Always remember to "DABBA"le check / Run DK, m'boy, run

Bollywood has certainly matured over time. The quality of movies being churned out of late has only improved and they've now begun to cover previously unthought of issues and scenarios. Of course, there still always is the occasional "Dabangg", that leaves the audience pondering - not over existential beliefs or societal stigmas, but more on the lines of, "Why did I spend 300 bucks on this film :( ???"

But Indian cinema has largely fermented into a cultured, thought-inducing arena. Even the music appears to have blossomed over the years. Although it's a prominent shift from the good ol' halcyon days of RD Burman and Kishore Kumar, nevertheless, the Bollywood tunes of today are fantabulously catchy and intricate with very insightful lyrics. Kailash Kher's "Alvida" from Dasvidaniya and Atif Aslam's "Le ja tu mujhe" from F.A.L.T.U. being a few exemplary tunes.

Since my last day at JD, I now find myself with phenomenal amounts of freetime, most of which is spent watching movies I've always put aside thinking "I'll watch 'em when I can afford to!" Well, I finally can =) ! And believe me when I say it's been a mindblowing adventure. I began with Kathik Calling Karthik - a gripping thriller of sorts. Then it was Dasvidaniya - a fantabulous story of a dying man and how he ties all loose ends (yes...a Bucket List inspired film).

And finally, I came across "Stanley ka Dabba" - a very low-budget and off-beat film - that many people appear to have written off as a Taare Zameen Par spin-off. The movie written & directed by Amole Gupte (the curly haired fellow on the right in the picture here) and starring his own son, Partho, as the protagonist Stanley, is about this extremely popular and affable kid, who's always the cynosure of all eyes and about his dabba that never makes an appearance till the near end of the film. A stellar storyteller and public speaker, Stanley has some wacky ideas and anecdotes to share that make him a hero amongst his classmates and English teacher, but largely despised by all other subject teachers, particularly by Babu Bhai "Khadus" Verma, the Hindi teacher, who much to his dismay finds himself contending with Stanley to get at the other kids' dabbas. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out whom the kids would rather share their lunch with, which ticks off ol' Khadus all the more. He banishes poor Stanley from school until he gets that elusive dabba. The remainder of the film takes us through Stanley's perseverence to get into an inter-school concert, his friends' loyalty and his true story and life. All in all, a well made, concise, pertinent and touching story.

Most of us will be able to relate to the teachers depicted in the film. Mom was hysterical throughout the film explaining amidst interspersed laughter, "That's exactly how my Hindi teacher was! HAHA! I actually know a lady who speaks like that! Hahaha! Typical science teacher! Bru-hahaha!" We've all had classmates and teachers like those shown in the movie

The soundtrack is fresh and lively and rife with some fairly big singers like Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan and Vishal Dadlani. The lyrics are all penned by Amole Gupte himself, so kudos to him! An amazing background score throughout the film makes it a fantastic 90 minute journey till the end! So go ahead unhindered and watch "Stanley ka Dabba" when you get a chance =) !

And now the music update \m/ ! This song's been in the news for all the wrong reasons, but you'll all have to admit it's one catchy tune and you can't help but jump and scream along with the chorus. The song I'm talking about of course is "Bhaag DK Bose" from the Aamir Khan produced Delhi Belly. There's a brilliant punk rock video for the song with the cast - Imran Khan, Vir Das and Kunal Kapoor. The video's obviously a colossal hit as well with several hits over the last couple of weeks. Sung by Ram Sampath and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, this song shows a lot of promise of going down as the song of the year 2011. Finally, stereos the nation over will be able to play something other than "Sheila ki Jawani" or "Munni hui badnaam". Surely that's some respite for the poor boomboxes =) !

There's a large chunk of people who insist the song is a Green Day rip off and should be "disliked" (to use the Youtube term) and discarded as a cheap imitation. It's ironic that people get so stuck-up into believing that nothing original can come up in the country and anything different being tried out is always ridiculed as being pretentious and fake. If you try hard enough, you'll always find a song to be similar to another you've heard in the past. But that shouldn't make the song any less worthy. If it's good in it's entirety, I say, go ahead and listen to it with reckless abandon. Besides another way of looking at it is ol' Ram Sampath's getting Green Day to the masses in a form they'd understand and love. So turn up those speakers and have them blare out "Bhaag Bhaag DK Bose" (have a good explanation ready for your parents though ;) )!



Song of the Post:
Allstar Weekend - Not your Birthday
(Amazing dance/rock track! Makes you want to bounce =) !)

