The Woes of a Sorrowful TV Surfer

There was a time when I used to enjoy watching music channels such as Mtv and Channel V when I had nothing better to do.
There was a time when VJ’s such as Cyrus, Nikhil, Purab, Shehnaz, Vinay and others used to keep us glued to the tube and happily absorbed for hours together with their chattering, which was often pointless agreed but also fun and entertaining.
Enter Mtv and Channel V’s “Youth Campaign” and the dream comes to an end.
Recently both the music channels have undergone this image makeover to appeal to the youngsters across the country. According to the heads of the channels, what do young people in the country want? Young, petite and more importantly ‘hot’ VJs ready to wear clothes which hardly count as clothes in most parts of the world. VJs, who have the same IQ as their waist size, who cannot tell a pineapple from an apple, the kind who’re easy on the eyes, so what if they’re unbearable on the ears! But then if you notice all the CCD’s and all the food courts in the various malls across the country only ‘show’ these channels while playing music of their own. Guess this is all a part of a big conspiracy in itself.
Anyway coming back to the topic, recently our youth-oriented channels have started their own versions of reality television in various forms such as Roadies, Get Gorgeous, Teen Diva, Splitsvilla and so on.
All these basically involve disturbed, attention seeking young men and women from different parts of the country fighting it out for their own five seconds of fame on national television.
The latest to hit TV screens across the country is an all new reality show (yeah,right!) called Splitsvilla on Mtv. The concept is simple : twenty girls fight it out for the attention of two guys. Regular ‘dumpings’ take place and the last two girls standing take home the prize ie. The two guys and a truck load of money in this case. I happened to come across this ‘innovative and refreshing’ show while surfing the tube and just almost fell off my chair laughing at the various snippets I happened to catch.
Here are a few samples:

Scene#1: (Inside the hotel, with a gang of girls doing what they do best: gossiping)

Utterly Brainless But Hot Female1 (UBBHF1): I think he is extremely dumb but his bod is fab!
UBBHF2: You think so? I think he’s pretty smart, I mean the other day he filled the entire railway reservation form all by himself and trust me, that’s no mean feat!
UBBHF1: Really? Damn, guess I got him all wrong there.
UBBHF3: You guys can just keep dreaming. I’m going to win this and take him back to Mumbai. I don’t really like him but then this has lots of money.
UBBHF2: Can I keep him if you don’t like him? I’ll obviously return him later to you.
UBBHF3: Sure sure. I was going to keep him only for like three days anyway. Maybe all of you can share him from time to time.
*Giggle* *Giggle*

Scene#2: (On the ground while the regular dumping ceremony takes place)

Brainless Host (BH): UBBHF1, UBBHF2 & UBBHF3, you guys are in the danger zone today. Two of you are going to be dumped today. Guys, tell us who is it going to be?
Totally Retarded Too Full Of Himself Guy1 (TRTFOHG1): I think UBBHF1 and UBBHF2 are really hot but they’re not intellectual enough. Just the other day I saw UBBHF1 reading an Ayn Rand and UBBHF2 discussing the teachings of Buddha with someone. So not cool!
TRTFOHG2: You’re so right Bro! Real men don’t like books or discussing such heavy stuff. We like bikes, booze and women and considering that, UBBHF3 totally takes the cake: she likes all of them too!
TRTFOHG1: She’s into women too? (Winks and high-five’s TRTFOHG2!) That’s sp cool! Way to go Bro!
BH: Sorry UBBHF1 & UBBHF2, you’re just not ‘cool’ enough for this show! Pack your bags.
(Camera focusing on the faces of the contestants, tense music from the 70’s on)

The saddest part of the entire story? Guys and girls across the country religiously following the proceedings on such mind-numbing shows, making it a ritual to discuss this over cups of coffee in over-priced coffee shops and other such hangouts. People who choose to not watch this brand of television are subjected to contempt and mockery, making them some kind of a social outcast.

Ahh, what times are we living in??!!

De Gaali!!

When was the last time you saw a movie when u literally felt your brain cells rotting away as you continue watching the silly set of frames put together, reportedly called a “movie”?
When was the last time you saw a movie so stupid, so pointless and so, so irritating that it makes you want to stand up right in the middle of the theatre and cry for mercy?
Here’s the answer to all your prayers, the perfect gift for someone you hate:
A ticket to ‘De Taali’.

