First Day First Show

Anupama Chopra compiles her writings from the Bollywood Trenches over more than 3 decades in this landmark book on Indian cinema.

Cricket & Bollywood are two grand unifying forces in India. Between the 2 of them, they manage to build TRP's, sell products and rake in millions of moolah.

They are the subject of all conversations and a big section of the news industry.

Anupama Chopra is a film journalist, married to Vigho Vinod Chopra. She has keenly observed and critiqued the industry through its many phases- the "Iss Story mein emotion hai, tragedy hai" to "come fall in love" to "the King of Bollywood".

Over these writings, she takes us through the making of the movies Sholay and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaenge and also a timeline of landmark movies.

The good part is she covers the movies that were not so successful too- especially if they prove to be a certain milestone in the industry.

She talks candidly of the involvement of mafia and the ways in which one certain actor has been threatened when one did not keep one's commitments. Or the fine art of copying music or script. Or dubbed IFFI as cut to yawns.

I love Mithun da's business sense- bulk dates in exchange for shooting in Ooty - where he has his real estate business.

Clearly the author has a soft corner for SRK- not surprising- most of us have that! I love the sections on Sharukh Khan- Shah rukh is someone you can relate to. He could be any of us yet he is a star and he loves being a star- that is what I love about him. He is unapologetically a star.

Coming to Khans- there is yet another Khan who has a chapter devoted to him- Aamir- or rather the principles of Aamir. A must read set of commandments for any one who wants to shine in one's workspace or life.

"Every scene is a do or die

Be Correct"

Of course the book cannot be complete without Amitabh Bachhan- the rise and come back and the even better come back with a bang of Amitabh and endearing references like how the prayers of the nation join to appease the Gods everytime he falls sick.

As she courses through the history of Bollywood, she charts out the evolving of the women of Bollywood- from the evergreen Rekha to the perfectionist Madhuri to Kajol, Aishwarya, Rani and Kareena.

Some of her reviews are hilarious. Like about the ones that are so bad they are good- the gloriously, deliriously, monstrously bad ones. Like Mother- the one for which Randhir Kapoor has reportedly told -give me adequate warning before it released, so that i can leave town.

Or Clerk.

Or Johnny Gaddar- I recommend that you see it. When you get bored, you can always play spot the reference.

Or Teesri Aankh- The audience is forced to ask questions- who finances these movies, who watches them ....and the biggest mystery- why doesn't sunny deol get a better hairpiece

The book comprises writings that have been published earlier- they have not been edited to current context so yes to that extent they are dated. But for those who are interested in exploring the world of Bollywood- yes it is full of masala.

Robot

Brother- we are going to see Ravan
Me- Why raavan? so late? See Robot
Brother - We are going to see Ravan dahan
So I finally gt to see Eindhran (Tamil). Not that it made a difference- Especialy because I could follow most of the dialogues and especially because- where were the dialogues?
I loved the dances most of all. Loved the songs Pagal Anukan and Killimanjaro. The songs lose the mystery in Hindi. In Tamil to me it was a mysterious jabble with exotic dance moves so it suited each other. In hindi, it loses some of that touch.
The story was no big deal. In the end the villain proves to be right and that did not gel with my expectation that the hero is always right! The ending left me a bit dissatisfied.
But overall a total timepass.

Raavanan

Partly because I wanted to watch both the Hindi & the Tamil versions and partly because the Husband has cribbed umpteen number of times that I do not go to Tamil movies as per his wish and also because the rigours of translating the hindi Raavan would be too taxing, we watched Raavanan and not Raavan.

I or rather the both the husband and me are among the few who did not find the movie disappointing. I often say that my standards of expecation from a movie is not very high. But, I can also manage to lose interest in the whole movie if it doesn't catch my attention right in the first 10 minutes. Which is why I was appalled when I was watching the retard LSD and Luck by Chance inspite of rave reviews from many quarters.

