Monali Thakur on her Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kez9ufDZQSs

Meet the lovely Monali Thakur, interviewed in this video. She is a singer who has done some good singing, but I became aware of her after I watched her as the lead actress in Nagesh Kukunoor's new film Lakshmi, screened at our campus. She has done a marvellous job as an actress too, and I certainly hope we see more of her on screen.  I am rather tired of Kareena, Katrina and Priyanka.

Among other songs, she has sung the English Vinglish marriage party song with some Marathi words in it. And 'Sawaar loon' from Lootera.

In case you like the above, there are more parts of that interview, like this for example-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbANVAfhkIg

Monali Thakur as Lakshmi- Film Review

This is the latest from Nagesh Kukunoor, who hit the bull's eye with Hyderabad Blues many years ago, and made films such as Dor and Iqbal after that.

Lakshmi is a very well-made film about Prevention of Immoral Trafficking (PITA) and its implementation, or (more often) lack thereof. Based on several true incidents, it is a part-fictionalised story of the resoluteness of one girl sold by her father into the flesh trade run through the support of powerful people.

What makes this film special is the heroine, Monali Thakur. She brings in the innocence and expressiveness that instantly get you on her side. She acts like a veteran in a role of a life-time, that many actresses never got in theirs careers. Hats off to her. The difficult subject is scripted and handled well, without distractions.

Other cast and characters are good too. Satish Kaushik, Ram Kapoor, Shefali Shah and Kukunoor himself, stand out. Monali's roommate at the brothel also does a great job.

An excellent movie that makes you think. Do watch it.

Narayanamurthy and Nagesh Kukunoor visit IIM Indore

The Narayanamurthy interaction was unplanned. It was prompted by Mr. Murthy being here for laying the foundation stone for his company's Indore office. He told us that he'd done the same at Nagpur yesterday. Looks good for both cities. IT is coming to them. Both cities are nice to live in, and the young IT crowd will make it more vibrant.

He was brilliant in fielding questions from students of the Exec Program and the PGP. He also did not hold back his punches, when he said we have wasted ten years in governing wrongly, but inspired the students  by saying they could still do it- transform the country by being disciplined and putting country before self.

His analysis was backed by solid examples. He lamented that the coaching classes had killed IITs. He also presented his views on attrition at Infosys and laid the blame on the top management for ills at the bottom.

Nagesh Kukunoor was invited by students conducting Mridang, the campus fest. His film Lakshmi was screened before the interaction with him. More on the film later.