The day the nation stood tall and united

It feels phenomenally blessed to be a part of a defining moment in history. We'd hear our parents talk incessantly about the Indian team's epic victory back in the 1983 Cricket World Cup at Lords, England against the unopposed champions - West Indies. They'd talk of Kapil Dev's spectacular catch to take out the then insuperable Viv Richards. They'd relive with unsuppressed glee, Amarnath's dismissal of the last man Holding to seal India's win and thereby mark a historic moment in Indian sporting history.

We'd always think, "Man! I wish something like that happens in my lifetime! That would be so brilliant!" But Darn it! That cup kept eluding us all along! Sure we took home the Under-19 World Cup twice thereafter and the T20 World Cup too; but the true blue (all pun intended) cricket fan will have to admit that that surely doesn't cut it (as I reckon they say in Italy). We still needed a win in the major and unarguably original form of the game.

But tonight, 2nd April 2011 - India brought home, or rather "kept back", considering the tourney was largely played in India, the most coveted trophy in the world, doing every Indian - right from the Ambanis, who were there at the Wankhede stadium to egg the team on, to the kid nextdoor whose fingers spend more time up his nose than doing anything constructive - proud! They took down the Sri Lankan lions in a fantastic battle to the end! It truly was a beautiful game, definitely befitting and matching up to the hype and talk surrounding it! Many people have even likened the game to the Ramayana! The modern day Ramayana - who shall prevail? Well we knew the answer to that all along, didn't we? The benifits of reading up on your Hindu mythology =) !

Come 1:30pm IST today, nearly every Indian across the globe was hooked onto some media that would display the match for his/her viewing pleasure. Someone had once said that cricket in India is not merely a sport. No, sir! It's a religion! Well, that someone couldn't be more right even if he calculated the value of pi to the 50th decimal. On days when cricket's on - all across the nation, you see people thronging every electronic store to watch the games and share the experience with other blighters who for some cosmic reason outiside of their sphere of control are away from their trusty TV-sets back home.

The build up to this day has been phenomenal too. The Indian team vanquished the 3 time consequtive winners (4 overall), Australia, in the quarters. Even better - they beat arch rivals, Pakistan, in the semis. Boy! Was that a match worth watching! I chewed my fingernails so deep, I figure I won't need to cut them till the next world cup for sure. The celebrations after that game were stupendous! The roads in Pune were flooded with adrenaline-rushed kids screaming patriotic slogans and waving the Indian flag high! Firecrackers were lit, and not sparingly if I may add!

On Saturday afternoon, emotions ran amock as people geared up for the final showdown against Sri Lanka. Everyone knew it wasn't going to be an easy battle, but expectations still were high. When the national anthem came on, I dare say, I had goosebumps (as I'm sure would've many others). The match started off quite well, and largely in India's favour with Lanka being pushed on the backfoot, but something went awry around the middle. The Indian innings was impressive to say the least! Despite a scary start, with both openers sent back to the dressing room before they even had a chance to parade about in their fine poshery and make a substantial entry for themselves into the scorebooks, the middle order put up a stellar stand to see us through! Kudos to Gambhir, Dhoni and Kohli in particular!

Dhoni managed to give the game a fairytale ending with that massive six to close the deal. People asked for it, and he obliged without restraint! An explosive finish...literally! Once that ball reached the stands, the crackers began to set off all around the neighbourhood! Even 70 year-old gentlemen, who on most other occasions would be found hitting the sack by 8:30pm, went berserk tonight with some Laxmi bombs in their hands and the chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" on their lips! Even as I write this piece, people drive past the roads honking and screaming their hearts out!

"This one was for Sachin", say the lads as Sanjay Manjrekar sticks a mic in their face,"We wanted to give him the true farewell he deserves. He's carried the nation's burden all these years, it's about time we carried his!" WOW! Couldn't have put it better myself, I thought! Sachin has been an integral part of the Indian side. He's seen us through many matches and to many victories! He's the most accomplished cricketer till date. It's only pertinent that he signs off with a win in his last World Cup! The team carried Sachin on a lap around the stadium, truly a deserving honour for the man who gave us his all!

People wept tonight! The phones were perpetually off the hook! The atmosphere was electric! The family danced and yelled out songs glorifying India and all its people - particularly the 11 men in blue who saw us through (unintentional rhyme)! The dog looked from one of us to the other and eventually concluded that it was about time we retired for the night!

