Best Singer

One award at least, I could not have argued over in Saturday's Filmfare awards list was the Best Singer award given to Kunal Ganjawala for the gem Bheege Hont he sang for the movie Murder. It could not been sung better by any other singer, and I mean any. For a moment I feared that the award company would stick to Udit Narayan for the not-so-phenomenal Aisa Des Hai Mera, but thankfully they broke shackles.

Surprisingly enough, as I wrote in my previous post, they have not been able to do it in other categories.

But for the moment, let me forget that and offer my bow to Mr Ganjawala.

signing off,

Best Movie?

Trivia: What made Veer-Zaara the best movie of the last year?

I think the answer is Yash Raj Banners.

In bollywood, there are good movies, there are bad movies and then there are very stereotyped , and hence mediocre and unintuitive movies. In the last category, we can blindly put any recent movie of these two gentlemen, Yash Chopraji and Karan Johar. Yash Chopra (who was brilliant in his early movies like Waqt and Kabhi Kabhi to name a few) has clearly given up on the pressure these days. I don't say making love stories is not good. But why same thing over and over? And don't tell me that Veer Zaara was any different just because it had old SRK.

Karan Johar is one pampered baby, who according to statistics is yet to see a flop. In my diary, he is yet to see a decent movie. What made Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, a story of a boy who is out to seek two girls and helped by his own girl child, a hit, frankly I would never know. If in real world, assume I, after my wife dies 6 years hence, try to woo a old girl friend, who probably has settled in life in her own way. I'd be clearly out of my mind to do so. Then Kal Ho Naa Ho was ditto Anand. And I'd watch Baghbaan thrice a day, if I have that as a choice over Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Totally unimaginative, I say.

I think the only reason why Yash Chopra succeeds is his music and KJ because of his lavish star cast. But pardon me in saying, Veer Zaara cannot be ranked as Yashji's better efforts, even considering it had music by Madan Mohan and Times of India had given it better stars (I don't know how many). And people would not have watched K3G if it had not been those Shah Rukh Khans, Amitabh Bachchans, Hritik Roshans and so on. But if you ask me, I'd prefer SRK in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Baazigar; AB in any of his 80s movie and Roshan Jr in any other less sillier movie.

Again, this is not to say that the experimental movie would always be good. Take a look at Gayab and you'd know what I mean.

But at least spare me from the obscene display of your wealth and your idea of 'good life', people. Get a life yourself and move on.

For the precise reason I admire Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Sai Paranjpe a lot. They don't make those kind of movies any more. On second thoughts, I seem to be repeating this line quite often, I am stereotyped myself! :D

signing off,

Google Movie Search

Goto Google.com and type "movie: blue pill red pill" and see all Matrix related movie searches coming up. Impressive, huh? It is!

The humorous side of Google's technicians does show up at the end, when they say,

No movie critics were harmed or even used in the making of this page.

ha ha ha ha!

signing off,

Mark Knopfler in India!

Read this.

Man I am thrilled! Can't wait to see the man! Dire Straits have remained one of my favorite rock bands all along.

More on them later, busy right now!

signing off,

Black

Having watched Black last weekend, a few stray things come to mind. (Busybee styled? Probably!) Here they are:

1. It is a superlative cinema making experience, rarely seen in bollywood. People claim maybe SLB was targeting Oscar, which might explain the movie's short length, no songs and so on. But this trend is not new to us, is it Ramu?

2. The performances SLB achieves out of each one of his cast is simply marvelous. The last time I saw an awesomely portrayed child artist was Anjali. Ayesha Kapoor is the most impressive in the movie.

3. AB, thankfully, is not playing a police officer or an army chief. Last year saw him in uniforms for an obscenely large number of times. But not anymore. He essays Debraj Sahay with panache.

5. Another highlight would be Rani Mukherji, who, I think has a lot of potential still untapped. Some people think she has reached her highest with Michelle, but don't get surprised if she manages to surpass even her.

6. We can say our movie making are state-or-the-art affair too. Forget clumsy editing, patchy cameraworks. Bollywood cinema has really evolved.

7. Thanks SLB for making such a movie. Even if Black's collection at box office may not mark it as a hit or something similar, it is really a gem of an art.

signing off,

My Birthday Treat Invitation

I was preparing my birthday treat invitation on Friday. First I thought of sending a simple email to everyone. But because of a friend's suggestion, I thought this would look good. (The link does not work anymore, I've removed it because of many spam emails received!)

The best part was when we published that blog, in a matter of few seconds there was a comment on the blog! By Katie (Forgot her blog URL), which mentioned that 'She should be there at the precise time and can't wait to see us guys.' I prompty disabled comments on the blog so that I didn't end up broke instead of generous in case more people accepted the invite, but that was something very amusing! :-)

Katie: if we meet anywhere, the treat is due from my side!

signing off,

Where Do I Belong to?

