Time has come its time we had a talk
I sense a difference of opinion so c’mon kiddo lets take a walk
I’ve just been told you are kinda unwelcome
They say you symbolize sin something needs to be done
The only reason why I shed those tears
Is because I mebbe the reason why you got here
Even though you had come to be a part of me
Time has come that I set you free
I always thought I gave you joy
You were my master I was your little toy
You never talked to me lately something had seemed amiss
But I never thought it would come to this
As you prepare to push me up heaven’s stairs
Remember you are the reason why I got here
Do you think by doing this your soul will ever be free
I wanna see the world Mommy let me be
Not big fan of hip hop or anything but if this thing was ever to be put into music rap would be a perfect choice.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Saturday, August 27, 2005
A musical interlude
I seem to have hit a blogger’s block of late, a pretty steep one at that too. So even as I shake myself trying to churn up new ideas I find myself returning to my mental recycle bin to recover some post ideas that I had deemed as probable ones but trashed later probably not considering them fit for public consumption. This post happens to be one those ideas and marks my return to my favorite domain of Bollywood. You might relate to it only and only if you have been a music buff from the 80’s onwards.
Recall all those times when Cd’s weren’t quite the in thing and your music pile consisted of cassettes which came dirt cheap after the advent of the Gulshan Kumar era. Do you remember times when while playing a favorite cassette of yours you suddenly came to song that stuck out as a sore note on an otherwise musically brilliant album? As I sat down recalling such instances I started thinking of times when we have shamelessly defended the songs in our movies by calling them musicals even though we’ve never come to making a true blue musical in the true sense of the world. I mean forget musicals we have very few movies in which all songs are good and turn out to be popular choices amongst the common movie going audiences. Anyways that not my point, the point is even though we make movies replete with songs why do music directors always end up composing one real bad / unpopular song on an otherwise beautiful album. If you sift through pages of Bollywood music history you will probably notice that this trend started only around the late 70’s and early 80’s movies when greats like Shankar Jaikishan and S.D.Burman were no longer around. After their era when subsequent music directors came around that you will suddenly begin to find albums with one or 2 mediocre to plain bad that somehow didn’t gel with an otherwise hit soundtrack and ended up going unnoticed in a relatively hit flick. For a true movie buff this phenomenon seemed very irritating because it always seemed like that the music composers just didn’t bother and got into the irritating and very Indian ‘chalta hai’ mode of functioning this ruining a great album leaving me scurrying for the fast forward button. For those of you who I have entirely lost at this point of time its time you make a quick exit before making you are forced to leave uncharitable comments on the blog, for those who even have an inkling as to what I am talking about I speak for every ‘Chori pe chori’ song in Saathiya, ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman’ number in Kaho Na Pyar Hai, ‘Pehli Baar mMile’ from Saajan, ‘ Dil Ka Aalam’ from Aashiqi, ‘Ghar Aaja Pardesi’ from DDLJ, ‘Deewane Hum Pyar Ke’ from JJWS, ‘Bada Dukh Dina’ from Ram Lakhan etc. My memory fails me as I try to come up with more examples but I hope I have gotten my point across. Also pardon me for my choice of movies being from the 80’s onwards as that’s where most of my musical recollections start from. This realization gave me increased appreciation for all those soundtracks on which all numbers turned out to be mass hits. I tried putting together a collection of 5 such soundtracks. I must admit it was a very hard job but after a lot of thinking I came up with a list of 5 music CD’s I wouldn’t really mind being marooned with on an island (keep in mind this is a post 1975 collection and I leave open the discussion for my favorite collection of English music for a later day).
Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin: Probably the soundtrack that actually drove me into writing this particular post, it was a personal favorite of mine as I made my dad play this movie’s songs over and over again as a small kid.
Ijaazat: A brilliant movie with powerhouse performances and the coming together of RD Burman’s and Gulzar’s geniuses. Every song is a gem in itself and should be on every musical connoisseur’s playlist.
Aandhi: Another RD, Gulzar combo on the list has great replay value.
QSQT: The movie that got back good music back to Bollywood in a hurry.
Roja: Comprehensively proved music actually broke across all border while establishing making A.R.Rehman a name to be watched out for and an instant celebrity.
1942 A Love story: This soundtrack proved without a doubt that musician’s die music doesn’t as RD immortalized himself to all music lovers.
Dil Chahta Hai: This soundtrack firmly established Shankar, Ehsan and Loy amongst the big league, with music as fresh as the movie.
Ok mebbe I cheated and made that list drag onto seven very conveniently but lets see you all trim your list down to five.
Recall all those times when Cd’s weren’t quite the in thing and your music pile consisted of cassettes which came dirt cheap after the advent of the Gulshan Kumar era. Do you remember times when while playing a favorite cassette of yours you suddenly came to song that stuck out as a sore note on an otherwise musically brilliant album? As I sat down recalling such instances I started thinking of times when we have shamelessly defended the songs in our movies by calling them musicals even though we’ve never come to making a true blue musical in the true sense of the world. I mean forget musicals we have very few movies in which all songs are good and turn out to be popular choices amongst the common movie going audiences. Anyways that not my point, the point is even though we make movies replete with songs why do music directors always end up composing one real bad / unpopular song on an otherwise beautiful album. If you sift through pages of Bollywood music history you will probably notice that this trend started only around the late 70’s and early 80’s movies when greats like Shankar Jaikishan and S.D.Burman were no longer around. After their era when subsequent music directors came around that you will suddenly begin to find albums with one or 2 mediocre to plain bad that somehow didn’t gel with an otherwise hit soundtrack and ended up going unnoticed in a relatively hit flick. For a true movie buff this phenomenon seemed very irritating because it always seemed like that the music composers just didn’t bother and got into the irritating and very Indian ‘chalta hai’ mode of functioning this ruining a great album leaving me scurrying for the fast forward button. For those of you who I have entirely lost at this point of time its time you make a quick exit before making you are forced to leave uncharitable comments on the blog, for those who even have an inkling as to what I am talking about I speak for every ‘Chori pe chori’ song in Saathiya, ‘Jaaneman Jaaneman’ number in Kaho Na Pyar Hai, ‘Pehli Baar mMile’ from Saajan, ‘ Dil Ka Aalam’ from Aashiqi, ‘Ghar Aaja Pardesi’ from DDLJ, ‘Deewane Hum Pyar Ke’ from JJWS, ‘Bada Dukh Dina’ from Ram Lakhan etc. My memory fails me as I try to come up with more examples but I hope I have gotten my point across. Also pardon me for my choice of movies being from the 80’s onwards as that’s where most of my musical recollections start from. This realization gave me increased appreciation for all those soundtracks on which all numbers turned out to be mass hits. I tried putting together a collection of 5 such soundtracks. I must admit it was a very hard job but after a lot of thinking I came up with a list of 5 music CD’s I wouldn’t really mind being marooned with on an island (keep in mind this is a post 1975 collection and I leave open the discussion for my favorite collection of English music for a later day).
Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin: Probably the soundtrack that actually drove me into writing this particular post, it was a personal favorite of mine as I made my dad play this movie’s songs over and over again as a small kid.
Ijaazat: A brilliant movie with powerhouse performances and the coming together of RD Burman’s and Gulzar’s geniuses. Every song is a gem in itself and should be on every musical connoisseur’s playlist.
Aandhi: Another RD, Gulzar combo on the list has great replay value.
QSQT: The movie that got back good music back to Bollywood in a hurry.
Roja: Comprehensively proved music actually broke across all border while establishing making A.R.Rehman a name to be watched out for and an instant celebrity.
1942 A Love story: This soundtrack proved without a doubt that musician’s die music doesn’t as RD immortalized himself to all music lovers.
Dil Chahta Hai: This soundtrack firmly established Shankar, Ehsan and Loy amongst the big league, with music as fresh as the movie.
Ok mebbe I cheated and made that list drag onto seven very conveniently but lets see you all trim your list down to five.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
2 Steps behind
He had always been a rebel, he had wanted to soar across the crimson skies alone like a bird, and he had wanted to live life on his own terms. He had always been one of a kind the rock star the darling of millions living on the edge of an edgy lifestyle high on drugs, booze and mind numbing adulation. He had soaked in it all till he had met her. The world had seemed so different then, the rebel suddenly needed a cause, even birds settled down eventually he had told his friends sheepishly. She had been a light at the end of a dark tunnel, a tunnel he wouldn’t have minded crawling even if it meant ending up with bruised elbows, knees and egos. Unfortunately that light had been cruelly snubbed out and he now found himself staring into the dark tunnel of the barrel of a revolver.
He always thought it required a combination of glut of guts and paucity of brains to blow out either. But then it seemed like a really grand way to go out in style immortalized to all his fans. So he groped around his room feeling the metal in hands that had strummed out the best heavy metal in decades. The gun felt so darned cold as he put in against his head uncomfortably propped against the wall. He clicked the safety off as he stared up groggily at the lights in his room finally ready to blow out his own. As his fingers tensed up on the trigger he wondered if his life would flash in front of his eyes as he had heard. It did for a flicker but all he saw was her, no childhood memories, no happy pictures from his college days, no family portraits, no recollections of his metronomic rise to the greatest rock star ever, nothing, just a picture of her as she slept peacefully next to him in those best days of his life. Suddenly he was having second thoughts about going through with this, what if this wasn’t the right thing to do but hadn’t he always gone out of his way to do the wrong thing, could it be that he was he just plain scared?
As he was battling his thoughts the door bell rang. He decided to do a rethink as he got the door. It was some sort of delivery for him but as he signed the receipt he thought the person under the Fed Ex cap seemed familiar. But his head heavy and groggy from a night of drugs and alcohol couldn’t really tell. Just as he closed the door it suddenly hit him why the face seemed familiar. He rushed to the door and sure enough he found the necklace there. A necklace he had so hated as she had picked out two pieces from the store, but something that had grown to become his most valuable possession as he stared at an identical piece hanging from his neck.
She had always said ‘I’ll always be there for you’; he realized that she had truly meant it.
He always thought it required a combination of glut of guts and paucity of brains to blow out either. But then it seemed like a really grand way to go out in style immortalized to all his fans. So he groped around his room feeling the metal in hands that had strummed out the best heavy metal in decades. The gun felt so darned cold as he put in against his head uncomfortably propped against the wall. He clicked the safety off as he stared up groggily at the lights in his room finally ready to blow out his own. As his fingers tensed up on the trigger he wondered if his life would flash in front of his eyes as he had heard. It did for a flicker but all he saw was her, no childhood memories, no happy pictures from his college days, no family portraits, no recollections of his metronomic rise to the greatest rock star ever, nothing, just a picture of her as she slept peacefully next to him in those best days of his life. Suddenly he was having second thoughts about going through with this, what if this wasn’t the right thing to do but hadn’t he always gone out of his way to do the wrong thing, could it be that he was he just plain scared?
As he was battling his thoughts the door bell rang. He decided to do a rethink as he got the door. It was some sort of delivery for him but as he signed the receipt he thought the person under the Fed Ex cap seemed familiar. But his head heavy and groggy from a night of drugs and alcohol couldn’t really tell. Just as he closed the door it suddenly hit him why the face seemed familiar. He rushed to the door and sure enough he found the necklace there. A necklace he had so hated as she had picked out two pieces from the store, but something that had grown to become his most valuable possession as he stared at an identical piece hanging from his neck.
She had always said ‘I’ll always be there for you’; he realized that she had truly meant it.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Mechanics of a freefall
30/24: Even though you sit around comfortably in our apartment you think it wouldn’t hurt to check the weather outside in the balcony and get some air
32/26: Damn it was a good idea coming out to grab that whiff of air and you feel as if you have never felt better, so you get complacent trying to get an extra whiff sitting on the ledge
34/28: Even though you don’t realize it you subconsciously crossed the barrier that would be considered ‘safe’ and finally tip over the edge.
36/30: As you enter the freefall fear grips you as you realize there’s probably no going back and you know you have tempted fate and stayed home or even in the safe confines of the balcony.
38/32: As your end rushes up to you suddenly feel a sense of helplessness and your contrived mind suddenly tells you that now that you are in this ride you might as well as enjoy it while it lasts.
40/34: You look down and for the last few seconds fear grips you again freezing up your joints, you make a concerted effort to escape the inevitable but it probably is too late and you resign to your fate.
For those of you who haven’t realized it yet that was a step by step analysis of the freefall to obesity and i think I would be insulting your intelligence if I have to spell out what the numbers stood for (I thought again abt this running thru all those times when jokes fell flat coz ppl didnt get the punchline and therefore for ppl who still didn't get it they happen to be waist sizes for both guys and girls).
I don’t like to put out disclaimers on my posts but I would like to state that this post was meant to a short tongue in cheek piece. I am not making any sly comments who happen to be either too thin or too fat and I have no issues with anyone as long as they are happy being what they are :). But in case this blog gives rise to feeling of 'been there done that' and wish u hadn't, then its time to break the freefall before its too late.
32/26: Damn it was a good idea coming out to grab that whiff of air and you feel as if you have never felt better, so you get complacent trying to get an extra whiff sitting on the ledge
34/28: Even though you don’t realize it you subconsciously crossed the barrier that would be considered ‘safe’ and finally tip over the edge.
36/30: As you enter the freefall fear grips you as you realize there’s probably no going back and you know you have tempted fate and stayed home or even in the safe confines of the balcony.
38/32: As your end rushes up to you suddenly feel a sense of helplessness and your contrived mind suddenly tells you that now that you are in this ride you might as well as enjoy it while it lasts.
40/34: You look down and for the last few seconds fear grips you again freezing up your joints, you make a concerted effort to escape the inevitable but it probably is too late and you resign to your fate.
