Before I start to say anything about this movie, I must make a note of a few things that occurred with Ram Gopal Varma, the director of the Sarkar series. Last year he took the liberty of remaking one of Indian’s best known cult movie called
Sholay (1975), aptly titled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. It was hardly a coincidence that it crash landed at the box office. What followed later was even spectacular and not astonishing for the class of media publicity that we sometimes prefer. He was mocked and scoffed at every awards function, FM and TV program, even flash animations were utilised to depict the “torture” inflicted by his imbecilic work. He was in short, written off by the media at every level. Since I come from a creative background, I could understand Ramu’s dilemma. In his zest to recreate a 21st century masterpiece he forgot he was toying with a movie that many in India consider to be a landmark film in cinema. At the same time it could only take the guts of a man called Ram Gopal Varma to even attempt something like this. Don’t forget that his CV has the colurful
Rangeela (1995) that launched the careers of many including Urmila Matondkar,
Raat (1992) and
Bhoot (2003) that were successful experiments in the genre of horror while his
Shiva (1989),
Satya (1998) and
Company (2002) showcased his class in making gangster movies. It’s unfair then to judge the likes of Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) with just one ‘Aag’ from his ‘Factory’.
It’s a well-known truth that Sarkar (2005) has been inspired by the Godfather series directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Some believe that the main character comes close to depict Balasaheb Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo and his family. The dark cinematography, angled camera close-ups with no songs and only a haunting background music is a hallmark of this drama series. Sarkar Raj (2008) is a continuation of the life and turmoils in the Nagre family as portrayed by it’s central cast of Amitabh (Subhash Nagre a.k.a. Sarkar) and Abhishek Bachchan (Shankar). This time they are joined by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Anita Rajan, the suave director of a power company that wants to set up a plant in Maharashtra.
Due to his ideological moorings, Sarkar refuses to buy the idea until after he reasons it out with his son who is looking for development and prosperity for the people of Maharashtra. To spoil the fun, we have a bunch of bad guys in the form of Karunesh Kangaa (Sayaji Shinde), Hassan Qazi (Govind Namdeo) and Kantilal Vora (Upendra Limaye), each of them portraying an interesting character. In the music instead of ‘Govinda govinda’ we have ‘Saam Daam Dand Bhed’ as the new theme song for this second installment. Just when we thought the movie is turning colorless, there’s a twist in the tale at the end. Is there going to be a third edition? let’s wait and see but Sarkar Raj is a must watch for all.
Technorati Tags: amitabh bachchan, ramgopal varma, sarkarraj, bollywood
June 8th, 2008
I realized that I have not written on my blog for a month now. You might wonder what the matter is. It is just that I have mastered the art of developing excuses for postponing matters. Things seem to be back on track after I came across this
article and realized I needed to do something about my behavior.
Over the past month, a lot of things have occurred around my natural surroundings; some not worthy enough to be mentioned publicly. To begin with, I had started to write a short love story which I managed to complete half-way and paused at a point when it became interesting. It’s too early to say if I have abandoned the idea but I have managed to put it off under the pretext of my ever increasing “mood pangs”. I have often put my work off by saying I do not get enough time which is not true. I have plenty to do but as I said I have learned to postpone things for unexplained reasons.
My daily exercise routine is another victim of my laziness. On early mornings I find it difficult to motivate myself to get out of the coziness of my blankets and work out those muscles to keep healthy under the pretext of sleep and rest. Somehow I think I need to push myself a bit more than I usually do (if at all I do) to kill this pest called procrastination. Let’s say for encouragement — if I am able to respect my personal commitments and time, I am also bound to do well in my professional career. And now I feel nice to have pushed that button and publish this post. I must say thanks to Cindy Loughridge for writing this eye-opening article. Thanks so much Tina.
