i never thought i would ever say this. but i believe my decision to watch "buddha mar gaya" was a wiser one than to watch "ram gopal varma's aag".
now i would ask each one of you a question, when was the last time Mr Varma actually entertained you? For me the answer would be "Satya" and that is over ten years ago.
when you consider mr varma writes RGV factory at the credits for each of his films. perhaps he has indeed become a factory. kind of like ekta kapur, using the same tired cliches, imageries, mindless violence, supposedly sexy girls. for gods sake kothari does not have a butt, so why focus so relentlessly on it? perhaps mr varma considers it a good joke to impart his perversions on us.
his secret little fetishes.
only saving grace of the film....Mohan lal and AB in that order.
well you can add sush to the list but only grudgingly so...
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
chak de india ka review
ladies and gentlemen, let me begin this review of chak de india by declaring that the film is simply superb. no complaints, no complaints at all... two and half hour of pure entertainment, and i say this despite not liking the actor shahrukh at all.
the script is the real hero in this film. and i personally would place this film above both lagaan and dil chahta hai, the other two films that i enjoyed thoroughly.
and when i say that this film is a powderkeg of entertainment i do not mean it in the way of manmohandesai style of please all crap. this film has a good script, a very good editing and a superb understated way of telling the story.
shahrukh is good,yes. but so are all the players and the callous administrators shown in the film. every bit and piece is in its place.
finally a thumbs up for aditya chopra i think he had wasted himself on MOHABBATEIN
the script is the real hero in this film. and i personally would place this film above both lagaan and dil chahta hai, the other two films that i enjoyed thoroughly.
and when i say that this film is a powderkeg of entertainment i do not mean it in the way of manmohandesai style of please all crap. this film has a good script, a very good editing and a superb understated way of telling the story.
shahrukh is good,yes. but so are all the players and the callous administrators shown in the film. every bit and piece is in its place.
finally a thumbs up for aditya chopra i think he had wasted himself on MOHABBATEIN
nuclear deal
Our opposition party is not behaving like a responsible national player. I am especially sorry as I have always felt admiration for BJP but I do not know how far it will go. Its stand on the issue of nuclear cooperation with USA is absolutely nuts.
Congress has done nothing that BJP would not have done itself had it been in the position of power and its contention that the deal is a sellout reminds me of the adage that “खिसियानी बिल्ली खम्भा नोचे”.
I have a sneeking suspicion that the BJP people are really jealous that the congress has been able to manage a deal that they would themselves like to do but were unable to.
Remember I am no apologist for congress and would definitely not vote for it. But opposing congress just for the sake of opposition is going to be a loss of credibility for it and will strengthen the hands pf the commies.
Congress has done nothing that BJP would not have done itself had it been in the position of power and its contention that the deal is a sellout reminds me of the adage that “खिसियानी बिल्ली खम्भा नोचे”.
I have a sneeking suspicion that the BJP people are really jealous that the congress has been able to manage a deal that they would themselves like to do but were unable to.
Remember I am no apologist for congress and would definitely not vote for it. But opposing congress just for the sake of opposition is going to be a loss of credibility for it and will strengthen the hands pf the commies.
Mr Vohra and the kings men
Today I am going to write about how the political commentators with hidden loyalties to a party or person are subverting the impartiality of the commentaries published in our newspapers. A case in the point is Mr. Pankaj Vohra, writing a piece called “commission Vs commissioner” in his weekly column “between us” published on 13th august 2007 in “The Hindustan times”. Now Mr. Vohra tries very hard to present a balanced point of view but is clever with manipulation of facts, twisting of statements and generous doses of hearsay to further the agenda of the congress party.
In the piece I mentioned above. Mr Vohra refers to the current controversy regarding Mr. N. Gopalaswamy’s assertion that he has the power to remove an election commissioner and does not need a presidential reference.
In the very first paragraph he asserts that Mr N. Gopalaswamy has taken a 180 degree turn, however a correct assertion would have been that the office of CEC has taken a 180 degree turn. As Mr gopalaswamy has differed from his predecessor Mr Tandon and it was the first time he had put forward his point of view that too when he was asked to do so by the SC.
Then he claims that Mr. Tandon’s view that he has no power in this regard vested under article 324(5) of constitution was taken “apparently after he sought best legal advice”. Mr. Vohra cleverly tries to portray Mr. gopalaswamy as a whimsical and autocratic person. How can mr Vohra assume that mr. Gopalaswamy did not take the best legal advice? We all know even the best legal minds have radically different opinions about the same point.
Then at one place Mr. Vohra says that any body else in seshan’s place would have resigned after severe strictures passed against him by supreme court. That same can be said about Mr. Navin chawla, he accepted money from a congress Mp for his wife’s NGO is a public fact, and if he had even some shred of morality he should have resigned.
Another clever tool that Mr. Vohra employs is hearsay. He says “ gopalaswamy’s detractors claim that he was acting in this manner because of pressure from the BJP, in whose government he was the home secretary under L.K.advani. There are also allegations that gopalaswamy’s proximity to Advani goes back to when the latter was I & B minister in JP government.”
Now this is being too clever by the half as, we had not heard of any newspaper or column before Mr. Vohra put forward the detractor’s theory. Let us see what could be the motivation for Mr. Gopalaswamy, he is already the CEC. He can not go beyond that and BJP is in power. Either the BJP is blackmailing him or what Mr. Vohra says is hogwash.
