Not All Good Deeds have Good Consequences

Every time we pass through those heavy traffic signals, we definitely find some street kids asking for money. Some give them money, some don’t. I don’t. I am sure all of us have there own logics. I sure do have my own. I came across this thing while working for an NGO in Noida that worked for Slum Kids. I just wanted to write this to make people aware that not all the right deeds have right consequences.

The kids that we used to teach were of age 3 – 12 years old. In the weekends we used to organize classes as all of us were working, with off on weekends. So we used to teach this bunch of 13 odd students. While interacting with them we came to know that a few of them are street beggars. Although they don’t want to beg, but their parents force them to do so to have an extra source of income. So at the time when they should be learning they are made to earn on the street. And for those who think that begging is the safest thing in the world then I would like to correct them that this is not the reality, on the street you are left all alone and there are goons who would steal money from these kids and beat them up. There are elder beggars who bully these small kids. They are also subjected to physical harassments. Begging is a very easy way of earning money and these professional beggars have found out that kids are most suited for this kind of roles and that’s where the exploitation starts from. And every time we give money we are actually strengthening the belief of those heartless people who make these kids beg.

So the next time you say no to a street kid while begging, you are doing more good than bad…

Fun At Work!!!

Its been long time since I wrote something interesting, not only that it has been really boring. So I thought to write something interesting and for that I thought of putting on my creative hat on but it didn’t fit, so I am back to my non-sense self.
Well let’s talk about my office, they have these clubs kinda thing that we used to have in our colleges where they do all sort of things, quizzes, competitions, festivities, etc. So this week they are celebrating the women’s day and for that they have this competition where you have to choose the most inspiring women in the office.
I was about to vote when I realised that there are so many women and they inspire me so much in so many different ways that I really got confused and decided not to vote. I mean I have this girl in the office, so hot looking that she inspires me to come to office everyday. Then there are girls in my bay who inspire me to work, you have girls in other bays who inspire me to take break from the work and then there are others who make me leave the office... with so many inspiring personalities around I was in a soup over the decision for the most Inspiring one of them all...

Who Am I?

I took this self administered personality test that helps you understand know who you are, what would have happened to me, I mean I would have never know who I am. These tests are as good as they are bad, I mean they are good only if they are able to tell you what you want to hear. If they tell things like you are cheesy little pervert you would down right reject the test, but if the same one tells you that you are the Prince Charming then even I would say that this is the best TEST EVER. So I took this MBTI test and the results showed that I am a promoter, don’t know what that mean, but I am a Promoter and of course it says a lot of nice things and I am damn sure that I must be a promoter, gotta start promoting something right away.

Gulaal: Powerplay

Anurag Kashyap is certainly riding high on his Dev D success, but Gulaal is a different genre altogether. It’s a story about power, politics and all that takes to make it big.
The movie starts on a truly powerful note. Kay Kay Menon, delivering a long but inspiring monologue, which sets the tone for the movie.
The movie talks about Rajputs who want to have their own share of land and rule, separate country called Rajputana. Kay Kay Menon being the flag bearer of the cause. He starts with college politics, as that’s the breeding ground for every politically awakened youth. Raja Choudhry plays the part of a simpleton who is forced into this world of powerplay after murder of his roommate Abhimanyu Singh who was contesting for the position of GS. Ayesha Menon debuts in this movie, she plays the role of a guitar strumming, blood spewing seductive vixen, for whom power means everything. Aditya Srivastav as Ayesha Mohan’s brother is the person who tries to dethrone Kay Kay Menon and tries all the tricks in the book, including getting Kay Kay Menon seduced by his sister, to get what he wants. Then there are brilliant cameos played by Jessy Randhawa, Piyush Sinha and others.
A special mention Deepak Dobriyal’s portrayal of Bhati is awesome, he is one actor to watch out for in this movie and movies to come. After a brilliant performance in Delhi 6, he backs it up with another power packed one.
The movie was made even before Dev D and probably that suggests the starcast with a high dose of Anurag Kashyap entourage with Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Srivastav again locking horns. This is a tale of political battle brewing up in Rajasthan where the Rajputs want to fight for their own country and as they feel that they are wronged by the Govt of India. It also tells the story of a young college going youth who gets entwined in this battle of power.
What we see then is a long and winding road to power and deceit. The movie is brought to life by the casts who perform their characters as if they are living out of their skins. The music is great and lyrics set the tone of the movie. Piyush SInha’s lyrics are what brings a refreshingly new feel to the movie. Even the dialogues are of high standard, and no unnecessary foul mouthing.
Anurag Kashyap is a new age director and his brilliance at handling difficult subjects is nothing new. The movie leaves with lots of images, the ragging sequence where Jessy and Raj are forced into a room, when Kay Kay addresses all Rajputs in the opening sequence or the college election speech by Raj where he acts completely clueless and controlled by others, you are made to think.
Its a brilliant movie and a must watch.