By that yardstick, Raavanan managed to keep my attention intact throughout. If I compare with other movies, Maniratnam or otherwise, it wasn't the nail biting, bum-on-the-edge of the chair type movie like Roja, Bombay, Lagaan or even Dil Se. It was a good but predictable story line. Pains have been taken to make the Ramayan parallels obvious- even though it was not necessary and sometimes downright ridiculous- Hanuman equivalent or the Agni Pariksha equivalent for example.

In Ramayan, Ram is good but his character sketch is not without the trappings and limitations of his human avatar whereas Ravan is a highly "vidwaan" evil king whose punishment is pre-ordained because of his certain evil deeds.
These shades of grey in Ram (Dev) and glimpses of white in Raavan (Veera) are the turning points in Raavanan.
In fact the white is so very strong in Raavan that I found myself siding with him more than the hero. The shift from terrorizing to empathising to supporting the villain is very subtle and without even realizing one begins to sympathise with the character of Raavan more than that of Sita.
Ram is the guy who will not give up, despite what is at stake - he will even stake what is at stake in the first place for his larger objective- the greater good.
Whereas Raavan- he will not hesitate to give up his bargaining tool for the sake of the bargaining tool itself- heart ruling the head?
Paradoxical?
Vikram has played the "10 heads" to perfection- he is truly central to the movie and you miss him when he is not in the frame.
When I sat to analyse Aishwarya's performance, I realized that it can be summed up in expressions which conveyed much more than dialogues and hysterical screams, yet kept the viewers guessing till the end- and that, in my opinion is worth an applause.
I loved Behne de the best and the rest of the songs- well- they grew on me slowly and get played on a continuous loop nowadays.

Tamil Padam

is a laugh riot- Go watch it.
But with someone who is a tamil movie buff if you do not spea tamil.
The husband was nice enough to get a dvd home and pause and explain the context.
It is a total spoof of an aggregate of Tamil movies but can apply to Hindi movies too!
- when the kid says - grandma when will I grow up- she advices him to ride a cycle and he will grow up
-how the hero does not die when shot in the head- because he is wearing bulletproof jacket! (too much)
-how the hero traces his lost family- by singing the family song which incidentally the parents are also singing
It is funny even for people who don't understand the context but a total riot for people who catch the context in time!
I am still laughing FYI!

Can Dinosaurs Come into our Living Room

Asks Tejas.
happe to mention that a dino is bigger than our house. That reassured him a bit since he says- so then they cannot come inside our house.

The kids are doing Dinosaur month in school.
Ojas comes home and tells me that they are supposed to colour a picture of a dinosaur.
I started shaking in my shoes at the prospect of looking for a dino pic so I asked Ojas back- where will I get a pic of a dino?
Says Ojas- exasperatedly- from the net!
Not bad. I came to know of the word internet during my MBA days.
So anyway, I drew a dino which was a cross between the camel photograph from Snoring Shanmugam book and a dino (err I hope) and they colored it in brown and black etc and took it to school.

As a follow up, I showed them bits of Jurassic Park.
Ojas had a fun time shooting at the dinos with laser light noise gun and Tejas was still saying I am scared
Ojas reassured him with his clear simple logic- don't worry, they canoot do anything, beech mein plastic hai- there is plastic (TV Screen) in between!

While on topic, the Walt Disney Dinosaur is way pleasing to us - we watched it on TV last month. A dino egg gets displaced and the newbie dino is brought up by lemurs. As catastrophes drive them out of their haunt, they join a herd of (veggie) dinos who are also looking for a new haunt with lots of water. Watch how they traverse the long, challenging and difficult journey sweetened with the young dinos love story who has till then never fallen in love as living among lemurs he couldn't find someone of his type.
Thisis a good hearted dino and hence very kid & adult friendly. Do catch it if you can!
I love the last line of the movie- we do not not what change lies ahead for us but we can only hope that our time here be remembered
Isn't this particular sentiment true for each one of us?

Wake Up Sid

Apart from sheer entertainment value also proved to be a wake up call for parents - as we were discussing with friends the other day.

It's a nice entertainer, no big brainer type movie, typical Konkona Sen movie with shades of her character from Metro - with her preconceived notions of how her partner should be.

