| Dahek-SawanBarseTa... |
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Rocking!
Maybe i haven't kept up with times but I have always wished for a website in which allows you to view all hotels in india (and their amenities) and book online.
Not sure what else is out there, but this I like.
http://www.inasra.com
Not sure what else is out there, but this I like.
http://www.inasra.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wicked pleasure for the day :)
What is the deal with girls and the eternal fascination for so called bad boys? Now, I do think I need to define bad boys here. I am talking about the complete antithesis of the good guys out there. These are guys who believe on living on the edge, these are guy who do not believe in commitment, even if they do they definitely show no indications of it, these are guys who thrive on being non conformists and these are guys you definitely have to think about before introducing to parents.
Look around you, they are everywhere. It could be that long hair-d fella in your college who wears a leather jacket or it could be that utterly charming guy with an impeccable fashion sense at your work.
Although, I don't think they stay that way for life, I really do not think so. I think that stage is contained by the time they hit 28 or so, definitely by 30 :)
But thats enough time for plenty a hearts to be broken isn't it ?
I am sure if you are a gal reading this, there is definitely one person that you can think of from the past (or not) who fits that bill. It could be that senior in school who would be caught smoking by the principal. It could be that guy in college who sang like Bon Jovi but whose attendance was probably in single digits :) That guy at work who would be the DJ everytime there was an office party but not someone you would go to if you had an ethical issue to be resolved at work.
Rings a bell? Doesn't? Now lets try something else then :)
What about that guy who always paid you a lot of compliments till you realized that he also flooded your best friends' inbox with compliments. Or the guy who always seemed to know how to resolve every single bug but always came to work on mondays with a killer hangover. Or the guy who was just so much fun that it was almost scary to think how it would be if not for him.
Or what about all those guys who were such great guys to hang around with, absolutely wonderful as boyfriends but completely disinterested in declaring themselves as that.
Come on, don't tell me did not ring a bell at all. :)
Although not every single girl is fascinated by such guys. But unfortunately, a lot of us are :)
What is it about them ? Is it about the difference in personality that you share with him that seems so exciting? Or is just about a good time?
I think more often than not, its a mix of both. Despite all the bad, they do have that knack of bringing out the fun you even if you believed that there is no such thing as a fun you :) The plans are impulsive, the days are impromptu, its all about living in that moment. I think Fun being the motto of the time, anything non fun is just not tolerated. Whether its chiding from your best friend or even your mother or just about everybody around you.
I am sure if you strand a gal in a room(or an island) with a nice guy and a grungy looking guy, the odds are she will end up talking to the grungy guy strumming his guitar ,who reminds her of Saif ali khan :P, Even if he has absolutely nothing sensible to say.
And you can't help it, there are guys are just.. umm sexier !!
I guess its the same stereotype as men fascinated by blondes :)
You gut will tell you nothing good can come out of this (so will everybody around you), everything about him will scream unstable ? But will you listen?
No, I don't think so. Partially because you don't want to care, partially because in your hearts you sincerely believe that he will change, change for you and change because of you. You poor soul ! :)
There is no doubt that you will have a good time for a while. Thats what draws you in any case. But you do realize your mistake after a while. (while = months and years). At least we hope you do.
And I guess eventually these guys grow up too :)
But the sad part of this is that the so called nice guys lose out. All those nice guys you didn't even give a second look to. They are always the ones who take you out for dinner (or jhal muri) when that moron you are seeing does not show up. They are always the shoulders to cry on but never the shoulders you chose. I should actually write a separate ode to all these nice guys out there :) You can only hope and pray that you will end up chosing a nice guy someday. Sadly though and its true, the nice guys will always be short changed when it comes to evoking that passion or zeal like the bad boys.
Also, and this is important, the damage to your psyche by the time you realize what a waste of time that guy was. This is really excruciating because it could have long term effects including low self esteem, extreme cynicism, complete distrust or even commitment phobia on your part . Shudder!!!
Thankfully at least some of us are sensible.
ps: This is not a feminist-ic post, I am sure there are enough and more specimens of such in the opp sex too.
Look around you, they are everywhere. It could be that long hair-d fella in your college who wears a leather jacket or it could be that utterly charming guy with an impeccable fashion sense at your work.
Although, I don't think they stay that way for life, I really do not think so. I think that stage is contained by the time they hit 28 or so, definitely by 30 :)
But thats enough time for plenty a hearts to be broken isn't it ?
I am sure if you are a gal reading this, there is definitely one person that you can think of from the past (or not) who fits that bill. It could be that senior in school who would be caught smoking by the principal. It could be that guy in college who sang like Bon Jovi but whose attendance was probably in single digits :) That guy at work who would be the DJ everytime there was an office party but not someone you would go to if you had an ethical issue to be resolved at work.
