Thursday, April 15, 2010

LSD -A Review

If the typical bollywood lover wants something new. Go watch Love Sex aur Dhokha. It ain’t anything like you’ve seen before on the desi screen.
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama reviewed positively saying, “On the whole, LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA is original, innovative and ground-breaking cinema, which will shock and provoke you. The film is definitely not for the faint-hearted or those who swear by stereotypical fares, but for those who yearn for a change.” and rated it 4 out of 5 stars.
LSD is from the DevD stable of movies. I think that is the best way of putting it. It is cult material.
LSD is fairly hard hitting. Its quite the obvious slap in the face to a generation increasingly high on LSD. OK. Thats not my opinion, but Dibakar Banerjee is definitely holding up a mirror in LSD.
The three central themes of love, sex and dhoka run as parallel threads in all three stories, making the biggest comment on contemporary relationships and values than anything else spoken .The stories wittingly or unwittingly explore the underlying sexual and gender dynamics that govern our relationships making the commentary weightier.
LSD has two heroes. One is the script and the other the technique. While the first is masterful, the second a good effort. It is the story and characters, lines and nuances, acting, setting and a million other little details that absorbs and connects, but that is regular DB fare.
It is a separate chapter in the annals of Hindi cinema, but since it refuses to be bold enough to pitch itself as one so its success as a ‘path-breaking’ film remains limited. LSD is definitely not for the K-Jo or Yashraj lovers, nor for the entertainment lovers But I would dare to say only for those who yearn for intelligent cinema for those few who still believe cinema can influence people for the better. LSD is not only another option to candyfloss cinema it so gleefully derides.
But even if you look carefully there are many aspects where the movie tries to be a typical bollywood film. The very first instance is in the second story where the girl so easily agrees to sleep with her boyfriend with whom she has just had a fight and that too immediately after hearing about the death of her best friend. Also the third story doesn’t sound convincing enough for a sting operation in the name of ‘journalism’. And the song at the end along with the credits just makes me pull my hair off. Overall it tried to ride on the fact that people get a kick from watching someone make out be it on screen or live.

Also for a serious cinema lover who has been following cinema of all sorts LSD has nothing that will not give you a sense of déjà vu. Agreed LSD has pushed up the bar in case of experimenting but it stops just there. It fails to push the envelope in any form, genre, treatment, content etc. It does not show us anything we haven’t seen before in any form. It would be unfair to compare but Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D, was far more ‘path-breaking’ in having achieved these things, even if the film as such was rather tame. Even DB’s very own OLLO was far more intriguing and innovative in showing us worlds we hadn’t been to before while making its tongue and cheek social commentary, even dripping in sarcasm at times. The throwback on the Tarantino-esque non-linearly connected narrative is another case in point to the same. Smart, interesting but that’s it.
On the whole it was a challenge no one had taken on till now. And it had a huge potential to change our dictionary of Hindi film language. HAD. The former deserves applause and immense encouragement. The latter, remains a territory undiscovered yet.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

An EYE-PEE-YELL STORY:2050

As Anath Jayasuria prepared to face another ball, several thoughts raced through his mind. After being bought by the Mumbai Indians for an astronomical $25 million in the 2050 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, he knew he had a reputation to keep up. Should he try a straight- forward Zandu balm Front Foot Drive this time, or should he aim for a Close-up Cover Drive? Or perhaps an ITC Square Cut would be a better idea? He realized he needed to hit an IBM boundary soon. Ever since IBM had announced they would pay Rs 1 lakh per boundary and Rs 5 lakh for a six, he had been trying to run less and hit more. Unfortunately, he hadn't been doing either in this match, because the Begusarai Bandits had some very good bowlers. The next ball,in midst of calculating the most profitable shot he played a Intel Inside Edge onto his Maggi middle stump and trudged off wearily the field along with his rattle snake bat to the accompaniment of boos from the Vodafone Zoozoo stand at the Kellogg's Special K-Cereal stadium in Udipi which were soon replaced by cheers as the new batsman Arjun Tendulkar came in to bat- the first time a father-son were going to play together in the same team in the history of the sport.
Relaxing in the Parle Glucose commentary box, Saurav Ganguly ruminated on the momentous changes in the game that had occurred since the IPL came into being. In 2010, he remembered, the game started to really grow, with huge sums of money being paid for the Pune and Kochi teams. Teams soon started springing up like frogs in the monsoon. And when the Gorakhpur Gorillas won the IPL in 2021, every district town in the country wanted its own side. Only Sachin Tendulkar was the omnipresent man still playing for the Mumbai Indians who had earned the tag of being unconquerable.

The IPL season was extended to six months in the year, then to 12 months and soon, once the villages started having their own sides, you had matches on all 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. All reality shows were aired in the cricket stadia and even a few movies screened there.
Industrialists sold off their old companies and bought IPL teams. Advertisers fought with each other to sponsor matches, stadiums, sixes, fours, shots, balls, wickets and what not. Every patch of the players' clothing, his arm guard, helmet, and pads was covered in advertisements. Durex started a new trend in merchandising with their radium abdomen guards which were selling like hot cakes.