I enjoyed the movie- not that my standards are high as I always say and normally I do not go into greater depths than whether the songs were hummable and whether the actors looked nice or whether the clothes and sets were good and whether there were punches in the movie.

But even by my low standards of dissecting a movie- Ranbir's dialogues with his mom were jarring. Not a little bit of affection for his Mom or Dad throughout the movie. Unrealistic and scary. Does parenthood amount to being just a provider at the end of the day?

The movie addressed the coming of age of the protagonist as he his forced to stand up on his own legs. From a lazy, spoilt brat he becomes a too -good -to- be -true -to -the -point -of -being- annoying -perfect boy. In a way it mirrors the real world - hostel life does knock you into shape- kids who do not move their backside at home start washing their clothes and cooking their own food.

The scariest part is that the success of our kids depend on how much we can understand their talents and help channel their interests towards their career because it would hurt me deeply if my child is unable to enjoy what he is doing in his life.
Hubby and I have discussed this a lot- we do not expect our kids to join our line of business but the business will certainly help them in securing opporunities they would like to pursue.
At 15 our education system expects kids do decide what they want to do in their life when even the available options are not clear enough. Yes there is an improvement from our days when it was either engineering or medicine and MS or MBA. But is that enough?
And oh yes, the songs are nice. I like Iktara, Wake up Sid number is quite catchy!

Discoveries in this New Year

The party was fun...at our office terrace in Pondy.
We had an amazing chicken biriyani and chicken 65 dinner prepared by our cook. There were other things but I don't know what they were as they were vegetarian
The plum cake sourced from Geeta Bakery in Pondy was awesome. The husband says the guy started from that small hole in the wall shop and owns the entire street now. Just look for that when you go there next.
The husband tok me to another tiny bakery called Fortune Bakery of his younger days and we tasted something called a butterfly bun. a spiral shaped vanilla flavoured fruit bun. It is yumm. And it gets better as you reach the core of the bun- yummier and creamy and sinful.
We also discovered a new store in JN Street called Outfits - has imported & branded westerns for adults & kids. Mostly manufactured in Bangladesh. Picked up lovely shorts and pajamas for the kids
We also saw 3 Idiots in Adlabs... A total fun movie. They have done a great job using the book as a base. Added a lot of entertainment quotient which is otherwise missing in the book. A lot of punchlines and scenes have been picked up from 5 Point Someone though the placements are different. The best ones go to Aamir Khan offcourse.
But the story element - the gold thread that links the Pearls of Wisdom is completely the author's imagination which is the only way this book could succeed as a movie. But we should all know that by now. Look at Harry Potter movies. Aren't so many things different in them?
If I were in Chetan Bhagat's place (Kya Bold Aspiration Hai!) I would be totally justified in wanting my name right at the beginning of the casting and prolly I would have set that up in teh contract whether they would borrow 2 % or 100%- how else would the movie come about if not for the book?
And by the way the popcorn in Adlabs is Rs 50 for a bucket. Heaven!
The movie put me in such a good and relaxed mood that I did not want to rush back to Chennai.
Stayed for another day and came back on Saturday armed with a pink periwinkle (yes I buy that yet again) and a pretty red pentas plant.
Oh, and a gem from Tejas
Mamma- Tejas eat his fish fry
Tejas opens the mouth eagerly and spits the "fish fry" out- ugggh yeh to mutton hai (this is muttom)
Mamma- torn between annoyance at her plans being foiled and pride at her son's taste buds

Notes from Yesterday

A Long Girls' Day Out
It is so much more fun because a working day was duly bunked and one of us came down specifically from Bangalore- we don't let work or distance get in the way of fun.
The agenda was eat, gossip and have fun
Which called for
1. XL buffet at Residency Towers Main Street- 5 trips each to the buffet atleast! We ate enough to last till today's breakfast but even then we feel we did not do enough justice. We didn't even touch the vegetarian, ate only half the desserts and half the salads and 2 varieties of juice. I strongly feel God should have given the option of external stomach. It's the stomach that is the culprit-the mouth and brain is always ready to take it on.

