Half Blood Prince..
This one is really close to my heart. As a book, I have loved it. And one major reason why book works so well is that it leaves you all pent up , waiting for whats more to come. Its dark, its gloomy, its sad.
One thing I say to all the anti-potterists is that the series grows with you. You leave a kiddish treasure hunt sort of narrative somehwhere in the middle of the series, and grow up. The characters grow up, the set up grows up…bigger, darker..
And with this potter movie, I think it joined the leauge of LOTR. I am not sure if people would agree with me, but this movie simply is an excellent adaptation. Director tweaks some scene or two, just to add some drama, allay some hyper moments to make them strong..even better than the ones in the book.
I cant say this bout Order of phoenix, but this one was as good as the book if not better.
SOme top notch acting, be prepared to see these people act. I was so surprised to see Rupert Grint pull off a scene (the one with love potion) so well, causing you to notice him in the frame while still harry is standing right in front. Emma watson enfuses a lot of warmth into each scene she does, superb act but I was expecting way more from her.
Tom riddle as a teenager, whoever that kid is has done a jaw dropping act as the suave villainous soul, 
each syllable dropping from his mouth is so crisp and amazing that I wanted to applaud in the middle of the audi.
The cave scene is well made, and dumbledore does make an impact. Draco is emotionally stunted, a good act there as well. The scene where katie bells is thrown into the air, creeped the hell out of me..and you dont expect such scene whilst in a potter screening. Chilling!! Dumbledore’s death is quick, the scene has been done justice to for sure. A loud crack..and boom.
Impressive opening where you are swooped in along with all the death eaters..fantastic.
Luna Lovegood remains my favourite, she is as weird as 
she was in the previous part, only prettier! 
If you are not planning to catch it in a theater, dont plan to watch it otherwise either. Because that way, you are doing injustice to some amazingly made scenes meant to be seen at least in a home theater!!Some master class of a movie…for sure. Really well made.
btw: dont even think of going to the movie if you havent seen the previous ones…or else you end up like my dad (who insisted on watching the movie..but dozed off..)
Big Hard sun..
This song..captivates me. I am humming the lyrics all the time…and they mean so much. Powerful music, belittles me..makes me understand..what are we in this huge scheme of nature…nothing.! ABsolutely nothing.
The eternal wait for the right..
BUS.
I really dont want to get into a wrong one, and land up some place strange. Once, I quickly stepped into this sparingly occupied bus, victorious;only to know that it was going to the other end of Noida. THat was hilarious…and when Bus driver slowed it down for me to get off…I couldnt 
So I had to go to the next stop (not much help either, the driver kept moving..people kept rushing..pushing me further into the bus)
Today, I had to take an auto all the way to Yamuna Bank…and boy was it a ride. Cool breeze, and thos pastoral views of Mayur Vihar, delightful. But had to shelve 100 bucks for that ride…kinda too expnesive. But see..it was 8 , and no bus in sight.
The way these bus drver rush into the masses of the people, either willing to stuff some into the moist ghettos, mow over the rest. I seriously escaped my experiments with death. Like dodging bullets..only bigger. Or bullets dodging me rather.
Humidity is no respite. Hand rails are no respite. The moist cohesive dirt which is with brain of its own..willing to cling on really hard to your clothes.. disgusting. And then you pass by this red stone memorial..probably a fortress to a bronze maya memsaab with her purse. Wish she could by more of these yellow marvels until the Noida metro is compelted.
Feel sleepy now….
Movie reviews
Well this is pretty much how I spend my weekends…watchin movies..thanks to my cousin for a perennial supply.
1. Kal Kisne Dekha hai…
well…”kisne dekhi hai” and I would say I. And I think this one movie which doesnt give you sufficinet interval to laugh in between the unintended humor. Its a toruture anyways…you either just drop dead at the songs…or die laughing at the script/dialogues/acting..
From the moment when this urban looking boy is shown milking the cows in Punjab to the place where he meets love of his life airhead…this movie just doesnt have a single…not even a single moment where I was not giggling. I was gasping for air..when the boy asks his Physics lecturer “Sir…Sapne kyon aate hain??” in the class. Horrible dialogues….and the girl who portrays the “Arrogant hotty” breaks into a jig all glammed up Indian attire. Songs just happen in the movie…and if you think they add to viewing experience….well they do. The music is horrendous. Direction is worst ever seen in the Bollywood.
