Advani on a Hollywood gossip site... Why?

I was just randomly going through some websites and i stumbled upon this Hollywood gossip website (www.perezhilton.com) by this guy who calls himself Perez Hilton. It's an out and out West-centric website, which would have a decent number of followers (in the West), so I was justifiably stumped when I scrolled down to find amchi L.K. Advani's face flashing in astrip ad for his website. If you don't believe me I've pasted a screen shot of the ad here.
As for the various conclusions and meanings that one might draw from this, I leave up to anyone who would care to visit it. Off the top of my head, here are three most obvious ones:
1. Advani + the malacious Papparazzi
2. Advani + amid other ads of lingerie, suicide mission and house hunting (searching for solid ground Mr Advani?)
3. Advani + gossip (we all know and love this one)
Do write in and let me know of any such other unusual ad placements or any other association that might justify the placement of this ad here. :-)

Why Aamir’s got it right

I saw Ghajini last night, and I’d seen Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi a couple of weeks back. And hence, this piece—one of the many that compare the two Khan clans in which the Indian film industry seems to be divided.

I’ve always been more of a Shah Rukh fan than Aamir. It’s not like I hated Aamir or anything, but just that I’d gravitate towards watching more SRK movies, and even appreciating them. Never saw Sarfarosh in its entirety, haven’t seen Andaaz Apna Apna the whole way, and I guess I missed out on another couple of them over the years. On the other hand, I have seen almost of all of SRK’s movies. I stood by him, finding little tidbits of very good acting when everyone around was writing him off and heading towards other heroes, more often than not, the other would be Aamir.

And now, after all these years… I am truly leaning towards doing the same. Not because I think the SRK-brand of acting has turned bad…but because the SRK brand is just not moving forward. It seems to be suspended in this vacuum status quo where he’s this perpetual loverboy alternately in college and a middle-aged man who wants to be “macho”.

It’s just that I believe that at least Aamir is trying to do different things. Challenge himself and the audience with new storylines, scripts, characters. Tare Zameen Pe easily holds the spot of one of those rare iconic movies of the 21^st century to come out of Bollywood. Dil Chahta Hai, Rang De Basanti and even Aamir’s character in Ghajini (his acting was the only thing that saved the movie, though) are all testaments of his willingness to experiment with different things. He knows he’s got his fan base in place, so instead of just basking in their adulation, he’s trying to take things up by several notches.
This is in stark contrast to Shah Rukh, whose last couple of movies have been Om Shanti Om, Don, Heyy Baby, Main Hoon Na, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and, of course, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Admittedly, the role of Surinder Sahni was very cute and well played, but his counterpart Raj Kapoor was equally, if not more, obnoxious. Billu Barber, SRK’s next movie, doesn’t raise my hopes on it being very experimental either. But it’s not that he hasn’t done many different movies. I mean, I love Devdas and Chak De! but those weren’t exactly great risk-takers were they.

I know SRK has always said that whatever he does, he does to entertain people and make money, but I do believe that he should have some faith in his fans and take some risks, do some experiments. I find it hard to imagine that as a creative person, he is actually satisfied doing similar roles and doesn’t want to do anything new. (Making fun of oneself in movies, again…repeatedly, can’t be counted as new.)

I don’t want to compare, but… Aamir’s doing it, and doing it well. Why don’t you give it a shot. I for one would love to see some more facets to your acting personality, considering I already love the ones that exist.

Why we're such bad drivers

There are so many times that one wonders about the kind of people driving on the road. Of course, I'm being very civilized when I use the term "wonders". This is a worldwide phenomenon, I'm sure, but it's very rare that one can find a justification for the presence of such elements on the street, main road, gully or highway. But lo behold! As is possible only in India, there is a very valid reason for erratic behaviour while driving. Not only that...I have now come to believe that it might be a requisite by the transport dept.
This is because recently a colleague showed me the form that one has to fill to one's driver's licence. I just had to share... Enjoy....
(click on the thumbnails to view the form)

