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Happy Independency Day to All Indians !
Lalbagh Photos:

# Yes, somewhat old movie, but watched it recently only.

# Directed by Zoya Akthar, Farhan’s sisReema Kagti. (Corrected after C’s mail

# She also heads to Goa like her brother. Goa does not tire you.

# 6 (right?) couples go to honeymoon in a bus.

# Each of their story is told, not at once, but as it moves on. The advertising plug of Radio Mirchi was unintrusive and sounded natural.

# Whoa, that superman bit was one thing I felt was out of place. Frankly, I did not get a hint until it was disclosed and was very surprised. The lorry repair, the girl catching coconut made sense was what I could connect only later ! There are very few occasions where I am so clueless, and perhaps none with so many obvious hints.

# However on second thoughts, this movie was like a fairy tale, but is not careless and includes some serious reflections of life. I am surprised how the director/script-writer pulled it through, though, with such contrasts. At one corner you have an old couple, who probably both wanted to end their life, but have been on honeymoon and the sadness is just not completely forgotten, yet they smile in front of each other and get away to reach out to their inner feelings, separately, hiding from the other. Boman’s daughter’s tale was executed amazingly well - with so little screen time but with lot of impact. Except for the sermon by Shabana Azmi, which perhaps was required, but I felt it got a little preachy and a littler long, but could have been done in a different manner - just a slap, if you ask me.

# On the other corner, forget it, I would not want to discuss each tale.

# Had a hint at the different interest of Mridula’s husband. But did not understand, how the end was closed. What was that bathroom coughing scene ? What next for Mridula ? However the pair was mature from the beginning.

# Re-entrance of Diya’s tale was unexpected !

# Amisha looked like over-acted. But, actually, the character was thus.

# Reema Sen’s karate kick and probably her entire character is likeable. The parasailing bit was beautifully executed.

# Ah, I think I forgot something.

# Enjoyed the movie. Am sure there are stuff to make a sequel and how I wish Zoya does that as well !

# Oh, not to forget totally lovely groovy track.

Having heard that it is a free-flow like the director’s previous attempt - Bunty aur Bubli, I was all the more keen to watch it. I had a very good time watching BaurB, only grouse was the money spent watching in a multiplex. This time, I was wise. Watched on computer screen. Am surprised by thrashing reviews - this movie did not take it seriously, nor did expect you to. Also it did not pretend to be something other than what it set out to be - a light heart fun and free-flow movie, that rests mostly on the shoulders of the lead artists more than anything else - and the lead pair does not disappoint.

All - Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Priety Zinta, Lara Dutta - are perfect at their roles. I wish Zinta and Abi do more movies like this. Zinta is lovely to watch - scenes like  - the happiness and content that suddenly erupts of her face ( when she is running down the stairs and the lady asks what happened to the proposal, Zinta had rejected it)  are a treat to watch, wonder if anyone else would have done it so well ! (Oh yeah, lets leave aside Kajol and Madhuri Dixit). Abi’s flow is so effortless that, till that one bit of sad song, you will forget to notice that this guy is acting. Nail biting Bobby cracked me up with his innocent looks and nail biting. Lara, actually in two different roles is surprising.

There are various tributes/references to movies - from the number 786 (number plate on a car) - AB’s badge number in a famous movie, to the one I loved - Bobby and Abi going in the similar vehicle as Dharam and Big B singing song - Yeh Dosti hum nahin chodenge.

Finally loved the song. Yes did not mind the never ending song in between in what was a competition. The song just goes on and on but no complaints ! I loved the song so much that I thought that there was only one song in the entire movie (other than the sad song). At the end of the movie, when the song is again played I was practically swaying myself in the chair - at 2 AM in the night

What an apt title ! When you feel something is less, that means you want more of it. That is what the characters feel here - they want more in life. Thats what everyone wants but here is a difference - the characters are counting days. Totally loved the small kid - though some feel this is an un-necessary sub-plot I liked it. The kid was somewhat very similar to AB, both are counting the days and but want to enjoy life just before that, there is a hurry and they want to break the societal restrictions - kid wanting to watch movies he is not allowed to and AB wanting to marry a girl whose father is younger than him. Kid’s comradeship/rapport with Amitabh is the best thing. Next only to Tabu-Amitabh interactions. If there was one lady who could not only hold her head - as the character does - but also shine - even more than AB, then it is Tabu. Totally loved her. I had always felt, if there was a better actress who would effortlessly fit in both - art and commercial genre and if there was a better contemporary actress almost as good as Kajol, it was Tabu. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been ‘contemporary’ for last few years.

AB is fine, perhaps quite good considering other weekly fare he churns out. Paresh Rawal’s bit extended more than required and instead of AB’s speech, I’d wished his mother came and delivered a punch.