Rings a bell? Doesn't? Now lets try something else then :)
What about that guy who always paid you a lot of compliments till you realized that he also flooded your best friends' inbox with compliments. Or the guy who always seemed to know how to resolve every single bug but always came to work on mondays with a killer hangover. Or the guy who was just so much fun that it was almost scary to think how it would be if not for him.
Or what about all those guys who were such great guys to hang around with, absolutely wonderful as boyfriends but completely disinterested in declaring themselves as that.
Come on, don't tell me did not ring a bell at all. :)
Although not every single girl is fascinated by such guys. But unfortunately, a lot of us are :)
What is it about them ? Is it about the difference in personality that you share with him that seems so exciting? Or is just about a good time?
I think more often than not, its a mix of both. Despite all the bad, they do have that knack of bringing out the fun you even if you believed that there is no such thing as a fun you :) The plans are impulsive, the days are impromptu, its all about living in that moment. I think Fun being the motto of the time, anything non fun is just not tolerated. Whether its chiding from your best friend or even your mother or just about everybody around you.
I am sure if you strand a gal in a room(or an island) with a nice guy and a grungy looking guy, the odds are she will end up talking to the grungy guy strumming his guitar ,who reminds her of Saif ali khan :P, Even if he has absolutely nothing sensible to say.
And you can't help it, there are guys are just.. umm sexier !!
I guess its the same stereotype as men fascinated by blondes :)
You gut will tell you nothing good can come out of this (so will everybody around you), everything about him will scream unstable ? But will you listen?
No, I don't think so. Partially because you don't want to care, partially because in your hearts you sincerely believe that he will change, change for you and change because of you. You poor soul ! :)
There is no doubt that you will have a good time for a while. Thats what draws you in any case. But you do realize your mistake after a while. (while = months and years). At least we hope you do.
And I guess eventually these guys grow up too :)
But the sad part of this is that the so called nice guys lose out. All those nice guys you didn't even give a second look to. They are always the ones who take you out for dinner (or jhal muri) when that moron you are seeing does not show up. They are always the shoulders to cry on but never the shoulders you chose. I should actually write a separate ode to all these nice guys out there :) You can only hope and pray that you will end up chosing a nice guy someday. Sadly though and its true, the nice guys will always be short changed when it comes to evoking that passion or zeal like the bad boys.
Also, and this is important, the damage to your psyche by the time you realize what a waste of time that guy was. This is really excruciating because it could have long term effects including low self esteem, extreme cynicism, complete distrust or even commitment phobia on your part . Shudder!!!
Thankfully at least some of us are sensible.
ps: This is not a feminist-ic post, I am sure there are enough and more specimens of such in the opp sex too.
Audio post again
Don't like the singer too much, but the song is lovely
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
naatkaL neeLudhae nee engoa poanadhum
aen dhaNdanai naan ingae vaazhvadhum
orae nyaabagam orae nyaabagam
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
naatkaL neeLudhae nee engoa poanadhum
aen dhaNdanai naan ingae vaazhvadhum
ohoa hoa...orae njaabagam
ohoa hoa...undhan njaabagam
kaadhal kaayam naerumboadhu
thookkam ingae aedhu
orae nyaabagam orae nyaabagam
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
naatkaL neeLudhae nee engoa poanadhum
aen dhaNdanai naan ingae vaazhvadhum
orae nyaabagam orae nyaabagam
iru vizhi unadhu imaigaLum unadhu
kanavugaL mattum enadhae enadhu
naatkaL neeLudhae nee engoa poanadhum
aen dhaNdanai naan ingae vaazhvadhum
ohoa hoa...orae njaabagam
ohoa hoa...undhan njaabagam
kaadhal kaayam naerumboadhu
thookkam ingae aedhu
orae nyaabagam orae nyaabagam
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Time travel
Looping in my player now. Can't get myself to move on or forward or shut down.
Reminds me of me way back when
Reminds me of something old and gone
Reminds me of an old time..
but a happy time..
Reminds me of me way back when
Reminds me of something old and gone
Reminds me of an old time..
but a happy time..
Roof Top Film Festival!
Courtesy: http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h220/jdsteen/MovieScreening.jpg
Ardent visitors and ahem.. lurkers...
If you are anywhere within 100-200 km of chennai during the next week, this is where you should be heading towards.
In their own words - RTFF is an open-to-all many-times-a-year, anytime-in-a-year event for cinephiles to camp out for a couple days.
Sounds too good to me and these are some typical moments when I curse myself for being so far away.
