Celebrating World Music Day

It all started when while sifting through the pages of HT a few
days back I stumbled upon an ad for "Genre of The Day contest".
On an ordinary day I would have skipped it like it was never there
but that day I chose to be different, chose to act because the prize
was very enticing, "Invites for finale of HT's World Music
Day celebrations featuring Atif Aslam and Rock Bands"

I (for a change) sent a sms but nothing happened for a couple
of days and then i received this sms
"Hi HT congratulates u for winning the GOTD contest.
Collect your prize from .........." . Wow I had just won my
solitary prize in the real world. But then can things be
really this simple for me ?? Noooooooo is the the obvious answer.
Moreover what fun would a good thing like this be unless it flip-flops
between Ifs and Buts ?

From receiving just one pass for the concert(plus a music world
gift voucher) , staying late in office for work to standing at
venue's entry with a pass but being told that admissions
are closed everything happened with me in a kinda planned manner.

But then, things happen when they ought to happen and in the way
they ought to happen. Luckily I got inside in time(before Atif had come).
Had to sit through an obscure song by Manthan and a super silly
question followed by a sillier answer. No, I can't help but quote them

Dumb guy with mike(to some random guy): "aapko Atif
ka music aacha lagta hai ya Atif ke good looks ?"
Random guy:"Nahi, Mujhe Atif ka style sabse aacha lagta hai"
Dumb guy with mike:"Yes I can promise you all he is a style icon"
Me: WTF ?

Next few minutes saw Atif's band doing a sound check and once it
was done the Dude(Atif) stormed the stage.
Girls screamed and swooned, Mellifluous music wafter through the air,
Girls screamed and swooned even more. His husky resonating voice had
everyone in trance and his subtle (apt for a disco) dance steps made girls
hysterical.

Apart from his popular songs Atif treated the audience with
U2's "With or Without You", Rahat Khan's "Naina", Adnam's
"Bheegi Bheegi Raaton" and "Yaaron yahi dosti hai" but
nothing could match the effect that "Kuch is tarah" and "Tere Bin"
effortlessly created.

Piece of Advice:
For such events reach the venue even if you don't have passes/tickets
and keep trying because chances are that by hook or by crook
you'll get in.

Trivia:
1) The performance lasted just slightly more then an hour but it
gave enough to sustain nostalgia for a long long time.
2) The event saw people coming from as far as Kashmir and Mumbai
3) Special mention was given and dedications made to the Aadeez.
4) The passes were available at select Barista and Music World outlets
free of cost(Even i got to know this on Thursday afternoon).
5) Thanks to a random guy who broke the plastic seal(that
had kept the gate locked) courtesy which I got in.

Links:
1) Atif's website
2) Check this out

Tracks that Featured on my Winamp

These tracks reflect my state of mind at various
points of time..


15) Way back into Love - Music and Lyrics
14) Mann Yeh Banwara - Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi
13) Mauja Hi Mauja - Jab We Met
12) Perhaps,Perhaps,Perhaps - DJ Shadow
11) Sini Re Sini Re - Jawani Deewani
10) Unke Nashe Mein - Unke Nashe Mein
9) Six Days - Doris Day
8) Hello - Lionel Richie
7) All The Things She Said - The Ordinary Boys
6) Zeehal-e-Miskeen - Ghulami
5) Loose Yourself - Eminem
4) Mahia - Annie
3) Only God Knows Why - Kid Rock
2) You Fill Up My Senses - John Denver
1) Coming Back To Life - Pink Floyd

I Want You To Know....

PS: Dedicated to ..........

Desperate Men

Warning: Shocking/Appalling Content below

Picture these...

1) 12:30 pm on a Tuesday @ some packed blueline
bus to AIIMS.

A school girl is sitting on a seat that's towards the center of
bus (adjacent to the window seat). Lost in a novel that she
bought yesterday when she feels something is pushing her
shoulder from the right. She’s shocked and embarrassed to
find a middle aged man thrusting his ..... on her

2) 3:30 pm on a Saturday @ a cousin's place.