For those of you who haven’t realized it yet that was a step by step analysis of the freefall to obesity and i think I would be insulting your intelligence if I have to spell out what the numbers stood for (I thought again abt this running thru all those times when jokes fell flat coz ppl didnt get the punchline and therefore for ppl who still didn't get it they happen to be waist sizes for both guys and girls).
I don’t like to put out disclaimers on my posts but I would like to state that this post was meant to a short tongue in cheek piece. I am not making any sly comments who happen to be either too thin or too fat and I have no issues with anyone as long as they are happy being what they are :). But in case this blog gives rise to feeling of 'been there done that' and wish u hadn't, then its time to break the freefall before its too late.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Passing thought part deux
I truly believe 'I am in love with u' is as different from 'I love u' as 'Are u hitting on me?' is from 'Are u hitting me?'.
Monday, August 15, 2005
And they met again........
He wiped the raindrops from his brow while carefully running his fingers through his carefully gelled hair which he had worked into a la Elvis mop only minutes back. Gosh how he hated the rain it got to him in a very oddly irritating way, it had poured every freaking day that he had forgotten to get an umbrella to office. As he got into the elevator cursing Murphy’s Law he heard someone shouting asking him to hold up the elevator. He had barely slid his hand out of his pockets to the partially broken ‘Door open’ button when he had a large camera shoved into his face. Following it entered this girl drenched in these outlandish bohemian clothes looking as if she had been outside for hours. Gosh another one of those hopeless romantics who loved to drench in the rain he thought.
“Lovely day outside aint it” she said.
“Looks all the same to me, I don’t like the rain anyways”.
An odd moment of silence followed during which he thought it was kinda rude of him to react in that fashion.
“You look like one heck of a photographer” he said pointing to the camera.
“You must have me confused with someone with some potential; I am just running an errand for a friend of mine to whom this belongs.”
Hmmm that camera thing wasn’t making any head away.
After another moment of uncomfortable silence she said “I am Sally” extending her hand.
He wiped his hand on his trousers and then extending his hand said “The name’s Potter, Harry Potter”.
“For real?"she asked looking incredulously at him.
“Naah, even though it would have made a heck of a story for you, actually it’s a rather more staid and boring Harry Johnson”.
Before he could say anything else the elevator stopped at her floor and she stepped outside disappearing from his view. As he was thinking of running after her, her head bobbed back into view as she blurted “Harry Johnson actually sounds so much better” and then she broke into a smile, a smile that was very childlike, smile unblemished by all the things that were wrong in the world outside the elevator, a smile that was one without a care in the world, as the elevator door closed.
Love stories with sad endings leave a lot of emotional baggage and broken hearts, love stories with happy endings leave behind grandchildren to whom you narrate tall tales of love overcoming all obstacles decades later but its stories like these that somehow make place in some comfortable corner of your mind and come rushing back on days when you least expect them too.
In case you are wondering abt the title its an extension on the shorts i did earlier namely Meeting with a stranger and Love story (free publicity never hurts u see).
“Lovely day outside aint it” she said.
“Looks all the same to me, I don’t like the rain anyways”.
An odd moment of silence followed during which he thought it was kinda rude of him to react in that fashion.
“You look like one heck of a photographer” he said pointing to the camera.
“You must have me confused with someone with some potential; I am just running an errand for a friend of mine to whom this belongs.”
Hmmm that camera thing wasn’t making any head away.
After another moment of uncomfortable silence she said “I am Sally” extending her hand.
He wiped his hand on his trousers and then extending his hand said “The name’s Potter, Harry Potter”.
“For real?"she asked looking incredulously at him.
“Naah, even though it would have made a heck of a story for you, actually it’s a rather more staid and boring Harry Johnson”.
Before he could say anything else the elevator stopped at her floor and she stepped outside disappearing from his view. As he was thinking of running after her, her head bobbed back into view as she blurted “Harry Johnson actually sounds so much better” and then she broke into a smile, a smile that was very childlike, smile unblemished by all the things that were wrong in the world outside the elevator, a smile that was one without a care in the world, as the elevator door closed.
Love stories with sad endings leave a lot of emotional baggage and broken hearts, love stories with happy endings leave behind grandchildren to whom you narrate tall tales of love overcoming all obstacles decades later but its stories like these that somehow make place in some comfortable corner of your mind and come rushing back on days when you least expect them too.
In case you are wondering abt the title its an extension on the shorts i did earlier namely Meeting with a stranger and Love story (free publicity never hurts u see).
Saturday, August 13, 2005
My tête - à – tête with God
God : So I notice you got your Master’s degree today.
Urs truly: Yup still cant believe it, seems like only yesterday that I used to pray to you for letting me pass my undergraduate exams.
God : Tell you what when you decided to come to States for your Master’s I had thought it was just another one of your whims.
Urs truly: Yup, I think I actually never realized the gravity of the whole situation till the day I was leaving home for the airport to board my flight.
God : Yeah no wonder you bawled like a baby on the last evening.
Urs truly: Hey that wasn’t my fault I thought I was ready for everything till that time when my granny broke down sobbing on the phone when I spoke to her last. Gosh bet you must have known that all the time, couldn’t you have steeled me for it?
God : Guess it was best for you at that time. So how has the whole experience been?
Urs truly: I don’t really know, I have had some hard times scratching around to earn my expenses, served food at cafeterias, scrubbed tables, worked night outs at my labs, missed home like crazy probably even cried when I saw that cheesy K3G again and missed India getting all emotional whenever I hear Rehman humming ‘Ye jo Des hai tera’ and other similar patriotic numbers.
God : You'll always be an emotional fool but I guess I gave you a real hard time there.
Urs truly: You can say that again but there have been some really good times, all those new friends I have made, all those things I have learned like cooking (discovered I had mum's knack for it) and taking care of myself stepping out of the protective and sheltered comforts of home and of course the joy I got on seeing my parents when I went to Delhi for a one month vacation.
God : Hmm question is given a chance will you do this all over again?
Urs truly: Hell yes, every single time.
God : Thought so…………:)
Urs truly: Yup still cant believe it, seems like only yesterday that I used to pray to you for letting me pass my undergraduate exams.
God : Tell you what when you decided to come to States for your Master’s I had thought it was just another one of your whims.
Urs truly: Yup, I think I actually never realized the gravity of the whole situation till the day I was leaving home for the airport to board my flight.
God : Yeah no wonder you bawled like a baby on the last evening.
Urs truly: Hey that wasn’t my fault I thought I was ready for everything till that time when my granny broke down sobbing on the phone when I spoke to her last. Gosh bet you must have known that all the time, couldn’t you have steeled me for it?
God : Guess it was best for you at that time. So how has the whole experience been?
Urs truly: I don’t really know, I have had some hard times scratching around to earn my expenses, served food at cafeterias, scrubbed tables, worked night outs at my labs, missed home like crazy probably even cried when I saw that cheesy K3G again and missed India getting all emotional whenever I hear Rehman humming ‘Ye jo Des hai tera’ and other similar patriotic numbers.
God : You'll always be an emotional fool but I guess I gave you a real hard time there.
