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“Aarambh” from Gulaal (2009)

aarambh hai prachand
bole mastakon ke jhund
aaj jang ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do

aarambh hai prachand
bole mastakon ke jhund
aaj jang ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do
aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan
aaj ik dhanush ke baan pe utaar do

aarambh hai prachand
bole mastakon ke jhund
aaj jang ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do
aan baan shaan yaa ki jaan kaa ho daan
aaj ik dhanush ke baan pe utaar do
aarambh hai prachand

man kare so praan de
jo man kare so praan le
wahi to ek sarvshaktimaan hai
man kare so praan de
jo man kare so praan le
wahi to ek sarvashaktimaan hai

krishna ki pukaar hai
ye bhagwat ka saar hai
ki yudh hi to veer ka pramaan hai
kaurvon ki bheed ho ya
paandavon ka need ho
jo lad saka hai wohi to mahaan hai

jeet ki hawas nahi
kisi pe koi vash nahi
kya zindagi hai thokaron pe maar do
maut ant hai nahi
to maut se bhi kyun dare
ye jaake aasmaan mein dahaad do

aarambh hai prachand
bole mastakon ke jhund
aaj jang ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do
aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan
aaj ik dhanush ke baan pe utaar do
aarambh hai prachand

ho daya ka bhaav
ya ki shaurya ka chunav
ya ki haar ka wo ghaav
tum ye soch lo
ho daya ka bhaav
ya ki shaurya ka chunav
ya ki haar ka wo ghaav
tum ye soch lo

ya ki poore bhaal par
jala rahe vijay ka
laal laal ye gulaal
tum ye soch lo

rang kesari ho ya
mridang kesari ho ya
ki kesari ho taal
tum ye soch lo

jis kavi ki kalpana mein
zindagi ho prem geet
us kavi ko aaj tum nakaar do
bheegati nason mein aaj
phoolati ragon mein aaj
aag ki lapat ka tum baghaar do

aarambh hai prachand
bole mastakon ke jhund
aaj jang ki ghadi ki tum guhaar do
aan baan shaan ya ki jaan ka ho daan
aaj ik dhanush ke baan pe utaar do
aarambh hai prachand
aarambh hai prachand
aarambh hai prachand

(Courtesy hallosushant.blogspot.com)

Jais

In what can only be termed as fairytaled start, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have claimed a front row sweep for the new Brawn GP team. What is remarkable is the fact that at first time in 38 races the field will line up without either a Ferrari or a McLaren on the front row.

This is an amazing turnaround for the former Honda driver, who didn’t really have a future in F1 when Honda decided to pull the plug last December from the F1 circuit due to the credit crunch.

Of course, Ross Brawn, the ex-team boss of the Honda Racing F1 Team, bought the team from Honda. And there has been no looking back! From the onset itself the Mercedes-Benz engined Brawn have continued to set the pace.

Lets hope the season lives up to the opener!

Cheers

Jais

1. 1. When, of the 4000 odd songs in your playlist, the mp3 player plays ‘Backstreet Boys’. And your friends walk in!
2. When the dhobi misplaces your favourite pair of jeans, the only one that fits! And that jeans has your Rs 200 worth food coupons!
3. When the person, whose monitor you were using, wants it back.
4. When your mouse doesn’t work. And you keep getting headshots after headshots in counter-strike.
5. When you play some horrible football with the ball hardly ever going to the place it is supposed to.
6. When, while playing Scotland Yard, you can go anywhere you feel like, and you chose a path that leads to nowhere! And before you even know it, you are deservedly caught. Horrible!

You know it IS Your day when…

1. When you pass the football in no-man’s land and hope the player gets to it. And the player gets to it! And has a shot at goal as well!
2. It rains! And you have the whole road for yourself. :)
3. When your Di reads the blog and says its not bad!
4. When you get hold of Gulaal soundtarck. And it is as amazing as you thought it would be!
5. When your fan gets fixed, making the Rajasthani summer a bit more bearable. Not to mention the rain!
6. When you win your team a couple of rounds in counter-strike and are not too far off the leader.
7. When you set the new 2 new high scores on your friend’s mobile phone game. And in the process almost double the previous one!
8. “Wish you were here”, the song by Pink Floyd, being played on the mp3 player, which is set in shuffle mode, when writing this blog entry.

But you still have this nagging feeling. Everything is not what it seems. And all this will lead to nowhere. Does it ruin the day? Should it? Perhaps. But there is hope still. And that is never a bad thing. And the day is still good!