2. 2012 at Sathyam- can you believe it without popcorns?
The movie seriously freaked me out. But WTF? Africa becomes the safest place to rehabilitate? Someone was predicting India is going to become the most powerful nation? Get your basics right man! Anyway Phoenix I want to join you in the quest for someone to lend that few crores you were talking about. And oh, I do not have a billion dollars, I am a poor swimmer and a poor driver. I do not know how to fly a plane and I run really slowly. What are my chances?

3. Coffee Day at Ispahani- a huge brownie sizzler with ice cream and coffees. The servers did not disturb us- wonder how they guessed we are not the drink eat and rush types?

The only minus point was that I broke my yet another sandal (I am seriously worried- why do I break so many sandals- but AD directed me to a small shop and I got a really stylish jeans material slipper for 100 bucks. Made me seriously rethink this buying of expensive sandals in Metros & Kobblers that break at a single twist of the foot or stumble at the uneven roads.

Am I Getting Older?

Am I the only person in these and other parts who did not like Love Aaj Kal?
I cannot pinpoint why. The story line was a tried and tested one. The execution idea was nice-the email connect, long distance relationship... the way Rishi Kapoor's (he is a dear) life & Saif's life were juxtaposed. Then why did I not like it? And not that I have very high standards. remember I am the girl who loves chicklit/flick.
It was not a patch on jab we met for instance which I can watch any number of times. Maybe I did not like Deepika's jabbering. Or maybe I was not in a receptive mood.
I also watched Fashion & Dasvidaniya - finally and ahem, liked them.

Confessions of A Shopholic

No its not about me. It's about the movie we both saw. A totally feel good escape of 2 hours at Satyam theatres. Bright colours, funny punches and a storyline that says- totally me. Based on the book Confessions of a shopoholic and no it is not exactly like the book. It's different. You know what's going to happen but well, it's not exactly the same and it's not all from the same book. Bits and parts have been picked out from the other books in the series too. Go for it if you have read the book and even if you haven't.
I must mention that I had gone to Satyam after ages... the place itself has a feel good factor. Ease of parking, the snack joints and the fun time sprinkling the seasonings on the popcorn...mmmmm.
The movie followed by a sumptious lunch of kebabs and mutton curry at Copper Chimmney at Citi Centre (yes it's open even at 3 pm while the one on Cathedral road closes at 3 pm) and rounding off with window shopping and our just desserts- icecream/ chocolate truffle-perfect recipe for a hot afternoon!

Action Packed Weekend

A Wednesday....loved it...
EMI....run of the mill story...too similar to Gandhigiri theme...but well woven..found it boring in parts
Transporter 3- Thrilling...Go watch it..for the hot hero and the bad guy! I am told even 1 & 2 are great!

Visit to Pondy- a wedding...the only positive thing about it being that I get a chance to dress up and wear my new necklace, dinner at Promenade- a yummilicious buffet at Rs 460/- all possible non veg stuff included...loved the bow shaped pasta in pesto sauce and an array of desserts.. i only wish I had the space for the spongy rasgullas...as I write this I am regretting why I didn't squeeze a rasgulla in also..:(

Welcome to Saas Bahu Sensex and SajjanPur

Yes, watched the 2 of them back to back- without even getting over the feel good factor of the 1st one. I just love this genre of movies, so easy to relate to and fit in almost wishing how nice it would be to become a part of it. The presence of one or a few well known actors who don't dominate and take the attention away from the rest, keeping the pressure to minimal, adding a flavour without imposing and taking the simplicity away- is the trick behind such genres. The stories were, well, predictable but woven smoothly throughout, the ends knotted and finished neatly. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face throughout, at times a grin or two got thrown in too.
If one is looking at some earth moving performance by any actor, I am sure one can't find it here. They are very normal, everyday kind of movie- excrutiatingly slow at times. The movies should have been 1.5 hours length that's all.
Teeny Weeny Spoiler Alert
Welcome to Sajjanpur
I liked Divya Dutta, Ila Arun, though they were slightly over the top and loved the Kunal Kapoor surprise- the character I was beginning to dislike and hope to be the worst for the sake of kinship with the lead actor but did a total 180 degree in attitude the moment he came on screen.
Saas Bahu & Sensex
I found the Kirti girl very shallow and irritating but her final comeback- perhaps she wants the money too (rather than just love) made me finally understand her- nothing wrong in wishing to be richer-atleast she was truthful in that way. I liked the camaradiere displayed in the Jethmalani family - wish I can be a (future) Mommy like Lillette Dubey to my kids!

