Chatter Box

Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap - Some thoughts (Rating -3/5)

2011-07-10T23:33:00.020+05:30

I bet none of the current generation of Hindi film directors, who are besotted with the Hollywood style of film making, would have made such a film. It took Puri Jagannadh, a Telugu action film maker, to pay tribute to the legendary Amitabh Bachchan via Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap.

After watching Sallu bhai's Wanted ( a remake of Puri's Super hit Pokiri), I thought Puri made a big mistake of not remaking it himself in Hindi. Wanted is not even half of Puri's Pokiri. Prabhu Deva, who directed the Tamil version (Pokkiri with Vijay), made a mockery of the original in both the languages.

Puri has redefined hero and heroism in Telugu cinema. His heroes are not good Samaritans. They are raw, powerful, witty, straightforward, irresponsible and happy-go-lucky. Puri ensures that they are elevated to the maximum extent possible in every scene, be it Ravi Teja in Idiot or Mahesh in Pokiri or Prabhas in Bujjigadu. This has garnered him a huge loyal fan base. Irrespective of the film's fate, the hero's character gets etched in your memory for a long time.

Now if someone like him has Amitabh Bachchan as the protagonist, you (knowing what Amitabh can do) would settle for nothing less than a Pokiri. Puri has chosen the right script, though a wafer-thin plot, to showcase the baap of all in BHTB. The first half has nothing much except a couple of incoherent scenes, celebrating the Amitabh classics and building up the character for the actual dhamaka.

It's the second half that takes the cake. Amitabh goes berserk in the second half with his style, voice modulation, gun firing and dressing and shows everyone who the asli baap is. Every scene is worth watching again and again. This shows it's not enough if you have the right story, screenplay and dialogs unless you have the right actor who can take the scenes to new level. And Amitabh actually takes the movie to Himalayan heights with his impeccable histrionics.

I would not say this is a great film, but definitely a treat to all the Amitabh fans. This is not just a tribute but a nice way to say 'we love you' to the man who has entertained us relentlessly for the last four decades.

My favorite dialogs (please bear with my Hindi), all have Puri's stamp on them.

1. Mein marunga tho bullet se hi marunga, bp sugar se nahi.
2. Hum jaha khade hojathe hai, line wahi se shuru hoti hai
3. Soda mein coffee, tea acha nahi lagthi
4. Sar pe bullet marne se ek ched hojatha, agar us ched me aur ek bullet gaya tho samajhna woh Vijju ka hai.
5. Heart attack sirf mard ko hoti hai kyu ki hamare paas dil hai.
6. Yeh umar bullet aur bomb ki nahi bhakti channel dekhne ki hai (Hema Malini to AB) and more.

PS: With all the current generation heroes vying with each other to cater to the niche multiplex audience, the masses are starved of such films. Hence you have Ghajini, Wanted and Dabangg breaking the box-office records.

The Cup of Joy

2011-04-03T02:19:00.002+05:30

Indian Cricket Team will now be addressed as ‘The World Champions’ every time they play a One Day International. I, along with other 1.2 billion Indians, can proudly claim of witnessing the epic event. Lucky are the people who screamed and cheered the team from the stands of Mumbai’s Wankhade Stadium.

Why is this so special?

The final game was not won because of Sachin Tendulkar. But it was won for Sachin Tendulkar by his young colleagues, some of whom were in nappies when he started playing for India. The God of Cricket has a World Cup win to his credit, an achievement that had eluded him for 21 years. A number of people might say Sachin failed to perform when it mattered, but any sane person would understand what he brings to the team. Gambhir, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj did it with minimum fuss after Sachin and Sehwag, who we look up to during such big matches, got out cheaply. To chase 275 from 31-2, after the bowlers were hammered by the Sri Lankans, is a sign of a world-class team. Great innings from Dhoni and it reminded me of Steve Waugh’s innings against South Africa during the 1999 World Cup.

What does this mean?

A. The Indian team apart from becoming more famous has revived the interest in One Day Cricket, which has started to lose its sheen after the advent of T20 Cricket, especially the IPL.

B. It has dismantled Australia from the top and has given a new world champion.

C. It has given a billion people of a country, who are disgusted with numerous political scams, rising inflation and rampant corruption, a strong reason to jump in joy and indulge in unlimited celebrations.

D. Importantly, the win states that Indian cricket is in safe hands of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar can say good bye to One Day Cricket, peacefully (of course, I don’t want him to bid adieu any sooner).

Why India won? Apart from the players’ abilities, it’s the wishes, superstitions, prayers and hell lot of other forms of support that played a crucial role in this victory. For me, it all started when India were set to play the Australians in the Quarter Finals. Intensity grew with that victory and the match against Pakistan took temperatures to the maximum.

What I did? Bribed God — 108 rounds (Parikramas) around the local Hanuman temple if India wins against Pakistan. India won it and I finished the first installment on Saturday ahead of the finals against Sri Lanka. Same activity planned for the finals as well. But with 32-2 and target to achieve being 275, the number increased to 4 (4 installments of 108 rounds @ 1time per week). Now tell me with mahabhakts like me around why will India lose?

Now I can go and have my hair cut, give some attention to my family members, and of course, do some work during the office hours.

By the way, this is my 200th post. I have been waiting to post something special as part of celebrating that. What can be more special than this? Thank you Dhoni & Co.

Bihar Wakes Up

2010-11-26T19:08:00.002+05:30

I was feeling a bit tensed when counting began in Bihar, but it was short-lived as Nitish Kumar and company thrashed Lalu Prasad and others.

It was as good as a clean sweep. Nitish Kumar's victory was a powerful lesson to the caste-based politicians and a sign of things to happen in Bihar. Importantly, it sent a positive and a strong message to the rest of India that people of Bihar are in for some serious business. They didn't want to put brakes on the change that's started to happen half a decade ago when Nitish Kumar first came to power.

As for Congress, Rahul's magic failed to work. I don't believe that Rahul has the charisma to attract masses. He belongs to the class of Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan and would make a decent actor in Hindi cinema.

Nitish’s landslide victory is a deathblow to the political careers of Laloo Prasad and his disgraced wife Rabri Devi. I think they should take political sanyaas and start a baby care center or a dairy parlor and allow Bihar to prosper under Nitish.

This victory is a shot in the arm for BJP, which is struggling to find the right balance nationally. The party's strategy seems to be to take it one by one, first Gujarat and now second time in Bihar.

On the otherhand, Nitish should take a cue from Nara Chandra Babu Naidu, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh who was routed after his second term, and ensure that his quest for a developed Bihar doesn't get halted after the second term.

Khaleja – Movie Review

2010-10-10T00:19:00.012+05:30

Mahesh Unleashed (Rating 3.5/5)

This review will be quite a contrast to the reviews on a majority of the websites.

First, the movie is strictly for intelligent audience and hence the film opened to a divide talk. The director (Trivikram) assumed his audience are matured enough to grasp his intent - divinity lies within everyone and whoever reaches out to the needy is God – and never bothered to explain it.

Second, it’s an out and out Mahesh film. The prince of Telugu cinema ignites the screen after three years and he looks fresh, energetic, rejuvenated and extremely stylish. He totally moves away from his Okkadu, Athadu and Pokiri image and comes up with a scintillating performance. Anushka looked gorgeous but paled in front of Mahesh’s charisma.

Coming to the movie, people are sure to get reminded of Magadheera for the relationship between the nature and the protagonist, but the comparison ends there. The movie starts brilliantly with superb visuals of a distressed village. Enter Mahesh, the whole look and feel of the movie turns trendy, and immediately begins the laugh riot that runs non-stop until the interval bang. The fight preceding interval, which is choreographed superbly with some breath-taking visuals, gives the necessary impetus and helps in building expectations about the rest of the movie. The songs in the first half are shot brilliantly, especially Piliche.

The second half is like an acid test for any director and Trivikram succeeds to a great extent. A couple of scenes make you stand up and applaud his cerebration. It requires guts and lot of self-belief to take up such a storyline where the protagonist is equated to God. Kudos to Trivikram for the attempt and this reminds me of another Mahesh movie which has lot of divine quotient, Murari - I am dying to write my thoughts on this movie, probably in two parts. Trivikram excells in the comedy and business aspects individually, but loses his way a bit while interspersing comedy in the second half due to which the mood of the film fluctuates frequently. If not for the commercial pressure involved, the second half would have been more serious and crisp.

Mani Sharma gives a stunning background score and proves why he is one of the top-rated background music composers in India. Fights are stylish with limited use of graphics and DI for the movie is superb. Trivikram’s dialogs are not in the same league as Athadu, Jalsa, and Nuvve Nuvve, nevertheless they are effective. A tighter second half could have appeased the first day fans.

My picks:

1.     Sunil and Mahesh meeting

2.     Mahesh’s meetings with Anushka and the ensuing scenes at the garage

3.     Shafi’s characterization

4.     Mahesh’s acting during the whole of God episode

5.     Climax where focus is more on Prakash Raj and the count remaining 534.

PS: It’s gratifying watching Mahesh shoulder the film. What Khushi was for Pawan Kalyan, Khaleja is for Mahesh.
The movie title is not apt.

Robot - A giant leap technically

2010-10-02T00:24:00.007+05:30

Movie Review - (Rating -3.5/5)

To all people who are ignorant of the technical brilliance, strength and box-office stamina of South Indian movies, Rajini’s Robo is the answer.

All credit goes to Shankar for his imagination and near perfect execution. Robot is arguably India’s Avatar and Shankar India’s James Cameroon. With never seen before special effects (animatronics), which of course cannot be truly termed international, but certainly a giant leap as far as Indian cinema is concerned, Robot leaves you spellbound for most part of the 3-hour visual extravaganza.

The best part of the movie is it goes straight to the point. It is all about a robot and the director never deviates from it. Unlike his previous flick Sivaji, Shankar refrains from forced comedy and focuses more on showcasing Robot’s abilities and reflexes. As the robot too is Rajinikanth, it's more like good Rajini vs bad Rajini. This also lessened dependency on animatronics and gives you feel of Shankar's Jeans or other movies where the hero plays dual role. That's brilliance for you. But this brilliance slowly fades away toward the end as he overuses/misuses the technology, making it an average flick for the multiplex audience.

True to his superstar tag, Rajinikanth is the movie’s strength. Rajini is super cool as scientist and robot. Rajini’s action as corrupted robot is a treat to watch. Shah Rukh Khan and Kamal Hassan, who rejected the project, are sure to regret now. The only complaint is Rajini’s dances, which are really disappointing, especially in the song Kilimanjaro. But Aishwarya Rai seems to have reserved her best dance moves for Robot. She is gorgeous and her dance movements in I Robo and Kilimanjaro are amazing. She brings grace, grandeur and completeness to this high-budget movie.

A R Rahman’s music is of international standards in the first half, but becomes unbearable in the latter part of second half. It’s too loud and the background score during the action sequences seems disconnected.

The climax could have been made interesting rather than going berserk with hundreds of robots forming different physical structures. The director could have taken a cue from The Lost World Jurassic Park on how to derive maximum impact from an alien character in a movie. The scenes where the dinosaur creates havoc in the city were so carefully executed that the audience crave for more. But Shankar goes out of control and creates huge trouble for our senses. Despite the breathtaking visual effects, the climax is surely a punishment.

My top scenes:
1. Robot posing like goddess Durga during a tiff with local goons
2. Robot’s confrontation with his creator to win Aishwarya Rai
3. Corrupt robot recharging when electricity is switched off and the way it finds Rajinikanth (human) among hundred similar looking robots
4. The delivery scene before interval
5. Robot’s explanation of why God exists

Robot is not a must watch but I surely recommend just for Shankar's brilliant effort.

Komaram Puli

2010-09-13T01:54:00.004+05:30

Movie Review – Rating (1.25/5)

I was correct! I guessed Pawan Kalyan’s Komaram Puli (Telangana activists just read Puli) would be a disastrous film after the audio release. A couple of songs hinted at the sequences preceding and it’s not tough for a movie buff like me to connect the dots. A.R. Rahman cannot be entirely blamed for the audio output because the situations demanded such songs. So, I transfer the entire blame on the director S.J. Suryaah. The first official trailer, courtesy the substandard helicopter graphics, the time taken to complete shooting the movie (more than 2 years), and the never ending debate surrounding its release date, further strengthened my opinion.

Coming to Komaram Puli, it’s high time the directors realized patriotic movies need not be loud, and the protagonist need not shout and lecture at every possible opportunity. Even silence speaks and creates deadly impact; movie makers like Ram Gopal Varma and Mani Ratnam have proved it not so long ago.

I could relate Tamil director S.J. Suryaah’s intentions behind the scenes, but at the same time the audience (or should I say the director) in me was visualizing another version. This was rampant during the songs and action sequences, focusing more on the editing and presentation aspects. While a couple of the scenes were brilliantly conceived, majority of them were brutal and tediously protracted. The director failed to understand the sensibilities of Telugu audience and stuck to his Tamil formula of overdose in almost every situation. He got carried away by the star power of Pawan Kalyan and wanted to do a film for the society. He wanted to give it a raw treatment like Krishnavamsi’s Rakhi but ended up churning out a typical Tamil masala film.

The movie starts on a brilliant note. I particularly liked the scene in which the woman comes to know of her pregnancy. But the movie slips away right from Pawan Kalyan’s introduction, which was more like a parody - poor graphics and cheap execution. Ridiculous of all is Pawan Kalyan, an IPS officer in Andhra Pradesh, saving the Indian prime minister in Malaysia, all alone. He then starts lecturing, which if properly trimmed could have created huge impact. Even his mother gives a lengthy speech towards the end.

The romance with heroine was overboard and severely mars the flow of the movie. The picturization and placement of songs were pathetic. Picturization of the much hyped "Power Star" song was no way close to Chiranjeevi's "Mega Star" song in Kodamasimham. Manoj Bajpaaye was loud, boring, and eccentric. Screenplay was haphazard and seemed puerile. The climax tests your patience. The whole auditorium burst into laughter when Pawan is electrocuted by villain just because he is fondly called Power Star. Shriya Saran did a miniscule role and her item song was pathetic. Puli team’s headquarters remind us of settings in Hollywood movies, while much hyped Binod Pradhan’s camerawork failed to make any impact. A.R. Rahman’s background score is just about right for the movie.

Pawan Kalyan looked brilliant as a tough cop, but reminded of Sai Kumar and Vijay Kanth while delivering monologues. He too must have got carried away by the powerful dialogs but too much of anything is hard to digest. He was out of sorts during sequences involving the heroine. The love track was outdated and immature.

In one sentence, what Okka Magaadu was for Balakrishna, Komaram Puli is for Pawan Kalyan.

Troubled Tradition

2010-09-04T22:09:00.002+05:30

Reading newspaper is no more a gratifying experience. Good news has become a rarity. Whether it’s a national or a regional newspaper nothing constructive could be found and issues such as terrorism, corruption, political dramas, inflation, crime, erotic photographs, etc., are ruling the roost causing unnecessary unrest among the readers.

The worry here is not about newspapers covering some of those issues but about the way they are presented. The newspapers seem to have taken a cue from the television news channels, which are creating havoc in the name of being voice of the commoner, on how to sensationalize content.

A majority of the newspapers have serious political affiliations and work as the unofficial spokesperson of those parties. Any newspaper supporting a political party unearths some scandal involving the opposite party and tries to portray it as the biggest and the most heinous crime on the globe through its headlines, cartoons, special features, etc. The rival party retaliates through its unofficial spokesperson (newspaper), ultimately making it a war between two newspapers. This trend is rampant among regional newspapers (Sakshi versus Eenadu in Andhra Pradesh). Sadly, the sacred editorial column too is not spared.

Another disturbing feature is the liberal use of erotic photographs and the coverage of trivial news about hitherto unknown people. Actress and models clad in bikinis and skimpy clothes are a regular feature in The Times of India and The Deccan Chronicle. Do they know that we are least bothered about an ex-Scandinavian model going to a psychiatrist after breaking up with her boyfriend or a football player’s former girlfriend undergoing a cosmetic surgery?

While some newspapers try to strike a balance between sensationalism and responsible journalism, a majority of them, especially in the regional front, have blatantly discarded the basic principles of journalism.

As a kid I remember my family (and the neighborhood) eagerly waiting for the cries of the newspaper boy. But the interest is no more seen in any of them. My grandfather hardly spends 10 minutes reading the newspaper and my father always complains of lackluster coverage and biased analysis.

I, at the most read headlines, the cartoon commentary and the movie updates section. For information (read correct information) on any topic I depend on the Internet. I bet there are more people like me who are fed up and the number will only grow. Already television and the Internet have relegated newspapers to confectionaries selling stale items. In such a precarious situation, it becomes imperative for the newspapers to build a positive image among the public and play a constructive role in the development of the country.

This doesn’t mean it’s all over for the early morning visitor. We still love it. Newspaper that thrives on giving the right information to the public is always welcomed. It’s the perfect companion while sipping a cup of coffee in the morning. It’s the only source which can present so much of diverse information in such a convenient form, and allows us to read at leisure. We still don’t want to miss experts’ opinion on inflation, economic crisis, and a brilliant cricket match (though we have watched it live), and of course the valuable editorial piece.

Inception – Mind Boggling Experience

2010-07-26T00:27:00.007+05:30

Rating (4/5)

You design the game, set the rules, architect the stadium, choose your players, and set the time limit. At the end of it stands your mission, accomplished.

What if this is to be done in a very very short time? Impossible! We say. And in dreams? We breathe easy and think it's possible. If there is a payment involved at the end of it all in the real world, we jump in joy and try to give it a shot without thinking any further. But hold on! Dreams suddenly start and end abruptly. They are sporadic and beyond our control, often hard to remember and narrate. This makes the job tougher and even harder to imagine and conceptualize, isn’t it? But that’s what Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) does in Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bending, intriguing offering, Inception.

‘What if dreams can be scripted?’ is the premise on which the story is developed. Inception would not have been the talk of the town if it were just a series of dreams or a single dream, and typically leaving the end part for the audience as the film actually does. But we have Christopher Nolan, the master narrator who won rave reviews for his complex screenplay in Memento. He goes beyond our imagination and deals with the concept of Cobb planting an idea in the mind of a businessman for his rival, who promises Cobb an uncomplicated journey back home. Cobb assembles a team which embarks on achieving this task through multi-layered dreams - each dream is interconnected, need-based and is the result of the consequences of its predecessors and successors.

The beauty of the movie lies in the way the story is narrated. The director doesn't bother to explain the technology and the equipment involved, instead uses the time to elucidate and convince audience of his concept. The way the concept is unfolded, or should I say the way Cobb explains the concept and the rules of the game to his new recruit Ariadne (Ellen Page), allowing CGI to dominate is brilliant. The use of totem to distinguish between living in someone’s dream and reality is simple yet effective.

