movie review: Bhootnath

I'm not an Amitabh Bachchan fan and hence you won't get a sugar coated, praise-filled story of the Big B.

The movie as far as I know is an original, and even if it turns out to be well-lifted or inspiration of another movie I think it was a good movie.

The story of a spirit that still has certain unfinished business (as with all ghosts, remember Casper?) starts off in a haunted bungalow, (as with all cliched ghost stories). Without too many unnecessary sound effects and without even more unnecessary doors creaking or eyes darting all of a sudden, the director at all times had kept in mind that the movie will be viewed by the young in age and heart.

Story kept simple, the tricks and turns between the 'bhootnath' and the kid keep the audience entertained.

Mr. Nath is the owner of the bunglow which now has the 'bhoot' hence he automatically becomes 'Bhootnath', cause he's dead. The kid who gets into the house is Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan' s kid and his Mom has told him that gohsts don't exist. There are only angles. And thats what the small kid believe's. It's the child's innocent belief and ghost's belief to prove himslf as a ghost that drives the movie. As with all movies good things bring good endings.

SRK, I guess was added for a few good moments, which I don't think the movie needed, it would have done well even stand alone. I don't mean to say that SRK wasn't good. It's SRK afterall, he is always good (mind you I ain't an SRK fan either!). The starcast included a huge bunch of people I must say. Delnaaz Paul was part, and no prizes for guessing what her role in the movie was. Priyanshu from the 'very hit' Tum Bin was also one of the cast.

I enjoyed the movie, because of the following reasons:
-No unnecessary effort to prove that its a ghost movie
-No uncalled for funny sequences.
-No strings of the visual effects could be seen
-I am proud that the visual effects scene in my country is finally strong enough.

Most movies prior to this have had such shoddy special effects that the mask could be seen or the strings of the ghost overhead were visible. Must commend the company PrimeFocus that did the visual effects. Congrats! guys.

All in all a good movie. Must watch for those who can appreciate more than love dramas and senseless dialogues.

Thums up!

Scott Goodson

I had a good encounter at the Goafest. I was supposed to meet Scott Goodson. Goodson is the founder of this agency in the US called Strawberry Frog.

I was already in touch with him through email about some business that his agency is handling for Mahindra&Mahindra in the US market. While at Goa, i introduced myself to him and he said he'd meet me post dinner. This was on the first day that i reached Goa. Post dinner i couldn't spot him and my mind was upon the wedding that i was going to attend. I made an exit.
t
Later, bout a few days later he was scheduled to talk upon a specific topic. Goafest invites international speakers to share their insights and knowledge with the rest of the advertising world. My colleague was covering that session. After the session ended i hung around and prodded the PR woman to get me just five minutes with Scott. But the puny thing that i am, I was OVER-SHADOWED by the other more important people.
I still hung around. Waiting for my turn. Then finally i get my short appointment with Scott. I am supposed to discuss the strategy that Strawberry Frog will suggest to M&M to market in the US market and stuff like that. Scott spoke about sparking revolutions through advertising. and a lot more sense. But when he met me, he commented about my sneakers (i was wearing chappals) and my coloured toes. That was enough for me to get started about shoes.

I fished out my d-cam and even showed him pictures of my shoes on fire! He was quite impressed (well i like to believe he was quite impressed! hee!) and asked my why i didn't study some more bout shoes. When i told him bout my plans of studying abroad and waiting to get there, he told me not to worry and that it will happen for sure. It felt nice, a near stranger giving you some confidence. Thank you Scott.

We were talking so animatedly, actually it was just me being the animated version of me (hee!hee! :D), that the PR woman had to remind us what we were there for. Finally we got back to business discussed M&M and off i went.


Ten days later i receive a package. Guess what's in it? A Strawberry Frog tee shirt that says 'Viva la revolucion!' and a post card. Wowie! I shoot a thank you email to him, saying that i'd love to paint a pair for him too. Scott's amazing, he sent me his shoe size and promised he'd spread the good word. I'm starting work on the shoes in a few days, i'm looking for some good Indian motifs. If you got any ideas, drop in and let me know.

Viva la Revolucion!!!

Goafest 08

This is a little beyond heptanesia, but what the heck. A li'l bit of sun, sand and fun never hurt anyone.

I was in Goa in the first week of April. Was there for work, to cover the Goafest. But didn't think it'd be all work and no play. We were going to Goa after all. The flight was good, my right ear got jacked really bad and i was having shooting pain. but wat the heck!