Great job guys, hope its a huge success and looking forward to all the posts about it.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Looking forward
to this.
Courtesy: www.nowrunning.com
After reading a much well written review by the much revered blogosphere reviewer here :)
Courtesy: www.nowrunning.com
After reading a much well written review by the much revered blogosphere reviewer here :)
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Namesake
Ok I told myself I will not do another review for a while. but there !
Namesake - Mira Nair.. Lazy saturday evening, SFO
I always have high expectations from movie adaptation of good books, at least for that brief moment when i am waiting outside a theatre. Although on a lazy evening in mood for an intellectual debate and with a drink in hand, if you asked me if I ever have great expectations from novel inspired movies. I would most definitely say no. But I guess its mostly coz I want to see a good adaptation but we seldom get to see one. Very very rarely.
The problem also with a visual medium like a movie is that its very limiting. All you can perceive or imagine is limited to that screen you see in front of you. The very magic of books lies in that undefined imagination territory that it dwells in. A scene is described in detail from an acute perspective of the writer but when you read it, its not just the details that draw that picture but there are too many bits of your own imagination when that scene plays in your head. I am willing to bet that if you take the same paragraph from a book and ask 2 people to describe it, they will probably start with the same canvas but the colors and shapes will most definitely differ. (I also think one of the reasons why many people do not indulge in reading is because of a certain lack of that visual imagination capability)
Having said that, sometimes a genre like fantasy or sci-fi probably has a greater success rate simply because they are very suggestive (and I did not intend to trivialize the art and technology involved, i take that as a given). And the visual suggestions of that nature are better welcomed by our minds rather than the depiction of a mundane suburban household. We do not give much importance to how close to life that street scene looks or that school scene looks. But we are definitely captured by yoda's and marvin's and gollum's. We may have imagined a fictional characters like the ones stated above but to see a representation on the screen ! Oh so very nice.. And from there on, the characters are etched in our minds as we saw them on celluloid. Its image selling at its best!
Anyways, coming back to a general book adaptation, I think a director or a screenplay writer's worst nightmare is having to shrink those 500-900 pages into a 2 hours format. And how well the movie is received is very highly dependent on that. Many may argue and say its about the performances, its about the direction blah blah. But I believe that if your end canvas is shoddy or incomplete, you are only setting yourself up for a failure.
Namesake by Mira Nair is an ambitious effort by the lady and shealmost succeeds too. When you see the credits in the begining, english merging with bengali gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. And I am sure it gave Jhumpa Lahiri that feeling too. A certain sense of comfort in knowing that yes, the child aka my book will be taken care of.
Tabu for starters, is classic! Man, she is one underrated actress in bollywood. Incidently I saw 'Iruvar' yesterday and much to my dismay I never knew Tabu had acted in it! I just could not believe I did not know that. Of course I had never seen the movie completely but thats no excuse !
In namesake, she is not tabu, she is Ashima from begining to end. It is so nice to see an actress who can slip into a character so effortlessly and not to mention look so pretty doing it :) Ashima is the backbone on the story, the movie starts and ends with her. You seen her transformation as an simple and intelligent girl from calcutta to a very independent and intelligent woman returning home to calcutta. The impish nature of the character is extremely endearing.
Irfan Khan is also outstanding. What a performance, i mean so brilliant. Its so difficult to play a role where you don't distract the audience but at the same time, make a mark.
Kal Penn, I thought was quite well suited for the character. But sadly for him, he comes with a lot of media baggage. I am glad that he decided to break away from that funny american indian sterotype but somehow the hangover of that still shows in so many scenes. Maybe, just maybe because we have quite a wisecrack picture of him in our minds that we are not convinced during scenes where he is required to cry or portray that imminent gloom. It just does not look convincing enough. But like I said, he needs to do more roles that get him out of the stereotype, has a lot of potential.
Jacinda Barett, very pretty and very wasted in this movie..
Zuleikha Robinson, now that one was a pleasant surprise, I was always very curious to find out who would play that role in the movie. Very very sexy.
When i was reading the book, I have to say the final 50 pages are distracting and somewhere towards the end you are torn between deciding who is the focal point of the book? Is it really the namesake Gogol or is it Ashima whose character is the only one the author has painstakingly progressed developing against all odds. And the same confusion comes across in the movie. The movie begins and ends with Ashima but obviously she is not the namesake.
Also, no matter how you twist and turn the character of Gogol, there is nothing creative that comes out of it. If Mira had stretched it even a bit more, she would have bordered on being preachy about indian roots and culture and what not.
I think it was an intelligent decision to keep it limited to the intellectual and emotional growth and journey of Ashima with the so called coming of age of Gogol.
