Dedh Ishqiya- Review

This is a 'cool' film in many ways. There was also a cold wind blowing across the Malwa region, but that is just by the way. It is a pleasure to watch the lead actors Naseer and Arshad, along with many of the others-Huma Qureshi who looks good, and Vijay Raaz, who plays his role well, in particular. And Mr. Italvi, who claims to be a poet from Italy.

There is some good Urdu poetry in the initial part, but the film picks up pace when the shenanigans of the con artists really begin. I liked the second half for its pace, and the general goofball happenings. But what I liked best were all the scenes featuring Arshad Warsi (after Munnabhai, maybe his best outing) and Naseeruddin Shah, one of our finest actors.

The tale is a kind of mix of The Cannonball Run, It's a Mad, mad, Mad World, Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels, A Fish Called Wanda, with a few wannabe Urdu poets thrown in, and set in U.P.. But it's all fun to watch. There is also a modern twist in the tale, a bow to the latest inclinations of "homo" sapiens.

Sholay Revisited

Celebrating 60000 views of my blog (and 900 posts too)..

I first saw it at a grand theatre, Ramakrishna 70 mm, in Hyderabad along with my dad and brother. The effect was mind-boggling. This version was in 3D, and some scenes had an added zing, when objects like bullets or logs in the train robbery sequence flew at us.

But this is a tribute to a legend of a film. The editing is first rate, and won for M.S. Shinde a Filmfare award. Truly well-deserved. Maintaining the tempo for three and a half hours is tough, and he along with the Director, Ramesh Sippy, achieved what few others in cinema have. 

The story is quite ordinary, but the characterisation (with unique mannerisms, accents etc.) and treatment enhance the effect so much that you are engrossed, captivated and cannot take your eyes off the screen. The acting is superb. More so from the first-timer Amjad Khan. What a dream debut he had! Even the bit actors like Keshto, Jagdeep, Hangal, Sachin, and Kalia and Sambha (screen names of Viju Khote and Mac Mohan) are wonderful. Asrani for me had the role of a lifetime as a Chaplinesque jailer.

The dialogues are cutting-edge, and add a lot to the enjoyment.  Even simple lines are well-written, like Ab aayega mazaa. Or Kitne aadmi the? Or Budhiya going jail, jail me budhiya chakki peesing, Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke jailer hain, Holi kab hai? etc. have become classics. Every scene blends into the next seamlessly. Actors seem to have enjoyed the process, and it shows.  The background music is very good, particularly during the initial Basanti tonga ride sequence. And Mehbooba, mehbooba is a rocking number. Even ten of today’s item songs together can’t equal it for effect. Great fun revisiting Sholay.

Dynasty

Sounds quite funny when you split the word as dy-nasty. We will now examine what other fun can be derived from dynasties that we know of.

Ghori sounds gory? Darna mana hai.

Khilji dynasty must have laughed khil-khila ke (tough to translate from Hindi).

Tughlaqs were ... well, contributors to generating a concept- Tughlaqian (crazy) behaviour!

Richard the V was only one up on Richard the  IV.

One Singh dynasty cannot be distinguished from another. But we know that "Singh is King" so it's Ok. Maybe some of them can be attached to the place they ruled over, like Mewar or Jaipur. Complications arose when they had prefixes like Sawai (Man Singh) attached to them.

The Parmars had Raja Bhoj from whose times the famous question "Kahan Raja Bhoj aur kahan Gangu Teli" became popular (loosely, it means, what's the comparison between a king and a commoner?). Apparently Raja Bhoj was ruling over these parts of M.P. that I am now living in.

Do we owe the Lodi gardens of Delhi to one of the Lodis? probably.

The Tuluva dynasty to which Krishnadevaraya of Hampi/Vijayanagar belonged had a court jester called Tenaliraman who gave endless joy to us kids with his witty stories.

Not to forget the Holkars whose name adorns an airport here.

Mandu-- Historical Romances

Like the other legendary romances, there was one for which Mandu is famous. The one between a king Baz Bahadur and his queen, a local beauty called Roopmati. The palaces, one of which is named after her, are a visual delight, and one can easily spend a day roaming the ruins. Jahaz Mahal is well-preserved palace-lake complex with a water body on both sides of the building. On the way to Mandu from Indore there is a park with a million year old petrified wood and some dinosaur eggs in similar state. Here are some pics-

My manifesto for 2014 elections

No, I am not entering politics. But politicians are welcome to steal the ideas here. Free.

That the Lok sabha will be used to support aspirations of the average Joe. There will be an invited speaker to voice them, once every week. And no one will create a ruckus while he/she speaks. Like TED talks.

Roads built will be of good quality.

There will be no moral policing of any kind, until the elected reps prove that they have some.

Women (and men) will be respected. Children too.

We will not blindly ape the West. But good governance and civic sense will be aped. Spitting will attract a HUGE fine.

Healthcare will be a basic right, and anyone found corrupt in it will be shot.

PGDM will be renamed MBA, and FPM, Ph.D. The institutes will remain autonomous, and degree granting.

Outings-1983

Living life kingsized in the first, with some beer at Nandi Hills. Around 1983, with some IIM Bangalore seniors -Ramanujam Sridhar, advtg. whiz to be, is one of them.

A pic of our batch of MBA wannabes from IIMB at Golden beach, Madras/Chennai. Around 1983.

New Year Begins

It looks a lot like the old year. Yes, I am older by a few days,  and may be (this is debatable) wiser. The days are windier and foggier. I have a Videocon DTH connection instead of the cable guy with mostly the same channels. A pretty good mess (for dining) and therefore, no cooking.

I have new colleagues, and a lot more to teach. Less of PR functions that went with my earlier job. Less things to worry about, in other words.

Same old (extended) family and a lot more potential friends. A new scanner that I intend using to scan a few more pics. What carries on from the old year is blogging, reading, music and good times. And promise of new, unexpected happenings. Great, don't you think?