We were put up bang opposite the Cavelossim beach. The Advillage (the whole set up for the 3 day Goafest ) was set up right there. We picked up our goody bag and got started for lunch. The lunch set up was good but food wasn't as great. I was expecting fish curry n rice, but alas and alack! nothing of the sort was served. though there was sausage biryani... eeps!

the first day, after my stories for the day were submitted i went out for a wedding that my family in goa was invited to. i don't know who was getting married to whom, but what the heck! and man! did the wedding rock or not. i had a great time dancing and posing for pictures. i bet the album will be filled with pictures of me. And the family wondering who the bloody hell is this girl? hee!hee!

Work was boring and most of the trip was too. Free booze and little clothes can make ppl very boring. The word free does things to people. Its got wizard like properties that word. Damn cool DJ (i think he was DJ Akhtar), must say he cracked some good ones, but he played hindi throughout. Now who ever dances to hindi music and that too non-stop (no offense). You must remember at this point that the booze was for free. Every bottle had a disclaimer in small letters saying : 'may cause non-stop dancing effects to crap music.' i'll write that in bigger font so you sober people can read, 'may cause non-stop dancing effects to crap music.'

Ii wanted to get some paragliding or if u call it parachute gliding done and also the boat ride (speed boat mynd u!) but alas and alack! again, by the time i was done with my work and got there for my turn, coupons were over. Can u believe they'd kept a coupon system...bah!
Well it turned out that i had time on hand and nothing to do until the ad awards began (that's what i was there for remember?).
For the time that i had with me I sat on the beach drawing up stuff.
now what would i have drawn???? hmmmmmmm...
shoes obviously...these days i can't think beyond shoes.

That musta been the best time i had. I kinda like such moments when im by myself. Among the world but all by myself and alone. Though im a very what you'd call people person and enjoy immensely in crowds, i am a loner in some ways.

Just me...the sea ahead, wind, waves and shoes. I had gathered a small crowd around me in a while and they wanted pictures of me with the shoes. The shoes weren't as great but then...what the heck!

Before i knew it, i had to rush back, change and get down for the awards. If you haven't seen grown up men and women create ruckus in a place that's not the second-class compartment of a train, then you should've been here. All possible noisy instruments were handed over to these infernal people. the awards were ******* and that was the end of it.

Oh did i forget to mention, there was a trance night too. Don't know the DJ guy here.

the flamenco workshop

Well, this one was high on my agenda, but as with all things that i love...i somehow messed up this too. the workshop was to be held at the NGMA but the blind bat that i am i misread the brochure and went to the amphitheater. there was a marathi dance going on and though i am a fan of the lavani myself, that was not what i wanted to see!!!
immediately i cussed whoever came to mind and then did the next sensible thing, that is get the brochure out of my bag. and voila! there was my foolishness in full display. the bat that i was (refer to para above) i saw something else, the actual workshop was being conducted while is was fishing for the brochure in my bag. when i realised my folly, i cussed myself a l'il bit and then ran as fast as my two short legs could, to get to the NGMA.

i sneaked in quietly as class was already on and took a spot on the last tier. the instructor, Priti Gupta, was in a long red skirt and a black blouson with black suede shoes to match. the shoes were specifically made so that they made a particular sound when stomped on the wooden floor. with her was her assistant who name i couldn't catch. forgive me.

i learnt about two short basic routines. these routines included slapping your entire foot on the ground to make a 'thud', hitting just the ball of your foot to make a 'click' and clapping your hand to of course make a 'clap' sound. a mix and mash of these three movements, we made lots of sound in there. to me it felt a lot like kathak but with shoes on. the shoes are very fascinating...i kept watching here shoes constantly. i'm going to make a pair for sure.

next was a sure treat. Priti introduced her dancing partner Shannon Benjamin and together they performed what is called the 'Paso Doble'. this dance form resembles the bull fight. very vigourous, very gracefula nd very very beautiful. i'm a fan. want to learn it too. but i guess i'll wait a while for it.

Post the 'Paso Doble', one of the participants made a request for her to show off her Flamenco skills some more. the kind heart that she is obliged (she had performed the piece a day before when i had missed the workshop. and for her luck, in our midst was a flamenco guitarist.) Ricardo too obliged. and we had a very beautiful flamenco piece to savour. Flamenco music too, is very beautiful to listen and relish.

I've taken numbers to keep in touch with her so that i could join the next flamenco class that she conducts. What hit me most was the immense similarity that foreign dance forms have with Indian classical dance. they're just as graceful, story-like and beautiful.

Bon dancing!