But having said that if I have one nit to pick with Mira Nair and Sooni Taraporevala, its about how little of Ashima's initial foray into the new country is shown. That so sad because thats where the book wins hands down, thats the first half of the book thats so endearing that you just cannot put it down. Even the small scene where she makes jhal muri out of Rice crispies is not forceful enough. When that scene was playing, I could hear giggles from the audience but believe me, these were people who had read the book and recognized the subtle pain of homesickness. For the uninitiated, it was just another scene. And there are many incidents like that for the young Ashima in an unknown country.
I think Mira lost out a bit somewhere by not incorporating that in the movie.
But there is so much sensitivity in the movie that I can proudly say only a woman can bring across. There are scenes where you will have that sneaky smile and there are definitely a couple of scenes where you will reach out for that kleenex.
Bottomline, a really nice movie but please watch it after reading the book and also watchable only without any preconceived bias.
Namesake - Mira Nair.. Lazy saturday evening, SFO
I always have high expectations from movie adaptation of good books, at least for that brief moment when i am waiting outside a theatre. Although on a lazy evening in mood for an intellectual debate and with a drink in hand, if you asked me if I ever have great expectations from novel inspired movies. I would most definitely say no. But I guess its mostly coz I want to see a good adaptation but we seldom get to see one. Very very rarely.
The problem also with a visual medium like a movie is that its very limiting. All you can perceive or imagine is limited to that screen you see in front of you. The very magic of books lies in that undefined imagination territory that it dwells in. A scene is described in detail from an acute perspective of the writer but when you read it, its not just the details that draw that picture but there are too many bits of your own imagination when that scene plays in your head. I am willing to bet that if you take the same paragraph from a book and ask 2 people to describe it, they will probably start with the same canvas but the colors and shapes will most definitely differ. (I also think one of the reasons why many people do not indulge in reading is because of a certain lack of that visual imagination capability)
Having said that, sometimes a genre like fantasy or sci-fi probably has a greater success rate simply because they are very suggestive (and I did not intend to trivialize the art and technology involved, i take that as a given). And the visual suggestions of that nature are better welcomed by our minds rather than the depiction of a mundane suburban household. We do not give much importance to how close to life that street scene looks or that school scene looks. But we are definitely captured by yoda's and marvin's and gollum's. We may have imagined a fictional characters like the ones stated above but to see a representation on the screen ! Oh so very nice.. And from there on, the characters are etched in our minds as we saw them on celluloid. Its image selling at its best!
Anyways, coming back to a general book adaptation, I think a director or a screenplay writer's worst nightmare is having to shrink those 500-900 pages into a 2 hours format. And how well the movie is received is very highly dependent on that. Many may argue and say its about the performances, its about the direction blah blah. But I believe that if your end canvas is shoddy or incomplete, you are only setting yourself up for a failure.
Namesake by Mira Nair is an ambitious effort by the lady and she
Tabu for starters, is classic! Man, she is one underrated actress in bollywood. Incidently I saw 'Iruvar' yesterday and much to my dismay I never knew Tabu had acted in it! I just could not believe I did not know that. Of course I had never seen the movie completely but thats no excuse !
In namesake, she is not tabu, she is Ashima from begining to end. It is so nice to see an actress who can slip into a character so effortlessly and not to mention look so pretty doing it :) Ashima is the backbone on the story, the movie starts and ends with her. You seen her transformation as an simple and intelligent girl from calcutta to a very independent and intelligent woman returning home to calcutta. The impish nature of the character is extremely endearing.
Irfan Khan is also outstanding. What a performance, i mean so brilliant. Its so difficult to play a role where you don't distract the audience but at the same time, make a mark.
Kal Penn, I thought was quite well suited for the character. But sadly for him, he comes with a lot of media baggage. I am glad that he decided to break away from that funny american indian sterotype but somehow the hangover of that still shows in so many scenes. Maybe, just maybe because we have quite a wisecrack picture of him in our minds that we are not convinced during scenes where he is required to cry or portray that imminent gloom. It just does not look convincing enough. But like I said, he needs to do more roles that get him out of the stereotype, has a lot of potential.
Jacinda Barett, very pretty and very wasted in this movie..
Zuleikha Robinson, now that one was a pleasant surprise, I was always very curious to find out who would play that role in the movie. Very very sexy.
When i was reading the book, I have to say the final 50 pages are distracting and somewhere towards the end you are torn between deciding who is the focal point of the book? Is it really the namesake Gogol or is it Ashima whose character is the only one the author has painstakingly progressed developing against all odds. And the same confusion comes across in the movie. The movie begins and ends with Ashima but obviously she is not the namesake.
