Film making - the real story

Just finished watching "Talk to her" by Almodovar. It is a (Spanish) movie about two men who are taking care of their women who are in a coma, and the friendship that develops between them. It is also about communication and loneliness. The movie flows on two levels, one, their friendship and then their relationships with the women as the undercurrent.

What strikes on another level (just like the movie) is the vast difference in the ways Europeans make their movies than say, Americans. The European films (if you like/tend to watch foreign language films, you know what I mean) are about daily life. Subtle incidents woven into a story which is simple and leaves something warm inside of you. One needs to see, notice and watch life to do something like that with conviction, which of course the Americans lack. Their priorities in life seem vastly different. They have a solution for everything in the world, including the tension in the middle east, but not for their day to day problems. Reason why their movies, for example Kauffman's, are very complex. The simpleness of a "Life is beautiful" or "Jamon Jamon" or "Amelie" is hard to find in the ones that come off that shore.

When you have time to kill

Go see collegehumor.com, very nostalgic -- the posters, signboards, doordesigns (loved the door above), all those DIY stuff that we found time to experiment on. Some posts made me feel old (Oh, this is what we used to call the 'generation gap' back then). The site is sort of workplace safe, but you know the kind of things that kids do in college, dont ya?

How advertising spoiled me

All of us like great ads. That's why we buy things, right? At least 90% of the first time buyers in America buy food based on its packaging. Of course, taste determines if one would buy again. But that's for another post.

Anyways, if you are crazy about creative stuff, be advised: Go to this site when you have lots of time on your hands.

http://creativecriminal.blogspot.com/

Interestingness

A collection of the most interesting photos uploaded to Flickr in the past one week. Quite, ehmm, interesting. There used to be a 24hours link (in place of 7days), and it showed the top 50. Now you get a random pick of 9. So remember to reload.

http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

Overheard

During a serious technical discussion about security in Bluetooth:

"Encryption is a lifestyle choice. There are nudists and there are people who wear clothes. Personally I prefer to wear clothes even in warm weather"

Google Earth Update

Google has updated 'its' Earth with detailed shots of Pune. Now one can clearly see even my terrrace! No, I am not going to tell you exactly where.

Predictions

TOI reported on the front page couple of days ago some predictions by astrologers about whether Sachin Tendulkar would score his 35th century on the last day of the Chennai test.

It read something like - "If it doesnt rain, then at 1:27PM Sachin would score his hundred and he will score heavily between 9:30 and 11:27AM."

It is another fact that Sachin scored a laborious 22 off 126 balls before getting out. And yet another that he didnt score a single run in the mentioned time frame. But cant these people who are so detailed in their predictions also predict if it would rain? Or was that their alibi?

Forget

"There are three things I always forget. Names, faces -- the third I can't remember." -- Italo Svevo.

Well, I forgot to write on my blog. I think that is the simple truth. Not that many people out there are waiting for me to write. I am no writer or pretender. Lots of stuff was happening and couldnt get to the start page of blogger. The stuff is still happening, but as they say, I decided not to sweat the small stuff (coz it is all small stuff)

His Traveling Pants

Arguably the most famous 'normal' eBay listing ever, it invited close to a million visitors before it got sold, and another million after. Ebay has a policy of deleting item descriptions after 90 days, so I am archiving it here.

If there is anything which I would rate more than a must read, it is this post. (Dont miss the Q&A either). Alternatively you can go to eBay and search for item #8335653541.

DKNY Men's Leather Pants I Unfortunately Own

"You are bidding on a mistake.

We all make mistakes. We date the wrong people for too long. We chew gum with our mouths open. We say inappropriate things in front of grandma.

And we buy leather pants.

I can explain these pants and why they are in my possession. I bought them many, many years ago under the spell of a woman whom I believed to have taste. She suggested I try them on. I did. She said they looked good. I wanted to have a relationship of sorts with her. I’m stupid and prone to impulsive decisions. I bought the pants.

