My first post at PFC

Yipee! I got my first post at PassionForCinema published. Its such a great high.
You can read it at
http://passionforcinema.com/heartbreaking-account-of-the-journey-of-lifetime/

I recommend that you read it at PFC. There are many better posts than this one. You won't be disappointed. But again, I am reproducing over here with some minor changes (I am embedding the video instead of giving the  link)

Thanks,

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Heartbreaking account of the journey of lifetime

This post was long due. Seriously. I had been on a trip. Without Ecstasy or LSD.  Before you start thinking of directing me to some Anonymous group, allow me to explain what I have been upto.

Or lets do it my way. Flash back to December 2008. On a tiny corner of the last page of Ahmedabad Times I see this Ad. It begged to stay inconspicuous (that's the only grudge I have  with the Ad). Luck by Chance, my Lady Luck aka my Taani parnter aka my lovely wife Tina (There Is No Alternative..well thats a story for some other time :-)) saw it. So did I eventually. I was excited. Now, this Ad was not like those that had some Fraanship Clubs which are out to fleece imbecile guys on testosterone overdose. Hook(er), Line and Single and ultimately Sinker. This was different. 

I called up the number they had provided, asked for the details, gave mine in return. The voice on the other side promised me to reply on the mail-ji. Pleased with the response, I waited. Never before I would refresh Mail-G client so frequently. Don't know that pissed off Google or what, I got no reply that day. The night was long (duh, it was winter) which did not matter as I slept peacefully. 

The next morning, Bhor bhai, Panchi Jaage aur Jaag Utha Insaan. I called the number again just to confirm whether they had got my right email ID or some body else was benefitting on my behalf. My doubts were unfounded as the details were right there on top of my mail box. It co-incided with my state of my mind. I was on top. Top of the world, you sneaky perverts. Get out. Now came the part which had to come. Should I take the pluncge or should I not. No rose petals nipped, no coins to be tossed. It was a simple problem of analyzing the probability using the Gausian curve and then eliminating the choice which I never wanted to take at first place.  The answer was right there. Its the question that drives us crazy, my friend Neo would feel. In neo-Bodhi Gaya enlightening moment, I said: Yes, I can. 

With the details in my hand, I felt like a man. Baba, with other stuff also I have felt like a man. But this one is for family reading so no Dada Kondke baazi here. I met him and paid the amount. The man was portly but had tons of energy. We got talking till the next prospective and petite young thing came by. I took leave and also some gyaan on that day.

The D-day came. January 20th,2009. I was waiting for PYT. She never showed up. I felt like I was dumped. I called my wife. She promised to stick around with me still. That was close. Luckily, that man did show up. That man, He is Mr Pankaj Roy. He was meant to be our course co-ordinator. Yes, Mere dost, I had joined a course on film-making. Courtesy Institute of Moving Images. The course was short-term also suitable for people who were like in Ghajini mode lest they forget why they were here. 

Day 1 was introduction also it was the day of introspection. Why am I here? I was asked so were others. It was not meant to question whether we made a mistake being there or regret shelling out nine grand. It was meant to know what your true calling was. Like my friend Neo said, Its the question that drives us crazy. I mumbled some words. Words that I felt and meant. 

What followed in this journey for the next 11 days (spread across 6 weeks) was nothing short of magical. ThodaPyaar, Thoda Magic. Love fostered at home. Magic and learning happened in class rooms. The classes began at 5:30 in the evening and lasted till almost midnight, way beyond their end time of 9 PM. One madness survived the other. Marriage and Movie making. We talked, discussed, ranted about ideas and concepts and plots and scripts. There was training on know-how about the Camera and angles, image size. Hands-on experience with camera. We learnt about scripts, different stages of script writing. About direction and production, about planning and editing and then some.  

But I learnt something way beyond that. I learnt discipline, I discovered myself. I learned that hamari filmo ki tarah hamari life mein bhi dukaandaari nahi honi chahiye. You have to have passion in life. Passionate about movies. Passionate about everything you do. You have to give unconditionally to a movie, to life and then let magic take over. Jaadu wahi jo sir chhad kar bole.