Also, no matter how you twist and turn the character of Gogol, there is nothing creative that comes out of it. If Mira had stretched it even a bit more, she would have bordered on being preachy about indian roots and culture and what not.
I think it was an intelligent decision to keep it limited to the intellectual and emotional growth and journey of Ashima with the so called coming of age of Gogol.
But having said that if I have one nit to pick with Mira Nair and Sooni Taraporevala, its about how little of Ashima's initial foray into the new country is shown. That so sad because thats where the book wins hands down, thats the first half of the book thats so endearing that you just cannot put it down. Even the small scene where she makes jhal muri out of Rice crispies is not forceful enough. When that scene was playing, I could hear giggles from the audience but believe me, these were people who had read the book and recognized the subtle pain of homesickness. For the uninitiated, it was just another scene. And there are many incidents like that for the young Ashima in an unknown country.
I think Mira lost out a bit somewhere by not incorporating that in the movie.
But there is so much sensitivity in the movie that I can proudly say only a woman can bring across. There are scenes where you will have that sneaky smile and there are definitely a couple of scenes where you will reach out for that kleenex.
Bottomline, a really nice movie but please watch it after reading the book and also watchable only without any preconceived bias.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Yes yes, I am making this into an audio video blog :)
But I just could not resist this :)
Ab yeh bajaya hai to fir yeh bhi bajana padega :P
Ab yeh bajaya hai to fir yeh bhi bajana padega :P
Monday, March 12, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Loopin thru
Tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Ve Main Sare Ghumm Ke Vekhia
Amrika , Roos, Malaysia
Kittey Vi Koi Fark Si
Har Kise Di Koi Shart Si
Koi Mangda Mera Si Sama
Koi Hunda Surat Te Fida
Koi Mangda Meri Si Vafa
Na Koi Mangda Merian Bala
Tere Bin Hor Na Kise
Mangni Merian Bala
Tere Bin Hor Na Kise
Karni Dhup Vich Chhan
Tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Jiven Rukia Si Tun Zara
Nahion Bhulna Main Sari Umar
Jiven Akhia Si Akhan Chura
"rovenga Sanu Yad Kar"
Hasia Si Main Hasa Ajeeb
(par) Tu Nahi Si Hasia
Dil Vich Tera Jo Raaz Si
Mainu Tu Kyon Ni Dasia
Tere Bin Sanu Eh Raz
Kise Hor Nahion Dasna
Tere Bin Peerh Da Ilaaj
Kis Vaid Kolon Labhna
Tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Milia Si Ajj Mainu
Tera Ik Patra
Likhia Si Jis 'te
Tun Shayr Varey Shah Da
Park Ke Si Osnu
Hanjnu Ik Duliya
Akhan 'ch Band Si
Seh Raaz Ajj Khulia
Ki Tere Bin Eh Mere Hanjnu
Kise Hor Nahio Chumna
Ki Tere Bin Eh Mere Hanjhu
Mitti Vich Rulnha
(tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Ve Main Sare Ghumm Ke Vekhia
Amrika , Roos, Malaysia
Kittey Vi Koi Fark Si
Har Kise Di Koi Shart Si
Koi Mangda Mera Si Sama
Koi Hunda Surat Te Fida
Koi Mangda Meri Si Vafa
Na Koi Mangda Merian Bala
Tere Bin Hor Na Kise
Mangni Merian Bala
Tere Bin Hor Na Kise
Karni Dhup Vich Chhan
Tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Jiven Rukia Si Tun Zara
Nahion Bhulna Main Sari Umar
Jiven Akhia Si Akhan Chura
"rovenga Sanu Yad Kar"
Hasia Si Main Hasa Ajeeb
(par) Tu Nahi Si Hasia
Dil Vich Tera Jo Raaz Si
Mainu Tu Kyon Ni Dasia
Tere Bin Sanu Eh Raz
Kise Hor Nahion Dasna
Tere Bin Peerh Da Ilaaj
Kis Vaid Kolon Labhna
Tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
Jo Dave Ruh Nu Sakun Chukke Jo Nakhra Mera
Milia Si Ajj Mainu
Tera Ik Patra
Likhia Si Jis 'te
Tun Shayr Varey Shah Da
Park Ke Si Osnu
Hanjnu Ik Duliya
Akhan 'ch Band Si
Seh Raaz Ajj Khulia
Ki Tere Bin Eh Mere Hanjnu
Kise Hor Nahio Chumna
Ki Tere Bin Eh Mere Hanjhu
Mitti Vich Rulnha
(tere Bin Sanu Sohnia
Koi Hor Nahio Labhna
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