A happy weekend to all.

Cheers

Jais

Gulaal

Gulaal is a dark and brooding tale of a boy losing his innocence, of college politics, love, betrayal, deception and the need for revolution, woven together in a compelling narrative and laced with some superlative performances.

The film starts with Dilip Kumar Singh (Raj Singh Choudhury) coming to Jaipur to study law. As the hostel was full, he is forced to stay in a bar with the rebellous yet charismatic Rananjay Singh (Abhimanyu Singh), a Rajput of royal blood.  Soon he gets involved, unwillingly, in the murky world of college politics. Along the way he gets a liberal dose of ragging in form of a “brainwash”. Soon, Duki Bana (Kay Kay Menon), the Rajput senapati, convinces Ransa to stand for the elections. When the political rivalry results in his murder, Dilip is made to stand for the elections. Soon enough he finds out the real motives of Duki Bana, his quest for Rajputana, separate from the State of India.

Kiran (Ayesha Mohan), who loses to Dilip Kumar in the elections, seduces him, and others on her way to being the GS of the college. And once there, on behest of her brother (Aditya Srivastava, I think), dumps Dilip who is now in madly in love with her.  Eventually, the movie is about power and politics, and single minded determination to claim what some would call a ‘right’.

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The  movie proceeds at a very fast pace till the interval. It is dark, brooding with a dense plot. However, the ending seems a bit, well, unsatisfying. Probably it has more to do with the obsessive love that Dilip claimed to have, an aspect not dwelt with in a detailed manner by the director. That being said, the movie is definitely a interesting watch and will hold your attention till the end.

The dialogue is quirky, witty and downright fun, but filled with abuses and expletives. Considering the backdrop, it doesn’t feel out of place. A college goer shouldn’t really have a problem with this of course. But their parents might.

Also, the movie is shot in a very interesting way, with beautiful lighting and some amazing shots of the palaces, giving the Rajasthan feel to it.

The acting is top notch and the characters are perfectly cast. Kay Kay Menon, arguably the finest actor in Hindi film industry, gets to show his full range, be it the speeches or the sudden venomous outbursts.  He steals the show with his towering and forceful performance. The other noteworthy  performance is that given by Abhimanyu Singh as Ransa. He is brilliant. His screen presence, the quirky dialogue delivery laced with some witty one-liners, charisma and the strong characterization he managed to portray is indeed commendable. He stays with you even after the movie is over. Real neat. Deepak Dobrial does a very good job as Bhati, Duki Bana’s loyal sidekick (his noncommittal nod at the pan shop comes to mind).

Mention should be made of Piyush Mishra who plays the deranged foreign-educated, John Lennon-obsessed, brother of Duki Bana. He is also the the music director of this movie’s amazing soundtrack. One must appreciate his innovative use of poetry, not only in songs, but also in the dialogues. What is more interesting is the message it delivers.

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On the downside, one might argue that the director suffers from Dev D hangover. The use of neon lights, orange colour, drugs and booze, the crisp dialogues and an outrageous soundtrack, which took Dev D to an altogether different level, can be seen in Gulaal as well.  If we had three brilliant tap dancers in Dev D, in Gulaal we have the character of the body-painted ardha-nareshwar. As long as it enhances the movie, as it does in this case, that is not necessarily a problem. However, one hopes that Anurag Kashyap doesn’t get obsessed with these techniques.

Also, the character of Madhuri played by Mahi Gill, who is a beauty parlour owner having an affair with Duki Banna, is never really explored. Seems half baked and neglected considering the interest that branch of the story tends to generate. The same is the case with Jesse Randhawa, who plays the role of a physically abused teacher in the same college. Her character also suffers the same fate as that of Madhuri’s.

Another aspect not explained properly was the obsessive love shown by Dilip Kumar. The hows and the whys of this particular aspect was not really convincing. But then some critics (don’t really remember who) have argued that the director wanted to keep this aspect subtle so as to keep the focus on the political standpoint. Or perhaps the Dilip Kumar was the shy type, not showing his love to the outside world. Not convincing, is it?

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All said and done, this movie is compelling and engaging, if flawed, cinema. Definitely worth spending two hours on.

