Remember Chamatka, Suppandi, Tales of Birbal and Jataka Tales? Apparently, a startup, ACK Media, is acquiring a majority stake in Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd., the company which publishes the wonderful Amar Chitra Katha comics, besides Tinkle and Double Digest.
While I was growing up, this definitely a big hit – a lot more interesting than the history teacher’s droning, dates and maps, a peek into Indian culture and mythology and a definite pride in being Indian. Where else would you see 10 year old eager to read about Rabindranath Tagore’s life or Amarapali, the court dancer in the ancient kingdom of Vaishali and her conversion to Buddism? Also for a generation that was exposed to mainly British literature, this was a refreshing dose of reality and what with Little Anwar, Tantri the Mantri and of course, “It Happened to Me”, a section where readers could write in. I remember huge comic exchange programs every summer vacation when stacks of comics would be lent and borrowed and actually read! Yes, the content is clinical, too non-controversial and sometimes not factual. But I can definitely attest that they are a wonderful tool to make kids sit down and read, get interested in history and feel a sense of pride in being Indian. How many textbooks or any other book for that matter can claim that distinction?
So go for it ACK Media, rerelease those 200 issues that are not in circulation and reach out to a wider audience. I see many a parent appreciating those Kodak moments of quietness while watching their kids engrossed in reading about India!
If you get suckered into watching this movie like i did, dont worry by the end of the film your mind will be numb enough that it wont matter whats going on in there. It randomly begins and randomly ends. most of the film is the same old tripe bout boy loves girl, girl waits for another man. Stuff like this can get on your nerves and it does too.
it is a shoddy, contrived script but nothing worse than what we see everyday. However what makes the whole thing much worse is that Sanjay Bhansali has a reputation for being a quality film maker but he is just a hack pretending to be good. I think he got a hold of Moulin Rouge, gave it to his art director and basically had her rip off the entire look, feel and texture of that world. Its a very Moulin Rouge meets Venice meets Herat/Samarkand look to it, quite elaborately schizophrenic. Also, girl running, camera following gets old after about the fifth time.
Nothing about the film seems original, not the script, not the world, not the reactions not the scenes some lifted from Shakespeare in Love i might add. Also one would appreciate the ridiculousness of one of the songs which as Ranbir dancing with prostitutes passing them a football , it is apparently some sort of attempt at solving their problems and letting them forget their sadness for a moment (i think Ranbir should take this act to Fallujah or Kabul)
Maybe he could have cut out a few songs and focused on creating a better tie up of the all players and create a more interesting drama around it.
Ranbir Kapoor is all right, he can act when he feels like it. Sonam Kapoor is allright as well. Salman Khan looks like a human bomb (yes its a very politically incorrect, racial profiling, right wing comment, so sue me) who goes away as randomly as he showed up. Rani Mukherji sort of shows up, talks to try and tie some threads (nice try but no cigar)
I cant f******g believe someone at Sony actually financed this crap when they could have spent the same amount of money to create what is surely a blockbuster Om Shanti Om. As lame as it will probably be, it will be a great deal less pretentious and more successful. No wonder Sony is in the bloody red. They come to Bollywood and get talked into this… it seems the lunatics have taken over the asylum.
I would much rather sit through a tooth extraction.
Last week we caught some fleeting TV promos of this low-budget Indian English comedy and decided that it was worth our time. This is the only recent movie where i didn’t have to buy tickets in advance! For the movie’s sake, I hope that changes because it’s highly entertaining and deserves a larger audience.
Touted as a “multiplex film” it tells the story of a bunch of quirky NRIs competing for a cash prize of $25k at the ‘Desi Idol’ contest being held in New Jersey. The entire contest - from the audition to the finale - takes place during a weekend at a downtown hotel.
Many of the actors and characters are funny without trying hard to be so - the mark of a good comedy. There’s the ubiquitous Gujarati family come to cheer their 17 yr old Preeti Patel; there’s a percentages buff, a scheming socialite (played by Shabana) and the “Turbanotorious Guy” (played by Ajay Naidu) who steals the scene every single time with his Bhangra Rap and his Hip Hop moves. And, oh, he’s gay. Plus, he has a turban-wearing, black, rapper boyfriend!
