LiFe is CooL

Not getting the point? What followed on the consecutive day took our trademark ‘who cares’ attitude to another level. Engine of an Air India aircraft that is supposed to be phased out in October caught fire at the Mumbai airport on Friday, forcing the evacuation of all 213 passengers on board. The Riyadh-bound plane was originally scheduled to leave at 2 am on Friday, but the departure was put off to 5.15 am after the chosen aircraft developed a snag. The second aircraft too had a similar fault, causing another five-hour delay — before the fire caused the third hold-up. Sixteen of the 213 passengers opted out when AI finally arranged for another flight for Riyadh at 6 pm.

Considering this kind of state of affairs and deplorable state of maintenance, I wonder how hundreds of Planes embrace the Indian skies everyday? And how thousands trains make their way to the different parts of the country? It left me flabbergasted, but the catch here is, that it’s India. You make an inch of an error in any other part of the world and you’ll be putting your life in peril. Here we make gigantic mistakes but still everything continues to work for most of the time. Despite all these odds India works mysteriously and people make it work.

It is not something to be celebrated but, this ‘Devil may care’ attitude has become a part of the Indian psyche, an attribute that defines India, an attribute that has kept our unity intact despite various religious and cultural divides. But have we gone too far with it? Few days back Manu sharma (Same man who shot Jessica Lal in cold blood) was spotted at a night club in Delhi. He was out on a parole to meet his ailing mother, who was fit as a fiddle and was spotted at a function in Chandigarh. After this news broke out in prime time, following the public angst, he went back to prison. It was a blot on Indian Judicial System and there was so much hullabaloo over the issue but, everything calmed down with time and because ‘who cares’.

Madhu Koda, Chief Minister of Jharkhand, siphoned off more than Rs 4000 crores of the tax payers money which led to flashing of Breaking News across all news channels. But the whole issue died when Justice Liberhan’s dud report on Babri Masjid’s demolition was leaked. Reports revealed nothing more than what was captured real time on the camera, which is evident enough for bringing its perpetrators to justice. But even after 16 years we are only concerned about the credibility of the report, not about its purpose. In the midst of all this Madhu Koda had time of his life. This was the time when I sent numerous mails across all the channels questioning ‘why there hasn’t been any focus on Madhu Koda? Are news channels under political pressure?’ On the following day there was coverage that Madhu Koda is finally arrested. Might just be a coincidence.

One year, hundreds of people butchered, 200 witnesses, trial of Ajmal Kasab has made mockery of our Judicial System. Here is a man, who’s captured by CCTV camera’s killing innocent people claims that he is not the person in the video, another act of his brazenness just to buy time because he knows that he’s in India and we are fools. Now I know why everything here works with the grace of God? Because the youth of this country is sleeping and we have forgot the art of questioning.

 My new friend - Facebook

Twitter topped the list of 'English word of 2009' and left Obama to sulk

at the second spot. Unfriend (Courtesy Facebook) made its way to the Oxford Dictionary. This is the power of Social Networking. Power and its misuse are like Hand in Glove.

Priya told me how a close friend of her came to meet her and the moment she stepped in, her first question was 'is your internet working?' and within

few moments she found another friend of her online and she immersed herself in a virtual conversation oblivious to the fact that Priya was around. Few days later, Priya was visited by another outstation friend and surprisingly even here the first query that popped out was regarding internet. Even this friend of her found fertilizing Farmville every few minutes far more important than Priya.

Virtual world seem to have taken over the real world. Things were not rosy even earlier and now they are even more aggaravated with the introduction of mind-numbing platforms like Farmville. Research has shown that devoting excessive time to such platforms or chatting in general introduce serious implications with the Brain's productivity and the ideation power. Social networking has certainly brought our inaccessible friends closer to us but at the same time deprived us of the real time fun. Experiences like the fragrance of mud in the first rain, making castles on the beach are much more valuable than fertilizing that dull animated farm. Go out, explore, there is lot to see, a lot to read and a lot to learn. Indulge yourself in some recreational activity. And most important of all, cherish your friends.