Director: E.Niwas (Don’t recall the name? The same great director who gave us some of Hindi cinema’s biggest accomplishments in the form of timeless classics such as ‘Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega’, ‘Dum’ amongst other such brilliant masterpieces.)

Cast (or rather Miscast): Aftab Shivdasani , Riteish Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia, Rimi Sen.

The Plot: It’s about love and friendship, how over a period of time the individuals ferment into the responsible, loving children every parent’s proud of and blah blah… Who am I kidding? The best part about the movie is there is absolutely no plot. It’s like everyday the director came to the sets full of ideas and concepts and began shooting, eventually summing them up calling it yet another one of his masterpieces!

The viewer’s treated to a series of mindless events in the life of a few people neither the director nor the viewer cares about after the first few minutes. Horrible acting and the sensibility of a five-year old in writing the screenplay makes it the torture that it is. Music, by the ever dependable Vishal-Shekhar is the only savior for this horrendous effort by the makers and the effect of which too is diluted by terrible picturisation.

At one point of time in the movie, Riteish Deshmukh allegedly tortures Rimi Sen by strapping her to a chair and making her watch ‘Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag’. Well I’m sure filmmakers in the future can now consider ‘De Taali’ as a milestone and use it for such references and give further such stupid offerings from Ram Gopal Varma & Yash Chopra a break.

To sum it up, a horrible, painful exercise to watch this flick. It’s one of those rare movies that have the potential to put someone off Hindi cinema forever. Please Please give it a miss if you have any concern for your brain cells.

Aamir - A Must Watch!!

Directed by Rajkumar Gupta
Starring : Rajeev Khandelwal

Not the kinda title or credits that would make you wanna go into a theatre and watch it, eh? well trust me you have no idea what your're missing here!

*If you wish to read on, let me issue a spoiler alert here as the next few lines tend to kinda give away the plot of the movie*

One of the best movies our film industry has turned out off-late, Aamir revolves around a young muslim doctor Aamir who after studying and practicing medicine in London for the past few years decides to come back to India after the London blasts and the aftermath thereby. He thinks he's coming back to his "own" country but sadly realises he's not welcome here too, which is pretty obvious by the way the authorities at the airport choose to deal with him just because his name is "Aamir" and not "Amar" for that matter.
Once outside, he's led on this crazy trip by a person on the phone, who claims to hold his family and gives him a set of instructions to follow, following which he would let them go. This sets off Aamir's journey into the bylanes of Mumbai, to places where he'd never thought he would visit and sights he never thought he would see.
There are no songs, there is no heroine, no "item numbers" to titillate the first benchers nor any dream sequences shot at picturesque locations in Europe. Its a thriller with the twists and turns at the right moments to keep you glued to your seat.
The camera work is excellent, editing has been razor sharp and the background score is topnotch.
In a very subtle way, the director makes you think about issues normally unchartered in Hindi cinema. It makes you want to venture out of your comfort zone. It offers an altogether different perspective on the so-called "terrorists" exisiting in the world and there's so much more to it than what it appears on the surface.
Kudos to the first time director for taking a bold step, defying convention and making a movie he believes in. Similiar sentiments for the first time actor too for pulling off such a role almost flawlessly. Heaven knows we need more such actors and directors in the Hindi film industry to break the stereotype.
From the box-office reports till now, the movie has'nt really garnered much apart from a lot of critical acclaim. I can only hope the audience warms up to good cinema pretty soon and give such producers and directors the incentive they so rightly deserve!
It took me more than an hour to get back to normal once I saw the movie - such is the impact it creates.
Enough said, I'd really recommend the movie to everyone who likes Good cinema.
Cheers to "Aamir"!!

It Happened One Monday Afternoon....

It happened one Monday afternoon, shortly after shifting into the brand new single room in Emerald. It was yet another afternoon off provided to us by the ever-obliging and considerate professors at the Chemical Engineering department, NIT-Trichy.

Doing what I do best, I stretched myself across the length of my bed and was staring at the blank wall which instantly stared back at me. Once again, I went into the inner sanctuaries of my head and started thinking: What can I do to make my room different from the 300 odd rooms occupied by the others? How can I label it as something personal, something which would be truly radical, different, and a little insane but at the same time which would somehow be ME!