The surprise element is a kurta-clad American guy named Josh Cohen, who only knows two hindi songs and is crazy enough to think he is a serious contender. Maybe he isn’t that crazy considering that one of the other semi finalists is an aspiring bollywood actress who doesn’t know hindi.
Ayesha Dharker plays Josh’s Indian girlfriend and isn’t really a main character. However, Shabana is. It’s Shabana’s character who sets the stage for the climax, bribing and bullying her way through the entire contest.
What interest would a socialite have in Desi Idol? Apparently, her arch rival, Bubbles, had won a similar contest and had donated the $500 prize money to charity. And Shabana, as the Subtitles tell us, does everything that Bubbles does, only bigger and better.
It’s all been well edited and the subtitles, introducing us to each of the characters, are also witty. I can’t give away too much of anything else, but i do have a side story:
One of the contestants, unexpectedly, sings the National Anthem. When the audience in the movie stood up, most of the audience in the theatre, urged by the ever-helpful subtitles, also stood up. The college girls next to me stood up for the 30 secs, looking down at me indignantly.
(No, i didn’t stand up. I have an issue with such displays of psuedo-patriotism.)
Anyway, YOU MUST WATCH Loins of Punjab. It’s hillarious and smart.
I attended the play “And now for something completely different” by the Chennai group Evam, at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on Sunday, 23rd September. I had blocked my tickets for the afternoon show for two very good reasons _ one, the unpredictably predictable showers that rock Bangalore during the evenings, and two, to avoid crowds, which I, so wrongly, assumed would turn up only for the evening show!
I was wrong on both counts, no thunder showers rocked Bangalore that evening and the afternoon show was bustling with a motley crowd, Page3 things, journo looking things, regulars, students, aunties… I hardly expected to stand at the end of a long queue to collect my tickets after having smartly, or so I thought, blocked my tickets. It appeared that that is exactly what half the crowd had in mind too.
As we slowly moved up the queue, there was an appetizer kinda performance that happened at the entree. A song. But it did to stir up my curiosity even though I heard little of it. The play began a little while later, about 30 minutes after they were supposed to begin. The page 3-ish crowd trickled in slowly amidst giggles, heels, pushing hair behind the ears, swinging purses and skirts, they settled down and then it began.
I can tell you no names, for there was no introduction with each and every member of the cast as such! But the first chunk of comedy that came my way, the one with the Pope and Michaelangelo, was one of the most memorable comedy pieces. The actor who did the Michaelangelo part had a very striking stage presence and before long I was waiting for his parts to come up. I enjoyed all of his pieces except the one with the Singh joke. The joke was on media and how an advertisement can exaggerate just about the silliest of products, and I did go on to laugh, but that was mostly because I had been laughing and it was impossible to do anything else!
The girls who came to change the props in between the pieces, did their own little jingles while at it. The idea was innovative and perhaps even necessary between sets. But I put up with them with the same enthusiasm with which I put up with breaks during good movies on HBO!
Of particular note was the costumes worn by the characters set in Rome and England. They were set to period and they’d tickle anyone’s funny bone by their sheer fanciness! There was a king who came riding by on a horse. While the king’s costume was not noteworthy, the horse was! It was such an appropriate prop for a comedy. Perhaps, had the king’s costume been any catchy, it might’ve overshadowed the ridiculous looking horse. This horse was constructed of a horse’s 2-dimensional torso attached to a swimming pool life buoy, with the life buoy around the king, and the click-clock of a horse’s hoof on the tarred road was made to sound by knocking coconut shells. Remarkable! That was my favourite prop!
That and the dead parrot. The piece about the dead parrot was about a man who came to return a dead parrot to the pet shop he purchased it from a little while back. The dead parrot was so dead! I had to just look at it to roll in laughter.