A teenage girl awakes from her sleep after feeling something
rubbing on her lips. Her half open eyes catch glance
of her cousin brother sneaking out of the room. Unsure how
to react she stopped talking to that guy and broke all ties
with his family.

3) 5:15 pm on Thursday @ the road from maitreyi to
shanti niketan bus stop.

A couple of girls are walking back towards the bus stop after finishing
a day at college when they start hearing weird moaning/groaning sounds,
after covering a distance they are sickened on seeing a bunch of men
............ while leching and flashing at girls passing by.

4) 7:45 pm on a Sunday @ some market in West Delhi.

A working woman is walking back to her home with her head
facing down and hands folded, reflecting how her day went
when all of a sudden three boys on a bike swoosh by her and
she realizes that something just hit her on the chest.
Tiny drops of water drizzle from her eyes ...

5) 9:30 pm on a Friday @ an office party.

A lady is tapping her feet to the music along with a couple of her friends
when she feels someone pinched her back. On turning around she finds
out it’s the same drunken guy who deliberately bumped into her few
minutes back on the same floor. Caught red handed, the guy tries to
run but unluckily (for him) he gets caught, receives a mild thrashing
from the lady and is eventually let off with a warning.

Perhaps Samantha was right(when in one of SATC episodes) she said
"An erect &^%*# doesn't have a conscience"

Streets, Public modes of transportation, Malls, Offices and
even Houses of people you know, these weeds germinate
everywhere but only when they find a prey they show
their true colour. Colour of that repressed and untamed
basic instinct which when in control effaces the distinguishing
line between humans and animals. It defies me how can
anyone(read boys/men) stoop to this level, the level which is
perhaps the nadir of immorality.

Try to imagine how things would be say in a city
like Delhi when one not to so fine day people wake up and
are told that there is no police or any other law enforcing
body........

How far could you stretch your mind???

Trust me on this, things would be worse ..........

Links:
1) An article on Eve Teasing.
2) The Blank Noise Project
3) Bosharivale
4) Testimonies of harassment
5) A blog post on eve-teasing

Trivia:
Each one of the above mentioned is as real as you n me and
what exalts my pains is the fact that i personally know every
girl/women involved. I remember breaking down in
anguish a couple of times on hearing sordid details of these
ghastly acts and I don't think I'll be able to forget them.

Omkara !!!

Don't read further if using/hearing/reading or writing offensive
words(gaallies) in hindi makes you uncomfortable..

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast: AjayDevgan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi,
Naseeruddin Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma and Bipasha Basu

Watched Omkara today for the 3rd time.Yes, after watching it twice on the
70 mm screen i sat down to had another go at this contemporary
Bollywood Classic...Shoot...

"Bewakoof aur chutiyee mein dhaage bhar ka farak hota haiga
bhaiya.Dhaage ke inge bewakoof aur unge chutiya, aur jo
dhaaga hench lo to kaun hai bewakoof aur kaun hai chutiya,
crore ruppey ka prashan hai bhaiya."

How often does a Hindi film start with a dialogue like this ??
Perhaps once in every 55,486 films that are made..

I still remember the rainbow of expressions that followed this dialogue
when I watched this film for the first time in theater..From a group of boys
laughing like crazy to parents looking here and there pretending as if the
film's first dialogue is yet to be spoken...The swear words keep pouring
intermittently through out the film from everyone's mouth barring
Kareena..It was surprising to see actors like Konkona Utter the "C" word
casually even while serving food..

Omkara, Vishal Bhardwaj's fourth directorial venture (Makdee,Maqbool
and The Blue Umbrella being first three) is a hindi adaptation of
Shakespeare's Othello. Set against the milieu of political warfare in wild
backwoods of Uttar Pradesh, Omkara revolves around the life of Omi(Ajay),
bahubaali(right hand) of a local politician Bhaisaab(Naseeruddin).

The movie entails a complex web of human emotions beautifully portrayed
by deft actors to perfection..Saif who has been in the acting business
for long had a rebirth with a powerhouse performance as Langda Tyagi
Ajay Devgan once again played the role of a local goon with panache and
Konkona Sen reaffirmed her acting prowess by playing the role of Indu.
While Vivek,Kareena managed to do justice to their roles,Deepak Dobriyal
stood out in his role as Rajju and needless to say Naseeruddin
did his bit flawlessly.