As the money flowed in, players' salaries zoomed. Everybody wanted to be a cricketer. Engineering and medical colleges were deserted and Indian Institutes of Management converted themselves into institutes of cricketing management. Cheerleading became the most famous dance form across the country. Every college started having cheerleading workshops during their cultural festivals in addition to various famous dancers who had themselves started cheerleading academies.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Lalit Modi mooted a radical proposal in the Lok Sabha for nationalising the Board of Control for Cricket in India, pointing out that its profits would wipe out the government's fiscal deficit. He was also being held responsible for the food crisis in the country, he said, as villagers refused to till their fields and spent their time playing cricket instead.
A law prohibiting the transformation of arable land into cricket pitches was swiftly passed. A resolution to replace Gandhiji's photo on the currency notes with that of Lalit Modi's was also adopted unanimously.

Back in the commentary box, Ganguly did a rapid mental calculation and told his listeners that Ananth was now being paid the equivalent of Rs 10 lakh per run. Twice more than what Manchester United, who owned the Azamgarh Terrorists had offered. A twinge of regret passed through him -- during the IPL season in 2010, he recalled, he had been paid only about Rs 1.8 lakh per run. He needed to make more money, he thought. Maybe he would join Navjot Sidhu in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and be paid lakhs for laughing. For the rest of the match, he practiced laughing hysterically at each ball.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saw this quote somewhere…

“Whether you think you can or you can't, either way you are right...”

A thought that might help... you know how is that whether you think you can or you can't, either way its right... it’s simple, that’s how our brain works.
Take for example, when u say “I cannot become richer than Bill Gates in a year! " You think in such a way that it is not possible and hence you are closing off the portion of the brain which says that it is possible. And that’s how people end up in using just less than 1% of their brain... We constantly keep on closing our part of brain saying that things are not possible... Einstein used 4% of his brain and that is considered to be the max used by any person, coming from him, the person who has challenged most of the things that were till then called “IMPOSSIBLE” ...

See, it’s simple... I’m not saying that you can get richer than bill gates in a year. What I’m saying is how is it to work with that context, with that mindset of making it happen. What would be possible for you in that year? Just imagine about what kind of possibilities you will experience if you work with that mindset. Yeah, breakdowns will occur. Breakdowns will occur when you take on extraordinary challenges. As it is so often said 'It is a mistake to aim high and not acheive it but a bigger mistake to aim low and easily acheive the target'. Even if you get some 10000, that's a begining :) Work with the mindset of --it is possible...

Our brain doesn't know the difference between what happened and what we believe in... that is, if u believe in actually becoming richer than bill gates in a year, the brain takes it as the truth and it operates from that paradigm and that’s when you get new possibilities. Example, u have seen someone who is so confused and after going to temple or somewhere they feel that they have got an answer?! Temple doesn’t workout anything. What works is their mindset, their belief that if they go to temple everything will be fine! And that becomes the truth for them and that works for them...

And WHATEVER I HAVE SAID IS MY POINT OF VIEW AND NOT THE TRUTH.

So, What are you taking on focusing on from now?! :)

Take whatever you want, IT WORKS. And do share it with me :)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

what do you do when you know you have the capacity to work at thrice the efficiency of your neighbour???
do you go around bragging about it, or do you bear with them and slow down?
either ways, you are never held as an equal and often accused of being someone who cannot understand the difficulty of a slow worker.
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what do you do……..when the one you love doesn’t make you feel wanted as much as you make them feel so…… you know you have the power to hurt them with a single rash word or a sharp action. you know it is present in you that you ignore them and make them feel deserted.
do you still remain the sweet, caring person or is feeling important an important enough feel?
i wonder what is the worth and truth in such a love that is forced!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
what do you do when you are blessed with the Midas touch? you are above average in everything you work on………..
do you take the path that is more prosperous than the path your heart desires to travel??
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these are decisions we have to take each day of our lives…. some of our decisions will not please those around us, but if they are the ones that you feel are best for your life, then it is about time you decide your priorities!
one fact to be reiterated is that no law or petition will please the whole of the society……..trying to be a good person to everyone in this world is going to get you no where!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

I feel so cut off from the blogosphere and my blog these days! Trust me, I deleted 6 first paras already!! I don't know how I want to begin! I'm irritated with the social networking sites too. I am know beginning to feel Orkut is for stalkers and also for people who have the IQ of Paris Hilton to not understand Facebook!!! Facebook, too, after a time, gets boring.... I mean, come on for how long are you gonna keep taking stupid quizzes that prove that you do have the IQ of an Einstein, even though you do understand Facebook. (Yeah, I still take these quizzes....like you had to doubt if my IQ was anything great!!). I joined Twitter too. But I fail to understand why people call it the 'next big thing'. I don't see it like that...it's just about okay... !!