On the whole it was a simple and thoroughly enjoyable play! Do I have any complaints? Well… I do, why is there such little awareness, why have I not heard of their plays in Bangalore earlier. They say they cannot advertise, but there are several zero or next to nothing costing media. What about those? What about newsletters?
Do you know the masses of people who’d rather go to a play than go to watch a movie at the multiplex. It is a lighter, more involved, better quality entertainment. But I’d rather not have the types like the bunch of girls who were discussing the story, live as it was playing, in the seats in front of me, coming to watch plays. Please go to your multiplex, I say!
Well, let me do my bit in the word of mouth way, they said they’d have two shows in Bangalore in the coming few months. And am looking forward to attending the ones they said they’d get here in November and December. See you there then…?
There was a time, not too far back, when the world was a much simpler place to be in. It was a time when cricket was not the present day monstrosity; when people did not need to watch movies to feel the passion for hockey. It was a time when summer holidays meant cricket and kite flying and vacations to grandma’s house. When TV meant 2 channels with mind-numbing programming and when “cool” for kids was not the latest XBoX paraphernalia but simpler stuff like Monopoly( or the far more “rustic” Business), GI Joes, He Man and Johnny Sokko and his Giant Robot.
“Transformers” is a tribute to just this golden age of my childhood. It does not pretend to be the tale of good vs. evil with morals at every step, rather what it presents itself as is a steel-fest, wherein giant shiny gleaming robots battle each other, with minimum words and maximum attitude. The protagonist is a simple teenage kid who for once is not a genius hacker. Neither is he a child prodigy who can see dead people or the kid suffering from the numerous childhood traumas that most kids on TV seem to suffer from. Instead, he is a simple kid, with simple issues, that seem to disappear when he acquires the best toys that any guy could have hoped for. Then there are good looking blondes aplenty in the movie ( which is a never a bad move for any film in my opinion), who also happen to provide tons of comic relief when they try and mouth words like “Fourier transforms”, ” DNA Computing” and “Quantum Mechanics” , that too in the same sentence! Michael Bay has a reputation to live up to, of making trashy pulp multi-million grossers like Armageddon and Bad Boys and he does what is expected of him beautifully. However, the USP of the movie has to be the giant robots who are the true saviours of the movie in more ways than one. The special effects, when the seemingly ordinary cars and trucks transform into walking, running and in some cases even roller blading beasts of metal, are awe-inspiring to say the least. And come on, how can you NOT like a story which has characters like Megatron and Optimus Prime from the far far world of Cybertron!! After all, this is the series that made these words synonymous with all things mechanical. Ideal movie to be enjoyed over pop corn with a gang of friends, lots of corny jokes and nostalgia trips. Ideal movie to be avoided if you are expecting anything remotely cerebral.
The past week was simply awesome for me. I finally reconnected with so many of my school & college friends, thanks to sites like Orkut and Facebook. But all this talk on how risky networking sites have become has made me a wee bit cautious. It can get really messy out there, if one gives out too much information than required.
Orkut has been in the news lately for the wrong reasons. Having signed in there just recently myself I did find it less than satisfactory in terms of privacy. For starters, just about ANYONE can access the profile page and see photos. Obviously, only if one permits a random person to communicate with him/her then it’s quite possible to run into a bit of trouble. What I really dislike in Orkut is that it’s just been a week since I registered and I’ve already had 6 requests from absolute strangers to add them as friends.
On the other hand, Facebook is big on privacy. One can tweak the security and privacy settings to his/her comfort level and be assured that there will be a minimal of the annoying, ‘Can you be my frend?’ requests! Also Facebook has been an even more fun site because of all its cool and whacky features. However, I still feel like one should exercise as much as caution as possible coz at the end of the day, you just never know!
Other social networking sites
LinkedIn, bigadda, Fropper, Jhoom!, Minglebox, the list goes on & on. Time for the bubble to burst??!!
Had a weird experience on networking sites? Write in…
What a drag… Feeling the Monday blues.. The weather adding to it! Agreed, I do enjoy the dull weather at times, to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and a great book! But it just so happens, my hubby is monopolizing the latest Harry Potter! So much so, he’s taken it to work so that I don’t start reading it and destroy his evening plans.