The relationship, probably for better, never materialized. The girl, whose name I can’t even recall, is a distant memory. I think she was short.

Ultimately the pants were placed in the closet where they have remained, unworn, for nearly a decade. I would like to emphasize that: Aside from trying these pants on, they have never, ever been worn. In public or private.

I have not worn these leather pants for the following reasons:

• I am not a member of Queen.
• I do not like motorcycles.
• I am not Rod Stewart.
• I am not French.
• I do not cruise for transvestites in an expensive sports car.

These were not cheap leather pants. They are Donna Karan leather pants. They’re for men. Brave men, I would think. Perhaps tattooed, pierced men. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say you either have to be very tough, very gay, or very famous to wear these pants and get away with it.

Again, they’re men’s pants, but they’d probably look great on the right lady. Ladies can get away with leather pants much more often than men can. It’s a sad fact that men who own leather pants will have to come to terms with.

They are size 34x34. I am no longer size 34x34, so even were I to suddenly decide I was a famous gay biker I would not be able to wear these pants. These pants are destined for someone else. For reasons unknown - perhaps to keep my options open, in case I wanted to become a pirate - I have shuffled these unworn pants from house to house, closet to closet. Alas, it is now time to part ways so that I may use the extra room for any rhinestone-studded jeans I may purchase in the future.

These pants are in excellent condition. They were never taken on pirate expeditions. They weren’t worn onstage. They didn’t straddle a Harley, or a guy named Harley. They just hung there, sad and ignored, for a few presidencies.

Someone, somewhere, will look great in these pants. I’m hoping that someone is you, or that you can be suckered into buying them by a girl you’re trying to bed.

Please buy these leather pants."

(And, the mistake got sold for $102, though the reserve was $75)

Away or Mobile

IMs, for a while now, have been allowing hook to mobiles. So anytime I log into one, most of the folks are either (Away) or (Mobile). Aren't they kind of the same? Unless you are away sleeping?

A Better Bush?

A few Americans might say "junkie" behind the curtains, but they all seem to see Bush as an unsolvable problem that they have to live with. But there are some (Brits, BTW) who want to make a better Bush!! (Thanks DK for the link)

Read Lolita

"If you are down, read Lolita. It will get you up, like a shot of Glenfiddich. One moment you were contemplating, not for the first time, suicide, and then you down your golden Glen, and lo and behold, you are thinking of murder, which of course is altogether a more proactive enterprise." -- CP's tribute to 50 years of Nabokov's Lolita.

Buying a car? Hold on

There is a huge queue of cars lined up for launches in the next few months. Ford has a new Ikon, Chevy is replacing Corsa and Sail & also bringing the new Matiz, Maruti is upgrading Baleno with a new design, FIAT is coming with new models, Toyota has a 11 lac SUV lined up, all in all it is going to be fun. So dont jump in as yet, let the party begin first!

Why Sourav must go

I am with Chappel on this. First of all, the captain chose to disclose the information (that he was asked to step down as captain) AFTER he made his 100, not when he was asked. And it was right in the middle of a test! How unprofessional. We are talking about a captain who promoted himself to #3 in batting because "he was too tired of waiting to bat in the middle order"

And Ganguly says that all that matters is that he won the tests 2-0 and got our first overseas win in 20 years. He won? He scored a hundred? Come on, even Karthik would have led India to a victory in Zimbabwe. His disclosure to the media itself made him unfit for the job, not counting the other reasons Chappel mentioned in his email to the board.

The test team: Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid (c), Tendulkar, Kaif, Laxman, Karthik (w), Harbhajan, Irfan, Zaheer, Balaji.

The ODI team: Tendulkar, Sehwag (c), Sourav, Dravid, Kaif, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Irfan, Zaheer, Balaji.

Brand Ambassador

John Abraham is the new brand ambassador for Yamaha. With his passion for bikes known to every kid in India, seems like a right move.

