Paheli

Paheli (english meaning riddle) has been chosen to be sent for the Oscars from India. Directed by Amol Palekar*, it has Rani Mukherjee n Shahrukh Khan as the lead actors. Since, I haven't seen this movie (courtesy SRK hate factor) can't comment on the story n the acting. But, charging ahead in the competition with Swades, Parineeta n such films it definitely has to be different. Let us hope it goes on to achieve what Lagaan couldn't.

*Amol Palekar is one of my fav actors. I wanted to see Paheli only 'coz of his direction but.... Anyways, seeing his pictures n interviews frm yesterday (after the nomination was announced) reminded me of some of his good movies. Some of my fav movies starring him are Golmaal (ultimate combination alongwith Utpal Dutt), Gharonda (if I m not wrong, his onscreen name is Sudeep), Chitchor, Choti Si Baat.... list is long. I luv the songs more when Yesudas has lent his voice. Among the songs I like humming to Jaaneman Jaaneman - Choti Si Baat, Ek Akela/Do diwane shehar mein - Gharonda, Aanewala Pal - Golamaal. Wishing best of luck to the whole team....

P.S.: Yet I feel tht Parineeta shld have been sent ... the 'Lolita' stuff might appeal the foreign community.

Normal....

The original look is back in place. The font size n alignment were not matching with the space provided for posting. PHEW!! Last night itself I vowed tht I would not write a post by mail again. But 5-10 minutes after that a "News" on the main blogspot page grabbed my attention. From what I read it seems to be a small software for posting if the blogger is using MS Word. Now my last post was edited in MS Outlook which uses Word to format. Hmmm.... thinking of giving it a try after downloading it. Blogspot deserves a mention for making the homepage better. The new addidtions like updated blogs give it a nice look. But, I m feeling happy seeing my page return to the normal look.

The city has also returned to it's normal state. The clashes between the police forces and a bunch of hooligans had brought disrepute to the city's clean 112 yr record of the Ganesh idol immersion festival. Police had to resort to lathi charge n use tear gas shells to disperse the angry mob who wanted to go against the 10 pm loudspeaker deadline set by the Supreme Court. Many innocent ppl had to bear the brunt of the Rapid Action Force. Each yr I actively participate, but thnx to my mom, who fell a bit ill tht I decided to stay home tht night otherwise would have landed in some hospital. It was the first time I watched the procession on television.

Speaking 'bout normal, the roads are back to their 'normal state' after heavy rains lashed the city. The patchy tar work which was done has come out and the whole landscape is now full of beautiful potholes with each having the size almost of a small swimming pool. If the water logged in those was clear I bet u would find me having some fun with some beauties... he he he.

TEST(osterone)

This is another test post by mail. If u r new here or u have a poor memory (lol), then to inform u tht the last time I tried posting by mail, the sidebar went haywire. The simple reason was tht Yahoo doesn’t provide ‘justified’ option for the mail. So now, I m sending this frm my company id.

UPDATE: Now does it look normal????

Laughter season

I m very happy seeing the promos of one of my fav serial Seinfeld on Star World. I don't mind if they repeat the old seasons coz I love tht show. Meanwhile Star One, which has some good sitcoms like Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai, did a good job to showcase some of India's budding comedians in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge. Although Sunil Pal won the finals, the best act according to me was "Bar Girl Call" by Navin Prabhakar (he stood overall fourth). I have uploaded the video clipping* of the same.

* Some of u might not understand the language 'coz the video is in Hindi. But if u have time, worth watching his expressions of a bar-gal who calls up a client.

Colours of life

Got some Rangpanchami pics scanned...

Ganpati Bappa Morya

Ganesh Utsav is back and the rains n floods haven't dampened the enthusiasm of the festival though the pandals have cut down their expenses. Lord Ganesh is the God of Wisdom. May he shower all of u with his blessings n bring lots of happiness in each ones' life. Do read the links provided. Happy Ganesh Utsav!!!

No Entry review!

