Romeo Akbar Walter- Film Review

I wish it had been Romeo and Juliet. I wouldn't have minded seeing that tear-jerker rather than suffer the boredom of watching this "spy thriller." The first half is so boring that it took great resolve to watch the second.

John Abraham proves yet again (if proof was needed) that he can't act to save his life (pun intended- he is a secret service agent, endangered at all times). Why anyone should want to cast him in this role perfected by the likes of Pierce Brosnan and Roger Moore, is anybody's guess. Maybe he produced the film.

The only good thing about the film is it sticks to its story and does not bring in item numbers or other irrelevant stuff. The problem is, there isn't much of a story, and another non-actor, Jackie Shroff, joins our hero in competing for the (non-acting) laurels. I did like the acting by the villains though.

Ho-hum, and stay at home is my unsolicited advice.

My Avatars on earth- 3

The roles I played, admired and would have liked to play are captured in this series. This one is about Bond and bonding..

Above- my longest stint was as a prof. at Kirloskar Institute- students from there are still in touch.

 Above- I imitate my favourite James Bond- Roger Moore, at a wax museum. Below, the bond with IIM Indore gang of trailblazers.

 ..and bonding over dinner, or carrying a Mashal with faculty colleagues, at Indore.

Roger Moore - Broken Bonds

His passing away brought back memories of the suave Bond he played in six or seven films. I think I saw and enjoyed all of them, but some I remember better than others. Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun in particular.

He was stylish, delivered the one-liners very coolly, and looked the part. Later Bonds were mostly no match, except Pierce Brosnan. I also read his autobiography, which was not so great, but narrated his story of struggles quite sincerely.

He will be remembered for keeping James Bond alive through his classy work. Long live Moore!

A Vintage Collection of Pics

1. There is immortality involved here. A sidewalk at Clemson Univ., South Carolina has my name engraved .in it. Not because I won a Nobel Prize, but because I was one of the centenary year graduating students. So people there walk all over me! With me is Anu, my wife who had to be convinced she'd married the right guy!

2. Bond (Moore) and I share a pose at a wax museum in Hollywood, around 1987.

3. The third is a shot of Wendy, a student I taught at Clemson, who modelled for my shot of the vintage car parked in campus.

These are to celebrate my 500th post (and 15000 readership) on this blog. Now, where's the champagne?

Institute Day

We actually have a day (when IMT Nagpur started in 2004) designated for awarding scholarships to students in recognition for their academic achievements in year one of their PGDM (MBA). It is like a mini-convocation, and it was on July 26th, yesterday. There were a hall-full of well-dressed students (is that an oxymoron?), and a chief guest who is an incurable Nagpur-lover. He has stayed back, and intends to stay on in the city.

Mr. Srikant Sampath is an active entrepreneur, who has set up two companies, in two different areas of enterprise- real estate and HR. It was interesting to hear him talk of success in different forms, for students at various levels of the CGPA curve. This matches my ideas that a person should not be judged by his grades alone. Grades reflect a current judgement of academic ability and motivation, but those "backward" in this measurement may excel at some other things- extra-curriculars, that may lead to a career, for example. As you can see, I might have been a full-time writer had I not been a prof.

Currently reading a biography of my favorite Bond- Roger Moore. Hitler came pretty close to finishing him off, by bombing London when he was a boy, it seems.