The Best Bargain....

This weekend it was great, I mean we(Thulthul, Sudo and Me) watched two movies and paid for just one. We went to see this movie GULAL, it was scheduled at 10-30 and we were there till 11 and still no doors opened nor any sign of the movie, that’s when we came to know that due to some technical snags the movie is not going to be screened. What the F?
That’s when our Thulthul got into act. He acted like out-of-engineering-college-working-in-an-IT-firm guy who screams at every single thing, but this time he was right. I mean he made sure that the PVR guys pay for their faults. So we vexed them till they gave us free tickets for Curios Case of Benjamin Button and refunded for the GULAL tickets. We won, Mission Accomplished.
The next day we went and got our movie: GULAL. It is wonderful, I loved the movie.
But THULTHUL my man you rock!

...Let's Play Holi

Holi is the festivals of colours and its one of those festivals that I love to enjoy. Probably the only festival that goes across color, gender and religion. So you have everyone looking as good or as bad as everyone else, that’s the beauty of the festival. I usually go home on Holi but this was fidderent i was not able to go.
Nirepinder had plans for Holi at his place and he had informed a long time back. So the holi-day was booked for the Anita-Nirepinder party. Anuj and Komal picked me up from my place. We reached Nirepinder,s place at 12:00. We were joined by a Richa, Sud, Monika and a few other friends of Nirep and Anita. Good food, good drinks and good people to chat around what else do you need. Of course colors, so those who didn’t want to play colours like Sud, Monika and Richa had to do away with their inhibitions for color and indulge in some holi-work. Richa was treated sparingly with colors, while Monika was doused with colors. So we had a messy house, chatty people and lots of vodka shots, and for teetotallers like me and Richa, coke and grape juices. Food is always food at Nirep’s place and today was no different.
So the holi was fun and by the time we departed, we were all completely soaked with the holi fervour.
It was a wonderful holi, thanks Nirep and Anita... Cheers!

13B - A Good Concept Going Wrong

When a director has a good script he can do two things, either screw it up completely or make beautiful movie out of it. But with 13B I think the third angle comes infront, if ever a movie has been let down by its second line of command then this is the one, by second line of command I mean Editing, Screenplay and Soundtrack. Any movie dealing with this genre of horror/thriller needs to have a soundtrack that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Shankar Eshaan Loy are a brilliant lot of music directors but then when it comes to thriller they have not been able to hold on. My personal choice for music for such genre would be Salim Suleimann.
The movie talks about a close knot family, of two brothers, a sister, a mother and their wives. They move into this new house that the two brothers buy after saving a lot of money. Like any other household, yeah pretty much the same. But then things start working differently. The milk gets spoilt everyday, the puja room is not able to be set up and then there is a daily soap that is shown only in this house. Creepy, well thats just the beginning, then there is the lift that won’t work when Madhavan tries it, the neighbour’s dog won’t be enter the house and to top it all the address is 13/B, by the way if you think B is infact 1 and 3 joined together, so double whammy. So we are set for a good thriller, well the actors don’t disappoint. Madhavan is his usual self, which is good. Neetu Chandra’s looks works well for her homly image of a bahu. Poonam Dhillon, her comeback, is good. The movie talks about role of TV in our life and how we are falling victim to this machine.
The movie goes for a toss with lack of good editing, when you are making a thriller you cannot compromise on the length and the camera angles need to have cutting edge feel to it. The D.O.P needs to take a few cues from the Ram Gopal Verma thriller BHOOT, one of my fav bollywood horror movie. The flash back could have been trimmed a bit and the song sequences could have been done away with. Screenplay is poor, thats all I need to say.