(Haven't been there yet, but I am sure that) In America I would definitely be a proud Indian.
In Tamilnadu I suddenly remember songs like 'Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha'.
In Pune I wonder why all cities are not like Mumbai.
In Chinchpokli I think there is no place better located than Kurla.
In Kurla (W) I brag about Nehru Nagar.
When compared to other buildings, I think #2 is the best one.
At top floors, I don't feel as cozy as I do on ground floor.
In our hall, I think our veranda is the place to be.

I think it all depends on your perception, the answer to this question.

In the end, each one of us is just an earthling to a martian.

signing off,

Wish You the Same!

The world is not a small place. And there are quite a people living in it. India alone has a huge share of 1 B+ of world population. And there are only 365 days in a year. (Don't get rather technical and say it is 365¼). Analyze these facts and you may not wonder that someone else you know is sharing your birthday. But why it has been that in all the classes I attended of about 60 people, the day turned out to be 9th Feb always?

It started in my school. A friend of mine, whose real birthday was unknown to many of us, used to celebrate it on 9th Feb. Come engineering college and there were two more to share my birthday. Come to corporate world and, yes, there is someone I know who shares the D-Day. It has been really amazing. No two people from any of my class shared the birthdays, as long as it was not on 9th Feb. :-) So amongst my friends, I am one of the very few, who has always got to say 'Same to You!' when wished 'Many many happy returns of the day!'. :-)

Anyways, for now 'Happy Birthday nku, SP, RP, TG!' Enjoy your day.

(On second thoughts, it is kinda weird when you wish yourself! :D)

signing off,

Exercise 30 Min a Day (!)

The basic thing you need to understand is that I am not a fitness buff. At all. Rest of the post is based on this assumption, so if you do not agree to it, you may navigate to some other site right away.

For years and months, I have just somehow managed to get through the routine without putting my body in too much trouble. As of now, my daily exercise includes the walk from my cubicle to canteen for lunch and (if I stay back late, owing to fact that when there are no direct buses to my home) the walk from the bus-stop to home. And it does sum to 30 min (±15 min), I am damn sure.

I very well remember two lone incidents in my life where I was dragged into someone else's fitness regime. One was when I was in Mumbai, after my BE examination. Because of some inexplicable enthusiasm of people like me, my brother, his classmate and our neighbor, we used to go to a gym every night (don't you dare defend that 5:15 AM is a day) and used to work out for an hour and a half. And to everyone's astonishment, we did not miss a single day. That was till, after about 3 months or so, on one fine day everyone felt an equally inexplicable longing for laziness. And we were prompt to switch to less demanding sleep till 9 o'clock.

Next one was a quite recent venture, just the last year. It was when my room-mate started having trouble seeing himself in the mirror completely without having to shift sideways. Suddenly there was a collective need for jogging and I obliged as a moral supporter. Interestingly this time too, the stint lasted only about three months.

Looks like again I am in the same mood to start this 3-months course to get fit. My new room-mate has already booked me for the new gym that is coming up in our office (it is the opposite probably). Let's see how things go this time.

And finally, for those who need an extra push for working out, there is a good reason why you should exercise at least 30 min a day. Much amusing it is than what I have blabbered so far. Here it is.

signing off,

Fool in the Rain

Suddenly it has started raining here in Bangalore. It is a welcome relief, I might add, from the heat which was continually on a rise over past few days. The weather today morning is absolutely splendid (I tried a lot to find a fancier word from my wordweb, but I guess you'll have to settle for this.) It is the kind of weather when you just want to put a chair in balcony, prepare a cup of hot tea/coffee for yourself and for someone you like to savor the lazy moment.

Alas, I am in the office, designing a particularly unromantic Crystal report.

By the way, this title does not necessarily mean that it was raining and I was the fool, but because I invariably remember the Led Zep's classic "Fool in the Rain" from album "In Through the Out Door" at these times. Here are the lyrics for you. (Ctrl+Ins from www.led-zeppelin.com, without any written or otherwise permission from Jones/Page/Plant). Do listen if you get a chance.

Fool In The Rain

(Jones/Page/Plant)

Well there's a light in your eye that keeps shining
Like a star that can't wait for the night
I hate to think I've been blinded baby
Why can't I see you tonight?

And the warmth of your smile starts a-burnin'
And the thrill of your touch gives me fright
And I'm shaking so much, really yearning
Why don't you show up, make it all right?
Yeah, it's all right.

And if you promised you'd love so completely
and you said you would always be true
You swore that you would never leave me, baby:
What ever happened to you?

And you thought it was only in movies
As you wish all your dreams would come true
It ain't the first time believe me, baby
I'm standin here feeling blue
Yeah I'm blue

Now I will stand in the rain on the corner
I'll watch the people go shuffling downtown
Another ten minutes no longer
And then I'm turning around

The clock on the wall's moving slower
My heart it sinks to the ground
And the storm that I thought would blow over
Clouds the light of the love that I found

Now my body is starting to quiver
And the palms of my hands getting wet
I've got no reason to doubt you baby,
It's all a terrible mess

I'll run in the rain till I'm breathless
When I'm breathless I'll run till I drop, hey
The thoughts of a fool's kind of careless
I'm just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah

Beautiful, beautiful song!

signing off,