After a very long time got to see a plain comedy movie. "No Entry" is in similar lines of "Masti" with 3 friends in the role of straying husbands, but No Entry does not have any double-meaning jokes as were in Masti. Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan n Fardeen Khan pair up respectively with Lara Dutta, Esha Deol n Celina Jaitley and the xtra zing is provided by Bipasha Basu in the role of a bar-dancer. A casual fling with the bar-dancer lands these men in a trouble (they r caught by the ladies) n they try to hide it by introducing her as other's wife. The resulting chaos creates a hilarious situation which is well portrayed. Wht I liked more is tht some actors who deserve less role in the movie r shown in just a few appropriate scenes. On the music score only the song "Ishq di galli vich No Entry" is foot-tapping. Keep ur brains at home n have a good laugh.

Let's try!

This is a trial post from the mail. The bad thing 'bout this is tht I can't post pictures alongwith. Also, can't keep the writing colourful. Or can I? Let us see if splashing some colour here does the trick. If this works fine, then tomorrow I will post (or mail) a movie review (lol... u r trapped again to read another one).

Another thing I wanted to say is tht now I know atleast the name .... Sean Ryann... lol (surprised??). Ok.. u had it on ur profile contact section but since i turned on my comments-by-mail option i got it in my inbox.

Out at last!

Engineering College is like a public toilet. The people outside r desperate to go inside n the ppl inside r dying to come outside.

Many of u might not agree on this but tht's my pt of view. Anyways heartiest congratulations to the 2005 batch for their success. Best of luck for ur future endeavours.

P.S.: Just remember to wash ur hands.. lol

HR Calls

I m trying to figure out how to post via e-mail. If anyone knows 'bout it pls help. This post was pending since a long time. I had listed HR calls (HR- Human Resources) as one of my turn-off. The reason might be:

I joined this company in March this year. Till date I haven't given my office phone no to anyone and also never disclosed my desk extension no. I didn't feel the need for it coz all those wishing to contact me have my cell or home no. So after I joined here, hardly 1 week later my desk phone rang. On picking it up, a very sweet voice of a gal greeted me n said "Hello! Can I speak to Sudeep please?". Thinking that the call was from someone within the company I said "Hi! Yeah...I m Sudeep." Before I could ask who she was, she started off "I m --- (don't remember the name) calling from a job consultancy firm. We have a few job openings in (our company's main competitor name). So r u interested? Are u comfortable talking on this line otherwise give me ur cell no. so tht I will speak with u ltr". First I was stumped but gathering back my wits i asked "I don't have a cell ;). But, can I get a job on just 1 week experience?" "I thought u would have atleast 2-3 mths exp. Gimme ur e-mail id so tht when there is a vacancy suitable for u, I can contact u". I heard someone coming from behind so I disconnected the call. 5 min. later it struck me tht how would the gal know my name before hand. Discussing it with some frnds (they too get such calls), we figured out tht our company itself must be giving the task of such hoax calls to keep an eye on the aspirations of the employees. But, how silly of the caller of disclosing my name (n mine not to catch it immediately).

Then few days before I posted my turn-ons' n turn-offs' a call went like this:

Me: "Hello"

Caller: "Can I know whose extension is this?"

"Sudeep n Santosh"

"And I m talking with..."

"Sudeep"

"Hi Sudeep. I m Neha speaking from XYZ Consultancy. We have some openings for candidates with exp. less than 1 yr. So, r u interested or shld I call on u ltr on ur cell?"

"I joined last Monday, so I don't feel like leaving now"

"Ok. Give me ur mail id so tht...."

"Better way u give ur id so tht when i feel like quitting i will contact u"

"The id is (she blurted out something). Can I speak to Santosh?"

"No he is not here right now."

"When will be he back?"

"He is probably in the toilet with a stomach upset. So I can't tell."

Beep... Beep.. She disconnected the phone n I punched my fists in air like I won a big battle. On seeing this Santosh asked "Wht happened?" I said "Got bored hitting the keyboard keys so just loosening up my hands"... lol

I just want to tell the HR ppl tht I m not planning to leave u (so soon), so pls stop bugging me with those calls.

BLOCKED!!!

All sites have been blocked in company ... add it with the new project workload means no time to log in frm home ... so less no. of posts n also less no. of comments on ur blogs ... pls bear with me.