Coffee Art

Relocated

Tonight I finally shifted... bag and baggage (no comments, though *wahhh*) to this new spotty location. The last one refused to let me add my friends' blogs or anything else for that matter. Pretty much like those high 'n' mighty princesses who can't abide by any change to their routine once trained. (Please notice back-handed compliment.)
Well...won't write much now...just you wait for all the fun stuff to come in the future...
Happy reading....
(And suggestions are welcome as always)

Catching up and an autowallah’s theory

I suddenly realized that I hadn’t written in more than a year. Blame my completely disorganized life for it. But here I am, trying to catch up.
Well, this is a post I have been thinking of writing up for quite some time. A couple of months back I was frantically looking for an auto to office during a hot, sweltering morning. As usual, no one wanted to go or they asked for some exorbitant fare…which, those who know me know, I would not give at all. I found it highly surprising that autos would refuse to go to such a prime location as CP. After all, isn’t that one of the places where these guys would get more customers. Apparently, I was wrong.
So finally, after asking at least 13-14 autos, this one guy asks me if I wanted to go to the IP Metro station instead. Jumping at the opportunity to get at least somewhat close to work, and the fact that I can take the (god-blessed) metro to CP, I said fine…and what do you know… he even agreed to go by meter.
A couple of minutes later, when we were standing at a traffic signal, I ventured to ask the auto guy the reason for him and his brethren’s reluctance to go to such a central location for a fair price (after all, would our employers give us more money just because we demand it. Rather, in today’s age of rising inflation and a tumbling market, it’s quite the contrary). And so started his narrative explaining the logic of not going to CP. (For my convenience I will write his narrative in first person… Also, I think it’ll be more convincing.)
See, in the morning, everyone wants to go to CP, and since CP itself is not a residential place, there is no one who will go FROM CP TO ANYWHERE. So, if I take a customer to CP, I will have to bring an empty auto back to at least Pragati Maidan or to the IP metro station. That will take another 20 minutes plus the gas that I burn in the commute.
If I go by meter, I will get Rs50-55 at the most. Most autowallahs ask for Rs60-80. Which is in a way fair because of the amount of traffic that’s there on the road and the amount of gas that’s burnt. (Yeah right…as if we don’t waste as much time in the traffic jams as well…but, I do agree with the fuel bit…my car’s mileage goes for a toss considering the amount of time I spend driving on first gear and going forward 10cm at a time.) But I’m looking at the bigger picture. By going to the metro station… I get Rs40 at least. I avoid the traffic jam at ITO—both to and fro, so I save time and fuel. I immediately get passengers, which I won’t get at CP because most people will want to go there, but at office time…who will want to get out of CP. And if I get male passengers, I can get two or three of them at the same time and that triples my earnings. (SMART!!!)
So, while the rest of the autowallahs are earning Rs300-500 a day, I’m earning Rs1,200 (that’s Rs36,000 a month. Not bad, I say). My kid can go to a good school. I can give my wife at least Rs800 at the end of the day. I don’t have to grudge my family the simple pleasures in life, like if my son wants a McDonald’s burger…no probs; my wife wants a new sari for some friend’s wedding…no problemo. This makes my family happy… I’m happy… and I’m not really asking for more money am I… I’m taking you to a point from where you can get another mode of transportation easily…so, you’re relatively happy (to be fair…he’s not related to me, so it’s technically okay not to be concerned with my happiness). Everyone wins.
Match Point: Auto guy! (Doesn’t do much for my frustration about not getting an auto in the morning, though. But I have learnt the trick… just take the auto to the metro station.)

PS-- This is a brilliant documentary made by Arvind Iyer, a film student, on autos and auto fares in Chennai. A must watch! Click here-- For Hire!

In my time...

Let’s face it…the phrase “in my time’ doesn’t seem right coming out of my lips. No more do “today’s generation” and “kids get it so easy these days”.
But, here I am, mouthing these very phrases on a regular basis, and with increasing frequency. Scary!!!

Am I getting old to fast, or is the current generation of kids really jumping the gun in to premature adulthood?