The moment camera glides over Jama Masjid and

With the turn of a century, Indian film industry has had a new lease of life and the term-come of age cinema-was born.

Farhan was born in Mumbai to screenwriters, Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani. He went to H.R. College, for a degree in commerce, though he left it in

the second year and joined Director Manmohan Singh as apprentice and later went on to assist Pankaj Parashar for his film Himalayputra. He was someone who’s born with the silver spoon, in 2001, he started Excel Entertainment with friend Ritesh Sidwani and is producing films since then. In 2004 came his directorial venture lakshya and then the remake of 1978’s Cult classic Don starring Shahrukh Khan. He explored different genres with his movies but there was nothing out of  the box as far as stories were concerned and it was the story telling which came as a refreshing change. Screenplay has always been the high point of Akhtar’s movies. Moreover his movies are urban in their premise, dealing with issues of youth, borrowing a lot from his own life.

It took almost half a decade for film industry to churn out something to replicateThe roaring success of Dil Chahta Hai. Come 2006, it was raining movies and 26 January, on the eve of republic day released Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti. The movie explores how an ordinary group of friends assasinate a Minister under extraordinary conditions, in order to defend honour of their pilot friend who dies in a MIG crash, which ultimately led to their own demise. Mehra won a National Award for that. Born in Delhi, he pursued his graduation in commerce from Sri Ram College of Commerce. Mehra started his career an ad film maker before which he used to work as door to door salesman, but he seemed to have known the craft, since soon he was having all the big international brands like Coke, Pepsi, Toyota in his

Mehra’s first film was Aks starring Amitabh Bachan, which didn’t appeal to the audience but got rave reviews from the critics. His last film was Delhi 6. Mehra is a visionary and his cinema is par excellence. He juxtaposes social

milieu with something like Ramayana and uses kaala bandar as a metaphor for evil in such a way that is beyond imagination of an average human being. Captivating cinematography by Binod Pradhan and music by A.R.Rehman have always been key strength of his movies. Mehra’s longing for his native place Delhi can be felt with every movie of his.

Before 2006, Saif Ali Khan was never cosidered as a serious actor, but there was a paradigm shift in this perception with the advent of Omkara (adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello) directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. Movie was vernacular adaptation of Othello set amidst Uttar Pradesh. The movie got critical acclaim as well as box office success, Saif was equally credited for that. Vishal was born and raised in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh to Ram Bhardwaj, a famous poet and lyricist. He pursued his Graduation from Hindu college and used to play Harmonium for a little known Ghazal singer at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. He was then introduced to Gulzar with whom he collaborated on many TV serials like Jungle Book, Alice in

Wonderland. Vishal turned music composer with Maachis, a film directed by Gulzar. Today he is a successful director with a slew of path breaking movies like Makdee, Maqbool and quite recently, Kaminey.

Bhardwaj’s cinema explores psychology of the characters, similar to the plays of

Shakespeare, from which he borrows a lot. What makes that even more enticing is the setting and the dialect. You can also experience the undercurrents of poetry and philosophy in his creations coming inevitably to him from his upbringing. Top notch performances from some of the industry’s elite actors and strong scripting are some of the highlights of his creations, which have set benchmarks that are

hard to emulate.

Another ad film Director from Delhi, Dibakar Banerjee turned out with an eccentrically named movie Khosla ka Ghosla in 2006. Set in Delhi, Khosla ka Ghosla is a story of a bourgeois family whose recently acquired plot was engulfed by a land shark, what follows is the series of attempts made by the family to get their plot back. Movie was well received by the audience and critics but, more than that it opened a new genre in the

Dibakar is very eclectic, it is something that shines through characterization in his movies.You can instantly build a connection with his movies. Some characters are similar to the people you find across the street, in your families. The characters in his movie are not very strong but it’s their idiosyncrasies which make them an absolute delight to watch. Dibakar’s films are ascetic and are completely driven by the nuances of the characters which brings out this nice flavor in his movies.