I turn on the TV, flick away, surf my way through… HBO/Star Movies – chick flick – so not happening right now… Sports – not really (after Ferrari losing and India putting on a dismal performance in cricket)… News – Bah, forget it!… About to switch off the tube when I chance upon… my one-time favorite – TOM & JERRY on Cartoon Network! Trust the funnies to lighten my mood. I have such a great time watching it that I’m suddenly compelled to pull out my comic collection.
It brings back vivid childhood memories. Right from the Sunday funnies section in the newspaper to the eagerly awaited Spiderman and He-Man cartoons at 9 am on Sunday morning on DD, the only source of entertainment then. Remember reading Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha while growing up, a wonderful way in introducing Indian mythology to young readers. The Archie comic exchange sessions with friends in school and holding a comic in the text book while classes were going on, Asterix, Tin Tin, Garfield and all the possible comic classics to the much newer Calvin & Hobbes exchanged in college.
Most of us have a fave cartoon character. Something about them warms our hearts, brings a smile to our faces, evokes a hearty laugh and gets out the child in us. We take the child in us for granted, don’t indulge in cartoons any more thinking it’s only for the real kids. Lighten up a little, sit back, turn on the telly, switch to Cartoon Network, ENJOY!
Incredible! Magnificent! Super! Awesome! Words failed to enter my mind. I was so mesmerized by the spectacular view in front of me. This was 2 weeks ago, in the South of France, Cote D’Azur as it is famously known, between St. Raphael and St. Tropez, in a small sleepy town called Les Issambres, high on a hill in Villa Bali overlooking what I believe is one of the best coastlines that I have ever seen. Check it out…
For interested holiday makers, the villa also has a small self-catering apartment and two double rooms with bed & breakfast facilities, which are rented out reasonably. All the rooms on this spacious property face the Mediterranean Sea. It’s simply amazing to wake up to white yachts, jet skis and fishing boats dotting the brilliant blue sea.
Interested travelers, check out the following website for Villa Bali reservations www.villa-bali.fr .The owners of the property, Jean-Christophe Bence and his lovely wife, Isabelle, were extremely warm, welcoming and helpful. We had a great time with them.
The best part about Les Issambres is it’s proximity to all the major tourist spots in the French Riviera. Monaco, Nice, Cannes, St. Tropez, are within driving distance of 1 hour. Sure enough, these cities live up to their promise of showcasing pristine beaches, sparkling aqua waters and all that your heart could desire.
For wine lovers, a bit inland, not too far from Les Issambres, is Les Arcs village, nestled at the foothills of the French Alps, Provence, a district known for its vineyards. A visit to Maison de Vin (House of Wines) is a must, where one can taste all the wine produced from the Provence area. Dining in the restaurant there is an option but sadly it has nothing to offer vegetarians. This aside, visiting Chateau Font du Broc, one of the most popular vineyards in the area is something one can not miss. The wine cellar on the property was HUGE! For scheduling a visit, go to www.chateau-fontdubroc.com
The trip was… (gosh, I’m out of words again!)… fabulous! The icing on the cake was watching the Formula 1 race live in Magny-Cours and we were awarded with a Ferrari win which made it all the more memorable.
Traveler Tip - Renting a car is the only way of getting around from Les Issambres to all the above mentioned places. If you’re someone who has driven in the US then it shouldn’t be too tough to drive here. Make sure you have your international driving license and insurance cover.
I, along with my family am a huge movie buff. I watch at least 3-4 movies every week, out of which one is at the movie theater. Since the inception of Inox it is the only theater i have been to barring two occasions when i went to Metro & Sterling. Both which i found below par when compared to Inox.
However last week i had a problem with the food services where they served my dad a stale sandwich. He was unhappy about that and we wrote a complaint to Inox management yesterday. Since then i have received calls from the General Manager Mr.Bhatia, Regional Manager Mr.Basu.they spent a lot of time explaining the situation and what they had done to remedy it as well as how apologetic they were that such an incident happened.