Pankaj Sir, hats off to you Dada, you changed so many lives. you took classes for 7 hours continuously without getting tired or showing any signs of exhaustion. He enthralled us, entertained us and yes, we learnt along the way. Learning was never so much fun.

I made few movies during the course and in the course of making another one. Will leave you one of my short that I made as part of the course work. The assignment was to make a 3-minute observational movie which depicts an activity from start to end. I talk to a street side painter and took lot of convincing for him to star and paint a sketch on camera.

By the way, there was nothing like heart breaking actually. Or there was. When the classes ended. The journey came to an end. For me, it just had begun.

AIFF 2009 Promo Video

More dope on AIFF 2009.

Ajitpal Singh has made a stunning video for the promo.

YouTube wallah can watch it over here.

Or you can watch it below (Courtesy: Vimeo)

Ahmedabad International Film Festival Official Promo from Ajitpal Singh on Vimeo.

AIFF 2009

Ahmedabad is famous for few things. Textile mills, in an era lost. Stock brokers and traders in this era. Also, famous for its typical Amdavadi mentality :-)

Time has come to add, to borrow a cliche, an another feather in its Topi. The Ahmedabad International Film Festival 2009. I went and met the organizers (Shiladitya - the main guy and Ajit heading Programming) and they are gung-ho about it. This is what the organizer have to say.

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http://www.aifilmfest.com

We’re pleased to announce to you the Ahmedabad International Film Festival presented by FulMarxx Integrated Filmed Entertainment Company based in Ahmedabad. 

Aimed at providing a platform to showcase the works of upcoming filmmakers from India and across the world, we started as an exclusive short films festival and are now venturing into an international film festival in Ahmedabad.

We are ambitious about our foray into cinema and have worked dedicatedly for the past two years to tab the market for short films and in return find an audience for new filmmakers. We aim at making this festival an annual feature in Ahmedabad on the lines of the festivals held in various cities world over. We can’t achieve this feat without the encouragement and support of institutes and individuals like you.

The major attractions include:

- Best of World Cinema | in association with NDTV Lumiere
- Best of Berlinale | Berlin International Film Festival
- Best of Tampere Film Festival, Finland
- Best of Children’s Films
- Cinema of Gujarat
- Short Films Competitive
- Feature Films Competitive
- We Care HIV+ | in association with AIESEC
- Theatre by Cyrus Dastur and Tom Alter
- Coffee Table Book Launch
- Short Films Bazaar
- Special Golf Sessions for Juries and Guests
- Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad

We are looking at an audience of diverse interests within the gamut of filmmaking- established and upcoming filmmakers, art connoisseurs, artists, film buyers and enthusiasts and the decision makers of the global filmmaking trends, not to forget the paparazzi. However, we do not intend to be blinded by the flash lights. True to our roots, our commitment remains to bring the magic of cinema and storytelling to the daily viewer.

Veer Rasa

After a long time, I get to hear a song with  Veer Rasa in it.

The lyrics are reproduced over here, the song can be heard somewhere on this desert of world wide web. 

Yeah, the movie is Gulaal. 

Aarambh hai prachand,

Bole mastako ke jhund,

Aaj jung ki ghadi ki tum guhar do ( 2 times)

Aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan,

Aaj ek dhanush ke baan pe utaar do,

Aarambh hai prachand…

Mann kare so praan de,

Jo mann kare so praan le,

Wahi to ek sarv shaktimaan hai

Krishna ki pukaar hai yeh

Bhagwat ka saar hai,

Ki yudh hi to veer ka pramaan hai,

Kauravo ki bheed ho ya 

Pandavo ka need ho,

Jo lad saka hai wo hi to mahaan hai,

Jeet ki hawas nahi, 

Kisi pe koi vash nahi,

Kya zindagi hai thokaro pe maar do,

Maut anth hai nahi to 

Maut se bhi kyu dare?

