Rocking @ Mood Indigo

Hi,
For all those who've been to MI, I dnt have to elaborate on the fundoo and rocking atmosphere that this so-cult festival has ... and for those who haven't , well.... you gotta be at MI asap !!! This time I could attend only one day out of the fourdays of MI ... That this day happened to be the last was probably my luck and bad luck too ... But All's well that ends well, they say, and so I was satisfied... Had loads of fun in the Mohit Chauhan and Sonu Nigam ( Brilliant !! ) concerts.. Although Sonu Nigam wasted half of his time in the mumbai traffic, which was seriously unprofessional on his side, but he almost made up for all of it with his amazing crowd interaction skills, which included a song made up on the spot called " Aloo, Bhindi, Mooli Matar paneer " .... and guess wht? it actually sounded rhythmic !!! Yours truly dabbled with an impomptu stage performance for Desitara and won a Tshirt for the same... Here's my video posted on their website ...

Link

All in all, a great day well spent !!! Ciao ....

The Perfectionist Attitude... (read : Ghajini)

Most of my trips back home are characterized by meetings with friends and outings with friends and hanging around with friends and meetings with frrrr .. Ohh, I already said that... Moral of the story is that the time I spend at home, and I can't believe that I am shamelessly admitting this, is very limited. In my defense, there's very little to do at home for a hyperactive individual like me.
Anyways, yesterday was different. I was woken up by Mother India at 7 a.m. ( !!!???), which happens to be the time I go to sleep at when I am in Kharagpur, after which we went to several temples as a part of a yearly pilgrimage which my spiritually inclined mother puts me through. I don't mind though, because God has indeed been good to me... but I am not much of an idol worshipper, so the getting up in the morning was, I admit, a little frustrating ( I hope Gods don't have an internet connection , else I am screwed !! ) ... After that, I faced the scariest prospect ever - watching a movie with my family. I know that for most, it is beyond common understanding why it is such a scary prospect, but history has shown me that whenever I go for a movie with my family, I tend to land up in debacles like "No Entry" , "Aa ab laut chalein" etc. - Movies that are painful ... truly painful !! Anyways, yesterday my mom promised to make up for all of it by getting movie tickets for Aamir Khan's "Ghajini " ... The way the ticket sales are proceeding, I am sure she had to put in a lot of hard work to get those tickets, so there was no way I could say a NO !! Ive got some stuff to say about the movie, although a totally personal viewpoint.
This was one movie which was very non-homogeneous. In a less scientific lingo, I'd say it had different levels of performance in all its aspects. Story was well defined, Dialogues were OK, Actresses were strictly OK, Action was OK but a little too much to digest sometimes ( a 5 foot 5 inch Aamir throwing a 6 and a half foot man away like a matchstick has gotta be hard to digest, since it wasn't a Super-hero movie, but the South-Indian tinge in the film justifies it anyways ), Cinematography was decent, Length sucked bigtime ( more than 3 hours !! Ohhmigod!! My seat and my ass had gotten bored of each other, but the hero wasn't bored of his pursuits !! ) but last and definitely not the least ...... THE ACTOR WAS BRILLIANT.... ABOVE EVERYTHING / EVERYONE ELSE. Aah!! Aamir Khan... I know perfectly well why he has been bestowed with a short stature and a bad reputation as a human being.. Simply because the man is too dedicated and talented - an explosive combination in all respects. Even if the story would have been loose, I'd say Ghajini would still have been worth a watch, because of this one man !! He makes Shahrukh and Amitabh ( the worshiped Gods of acting ) seem like freshers of some acting school. Every scene, be it comedy, action or romance, oozed truckloads of dedication, preparation and acting talent. A scene where he cries out of frustration of seeing his lady-love being castrated in front of his own eyes and not being able to remember anything is just AWESOME !! It makes you want to cry aloud with him and beat the shit out of the bad guys. It makes you want to rise from your seat and help him remember things and also help him get to the bad guys. Even though the plot was a little unbelievable at times, Aamir Khan has made possible the impossible. He makes South-Indian-movie-like over-the-top action sequences and the more-colorful-than-a-rainbow songs seem believable almost throughout the movie. And yes... how could I forget the much-hyped 8 pack abs !! As we all know that most of the heroes of today have a well-etched-out body as a compulsory baggage, what is remarkable is the proportionate body that Aamir Khan developed and the way he displays it in this movie. You gotta watch it for this guy !!

I guess I won't be revealing much if I reveal the story plot. It's basically how a businessman who lost his girlfriend to criminals and simultaneously became a victim of short term memory loss, takes revenge on the baddies despite his shortcomings. The story-telling is phenomenally good. All-in-all, I broke the jinx of having to watch disasters with my family thanks to Ghajini ... A must-watch for everybody !!

Heralding of a new era ......

It's the last week of the last month of 2008 as we all , I repeat, all, await happenings that we hope shall change our lives for the better, or so we would like to think !! For each one of us, in accordance with the amazing diversity that this world has to offer, the change that we ohh-so-badly want to see or experience varies widely. While a survivor of the recent terror attacks might put " End of Terrorism" at the very top of his priority list, Osama-bin-Laden might have just the opposite on his wish-list.....provided he is alive.... else, May his soul rest in peace !! ( Before you raise your eyebrows at that, let me tell you that it is merely a manifestation of my belief that all of Heaven, Hell and Earth are much better off when the bastard is at rest... coz we all know what happens when he is not ). To provide another instance of such a vivid diversity in human thinking .... while a fresher of my college might be wishing for shorter lecture hours in the forthcoming semester, I, knowing that it is going to be my final semester at IIT, am praying for lengthening of the same hours. And that's pretty much the biggest irony of late... I can't believe that I am actually ready to bear my professors ( Yeah!! The same arrogant bunch of people with whom all of us students seem to share a generation gap of infinite length, a gap which they somehow seem to enjoy while we obviously don't, a gap which they celebrate with a recipe of boring lectures, topped with tyrannical behaviour and garnished with unabashed taunts thrown on us... Delicious.. ain't it ?? ) for as long a time as possible, merely to extend my soon-gonna-end stay in the wilderness of Kharagpur.

And while I ask myself "Is this really coming to an end?" and simultaneously hope " Maybe there's something better in store" against clear evidence thanks to my characteristic sense of exaggerated optimism, I shall keep my promise and let my thoughts take a stroll along the corridors of this relentlessly unending e-world. I shall fulfill my longstanding aspirations of being a dedicated blogger. Let me just say that this is my resolution for the New Year. And as I go about this mammoth task with my head held high and with my zest for learning as my only weapon, the whole world shall witness the grit, the dedication, the determinaaaat ....zzzzzzz ( snore snore) ... the devooooshhhh .... zzzzzzzzzzz..... aaaand the enthuuuuuusiaaa ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz that shall ....

OK ... Some things, I guess, will never change!! Good night for now !! Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year