Cheers

Jais

Serenity is a science fiction/ fantasy movie writen and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the TV series Firefly which was canceled after the first season and takes place some two months after the final episode. The story revolves around the Capt. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and the crew of the ship “Serenity” (hence, the name). The captain and his first mates are the survivors of the inter-planetary war having fought for the independents and now survive on petty thievery. His crew consists of his second-in-command, Zoe (Gina Torres); her husband and the ship’s pilot, Wash (Alan Tudyk); Kaylee (Jewel Staite), an engineer, and Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a tough-talking bruiser. The movie is essentially about Captain Mal and his crew.

The history is pretty interesting. As humans became too many to inhabit planet Earth, they left in search for other planets and solar systems. Another planetary system was finally found which was ‘terraformed’ to make it habitable. The inner planets, known as the ‘core’ planets were a beckon of civilization, developed and prospering.  The outer planets were, however, less civilized. Soon, the core planets unified to form the ‘Alliance ‘. This Alliance, a coalition of the two super-powers existing then, the US and China, attacked any nation that wished to maintain its independence. The Alliance was obviously victorious with the survivors from the independents drifting towards the outer planets.

In such a universe, Capt. Mal, who volunteered for the Independents, survives doing small jobs here and there. They also ferry people in what would be a very cheap mode of transport. During one such trip, they picked up River Tam (Summer Glau) and Simon Tam (Sean Maher) , her brother. River, we come to know is a psychic genius whose abilities were not really explored in the Firefly series. They also picked up Shepherd Book, a preacher whose mysterious past was not discussed in the series. He now resides in the Planet Haven.

This introduction would be enough for the understanding of the premise of  Serenity. The movie begins with how Simon Tam, a brilliant doctor, rescues River. Being a psychic, the Alliance toyed around with her brain making her a super-weapon and a killing machine of sorts. The Alliance’s pursuit of River acts as the film’s motive. They send an operative, a believer in the cause, ruthless and intelligent, to track down Simon and River. Though, River isn’t initially a problem, her instability creates tension amongst the crew members, adding to the generally tense situation.

As I mentioned before, this movie is a continuation of the Firefly series, a film for the fans. An introduction to the series does help. The characters make more sense, the situations become understandable. However, that does not mean that the movie does not work as a separate entity.

First and foremost, this is an adventure, a ‘space-western’ of sorts. The characters are interesting and have depth, their behaviour being credible and realistic.  The moral conflicts are complex and engaging, making the characters very well drawn indeed.

It fast paced and an engaging adventure. The story proceeds at break-neck speed but that doesn’t hinder the narration. It is smooth and there is ample scope for character development. This, however, doesn’t come at the cost of the entertainment value. There is a liberal dose of humour put in for good measure which doesn’t seem out of place at all. Credit to the director.

Visually, the movie is pretty good, though not in the same league as Star Wars. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. It leaves a lot of time for interaction between the characters and helps the narration as well. And unlike the usual science fiction or adventure movies, this one doesn’t just jump from one action sequence to another. That said, the film features plenty of exciting action and fight sequences. But blended with interesting and believable narrative.

Mal, the captain, is more compassionate than what it seems. He puts his crew before anything else, has his own principles and ideals and is not afraid of danger. Heck, he would do something just cause it is more dangerous! But he has this resigned feeling, as though there is no hope. Fillion gives a good performance, more convincing that the series.

But what gives this movie an aedge is the role of the Operative played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. He is as interesting as villians get, intelligent, cunning and ruthless. Using his wits more often than power and muscle, he makes the conflict more interestsing. As I said before, he is a believer, giving his single minded approach a complexity not seen in the usual villains.

I am not a ‘series/sitcom’ man.  But this movie made me want to watch Firefly TV Series. It was that entertaining. It has everything the Series gave us, and more. Si-fi fans should have a blast. Firefly fans should have a blast.

And if you are a fan of good action/adventure movies, you will have a blast as well.

Cheers

Jais

PS: Though not a prerequisite, an introduction to the firefly world does help in the understanding of the movie. Of course, one has to remember that this is a movie for the the fans.

The Iron Giant

The story revolves around Hogarth Hughes, a 11 year old boy who is raised by his widowed mother and his unlikely friendship with an alien robot which crash landed nearby. Soon the news reaches the Govt. who send a federal agent to investigate the matter. On discovering the robot, he convinces the general to send in the army to destroy. Hogarth, with the help of Dean, a beatnik scrap metal artist, tries to save the robot eventually leading to a showdown of sorts where the robot makes a choice to sacrifice himself to save the human beings.