While it can be questioned how deep a relation an ambassador should have with a brand (Shah Rukh just became the first male actor to bathe with Lux in front of the camera. What next? Wonderbra?), John stated in an interview that the Yamaha logo stands for the front forks of its bikes!! LOL. He should have atleast googled it once. But then, how many know that Yamaha is originally connected with music?

CRASH

Someone recommened this movie to me with a punch - "The next one, after Traffic and American Beauty". Not a bad thing for a guy who is making his first movie.

Everyone has a good and a bad side, and the one thing that takes them from one to another is fear, or prejudice. That's how I could describe the movie in one line. The racial angle, the one factor for which the movie will be known for --like American History X, was overplayed, I think.

The story telling was interwoven, but with too many plots, it looked deliberate and not subtle. Which also meant that (though the script is pretty tight), some characters couldnt find a way to the screen for long gaps. But it is something that no one has attempted amongst the Spidermans and X2. Well what, I even liked Sandra Bullock. And yes, a must watch is the answer.

Ashes Series

England won the Ashes! The last 4 tests were more exciting than any one day match I remember. ODI's you have lost a viewer. Test cricket through out the last 5-6weeks have been outstanding. Though both the team deserve to be patted on their backs, IMO, England gets it.

The Aussies have been an arrogant bunch of irritating players ever since Ponting became the captain. And they thought they were invincible and it showed in every damn thing they did. I am very happy they lost. No, let me put it the right way - I am really happy that the underdogs won!

Millions

I quite liked the way some 'English' movies worked in the last few years. A little bit off beat, but not too English, if you know what I mean (from Smoking Barrels to Young Adams)

One of such filmmakers is Dan Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later). IMO, movies are all about character development, and he does a good job at that. So when I found a Dan Boyle movie with leading character played by a 7 year old, I thought it would be interesting.

Millions is the story about two young brothers who move into a new place after their "mum's dead". The younger one lives in a world of fantasies, talks with saints and spends his time in his playhouse next to a rail track. One day he gets a duffle bag full of money from "god", and the story is about what the two boys do with it and the consequences.

As one critique put it -- "Too cute for adults, and too complex for kids. But nevertheless a gem of a movie". Ditto.

Google it, before you ask

So many times I have got queries about things that can be googled out in less than 2 seconds. Are people becoming lazier, or more moronic?

If "Wear Sunscreen" was the advice for the class of 1997 (which was not a 'real' graduation speech as known to many, but was originally published in the Chicago Tribune as "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" by Mary Schmich), my advice for the class of 2005 would be "Google it, before you ask".

Life & Conversations

Life is conversations. Think about it, you know it is true. If you get a chance to design your life, do it around conversations. Well, you may get a chance to design your home, right? Think about conversation areas -- every room, or every corner in the house. Different types of conversations with different light settings, seating spaces, roofs; Just about everything is a conversation.

Chati told me once, "For me quality of life is nothing but a fish fry, whiskey on the rocks and a decent conversation". Well, I am designing a corner in my home just for that. Just that.

Suicide Walkers

Driving on these roads have become quite energy sapping. And now that the rains are back, the damn potholes have disappeared again. Only this time, under water. And since most of the motorists drive like politicians (they both don’t care about the aam junta & splash muddy water on them), people now walk on the roadside of the water filled potholes than the pavement side.

So every time you are behind the wheel, you need to worry about the potholes, the water, the people and of course other vehicles. If earlier you used to check 3 mirrors while looking ahead, now you have to, in addition, look down in front, sideways and wherever else. I have stopped taking the car out to work. I take a rick. Now I am like a senior politician -- I piggy ride on someone who treats people like they don’t exist, if they are not paying for your ride.

Oh, what about suicide walkers? The way some people walk on the road, it looks like their mission's sole purpose is to get killed while doing it. Much like a suicide bomber. Just popped up in my mind today as I was driving to the airport to see a friend off. Suicide walker!! Should be entered into the dictionary, at least the Indian one. What say?

