DHAKKALAGAABUKKA!

My one line Yuva review

That guy who plays the student character called Vishnu looks a lot like my good friend Anshul, who makes movies as well. Freaky.

(ok thats two lines.and now three. and four. oh shit, five…)

Weird Facts about things that choose to surround my life:

-Times Of India thinks the GRE and GMAT are ‘prestigious’ examinations. I wonder if they’ll give anand a Bharat Ratna, then?
-There’s a confectionary shop near puneet23’s house that says in big bold letters: FRIENDS Bakers and Freakers. I get the Bakers part, really I do. But I think its not a good advert of their products if they say they freak as well.
-Also near the same place is a Dry Cleaner’s shop. The business establishment is called “Albino Dry Cleaners”. They clean Human Beings as well? To a nice and shiny white? Remember that time when I told you people are stupid? I rest my case.
-India is obsessed with marriage. Yup, all of it. And maybe its just me, but go see Yuva. While Mani Ratnam was completely at home writing the movie, once he got to directing it, he seemed a bit uncomfortable during the parts where the character played by Esha Deol decides to move in with a guy called Mikey. He(Mani) wasn’t too sure about what to do with it. He seemed to have written that part in because he thought that would make him understand the young, not the least because he thought it was ok. Now, don’t go flamin me, I think it IS me. But the fact remains that India as a society, is fucking obsessed with marriage. It is measure of success(Hamaara bachaa settle ho gaya), it is one of the choicest of abuses(terey baap ke shaadi hai kya?), it is used to chide children(yeh kya ganda kamra hai? dahej phaila rakha hai?) and it is used as a form of jest(tere bache jiyen tera khoon piyen). This of course from a North Indian standpoint because thats who I am thats where I’ve spent a substantial part of my life. How can I say then, that the whole country is afflicted with this malady? I have friends and they told me. Don’t go denying it or you WILL get married. Thats not going to be pretty.
-Oldies sitting in a chartered bus (in a minute) in Delhi will not be polite to you, in fact they’ll be quite rude if they can help it, and make you feel very unwelcome UNLESS you have breasts. In which case they’ll be helpful, kind, and protect your breasts with their magical force field of lecherous stares.. Gotta love em.
-Unlicensed Luxury buses charging 50% extra fare and plying from big residential locations to major office complexes in Delhi are called “Chartered” buses. They’re called that despite nobody actually chartering them. Heh.
-rajasen is now Page 3 glitterati. HT city, 25th may. Nuff said.

Ze Fairy Tale
I don’t particularly like prologues. Especially the ones that seem like they are trying to grab your attention, but really are an obscure passage meant to confuse you into reading more so that it makes sense. I’ll see if the tale needs a prologue at all after the story is complete. Which means my prologue is scrapped, and into the bin. Oh, and I’m writing the book on paper and pencil. This is to fool myself into thinking it is a bigger deal than I make of it. I’m still leaving a blank space with the protagonist’s name, can’t think of one that could be suitably vulnerable yet strong. It will come to me though. It usually does.

Books!
Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone is a book that proves that a good writing style or rich prose is not necessary to tell an effective story. My bias towards Indian authors writing about Indian things not withstanding, I enjoyed the book for all its purported mediocrity. Not a book that can be recommended easily, but it does tell a story that can give you a few chuckles. Good for hyuks. Although I must warn you the narrative suffers from Iamcooltooitis. That is a fairly common malady that affects new writers writing semi autobiographical stories wherein the protaganist, however bound by self loathing and lack of confidence gets to do cool things that the author thinks should have happened to him, or at least his main character out of empathy for a fellow geek. Not that it is a bad thing, but that is one of the things that lends the book a certain naivete… which can be charming or stupid, depending on which side of the jaded book reader fence you are on. On the other hand, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is so funny, and so utterly devoid of the unecessarily patronizing sweetness, trademark of children’s fiction, that it WILL endear itself to you. Do give it a shot if its light reading you’re into these days.
Finding the hardcover edition of Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently omnibus, in mint condition and for 150 INR can do things to your sanity. So please take whatever I say with a pinch of salt.

Movies!
You owe it to your numbed brain to watch Lost in Translation. Twice. And do everyone else a favor and shoot yourself if you find Murray anything short of brilliant. I found Lost In Translation this sort of Anti Megatokyo movie. While I am sure Piro would have loved it, its this movie that doesn’t seem to exist in the same universe as Megatokyo, much less the same Tokyo. Nevertheless, my resolve to visit that country is strengthened even more. But I digress. LiT has a certain mellow happiness to it, despite being sardonic and even sad at times. I am a screenplay geek, and LiT is in my book of most well written screenplays ever. Another thing, why is it that each time I watch Memento, I come to a different conclusion about Leonard’s life?