Finally Mr. Vohra lets out a trial balloon perhaps on the bidding of the people in power he is trying to please. He says that the current crisis could lead to impeachment by parliament against CEC. Now I wonder who would have the power to run impeachment proceedings against Mr. Gopalaswamy, arguably one of the best CEC we had. Remember he gave us the lections in UP which were a masterpiece. We will see Mr Vohra. Between us.
In the piece I mentioned above. Mr Vohra refers to the current controversy regarding Mr. N. Gopalaswamy’s assertion that he has the power to remove an election commissioner and does not need a presidential reference.
In the very first paragraph he asserts that Mr N. Gopalaswamy has taken a 180 degree turn, however a correct assertion would have been that the office of CEC has taken a 180 degree turn. As Mr gopalaswamy has differed from his predecessor Mr Tandon and it was the first time he had put forward his point of view that too when he was asked to do so by the SC.
Then he claims that Mr. Tandon’s view that he has no power in this regard vested under article 324(5) of constitution was taken “apparently after he sought best legal advice”. Mr. Vohra cleverly tries to portray Mr. gopalaswamy as a whimsical and autocratic person. How can mr Vohra assume that mr. Gopalaswamy did not take the best legal advice? We all know even the best legal minds have radically different opinions about the same point.
Then at one place Mr. Vohra says that any body else in seshan’s place would have resigned after severe strictures passed against him by supreme court. That same can be said about Mr. Navin chawla, he accepted money from a congress Mp for his wife’s NGO is a public fact, and if he had even some shred of morality he should have resigned.
Another clever tool that Mr. Vohra employs is hearsay. He says “ gopalaswamy’s detractors claim that he was acting in this manner because of pressure from the BJP, in whose government he was the home secretary under L.K.advani. There are also allegations that gopalaswamy’s proximity to Advani goes back to when the latter was I & B minister in JP government.”
Now this is being too clever by the half as, we had not heard of any newspaper or column before Mr. Vohra put forward the detractor’s theory. Let us see what could be the motivation for Mr. Gopalaswamy, he is already the CEC. He can not go beyond that and BJP is in power. Either the BJP is blackmailing him or what Mr. Vohra says is hogwash.
Finally Mr. Vohra lets out a trial balloon perhaps on the bidding of the people in power he is trying to please. He says that the current crisis could lead to impeachment by parliament against CEC. Now I wonder who would have the power to run impeachment proceedings against Mr. Gopalaswamy, arguably one of the best CEC we had. Remember he gave us the lections in UP which were a masterpiece. We will see Mr Vohra. Between us.
songs of despair
i have been listening to mukesh since i was about ten. there was a magical quality in his voice that seemed to transport me beyond the dusty lanes of jehanabad where i was brought up, to a world full of love and sorrow, to a world where to sacrifice and pine was agreater virtue than to love and achieve...
it has always struck me as wonderful, how mukesh's songs did not need active intervention of the music to make them appealing. music was always secondary to his voice. at no instance did it drown out the voice. it was as if the pure melody of the songs and the sweetness of the voice were by themselves capable of imbuing the songs with magic.
even today mukesh's songs can be sung and hummed by everyone and do not need any accompaniment.
it has always struck me as wonderful, how mukesh's songs did not need active intervention of the music to make them appealing. music was always secondary to his voice. at no instance did it drown out the voice. it was as if the pure melody of the songs and the sweetness of the voice were by themselves capable of imbuing the songs with magic.
even today mukesh's songs can be sung and hummed by everyone and do not need any accompaniment.
side effects of democracy
those of us who dabble in so called allopathy or the western school of medicine have to be especially careful about the side effects of the medicine we prescribe. even an ubiquitous preparation aspirin may cause severe ulceration.
we in india seem to suffer from the classic side effects of the democracy. we have given away the right to tule in hands of illiterates and imbeciles. even those who have some education seem to leave it at home when it comes to governance.
recent bomb explosions in hyderabad have reinforced my feelings.
we do not act against terrorist groups despite evidence against them because we are afraid that we will lose the votes of the community to which they belong. this gives further impetus to these groups. they think that they can do any thing and get away with it by hiding in the arms of thier community.
the thing that i get angry with is that we are foolish enough to think that our minority community will condone the acts of these lumpen criminals and condemn the political party that takes action against them.
this formulation is furthered by the radical elements in the community who have thier own agendas to push. many of them subversive to be branded as anti national.
what shocks me is the silence of the intellectuals and the liberals of these communities. barring a few voices they keep quite and strengthen the hands of the radicals thus damning thier whole community in the eyes of the country.
it is about time we take strong action against these elements and make sure that the indian lives are not considered cheap.
we in india seem to suffer from the classic side effects of the democracy. we have given away the right to tule in hands of illiterates and imbeciles. even those who have some education seem to leave it at home when it comes to governance.
recent bomb explosions in hyderabad have reinforced my feelings.
we do not act against terrorist groups despite evidence against them because we are afraid that we will lose the votes of the community to which they belong. this gives further impetus to these groups. they think that they can do any thing and get away with it by hiding in the arms of thier community.
the thing that i get angry with is that we are foolish enough to think that our minority community will condone the acts of these lumpen criminals and condemn the political party that takes action against them.
this formulation is furthered by the radical elements in the community who have thier own agendas to push. many of them subversive to be branded as anti national.
what shocks me is the silence of the intellectuals and the liberals of these communities. barring a few voices they keep quite and strengthen the hands of the radicals thus damning thier whole community in the eyes of the country.
it is about time we take strong action against these elements and make sure that the indian lives are not considered cheap.
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