War of the worlds?

Spielberg stepped a notch down in my list, for making this oh-so-rdinary movie. In terms of invasion perspective Shyamalan's Signs was better (May be, Spielberg is trying to emulate the pupil?)

So you saw GoogleEarth, huh?

http://www.googleearthhacks.com/

Inventing reasons

Watching the hero and heroine arrogantly walk into someone's eerie looking house and snooping around, I wondered why would someone do that. What about privacy? Isnt this tresspassing? But the counter arguement is that it is this curios nature that made Americans big discoverers and inventors!

Six months on

The mainstream media moved on to cover new stories. We stayed put on the coast and reported. Looking for colours of hope amidst grim realities. Like life in shelters.

We listened to people, told their stories and made sure that somebody listened. Our readers made power-points, debate papers and even a documentary film – on bad shelters. Officials admitted that the shelters were a “shame” and agreed to build better ones. We did not make the change – but just a small contribution to it.

Disaster does not mean the end of life. Or reporting.

Alphabets and Culture

Just thinking aloud here -- is the culture of a country/tribe directly proportional to the number of alphabets in its language?

Sania -- Hope or Hype?

There is no doubt about her talent. There is no doubt about her good looks as well. There is no doubt about her attitude at all. And when I watched her play the second round match at Wimbledon, there was no doubt about her immaturity also.

No doubt she played well, and 9 out of 10 times she guessed right her opponent's moves, but her shot selection was, as Boycott would say, "Utter rubbish". That, IMO is immaturity. She has a long way to go, the sooner she realises it, the better. Hope she does that, for I would anyday prefer watch her play her girl-tennis than Serena Williams doing, well, anything in this world.

Error Report - Send or Dont Send?

Anyone using Microsoft XP should be very familiar with the above pop-up dialogue box. Anytime the OS thinks that something might go wrong, it pops up this dialogue. It is very irritating to begin with, but I had a hearty laugh today.

I was trying to connect to my office network from the laptop and the dialling software failed and aborted itself. As usual, XP pops this question. This time I chose "SEND" and guess what? It throws up another dialogue saying, There is no internet connection!! Very intelligent software you see ;-) No wonder it is very popular with kids -- makes you laugh most of the times.

Quote

Sunil Lulla, who was the big boss in my previous company said once, "Spend big to earn big. If you dont spend big, you will never do the stuff to earn big. So, spend".

My mother would definitely agree to the first part, and should be waiting to meet Mr Lulla to ask about the other.

Why I hate my cellphone

No, it is not because of the usual 'doesnt-let-me-take-a-break' complaint but its usability.

I have a Samsung C-100. It has some cool features like a tooltip, but the best feature is that it does NOT have the usual Korean dragon motif on its design! It has more European look and feel than any other Korean product, may be barring Hyundai Getz.

Well, to the usability part. In a certain input method, there should only be ONE right way to do a task. For example, copying text from an application is "Control+C" from the keyboard. You can select the text and right click also -- but from the mouse. The point is, from the keyboard Control+C is ALWAYS copy.

In all cellphones, when SMSing, to get a "?" one need to press "1". Samsung C-100 also does the same, but only in T9 mode. When in normal text mode, pressing the key "1" will not give you a "?". I have no clue why! Sometimes I get really frustruated with it. This is only the beginning, C-100 is full of such unacceptable user experiences hidden amongst its cool features!

Well, it is not just Samsung, I have seen similar horrible usability in Nokia too. In cheaper models of Nokia, if you have to modify a number, you need to arrive at the number from "Edit" mode of the address book. If you just "Browsed" and reached the number, tough luck to you, you cannot modify the number!! Not connecting people well, you see.

Wedding in Trichur

If the month of April was hectic, the first 3 weeks of May cannot be described. I was on the last leg of my travel, this time to Trichur in Kerala for my sister's wedding.

