Potential Quizzes

 What/Who comes to your mind, when you see these words?

1. The Skull Cave/Col. Worobu/Guran

2. Gestures Hypnotically

3. Ina Mina Dika

4. Chupke Chupke Raat Din

5. Ek taraf uska ghar, ek taraf maikada

6. Gori tera gaon bada pyara

7. Ye kya ho raha hai?

8. Bindiya chamkegi, choodi khankegi

9. Woh kagaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka pani

10. Made in India

11. Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke

12. Hum kale hain to kya hua dilwale hain?

13. Tu auron ki kyun ho gayi?

14. Dil mein ek lehar si uthi hai abhi

dialogue

1. Mogambo khush hua

2. Peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag

3. Behno aur bhaiyon..

4. Lilly, don't be silly

5. Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, naamumin hai

6. Babu moshai,...

7. Ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jano.

8. Ye kya ji, goda chatur, goda chatur? 

9. Pushpa, I hate tears.

10. kkk..Kiran..

Creative Names of Characters

 Probably the best set of names is in the Asterix comics.

Obelix

Cacofonix

Unhygienix

Vitalstatistix

Getafix

Names of various Roman Centurions- Crismus Bonus, Nefarius Purpus, and Dubius Status. Also Squareonthehypotenuse.

Impedimenta

Dogmatix

Geriatrix

Bacteria

Authors Create Characters

 Hercule Poirot, Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond.. almost everyone in our circles (readers, film-goers) knows these characters. Some of us may be aware of Nero Wolfe, Bertha Cool and Donald Lam, and a few others too. Cartoonists did that too. R.K. Laxman's Common Man, or Mario Miranda's Miss Fonseca are examples.

Creating a new character is not easy. You have to give him/her a personality like a real woman/man, and make some of their mannerisms or characteristics unique, like the egg-shaped head, the constant talk about "the little grey cells" and a few French words/phrases in the case of Hercule Poirot, so the reader starts visualising the character. 

In my brief writing journey, I am proud of having created two characters, at least. Two humans, that is, and a mosquito, Anopheles. She has views about us humans, and they are not always charitable. But we are friends, so I take these in my stride. Very intelligent conversationalist, she can talk about any topic. 

The two human characters were Lord Rocheskatchewn (pronounced Rooska-toon), 21^st Earl of Rocheskatchewn and an MBA student, Gurumurthy, who shows the Lord around the campus when he visits IIM Bangalore.

Filmy Character Names

Some memorable filmy characters, mainly due to their names-

Dr. Fu Manchu- Peter Sellers in The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, who drinks a youth elixir made out of diamonds, stolen by a band of henchmen whom he calls "dacoits."

Rice Plate Reddy, a villain in the funny film, Quick Gun Murugan, which also had a seductress named Mango Dolly.

Dhurandhar Bhatawadekar -the incomparable Utpal Dutt, in Rang Birangi

Mogambo - Amrish Puri in Mr. India, who made "Mogambo khush hua" a household dialogue.

Soorma Bhopali- Jagdeep in Sholay, speaking in his inimitable style.

Virus in 3 Idiots, played so well by Boman Irani.

Circuit in Munnabhai MBBS. Arshad Warsi's best role, maybe.

..and finally, Lola Kutty, the delectable Mallu lady of the T.V. show by the same name. "Aalex"  was her frequent companion.

Lost in translation?

What would some global characters/people/films translate to, if they were Indianised?

James Bond would be Janu Bande and 007, shunya, shunya saat. M would be Ma, in Hindi.

Star Wars would be Sitaron ki Jung.

Star Trek could be Chalat musafir taron ke sung.

Herbie Goes Bananas would be Haribhai gaye kele lene.

Mackenna's Gold, (in Telugu)- Venkanna Bangaram.

Game of Thrones- Singhasan pe siyasat.

and the reverse.

Anarkali would be Pomogranate-bud.