Urs truly: You can say that again but there have been some really good times, all those new friends I have made, all those things I have learned like cooking (discovered I had mum's knack for it) and taking care of myself stepping out of the protective and sheltered comforts of home and of course the joy I got on seeing my parents when I went to Delhi for a one month vacation.
God : Hmm question is given a chance will you do this all over again?
Urs truly: Hell yes, every single time.
God : Thought so…………:)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
'Waise bhi perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai'
Doston, aaj college ka aakhri din hai
Aur aane waali zindagi ke liye
Sabhi ne kuch na kuch soch rakha hai
Lekin maine apne liye kuch nahin socha hai
News for all of u reading this blog, that was one of the blatant lies told on Indian screen because its very hard to imagine coming from a guy whose career easily folds out as one of the most strategically planned and model careers for people from all walks of life. For those of you who haven’t guessed who we are talking about its about time you left this blog to watch the nth rerun of some mushy SRK movie (and I very fairly leave Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Yes Boss, Swades and Paheli out of that lot). For those of you who have guessed already yes this blog will be a tribute to one the greatest actors to grace the Bollywood silver screen the one and only Aamir Khan. He has been a favorite of mine ever since he burst on screen singing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ in 1988 and made sure that every wannabe romantic new chocolate hero had to have Raj as his name. I was unluckily born in an era where the Amitabh magic had waned completely and audience was unsuspectingly subjected to tortures like Akayla, Ajooba, Aaj Ka Arjun, Toofan, Jaadugar, Shahenshah and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Those of you who have a disbelieving look on face that says ‘I never heard of those movies’ let this a moment of enlightenment for you whereby you start believing in Karma as you might be reincarnations of Mother Teresa for sure (u lucky souls).
Anyways now that I have the literary tool of digression successfully I must tell you all that I used to have countless arguments with my neighbor (bless you wherever you are) about who was better between Amitabh and Aamir while we came up with arguments and counterarguments (nothing serious there I just strummed an Imaginary guitar mouthing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ while he shot me down with an imaginary gun placed strategically in his left hand). For those of you didn’t know Aamir had made two appearances on the movie screen as a child actor in Yaadon Ki Baraat playing junior Meghnath (Vijay Arora I stand corrected) and a Ketan Mehta flick titled Holi in 1984 for which he had shaved off his head while in college. Anyways as QSQT came and went bringing back the age of musicals and bringing back love stories to silver screen digging out Bollywood from the rut of action/revenge drama flicks that it had gotten into since the Amitabh era. Aamir signed on a lot of inconsequential and forgettable movies after QSQT like most insecure newcomers and was in danger of ending up as a one hit wonder and one of the promising talents that fizzled out due to bad choice of movies. However notable amongst this lot was a movie called Raakh which was a brave attempt by a chocolate faced newcomer as he plays a embittered lover whose girlfriend was raped and who goes on to kill all the people responsible for the heinous crime eventually helped in his mission by Pankaj Kapur. Unfortunately not too many people ever saw that movie for some reason. He didn’t have another hit in his career till he broke through at the box office in 1990 with Dil starring with the then reigning queen Madhuri Dixit. A regular masala flick with decent music like most Indra Kumar flicks it made good money at the box office with Aamir shining in a trite done to death role. He was to shine in 1991 again in the role of Raghu Jaitley in Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin where he played a journalist with a heart of gold as he helps a cute Pooja Bhatt reach her destination. It was during this movie that he discovered his method acting technique as he delved deeply into each of his characters. For his now famous cap that he wore through the movie he searched around shops for reportedly more than 5 hours before he came up with something to his satisfaction. He meanwhile began work on Time Machine an ambitious project by the very talented Shekhar Kapur starring Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha and Raveena Tandon. Although the movie never got made I caught some clips of some show a long while back and it seemed like a huge hit in the making ala Mr.India. His next hit movie was JJWS in 1992 as Sanjaylal Verma which pitched him as an underdog racing for his college, his brother, family, his love, respect and above all pride and had the entire nation rooting and egging for him with a “Top gear Sanju, top gear” in the climactic bicycle race finale. He struck gold next with Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke with the oh-so-cute Juhi Chawla in 1993. He appeared next year in the most mind-blowing comedy of all time displaying fantastic comedic timing along with Salman Khan titled Andaz Apna Apna. Although a lot was expected of this movie it somehow sank at the box office then only to be rediscovered years later going on to become one of the most successful movie on the video circuit. It still goes down as one of my favorite movies period and I had an able ally in my cable guy who kept playing the movie on every weekend. 1995 was the year of Akele Hum Akele Tum as he played the endearing dad of an estranged family who fights tooth and nail to keep his son. I don’t know of too many people who managed to hold back a tear or two in the last scene as he shuts up his door and begins crying after giving up his son to his ex-wife. The movie wasn’t a hit however and he moved on to style himself out of his chocolatey hero image as he churned out ‘Munna’ the lovable tapori for Rangeela. His quest for perfection churned out one of the most endearing character son silver screen and set the benchmark for Tapori roles attempted for ages thereafter by all contemporary heroes successfully and not so successfully. Like another constant feature of his career he helped in giving a hit to a struggling or new actress or director. He played the title role in Raja Hindustani in 1996 which also turned out the biggest blockbuster of the year. He picked up the best actor award for the year which he refused to acknowledge as he believed they weren’t fair enough in their judgments, a policy which he has maintained through the years. He displayed his flair for comedy again with Ishq with Indra Kumar notching up a hit with his only movie in 1997. By this time Aamir was strictly following his policy on working on one movie at a time something that was considered ‘foolish’ and ‘too risky’ by his contemporaries at that time. 1998 was the year when Khandala was placed firmly on the tourist destinations of India as he serenaded Rani Mukherji in his own voice (also something in which he the trendsetter as it was followed by most heroes unsuccessfully in the succeeding years) in Ghulam a story of Siddharth Marathe, a reprisal of his Tapori shades, as he played a person torn between his morals and his elder brother. Battling a very trite story and a near death for a stunt scene in his stickler for perfection attitude he shone above the movie playing a one man army against an evil institution. It was also the year when he turned evil with a vengeance as he played the ice candy man in 1947 Earth. He made every Indian sit up and take notice with his stark and realistic portrayal of an idealistic IPS officer, Ajay Singh Rathod in Sarfarosh in 1999 a role that fetched him universal acclaim warranting even special requests for a viewing by the then PM of India and his office. It also succeeded in giving Sonali Bedre her only hit of her career and for that we really “Don’t Mind” :). He churned out 2 turkeys in Mann (with a very hummable music track) in 1999 and Mela in 2000 (a movie which he did for his struggling brother’s career). However he more than made it up to his fans as he beckoned history in 2001 with Lagaan a movie for which he turned actor cum producer (again a pioneer in this field and one in which few other had any success later on). He pumped in money on this Ashutosh Gowariker dream as he believed in him completely and went with his conviction working on a Hollywood styled work environment. He pioneered start to finish schedules and sync sound recording for this movie as he brought in a lot of professionalism to the hitherto unknown world of Bollywood. The movie was a big hit in India and went on to make the cut in the final Oscar race but making sure Indians hated a movie called ‘No Man’s Land’ forever (just kidding it’s a great movie even though its not half as good as Lagaan). Within a month of batting out of his skins to bat the Britishers out of his village he reappeared as Akash redefining cool and chic with his role in Dil Chahta