The transition from one dream to another, back and forth, is so well presented that the audience is never disconnected from any of the dreams. In every layer of the dream, one character is awake to take care of the the happenings as the rest of them sleep err dream. The script takes a sudden twist when the team prepares for an unprepared new dream in the third layer. The way the director keeps the audience posted of the happenings across the four dreams is a huge challenge, and Nolan does it effortlessly. Some characters trying to break the rules - forgetting they are in dreams - confusion about whose dream they are in and the sudden emergence of objects which are not actually part of the dream, make it a special experience for the viewer.

There is logic behind every frame, every shot and every scene. Tight screenplay keeps audience interested throughout (except the last 15-20 minutes where the movie appears a bit dragged). There is always a hint provided for the audience whether the sequence is a dream - characters remind themselves that they are working in a dream.

Wait wait wait! Nolan’s best is yet to come. The viewers would be under the assumption that all is well with Cobb by the end of the movie, but dig deeper into the story it will leave us with many unanswered questions, a la Memento experience. Did Cobb ever comeback to reality from limbo or did he go deeper? Are Cobb’s team, Saito’s promise to free Cobb of his murder charges, Mal’s death, etc., real or Cobb’s projection for a happy ending?

That's Inception for you.

Rupee's New Identity

2010-07-18T23:58:00.002+05:30

It was a plesant surprise yesterday when I noticed my restaurant bill contained the new rupee symbol. I ignored it initially as the figure at the bottom was more important. It's only during my second glance that I noticed the bill actually featured the new rupee symbol. It was such a great feeling to see the gentleman (the restaurant manager) embrace the rupee sign and use place it religiously before every item in the bill.

The incident reminded of me of my duty - to educate people around me about the new development and the importance of adopting the new symbol in their daily lives.

I always wondered why Indian Rupee didn't have a symbol as the $ or the relatively new €. The Indian government's brain at last worked and the result is a sign for the Indian currency which is simple yet resonates the Indian culture.

Kudos to IITian Uday Kumar for his efforts and sincere thanks to the government for seeking public opinion on this prestigious symbol.

Spare a Thought

2010-06-30T13:44:00.005+05:30

4:30 am - Wake-up alarm
5:30 am - 7:30 am - Coaching / study at home
8:30 am - 6:30 pm - College
8:30 pm - at least 10:00 pm - Study at home

This is typical of a majority of teenagers (read 11th and 12th standard students) in Andhra Pradesh; I am totally ignorant of the situation in other states. You can find hundreds of such students in your locality, hanging in city buses, and coaching centers.

Greedy / worried parents (I am sorry!) along with corporate colleges are creating havoc in the name of competition and competitive world. The struggle starts as the students enter their teenage. The targets for any seventh or eight standard student are IIT, BITS, AIEEE, IISC, AIMS, our very own EAMCET, etc. Non-engineering and non-medicine courses are considered inferior and students who fail to clear the entrances are either forced to try again the next year or shown sympathy and admitted to a degree course.

During this age, leave alone games and sports, poor students are denied any physical activity. Like robots they follow their tutors. Everything goes according to the timetable. They don't read newspaper or magazines / journals and have minimal knowledge of the happenings around them. Textbooks, of the size of a telephone directory, are their source of entertainment. Homework would come even before Sundays and holidays. Fo(dder)od is served to their rooms err... to their mouths, making them forget of their abilities and capabilities. For neighbors, the existence of such students is a big mystery.

Daily exams, revision hours, study hours, doubts classes, mock tests, blah blah blah...along with peer comparisons put relentless pressure on tender minds. The situation is even worse in boarding schools where students are punished if they fare poorly - don't ask me how much is poor - prompting weaker minds to take extreme steps.

Parents are to be blamed for this trend which is most commonly seen among the middle-class. They believe their children will lead a better life, unlike them, if they study well in their teenage. But what they fail to realize is that it is during this teenage that tender minds start to mature, will like to think independently, explore and experiment. It is also the time to uncover latent talents, counsel and guide young, exuberant minds, and allow them to create a future of their choice; a future where they feel they belong to; and a future they believe is built by them.

I am not advocating anything against forcing children to study hard. While there are students who perform exceptionally well with little guidance and some with little more persuasion, there are others who cannot handle the mental burden. So, it's up to parents to analyze, understand, and gauge their children's strengths and ensure children cherish their student life.

@ Community Service

2010-06-14T21:18:00.009+05:30

There is a small philanthropist in me. He comes out frequently and enjoys doing his bit for the needy. But on Friday (June 11, 2010), he got a great opportunity to meet and spend some time at a home for the abandoned old-aged on the outskirts of Hyderabad. It was a part of Deloitte's community service initiative.

To be frank, I was not really excited, but was looking forward to the day. As I live with my grandparents, I understand how desperate elderly people are for support and how much joy a small hello can bring to them.

We were at the place by about 10:30. The whole event started slowly with the caretaker giving us some background. It was followed by personal interactions with the inmates. Everyone had a bitter reason to be there. While some were left alone by their children, some others lost their families. As we probed them more, we discovered mathematicians, talented singers, post graduates, etc.

Fun started in the afternoon as we gathered some of the inmates and some poor villagers around under a shade. Team games, lunch, dancing, and singing followed making it a memorable event. What more! I hosted all the afternoon events, explaining the rules of the games, persuading, and encouraging the crowd to take part.

At about 4:30 pm, on behalf on my team, I bid adieu to the cheering crowd who forgot, at least for some time, that they were the unwanted. The immediate reaction from the crowd was "What's your name? When will you come back?"

Almost in tears, I assured them I will visit again with my wife after marriage. They blessed our team, wished us all the very best, prayed for our success. All this just because we gave them some attention.

A combination of joy and responsibility swept my heart as I walked towards our vehicle.

PS: This is the catalyst I have been waiting for.
Photo 1: Photo with my fans toward the end.
Photo 2: Me dancing to a folk song
Photo 3: Group photo at the end.

For more pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=photographs.vinay&target=ALBUM&id=5483414231730370417&authkey=Gv1sRgCOPvsKKAweHbaA&invite=CJXRq_YL&feat=email

and

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=photographs.vinay&target=PHOTO&id=5483412290983685682&aid=5483410337336790929&authkey=Gv1sRgCM3niYGVw-2xNA&feat=email

Stop this nonsense!

2010-05-16T01:12:00.009+05:30

As a middle-class Indian, I know the importance of spending money judiciously. A look, however, at the money squandering happening in the name of cinema is worrying me about some people’s (read producers’) mental balance.

I am writing this piece after my senses were brutally assaulted by some recent movies. In fact, this is serious writing coming from a movie buff who is tired of watching movies. Regardless of the genre or the ‘wood’(Hollywood, Bollywood, Tollywood, etc.,) they belonged to, majority of these movies lacked intent or logic. Some of them duly faced outright rejection from the public. I am not referring to movies that failed to click at the box-office, but movies that lacked soul and were produced only for pure business reasons. There is nothing wrong in seeking profits from a movie, but degrading the art for money is certainly unpardonable.

The fact that the list includes movies that were produced by reputed studios and veteran producers hurts me more. Rajinikanth’s Sivaji was made with a whopping budget of more than Rs. 60 crores, the most by any South Indian movie till date. The movie, though raked in huge money at the box-office, is a perfect example of relegating art. The producers (AVM Studios) were sure that Rajnikanth’s presence would recover the investment within a couple of weeks and hence didn’t bother when the director spent majority of the budget on erecting mindless, gigantic sets for some pedestrian songs. The settings would have gone unnoticed amidst the lackluster story and screenplay if not for the huge pre-release promotion. Kamal Hassan’s Dasavataram too falls under this category.

Producers of Hindi movie Blue had spent about Rs.100 crore, the highest for any Indian movie, to offer 150 minutes of mediocre drama. The much hyped underwater graphics were no better than marine shows on the Discovery channel. The movie sank without a trace and was aired on television just after a month of its release.

This certainly is not the kind of output that is expected after spending huge money, cutting a number of trees to construct huge sets and posters, and putting in hundreds of hours of human effort. This shows the producers’ utter disrespect for the nature, audience and importantly, money.

India’s corporate giant Reliance had spent about half of the Rs. 35 crore budget on Telugu movie Saleem without bothering about the storyline, the director’s ability and the market potential of the protagonist. The result was a huge dud. The recent Balakrishna’s movie Simha, which has been declared a huge hit, is a cocktail of his previous films.

Sitting through Warner Bros’ Clash of the Titans was more than painful. Except for a couple of brief wow! moments, the movie had nothing new to offer. The Gods wearing cricketing gear like pads and gloves were reminiscent of artists in village stage shows. Similar is the case with Marvle Studios' recent release Iron Man2.

The list is long. There are hundreds of such movies made and released every year across the globe. While Hollywood seems to have exhausted of new stories, the Hindi movie industry is struggling as it tries to ape the western style of movie-making. Dhoom 2, Prince, and Tashaan are examples of typical soul-missing cases where the directors were too Hollywoodish. Another category which includes movies such as Dil Bole Hadiappa and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi took us back to the stone age.

On the other hand, the South film industry (Telugu and Tamil especially) is slowly coming out of the routine formulaic mass masala entertainers. Of course, it still dishes out run-of-the mill stuff. Ninety percent of the movies are recycled and fall under the masala category comprising gory fights and lousy songs. The stories typically follow song-fight-comedy sequence.

Though I was feeling irritated and betrayed a year ago, I still watched movies with a hope that there would be some soul searching from the producers and directors. Huh! Nothing much has changed in the last year with only a handful of movies seemed genuine efforts, again not based on the box-office success.

We accept that movie making is a big gamble, but people dare to churn out run-of-the-mill stuff and project sub-standard piece of art as masterpieces in order to make big bucks within the first few weeks of the film release. It's high time for producers and directors to realize that big names alone cannot create wonders at the box-office. This lack in seriousness is the reason behind increase in piracy, reduction in theater occupancies and lower returns for distributors.

There are still some thoughts left which I will put forth when I get really pissed off again.

Good night!

Shane Warne - Triggering mass exodus

2010-04-20T22:14:00.006+05:30

Going by his words, Rajasthan Royals could well have a new captain in IPL 4. Legendary leg-spinner and Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne did not commit when asked about his participation in the next year's IPL, after his team's final match in which Rajasthan Royals lost to Kolkatta Knight Riders.

This would be a huge loss not only to Rajasthan Royals, but to the IPL, which has just begun to gain global attention. In the inaugural IPL, Warne led a league of ordinary men to the tournament victory beating star-studded teams like the Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils before overpowering the Chennai Super Kings in the finals.

Shane Warne motivated, guided and mentored his players, bringing the best out of them. He identified horses for courses and manufactured superstars like Yousuf Pathan. The stint with Warne helped players like Shane Watson cement their place in the national side. Warne, however, couldn’t repeat his magic in the second and third editions, with his team exiting the tourney without making it to the semi-finals.

Yet, Warne showed the world glimpses of what he can do. “Wanna create history boys?” were Warne's words to his batsmen after the Chennai Super Kings battered Rajasthan Royals bowlers to score 246 off 20 overs. The result, the Royals waged a brave battle and scored 223/5 when most teams would have faltered even before reaching half the score. He set extraordinary fields and started the trend of spinners opening the bowling.

It’s not the Rainas, Sharmas or Symonds that are the crowd favorites and behind the stupendous success of IPL, but old horses like Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble and Saurav Ganguly, and pensioners like Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

If others decide to follow suit, Muralitharan, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden could well be the next big guns to exit the premier league. All the three have been victims of indifferent form this season, though their teams have reached semi-finals.

For now, we keep our fingers crossed and hope these big boys return for the next IPL.

PS: Go Chargers!

T20 - Bowlers' Nightmare

2010-04-12T18:17:00.004+05:30

When it seemed the Indian Premier League was becoming a tedious affair, the Deccan Chargers’ victories over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Chennai Super Kings have made the tournament intriguing. Combined with RCB’s slump in form, Kolkata Knight Riders’ inconsistency and Kings XI Punjab’s late surge, the IPL, which has come to the business end, is really getting hotter.

The T20 format is very cruel on the bowlers. Short boundaries, heavy penalties for slight over-stepping and delays in completing their quota on time, and the big, heavy bats that help even mistimed shots clear the boundary effortlessly limit bowlers to mere bowling machines. Batsmen of the size of Goliaths and with the license to go for the kill right from the word go further add to their woes.

In short, the stadia look more like slaughterhouses with the hapless bowlers waiting to be butchered.

A couple of alterations to the rules of the game can make the contest between bat and ball more even and interesting.

1. During a reverse sweep, the leg-side wide should come out of the equation.

2. When batsmen shuffle, wide should be awarded based on the distance from the bat during the point of contact.

3. Whenever batsmen march down the pitch, the bowler should be allowed to bowl a bouncer (not above the head height).

4. During a powerplay, for once, the bowling captain should have the right to replace a bowler, if he is proving very expensive, in the middle of an over.

Hmmm any more alterations, I think, the batsmen would appeal in the International Court of Justice.

PS:The recommendations and the whole scenario remind me of the caste-based quota system in India.
The match between Deccan Chargers and RCB is to begin in 100 minutes.

The days that have gone by

2010-04-01T10:15:00.001+05:30

It's little over ten days since I blogged, and somehow the blogger in me was keen on taking a sabbatical for no great reason.

The last ten days were tiring with lot of activity happening both on the professional and personal front. I didn't concentrate much on the IPL too, except for the Deccan Chargers' encounters.

One of the most disappointing moments came this week when I couldn't help security guards in my office get a shade during the hot summer.

Moving on, tennis is all set to wed cricket. More than the wedding, an imbecile scribe's immediate question after Sania broke the news attracted me. The moron asked who would she support when India take on Pakistan in cricket? Of course, the tennis star's reply was on the expected lines, yet a fitting one.

I cannot finish my post without mentioning the communal riots in Hyderabad over religious buntings. It seems we still are living in the Stone Age under the garb of civilization. I strongly feel the government should ban all kinds of religious buntings, placards and posters, and should punish the violators severely. An interesting article in this regard has appeared on Islamic Revival. The reason for using the word 'interesting' is because looking at the title "More Muslim Blood Spilt in Hyderabad Riots", I expected it to be a provocative and anti-Hindu article, but it wasn't.

Updates

2010-03-20T23:58:00.000+05:30

1. Mayawati's multi-crore money garland episode is a testimony to her audacious nature. There was a hue and cry for three days and now everyone is back to watching IPL. That's what I call women power. Long live Mayawati!

2. The Andhra Pradesh government has been slammed for its profligacy which has resulted in a power crisis. Late chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy's pet projects Arogya Sree, Indiramma Illu and Jala Yagnam have been great money-spinners for the Congress party, said the Planning Commission. They should have been some feasibility study conducted before launching the projects. Anyways YSR Amar Hai!

3. An exclusive Telangana news channel Raj News has been launched on Ugadi festival. The channel will focus solely on the 10 Telangana districts. His Highness KCR, is probably be the mentor and the guiding force behind the channel. I reckon the channel uses neutral or should I say Andhra dialect.

Ugadi - My top 5 Movies

2010-03-12T12:33:00.000+05:30

Here comes Ugadi again and also my Top 5 movies for the Telugu year 2009-10. It's been very tough picking five good movies this time.

1. Magadheera: No second thoughts in voting this top movie of the year. Click here for the review

2. Leader: A good and a relevant movie given the current state of affairs in the country. Click here for the review

3. Kick: A typical Ravi Teja entertainer with great music.

4. Arya 2: I hated it initially, but fell in love with Allu Arjun's characterization as I watched it again and again. Devi Sri Prasad's music is a big asset.

5. Prayanam: A decent effort, but not very enticing.

PS: I am off to Kakinada and hence such a prosaic and unvinayistic post.

UGADI SUBHAAKANKSHALU

My Latest Movie Reviews

2010-03-06T17:33:00.006+05:30

I watched three movies in three days last week and here are the reviews.

My Name is Khan (Hindi): (3.5/5)

It seems Karan Johar has grown up. MNIK is a sincere attempt from Karan and the sincerity is quite obvious for most part of the movie. The director never goes off the track while narrating the story. The screenplay is very neat and the story sans melodrama we normally associate with any Karan Johar movie.

As described in the promos, the movie is a journey of an autist, remains a journey throughout and ends on a high. Shah Rukh Khan as Rizwan Khan reminds us of Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, and somehow he isn’t consistent. You feel and even notice the star in him dominating the actor in some scenes. Yet, he makes you feel for him and part of his journey. Kajol is very good as confident Mandira and suits the role to the tee. The boy who played the younger Rizwan looks very confident.

Ye Maaya Chesaave (Telugu): (2/5)

In cricketing terms, the movie is a like a bouncer that goes over the wicket-keeper’s head. Such deliveries provide lot of satisfaction, but only to the bowler.

K. Balachander might have heaped lot of praise, reviewers and critics have given it thumbs up and a section of audience has termed it 'classic', but Gautam Menon's YMC has nothing new to offer new except the heroine's characterization.

Huh! It was like watching a Christian Missionary channel and that too in Malayalam as the director focused more on educating the audience on Christian marriage rituals, Sunday prayers and church scenes.

Just after the first five minutes, I gauged the narration style and the pace of the movie, and alerted my cousin of the impending danger. True it turned out to be. It was a torture to the senses as the movie progressed at a rate that is slower than the slowest of the snails.

Funniest of all was the Malayalam song (Aromale) that runs in the background when the protagonist, who is a Telugu, goes on visiting places (where his love story happened) to write the script for his debut movie. Wonder what's the thinking behind using Malayalam lyrics. The audience was totally flummoxed by the end of the song and was writhing in pain. The makers could have flashed sub-titles for the poor non-Malayali Telugu audience.

I still cannot fathom the reason why none of the characters barring Krishnudu spoke proper Telugu. The hero's sister Telugu sounded more like English. Seems Gautam too has the notion that to be termed a class movie, the characters should make a mockery of the native language.

Yet there are a couple of scenes which stand tall among the ruins showcasing the director’s capabilities. The scenes involving the heroine’s brother are good.

The protagonist Naga Chaitanya shines in couple of scenes, but on the whole looks dull and boring. The director banked on a hell lot of close-up shots of the inexpressive Chaitanya; he seems to believe that the camera should be as close to the actor’s face as possible to be called a realistic movie. Debutant Samantha is the biggest asset of the film and is very impressive.

A. R. Rahman’s background score is like a cool breeze during hot summer. The background score as the heroine walks past the hero in their first meeting is simply mesmerizing.

Nagarjuna compared this film with his Geetanjali, but Naga Chaitanya is no Nagarjuna and Gautam Menon is no Mani Ratnam.

PS: Poetic narration is not everyone’s cup of tea as the margin for error is very little. It requires actors who can speak with their eyes. Unfortunately, the protagonist Naga Chaitanya is still a novice.

Wish my father too belonged to the film fraternity.

Leader (Telugu): 3.5/5

The movie had all the ingredients to become one of the best satirical movies on the current political scenario, but a pale second half, in comparison to the powerful first hour, cripples the movie’s chances of becoming one.

