Favourite Actors

First, the women.

Smita Patil was really classy, in my view. Top spot.

Tabu comes close. I liked her in Cheeni kum, Hera Pheri, The Namesake,..

Vidya Balan. Takes your breath away, in some of her roles, like Parineeta.

Deepti Naval. Chashme baddoor!

Nimrat Kaur was very good in The Luchbox. Taapsee Pannu in Pink. Nandita Das in Fire.

Rekha in Khubsoorat.

The Men.

Irrfan in almost any film of his.

Naseeruddin Shah in Masoom is the one I remember the most..and Jaane Bhi Do Yaro, the greatest black comedy.

Om Puri in Ardh Satya. Ditto.

Amjad Khan in Sholay.

Abhay Deol.

Rahul Bose.

There are favourite stars too, for different reasons.

Cyrus Broacha- Human Comedy

This is a term I have coined-human comedy- to distinguish it from political comedy. I think political comedy is easier, because there is so much to sneer at. But human comedy is a lot more difficult, based as it is in observing the self and the elves- defined (by me) as all the others dancing around you. This book falls in the difficult to write category, in my view. And Cyrus does a good job of it. The book is titled 'The Average Indian Male.'

Poking fun at all males Indian is no mean task. The North-vorth based male is quite different from the Marathi manoos, or his veshti-bound Southeren (mis-spelling deliberate) counterpart. And Cyrus spares none- according to him, the Central Indian male is one who neither fits into the North, South, nor into the East, West. How sad for Nagpur!

Anyway, some of his 'fun' das from the book.

Thanksgiving is the time when Americans traverse large distances criss-crossing the country to give thanks that they can live away from their parents.

An art dealer has to work harder than the artist. An artist just paints a canvas. The art dealer has to convince both the artist and his customer that the canvas has some value.

Shaving and religion take away fifty five minutes of a man's day. Marriage takes away all his life.

There are lots of observations about 'manly' activities and proclivities (including his abiding love for mummy), all of them funny, some best read and enjoyed. So I suggest you do!