But in the end, this is a big and momentous occasion for India! We've proven ourselves yet again! Yuvraj Singh already with his 4 Man of the match trophies, held on steadfastly to the Man of the Series trophy as well. And finally the champagne cork was popped and the celebrations began at Wankhede! Congratulations, Dhoni! Props to the Indian team! And thanks for the memories! Live large....it's your moment in the sun =) !

Guzaarish - A bittersweet tryst with life

Every once in a while, a piece of art is created that shakes the thinking man by his foundations, strikes him deeply, makes him question the beliefs and principles he once held as gospel and strove to abide by, and most importantly, teaches him to learn to love and cherish this life and the people who make it worth living.


"Guzaarish", the story of a phenomenal magician and illusionist, Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan), who in a tragic and nerve-wracking "accident" was rendered a quadriplegic for the rest of his existence, and his struggle to seek the sweet release of death to end his misery, is one such work of art. Guzaarish is the story of a man who once was the most graceful, respected and talented magician in the world, a man who was universally accepted as the greatest magician to have ever lived and even knighted "Merlin"; a man who in a horrendous and scornful case of betrayal by his own best friend was left incapable to move of his own accord ever again.

Ethan lived his life even after the accident with a strong heart and mind, and a trenchant sense of humour, hosting a radio show - Radio Zindagi, that he credited being the most joyful show to have ever existed. He was a source of inspiration for people everywhere. His book "Learning to Fly" was still used as a textbook in Goan schools. Through his radio show, he even convinced a heart-broken man to refrain from committing suicide and insead fight to win back the love of the woman he lost. That man not only ended up being married to her, but now also has a daughter to boot (no pun intended ;) ).

But 14 years down the line, Ethan decides he can't take it any more, and would like to file a petition in court for Euthanasia (mercy-killing). And that is his guzaarish (request). His claim is declined by the court citing moral grounds. He then launches a poll on his show, Project Ethan-asia, asking people to vote in favour of or against his being granted Euthansia. People, vociferously and unanimously, call into the show imploring him not to go ahead with it. They try to highlight the many joys of life, the many reasons to want to live. Even other quadriplegics call trying to dissuade him. But, afterall, noone can really understand, or even hope to reckon, the mental suffering a man who could once fly before an audience, perform some of the most superhuman and fantastic illusions ever known, would possibly be going through now, when he can't even raise an arm on his own.

I guess the movie struck a chord with me because I could relate to it better. As a young kid, I saw my own father be defeated by cancer, in quite the similar manner. A happy and athletic young man rendered bed-ridden and incapable of eating by himself or even performing his own bodily functions without artificial intervention. I can assure you it's not a happy life. We read about such cases in books and magazines, we see them in movies, but believe me, nothing compares to the real thing.

The platonic relationship (Thank you, Swati, for setting us straight on the usage of this term) between him and his caretaker for 12 whole years, Sophia (Aishwarya Rai), is something that is really characterized fabulously in the movie. Full marks to the screenplay writer. The dialogues throughout the film are something to reckon with.

The soundtrack is exquisite and delicate and every song is pertinent and befitting the scene. The highly interesting and, possibly, even eyebrow-raising fact is that the music in this film is by none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali himself. Surprised? Well, don't worry, you're not entirely alone there....so was I. The song "100 gram Zindagi" would, without a doubt, be my pick of the lot. With some of the best lyrics I've come across till date, the song spectacularly describes the many vicissitudes of life. Props to Kunal Ganjawala on singing this song to perfection. I couldn't resist including the first verse in here.

"Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai...
Sau gram zindagi, sambhal ke kharchi hai
Asli hai, joothi hai,
Khaliz hai, farzi hai
Sau gram zindagi...
Sau gram zindagi yeh, sambhal ke kharchi hai
Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai...
Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai..."

Ethan does get what he desires in the end, despite the court ruling, and he has all his friends and family, by his side, when he does, and he with a boyish laugh and smile. Truly Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus with the most amazing lighting, dances, backdrops and imagery. A must watch for people of all ages and men who aren't afraid to shed a tear every so often.

I feel it's only apposite to culminate this piece with these lines in the movie that touched me the most due to their poignancy and relevance in our fastpaced lives today. I sincerely hope we can all commit these lines to memory and learn to live by them for eternity.

"Life bahut choti hai doston;
So go on, break the rules,
Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly,
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made you smile!"

Song of the post:
Kunal Ganjawala - Sau gram zindagi

	Kunal Ganjawala - Sau Gram Zindagi .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine