and don't forget a big bottle of whichever cold drink Amir Khan is endorsing these days, to wash down the mess!

After eating:
Feel satisfied that at least this movie was not half as bad as some of the other time-wasters of 2009 (e.g.: Kurbaan, Kambakht Ishq, Blue etc.).

:)

Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani - Fabulously Confusing Movie

Here is a movie that could be used by the Info. & Broadcasting Ministry to showcase National Integration.
We have a Muslim actor (non-sexist term), Kartina Kaif, playing a Christian girl who falls for a Hindu guy.
Other than that it is difficult to find anything positive about this movie. Other than that this movie does live up to its name, there are lot of 'ajeeb' or strange moments where you are left scratching your head and thinking what a 'gazab ki' kahani.
The movie, for me, spikes like an ECG of a person suffering a heart attack. There are some positive moments (like the scene where the hero unites two lovers). Then there are some stupid and crude moments (like the scene where Tony's father threatens heroin with rape) which seem to have been inserted just to get a reaction.
They tried to make a truly 'gazab' movie but got confused along the way and ended up somewhere in between.

All in all watch this with your brain switched off. Ideal movie after a hard day at work or when you just want to stare at a moving picture and rest your eyes on KK.

:)

BBC Weather Forecast

I thought BBC's UK weather forecast was really accurate!


Take a look at the screenshot of the BBC weather website at 12:20am on 21st December:


It shows the forcast for Bristol for the time....

While at that time outside the condition was:

So it shows the accuracy of the BBC forecast and/or the fickle nature of UK weather.

Also 21st December is the shortest day of the year... the official start of winter! Seems if the start is such, the middle and end should be MOST AMAZING!

:)

Wake Up Sid! (Yawn)

I think the title of the movie says it all. If you don't find yourself nodding off in between the movie then you have the concentration of a tiger stalking its prey!
The movies tries to show the hero growing up and out of a comfortable and rich 'spoilt brat' role into an all round 'MAN' who is worth the heroin's respect.
Sadly only two things grow in the movie:
1) The cast of characters.
2) The sheer stupidity of the story.
Ranbir K. surely did not have to prepare all that much for this role because he played a similar Playstation playing 'bad-boy', in Bachna Aye Hasino (BAH), who is taught a lesson about life and responsibility by a girl. As he learns the lessons of life he revisits the significant people from his past whom he had wronged.
This is exactly the same thing that happens in Wake Up Sid (WUS).

There are several major holes in the movie. While BAH had loads of eye-candy and amazing locations to distract the audience from the lack of an interesting plot, WUS does not enjoy any such protection.
Somehow there is little or no change in the hero's lifestyle as he learns the lessons of life. He is able to afford vodka shots and regular nightouts in trendy places on an intern's salary. He still travels around in auto-rickshaws. He continues to wear designer clothes and sport a funky look which remains unchanged for most of the film.
Along with all this the heroin is able to 'support' him on an personal assitants salary!
Kashmira Shah adds a bit of much needed variety to the movie along with Supria Pathak without actually making the movie interesting.

Oh and one more thing... Rahul Khanna really needs to get some new type of roles. I have had enough of him playing the 'cute' and 'successful' guy who gets dumped (for e.g. Love Aaj Kal)!

Sleeping is better than watching this movie!

:)

Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

- Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
An amazing song... how true it is 'the neon gods we make'.
Yesterday I saw an advert on the TV for a 'cash for gold' service where you send in your unwanted gold by post for evaluation and if you are happy with the amount they will send you the money.

Basically it is an easy way of converting gold into cash.
What would you spend this cash on? The examples they give are a holiday, downpayment on a new car and a flat screen TV.

This seems to me another way of attaching importance to objects. Converting an appreciating asset to a depreciating one even as the sign flashes its warning.
On the other side one can see the clear practicality in this brand new world where cash is king and the hitlist of desires grows silently like a cancer till it consumes our thoughts.

Good luck to us as we seek the sounds of silence by increasing the noise!

:)

Conversations between the opposite sex!

Woman (to Man): Till date I have not heard one intelligent thing coming out of your mouth.
Man replies: If I had intelligence would I be with you?

- - - -

Woman (to Man while shopping): Will this dress look good on me?
Man replies for the first time: Yes looks good! Buy it!
Woman (to Man while shopping, for a different dress): DoesTHIS dress look good on me?
Man replies for the second time: Yes LOOKS GOOD! Why don't you BUY IT?
Woman (to Man, for the 100th dress): Umm.. does this dress look good on me?
Man replies for the 100th time: JUST BUY THE DAMN THING ALREADY!

- - - -

Woman (to Man): I think I need new clothes.
Man: OK lets go shopping!
[6 hours later the Man is hungry, tired and close to collapse after following the Woman around the shopping mall]
Woman (cheerfully): Looks like I have finished my shopping!
Man (suddenly feeling energised): Oh GREAT let us head home then!
Woman: Umm.. wait I think you also need new clothes!
The Man faints.

:D

Shaayari

Main aaya teri gali mein,
paaan chabate hue.
Tune maari sandal,
aankh dikhaate hue.

- Azahar Machwe ;)

The Magic of Microsoft

I was scanning the 'world famous' duty-free at Heathrow Terminal 3 some time ago and I came across a rather strange advertisement (see the image below).

As I was trying to figure out what kind of an ad was this suddenly I realised I had seen this 'ad' before. I just needed to tilt my head a bit (see below!).
Yes! It was NOT an ad. It was a login screen for windows XP. Probably the OS in the contoller for that particular display had crashed and then automatically re-booted. Just that no one realised that once re-booted it would ask the 'user' to login before resuming the standard operation of displaying ads.

I thanked god for limiting Microsoft (MS) software to the airport duty free ad-displays. Imagine if the ticket booking system or the software on-board the plane used MS software!

:D