Super Challenge post review

Sometime back I had posted the "Super Challenge" Rest of the World team. The playing team was officially declared yesterday.

Just a crosscheck:

                 My list             Their list

1. Virendra Sehwag (IND)             Selected
2. Sanath Jayasuriya (SRL)           Shahid Afridi
3. Jacques Kallis (SAF)              Selected
4. Brian Lara (WI)                   Selected
5. Yousuf Youhana (PAK)              Herschelle Gibbs    
6. Kumar Sangakkara (SRL)            Selected
7. Andrew Flintoff (ENG)             Selected
8. Irfan Pathan (IND)                Shaun Pollock
9. Daniel Vettori (NZL)              Selected
10. Muthiah Murlitharan (SRL)        Selected
11. Darren Gough (ENG)               Shoaib Akthar


Reserve Force:
12. Sachin Tendulkar (IND)           Selected
13. Marcus Trescothick (ENG)         Kevin Pieterson      
14. Brendon McCullum (NZL)           ---                         
15. Makhaya Ntini (SAF)              Selected

I had selected 15 players while the team has 14 ...
so --- seen in the list.

Go fishing

Uploaded a video on fishing adventures.

Oops!!.. I did it again - Britney Spears

Ketan Mehta, director of Mangal Pandey - The Rising (see previous post), in an interview declared tht he is planning a movie on Rani Laxmibai, another historical figure from the same era. I think he is definitely planning to rewrite history as per his discretion. The role of the brave Rani Laxmibai will be played by Aishwarya Rai. Hmm... tht is one reason to go to the theatre.. ;)

Mangal... Mangal.. Mangal

Even after two days I m still wondering whether Mangal Pandey-The Rising was a historic film or a soft-porn. The way the director deals with the story, it seems to explore the sex-lives of the Generals of East India Company (EIC) n not the life of the hero of the 1857 Indian Uprising. For beginners, Mangal Pandey was an Indian soldier on the payrolls of EIC. He played a pivotal role in the 1857 Uprising (in the current sixth/seventh grade history books, his bravery is described in just one line). So, the director (...remember his film Maya Memsaab) has stretched this one line into a two-n-half hour movie. How? Tht's simple.. put in some sleazy scenes n a couple of 'item-songs'. I m not averse to sex-scenes in movies (Bollywood is coming out of age n i m happy for tht), but the director seems to have forgotten wht an outrage it might generate in the hero-worshipping community (..national heroes do not have any vice). Also a recent book has been published "Mangal Pandey: Martyr or Accidental Hero".

Mangal Pandey (played by Amir Khan) n his officer, Gordon (Toby Stephens) r shown as frnds who do mud-wrestling n drink bhang (alcoholic drink) together. On Gordon's command Mangal chews the cartridge-cover, which is coated with animal fat n which is against his religion. The cartridges create a stir among the sepoys n alogwith some local rulers they decide to overthrow the British regime. The plan somehow reaches the authorities n they summon a large fleet of army to foil the uprising. Mangal Pandey is taken in custody n hanged in public. But, the seeds of rebellion he sowed then, gave birth to a massive upheaval which shook the foundations of the EIC.

Though, Mangal's role was very important in the uprising it is completely overlooked in the film which beats around the bush showing some nautch gals shaking their booty. Amir Khan's 4 yr sabbatical was the main reason for the crowds to throng to the theatres. Though Amir is one of my fav actors, I was totally disappointed with this film. Toby Stephens comes out gr8... I liked the scene in which he tries desperately to defend Mangal in the courtroom. Rest of the actors r so-so. Check out the catchy backgrnd sound on the film's official site.

A recent mail : Wht will be the name of Amir Khan's big budget adult film...

Man-Gal Porn-Day: The Raising

Weeekkkkend....

First of all a very Happy Independence Day (though it was yest.) to all...

Long n hectic weekend (+ Monday)...

Spent half of Saturday sweating out in the training prog... then went to see Mangal Pandey.

Sunday morn. went in searching for a customer for my old 2-wheeler.. evening went out with coll. frnds.. Suraj had also come frm Mysore taking off frm his hectic Infy training.