An idea struck and “inspired” by similar efforts made by a former senior (though I have to say that those efforts were not on the same level of hard-work or enthusiasm I put in!), I rushed to the Octagon, which is the Computer Centre of the College. With a little effort on my part and a lot of help from Google, I managed to find what I wanted: Images of my favorite Movies, Music artists, Television series and even Cartoon characters.

Next came the tricky part: Convincing the Guy in charge of the printing operations at the Octagon to allow me to take print-outs of the images on A4 sheets. I’m sure the lesser fortunate ones out there who’ve been to NITT can understand that achieving this was no mean feat. I somehow managed to convince him using broken English and extremely broken, in fact shattered, busted Tamil that I needed the pictures as a part of a folder which was to be presented to the Dean on the occasion of Festember, which is the annual cultural & literary extravaganza at NITT. It sounded hollow to my ears too but for some reason, he believed it and was about to handle the bunch of finished print-outs to me too.

As Lord Murphy would have it, at that very moment, the printer machine scoffed out an image of a “very hot” Elisha Cuthbert staring out of a poster from the movie “The Girl Next Door” and it took me another half an hour to justify and account for the presence of such a picture in a folder, to be presented to the Dean! Don’t even ask me how I managed to do it!

I grabbed the pile of print-outs as soon as I was permitted to and ran out of the Octagon. I casually flipped through the pages and realized I’d taken 200+ print-outs!

The next part was even more painful and took a lot more effort but the end result was so worth it! I finally managed to create “The Wall”: A space which defines me, every inch of which is filled with things I am crazy about: Images of Movies that have touched me and affected me like nothing else, Music artists close to my heart, Cartoon characters which have shaped my initial formative years & TV series which make me believe that there’s more to the tube than stupid Saas-Bahu serials, Mind numbing reality shows and News channels which give more footage to Aishwarya Rai Bacchan’s “Karvachauth” than the natural calamities in Africa.

When I look at the wall, which I do every now and then, I see more to it than just a collage of a few withering black & white images. I see more than the obvious message which comes across from the assorted mix of pictures stuck haphazardly on a wall. I see myself, like no one else, like never before.

Tagged!!

Since I've been tagged by Abinaya, thought I'd fill in the Questionnaire and put it up to escape her wrath! :D ;)

1)LAST MOVIE U SAW IN A THEATRE?
Taare Zameen Par (Yes I cried too!)

2)WHAT BOOK ARE U READING?
The God of Small Things by Arundhathi Roy.

3)FAVOURITE BOARD GAME?
Monopoly!

4)FAVOURITE MAGAZINE?
I would like to say MAXIM but I'd be safe and stick with India Today :)

5)FAVOURITE SMELLS?
The sweet smell of success after consistent efforts and hard-work! Apart from that, the fragrance emancipating from earth when it rains :)

6)FAVOURITE SOUNDS?
The sound of Laughter.

7)WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?
When you realise that you have let someone down.

8)WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN U WAKE?
Damn i overslept again !!Who the hell switched off my alarm clock !!

9)FAVOURITE FASTFOOD PLACE?
Subway (anyday!!)

10)FUTURE CHILDS NAME?
Kanishka , Karan , Muskaan , Maybe Ashish the second ;)

11)FINISH THIS STATEMENT—’IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY
I'd directly hand it over to my Parents (The people i trust the most in this world!) and ask them to do whatever they want to.

12)DO U DRIVE FAST?
I kinda do, but then I always make sure I'm in control of the vehicle and not the other way around!

13)DO U SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?
Obviously NO!

14)STORMS–COOL OR SCARY?
Somewhere in between :)

15)WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?
Still dont own one, though do drive around Dad's Santro all the time :)

16))FAVOURITE DRINK
Iced tea / Orange Juice

17)FINISH THIS STATEMENT-IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD…
Sit down and watch all the movies on the 100 best movies list by IMDB!

18)DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?
Yes, I eat anything that is remotely edible after moving to the hostel!

19)IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY OTHER COLOUR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
Golden Brown (I've actually done that once!)

20)NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS U HAVE LIVED IN?
Kolkata(I was born there!), Surat(Did my schooling there), Kota(JEE/AIEEE prep) , Trichy (College!) and still counting...

