Beauty

Wine is beautiful.

Madhushala

Ek baras mein ek baar hi
jalti Holi ki jwala,

Ek hi baar lagti baazi,
jagti deepon ki maala,

Duniya-waalon, kintu kisi din,
Aa Madira-lay (tavern) mein dekho,
Din mein Holi, Raat Diwali,
Roz manaati Madhushala.



-An excerpt from Madhushala
by Late Mr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan-


More poems by Mr. Bachchan here.

Pratham

Made this a few days ago. Juz wanted to see if I am any good with a pencil.
bearable.

pratham.

randomnesS

Dull. Fear. Rage. Caffeine. White. Mundane. Tie. Voice. Ocean. Clouds. Receptionist. PDA. Frustration. Headhunter. Numb. Bored. Heavens. Smoke. The Godfather Part I. Ambition. Fear. Handcuffs. Pain. Spondylitis. Ocean. Bread. MSN. Credit Card. Actor. Fly. McKinsey. Lunch. Mundane. Repetitive. Photoshop. Walk. Elevator. Repetitive. Accounts. Lonely. Reports. Client. Distress. Caffiene. Caffiene. Talk. Caffiene. Screen. Charts. Repetitive. Unrequited. Depressed. Actor. Dreams. 9/11. Home. Impatience. Clueless. Impossible. Six. Elevator.


Rain. Bus.


God.


Fuck!

A picture is worth...

...a thousand words.

Yummy!

The Shish Kofta Kebabs at Al-Majlis, Arab Street ! Criminally delicious !
Its something about the ambience of the place, the smell, the surroundings, the foot-tapping turkish music in the background - it's so NOT Singapore...and that's how I like it...once in a while of course.

Top your dinner with Sheesha...and you are pretty close to what the heavens might feel like...

Spiders are Gross. Snakes rock.

While browsing through some other fellow-blogger's rantings, some childhood memories were revived.

Naagraj/ Super Commando Dhruv/ Chacha Chaoudhary - they were our super-duper heroes then! Still are...as some would argue.

Videsi formulas like Spiderman, Superman et al might have their own charm...but try beating the 'computer se bhi tez dimaag' of our home-grown Chacha, or the 'ichcha shakti' of Dhruv, or the 'zahreeli phunfkaar' of Naagraj...and you'll fail miserably.

The web spun out of Spidey's wrists, scaring our noble arachnophobic souls to death, doesn't stand a chance against the snakes that fly off Naagu's fingers. Catering to the collective reptilian fantasies of kiddo Indians (your truly included), Naagraj rocked.

Sad that the comics fanatic in me died a slow death over the last few years.

Was just sharing my woes with a colleague who himself was brought up on a regular dose of Bhokal, Phantom and Naagraj. This dude actually had plans to have his name changed, officially, to Dhruv! No kidding.

With titles like 'Bauna Waaman', 'Ninja ka Kehar', 'Udan-tashtari Ke Bandhak' and more recently, 'Nahin Bachega Naagraj' and 'Dhruv Hatyara Hai'... how can anyone possible resist? I couldn't for sure.

As for my name-changing and other miscellaneous ambitions, I would choose 'Saabu' any day. I mean, the mere prospect of having a volcano erupt somewhere everytime I get angry is so goddamn empowering! Those people in Japan will be at my feet in no time! Man!!!

Trivia 1- Do you know our Naagraj is 'Ageless', weighs '89 Kgs' and apart from having an email id, his alter-ego is a Public Relations Officer in a company called Bharti Communications! For more details, click here. No...trust me. It's fun.

Trivia 2 - Bhokal happens to be 'an ANGLE amongst the mortals'


Departing PJ - What did Moizukoshu Suzuki tell her son who just won't stop crying at night?


- Bete, so ja...warna Saabu ko gussa aa jayega!



Sayonara!

The Coolest Opening Sequence Ever

A red car whizzes through a field. It stops just yards away from three 'gundas' (and over-acting ones at that!). In the side-mirror, we get a glimpse of the driver who steps out - dressed in a neat grey suit with huge (typical 70's) glasses adorning his eyes.

Over-Acting Gunda No. 1 - "Tum sona apne saath laaye ho, Don?"
Don - "Tumne jitna maanga tha, utna sona apne saath laaya hoon Raj Singh."

[hearing which the other two gundas pull their pistols out. Aiming at our hero!)

OAG No. 1 - "Don, rupiya deke sona baazar mein bhi mil jaata hai...humein yahan aane ki kya zaroorat thi? Sona mere hawaale kar do!"

OAG No. 2 [over-excited at the prospect of gettin-rich-quick] - "Tumne suna nahin...breifcase hamaari taraf phenk do !!"

Don [coolness personified] - "Raj Singh...kya tumhe maut se darr nahin lagta?"

OAG No.1 - "In baaton se koi faayda nahin, Don. Briefcase meri taraf phenk do...warna......"

Don [coolness personified...yet again!] - " Theek hai...yeh dus laakh ka sona to main bhool jaunga Raj Singh...lekin tumhe yaad rakhunga"

[Throws the briefcase..and........B-A-N-G]

The opening titles roll out with a bang, literally, and prepare us for the amazing experience we are about to have !

What a movie ! I watched it yet again last night and not for a moment I could take my eyes off the screen, despite knowing every dialogue/scene/sequence by heart!

'Don' was released first in 1978 - a time when the nation was still coming to terms with the persona and the unprecedented acting prowess of Amitabh Bachchan. Even with movies like 'Sholay' and 'Deewar' already to his name, I am sure even Mr. Bachchan wouldn't have had a clue of what he was about to unleash.

Penned by the legendary duo of Salim-Javed and directed by the the lesser-known Chandra Barot, 'Don' was a stellar commercial success. It's easy to see why.