Monday was Ind. Day.. so spent morning in it.. afternoon took the 2 wheeler for a bit servicing (found a buyer)... evening went for a house-warming party at a frnd's place.

Today morning was pulled out frm the Training in company n given a new project... spent all the day working ...*PHEW* ... so now leaving for home... bye.

Lotz of reading to do tomorrow as many posts r up in all the list... :)

Man Vs Machine

Saw Stealth last Saturday. Actually had gone for "Sehar" n thinking tht it was 1-2 weeks old didn't bother to buy tickets in advance. But, saw a big HOUSEFULL board n had to settle for this movie. The starting scene is beautifully picturised.. the movie starts in future with three super-supersonic jets each piloted by an extra-ordinary human-being. This team (Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx) has been trained to wipe out the terrorist hide-outs all over the world. An auto-pilot jet (with a sophisticated machine-to-man communication interface) is included in the team to enhance the operations n reduce the risk to human life (i.e. pilots'.. n wht 'bout the ppl living in regions near the bombing sites??). This works fine until the program inside the goes haywire n the jet starts thinking on it's own. The storyline as such is very dull (the hero goes on a rescue mission n tames the talking-jet by his sweet n logical approach.. lol). Only thing I liked was the amazing sounds of the jets soaring high n fast in the blue sky (surprised!! the sky will remain blue inspite of the pollution u make.. so need to worry). Also check out this site.. worth a visit

All in all.. worth the money if u like the sounds n don't care even if the heroine looks old.. :p

P.S.: Sorry for the late post.. i know u were missing my excellent reviews (lol). Be prepared for another dose coz going to see Mangal Pandey tomorrow... he he he

Tagging on...

Series of tagging: GrandPooofAwesome --->Veggiebabe ---> Squishy ---> Anonymous Blogger

Anonymous Blogger has tagged me to for listing my 10 turn-ons' n turn-offs' (strictly non-sexual.. lol)

So here goes the list:

Turn-ons':

• Humour (without tht life sucks..)
• Ice-creams n chocolates
• Smell of moist earth (esp. after the first drizzle)
• Songs i love
• Home cooked food (my mom is an excellent cook)
• Good comedy shows on TV
• Reunions (School n college preferable over family get-togethers)
• Sports (almost all .. more if they r outdoor)
• Mythology
• Cold coffee frm "Durga" (a local coffee outlet.. it is addictive)

Turn-offs':

• People who r slow at understanding jokes (esp. if they r cracked by me..lol)
• Fat ppl who disagree they r..
• "Request blocked by Web-blocker" message in the company even when the site is not porn-related
• Bad weather
• Coercion to eat wht i don't like (I tend to start hating those ppl.. one of my aunt is like tht)
• Staying late at workplace when not necessary
• HR calls (thinking of writing another post for this..)
• Hard rock
• Ppl who disobey traffic rules..
• Poor team leaders

I m deviating frm the one-to-one tagging unsaid rule. So I m tagging the following ppl:

• Parag
• Poo Poo Princess
• Harshal
• Natty

Kaun Banega Crorepati 2

Big B is back.. n back with a bang (for this read the next para). The 2nd part of the hugely-popular KBC (same lines on Who wants to be a Millionaire) kicked off last Friday. The enthu of the ppl remains the same only thing changing seems to be the moolah.. doubled this time to 2 crore.

Columnist Shailaja Bajapai in today's Indian Express writes:

...like TV is booming, and we boast of over 60 TV 24x7 channels, the only TV icon we possess is an ageing, white-bearded film star of 60+, who, last week, dyed his hair light brown, climbed into Abhishek’s black leather jacket (with steel rings on the pockets), and sang KBC’s cheerful opening rap-like ditty to belie the crow’s nests gathering below his eyes?...

Sooooo true... but still he remains (n will continue in coming yrs) the comman man's ultimate hero.

Pune (ok...atleast myself) hung my head in shame when a localite reaching the Hot Seat didn't know wht was PETA for.

Bush...

Had told Alex tht I would be posting some images of Bush.. though I agree with Squishy it is hard to find a normal pic of this guy