The stunts….one thing which I thought might be a little relief…was not a misfit to the movie either. He bounces his college seniors off with a basket ball…and they are thrown up in the air.
Time Bombs make a comeback in the cinema..with evil Rishi Kapoor (the Physics teacher) creating to blow the college up. And ya…I believe this movie is actually a resume for the actor. He dances (horrendously), acts (barely)…kicks (his own asss for sure) and falls flat.
I am so happy this movie flopped. But I think its definitely worth a watch….I mean..if you love Hollywood as much as I do…you have to watch this movie for yourself.
I give it a 1/10 (just for those hilarious dialogues which make some good entertainment)
I wonder if it was intended to be a spoof…
2 Audition
We all know of Japanese and their horror. ANd if you think Grudge is scary…man..you havent seen anything as yet.
Check out this “pure evil” (as a german lady yelled at the director while at its premiere) Miike’s 1999 movie which has been immortalized for its sadistic scenes.
Hostel is gross..with all the blood and gore, but this movie is horrifying minus blood and gore.
A widower, who on being persuaded by his frnd, gives into conudcting an audition to look for a new wife. He feels guilty bout it, but when he sees this beautiful, subtle,shy ballerina he falls in love with her. Dates .Dates Dates….all mushy stuff and as we proceed towards the last 20 minutes in the movie…you see the girl avenging the man for his “evil intentions behind conducting the audition”.
She put needles in his abdomen….and sweetly says “kiri kiri kiri…” which means deeper.
She cuts his feet with a piano wire…and yes..you get to see her working through the wire. The girlish innocence and that charm is never lost…not even when she vomits into a bowl and make her previous victim eat from it.
You have to watch it for yourself….its creepy….very very elaborate and graphic..and causes you to take a minute and look away from the screen.
Classic indeed…I give it a 8/10
Maximum City..
“I had left as a teenager, spent twenty-one years wandering around cold countries and returned to resume my interrupted adolescence”
— Suketu Mehta (from Maximum City)
Suketu, I think I know him a lot about him now. Enough to be at a first name basis with him (or so as I think). I know about his wife, his friends, his contacts in the company, his friends from the bar, his friend from Bihar…and lot more. Never have I been allowed to see Mumbai through another man’s eyes.
As he reminisces about Bombay, layer by layer, taking you deeper into the slums, making you intrude into the lives of bar dancers, and gangsters and cross dressers and sex workers and rioters…
Suketu tells me his stories , Bombay then and when he returned in the late 90s. Of Parsis who are still adamant about their regular table, of lavatories or the lack of them.
The Bombay basks naked in the sunshine, the sun refuses to set as city prospers despite of the vices. Occasional strikes and blasts..and then catch the last local at night.
The land of lust, wrath and gluttony, survives. Here the salesman helps a salesman, a shooter helps another. But not when it comes to faith. They lose faith in camaraderie, the thin slivers of loose imbecile skin demarcate the teams. “Skins and no skins”
Where encounters would not entirely be pleasant, for chances are you will end up dead..shot at from a close range. The vada paw eating masses, bequeath the power to dominate.
The city stinks of sewage, the city dwells on extremities, the city suffers a recurring hangover of celluloid stunners…yet it dreams. It works…and dreams..and achieves.
Bombay is conscious, alive, living.
It is indeed one good Indian…truely Indian masterpiece. Its our slums and our dogs..and Suketu is the Millionaire !
Top Secret
Yesterday at the office, my dream run of sitting in a well furnished office came to an end, when I was asked to clean the table top up and make way for the editor of the magazine they are going to launch. And me..as well as my immediate boss were sent to the house of commons….
A room, with typical hardware meant to give an impression of tech savvy and new age gizmo taste of the owner, not to forget the dysfucntional drawers, poorly lit room relied more on the sunshine…and the air conditioning was kinda too much for a space that big.
The house of the commons was noisy. I missed the absolute pin drop silence occasionally stabbed by loud Nokia sounds of dying batteries. But here in the house of the commons….it was gossip, idle talk. And a lot of it. And none that I could be a part of…coz my immediate boss was sitting right behind me.
As the day came to an end, I was asked to sight a couple of papers. The proof that I indeed am their first employee. The documents were called “Privacy policy” and “Non disclosure agreement”. I was feeling like a top secret agent.