Chacha Chaudhary would be Uncle Chow.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam would be  Baby, I gave you my heart.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, would be That guy Prem gets the pie.

Characters I Would Like to Meet

Mr. Walker, or The Phantom. I think I'd get along well wiith him, what with his mysterious ways of dealing with the various people in his life-friends and foes. Not to mention living in a skull cave. Sounds like fun!

Lille Lotta. She could throw punches like no one else could. Dishoom!

Casper, the friendly ghost. He was cute. I would keep him as a pet.

Richie Rich. I'd like to meet him just to get served by Cadbury, the butler.

Thomson and Thompson. I want to know the differences between them, apart from the spelling..

Captain Haddock. Billions of bule blistering barnacles...

Tirsingrao. He was my childhood hero, a rustic, mustachioed guy who drove an Eveready Half-ton. From a Marathi series for kids.

Faster Fene, a character who was a mix of Enid Blyton's Fatty, and Huckleberry Finn.

Mandrake the Magician. Living in Xanadu, and gesturing hypnotically to achieve things, ..what a way to do things.

A Lesson on Earnestness and Its Importance at IIM Indore

I have no idea if Oscar Wilde intended this one to be a pontification on the importance of being earnest in whatever you are doing. Whether it was intended or not, the staging of his play by the name (the Importance of Being Earnest) did prove that it helps-to be earnest.

I am referring of course, to the brilliant performance on campus (IIM Indore) by our students of this play yesterday. Three months of continuous hard work can do wonders, and the enthusiasm with which the cast and support did it bore fruit. It was one of the best possible renditions of this that you could pull off with an almost entirely amateur cast, the director being the experienced hand bringing it all together with great (im)patience-actually needed to drive a project of this kind. Talk about the importance of being Impatient!

The story of this play has a mix of humour- there are one-liners on relatives (aunts in particular), education, Londoners, marriage, high society, social standing, book-writers, and many things in between that would each make you roll on the floor in laughing fits- misunderstandings, suspense and of course, romance. Example of the Wilde humour- "all women become like their mothers-that is their tragedy. No man does-that is his."

The on-screen chemistry was wonderful, adding to the charm. The costumes, make-up and sets matched the 'Victorian' needs of the characters. The dialogue delivery added the needed punch.

Hats off to the cast-Avik, Philip, Shrunga, Jasmine, Sanjana (outstandingly scary as Lady Bracknell),Urvaksh, Ayushi, Siddharth, and of course, Shweta Kushal the director, and the backstage guys (stage, sound, lights, running around) for a memorable show!

Characters You Meet

These are a few character sketches, though brief, of characters I have met in my life spanning around 54 years so far. They enlivened my life, and I am ever grateful. Maybe you had a few, too to enliven yours. If not, have fun with these.

A guy who perpetually carried a funereal expression on his face, as if he had just returned from one. The guy resembling him the most is Chief Vitalstatistix from Asterix comics, who is scared of the sky falling on his head.

Another who spoke as if he were preparing for CAT, MAT, GMAT, and GRE all together. Meaning, high-flown English. Alas, they don't make them like that any more.

A guy who would talk only about the opposite sex, and how to 'win friends and influence people' of the right kind. He was in the U.S. in a cosmopolitan environment, and was country-neutral when it came to his friendships, but not gender-neutral.

Another who was just the opposite of this 'friendly soul', who was not just tongue-tied, but also shied away from women. So much that he even walked away if a woman entered an area within a few square metres of himself. Luckily, his mom was not aware of this as he came out into this world!

A friend who would be fine until his third drink (in one evening), and then turn into a hilarious caricature, doing things that are too funny to put down in print, but many of these alternately entertained and scared people around him.

One who repeated himself at least four to five times in a short time. So you could only progress so much in a conversation with him. And he had a theory about everything that happened in the world.

A guy who thought he was the resident wit and wanted the world to think he was the funniest guy alive. I know what you are thinking- no, it's not me. Though if you want to think of me that way, I wouldn't mind at all!