Hai. Every guy in India wanted his hair cropped and gelled like him as every pimple faced teenager prayed for hair under their lower lip so that they could sport a soul patch (yeah that’s what they call that thing he sported). He was most believable as the happy go lucky guy who had a constant glint in his eye spelling mischief as he goes on to discover the deeper things in life love and friendship as he redefined male bonding with the stellar cast of the hilarious Saif and underrated Akshaye Khanna. He brought in the concept of a different look for every movie something Bollywood had suddenly woken up as we have all actors trying different looks looking most ridiculous at times. After that movie he disappeared from silver screen as he battled personal problems before he settled down on something that would match up to the expectations from him after Lagaan and DCH. He signed on for Mangal Pandey as he changed his look completely for it growing his hair and handle bar moustache for 18 months before he started shooting. He kept in touch with his fans through his very entertaining Coke and Titan commercials a subject of intense discussion during their making and after release amongst all people. However after almost 2 years in the making his movie has finally finished and is opening this Friday on Aug 12th. It has already opened to a standing ovation at the Locarno film festival and previewed to select critics too. However as always the slander campaign by a select few in the media whom Aamir has always kept at a safe distance from his personal life, has begun and they have starting reporting absolutely baseless stuff like 'The Rising' has not opened to good reviews from preview screenings citing their sources as The Hollywood Reporter and Thezreview.co.uk. However as you can probably see for yourselves that they are full of nothing but praise calling it a ‘sweeping epic’ while calling Aamir’s performance as ‘excellent--introspective and fiercely emotional’. So as the movie opens tomorrow lets hope all’s ‘mangal’ for this flick so that any outing by one of our most beloved and multifaceted actor. 17 years in the industry, starring in 18 movies any actor will be proud of with 14 hits almost at a consistent rate of one every year makes him one of the most dependable actors in an industry that barely has a 2% success ratio. He is one of only actors to tread the fine line between being an actor and a star with great aplomb. His style of concentrating on one movie at a time has become the established norm with every decent actor following the policy including SRK (who contrary to popular belief revered Aamir as an actor).
I should hopefully be catching the movie this Sunday driving down to New Jersey for 3.5 hours (fingers crossed) and shall be reviewing it sometime soon. Even though I haven’t read any opening reviews something tells me I am in for the time of my life (I guess history does teach you some lessons and I sure have learnt mine during my past 24 years).
This officially makes it my longest blog ever but thankfully I have managed to move away from my Carrie Bradshaw'esque takes on the male mind and have fulfilled the real reason for which I was born (yes from what my friends tell me I was born to make people more aware of Bollywood with my mindboggling knowledge of it).
Aur aane waali zindagi ke liye
Sabhi ne kuch na kuch soch rakha hai
Lekin maine apne liye kuch nahin socha hai
News for all of u reading this blog, that was one of the blatant lies told on Indian screen because its very hard to imagine coming from a guy whose career easily folds out as one of the most strategically planned and model careers for people from all walks of life. For those of you who haven’t guessed who we are talking about its about time you left this blog to watch the nth rerun of some mushy SRK movie (and I very fairly leave Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, Yes Boss, Swades and Paheli out of that lot). For those of you who have guessed already yes this blog will be a tribute to one the greatest actors to grace the Bollywood silver screen the one and only Aamir Khan. He has been a favorite of mine ever since he burst on screen singing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ in 1988 and made sure that every wannabe romantic new chocolate hero had to have Raj as his name. I was unluckily born in an era where the Amitabh magic had waned completely and audience was unsuspectingly subjected to tortures like Akayla, Ajooba, Aaj Ka Arjun, Toofan, Jaadugar, Shahenshah and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Those of you who have a disbelieving look on face that says ‘I never heard of those movies’ let this a moment of enlightenment for you whereby you start believing in Karma as you might be reincarnations of Mother Teresa for sure (u lucky souls).
Anyways now that I have the literary tool of digression successfully I must tell you all that I used to have countless arguments with my neighbor (bless you wherever you are) about who was better between Amitabh and Aamir while we came up with arguments and counterarguments (nothing serious there I just strummed an Imaginary guitar mouthing ‘Papa Kahte Hain’ while he shot me down with an imaginary gun placed strategically in his left hand). For those of you didn’t know Aamir had made two appearances on the movie screen as a child actor in Yaadon Ki Baraat playing junior Meghnath (Vijay Arora I stand corrected) and a Ketan Mehta flick titled Holi in 1984 for which he had shaved off his head while in college. Anyways as QSQT came and went bringing back the age of musicals and bringing back love stories to silver screen digging out Bollywood from the rut of action/revenge drama flicks that it had gotten into since the Amitabh era. Aamir signed on a lot of inconsequential and forgettable movies after QSQT like most insecure newcomers and was in danger of ending up as a one hit wonder and one of the promising talents that fizzled out due to bad choice of movies. However notable amongst this lot was a movie called Raakh which was a brave attempt by a chocolate faced newcomer as he plays a embittered lover whose girlfriend was raped and who goes on to kill all the people responsible for the heinous crime eventually helped in his mission by Pankaj Kapur. Unfortunately not too many people ever saw that movie for some reason. He didn’t have another hit in his career till he broke through at the box office in 1990 with Dil starring with the then reigning queen Madhuri Dixit. A regular masala flick with decent music like most Indra Kumar flicks it made good money at the box office with Aamir shining in a trite done to death role. He was to shine in 1991 again in the role of Raghu Jaitley in Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin where he played a journalist with a heart of gold as he helps a cute Pooja Bhatt reach her destination. It was during this movie that he discovered his method acting technique as he delved deeply into each of his characters. For his now famous cap that he wore through the movie he searched around shops for reportedly more than 5 hours before he came up with something to his satisfaction. He meanwhile began work on Time Machine an ambitious project by the very talented Shekhar Kapur starring Naseeruddin Shah, Rekha and Raveena Tandon. Although the movie never got made I caught some clips of some show a long while back and it seemed like a huge hit in the making ala Mr.India. His next hit movie was JJWS in 1992 as Sanjaylal Verma which pitched him as an underdog racing for his college, his brother, family, his love, respect and above all pride and had the entire nation rooting and egging for him with a “Top gear Sanju, top gear” in the climactic bicycle race finale. He struck gold next with Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke with the oh-so-cute Juhi Chawla in 1993. He appeared next year in the most mind-blowing comedy of all time displaying fantastic comedic timing along with Salman Khan titled Andaz Apna Apna. Although a lot was expected of this movie it somehow sank at the box office then only to be rediscovered years later going on to become one of the most successful movie on the video circuit. It still goes down as one of my favorite movies period and I had an able ally in my cable guy who kept playing the movie on every weekend. 