The implications…I cant tell on their ideas or secrets until 2 years. And if I do, they are going to sue their firs coder. Yes…I am the one to give them their first pieces of codes…and that I know from their subversion installation (right in front of my eyes)
“Sir, whats all this?? Cant I put any code in my diary?”
“You may..but only the obvious stuff”
Damn it…whatever I code is always the obvious stuff.
And btw, I am not sure if we use open source…we can have a policy like this. I am not sure..I thought GPL says that whatsoever uses a tool/SDK licensed under GPL also implicitly becomes an open source.
Whatever….I just got the documents..I know I will be sued upon!
weird dream
ok..perverts go away..coz it wont be an account of the innuendos at the back of your mind..
I just had a strange dream…and it involved…
1.Metro
2.Me
3.My frineds ( Siddhant, Abhishek,Kartik)
4.Someone who I dont really consider to be a frnd.. lets call him X
5.Soordas
6.Danny boyle
7.Suketu Mehta
8.Narendra Modi
So this is how it went..
Me, Abhi and Kartik are taking the same metro (we never do) and we meet Siddhant on the way. We are right there, discussing stuff…and me and abhishek start discussing Maximum city. I am all praises for Suketu Mehta..and Abhishek thinks that its the latest book syndrome I suffer.
I show them a newspaper clipping saying that Danny Boyle will be making a movie on Maximum city, and Mr X is disgusted at the mention of Danny Boyle.
Somehow…I dont remember exactly…we reach to an argument of who is a better writer…Suketu mehta or Soordas (wose..song was featured in Boyle’s last). Kartik and I end up expressing our views on Soordas’s writings…and me out of habit..use a vocabulary too colorful. I call the guy a zealot who is no better than orthodox saffron clad men of today. Kartik agreed.
And a man in the metro..is not convinced at our arguments.
“Abey chup…angrezon”
I wanted to see the man..and I like a stupid little daredevil..asked…”who was it?? who said it…?? Tell me on my face..you….freak”
The man arreseted me and Kartik for hurting the national pride…and took us to Kashmere Gate Metro station. And then we tried to make an escape..we asked for help from abhishek (but then his girlfrnd showed up..so he had to leave). Siddhant was too scared to be helping us out..so he ignored us. Then I remember being slapped by Narendra Modi.
Sorry Kartik..I got us dream arrested..and slapped too. 
Miles to go.
Have you seen the ad with Vrijesh Hirjee and a loud mouthed parrot talking condoms out on top of its voice??? Or the really cheeky condom ad which they are airing these days?? Probably you have.
But have you seen them while having dinner with your family?? If you have…you know what I am going to talk about.
I think this anti 377 IPC campaign in Delhi was first ever shall we say “Sexual liberation” drive in the country. But are we really there yet?? I am not sure. I don’t know how many of legal amendments would it take to put the society at ease with the idea of sex,AIDS, kiss let alone the new upcoming sensibilities.
India is a country where the word sex is uncomforting at all levels. There is no good time to mouth word.
Try saying AIDS out loud in public and you are bound to attract a “eat you alive gaze”. The condom campaigns if seen with family, invite silence…invite minutes going without eye contact, ..just plain unacknowledged 30 seconds on air…as if they never existed.
We still are dealing with Muthaliks who go beating women off for drinking …and here a very contrasting verdict from the government of exempting consenting adults from 377. Do we at all remember the married couple prosecuted/held at ransom/troubled for kissing in public??? And we are speaking of introducing a new notion of sexuality. I am not against any, but what am I getting at is aren’t we celebrating too soon??
Our law and our collective mentality suffer a differential growth. And I think this is what is a little upsetting. We still find words like sex and AIDS absent from “acceptable” conversation
The amendment was needed, called for..and for sure is a reason to be happy about, but I think its the social acceptance which would be path breaking for the community is going to be hard to come by. When a hip swaying Bacchan boy is how we see this community as, its a reason enough to be sad about.
Legal protection protects from being prosecuted, but with fundamentalists out in open, I am sure that community is at a risk of suffering the same fate as women in a pub in Mangalore that day.