The scene where Dolly's father traduces about her

"Bahubali aurat ke Dariya charitra ko mat bhoolna, jo apne
baap ko thag sakti hai woh kissi aur ki sagi kya hi hogi"

sets the tone of the movie and marks a change in its course.
Next turn of events is depicted by
Langda smashing the mirror and smearing his forehead
with his blood
Soon after this the basic darker human emotions of envy, suspicion
and revenge that were foisted earlier begin to manifest themselves
and what follows is a dirty game of insinuations, perfidy and deceit
only to end up as a gory tragedy.

Exquisitely written poetic lyrics by Gulzar and Brilliantly composed music
by Vishal(himself) adds another beautiful feather in the cap of Omkara..
From haunting "Naina" and belligerent "Omkara" to the soulful instrumental
track "The Tragedy of Omkara", they got them all bang on the target and
who can forget the frenzy that "Beedi" still creates effortlessly on dance floors?
The cinematography, screenplay and script too deserve full marks.

Also I had a realization of the power that background score carries and subtle
hints that it drops about anything important thats going to happen in the next
scene.Actually its a Meticulously prepared concoction of apt background
score(which evokes pertinent feelings) and camera movement/speed..

I loved Omkara for it's authenticity and starkness, though I haven't
read Othello so I am not in a position to compare the two but I
strongly feel that Vishal would have done justice to Bard's work.

Dialogues I Loved:
1) Sarat ghoron pe lagaate hain, kathor! Seron pe nahi
2) Arrey dekh rahe hain bhaiya kahin chuna khariya toh nah utha laye,
aisi gori laundiya susri humare desh mein kahan se ho li ?
3) Mann meri nahi maan raha hai aur main mann ki..
4) Jab granthon ne kalank ko humare maathe ki bindi bana diya hai toh
aapki kya galti hai omi bhaiya, hum apne ghar bar naate, sab tyaag kar
aap logon ke sansaar mein nange haath chale aate hain, agni se bhi nikal
jawen na toh bhi sagey nahi thagey hi kehelawien hain.
5) Jab ghoree ke khoor mein naal thuke, to menduki bhi paun (u)thaa
leti hai bhaiyya
6) Baadi lakdi mat ttha (uttha)

Scenes I Loved:
1) The opening scene
2) Omi's negotiation with kaptaan on a truck
3) MMS expose of Indor Singh, the scene before title track of the film.
4) Announcement of Keeshu as the new bahubaali and the riot of colours,
and gunshots that follow.
5) Indu teasing Omi on his arrival(with Dolly) at their home.
6) Cops visiting Omi's house being frisked and made to deposit arms.
7) Langda and Rajju drinking atop a river bridge.
8) Langda ridiculing Keeshu
9) Bonfire with Langda talking about the kamarband.



Trivia:
1)

Character in the movie/ Character in the play
Omkara 'Omi' Shukla/ Othello
Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi/ Iago
Keshav 'Kesu' Firangi/ Cassio
Dolly Mishra/ Desdemona
Indu/ Emilia
Billo Chamanbahar/ Bianca
Rajan ’Rajju’ Tiwari/ Rodrigo
Bhaisaab/ Duke of Venice

2)All characters in the film share the same alphabet or sound in their first
name as in the original Shakespeare classic

3) There was a shot where Saif Ali Khan is in the shadows, looking at a mirror.
Vishal Bharadwaj suggested that it would be very artistic and beautiful if Saif
did it naked. The actor answered,
"I am prepared to do that as long as you direct me naked."
That was the end of the topic

Links:
1) Official site for Omkara
2) A Comparison of the Antagonists of Omkara and Othello
3) Omkara on Wiki
4) Omkara's music
5) The bard and this dud

Mac Chicks !!!

Like Mac ???
Like Chicks ???

So here's something for you that has it all:

Mac Chicks = Mac + Chicks



Enjoy !!!!