Theatre Lessons

1. No. You do not start the movie a few minutes before the schedule.
2. And you most certainly don't imagine that a lady with a struggling kid on one hand and a bag of kiddy stuff on the other arm does not deserve to be escorted to her seat with a flashlight to prevent kid and lady from almost stumbling over the uneven floor.
3. Intermission does not mean that the screen should go blank without warning probably when the actor is in mid-sentence. Someone like the lady in (2) above will imagine that the current supply has ditched.
4. Intermission duration cannot so long that you need to take several rounds of snacks to fill the time or so short that you hardly walk out from the theatre that you need to stumble back in the darkness.
5. There is something called the right volume.
6. There is something called right level of aircon. Don't imagine if you start with frigid levels of cooling and suddenly switch off the aircon, nobody will notice because they will be too engrossed in the movie.

Rock On...

I can say the movie rocks, the guys were hot, uber kewl, the music or rather the frenzy or the idea of being in a "rock show" had me tapping my foot and swaying my shoulders and urging me to take the next step- get up and dance.
But no, it is not about the movie. It is about what I could identify with. A slice of my life, your life, our lives that I could see. A pattern I am getting resigned to.
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Both get married. Then get on with the business of living.
Is that all to it?
We postpone our simple pleasures because we are working for the future. We get bigger and more successful and at one point of time, it ceases to matter to us when we get that big raise or promotion, or sign that huge contract...What scares me is that nobody wants to slow down. Everyone believes that if they stop for a moment or take a break, the organisation will fail in achieving targets.
We come home and are glued to our laptops or phones and hardly talk. Because there is only so much one can pack in a day. And so we prioritise. Pick up the seemingly non negotiable ones and move on.
Changing tracks, it is essential to have that something that gives you a rush of adrenalin, a goal to work towards, and the satisfied feeling that a hard day at work gives.
But aren't we in this process losing out on the fun? How many of us have a book or an idea or a rockstar within us waiting to flutter out?
How many of us are following our true calling? How many of us have yet discovered their true calling? Are we afraid to look for it? For fear of the unconventional?
We study buyer behaviour, we do consumer studies, spend loads of money in try to solve the conundrum of which product will hit it right with the consumers, but cannot invest our time and emotions in understanding our kids, spouses, family. On understanding what will make them happy, given the choice of a few moments of our time and a toy.
I cannot decide what to feel after the movie- elated, boisterous or sad.
I don't want anything extraordinary.
I want a plain and simple mehfil in the weekend evenings. Music, food, laughter, gossip and the quintessential gana- bajana.
Well, the closest to jamming of what I would have done were the impromptu antaksharis played during recess or back home from school or during wedding gatherings. We used to have dancing and singing sessions in our hostel - not restricted to just weekends. Ah the feel good factor!
Believe me dancing, singing and having fun is not just about age. It is attitude. In my previous company we were a gang who were just looking for an excuse to dance. We had coordinated dance moves- a signal, a shout or a word and the entire gang would be matching steps much to everyone's surprise. Sigh! it was fun. If nothing else, we lost a lot of calories doing. I miss that so much. I just want to dance. Wish we had a roudy, boisterous crowd to cheer and clap during the movie.
And wish my kids did not have to do 2 rounds of potty, 3 round of popcorn, potato chips, biscuits, and many rounds of water during the movie.
And yes that was a milestone I mentioned- being able to shit in a public toilet instead of asking- "Mamma, where's baby potty"- Tejas demanded his potty even before the intermission. They believe that while they can use the adult potty at home, it has to be the child seat anywhere other than their home.