They were very keen on retaining me as a customer and asked me to come down to the theater and give them a call. Funnily i ended up there last night itself yesterday and it was a pleasant experience to deal with Mr.Savio and others at the theater.
It was amazing to receive such a quick response to my email (within 3 hours) especially from the different levels of management. One person calling was plenty but three different managers in increasing level of importance, shows to me how seriously they took this.
Mistakes do happen, such is life and it is very easy to lose customers with a not caring approach. However the Inox management has taken in a very solid approach and they have a lifelong customer in me.
As an aside, i had a positive experience with Omega as well. I bought a watch from them in Feb with the advent of the monsoon i Ihad a few queries which i directed at Omega Switzerland.
I had emailed them and i guess they could have been handled over email. However the email contained my mobile number and i a gentleman from their customer service end called me to answer my query (regarding water proofing and monsoon)
Fantastic stuff, would be amazing if this country could see more such people pushing to satisfy their customer.
Now a friend is looking for his first real watch and we have zeroed in on another Omega.
“Soooooperstar”, “Mega star”, “Most popular Indian Star”, “Shehenshah of Indian Cinema”, “Highest paid star”, “Our own superman”… If you have been reading newspaper these days, you know who I am talking about. The one and only Rajnikath aka peoples’ beloved ‘Rajni’!!! No movie page is complete without description of his latest movie ‘Sivaji’; the budget, the location, costumes, different get-ups and the man himself. I don’t remember reading about so much fanfare for a movie recently. This man is worshiped by his fans! After reading about it for a month, I decided I should also watch it and see what it is all about. I don’t understand Tamil, neither I am fan of Rajini nor I have even seen any of his movies save ‘Chalbaaz’ where he plays very small role. But they say curiosity drives human beings and I am no different. Even theaters in Gurgaon and Mumbai are overflowing; it is obvious that I too get little bit of ‘RajniMania’ :).
Do you know that the tickets were being sold at the rate of Rs 1000, well into second week of opening? We never ventured near cinema hall till this week and were lucky enough to get tickets for Wednesday night. Though it was a weekday and late night show, there was huge rush. We were standing in the queue for half hour just to get in! The atmosphere was building up with people hooting and whistling, waiting for the previous show get over. The show started well behind schedule. Once they opened the door, we rushed fast to our seats and there was one more round of hooting and whistling. I can only imagine how the scene will be in small towns.
There is nothing great to talk about the movie. The movie minus Rajni will be just another masala movie; story, actors, cinematography etc are ok. But the man makes all the difference. He has awesome energy and all the “estyle” still there. The way he flips rupee coin, the way he shakes his hair, he eats menthos mint, the way he says ‘Cool!’ are great. The director couldn’t resist having one of his famous Goggle flipping scene. But I think they should not make him dance anymore. And yes, 10/10 to the makeup artist; Rajni looks just like he used to look 10-15 years ago. The layers of make up are pretty obvious but you won’t mind them. Watch out for the much talked about blond hairdo, what a style! He must have had at least 50 getups in the movie from blonde to complete bald head! And there are few scene where he enacts heroes of yesteryears. That’s cool too. There are fight scenes, in matrix style. I am sure fans will be thrilled to watch them.
There is the comedian Vivek, who makes you laugh just with his presence. There is the heroine alright but she is no more significant than songs. Guys were drooling on her. Ok, She looks good and dances well but acting is ok types. The voice over for her is bad. It was very obvious that she was using someone else’s voice. I liked Rajini’s parent’s characters. They are very cute people. When they discover that their son is after a girl, they won’t mind starting the marriage talk in the police station 
Do watch the movie for experience of RajniMania. Why do we need Superman, Batman, He Man when we have all of them rolled into one!!!
PS: The title is the song from movie which I liked a lot. It means ‘Sivaji is my life’. If you don’t know Rajni’s real name is also Sivaji and that’s what makes the movie more special or so I am told by my Tamil friends.
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