Technorati Tags: late, procrastination, postponing
June 4th, 2008
Mumbai Indians
lost horribly by 10 wickets against the
Deccan Chargers yesterday. Gilchrist struck a mammoth 9 sixes for the Chargers scoring the fastest hundred of the tournament in 42 balls to blow the Indians away. This makes Mumbai Indians the only team to have lost all their 4 encounters in the
Indian Premier League (IPL). Being a true blue
Mumbaikar, I support Mumbai Indians whole heartedly although my loyalties are wearing thin after the successive losses and the
Harbhajan controversy which is the saddest thing to happen in Indian sports. On the other hand the team doesn’t seem to be gelling together and there seems to be a complete lack of strategy and decision making. The openers Ronchi (pronounced ‘Ronki’) and Jayasuriya are waltzing to different tunes. Ronchi in particular got out to a wide R P Singh delivery yesterday trying to hit it over the slips. As for Jayasuriya, in the 90s he along with Romesh Kaluwitharana were the dashing Sri Lankan opening pair who instilled fear in the opposition with their explosive batting style in the first 15 overs. The match was normally won during that period as well. At present he seems to lack a good batting partner at the other end and looks over burdened by the huge responsibility and expectations of scoring big runs. Everyone is aware that if he gets going with Sachin, there will be enough runs on the board to demoralize any opposition of the day. I believe Sachin’s recovery would coincide with that of the team’s as well and that’s the best that I can hope for.
Other than Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock and Dwayne Bravo are the two well-known match winners in the side who have failed to keep up with their reputation. We also have Dilhara Fernando who surprisingly has not been included in the playing XI uptil now — we have been relying more on the unimpressive Ashish Nehra. Including Dilhara would mean leaving a batsman out of the side since one can only play 4 foreigners in the final XI and Shaun Pollock has the ability to turn matches as a handy all-rounder and cannot be ignored. The promising young lads making their T20 debut like Saurabh Tiwary and Ajinkya Rahane will likely need time to accustom with the international standards of this faster version of the game. The question that begs an answer is whether Mumbai Indians which was bought for a huge sum (by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries Limited) lagged behind in bidding for the right mix of professional players who could perform and inspire others to take up the mantle of winning. Whether we lack the right combination of talent or an inspiring leadership role model — only time can put all these questions aside and rest all the doubts forever.
We play the Kolkata Knight Riders next who went down to the Chennai Super Kings in their first loss of the season. They will be looking to hit back confidently against a depleted Mumbai Indians. At present, we seem to be lacking the grit and the initiative to push for a result in our favor. However, it’s imperative that we start winning now - 8 out of our remaining 10 matches to be precise to make ourselves worthy of qualifying for the semis and start worrying about the net run rate in case we are tied in the standings list. Time is running out for the Mumbai Indians. The road ahead seems to be tough and strewn with impossibilities.
Mumbai Indians - What’s in a name.
The name “Mumbai Indians” is devoid of any creativity, is dull and very uninspiring. It seems like a last ditch choice after an unsuccessful brainstorming session. If you note, every team in the IPL has chosen to highlight their regional or cultural taste (Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals) or let their name depict the underlaying character of their team or company (Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore Royal Challengers). On the contrary the title ‘Mumbai Indians’ interprets to be representative of a national side when in reality it is not “national”. The team has a good combination of both International and Indian players. It sounds odd then to have foreigners playing under the title of ‘Indians’ for Mumbai and therefore difficult to comprehend the rationale behind the name.
The title should have exemplified the dreams of the million strong citizens whose city is a participant in this regional league. The name could have been adjectives that highlight the diverse regional culture and ethnicity — the two strong points of this city. Mumbai is also a contrasting city which is modern, cosmopolitan, trendy, world class, et al apart from being traditional. A neutral name could have played a big role in charging up the morale of a team comprising mixed cultures and languages and boosted the excitement of the fans as well. Talking of which, in a tournament that involves rival metro cities from across India — Bangalore, Jaipur, Delhi, Chennai, etc., any fan supporting the Mumbai IPL team would consider himself to be a proud Mumbaikar first. We surely deserved a better designation along with a win.
