Nirvana.. I’ve fulfilled them all…

I have been madly promoting a few movies which i thought would be a welcome change to the way Hindi cinema has been lately. After having Heyy Babyy (or whatever its newmerawlowgicalli correct name might be), Dhol, Dhamaal and the many other sad excuses for comedy, we had in a very short span of time Loins of Punjab Presents, Johnny Gaddar, Manorama- Six Feet Under, No Smoking and Jab We Met. Of all this I sinned twice, and one I had missed completely. But I am dead sure that I will getting the DVD of all these because all of them are good for repeat views.

So how do I start? Let me tick the first one off. No Smoking.
Anurag Kashyap, the man behind Black Friday; the man behind Paanch which thanks to a very culture rooted stand never saw the day lights, or rather the darkness of an Indian cinema hall. I was waiting for No Smoking to hit the screens for a long long time. First day, 7:30 show, straight out of office and into PVR; I hit No Smoking. Monday morning, all ready for the gruelling work ahead, just had my breakfast, idling with a smoke in my office smoking zone, No Smoking hit me; and I still havent gotten over it. No Smoking is a haze. Its twisted and dark like a jalebi made of tar; and should i say it will be equally sticky. It stuck to my mind, and I am sure that no matter how much you booed at this cinema, how much you cribbed that your cut of salary which you have given to PVR to watch this movie, this movie is not going to leave you for sometime. Somewhere in your deepest thoughts I am sure this movie will make you think, now what the four-letter-word was that. I am not here to decipher No Smoking or give a review of it, but its a terrific watch; at least for me it was. My next nirvana will be a more or less literal one. I want to go grass and hit the theater and watch No Smoking. For people with similar interests (grass) i suggest you do the same. Dope up and hit the theater and watch it. This is the trippiest Indian movie ever. End of story.

Next up, is Johhny Gaddar. And this is where I sinned. I have sold myself to the system. How I managed to do that and about the movie. Maybe in another post. Coming Soon…

Bangalore Rain God is an American

Thats not the end of the story. It is an American Rain God who supports outsourcing. It is a dense American Rain God who supports outsourcing who believes that some Indian or the other will be here waiting for his orders round the clock. What else explains the impeccable timing of the Bangalore rains which starts as soon as our daily work is supposed to end?

Wake up in the morning, take a deep breath, look outside, not a bad kinda place at all. Its not sunny, its not hot, neither is it too cold. Throughout the day we sit in our cubicle forest which has temperature regulated so that the brownies breed (read work) fast. Through the blinds the outside world is just a rumble of motors on the crowded Bangalore streets. You rush through your daily work, email forwards, occasional chats, frequent smoke trips to close in on the much waited 6:00 or 6:30PM only to hear the slow crackle of rain drops hitting hard against the thick glass walls of your office.

The crackle is the worst part; if you can hear the crackle means its just a notch below a possible hail outside. Your 9 to 6 work schedule just became extended by atleast an hour.

Wanna fight this American Rain God who makes you work additional hours everyday? The intention is really a vain one. Like any other Capitalist American worth his daily burger, this Rain God has some big hold on the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. The BMP has conducted extensive research in collaboration with NASA to invent the world’s most successful anti-drainage drainage system. It works in the reverse of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The technology behind this drainage system is so advanced, last week, my neighbour’s 2 year old baby took a leak on the road side and the whole Koramangala 6th block was flooded. Thanks to the overall color of Bangalore drainage water, no one really knew the difference. Half an hour of rain in this town means traffic snarls all around the city (I rephrase; worse traffic snarls than we are subjected to daily).

So you see, this rain God is a very powerful one, and we might as well buy a couple of boats, three life jackets and write to our HR asking that beach wear be allowed for guys and made mandatory for females during this dreaded season. I know the last part doesn’t have anything to do with all the rain, but lets make hay when the sunshines and ogle around a bit when the sun does not shine.

The Great Indian English Challenge – Part 3

House of Comfort which sells wooden coats and matel coats. This is what Raymonds should always have been.

HELP!!! Am going bald!!!

Well, my hair fall is still in the greenish yellow territory; not yet in red danger zone. But this is not because of natural hair loss. I am pulling my hair in utter disgust thanks to my not so sensitive left mouse button and my painstaking efforts on Adobe Pagemaker. I really cannot get head or tail on that thing. If anyone has any tips on pagemaker or know a site which gets you free pagemaker newsletter templates, please do post and help.

The Great Indian English Challenge – Part 2

Yes my dear kuntry fellos. The chalenge kuntinews with even more kreyative spellings. Phew, I cannot keep up with the competition. I just wish I could take the sack off the pic to unearth (or unsack) even more marvellous ways English can be used in India.

Power of Chants

Aah… where were these when I had always wanted? No matter how much i defend myself against the so called religious customs, I always believe that there was a good cause at the start of every religion in this world. Somewhere during human progress it became more of a command than a choice.

One thing I like about Hinduism is the incredible power the chants can generate. I have felt it when I visit a Hanuman Temple near my Home in Kerala. It creates such an uplifting energy inside you. Same is the case with one song that never ceases to incite a calm energy into the soul. It is a song called ‘Shiva Shiva’ from the malayalam movie called ‘Samam’.

Today, during a visit to Landmark, Forum Mall, Bangalore I chanced upon an album called Sacred Chants. They were playing a song (stotra) from that cd and the arrangement immediately got me hooked to it. I got three volumes of Sacred Chants and they have a really amazing value for money. The arragements are terrific and rarely overshadows the chants which are the essence of this collection. The music arrangement is done by this folks called SEVEN (Franco Simon, Sangeeth and Stephen). I stand up and applaud. Though the arrangement do get a bit high at certain places. Especially there was a track in Volume One which starts off like a perfect Church Choir kind of song. These can ofcourse be forgiven as this is one really well crafted album. Buy it if you are really open to ambient music or if you have an ear for stotras.

(Sacred Chants is released by Kosmic Music and must be available in your nearest music world, planet M or Landmark)

The Great Indian English Challenge – Part 1

I went inside thinking I would get a great bargain; instead I smelled something fishy, make that sweaty. Whats there between an ‘a’ and a ‘c’, after all its all pronounced the same. Clock cloak, coke cock. Still havent found a sign saying Cock-a-cola.

Requiem for a Dream

I’d been wanting to watch this movie really really bad for the last couple of weeks and I finally got my hands on it yesterday. Watched it without a blink through those mighty hard cuts and the swift edit montage. I wanted to write something about it. But really cant think of what to write.
How can you go to a funeral and comment on the decor of the place? Someone has actually put an effort to make it all look good. But an effort which needs no acknowledgement and which wont get any. Just like this movie. No comments.

PS: If you want to watch it, go ahead but at your own risk. This one is really depressing.

Funky HairDos from Bangalore

Move over Javed Habib, Ponnuchami BSc, BTech in funky hairdos from Annamalai Chennai is here to stay.

This picture was taken near Christ School Bangalore in a ‘lowly’ Barber Shop.

Shhhhhh….

This is not a photoshop gimmick… there is actually more than 20 signboards in this road which says ‘Horn Not Ok Please’.

This is taken near The New Horizon School in Indiranagar, Bangalore.