Brigade Road

Brigade road is one of the busiest commercial centers in Bangalore- the state’s capital city. It is a very posh area dotted with several shops in both sides of the road. It is also a connecting road between the MG Road and Residency Road. It has several shopping centers, malls and retail outlets of most of the well known international brands. It has shops like KFC, Planet M. Music world, Mc Donald’s, Archies, showrooms and retail outlets of Louis Phillipe, Blackberry, Levis etc. there are several places to hangout in Brigade road. There is a theater called Rex in Brigade road, which always runs the best and latest of Bollywood and Hollywood movies. There are several pubs and night clubs in Brigade road, hence it is called the most happening commercial area in Bangalore. The famous Cauvery handicraft shop is also located at the end of Brigade road. This is one spot in Bangalore where one can find people of all nationality walking and hanging out, shopping and spending their weekend. It is also the New Year celebration hub in the city for many years.

The Devanahali airport is around 50 kms from Brigade road, there are cabs and buses that connect the airports. The Majestic railway station is less than 20 kms from here there are several boutique hotels in and around Brigade road for tourists to stay.

पंख में बिपाशा के छह रूप

जहां बॉलीवुड के कई सितारे अपनी आने वाली फिल्मों में नये रूपों के माध्यम से चर्चा में हैं। वहीं बिंदास बंगाली बाला बिपाशा बसु ने अपनी आने वाली फिल्म “पंख” के लिए कई चेहरे बदले है। और इन रूपों में सेक्सी दिखने के लिए बिपाशा ने कई किलो वजन भी कम किया हैं। लेकिन जिम जाकर नहीं, बल्कि डाइट के माध्यम से। इस फिल्म में बिपाशा ड्रीमगर्ल के रूप में नजर आएंगी, जो सिर्फ फिल्म के अभिनेता के सपनों में दिखेगी। बिपाशा इस फिल्म में परी, राजकुमारी और सेक्सी गर्ल आदि के रूपों में नजर आएंगी।

Sultan Rahi and Principal of Evil Marksmanship

It seems all effects of Sultan Rahi not dented by single bullet and Ametab being able to successfully destroy whole Island of villain has a proper name, it is called Principal of Evil Marksmanship. Wikipedia explains and details it very nicely.

The term first appeared in film critic Roger Ebert’s 1980 book “Little Movie Glossary”,[1] and had been submitted by Jim Murphy of New York. It was defined as:

“ The bad guys are always lousy shots in the movies. Three villains with Uzis will go after the hero, spraying thousands of rounds which miss him, after which he picks them off with a handgun. ”

So finally I know the name of the art being followed by our film heroes (yes I still call it film, Guardian does it too). Although Hollywood is also pron to it (that’s why they have name for it ) but somehow their films execute same idea quite gracefully. I remember a scene in which Sultan Rahi and her female accomplice were avoiding bullets by just bending down quickly. Not once but again and again.

Other interesting terms on the same page are Stormtrooper Effect and One-at-a-time Attack Rule. Last one is most interesting because you see it all the time in movies.  Shahrukh Khan, Ametabh, Dharmendar and even Jackie Chen, they all fight one to one, now they have progressed to 2 at a time. 3 people attacking at same time is rarity. And why the hell only one person in whole gang has the gun, and all the guys are fighting to get it; if you remember last scene of Don (original version).

Top Earners in Bollywood

Here are the big numbers the big boys (and gals) quote in Bollywood.

Aishwarya Rai, the Queen Bee, takes home 6 crores.

Priyanka Chopra pockets 5 crores.

It is a close competition for Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. while Kapoor makes 3.5 crores, Kaif is at 3 crores.

Among the menfolk, Akshay Kumar is King despite back to back flops in 2009. He gets a whopping 15 crores per movie.

Aamir Khan’s price is now 13 to 14 crores.

Surprisingly, Shahrukh Khan is getting just 12 crores. Surprising because he cashed in on his star status more than any other guy, save Amitabh Bachchan.

Movie Review: Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna (2009)

1 Star

Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna aspires to be a moving drama about marital fidelity, but it lacks the emotional maturity to achieve its goal.

The movie focuses on the troubled marriage of Australian residents Samir (Salman Khan) and Raina Khanna (Kareena Kapoor). Samir, who is depressed because he can’t find a job, distances himself from Raina, who’s worried on his behalf. He decides that his only option is to leave Melbourne and try his luck in Singapore.

Raina is sad about leaving her friends and her job as a waitress, but she goes to the airport with her husband. There, he springs the news on her that she won’t be joining him in Singapore. Instead, she’s going to live with his disapproving parents in Delhi. The movie never explains why this is necessary; the decision only serves to prove that Samir is controlling.

Raina decides not to board the flight to Delhi. A waiter at an airport cafe, Akash (Sohail Khan), helps her start her new, solo life in Melbourne. Raina declares that she’s just killing time until Samir makes his fortune and returns for her, but Akash falls for her anyway.

Here, Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna takes an audacious turn: nothing unexpected happens. There are no twists, no moments where a character makes a life-changing decision. Samir succeeds and returns for Raina, and she goes with him. That’s it.