With a typical Manmohan Desai-ish plot line, the entire credit rests with the director. 'Sholay' re-defined the grammar of hindi movies and, to some extent, the social stigmas that hindi movies of the 50's - 60's used to lug around. Chandra Barot took the new-found zeal and urgency ahead and created - Don. [Movies like 'Sholay', 'Deewar', 'Don' are created. Whereas others are, just plain, made. Anyways, I digress.]

The plot is quite convoluted, and borders on inane, but entertains as hell! For its times, it was quite imaginative. Right from the opening sequence [notice the camera angles and the background score], it was a work of an ingenious, visionary, non-conforming director who had a brilliant script in his hands and a broad smile on his face [No..he wasn't born that way but I'm sure he couldn't have stopped smiling after reading thru the script]. The dialogues, the screenplay, the characters, the scope of 'coolness' [i like the term somehow] was only topped by Mr. Barot's interpretation of it all. The pace never, never, never slows down. And that's saying a lot. Even the songs keep you riveted. They do! Serious! 'Khaike Paan Banaraswaala" may be accused of some corny lyrics but Kishore Da's rendition is as good as it gets! I guess we UP-wallahs will always have a soft-corner for the number, for obvious reasons.

As for the performances, Mr. Bachchan's tops all. Well, that's almost a cliche. I shouldn't have even bothered to put it down. The character of Don and Vijay (atleast until he transforms himself into 'Don') are portrayed more than convincingly. Don's "Romantic baatein mujhe bahot bore karti hain, Sonia" and Vijay's "Wah ri duniya! Din bhar ga-ga ke gale ka phata baans ho gaya aur milta kya hai ....11 rupiya aur 75 nawa paisa..!" are as good as performed by two different actors.

Om Shivpuri as Wardhan was one of the most stylized, soft-spoken, charming yet devilish gunda ever. Getting a baby-faced character-actor to play Wardhan was a casting masterstroke as the kahani mein twist towards the end really catches the audience unaware.

Zeenat Aman. All must bow! I didn't notice much of her performance 'cos it would have distracted me from just drooling over her everytime she graced the screen. Btw, as the tom-boyish side-kick of Don and a revenge seeking sis - Ms. Aman was the perfect choice. And she doesn't disappoint. [At times she tries a bit too hard to make an impression...but hey..no one's perfect! sigh!] I am hardpressed to find any other actress of that era who could have slipped into the part as easily as she did.

Kalyanji-Anandji's background score was a character in itself - and a major major one at that. Riding high on the R D Burman effect, the arrangement, the instruments and the raciness of the score was near-perfect for the equally exhilirating and zestful script. The title music, Zeenat Aman's entry in the restaurant scene, Vijay's ( now Don) escape from the hospital - it made sure the audience keeps their eyes and ears wiiiiiide open. Second only to Sholay's background score, Don's was phenomenally ahead of its times.

Iftikhar, as the humble, honest puleece afsar, was his usual self - sincere.
Pran, in a guest role-types, hammed. Though in subsequent viewings, his performance doesn't irritate you as much as it had the first time. You just come to accept the fact and move on.

Trivia 1 - Probably the most recognizable and type-casted small-time actor of the 70's - Macmohan i.e. Sholay's Saambha - also makes an appearance! :) His character is named, well, Mac. I guess no other name can possibly do justice to his......everything!

Trivia 2 - During the opening credits, there appears a line which any director/producer in the 70's-80's would've killed for. "Amitabh Bachchan in & as.....". Mr Bachchan is one of those few actors who inspired writers to shell out characters which would suit his persona, rather than the other way round. [Whether the practice was good/bad is topic for another day] Though not many of his movies bear the illustrious tag [some are Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Coolie, Mard, Akayla et al], I wish most of them did :) If you find any other actor/actress who has the "In & as..." thingy going for them, do let me know. [PS - The likes of "Mithun Chakraborty in & as Chandaal" do not qualify]

Recently, in 'Sarkar' the peerless line re-appeared. It's just one of those small pleasures of life.


Well...what started of as just an entry of (IMHO) the-coolest-opening-sequence-ever has turned into much more. 'Don' is one of those rare hindi flicks which sets out to entertain and does it overwhelmingly and unabashedly well.

I would...in fact, I should, now end though not without listing another of the coool scenes from the movie.

> Sonia (Helen) has laid a trap to get Don arrested. While Don is enjoying a sexy personalised item number in a hotel room, the police force is all set to grab him outside the hotel. Don realises Sonia's ploy and pulls his pistol out.

Sonia [smiling] - Revolver khaali hai, Don! [Smiles again.]

Don [coolness personified] - Hmm...very smart!

Sonia [smiles again...and the audience smiles at her...juz wait bitch!] - Chalo Don. Police tumhara intezaar kar rahi hai.

Don - Karne do....Don ka intezaar to gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai lekin...Sonia, Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin...naamumkin hai!
[I am all willing to venture into gangster-ism if I could get to speak this line in real life just once!!!]

Sonia [smiles!!] - Iska matlab tum yahan se nikal sakte ho?

Don - Ji haan. Sonia yeh tum jaanti ho ki yeh revolver khaali hai, main jaanta hoon ki yeh revolver khaali hai lekin........police yeh nahin jaanti hai ki yeh revolver khaali hai!

Sonia - [All smiles vanished.]


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*Broooooooooooooad Smile*...Salim-Javed wrote some brilliant dialogues and Mr. Bachchan made 'em even better. When a director, screenwriter and actor share the the same vision...instead of just 'working together' when they complement each other, classics are born.

So long!


Departing PJ - If Rahul Dravid were to play the lead in a movie based on his own life, what would they name it?
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- Rahul Dravid in & as --------- (drumbeats)---------------DEEWAR !