Yet, I strongly recommend Leader to everyone, just for the director’s sincere attempt. Shekhar Kammula’s Leader blatantly echoes the general feeling among the public on politics, corruption and political leaders.

The lanky Rana fits to the bill as the son of a corrupt chief minister. He has a great voice and is very believable as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company in the US. He looks super cool in suits. The young CM’s conversation with the seasoned corrupt politicians and the assembly sessions are treat to watch.

The movie takes off on a high and by the end of the first half, the audience is sure to feel ashamed of their political leaders. The second half, however, concentrates more on a single point and hence appears dull and off-track though the sequences are part of the lead role’s ultimate motive. The director also leaves a lot of loose threads - there is no inquiry ordered after the murder attempt on the CM.

It’s good that the director handled the issue of corruption in a realistic way. I liked the point that age-old occupation like corruption cannot be eradicated completely by one noble person, but requires a fresh set of people, who are led by a strong, committed and visionary leader, not a political leader.

The ending is the biggest asset where Rana accepts defeat, resigns as the CM and goes into the public for support.

It would be a sin if I end the post without giving music director Mickey J. Mayer his due. His background score lifts the mood in many scenes. The title song with the original version of Maa Telugu Talliki is sure to give you goosebumps.

PS: The protagonist’s attitude reflected mine in many ways.

oh my SACHIN TENDULKAR!

2010-02-25T15:55:00.005+05:30

This is just one among the myriad posts eulogizing Sachin Tendulkar's double ton.

It wasn't expected from Sachin Tendulkar, at least I didn't expect him to score a double hundred in a one day international, despite being his hardcore fan. Virendar Sehwag was the default choice to break the 200-run barrier while Tendulkar was expected to play a fatherly role guiding the young Indian batting lineup.

Yesterday, Tendulkar, however, chose to play the role of a big brother, protecting his young buddies and bullying the opponents. Once the South Africans were tamed by the master, the young guns too fired ruthlessly decimating the South African attack in Gwalior.

It was Tendulkar of 90s. It was that vintage, audacious and boyish flamboyance that people, especially who have follwed him since his early days in cricket, often relate to on hearing his name.

The innings is very very special, cannot be compared to any of his previous best efforts; back-to-back centuries in Sharjah, 175 in Hyderabad last year, 98 Vs Pakistan in 2003 world cup, and others.

This is a knock that mortals can dream of, an innings that should be captured on a DVD and passed on to generations, and an exhibition of highest quality batting. The knock is a Bible for all the budding cricketers on how to pace an ODI innings, resist the temptation of going after the bowling on a flat surface and build partnerships, and importantly staying humble.

People who have watched the feat in the stadium will claim "I was there!" whenever a discussion on the innings would come up. This innings would have given Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri - typical Tendulkar fans - the ultimate joy of their life. While Gavaskar would be proud of his disciple's feat, Ravi would have fallen short of words to praise the artist. It was fitting that both of them were present in the stadium yesterday and Ravi was doing the commentory along with Danny Morrison when Sachin achieved this milestone.

Take a bow Sir!

PS: Someone from somewhere will still say Tendulkar is selfish and is after records.

Hyderabad Multiplexes - A Review

2010-02-15T20:03:00.007+05:30

Now that I have visited all the 4 major multiplexes in Hyderabad, it is appropriate to compare them based on a few major attributes.

First, let me admit that watching a movie in a multiplex is pricey, yet worth for the awesome cinema experience they provide, right from ambience to air condition to sound and projection systems. Take a look at the following table comparing Prasadz, Inox, PVR, and Big Cinemas and let me know your opinions.

* Huge parking space for four-wheelers and a separate parking space for motor cycles on the other side of the road.
**Two counters make life easy.
***It takes a lot of time to reach the screens and the way is confusing too.

PS: The opinions are purely based on the writer's visits. The author is yet to make a vist to Cinemax.

Yuganiki Okkadu - Injurious to Health

2010-02-06T23:37:00.012+05:30

(Rating - 2/5)

I was teased by the trailers and intriguing posters. Though skeptical of Tamil director Selva Raghavan’s ability to create a magnum opus, I nodded in agreement when my best buddy invited me for Yuganiki Okkadu, expecting the movie would be at least visually enchanting.

A sense of déjà vu, however, crept in as the show schedule neared because of my bitter experiences with the recent big-budget Tamil movies - Rajini’s Sivaji, Kamal’s Dasavatharam and Vikram’s Mallanna (Kandasamy in Tamil).

Yuganiki Okkadu (Aayirathil Oruvan in Tamil), is no different. Imbecile storyline, unintelligent sequences and pathetic screenplay make it difficult to sit through the 160 minute movie. In fact, I am now concerned about the forthcoming big-budget Tamil movie Robot, starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai.

The movie starts on an interesting note where a Chola king along with his people is shown escaping to a distant place in Vietnam, after losing the battle to Pandyas. In the process, the Cholas take away the idol of Pandya’s deity and the Pandyas continue to hunt for it for centuries.

In the 21st century, an archeologist goes missing under mysterious circumstances trying to locate the Cholas, prompting the central government to send a team - led by Reema Sen and including the archeologist’s daughter Andrea, some military officers, and a group of laborers headed by the protagonist Karthi - to unravel the mystery.

The team has to survive seven traps laid by the Cholas to prevent others from entering their settlement. The rest of the film is all about the team’s dangerous journey to the Chola’s hamlet and the incidents thereafter.

The first half of the movie has some interesting sequences and subtle comedy involving Karthi, Reema Sen and Andrea. But hackneyed screenplay and some silly special effects, especially the scenes involving the deadly water-inhabitants, mar the progress of the movie. The scenes in the desert are picturized amateurishly and the make-up is highly inconsistent.

The second half of the movie has some stunning visuals, but again clichéd scenes and weak narration overshadow the special effects. The camera work is good in the second half post the arrival of the Chola king (Parthiban). The scenes are dark and reminiscent of movies such as Gladiator, Beowulf and 300. The narration of the scenes involving Parthiban is not smooth while some scenes are hard to fathom. There are some bold yet crazy and extreme scenes that are typical of Tamil films.

G V Prakash’s background score is brilliant but the songs are loud and hard to understand, thanks to the idiotic picturization. The placement of songs is not convincing either. Luckily, the Telugu version has only two songs, and about 15 minutes of the Chola king's barbaric acts were trimmed.

As for the actors, Reema Sen is bold, Andrea is sexy and Karthi suits the coolie character to the T. But, it’s Reema Sen in the first half and Parthiban in the second half who steal the thunder from Karthi.

Top 5 ridiculous scenes:

1. Reema Sen’s greasepaint is still intact even after the horrendous journey through wild forest and desert.
2. Availability of telephone signals in the mysterious land that is far off from the civilized world. Wonder which network is that?
3. The army using helicopters and reaching the foreign land (Chola's dwelling) in no time. Why didn't Reema Sen's team use helicopters even though they knew of the blockades? Also, involving army in the mission that involves slaughtering of hundreds of ethnics is hard to digest.
4. The climax battle between soldiers and Chola army; AK 47s versus swords and daggers.
5. Graphics after Reema Sen reveals that she is a Chola messenger.

Nonetheless, a decent attempt to raise the bar of Indian cinema, but I suggest you to watch at your own risk. Please refrain from taking kids as the movie has liberal usage of expletives and some erotic scenes.

PS: Tamil websites have given thumbs up to this movie. But after watching the colossal Magadheera and breathtaking Arundhati, and given the overdose of Tamil nativity, the movie is sure to bomb in Andhra Pradesh.

Padma Awards 2010

2010-01-27T00:56:00.029+05:30

First of all congratulations to all the 130 Padma awardees - 6 Padma Vibhushan, 43 Padma Bhushan and 81 Padma Shri.

What contribution has Saif Ali Khan and yesteryear actor Rekha made to the art discipline? The former is still is a struggling actor in terms of carrying the movie at the box-office alone, while the latter is renowned more for her voluptuous beauty and her role in the movie Kaamsutra. Their contribution to the field of arts (better to refer as movies) is no greater than many of their contemporaries who haven't received the prestigious awards.

Who's next? I strongly recommend serial smoocher Emraan Hashmi and seductress Mallika Sherawat for their contribution and service to the Indian film industry.

I should say it's a delayed recognition for music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, who is conferred with Padma Bhushan after 35 years of his musical journey in the Indian film industry. A R Rahman upgrades to Padma Bhushan after his Padma Shri in 2000.

A Padma Shri to Resul Pokutty post winning the Oscar. Hmmmmmm!

But the surprise inclusion in the Padma Bhushan list has been non-resident Indian hotelier Shri Sant Singh Chatwal. A close associate of former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, Chatwal had faced trials in India over an alleged bank fraud. He now shares the space with other greats.

Looking at the progression, it will not be long before we see names of Kasab, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mayawati and Bal Thackrey in the Padma awardees.

God save India.

Ramblings - 2009

2010-01-01T15:44:00.005+05:30

2009 was one of the finest years for me personally.

I restarted my professional career after a brief hiatus. Bagged two employment opportunities during global crisis, not a bad achievement at all. I carved a niche for myself with my first employer and left the company on a high. Also, it was a pleasant surprise to rejoin my old colleague.

My brother left for the US on his second company assignment and is expected to come back in November this year, unless I tie the knot earlier.

I joined my current employer in September, at the behest of my old colleagues. Great to be back with them.

My cousin landed at my place while hunting for a job. She has settled here giving me and grandparents great company. Dad completed five years of working away from Hyderabad, but the sad part is he's taken my mom along with him.

My best friend got married and will be a proud father this year. Unbelievable! This guy along with a couple of other close friends have upgraded to four-wheelers. Congratulations folks!

Found new friends and bequeathed some. I would like to add a few more moments here, but would like to share them personally. Doesn't sound interesting!

There were a few troughs too, but I don't want them to trouble me here too.

All in all, it was a fruitful and eventful year. I thank God for the beautiful year and hope the year ahead too will be wonderful.

I wish you all the very best and Happy New Year 2010.

Nuisance Channels

2009-12-24T16:23:00.001+05:30

They cross the line again and again, glorify trivial issues, create unnecessary hype, and yet go scot free.

While the ruckus created by the national media during the 26/11 rescue operations is still afresh, I am shocked at the way Telugu news channels are vying with each other to package and broadcast updates on the Telangana agitation over the past one month.

Meaningless debates between pro- and anti-Telangana leaders, clips of provocative speeches of peanut leaders, and ghastly scenes of violence accompanied by background score have been the order of the day for these channels.

The news reporters along with their cameramen seem to be omnipresent, ready to capture every movement. Gasping and panting they run behind protesters, interview them as though their opinion of national importance. They provoke, harass and pose questions with ulterior motives aimed at making the respondent utter something sensational.

Then we have the reporter reciting everything that we saw and heard to the news reader squatting in the studio. The communication that happens between the reporter and the reader is loud and miserable. On the lighter side, these conversations have been spoofed hilariously in many films.

For all such strenuous efforts, should the news channels receive a pat on their back? Of course, they deserve something on their back, but certainly not a pat.

Got it wrong again!

2009-12-12T02:08:00.005+05:30

Hey! It’s simple to get your wishes, how ridiculous they are, granted for the Congress government has become quite generous.

All you have to do is to declare your wish and threaten to begin fast unto death if it is not fulfilled immediately by the government. Please make sure you have sufficient followers or hooligans with some experience in creating violence in prime pockets of the city. Also choose a public healthcare centre at the heart of the city and get yourself admitted there. Let the technology keep you alive even though you don't consume food. Don't forget to release a few clippings of your hospital life to the media.

The central government will deliberate with the state government and will come to you with the news that they will initiate the process to fulfill your wish. The whole process might take about 10-15 days in all, which is a bit tiring but not impossible.

Sounds simple, isn’t? Thanks to TRS’ big enchilada K. Chandrashekar Rao aka KCR for showing us the simplest way to securing what we want. I consider him far greater than the first man who landed on the moon or the person who invented the wheel.

We should also be grateful to the Sonia government err the Congress government for its benevolence. Nobody expected the government to succumb to KCR’s blackjacking in a jiffy. It was a hasty and infantile decision which caused furor across Andhra Pradesh.

It’s a big disgrace to the great Potti Sriramulu and others who laid down their lives for a separate Andhra Pradesh during 1950s.

Simple calculations point to the opinion of the common public in Telangana. Just look at the number of votes TRS managed to register since 2001 in various state and district level elections in this region. The number has been coming down drastically, and in the recent assembly elections, the party was almost routed. Chaos prevailed after the elections and KCR stepped down as the president. Of course! he came back to power in a dramatic fashion.

Everyone in the state knew KCR was enacting the drama only to gain his lost glory. But how could the Congress ignore this? Or is there any other strong hidden reason which has motivated the party to take such a poor decision on Telangana?

However, the whole episode boomeranged on KCR and Congress in particular. With MLAs and MPs belonging to Andhra and Rayalaseema areas, irrespective of their political league, taking a U-turn, the whole issue is now back to square one.

The Congress has indeed opened the Pandora's box, allowing other dormant statehood movements across the country slowly regain momentum.

Oh! Telangana

2009-12-06T22:13:00.005+05:30

Is there any rationale behind the Telangana movement and the anger shown on people from others parts of Andhra Pradesh, especially from Andhra?

Can we really call KCR's a hunger strike? Is he anyway comparable to Potti Sriramulu - the great man (from the Andhra region) who undertook fast-unto-death for a separate state for Telugus, and in the process died.

KCR is being treated in one of the finest hospitals in Hyderabad. Doctors of the highest designation in the hospital attend to KCR and continuously monitor his health to ensure that he is alive. Outside, we see innocent people creating mindless violence and terror in the name of movement, and some dying without a reason or purpose.

TRS has turned into another Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS), but with a difference. While MNS campaigns for Maharastrians, TRS hates its own state members. What a pity!

The movement is based on the premise or should I say the belief that a separate state will allow the people of Telangana to prosper better and create better opportunities which are being robbed by people from Andhra.

This thinking would have been fair twenty years ago when government jobs were worth more than a sack of gold. With a huge U-turn in the state of affairs post globalization, where plenty of opportunities are available irrespective of region, religion and caste in private sector, and new sectors opening up, the movement seems to be nothing but a high level political drama created by a few vested interests.

There is also this debate of Andhra and coastal regions snatching away irrigation projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers that flow through Telangana. It's a big story and will deal with it in a separate post.

Moving away from individual benefits, a separate state, if granted, will definitely bear the brunt of the current crop of greedy Telangana leaders who will go berserk and ransack the newly formed state.

KCR has already amassed property to the tune of hundreds of crores in the name of Telangana. A separate state will make him undisputed leader in the region and provide him and his team, and a lot of peanut politicians waiting in the wings, with an opportunity to quickly double their assets.

PS: I am born and brought up in Hyderabad, but my ancestors are from Andhra. So who am I? Telanganite or Andhraite. I would love to be called a Telugu or a Hyderabadi.

Biiiiiiiig FARCE

2009-11-30T22:59:00.003+05:30

The whole episode was akin to a reality show where producers try to project scripted shows as real.

It started with huge hype and hoopla that would preceed any reality show, followed by a few unexpected turns and twists to keep the audience hooked, and finally ended on predicted lines.

I am referring to the drama enacted by TRS supremo K. Chandrashekhar Rao in the name of indefinite hunger strike for separate Telangana state.

He started his drama with huge publicity as though he was testing a nuclear bomb. On the D-Day, he smartly relocated himself to a jail, while his supporters, mostly students in University campuses in Telangana districts, bore the brunt of police lathicharge. Of course, the policemen used force only after the students resorted to some mindless violence.

More drama followed as the already depleted KCR adamantly refused saline infusion and pushed the doctors around away. He, however, allowed the doctors to give saline after a brief parody, and later took some fruit juice, officially terminating his 24-hour drama. His party termed this as an act of repression by the state government.

What followed was really heartning. The same students who even went on to burn themselves began lamblasting KCR after he called off his fast unto death act, just after 24 hours.

They all, at least now, have realized that KCR and Telangana movement are two separate issues.

2012 Movie Review: (Rating 3.75/5)

2009-11-14T22:49:00.003+05:30

In one phrase 2012 is a visual delight. Ronald Emmerich once again proves his mettle dealing with a disaster-based film and successfully crafts a 150 minute-thriller, after Independence Day, Godzilla, and The Day After Tomorrow. He succeeds in binding the audience to their seats to a large extent before fading away towards the climax.

It's up to you to believe that the world will end in 2012, but Ronald introduces us to the devastation convincingly, of course in a breath-taking manner.

The director intelligently links the destruction to man-made mistakes and uses scientific terms such as earth displacement, neutrinos, and solar flares to describe the catastrophe rather than discussing the Mayan's theory.

The special effects team needs to be given a standing ovation. The destruction episodes, accompanied by a superb background score, are a treat to watch on the big screen. The first half has the best effects and some leave you awestruck. They continue to haunt even after leaving the auditorium.

As always, with an oft repeated theme - the US /world in danger and a family maneuvering itself through the menace - there are a few deja vu moments. Such films with a simple and straight storyline are like an acid test to a director. The movie carefully juxtaposes emotions and the devastation, but it drags towards the end making the whole show look silly and ridiculous.

However, it's the length of the movie that can stand between its box office success and super success.

Magadheera @ 100

2009-11-07T19:41:00.004+05:30

All south Indian cinema records are history now with S.S.Rajamouli's Magadheera successfully completing 100 days across the globe in 223 direct centers.

The movie is India's biggest movie this year after 3 Idiots grossing more than 100 crore rupees and still going. The movie has surpassed Telugu industry's benchmark Pokiri (43 crores) in just three weeks and Rajinikanth's Sivaji (one of the worst movies of the decade, yet south India's biggest grosser) comfortably.

Unlike Sivaji, Magadheera didn't have huge expectations among the audience before the release. But the stakes soared sky-high after the audio release. The trailers were a huge hit along with the audio and created unprecedented curiosity and excitement.

The film, released worldwide by production house Geeta Arts (the makers of Hindi Ghajini) started with a bang on day one breaking records right from day one. Ram Charan Tej has evolved as the new Mega Star of Telugu Cinema.

The impact of the movie is clearly seen as the industry hasn't registered even a medium hit since Magadheera in 2009. A number of movies which would otherwise have recorded a decent run have been footnote to the magnum opus. Even Kamal Hassan's straight Telugu movie after more than a decade couldn't sustain for long.

Like Arundhati, Magadheera is sure to dominate the 2010 Nandi awards (the Andhra Pradesh government's annual awards).

The movie will be released for Pongal in Tamil Nadu.

For more details visit www.megafanz.blogspot.com

PS: Rajinikanth's Robot (Yentiram in Tamil and directed by Shankar) is the next biggest film in South India.

BSNL’s New Portal

2009-11-01T21:30:00.001+05:30

BSNL has moved its customer information onto a new portal, but failed to communicate this move to its customers.

Most of the users are still ignorant of the new web address

http://selfcare.sdc.bsnl.co.in/selfcare/start.swe?SWENeedContext=false&SWECmd=Logoff&SWEC=2&SWEBID=-1&SWETS=

and are wondering about the sudden malfunctioning of certain features in the old address www.dataone.in.

BSNL didn’t even bother to flash a message about the new development on its old website or redirect its users. The old website simply displays the following error message when the broadband users try to log in.

Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server.

New Range of Services

The new portal boasts of many new features. First time users need to register with the website to explore the new elements that range from STD code search facility to application forms and bill payment.

The request is verified and the user gets his confirmation via telephone within a week.

On the surface, the portal looks healthier than its predecessor in terms of looks and navigation. The Home Page provides complete details of the user’s telephone and broadband plan along with the status.

Generic customer issues are placed under the services section which includes request for new service and its status, register a complaint and its status, update contact information, check broadband and telephone usage details and others.

The portal also promotes BSNL’s new offers and recommended products along with information about various plans under the offers and info section.

Moving on the website’s weaknesses, there are a few glitches with the broadband usage details. Unlike its ancestor, the broadband usage details do not get updated immediately after the session and can be seen only after a few days.

The portal looks pale and sans impressive graphics or bright colors giving the feel of a typical government website.

It seems to have some rivalry with Firefox and works efficiently when opened in IE.

I am yet to explore the portal fully and would appreciate any contribution from my visitors.

It's Out Now!

2009-10-22T16:17:00.004+05:30

A huge banner put up at the Microsoft office in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, on the eve of Windows 7 launch.

Employee Pampering

2009-10-11T21:15:00.001+05:30

Straight to the point: Do employees need frills at workplace?

Frills include a/c cabs, amphitheaters, a number of restrooms equipped with plasma televisions that most often play to empty seats, closed windows and blindfolds, conditioned air, artificial lighting, automated washrooms, etc.

Of late, a number of companies (including native and foreign) that have expanded to major cities in India have begun to provide such add-ons, if not all of them. In fact, employers seem to be vying with each other to provide better amenities to employees.

So, can workplace frills enable produce better output? The answer cannot be a definite yes or no. They can help retain employees for more time and make them come back to workplace the next day. But for how long is the immediate question.

It’s often seen that organizations with huge employee friendly infrastructure too have high attrition rates. This phenomenon is common in BPOs and back offices of multinational companies in India.

Does the nature of work too influence the kind of accessories? A mundane copy paste job many require employers to provide heavier add-ons than a dynamic job – not mentioned deliberately.

For most employees, it is the nature of their work and the accompanying pay check that matters than the aforementioned paraphernalia.

No doubt, good work and a decent pay combined with such frills is a deadly combination. Alas! It’s a very hard and singular combination, says my experience.

Frills may not add much value when other important components like organization culture, nature of work and employee management are poor, but certain frills can create huge void if ignored.

PS: Work, pay and frills are relative terms.

National Awards and Telugu Cinema

2009-10-03T15:10:00.029+05:30

"Telugu films are being made lavishly but no film has substance to consider for an award," remarked National Film Awards jury chairperson Sai Paranjape.

Thanks for the compliment madam. But is this an issue worth worrying?

A popular local television channel presented an interesting case on this.

It said huge lobbying happens at the awards and Telugus are very poor in this art, which affected fate of a number of good films on the national platform.

Classics like Sankarabharanam, Sagarasangamam and Swati Mutyam didn't get their full due, though they bagged a few national awards. Kamal Hassan didn't receive national award for his roles in Telugu movies Sagarasangamam and Swatimutyam (India's official entry to the Oscars in 1986).

Prakash Raj, the best actor for 2007, was brilliant as a factionist in the Telugu movie Antahpuram, but alas! the committee wasn't interested in his performance. A similar role in a Bengali, Tamil or a Malayalam movie would have won him an award for sure.

This is one side of the coin. On the other side we have commercial and entertainers dominating the Telugu industry. Social themes too are narrated in a typical filmi style with songs, dance, fights and comedy sprinkled across the movie. In the process, messed up a lot of good stories resulting in sub-standard and illogical movies.

The situation has also to do with the tastes of audience partially. Patronage for commercial cinema is strong and unbelievable. Commercial heroes enjoy demi-god status and have huge, loyal fan base, forcing them to make movies to satisfy their rooters.

Classic example of this is Chiranjeevi's Rudraveena released in 1988. Directed by Balachandar, the movie dealt with many burning social issues then. Chiranjeevi, who was already the biggest star of Telugu cinema then, portrayed the role of a reformist and his character was devoid of any commercial lineaments.

The result: Rudraveena won a few national awards and was acclaimed as one of the best Telugu films ever made. But commercially, the movie was a disaster at the box office forcing Chiranjeevi to return to his domain - mainstream cinema.

General audience here cheer pure entertainment. Native comedy and clean family entertainers take top honors while racy songs and action sequences follow suit. Of late, movies providing grand visual experience are being embraced with open arms.

Films like Pokiri, Jalsa, Magadheera and Arundhati have generated millions of rupees while movies without commercial gloss have more often faced outright rejections.

The audience here encourage movies that are technically superior, contain good humor and present novel themes. Language is no barrier and that is the reason a few good Tamil and Malayalam movies (dubbed version) enjoy a decent run here as well.

As a common man and with the little knowledge I have regarding the award-winning movies, I would run away from most of them. I beleive, heroes or movies should entertain and recharge us whenever we are down and bored. I would opt for a racy movie like Pokiri to get reloaded than a national award winning movie.

PS: The much coveted Oscars too were on the brink of losing their identity this year, forcing them to nominate and award some trophies to commercial flicks like Slumdog Millionaire.

Viewership is minimal for national awards while filmfare and even the Andhra government's Nandi Award attract larger eye balls.

I am lucky!

2009-09-13T22:19:00.002+05:30

I moved to a new firm from DMV at the end of August, and I found out how lucky I am.

First of all, I didn't know that so many people liked me and really missed me. Some said bye with a heavy heart while a few brave hearts managed to stay calm.

Some said I brought a lot of positive energy with me and they liked being with me. They said they would seriously miss my pranks and nonsense talking for which I am notorious.

Even I miss the people, the firm, and my long and taxing yet entertaining cab journey.

Got a few messages wishing me all the best the following week as I joined the new organization. I got emotional and felt guilty of leaving them all, but had to move out of the company for career growth.

I am happy, in fact elated and proud of what I am. I might sound like an egotist, but since it's my space, I thought of sharing my feelings here.

PS: Most of them had one common wish - A job in my new company. Ha Ha Ha!

Mallanna - 'Mad'anna

2009-08-29T23:05:00.009+05:30

Rating - 1.75/5

Despite knowing that the movie has bombed at the box-office, I dared to watch the movie simply because of its visually-appealing trailers.

However, the whole movie was like watching a trailer - highly inconsistent screenplay and very poor editing.

A good film either deals with an entirely new subject or narrates an oft-repeated theme in a novel way. Mallanna (or Kandasamy in Tamil)tried to take the second path and falls flat.

Director Susi Ganeshan, like most of his contemporaries, tried to ape Hollywood / Bond style of film-making and the result is a haphazard screenplay.

Most of the scenes seem unrelated to their predecessors. Combined with illogical editing, the movie gives the viewers a tough time.

The editing is so fast that no frame will allow you to take notice of the location or the art details or even the characters that are involved. My eyes started to feel the strain just after the first fifteen minutes and the situation only got worse.

The movie can easily serve as an (the) example for budding film-makers on how not to make a film. All the departments, barring Devi's music and to some extent Taran's art work, failed miserably.

Devi's Mallanna leitmotif sounds better with visuals and his background score is brilliant.

Digital Intermediate is highly inconsistent and the whole Mexico episode looks dark and out of place.

Vikram is good with his hen-like mannerisms, in the lady get up, and as a cool CBI officer. Shriya is more of a vamp and is quite disgusting. It's good to see yesteryear Telugu actor Krishna after a long time while Prabhu is okay.

I still don't understand how an experienced producer like K.S.Thanu invested more than Rs.50 crore on such a weak script and the reason for the movie to take two years to complete. A far superior film like Magadheera was completed in one and a half year.

Yet, there are a few positives about the movie.

1. The Mallanna get up

2. The fund transfer episode

3. Mallanna's warning against silly requests

4. Titles Rolling against Mallanna's backdrop

PS: Watch Magadheera again instead of Mallanna unless you are a great fan of Vikram or want to see Shriya's skin show.

Magadheera – One hour of technical brilliance

2009-08-02T00:31:00.008+05:30

(Rating - 3.75/5)

If Arudhati has enhanced technical standards of Telugu cinema early this year, Ram Charan’s or should I say S.S. Rajmouli’s Magadheera is a perfect extension to the new trend of using technology to enhance visual experience.

The one hour post interval episode takes you to a whole new world. First rate art work combined with excellent graphics and superb digital correction make you sit and watch the 16th century A.D saga in awe.

The camera work by Senthil, who also worked for Arundhati, goes with the mood of the story. The stunts and action episodes are breathtaking, but MM Keeravani’s background score failed to match the intensity in some scenes. This can be the only minus in the technical department. I apologize for my comments and I take my words back after watching the movie for the second time. MM Keeravani's music in unmatchable. Background score during certain episodes - Charan touching Kajal's hands and during action sequences in the flashback- really elevates the scenes.

The other one and half hour in the move is okay with a lot of loose threads. However, the director covered it up with some beautiful love sequences between the lead pair.

Magadheera is a director’s dream and Rajamouli should be really appreciated for the making such a wonderful movie. Of course, the production house Geetha Arts for investing more than 50 crores in creating this technical marvel.

As far as actors, Charan is simply superb. He looks cool in long hair and cow-boy hat. His horse-riding sequences are a treat to watch - reminiscent of Mega Star Chiranjeevi. He looks manly in the role of a gladiator. The character is etched carefully and gives him enough scope to showcase his prowess in sword fights. His dances are too good and costumes very good.

Kajal is cute and looks gorgeous in the princess garb. The way she offers herself to the man in Charan is nicely shot.

The villain in this film gets enough footage unlike in many Telugu films where he is just limited to shouting and uttering powerful dialogs.

The whole auditorium went mad at Chiranjeevi’s brief appearance post Bangaru Kodi Petta song.

Direction by S.S. Rajamouli is inconsistent some times. He seems to have concentrated more on making the one hour period episode flawless, while ignoring certain basics of film-making in the remaining movie.

The comedy sequence involving Brahmanandam fails to evoke laughter. Certain graphics for fire effect are pale and Srihari’s jeep episode in the climax is pathetic. The scene where the heroine recollects her past is not clearly narrated.

Top Scenes:

1. Charan’s horse riding after discovering his lady love

2. Charan killing 100 people

3. Charan’s confrontation with Sher Khan

4. The race / battle for princess’ chunni in the desert

5. Discovery of the old sword along with the villain’s skull in the climax

P.S. Chiru still carried the same style and charm and the writer just went crazy in the hall.

Back to Blogging Days

2009-07-14T01:15:00.000+05:30

It was becoming increasingly difficult to blog regularly due to the odd working hours and increase in work at my office. With the burden now evenly distributed across the team, thanks to the restructuring going on, I can now breathe easy.

I thought of resuming my blogger days with a small sarcastic piece on Gammon India, the culprit behind recent Delhi flyover mishap, but didn't want to waste my precious time.

The first Ashes test was a very close encounter and such contests rekindles hope for test cricket, Ashes in particular. Hope there will be some stiff opposition from England in this series.

I am eagerly looking forward to Ram Charan's next movie Magadheera. The songs are brilliant and the trailers very intriguing.

My DVD Home Theatre system has ceased to function last week - a big blow to my entertainment prospects.

Above all, my younger brother is most likely to leave for the recession hit USA on an official assignment, leaving me alone for three months.

A close look at the post reveals that the format is very close to the structure of news pieces I deliver day in and day out at my workplace.

Now it's time to decorate my bed and fall asleep. Gud Night.

The Demise of The King of Pop

2009-06-27T00:56:00.000+05:30

My day started on a bad note. Heard from my cousin early in the morning that my favorite and the hottest pop star of all times was no more, leaving me dumbstruck for a while.

As a child I was fascinated by the magician's dance movements, his moonwalking in particular, and his ability to sing while dancing.

I researched a lot about this crazy and enigmatic personality while writing a case study - Michael Jackson, The Rise and Fall of the King of Pop - for my employer.

That's when I got to know about the Wacko Jacko's iconic and demi-god status and fall from grace.

The frantic US media has to be blamed for nearly 80% of his fate, my research said.

Leaving aside the nonsense spread by the media and people about him, Michael Jackson will remain the world's best pop singer and the greatest entertainer ever, at least on my chart busters.

The last five to six years had been very difficult for Michael, and was surrounded with myriad problems.
His death frees him from all the controversies, including the US media, once and for all.

May his soul rest in peace.

The Versus I Hate

2009-06-14T00:20:00.004+05:30

A few oft encountered debates that I hate to get involved in.

1.Veg Vs Non-veg - I am a vegetarian by birth and will remain a vegetarian.
2.Men Vs Women - Both are equal
3.Team work Vs Individual effort - Conditions apply
4.Seperate Telangana Vs United Andhra Pradesh -Always a united Andhra Pradesh. I am born to Andhra parents settled in Hyderabad.
5.Love Marriage Vs Arranged Marriage: Preferably arranged marriage, but not against love marriages.

People tend to go overboard discussing such issues putting strain on their mental stability. Even I got involved in some frenetic discussions over such issues without any point to prove.

So, next time you find people partitioned over any of the above topic, better stay away.

Oh! don't go without adding some more regular debated topics in the comments section.

Boring Boring Boring

2009-06-07T22:56:00.004+05:30

As said in the latest Telugu film Kick, there has been no real Kick in my life of late.

Everything seems to be getting monotonous - personally and professionally.

Except for occasional joy and laughter, nothing much has happened in the last couple of months.

Oh! the IPL was a fantastic event, forgot to write about the Deccan Chargers' turnaround.

Yeah! there have been new friends, some really close ones and some hopeless at the workplace.
Some accolades and some remarks (not serious), but the KICK factor eluded me.

Got carried away on a few occasions putting my close buddy in a lot of trouble; may be that's why this cold, cough and increase in my body temperature.

The rains have spoiled all my weekend plans to buy some trousers and catch a movie.

Like me, the post too seems to be going haywire.

Please don't advise me to get married or find a new girl friend. Some planets are obstructing my marriage, my horoscope said.

Any progress can happen only after this September.

I'm bored writing this too.

All Work No Play Makes Vinay a Dull Boy

2009-05-30T00:40:00.004+05:30

I have finally decided to stick to the 3-11pm shift for all the luxuries provided by my employer, of course for a price.

However, it's getting tougher and tougher at my workplace with hourly deliverables in place. I am unable to find time to talk to my colleagues. Agree that office is not a place for blabbering and chit chats, yet one should socialize in order to remain mentally stable. Moreover, you don't find colleagues at your home.

I am unable to meet my MBA mate who works in the same building but with a different employer despite heavy planning and the worse is yet to come: I don't have time to scan the office for good looking girls. Forgive me, I am unmarried.

On to a different platform, luckily there are a few souls who wish to socialize in the night hours despite heavy work. Of course, there are those eyeballs that are constantly in search for curious happenings around the office.

Amidst all these, I finish all my work and rush home at 11:00pm in the cab.

Love, marriage, relationship, blah, blah, blah

2009-05-24T14:30:00.004+05:30

The post has reference to a discussion with my fellow cab passenger recently.

She was frank in admitting that marriage is a heavy relationship and you get bored of it after sometime, yet have to pursue it for the society.

It's up to the individuals to make it interesting, said I.

I admitted that I had been in and out of a few love affairs which she termed as mere infatuation. I could get out of most of those relations because I didn't see any light at the end of them or may be I got bored of them quickly-that happens with me. And of course, I didn't proclaim them in public.

But marriage is entirely a different ball game. It's not easy to come out of it once you are committed and at the same time no point in continuing when you are not entirely convinced of the relationship.

This might sound strange to a number of people who know me in person, but I was convinced after looking at couples who simply drag their marriage just to satisfy their families or society, without having a purpose.

We ended our discussion abruptly as we reached her drop point, and so will I end this post as it seems to be heading nowhere.

Oh No! It's Congress Again.

2009-05-16T21:14:00.002+05:30

Huh! It's Congress again. Both at the Centre and State. We already had enough of it during the last five years, and the election results remind me of an old Telugu adage which upon translation says, "The Goat Always Believes The Butcher."

We were literally robbed by the Congress at both the levels and we have voted them back to power. Ppch! expect a few more bomb blasts and scams in the coming years.

I expected a serious outfit like Lok Satta to gain a few seats, but alas it didn't win many. Chiranjeevi was a big flop, but the biggest loser was Chandrababu Naidu, who partnered with awful left parties and TRS.

I am back to watching IPL and I am now more worried about the Deccan Chargers. Then we have the ICC T20 World CUP.

Spoiling the IPL Fun

2009-05-09T01:00:00.001+05:30

It is sad to see IPL commentators like Gavaskar, Sivaramakrishanan, Ranjit Fernando and Arun Lal along with the comic characters in the Extra Fittings program adding a lot of crap with their insane and ludicrous talking.

Sunny Gavaskar tries to make the post match presentation ceremony as short as possible whenever Mumbai loses an encounter while Sivaramakrishnan has only a few adjectives up his sleeve to consume . Ranjit 'Shivering' Fernando should have been left in an old age home. The only reason for bringing in Arun Lal is the cheaper price tag that is associated with him.

Their constant blabbering doesn't make much sense, leave alone offering insights into the game and analysis of the play. They are more worried about the adjectives to be used to praise the incoming batsman or the bowler or the owner of the franchise.

As soon as the camera focuses on a franchise owner, we hear the commentators, especially the Indian species, yelling, 'Oh! king Khan looks a worried man' or 'The doc is sporting a brave face."

This torture is apart from their constant uttering of 'DLF Maximum' and 'Citi Moment of Success' umpteen number of times throughout every game. Big thanks to Set Max for not showing Extra Innings during the seven minutes unnecessary halting of the game in the name of strategic time out.

To top this all, this expert team has been joined by another icon, Rameez Raja of Pakistan.

This IPL is clearly missing the likes of Tony Greig, Geoff Boycott and Richie Benaud.

PS: Harsha Bogle, Ravi Shashtri and Simon Doull are doing a good job, but Mark Nicholas is the best of the lot.

Working in an odd shift

2009-04-29T09:41:00.000+05:30

This post is with reference to a change in my office timings that adds a bit of more sleeping hours to my schedule.
My office hours is between 15:00 and 23:00 hours with a pick and drop facility provided. The new shift allows me to sleep for more hours and also take that precious afternoon nap. Of course, it's not entirely an afternoon nap, but a nap worth enough to be called effective.