So, what do you do when you're bored of all these social networking sites? You switch on you TV and hope there's something watch-able being aired on TV. But, unfortunately all you can see is people eating worms, insects and other reptiles and arthropods, or people being truthful . Lets begin with RAhul ka Swayamvar ...sorry shaadi. It is one of the most crassiest Tv shows.Period.I'm not gonna write more on it. Some channels like MTV and Channel V used to provide some respite....but now all I can see there are the re-runs of Splitsvilla, Roadies or the Stunt Mania.... And Channel V's Player is just pissing off. Why people participate in these shows is beyond my IQ! These shows are at least bearable... try watching Bindass' Emotional Atyachaar..... trust me, you'll my mentally marred forever! It beats me why there can't be more shows like Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai. The only saving grace are the channels like 'Travel and Living' and 'NDTV Good Times' especially HOMP but even such shows are very few in number.


And, if you're still alive and bored after all this, you can spend some time downloading songs. I spent an unbelievable 3 hours downloading Ishqiya music(that is because of my fked up net connection). Only to find songs just 2 good ...i should say bearable songslike Dil toh baccha hai ji.The last time I had downloaded an entire album was Whats ur Rashee...13 songs!!!And what i get is Su Chhe. I'd rather listen to Himmesh on repeat!!! Till now, I always felt the lack of songs that have Gujju words in them... but, if songs are gonna be like Su Chee.... then, please spare me horror!!!! Please use Punjabi in Hindi songs...the combo suits... Gujarati in Hindi songs make you feel like throwing up! Try imagining Mauja hi Mauja in Gujarati....! Deadlier than H1N1.


So, the best bet to beat boredom still remains social networking sites...!! Am off to Facebook now, taking more quizzes and irrtating everyone on my friend list by my incessant status updates... yeah, I'm too lazy to switch tabs and use Twitter for microblogging!!!
Cheers!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

This is a sort of a sequel to my very famous or rather infamous post about the pros of being single. I f u don't remember it here is the link...click here
I had decided to write this soon after my so called '25 comment post'...but it still took me almost a year to write.

Everything has its pros and cons and so does being in a relationship. I, however, wish to list all the pros of being committed…

1.It's good for your growth. Being in a relationship can develop not only your love life, but also your sense of responsibility, decision-making, time management and self-improvement and also hone your lying skills.
2.Those staying away from home can get get some of their desires fulfilled by their loved ones eg. you can anytime ask ur loved one to prepare some special dish that u miss the most.
3.If friends are not around an evening walk wid ur loved one is a gr8 stress buster.
4.A girlfriend/boyfriend provides you happiness when you are feeling dismal, monetary donations when they are needed, and countless other things that are also important
5.someone to be with in your darkest hour, or just to hang out with, the thought of knowing someone loves you more and more each day. and the knowledge of being in someones heart and mind every day
6.someone to share your incredible experiences, have "inside jokes", intimate and private communication, establish and build trust, explore new interests together and develop a passion you might not have discovered on your own.
7.As a friend put it-It's an ego-booster. Guys who have girlfriends are more confident and secure about themselves...Bah!
8.If the movie is very boring u hav other things to do.
9.The couple muvie tickets /couple passes u win actually can be put to relevant use.
10.The 'Grill-Chill' theory-Suppose one has to attend a very long torturous lecture and he/she who is then totally grossed out gets a nice hug from his loved one. The smile on his/her face just says it all.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

BREAK FREE

I am uploading this post a little late...I wrote it on the night before our DTSP exams. The soul reason being because I wanted to write something that didn't involve equations and functions. We are all control freaks by nature...No matter how much one denies...We are...We like to believe that we have some sense of hold over every aspect of our lives...Family, friends, career, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, kids...everything!!!
We want to KNOW everything and stay within the confines of our COMFORT ZONE so that we FEEL we are in control. Ironically this need for control gets even more pronounced when one is provided with independence, choices, freedom...the works!!! Seems strange??? Think about it!
While I am a stickler for freedom with responsibility I sometimes can’t help but think why should a person always follow what is supposed to be done. Why does one have to keep himself/herself in front of books before an exam? Why not go out and do what your heart fells like?(It has its own drawbacks too!) Why should a person always know all the time where he’s headed for in life...why can’t for once he/she throw caution to the winds and go with the flow...while we may not always be presented with an opportunity to do so nor can we sometimes afford the risks that come along; we can however in some insignificant ways lose the sense of control, get out of our comfort zones and hand over our lives to the unknown forces around us for may be just a while...Here’s how:
1) This one is inspired from a friend’s blog, the next time you are listening to your mp3 player instead of you choosing a song for yourself let the player decide for you...Ask yourself any random question or think of any random person before a song begins...You’ll be surprised at the kind of insights it can give you...
2) Go to a library, pick up any title that interests you but you don’t necessarily want to read and flip through the book and come across a random page and a random line...Again you may just be amazed at the connection that one line has to any part of your life...
3) Close your eyes and flip through the contacts in your cell-phone, maybe you’ll come across the number of a long-lost friend, an acquaintance who you haven’t been in touch with for a while...Make that call or send a message...You never know how that call could change your life...
You truly will be amazed at the kind of insights, revelations, associations that can come up when you handover your life to something as insignificant as a music player, a book, a cell-phone etc...That’s why when destiny has a plan for you it is something that makes you break the shackles of your comfort level, makes you reach greater heights than you thought was possible, unleash the dormant potential and see the world you didn’t know exists...Happy Exploring!