21)FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Cricket , Football

22)ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Abinaya ~ Writes really well and has an exceptional command over the language!

23)WHATS UNDER YOUR BED?
Lets see.. My bags, some old newspapers, My sneakers and a couple of spiders :)

24)WOULD U LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?
I'd rather be someone more good-looking, smarter and obviously RICHER :D

25)MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT OWL?
Totally nocturnal ,party animal! Havent seen the early morning sun for ages now!

26)FAVOURITE ICECREAM FLAVOUR?
Black currant @ Baskin 31 Robbins :)

This is who you are to me...

The person who came into my life when I was extremely broken,
Even though I may not have shown it,
She saw through my lie.
The person who took a chance,
That chance was me.
The person who made me see,
It’s ok to love again.
The person who I can talk to about the life I’ve lived
Because she’s lived it too.
The person who made me strong,
But also showed me weakness wasn’t wrong.
The person who restored my faith and made me believe.
The person who makes me want to trust,
The person who makes me feel love,and not just lust.
The person who saved me from myself.
My everything,
My all,
My reason,
And my savior.....
This is who you are to me.

Obviously written for a special someone.
Peace!

A Revival of Sorts..

Here I am, finally trying to write something for my blog, which has frankly seen no activity for the last six months now. As the title suggests, its a mini revival of sorts- something which took a lot of effort to begin with, but once i did, was really enthusiastic about it and then again once i stopped or rather had to stop because of a mini riot in my life , also termed as the sixth semester by the luckier ones. Trust me its been one hell of a ride with so much happening that I've literally not had the time to pause for a moment and get a grip! CPCs, Mock interviews, Group discussions, Club activities, NITTFEST, Applications for Projects etc. merged alongwith the Regular Coursework for every semester and you have a recipe for disaster in your hands! Hence my long absence has been quite reasonable if you can look at it from where I can.
Anyway I'm determined to take this from where I left now.
Its 11 pm right now and i'm sitting in the computer centre at IIM-Bangalore and its freezing outside. I'm here as a summer intern and working on this market analysis and strategy project,the details of which I dont even wanna get into here!
Quite a start. Think I'll write more soon. Watch this space!
Signing off..

P.S: I dont know why I posted the picture, but then just googled the word "revival" and this is what comes up!!

Paint Brush

I keep my paint brush with me
Wherever I may go,
In case I need to cover up
So the real me doesn't show.
I'm so afraid to show you me,
Afraid of what you'll do-that
You might laugh or say mean things.
I'm afraid I might lose you.

I'd like to remove all my paint coats
To show you the real, true me,
But I want you to try and understand,
I need you to accept what you see.
So if you'll be patient and close your eyes,
I'll strip off all my coats real slow.
Please understand how much it hurts
to let the real me show.

Now my coats are all stripped off.
I feel naked, bare and cold,
And if you still love me with all that you see,
You are my friend, pure as gold.

I need to save my paint brush, though,
And hold it in my hand,
I want to keep it handy
In case somebody doesn't understand.
So please protect me, my dear friend
And thanks for loving me true,
But please let me keep my paint brush with me
Until I love me, too.


I came across this beautiful poem sometime back and for some reason, could instantly relate to it. So i took the liberty of putting it up here. Peace!!

Reign of the Remakes!!

For quite some time now, I’ve been thinking about the concept of remakes- You know, the age-old formula of picking up a tried and tested, mostly successful Hollywood flick, make a few changes here and there, mould it according to the need of the day and the taste of your audience and Presto! You have the perfect recipe for a box-office hit!
Remakes have always been a part of the Hindi film industry. Most of them though remain uncredited towards the original film, claiming to be originals themselves, which are later found out anyway, causing further embarrassment to the makers, whereas some are honest enough to quote the original source. Lately the Hindi film industry has been churning out remakes of successful Hollywood movies by the dozen, which just goes to illustrate the dearth of good, innovative and most importantly original writers we have in the industry.
I, for one, hold nothing against remakes. If one believes he can tell the story in a different, if not better way, add a personal touch to it, I don’t see why remakes shouldn’t be accepted. In fact, if one comes across a story, on which a movie has already been made in some other language, but is a story he believes in and is worth narrating, I, personally, think he should go ahead and make the movie because the people of our country shouldn’t miss out on a good story, the experience of watching good cinema because of language constraints. However, the filmmaker should be honest enough to credit the original maker for his brilliant work.
The audience, on its part, has had its own share of hiccups with remakes, only because the filmmakers couldn’t capture the essence of the story and lost grip over the plot, resulting in disastrous results; the only losers in the process being the audience, who had to sit through such mind-numbing movies. Some examples are as follows:-
(I’m not saying these movies didn’t do good business at the box-office, in fact, some were even declared super-hits, but this doesn’t necessarily make them good movies.)