Yeh jaake aasmaan mein dahaad do,

Aarambh hai prachand,

Bole mastako ke jhund,

Aaj jung ki ghadi ki tum guhar do

Aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan,

Aaj ek dhanush ke baan pe utaar do,

Aarambh hai prachand…

Ho daya ka bhaav  ya ki shaurya ka chunaav,

Ya ki haar ka wo ghaav  tum yeh soch lo

Ya ki poore bhaal par jala rahe vijay ka laal,

Laal yeh gulaal, tum yeh soch lo,

Rang kesari ho ya mridang kesari ho ya ki,

Kesari ho laal tum yeh soch lo..

Jis kavi ki kalpana mein 

Zindagi ho prem geet,

Uss kavi ko aaj tum nakaar do,

Bheegti nasso mein aaj, 

phoolti rago mein aaj,

Aaj aag ki lapat ka tum baghaar do,

Aarambh hai prachand,

Bole mastako ke jhund,

Aaj jung ki ghadi ki tum guhar do

Aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan,

Aaj ek dhanush ke baarn pe utaar do,

Aarambh hai prachand- ( 3 times)

Achieve

"You can achieve anything you want,

If you don't mind who gets the credit."

Who comes up with this stuff?  Well, the answer is: Not one but six people. All separated within six degress, I am sure.

Unbelievable stuff, I mean whom do I give credit for this quote.

1. You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit.
     Ronald Reagan

2. There is no end to what you can accomplish if (or when) you don't care who gets the     credit. 
     Florence Luscomb

3. There is no limit to the good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.
    General George C. Marshall

4. There's no limit to what a man can achieve, if he doesn't care who gets the credit.
     Laing Burns, Jr.

5. It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
    Harry S. Truman

6. It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.
    John Wooden

My Movie List -I

I really wanted to talk about movies that I had liked in past six months or more but never got time. These also include movies that were made ages ago but I never saw them. Most of them merit an individual post. Don't know if that will happen in this lifetime. And you can blame that on hours that I spend watching movies.

Anyways, these are the movies that I would recommend, in no particular order.

1. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

2. Gone Baby Gone

3. There will be Blood

4. No country for Old men

5. The Constant Gardener

6. Sin City

7. V for Vendetta

8. Freedom Writers

9. Wall.E

10. Ratatouille 

11. Iron Man

12. City of God

13. The Motorcyles Diaries

14. The Inside Man

15. Aamir

16. A Wednesday

17. Haasil

18. Cindrella Man

19. The Dark Knight

20. Get Smart

21. 21

22. Cars

23. Little Miss Sunshine

24. Rock On!

25. Welcome to Sajjanpur !

26. Jaane tu ya Jaane na..

27. Wall Street

28. The Untouchables

29. Heat

30. The Bourne Ultimatum

Mera Joota Hain...

Iraaqi.

Its a plane, Its a bird, No, its a shoe!  

The pen is mightier than the sword. But the shoe is mightier than a pen.

A journalist in Iraq did not beat around the bush but beat the Bush with his Hush Puppies. 

I hope this act is contagious and like bird flu flies into our country.  

Hazaaro neta aise, har neta pe yeh joote nikle,

Bahut nikle yeh joote, magar phir bhi unka na dum nikle!

As they say to begin a journey of thousands miles, you need your shoes.

The greatest job on this earth...

For you, what is THE job on this earth? 

In Google ? Intel ? Microsoft? IAS officer?  

Doctor? Lawyer? Filmstar? Politician?

The one that pays well ? Lot of perks, recognitions? Job satisfaction, travelling aroun the world etc?  You may find answers in unexpected places.

On 26th November, also working were the hotel staff at Taj or Oberoi,  the measly paid Railway Policemen or almost at minimum wage paid train annoucners at CST.

Michael Pollack describes his experience with hospitality of Taj on that day. Do read it just in case you happen to visit Taj any time in future.

And if you happen to catch a local train at CST,  Vishnu Zende and Jillu Yadav may also help you.

Now coming back to your job, there is only person who can make it the greatest job on this earth. You. Don't tell me you were suprised with the answer. Oh c'mon.

Animal farm of India.

After terror, it was followed by horror which bordered on ridicule and insanity. Its like bander ke haath mein talwaar! The only difference is there are 540+ monkeys and a stray dog. 