Who needs the society’s approval, can be a fancy argument. Absolutely, no one needs there approval, but ostracization, alienation is something the newly un-closet-ed must buckle up for. These are just some things,…all minorities across India (with no exception) suffer. Be it the Muslims, the Parsis…
Random…
Nothin new…just banal reality….
now..if you were rich and a cool job ..say your own island in the Barrier reef…now that would have given something to write bout everyday…but..you my friend are no better than me..:P
You are reading this post..out of same/similar boredom which causes me to write it in the very first place.
Speaking of random, I did some random experiment which I had read in one of those RC passages bout evolution. I had this 20 digit random sequence, and I had these 20 zeros on the other hand. I wrote this small simple script to modify the zeros using a random number generator and match it with the number…
after less than 100 modifications…I achieved the actual sequence.
Now this may seem a little too absurd to you, but just to clear it out, this supports the Darwinian evolution..that a series of simple selections/retentions could lead to more favorable things…or species!!
Having established Darwin
I went on to read Maximum city…and I must say that either Suketu Mehta is really daring(he better be) or he is just making stuff up. I mean…who really goes to Pakistan to interview the D-company guys?? Daring.
He makes me fall in love with the city, then slowly as he reveals the layers of this hinterland….and makes you fall out of that love. Reading bout Mumbai..just makes me feel more safe here in Delhi..without any Shiv Sena…or the shooters going astray..killing people in public.
Suketu Mehta won me over with this…..
“I had written down in my computer the name of god and then backspaced over it, so that His name would be woven invisibly into the screen, would form a foundation or wash for all the accounts of murder and assault I would be writing that day”
The craft and the guts..do make him such a fine fine wirter. I am just awestruck.
One Fine Day.
Well..
Speaking of Yesterday….I would say one of the freakiest days of my life.
The sunrise:
As always, I was running a little late in the morning. But had to perform my “reading in the restroom” ritual which takes me a little longer to the actual thing. But that day, it took me 45 minutes because the book got so interesting. I lost the track of time, and adding all the woes and the delays…I got 1 hour late.
Now my mentor has never been really that particular about me reporting on time, but there always is this awkward silence which ensues..and lingers on till the lunch break.
Having had just 4 hours of sleep the night before, I was mind numbingly dizzy. And had nothing but wokr on my mind..which usually is a good thing….when you are fully aware and awake as an owl. I was awake as an owl the night before!
The sunset:
5 in the evening, no bus in sight. All those local buses going local places with the locals. Had to wait..and I did for 50 minutes before I spotted one. Somehow..I travelled to the mid point of my 51Km journey. And when I did, I had to drink water from those…water carts we have. And as I sipped carefully, scanning for some life in my glass…it tasted a little funny. But I was thirsty…and no cola available…I had to go for it. The consequences, if at all could be faced in the comforts of my bed..or the toilet!
Uptill now, its just the cholera part of it.
Here..a bus came, struggled to get in, struggled to get a seat (now ..I do get a seat…just that you have to be a little too rude for that…no free giveaways).
And then it started to rain. My dear “thought” had to be contained in my backpack, with a plastic cover. She better not get drenched…or there will be sparks (or no sparks) flying around here.
First rain in Delhi was beautiful..respiteful. The the bright pink title of Maximum city were no match to the skyline that night.
Later..that evening:
I took a rikshaw from the station to my place. Wind in my hair..I was already in a state of trance, I was loudly singing(if you can call it that) my favourite songs..to the passers by I guess. THe rickshaw catches some speed, courtsey of the un yielding slope…the rickshaw man loses his control…..and two other cars converge into this inverted fork of overspeeding vehicles..on a rainy night.
People shout…”maaaa”..I yelled…the F word…the loudest I have in my entire life..in public.
The man from the wagonR got out…(for once I thought to beat me..for my fucking recital) but he slapped the rickshaw wala rather. (World could deal with me some other day)
I checked whether my thought was intact. She was, My toe was not. I had smashed it on the rear end of this car…I could feel my toe..and I didnt feel good.
Rickshaw was standing…so wsa the ricksaw wala.
I was home…somhow…and by that..I defied nature’s evil plan to keep me away from my bed. But..boy was I celebrating too soon??
Something…in my abdomen…was not right.and I knew it was the water. I ended up in the restroom…just like I had predicted.
Proc mock scores were to be out soon…and boy…they were bad. Its not that I cant interpret data….I interpret it wrong. I got a negative in data interpretation.