First Movie- 401st Post

Last Friday we took Ojas & Tejas to Jaane Tu - their first movie in a theatre- Mayajaal!
Dad had booked 4 tickets to mark the occassion, thinking that the theatre guys will kick the parents out & all only the kids in if we buy only 2 tickets. 1 more adult- Mausi was called in and the 4th seat for given to Ojas!
Ojas checked just in case- "no doctor?"- thinking for a moment we had taken them to the doctor.
The moment the lights were shut, and the movie started with the scary horse scene- Ojas started crying- ghummi chale pointing to the door and Tejas sank into Dadda's lap and averted his eys as far as possible away from the screen yet watched the screen with on eye partially hidden behind Dadda's arms- if it is possible, that is.
Ojas' heart was gallopping at the scary movie and the added discomfort of the Rs 140 seat closing on him, he was not enjoying it at all to Mamma's great sadness!
So Mamma picked him up and held him safe in her arms. The first half was spent like this inspite of Mamma trying to make Ojas dance to "pappu can't dance".
We bought popcorn at intermission and that cheered them up considerably. And then they sat upright and popped popcorn & watched the movie. Mausi had to buy another pack of popcorn which was not shared with the adults at all.
Anyway, I loved the Shah couple in their element & liked Arbaz & Sohail the best in the movie!
1 movie had them hooked. The entire weekend they were saying- movie chale?
We also watched Sholay with English subtitles- for hubby's sake on Sunday.
The subtitles do not do justice to dialogues like-
"Bahut yaraana hai?"
"Pichle saal jo jamna ki shaadi mein humlog chup chupa kay gaye the- usme ee khub nachi thee!" "Sardar bahut khus hoga! Sabaasi dega!"