I don’t feel bad revealing those plot details because the movie is very clear about what is going to happen. Raina never — not even for an instant — expresses the slightest romantic interest in Akash. She doesn’t even realize he has a crush on her. If she did, it would force her consider him as a sexual partner, thereby destroying the image of the ideal woman that Raina is supposed to represent: somewhat independent but unquestionably devoted to her husband.

The characters lack depth not just from the way they’re written, but also from the way they are acted. When Akash reveals the pain he felt when his parents divorced, Raina responds with an inappropriate smile.

Debutant writer and director Prem Soni has a lot to learn. (Lesson #1: Why comic barnyard sound effects have no place in a relationship drama.) This first effort is a bland movie full of emotional simpletons. I fear that, if Soni wrote an adaptation of The Little Mermaid, the story would read like this: “A mermaid wanted to become a human, so she did. The End.”

Personal Branding

So I’m currently answering an application question that is giving me quite a bit of grief, it goes a little something like this;

1: The first impression that a brand makes is crucial.

Tell us a bit about yourself and make your first impression.

200 words max.

Seems fun.

The difficulty is making yourself interesting enough that the reader wants to find out more about you and more importantly make yourself stand out from everyone else who has probably also travelled a lot/also really likes playing the piano/loves playing sport to be part of a team etcetera… So at the moment this is proving difficult.

In terms of thinking about a person as a brand, beyond celebrities and famous figures is that really possible? I guess we can brand ourselves to an extent by the content we put up on social media, but then not everyone uses the internet for that. We can brand ourselves by conducting ourselves in a certain way; being “nice” and getting a reputation for that or going out getting drunk a lot and getting a reputation for that.

To an extent people certainly have an easier time of relaunching/reinventing their brand than products. I was reading today that Kylie Minogue has now relaunched herself in Bollywood. Her brand has now ranged from the cute girl next door in Neighbours, to absolute sexpot to now a Bollywood starlet.

This is great rebranding, the woman is (or more likely has someone who is) a commercial genius.  It is a great fit, Bollywood is nothing but cheesey really. Ironically I get the feeling that Bollywood is trying to reinvent the brand itself by using Kylie. If you can’t see the irony check out the great lyrics from her new song.

I wanna chiggy-wiggy with you boy

I wanna chiggy-wiggy with you fella

Just chiggy-wiggy with you baby

Cheese on Toast.

Boot Polish shines

After watching disasters like ‘Dil Bole Hadippa,’ and ‘What’s your Rashee?’ I couldn’t help but open a CD pack which I had bought a year ago and stacked away in a corner.

To my surprise, the 1954 made black and white, “Boot Polish” was able to do what none of the recent releases could. It made me laugh, cry and hope with the characters. If a movie can carry you along and make you feel with the characters, I consider it good entertainment.

It’s a story of street kids Bhola (Ratan Kumar) and Belu (Baby Naaz) who beg at a railway station in Mumbai. They later turn to earning money by polishing shoes. But when no one wants to shine their shoes during the rains, hunger beckons them again. A police raid separates the siblings. Life changes when one of the kids is adopted by a couple.

The story may sound gloomy, but the little joys of life are well depicted in the film. The kids save up money from their cruel aunt so that they can buy a brush and polish. When another boot black tries to steal their money from their hiding and escapes, you expect dismay once again. But the younger Belu has already hidden away the money. No, hiding away from the begging earning which they have to give to their aunt isn’t enough. So fool a friendly bootlegger John Chacha (David) for the remaining money. John doesn’t mind, for it is he who inspires them to take up a respectful life.

The excitement that one has when you take up a new job is also very real. The brush and the polish are given a respectable place at the altar at John Chacha’s shack. The kids dream of the many things that they will do when they earn from polishing shoes. Isn’t it the same feeling that we all had while joining our first job?

With their first earnings, the each wants to buy a dress for another. The same love is seen in times of hunger when there is just one piece of bread.

The heartless Kamala chachi (Chand Burque) who makes them beg and beats them throughout the film is also not painted entirely black. At the beginning when the children are left at her doorstep she recalls how their parents are thrown her out of their house when her husband died. Being a sex worker, she couldn’t afford to feed and bring up the kids with her earning. So, they had to earn their own food by begging. This is definitely cruel, but poverty isn’t kind.

Fate changes the course of their lives. A police raid at the railway station separates the kids. While Belu is adopted by a rich couple, Bhola reaches an orphanage. Bhola escapes from the orphanage and the kids pine for each other. They are reunited by chance to live with their new parents.

The music by Shankar Jaikishan has given us songs like “Nanhe munhe bachche teri mutti mein kya hai,” which are sung even now. Produced by Raj Kapoor, directed by Prakash Arora and written by Bhanu Pratap, I consider it one of the best films I have seen.

The film won the Best Film award at the 1954 Fimfare awards. The director Prakash Arora was nominated for the Golden Palm award and Baby Naaz won a special mention for a child actor at the 1955 Cannes Film festival.