After the first 5 days home, I realised that I can be a good candidate for the next Himalayan Rally -- I drove from 7am to 10pm almost everyday, taking detours on strange and uneven roads to unknown relatives' (certainly unknown to me) houses, only to drive off again to another strange land.

I can tell you one thing: marriage planning is not a simple task. And by the time the wedding happened, I was thinking in terms of minutes (as in, what needs to be done in the next minute. Not after lunch or tomorrow). Probably a good experience for wannabe managers on time management :-)

But when it was all over, to say that there was a big sigh of relief would be the greatest understatement I ever made, here or anywhere. But it feels great; It certainly feels great.

Meaning of words

"It is strange how some words loose their meaning in places like this -- like 'tax returns' or 'streetcar'" - Regina, 11 years in Nowhere in Africa (2001)

Around the world

They say silence is golden, but I disagree. Especially when you are talking about one's blog. I asked Arun once how he keeps writing all his stuff. It is a cultivated habit, according to him. For someone who has published more than one book, that sounds pretty normal. But, I am no writer, and unless one gets time to think, what would one write?

The last few weeks have been hectic -- work, travel, timezones, jetlags, and more work. I have lost track of date/days. I am in Phoenix now. Was in Mountain View last week, the next week in San Francisco, the week after Pune and then Kerala. This, is round the world in 30 days.

A road runs through it

Noticed an uncommon thing at the Amsterdam airport - between the takeoff strip and the airport, the plane runs over a tunnel which houses a highway! I could see cars coming towards the plane and then going under. It was quite shocking to see a civilian road running THROUGH an airport, when most of the airports keep people at a safe distance.

And when I pointed this out to a friend, he said that in Sacramento, when you are driving, you could see road signs that say - "Watch out for planes crossing". That is WOW! It seems people have small planes parked in their driveways, taxy them to the nearest airfield and take off (to work)!!

And the Oscar went to...

The 'blue eyed boy' getting nominated for best actor should have given an indication of things to come. I knew it was possible, but was sure of it when Aviator took the first 4-5 categories. But I am very sad that Marty lost out on both the director & picture categories.

Well, directing two Oscar winning roles deserves a best director Oscar, but the movie as a whole didn't work uniformly as a flawlessly directed movie should. The Aviator deserved the best picture, no matter whose eyes were blue.

The second biggest Oscar loss IMHO, after Martin Scorsese, was for Clive Owen in Closer.

And the pick of the Oscar winners were for the screenplays. I knew they deserved it, and hoped they would win, but it was great to see Sideways and Eternal SOTSM winning screenplay categories.

And the OSCAR goes to

The Aviator!

What a movie!!! Before we go into it, one bit about the change in my opinion about Leonardo's acting ability. He was brilliant in his first movie (Basketball Diaries), but then it was all downhill. I stand somewhat corrected. In this movie, he is a revelation and puts in an awesome performance. I think it has something to do with negative shades of the character. That is the only thing I can find common in both the roles.

Coming back to the Oscars, since the jury likes epic productions (among equals), I am tempted to put my money on The Aviator to win the Best Picture.

The other main candidate, Million Dollar Baby (MDB), was good and Clint is the jury's blue eyed boy, but I would say it lacked the 'punch'. It wavered off a lot midway through and wasn't great movie making, notwithstanding the woman/ fighting spirit angle.

Best Actor is a tie between Leonardo and Jamie Foxx. Clint has no chance here (With all due respect: Why is he here? Oh! I almost forgot his blue eyes) neither does Johnny Depp who was great while being subtle in the magical Finding Neverland. But I think Ray was exceptionally well handled by Jamie Foxx:

The scene where he gets the phone call about Margie's death -- Wow! That single scene is enough for anyone to win an acting Oscar; And the fact that Ray Charles died last year can get Foxx closer to the statue, but because of some weird reasons, like --

(a) Foxx has already won both the Globe and Guild for the best actor!
(b) Denzel won it only a couple of years ago!!
(c) Ray was a distructive rebel force, while Howard Hughes was only an eccentric!!

