Thought Shots

One more great has passed away. There is something about a great man departing us. We feel some void. And that feeling is unmissable. We feel like he should have been around for longer. I never met Mr Kalam. Nor did I ever see him. But I, like many others, knew what he wanted from us and from our nation. He wanted us to claim our rightful place in the world. To finally shed the shackles of mediocrity and defeatism. I read  Ignited Minds  in which Mr Kalam described his travels across the country. He described the conversations he had with people across the length and breadth of this nation on the subject of how to transform India into a superpower by 2020. He also shared lessons he had learnt during his work with ISRO. One of the things he talked about was the importance of keeping the goal above oneself. As long as one could keep the project as more important than one’s personal wants or desires, the project was likely to succeed. During his travels across the country, h

I have grown up listening to the HIndi-Rock band Euphoria. So when an opportunity presented itself to go and watch them perform at the Central Park in New Delhi this Sunday, I absolutely couldn't resist. Every Sunday nowadays, they hold something called raahgiri in this part of town. It was my first time out there as a 'raahgir'. And it was an amazing experience! They were celebrating the 1st year anniversary of this raahgiri ritual by organing a music concert with the Euphoria. The performace by the band was electric and the earth there was trembling with raw energy. It was hot under the 8 am sun but it didn't seem to matter once the show got started. Palas Sen, the lead singer, arrived on the stage like a flash of storm and rounded everyone in his circle like a tonadoo from New Orleans. He performed one hit after another and though he had said that he was not feeling well till last evening, his verve did not diminish by even a tiny particle during the whole cou

Dil Dhadakne Do was   not a disappointment at all. It had just about everything interesting that could happen to a typically insane (i.e. 'normal') family  on a cruise. As Pluto, the dog in the film, correctly mentioned that he was the only voice of reason in the entire saga. And that pretty much brings into question not just the good sense of the Mehra family, described in the movie, but also the good sense of the rest of us social animals. The 'self-made man' Kamal Mehra (played by Anil Kapoor), whose business in on the downfall, tries to bring his business back in order by getting ready to wed his son with Mr. Sood's daughter who will go forward with buying 49% of his company's shares if the marriage is executed. And the marriage is no less than an execution because Mr. Mehra's son Kabir (played by Ranveer Singh) is in love with Farah Ali (played by Anushka Sharma) who is a club dancer and, hold your breath, a muslim! And Mr. Sood's daughter, Noo

Just finished watching Gone Girl by David Fincher. One heck of a film, this one. Keeps you tied to the edge of your seat till the very end. It's a dark film, to say the least. Shows you stuff that the reality t.v. won't let you see. It's about a married couple who have become, over the years, bored of each other. The husband uses the wife for sex exclusively and won't give in to her demands of bearing a baby. The wife is sick of being two timed by her husband and won't sit passively watching. So, she hatches up one incredible plot to teach the cheating husband one unforgettable lesson. She goes missing. And creates a scenario under which her clueless man can be framed for her murder. The wife's name is Amy Dunne (played by Rosamund Pike) and the man is Nick Dunne (played by Ben Affleck). I will reserve my judgements for the female protagonist of the film but I can safely say that Amy Dunne is quite simply one of the most intriguing female characters ever s

It was fun watching IIFA 2015. Granted that some of the nominations were shocking. Even some of the wins raised eye brows. But at the end of the day, it gave what everyone looks for in any event these days- entertainment. Entertainment for Indian award shows means mostly dance items by popular stars that move on the beats of people's favourite tracks. And the culture of song and dance that we see played out in our movies gets ably replicated in these award shows. I loved the grandeur they managed to give to this show. The IIFA chooses a different foreign venue each year. This year, it was Malaysia. And it didn't disappoint. The hosts were the rambunctious Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh (of the AIB Roast fame, I might add). But due to the nature of the occasion, they were not the same unbridled selves as their AIB Roast avatar. That video was from a different planet for a puritanical Indian audience. The dance performances were not a bore either. Especially electric was th