If you were born in a family where your relatives own three cinema halls, and you end up watching every possible movie there, then there’s a fair chance of your becoming a filmmaker. So comes Imtiaz Ali, brought up in Jamshedpur where his relatives own three cinema halls, a place where he spent most of his childhood. He made his debut in 2005 with Socha Na Tha, which became a favorite among the critics but didn’t get public’s appreciation. Then in 2007 came Jab We Met, which turned out to be a huge success. Imtiaz did a course in Marketing and Advertising from St. Xavier’s, Mumbai. He started his career directing slew of TV serials for Zee TV.

                                                    

Imtiaz brought the concept of romantic comedies in our Film Industry. He also writes dialogues for his movie even though he’s not a seasoned writer, this makes the tone of his movies strikingly different but, in good taste. From Viren’s character in Socha Na Tha to Geet’s character in Jab We Met, Imtiaz is known for creating strong central characters. His metropolitan take on Man-Woman relationship is something that made an instant connection with the urban audience.

If names like Black Friday, Gulaal haunts you, then story of the man behind

these movies will be even more intimidating. Anurag Kashyap was Born in

Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, where his father worked for State Electricity Board. He did his earlier schooling in Dehradun and was fascinated by films right from childhood. He later enrolled himself for Zoology course in Hansraj college, Delhi, from where he graduated in 1993. During his college days he caught de Sica’s retrospective at International Film Festival of India, where he ended up watching 55 films in 10 days, and de Sica’s Bicycle Thieves was the movie that influenced him the most. Within a few days with Rs. 5000 in his pocket he landed in the city of dreams, Mumbai. The money ran after he stayed for a few days in a Hotel, what followed is the turbulent journey comprising of sleeping under a water tank, long

periods of hibernation, drugs and alcohol.

                                           Kashyap won accolades for his writing in Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya and Shool. He made his mark with a controversial Black Friday, Based on 1993 Bombay

bombings. He is also credited as a writer of Academy Award nominated Water, made by Mira Nair. Kashyap’s cinema is reminiscent of his own tumultuous journey. His movies are grim and they strip the society to it’s bare minimum. Anguish, violence, blood, frustration take a high point in his movies and there are certain moments when you feel that you can’t take it any more. His later releases Dev D and Gulaal were well received by audience and the director is busy working on his new projects.

But there was someone who changed the rules of the game even before

these gentlemen came into the picture. He gave his well paid job as soft-

ware engineer and turned Director with Hyderabad Blues. He is Nagesh
Kukunoor, who made his mark with highly

acclaimed Iqbal. The movies like Rockford, Dor and 3 Deewarein speak

volumes for his talent and he’s a seasoned actor as well. Things are not

going well for Nagesh, his last two films bombed at the box office and

his credibility is at stake. Let’s see what the future has in store for us.

In the last 2-3 years we have seen

proliferation of first time film directors,

who have delivered competent movies

in various genres and are all set

to be the next big thing in the B-Town.

Neeraj pandey of A Wednesday is

known for his contrived direction. Rahul

Dholakia’s Parzania is a heart wrenching

Depiction of 2002 Gujrat violence and it’s

aftershocks were well accounted in an

Insightful Firaaq by Nandita Das. Mumbai

Meri Jaan by Nishikant Kamat explores

the impact of train bombings on the city.

If this is not the kind of cinema that

excites you then you shouldn’t have missed

the Rock On which is Abhishek Kapoor’s

take on friendship and unfulfilled aspirations and

then there is our good old romantic comedy

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na by Abbas Tyrewala.

           

         We have seen that it doesn’t matter where you’re from, there were

some who were privileged while there were some who just stumbled over.

Some slept on the roads, some left their job and there was one for whom

It took just that one movie. They had their different journeys which became

an important attribute of their cinema and what brings them together is a

vision and passion for the revival of the Indian Cinema. Today Indian

Cinema offer a plethora of choices across every genre to satiate every

individual’s appetite.