RR Patil saab feels that he is SRK and he pays a price for his delusion. Bade desh mein ek aur chhota haadsa ho gaya!

Vilas Rao goes a step further and says "Wah Taj" with his filmi-son and RGV. RGV ki Aag burnt him too.

Naqvi can only see the powder and lipstick. When will he be shown the stick?

While Achutanandan picks up a dog fight. I think the Dhobi just found his new kutta.

Modi bashes up Karkare when he was alive and then Modi-fies his stand to pay his respect and 1 crore to Karkare's widow. 

Sharmila Thackeray sends SMSes that all the martyrs were Marathi Manoos. I guess she must have been tempted to blame the Northies this time too.

Last heard, there is infighting now after new CM of Maharashtra is chosen.

But don't worry, Shivraj Patil was changing his bandhgala when all of these happened. Luckily, his mouth is bandh too. For good now.

Funny, these are our leaders. Funnier, we chose them. Funniest, most of us didn't, we did not vote, right.

United in '03

I had written the draft around first week of August, 2008. Thought would add more to it. But don't feel like doing anymore. So I let it be. The only question is whether we will be united in '08 to fight our war?

7th August, 2008

The end credits start rolling. I continue staring at the screen. No one survived the crash on that day. United 93 flight "terminates" on HBO. In the other room, its another world. Mom and Dad share a joke. He chuckles, she laughs. The world is back to normal.

I am thousand of miles away today. That day, I was few hundred miles away.  A sense of grief, triumph, and relief interject each other. I may never know what made the passengers do the inevitable. I may never know how would I respond to such situation.

Change. Its time.

"How did it come to this?"

"So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?"

- Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

"We should bomb Pakistan"

" We need a dictator"

"We should encounter all the so-called politicians and leaders"

"India is not safe, me off to some other better country"

These were all knee-jerk reactions. Reactions and not responses. Its been more than a week since the attack on Bombay. The anger has been given words, the hate against hate been expressed. Now, the real ordeal begins. 

I have been introspecting. I want things to change, for better.  I want to be an agent of change (not a Ray-ban wearing Agent Change, Mr Anderson!). Lighting candles, taking out protest march and voicing the angst is good. I am not denying that. It shows solidarity, it shows I care. 

Then what? How do I make myself accountable for the change? I want to internalize the process of this change. 

I have decided on 2-point steps that I want to follow now in my daily dealings.

1. F**k Mediocrity. The M word should not be my way of life.

2. Stay above board every time.

If I can get these right, I think it will be a good start. Rest, they will say in future, is history.

Reminds me of a sher that sums up my thoughts.

Khudi ko kar buland itna, 

ki har taqdeer likhne se pehle,

Khuda khud bande se yeh puche,

bata teri raza kya hain!

Doing

When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Today. Last week. Last year.

What are you waiting for?
Next day or next life.

Carter Coaching Classes

I teach Jholi Gola aka Basket Ball for you Hindi impaired imbeciles. I make you sign contracts (in triplicate, if you are in India). I also make you quote poetry and force you to have a high GPA. For this I get nothing, no Oscar, no award, in my Jholi. Not even Angelina Jolie. Next movie or next life, Amen.

I am Samuel son of Jack and though I am father of one of the players in the movie, thats no feather in my topi. Cos I don't wear any. The birds of same feather flock together in pubs, streets and do drugs. I am here to stop them so that they don't die of bandook ki goli. No Homicide, only suicides. Play gola. Run with Lola. Run you will for I will make you run for the entire running length of the film. Its a moving picture, you idiot.

Because the players are bursting with hormones, I teach them the moves of the game and codeword them after my non-existent sisters. The scum bags, they let run their fantasies wild courting the gola and yell for my sisters during the game. So much for winning. No Sir, its not only about winning. You gotta have a good GPA, remember. All play, no classes and lo, Jack (not my father) is benched till he has good grades. Fair trade, no. This Pappu has to pass his tests before he passes the ball.