1995 was the year of Akele Hum Akele Tum as he played the endearing dad of an estranged family who fights tooth and nail to keep his son. I don’t know of too many people who managed to hold back a tear or two in the last scene as he shuts up his door and begins crying after giving up his son to his ex-wife. The movie wasn’t a hit however and he moved on to style himself out of his chocolatey hero image as he churned out ‘Munna’ the lovable tapori for Rangeela. His quest for perfection churned out one of the most endearing character son silver screen and set the benchmark for Tapori roles attempted for ages thereafter by all contemporary heroes successfully and not so successfully. Like another constant feature of his career he helped in giving a hit to a struggling or new actress or director. He played the title role in Raja Hindustani in 1996 which also turned out the biggest blockbuster of the year. He picked up the best actor award for the year which he refused to acknowledge as he believed they weren’t fair enough in their judgments, a policy which he has maintained through the years. He displayed his flair for comedy again with Ishq with Indra Kumar notching up a hit with his only movie in 1997. By this time Aamir was strictly following his policy on working on one movie at a time something that was considered ‘foolish’ and ‘too risky’ by his contemporaries at that time. 1998 was the year when Khandala was placed firmly on the tourist destinations of India as he serenaded Rani Mukherji in his own voice (also something in which he the trendsetter as it was followed by most heroes unsuccessfully in the succeeding years) in Ghulam a story of Siddharth Marathe, a reprisal of his Tapori shades, as he played a person torn between his morals and his elder brother. Battling a very trite story and a near death for a stunt scene in his stickler for perfection attitude he shone above the movie playing a one man army against an evil institution. It was also the year when he turned evil with a vengeance as he played the ice candy man in 1947 Earth. He made every Indian sit up and take notice with his stark and realistic portrayal of an idealistic IPS officer, Ajay Singh Rathod in Sarfarosh in 1999 a role that fetched him universal acclaim warranting even special requests for a viewing by the then PM of India and his office. It also succeeded in giving Sonali Bedre her only hit of her career and for that we really “Don’t Mind” :). He churned out 2 turkeys in Mann (with a very hummable music track) in 1999 and Mela in 2000 (a movie which he did for his struggling brother’s career). However he more than made it up to his fans as he beckoned history in 2001 with Lagaan a movie for which he turned actor cum producer (again a pioneer in this field and one in which few other had any success later on). He pumped in money on this Ashutosh Gowariker dream as he believed in him completely and went with his conviction working on a Hollywood styled work environment. He pioneered start to finish schedules and sync sound recording for this movie as he brought in a lot of professionalism to the hitherto unknown world of Bollywood. The movie was a big hit in India and went on to make the cut in the final Oscar race but making sure Indians hated a movie called ‘No Man’s Land’ forever (just kidding it’s a great movie even though its not half as good as Lagaan). Within a month of batting out of his skins to bat the Britishers out of his village he reappeared as Akash redefining cool and chic with his role in Dil Chahta Hai. Every guy in India wanted his hair cropped and gelled like him as every pimple faced teenager prayed for hair under their lower lip so that they could sport a soul patch (yeah that’s what they call that thing he sported). He was most believable as the happy go lucky guy who had a constant glint in his eye spelling mischief as he goes on to discover the deeper things in life love and friendship as he redefined male bonding with the stellar cast of the hilarious Saif and underrated Akshaye Khanna. He brought in the concept of a different look for every movie something Bollywood had suddenly woken up as we have all actors trying different looks looking most ridiculous at times. After that movie he disappeared from silver screen as he battled personal problems before he settled down on something that would match up to the expectations from him after Lagaan and DCH. He signed on for Mangal Pandey as he changed his look completely for it growing his hair and handle bar moustache for 18 months before he started shooting. He kept in touch with his fans through his very entertaining Coke and Titan commercials a subject of intense discussion during their making and after release amongst all people. However after almost 2 years in the making his movie has finally finished and is opening this Friday on Aug 12th. It has already opened to a standing ovation at the Locarno film festival and previewed to select critics too. However as always the slander campaign by a select few in the media whom Aamir has always kept at a safe distance from his personal life, has begun and they have starting reporting absolutely baseless stuff like 'The Rising' has not opened to good reviews from preview screenings citing their sources as The Hollywood Reporter and Thezreview.co.uk. However as you can probably see for yourselves that they are full of nothing but praise calling it a ‘sweeping epic’ while calling Aamir’s performance as ‘excellent--introspective and fiercely emotional’. So as the movie opens tomorrow lets hope all’s ‘mangal’ for this flick so that any outing by one of our most beloved and multifaceted actor. 17 years in the industry, starring in 18 movies any actor will be proud of with 14 hits almost at a consistent rate of one every year makes him one of the most dependable actors in an industry that barely has a 2% success ratio. He is one of only actors to tread the fine line between being an actor and a star with great aplomb. His style of concentrating on one movie at a time has become the established norm with every decent actor following the policy including SRK (who contrary to popular belief revered Aamir as an actor).
I should hopefully be catching the movie this Sunday driving down to New Jersey for 3.5 hours (fingers crossed) and shall be reviewing it sometime soon. Even though I haven’t read any opening reviews something tells me I am in for the time of my life (I guess history does teach you some lessons and I sure have learnt mine during my past 24 years).
This officially makes it my longest blog ever but thankfully I have managed to move away from my Carrie Bradshaw'esque takes on the male mind and have fulfilled the real reason for which I was born (yes from what my friends tell me I was born to make people more aware of Bollywood with my mindboggling knowledge of it).
Monday, August 08, 2005
Passing thought
If in a relationship both sides keep trying to score brownie points then you end up with one bitter and distasteful brownie.
Friday, August 05, 2005
The 2+2's of life
Last week I was walking back from my nearby supermarket fresh with my new lot of groceries. Now this store even though at a walking distance from my place is still that wee bit far for people without a car like yours truly. So you have put up all your stuff in a cart (which incidentally squeak like crazy all the way back) and drag it all the way back. Since I live on the 1st floor (make that 2nd floor for all people living in the states) I had to drag all those gazillion packets home and was kinda overwhelmed (I have officially mastered the literary tool of understatement u see) by the amount of stuff I had to carry home. As I was looking around for help my eyes caught this broad shouldered guy walking towards me. Now I agree I don’t really qualify as an attractive no blond, blue eyed Baywatch babe but my 6’1 athletic frame and strapping built (people who do know me personally are expected to play along on the latter) I don’t really qualify for Mr. Invisible either. So I was kind pissed when this guy walked through me while I was struggling to hold on the set of groceries without falling over. Anyways right after that this, a female also walked past flashing me a smile (hey this part isn’t for added effect) and I somehow made it back home. So as I crashed onto my couch I started wondering as to why I felt pissed at that guy I didn’t even know and didn’t feel a thing against the female I crossed paths with later. I realized that it was because I wasn’t expected to get help from that quarter anyways as it was part of my upbringing where the guys are supposed to play the accommodating gentleman and be on your toes to help a damsel in distress while not expecting any similar return treatment. I flash-backed to all the times when I as a guy was expected to do things like vacating a seat up on the DTC buses back in Delhi, pull out seats while on dates, run across to the other side of the car and get the door for them while they got their make up fixed up in the mirror, hold up doors for them at almost all public places etc. While these things are perfectly acceptable and from part of the chivalry brigade that every decent guy is expected to exhibit I somehow couldn’t help thinking that in their small little ways wilt that equality plank that all women so seek back in direction of the guys because guys don’t expect return favors on the small lil things mentioned above. Wait stay with me on this without branding me a cheap, uncompassionate creep as I extend this theory to a few other common domains. Ever wondered why guys are always expected to be the ones to ask the females out on dates, approach them at bars while they wait on their own favorite stool and why guys are expected to be the ones to propose marriage or even courtship to females. Don’t you think that by allowing the guys such liberties the females let the guys take control of their lives and they wait in their mundane worlds for some protagonists or catalysts in the form of some Prince Charming to come along? Do u think if we do away with these seemingly commonplace things then females would gain better charge of their lives and lead to a society where man and woman walk together as equals without seeking out any special privelages?