Technorati Tags: mumbai indians, mukesh ambani, indian premier league, t20, cricket, bcci, sachin tendulkar
April 28th, 2008
I wouldn’t be misplaced if I say the internet is like my first home, since I spend more time there than on real earth. It’s a virtual place where I love exploring its alleys and partake the various benefits almost all free of cost — reference websites, address books, social bookmarking, email clients, et al. In short while I am surfing, I have a global passport of visiting any place without worrying too much about safety unless I download something that’s detrimental to my system. During my office hours, I am advised (rather compelled) to curb my sojourns across the information superhighway to protect the internal network where thousands like me are traveling on business purpose. Every morning though I check my mailbox for any new communication which I might have received during the course of the night. And while doing so I cannot resist the temptation of visiting the
spam folder (or bulk email folder depending upon the client you prefer), to see and be intrigued at what the underground world has offered me today.
As compared to the rest, the amount of mails that I receive could hardly make anyone envious of me. It’s understandable considering my reserved stance and I am not regretting it one bit. However reserved I choose to be, the spam folder receives more (unsolicited) mails daily no matter how much effort I invest in protecting my online identity from the evil world. Although the spiteful nature of the content ensures it ends up automatically in the spam folder which I prefer to call a prison, thankfully to be “executed” (deleted) in a time bound fashion.
There are various kinds of spams which keep pouring in and some are truly funny judging from their subject lines. A particular one talks about ingesting “pills” that would assist in increasing the size of a certain inane part of the body and guarantees “instant success” after convincingly quoting a few testimonials from its “satisfied” customers (almost all of them women). There was another that asked me to “forget the doctor” and rely simply on the online medication, a sure shot prescription for disaster to be precise. Another one purportedly from an African nation promises millions of dollars in cash if I sent my reply to the sender. The sender was convinced that the money belonged to a head of state who has died in a conflict. There are more such mails which offer cash incentives, immigration promises and “lucky draw jackpot” prizes, all with the single aim of luring the unsuspecting reader and drawing cash. There are many who go for the kill and get “killed” themselves in the process.
I believe that spam by its nature has a tendency to reflect the undercurrent moods and trends of the society. From individuals who want to “show-off” their programming skills by writing a virus program to porn stars wanting to make a quick buck by inviting you to their online domains to cloudy pharmaceutical “companies” selling their shady concoctions — it’s a marketplace where restraint must be exercised at all levels. In such a scenario, it’s reassuring to find a facility like the spam folder which entraps spammers although it’s not successful in its duties at every time. There are some (mails) which end up in this black hole much the same as our Bollywood storyline, as they await my arrival to free them from the clutches of the villains. Alas! there’s no smart spamming system available which could tap into human emotions and filter the good from the evil. It’s a sign of the long road that the research and development community have to cover to ensure a solution to this long standing menace.
There is a definite purpose behind each spam and each spammer is defiant in his approach. It’s an act of mischief in a bid to challenge the hubris that would eventually efface your modesty and self-belief until you succumb to your own downfall. On several occasions I have witnessed my friends who got sold on an attractive subject line and clicked on their own sorrow only to find their livelihoods being wiped out completely. The “Spam” button should be used freely to lock up those with bad intent and help protect the democracy of the medium. I ensure that I do not open a mail that appears to be from a concerned person but is in reality a wolf posing in a lion’s hide. Look around and you might find a few in your inbox as well. You know what to do now.
ยป Try SpamGourmet to create a disposable email address
Technorati Tags: email, spam, junk mail
April 25th, 2008
I have a strong belief in the term customer experience. It matters to me since being a usability professional, it deals with the user’s satisfaction levels. Personally my priorities for purchasing a product ranges from brand loyalty to my expectations out of using the merchandise but if the after sales service is not provided, the product remains underutilized sitting on the investment which I made. Almost any time I decide buy something here, I shudder to think if the company would remember me as their proud customer and provide timely help when I need it. My experience suggests that never happens to be true. I went one of India’s biggest shopping extravaganza, to buy a wallet of my favourite brand. Having finished the deal, I set about dumping my old pouch and started transferring the cash and cards when I realise that the INR 895 (about USD 23) container did not have a pocket to collect the coins. This excuse was enough to promptly ask for an exchange within 10 minutes of purchasing the wallet.
Continue Reading March 30th, 2008
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