Y'all dogs, if you wanna learn from me, you go watch Coach Carter. I bet you if you are disappointed then its 100 suicides for me.

Before I call it quits, I leave you with "Our deepest fear"

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Cinema Paradiso

Trust Ambani to think BIG. After BIG Entertainment, BIG Music, they come up with BIG FLIX. Those who have tasted blood in celluloid with Blockbuster stores know what I am talking about. A DVD/VCD rental service, with an online, phone and SMS feature to order for free pick-up and drop facilities with no due dates. Matra rupaye 299 mein ! I can avail original DVDs rather than pirated ones available at the local DVD store. Whoopee !!!!

"A small step by Ambani, A giant leap for my kind"
I know this was bad. But its way better than Ravi "Lalit Modi is Moses" Shastri. For a movie buff like me this is God sent. For that I will definitely watch Bhakta Prahlada in orignal as my obeisance.

As far as my experience, it has been satisfying apart from a little clunky website. That's nitpicking, I know. If you are residing in any of the cities that has BIG FLIX stores, I strong recommend that you go for it. Its show time, folks.

The seamstress

A veil of the beauty, the cloth had hubris,
With the cursed wind the fortress breached,
Scarred by the evil eye, the beauty laid,
She took respite in the raging blade,
One drop at a time, the shine is replaced.
One tear at a time, the cloth disgraced.

The cloth is weary and torn in grief
The blood, sharpened by knife, is relieved
One stain at a time she washes
One sin at a time she cleanses

One stitch at a time, the seamstress weaves
One wound at a time, she heals

Statue-tory warning

Mayawati wants it big. Yes, its statue time in Mayan civilization. Mayawati wants her bigger than Kanshi Ram. In a fleeting moment of englightenment, she did not like herself and her expressions molded in metal.




And maya-nagari Mumbai wants Shivaji's statue bigger than that one in Chennai for the other Shivaji "Mind-it" Rajnikanth. Sorry, it wants bigger than that of Statue of Liberty. What difference does it make.

The pigeons are one happy lot, though. At least somebody will benefit. But what if they complain: Bhala mera putla uske putle se chhota kaise ?



In other story, petrol goes high by Rs 5 and diesel by Rs 3. That still does not explain low traffic on my blog. It crawls.

IPL notes

Now that IPL is getting over with only knock-out matches remaining, I had few things to talk about.

1. After more than dozen league matches where each team plays against all the other teams, it does not make sense to have semi-finals.

Imagine, in a freak game today, Rajasthan Royals loses to Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-final. They have won convincingly against all the other teams barring 3 loses. It would be a real let-down if they don't play in finals.

Yes, semi-final knock-outs add that extra drama and spice to the tournament. It seems very unfair if the best team of the league loses out because of a bad day.

2. The finals should be best of three matches instead of one. One at home, one away and third at a neutral ground. Sort of a level playing field. Again the same theory applies that the team should get a chance to claw back in. One bad day should not be a decider for such tournament.

3. With no semi-final rounds and each league match is important. There should be spare days for matches that were abandoned because of Lord Indra's whim. I am not saying that the next day should be kept free which may be improbable with such a busy schedule. After every leg of the league, there can be a week or half off where those matches that were abandoned can be played.

Look what happened with Mumbai Indians (14 points), Delhi Daredevils (15 points) and Kolkata Knight riders (13 points). If KKR vs DD matched had not washed out and if KKR had won, there would have been a 3-way tie between above teams ! So much fun.

All in all, it has been a satisfactory tournament. Going with the performance, Rajasthan Royals should win. But its not over till the last ball is bowled. Cricket is suppose to be a game of uncertainties. So expect some surprise.

Chala Murari Hero Banne!

So what's happens when Om Prakash Makhija gets a chance to be Om Kapoor[1] ?
He overacts to the hilt as if there is no tomorrow.

That's what I did when I was part of a TV quiz show based on Bollywood aptly titled Bollywood Ka Boss. It's hosted by Boman Irani.

Did I win and was the hero or I just ended up being the guy in a suit in fourth row behind the star ? You will know in the 12th part of the following video. To use a cliche, it does not matter. I used 39 seconds of fame out of my quota of 15 minutes.

