Thursday, April 30, 2009

Wishes ... !!

A year wiser? I doubt that ... a year older? I more than vouch for that ...

As has become a ritual with me ... I spent my birthday away from work ... and with my family ... and more importantly ... at HOME ... doing stuff that I like a lot ...

Well ... I am almost at the footsteps of an age which is described as VETERAN in cricketing terminology ... it just feels like yesterday that the TEENS deserted me ... and here I am staring at the wrong end of the TWENTIES ... I have started inviting stares from people who are not a lot older than me and I still find it convenient to call them UNCLE ... and I am getting used to the fact that more and more teenagers are calling me UNCLE ... :) ... call that a residue of age ...

So it was nice to sit in front of the TV the entire day ... watch IPL ... gorge on Mangoes ... swim ... chat on Yahoo to absolute strangers ... sleep (in all its splendor) ... and finally have a 4 course HOMELY LUNCH ...

people who matter ... wished ... Biwi decorated our room ... Dinesh and Prakash gave a nice gift ... and all 3 made it a point to come back from office early ... so that we could have a good evening ... Chocolate cake from Copper Chocs never disappoints ... couple that with a quiet dinner at Signature ... and a prank hour (with target as Prakash) ... some chatter about out trip to Sangaon in a couple of days time ... and finally some more chatter while lazying in the society garden ... till 3 in the morning ... thats more than handy recipe for a good old fashioned Birthday ...

Happy Birthday Pratik Omprakash Beri ... some things in life are priceless ... for all others ... you need MONEY ... ;)

Cheers ... !!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Impact ... !!

I was surfing channels last weekend trying to get hold of some nice cartoon ... some nice sporting occasion or some nice movie ... there were lots of channels where I spent some time ... Tom n Jerry never fails to impress me (I am sure its the case with most of us) ... Augusta Masters was too appetizing but the fact that Tiger and Mickelson were not doing very well made me switch ... and finally I ended with ... SARKAR ...

It aint a secret that I am a fan of RGV's movies. There's a very interesting story about Sarkar and me ... it goes back during the time it was released (no matter how much I try ... I dont seem to create that feel of novels) ... the story is such that ... at that time City Pride Kothrud was a newbie ... and most of us counted just 4 as the number of multiplexes in Pune ... in Inox, E-Square. Adlabs and City Pride Satara Road ... some weird sequence of events had led me to see this movie in each of these multiplexes ... including thrice in three days ... it was almost as if I told my 4th accomplice ... I CAN ENACT EACH SCENE ... NO NEED TO WATCH IT ...

So when I tuned into Sarkar this weekend ... all those moments came galloping back (there I go again ... I am not novel material ... guess I am not that novel in creating a novel ... aah ... there's a statement) ... for now lets say ... those moments came running back ... much more real ...

If there was ever a scene that warms you up to watch the rest of the movie ... its the scene where Rashid meets Sarkar for the first time ... just mind boggling ... the impact it creates on th viewer ...

The director has interleaved the part of Khan informing Sarkar about Rashid and Rashid actually walking up the stairs so wonderfully ... the poise of both Rashid and Sarkar ... it gives you goose bumps ... even on the small screen ...

The back ground music is only broken by Rashid saying ... "Aapse akele main kuch baat karna thaa mereko" ... and is so promptly replied with ... "samajh lo ki mai akela hi hoon" ... Chander and Khan are both in this scene with Sarkar and Rashid (I am sure everyone knows about this) ... Chander has this habit of loosing his temper at the drop of a ... well hat would sound to advanced for Chander ... lets say he gets angry very easily ... as soon as Sarkar says this ... its like Chander getting the authority to impose himself on Rashid ... he responds with an eye contact with Rashid and pointing out his left hand towards the seat he is supposed to take ...

Throughout the scene ... its noteworthy seeing Khan chewing his Paan/tobacco/supari ... and Chander constantly hounding Rashid with his looks ... Rashid tells Sarkar of his intentions ... the way Sarkar lifts his eyes from sipping tea as soon as he hears the words "Shikuti gaon" ... just amazing ... impact ... and reaction ... just wonderful ... Sarkar hears out Rashid and then sets off for his introduction ... you almost feel he will go an for a longer time ... but he cuts it off with ... "Mai nahi karunga" ...

Rashid raises the stakes and says ... "30 lakh" ... this is enough for Chander to spit venom ... he angrily responds to Rashid ... Rashid tries to clarify with Sarkar (Rashid does a great job interacting with ONLY SARKAR ... he doesnt care a lot about Chander ... this is what a villain should be ...) ... Sarkar by now is vehemently denying Rashid ...

This is where the magic of Rashid takes over ... he is clearly disgruntled ... but he still has the audacity to finish the tea in his cup ... give Chander a WE-WILL-SEE-WHO-WINS-THIS-BATTLE-OF-STARES stare ... and finally gets up ... Sarkar is quick to chip in with ... "Aur suno ... tujhe bhi karne nahi dunga" ... this is the most amazing sequence of background score inter mingled with the most appropriate body language ... with Taasha ... Dhol and sundry ...

Rashid still touches Sarkar's feet before leaving ...

For me ... the most striking feature about this scene is that both Sarkar and Rashid appear vulnerable at different stages of this scene ... it ... as they say ... SETS UP THE MOVIE ...

Its even better in the movie hall ... ask me ... I have experienced it 4 times ... ;)

Cheers ... !!