Phir hera-pheri : Lock, stock & two smoking barrels
Salaam-e-ishq : Love actually
Deewane huye paagal : There’s something about Mary
Qayamat : The rock
Chocolate : The usual suspects
Hum kisise kum nahin : Analyze this
Partner : Hitch
Zinda : Old boy
Ek Ajnabee : Man on Fire
Mujhse shaadi karogi : Anger management

& the list goes on and on and on…….

To sum it up, merely copying a hit movie doesn’t necessarily result in a hit, and more importantly, a GOOD movie, which is something filmmakers need to learn. Until and unless they make an honest effort themselves and perceive the story from their own point-of-view, we will sadly be treated to a series of mind-numbing, pointless cinema products. Honestly, on watching some of the ‘inspired’ movies listed above (Not taking any particular names!), I literally, cried on behalf of the original filmmakers. I can only cross my fingers and hope that the young, sensible and innovative new breed of filmmakers learn from such mistakes and churn out better, quality and meaningful cinema, making us proud. Amen to that!

P.S: A Hollywood remake I’d love to watch? As per the suggestion of one of my very, very talented friends, a Desi version of ‘Face Off’ with Aamir Khan essaying the same role as Nicholas Cage and Shahrukh Khan as the one John Travolta played in the original movie. How about that? That would be some movie, if it ever works out!

A Glass of Water

As soon-to-be-engineers, we have a lot of responsibilities towards the society, the environment and to our fellow human beings (I know it sounds a little heavy coming from someone like me, but then I do talk sense at times!). Anyway, coming back, engineers are supposed to be efficient, intelligent and better managers than most people. Going by a popular example, a worker can do a job, but it’s the responsibility of an engineer to ensure that it is done more efficiently, making maximum possible use of the resources available and delivering the maximum possible output. It is, in this mad obsession for getting the maximum results that we are overexploiting the limited resources available to us. That is exactly what this write-up is about.
As a part of the curriculum (for the record, I’m a student of Chemical engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Trichy), I came across a very ‘interesting’ subject titled Energy & Environmental Engineering (I use the word ‘interesting’ because the subject, on paper, sounds fairly appealing and intriguing, but the way it is being approached and handled is something I really don’t want to get into!).
The subject, as the title very clearly suggests, talks about the usage of energy and environmental resources in today’s world and how, as a soon-to-be-engineer, we should be more conscious about the depleting resources, conserve energy, try to find ‘alternate’ sources and in the process, save precious fuel and also cause less environmental pollution by helping in the reduction of emission of harmful and poisonous gases, chemicals etc. into the environment causing its rapid degradation.
The facts and figures related to the energy sources and the pollution meters came across as major eye-openers, forcing even someone like me, for once, to sit up and take notice. To quote from the book, “If the energy sources are going to be consistently exploited at the same rate as today for the next twenty five years, we would be left with NO petroleum resources at all.” The mere realization of the fact is frightening and shocking, and coaxes us to do something about it. Energy conservation is the need of the hour. Our future, whether bright or bleak, is in our own hands and it is left up to us to do something about it. A seemingly small difference made by us today could amount to something tremendously great in the years to come. If nothing else, let us make a promise to ourselves to switch off the lights and fans when we’re not using them, use water in the bathroom judiciously and consume fuel in the least amount possible by restricting the use of our personal vehicles. Every small effort counts.
On a parting note, I would like to illustrate a point. It is said that a person’s outlook can be determined by the way he looks at a glass of water-half full or half empty. Here’s another perspective-you have a bigger glass than you need.

CONSERVE ENERGY TO CONSERVE OUR TOMMOROW
Peace!