The chances are that the jury would give it to Leonardo. I would not be unhappy with that, considering he changed my opinion about his acting in 2 hours flat!

Aviator also has a brilliant role from Cate Blanchett, she should win the best supporting actress. But I haven't seen all the other nominees to emphatically say so (But for Natalie Portman in Closer -- another must watch movie)

Supporting actor definitely is Owen (Closer) in my count, though sentiments might favor Morgan Freeman. Thomas in Sideways was extremely good, but the jury doesn't favor indies, and might give Sideways _only_ the adapted screenplay Oscar (And original screenplay to The Aviator, though Kaufman was his usual brilliant in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Hmm, that leaves us with the Best Actress & Director. Hilary Swank was very good in MDB, but she has already won once (So what?). Though I loved Kate Winslet's easy ways in ESOTSM, according to the experts, Staunton is going to win.

And for the Best Director, would it be Martin Scorsese's lucky year at Oscars? According to many, he is the best director never to win an Oscar, probably tied with Hitchcock. Clint Eastwood didn't do a great job in MDB, Sideways was brilliantly directed, but this time Martin deserves it the most. Forget that he is an Italian; He has made some of the best movies on/of America, and The Aviator is right on top of that list, IMO.

Mumbai - Kerala Express

Priyadarshan, a popular Malayalam film maker mostly known for his slap-stick comedy films, picks hit films from South and remodels them for Hindi. Unlike Mani Rathnam, who simultaneously makes his films for Tollywood as well as Bollywood; Bombay or Yuva, for example.

Priyan took Bharathan's Thevar Magan (in Tamil) and made Viraasat, then picked his own first movie, Poochakkoru Mookkuthi to make Hungama, remade the amazing director duo Siddique-Lal's 'Ramji Rao Speaking' as Hera Pheri, Godfather as Hulchul, Fazil's Aniyathipraavu as Doli Saja Ke Rehna and probably has many more in the pipeline.

The above movies were remade, not copied. There was enough credit given to the makers of the originals. Many of them faired very well also, in the boxoffice and as films I think.

It would be an interesting task to make a 'viable for a remake' list of films from Malayalam -- which can boast of an unending stream of amazing film makers who actually invented the cross-over films.

I think Bollywood is yet to discover (and copy) films of brilliant directors like Padmarajan, Bharathan, Aravindan, Hariharan and the new brigade of Sibi, Lohithadas or Jayaraj.

Bollywood's only original idea

I was reading about the storyline of Sanjay Dutt-Aishwarya-Zayed Khan starrer Shabdh and it sounded startlingly similar to the story of a Malayalam movie from early 80's called Rachana (Creation). Looks like copying is Bollywood's only original idea :-)

Rachana was about a middle aged writer with a writer's block, researching suitable subjects for his next novel. When his wife tells him about this naive young man in her team who is attracted to her, he asks her to play along as idea for his new novel. She reluctantly agrees and shows affection towards the young man.

One day she invites him to her house for dinner. After the dinner, while the young man waits in the bedroom, she introduces him to her husband, the writer. The young man is devastated; The writer is thrilled by the reaction while the wife is upset. The situation takes a nasty twist when the young man commits suicide. The wife becomes a mental patient when she hears about the death. In fact, the movie begins from the scene where doctors write off her case as not curable.

Rachana, written and directed by Mohan became a super hit and triggered a series of touchy, real life movies in Malayalam. I dont know for sure if Shabdh would go the same way; especially since it has been poorly rated in reviews, and more so because the wooden Rai is acting it (Rai? What a stupid choice for a role with such potential; Srividya won the best actress award for her role in the original). I am tempted to check the movie out, but Ash is a deterrent factor -- I just cannot stand her acting 'skills', if there was/is any.