An Hour on Earth on Earth Hour

March 29th we switched off all lights (except the fridge, as hubby pointed out). We drove to the beach and spend a good hour and more, wondering how much of the beach can be saved and for how long. With the callous, indifferent and uncaring attitude of most of the residents. I don't know how much difference we can make by this gesture but it is a matter of being sportive for your earth. Probably a sneaked up loadshedding would have helped. We would have grumbled but managed for an hour. We would have come out of our homes and chatted with other residents and complained and gone back to our homes when the hour was up. The TV channels should have stopped transmission. Radio Mirchi was campaigning for it, News channels flashed the pleas but atleast in my complex inspite of my mailer, nobody was concerned, and we live so close to the beach. My hubby said we are the only ones who have gone dark. As if I was to blame for it.
Probably in some way I was. I could have taken a stronger stand. I could have requested the secretary to take a firm step and shut off the mains. No one would have been any wiser. By hook or crook we would have participated. In our own ways, we do make efforts in our apartment to save power. We shut of alternate lamp posts after 8 pm every night. We do not switch on all lights on the corridors. We have energy saving lamps so therefore we have a set of conscientous people. So we could have participated. Why be forced to do so when you can on your own accord, though? K got his boys in office to switch off the non-essentials during the hour. He also has energy saving hours/ days priodically in his office.
Anyway, we went to the crowded beach dressed in our Saturday best. The kids enjoyd jumping off from the seating area.
My stupid question to hubby- why do the pushcarts selling icecream and the raw mango/ channa etc park themselves together at regular intrvals down the beach. My stupid guesses - either they want to socialize or they want to create mini one stop pitstops at regular intervals or they want to stay close to each other so that incase one feels that they have eaten too spicy stuff, they can neutralise it with icecream.
We then celebratd by driving down ECR and dining at the Delhi Dhabha- part of the triad of restaurants- Asia Garden that serves Thai, Malaysian, Chinese etc, Malgudi and Delhi Dhabha all part of the Savera group, who also owns the Kabab court on the same road.
I had been given my farewell lunch at this place in 2006. The place is much developed now. The parking lot is well organised and the place looks inviting.
There is the customery well at the entry point. A garden walk leads us to Malgudi on the left and Delhi Dhaba on the right and the Asia Garden is on the 1st floor at the entrance.
Astrologers seat on the left- with a parrot and a tiny rabbit and another palmist. We missed the potter who is there during the afternoon. There was a portrait artist who does it for Rs 49 in 20 minutes. Since he was leaving by 10.30 pm and had time to do only one, we did not do it at all. There is an ancient style bare swing and Mom and babies had a good time on that. On the right, there is a fish pond and the kids were fascinated by the coloured fish. The pond is visible from Delhi Dhabha and they spend a good time with their noses pressed to the glass from the inside and jostling their way with a couple of kids in the restaurant.
There is a horse cart without the horse and a tiny lotus pond with a bell, a pond which you may risk falling into, it is so small and hardly distinguishable from the lawn grass. There are pushcarts at various points that serve as service points and a visible kitchen.
A garden party was on and the bamboo framed sofa size seats made the whole setting look very inviting. A huge screen was relaying something I don't recall and the whole atmosphere was very comforting and homely. There are cottages made of mud each labelled Uttar, Dakshin, Madhya, Purab, Paschim. Only Uttar is occupied with ethnic wear from Sanskruti-this is a Kutch home-office outfit from somewhere in North Chennai and very visible in all exhibitions. She has good dress material but the readymades are not too great. Very oversized (like the owner) and disproportionate- atleast the M & L sizes. There is an Auroville type store also.
The Delhi Dhaba interiors are based on the movies theme with lot of contemporary movie posters and chair backs adorning portraits of the stars.
We had butter chicken, tandoori, rotis & biriyani. The portions were small albeit tasty. We had gulabjamuns which were too soft and almost like a gulabjamun halwa in sugar syrup. The food could have been better - the expectations were raised but I was sort of disappointed - the taste was not addictive, I want to go there again for the sake of the concept but not for the taste. And moreover I did not feel bursting to the seams after eating inspite of 1.5 naan/ paratha which is usually more than sufficient for me.
We watched Race yesterday- again sort of hyped expectations, but falling abruptly flat in the end. I ended up feeling a little cheated, wanting for more, as if I did not get the entire paisa vasool- like a Jab we met or a Guru...everything was very formula-ish and fast paced as if the director is in a great rush to finish the movie. But it did keep me interested and it was the blink and you miss the links in the story kinds. Some of the songs were danceable numbers- the kids danced to them giving their seal of approval and cried for more. Anil Kapoor's double meaning cheap dialogues were totally tasteless and unnecessary. Katrina looked stylish but dumb and I don't know why Bipasha cannot put some realistic expression on her face. She can do great - I liked her during the reality shows but her diction is poor and expressions are incongruous in movies. The beard suited Saif- for the role he was playing and between him and Akshay, I was not sure on whose side I was in the movie. It is timepass movie but you won't miss anything if you don't see it.
This morning K gave Tejas a hair cut in his sleep. We didn't have the energy to get it done in the salon. He screamed so much last time that the passerbyes from the street peeped in to watch!
Have stacked up a few Danielle Steels- trashy but since they are a long read it is good in the toilet.
I have grand plans of buying the entire Archer/ Sidney series for my collection in the near future. I would love to rediscover the stories because I am sure I have forgotten how they progressed.

300 Movie- Review

Statutory Warning- “Spoiler Ahead”. Read on if you don’t mind a few details being let out from the movie
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"Because only Spartan Woman give Birth to Real Men", said Queen Gorgo.

As a Mommy Blogger, this line touches me the most. As a Woman, this line touches me again. The order is intended. Before I became a mother, I never realised the intensity of feeling that a woman or a man experiences for one that has emerged from self. And therefore the phrase "it's my baby" is used for any project or creation that one does and one needs to emphasise the feeling of ownership that one experiences for that particular project. “The sight of the headless body of the Captain's son filled his heart with hatred (towards the Persians)”, made me realise how powerful the love towards an offspring is.

Before I started, this post was intended to be a cursory review of the movie and thereafter an analysis of the strategy and when I began, the course somehow changed to the above track. And I am glad that I watched this movie in a theatre else I would have never been able to concentrate on the nuances and links.