1. 12:45-7:45 - 7 hours
2. 10:00-12:30 - 2 hours

Cab journey is something that is really boring unless you have great co-passengers, FM radio and A/c. Fortunately, my cab has all of them. Still, it's a long journey.

It's a bit odd to work like a batman in the night with only a handful of people around you. It's a BPO kind of experience which I used to considered the best shift as you get lot of time in the morning.

But you miss all the fun that happens at your workplace. You will only hear about the fun and not be a part of it. You also end up eating more.

Moreover, this shift has deprived me of posting regularly on my blog.

It will end by mid May and I will revert to my original 9:00 to 18:00 hours shift.

The week that has gone by

2009-04-20T21:57:00.000+05:30

Last one week involved lot of action leaving me completely exhausted. Started with inviting people in and around Hyderabad on my best friend's wedding that took place on 18th. Went for a big round of shopping at the Hyderabad Central just after the office hours. It was followed by the engagement of my friend's brother and elections.

It all culminated with my friend's marriage on Saturday night where I had a gala time. We started shouting political slogans on this occassion and it was met with huge applause from everyone except one big old man who shouted at our gang for not listening to the vedic chants.

In my new office too, things are becoming a bit interesting and bit hectic too not giving time to write something on my blog.

However, the big occasion has arrived. The IPL has started and it's started off well for Deccan Chargers. Hope they stand among the top four this time.

So, took some time to write this one and now I am feeling sleepy. YAAAAAAAAAAAwn!

R.A.P.E.

2009-04-11T23:13:00.002+05:30

Before you jump to form your own conclusions, let me inform you that R.A.P.E here is not exactly what a dictionary reveals, but quite near to it.

R.A.P.E stands for Ruling Against Public Expectations. And that's what has happened in Andhra Pradesh and India, at least over the last five years.

Without going into details of the unfinished projects, money siphoned to centre, high-level corruption, Satyam scandal, faulty government schemes and bomb blasts, I urge all the people in the state to vote for Lok Satta, led by former IAS officer Jaya Prakash Narayan and avoid getting R.A.P.E(d).

My sincere appeal to all educated young people across Andhra Pradesh:

Don't skip voting to enjoy the holiday on the election day, please cast your vote to enjoy for the next five years.

Problem with consultants

2009-04-04T15:38:00.001+05:30

It's not very difficult to comprehend why we have a lot of jokes floating in the cyberspace about consultants and top management.

You hire a consultant to solve or show you a way to solve your problems, or your company's problems. If you don't really understand the mess created by you, how is it possible for a stranger to put things in order?

Yet, some argue that if a doctor can repair your health, why cannot a consultant repair an organization or a process. Point taken, but there is a difference in the way a doctor operates and how a consultant works.

Doctor discusses with his patient, inquires about the problem area, and then tries to give the best possible medication. But a consultant's style of working is different.

He is employed by the top management, and so he works only with them. He gets a feel of the organization or the problem area, on the surface, from the top management and starts his work. He doesn't actually go deep into the organization, learn about the current system being followed and talk to employees, who, I believe, will have all the answers for the management's problems.

Most often the employed consultants don't have the technical know-how or the way the business is done in a particular industry. They have an MBA tag, possibly from an overseas institution, printed on their visiting cards, 5-10 years of experience in some industry, and utter some strong management words viz. processes, streamline, solutions, etc.

Without discussing the possible pitfalls in the current approach with the employees, they propose to change the existing system or process completely. That's when you see good employees leaving the organization.

The consultants are paid 6 digit figure salaries, and to justify the payment, they introduce time sheets, work sheets and other documents to be filled up by employees everyday, which consumes a couple of hours everyday. Some to go the extent of monitoring the daily work of the employees.

To cut it short, if you think your company is in a mess, talk to employees. Involve everyone, if possible. They are definitely gonna provide you with the solution.

Reasons why we should not vote for Congress

2009-03-31T20:43:00.000+05:30

1. They have compromised on the national security.

2. The party has a number of eunuchs who spend most of the time licking Madam Sonia's feet.

3. The party members attach more importance to appeasing Rahul Gandhi than to attending to any of India's major problems.

4. Crores of rupees have been siphoned to the Centre from Andhra Pradesh, the only Congress ruled state in India, in the name of projects and schemes.

5. Above all and importantly, they did not allow the second edition of IPL to happen in India.

Ugadi - My Top 5 Telugu Movies

2009-03-26T22:38:00.001+05:30

It's Ugadi again and I am here with my top five Telugu movies released during the last one year.

Arundhati: No second thoughts on positioning Arundhati on top of my list. With brilliant graphics, DI, screenplay and re-recording, the film stands out as one of the best movies in Telugu cinema history. Glam doll Anushka ki jai.

Asta Chemma: I was very reluctant to watch the movie as it lacked big names. But I ended up watching it twice. Asta Chemma is a low budget movie that has all the ingredients for the upper class. Everything about the film is good. The cast is perfect and the screenplay is neat. Good songs and brilliant comedy timing of Srinivas take the film to new heights.

Ullasanga Utsahanga: The movie has a simple love story narrated in a beautiful way. Cool visuals, scintillating music and rib tickling comedy make it a complete familiy entertainer. While the hero is a big minus, the heroine Sneha Ullal is gorgeous.

Koncham Istam Koncham Kastam: KIKK would have been another love story if not for the loads of emotional scenes the movie carries. The lead pair Siddharth and Tammana is bubbly and cute. Supported by superb songs, locations and photography, the movie is a feel-good movie that teaches value of love.

Ready: Ready is a typical Sreenu Vytla (director) film with loads of humor. As always in a Sreenu film, Brahmanandam (as Mc Dowell Murthy) evokes maximum response. Good songs, fast screenplay and neat narration are the plus points of the movie.

Other hits:

Though missed by a whisker, Parugu was a brilliant film with awesome visuals, racy first 2 hours, scintillating background score and songs. Similarly Hare Ram was a good attempt by Kalyan Ram. A better ending could have made Nenu Meeku Telusa a bigger hit. Bladu Baabji and Bommana Brothers Chandana Sisters were low-budget entertainers. Kotha Bangaru Lokam was a superb youthful love story with soothing audio and visuals.

Disappointing:

NTR's Kantri was a replica of Mahesh's Pokiri. Balakrishna's Pandurangadu was more of a soft porn. Nagarjuna's King and Venkatesh's Chintakayala Ravi can be safely ignored. Prabhas was brilliant as Bujjigaadu but poor storyline marred the fate of the film. Nithin and Ravi Teja bagged two flops each. Kamal's Dasavatharam started well but the movie went haywire post interval. Another big dud was Rajnikant's Kadhaanaayakudu.

That's my list of top and flop movies.

UGADI SUBHAKANKSHALU

Hi-tech worker

2009-03-19T22:38:00.005+05:30

As employee of a start-up company which was established in a quiet locality in Hyderabad, I was always fascinated by the hustle and bustle of the famed Hi-tech city area during my visits (for interviews). People are often confused with Hi-tech city and Madhapur. Hi-tech city (Hyderabad Information Technology City) is a huge structure built in Madhapur area and houses many reputed software and technology companies. There are many such imposing monuments at Madhapur known by different names - Cyber gateway, Cyber towers, etc.

After my previous company screwed up my life and after many unsuccesful attempts to join companies at Madhapur, I finally joined a new firm operating in one of the tallest edifices at Madhapur. Yesterday was my first day at the office and I was quite excited to have joined the 'elite club' of workers. The activity that takes place during the mornings and evenings is unbelievable. Transporters ranging from cabs to mini buses to autowallahs, techies engaged in endless discussions about their unfinished business, prospective employees engaged in frantic searches for their companies, laborers at the construction sites, a number of roadside vendors, etc., all make this place unique and different from other job hubs in the city.

It would be a sin if I finish the post without giving space for the gorgeous women. They are everywhere and affect our driving performance. Drive carefully!

Excerpts from Varma's blog

2009-03-16T22:37:00.003+05:30

The following are excerpts from two posts from Ram Gopal Varma's blog. The reason for presenting them here is that they more or less echo my opinion about awards and A R Rahman.

About awards

To start with film-making is a tremendous team effort and the Director can be the only person to know who in the team is contributing what, as their work is being benchmarked against his vision and requirements.
The irony for me is that after all the euphoria Indians had on Resul Pookutty winning an Oscar it does not even occur to them to ask what else he had done before this. It’s nothing to do with Resul’s contribution and my proof of that is I have not heard or met a single person who saw Slumdog and mentioned sound in particular until the time the Golden Globe gave him an award.
There is a live effects track, a dialogue track, an atmospheric track and the background score track of which only a part is due to sound designer. All of these are made to come together by the final mixing engineer to create the desired effect sometimes in consultation with the Director and sometimes without. Any person who hears the final output of the mixed track has no way of knowing whose contribution to what degree is creating the desired effect. The only person who knows that will be the final mixing engineer who will be deciding what to keep, what to throw out and at what levels they have to be played.
The attempt of mine here is not to undermine Resul’s work but it is to make one understand that Resul can do better work which easily can go unnoticed and lesser work can create an impact due to reasons unrelated to work.
I have always maintained that my successful films are due to my team and my failures are due to me alone. The reason for that is that each and every actor and technician are contributing their work and talent as per my vision and in many cases they enhance it far greater than what I had expected. The success of a film is due to what contribution the actors and technicians gave in addition to what I expected of them and that is why it belongs to them and the failure of their equally great contribution belongs to me as I failed in channelizing it to its intended destination.
It has to be realized that in the making of a film the technicians and actors are working towards satisfying the director, and the director is working towards satisfying the audience. So only by the sheer understanding of the mechanics I have of what goes into the making of a film, I find the concept of an outside body giving Awards ridiculous.

About A R Rahman

When I happened to listen Roja’s songs at Mani Ratnam’s home, long before the film released, I was blown away with the sheer originality of the songs’ orchestration and tunes. I immediately wanted to sign him for a film I was making with Sanjay Dutt called Nayak, and for Rangeela. But my investors preferred Anu Malik, as they felt the success of the music of Roja’s dubbed version was a fluke, and that this kind of music would not work in Hindi. The very fact that A.R was not signed by any top Hindi filmmaker after Roja is proof-enough, they reasoned. They said that Anu Malik was at the top of his form after Baazigar, and that we would get a much bigger price for the audio.
After telling him the story of Rangeela ... he went through the situations, the compositions he came up with used to surprise me, though not always pleasantly. That is because his tunes were so original in his interpretation of the emotion of a situation that a conventional ear will take time to let it sink in.
A case in point is the Hai Rama song where my brief to him was that I wanted to shoot an erotic number... and I was subconsciously expecting him to come up with a tune, something on the likes of I Love You (Kaate Nahin Katthe Yeh Din Yeh Raat) in Mr. India. What he came up with was the Hai Rama tune, which sounded to me like some classical Carnatic raga, and my first reaction was that he had lost his head. But when I kept hearing it, it grew on me like an obsession, and I finally said that we will go ahead with the tune even though I was still unsure, deep inside, of how it would fit into the situation. But when he finished the entire track with the orchestration it was beyond my wildest imagination that an erotic song can be made to sound like that. He captured the intensity of the eroticism and the purity of its feeling in the beginning alaap, the cello themes, and through the wild tablaas which elevated the effect of the images I created, many times more than what they would have been otherwise.
The moment they (many music directors) finish recording a song, most music directors forget about it and move on to whatever else they are doing. A.R invariably keeps revisiting his song and effecting changes onto them (Read it as sculpting and polishing). Until a time the tracks have to leave for the audio company, he treats each and every song of his like his own daughter whom he is preparing for a marriage with the listener.
Also, A.R is the only artiste I have met who does not have creative arrogance. I mean that he never defends his work if it were to be criticized. He was recording The spirit of Rangeela theme in Chennai while I was shooting in Mumbai. When he sent the track to me I didn’t like it, at first hearing. Not just me but the entire unit didn’t. As I was playing the spirit theme in my car over and over again, at some moment it hit me like a thunder bolt, and I told him that I must have been out of my mind not to have liked it in the first place. He smiled and said “I knew you would like it eventually”.
The aesthetics of his song tracks are beyond compare to any other music director’s. What I mean by aesthetics is, if the melody is the story, the various instruments and the way they are recorded, played, and their inter-volume levels and tones would be like art direction, cinematography etc.

Never Seen Stuff

2009-03-13T00:04:00.002+05:30

The Indian cricket team is on a roll and for fans it is festive time. With last matches in every series becoming a practice game for the new comers, the Indian team never had such dream run for this long. Though there were a few long, good periods under Saurav Ganguly, the brutal force with which the new team is decimating oppositions is something that was never talked about in Indian cricket, and was seen only in teams like the West Indies (in the 70s and early 80s), and the Australians in the last one decade.

Indians were always gentle in their game as were most other nations till mid-1990s. The slam-bang approach in the ODIs- started by Srikkanth and Navjot Singh Sidhu, promoted by Sachin Tendulkar and popularized by Sanath Jayasuriya - was always associated with openers of a few countries and a few lower order all-rounders. But a team where all the batsmen compete with each other to rain powerful strokes is rare and the current Indian team boasts of such a lineup.

Look at the lineup. The batting is led by the audacious Virender Sehwag, a synonym for demolition and currently the most dreadful opening batsman, and the great Sachin Tendulkar, who is never tired of sending the ball to the fence and ruining the careers of bowlers. It is followed by the short and aggressive Gautam Gambhir who also knows to play second fiddle when Sehwag or Sachin is on song. Then comes the young gun Suresh Raina - the powerful left-hander with a wide range of shots.

The real trouble starts when prince Yuvraj Singh comes on to the ground. No ground is big for him and the balls keep sailing over the fence at his will. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who sometimes is seen at number 3, was once known only for his bang bang approach. But with his new role as the captain, he has also learned to bat through the innings. The list seems unending with Yousuf Pathan, the new hard hitting right hand batsman, following. He is akin to Lance Klusener of South Africa and can spur the scoring rate at any moment. They are followed by the hard hitting Irfan Pathan, and Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who can bat as well. In reserve you have Rohit Sharma, touted as Tendulkar's successor, and Ravindra Jadeja, etc.

The recently concluded Sri Lanka series and the ongoing New Zealand series stand as testimonial to India's batting strength. Hope this team brings the World Cup 2011. Great going guys.

This is called WTF.

2009-03-06T20:04:00.002+05:30

Free color TV to one crore poor families and ATM cards to provide scholarships and monetary benefits to the poor, reads the TDP Manifesto.

"Ignorance and lack of information is the bane of poverty in India and I am confident to fill the gap by providing color TV to the poor to empower themselves with knowledge and end poverty," exhorts Chandra Babu Naidu.

Sir, there are a hell lot of other genuine and burning problems that need your attention. One crore color televisions will increase power consumption and make people lethargic. Moreover, people require basic amenities like education, food and shelter, not ATM cards. If you heap the poor with benefits like free or easy money, bank balances, land, pucca houses, electricity, etc., you are making them lazy and indolent. They will refrain from work and try to depend solely on the tax-payers' income. Poor tax payers have to feed leeches like you and also the so called poor and down-trodden. It would be great if you teach them how to fish instead of feeding them with fish. Of course! a majority of government programs will not reach the real needy.

Your promises and the justification provided bring your election manifesto under the WTF category.

It can't get worse

2009-03-02T13:48:00.001+05:30

Watching the ongoing Test series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is a big torture. The mundane commentary by the likes of Waquar Younis (with beard), Rameez Raja and Ranjit Fernando, sub-standard graphics and transmission by the Ten Sports team, empty grounds, uninspiring performances by the teams are making my viewing utterly boring. I don't even have the chance to shift to Australia Vs South Africa match as the greedy Ten Sports have acquired the rights of both the series (not to forget England V West Indies which runs on the same day from 7:00 pm), and the latter is telecast only after the former, i.e., at about 5:00 pm. It's consoling that at least India Vs Newzealand is telecast on Set Max.

oSCARS - A Slum Event

2009-02-24T12:29:00.014+05:30

"Ladies and Gentlemen! We are tonight's entertainment," declares a suave yet terrifying Heath Ledger aka Joker interrupting a party in The Dark Knight. But Danny Boyle and his crew were yesterday night's entertainment while Heath Ledger was watching the drollery at the Kodak Hall from far away.

Oh! 8 Oscars for a movie that would not have even won a State Award in India. Was it the real Oscars ceremony that was broadcast live on Star Movies or a Bhojpuri film award function? Where was THE DARK KNIGHT? These were my reactions after watching the Academy Awards.

My friends were craving about Slumdog Millionaire and even concluded that Indian talent was at last recognized. I just asked them to watch The Dark Knight, which had won only one award. If not for Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight would have been left in the dark. I had to yell about the sagging viewership of Oscars and desperate attempts by the organizers to revive the show's ratings.

If Slumdog is the best picture then either the standard of Oscars has gone down or the other movies in the category are even more pathetic. Accepting the fact that Oscars have, more often than not, embraced art movies and movies which are close to real life, it is hard to digest that Slumdog Millionaire which doesn't belong to the art category or even the mainstream cinema, was voted as the best picture. The movie deals with a beaten to death theme and comprises hell lot of glaring mistakes and surreal art.

The best director award for Danny Boyle has given me rays of hope of winning an Oscar myself. I will make a movie on the Telangana issue and show people suffering, yet speaking in English with British accent. I will approach Fox Search Light or Laxman Sylavania Tube Light for distributing my film. The timing of release is very important. I will start the process when I feel that the organizers of the show are desperate for improving viewership.

I am on the job right away!

PS: An insane quote from Karunanidhi after A R Rahman had won the Oscars. "I join 100 crore (1 billion) Indians and six crore (60 million) Tamils in showering flowers of appreciation with pure minds on this scion from a minority community."

Sakshi TV - One more feather in Jagan's cap

2009-02-21T23:00:00.000+05:30

Make hay while the sun shines. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of Honorably corrupt Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, is simply following the old adage. During the last four years, he has started a number of businesses ranging from real estate to newspaper using public money or money pumped by corporates, which are duly compensated by his father.

Marching ahead, he has ventured into yet another business. The long awaited Sakshi TV has been launched today with lot of glitz and glamor. Sakshi TV, a new Telugu news channel, is aimed to thwart belittling attempts by rival Telugu news channels like Eenadu and to sing praises of the Congress party and its achievements. With elections in the offing, launching a television channel is not a bad idea.

Months after launching Sakshi newspaper, Jagan is already mired in controversies. Moreover the feedback on Sakshi newspaper has been very poor and a number of paper boys have started recommending other newspapers in their quest for more commission. Now with this new addition, where will Jagan head? Will the companies continue their patronage even if the Congress loses the elections?

PS: Sakshi TV logo sucks. So far, TV 9 has got the best logo among Telugu news channels.