And this Cheeni Kum has succeeded in removing the bitterness of “Nishabd”. And it is interesting to note the contrasts and the treatment in both - in Nishabd it was all about lust, but it was masked behind some insanity or the intent was justified partly as seeking a joyful companionship. And audience saw through it. Here it is quite opposite - the actual love grows, the need for companionship and compatibility is clearly shown. But, without shying away from the subject, sex is explicitly hinted at. And audience sees through it.

Quite enjoyed - despite on monitor.

# Ramesh’s direction. Cast includes - Ramesh, Jennifer Kotwal, Daisy Bopanna, Anirudha, Mohan, Netra.

# Jaggesh’s brother Komal has, unknown to me, good fan following. Crowd cheered, clapped, whistled when he came on screen. There is a sub-plot for him which is not in the original.

# Its a remake of “Maine Pyar Kyoun Kiya”. Knew this before going to the hall, but last time we had gone to the remake of Biwi No 1 - Rama Bhama Shama and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Comparitively, Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya itself is quite funny and improvising it little difficult.

# Its good, ok, but due to this I-wanna-be-director-of-remake-movies mindset of Ramesh, I somehow feel we have lost a terrific actor to an average director. I mean this movie could have been directed by anyone. But remember Ramesh, the actor of Amruthavarshini ?

# There are few scenes which are different from the original. And these are specifically good. I liked the club scene very much.

# Sweet & eye-candy cast - Jennifer, Daisy and Netra !

# There are very many scenes where the audience cracks up. And despite being remake, I enjoyed very much.

# Full marks to Daisy. That is one performance which is notches above the original of Sushmita Sen’s. Anirudh is slightly better than Sohail Khan. Ramesh and Salman are equally good.

# Picturisation is good. Hotte chitte song is good

# Verdict: Not as much a laugh riot as RBS but still a very good comedy movie. Hang out with entire family - a nice outing. Even better if you have not seen the original.

In this post you will find my thoughts/opinions or just the things that cross my mind when I recall about the books I have read last few weeks. If you have read any of these, you could share your thoughts !

Kaadina Kathegalu:

#Read 3 parts of Kaadina Kathegalu, translated series by K P Poorna Chandra Tejaswi. It is about the experiences of hunting of man-eater tiger/cheetah by South Indian Jim Corbett - “Kenneth Anderson“

# Bellandoorina Narabhakshaka (1), Peddacheruvina Rakshasa (2), Jaalahaliyya Kurka (3).

# Quite thrilling stories. Totally enjoyed reading during the travel in office-cab. Did not feel like keeping down the book but unfortunately had to break several times as I had to get down to go to office or to home.

# Each experience is different but the basic philosophy is same and I think I can lay a successful trap to a man-eater now :). But unfortunately, now, let alone man-eaters, there are hardly any tigers in South Indian forests - as the author mentions. Instead of hunting them down, we are even struggling to preserve them.

#I wonder how the author did not get confused between various stories/incidents as there were so many of them and were somewhat similar !

# The ‘intelligence’ of tigers, the conditions in which they become man-eaters, their behaviour after killing a man etc are descriptively explained.

# The endurance required to hunt down is demonstrated well. The reasons of certain decisions that were taken get proved or the reason for backfiring is noted.

# Accounts are not exaggerated. The author treats the horror stories as impersonal as his own victories.  

# Downloaded a pdf of another set of experiences by Kenneth Anderson.

Chidambara Rahasya by K P Poorna Chandra Tejaswi:

# This is a famous novel in Kannada almost a classic and one of the best by Tejaswi, according to pundits.

# There are many faces to the novel - one is on slightly intellectual/philosophical level. The one where some characters are experimenting - they let a story-writer to extra-polate the natural incidents and test whether that is the truth. And they keep getting evidences in the way they search. The incident they have taken up is what I thought was actually the “rahasya”, but I am not sure that it is. Anyways the incident is quite serious and hence the experiment gets serious too.

# From one point of view, it is a quite simple but short love story - and this briefness and simplicity was what I enjoyed. There are, at many places, description of what goes in boys’ mind about girls, and their fear for losing respect in front of girls are all small bits I enjoyed separately.

# It also includes a revolt - there is the above mentioned group of students who want to change something, they want to revolt - for the sake of revolt.

# In other faces, there are more serious issues like religion, corruption, cheating, exploitation and even devils. It is a pot boiler in the actual sense - boiling too many ingredients. But it never loses track, nor it becomes more than necessary.

# I was waiting for the “rahasya” to be something and was expecting some questions to be answered. But it looks like it ended with open question. I have to read some reviews or probably my mind set to seek some answer, to seek some surprise ending was at fault. I thought this was an investigative novel, was not completely right.

# The best part about the narrative is that it just flows - fearlessly, thoughtfully with a mix of very light humour.

The Google Story:

# Has details about the pre-start, and initial phases the company went through. Covers in detail the growth pangs of one of the most important companies today.

# Was completely unaware about some facts about the company which is covered in initial chapters. But after a few chapters, it felt like reading the current affairs in news paper - I knew most of the things and it was connecting the dots in between.