This is the third of my posts trying to delve into the female psyche the first two being When Harry met Sally and Men are from Mars women from anywhere else. If you think there’s even an iota of truth in what I have mentioned above or if you think I am a crazy loony with too much time on my hands who took the 2+2's of life and made it 4 (doesnt work that ways does it) I would love to hear from you, do drop me a comment.
This is the third of my posts trying to delve into the female psyche the first two being When Harry met Sally and Men are from Mars women from anywhere else. If you think there’s even an iota of truth in what I have mentioned above or if you think I am a crazy loony with too much time on my hands who took the 2+2's of life and made it 4 (doesnt work that ways does it) I would love to hear from you, do drop me a comment.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Ex post facto
I have just completed 1 year of living along with a female room mate and I just thought it was a right time to pass along some pearls of wisdom gained during this eventful stay. Before I start passing down my commandments I shall be taking some questions.
Is she my girlfriend? No most certainly not
Is she my sister? We are still awaiting an official word on that
Is she my ex roomie’s girlfriend? Goshie we do have a very informed and sharp gathering here coz you have just hit the nail bang on its head.
Nyways getting back to dispersing my wisdom as knowledge is for sharing (a policy which I have begun to believe in after years of the philosophy being drilled into my head by well informed sources who just happened to be my preceding and succeeding roll numbers at both school and college) so here it goes.
Dirtiness / Filth just like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so roomed deemed perfectly clean by one might be unlivable according to the other.
Packing is an inherent gift of God with which he only blesses females.
Behind every successful male chef is a great cook in the form of either a mom or a sister and guys can never (ever) match up to the culinary skills of females.
Living with a female room mate doesn’t turn you metro sexual in any way what so ever thankfully.
‘Sex and the City’ isn’t such a bad TV series after all (guys take my word for it).
Some people still bother ironing all their clothes before wearing them (I thought that practice was disallowed for all Indian students in US).
Presence of even one female in the house ensures that you don’t have half eaten bag of chips, popcorn, stacks of lose change strewn over your couch and in your drawing room.
This isn't derived from personal experience but I couldn't resist putting this one in, my room mate discovered one day to the horror of horrors that smelling ur socks b4 wearing them is not an established practice around the world :)
Hmm that pretty much it, I thought I would end up with a longer list than this but I guess its really not been very different from the time I lived in an all guys apartment. Guess she has been like one of guys or conversely I as one of the girls :) (although it sounds not quite the same as the previous statement for some reason but just that I can I didn’t wanna get ripped by any women’s libbers on this blog).
Is she my girlfriend? No most certainly not
Is she my sister? We are still awaiting an official word on that
Is she my ex roomie’s girlfriend? Goshie we do have a very informed and sharp gathering here coz you have just hit the nail bang on its head.
Nyways getting back to dispersing my wisdom as knowledge is for sharing (a policy which I have begun to believe in after years of the philosophy being drilled into my head by well informed sources who just happened to be my preceding and succeeding roll numbers at both school and college) so here it goes.
Dirtiness / Filth just like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder so roomed deemed perfectly clean by one might be unlivable according to the other.
Packing is an inherent gift of God with which he only blesses females.
Behind every successful male chef is a great cook in the form of either a mom or a sister and guys can never (ever) match up to the culinary skills of females.
Living with a female room mate doesn’t turn you metro sexual in any way what so ever thankfully.
‘Sex and the City’ isn’t such a bad TV series after all (guys take my word for it).
Some people still bother ironing all their clothes before wearing them (I thought that practice was disallowed for all Indian students in US).
Presence of even one female in the house ensures that you don’t have half eaten bag of chips, popcorn, stacks of lose change strewn over your couch and in your drawing room.
This isn't derived from personal experience but I couldn't resist putting this one in, my room mate discovered one day to the horror of horrors that smelling ur socks b4 wearing them is not an established practice around the world :)
Hmm that pretty much it, I thought I would end up with a longer list than this but I guess its really not been very different from the time I lived in an all guys apartment. Guess she has been like one of guys or conversely I as one of the girls :) (although it sounds not quite the same as the previous statement for some reason but just that I can I didn’t wanna get ripped by any women’s libbers on this blog).
Puss in Boots watchout
This is for of u who always went awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww whenver u saw Puss in Boots in action in Shrek 2. This guy can give anyone competetion anyday.
Monday, August 01, 2005
The Perfect Potboiler
Statuary warning: This blog is only meant for those people with ample amount of free time on their hands. Any mental trauma caused by the sheer worthlessness of this blog shall not be attributed to me nor shall I be at the receiving end of any muted curses. This blog is borne as a by product of sheer laziness, lack of new ideas and a hyperactive imagination.
I have always complained of being at a distinct disadvantage at coming up with ideas for my new blogs when compared to few other blogger friends of mine because I cant recall any of my dreams. Unlike friends of mine who can go on to describe to the last mundane detail what they see in their dreams I for some reason go absolutely blank after I wake up from my sleep. I know I have some absolutely fantastic dreams because whenever I wake up I am left with a feeling of an inexplicable high or low. A case in point was today morning when I was supposed to wake up at 7:30 am as I had to go over to my department and finish over some last minute stuff related to my thesis. Now I did wake up at 7:30 initially but somehow somewhere I was very caught up in this dream of mine and I really wanted to see how it ended so I put myself to sleep back again hoping to catch up on the ending. Although this logic of mine was absolutely contrived to all of you (including yours truly now that I think about it) I was surprised to see the dream resume from the very point I had left it when I had woken up. Eventually when I woke up about 2 hours later with no recollection whatsoever of this dream but somehow left with a happy aftertaste (somewhat akin to the feeling u get from that small mound of chocolate left in your molars after u prematurely finish off a milk chocolate). It was only when I started brushing my teeth that I somehow recalled this number C-9 kept playing over and over in my head and just like that I was able to recall my entire dream sequence which I shall be reproducing here. I claim sole copyright of this sequence and I am pretty sure this would turn out to be the perfect blockbuster if converted to celluloid screen one day.