Azharuddin - On the right wicket

2009-02-19T18:18:00.002+05:30

Mohammad Azharuddin, the tainted, former Indian cricket captain, has at last found the right wicket to play. His decision to join politics may not have come as a surprise to many as it is where all baddies will end up finally. After getting thrown out of cricket, Azhar, who joined the Congress today, started an event management company and a health club in Hyderabad.

Looking at the current cricket players, who are earning like there is no tomorrow, Azhar's foul brain might have thought of avenues to gain money. As his batting, Azhar wanted it to be a smooth affair, and after consulting his beautiful wife, he decided to join politics. And what's more, he will once again start playing games, of course, a dirty game this one.

The party he chose is also one of the most corrupt parties to have ruled Andhra Pradesh. While the erstwhile Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu amassed properties to the tune of thousands of crores, the current CM Rajashekhar Reddy, has garnered myriad assets, which are sufficient for all the poor in the state to live happily ever after.

Experienced Azhar decided to approach the best and joined the Congress hoping to catch up with the young cricketers. Azhar's decision to contest for Lok Shabha opens a new chapter in politics. He can, for sure, be of immense help to all our already insane and corrupt politicians and teach them new ways of foxing people.

All the best Azharuddin! May you lose the election by one vote.

Innovation Secretary

2009-02-17T14:09:00.002+05:30

Obama Needs a Secretary of Innovation reads the title of a post by Thomas D. Kuczmarski in Businessweek.

In the words of Thomas, Obama include a new position in his Cabinet designed to sharpen the focus on changes needed to stabilize and revive the nation's economy.

There is a lot of action based only on guesswork, not on a careful exploration of what really is needed. In the midst of recession, companies need to innovate more than ever. Yet too many are choosing instead to hunker down, postpone investments in R&D, and avoid risk-taking until the market has stabilized. The companies that continue to build an innovation culture and make modest investments to keep the innovation pipeline full will be the ones that enjoy a big competitive advantage a few years from now.

Defining the process of innovation Thomson says, It can have just as much to do with rebuilding a devastated economy as it does with rebuilding a product line. It needs someone responsible for leveraging the talents, skills, technologies, and capabilities that we have as a country.

So what does an Innovation officer do?

It is imperative that establishing the Secretary of Innovation not signal the start of a new bureaucracy. The model would be similar to the corporate CIO: the person responsible for assembling cross-functional teams in the search for breakthrough ideas so that innovation is seen as an organization wide effort, not the product of yet another silo.

The Secretary of Innovation would help ensure that the full power of the innovation process will be used in the vital work of stabilizing the economy and for advancing innovation in the private sector.

Sounds easy!

My take on Valentine's Day

2009-02-13T23:21:00.002+05:30

I am neither an avid fan nor a vehement criticizer of the V-Day, but believe that it is meaningless to allocate a day for spreading love or expressing your love. This is akin to hoisting a flag to display patriotism during a National Festival and awakening your desh bhakti only after one year.

This day is a huge bonus for greeting card companies, gift shops, pubs and disco centers. With our X-gen and Y-gen going the US way, there is no stopping these mad fellas when it comes to spending money. May be the ongoing economic crisis should at least put a lid on their expenditure on this V-day. This day is also conveniently inserted in Indian movies to facilitate a few romantic moments, often poorly handled, between the lead pair.

As for opposers of this day, it's is not fair to allow our country men to work in western companies for survival, yet ask them to refrain from inheriting a few attractive and convenient practices like the V-day.

Hope a peaceful Valentine's Day celebration in India.

For some interesting facts about this day visit the following link.
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/boomerconsumer/archives/161916.asp

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-07T18:09:00.060+05:30

Just another movie

Leaving the hype and hoopla surrounding it, Slumdog Millionaire is just another movie based on the rags to riches theme. If not for the Hollywood names involved, the movie wouldn't have made it to the Oscars.

No doubt, A.R. Rahman's O Saya is one of his best compositions, but there are a number of his own compositions that sound better and passionate than Jai Ho. The background score of the movie is good but not the greatest. However, the screenplay of the movie is tight and ties the audience to their seats.

Slumdog depicts Mumbai slums brilliantly, but the story of two brothers, who have different outlook towards life, was a regular theme in Indian cinema during 1980s. The casting is good, but slum characters speaking in English is a bit odd. Of course! that is something unavoidable.

The film carries a hell lot of glaring errors that made my viewing a bit uncomfortable. Check them on IMDB website. The climax, where the show is broadcast live, is a big disappointment.

On the whole, Slumdog Millionaire is just another movie.

Nagesh - Timing was his forte

2009-02-03T19:56:00.123+05:30

Famous comedian and character artist C.K. Nagesh, who died recently in Chennai, was one of the very few actors who carved a niche for themselves in more than one film industry. Originally hailing from Karnataka, Nagesh made it big in Tamil cinema before securing a special place in Telugu and Kannada cinema.

Being from Andhra oops! Andhra Pradesh, I watched only his Telugu assignments apart from a few dubbed Tamil films. Timing was Nagesh's biggest asset and there were films where he appeared only for a few minutes, yet made an everlasting impression. One such film was Kamal Hassan's Indrudu Chandrudu where Nagesh appeared in climax and had the audience in splits. Similarly, he played cameos in Rajendra Prasad's Brindavanam, Madam and Brahmachari Mogudu, and Mohan Babu's Allari Mogudu. I still remember my grand father and my uncles talking high about Nagesh's role as a house owner who is fooled in Brindavanam during the film's release.

Nagesh was more than a comedian. He was someone who added a new dimension called comedy to a character artist's role. He was brilliant as family head in Toli Prema, One by Two and Subhkankshalu. He essayed a variety of roles from a sidekick to heroes - his role as NTR's sidekick in Vetagaadu was superb - to serious roles like the one played in Kamal Hassan's Professor Viswam (Nammavar in Tamil). His other major films were Kamal's Bhamane Satyabhamane, Panchatantiram and Michael Madana Kamaraju (where he played villian).

His death is an irreparable loss to South Indian film industry.

May his soul rest in peace.

Routine affair

2009-01-30T22:26:00.019+05:30

A few things that have become quite common in India.

a. Retrenching of employees by companies
b. Dipping of Sensex
c. Attacking women in public
d. Demanding CBI probe
e. Blaming the Congress govt.

Superb Sketch

2009-01-27T16:33:00.019+05:30

The following cartoon was published in Eenadu, a popular Telugu daily on 9th January, 2009, after Sakshi, a popular Telugu daily owned by Y S Jagan, son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, had increased its price by 50 paise. Incidentally, the hike came just after Satyam's scam broke out.

Ironically, it is the same newspaper that launched a violent campaign against other veteran Telugu dailies (Eenadu and Andhra Jyoti) nine months earlier, just after its launch, to reduce the price of their newspapers to rupees two; they were selling for rupees three. The two newspapers ran editorials justifying their pricing strategy and vehemently criticized YS Jagan and Sakshi for their undue aggression. The War of Words is still going on.

Coming back to the cartoon, it is one of the best cartoons I have seen. It sums up the relation between YS Rajshekhar Reddy and Satyam, and also depicts how Rajshekhar Reddy has been milking corporates in AP for funds to run Sakshi.

For non-Telugus, the jaded cow represents Satyam, Maytas and other corporates, the pot in YSR's hand is his son Jagan's Telugu newspaper Sakshi and the milk in it is funds. Here Rajashekhar Reddy is seen saying to Y S Jagan, "No further milking is possible. Increase the price of Sakshi."

Cartoonist Sridhar has been a great asset for Eenadu over the years, and time and again he comes up with some great satarical and decisive sketches.

All the best

2009-01-22T20:15:00.002+05:30

Wow! A R Rahman has triple nomination at the Oscars in the Best Original Score category and twice in the Best Original Song category for his work in Slumdog Millionaire. My sixth sense says A R Rahman would win it. My best wishes to him.

Wish the 'Mozart of Madras' All the Best.

PS Somewhere in India there has been a defamation case filed against the filmmakers.

Arundhathi - Movie Review (Rating 4/5)

2009-01-18T00:37:00.009+05:30

Watch the movie only in a 70mm theater equipped with DTS or Dolby sound system.

Technical Marvel
A 5-minute Arundhati trailer showed during the movie 'King' caught everyone's attention immediately. The visuals created deep impact and made me wait impatiently for the movie release. The posters further invigorated my desire to watch the movie termed 'magnum opus' by its producer Shyam Prasad Reddy, who is credited to have brought first rate graphics to Telugu film industry through films like Ammoru and Anji (which won the National award for best graphics in 2005). Though Anji won him a National award, the film bombed at the box office and Shyam lost huge money. However, it didn't stop him from producing another hi-fi movie and after 5 years, he's back and back with vengeance.

To put it straight, Arundhati is a visual delight. The excellent and intelligent use of special effects take audience to a whole new world, perhaps never entered by any Indian movie. The audience come to know from the very first scene that they are in for a huge treat and the treat gets bigger and better and by the end of first half, people are sure to wonder like Alice.

Shyam gets brilliant support from Rahul and Senthil. Senthil Kumar's Cinematography is amazing. Visual effects and graphics work by Rahul Nambiar are breathtaking and are on par with Hollywood standards (barring one or two scenes). Koti's background music and re-recording surprise everyone. He has done a superb job. Art director Ashok should be commended for giving grand backdrops that elevated the flashback episodes. Editing is slick. I literally doubt director Kodi Ramakrishna's contribution to the film as Shyam Prasad Reddy takes the credit for screenplay and story. However, he can treat this as his best work till date.

Glam-doll Anushka is brilliant and majestic as Jejamma, the brave princess. No other current generation artist could have rendered such royal feel to the character. May be Shilpa Shetty with her height could have suited, but again the emotions part would come into equation. On the flip side, Anushka isn't convincing while performing the drum dance. But the way she injures Sonu Sood during the dance sequence is good.

Sonu Sood as Aghora is superb. P Ravi Shankar, who dubbed for Sonu Sood, should be commended for the effort. There are many scenes in the movie where only the voice is heard and the modulation by Ravi Shankar is brilliant and sends jitters down the spine. Shiyaji Shinde plays another important role.

Arundhati is different and shows how passionate Shyam is about his film making. Squandering money in the name of grandeur is simple, but making the grandness look grand is something only possible for very few. Directors like Raghavendra Rao and Dasari Narayana Rao, who have made over 100 films and are now making third grade films, can learn the art of making big films by watching Arundhati. This movie should also serve as a lesson to directors like Shankar and production houses like AVM, who had spent about 50 crores for producing a mediocre movie like Sivaji.

For Telugu audience, who have got bored and tired of watching run of the mill stuff, this is a huge relief. A film they can be proud of. Heavy dose of violence might put off a few people but the film cannot be made without violence. The second half seems a bit lengthy but you wouldn't mind watching a couple of minutes more. Dubbing in some scenes is not proper and care should have been taken to avoid this. The last 10 minutes could have been handled more efficiently to give the movie a fitting end.

Top scenes
Anushka entering the deserted palace for the first time. Observe the DI.
Aghora getting freedom.
Aghora in Anushka's house before interval.
Shiyaji Shinde showing Satan in air.
Tormenting of couple at the start. The re-recording is brilliant.

Just Imagine!

2009-01-12T15:41:00.002+05:30

Rajashekhar Reddy renaming Satyam Computer Services as Indiramma Computer Services or
Rajiv Computer Servisulu.

Ramalinga Raju and his fellow cheaters starting a new investment company in the second half of 2009 or entering politics.

Film actor Rajashekar, who is constantly after Chiranjeevi, blaming him for the Satyam fiasco.

K Chandrasekhar Rao blaming Telangana people for allowing crooks like Ramalinga Raju to set up base in Telangana.

K.A. Paul, the obnoxious, foolish and loquacious talker, asking Chiranjeevi to distribute a part of his property to employees of the beleaguered software firm Satyam.

Two tales of bravery

2009-01-07T13:31:00.000+05:30

Tale one
The audacious Ramalinga Raju's startling revelations about the fraud committed at Satyam reminds me of my old employer where sales figures were often inflated by the sales team to garner immediate commissions. Of course, the motive is bigger here. Raju said that he committed the fraud out of fear of being overtaken for poor performance. In his resignation letter Mr. Raju stated "It was like riding a tiger not knowing how to get off without being eaten." Well! Why did you chose a tiger to sit on?

Tale two
South African captain courageous Graeme Smith played with a broken left hand and a sore right hand in a vain attempt to save the third and final test against Australia, despite having an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series. He was the last man to be dismissed six minutes before the end of the play.

Great Start!

2009-01-02T12:59:00.001+05:30

It's a great start to 2009. In fact, the new year seems to have inherited terrorism, more than anything else, from its predecessor. Three bomb blasts in Assam marks the beginning of the new year. A good beginning is half work done and the terrorists have started the year with a bang. So what are we up to this year?

Welcome 2009!

Ghajini - Hindi Movie Review (Rating: 3.75/5)

2008-12-30T23:02:00.004+05:30

Superb amelioration of original

When I first saw original Ghajini, of course the dubbed version in Telugu, I felt director Murugadoss had squandered a great opportunity to join the league of big directors. Though the plot is a rip off of Hollywood hit Memento, Murugadoss induced some native elements in the form of a breezy love story and adopted a totally different screenplay for the Tamil version. But the plot went haywire post interval and a poor climax further marred what could have been a very good experiment. This time around with Aamir Khan at the helm, Murugadoss rectifies most of his lacunae in the Hindi version and as a result presents us a good movie that binds audience for three hours.

I couldn't stop comparing the Suriya-starrer with the latest one right from the first scene. A few lead characters - villain, heroine and police officer - reappear, but the major differences are much improved last 30 minutes, brilliant capturing of raw emotions and justification of the title.

My Ghajini Vs Ghajini:

Aamir Vs Suriya

Aamir is better of the two in the patient avatar, but only just. With an eight-pack body to support his role, he got huge response whenever he displayed his newly developed assets. But Aamir looked a bit unconvincing as corporate boss and here is where Suriya overtakes Aamir by a huge margin. Suriya was brilliant, at ease, and seemed more natural than Aamir in corporate outfits. I cannot compare more as they have got very less to choose between them.

Asin vs Asin

Asin was simply breathtaking and she seems to have really got into the character. Her histrionics really take the love story to new heights.

A.R. Rahman Vs Harris Jayaraj

Harris Jayaraj's scintillating background music, especially the Ghajini leitmotif, was one of the strong points of Tamil Ghajini. A.R.Rahman though tried his best couldn't recreate the magic. He is a big disappointment in some scenes involving the lead pair, which were brilliantly accompanied by some great background music in the original. Though the songs Guzaarish and Behka are a treat to watch, AR Rahman simply failed to match Harris Jayaraj.

It was great to see Aamir Khan in an action thriller after a long time. The director should be commended for making the movie devoid of any South flavor (goons flying in the air during fights and mass masala songs). The director captured emotions with some brilliant close up shots, didn't introduce unnecessary elements and finally came up with a good movie.

shocKING - Movie Review

2008-12-29T17:33:00.005+05:30

Taking public for granted (Rating 1.5/5)

Nagarjuna's King is certainly the worst movie I have seen this year. The director seems to have gone crazy and weaved a storyline using main plots of a few Bollywood movies and scenes from recent South Indian movies. On the whole, the director has taken audience for a big ride from where it is difficult to come back.

Starting with a 50-year old theme, majority of the scenes are reminiscent of scenes from movies like Race, Wanted, Om Shanthi Om, Chandramukhi, Kondapalli Raja, Simhadri, etc. The story is very complex, the scenes are unrealistic and the climax convoluted. The climax needs a special mention. It ends abruptly and fails to clarify doubts created in the minds of audience till that point. The Chandramukhi spoof falls flat big time. The KING title song is heavily inspired from Pawan Kalyan's Jalsa.

Nagarjuna looks rugged and old. He can retire now. Trisha does her role with ease. Other charecters are just okay. Devi Sri Prasad's music is okay and the background score is forgettable. The camera work and art direction are very naive. Comedy is good in parts. The director was foolish to claim the film as his original work.

On the whole, it was a horrible experience watching King on the big screen.

The Fall of 'The Wall'

2008-12-24T15:37:00.001+05:30

It was really painful and boring to watch Rahul Dravid's struggle to find form in the first innings of the Mohali Test Match. Though he scored 136, he consumed whopping 328 deliveries making it the most boring test match innings I have seen in recent times. If not for the quick runs that came in the form of edges when he was nearing hundred, it would have taken him another full day to get to the century. These edges and a few attempted shots towards the end of his innings ensured that he had a respectable strike rate of 41.26 by the time he finished his innings. The commentators were yelling that Rahul needs to spend lot of time at the crease. Yeah! he listened to their advice and followed it strictly and in the process forgot to score runs. I was lucky that our cable operator suddenly became generous to give us Star Cricket channel and I happily watched the Australia and South Africa battle.

Rahul Dravid, no doubt, is a great cricketer. Perhaps better than Sachin Tendulkar in terms of scoring runs when it matters most. Technically correct and has perfect temperament to play at the highest level. But it is also important for him to assess his present form, his contribution to the team and the bench strength that India has. Anil Kumble knew that his fitness wouldn't allow him to play further and Saurav Ganguly was aware that he would always be under the scanner, especially after he relinquished captaincy. For them retiring when in decent form was the best possible option to avoid putting pressure on themselves and the young players.

One cannot compare Rahul Dravid with Sachin Tendular, who has the liberty to play matches that he wishes. While Tendulkar never has been in such a bad form even in the worst of his dreams, Rahul has been going through the roughest patch over the last one year, which may impact his career average.

Already, Rahul is sidelined from the one-day cricket team and hasn't been very effective in the glamorous T20 format. As said, there are a few events or incidents that signal the coming of an end of something. And I think Rahul's form which has eluded him during the past one year is one such sign.

I might have been a bit harsh in my first para, but I don't want to see Rahul being forced to sit out of the team. Isn't it time to reconsider your decision to continue playing Rahul?

NENINTHE - Movie Review (2.5/5)

2008-12-20T15:30:00.001+05:30

It's all about Telugu cinema industry

It is very tough to make a commercial movie out of real-life incidents. Shankar's Bharateeyudu and Gentleman and Late Tirupathi Reddy's Ganesh are some of the movies that were successfully crafted based on real-life happenings.

Puri Jagannadh, known for his stylized, commercial movies falls flat in dealing with a realistic subject in Neninthe. He is caught between realistic and mainstream cinema. In Neninthe, Puri takes a dig at the movie reviewers, film websites carrying gossips, die-hard fans and a section of audience who watch movies based on the reviews.

The casting is really good and the aesthetics brilliant. Unfortunately bad screenplay, lack of seriousness in prime characters and a few forcefully inserted scenes mar the film badly. He unnecessarily glorified cinema industry, where only a few make movies out of passion. Puri liberally uses native expletives, though muted, yet were identifiable. However, he should be commended for criticizing the fanatic behavior of fans and explaining how their hero-worship acts as deterrent to creativity of directors.