Ranjit Barot and Serge Bromberg

Well one of the most important highlights of the Kala Ghoda festival was the Ranjit Barot concert. (on the 9th of February 08)
was held at the Asiatic Library, a stage was set up in front of the steps to the library and the audience was seated on the steps. great ambience, great feel and a great energy around the place was felt. i was expecting company but i reached there by myself. im a wanderer as u kno by now...so was happy by myself too.

the stage was getting its final touches, sound check, lightings and the likes...and then it started. the seven member band is structurally instrument driven. but its peppered with Vijay Prakash (vocals) lending his carnatic tones when needed. Shravan, a pale guy, offered freestyle vocals...(frankly i couldn't figure if he was babbling or singing. but no offense. (yeah! watever!)) the music they made was good. ranjit is a great percussionist. there was this black hand held casio kinda instrument he had with him which made sounds of the rain or the clanking or metal and stuff like that. all in all, it was good, would have been great had they lost babble mouth somewhere. (i think i'm being too harsh on him...mebbe it was just his bad day!).




By this time, my company was around and i was chattering non-stop. telling them all that they could see. two of them remained away the whole time. (they've learnt from their mistakes!).
this french guy was next on stage. Serge Bromberg was his name. he is passionate about films. and all sorts of film. old film, new films, ancient films and even film reels. he first showed us how the reel has improved over the years and then lined up movies that were more then a hundred years old. Ranjit and Serge supplied music to these old, simply magnificient films. It was such a treat i wouldn't forget it for a long time...Can't really describe the movies without being unfair, hence i won't do that...just trust my judgement when i say it was truly awesome.
Ranjit was real kind to oblige when i asked him for a picture...

next update to come up soon!

nighty nite!

well i kno im way behind schedule

the kala ghoda arts festival (kgaf) was such a soaking week and more...but soon after that i went missing and hence the stories too! kindly excuse moi!

i checked out a few more workshops and concerts. was very excited to check out the zumba workshop being conducted. though i didn't know much about the newly invented dance form. i was tres excited to check it out. I even caught the Odissi performance prior to the workshop. Since im a weirdo who likes to watch all types of dance (according to my cous who tagged along). Cous was site-seeing and i was site soaking. but he insisted that i take his pixx and put it up. (???)


the zumba was up next. and let me tell u i wasn't ready for wat was coming up. an RJ walks up on stage engages the crowd. she introduces a thin, dainty woman who's supposed to be a trained zumba instructor. she came on stage with gym pants and a jazzy top, gyrated. then got on some classical dancers on stage, danced with them in her ill fitting (does not mean loose fitting) clothes to it and then did some junglee thing. by junglee i dont mean afro-jazz kinda dance. im personally a fan of afro-jazz.



well bottom line, thumbs down. was a flop show for me. my cous cursed me.
thank you and good night.

black horse and the giant wheel

after the latin jazz show, i was walking towards the museum to catch a bus back to CST railway st. while walking form hutatma chowk towards prince of wales museum (i know its chhatrapati shivaji maharaj museum, but everything in this city is named after that one man!) when the exhibition at the kala ghoda arts festival was on. everything from art, food, finery and fame was present on that walk. getting its name from th black equestarian that once was a statue, kala ghoda is in its tenth year. for further info kindly log onto: http://www.kalaghodaassociation.com/
a solitary walk down the road was very (for lack of a better word) intriguing!
as the pictures will tell you, art was at its eccentric best. with different renditions of mr. Horse (i don't know how he'd take that, but what the heck!) a white one mid air with graffiti all over it, a mechanical, wired, fanned and brushed one (u'll kno wen u see it) and the regular black one.
airbrushed metal was a great attraction. all those bikes and car lovers were busy jotting down numbers and taking cards. Sudarshan is the guy responsible for all the kick-ass air spray art that was on display. (for his details pls contact me) a bullet with flames on it was the central model, a helmet sprayed like a skull got my vote. damn impressive i say!
a big giant wheel, according to me took the cake. this was not the regular giant wheel. this one had bicycles with dabbas on it instead of seats. (rad!!!)
another piece of the cake goes to the ceramic art by a bunch of art guys who call themselves, 'clay chakra' (again for details contact me). they get the cake for the specific reason that their art was themed upon shoes. (a very touchy topic with me). aa large boot (like the gum boots for rains) was done up with small ceramic shoes of different shapes. otehr pieces of art included a highly umcomfortably high heeled sandal, a wet and worn out boot, chappals, and floaters made out of clay.
the best part about it was the crowd, all were happy about being there at that time. i couldn't help but click these two old, but very beautiful women. i think i've summed up my evening.