Now this sequence started off with me returning to India for a vacation before I joined my job here in States. For the heck of it I gave some entrance exam which got me selected to IIT K B-school (don’t question my choice of college, why I gave the exam or even whether IIT K has a B school or not coz I am just reporting facts of my dream per se). I managed to breeze through the exam and since I didn’t have anything better to do I decided to join the college for a month’s time treating it as an extended vacation after which I would return to US to join my job. I saw myself going through the rigors of my initiation with a new college by getting ragged by seniors (2 of my best school friends who I haven’t seen for ages put up a pleasant guest appearance in the role of seniors). A surprise element lay in store in this dream sequence for me as I discovered that Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan were batch mates at the college (I was zapped on seeing them too and asked myself what the hell were they doing in IIT K when they should be playing the tri series in Lanka but play along with me right now on that and more on that later). Obviously being the popular ones they got most of the chicks in my batch while I sulked alone full of envy in some arbit corner. However we later came be friends (leading to some DCH like song sequences) as we united against some college rowdies and beat them to pulp and also I must mention they helped me by getting to my love interest in the dream sequence. Of course it was just co incidental that she also happened to be the best looking chick in town (which probably doesn’t count for much if u r in Kanpur as Sean would tell me). We also members on a college cricket team and we were very excited when we came to know that a college team from Pakistan would be visiting the college next month for an invitational tournament. The story was to take a twist just before the interval as I got a call from my company in States asking me to join them as soon as possible as my vacation was over. I was totally heartbroken at this instant at the prospect of leaving this college and faced a lot of flak from all my friends for leaving India for foreign shores and the last scene I saw myself sitting down with my parents discussing this dilemma having a heart to heart talk with them.
That’s the precise point where I woke up to the cacophonous sounds of my alarm and since I absolutely had to know what came of that talk with my parents I put myself back to sleep to see what happened after the interval.
After a long talk with my parents where we discussed both sides of the situation they left the decision to me. After giving it a hard thought I decided that India was where I wanted to be and called up my company to tell them I was resigning and walked back to my college greeted by rapturous applause at my college by my friends. We started practicing in full earnest for the cricket match and finally beat the Pakistan team after a long and hard drawn final to clinch the tournament with me hitting the winning runs. Why I didn’t make the cut for the man of the match I something I am still wondering about but I cant complain as the sequence finished on a very happy note that kept me on a high even after I woke up.
However now that I have finished penning down the whole thing it doesn’t look that exciting a screenplay as I had first imagined it to be (I swear it looked so much better when it was playing in my head....I dunno mebbe I slipped out on the interesting bits) and also looks like a suspicious mix of Swades, Lagaan and DCH but what the hell I have penned down more than a page long of my dream and the fact that I remember all of it merits a mention in my blog posts :)
I have always complained of being at a distinct disadvantage at coming up with ideas for my new blogs when compared to few other blogger friends of mine because I cant recall any of my dreams. Unlike friends of mine who can go on to describe to the last mundane detail what they see in their dreams I for some reason go absolutely blank after I wake up from my sleep. I know I have some absolutely fantastic dreams because whenever I wake up I am left with a feeling of an inexplicable high or low. A case in point was today morning when I was supposed to wake up at 7:30 am as I had to go over to my department and finish over some last minute stuff related to my thesis. Now I did wake up at 7:30 initially but somehow somewhere I was very caught up in this dream of mine and I really wanted to see how it ended so I put myself to sleep back again hoping to catch up on the ending. Although this logic of mine was absolutely contrived to all of you (including yours truly now that I think about it) I was surprised to see the dream resume from the very point I had left it when I had woken up. Eventually when I woke up about 2 hours later with no recollection whatsoever of this dream but somehow left with a happy aftertaste (somewhat akin to the feeling u get from that small mound of chocolate left in your molars after u prematurely finish off a milk chocolate). It was only when I started brushing my teeth that I somehow recalled this number C-9 kept playing over and over in my head and just like that I was able to recall my entire dream sequence which I shall be reproducing here. I claim sole copyright of this sequence and I am pretty sure this would turn out to be the perfect blockbuster if converted to celluloid screen one day.
Now this sequence started off with me returning to India for a vacation before I joined my job here in States. For the heck of it I gave some entrance exam which got me selected to IIT K B-school (don’t question my choice of college, why I gave the exam or even whether IIT K has a B school or not coz I am just reporting facts of my dream per se). I managed to breeze through the exam and since I didn’t have anything better to do I decided to join the college for a month’s time treating it as an extended vacation after which I would return to US to join my job. I saw myself going through the rigors of my initiation with a new college by getting ragged by seniors (2 of my best school friends who I haven’t seen for ages put up a pleasant guest appearance in the role of seniors). A surprise element lay in store in this dream sequence for me as I discovered that Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan were batch mates at the college (I was zapped on seeing them too and asked myself what the hell were they doing in IIT K when they should be playing the tri series in Lanka but play along with me right now on that and more on that later). Obviously being the popular ones they got most of the chicks in my batch while I sulked alone full of envy in some arbit corner. However we later came be friends (leading to some DCH like song sequences) as we united against some college rowdies and beat them to pulp and also I must mention they helped me by getting to my love interest in the dream sequence. Of course it was just co incidental that she also happened to be the best looking chick in town (which probably doesn’t count for much if u r in Kanpur as Sean would tell me). We also members on a college cricket team and we were very excited when we came to know that a college team from Pakistan would be visiting the college next month for an invitational tournament. The story was to take a twist just before the interval as I got a call from my company in States asking me to join them as soon as possible as my vacation was over. I was totally heartbroken at this instant at the prospect of leaving this college and faced a lot of flak from all my friends for leaving India for foreign shores and the last scene I saw myself sitting down with my parents discussing this dilemma having a heart to heart talk with them.
That’s the precise point where I woke up to the cacophonous sounds of my alarm and since I absolutely had to know what came of that talk with my parents I put myself back to sleep to see what happened after the interval.
After a long talk with my parents where we discussed both sides of the situation they left the decision to me. After giving it a hard thought I decided that India was where I wanted to be and called up my company to tell them I was resigning and walked back to my college greeted by rapturous applause at my college by my friends. We started practicing in full earnest for the cricket match and finally beat the Pakistan team after a long and hard drawn final to clinch the tournament with me hitting the winning runs. Why I didn’t make the cut for the man of the match I something I am still wondering about but I cant complain as the sequence finished on a very happy note that kept me on a high even after I woke up.
However now that I have finished penning down the whole thing it doesn’t look that exciting a screenplay as I had first imagined it to be (I swear it looked so much better when it was playing in my head....I dunno mebbe I slipped out on the interesting bits) and also looks like a suspicious mix of Swades, Lagaan and DCH but what the hell I have penned down more than a page long of my dream and the fact that I remember all of it merits a mention in my blog posts :)
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