Ravi Teja simply is tremendous and sincere as the struggling assistant director, but one feels that his character was better etched in krishnavamsi's Khadgam. The heroine is okay and Brahmanandam's character should have been a bit more serious. Chakri's music is good in parts and the songs Krishna nagare mama and Oh I miss you are good.

On the whole, Neninthe is a nice attempt gone awry.

My favorite scenes:

1. Interval episode

2. Hero cutting backs of the villain's aides purposefully, and

3. Hero asking villains to scold him and not his mother and sister.

If only the King had wished

2008-12-17T22:20:00.003+05:30

King usually refers to someone with ultimate powers in a State. Within his territory, nothing is impossible for the king and everyone in the kingdom must obey him. As we know, with great power comes great responsibility and the state of affairs in a kingdom depends solely on its King.

Though kings are now non-existent in India, our political leaders, who are generally inaccessible to general public during non-election times, can be called Kings, albeit with some adjectives added. I believe they can be safely addressed as lethargic and ineffective Kings, who, despite being vested with innumerable powers by the Constitution, cut a sorry figure every time a mishap occurs.

Accepted that there a few issues that require intense debate and deliberation before arriving at a conclusion, but how much time will it take for the State governments or the Central government to enact stringent laws to tackle burning issues like terrorism, atrocities against women, etc. Of course, laws alone do not bring down the crime rate but they can be deterrents.

It is sad that a person who attacks with acid is sentenced to a few years of imprisonment and is imposed a nominal fine. The insane animal robs someone of her rosy life but is booked for attempt to murder and is awarded a nominal punishment. In the case of Manohar, the killer of Srilaxmi, a lower court ordered that he be sent to the gallows but the Andhra Pradesh High Court commuted it to life imprisonment in order to give him a chance to reform. Shouldn't he be hanged to send jitters down the spine of all criminal minds? In fact, human rights activists were howling against the death sentence. Huh! we need to get rid of these dented minds first.

Similarly a captured terrorist is fed relentlessly in jail. Shouldn't he be killed once found guilty? Why the delay and why the fail? Just because their (the rulers') near and dear are not directly affected.

The National Investigating Agency Bill, 2008 and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2008 that were passed today are just reactive measures. POTA was scrapped only because it was introduced by the BJP-led NDA and to garner Muslim votes during 2004 elections. The end-result, crippled intelligence network and handicapped anti-terrorism units leading to umpteen number of blasts across the country. Instead of apologizing for the terror strikes, Union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal shamelessly said that Congress had learnt lessons from its past experience in fighting terrorism. In his words, "In life, as in politics, nothing is static.... ideologies change. We all learn from experience,"

If only our politicians had wished for a stricter anti-terrorism law just after the 1993 blasts and a stringent punishment just after the first acid attack, the situation would have been different today. Once bitten twice not shy!

There are more such issues which need immediate attention. But let us wait for something worse to happen just to gain some more experience.

The Juggernaut Rolls on

2008-12-15T17:02:00.000+05:30

I remember reading the word juggernaut for the first time in The Hindu daily in its sports column a decade ago. The word was used to describe the then Australian team which was securing victories at will.

The same word can now be safely used to refer the current Indian cricket team, which has made winning a habit. Just fours sessions of perfect play in Chennai took the game away from a team that displayed ten sessions of dominance.

Set up nicely by the omni-positive Virender Sehwag and guided by the team's daddy Sachin Tendukar, the victory was achieved with little trouble. While Yuvraj can breathe easy now, Rahul Dravid might think of batting down the order, for a while.

As for England, KP and his team can only wait for the day of departure.

Coming Soon!

2008-12-10T20:39:00.001+05:30

I stumbled upon this interesting piece by Thomas L. Friedman on New York Times.

"Someone in the mobility business in Denmark and Tel Aviv is already developing a real-world alternative to Detroit’s business model. I don’t know if this alternative to gasoline-powered cars will work, but I do know that it can be done — and Detroit isn’t doing it. And therefore it will be done, and eventually, I bet, it will be done profitably."

"Our bailout of Detroit will be remembered as the equivalent of pouring billions of dollars into improving typewriters on the eve of the birth of the PC and the Internet."

He was referring to Shai Agassi’s electric car network company called Better Place.

"Under the Better Place model, consumers can either buy or lease an electric car from the French automaker Renault or Japanese companies like Nissan (General Motors snubbed Agassi) and then buy miles on their electric car batteries from Better Place the way you now buy an Apple cellphone and the minutes from AT&T. That way Better Place, or any car company that partners with it, benefits from each mile you drive. G.M. sells cars. Better Place is selling mobility miles."

"The first Renault and Nissan electric cars are scheduled to hit Denmark and Israel in 2011, when the whole system should be up and running. What I find exciting about Better Place is that it is building a car company off the new industrial platform of the 21st century, not the one from the 20th — the exact same way that Steve Jobs did to overturn the music business. What did Apple understand first? One, that today’s technology platform would allow anyone with a computer to record music. Two, that the Internet and MP3 players would allow anyone to transfer music in digital form to anyone else. You wouldn’t need CDs or record companies anymore. Apple simply took all those innovations and integrated them into a single music-generating, purchasing and listening system that completely disrupted the music business."

Right on the money Sir!

Transporter 3 - Strictly Nonsense

2008-12-09T14:13:00.004+05:30

Movie Review - Rating 3/5

Jason Statham is back again as the nonchalant and intense Frank Martin to ferry a Telephone Directory only to be revealed later that the object is something more valuable. As for the basic plot, it is no different from its predecessors, but this time Jason goes a bit overboard during the action episodes. He launches his Audi onto a moving train not once, but twice. This reminded me of Balakrishna, who powers a motorcycle onto a moving train in the cult movie Vijayendravarma. The graphics work is found wanting on a couple of occasions and the lapse is clearly visible in the aforementioned scene.

Three fist fights, three car chases and one romantic scene between Frank and Valentina (his co-passenger) sums up the two hour long story. The martial arts director needs a special mention for the way he used Frank's suit to throttle and twist the goons. What sort of fabric was that? This said, the movie is not completely absurd and the following scenes stand out.

1. Frank chasing his car to remain less than 75 feet away from it. The villain straps Frank and Valentina with an irremovable metal bracelet which will explode if they get 75 feet away from Frank's vehicle.

2. Frank's friend dashing into his house in an Audi car.

3. Car chase on the highway.

With more intense editing, the film could have been made more interesting, but this shouldn't stop anyone from going to the theaters.

King Audio - Occassional Brilliance

2008-12-06T10:27:00.001+05:30

Music Director Devi Sri Prasad comes up with yet another recycled album in the form of King. Except for a few sporadic moments where Devi gives us glimpses of his famed faculty, the audio is tame and would go down as yet another run-of-the-mill. The Nagarjuna-starrer is definitely one of the most anticipated movies this year. Nag has already teamed with Devi twice for Manmadhudu and Mass. While Manmadhudu's music was a class apart, the same cannot be said of Mass, which still managed to gain considerable attention.

Coming back to King, King audio stands very close to Mass and far off from Manamdhudu. You cannot entirely blame Devi for the poor show, because the lyrics by Ramajogayya Shastry are such a big let down, especially in Nenu Nee Raja and Nuvvu Ready, that they demand no great music. But Ghanana (Funny) version is a good attempt.

However, Devi should seriously consider changing his orchestration. As for the mentioned occasional brilliance, the song Ghanana Ghanana and to some extent the tile song and Manmadhuda justify why Devi is still the most sought after composer.

My ratings

1. King - 2.5/5
2. A to Z - 2-5
3. O Manmadhuda - 3/5
4. Yenthapani Chesthiviro - 1.5/5
5. Ghanana Ghanana- 3.5/5
6. Nenu Nee Raja - 1.5/5
7. Ghanana (Funny) - 3.5/5
8. Nuvvu Ready - 1.5/5
9. King (The DSP Mix) - 1.75/5

Why don't we act?

2008-12-04T09:03:00.004+05:30

"Why hasn't our Government taken any serious action against Pakistan even after knowing that the country has been sponsoring terrorism against us?"

"Why is there a huge security cover for our politicians while the common man has only a police station located far off from his home?"

"How can 10 terrorists create such large scale destruction in Mumbai?"

"Is it true that Hyderabad's old city has large number of terrorists from Pakistan?"

"What is Pakistan's problem?"

These are some of the questions posed by my 12-year old curious cousin after knowing that a few ISI agents managed to free themselves from the Hyderabad police. There were more such inquisitive questions from the kid who seemed keen on finding an immediate solution to this problem.

At first, I didn't want him to know that we have a highly ineffective and inefficient government at the helm and refrained myself from criticizing the government's abysmal performance over the years. I tried to be as diplomatic as our leaders. But, suddenly, I observed that my diplomatic answers were making him restless and understood that he was expecting strong dissent from a commoner like me.

His agitation was justified. His reaction was reminiscent of the reactions of people after hearing our Netas' platitudes post Mumbai terror attacks. I thought there was no point in screening him from the truth as, in his own world, he was seeing an inefficient Neta in me. Sensing trouble, I slowly divulged details of the state of affairs in India and his restlessness only increased. Finally, he got out of the chair and yelled "waste fellows" referring to our Netas.

Throughout the discussion, his only concern was 'Why don't we act?'

The answer is simple, India is a peace-loving nation.

I am sorry!

2008-12-01T19:31:00.000+05:30

The voluntary resignations that followed the Mumbai mayhem will not comfort any. The whole political drama is akin to brutally killing someone and saying sorry to the victim's relatives.

"I accept moral responsibility for the terror attacks," said Mr.Vilas Rao Deshmukh. At last, the gentleman has accepted that he is guilty. Then why should he not be prosecuted? In fact, a criminal proceeding should be carried out against him and the reasons for being inefficient should be made public.

"Heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders," said a shameless Shivraj Patil after submitting his resignation. If this is what a country's Home Minister feels of his only responsiblity, then I am sorry to say that we have elected a bunch of jokers.

We have another Mahatma in the form of R.R. Patil, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharastra. He made the most senseless and foolish remark just after all the militants were killed. "Such small incidents happen in big cities. It is nothing to worry," said the bastard.

Looking at the series of events over the past one year and the Congress government's chaltha hai attitude, the only question that hits many of us is "What next?"

MUMbai

2008-11-29T22:23:00.002+05:30

A few observations from the Mumbai attacks:

1. The attack, which is primarily on the affluent section and foreigners, seems to have given the much needed impetus for our lackluster anti-terror arrangements. If this is true, then it is sad that it required more than 200 people to lay down their lives unnecessarily to wake up the sleeping central government. However, I still doubt the integrity of our leaders given the impending elections.

2. Narendra Modi's outburst hours after the attack was far more determined and purposeful than the addressing of the Prime Minister or the Home Minister. In fact, people of India needed someone to stand up and speak as strongly as Mr.Modi did. Mr.Modi is no gentleman, but he exactly knew the need of the hour.

3. Mr.Shivraj Patil was not involved in the high-level meeting organized by Manmohan Singh today. Manmohan Singh seems to have realized that Mr.Patil can only do two things: condemn, and if necessary strongly condemning the incident.

4. The attacks also helped the old Pranab Mukharjee to awake his manhood. He minced no words while talking to his Pakistani counterpart.

5. More than our leaders' impromptus, it is the courage displayed by the NSG commandos and the Marine troops that has brought a bit of solace to the people of India.

6. All TV channels vied with each other to weave storylines and package them as attractively as possible. They should not have been allowed to broadcast each and every movement of the commandos as the pictures would be watched even by the terrorists.

7. For the first time, India has come out strongly against Pakistan for an attack. Hope this doesn't stop here.

8. The delay in Operation Swan, though mooted in 2005, has enabled terrorists such a smooth passage.

8. It's not entirely right to blame government for the ghastly incident. The hotel owners were asked to beef up their security by the Maharastra police and the government a couple of weeks ago. Further, in the wake of recent terrorists attacks on public places it was important for hotels and cinema halls to engage private security.

The list is endless. At least now our politicians need to keep aside their vote bank politics and frame some stern policies to weed out terrorism. However...

Apna Sapna Money Money

2008-11-27T18:50:00.001+05:30

If you think all political parties will unite to fight terrorism, please type yes and sms to XXXX

Send in your message to all the dead and injured in Mumbai blasts. SMS to XXXXXX

These are the some of the irresponsible and unscrupulous sentences that were visible on a couple of regional and national news channels during their broadcast of the scenes from the terrorists-infested Mumbai. How on earth can such bloody invitations be on air when people are in deep shit?

As always, a few enthusiastic desh bhakts responded to the mindless invitation and the result: a hell lot of messages scrolling at the bottom of the television screen. Nobody would venture to read those messages, but the sms would earn a hell lot of money for the channels and the mobile operators.

India is great!

Centralize. God Damn!

2008-11-24T15:04:00.003+05:30

Resuming from where I had left my previous post

You can now have your house warming ceremony as you are officially the owner of the house, but only with the Registrar Office. Your electricity and water board officials don't know about this auspicious event unless you have invited them to the opening ceremony. Your race begins now.

You need to submit papers to your Municipality or Gram Panchayat (in case of a village) stating that you have become the proud (or tired) owner of a house within their boundary. This process again involves money X multiplied by the No.of square yards of the land you own and some forced gift (bribe). The work is finished at their convenience.

Now shift your focus to the electricity and water boards to own the current and electricity meters. Submit the whole link documents right from the birth of the land till your registration and again go through a series of drills that they ask you to. Look for the eternally invisible person day in and out to guide you about the process. He takes his time and one day you suddenly notice his divine presence in the office. Relieved, you approach him for solace, but alas! he would only make the matter worse. He gives you a long prescription of what to do and where to go. Huh! the saga continues..........

Why isn't the whole information centralized and a communication is sent to all the concerned departments and make life easy for the hapless citizens?

The Information Conundrum

2008-11-19T18:33:00.001+05:30

This post has a prelude in the form of an ordeal experienced by yours truly while and after purchasing a house.

Starting with obtaining the EC (encumbrance certificate) from the registrar office by paying Rs.200. Assuming that he has applied for a home loan (as in my case), he needs to submit all the documents pertaining to the land along with the EC to the bank, after which verification is done whether the said property exists with the mentioned configuration. Forgot to mention that the bank application form extends up to 50 pages and includes approximately 40 signatures. Of course, majority of the attributes are filled up by the bank agent himself. However, you need to submit about 5-6 varieties of proofs to corroborate you as you. Then another gentleman from the bank would pay a visit to your office and inquire with your HR regarding your existence in the organization.

It's only in dreams that you get your home loan sanctioned in the stipulated time of 1 month. You need to call the bank or the agent at least 100 times to know the status of your application.

Once you get your loan approval letter, you can have the registration done at the Registrar office where you find hell lot of helpers, of course for a fee. You need to submit the helpers the relevant documents and a few thousand bucks for them to prepare the necessary documents. All you need to do is to sign like a dumb fella on the documents wherever they ask you to. A few hundred bucks will go into the pockets of the officials without which your file doesn't move an inch. Oh! there is another crucial step of paying the registration amount, arrived at by the helpers after some intriguing and amazing calculations, in the bank and obtain a DD before the signature saga.

There ends the registration process, but that doesn't mean that the house is yours. The tormentation continues.....

More in the next post.

Nandi Awards - Election Special

2008-11-16T23:26:00.004+05:30

The Nandi awards (for 2005 and 2006) ceremony held today at the LB stadum resembled more like a film actors-led election campaign for the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh. Most of the the recipients were staunch supports of the ruling Congress government and they have been bestowed upon with many invaluable assets by the State Government.

The timing of the awards is just before the impending elections and a few sops have been offered to the film industry. The venue has been shifted from Lalitha Kala Thoranam to L.B.Stadium to allow superstar Krishna and Mahesh Babu's supporters to pour in. In fact, this was touted as political debut for Mahesh. Of course, Mahesh has said a big no to politics and even warned of skipping the event in case of any political connection.

Now the real story. The winners Nagarjuna and Mahesh Babu, have a great filmy flashback attached to this. Nagarjuna has promised to support Congress in exchange for permission to raise a commercial complex in Annapurna Studios in Jubliee Hills. As the Government rule prevents them from using the land for other than running the studio, Nagarjuna turned to the ruling government for the favor. Mahesh Babu's father Krishna has been a Congress supporter for long and Congress has been desperate to pull superstar Mahesh into politics to negate Chiranjeevi and Balakrishna. Krishna has been awarded NTR lifetime achievement. Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam, a popular comedian and strong Congress I supporter, was on the dias right from the beginning. He was offered about 7 acres of land to construct a religious sanctuary by the government. It's reported that the land is under dispute.

With no actor from the Nandamuri tribe or and only Nagendra Babu from Chiranjeevi family present at the event, it turned out to be Congress show all the way.

PS: The whole event was shabbily organized. The anchor seemed to be in a hurry to rush back home to take his wife out for dinner.

Quantum (less) of Solace

2008-11-12T15:19:00.005+05:30

"Koorcho. Nenu Telugu lone cheppindi koorcho (Sit. I said it in your mother tounge Telugu) ," yells James Bond in the climax of his latest flick.

Like the poorly dubbed dialog, the movie also falls flat except for a few bang bang scenes. The movie starts exactly one hour after Bond injures and captures Mr.White in Casino Royale. The story takes a new trajectory when White escapes and M's faithful officer Craig Mitchell turns traitor. Bond goes in pursuit of Craig's employer.

By interval, which was forced by the theater after one hour, no one could get the crux of what was happening on the screen. By then Bond was already involved in three action episodes, visited three countries and the villain talked about toppling government in Bolivia. Most of our movie-watching effort went in remembering names of umpteen number of characters and countries introduced at will and wish, and one action episode erased everything from our brains.

Daniel Craig, with his pursed lips, looks rugged and wounded during most part of the film. The bond girls are as submissive as always, but the Telugu version saw most of the romantic shots getting censored even before they started. The action sequences are too fast to follow, especially the opening car chase and the boat fight. The flight episode is a regular Bond stuff. The climax is short and sour and the villain is heavily underutilized. Most of the time, Bond is shown killing people whom he is expected to submit as evidence and facing wrath of M, traveling from one country to another, and getting injured. Like in Casino Royale, the traditional Bond leitmotif is played only after the movie. It's only towards the fag end of the movie that we managed to comprehend the purpose of the whole attempt.

However, the following scenes stand out.

1. Action episode in Italy where Bond chases Mitchell, and
2. The opera episode where Quantum members plan their next move.

However, by the end of the movie White is still at large and Bond signals that he would see the end of all other Quantum members. Meanwhile, he also manages to get hold of his girlfriend Vesper Lynd's former lover.