Watch out in this video where Boman introduces all of us.




All the parts are available at following links.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12


[1] - Om Prakash is a junior artiste (also known as bhai log in slang) and Om Kapoor is a super star in Om Shanti Om.

Tale of Indian cities

Paul Graham in his latest essay begins with "Great cities attract ambitious people".

You always need a tipping point for anything to get effective, be a philosophy, a style statement or a revolution. Cities help in building a critical mass of people. and that critical mass acts as a tipping point.

Do Indian cities attract ambitious people. Do they have the right critical mass.

I am sure Bombay used to do. People coming from UP, Bihar, Punjab, from everywhere to become Bollywood stars. Or more enterprising lot from Gujarat or Marwar riding their luck on Dalal street. Sadly, Mumbai attracts hooligans. Holy Guns! From Maximum city to minimum tolerance.

Bangalore attracts cheer leadars. Yeah, it still has a high influx of every one and anyone who wants to ride the IT wave. Does it really attract the most ambitious technologists.

Ahmedabad, my home town, attracts all the Schumachers and Raikkonnens with license to kill. Of course,you have to drive on the wrong side (i.e. the correct side in US) to really reach your final destination. Lan(e)s are for computer networks. You see, Ahmedabad is closer to Amrika than anywhere else.

So who does your city attracts ?

On a side note, the more I travel the more I see that cities in India are losing their individuality. All the buildings look the same wherever I go. The clothes that people wear or their life style is not very different from city to city. There is no differentiation left. I don't know if that is something to worry or cheer about that finally India is becoming a homogeneous country.

Chak De! revisited

When you are the brand ambassador for mobile services company as well as company that makes handsets, the benefits are many including a very very long text messaging service feature available to you for free.

And what do you do with it is send a very very long text message.
So that the rest of us can read that very very long text message.

Read SRK's SMS to his Kolkata Knight Riders team after all the controversies and losses.

"Story time boys... I told you if you keep losing you have to bear with my long, boring msgs.... This is your punishment.... Many times I have made movies which don’t do well.... When I’m doing them, of course, I don’t know they won’t do well.... The story is written by somebody else and I just do my bit as an actor. But I have a way of dealing with flop stories..., I try my best to keep my character in the film at a level that it makes a failed story also special for me...."

“I enjoy the work.... I make jokes about the failure.... And, of course, feel awful about it too.... So, right now, all of us have become part of a failed script... A bad IPL script.... Let’s try and keep our characters worthy of still looking back at this story and remembering it as a special story becos we all worked very hard at this....

“So, chin up and don’t spoil yr character in the next two games.... Let’s go out with a bang and not a whimper.... In films, we say u r only as good as yr last film.... So let’s make the whole world know how good we r in the last (maybe not) two games...

“Also, do ignore all this bit about Dada, me and John having issues.... It’s a normal thing in the world.... People like to hit you when u r down.... So, we will be hit.... No stress.... It will make us stronger.... The only way to avoid this is to win.... That’s one of the reasons why everybody likes to be a winner....

“On the other hand, the beauty of failure is that it brings people together.... So, let’s stick this out together.... You know me well enuff to know I am not the kind of owner who has issues with the team ’cos of losses... I am too much of a sport myself to get beaten by defeats.... Like you guys are.... Like Dada and John....

“I am still trying to understand the code of conduct expected of me at the matches of the IPL.... ICC... Etc.... After I understand it, I will decide whether to accept it or not.... Till such time, I will be with you guys at the hotel... in the meetings etc., but won’t come for the matches.... So, please don’t ever feel it is anything to do with us as a team....

“I am as dedicated to my Knights as I am to my kids.... Only, I won’t be coming to the class room till the headmaster’s rules are understood by me.... I am a bit anti-Establishment kind of a guy, so I apologise for this quirk to u all.... So, head’s up.... Have a good match and let’s make 200 runs tomorrow.... This 150 seems to not work any more....

“We have nothing to lose now, except our character.... Let’s not lose that.... Lov... SRK.