Picking up the threads

More than 100 people went to fish for the first time after the December 26 tsunami on Monday from Kadiapattanam, a coastal village in Kanyakumari district (Tamil Nadu) ravaged by the disaster.

The fisherfolk of Kanyakumari, the southern most district at the cape of India, are slowly rebuilding their lives 22 days after the tsunami washed away their houses, boats and 392 of their loved ones.

The day's catch was just Rs. 350/- but the symbolic event marking a return to normalcy was a subdued affair, lacking the customary gusto of fishermen performing 'karamadi' (shore fishing).

http://www.indiadisasters.org/tsunami/

Do you have a child in you?

One word for Finding Neverland - Magical!

Johnny Depp is slated to get nominated for the Oscar for this movie. Some say Kate Winslet also might get a nod for her role. The movie has a magical feel to it and chokes you atleast a couple of times. The plot has no regular punches as other hollywood movies, but that is the best part of this brilliant small movie.

I will be surprised if Depp wins the Oscar for this role, though he was excellent. (I only pray that Leonardo doesn't win, unless Scorcese has reset his acting skills completely). If you liked Crouching Tiger, Amelie, Forrest Gump, Mermaids, then you will love the magic of this movie.

Must see, especially if you (still) have a child (in you)

We, the people

Or, Swades. I don't understand why people are trying to stamp this movie "classy". The movie is a perfect example of how not to write an opening script -- the way to give facts to the viewer and the reasoning, to establish the base of the movie. 50 minutes into the movie, it had not moved an inch!

The directing is mediocre, and script/span is bad. Ashutosh mentioned in an interview that this plot had been in his mind since 1995. But it didn't show any signs of the fact that it was brewing in his mind for that long! Ashutosh failed to build a supportive plot around the core concept. But for Shah Rukh and the teacher (her opening scenes were good, but then the director lost his way), no other character was developed or supported, not even the cook or the postman.

The coincidence of meeting the girl in the only bookshop/place he goes to, and the fact that she recognises him, and the fact that she understands why he is here, and the fact that she gives him wrong directions, and the fact that she explaines this later to Shah Rukh is the silliest piece of writing from Ashutosh.

Less said about the relevance of the songs, the better. They were stupid. If Ashutosh was producing this movie, he had no compulsion to incorporate songs in it, did he? It shows his inability as a movie maker to judge the overall feel of the movie.

There are three good scenes in the movie. First when Mohan meets Kaveriamma. Simple and natural, well acted. Two, when Shah Rukh (not Mohan Bhargav) talks about Swades in the Panchayat. (The rest of the movie, Shah Rukh has given a good, subtle performance),

and the best scene, and worth watching the movie for is where Mohan, sitting in a 2nd class compartment of a train, buys water from a boy and drinks it. You could feel his thoughts then. And sense the tears build up in his eyes. Excellent scene, the spark of directorial ability can be seen here. Those who thought that Lagaan was a flash in the pan, will have to skip this scene to concretize their theory.

www.indiadisasters.org

Last week Unni called from Sri Lanka. He was working in the tsunami hit areas in Tamil Nadu before shifting base to SL. According to him, there is utter chaos in terms of co-ordinating the relief efforts. State machinery response is slow, as usual.

Max and Satya are on their way to Chennai. Unni wants us to work on a ground reality site for information dissemation, like a "Tsunami Response Watch". Initialy I thought I would go to Chennai to work on it, but since I can move more logistics from here, I decided to stay here for the time being.

There have been many sites that are giving out information about the tragedy and ways to help, most of them take their feeds from iNGO's, and it is not unknown about international NGOs agenda bandwagons. The funds are not an issue, I hear. Let us see how much of the pledged money finally arrives.

So that's where I have been for most part of the last 10-12 days, setting up a website that keeps an independant watch on the tsunami response in and around South India. You can go there from www.indiadisasters.org.