I did a little googling on the ancient Sparta war and their tribe and I am yet to understand the full import of the movie and their story with respect to ancient history. Also, while there are shades of dramatization, and the author has taken liberties with the plot, attire and rendering of the characters to lend emphasis or otherwise to the storyline, bearing the fact that it is a story from the point of view of a Spartan, I give credit to Frank Miller and Zack Snyder. It makes the viewer empathise with Spartans and even admire their militancy. As Frank Miller himself says, that in truth the Spartans was much crueler than depicted. The policy of 'you don't shoot the messenger' is not at all followed here, yet one tends to applaud when King Leonidas throws the Persian messengers into the pit for the slight to his queen when she joined the political discussion. Was it the woman in me applauding or the viewer in me, I do not know.

Spartan culture to me seemed like a blend of (modern) society with animal like touches. The reference to the customary infanticide to maintain healthy stock and the women & men seen as a means to creating a superior gene pool is almost animal like whereas women empowerment, shades of political grays, reference to democracy reflects our society.

If I were to equate the movie to modern corporate world, it could be explained in the following manner from the Spartan point of view-
Strategy- The Military strategy of the Spartans (& Persians)
Core Competence- the main profession of all Spartans were warriors not a potter/ craftsman engaged to do military duty like the Greek ally soldiers
Merger- Greek forces rallying up with Spartans
Back-end Support- Women back home, male progeny, reinforcements
Insider- Ephialtes
Competition – Persians

From strategy point of view bearing in mind the period we are talking about, the phalanx formation employed by the Spartan troop was nearly impenetrable. The Spartan army played by logic and physical strength whereas the Persian army fought with sheer numbers.
With my limited understanding of military strategies I cannot give much input on it but from what I could observe,
The formation emphasized on unified, almost programmed, nearly orchestrated, coordinated movement, speed and action.
The emphasis was on not creating any weak link in the formation.
The shield was the key for self defense and self-preservation. The importance of the shield is highlighted when King Leonidas rejects the application of the hunchback Ephialtes into the military after his failure to use the shield correctly. The dramaticised depiction of the entire army escaping unscathed when the Persian army rained poisoned arrows on them, further reinforces the importance

The drama involving Queen Gorgo that happens back home helps one relax a little in the midst of the war and also delivers the following messages-
a reflection on the society- the active role of women in politics and their empowerment
the moral (and otherwise?) support given by women to their men in their “career”. As King Leonidas rightly put it, in not so many words that a Spartan woman is as capable as a Spartan man to fight the war.
On a baser level, men across ages will be men- they will definitely attempt to eve tease!!

The Spartan warriors and the king slighting the “stupidity” of Persian strategy and throwing various one-liners from the pages of history gave a breather break to the serious war situation.

A few one-liners forced claps and laughs in the otherwise dead theatre including- “we shall fight in the shade” the answer given by the Spartan soldier in response to the Persian who says that the Persian army's arrows will blot out the sun. Infact there was one enthusiastic young guy repeatedly clapping for every good scene and one-liner and if my husband had been encouraging or supportive or if I had gone with a large group of friends, I would have joined him in his enthusiasm.

The blogger in me tried hard to look for anomalies which are spotted in period films quite often, like a watch or a (Reebok) shoe, but gave up after some time for the sake of enjoying the movie.

The makeup artists have evidently worked very hard to make some of the characters look despicable. The sages of the Oracle, the hunchback Ephialtes, the immortals when shown prompted me to shut my eyes lest I get dreadful dreams. Especially watching from the 1st row in Mayajaal, multiplied the eek value of the characters by several times. If the movie had been released when I was carrying, I would not have watched it. It’s truly “Prepare for G(l)ory”

In fact the androgynous (or metro sexual?) depiction of King Xerex has been criticized by some groups. I found him interesting but not repelling.

The narrative by Spartan soldier Dilios made it easier for me to follow, especially with my long-forgotten knowledge of history which is limited to chapters and classes and I do not have a bigger picture understanding to it. With the hazy memory of the dates I really fail to appreciate which kings or warriors were contemporaries and which ones were far removed by centuries -BC/ AD or otherwise.

Therefore, I request fellow bloggers to recommend one complete history book which renders the world history in an easily appreciated story form.