# Digital library will be my most favorite project - mail and all is ok, great but not that couldn’t have been done without google. Whatever Google does, which it can only do, for the public good, will be the ones that will reflect on the good-will of the super rich and super talented founders.

Wings of Fire:

# Famous auto-biographical account by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

# Inspirational. He achieved extra-ordinary results not by being a gifted genius but by hard work, dedication, constant learning and vision. Just did the best to what came his way. Was somewhat lucky that good things came his way, though.

# Was disheartened by failure but did not let it affect his future. Instead took future projects as challenges.

# At times, the book gets little dragging, but overall it is fine.

Ignited Minds by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam:

# Illustrates real-life examples (not necessarily his own life’s) and inspires young minds to involve in achieving greater things for self and thus for the nation.

# I am old. He he!

# This is a play of classic story of mistaken identities. There are two pairs of twins and they mix up.

# Good name of the play!

# In brief - 1.1 (one set’s one of the twins) and 2.1 are initially friends. They come to a city which also had was inhabited by 1.2 and 2.2 who had run away from their houses many years ago. In the event they mix up and 1.1 confuses 2.2 to be 2.1. And so on.

# It is sometimes surprising to note how many plays pay a remote tribute to Shakespeare. This too is one of them “Comedy of Errors”  and a tribute to Shakespeare was announced before the start.

# The title and the poster - which lists the cast like this Sihi Kahi Chandru, Sihi Kahi Chandru, Srinivas Prabhu, Srinivas Prabhu - is a small give-away which I noted randomly while standing in the queue outside.

# Few minutes into play, it’s too evident - Ulta pulta the famous Kannada feature film starring Ramesh and terrific Kashi. And Ulta pulta itself was inspired by an old Hindi movie.

# This Ulta-pulta kept coming back to mind, and the mind compares - even if I tell it not to! And as usual, comparison spoils it, sometimes. I am convinced, seen independently, this play is quite good.

# Comedy play it was and had good moments. Like

• 1.1 is a novel-worm - that too a fan of investigative novels. He cooked up various imaginative names of the novels and I almost cracked up every time.
• There is a sub-plot which explains these two guys running away from home. Since this was relatively new, was quite funny !
• Sihi Kahi Chandru whom I have become a good fan after his terrific performance in Sankramana. His role is not as full-fledged as it is in Sankramana but he is as good as possible. [ However Kashi was superlative ]. Also Chandru impresses in timing and delivery of dialogues.
• Srinivas Prabhu’s facial expressions were note worthy.
• Last mad run of mayhem seemed a bit longer - it continued even after we stopped laughing !

# Verdict: If you have not seen Ulta-Pulta, watch and enjoy. If you have, check out some other play from the same team - for eg Sankramana.

# My previous reviews of plays seen in RS could be found here.

# I rarely laugh when I read the jokes and forwards. The least repeated email forward has at least been read twice earlier. The first two sentences of the jokes usually give away / remind me the end.

# Sometimes, it is different though. The following is one such joke which I thoroughly enjoyed, so much so that I was actually feeling disappointed, angry for some reason before reading this. At the end, I had forgotten that and was smiling - that means it must have been doubly good.

# Not sure if it appeals to all. That is the point with tech/geek jokes. And those who get will laugh like anything.

# Not sure why I enjoyed so much, may be it suddenly took me back to college maths.

# Or may be the flow along with my imagination ! I like this style of metaphor or animated thoughts.

# It has a tinge of philosophy though !

# Courtesy : Mail by Pk (Thnx). Would love to compliment the originator though!

# Here it is, if you like Maths, read on. Read it slow, don’t scroll down too fast.

Functions

The arrogant  exponential function e^x is strolling along the road insulting the functions he sees walking by. He scoffs at a wandering polynomial for the shortness of its Taylor series. He snickers at a passing smooth function of compact support and its glaring lack of a convergent power series about many of its points. He positively laughs as he passes |x| for being non-differentiable at the origin.

He smiles, thinking to himself, “Dang, it’s great to be e^x. I’m real analytic everywhere. I’m my own derivative. I blow up faster than anybody and shrink faster too. All the other functions suck.”

Lost in his own egomania, he collides with the constant function 3, who is running in terror in the opposite direction. “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you look where you’re going?” demands e^x. He then sees the fear in 3’s eyes and says “You look terrified!”

“I am!” says the panicky 3. “There’s a differential operator just around the corner. If he differentiates me, I’ll be reduced to nothing! I’ve got to get away!” With that, 3 continues to dash off.

“Stupid constant,” thinks e^x. “I’ve got nothing to fear from a differential operator. He can keep differentiating me as long as he wants, and I’ll still be there.”

So he scouts off to find the operator and gloat in his smooth glory. He rounds the corner and defiantly introduces himself to the operator.

“Hi. I’m e^x.”

 

 

“Hi. I’m d/dy.”