All in all, it's pretty ordinary fare, watch it at home. (Rating: 2.75/5)

The End

2008-11-11T19:17:00.008+05:30

It's official now the The End has come for the Big Three. A recent commentary in Detnews.com has put forth a few facts that corroborate my first sentence. Excerpts from the column:

"Even if the feds pump billions into Detroit's automakers to avert a bigger economic catastrophe, the era of the Big Three as the Big Three officially died last week."

"Even if GM implements the planned operating actions that are substantially within its control, GM's estimated liquidity during the remainder of 2008 will approach the minimum amount necessary to operate its business."

"In personal terms, it'd mean you're mortgaged to the hilt, there's no more room on the home equity line, the credit cards are maxed, you can't sell the boat or the house Up North because no one's buying, your savings are dwindling, your monthly income is dropping like a stone and you can't find a second job."

Deutsche Bank believes that on its own GM may not be able to fund its US operations beyond December and that its death is inevitable. With the future looking bleak, the bleeding three can merge to form a Big One or, any two of them can unite to preserve some long-serving and illustrious brands that have made America and its citizens proud.

Saurav Ganguly - The Leader

2008-11-10T22:29:00.002+05:30

It's the end of a phenomena called Saurav Ganguly, arguably the best Indian captain. He might not have brought India the coveted World Cup, but he has taken the team very very close to winning it, importantly to newer levels where it was never before. He was the first captain who was a leader in true sense.

Neither Tendulkar's tons nor Kumble's wickets could do the magic that Ganguly's leadership did. As the leader in charge, Ganguly believed in the abilities of people than their resumes. The Dhonis, Yuvrajs, Sehwags and Harbhajans are all the result of this attitude. He replaced fear with aggression and always tried to give it back to the opposition. The increased number of wins against Pakistan post Ganguly's takeover as captain stands as a testament to this. The current Indian team's never-say-die atttitude and the unsatiable desire to win are all his legacy. He never shied away from calling a spade a spade and took a few decisions which seemed harsh but were just. He made a cricketer like Anil Kumble sit out during the 2003 World Cup.

You might hesitate to add the adjective 'great' while talking about his batting abilities or his conduct but would love to add a better adjective to describe his leadership qualities.

Now that the team is in the safe hands of someone like Dhoni, who was groomed by him, Ganguly can sit back and watch his team mates conquer the world leisurely.

Adios mate!

Andhra Politics - I'm loving it!

2008-11-05T20:40:00.008+05:30

American Elections is a thing of past. Forget Obama, Balayya is here.

The political situation in Andhra (please don't object to my use of Andhra for Andhra Pradesh) is as spicy as its famous pickle Avakai. Matinee idol Nandamuri Balakrishna aka Balayya has made his political arangetrum in a grand filmy style at the just concluded Yuvagarjana (meaning the roar of youth).

Unlike his father, the great Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Balakrishna is not a great orator. Though he carries the grace of his father, he hasn't been able to utilize it to the max. It's not fair to compare him with NTR, but of late, Balakrishna has downgraded himself by doing a lot of crap movies. Nonetheless, he has a huge fan following in villages and towns.

The sudden entry of Nandamuri clan in support of Telugu Desam Party is an attempt to lift the sagging spirits of the party workers after Chiranjeevi started Praja Rajyam party. As expected, none of the Nandmuri tribe members accepts this and retorts that they are here to serve the party started by NTR and make his dreams come true. Acha! These are the same people who ditched NTR a decade ago.

It all started with Chandra Babu Naidu's (CBN) son and Balayya's daughter marriage in 2007. Since then, it's all been Nandamuri's show. With his close associate Devendar Goud too joining the Telangana bandwagon and Chiranjeevi factor looming large, CBN had no option but to fight glamor with glamor. Hence, he tried to be a mediator to mitigate differences among the Nandamuri family members, especially between NTR Jnr. and others. Currently, NTR Jnr. has more following than any other Nandamuri heros, after his grandfather. However, a rift over allocation of party ticket to his close associate has made NTR Jnr. skip the maha Yuvagarjana.

Coming back to today's public meeting in Guntur, more than 10 lakh people attended it making it the biggest public meeting ever in India (as claimed by TDP). Everyone was uncertain over Balayya's ability as a public speaker due to his notorious past. But today, Balayya was close to his best. I forgot to mention that Balayya has got great voice and is famous for rendering heavy and lengthy dialogs in films.

He was successful in delivering what was expected of him by CBN and his fans. Ably supported by Harikrishna, who would walk past him to give the leads of the next topic to be covered, Balayya covered all the burning problems. Accidentally, he blamed the Congress government (state govt.) for the loss of software jobs while eulogising CBN for sowing the software seed in the state.

On the whole, it was a pretty successful and morale boosting session for TDP and would help in posing new challenges to Congress and Chiranjeevi. Yummy, the political scenario is getting spicier. I'm loving it!

PS: Balayya looks awesome on the hoardings and flexi boards.

Updates This Week

2008-11-01T22:36:00.001+05:30

It's been a hectic schedule since Diwali. Finished the sundry works at my new home and handed it to my new tenant. Watched a few movies and here are the brief reviews.

Chintakayala Ravi (Rating 2.5/5)
A typical Venkatesh movie worth skipping. A Karan Johar story laced with some scintillating music and America backdrop is what CR is all about.

Blade Baabji (Rating 3/5)
Leave your brains at home or forget that you have one for 2 hours. Blade Baabji is fun all the way with a number of regular comedians featuring in it. A Hollywood plot told in a typical Telugu masala style.

Nenu Meeku Telusaa (3.25/5)
Worth watching once at least for the out-of-the-box story-line and superb technical stuff. Manoj, who I used to hate to the core, has done a fantastic job both as the hero and producer. Scintillating music, fights and camerawork help in elevating the movie.

Meanwhile, it's Andhra Pradesh formation day and Telugu language has been awarded classical language status along with Kannada. The two languages now join the big league of Tamil and Sanskrit. It's clearly a political game by the Congress just before the elections.

That's it for now and bye bye.

Safe, Mumbai, 25 October 2008

2008-10-25T21:23:00.001+05:30

Namaste Raj Thackrey,

How r u? I am fine and I am seeing you daily in TV and reading about u in newspapers. What happened to you? Why did you beat so many examination candidates from North India? That severe beating is not good at all and is very painful. See now what happened to you. There is God in sky and he will not leave you.

In 1960's, some Bombay people were against South Indians and now you are against North Indians. We are not saying anything to your Maharashtra people who are living in other country parts and even in our locality. Then why are you doing bad things to us? We all are Indians and Gandhiji told us that we can live in any part of this country. You are also talking bad against big star Amitabh Bachchan. Please change your behavior and become a good man.

There is another fellow with same mind called K Chandrasekhar Rao in Andhra Pradesh. He is also telling the same thing to people who are not born in Telangana. He is against people from Andhra area and is asking a separate State. I don't like him also. If you meet him tell him that I told him all these. We are already having lot of problems from outsiders like Pakistan is sending terrorists, America is falling, etc. If we create more internal problems like this, they will easily win against us.

So please don't get angry and be happy. If you are good then good will happen to you.Wish you happy Deepawali.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Shanthi Swaroop
from Mumbai slum area
(original home in Uttar Pradesh)

Punting the Punter

2008-10-21T20:28:00.002+05:30

It's not very often that you find Punter Ponting at the receiving end. But Dhoni and his team produced a result at Chandighar that Ponting would love to forget when he wakes up tomorrow. More than the loss, the manner in which the visitors were dominated should tease the effervescent Aussie media back home. I doubt if Ponting would dare to pick up a newspaper or check his e-mail or visit any sports website within the next few days.

Ponting and his team, in fact the Kangaroos, are known for playing mind games, nicknamed 'tough cricket' by the Australians themselves. But everyone knows what happens on field. Ably supported by its media, the Australians choose a few key players from the touring team and concentrate on diverting their attention through constant sledging, nagging and howling expletives. Better to say the select few are punted down under. This is more rampant whenever the touring team happens to be from the sub-continent. In my memory, Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh top the list of the most suffered players from the sub-continent. Now it's time for Mr. Punter to be on the receiving end, not because the Indians have become masters of sledging but they are playing some outstanding cricket.

The heavy defeat took its toll on Ponting, who complained during the post-match conference that Indian players indulged in heavy sledging and warned them to mend their ways. He suddenly seems to have become a disciple of Pope Benedict. I am keen to see how the Australian press will react to this and project it as the reason for the Australian defeat.

All in all, it's been an intriguing test match and kudos to Indian team.

Is he the best batsman ever?

2008-10-18T21:01:00.000+05:30

Crossing Lara's landmark was sure to happen. But the debate, as always, is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar the best batsman ever to have played cricket?

One needs to take into account a hell lot of factors when comparing Sachin with yesteryear players or his contemporaries. Be it crowd's expectations or the game's popularity in this part of the world or his own standards, all weigh more on Sachin than his cricketing gear. I think it would be a sin to compare him with someone as Sachin has transcended a number of heroes of Indian cricket to achieve a demi-god status.

Personally, I believe, Sachin is the best one-day player far ahead of any of his coevals. But in test matches, I'm not sure whether he would make it to the top five.

My Experience Says...

2008-10-15T20:38:00.001+05:30

Dear children, I will now teach you how to destroy a start up company that is destined to do well, really well.

1. Never try to understand your business model. Don't get your basics right.

2. Have no goals and long-term strategies. Think only about short-term gains and quick money.

3. Never think about improving or stabilizing your existing products. Just ignore.

4. Start working on products that are related to your existing business but which require huge investment and manpower. This should be done even when you know that you don't have sufficient funds.

5. Bring in all your friends and relatives into the company without thinking of their relevance to the organization and their strategic fit (Don't forget to pay them well.).

6. Make it a habit to listen to them and believe them more than your older employees.

7. Fall for employees who are con men and swindlers and handover all your crucial data to them.

8. Conduct team meetings and listen patiently to all the business inputs given by the experienced employees. Sounding odd. Read it again, it says listen, just listen and only listen.

9. Don't try to put processes in place as they would make life easy for your employees and might prompt them to stay with the company for long.

10. Propagate that your company is growing, spend lakhs of rupees on hiring new people, put them under your wily friends as part of their probation, tease and torment them and finally throw them out of the organization. This will help you in securing negative publicity about the company quickly.

11. Ask dogs to carry loads and donkeys to bark.

12. Never speak to your employees when the company is not doing well. Instead, sack people mercilessly and still expect others to remain loyal to you.

So children, hope you have learnt a few vital tips on how to ruin a company's future. Now it's your turn to identify a few companies that have followed the above tips strictly and got the fruits.

Readers are welcome to post their tips for the children.

US English Vs British English

2008-10-03T22:35:00.006+05:30

This is an oft debated topic among the editorial circles. While some publishers have either conveniently or deliberately or rather forcefully chosen US English (referred as the corrupt version) in the interests of larger audience, there are a few purists who are following the British format (referred as the correct version), occasionally criticizing the former.

As a school kid, I always wondered why there were unnecessary letters put in a number of words. It doesn't damage if you ignore me from programme and similarly u from colour. Even my English teacher used to pass that question and continued teaching the purists way.

Globalization further complicated things when I started finding American spellings in a few books, especially computer science books. I approached my English lecturer who introduced me to American English and said that's not accepted in India. I was fascinated by the amount of customization done by the Americans and started developing a special liking for it. Since then I struggled with the placement of s and z in a number of words, until I joined my first job.

My first job as Research Associate at Icfai Center for Management Research wanted me to employ US English. Microsoft Word and access to the Internet made my job easier and I started using American English everywhere.

My next job at the recently demised Ochre Media Pvt. Ltd (erstwhile SPG Media Pvt. Ltd.) demanded that I use British English though a majority of our clients resided in North America. To persuade my penchant for American English, I have been incorporating as many American spellings as possible in my blog. Of course, I used to deliberately ignore a few American spellings at my workplace which were often identified and rectified by my colleague Ramakrishna Sadhu, a member of purists school .

Christian Comedy

2008-09-30T17:41:00.007+05:30

I was going through an interview on Rediff on the recent attacks on Christians. In one of the comments, a guy mentioned a book by name 'Death of a Guru' by Rabi Maharaj. Curious to know the reason why Rabi Maharaj had embraced Christianity, I searched Google and got the abstract.The first incident which changed his outlook (in fact, read it as first seed of hatred towards Hinduism) was as follows:

"While vacationing at an Aunt's ranch, I had my first real encounter with Jesus. I was walking along enjoying nature one day and was startled by a rustling sound in the underbrush behind me. I turned quickly and, to my horror, saw a large snake coming directly toward me -- its beady eyes staring intently into mine. I felt paralyzed, wanting desperately to run but unable to move.

In that moment of frozen terror, out of the past came my mother's voice, repeating words I had long forgotten: "Rabi, if ever you're in real danger and nothing else seems to work, there's another god you can pray to. His name is Jesus."

"Jesus! Help me!" I tried to yell, but the desperate cry was choked and hardly audible.

To my astonishment, the snake turned around and quickly wriggled off into the underbrush. Breathless and still trembling, I was filled with wondering gratitude to this amazing god, Jesus. Why had my mother not taught me more about him?

Awesome! A fairy tale worth million dollars. I was on the floor laughing out loudly after reading the abstract. Guru (errr... Pastor) might have got influenced by age old Bollywood movies, tried to become protagonist and hence weaved a great storyline. I know all Christian stories are aimed at creating hatred against Hinduism and at magnifying Jesus, who in fact considered a representative of Lord Krishna. For more shit from the pastor visit

http://www.southasianconnection.com/articles/24/1/Death-of-a-Guru---The-Story-of-Rabi-Maharaj/Page1.html

When you do that, please do read comment 1 just below the post.

From my side, a few straight forward questions to Indian Christians (once
Hindus):

1. If Jesus is the only God, how could civilization exist before Christ?
2. Why do you market your religion like a consumer product?
3. Why do you bring the money quotient into religion?
4. Even after getting converted, why most of you don't remove the Hindu caste tag from your name?

I think newspapers and televisions, which usually are after exposing fake Hindu Sadhus and con man, should try their hand to bring out various ways adopted by Christian Missionaries to convert people in the name of charity.

The whole efforts of Christians in India can be great marketing lessons for MBAs, and Philip Kotler can learn a few tips too.

Dear Audience, Await Your Turn!

2008-09-27T18:35:00.005+05:30

This has become a joke. Like a new film release, we are witnessing a fresh bomb blast every week in some metro in India. More than experiencing terror, I was laughing at myself, the people of this country and the eunuchs heading the country's home department. In fact, I changed the news channel telecasting the ghastly scenes of the Delhi blasts and started watching a Telugu comedy film.

I know it's easy to blame the Government for such incidents and any layman would do that first. But it's become a regular affair and the central government doesn't seem to have got any answer for this menace. Clearly a case of vote bank politics. And I would love to see this ineffective, inefficient government bite the dust in the next polls.

Coming back to my reaction, we have surrendered ourselves to the insane creatures, who are planting bombs as though they are in a competition. Given the situation, as commoners, we are like a herd of cattle waiting to get slaughtered.

Just wait for your turn! All the best.

Raksha Vs JVV

2008-09-24T19:43:00.010+05:30

Ram Gopal Varma seems to continue his honeymoon with social organizations in Hyderabad. While his previous Telugu film "Madhyannam Hatya" (Murder at Noon) attracted the wrath of women organizations, his recent film on black magic, Raksha, has come under fire from Jana Vignana Vedika (JVV). Ramu directed the former, but only presented Raksha. Raksha, the Telugu version of Phoonk, is directed by Vamsikrishna Akella, who had approached Varma with the basic plot.

JVV, which strives to eliminate superstitions and promote the use of science and technology among people, contends that such movies give unnecessary glorification to social evils like black magic which will have a negative impact on people, especially living in remote villages. Incidentally, there have been reports about people being killed on the suspicion that they were practicing black magic in remote villages of Andhra Pradesh.

JVV found fault with the film's promotional caption "Meeku Eppudyna Chetabadi Jarigindaa?" which upon loose translation reads, "Have you ever been a victim of Black Magic?" The hoardings of Madhyannam Hatya too were on the same lines. The wall posters bore the tagline "Meekeppudynaa Mee Bhaarya Chachipothe Baagundanipinchindaa?" ("Did you ever wish your wife were dead?).

I don't know how this was offensive advertising, but women activists were furious about the tag line and howled that Varma was publicly glamorizing crime against women. Coming back to Raksha, a member of JVV criticized Varma for considering an evil theme for making a film and magnifying its impact. He vehemently opposed casting a small girl and throwing her up and down from the bed in one of the shots. He felt that censor board had lost its senses and called for imposing ban on such movies. He openly challenged that he would give 10 lakh rupees if Varma or his crew members proved that black magic exists.

I don't know how such hoardings and films impact common audience, but it is sheer waste of time debating on such issues. If you want to ban such movies then you should also ban newspapers and channels reporting crime news. As part of marketing, I believe, you can use such means to arouse curiosity. Moreover, if people are really influenced by movies, why don't we get inspired and do everything that is showed in a movie. Commenting on the same, Varma asked why small families didn’t unite after watching Hum Apke Hain Kaun or a hell lot of family dramas that followed. If a person can get influenced by a movie then he can be influenced by anything and everything. You are right Mr.Varma, I fully endorse you.

Just imagine how it would be if such a public forum existed in America.

Finally, JVV, if you hate or fear such movies, better stay away from them, but don't spoil our entertainment.

Proofreading

2008-09-22T17:36:00.002+05:30

Dailywritingtips.com featured a post on proofreading techniques, which are widely known, but seldom followed. I stumbled upon a grave mistake in the subscription form of Filmfare magazine which read, "Subscribe Filmfare and get 20 DVD's free".

Moving ahead, just to remind myself and all others involved in proofreading activity, here are the points taken from the website.

1. Concentration is key: The most important point which is often ignored at my workplace.
2. Put it on paper: I avoid this just to avoid using paper.
3. Watch out for Homonyms
4. Watch out for contractions and apostrophes: These are the most abused items while proofreading.
5. Check the punctuation:
6. Read it backwards: I never did it.
7. Check the numbers: Ignore them at your peril.
8. Get someone else to proofread it: Most often taken in negative sense by many.

Bye Bye Mate!

2008-09-20T23:42:00.006+05:30

My deep condolences to the family of Mohan Chand Sharma, who died after a fierce encounter with terrorists.

On one hand we have innocent people dying without knowing the reason for their death and on the other we have brave soldiers and policemen sacrificing their lives for the country.

Whose fault is this anyway? Is it our inefficient government's or ours or the system's? The bomb blasts have become very common, a la husband-wife spats. We have our beloved home minister Shiv Raj Patil yet to announce anything strong to curb terrorism. May be he is trying to devise an undercover anti-terrorist cell with Madam Sonia.

My sincere request to all the terrorists, please shoot our Home Minister or assassinate any top politician from the ruling party. This will have three benefits for the country.

1. The intensity of the blast is felt by the highly protected politicians
2. A bad man is dead
3. Both of the above