Category: Movies

No, this is not about the excellent movie by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, but this is about troubles faced by black (or as they have started referring to us as – colored) people. I am one of those who are blessed with black color and there are times when things get interesting.

Every time I go to a barber to get a shave done (which is at least once in a week affair since I don’t know how to shave and I just came back after getting a shave), people there assume that I want to look fairer and I am offered free samples of facial bleech, face massages, fairness creams and new hair color that would make me look fair. One question. Why do they think I want to look fairer? Can’t I be happy the way I am? I do not want to look fairer. Fullstop. Period. I wonder how many fair people are offered darkness creams, sun lamp treatments etc.

Anyways, the problem is not only limited to a barber, there are other places where we could do with some freedom. If you ever had a dark cousin, you would know that one of the qualities of the suitable match for him/her is fair skin color. The match could be illiterate, dumb as a dodo, but should not be dark. (This could be biased; my family at least, wants to have fair colored members). This is again stupid. The most important decision of your life can not be just based on the color of the skin.

Goto a designer clothes showroom. They would recommend specific type of cloth material, specific colors, different styles all together just to make sure that you look fairer.

Barber – its ok, he is not bothered about you or your well being. He wants to sell more products and services and make money. Same is true for boutiques. Your family wants the best for you. They want you to get good looking (fairness is equal to good looking in India) partner. Did anyone ask me (us) my (our) preferences?

Just wondering if Mr. Charles Darwin was correct about his theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest, a day should come when all the dark colored members of the Homosapient species are …

A long time back, a friend wanted a movie called Haasil. I got the disc for him and when I saw it, I found it WONDERFUL.

Few dialouges worth mentioning …

1. aur moaro saale aur jaan se maar dena..(haan maar denge saale)..kyoki agar hum reh gaye na to hum maarte der na lagayange ..bhagwan kasam
2. kya pandit…bol rae the hume zinda naa chodana….hum maaarne mein der naa lagayenge
3. Sex-Wex ho gaya..?
4. Gaon chale jaayiye….gaon chale jaayein matlab bhaag jaayein…..arey maarein thappad tumhaari khopdi khul jaaye…..kaahe bhaag jaayein be……
5. abey wo sarkaari gunde hai…..hum kraantikaari hain….tum sab girilla ho….gorilla vorilla padhe ho ki na padhe ho….
6. itnee ghantiyan lagane kee kya jaroorat thee?? lagta hai kee dashare kee jhankee ja rahee hai..
7. uncle main ranvijay …. laa phaayinal year
8. suno ranvijay singh election tak unibirasty ke aas paas bhi nazar nahi aane chayie warna kam kar diye jayoge!!!
9. yahi to dil to hamara bhi accha hai…ye sali ankhe…ankhe hi buri hai
10. …..sivji ke bhakt hain… sara jahar to hamein hi pina hai…..

Almost everyone I meet is very keen on watching movies. They don’t need a reason for the movie. Exams got over? Someone has a birthday? Want to just chill out? Nothing else to do? Let’s go watch a movie.

For someone like me, watching movie is a very difficult task. Apart from everything pleasant, few things make it absolutely terrible task. To start with I can not sit at one place for more than an hour. A movie would typically end in about a couple of hours. Another reason – the moollah factor. For me a movie is never worth 100 bucks even if it is about computer gaming, hackers, Pamela Anderson striping, money or anyone else. You could get atleast a couple of good books for the same price.

So if you are planning to meet and have good time, going to a place like Barista and Café Coffee day is a VERY good choice. You get to sit on good, comfortable chairs, bean bags, have some great coffee and sit in conditioned air. Why go to a movie where you can’t even talk? If you want to go to a movie, you can go all alone as once in the hall, you are all by yourself.

So you want to celebrate? But why with a movie? Someone got something desired. The celebration could be spending time by cutting a cake. You could celebrate by doing some group activity, something that brings everyone closer.

And the biggest reason of all is the quality. There simply aren’t any good movies left. A producer thinks about getting maximum people out to the theatres, people go to movies just because they have to (even if they suck big time) and people “act” because they ain’t got anything better to do. It’s like someone has programmed it in the minds. George Orwell was correct about the world he thought would come in future. You do things you never knew you were doing. It’s like someone has programmed you to do it.

In the end, movies are a waste of time, effort, money and resources. Hope people enjoy their show 🙂

I think my english is deteriorating day by day. For example the title of this post … “Sand in the Hand”. I know the reason. My thought process is in Hindi and my vocabulary is very limited. When I get down to translating my thoughts in English, something really funny comes out. I think I need a course in English Hons 😉

And why Sand in the Hand? Some time back, there was a movie titled Dil Chahta Hai. It was an amazing movie about lives of three friends. In the move, there is a side character (lets call her Amy) who was deeply in love with one of the main characters (lets call him Jack). But as usual for Jack, Amy doesnt even exit. Amy tries everything in the world to woo Jack and impress him. But Jack, being the hero hardly gives a sweat about her.