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The story of the movie is pretty simple and straightforward. And that’s definitely a good thing. It uses the ancient (1990s) way of animation rather than completely being computer graphics and motion capture. It doesn’t try to dazzle you with bombardment of images and visuals. To Hogarth, the robot is a friend. What drives the movie is the story; the friendship between the robot and Hogarth; their interaction; and the message it tries to send out. And it does it in a very well.

What sets the movie apart is the theme of love and friendship and how it is a choice we make. Here, its the kid who is trying to teach the gentle giant of a robot the values of life, importance of choice and the goodness of mankind, which essentially gives a very simple uncomplicated perspective (“That’s part of life. It’s bad to kill, but it’s not bad to die.”).  Of course, the movie has its share of funny moments as well. Again, this doesn’t seem forced and doesn’t hinder the narration. Credit should be given to the script. And at 1 hr 25 minutes, the length is just perfect. The voice artists have done a very good job as well.

The setting is also very apt and well detailed. It is based on the 1950s when the cold war was reaching its peak. It was an age when the American public was fearful of the a nuclear holocaust and alien invasion and the Sputnik’s launch had captured the public’s imagination. Parallels can also be drawn from the movie ‘ET: Extra Terrestrial’. Another obvious influence would be the ‘Day Earth Stood Still’.

The ending of the movie is sure to draw some tears. The only negative I  see is the last few minutes of the movie which waters down its impact bit.

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Sadly, the film bombed and didn’t reach the audience it deserved. The commercial failure had more to do with the marketing (or the lack of it) by Warner Bros than anything else.

Do watch it. A very well made movie where the characters are believable and the story-telling is far superior to the recent animated movies.

Cheers

Jais

What I did like was Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister series. It had the right mix of satire, comedy and some brilliant acting. And it was just about half an hour. Perfect. Sample this:

Hacker: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it already is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?

Bernard: Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits.

or

Sir Humphrey: Politicians like to panic, they need activity. It is their substitute for achievement

or

Hacker: When you give your evidence to the Think Tank, are you going to support my view that the civil service is overmanned and feather-bedded, or not? Yes or no? Straight answer!

Sir Humphrey: Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn’t very much in it one way or the other as far as one can see, at this stage.

It was simply simply amazing.

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The only show that comes even close to Yes Minister is Top Gear. The show

Top Gear

is a motoring magazine show (if you didn’t know) which began in 1977 and was relaunched in 2002 and is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. They also have The Stig, an anonymous test driver.

Obviously, the show has its fair share of amazing cars which, at times, are put to some very interesting tests. A must watch for any car lover. But whats more interesting is the the humour quotient that is presented. It is funnier that most comedies that are being released.

What is more interesting is the challenges that are presented. They have what is called “Star in a reasonably-priced car” segment where Clarkson interviews a celebrity.  Then the celebrity has a go at the top gear test track and timings are recorded on a board. Apart from this they have some weird and absurd challenges and something called the “Cool Wall”. Its basically a board which are segmented into various categories of “cool”. Clarkson and Hammond then decide which cars are cool and which aren’t by sticking photos of them on the board (this has even led to fights with Hamster (Hammond) eating up the photos).

…

But what draws a ‘automobilically’ challenged chap like me is the humour. It is funny in a quirky and offbeat sort of way. And that makes it all the more interesting to watch. Am sure the estimated 350 million viewers would agree.

The humor comes in various forms, be it mimicking the co presenters (reference to Hamster’s ‘white teeth’ every now and then “I have not got my teeth whitened! – Richard Hammond”, Jeremy: “POWERRRRR!” mocking Clarkson, Jeremy: I would rather be in this, than in Keira Knightley. [on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage] James: And now the news: and this just in from Keira Knightley; She says she’s disappointed but she understands.) or some fantastically absurd comment introducing The Stig (“They say that his Scrotum has it’s own gravity Field”, “Some say he has been banned from the town of Chichester, and his face is upside-down.”) or making fun of the French (“This car is more fun than the entire French Air Force crashing into a fireworks factory!”, “Jeremy: I don’t want to go around this corner fast. I want to go home and Make Love and make Cheese because that’s what I like doing most of all because I’m French!”) or the mocking the Americans (“Jeremy: This turning right on a red light is America’s only contribution to western civilization.”, “You see, the thing about putting a nice big engine like this on is for one big reason: weight, alot of weight. this big thing weighs nearly 600 pounds, which is the same as putting a whole American on the back” – Clarkson”).

Most of what they present has a touch, nay, a big dose, of humour to it.

Watch it if you are passionate about cars. Or if you want to have a good laugh.

Cheers

Jais