Anyways this is not about Jack or Amy but this about all those people who care about someone and the other person ignores them like anything. I certainly am one of those. And I know there are people for whom I am the world and for me they are like any of the 1 billion people in the world.

But Why?
Becuase, for Amy, Jack is like a handful of sand. She can see Jack within her reach all the time. She can extend her hand and get hold of Jack anytime she wants. But for a moment. And since Jack is like sand, the moment Amy opens her hand, Jack will slip away. Drift apart. Amy can see a lot of Jack but she cannot contain him. She cannot have him for life.

So what can Amy do? I serisouly have no clue. I dont really know. I think I would ever know…

Yesterday I went to see a screening of the latest Bollywood movie Sarkar. The star cast included Bachchans – Amitabh and Abhishek in the lead roles.

In the words of Producer and Director of the movie, Ram Gopal Verma, Sarkar is his tribute to Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Indeed many sequences are inspired from the legend of the Godfather. Infact the very name Sarkar is a synonym to Godfather.

The movie is about one Sarkar who believes very strongly in his ideology and distinction between right and wrong. He believes that if he thinks something is right, and then he would act on it irrespectiv of the fact that it may not be legally correct, politically correct, morally correct or ethically correct. The thing to question here would be practicality of such a line of thoughts. Since a man has to live in society – there is no man in isolation, should someone stand out and make his presence and individuality felt or should he tone down himself to be acceptable to the society? The very first day when you start learning, you are taught to conform to the social beliefs and if you deviate, there are a lot of negative reinforcements given out. Are we helping propagating the norm? Since we are making everyone think in the same way, follow the same rules, behave in an expected manner, are we terminating the genesis of newer perspectives and thought processes?

The movie also portrays that people are ready to do anything, ANYTHING to realize their goals of power and money. Although there people were among the most powerful ones as shown in the movie but they seeked more power and the clichéd saying is hence proved that power and greed have no bounds.

However certain things were missing. The most perplexing thing was the fact that the revenge that Sarkar seeks is incomplete. Sarkar eliminates everyone who had betrayed him, tried to kill him/his father, destroy the family except one. The Police Commissioner. May be because the commissioner left him alive, he did not seek revenge but in my humble opinion, one should never ever forgive and forget someone you don’t trust at all.

There were attempts of humour in some dialogues of a certain character but they were totally uncalled for and deviated from the theme of the movie.

One of the biggest positives was excellent photography and art direction. The camera work is amazing and although I do not see a lot of movies, I believe that it had very very innovative and unique camera positioning techniques.

Another thing that I realized after watching movie was the importance of having a cool, composed and a calm brain on the shoulders. I for example am amongst those people who would take decisions in haste and without giving much thought and repent later. I am not sure how many things from a fictitious story could be applicable in real life but yes, patience is something that helps.

Saurabh Garg

Its been long since I posted something on my BLOG ! If I go by the records it would be 9 days. Lots of things have happened… Exams got over, started with vacations, started with learning finance fundas and waiting for summer internship to start.

I was back in campus and happened to go for the latest flick – SHALL WE DANCE. Featuring Richard Gere, J Lo and Susan Sarandon … was a nice time pass. As always when I was watching the movie, I tried to be the protagonist and apply my brain at that hard task called thinking… Throughout the movie I was trying to anticipate, guess, what would be his next move, what would be the next dialouge … din’t get that lucky today, was wrong most of the times. I know I can’t dance ;).

Again talking about the movie itself, the movie was based in dunno which city but there were quite a few shots of the skyscapers… I had this funny feeling of going to the city at once. Would build the greatest sky scraper of em all. Talking of building reminds me of FountainHead by Ayn Rand. Before I read this one, I thought Ayn Rand was a male but it turned out that Ayn Rand is a female. Anyways while reading, I could connect at times with Roark, Waynand and Toohey. No no, am not trying to say am the coolest but a trying to say that at times I was thinking what they were thinking. I plan to read it once more before I write something about it.

Ever since we had vacatoins, have read two more fictions. Both by Grisham. Runaway Jury and King of Torts. As always both were amazing. However they failed to inspire me to be a lawyer like the previous ones. Probably the main character in both these was’nt someone exceptional. I can compare the chap from Runaway Jury – whats his name, with Ellsworth Monkton Toohey in the FountainHead. Both of them could persude people to do things that people would’nt have done under normal circmstances. I would certianly like to do that. Talk of evil 😉

I have started with vacations and have absolutely nothing to do at home. I plan to re-learn guitar (as if I knew it in the first place), re-bulid my website (as if I had it in first place), re-gain my position as the richest person on the planey (as if I was)… Of the three things mentioned above, I plan to achieve atleast two. They say two months is a long long time to do anything. I might even re design the BLOG if I don’t find anything else to do.

And abhi I am out of ideas what to talk about and what to write etc…